Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 607

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

The Genius Archer’s Streaming Season 3 Episode 77
28. Ancient Joseon (1)
‘End it all in the first age….’
Tap… tap….
Cookie drummed his fingers on the table with an anxious expression.
It wasn’t an easy decision.
Ending the game in the first age was an extraordinarily extreme choice.
Yet it was a decision someone had to make.
He squeezed his eyes shut.
‘I had originally planned something for the third age.’
The initial strategy was to push through to the third age. That’s where the ‘Destroy’ strategy would emerge.
But the defensive towers’ attack efficiency is exceeding expectations.
‘The battles have been going smoothly since earlier….’
It started from the ambush and infiltration operations.
The enemy fell into the ambush far too easily, and the enemy commander even missed witnessing that moment.
It was the same when they came to stop the defensive towers.
A 3 versus 2 battle formation, yet did the enemy fight strangely?
As Cookie focused on production rather than combat itself, it was difficult to pinpoint the exact reason.
He never imagined this could be the butterfly effect from ‘that interview.’
‘Is Almond’s combat ability… really at this level? And the enemies are all professionals too.’
He simply considered that he might not have fully grasped Almond’s combat strength yet.
‘In any case, thanks to this, I can end it now….’
It seemed the plan needed to be revised.
If I can win in the first age, I can’t foolishly drag it to the third age.
However─
‘Will this combat strength hold steady?’
Until now, the variables in battle had been fortunate coincidences.
But would it remain so until the final moment?
Human concentration had its limits. No matter how professional the players were, there was a fixed duration and intensity of focus possible in a single game.
“Hmm….”
Was this combat unit’s concentration still alive right now?
Cookie gazed at Almond, Danggeun, and Ratte, contemplating.
However, befitting a supreme commander, his deliberation wasn’t prolonged.
‘In the end, the timing is now.’
Thud.
[Construct Wooden Defensive Tower]
He ordered Danggeun to construct one more defensive tower.

* * *
At that moment, the commentators’ booth erupted into chaos.
“Whoa! Another defensive tower!? He’s building another one!? The order just came down!”
They understood what Cookie’s decision meant.
“Cookie! You’re saying you’re delaying the Age 2 upgrade right now!? This is…! You’re trying to end it right here!?”
-Trembling
-Declared all-in defense
-Is he trying to end it here??
Lol are we really gonna win both games with an early rush???
Cookie had just made a declaration.
End the game in Age 1. Otherwise, Joseon loses.
“Wait, King Gul! It seems like you originally just wanted to harass them a bit! How did it come to this!?”
He hadn’t intended to finish from the start.
“I think that was the original plan! But the battle is going so smoothly right now! I made an improvisational judgment!”
“Ah. You modified your strategy on the spot!?”
“Yes! A strategy that changes this spontaneously is extremely difficult for the opponent to counter!”
“Exactly! We’ll have to see how this plays out!”
Joseon was now using the resources meant for Age 2 to construct defensive towers.
There was no turning back now.
“All other Joseon soldiers are launching a full assault!”
“This is the Korean cheese rush!”
Cheese rush.
An early-game strategy where workers and soldiers are all mobilized for a full assault is called a cheese rush.
Since it involves mobilizing workers, executing this strategy makes you very poor as well.
However, the core of this strategy is winning by making your opponent even poorer.
By building towers and defensive structures in the enemy base, the workers become completely unable to work.
“Since Joseon can build defensive towers without mobilizing workers! There’s almost no loss! Except for the delayed Age 2 upgrade!”
Joseon, not needing to mobilize workers, found it much easier to make their opponent poorer than themselves.
It was like releasing a B-grade film with a low break-even point.
It might not get as good reviews as an A-grade film, but the probability of making more money is higher.
That was exactly what Joseon’s defensive tower rush was.
“Espana!? You have no forces to stop them now! They all died earlier!?”
“The remaining main force is busy stopping Joseon’s full assault!”
