Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 844

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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 314
102. The Bigger Picture (1)
The strengths and weaknesses of a map are ultimately subject to interpretation, but there certainly exist maps designed to favor certain civilizations.
Such is the case with the Treacherous Mountain Gorge.
With 80% of the terrain consisting of mountains, any civilization with a mountain-related faction held an inherent advantage.
“Now, the Treacherous Mountain Gorge is among the most brutal mountain maps in Civil M!!”
Perhaps that’s why the commentators appeared quite excited.
“Actually, when there are too many mountainous terrains, Joseon—which relies primarily on archery—has sometimes found itself at a disadvantage! But this season’s Joseon has been recording quite impressive win rates on mountain maps!?”
Originally, mountain maps had been a double-edged sword for Joseon. While movement speed increased in the mountains, the numerous obstacles made it difficult to fully utilize archery.
However, this season’s Joseon had overcome this challenge through various methods.
“Especially with Almond leading the charge, quite a number of our players now employ curve shots! For the current Joseon, mountain maps are truly welcome news!”
They had trained to hit targets behind obstacles, and for at least the frontline archers, mountain maps were no longer a significant hindrance.
“Now, as we were speaking, the game has begun~ Rome at 12 o’clock! Blue team! Joseon at 6 o’clock! Red team!”
The match officially commenced.
The blue and red dots on the screen began moving busily.
“Since it’s a straight line, the distance is quite close. Joseon might pull off some bold opening moves here?”
“Meanwhile, Rome might be prepared to counter any opening aggression?”
“Exactly. Many experts have said this final match will be a battle between Joseon’s aggressive onslaught and Rome’s defensive containment? The two-game structure seems to be shaping up that way?”
The Treacherous Mountain Gorge, with sheer cliffs rising on all sides.
Here, most civilizations without Joseon’s mountain terrain movement speed buff would face mobility restrictions.
“Rome will likely have difficulty establishing an early advance timing on this map.”
“Rome’s vaunted second-era chariots and such will be difficult to deploy, so they won’t have any speed-focused strategies. That’s why they’re conducting reconnaissance in large, concentrated groups?”
Rome had organized their scouts in groups of ten.
Considering that the standard scouting formation was typically five per group, this was quite a defensive approach.
“Ah. Why is that?”
“Because there’s almost nothing to gain in the early game. So if they encounter enemy scouts, they want to eliminate them. That’s the idea.”
Rome’s scout groups were twice as numerous.
Their scouting efficiency was half as fast, but their combat power when they did meet was incomparable.
Defensive as scouts, but aggressive as a fighting force.
“Joseon is reading the map information at a relatively much faster pace.”
Meanwhile, Joseon was increasing their scouting speed.
Though organized in groups of five, they would split into two or three smaller teams when necessary to share information.
“Joseon is having fun right now!? Even if Rome forms groups of ten, when they encounter Joseon, they can just run away!?”
“Ah! Because they’re faster! I see!?”
“Yes. So even with greater numbers, Rome can’t easily catch Joseon!”
“Ah…! Then what should Rome do to catch them?”
“They’d need to set up an ambush and launch a surprise attack! But in a situation where map information is coming in slowly! Such tactics don’t tend to work well.”
The side attempting an ambush needs to know the terrain better, but currently the situation is reversed.
Joseon is gaining more terrain information.
Yet Rome’s forces continue to maintain their ten-person scout groups.
It didn’t spread any further, instead remaining hidden near specific terrain as if defending it.
The intention was to gain an advantage early no matter what.
“Ah. Rome seems quite obsessed with gaining early advantages, doesn’t it?”
King Gul tilted his head at Anto’s assessment.
“Indeed. They’re abandoning reconnaissance to this extent?”
The rugged mountain gorge was literally a terrain of extreme difficulty. Thus, information about the terrain directly determined victory or defeat.
Without knowing which areas were uphill and which downhill, which positions could see which locations, or where attacks could land from where—one could never conduct favorable combat.
