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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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The wooden basket containing the bow and arrows was still sitting by the side entrance of the supermarket on the first floor.
No one had touched it.
They hadn’t been in the right frame of mind to do so.
He looked at the bow and arrows and chuckled.
Weren’t they even a little curious?
Well, whatever.
The idea of wielding weapons was probably still unfamiliar to them.
At least to the inline skaters and the women.
Excluding the one he would use, there were five bows. At least five people in their group could be armed.
Conversely, it meant that at least five people in their group had to be armed.
After what happened last night, they needed to be able to protect themselves.
…Wait a minute.
There seemed to be more arrows than before.
Were there this many?
He looked closer and saw arrows lying outside the basket.
As if they had overflowed.
He quickly realized what had happened and laughed.
The quiver with the feather band wrapped around it.
He had left it there.
It was dawn now, so there were at least a few dozen more arrows.
It was a good thing they only increased by three per hour. If they doubled as he’d initially thought, there would be a mountain of arrows here by now.
…Actually, that would have been better.
He pulled out the quiver tightly wrapped with the feather band.
Arrows tumbled out, clattering onto the floor beside the basket.
He nudged them together with his foot and picked up the bow he had been using.
Now…
How should he equip this?
He looked down at the lifting belt around his waist.
Two swords on either side.
…Hmm.
He thought for a moment, then picked up the flat quiver.
It was made of sturdy, yet flexible leather that held the arrows securely.
He tried to fit the bow inside.
It didn’t fit.
It would have been nice if it had.
Was there anything else?
He rummaged through the wooden basket.
He found a few cylindrical quivers and a flat one amongst the pile of arrows.
The flat quiver.
It was slightly wider than the one with the feather band.
The shape was slightly different as well.
…This would probably fit.
He inserted the bow, and it slid in smoothly. He felt the pressure as he pushed it further in, and it held the bow securely.
It wouldn’t come out unless he pulled it out with some force.
There was no doubt. This was a bow case.
He hadn’t realized there was such a thing.
He chuckled and attached the quiver and bow case to his body, crossing the straps in an X shape across his back.
It would be better to secure them tightly.
He would leave it like this for now and ask Soo-hyun for help later.
After equipping himself, he raised the shutter and left the building.
Han-tae, who was on guard duty on the second floor, peeked his head out the window.
“Sung-hoon hyung, are you leaving now?”
He turned around and waved.
“Yeah. Lock the shutter.”
“Have a good one, hyung.”
“You too.”
Seeing Han-tae standing guard, he seemed to be finding his place.
He was still too timid to go out and collect aluminum panels with the others, but he helped with the gardening and ran errands, and everyone seemed to like him.
It would be nice if he could also contribute to their fighting force.
But he was too small and chubby, and he lacked arm strength.
Based on his own experience with the bow, Han-tae wouldn’t be able to handle it.
Jung Eun-seo, who regularly exercised, or Soo-hyun, who was always eager to work, would be much better at drawing the bow.
Han-tae needed to grow up a bit more.
Walking felt slightly awkward with all the new equipment.
He would get used to it eventually.
It was currently 2 AM.
Wild Hunter Level 2.
He wanted to try leveling it up, so he put 1 point into Sense, raising it to 3.
The quiver on his back held three arrows.
With only 3 Sense, there was no need to carry dozens of arrows.
His goal was to wipe out dozens at a time, not to hone his archery skills and pick them off one by one.
He didn’t know how much practice it would take to accurately hit their heads from a distance.
This was his first time fighting with a bow.
He would test out ranged combat today, and once he used up his Sense, he would switch to his swords.
The streets were quite deserted.
He couldn’t hear the roars of the Cockroaches fighting amongst themselves.
They were probably in a somber mood after losing so many of their own.
He didn’t care.
He went down into the subway, stepped over the corpses, and walked to the fountain.
The stench of rotting corpses was overwhelming.
It was probably worse because it was summer.
“Huu.”
Human beast Malignant Entities crowded the stores and the path leading to the subway station.
He reached behind him, grabbed the bowstring, and pulled.
The bow slid out smoothly.
He took an arrow with his other hand.
And knocked it onto the bow.
This was his first time killing a human beast with a bow.
1 Sense.
Guaranteed headshot.
He would see how it worked.
He stood at an angle and raised his bow.
And drew the string with the nocked arrow.
The next moment, something impossible happened.
He was startled and lowered his arm.
What had he just seen?
…Wait.
Again.
He raised the bow, aimed, and drew the string.
And then, before his eyes, beyond his hand holding the bow…
A circular frame appeared.
About the size of a small plate.
Transparent.
But definitely there.
Human beast Malignant Entities swarmed within the circle.
One of them glowed faintly red.
It was positioned exactly where his arrowhead was pointing.
“Huh…”
He lowered his arm again.
The transparent circle disappeared.
