Finally.

  The time had come. After several hours of preparation, we could finally attack the eastern part of the map. It felt like a liberation — as if a weight had been lifted from my heart.

  There we were, the four of us.

  Well, more accurately, we were just all in the same group chat, and in reality, I was sitting alone in my dark room at 1:35 a.m., like always. But it’s the thought that counts, I guess.

  We were discussing strategies — how best to reclaim the lost territories and the castles located within them. The diverse landscapes made it a bit tricky at first to come up with a unified plan. After all, everyone somehow knew better than the others.

  Even though we managed to agree on a strategy, there was still that lingering uncertainty — what if the others had come up with something better?

  “Guys... we can finally take back what is rightfully mine — I mean, ours.”

  I spoke like a king to his people.

  “Let’s just get it over with. I have to get up early tomorrow.”

  “Actually, I have school tomorrow…”

  “...do not despair over your earthly troubles — devote yourselves only to the battle and to the glorious victory that awaits!” I had to step in, since morale seemed rather low to me.

  We moved our troops. On one flank, support came from the British — a player who had randomly joined our side. He, too, had experienced the trauma of losing castles.

  My eyes locked onto the screen.

  The game had my full attention. There was nothing else in the world that could possibly distract me at that point.

  Then—

  A hail of arrows.

  It rained down upon our troops, thinning our ranks. It was truly a horrible sight to endure. But at least, they gave their virtual lives for a greater cause.

  “They came from the east — they were expecting us!”

  “Damn it!”

  It was total chaos. It took a while before we managed to calm down and act as a team again. We had been completely caught off guard.

  The front line didn’t move an inch for quite some time.

  It was an incredibly tense moment. None of us could tell which way the tide would turn.

  “Hold the line!”

  “Roger that!”

  Over time, we managed to push them back more and more. I could already see my character sitting on the royal throne. That’s how convinced I was of our group’s victory.

  But then—

  The tide turned. They managed to pull off a better strategy and pushed us all the way back to our starting positions.

  A short lull followed — apparently, on their side, just like on ours, the troops had become too scattered, or simply needed to be rebuilt.

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  It would’ve been the perfect moment to launch a counterattack. But we were facing the same issue.

  We regrouped and discussed the situation — what course of action we could still take. They explained the state of things to me, and just how bad it actually was for us.

  “With the British attack, everything will fall back into place…”

  The situation looked grim.

  “…he had to log off. He still had homework to do. So we no longer have enough troops to take the northernmost castle.”

  Of all places — that was my favorite castle.

  It seemed lost. Everything I had built up on my own so far suddenly felt meaningless. With trembling hands, I set aside my apple spritzer. It was a terrible situation for me.

  “We’ll keep up the pressure and push them back.”

  “We can’t do that right now…”

  I thought, if we wait too long, the enemy will recover — and overrun us.

  “…that was an order!” I shouted, desperate.

  “Attack, damn it!”

  Once more, both sides began to move. The battle started anew.

  They were absolute cowards. And total amateurs.

  I tried to encircle the French troops — and I partially succeeded. But there was still the issue of their reinforcements, which were already on their way to support them. So I had to act quickly, or I’d end up in their position myself.

  I managed to take most of them out.

  But then they were already there.

  They came down on me like a swarm of locusts.

  So many glorious soldiers died.

  I was able to take a good number of them down with me, but it didn’t seem to change the tide of battle.

  “I’m here!”

  Then he arrived — a Bulgarian teammate.

  His magnificent, albeit extremely cursed banner — strongly reminiscent of female anime characters — saved my troops from complete annihilation.

  He, too, had lost a castle in this region, he told me later.

  Hours passed. When I looked at the clock again, it was already around 4:00 a.m. But we kept pushing them back — until not a single one of them remained.

  The last troops gathered for a final strike near a river.

  They summoned their remaining strength and planned one last strategy to drive the French back beyond the mountains.

  “The French...!”

  I shouted, wildly waving my fist around in my room — complaining about how absurdly well-organized they were in this game.

  The in-game night passed without further events.

  Meanwhile, I went to search for something edible. I rummaged through my kitchen. But the food was already gone again — even the instant noodles were finished.

  The situation wasn’t just bad in the game.

  I rummaged through the fridge.

  Even after pushing aside the moldy cheese several times, I still couldn’t find anything edible. All that was left was some jam and an unopened stick of butter.

  In the end, I had to make do with a few leftover cookies I found in the cupboard.

  It was now around 4:30 a.m.

  My room had grown uncomfortably warm. Summer was truly a terrible time for gaming.

  We lined up, and the troops began to march — united, with the goal of reclaiming what had once been lost. But the moment we arrived, a hail of arrows rained down upon us.

  It was brutal.

  My catapult destroyed their defensive positions, tearing gaping holes in their walls. Through those breaches, our allied troops advanced — and captured the territory.

  Piece by piece, we took back the land.

  “Keep moving forward! Show no mercy to the French!” shouted the Bulgarian.

  He was all in — heart and soul. A true warrior.

  I was nearly brought to tears with joy.

  Their final soldiers fell — without ever thinking of retreating. Or surrendering.

  Gotta give them credit — that was pretty cool.

  We marched into every castle, and at long last, I was able to raise my banner over the northernmost fortress and claim it for myself.

  Finally.

  We eliminated all enemy troops.

  It was a glorious moment when the word Victory appeared on the screen.

  I could hardly believe it. Nearly two weeks without a castle.

  And now, after such a brutal fight, I finally had a virtual estate again.

  I was close to tears.

  “We did it, guys!”

  “Bro… my heart!”

  As we divided the captured spoils, the Bulgarian, of course, got his fair share. Then, one by one, my teammates started logging off.

  I logged off too.

  It was after 5:20 a.m. — definitely enough for one night.

  The PC was turned off. The sun had already risen.

  I stood in front of the window in my underwear, proudly observing the city slowly bathing in the dawn.

  It felt glorious, knowing that we had just defeated the French.

  I brushed my teeth and lay down.

  By now, it was around 5:40 a.m. I lay in bed, satisfied.

  With the knowledge that I once again owned a castle, I could have fallen asleep immediately.

  If only there wasn’t that thought — That soon I’d have to go to university to work on the group project with the others.

  And there was also the toaster.

  Still broken.

  So no breakfast for me — not the kind I deserved after all this.

  Life was rough. But sometimes… kind of beautiful.