24. A Man Who Lost His Mind. (2)

The wooden barrel containing the bow and arrows was still placed at the side entrance of the mart on the first floor.

No one had taken anything.

It wasn’t the kind of situation where anyone could think about such things.

I stared at the bow and arrow barrel and chuckled.

People really have no curiosity, huh?

Well, whatever.

It’s still awkward for them to hold weapons, at least for the inline skaters and the women.

There are five bows, aside from the one I’ll use. At least five of our people can be armed.

Conversely, it means that at least five of our people must be armed.

After what happened last night, people need to be able to protect themselves now.

…Wait a minute.

The number of arrows seems to have increased.

Were there this many?

Upon closer inspection, there were arrows lying outside the wooden barrel as well, as if they had spilled out due to the lack of space.

I soon realized and laughed.

The quiver with the fletched arrows.

I had left it behind when I went upstairs.

It’s now early morning, so it must have increased by at least a few dozen.

Thankfully, it increases by three per hour; if it had doubled, there would probably be a mountain of arrows in front of me by now.

…Actually, that would have been better.

I pulled out the tightly packed fletched quiver.

The arrows tumbled out with a clatter and fell beside the barrel.

I kicked them together roughly and picked up the bow I had used.

Now…

How should I equip this?

I looked down at the weightlifting belt I was wearing around my waist.

Two swords on each side.

…Hmm.

After some thought, I picked up the quiver.

A somewhat flat quiver.

Firm but flexible leather that holds the arrows securely.

I tried fitting the bow into it.

It doesn’t fit.

It would be nice if it did.

Is there anything else?

I rummaged through the wooden barrel.

I found a few cylindrical quivers and a flat quiver among the pile of arrows.

The flat quiver.

It’s slightly wider than the fletched quiver.

The shape is a bit different too.

…Will this fit?

I tried inserting the bow, and it went in deeply. The pressure increased as I pushed it in, and it held it firmly.

It wouldn’t come out unless I pulled with some force.

Definitely. This is a bow holder.

I thought it was just a quiver.

I chuckled and strapped the quiver and bow holder to my back in an X shape.

It would be better to secure it more firmly.

I’ll leave it like this for now and ask Soo-hyeon later.

After equipping myself, I lifted the shutter and left the building.

Han Tae, who was on guard duty on the second floor, poked his head out the window.

“Brother Seong-hun, are you going out now?”

I turned around and waved.

“Yeah. Lock the shutter.”

“Come back safely, brother.”

“Sure.”

Seeing him on guard duty, it seems he’s starting to find his place.

He’s still a coward and can’t go out to collect aluminum sheets with the others, but he’s almost taking charge of the garden work and running errands, and people seem to like him quite a bit.

It would be great if he could help with combat as well.

But he’s too small and chubby, and he has no strength in his arms.

From my experience with archery, he can’t shoot a bow.

Jeong-eun, who usually enjoys exercise, or Soo-hyeon, who likes to do various tasks, would be much better at drawing a bow.

Han Tae needs to grow more to shed his kid image.

With the added equipment, walking is a bit uncomfortable.

I’ll get used to it after carrying it around for a while.

It’s currently 2 AM.

Wild Hunter Level 2.

Feeling adventurous, I put 1 point into Perception, bringing it to 3.

Three arrows are stuck in the quiver on my back.

With Perception at 3, there’s no need to carry dozens of arrows.

I want to take out dozens at a time, not improve my archery skills to take them out one by one.

I don’t know how much practice it would take to hit a head from a distance.

This is my first time fighting with a bow.

I’ll test the long-range capabilities today and switch to a sword when I run out of Perception.

The streets are quite deserted.

I don’t even hear the roaches fighting and screaming.

The atmosphere must be bad after the massacre.

Not that it matters to me.

I walked over the bodies and made my way to the fountain via the underground passage.

The smell of decaying bodies wafts over.

It must be worse in the summer.

“Phew.”

Human Beasts are swarming from the shops and beyond, all the way to the subway entrance.

I reached back and hooked my hand on the bowstring, pulling it taut.

The bow was smoothly drawn out with a swoosh.

I took an arrow with my other hand and nocked it.

This is the first time I’m killing a Human Beast with a bow.

Perception 1 point.

Headshot, no matter what.

Let’s see how this goes.

I stood in a diagonal stance and raised the bow.

I then drew the string with the arrow nocked.

The next moment, something impossible happened.

I flinched and lowered my arm.

What did I just see?

…Wait a minute.

Again.

I raised the bow and aimed forward, drawing the string.

Then, in front of my eyes, beyond the hand holding the bow…

A round circle appeared.

The size of a small plate.

It’s transparent.

But it definitely exists.

Inside the circle, Human Beasts are swarming.

One of them is emitting a faint red light.

It’s precisely in the direction my arrow is pointing.

