Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 845

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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 315
102. The Bigger Picture (2)
Anto grew up on a ranch when he was young.
The ranch was primarily populated by sheep with soft white wool, and there were a couple of herding dogs to manage them.
The herding dogs were Border Collies.
They were remarkably intelligent creatures.
Anto observed those dogs intently.
He found it fascinating how the dogs herded the sheep together.
The Border Collie would dart about with its incredible energy, barking constantly.
Then the sheep would flee in the opposite direction from where it barked.
It was nothing short of miraculous.
Why would the sheep, seeing a dog for the first time in their lives, become frightened and squeeze into their cramped flock?
After observing for a long time, he arrived at a single answer.
Fear.
Dogs are descendants of wolves.
Especially Border Collies—they were not cute Malteses or Poodles.
Like Siberian Huskies or Jindo Dogs, they retained something of the wolf.
Though their appearance seemed gentle and cute, that was from a human perspective.
Not from the sheep’s perspective.
They resembled their natural predator, the wolf. They were distant descendants of that predator.
Though not actual wolves, the mere similarity in appearance caused the sheep to feel the same terror.
Without any actual attack, just barking alone, the sheep were helpless.
The sheep simply bleated and hurried to move away from where the dog was.
That didn’t mean a real wolf wouldn’t eat them. Their movement was painfully slow.
Yet they moved anyway, clinging to the hope: at least I won’t be the one eaten.
These sheep were truly foolish.
However, Anto soon realized that humans could be like these sheep sometimes.
Those who boasted excessively about their strength, those who raised their voices unnecessarily, those who ended up falling into even greater problems as a result—truly foolish.
The source of their foolish behavior was generally fear.
No different from sheep.
They believed themselves different from animals, but that wasn’t what Anto’s observations showed.
Humans too had their own herding dogs.
Only, the human herding dog wasn’t something tangible—it was difficult to identify.
The fear lurking in the depths of their psyche, in that abyss.
Anto always found it.
After entering the second match, it became clear to him.
What Cookie wanted to do, what reconnaissance strategy he would devise.
‘What he feared most.’
What his herding dog was.
‘The terrain.’
Commanders fear most their inability to capitalize when favorable terrain appears.
He would attempt to exploit the mountainous terrain for extreme advantage.
He would conduct aggressive reconnaissance.
Instead, soldiers would scatter into small clusters, making them vulnerable if they encountered Roman forces, but there was a way to mitigate this.
[Encounter them, flee]
Running away.
They were faster here, so they would escape if they met.
That would become Cookie’s guaranteed winning strategy.
And now it had become Anto’s.
[Movement]
[Movement]
[Movement]
.
.
.
Anto maintained a large main force while scattering a few soldiers here and there.
Hunting and reconnaissance were secondary to him.
A creeping fear arose that he would fall behind in resources again.
But Anto understood this.
He had to carry this fear to win.
‘If I start without gaining such an advantage on this map, it’s already over.’
So he made his decision.
He maximized his specialty—his ghostly exploitation of the opponent’s fog of war.
He scattered Roman soldiers sparsely as if there were dozens of them, moving them about.
And when they encountered Joseon forces? He chased them without hesitation.
Then Joseon forces naturally fled.
Along their escape route lay more Roman soldiers.
Encountering them again, Joseon forces fled down another path.
They would think they chose their own route.
But they hadn’t.
Subtle positioning angles and timing.
And the terror born from fog of war.
In this situation, the optimal escape route was already precisely mapped in the human mind.
Moreover, they were programmed by fear like sheep.
[Encounter them, flee]
This command was embedded.
Anto grew more certain watching Joseon’s response.
They had received this command.
So he began designing traps more aggressively.
He gathered twenty to thirty soldiers and herded Joseon forces toward them.
‘King! King!’
Rome barks, and Joseon flees.
‘Baaaa~’
It was as if I could hear the bleating of sheep.
Then, Rome reveals the instincts of a wolf.
[Ambush Lifted]
They were no mere herding dogs.
Wolves in sheep’s clothing.
[Attack]
“Wha—!? Joseon! Complete annihilation!?”
“They went in here!?”
Crunch, crunch, crunch…!
In an instant, Roman Soldiers surround them, and five or six Joseon Soldiers are decimated.
“Ah. So Rome ultimately converts this risk into a return?”
“It was high risk, low return, but if he’s turned it into a return? Since the risk didn’t materialize, it’s just pure gain, right?”
To the commentators’ eyes, this appeared to be nothing more than a high-risk gamble, but there had been no risk from the start.
Even the commentators, who could see the entire map’s vision, couldn’t read the move that Anto was executing while seeing only a fraction of the map.
From the beginning, he didn’t need to know the entire path.
I just need to make the enemy move along the routes I know.
“What—? Again in succession!? The scouts are making a lot of mistakes!?”
The opponent’s mistakes?
No.
They had committed no sin except playing far too well.
No sin except choosing the optimal route for escape.
And that’s precisely why they die.
Good decisions are read.
Bad decisions are punished.
This irony will slowly erode Cookie.
‘Perfect.’
Anto was satisfied.
Because of the two major annihilations?
No.
Eliminating some scout units early on only buys Rome a bit more time.
The greater advantage lies elsewhere.
Now Joseon cannot advance.
‘They never got a proper look at the main base.’
In this game, Anto’s greatest herding dog is precisely the terrain layout inside the main base remaining hidden.

