The Carp, the Deer, the Pheasant

"Five."

The moment the die landed on a high number, Jang Siwoon and I sighed in unison.

We're entering the temple already?

We had walked two whole spaces closer to the square where the temple stood.

We needed to milk every effect we could, as slowly as possible — but it seemed the final confrontation wasn't far off now.

Shrrr—

"Gifts, you say?"

It was a slightly different message than our previous gate entries. When I asked, Habaek gave a calm smile.

"A special card and resources."

"Jisan, we've got this!"

Jang Siwoon pumped herself up at the chance to receive a special benefit. I nodded to her and turned my head back toward the board to read the question.

"To receive your gift, you must solve the problem."

Shrrr—

"Carp, deer, pheasant…."

"Jisan, what on earth is this supposed to mean? I'm losing my mind."

Once again, Siwoon seemed utterly lost, pressing her hand to her forehead and heaving a deep sigh.

As for the king connected to Habaek — it had to be something from the Goguryeo legends.

"It's probably a riddle tied to Haemosu."

Haemosu. Habaek's son-in-law, and the son of Heaven.

"In the Goguryeo legends and epics, Habaek and his son-in-law Haemosu do battle by transforming into animals. Though I don't remember the details."

"Even for you, Jisan, you're not an AI. How are you supposed to have all those animals memorized? If Habaek turned into a carp, a deer, and a pheasant, then since Haemosu's the son-in-law, he'd be the weaker animal, right?"

I couldn't answer and simply closed my eyes.

I can't recall the specifics, but they were animals stronger than the ones Habaek transformed into.

The story had deliberately described Haemosu taking the shapes of superior beasts to express the power of the son of Heaven.

I definitely read it in a book. If I just unfold Docent, I can get this riddle no problem.

"Hey, mister, stop stalling for time!"

"……."

The middle-aged man badgered me with an indifferent face. Whether he rushed me or not, it didn't really matter — but even setting that aside, dragging things out wouldn't make the memory surface anyway.

Not unless I pulled the data sleeping inside my head.

Now isn't the time to protect my perk.

The moment I remembered the Student vanishing into that light earlier, I realized there was no more room for hesitation.

Even if everyone saw my perk, survival came first.

"Docent, activate."

Shrrr—

The memory's a little hazy, but the core content is there.

"Wh-what the hell is that—"

As the epic lines were written across the Leaflet, the middle-aged man's eyes went wide with shock. There was neither time nor reason to explain my perk to him.

I immediately recited the answer to Habaek.

"The answer is 'otter, wolf, and hawk.'"

"Correct."

We're back to two resources.

The lump of light the Student had claimed earlier now floated in the air before us. Taking back what had been stolen was, in a way, a mere breaking-even — a bit anticlimactic.

But the benefit wasn't just the resource, so I couldn't complain.

Shrrr—

That's right. The Jade Emperor agreed to help us.

I remembered the conversation I'd had with him after the council of the gods. Fortunately, this special card was invisible to our opponents.

There wasn't the slightest chance they'd notice we'd obtained the Jade Emperor's card.

The four elements would be water, fire, earth, and air.

The ground we're standing on could count as earth — or maybe the Trojan Horse's wood could be substituted for earth.

Habaek or Poseidon's abilities could trigger the water. Air and earth were doable too.

But how am I supposed to generate fire?

If we were up against Apollo, I could have provoked him into summoning some solar heat.

"Jisan. That Docent perk of yours — can it show you the answers to questions?"

"Not every answer, no."

"Ah. Then it would've been useless even if I'd gotten it in the first place."

Jang Siwoon gave a hollow laugh, conceding that her perk would've been worthless. Even though I hadn't explained in detail that Docent worked like a searchable dictionary, she gave up on the knowledge front right away.

Given it's the Jade Emperor's power, it's most likely a buff to attack power or an existing effect.

An extremely effective card for someone like me who lacked raw strength.

The important thing was still that we had to conjure fire somehow.

"Poseidon's turn."

"Ma'am, let's enter the gate too and grab an event card."

"Three."

"Huzzah!! Nicely done!"

The man thrust his fist toward the woman who'd thrown the die. It's strange to think such things when lives are on the line, but watching them again, they were an almost comedic pair.

The middle-aged man stopped one space ahead of the gate square.

Shrrr—

"What? Why do we only get one thing instead of two gifts?!"

"You dare defy a god's promise?!"

"N-no, sir. We just never heard about that promise, that's all."

The man, who'd bulged his eyes ready to talk back to Poseidon, deflated instantly and shrank into himself. No matter how aggrieved he felt, he couldn't beat a Poseidon twice his size.

"Correct."

Even after answering correctly and acquiring the special card, the middle-aged man looked faintly dissatisfied, his brow furrowing. But he didn't pile on any more complaints and simply kept his mouth shut.

"Habaek's turn."

"Two."

Two spaces forward, and I would be standing on the same square as the man.

In other words, we can now do battle.

I swallowed hard and walked toward him. The man's expression had grown tenser than before as well.

Shrrr—

"Will you do battle?"

I stopped on the same square where the man stood. At Habaek's question, I couldn't answer right away.

"Siwoon, what do you think? Should we use the special ability now?"

