SWNOVELXO Chapter 92
Chapter 92
Day 13, 7 PM.
The results from the Battlefield of Day 12 were revealed.
“Demonic Cult has claimed one area. We claimed one area, too. The Unorthodox Faction also exchanged one for another.”
Both the Demonic Cult and the Unorthodox Faction succeeded in capturing one area each.
“A rather straightforward outcome.”
All three factions displayed a tendency to focus on defense overall.
You take this area? Then I’ll take one in return. Give me that.
Only minor exchanges occurred this way.
However, a closer look at the detailed results revealed that the value of the lands exchanged between the Demonic Cult and the Orthodox Faction wasn’t the same.
The land claimed by the Demonic Cult was at the northern end and provided a direct approach to the Orthodox Faction’s base, but its value was not high.
Conversely, the land taken from the Demonic Cult was positioned in the middle, providing contact with both the Unorthodox Faction and the Demonic Cult.
Such land holds significant value.
Moreover, the lands shared by all three factions had the disadvantage of being easily lost if two factions combined their forces.
Yet, even if they managed to successfully occupy it through alliance, the faction with higher contribution would claim it. Therefore, these alliances did not frequently occur.
Thus, from the perspective of the Orthodox Faction, it was an advantageous exchange.
『Righteous Victory』
– Look at them turning the game immediately.
– They have no honor.
– This is why those Demonic Cult guys, tsk!
JustOneCoin checked the chat and observed the red signals on the map.
Unlike yesterday, several red markers appeared, but only one needed confirmation.
“They weren’t satisfied with what they got yesterday.”
They are really coming for an attack.
Are they targeting the base?
Not sure.
It seems like they didn’t even consult among their own Demonic Cult members.
“We must stop it.”
When he murmured to himself, a colleague next to him heard it and clapped him on the shoulder.
“Yeah. First, we need to block them. If the Heavenly Demon captures again this time, only one area remains to reach the base.”
Though there was some leeway, that very leeway would disappear through gradual concessions.
Much like how Britain fared against Germany on the Eve of World War II, after conceding bit by bit.
The famous “peace for our time” could be repeated.
– So, who wants to go?
A day had passed, and there were plenty who wanted to volunteer since enough preparation had been made.
The most frequent discussion the day before in No Justice was about how to beat the Heavenly Demon 3 to 1 in the capture battle.
Watching this, JustOneCoin was even more sure that the hotfix had been applied in favor of the Heavenly Demon, but he couldn’t be completely certain.
Let’s take a look.
– I’ll go to devise the strategy.
It wasn’t him who typed the chat.
JustOneCoin disliked fighting and combat with the Heavenly Demon even more.
– Let’s go.
– Let’s try sending out four people, and if it becomes a 3 to 1 match, we act based on the situation.
– Ok.
Courageous ones.
Good luck.
JustOneCoin somberly shifted his gaze from the chat window to the map.
The red-marked area list was updated.
Demonic Cult had four personnel.
In the meantime, a nickname had appeared.
‘Looks like they had a similar thought. Given the support and the three members who came.’
Of course, Sojun wouldn’t just count as one ranker.
『Heavenly Demon14』
『Bandit King』
『Tang So』
『I Like Single Color』
Orthodox Faction also had four.
『Devil Wears Brother』
『Old Expert』
『Heaven-Slayer Star』
『GiveSomeAdvice』
That Heaven-Slayer Star is doing a relentless trial.
Despite losing so many times, it’s impressive.
Recalling the 12 successive wins amused JustOneCoin, but he quickly shook his head to cool off.
‘How things will unfold depends.’
He thought of the future actions.
The objective of this Battlefield could be summarized in one sentence.
Stop the Heavenly Demon.
It was just his intuition, but sometimes his intuition worked wonders.
『Caught. Let’s go catch the Orthodox.』
A bothersome voice echoed.