“Brilliant! Cookie! This rapid strategic shift! It’s difficult for the opponent to counter!”
“Moreover! Espana had already pressed the Age 2 upgrade!”
It wasn’t simply that Joseon’s full assault made it difficult to defend.
From the opponent’s perspective, it was truly unfortunate….
[Espana]
[Age 2 – 3%]
They had already initiated the upgrade to Age 2.
The moment Cookie pressed it, he constructed another defensive tower.
“Was it intentional or coincidence!? Right when Espana pressed the upgrade to Age 2! It looks like he immediately started building a defensive tower!?”
“Let’s time it right lol”
-That’s art
-Is this actually winning?
Spain is gonna be so pissed off lol
“When you use it with timing like this, the rush isn’t a sloppy build—it becomes a sharp build in the truest sense!”
“Yes! This kind of cheese rush has a terrible reputation among early builds!?”
An early build might seem like a simple luck-based strategy, but surprisingly, even at the pro level, there’s a gamer who fell for it three consecutive times in important matches.
That gamer was a pro among pros with an incredible career, yet he still fell for it.
In other words, a well-executed early build relies less on luck, and enemies fall for it even when they know it’s coming.
“Now! Almond’s workers are becoming targets and we’re starting to shoot!”
“Will Espana succumb to this build, or will he overcome it!?”

* * *
‘Damn it….’
Nacho should be grateful.
That the Civil Empire’s workers aren’t real people, but AI that obey his commands.
Twang!
Every time you hear the sound of arrows being shot from the defensive tower, imagine a worker next to you dying one by one.
“Ugh!”
Which worker could silently gather gold for the future?
“Argh!”
When death is right at their doorstep.
Twang!
Every time the sound of arrows rings out, workers die without fail.
Twang!
Dead, and dead again.
“Gack!”
Not a single shot was missing.
‘How… not even once!’
Nacho’s fury erupted.
No matter how pro-level, hitting moving workers from atop a defensive tower without missing once, striking their heads in a single shot….
‘This is on a completely different level.’
It’s a tale from another world.
It wasn’t the archery skill he knew.
The concept of being good with a bow that he understood was like Persian archers dramatically throwing themselves into rapid-fire, or shooting down pursuing enemies in succession while riding a horse….
Those were things accompanied by special movements.
He thought that’s what it meant to be skilled with a bow.
Because he specialized in the Espana civilization, his knowledge of archery had disappeared.
‘I’ve been completely mistaken all this time.’
Nacho thought this now. He had been wrong about bows all along.
The most terrifying bow is one that never misses.
Twang──!
Another arrow flew from that thug, and without fail, a worker collapsed.
“Waaaaaaaa!”
The Korean cheering section’s roar grew louder and louder.
Boom! Boom! Boom-boom-boom!
The sound of drums and gongs echoing through the air felt like Nacho’s own heartbeat.
Soon, he could no longer distinguish between them.
Even as this happened, the enemy’s additional defensive tower was being constructed.
[Wooden Defensive Tower – 26%]
The placement was extremely aggressive.
Now it threatened not just the gold quarry, but the slaughterhouse as well.
‘I have to protect the slaughterhouse at all costs.’
The slaughterhouse.
The place where hunted game was processed into meat.
If the workers at the slaughterhouse died, food supply would naturally become impossible.
Without food, I couldn’t recruit soldiers.
I couldn’t even recruit workers.
‘The game really could end in Era 1.’
If that happened, the game could genuinely end in the first era.
Nacho squeezed his eyes shut.
It was an ending he didn’t even want to imagine.
‘If I could just reach Era 2….’
Once Era 2 began and soldier equipment changed, I could easily push back the Joseon main force armed with nothing but clubs.
Those soldiers could then return to the base and clear out the defensive towers, but….
[Espana]
[Era 2 – 9%]
When would Era 2 finally arrive?
