Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Wasteland
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Wasteland.
The rainy season had ended, and the grasses were drying out once more.
The north wind pushed cold, dry air all the way here.
Two gods stood atop this harsh land.
Eldar spoke.
"How... do you plan to defeat them?"
Seong-un peered into his system window without a word in response.
The news of the war between Ogre Kazin and Centaur Tamaridu had spread far and wide.
The result was a crushing victory for Ogre Kazin.
"I thought the centaurs would at least inflict some serious damage on the ogres. Ogres may be strong, but centaurs are a rare race with high combat prowess. Yet they say only a few goblin slaves died, and the ogres didn't even lose ten..."
Eldar muttered to himself as he paced in circles.
"I knew from the start they'd be a tough opponent. The strongest ogre race, boosted with blessings for intelligence... It's a combination of coincidences upon coincidences. No wonder they're so powerful."
Seong-un flicked his status window up and down without replying.
Eldar kept talking to himself.
"If I'm not mistaken, your main forces are the lizardmen, aren't they, Seong-un? But lizardmen are relatively weak to the cold, so they won't fight at full strength up north. And I hear your human troops haven't received blessings to enhance their physical abilities, and there aren't many of them anyway. If only I had my main forces..."
Seong-un looked up, cutting Eldar off.
"No need."
"Pardon?"
"I don't need your elf main forces. It would have been even more of a hassle if you had them."
"What do you mean?"
Seong-un stood, dismissing the windows in front of him.
"What have you been rambling on about this whole time?"
"Didn't you summon me to discuss countermeasures against the ogres?"
"Why would I need a meeting for something like that?"
Eldar looked up at Seong-un in surprise.
"Gods Solongos and Im Chunsik didn't even use possession to minimize their troop losses. Thanks to that, we're facing ogres who've preserved their full combat strength, with Im Chunsik's support to boot. No matter how strong the lizardmen are..."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Seong-un shook his head.
"The war is between me and Im Chunsik. I've already decided how to deal with the ogres. No need for strategy meetings."
"Pardon?"
"Anyway, repeat what you said earlier. What was their ranking again?"
Eldar cleared his throat awkwardly, as if burdened by having to speak outside his 'programming'.
"Ahem. If I may, it was around 3400th place."
"Last time you checked."
"Yes."
Considering the number of players in Lost World, 3400th wasn't bad.
But that wasn't the issue.
'Was I mistaken?'
Seong-un had assumed the first thirty-two players were selected by ranking.
Plus, since the second player he'd met was Hegemonia at 2nd place, he hadn't even considered that Eldar wouldn't make the top 32.
Eldar dismissed Seong-un's concerns lightly.
"They probably just selected players at random, no?"
It was possible.
But Seong-un thought the selection of 1st and 2nd place felt too intentional for coincidence. And Eldar's subtle 3400th— not 23,400th or 43,400th— was suspicious too.
'It wasn't just game rankings. There had to be selection criteria. What was it? And why?'
Seong-un shelved the thought for now.
Eldar was asking— in that speech pattern that grated on him— how he planned to face the ogres and Im Chunsik.
Seong-un spoke as if it had just occurred to him.
"By the way, you're still cooperating, right?"
"...What do you mean?"
"Thanks for the cooperation."
"...Pardon?"
When Im Chunsik started the game, the subdomain he received was 'birds'.
Upon checking it, Im Chunsik judged he'd gained a huge advantage.
The bird subdomain was highly rated for many reasons.
Birds made scouting vast areas easy, and he could bestow useful blessings like 'Owl's Wisdom' and 'Crow's Intelligence' on his race.
And when he found ogres in his first territory, Im Chunsik felt victory was near.
'This is practically handed to me on a platter.'
Im Chunsik's final Lost World ranking was 153rd, but he'd climbed into the top 20 at his peak.
He'd even placed 4th out of 128 in a streamer-hosted tournament. His unique avatar went viral, landing him guest spots on streams.
'I've got skills and luck. No way I lose.'
True to his confidence, Im Chunsik progressed smoothly without major obstacles.
Until Eldar and Solongos lost their main forces, that is.
'Nebula. Definitely rank 1. Doesn't stream or compete, just eats and games like a madman.'
Realizing too late that the lizardman owner lurking below was Nebula was a blunder.
But Im Chunsik figured it wouldn't derail his momentum.
'It's a luck-based game anyway. Subdomains random, races basically random. Once skill carries you, it's all luck after that. And bugs plus lizardmen? Both weak to cold. Don't you combine races to cover weaknesses?'
To prepare for lizardmen attacks, Im Chunsik hinted to his ogre chieftain Kazin to stockpile supplies.
He also focused scouting near the border to monitor enemies.
