LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 60
Civilization.
This turn-based strategy game, commonly referred to as a time machine, allows players to grow their own civilization from ancient times, conquer others, and emerge as the most distinguished civilization in the world to claim victory.
Victory can be achieved through various means such as domination, science, culture, and religion, allowing players to adapt their strategies according to personal taste and the ever-changing circumstances.
Doesn’t it sound fun just from the description?
In reality, it’s quite enjoyable and remains immensely popular, with new installments continuing to emerge.
Of course…
– No way, seriously?
– Are you really playing that?
– Don’t mess with me!
– I’m fine with it, lol.
– All-nighter, let’s go!
As with the traits of turn-based strategy simulation games, it might appear a tad boring to viewers.
Time flows differently for those playing versus those watching.
“Honestly, didn’t we play way too fast last time? I’m planning on taking it easy this game.”
– But if you just lie down like that…
– Aren’t we playing anything else today?
– Are you really doing that?
– Sounds good.
– Ah, Civilization, lol.
As expected, there’s a bit of a divide in preferences. For those who’ve actually played Civilization, it’s certainly seen as fun.
Whether that fun will last, I can’t say for sure.
“So, what should the difficulty be?”
Once the game starts, various settings must be adjusted. Everything from difficulty level to resources and special events can be configured.
– Let’s go, let’s go!
– Can we please go play LoL right now?
– Are we just going to ant farm? Are we discarded??
– Miro’s a way more individualistic player.
“What do you mean ‘individualistic’? I’ll go with the Immortal difficulty then.”
Immortal is a significantly tough tier, just a step below the godly levels. It’s a level of difficulty that someone with my intelligence and experience simply couldn’t even dare imagine.
As I was setting everything up, I noticed things not seen in previous installments.
“Secret Society? Heroes? What are those?”
Did these exist before? They definitely weren’t in the previous series.
– The vampire existence in the secret society is totally broken.
– Heroes are good but way out of balance;
– Secret societies are fun.
As expected of a popular game, the detractors quickly faded away, and Civilization aficionados began popping up, eager to share their knowledge.
“Vampires? Is that a thing now?”
– Yeah, it’s something new and it’s fun.
– They get stronger the more units they consume.
– It’s frustrating because they’re slow, but nurturing them is quite satisfying.
“Stronger, you say? They don’t have limits?”
– Yep, they keep getting stronger.
– None specified.
Wait, so such a thing exists? Civilization is inherently a tech game, built on gradually advancing technologies to create your own powerful army.
“What kind of nefarious things are these? True strength should come from science!”
– ???
– But it’s a game;
– Just play already, let’s grow some vampires.
“Not happening.”
I won’t nurture such things. The true battlefield only blooms with iron and spear, gunpowder and gun.
Just then, the appearance of vampires—an utterly nonsensical occurrence—is something that must absolutely not happen.
Having firmly decided against anything so sketchy, I adjusted the settings.
– What’s our leader doing?
– Let’s go with Sejong.
– Korea is boring;
In Civilization, players can designate leaders from various countries as their characters.
Based on the features and achievements of the country or leader, special traits are assigned.
“I usually go with Korea, but since I’ve done that a lot in the previous series… I’m planning to choose a different civilization this time.”
– Have you played the previous series too?
– It is indeed a masterpiece.
– What’s left if we don’t play Korea?
“What else would you like me to do? Specialize in war?”
When one thinks of Civilization, war comes to mind, doesn’t it? Of course, there are other attractive elements, but I find battles to be the most fun.
– Gran Colombia is fun.
– Russia is broken.
– Germany?
– Japan, let’s go!
Just as predicted, someone in chat immediately matched the conversation.
“This is what you think of when you think of war, right?”
So I selected my leader.
[Germany – Friedrich Barbarossa]
– Ah, lol.
– Germany’s scientific prowess is unmatched.
– ?? This is controversial, lol.
– Hmmm.. Germany?
“Ah! I’m Friedrich Barbarossa, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. There’s nothing controversial about this.”
I made a solid start.
There are so many trolls on the internet, after all.
I simply wanted Germany’s production power, submarines, and their strength.
With a serious warning issued, the game began.
“This land looks good, doesn’t it?”
– Yep, sweet terrain, lol.
– I can’t sort through all of this.
– It’s not too late…
– How about a draw?
“Ah, this secretly has its own flavor to watch.”
Saying that, I constructed my first city with the initial settler unit.
Aachen.
This city, serving as the capital of the Holy Roman Empire since the time of Charlemagne, was newly built on this land, thousands of years ahead of its time.
“Alright, they give you a warrior at the start, and you need to scout around while producing scouting units.”