Yet Anto meticulously searched only the terrain near his own base while rarely dispersing his forces.
“Isn’t this just ‘catch one guy and we’re done’!?”
As Caster said, it could be an extreme strategy—gain an advantage just once and retreat.
“Exactly. It seems they’re thinking… they need to gain an early advantage on this map to have any chance against Joseon… is that it?”
Sometimes players become fixated on the idea that they’re at a disadvantage and throw such desperate gambles.
They don’t even realize that throwing such desperate gambles is itself part of the reason they’re disadvantaged.
So King Gul also viewed the current situation as a ‘catch one guy, make it work somehow’ strategy.
If only the commander of this strategy wasn’t Anto.
“But still, no matter how I look at it… I can’t understand the intention?”
King Gul ultimately had to hold his tongue.
‘What exactly is this?’
He couldn’t decipher Anto’s strategy.
Why exactly?

* * *
‘This map is…’
Cookie recalled the conversation he’d had with the Sync Tank Team when he first saw the map.
「Assassinate the Priest.」
Priest assassination.
The guaranteed winning strategy against Rome that Chiseung had proposed.
If beginners had discussed this, someone would surely have protested: ‘Who doesn’t know Rome is disadvantaged if the Priest is assassinated?’
But these were all professionals.
Their conversation operated on an entirely different level.
Everyone knew the Priest was important—Anto knew it, Cookie knew it, every gamer knew it—but the discussion was about being able to assassinate them despite that.
And they had even provided proper reasoning for why it would work.
‘Even Anto doesn’t know that angle.’
A truly absurd angle discovered purely by chance.
No matter how much Rome cared for and protected the Priest, they couldn’t prepare for events occurring outside their awareness.
‘If you don’t know, you die.’
This wasn’t just some random saying that lingered in gaming circles.
In games—or rather, in war—ignorance meant death.
Cookie began maximizing reconnaissance efficiency.
[Flee if encountering enemies]
And I instructed all reconnaissance personnel to flee if they encountered the Enemy.
[Reconnaissance objective: high cliffs near Enemy territory]
I designated where the scouts would report their signals.
Scouts scattered in groups of five gradually split into groups of three and two, revealing more and more locations.
We encountered Rome scouts, but it was inconsequential.
Joseon forces used the mountainous terrain to escape in an instant.
Then other scouts pushed back into that area and expanded our visibility.
After that, it was repetition.
Encounter and flee, spread out further, then flee again….
We maintained an overwhelming advantage in gathered intelligence.
Naturally, hunting became easier as well.
But then─
“!?”
──Ding!
A signal indicating attack came through.
‘What?’
Looking at where the signal originated, our scouts were surrounded by Rome scouts.
‘Why is this many here…?’
The numerical disparity was absurd.
‘Why couldn’t they even flee?’
Moreover, they couldn’t escape.
Approximately seven to eight Joseon soldiers were surrounded by twenty Rome soldiers.
Unable to break out in any direction, they began taking a beating.
Thwack thwack thwack!
Cookie froze for a moment, watching the scene unfold.
‘….’
Rome had deployed this many soldiers for this single moment.
This number was necessary to cover terrain of this size and prevent Joseon from escaping.
But if Anto had failed this gambit, he would have had to continuously absorb massive losses alone.
‘Anto would take such a gamble?’
It was literally a gamble.
Cookie was bewildered.
‘What is this even.’
Someone might say it.
Why fall for such an obvious opponent’s gambit.
But that’s something only those who understand nothing could say.
‘This shouldn’t be possible?’
Hunting, reconnaissance, management, terrain… given the nature of so many variables to consider, it makes no sense that this many Rome soldiers would be deployed here at this moment.
No, deployment is possible. If one were willing to stake everything on this location.
If you grabbed a random passerby and told them to bet half their entire fortune on whether I’d go backward or forward from here right now?
I would be treated as a madman.
Yet now Anto had made that bet, and succeeded.
Did this even make sense?
Was Anto simply lucky?