* * *
『We won thanks to me.』
『Don’t talk nonsense, Tang So.』
『Hah. What do you think would’ve happened without my backup?』
JustOneCoin sneered at their conversation.
Tang So is still the same.
To put it simply, the match became 3 vs 2, not a 3 vs 1.
Why it wasn’t 4 vs 3 might be known only to MubiSoft, but roughly, he thought he got it.
The balance was quite appropriate.
Ultimately, if they could kill Sojun even once, it would be a favorable balance to progress the game easily.
‘Whether that’s truly possible, I don’t know.’
『Of course, we won.』
『Why talk so blandly? It’s only because I helped that the Demonic Cult now has a chance to win.』
『Tang So.』
『Why call me?』
『Shut up and exit the game now.』
How consistent.
Anyway, if every match moving forward was going to be 3 vs 2, reaching the conclusion that stopping the Heavenly Demon through the game itself would be extremely difficult.
Should I just leave it to my comrades?
– If it’s 3 vs 2, and perhaps at the stronghold…
– No, instead of doing that, perhaps…
JustOneCoin trusted the other rankers who were rigorously discussing it.
However, that didn’t mean he was the type to just leave things in the hands of others and wait.
Somehow, he had to rack his brains and find a way…
“Ah.”
In an instant, JustOneCoin’s eyes narrowed and then relaxed again.
* * *
Sojun relaxed his neck. As expected of virtual reality attempting to recreate the utmost realism, a cracking sound occurred, and a slight sense of refreshment spread from his neck to his entire body.
After stretching each hand, Sojun exited the game.
“Why does the Orthodox Faction probe just once and then stop?”
Day 13 concluded.
It wasn’t because the mode closed at 10 o’clock. He simply meant there was nothing more for him to do today.
-Are you going to pass it over?
-If it continues like this, it’ll hit the base, haha.
-There must be a plan, right?
Nodding, Sojun looked around and sat on a nearby chair, leaning against the wall.
Being a personal channel, it was quiet.
Rolling his eyes, he skimmed through game messages, group chat rooms, and the community to grasp the situation and spoke softly.
“It’s time to end the stream now.”
Gathering the hooks.
-?
-Why?
-??
-Don’t go
-Is the sudden end of the stream happening again!
Indeed, what they said was right; it was time to end quickly.
On ordinary days, he would watch videos brought by the viewers, laugh, communicate, and even argue a bit.
But today, there was a reason.
“There’s a promise with a friend.”
Today, he had a reason.
-LOL
-The one who pretended not to have friends, well?
-Suspicious. Smells fishy – a girlfriend, perhaps?
-That seems possible
-Choose between your girlfriend and me.
As expected of masters of insinuation, they went too far from the start.
“That’s not it.”
Sojun flatly dismissed them and clicked to end the stream.
Even though keeping the stream longer would have been beneficial to maintain the attention of the 12,000 viewers, there was something more important.
-Goodbye ㅠㅠ
-Goodbye
After exiting the capsule, Sojun quickly washed up and sat in front of the computer.
His claim of meeting a friend was a lie.
He really had no one to meet.
‘Well, that feels a bit sad.’
Sojun reminisced about his past life and searched for the “For Justice” official website.
He entered the site, displaying the Battlefield map on the left and a chat room on the right.
『Demonic Victory』
He wanted to understand precisely how users were moving within the Battlefield.
To ensure it wasn’t just a tedious task performed during the stream or unable to concentrate fully.
There’s also a method of checking after everything’s over.
However, the most effective way to experience and understand the background behind these decisions was first-hand, in real-time.
The primary goal of the Demonic Cult was to destroy the Orthodox Faction’s base.
Thus, all current movements and intentions focused on concealing the target.
– The Unorthodox Faction is attacking, should we counter-attack appropriately?
– Looks like the Orthodox are aiming to poke several places today.
– But is no one defending Shanxi?
Shanxi referred to the area Sojun attempted to capture today.
It wasn’t officially named by the system, nor was it precisely located in Shanxi, but the region was conveniently divided that way nearby, so they called it Shanxi for simplicity.
