With Phantylia, disguised as Tingyun, finishing her draw, it meant that everyone had now completed their selections.
Valerius raised a hand, and brilliant light surged from the grand hall's main gate.
"Alright. Once you all pass through the teleportation gate, the game will officially begin."
"Friendly reminder—this is a strategy war game. Troop deployment matters a lot. And also…"
He paused briefly.
"Pay attention to step cultivation."
No one quite understood what "step cultivation" meant, but everyone silently committed it to memory.
Since Valerius bothered to mention it, it clearly wasn't meaningless—he obviously understood this game far better than any of them.
"Why did you choose that castle?"
Yukong looked at the fortress Tingyun was holding, surprise flashing across her face.
"It just looked like its troops were pretty strong," Tingyun replied with a gentle smile.
"…Alright then. If we spawn close to each other, let's regroup first."
"Yes, Lady Yukong."
Tingyun narrowed her eyes slightly.
As if I'd come find you.
Her objective this round was crystal clear: stay hidden.
Hide for as long as possible without exposing her identity.
If her side gained the upper hand, all the better.
If they fell behind, she'd simply hand over her troops to someone else.
She herself could not appear on the battlefield.
Because the moment she did, the system would label it as
"Phantylia vs so-and-so"—and that would ruin everything.
As players passed through the teleportation gate one after another, the system's voice echoed.
[All players ready. Game rules engraved.]
[The game begins.]
A vast wilderness stretched into the distance.
Bronya sat astride a tall white horse. Behind her stood a pale stone castle—simple, austere, almost bare.
"So… this is my main city?"
She stared at it, her only thought being—
This feels kind of… shabby.
There wasn't even a proper city wall.
She checked her available resources.
Stone: 0
Wood: 0
Mercury: 0
Crystal: 0
Gems: 0
Sulfur: 0
Gold: 0
"Poor" didn't even begin to describe it.
"Everything has to start from scratch, huh…"
She glanced at her unit panel again.
Spearmen ×21
Archers ×8
That was her entire army.
The system had already imprinted the game's mechanics directly into every player's mind, so Bronya knew what she needed to do next—
Explore the wilderness.
If she developed too slowly early on, she wouldn't even make it to the final showdown.
Someone might march an army straight over and wipe her out first.
Without hesitation, she urged her horse forward and headed into the wilds.
Not far from the castle, a pile of glittering gold coins lay on the ground.
Unfortunately, standing in front of it was a creature with a wolf's head, wielding a chain hammer.
"A… werewolf?"
She recognized it immediately from prior discussions—
a Tier 1 unit from the Stronghold faction.
She glanced at her own troops.
"…We can win."
After quickly assessing both sides' combat strength, Bronya initiated the battle.
The scene shifted instantly to the battlefield.
Bronya remained mounted at the rear, while 21 spearmen and 8 archers formed up in front of her.
"Oh? Bronya's already in combat?"
Back in the hall, Valerius could see every player's live feed.
The moment Bronya engaged, he switched to her screen.
"…Huh?"
He froze the instant he saw it.
This battlefield wasn't quite the same as in the game.
In Heroes III, a single model represented an entire unit stack, with a number beneath it indicating quantity.
But here—
Bronya's formation was fully expanded.
Every soldier was present in full, tangible form.
And she could issue commands freely, in real time.
"…Right. That makes more sense."
Bronya began issuing orders calmly.
"Archers, hold the rear. Spearmen—advance three steps and brace for impact."
Combat was something she was deeply familiar with. Her commands were steady and precise.
The werewolves, lacking any commander, charged straight ahead in a disorganized rush.
Before they even reached melee range, the archers had already cut down half of them.
Still, in the early game, Bronya's forces were too small to completely stop the charge.
Just as the melee lines were about to clash—
A glow flared in Bronya's hand.
A magical arrow formed and shot straight into the werewolf pack.
Boom!
The Magic Arrow detonated on impact.
The remaining werewolves fell in droves.
"…Wait, Magic Arrow can explode?!"
Valerius stared at the screen, stunned.
He'd always thought Magic Arrow was single-target.
Now it was clear—
game mechanics couldn't be applied rigidly here.
Under normal circumstances, Bronya should have taken casualties.
Yet with precise command and timely magic, she achieved a flawless victory.
Seven hundred gold coins were added to her inventory.
"Not bad."
Bronya found the game surprisingly enjoyable.
Tactics she'd once only theorized about—
she could now test them freely.
Once the gold was collected, the soldiers dissolved into light and returned to her unit panel.
"So that's how it works."
Watching the stream, Valerius finally understood.
Troops only existed during battles—they couldn't accompany the hero while traveling.
Which made sense.
With so many players, if everyone marched around with full armies, the world would be completely overcrowded.
And Valerius noticed something else as well.
In the original game, you could only construct buildings once per day.
Here?
As long as you had resources—
You could build as much as you wanted.
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