Kim Sung-jin hadn’t played the game by entirely dismissing the possibility of her opponent’s strategies.
Numerous clues had been provided.
Observing that her opponent’s forces appeared surprisingly sparse, she had surmised they must have invested their resources elsewhere.
The crux of the issue, however, lay in the fact that her assumption was entirely misguided.
Kim Sung-jin had utterly failed to anticipate that her opponent would employ a knight drop strategy.
In a Human vs. Human mirror match, opponents facing such dire straits frequently resorted to air units, attempting to catch their adversary off guard.
More precisely, they would typically harass workers with the Human air unit, the ‘Spirit Weaver,’ before eventually progressing to the [Spirit Assimilation] upgrade.
Spirit Weavers, once empowered by Spirit Assimilation, proved to be exceptionally troublesome.
This was due to their ability to nullify all attacks, unless they were first revealed by a detection skill.
‘I had, of course, fully expected Spirit Weavers to be deployed…’
The perfect countermeasure for them was already in place.
It was the Dwarf Anti-Air Trooper, an anti-air specialized unit produced from the Advanced Barracks.
Before the Dwarven ballistas, a Spirit Weaver soaring through the sky was nothing more than a sitting target.
Thus, her strategy was to intercept any Spirit Weavers attempting to infiltrate her main base with these formidable Anti-Air Troopers.
– My lord’s will is my path!
Yet, what came crashing into her main base were not ethereal air units, but four heavily armored knights.
Her opponent had evidently bypassed Spirit Weavers altogether, opting instead to immediately produce hot air balloons.
‘A true gambler…’
While hot air balloons were indeed air units, they were exclusively specialized for transport, rendering them utterly incapable of attack.
Even with a substantial investment of infrastructure and resources to produce just one of these, the raw power of one’s forces saw no increase whatsoever.
Consequently, her opponent absolutely had to secure an overwhelming advantage from this knight drop, to a degree that could only be described as decisive.
Should they fail to inflict significant damage, it would not be surprising to see a ‘GG’ (Good Game) immediately conceded.
Despite this, her opponent had chosen to produce hot air balloons, rather than offensive units like Spirit Weavers.
Such a decision was one only a truly audacious gambler would dare to make.
This particular judgment had succeeded in piercing Kim Sung-jin’s blind spot with pinpoint accuracy.
– Only glorious victory!
The knights immediately began to ravage her workers.
Though she hastily dispatched defensive forces to pursue the enemy knights and ordered her Dwarf workers to flee, it was to little avail.
The Dwarf Anti-Air Troopers, with their limited ground attack power and slow movement speed, found it exceedingly difficult to contain the knights.
Ultimately, she was forced to swallow her frustration and recall her follow-up forces, which had been steadily advancing toward her opponent’s natural expansion, back to her main base.
‘If I had simply defended my main base with ordinary knights or mages, this would have been immediately repelled. How could such a gamble even be conceived?… Could it be that my intention to defend with Dwarf Anti-Air Troopers was somehow read?’
– You are being attacked by the enemy.
Startled by the sudden, piercing warning, she swiftly shifted her screen to her opponent’s natural expansion.
While Kim Sung-jin was preoccupied with fending off the knights in her main base, her main offensive force, now stalled without reinforcements, came under attack.
A knight, descending from a second hot air balloon, dropped directly onto the head of Kim Sung-jin’s Battle Mage, who had been strategically positioned upon a magic circle.
Simultaneously, the enemy forces that had been held at the entrance began to pour forth.
Concurrently, the knights were mercilessly ravaging Kim Sung-jin’s workers.
[Wow, f***ing multi-tasking battle]
[Enemy mages are attacking from the high ground, that’s brutal]
[Who is this opponent?]
[Her screen is whipping around so fast]
Multi-tasking was, in fact, an area where Kim Sung-jin herself excelled.
Utilizing hotkeys, she began to rapidly shuttle her attention between both screens, controlling her forces multiple times per second.
The sheer intensity of the high-level offense and defense left viewers clamoring about dizziness.
Thankfully, the knights who had landed in her main base were successfully subdued.
No, to label it a ‘success’ would be a considerable stretch.
Far too many workers had perished in the skirmish.
Her main offensive force, which had been applying pressure, did not engage the surging enemy, instead opting for a swift and compliant retreat.
