Chapter 92
CHAPTER 92
Day 13, 7 PM.
The results of Day 12's battlefield were announced.
"One region occupied by the Demonic Cult. One region captured from them. The Unorthodox Faction exchanged one region too."
The Demonic Cult and the Unorthodox Faction had each successfully occupied one territory from the other.
"A pretty ordinary result."
All three factions had generally focused on defense.
You're taking this territory? Then I'll take one too. Hand this over.
The day had mostly been a series of small exchanges like that.
However, when looking at the finer details, the value of the lands exchanged between the Demonic Cult and the Orthodox Faction wasn't equal.
The territory the Demonic Cult captured was at the northern edge of the map. While it provided a direct route toward the Orthodox Faction's headquarters, its strategic value wasn't particularly high.
In contrast, the territory seized from the Demonic Cult was a central region bordering both the Unorthodox Faction and the Demonic Cult.
Such land held tremendous value.
And territories shared by all three factions could easily be lost if two factions attacked together.
[Awoojeong]
βLook at him queueing immediately.
βNo sportsmanship at all.
βThis is why Demonic Cult bastards are the worst. Tsk!
Hanpunman checked the chat and looked at the red markers on the map.
Unlike yesterday, multiple red markers had appeared.
But there was only one location worth checking.
So he wasn't satisfied with what he took yesterday.
He's actually attacking.
Is he aiming for the headquarters?
No idea.
Doesn't seem like he coordinated it with the other Demonic Cult players either.
"We have to stop him."
As he muttered, the teammate beside him heard and patted his shoulder.
"Yeah. Let's stop him for now. If the Heavenly Demon captures another territory and advances again, there'll only be one region left before our headquarters."
There was still some room to spare.
But that's how things were always lost.
One concession at a time.
How had Britain ended up after continuously giving ground to Germany before World War II?
The famous "peace for our time" could repeat itself.
βSo who's going?
A full day had passed.
There had been plenty of time to prepare.
Many volunteers stepped forward.
The most discussed topic among the rankers yesterday had been:
How do we beat the Heavenly Demon in a 3-versus-1 occupation battle?
Watching those discussions only strengthened Hanpunman's belief that the hotfix had been implemented in the Heavenly Demon's favor.
Though there was still a chance he was wrong.
Only one way to find out.
Someone else typed it.
Not Hanpunman.
He had absolutely no desire to fight the Heavenly Demon again.
βLet's do it.
βQueue four people. If it becomes a 3-versus-1 match, we'll adjust based on the situation.
βγ γ
βI'll go and make the plan.
Brave warriors.
Good luck.
Hanpunman sorrowfully shifted his gaze from chat back to the map.
The list of players appearing in the contested territory updated.
Four members from the Demonic Cult.
Apparently reinforcements had already arrived.
Looks like they came to the same conclusion. The support alone proves it. Three people showed up.
Of course, Seo Jun wasn't worth only one ranker.
[Cheonma14]
[Bandit King]
[Dangso]
[ILikeMonochrome]
Four members from the Orthodox Faction.
[TheDevilWearsBrother]
[OldMaster]
[Cheonsalseong]
[TryBackseatingMe]
The objective of this battlefield could be summarized in a single sentence.
Stop the Heavenly Demon.
It was only a gut feeling.
But Hanpunman's instincts were occasionally frighteningly accurate.
Cheonsalseong is trying again?
Even after losing like that.
Impressive.
The memory of his twelve-game losing streak surfaced, making his blood boil.
Hanpunman rapidly shook his head to calm himself.
Depends on how the match gets formed.
He considered the possible outcomes.
[Match found. Let's go hunt the Orthodox Faction.]
That irritating voice echoed through the speakers.
[So you won because of me.]
[Stop talking nonsense, Dangso.]
[Hah. What do you think would've happened without my support?]
The match had been made.
Why it wasn't a 4-versus-3 match?
Only Movie Soft knew the exact answer.
