Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 699
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Genius Archer’s Streaming Season 3 Episode 169
56. You Go to Valhalla (2)
In the early game, infiltrating the enemy’s main base is quite simple.
Except for very special maps, there aren’t even fortification walls built around the base, and frankly, there are few soldiers defending it.
At best, there are a few defensive towers. If you carefully navigate past those, it’s possible to infiltrate and harass the workers, and such incidents have indeed occurred frequently.
But once you enter the third era, things change.
Even infiltrating the main base and killing workers becomes a considerably difficult mission after the third era.
Defensive towers multiply around the main base, and fortification walls encircle it.
Without siege weapons, those walls are absolutely impenetrable.
Even if soldiers throw torches, they deal no damage whatsoever, and archers are out of the question.
That’s precisely why targeting multiple bases instead of the main base becomes the strategy.
By the third era, there are hardly any workers left at the main base, and resources are nearly depleted. What about the fourth era then?
To inflict resource damage, going for multiple bases would be far more advantageous in many ways.
Yet Almond was heading toward the enemy’s main base.
‘I’ve arrived.’
The towering fortification walls of the main base block his path.
Just looking at it conveys the oppressive sensation of its height.
If someone were asked to climb such a thing with a ladder in reality, no one would easily volunteer.
Almond paid no mind and charged toward that direction.
After all, he was Chataemeen.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say his existence held value only by infiltrating the main base.
Even if resources had dried up at the main base, all manner of research facilities and crucial structures still existed there.
For Chataemeen, it was a land flowing with milk and honey.
Of course, being Chataemeen didn’t grant him the ability to climb those towering walls like Spider-Man. He couldn’t charge at the solid fortification and disappear between the walls like Harry Potter through Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
The method by which Chataemeen infiltrate is far simpler and more straightforward.
Simply walk through the gate with confidence.
Thud—
As Almond stood before their gate.
Grrrrrrk!
The gate responds and rises upward.
After all, right now he was only recognized as Almond in Cookie’s vision….
[Disguise]
[Remaining Time 01:27]
To the enemies, he appeared as one of the Viking warriors.
Moreover, he was disguised as one of the dead, so unless the Commander paid considerable attention, there was no way to recognize him.
If his appearance of entering the main base alone were spotted by the Commander, his identity would be immediately exposed. However, the Commander was currently focused on the middle ground where the most crucial battle was unfolding.
Boom… Bang….
The sound of divine fire arrows detonating could faintly be heard from here.
They were still fighting intensely.
Therefore, Almond’s infiltration into the main base coinciding with the start of the middle ground battle was quite an intentional plan by Cookie.
Of course, Almond hadn’t confidently entered through the city gates with full understanding of all these reasons.
He had simply been told how to proceed, and he followed those instructions.
That was Almond’s greatest strength as a soldier.
He would advance without hesitation according to orders, then deal with any problems afterward.
He never faltered with premature worries about potential complications, never sabotaging the operation before it began.
If you trembled before the arrow struck the target, you could never hit it.
Having mastered this truth back in high school, Almond naturally stepped through the city gates without hesitation.
Thud!
The sound of the gates closing behind him echoed through the air.
He had entered the main fortress.
‘So this is….’
The buildings displayed an architecture distinctly different from Joseon’s style.
While one might argue that civilizations with such advanced construction techniques could no longer be called Vikings, the game had incorporated Norwegian and Danish civilizations under the Viking banner, so these Era 4 Vikings boasted quite impressive architectural prowess.
Since it was rare for only a single civilization to exist in one territory, this was simply a game mechanic allowance they had to accept.
Even Joseon, despite being called a single ethnicity, followed the same principle.
In Eras 1 and 2, the architecture reflected early Three Kingdoms style, and only by Era 3 did it begin to resemble early Goryeo and Joseon.
‘Where is it.’
Almond’s focus on the buildings’ appearances wasn’t because he’d suddenly developed an aesthetic interest.
