The Veteran Swordmaster’s Stream (Novel) - Chapter 89
Chapter 89
It was when they confirmed that no one was at the third capture point they arrived at that they noticed something was amiss.
The empty capture point and the quiet surroundings.
They weren’t preparing a surprise attack, which meant they had clearly retreated. It was as expected.
Wouldn’t it be obvious that the regular users would lose if they fought them?
Yet, intuition was saying that something was suspicious.
“Hmm. Let’s capture it first.”
They stepped inside the capture point.
The red border indicating the boundary of the capture point turned purple.
“Honestly, what are we three doing just to beat one guy.”
Heavenly Killing Star said self-deprecatingly.
The red icon indicating the distant Point Gap likewise turned purple.
It wasn’t a normal style of play, and the somewhat strange progression felt quite odd.
“Are we going to idle here?”
“No. Let’s secure the in-game objects too.”
“Objects” referred to special targets in the game, starting from essential things like capture points and fortresses to minor things like animals on the map.
Hunting animals, which were such objects, or capturing informants hidden here and there yielded a certain amount of experience points, even if not as much as killing soldiers in the center.
What they needed to do now was to reach level 6 as quickly as possible and settle the match.
“It doesn’t seem like they’ll come to steal the point. Since there’s no need to sit and defend here, we have no choice.”
Under normal circumstances, situations where players secured minor objects rarely occurred.
They were already too busy dealing with enemies coming to occupy points, so where was the time to secure such things?
“But why is this like this?”
JustOnePenny said, looking at the fortress health.
[Blue: 588] vs [Red: 1,000]
Considering the momentum with which it was rapidly depleting just a moment ago, it wouldn’t be strange for it to fall to the 510s, but as if that momentum had waned, plenty of health remained.
Was it 488, but they captured a point and recovered 100 health?
The 100 health lost during occupation did not inflict permanent damage.
Because if it was recaptured, the health lost previously was restored.
JustOnePenny checked if there was any capture point they had occupied.
Point Gap and Point Byeong were still purple, in the process of being captured.
“What is it?”
The Heavenly Demon had clearly jumped straight into the center with the aim of widening the gap as much as possible, but.
Could it be.
“Was killing the soldiers bait to cut us off?”
Although he hadn’t dismissed the possibility, wasn’t that person someone who played occupation battles very carelessly?
True.
Even during the duel, I didn’t expect him to suddenly choose other traits.
Did he secretly enjoy mind games too?
Regretting that he hadn’t been more vigilant against the enemy, JustOnePenny looked at the forest directly ahead from inside the point.
Inside the shadow cast by the thick green foliage.
He couldn’t verify anything, but it felt as if a beast was waiting inside to hunt.
“Hey, it seems the Heavenly Demon isn’t in the center right now.”
“What?”
“I think he’ll be here soon. Get ready.”
The icon indicating the capture of the point kept spinning.
The occupation would be completed in 10 seconds.
Since he would surely block it, it meant running into the Heavenly Demon was only a few seconds away.
What should they do now?
They had only thought of easily hitting level 6 and fighting, but if the opponent acted this way, they had no choice but to engage in a mind game.
Should they have stuck together from the start instead?
Things got tangled.
“He’s coming.”
As expected.
At the moment when only a few seconds remained for point occupation, a user appeared with his hands behind his back.
He’s even posing now.
Crazy.
[Heavenly Demon 14]
He was now an enemy who even forced strategies.
***
[Capturing Point Gap]
[Enemy Fortress Health -100]
[Blue: 784] vs [Red: 799]
NamgungFamilyWaiter easily occupied the empty Point Gap.
The opponent seemed to have retreated after defeating the user who was his teammate.
“Excluding the Heavenly Demon, what is the skill level of the other users in this game?”
To set a baseline, he would probably need to know the contribution score of all eight players in this game, but regular users had no way of knowing contribution scores.
“Shall I secure an in-game object then?”
Although JustOnePenny was usually good at making calls in this regard so they followed him, during battle, it was basic to assess the situation and act on one’s own.
He looked at the forest directly ahead to secure additional experience points.
But.
“Why isn’t that capture point changing color.”
As far as he recalled, the icon for Point Byeong marked in purple had changed to purple even before that.
Did the opponent over there not retreat?
In the team chat, there was only a single line left by JustOnePenny.
– Watch out for Heavenly Demon
“What is it?”
Could the Heavenly Demon have gone to Point Byeong?
He immediately checked the fortress health.
Looking at the fortress health, he realized that his team had occupied Point Byeong for the moment.
Since the enemy fortress health was down by 200, it meant they had captured capture points.
So the reason Point Byeong was purple now was that a fight to recapture their point was taking place.
And seeing that it was steadily depleting by 5, it meant someone was also in the center for now.
If the Heavenly Demon had gone to Point Byeong, now was the chance to go to the center and kill soldiers.
But if he went to the center and the Heavenly Demon was there, and the user hidden near here recaptured the point, it would be a loss.
It was a very awkward situation to decide what to do.
“Still, a conclusion will be reached soon.”
He headed for the forest path connecting Point Gap and Point Eul.
To make it easiest to respond while assessing the situation.
