Hwayeon couldn’t help but feel something was wrong as she fought with Yerin. Yerin wasn’t using much of her ice power than usual, making it easier for Hwayeon to overpower her.
As Hwayeon stopped attacking to give Yerin time to breathe, she asked, “Yerin, what are you planning?”
Yerin chuckled, “Honestly, I think Taeseok-oppa should get an award for great acting.”
Hwayeon felt something off as she was soon hit by a huge log on her side, “Ack!” Hwayeon flew up high and landed with a large crash. Due to how Yerin acted weak and Hwayeon had lowered her guard, the log hit her vitals, causing her to groan while she held her side, unable to stand.
***
During the last 5 minutes, in the same location near the large field of ice flag baits, Taeseok lifted a log up using his ability to Minggu. Yerin used her creativity to design a trap and Minggu used his vines to tie it.
Minggu gave a thumbs up when he fully tied it up and used his ability to hide it among the tree leaves.
Taeseok then said to Yerin, “You should come here and stall whoever is close to the field. You have to guard the actual flag in the field.”
Yerin incredulously doubted, “Will this be enough to stop them?”
“Hmm, nope. You need to act weak.”
“What?”
“Act weak. Let them focus on attacking you so they don’t have their defenses up.”
***
Back in the present, seeing Hwayeon was immobilised, Yerin sighed, “…Sorry, unnie.”
Seohwa came a beat late having been stalled by Taeseok and Minggu.
She saw Yerin exhausted on the floor as Yerin surrendered, “I can’t fight.”
“…” Seohwa who had a rushed and urgent expression soon returned to her calm exterior, “As expected of Taeseok-oppa.”
Seohwa then went up to Hwayeon and checked if she was ok.
Yerin froze, seeing her relaxed.
Taeseok-oppa said she should be panicking right now… is she faking?
Hwayeon, who was injured, chuckled, “All according to plan.”
!!!
A few minutes prior, Taeseok carried the tired Minggu on his back as they headed to the ice flag field to check on the flag.
Taeseok stopped and realised, “…No way…”
Minggu asked, “What?”
“I knew something felt off.” Taeseok muttered, “Seohwa should have tried her best to stop the two of us so that we couldn’t go to Jiho but instead, went to Yerin as if she knew something was there. She used Hwayeon to bait me into thinking our plan was in effect and headed closer to the ice field.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“Huh?”
“She did it to outwit me.” Taeseok chuckled in disbelief.
“We should go then!” Minggu yelled urgently as Taeseok used his gravity to propel him forward.
When they arrived, Jiho was already searching for the flag. Minggu used his vines to trap Jiho but Jiho used his lightning and escaped, Taeseok ran forward and for the first time, used a gravity crush to get the flag on Jiho’s back but before he could get it, he was wind blasted by Seohwa who came as backup.
Seohwa signalled to Jiho to keep searching.
Seohwa smiled as she looked at Minggu, “Hey again.”
Minggu was already thoroughly exhausted but used his vines to boost Taeseok’s stats. Taeseok stood up wiping his nose as he got in a battle stance.
However before another battle took place, Jiho had lifted his hands up and waved the Munchies flag.
Once the flag was waved, the horn of the observatory blew. Jiho, who was mostly ignored in the match, cheered, “YEAH!”
Goldie announced, “Match over! The Musketeers won! Head to the entrance.”
***
A few minutes after confirming Taeseok had Yerin create ice figure baits, Seohwa used both her wind and earth detection to find where Minggu was even if it meant sacrificising some stamina. As she did, she accidentally came across the ice flag field somewhere in the west.
Seohwa then faced her team, “We’re changing the plan. Jiho, I want you to focus on finding the flag.”
“Then what about Minggu-hyung?”
“Pretend. Make a scene across the forest but do it around the edges. Limit Minggu’s running path so that Minggu can appear before me as soon as possible.”
“And bring the flag to you.” Hwayeon interjected, “Brilliant.”
