Chapter 171: Bitter Defeat (bonus)

The situation looked frightening, but Frank had a good idea of what was going on, so he was not worried in the slightest. 

"Come on, no need to hold back. Musketman, advance!" 

He selected the Musketman stationed inside Washington and directly ordered it to attack the Heavy Cavalry surrounding them from the side. But the information displayed on the preview screen left him dumbfounded. 

The Heavy Cavalry, which should have had only 48 Combat Strength, now had as much as 54 Combat Strength, almost on par with his "high-end" Musketman. 

Frank's nerves kicked in instantly. This was bad! 

Although they had the city's defenses, his side still had a two-point advantage in Combat Strength. But the enemy had more troops! 

Two Heavy Cavalry units were attacking from both sides, and there were still two Catapults on the way behind them. They were clearly planning to take him down in one go! 

"This is bad. How does it feel like we can't beat them?" 1

Frank's grip on the controller unconsciously tightened slightly. There was one thing he could confirm first. Although it was not obvious, they still possessed the advantage of a technological gap. 

The only problem was their lack of numbers. Their number of units was far lower than the Aztecs', so that meant they could only pin their hopes on Boston, which had the highest Production. 

But Frank stared at another group of Aztec troops approaching from a different direction and fell silent. 

[Next Turn] 

Bang! 

[Preserve — Plundered] 

[Campus — Plundered] 

[Commercial Hub — Plundered] 

[Catapult has attacked Washington, dealing 26 damage] 

[Catapult has attacked Washington, dealing 32 damage] 

[Knight has attacked Washington] 

[Washington] [Capital] [Has Been Captured] 

The dorm room fell into an eerie silence. 

The three of them quietly watched as all of Washington's various stats plunged dramatically after the city was captured, speechless for a moment. 

Boston, which they had placed their hopes on, was being rapidly approached by several Medieval cavalry units that had just finished the battle for Washington. 

Clearly, they could forget about waiting for that Musketman whose production bar had not even reached halfway. Even if they managed to produce it, it would be no match for so many units. 

It was a perfect example of the old saying: "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst." 

Their first-ever game of Civilization ultimately ended with Frank's crushing defeat. 

"I can't accept this! Why are the Aztecs so damn strong? Why did the Knights get such a huge Combat Strength bonus? They're almost as strong as my Musketmen!" 

Frank was incredibly unwilling to accept it. They had a technological advantage and still got completely crushed. The game's design was way too unreasonable! 

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and the more unwilling he was to accept it. He simply pressed the New Game button, scrolled through the list of civilizations, and searched for that familiar face. 

[Montezuma I] 

[Unique Ability]: 

[Gifts for the Tlatoani] 

[Summary]: 

[Luxury resources within your territory provide 1 Amenity for up to two additional cities] 

[Each improved Luxury resource within your territory provides +1 Combat Strength to Military Units] 

The Mystery solved, just like that. Every type of Luxury resource could make all his Military Units stronger? Wasn't this a snowballing perpetual-motion machine? 

As long as he kept expanding, his military strength would continue growing stronger and stronger. So, looking back, they probably should've been thanking him. When they first met him, he could've launched a Surprise War right away, but he didn't. 

In an instant, that feeling of having everything under control from earlier completely vanished from Frank's mind, and he had the nerve to call that "management." 

What a joke. The other guy could casually smash through him even while being two eras behind. 

"Forget it. Let's call it a night. Our final exams are tomorrow, and I haven't even finished studying yet." 

Frank turned his head and glanced out the window. The morning sky was always so fresh and clear. 

"Yeah, that's true. But I'm so damn tired. I'm going to crash for a few hours and study this afternoon." 

Mike yawned. The three of them had not slept all night just to get their hands on the console at launch, and at this point, they were already completely exhausted. 

"Yeah." 

The three of them immediately returned to their respective beds and fell asleep the moment they lay down. 

At noon, a series of hurried knocks came from outside the dorm room, waking the three of them from their sleep. 

"Hey! Why weren't you three at the exam?!" 1

"What?!" 

In an instant, the three of them felt as though they had been dropped into freezing water. A chill ran from the soles of their feet all the way up to their heads, leaving them frozen in place. 

"An exam?! Aren't finals tomorrow? What the hell is this, a surprise test?" 

The student who had come to deliver the news looked at the three of them, still half-asleep with crust in the corners of their eyes. 

"You idiots, you all remembered the date wrong, didn't you? The exam was today!" 

"You seriously think I got the date wrong? That's impossible. I specifically wrote it down. The final is two days after NovaXeno releases. There's no way I could've mixed that up." 

"Yes, but today is already the 'second day' you're talking about." 

Their classmate raised his hands and made air quotes around "second day." 

"???" 

Frank rubbed his puffy eyes, trying to figure out whether the guy was messing with them. What did he mean, today was already tomorrow? 

The three of them had obviously just gotten back after picking up the game on launch day. They could've played, what, one game of Civilization at most? If that was the case, then when he went to bed, it should've been around noon. 

Frank looked out the window. The California sun was already high in the sky, bright enough to hurt his eyes. The time didn't make any sense. Had he somehow gone back in time? 1

Wait! Frank swallowed with difficulty, his eyes drifting toward the brand-new NovaXeno sitting on the table. Montezuma's portrait was still displayed on the television. Could it be… 

"Uh, Mike, how long did we play?" 

"Six…" 

"Allen?" 

"…" 

"…" 

The more he asked, the quieter they got. Something definitely wasn't right. Frank remembered the early turns going by fast. They hadn't even hit 100 turns when they reached the Industrial Era. That was nothing. In Fire Emblem, he could barely get a support relationship fully leveled in that many turns. 

"You three haven't stepped outside since you brought NovaXeno home yesterday morning. I figured you'd at least come out for food or something. Instead, you've been holed up in here the whole time." 

Frank staggered backward a few steps before collapsing onto the bed. 

If that was really the case, then had he seriously spent the whole night playing without even noticing? From one morning to the next? 

Frank had certainly seen games that required a very long time to play. Games like Pokémon and Harvest Moon required patience, with players slowly playing them over ten days, half a month, or even longer. 

Spending a whole week hunting for a rare Pokémon was nothing unusual. But playing for that long without even realizing how much time had passed? That was a first for him. 

If Montezuma hadn't crushed him and finally handed him a loss, Frank probably would've kept going. There was something about that "Next Turn" button. Every time he clicked it, he told himself it would be the last, only to end up clicking it again. 1

"So, we're going to have to retake the exams next semester." 

The three of them exchanged glances and accepted this tragic reality. 

"Well, in that case…" Mike licked his lips, his eyes drifting toward the empty seat in front of the television, but someone was even faster than him. Allen instantly turned into a blur, snatched up the controller, and sat down.