In Civilization, there are barbarian tribes present. They can be easily squashed in mid-game, but at the beginning, they are quite tricky to deal with. Thus, my strategy involves not sending the warrior far from the city for defense.
“As you wander around, you’ll find ruins.”
A long way from where he was going, the warrior unit stumbled upon ancient ruins. This ruin had existed way before, and benefits awaited the player within.
“See? Eating this increased our population by one, right? What a nice start.”
– What are you talking about, are you serious?
– I honestly don’t understand a thing.
– Just chill out a bit will you?
– What do we produce next after the scout?
– We should build a monument first.
– Let’s go with the settler.
Hmm—chat is chaotic.
But then, everyone gets like this at first, and as time passes, those who drop will trickle out, and only those who genuinely enjoy Civilization will remain.
“You should go with the settler. The surrounding land looks good too.”
After several days of playing, it should stabilize a bit, right?
So I continued the game.
And, Civilization…
It matched my preferences more than I expected.
A broadcast that usually lasted about two hours stretched to over five, six, seven hours, lasting until dawn without stopping.
Even the viewers who were sticking around were starting to show signs of fatigue.
[Thank you for the 1,000-won donation, ooo!]
How long will this go on? Please… I want to sleep…
“How long? Just a moment… I’ll finish this war first.”
– It’s fun but please don’t disrupt.
– Please stop…
– Seriously, I don’t know what’s going on anymore.
– Am I the only one enjoying this?
– Look, the chat is slowing down, lol, half of them are probably sleeping.
– For real, it’s hella boring.
– There’s no sleep aid like this.
“You can feel free to fall asleep while listening.”
You can genuinely sleep. I can understand that. If I were watching someone play Civilization for hours, I’d be dozing off too.
– Miro’s Spoon Radio, wow.
– The long broadcast is great; let’s just keep it going?
– Oh, I messed up the pattern.
– Why do you keep producing just cavalry? Can’t you make some pike units?
“Why would you make pike units? Ugh, you really don’t get it. War is about speed. Speed! Haven’t you read The Art of War?”
For reference, I haven’t read it either.
But the fact that it’s about speed is true, isn’t it?
– You’ve been in a war for over a hundred years in-game time.
– Germany and Japan are both getting wrecked, lol.
– Oh? This is hilarious, lol.
– But seriously, why is Japan so strong? They’re holding out, lol, the samurai are too OP, lol.
“Reinforcements will arrive soon.”
While the Japanese samurai is a bit of an anomaly, so what?
They are still no match for my cavalry, powered by Germany’s glorious production.
“Hey, island nation sword fighters, tremble in fear! This is a knightly order that once dominated the European continent!”
– Wow, lol.
– That’s on fire.
– Why is this so fun?
– Let’s go, lol.
Just as I was about to charge my cavalry en masse—
Bang—
The sound of a door opening and a presence behind the soundproof booth caught my attention.
“Eh…!”
There shouldn’t be anyone home, right?
Is it a thief? Or a burglar?
In an instant, I recalled a conversation I had with the viewers while I was deep into the game earlier. They said the outside world has gotten dangerous lately…
Quickly reaching for the cup on my desk for self-defense, I turned around, but the owner of the presence behind me acted faster.
Snap—!
“Ah!”
“Oh, you little brat! The sun’s out!”
“Uh, Mom?”
Why is Mrs. Jang here? Oh! Did she say she was coming today?
“Always cooped up at home!”
“Wait, just a minute!”
“‘Just a minute’ what? You came home for this? Even as an adult, you haven’t changed one bit!”
Setting aside the fact that she was right, there was something more urgent.
The mic…! I need to turn off the mic!
Before more trouble happened, I hastily reached for the mic on the desk behind me, but was I too frantic?
Tap—
Accidentally hitting my arm against the mic sent it crashing down under the desk.
“Ah!”
“Oh! What do you mean ‘ah’?”
No, no! This can’t go on, or it’ll be a real broadcast disaster!
“Mom, wait! Time out! Think about that hotel staycation I sent you!”
At my shout, Mrs. Jang froze momentarily.
It seems the memory of the hotel staycation was fond to her.
Seizing her moment of hesitation, I quickly crawled under the desk to find the mic.
“Why are you under the desk?”
“Seriously, just a second!”
Where is it? It’s too dark to see, but thankfully the mic was big enough that I found it quickly.
Slap!
Reaching out quickly, I switched off the mic and crawled back out from under the desk.
As I emerged, I found one side sporting Mrs. Jang’s incredulous expression, while the other side was—
– Hahahahaha!
– Huhuhuhuhuh…
– Omggggg.
Hah.
I’m going nuts.
Why did she have to come right now?
My face was burning with embarrassment.