Hwarang

,What? Wasn’t this just a freebie?”

I stared at the man grumbling in front of me. It seemed he used his own basic appearance as a base, but Hwarang stood there with a sharper impression overall.

It seemed like he had gotten taller too. I didn’t like that he was looking down at me from a higher position than in reality.

,If a guy who got in through the raid leader’s connections can’t even deal damage, nothing pisses me off more, you know?”

,No. Hey…”

Hwarang, or rather, Hwarang in this place.

Hwarang was looking at me with a disappointed face.

He had a huge greatbow on his back, equipped with leather armor to get the bonus stats unique to archers.

It was a weapon that boasted reliable attack power with each shot, but it suffered in terms of attack speed.

Of course, it was also a weapon that could unleash powerful firepower if the accuracy was high enough.

,Grab a weapon.”

Hwarang, knowing my skills, was looking at me with an unsure expression.

I ignored his gaze and set up the duel system.

Then, a large flag fell from the sky.

As the duel started, Hwarang’s gaze changed.

The dull look in his eyes sharpened, and he took out five arrows from behind his back and nocked them on the bowstring.

,Are you just going to stand there?”

He seemed to find it strange that I wasn’t moving even though the duel had started.

I shook my head and drew my sword.

Seureureung-

The sword drawn from its scabbard began to scatter a subtle sunlight.

As an item representing the season, a splendid effect was enveloping the sword.

,What is that…?”

,Never you mind. Just shoot your arrows.”

,Don’t tell me that’s the Holy Sword of the Sun God…?”

,Just shoot, I said.”

The moment I finished speaking, five flashes of light were fired.

The long, trailing tails of light approached slowly.

But that was just a simple illusion; the five flashes had already grazed past my body.

,Your accuracy is terrible, huh?”

,I missed on purpose.”

Hwarang said that and aimed his bow again.

This time as well, five arrows were being drawn.

It was a greatbow choice to maximize the ranger’s rapid-fire characteristics. It was a weapon that couldn’t receive mastery, but its damage would record an overwhelming graph.

Ping-!

The arrows were fired again.

The speed, imbued with light, was twice as fast as a mage’s ice arrow.

I calmly stared at the arrows. At that moment, my head began to burn white.

The manifestation of innate talent. My mind, focused to the extreme, read the trajectory of the incoming arrows.

At that moment, I swung my sword.

The holy sword, wrapped in sunlight, deflected three arrows with a single movement.

It was a feat possible because I was concentrating. But what if I were moving? Could I block attacks fired at this speed even in a hectic battle situation?

I wanted to test that.

,Hey… that’s…!”

Hwarang looked at me with a shocked expression after I blocked the arrows.

But that expression was quickly erased. Because I charged straight at him.

My body, running quickly, reached Hwarang without any hindrance.

It was that moment. Hwarang’s body began to rotate briefly, and a wind-filled [Spinning Kick] came flying.

A basic survival skill for archer types. It was a very useful skill, possessing the effect of briefly stunning the target.

I wouldn’t hold back. I would be sincere. It was a place to see Hwarang’s skills, so I couldn’t allow myself to hold back on him.

Immediately, I used [Dash]. After a short preparation time, my body, shot out quickly, collided with Hwarang.

I allowed the spinning kick to hit, so I took the hit, but thanks to the skill characteristics of Dash, I didn’t fall into a stun.

Hwarang’s urgent gaze was directed at my sword. He had good eyes, carefully watching the attack aimed at him.

At that moment, an arrow of light was fired from a very close distance.

Kwaaaak!

It was impossible to avoid the attack fired from point-blank range. I couldn’t even counterattack.

The arrow of light, lodged deep in my gut, ate away at a considerable amount of health.

In the moment I hesitated slightly from the powerful impact, Hwarang widened the distance with the agile movements unique to archers.

Judging by the wind under his feet, he seemed to have purchased boots called [Blessing of the Wind], which maximized movement speed.

Attacks continued to fly even as he widened the distance. The arrows fired through the wind didn’t have as much power as they had a short preparation time, but they had enough power to sufficiently hinder my movements.

Ting! Ting! Tang!

The continuously swung sword continued to knock away the arrows. The more I did that, the farther Hwarang got.

He had talent. Unlike the me in the other world, this Hwarang had a natural talent for VR games.

Was it because we shared the same blood? The talent that Hayeon had was also being passed on to Hwarang.

But I was getting used to it. I knocked away the quickly flying arrows and began to move forward.

Hwarang’s expression began to harden as he watched that scene.

At that moment, the continuous attacks stopped.

It seemed like a short charge time was continuing to prepare for a powerful attack.

I didn’t miss that gap. Immediately, I started running, stretching my sword out long behind me.

Pang!

It was the moment when a very large explosion sound, different from before, was heard.

The shower of light covering my eyes was approaching quickly.

I calmly stared at the attack. Even if the world was different, the basic game system was the same.

I used the [Counterattack] skill, which countered the opponent’s attack at the exact timing.