“He won’t have the flag.” Seohwa shook her head, “Taeseok-oppa made quite a few traps you see. He wanted to make sure Jiho is thoroughly exhausted before they go after him.”
“Wait if Minggu-hyung doesn’t have the flag, then who does?” Jiho asked.
“No one. Yerin made an ice flag field, here on the west.” Seohwa pointed at the map of the forest she drew earlier. “It’s somewhere there. Jiho, after you run around causing a scene, make sure to head to the field. However, Taeseok isn’t so clueless as to leave the field unattended so he’ll send Yerin there when I attack them.”
Hwayeon figured out where she was going with this, “You want me to intercept her path and be bait. She won’t see what’s going on in the field with me there and Taeseok will think his plan is still in place, making him ignore Jiho who now has time to find the flag.”
Seohwa nodded, “I’ll act in front of Taeseok and go along with his plan to stall. He’ll think he’s stalling me when Minggu comes with a fake flag. He’ll then wait for Jiho to exhaust himself running around and think I’m panicking when I find Yerin doesn’t have the flag. When in fact, Jiho is at the field searching for the real flag. So…”
She faced Jiho, “We’ll give you time, find it as quickly as you can.”
***
Present time, 11:48.
Taeseok brought the exhausted and heaving Minggu as Jiho skipped with the Munchies flag.
When Taeseok saw Seohwa supporting Yerin and Hwayeon, he towered over her, “…You won.”
“I wouldn’t have won if Hwayeon and I didn’t know your personality, oppa. To pretend to defend but instead attack us.” Seohwa chuckled.
“…Touche.” Taeseok smirked.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Goldie, Hawk and Rhino came towards them and applauded. Goldie smiled, “Wonderful play! You all outdid yourselves!”
However, Seohwa stepped forward and rebuked, “No, if this was a real mission, it meant I had to sacrifice my troops to get to the goal. That isn’t victory. Taeseok-oppa did well controlling the battlefield to pressure me into using Hwayeon as bait.”
Goldie was impressed at her reflection when Rhino commented, “It’s good that you’re aware. I, too, realised that a good commander does not necessarily mean they act good but has the ability to give clear orders and to have knowledge of the situation.” Rhino nodded at Taeseok in acknowledgement.
Hawk then added, “Yes, and ultimately, to adapt your plan so it fulfils the goal. You noticed that 4-17 didn’t hand over the flag to anyone and adapted, leading your team to win. Don’t be too hard on yourself.” Hawk smiled with a thumbs up to Seohwa.
Seohwa lowered her head contemplatively and smiled gently. Goldie stayed back as she got what she wanted as she suggested, “Now that’s over, let’s head to lunch, shall we? And as the team that won, 8-33, 8-10 and 5-03, you get to ask one favour from us.”
Hwayeon and Jiho laughed as they high-fived. Seohwa observed how energetic the two were as she wondered what she wanted for her favour.
During lunch, Minggu grumbled the whole time of how his legs were shaking from running around. Yerin complained she was so exhausted making so many baits while Taeseok munched on some snacks and suggested, “…have some munchies and get your energy up.”
Minggu and Yerin saw how he was so relaxed when he did almost nothing but stall as they pulled his ears to punish him.
Everyone laughed at the comedic skit between them.
As everyone talked, Jiho asked Seohwa, who he sat next to, “Seohwa, what will you use the favour on?”
Seohwa hummed, “…I don’t know. What about you?”
“I’m going to ask for a spear since I can’t always use poles for my weapon.”
“That’s a good idea.” Hwayeon, who overheard them, sat near them.
“What about you, noona?”
“I might ask for some rare ores. I want to experiment with the ores to upgrade my gauntlets.”
Seohwa watched the two of them talk about what they wanted as she suddenly thought of Seoyong.
I wonder if I can ask them about Seoyong-oppa…
After lunch, Seohwa went to see Rhino who was about to leave and said, “Sir Rhino, I think I know what I want for my favour.”