Still, Hanpunman felt like he could guess.
The balance was surprisingly reasonable.
Ultimately, it was balanced around the idea that if the enemy could kill Seo Jun even once, the game would become much easier.
Though whether that's actually possible is another question.
Hanpunman let out a hollow laugh while listening to them.
Dangso hasn't changed at all.
To summarize the result:
The matchmaking was not 3-versus-1.
It became 3-versus-2.
[Of course we won.]
[Why are you saying that so calmly? The Demonic Cult has a chance to win because I'm here.]
[Dangso.]
[Why are you calling me?]
[Please shut up and leave the game now.]
Should he just tell the others?
βWhen it's 3-versus-2, if you handle the objective like...
βNo, instead of that, it'd be better to...
They're really consistent.
Anyway.
If every future match became a 3-versus-2, then stopping the Heavenly Demon through gameplay alone would become extremely difficult.
Hanpunman trusted the other rankers who were passionately debating strategies.
But he wasn't the type to sit back and wait for others to solve things.
He would keep thinking.
Keep searching for a method.
Somehowβ
"Ah."
His eyes narrowed and widened repeatedly.
"Why does the Orthodox Faction only probe once and stop?"
Day 13 ended.
That didn't mean the mode closed at 10 PM.
It simply meant there was nothing more Seo Jun could do today.
Seo Jun stretched his neck.
True to virtual reality's goal of recreating real-world physical sensations as accurately as possible, a series of pops echoed from his neck, followed by a pleasant feeling spreading through his body.
After loosening up his hands one by one, Seo Jun logged out of the game.
βYou're just going to give it up?!
βAt this rate it's going straight to the headquarters lol.
βHe must have a plan.
Seo Jun nodded, glanced around, walked to a nearby chair, and leaned back against the wall.
The private channel was quiet.
Scanning through game messages, group chats, and community posts, he quickly assessed the situation before speaking softly.
"Looks like I should end the stream now."
Collecting hooks.
β???
βDon't go.
βThe instant stream ending disease has returned...!
β?
They were right.
Ending early was probably the correct choice.
Normally, he would've watched viewer-submitted videos, laughed, chatted with viewers, and gotten into arguments.
But today was different.
"I've got plans with a friend."
This time, he actually had a reason.
βWhy?
βWeren't you pretending you had no friends?
βSuspicious. This smells suspicious. Is it a girlfriend?
βThat's actually possible.
βChoose. Her or me.
"It's not like that."
Seo Jun cut them off firmly and ended the stream.
Sure, streaming longer would help retain his twelve thousand viewers.
But there was something more important.
βBye
βSee ya.
As expected of masters of slander, they had gone completely off the rails from the very beginning.
After climbing out of the capsule, Seo Jun quickly showered and sat down in front of his computer.
Meeting a friend had been a lie.
What friend was he supposed to meet?
That sounds kind of pathetic when I think about it.
Reflecting briefly on his life, Seo Jun searched for the official For the Sake of Chivalry website.
After entering the site, he opened the battlefield map on the left side of his screen and the faction chat on the right.
He wanted to accurately understand how players were moving throughout the battlefield.
Trying to check everything during a stream required too much hassle and prevented complete concentration.
He could always review everything afterward.
However, observing events in real time and experiencing firsthand the thought processes behind each decision was undeniably the most effective method.
The Demonic Cult's primary objective was to destroy the Orthodox Faction's headquarters.
[Awooma]
As a result, every movement and intention currently being displayed was focused on concealing that goal.
βThe Unorthodox Faction is attacking us. We should probably retaliate a little.
βLooks like the Orthodox Faction is trying to poke several regions today.
βBut aren't they defending Shaanxi?
Technically, the territory wasn't exactly Shaanxi.
The regions were merely divided around the general area, so players referred to them by those names for convenience.
The Gansu region Seo Jun had captured yesterday lay west of Shaanxi.
Moving eastward came today's target:
Shaanxi.
Further east was Shanxi.