He raised his head and looked ahead.
None of the human beast Malignant Entities glowed red.
“…So that’s how it works…”
The one glowing red was his target.
The one in the direction of his arrow.
The one he was aiming at with his projectile.
It pinpointed the target.
He took a deep breath and looked ahead.
Many impossible things had happened since he’d acquired the status window, but the status window itself continued to surprise him the more he experienced it.
He had to adapt to this too.
He raised his bow again.
And drew the string.
The circular frame appeared.
The direction his arrowhead was pointing.
A human beast glowed red.
He took a deep breath.
“Haa…”
He released the string.
Thwip.
The bow sprang back, propelling the arrow forward.
A faint popping sound.
The arrow flew like a bullet.
No.
He hadn’t put enough force into it.
He should have aimed higher…
He couldn’t believe his eyes.
The arrow, which had been falling due to lack of tension, changed direction.
Like a swallow gliding on the wind, it curved upwards in an arc and pierced the human beast’s head.
The human beast crumpled to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
“…Crazy.”
Was this even possible?
For an arrow to change its trajectory mid-flight?
He looked at the bow in his hand.
Guaranteed hit.
…So that’s what it was.
He started to laugh.
He chuckled for a moment, then took another arrow from his quiver.
…This was interesting.
He knocked the arrow and drew the string.
The bow bent into a reverse C-shape.
The transparent circle.
The human beast glowing red within it.
He released the string.
Whoosh-
At that moment, the human beast moved.
And turned its head.
Oh my god.
It had moved quite a distance from its original position.
But the arrow, as if anticipating the target’s movement, followed the human beast, moving strangely like a motorboat cutting through the water.
From behind, it looked like it was flying in a circle.
The arrow pierced its head.
“…Haha.”
This was crazy.
He clutched his knees and laughed.
How was this even possible?
It hadn’t been aiming in that direction at all.
Was it okay for the arrow to move like that?
He remembered a game he used to play.
Was it Titanfall? Titanfall 2?
There was a weapon called the Smart Pistol, and the bullets would curve and hit their targets.
With perfect accuracy.
This was no different.
A guaranteed hit every time he shot.
Wild Hunter?
What a crazy specialization.
He laughed for a moment, then stood up.
Okay, one arrow left.
He would shoot it.
He shot the remaining arrow, taking down another one, then opened his status window.
…Huh?
His Strength hadn’t decreased.
His Strength was always consumed when he killed a Malignant Entity…
…Was it only consumed with melee attacks?
…Wait.
That meant…
If he ran out of Sense, he couldn’t kill Malignant Entities with ranged weapons.
Strength was the kill count for melee attacks.
Sense was the kill count for ranged attacks.
…Was that it?
“…Ha.”
Figures.
He had been hoping.
Damn.
There had to be limitations with the status window.
He suddenly became curious.
…Strength.
He had been raising his Strength stat to secure his kill count.
So, what was the skill related to Strength?
Sense itself was the kill count for ranged attacks.
But it had a skill attached to it.
Strength must also have a skill attached to its kill count.
The remaining specializations.
Space Explorer and Shadow Warrior.
…Shadow Warrior.
This was driving him crazy.
He was so curious!
He would choose Shadow Warrior next time.
He couldn’t stand not knowing.
He raised his head.
Anyway, the ranged combat test was a success.
The Wild Hunter skill, True Strike.
He liked it.
He liked it a lot.
He could carry a decent number of arrows from now on.
With that thought, he put away his bow.
And drew his swords.
Shing-
He walked with a smile on his face.
Smiling, he shouted towards them,
“Hawkeye!”
Groar!
The human beasts’ heads swiveled.
Kyaaaaa!
They charged.
Grabbing, tangling, trampling, and jumping over each other, they formed a human wave.
He smiled as he walked towards the wave of hundreds of human beasts.
He blitzed through them and arrived at the subway entrance.
[Level Up x2.]
“Haa, huu, haa.”
He was out of breath, damn it.
He had one Accelerate left.
Rumble-
It felt like an earthquake.
The subway vibrated as the corpses and those who tripped over them collapsed simultaneously.
He wiped the blood and sweat from his chin with the back of his hand and flicked his swords.
Swish!
The sound of blood spraying was quite pleasant.
Shing Click
He sheathed his swords and turned to leave, when he heard a faint rumbling sound in the distance.
It was far away. Very far.
What was it?
He looked up and saw something flying in the night sky.
It was a light aircraft.
He thought he’d seen it yesterday too.
He stood there for a moment, watching the tiny aircraft fly leisurely.
He could vaguely see something like dust scattering in the distance between the streetlights, so it was probably spraying something again.
…He had a strange feeling.
There were other survivors besides them.
There had to be, with the Cockroaches still around.
The fact that the aircraft was flying meant there were other people somewhere.
Who were they?
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