He figured the lizardmen would strike before winter for a quick decisive battle.
But strangely, no attacks came even as autumn waned.
Then winter hit, and elf villages started burning.
News of the Black Scale tribe torching elf villages reached Automat City too.
Merchants in the market gossiped about it daily, saying trade north through the wasteland was impossible now.
"After Tamaridu challenged Ogre Kazin and died, the Black Scales basically claimed that empty land. They rob every passing merchant there."
"And that's not all. Rakrak's retaliating for the last elf attack by burning their villages."
"Crossing the wasteland or green-eyed elf territory is too risky now... No trading with ogres for a while."
Central continent traders could cross the wasteland through Tamaridu's lands to deal with ogres— prime for metal ores despite poor farming. Now that route was cut.
But it couldn't be helped.
"North coast trade route's blocked. What now?"
"What're you trading? Speaking of Black Scales, they sell silk cheap down the southeast road from Automat."
"Really? Silk fetches a premium back home. I was thinking of..."
And the green-eyed elves suffered less than feared.
Their god Eldar had warned of lizardmen attacks ahead of time, and the lizardmen just watched as elves fled.
They didn't even attack when elves camped south of the wasteland temporarily.
As if their target wasn't the elves, but the elves' land.
At first, Im Chunsik didn't grasp what these changes meant.
Elves had lost their mains; no threat for now. No reason to harass them unless he had weird hobbies.
Same for occupying Solongos's territory.
Centaurs lost their mains too.
NPCs remained, but it was essentially empty— no need to waste troops holding it.
Plundering for profit? Merchants would abandon routes fast.
'Neither costs much, but no point wasting resources. Especially pre-battle. Wait, battle's already too late. Winter's coming. Lizardmen are late to advance north...'
Meaning Nebula had no plans to war for now.
Im Chunsik realized Nebula's intent belatedly.
"...Scorched earth tactics!"
"Also called devastation tactics."
Seong-un explained to Eldar.
"Burn everything the enemy might occupy. Lay it to waste. Lost World emphasizes supply like real war, so it works perfectly. You've probably used it a few times."
Eldar nodded.
"But I've never seen it this early..."
"Exactly. It usually doesn't work early game. But conditions aligned perfectly this time. Good luck, I guess?"
"Good... luck?"
Seong-un nodded.
"First, enemy's in the north coast."
"Isn't that bad luck? Lizardmen can't perform there."
"Sure, there's that. But north coast's high latitude makes food supply tough. Poor farming, but ogres' high intelligence rapidly advanced civilization, activating trade to import food from south and grow numbers. Tribe ballooned, then trade routes cut, elf plunder gone. How do they supply now? Foraging and hunting, maybe, but not enough for all. Plus they use goblin NPC slaves."
Eldar nodded at Seong-un's words.
Enslaving NPCs was a solid early strategy. But if the master race faltered, slaves could rebel anytime.
"And..."
"And?"
"Enemy's ogres."
Eldar bit his lip, not getting it.
"They overcame their weakness— intelligence."
"Weakness?"
"That's interesting. But ogres' real weakness isn't that."
"...Then?"
"Can't guess? Their size. Strength and power are the weakness."
"How... is that a weakness?"
Seong-un sighed deeply.
"Lost World's realistic from the start. Bigger size means higher basal metabolism, more food needed. They must endure winter with high muscle mass and metabolism. Enemies aren't just players— environment's one too. Unnecessary energy waste is a weakness. Small-bodied races endure scorched earth longer."
Eldar finally nodded in admiration.
Seong-un, seeing Eldar still staring blankly, pulled up a few status windows, thinking he hadn't fully grasped it.
"You think I'm just going off gut? There's math to it. Some guy on the strategy forum, 'Bonehead', made a scorched earth calculator factoring enemy race, climate, civ level, territory size, etc. Not precise, but pairs with experience..."
"I wouldn't know that much."
"Fair. Convinced now?"
Eldar nodded.
Seong-un dismissed the windows casually.
"And you're part of my luck too."
"Me?"
Eldar felt a flutter, wondering when he'd become a lucky mascot.
But no.
"This tactic usually requires burning your own land. But the area in contact is elf territory, not mine. Plus, as settled folk, they supplied ogres steadily pre-burn, so the effect's guaranteed."
"...I see."
"Anyway, watch if my plan works."
The ogres survived the first winter on war-stockpiled supplies.
Come spring, they scoured empty bushes for food. Elf villages were barren.
Summer brought starving ogres eating goblins alive.
Autumn saw goblins rebel against slavery, attacking ogres.
Winter: Ogres won against goblins. But survivors fled, leaving ogres with nothing edible.
Finally, starving ogres descended to the wasteland.
Just as Seong-un willed.