Unlike her opponent, who could continuously churn out reinforcements from their main base, Kim Sung-jin’s own forces were now irrevocably tied up.
A prolonged engagement would inevitably lead to a war of attrition, culminating in the loss of all her units.
For these reasons, she hastily withdrew her main force, accepting the unilateral losses as a necessary evil.
“Tsk…”
The recent engagement had inflicted far too many losses upon her.
In her concentrated effort to eliminate the knights in her main base, she had inadvertently allowed her opponent’s hot air balloon to escape unscathed.
Furthermore, three of her retreating Battle Mages had been captured.
In Human vs. Human mirror matches, the accumulation of Battle Mages—units with notoriously long production times—often dictated the outcome of battles.
Thus, this loss was nothing short of devastating.
[So it’s back to even now;;]
[Nah, the opponent still doesn’t have a natural expansion up yet]
[Looks like 6:4?]
[Still advantageous for now]
Kim Sung-jin, much like her viewers, believed that her advantageous position remained unchanged.
That is, until a colossal structure, tearing through the air, descended from her opponent’s main base and settled squarely into their natural expansion.
“No, was this entire scheme meticulously planned from the start?”
The Dragonkin, themed around faith; the Undead, around dark magic.
Humanity, too, possessed a defining theme, much like the other races: magitech, a sophisticated fusion of magic and engineering.
The cradle of knowledge, meticulously crafted over generations, had birthed marvels utterly impossible to achieve through either magic or engineering in isolation.
A prime example of this was the architectural prowess that enabled certain buildings to float and traverse the skies.
Even the Grand Court, humanity’s central edifice, could be lifted and relocated through the air.
Her opponent had shrewdly exploited this very feature, constructing the Grand Court in their main base long before the present engagement had even begun.
This was to ensure they could immediately activate their natural expansion the moment such a gambit succeeded.
[^______^] : Hot air balloon tech, then producing follow-up forces, and even a Grand Court??
[^______^] : Is that even possible with just main base resources?
.
.
[Low HP Detector] : Didn’t produce any follow-up units.
[^______^] : ?
.
.
[Low HP Detector] : I knew you would retreat, so I didn’t produce any follow-up units.
Kim Sung-jin was abruptly engulfed by a dizzying, sickening sensation.
If that statement held true, it meant she had retreated out of fear of reinforcements that were never even produced,
thereby sacrificing three perfectly innocent Battle Mages for naught.
Any attempt to re-engage now would be futile; it was already too late.
In her opponent’s natural expansion, Battle Mages, settled upon their magic circles, now fiercely bared their fangs.
Charging into that position would be nothing short of suicidal.
[What is this opponent?]
[Even with maphacks, this makes no sense]
[How does he plan his moves like that?]
[Now it’s genuinely even;;]
No. It was not, in fact, even.
While a superficial glance might suggest a 5:5 balance, there existed an intangible yet significant difference in initiative.
Her opponent could now freely advance to the center of the map.
This implied that unilateral harassment, utilizing hot air balloons, was now a constant threat.
Unlike Kim Sung-jin, who lacked any direct means of worker harassment.
‘Stay calm. I’ve allowed myself to be baited too easily.’
Her opponent, too, could not simply advance without obstacles.
Dragon Hunter Traps, strategically laid by her knights during their retreat, were now scattered across the map.
Though their vision range was exceedingly narrow, these traps also possessed vision detection, making them a viable means to track the hot air balloon’s movements.
Furthermore, given that her opponent had foregone producing additional units, Kim Sung-jin still held a numerical advantage in terms of current forces.
While she could not make any grand movements, aware that a knight drop would immediately target her main base the moment she advanced,
she was not, at least, entirely without recourse.
There was only one immediate way to wield these tools at her disposal.
It was to secure an additional expansion and utilize its resources to bolster her defensive forces.
Obeying Kim Sung-jin’s command, Dwarf workers began constructing a Grand Court at the 12 o’clock expansion.
– Ding-a-ling!
She also made sure to leverage the Grand Court’s policy declarations to illuminate the map, thereby discerning her opponent’s movements.
And sure enough,
One of her opponent’s knights was already racing towards the 12 o’clock position, evidently to confirm if Kim Sung-jin was attempting to establish an expansion there.