Or was he in such a desperate situation that he had to rely on luck?
If neither of those…

* * *
“With Joseon’s forces completely wiped out here… Rome is starting off in quite good spirits?”
A 20 versus 7 fight meant Joseon’s forces were overwhelmingly annihilated.
“Ah. Rome is ultimately turning this risk into a return?”
“It was high risk, low return, but if they’ve turned it into a return? Since the risk didn’t materialize, it’s just pure profit, right?”
What the hell is this?
Does this even work? Damn it.
The cookies and forms are all messed up again.
-Why are they falling for this
-Getting hit by tactics only beginners use.
The viewers were bewildered.
A strategy only beginners would use? In a way, that was true.
‘Wait. Why does it seem like Anto knows about this?’
But to King Gul’s eyes, it looked different.
Anto’s movements seemed as though he knew exactly where Cookie wanted to scout properly.
“Huh? Again in succession!? There are so many mistakes in the reconnaissance!?”
Joseon’s forces were cornered and died once more.
Rome gained an advantage again, though on a smaller scale.
“Rome! Starting off in great spirits like this!? They’re completely controlling the hunting grounds here too! If they do this, even 10-man or 20-man squads become efficient!”
Rome gains a slight additional advantage in reconnaissance.
In fact, this was a map where Rome shouldn’t have been able to gain such an advantage.
“Is this a déjà vu from the first set earlier? Joseon clearly has the advantage on this map? Yet Rome is starting with the advantage!?”
Occasionally, in battles between masters, even stark matchups reverse themselves.
King Gul realized he was witnessing exactly that right now.
‘They know. Damn it. I don’t know what Joseon is trying to do. But Rome clearly knows.’
The same thing had happened twice.
Moreover, watching all of this unfold before him, he could be certain.
The movements of the signs were far too systematic and seamless.
This wasn’t the play of someone trembling in anxiety and throwing out desperate gambles.
Rome was predicting Joseon’s movements.
But the problem was, he couldn’t figure out what basis they were using to predict them.
‘What exactly does Joseon want?’
King Gul carefully analyzed the situation.
“Well… Joseon is currently conducting reconnaissance quite aggressively toward Rome’s main base, right? This is reconnaissance that doesn’t really need to go this far. In the early stages like this, securing hunting grounds comes first.”
Subtle as it was, Joseon’s reconnaissance toward Rome’s main base was noticeably more aggressive.
“Ah, I see. Why would they attempt something like this?”
“Perhaps they just want to see what’s there… Normally, they’d scout a bit, then use their speed to escape and retreat, but…”
This was mountainous terrain.
In the early game, Rome had no way to catch up with Joseon if they retreated.
So it wasn’t a high-risk reconnaissance.
It shouldn’t have been.
“The problem is that Rome knows exactly which path Joseon is taking, right?”
-??
-Lol what
-They know which way they’re coming??
-What lmaooo
-Huh?
The viewers expressed bewilderment at King Gul’s words.
The reconnaissance phase of Civil Empire was when 200 soldiers moved in perfect unison—not just one or two.
Predicting all these movements was nonsensical.
Moreover, what Rome was currently displaying was a pressure-based play—surrounding them with several times the manpower.
To predict, you’d need to know where the opponent was coming from not in 2-3 second intervals, but almost 30 seconds in advance.
Was that even possible?
“No, otherwise Cookie wouldn’t have fallen for it twice! And Anto wouldn’t keep executing these risky gambits!”
-Is that actually true tho?
-Well that makes sense
-Just looks like Almond to me
-?
-If you don’t know, just watch lol
-How would anyone know that lmaooo
But then, at that moment.
King Gul’s eyes perceived it.
‘Huh?’
It was a truly grand picture—one that could only be seen from the very top.
You had to view the battlefield at a minimap scale.
Only then did it become visible.
‘…Am I being herded?’
Rome hadn’t predicted Joseon’s movements.
They were moving exactly as he wanted them to.
[Upon encounter, retreat]
This was the trap that command had created.

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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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