The moment I deflected the light attack by moving the sword that had gone forward as if pulling it back, a successful effect burst out.

If I hadn’t activated Counterattack, I would have fallen into a stun and become a hedgehog from the following combo attack.

-Chwaaaak!

The red trajectory, the unique effect of [Counterattack], split the air.

At that moment, the effect of [Solar’s Holy Sword of the Sun God] was activated.

The sunlight flame that started from my neck began to stretch out long, enveloping my body like a cloak.

I blocked all the damage using Counterattack, but I couldn’t completely scatter the shock contained within.

The moment my body was naturally pushed back, Hwarang’s next attack followed.

Unlike before, Hwarang’s arrow was aimed at the sky.

The quickly flying arrow of light began to split in the air, turning into a countless rain of arrows and pouring down onto the ground.

Of course, I was under it.

It was a good combo.

The accuracy was also amazing, and the sense of using skills was also innate.

If it wasn’t me in this place, Hwarang would have taken the victory in this duel.

His sense of gauging the distance with the opponent was also outstanding.

He was positioned farther away from the range of my [Dash].

But there was one fact that Hwarang had overlooked.

The fact that I had [Berserk] from [Fighter’s Heart].

There was one interesting characteristic attached to dash-type skills.

The higher the user’s attack speed, the longer the travel distance.

Whether it was a coding mistake by the developer or whether it was originally intended, I didn’t know, but thanks to that characteristic, there were crazy bastards who only raised their attack speed and quickly patrolled the gathering routes using dash skills.

[Berserk]

I activated that skill that originally wouldn’t have existed.

At that moment, my vision began to turn red, and the fighting spirit of the Orc fighter began to dwell in my heart.

It was a sensation as if hot magma was being poured into my head, which was burning white.

Beyond the red-tinged vision, Hwarang’s figure, preparing for the next attack, came into view.

In time with the pounding of my heart, I put my foot forward.

The sound of the rain of arrows falling from the sky disappeared. Not just the sound. Everything around me gradually began to disappear as if watercolor paints were spreading.

What remained was a straight path and Hwarang, located at the end of it.

The moment the cloak of sunlight rippled in the wind, the power that started from my ankles traveled through my calves and thighs and spread throughout my entire body.

The activation of [Dash]. At that moment, blue mana burst out and began to envelop my entire body.

An attacking stance that disregarded defense. I pulled the sword back to swing it, lowering my body as much as possible.

White light began to soar within the red-tinged vision.

At that moment, my body, which was ready, was shot out quickly with the system’s correction.

As if flying through the sky, the sensation of my legs stepping on the ground became faint.

On the straight path.

On it, Hwarang’s expression was dyed with shock. It was that moment. The brilliant light condensed in his bow was fired quickly.

But I ignored it. I was trusting in this body’s defense power. Unlike before, I was wearing full plate. The considerable defense power and various damage reduction passives would safely absorb the impact.

Kwaang!

The moment the pure white flash grazed my body, my vision shook from the tremendous impact. But the speed didn’t decrease.

A tremendous amount of health was consumed in a single blow, but I didn’t fall.

The speed of the dash accelerated and became even faster. My body, shot out like an arrow, reached Hwarang in an instant.

But the distance was short. It was slightly insufficient, so the dash’s hit range didn’t match.

My stopped legs strongly stepped on the ground. The moment the heavy weight of the clattering continued, the rotation started from my ankles.

That rotational force traveled up my calves and thighs and was amplified once more at my waist.

I didn’t release the stance to swing the sword. At this moment, I used all my skills to strengthen the attack.

The sword, where the subtle sunlight had lingered, soared with a splendid golden radiance.

That long-stretched sword was swung as it was, severing Hwarang’s neck.

Chwaak!

A strike aimed at a vital point.

Hwarang’s body shook greatly from the fatal sword strike and collapsed as it was.

Hwarang, who had fallen to the ground, didn’t think about getting up.

He just stared blankly at the sky.

I swung my sword to shake off the lingering skill effects.

The moment the golden radiance disappeared, the duration of [Sun’s Cloak] also disappeared and scattered.

,Did I pass?”

,You passed.”

It was the moment when an arrow-slinger entered my raid party.

I smiled with satisfaction and held out my hand to Hwarang.

,Welcome, arrow-slinger.”

,You crazy bitch…”

Hwarang grabbed my hand and got up, then dusted off the dirt on his body.

I looked at him with a puzzled expression.

Now that I saw it, his guild wasn’t displayed under his nickname.

,You’re not in a guild?”

,No one would take me?”

,Why?”

,Because I’m an archer…”

Hwarang began to tell the story of his hardships.

He started as an archer, but he couldn’t form parties because of the perception of the job.

He couldn’t even join a guild. Even if he went to great lengths to find a party, he was only ignored.

He had reached max level by solo play.

,What about your friends?”

,My friends don’t really play this game. Gold is expensive, so they’re always busy gathering herbs in the mountains and buying chicken to eat.”

It seemed that the perception of archers in this world was worse than a sewer.