* * *
“Huh? If this continues….”
Chiseung, who had been watching the match, suddenly jumped to his feet. The situation for Joseon was not looking good, making his earlier claim about favorable terrain seem hollow.
[It’s not that Anto knows everything! Anto is playing according to what he knows!?]
[This is a bit of a disadvantage, right? Joseon? Ah, so Joseon is retreating after all?]
[Well, honestly it’s not such a big problem for Joseon, right? The hunting situation is still good….]
No.
Chiseung shook his head involuntarily.
The commentators didn’t understand.
Why this was such a critical problem.
If this happened, they couldn’t see inside the base.
“Wait, we can’t get inside right now? How did this happen? Did Anto turn on map hacks?”
Gob Spear spoke in bewildered confusion.
The entire Joseon Sync Tank Team felt the same way.
“If this happens! How are we supposed to find the position to assassinate the Priest!?”
For Joseon’s winning strategy this round, reconnaissance of the enemy base’s interior terrain was essential.
‘I never thought an obstacle like this would appear.’
They hadn’t anticipated such a hindrance.
Like most RTS games, in Civil Empire it wasn’t particularly difficult to penetrate the enemy base’s courtyard in the early stages and scout around.
Everything was possible except for very unusual places like ancient stone walls.
Moreover, wasn’t this mountainous terrain?
Why on earth?
How was this even happening?
“This….”
Chiseung sensed it instinctively.
Unlike Cookie, he was observing every situation.
And unlike King Gul, he shared strategy with Cookie.
Only by crossing these two conditions could one reach a single conclusion.
“Anto knows.”
Anto knows Joseon’s strategy.
“…What?”
“He knows that we’d want to see the terrain inside….”
I couldn’t fathom how that man predicted something like this.
But it was happening right now.
Chiseung was astounded, but ultimately had no choice but to speak.
“Watch his movements.”
The other Sync Tank Team members stared intently at Anto’s troop movements.
He was herding the Joseon forces like a shepherd, but at the same time, there was something else he was paying more attention to.
“He’s consuming everything near the base, isn’t he?”
“Yeah.”
The position where he would drive back and chase the Joseon forces, ultimately devouring them.
That was near Rome’s main base.
In other locations, even if opportunities arose, he wouldn’t force himself to consume the Joseon forces.
He was only playing this bold move near the main base.
“If this continues, we’ll have no choice but to advance until the 2 o’clock period without knowing the terrain.”
“Doesn’t this mean we need to abandon our plan? Will Cookie find out…?”
Mool Mandu behind him asks with concern.
However, Chiseung shakes his head.
“No. He won’t know yet.”
From Cookie’s perspective, he couldn’t make such a judgment based on just two recent incidents.
“And….”
Even if he did know, there was nothing he could do about it.
“He won’t stop even if he knows.”
The strategy wasn’t completely blocked yet.
If he kept changing strategies just because the opponent showed a slightly strange sign, it would only make things more complicated.
Cookie wouldn’t make such a judgment.
What’s terrifying is that Anto also knows Cookie won’t do that.
He was already intending it that way. To force Cookie to push through with his plan.
He was only taking profits at an appropriate level.
“A ruthless person… But we still haven’t revealed all our cards either.”
“What, what do we have? If we can’t see inside, we can’t enter!”
Grit.
Chiseung ground his teeth.
“Release the falcon.”
“What?”
“We haven’t used it even once yet. We can use it twice. With that, we can illuminate things and find a way somehow.”
Whether Cookie sensed something strange, he was saving both falcon releases in reserve.

* * *
The commentators and audience still had no knowledge of this strategy.
Boom─
[Joseon – Age 2]
Joseon advances to Age 2.
“There we go. Joseon enters Age 2 just slightly ahead! Ah, considering they took out two scout forces earlier, this is incredibly fast. In fact, it’s even faster than expected, isn’t it?”
“That’s right. Well, the truth is Rome being down one worker early on did affect their progression to Age 2, but regardless, Joseon has gotten back on track.”
That’s what they were saying, but in reality, compared to Game 1, the gap in reaching Age 2 had narrowed considerably.
A tense expression was visible on Cookie’s face. This was the moment when Age 2 marked the beginning of the promised strategy.
‘But there’s no information.’
I need to enter the enemy base at Age 2 and seize advantageous positions.
But I don’t know which positions are advantageous.
I haven’t even pinpointed the exact location of the Priest.
However, that wasn’t reason enough to abandon this strategy.
‘If I can’t do it on this map, I’ll never be able to do it.’
Now that a map with rugged mountain valleys had appeared, the Priest assassination plan that Chiseung devised had an extremely high chance of success.
Moreover, if this plan succeeds, I gain considerable advantage in the subsequent games.
If Rome loses this one, they’ll be down two games.
And in both games, they’ll have lost their Priest early.
In Game 3, I’ll have no choice but to handle the Priest very passively.
Then Joseon’s probability of winning increases even further.
‘A moment where I have no choice but to gamble.’
Of course, I was afraid.
Complete darkness in my field of vision.
Hee-cheol’s gaze naturally drifted toward the two falcons flying above the heads of the two assistant commanders.
[Release Falcon × 2]
I still have two falcons left.
Normally I’d use one early and quickly cycle through the long cooldown, but this time I didn’t.
I was saving them for a situation like this.
And─
[Aamond]
The first short bow was granted to Aamond.
[Leader]
Aamond was selected as the Leader.
‘Two falcons, one Aamond….’
Cookie gave a subtle nod.
It was worth trying.
[Infiltration]
A route is marked toward Rome’s main base.

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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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