Data.21 – Old Bowman, Before the Battle

‘Three Army Turf War.’
That was the name of the event.
While the battle royale that I had participated in had been held a number of times before, this event was completely new.
And so both veterans and rookies were very excited.

You needed to apply beforehand in order to join the turf war.
I had already applied a short while ago through the official website, and had just received an email telling me which team I had been assigned to.
It was the ‘Red Boar’ team.
Aside from them, there was the ‘Blue Deer’ and ‘Green Butterfly.’

Using boars, deer and butterflies was rather odd.
While this game had eastern elements in it as well, it was mostly a traditional, western fantasy.
Which I didn’t mind, since it all looked very cool.
During the event, you would have to put the emblem on your gear so that it was visible.
That way, we would easily be able to tell who was a friend or enemy.

As I planned to wear my Windcloud Haori, I would place the emblem boldly on my back.
Having something on the back of a haori just looks really good.
But a red boar on a blue sky wasn’t the best match.
No, that was an understatement.
But…I was still going to do it!
Looking a little lame because of your emblem placement wasn’t going to affect my power.

More important was the ‘participate as a guild’ part.
Even though I was new to online games, I still knew what guilds were.
They were when players got together to form teams.

There were different reasons for doing this, but in general, players with the same motive or philosophy would come together and build a guild.
Playing with like-minded people would make the game more fun.
Not only was it a good communication tool, but it would be easier exploring fields and getting through quests.
There was a guild exclusive chat room, and you could make an emblem and have a base. So there were several other advantages as well.

Then why wasn’t I in one?
To be frank, I found it too much of a hassle to deal with other people.
While it was a game, you were still dealing with real humans on the other side.
If you started to act with others as a group, it would become something similar to work.
I couldn’t just think about myself.

You have to help A because they aren’t getting far in the event…
B hasn’t logged in for a while. Did something happen?
Just because C isn’t here right now, doesn’t meat you can all talk shit…

Yeah, I better stop there.
There was no point in imagining such things…!

However, it wasn’t completely delusional of me. That was the scary thing about games.
Perhaps it wouldn’t be the case if everyone in the guild was just there to have fun. But there could be a lot of tension if they were a professional gamer team.
Once you got to that level, you were much like a sports team.
If you did bad in the rankings, then the atmosphere would worsen as well.

It was to avoid such uncomfortable relationships that many professional gamers play freely without sponsors now.
They earn money through winning tournaments and through ads on video sites and promoting new games. Or sometimes they participate in tournaments by helping teams who have lost a member for some reason or another.
I’ve heard of instances where such people have led a team to victory and received nearly half of the reward money.

There was no license required to call yourself a professional gamer, but you needed the right skills in order to be stable on the job.
However, it did seem pretty cool. Like you were a lone wolf. An outlaw.

Maybe I would call myself a pro gamer. I was unemployed now, after all.
In fact, while I didn’t understand why, I seemed to have a knack for using the bow.
Was it a natural gift or was it just a good fit for me by coincidence… In any case, I intended to make good use of the skill.

My reflexes had also improved since I started the game.
It seemed that people did grow when put in harsh condition.
Even at this age…

Progamer Nagai Kyuji, once again…

No, why am I getting carried away.
I was still angry about finishing 3rd in the previous event. And so I was thinking of strategies to improve my results this time.
Let’s get back to that.
About joining guilds.

If you join a guild, the entire guild would be in the same team.
In other words, if there were 100 players in a guild, all 100 of them would be on the same team.
Though, that would all be taken into account in the player distribution in order to ensure balance. Regardless, it would still be an advantage to have large guilds on your side.

The larger guilds had more capable players. It was just like how it was in human society.
Besides, this was a turf war, and being able to move in a unified, large group was a necessity.
And so a large guild would be more functional than a bunch of smaller ones.
Well, this was all just wild fancy…I mean, speculation.

