episode_0103

September 30th. The official gaming room of the student center.

Mina Karcic stretched out her palms and shouted proudly.

“I activate the Lonely Gunslinger’s ability! Time between dogs and wolves!”

Dog and Wolf Time – Can be activated once during the game. During this turn, all shots this unit makes are critical.

“Senior! What was the lone gunman’s shooting weapon?”

“Wanderer’s Pistol.”

“Hoo.”

Wanderer’s Pistol – Range 24 / Attack 6 / Accuracy 7 / Penetration 2 / Damage 1

The Gyoonguk hurriedly took note of that fact.

Graven watches from next to the table as the two compete.

Hmm. The ace of Romelo Village’s militia, the lone gunman, has quite powerful abilities.

All attacks hit without making an attack roll.

The accuracy goes from 70% to 100%, so firepower increases by 42% for one turn.

No, since we ignore the decrease in accuracy due to concealment, in some cases it may increase by nearly double.

However, the shooting weapon’s penetration is 2. It’s not low, but it’s not that high either.

Units with moderately high defense can easily repel attacks.

For example, like that golem currently marking the lone gunman.

Gatekeeper Golem – Underwater Guardian, Golem

Single model unit – 25 points

Movement 10 / Defense 8 / Resistance 7 / Magic Power 0 / Learning 0 / Stamina 12

“Let’s attack!”

“Oh, before that, I have a few things to tell you.

As you probably haven’t forgotten, the lone gunman is receiving the effect of Macho Rio’s match made in heaven.”

A match made in heaven – action. Select two friendly single model units within 12cm. The units are treated as sharing all of each other’s keywords.

Hawk Rio is a unique unit given to Romelo Village.

If you include a hawk in your crew, you can bring in one academy unit and enjoy their keyword effects.

A model that plays a similar role to Alexios, the prophet of the lake in The Great Lake Monster.

“The lonely gunman’s match made in heaven is Remy, the head maid at the Red Horse Dormitory.

Therefore, the gunman enjoys the effect of Remy’s keyword, maid.”

“Maid?”

This noble wanderer wearing a coat and a scarf around her mouth wears a maid outfit.

Kyowoonguk shuddered as if it was terrifying to even imagine, but Graven looked puzzled.

“Mina. Isn’t the reason Remy was brought out so that he could enjoy the best maid effect?”

“That’s right. The gunman is receiving Remy’s aura, so he is getting the effect of hitting critical points.”

Choi Seon-im Maid – 12cm Aura. All maid units within range receive critical hits.

Critical Hit – A successful hit grants 10 Penetration.

Only then did Gyounguk seem to understand the strangeness of this situation.

Now the lone gunman doesn’t make any attack rolls.

But what good is it to get 10 Penetration on a great hit roll?

“Lone gunman’s shooting. Hit all 6 times.

Activates the effect of critical hit ability acquired by sharing weakness.

Since the attack gains 10 Penetration, the Gatekeeper Golem’s defense is 0. It cannot make a defense roll.”

“Now… Wait a minute!”

Yun Guo hurriedly raised his palm.

“Uh… How does that happen?”

“My junior is right. Since you skipped the attack roll, there’s no way you’ll hit the jackpot.”

“Graven, didn’t you know?”

Mina rummaged through her bag and took out a thin booklet.

“The Age of Romance Season 1.5 FAQ. I thought I read it thoroughly.”

“Has that already come out? I missed it.”

“It came out the day before yesterday. Let’s look at the essential items here.”

Q. What should I do if a critical attack requires reference to hit dice due to an ability such as Student Council President Lilac Bonnet?

A. The player controlling the unit that made the critical attack declares which eye was rolled on the hit die.

Graven read the text carefully.

That is not wrong.

There are several abilities that prevent damage by referring to the number of the opponent’s hit dice.

It may be appropriate to make this decision in order to avoid being blocked by such abilities.

but…

“So I will declare that the hit die rolled a 1.

If you roll a dice and get a 1, it’s a huge success.

Therefore, a critical hit occurs, ignoring defense and dealing 6 damage.”

Gyo Woon-guk, at a loss for words, collapsed in his seat.

“Shoot again. Guaranteed 6 damage.

Defeat the gatekeeper golem with this.”

“… ”

A virtual instant death blow coming from 24cm.

Graven muttered while stroking his chin.

“… There’s something wrong with this.”

“That’s what I think too. Maybe we will fix our finances soon.”

“Are you planning to increase your ranking by abusing it until then?”

“Graven. That’s not what the guy who put together an infinite stalling crew with three cats would say.”

Graven, left with nothing to say, shrugged his shoulders.

Because the principle of the universe is that it is better to suck honey while you can.

————————————————– ———————————–

“Mr. Coleman. Have you seen this?”

“Ah. Is it a problem related to your writing skills?”