“Phew…”

I lowered my arm again.

The transparent circle disappeared.

I looked ahead.

None of the Human Beasts emit a red light.

“…So that’s how it works…”

The one emitting the red light is my target.

The one in the direction of my arrow.

The one I’m aiming at with a projectile.

It’s pinpointing the target.

I took a deep breath and looked ahead.

Since getting the status window, many impossible things have happened, but the status window itself is also surprising the more I experience it.

I need to get used to this too.

I raised the bow again.

And drew the string.

The circle appeared.

The direction the arrow is pointing.

A Human Beast is emitting a red light.

I took a deep breath.

“Swoosh.”

I released the string.

Thwip.

The bowstring snapped back, pushing the arrow forward.

A faint whistling sound.

The arrow flew like a bolt of lightning.

No, it’s not.

The power is insufficient.

I should have aimed higher…

I doubted my eyes.

The arrow, which was losing momentum, changed direction.

Like a swallow riding the wind, it drew a curve and soared upward, piercing the head of the Human Beast.

The Human Beast collapsed like a marionette with its strings cut.

“…Crazy.”

Is this even possible?

For an arrow to change direction mid-flight?

I looked at the bow in my hand.

It always hits the target.

…So that’s what it is.

A smile crept onto my face.

I chuckled for a moment and pulled out an arrow from my back.

…This is fun, isn’t it?

I nocked the arrow and drew the string.

The bow bent into a C shape.

The transparent circle.

A Human Beast emitting a red light inside it.

I released the string.

Thwip.

At that moment, the Human Beast moved.

It turned its head.

Good grief.

It’s far from its original position.

But the arrow, as if predicting the target’s movement, moved strangely, like a motorboat cutting through the water, following the Human Zombie.

From behind, it looks like it’s flying in a circle.

The arrow pierced the head.

“…Haha.”

I’m going crazy.

I grabbed my knees and laughed.

How is this even possible?

There was no way it could hit.

Can it move like that?

An arrow?

I remembered a game I played once.

Was it Titanfall? The second one?

There was a Smart Pistol that curved and hit the target no matter what.

Always hitting the mark.

What’s the difference with this?

It always hits the target, no matter what.

A Wild Hunter?

What a crazy specialization.

I stopped laughing and stood up.

Alright, one arrow left.

Let’s finish it.

I shot the remaining arrow, taking down one more, and opened the status window.

…Huh?

The power wasn’t consumed.

The power that was always consumed when I killed a monster…

…Is it only consumed by melee attacks?

…Wait a minute.

Then.

If Perception runs out, it means I can’t kill monsters with ranged weapons.

Power is the melee kill count.

Perception is the ranged kill count.

…Is that it?

“…Ah.”

Of course.

I had my doubts.

Damn.

Given what the status window is, there must be some limitations.

Suddenly, curiosity rises.

…Power.

I’ve been increasing it to secure kill counts.

Then, what skills are related to power?

Perception itself is a kill count stat.

But it has a skill attached to it.

There must be a skill attached to power as well.

The remaining specializations.

Space Explorer and Shadow Warrior.

…Shadow Warrior.

It’s intriguing.

I’m curious!

I’ll choose Shadow Warrior next.

I can’t wait to find out.

I lifted my head.

Anyway, the ranged test was successful.

Wild Hunter skill, hit.

I like it.

I really like it.

It seems I can carry more arrows from now on.

With that thought, I put the bow away.

Then, I drew my sword.

Swoosh.

I walked with a smile on my face.

Smiling, I shouted at them.

“Hawkeye!”

Roar!

The heads of the Human Beasts turned.

Roar!

They charged at me.

They grabbed each other, tangled, trampled, and leaped, creating a wave of humanity.

I walked toward the wave of hundreds of Human Beasts with a smile.

I rushed in and stood at the entrance of the underground passage.

[Level up by 2.]

“Haa, hoo, haa.”

I’m out of breath, damn it.

One acceleration left.

Rumble.

It feels like an earthquake.

The bodies of the fallen and those who were knocked over by them collapsed simultaneously, causing the underground passage to shake.

I wiped the blood and sweat from my chin with the back of my hand and shook my sword.

Splat!

The sound of blood splattering, it feels quite good.

Swoosh. Thud.

I sheathed my sword and turned to leave when I heard a distant rumbling sound.

It’s far. Very far.

What is it?

Lifting my head, I saw something flying in the night sky.

A small plane.

I saw it yesterday too, didn’t I?

I stood there for a moment, watching the tiny plane fly leisurely.

Seeing something like dust between the distant streetlights, it seems they’re spraying something again.

…It gives me a strange feeling.

There must be other living people besides us.

Given that even the roaches exist, there’s no way there aren’t any.

The fact that this plane is flying means there are other people somewhere.

Who are they?