War and Farewell
The players of the Third Continent launched their invasion into the Second Continent. On the First Continent, several players had risen to prominence as named figures, and these named players were active in various places, devising tactics that maximized their strengths while minimizing weaknesses. They positioned their faction members in the right places and stabilized internal affairs, turning their territories into impregnable fortresses that allowed no invasions whatsoever.
In contrast, magic was difficult to utilize on the Second Continent, so many talented individuals had gathered there from the start. As a result, conflicts between them escalated, leading to extreme individualism taking root. This individualism created countless gaps, ultimately allowing the Third Empire's infiltration teams to penetrate, igniting the sparks of war and leaking a great deal of internal information. From the Third Continent's perspective, the Second Continent seemed far easier to deal with than the First Continent, which had solid defenses and moved in an organic manner.
Thus, the Third Continent, having decided on a lightning invasion of the seemingly more manageable Second Continent, poured every available force—excluding some defensive troops—into the Second Continent, launching what could only be described as a blitzkrieg.
...
With all personnel committed, the moment they secured a bridgehead through mindless charges, the waiting Engineers—ten per squad across ten squads—began their summons with damage setups complete.
<Vrrrr~. Clack. Clunk. Thud.>
Ten self-propelled artillery pieces soon appeared on the battlefield. The moment their imposing forms emerged, flames began spewing from their barrels.
Boom~! Boom~! KABOOOM~~!
They started raining shells on every visible structure within maximum range, as if they intended to grind everything in sight into dust. Meanwhile, the enemies rushing in were sniped by concentrated fire from the Musketeers lined up at the front, while the Scouts drew dual pistols and charged forward, disrupting the Spirit Summoners who were trying to gather and summon the Spirit King.
Mages with the highest attack power but low health, and Shamans who could buff allies and had high health pools, fell helplessly under concentrated gunfire. The Spirit Summoners, whose abilities were mediocre without the Spirit King, couldn't even gather due to the Scouts' interference and died off. Even when the summoning succeeded, the artillery immediately prioritized them as targets and erased them from the battlefield the instant they appeared.
Once the battlefield began to stabilize, the reserve Engineers who had been waiting in the rear advanced to the front lines and performed summons, while the Musketeers and Scouts—excluding some escort forces—began forward deployment. The Second Continent crumbled helplessly before the Third Continent's tactics, which had begun what could only be called a "stranglehold."
While troops were dying on the battlefield, armchair strategizing was in full swing inside the city.
Scramble~
...
...Even a broken clock is right twice a day, and there are many cases in this world where ignorance is bliss. Medetashi~ Medetashi~
*****
The Third Continent's invasion had quickly spread across the community, and the progress was being reported in detail by several players. Naturally, word reached the First Continent's leadership as well. Recognizing the gravity of the situation, the First Continent's upper echelon called an emergency meeting.
People who seemed familiar were bickering. Guys? Weren't we in the middle of a serious meeting? ;;
Leaving the bickering couple(?) alone, the rest proceeded with the meeting.
Wak! Wak! Wak!
The First Continent's leadership was the very picture of "This is what a meeting is. (Hope Edition)." While the meeting proceeded in a friendly atmosphere, urgent news arrived.
...
After much deliberation, they reached a conclusion.
Second Continent leadership.
...
---------------------
Somewhere in the hidden continent.
"Whew.... Looks like I've pretty much got all my gear sorted now?"
"Yeah. Weapons and accessories are all filled. Just need to make the shoes for the armor set."
While searching for tunnels, mining resources, and farming by wiping out every mob encountered along the way, the end was finally in sight.
"Shoes, huh... Got any diamonds left?"
"Right now.... two."
"Then let's go find another tunnel. Kunyang, lead the way."
"Yup~. Then... let's head that way~"
"Okay. Let's go. Hehe."
"Don't laugh~."
While the two walked along, flirting and enjoying the viewers' jealous flailing, something came into view ahead.
"!! Kunyang, look over there."
"Oh my. What is that?"
Approaching cautiously while keeping an eye on the surroundings, the outline gradually became clearer.
A massive black castle revealed itself, exuding an atmosphere as if a Demon King might reside there, just as one viewer had said.
"....."
"Oppa. What do we do? Should we go inside?"
"We probably should, right?"
"Can't we just not go? It looks scary....."
"If we don't go, I don't think we'll be able to handle it later?"
"Ah......."
"I think going in is the right call."
"Probably.... right?"
"Yeah. When you first fell here, everyone else was having fun with the war and all, but your viewers ignored all that and only watched your screen."
"...."
"It's about time you gave your viewers some dopamine too."
"Hmm....."
After staring at the chat for a moment and mulling over my words, Kunyang suddenly burst into laughter.
"Pfft... Oppa’s right. They've been patiently waiting through the boredom, so I should at least show them something."
"Haha. Yeah. Good thinking."
"Let's go, oppa."
"...."
She ran ahead, then turned back when she didn't hear a reply.
"Oppa?"
"...."
"Oppa. What's wrong?"
"Kunyang."
"......Oppa. No, right? That's not it, right?"
"Looks like you'll have to go alone from here...."
"....."
"You know it too, right? If I help you more here, it'll cause controversy."
"......"
"Anyway, you were the protagonist of this event. The supporting role has to exit now."
".......Sniff."
"...Cheer up. I'll keep watching, so do your best, okay?"
"......Yeah... hic."
"I'm going."
With that, I switched to operator mode and changed to ghost state.
"...Yeah.... Sob.... Sob..."
....
After calming herself in place for a while, she smiled faintly while looking at the chat, then soon hardened her gaze and began walking toward the castle.