If Point Gap changed, he could return, and if the Heavenly Demon had gone to Point Byeong, he could watch for the timing…
– Heavenly Demon Byeo-
– OK, going to Eul
It seemed it was indeed true.
Indeed, what regular user would pick a fight to recapture a point against two rankers?
There were traces of Heavenly Killing Star busily typing on the virtual keyboard during battle.
He increased his speed toward the center.
‘Why didn’t I think the Heavenly Demon would cut us off?’
Probably.
Because that streamer had acted recklessly so far, relying purely on his mechanics?
Whatever it was, he made the optimal judgment he could right now.
Even if you couldn’t prepare, it was fine as long as you responded well.
‘At the center capture point, it’ll just be a regular user at best.’
Stepping out of the forest path into a spacious clearing, he saw an enemy user clearing soldiers.
And simultaneously.
The color of Point Gap behind him changed from blue to purple.
Someone was attempting to capture the point.
‘I knew someone would be hiding near Point Gap. Then I’ll quickly dispose of the user in the center and…’
However, as he approached with sword raised, the opponent just fled backward.
He headed for the point next to the center with a displeased face.
“I’m occupying this?”
The distant enemy nodded and gave a thumbs up, and he scratched his head awkwardly.
Point Gap was lost, and Point Eul was captured.
[Capturing Point Eul]
[Enemy Fortress Health -100]
[Blue: 746] vs [Red: 784]
Since the enemy currently occupied only one point and they occupied two, they stood to gain even by just maintaining the status quo.
However, since there was that user who cleared soldiers at the center point, it might have been at a similar level until now, but that was also blocked just now.
Because experience points went hand-in-hand with the fortress health, a favorable situation could unfold if they just dragged out time like this.
His comrade seemed to have made the same judgment.
He began to clear the soldiers.
And a notification rang.
[Heavenly Demon 14 –> JustOnePenny]
He was flustered by the news of his comrade’s death, which came much faster than expected.
And JustOnePenny, who became free after dying, left him a chat.
– Heavenly Killing Star is still left, so just quickly clear the soldiers.
A few seconds later, another notification appeared.
[Heavenly Demon 14 –> Heavenly Killing Star]
He isn’t left.
– He is seriously so damn strong. It’s hard to even hold out.
– It seems he intentionally challenged us to a fight after occupying it so we would choose to hold out instead of fleeing.
Point Byeong would be lost.
If the Heavenly Demon came to the center now?
“I think I have to return to Point Gap after all.”
If he got caught here, the enemy could activate three capture points again.
– Waiter, go to Point Gap quickly. There was one more user at Point Byeong. The Heavenly Demon has probably set off now.
He was in a position where he had to return without even clearing a few soldiers.
– OK, returning for now
***
The Orthodox Faction’s fortress.
“We took a blow from his divide-and-conquer. To think he’d use his head.”
Since the enemy was one person, he targeted Point Gap and Point Byeong simultaneously.
If they had predicted that the Heavenly Demon would come to Point Byeong, they would have sent one person to each of the three locations to gain a profit.
“We underestimated him too much.”
Although it was a pity, the game was not over.
“Indeed.”
[Blue: 498] vs [Red: 976]
The current situation was that the enemy occupied all three points, and NamgungFamilyWaiter was returning to Point Gap to recapture it.
In a word, it was disadvantageous.
To think hitting level 6 would be this difficult.
What should they do next?
JustOnePenny’s brain worked rapidly, but a suitable method didn’t easily come to mind.
In the first place, was this not the first time they had drafted a strategy or played a game assuming an opponent who absolutely won against three rankers?
They had to have imagined such a setup before.
‘Despite that, the opponent is playing with us.’
He was smart.
He wondered if he had prepared in advance.
“First, we must gather.”
“Yes. Let’s aim to safely reach level 6. It seemed the Heavenly Demon was keeping that in check too. He even laid a trap.”
Trap.
From the moment he saw Seo-jun grinding soldiers with clenched teeth at the start, he had already fallen into the trap.
“Then for now, toward Point Gap… Hold on.”
JustOnePenny, who was constantly watching the fortress health, felt an uneasy premonition flowing through his body along with a question.
Their fortress health was depleting way too slowly.
Since the waiter had arrived at Point Gap, the Heavenly Demon should have arrived at the center too, but.
[Blue: 623] vs [Red: 876]
Could it be.
JustOnePenny turned to Heavenly Killing Star with an ominous expression.
“Hey.”
“Yes?”
“I think we’ve been done in.”
“What?”
Probably.
Seo-jun had not gone to the center capture point.
Instead, he was probably coming straight here from Point Byeong.
Because.
Thinking about it carefully, he would have done so too.
“Spawn camping.”
He began to mutter.
“Is it a 3-second invincibility after respawning outside the fortress? You can’t run backward, though.”
“What is…”
Then JustOnePenny flared up.
“Ah… He seriously plays the game like absolute trash!”
The Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
Please nerf both the damage and the movement speed completely.
***
– Just how much INT did you stat, seriously! lol.
– No, to think he’s looking for a spawn camp angle against rankers, lololol.
– The boy who sees the future!
– Zhuge Heavenly Demon’s form is insane.
– Zhuge Heavenly Demon, wtf, lol.