I sighed deeply.

I never thought I would make such an obvious mistake.

In my defense, with five new factions in mind, I didn’t have time to pay attention to the combos that interacted with the existing models.

Well, it is true that at the time of releasing Maepa Rio, we were hoping to find such an emergent link to some extent…

I didn’t intend to fire 6 consecutive headshots in conjunction with the red horse maid.

“The problem has become bigger than I thought.”

“Okay,” said Cleo and put down the strange magazine.

“Monthly romance, gentlemen?”

“Read it.”

A thin magazine of about 24 pages.

However, it introduces major issues in the romantic era.

Gossip news about the rivalry between Mina and Graven.

A promotional article introducing a new gaming center opening in Billingham.

Special analysis of new factions.

and…

“A huge impact combo! 12 damage confirmed with 3 actions… ”

Upon closer inspection, it was as expected.

An article detailing the combo of Hawkman Rio, Maidmaster Remi, and Lonely Gunslinger.

I turned back the magazine. The name written on the back cover is-

“Macariel Publishing.”

“… ”

“Should I be happy about this? To be recognized by Daeb Macariel.

I guess you have concluded that our game is not a fad.”

“… Sorry.”

I threw up my hand.

“No, no. What is there to be sorry for?

It’s a really positive thing to have a magazine covering our game.”

Of course, when making fakes doesn’t work, I don’t feel happy about making and selling them to the media like parasites…

If I expressed that feeling here, only Cleo would be uncomfortable.

I forced myself to change the topic.

“I was wondering why it became a hot topic so quickly, and this was the reason.”

“Yes. Now, one-turn kills using lone gunmen will be rampant not only in the academy but also in external game rooms. Shouldn’t we hurry up with the balance patch?”

“Mr. Cleo. I have something to show you too.”

I took out the letter from the drawer.

“Is this a letter from Mr. Priestley?”

“Yes.”

Cleo frowned after reading the letter carefully.

“Orders for the Romelo militia are flooding in.

We have already begun increasing production for these models.

Do you hope for a policy that can maintain demand?”

“This is probably a request to delay the balance patch.”

I looked out the window.

“Mr. Coleman. We reserve the right to refuse this request.”

“Funforge does not receive instructions from Priestley Wonders.”

“Yes. We were promised not to interfere if we maintained an annual profit margin of 10 percent or more.”

That’s right.

To make a good game, you have to eliminate unintended problems.

but…

Why do I keep thinking about the ledger I showed you in my sister’s inn room?

I looked at the sales sheet attached by Priestley.

The sales volume of Romelo’s militia, which stands alone.

If I settle the profits this winter, 2,000 gold will come to me.

2,000 gold… If you spread this to the nobles who support the Crown Princess…

It might serve as a basis for confronting the former intelligence chief…

“Mr. Coleman?”

I shook my head to dismiss the temptation.

“I will send a letter to Mr. Priestley saying that I will announce a balance patch sometime next week.”

“Well thought out.”

“Anyway, even if a strong model is released, it does not directly lead to sales.

This situation is a bit unusual.”

Miniature games are not a genre where you can freely move between forces.

What if you hear a rumor that a certain faction is strong and try to switch to that faction?

It costs at least 1 gold to get a new model, and it takes at least a week to paint it.

It’s not an easy task for ordinary players.

If you favor a specific faction and promote it, the backlash from existing players will be greater than the increase in sales.

This incident is like an incident that occurred during the process of a large influx of new players.

Since there are many people who have not yet decided on a faction, they probably tried to choose the strongest among the new factions.

… This is it.

Let’s use limited edition models and separate skins as sales cheats.

Keep the balance as stable as possible…

But why does this feeling of uneasiness continue to remain?

“Then I will write you a letter.”

“Ah, Cleo. Can I get some travel expenses?”

“Yes?”

I waved the magazine.

“I want to go and see it in person.

The era of romance in Billingham.”

[Today’s Unit]

Lone Gunman – Militia, Human, Lone Gunman

Single model unit – 24 points

Movement 12 / Defense 6 / Resistance 6 / Magic 0 / Learning 2 / Stamina 12

strike armament

Butt – Attack 3 / Accuracy 6 / Penetration 0 / Damage 1 / Immediately move 1cm when damaged

shooting armament

Wanderer’s Pistol – Range 24 / Attack 6 / Accuracy 7 / Penetration 2 / Damage 1

ability

Dog and Wolf Time – Can be activated once during the game. During this turn, all shots this unit makes are critical.

Anonymity – This unit is only treated as a famous unit when it is advantageous to do so.

Heroes Never Die – If this unit is eliminated at the start of round 5, immediately redeploy it to any location on the table with 1 health. When revived in this way, this unit cannot operate for the grand strategy and is neither affected nor affected by the grand strategy. At the end of round 5, this unit is removed from the game.