Yesterday’s capture of Gansu was to the west of Shanxi. As they moved eastward.
Today’s attack was on Shanxi.
Further east was Shanzhou.
Lastly, the area near the Orthodox’s base was referred to as Hebei.
-Aren’t they defending?
-Might send reinforcements later
-That’s a bit worrisome. Trying to confirm if we indeed target Shanxi?
-It wouldn’t be good to attack preemptively with more forces.
Interpreting it as the Orthodox Faction merely observing quietly led to various analyses.
Sojun’s strategy involved giving a minor sense of chaos while gradually approaching, so an outright attack on Shanxi wasn’t feasible.
“Interesting.”
-Old Expert appeared from the Unorthodox Faction
-Nameless also popped up in the southern Hunan
A collective game of tug of war. Mind games. Or perhaps something more.
Knowing why they were so engrossed was becoming clear.
“Did they say ‘For Justice’ had plenty of new recruits?”
Despite that, the reason it was still deemed stagnant was likely because after one experience of the Battlefield, even new users wouldn’t find it easy not to know each other.
‘Indeed, it’s amusing.’
Sojun’s lips curved in a satisfied smile.
*Ding.*
A private message came from ThirdElder.
『ThirdElder: Great work today, Heavenly Demon!』
『HeavenlyDemon14: Thank you. But isn’t it not over yet?』
『ThirdElder: That’s true. But the Orthodox Faction is rather lukewarm.』
Does that mean it’s easy-going?
『HeavenlyDemon14: Will we fail to occupy Shanxi today?』
『ThirdElder: The Orthodox Faction is conserving its strength, but we are, too. If the enemy completely devotes itself to defending Shanxi, we will reveal our true colors today.』
Will you risk strategic exposure to occupy Shanxi today?
『HeavenlyDemon14: Got it.』
『ThirdElder: By the way, Heavenly Demon, it seems a considerable number of users are following you.』
『HeavenlyDemon14: What do you mean?』
『ThirdElder: Among players not in the chat room but frequently active, it looks like a significant number are following Sojun’s lead.』
For users who deeply enjoy the game, watching streams and communities is common practice.
It seemed a considerable number of Demonic Cult players reacted similarly.
『In this Battlefield, I’ll follow the Heavenly Demon if you’re a fan, haha, you know? Give a recommendation.』
『Heavenly Demon said he’d eliminate the Orthodox. I merely follow that.』
『No doubts.』
『I am merely content if it aids the walks of the Greatest in History…』
Sojun laughed and brushed off such comments, but ThirdElder seemed to view it differently.
According to ThirdElder, the calculation the previous day showed a plot wasn’t expected to be taken by the Unorthodox Faction was indeed taken.
The only plausible explanation was the absence of the general user base, which was frequent in these cases.
Given the slack atmosphere, something might indeed be fishy.
The absence of a general user base could have resulted from their inclination towards Sojun.
Their main need wasn’t meticulous dispersal and coordination, so this could be seen as good news.
‘Is today going to be uneventful too?’
There’s no way the Orthodox Faction would just hand over Shanxi, which is close to their base, without any defense.
-What are they thinking?
-They seem to only defend against attacks but make no offensive moves?
-They’re hiding their strength.
By 8:40 PM, when the Orthodox Faction’s intentions became clear to the rankers of the Demonic Cult, they all expressed their astonishment in unison.
-The Orthodox Faction has emerged!
-Their numbers are large. It seems like they plan to deploy all their reserved forces.
-Is this why they were waiting?
-Connection is breaking
The matching location chosen by the Orthodox rankers was unexpectedly not Shanxi.
It was to the west of Shanxi.
The Demonic Cult’s previously claimed area, Gansu.
Rather than defending Shanxi, the Orthodox Faction aimed to retake Gansu, captured the day before, isolating Shanxi, which had become Demonic Cult territory, for the next day.