Instead, I whispered quietly to Siwoon, who was studying the board. Whispering like this meant at least her words wouldn't reach the man.

"No. Even if we can't call on divine protection right now, I think the special ability is something we should save for the final defense."

"I think you're right."

Thankfully their thoughts aligned without any pointless debate.

"No, Lord Habaek. Rather than engage, I'll gather resources."

"Then attempt the question."

Shrrr—

Perhaps because the final battle was close at hand, an extremely simple question had been posed to keep things moving quickly.

Habaek's grandson, the son of Haemosu and Yuhwa. The founder of Goguryeo.

"Jumong."

"Correct."

The moment I answered, Habaek gave a small nod and stroked his beard. The man, who'd been glancing back and forth between Habaek and me, flailed his arms in a fury.

"Hey, isn't that way too easy?!"

"My, my. You figured it out that fast, sir?"

"…Well, I vaguely remember a drama I watched a while back."

Having worked himself into a fit, the man offered a transparent excuse that wouldn't have fooled anyone. From the look of him, he clearly hadn't known that Jumong was Habaek's grandson at all.

Shrrr—

At last, our Trojan army had gathered all three resources. Once the defensive wall was raised, holding back the Trojan Horse's advance would become considerably easier.

"Where shall our army's wall be erected?"

The square where the man and I stood ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was near the gate. Just a little farther back and we'd cross into the outer perimeter of the city of Troy.

"It has to be right in front of the royal palace, or the square directly behind you, Jisan."

I nodded silently, echoing Siwoon's words. Perhaps because she specialized in sports, she was hardly slow on the strategic front.

"I'll tell you my thinking where the Greeks can't hear. Jisan, just answer yes or no."

"Okay."

"Our abilities are fundamentally inferior to Poseidon's, so like we planned, we'll need to unleash a full-scale assault at the end. Agreed?"

"Yes."

Once again, my thoughts and Siwoon's plan matched. Only by pouring every ability into one final strike would we stand a chance.

"I'll install it three squares ahead, starting from my launch point — before the Royal Palace of Troy."

"Very well."

The moment I made my decision, the earth split and the wall rose up.

Kugugugung—

The stone wall was so high and so solid that no human strength could breach it. Unless someone used a perk, bare fists or weapons would be laughably useless ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠against it.

"Poseidon's turn."

Or was it just my imagination that Zeus's voice from the heavens sounded especially grim? The woman threw the die with trembling hands.

"Five."

Five spaces forward. The middle-aged man crossed the line between the temple and the gate and entered the royal palace's territory.

"The Trojan Horse has passed the temple — the final battle shall commence automatically!"

Zeus's thunderous voice rolled across the battlefield. It set my heart pounding like war drums heralding the start of a battle.

Perhaps because this was the final battle, the board had expanded beyond the horizon of sight, wider than before.

Isn't this too wide? Counting squares to measure distance is meaningless now.

The distance between us had grown impossibly vast — which meant we'd also need to figure out how movement worked.

"Heroes of Troy. Win, without fail."

It'd be nice if you showed a little more divine muscle, honestly.

I shot Habaek a skeptical sideways glance. Considering how his river had been blasted dry by Poseidon's single strike earlier… honestly, my confidence was thin.

Now's not the time to be clinging to confidence. One way or another, I'm winning this.

"In the final confrontation, there are no dice rolls or questions — every god's power and every perk may be used. Struggle all you like, mortals."

Zeus proclaimed the final ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠battle. As if to say: waste no more time — tear into each other now.

"Jisan. Let's do this. You and me."

Siwoon must have been feeling the same unease. But just as she always had, she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠would suppress those churning emotions as much as she could and wish for nothing but victory.

"Let's."

Somehow, even that flat, dry tone of encouragement gave me strength.

"Lord Poseidon! Show them your basic power first!"

"The tide comes!"

From beyond the defensive wall, the man shouted the first attack. And with Poseidon's roar, a wave came crashing toward us.

But all we heard was the sound of seawater slamming against the wall — and the wall did not fall.

It doesn't even budge against Poseidon's ocean. Built from resources gathered over so long, its defensive power really is monstrous.

I calmly observed the situation from the distance where I'd finally stopped. Zeus had explained that we were now free to move as we pleased without rolling dice.

But the defensive wall hadn't been breached yet, so there was no need to rush inside the palace ahead of time.

For now, let's keep our distance so we don't get needlessly swept up in Poseidon's waves.

"A wall of Troy fused from resources — it's stronger than I expected."

"Then must Lord Poseidon use his special card?"

"That is the mortal's choice to make."

"Ugh, come on."

The man clicked his tongue in frustration. Since his basic abilities couldn't break the wall, the Greek army had no choice but to play a new card.

"Jisan. We need to use this window to reinforce our defensive wall even further."

Siwoon whispered in a slightly heated voice as she looked down at the man floundering below. But I only kept scanning our surroundings and turning thoughts over in my head, without opening my mouth.

"Jisan?"

Thinking I hadn't heard her, Siwoon called my name once more.

Defense alone won't be enough to win.

We had to successfully hold the Royal Palace of Troy and drain the Greek army's resources while doing it.

And for that—

I stood perfectly still, not moving a muscle, until the man attempted something new.