‘I have to build a defensive tower right now…!’
It was late, but I had to build a defensive tower.
A decision had to be made.
[Wood 80]
But I only had 80 wood resources.
Advancing to Era 2 required 700, and building a defensive tower required 150.
He immediately dragged all the workers mining gold and redirected them toward the distant wood resources.
[Gathering Wood]
All the workers began striking at the trees.
Thwack… Tap…!
It was a loss in other resources, but given the current situation, this was the best decision I could make.
[Wood 150]
With all my workers mobilized, the wood was gathered in no time.
[Wooden Defense Tower Construction]
I ordered the construction of a defense tower near the slaughterhouse.
If I built it before the enemy’s defense tower, I could at least protect the slaughterhouse.
[Wooden Defense Tower – 46%]
Currently, the first Joseon defense tower to be built was at 46%.
Nearly halfway complete.
However, it didn’t matter.
Joseon had only one person building it. And that one person wasn’t even a worker—just a soldier.
What if ten Espana workers rushed at it?
They’d catch up in an instant.
[Espana]
[Wooden Defense Tower – 20%]
Thud thud…!
As expected, with ten workers swarming it, it jumped to 20% in moments.
“Ah! Espana!? They’re finally building a defense tower! Multiple workers are swarming it, so the speed is incredible!”
“They’re just blocking the slaughterhouse check! They’re determined to reach the second age somehow!”
“If Joseon’s defense tower finishes first, they won’t be able to build this!?”
[Joseon]
[Wooden Defense Tower – 63%]
Joseon was still at 63%.
Nacho felt relieved.
‘I can stop this.’
It looks like I can stop it.
Though mobilizing so many workers meant significant resource losses.
I just need to hold out until the second age.
“Ahhh! Joseon’s defense tower seems like it’ll take longer!? The speed difference is too great!”
“Because it’s workers versus a soldier! Plus the numbers are so different!”
“If they can’t harass the slaughterhouse! Joseon’s in trouble!? It’s an all-in, so things are different from before!”
Joseon had no way to interfere with Espana’s construction.
But then—
“!?”
My eyes widened in shock.
Someone was approaching the Espana defense tower construction site.
He was even drawing his bowstring. Aimed at the workers constructing it.
[Aamond]
It was Almond.
“What… what is this…”
There’s no way there would be archers in the first era.
“A defensive tower bow!?”
I had taken the bow from inside the defensive tower and brought it outside.
While not impossible, Nacho found it absurd.
‘Shooting a bow without being an archer class?’
Soldiers who aren’t archers only receive the archer classification inside defensive towers.
Once outside, they revert to their original unit’s effects.
Since it’s the first era, the only unit type is the barbarian soldier.
Shooting arrows as a barbarian soldier meant there was a limit to arrow count.
Moreover, without a quiver, I held the arrows bare-handed—I only had a single arrow in my grasp.
Even counting the one nocked on the bowstring, that’s just one arrow.
There were ten workers.
Even if I pulled off the miracle of killing two with one arrow, eight workers would remain.
It wouldn’t change the overall situation in the slightest.
And if I approached with a club, I’d be killed by the town hall’s attacks.
I had nothing I could do.
So what was I trying to accomplish?
“Almond!? Almond is here right now! He came out to stop the enemy’s defensive tower construction! But! He only has one arrow!?”
“No matter how skilled an archer is! Can you really take down two with just one arrow!?”
“Right now it’s not two with one arrow—it’s five or six with one arrow!? At that point, it’s not archery anymore, it’s swordsmanship!”
lol it’s a sword made of teeth
-???What is this?
-Maybe he’s trying to kill at least two?
-To slow it down even a little
“Or maybe kill just one to buy some time…?”
“Is that it? That would barely mean….”
Everyone speculated that my intention was to slow down the construction speed even slightly.
But that was a wrong assumption.
Creak…!
I was drawing the bowstring with the intention of killing all the workers under construction.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————