And finally Hebei, where the Orthodox Faction's headquarters was located.
Shaanxi referred to the territory Seo Jun was attempting to occupy today.
That was simply the name assigned to it by the system.
βLooks like they aren't defending it.
βMaybe they'll commit troops when it gets close to ending.
βThis feels strange. Are they baiting us because they want to confirm whether we're really targeting Shaanxi?
βWe probably shouldn't commit more forces first.
"Interesting."
0857626
βOldMaster spotted on the Unorthodox Faction front.
βMumyeong appeared south of Hunan.
As the Orthodox Faction continued to sit still, countless interpretations emerged.
Seo Jun's objective was to create confusion by appearing somewhat detached from the main force while slowly advancing.
That meant openly attacking Shaanxi wasn't an option.
Group-based territory conquest.
Psychological warfare.
Or something else entirely.
He could understand why these players had become so deeply invested in the game.
"They said For the Sake of Chivalry still gets plenty of new players, right?"
Even so, the game was often called stagnant.
The reason was probably simple.
Once people participated in a battlefield like this, even new players found it difficult not to become familiar with everyone else.
This really is fun.
A satisfied smile crept onto Seo Jun's face.
Ding.
A private message arrived from the Third Elder.
[Third Elder: That's true, but the Orthodox Faction is being awfully passive.]
Passive, huh?
[Cheonma14: Will today's Shaanxi occupation fail?]
[Third Elder: The Orthodox Faction is holding back manpower, but so are we. If they commit everything to defending Shaanxi, we'll reveal our hand today as well.]
[Third Elder: Thank you for your hard work today, Heavenly Demon!]
[Cheonma14: Thank you. But isn't it still ongoing?]
So they were willing to reveal their strategy if necessary just to secure Shaanxi today.
[Cheonma14: I see.]
[Third Elder: By the way, Heavenly Demon. It feels like quite a lot of players are moving according to your lead.]
[Cheonma14: What do you mean?]
[Third Elder: You know those regular players who aren't in the strategy chats but still play the game seriously?]
[Third Elder: A large portion of them seem to be following your movements.]
For players who engaged with the game on a deeper level, watching streams and browsing community forums was practically mandatory.
And many Demonic Cult players had been reacting like this:
[If you're a true Demonic Cult brother, you know what to do this battlefield. Smash that recommend button lol.]
[The Heavenly Demon said he'd destroy the Orthodox Faction. I merely follow.]
[I do not doubt him.]
[If I can provide even the smallest assistance to the Greatest Master in History... that alone is enough...]
Seo Jun had simply laughed at those posts and moved on.
Apparently, the Third Elder viewed things differently.
According to him, calculations from the previous day showed that the Demonic Cult had lost territories they absolutely shouldn't have lost.
The only explanation was the absence of the usual general-player presence.
Situations like that happened all the time.
But this case felt unusually obvious.
The average player base had concentrated around Seo Jun.
Ironically, that might even be good news.
The Demonic Cult didn't need precise coordination and distribution right now.
Still, does today end quietly too?
There was no way the Orthodox Faction would simply surrender Shaanxiβa territory so close to their headquartersβwithout responding.
βWhat are they thinking?
βThey're only defending where they're attacked and aren't launching attacks anywhere.
βClassic hidden powerhouse behavior.
βOur connection is getting cut off.
Finally, around 8:40 PM, the Demonic Cult rankers discovered the Orthodox Faction's objective.
Their reactions were unanimously stunned.
βThe Orthodox Faction moved!
βThere's a ton of them. Looks like they're committing all the forces they've been holding back.
The location chosen by the Orthodox rankers was completely unexpected.
Not Shaanxi.
But the territory west of it.
Gansu.
The region the Demonic Cult had captured the previous day.
Instead of defending Shaanxi, the Orthodox Faction intended to occupy Gansu, thereby isolating Shaanxi after it became Demonic Cult territory the next day.
βSo this is why you've been waiting all this time?!