‘The research facility….’
He had memorized the research facility’s appearance in preparation for becoming Chataemeen, and now he was searching for it.
‘Finding it among all these other buildings is harder than I thought.’
He was struggling more than expected with locating the building.
‘Stay under the eaves as much as possible.’
He moved only beneath the overhanging roofs.
Since commanders typically observed from an elevated perspective, moving this way kept him out of their sight.
The problem was that moving this way limited his view of the buildings.
[Time Remaining: 00:19]
Time was running out.
Soon his disguise would expire.
Before finding the research facility, he needed to kill someone.
Killing one of the enemies would reset the disguise’s cooldown.
In other words, he could reapply the disguise immediately once it wore off.
‘There’s no one nearby.’
The problem was that with the full-scale battle raging, there were no soldiers left in this area.
‘Workers, then.’
The workers were somewhat distant, but visible over there.
Several workers moved about carrying hammers and sandbags, apparently preparing to construct a new building.
Whoosh—
Almond slipped into a dark shadow, positioned himself, and drew the bow hidden behind his cloak.
He also retrieved the tong-a concealed at his side along with a single short arrow.
[Time Remaining: 00:11]
Time was running short.
I place the aegit-sal into the tong-a, nock it against the bowstring, and draw both back together.
Grrrrk.
With the primal draw of the gakgung, Almond holds his breath.
‘One shot.’
The distance was considerable.
This is my first time shooting such a distance with a bow.
Using the pyeonjeon in actual combat is also a first for me.
[Time Remaining: 00:06]
I remain silent and still, waiting for one of the workers to properly enter the tower.
Thud. Thud…
Then, footsteps sound from nearby.
The vibration is distinctly felt through my knees touching the ground.
‘They’re coming.’
Someone is heading this way.
Did they notice? Or is it coincidence?
[Time Remaining: 00:04]
There’s no time.
There’s no room to verify.
The arrowhead wavers briefly, then locks onto a single point.
The worker’s torso.
I aim squarely at the torso.
Even without targeting the head, with concentration maxed out, the pyeonjeon, and Chataemeen’s ranged attack bonus, it’s naturally a one-shot kill.
Rather, I should worry whether the one behind will die as well.
[Time Remaining: 00:02]
Skreee.
Almond slowly releases the tension in his right hand and lets the bowstring go.
[Time Remaining: 00:01]
Fwooooosh—!
The sound barrier breaks, and the air tears apart.
[Disguise Deactivated]
Shssssht.
The disguise crumbles away, revealing the black clothes I was originally wearing underneath.
──Thunk!
Far in the distance, the worker collapses limply.
At the same moment, a voice calls out from behind.
“Hey. What are you doing?”
So the footsteps really were heading this way.
[Disguise Activated]
Almond turned around and gave a shrug.
“….”
He said nothing.
It would be translated, but it would sound awkward anyway.
The enemy was still far away.
Almond had already transformed into a different Viking.
He just wanted them to pass by.
“…Huh? Did you just revive too?”
But of all people, he’d transformed into someone this Viking knew.
“I thought you died a while back. Looks like you died again. You’ve got Valhalla and everything, so what happened?”
The Viking stopped in his tracks and spoke for a moment.
When Almond didn’t respond, he thought he was too far away to be seen and approached.
“What? Can’t you see me!? I’m Chad.”
This was an urgent all-out war, and yet he had so much to say.
Almond bit his lip firmly.
‘Is he from the same squad?’
The thug kept approaching.
Almond had no choice but to turn down a different path and disappear from sight.
“Huh?”
He seemed to notice something, stopped talking, and hurriedly followed Almond.
“You bastard, who are you—”
──Whoosh!
The moment he turned the corner, an arrow glowing with white light met him.
Chataemeen’s long-range attack bonus, focus, headshot.
With this trinity combo added together, even a four-era Viking fell helplessly.
‘He’ll revive.’