She swiftly eliminated the knight with her Battle Mages, yet
The mere presence of defensive forces at 12 o’clock would undoubtedly have revealed her intention to secure an additional expansion.
In that case, her opponent would surely move to claim an additional expansion as well.
She then dispatched two knights, sweeping them wide around the map’s periphery, to harass the 6 o’clock position.
She harbored no intention of allowing her opponent to establish an expansion unmolested.
– Gaaah!!
Unlike Kim Sung-jin, her opponent did not possess a significant defensive force stationed at the 6 o’clock position.
Consequently, the moment one of her knights sacrificed itself, she managed to eliminate an enemy worker.
This time, a marked departure from previous engagements, she even clicked on the building under construction, confirming it was indeed a Grand Court.
This indicated that she had, at least marginally, gained an advantage.
Following this, she concentrated on advancing her technology, which had fallen somewhat behind her opponent’s.
As various structures rose, her attention was meticulously divided between an array of upgrades and the continuous production of units.
Given the current unit disparity and slight resource imbalance, she was confident she would be the first to reach the maximum population cap of 200.
That, she knew, would be the opportune moment to push forward.
It was the decisive moment that would determine the outcome of the match.
Her opponent, meanwhile, was systematically clearing the traps scattered across the map, utilizing the non-combat unit ‘Astronomical Vessel’ with its built-in detection capabilities, alongside a small contingent of knights.
This was an essential preparatory task, ensuring their future advance would remain unhindered.
Regardless. Traps, after all, were practically free; three of them came bundled with each knight produced for a mere 75 gold.
Kim Sung-jin, for her part, focused intently on solidifying her internal economy and infrastructure.
[Minimap!!]
[Uh oh, hot air balloon]
[Drop incoming on the natural expansion!!]
[? Something’s also visible at 12 o’clock?]
The anti-air defense towers, erected in anticipation of such drops, relentlessly assailed the airborne objects, yet
The knights, descending upon two separate locations, ultimately sacrificed their hot air balloons, managing to land directly amidst the workers.
This marked the beginning of full-scale harassment.
Kim Sung-jin’s minimap reading, one might say, was precisely what one would expect from a former professional gamer.
She reacted instantly, moving to eliminate her opponent’s knights.
Due to the knights landing directly atop her workers, a tragic incident unfolded: the Battle Mages’ area-of-effect attacks inadvertently swept up her own allied workers.
Ultimately, however, no workers perished from friendly fire.
The Dwarves who had not sustained direct attacks from the knights merely suffered a slight reduction in health.
From this perspective, it was a net gain.
She had, after all, eliminated two of her opponent’s hot air balloons without incurring significant losses.
– You are being attacked by the enemy!
“What?! When did that happen?!”
Startled, she snapped her screen back to her main base, only to find two knights, whose infiltration had gone utterly unnoticed, indiscriminately slaughtering her workers.
Could it be that it wasn’t just two simultaneous attacks, but three?
Having been left unattended for over ten seconds, the workers in her main base were now as sparse and scattered as thinning hair on a balding head.
She dared not even glance at the enemy knights’ kill count.
She hastily pulled her forces from the natural expansion to her main base, subduing the invaders.
How many workers, she wondered, had truly been sacrificed to merely two knights?
The slight advantage she had just secured from destroying the hot air balloons had now spiraled into a colossal loss.
The problem, however, was that this was not the end of her woes.
While a hot air balloon could typically transport four knights, only two had actually disembarked in her main base.
Where, then, were the remaining two?
The answer was simple: hit them where it hurts, again.
– Aaaargh!!
Boom!
With a spectacular boom, five workers at her 12 o’clock expansion simultaneously exploded and perished.
The hot air balloon, having only deployed two knights in her main base, had cunningly redirected itself to the 12 o’clock position, exploiting the precise moment Kim Sung-jin was preoccupied with the main base incursion.
The recent explosion, however, had not been caused by a knight.
Instead, it was Kim Sung-jin’s own Battle Mage, defensively positioned, that had automatically targeted the dropped knight.
The first issue was that the knight had landed precisely in the midst of a tightly clustered group of workers.
The second, and more critical, issue was that due to the preceding harassment, the workers at 12 o’clock were already in a near-death state from the accumulated splash damage.
While her opponent’s knight had been instantly reduced to a corpse without even landing a single attack,
her own workers had perished en masse from the friendly Battle Mage’s area-of-effect attack.