Now, as for this whole ‘turf war’ business.
Of course, these turfs were ‘fortresses.’
There were 30 of them distributed evenly throughout the map.
Each team would start with 10 of them, and we would for fight them over the coming week.

In order to take one, you had to eliminate all of the occupants first.
Then it will become the fortress of whatever team is inside.

To put it simple, you had to drive everyone out and occupy it.

However, it was different with the main base.
Regardless of you driving out the enemy or not, you have to destroy the ‘Core Crystal’ in order to take the fortress.

And once you did, that team would be annihilated, and they would lose all of their other fortresses.
If that happened, it was game over.
The balance would not shift once one team had lost all of their bases.

And so the main base was the one that you couldn’t lose at all cost.

In conclusion!
When attacking, invade the fortress and drive them all out.
When protecting, stay put and don’t run away.
It’s game over if you lose your main base.

There were other more detailed rules, but I couldn’t remember them!
But I would probably learn them as I played through the event.
In any case, it was starting tomorrow.

I had done my best during the first event, the battle royale, and so I wanted to end this one on a high note.

◆　◆　◆

‘To all players who are participating in the ‘Three Army Turf War.’ You will be warped to the event map in 100 seconds. Please make sure you have the right equipment.’

It was the same kind of announcement that played during the battle royale.
And so I checked my equipment and status, just in case.

◆ Equipment
Head: Windstream Scarf
Right Hand: Windcloud Bow
Left Hand: (Windcloud Bow)
Arms: Fists of the Forest Sage
Body: Windcloud Haori
Legs: Windguard Hakama
Feet: Cloudcrossing Tabi
Accessories: None

Most people would probably have a thing or two to say about this.
‘Why aren’t you using the Windcloud armor for your arms?’
It was simple. I wanted to use the weapon skill, ‘Black Smog.’

There was no doubt that there would be group battles in this event.
And not just on a scale of ten or a hundred. It could be over a thousand in some cases.
It was on these enemy armies that I would throw shi…I mean, ‘Black Smog’…
This devilish plan had been on my mind for a while.

Not only that, but I now had ‘Windcloud Blast.’
So after using Black Smog, I could use a blast of wind to push it far away…
I wanted to try it. The mischievous child in me was screaming.
It would probably get some attention online, but I was just using the skills provided to me in the game.
There was nothing wrong with that. I had to be confident…!

Next, I checked my status.
My level didn’t go up as quickly compared to my first job, but this was more than enough considering how little time had passed.

◆ Status
Name: Kyuji
Job: Archer
HP: 105/105(+30)
MP: 145/145(+70)
Attack: 180(+150)
Defense: 131(+115)
Magic Attack: 20
Magic Defense: 147(+135)
Speed: 102(+80)
Range: 400(+180)

These numbers were the result of the equipment and Bow Arts V skill.
As I had put everything into Range, it was the highest. But the others weren’t bad, thanks to my equipment.
Well, putting everything into Range was my own doing, and it wasn’t like the game was going to conveniently give me range-related equipment. And so as long as I collected good equipment, my other stats would go up.

That being said, the 100 points I got for the first 20 levels, and the 120 I got for the 12 levels on my second job, were all used for Range.
And so my attack and defense were likely inferior to people who had maintained a balance while leveling up.

When it came to battle formations, the rule I made for myself was to ‘stay in the rear guard.’
As long as I was fighting as part of a large group, I could not step out into danger.
It was easy to forget since I played solo, but archers were supposed to stay in the back.
While the vanguard were doing their best in the front, I would chip away at the enemy from behind them.
Besides, I was confident in my ability to kill.

‘10…9…8…’

Oh, I guess I don’t have enough time to check my skills.
Well, I already checked yesterday, and not much has changed since I tested them at the colosseum.
In general, my strategy should be the same. In general…

‘Zero!’

In a flash, the town disappeared around me, and a stone fortress was now in front of us.
I was standing among a huge crowd of players.
The battle had begun.

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