Almond approached him and retrieved the sword.
Whoooosh…!
The Viking rose again, burning with white light.
“You bastard—”
Huh?
He rose up burning with vengeance, but Almond was nowhere in his sight.
‘The sword….’
His hand flailed uselessly through empty air.
The sword was gone.
The answer came quickly.
──Crash!
A powerful impact rushed from behind, and the world spun once.
His head flew off.
Since his vitality wasn’t that high right after revival, a direct hit meant he died far more easily than expected.
Moreover, I could lose my weapon during the resurrection interval.
My opponent knew that weakness precisely.
‘What is this bastard?’
It was a flawless Four-Era Viking assassination with no openings.
I never imagined I’d be helpless, unable to move a single finger.
“Chad.”
Whether it was an answer to a question or a recitation to remember.
Almond murmured the name Chad toward the severed head that had fallen away, then disappeared into another street.
* * *
With ample time for disguise, finding the laboratory was quick.
‘Here it is.’
I walked in through the entrance confidently.
There were naturally no guards blocking me.
This game was ultimately an RTS where soldiers fought each other on the field.
Not an infiltration action game.
They hadn’t stationed guards at the laboratory for a single Chataemeen.
Besides, I had essentially already penetrated numerous guards to get here.
The laboratory had a very simple structure.
Upon entering, wine-colored wallpaper with gold lighting sparkled, and beneath it stood a large bookshelf.
Most of the books placed there were gray.
However, some books were glowing with a faint, muted color.
‘That’s it.’
Those were the technology books with completed research.
‘From here….’
My eyes, scanning swiftly, fixed on one particular book.
[Valhalla]
I smiled and reached toward it.
[Infiltration]
The skill activated.
[Will you acquire the research ‘Valhalla’?]
[*You may only take one research.]
From the beginning, what was discussed was Valhalla.
Naturally, my answer was ‘Yes’.
Ding.
[You have acquired the research ‘Valhalla’.]
The activation was immediate with no delay.
[Return and share the research results.]
However, it only applies if I return with this research.
[Disguise]
I activated the skill cooldown that had been reset.
I transformed into the appearance of Chad, whom I had just killed.
Now I even knew the name of the target I was disguised as.
Dealing with the situation had become far more manageable.
* * *
Almond, now wearing Chad’s appearance, quietly slipped out of the research facility and found the enemy barracks.
Already one worker and one soldier had been killed.
Leaving alone again from the enemy lines here would be far too conspicuous.
My plan was to join the Viking warriors who were respawning in the barracks and return to the Joseon camp.
Since I had roughly memorized where Chad had come from earlier, I traced back in the opposite direction and the barracks appeared quickly.
“Ah. He’s dead.”
“Got hit by a volley of pyeonjeon and just died.”
“Hah… Still, we were the last ones to engage. We should be winning, right?”
“With Valhalla on our side, we’re almost 80 percent guaranteed to win.”
Ignoring the chatter of the soldiers who had died and respawned, Almond took a wide detour and stood inconspicuously in front of the barracks.
‘I’ll join here, leave naturally, and then we part ways.’
Before even 2 or 3 seconds had passed, they received orders and began running somewhere.
Almond ran after them.
Creak, creak, creak.
The gate opened safely, and I had escaped the Viking camp.
‘Phew.’
Almond unconsciously let out a breath of relief.
‘Move quietly.’
I had to avoid combat at all costs.
「Chataemeen is not a combat specialist, but an intelligence operative.」
A paradoxical unit that could fight best but had to avoid fighting the most.
The backs of the Vikings ahead looked like targets, tempting me, but Almond engraved Cookie’s words into his mind and slowly followed the group.
But then—
“Huh?”
“What? Did the ping register wrong?”
“…?”
Suddenly, all the Vikings around me turned to look at me.
“Hey. Chad. Weren’t you supposed to be attacked?”
For some reason.
Chad’s lips curled up slightly.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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