[Low HP Detector] : lol
.
.
[Low HP Detector] : Seeing as you can’t multitask, I’d say you’re a bit past your prime?
Her opponent’s taunts, as sharp as ever, struck home without fail.
The damage, however, was too severe for her to even mount a response.
Such a drastic reduction in resources had utterly derailed her original strategy.
Moreover, she now found herself in a precarious position, forced to anticipate a timing push from her opponent.
Hastily, she utilized Grand Court policies to reveal the map and observe movements, confirming that her opponent was indeed advancing forces towards the 12 o’clock position, spearheaded by an Astronomical Vessel.
For the immediate future, she could hold them off.
But could she truly withstand the inevitable war of attrition that would follow?
With her resource streams now severely crippled, such a demand presented an almost insurmountable challenge.
Her only recourse was to somehow leverage the terrain to her defensive advantage.
She dispatched her main force to the 12 o’clock position, meticulously establishing the most ideal defensive line possible.
She floated her Basic Barracks, strategically securing vision that enabled her Battle Mages to engage from a distance.
Unlike her opponent, she possessed no Astronomical Vessel, leaving her with no alternative but to use buildings for vision.
The engagement soon commenced.
Her opponent’s forces, spearheaded by knights enveloped in mana shields bestowed by the Astronomical Vessel, surged into the 12 o’clock entrance.
Each Battle Mage on both sides meticulously drew magic circles upon the ground, unleashing colossal fireballs at their counterparts.
The air was filled with violent explosions and screams, rattling her headset.
The population counts on both sides rapidly dwindled, as countless units began to fall.
And the outcome was…
“Phew… I barely managed to hold them off.”
She had poured every ounce of her focus into the engagement.
Knowing that an exchange ratio of at least 1.3 was necessary to repel any subsequent pushes, she had micro-managed her units with unparalleled precision, more so than at any other moment in the game.
Consequently, the battle, which had raged for over a minute, concluded with a successful defense.
If she could achieve such an advantageous exchange ratio just one more time, she believed she could replace her lost workers and fully restore her resource income.
Now with a moment’s reprieve, Kim Sung-jin cast a sidelong glance at the chat window.
The recent engagement, even by her own critical standards, had been remarkably well-executed, and she sought to gauge the viewers’ reactions.
The chat window, however, displayed reactions far different from what she had anticipated.
[GG]
[It’s over]
[Losing after a successful defense??]
[Is this real…?]
[GGGG]
A sudden, icy chill snaked down her spine.
Sensing a profound unease, Kim Sung-jin, with a flicker of disbelief, shifted her gaze to the minimap.
The natural expansion. In that now-empty expanse, from which she had just recalled her main force, a crimson dot, signifying an enemy unit, was clearly visible.
Her population count continued its relentless decline, even though the engagement had concluded.
With trembling hands, she shifted her view to the natural expansion.
“Ah…”
There, four knights, each having amassed an impressive six kills, stood defiantly.
The moment her climactic engagement had begun, a drop had simultaneously landed in her natural expansion.
Of course, she had been destined to win that engagement.
Kim Sung-jin had poured all her attention into a single battle, while her opponent had skillfully micro-managed across two screens.
[^______^] : You
[^______^] : Who are you?
[Low HP Detector] : ??
[Low HP Detector] : What are you talking about?
Resources in her main base were slowly but surely dwindling.
Her natural expansion lay utterly devastated, resource gathering brought to a complete halt.
Ultimately, Kim Sung-jin’s sole remaining source of income was her 12 o’clock expansion, whereas her opponent was simultaneously harvesting resources from two locations.
A simple calculation revealed a two-fold resource disparity.
In essence, Kim Sung-jin possessed absolutely no means to repel the inevitable next assault.
The game concluded in a crushing defeat.
[^______^] : Jun-oh?
[^______^] : That knight usage is exactly like Jun-oh.
.
.
[Low HP Detector] : Who’s that?
[^______^] : Are you really not Jun-oh??
[^______^] : Kang Jun-oh, it’s you.
Only now did the realization truly strike her.
Her opponent was, by no means, an ordinary amateur; their skill level far surpassed that of a typical player.
Thus, only one conclusion could be drawn.
It was highly probable that this was a coworker, someone who had deliberately misled her and then covertly ‘sniped’ her in the game.
