I Am a Bowman

I am an archer ┃Prologue

The bustling central square of the starting village.

Many beginner users of 'Grand Story' gathered there to find parties before hunting or to buy and sell items.

When a young man with a bow and quiver slung over his shoulder appeared, people looked at him with surprised eyes and whispered.

“Who is that? Is he an archer?”

“Wow. Amazing. I should take a screenshot and upload it.”

As people paid attention to him, Lars, the young man, was moved.

'How difficult was it to become an archer!'

It felt like that he took the reward for half a day of hard work.

However, Lars didn't come to the central square just to get attention. He came to participate in party hunting, which became possible after his job change.

“Level 10 warrior looking for a party!”

“Looking for a priest to go to the entrance of the eastern forest!”

“Buy equipment! How long are you going to wear beginner equipment?”

“Going to the eastern forest! We'll start as soon as one person comes!”

Although it was recommended for users who were level 15 or higher, the eastern forest was a suitable hunting ground for users who had recently changed jobs. Some users who were able to control themselves hunted alone.

Lars approached a magician who said he was looking for a party in the eastern forest.

“Hello. Are you going to the eastern forest?”

“I'm sorry. We need a tanker.”

It was an unmistakable clean rejection.

'No, if you need a tanker, why didn't you say so in advance?'

Lars felt disappointed, but he decided to find another party.

However, 30 minutes later, Lars realized.

That person belonged to a very polite group...

“I'm a level 10 archer. Are you looking for a party to go to the eastern forest?”

“Wow. Cheer up.”

“Yes?”

“Fighting!”

“Hello.'”

“....”

“Are you going to the eastern forest?”

“....”

“Excuse me...”

“....”

“Excuse me?”

“....”

“Hello.”

“Goodbye.”

From people who couldn't communicate to people who didn't even respond, even to psycho-like people who were simple.

“What is this...”

While giving up on finding a party and walking towards the southern meadow, he noticed a familiar face.

The magician who said he was looking for a tanker 30 minutes ago.

He still hadn't found party members.

At that moment, another user approached the magician.

“Hello. I'm a level 10 rogue user. Can I join your party?”

“Yes. We were just looking for a dealer. It's perfect!”

'...Didn't you say you were looking for a tanker earlier?'

Lars was about to confront the magician, but he realized that he looked petty and gave up.

'Forget it. I'll just hunt alone...'

Lars grumbled and walked towards the southern meadow.

As he approached the entrance of the southern meadow, he saw beginner users hunting foxes.

The monsters that mainly appeared here were foxes.

Foxes were non-aggressive monsters, making them suitable opponents for users who had just changed jobs and were hunting alone.

Lars also took out his bow from his back to commemorate his first hunt after changing jobs.

It was given to him by a somewhat suspicious person who made him a archer.

⟦Old Longbow⟧

A longbow used by a master archer a long time ago. It's now too old and has lost its power.

-Grade: Normal

-Attack Power: 10~20

-Durability: 30/30

Despite the plausible explanation, it had unimpressive options, but it was quite good for beginners to use.

While looking around, Lars spotted a fox sleeping under a tree about 5 meters away.

Lars immediately took an arrow out of his quiver and aimed at the fox with one eye closed.

The bowstring was pulled taut.

For a beginner, he had quite a convincing posture.

In fact, Lars had never shot a bow in real life. He had never even tried it, only watching archery scenes in movies or the Olympic archery competition a few times.

But he wasn't worried.

Why? Because this was just a game!

The fox was fast asleep, unaware that Lars had set his sights on it.

'I'm sorry, Fox. Become my experience points by dying!'

Shwoooosh!

When Lars let go of the bowstring, the arrow flew at a rapid speed.

Whoosh-

"Huh?"

It was only natural for Lars to make such a foolish sound.

The arrow didn't even graze a single strand of the fox's fur and missed by a long shot.

An uneasy feeling crept up on him.

'Could it be...'

Lars took aim at the fox once again, determined.

And he fired.

Whoosh-

[You have gained experience points!]

This time, the arrow cleanly pierced through the fox's body.

Of all the foxes that others were hunting...

"...."

It was an outright steal to snatch away a monster someone else was hunting.

A swordsman who had been stolen from approached Lars.

'Oh no. This is bad.'

The swordsman's face up close looked quite stern.

"Excuse me."

Although his tone was low, he didn't seem angry.

Lars thought it was fortunate.

But for some reason, an uneasy feeling lingered in the back of his mind.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. You're an archer, right?"

Lars nodded.

"Are you an archer too?"

"No."

"Have you ever shot a bow before?"

"No."

The swordsman let out a sigh as if he had expected that.

"I'm telling you not to show off like that."

Gulp.

"You're just a trash archer!"

The swordsman, who looked at Lars with a sad expression as he logged out, tried to start hunting again.

But he couldn't help but notice the fox's corpse that Lars had caught sight of.

Something was strange.

"Huh? Can a fox die from one arrow?"

A little away from there, another user also had a similar question in mind.

"What's with this arrow! Who stole my wolf?"

More anger than curiosity.

In front of that user lay the corpse of a wolf with an arrow piercing its head.

I Am an Archer ┃Episode 1

The world's first virtual reality MMORPG!

Over 200 million users within a month of its release! 50 million concurrent players!

The miracle of artificial intelligence!

Innovation itself!

Year 2027.

The world was buzzing about Grand Story.

Grand Story was the first game to break the limits of existing virtual reality games that only supported single-player mode.

Its system centered around the main artificial intelligence 'Deus' that manages the game, from the king to a country bumpkin, everyone is an artificial intelligence, truly the essence of AI technology.

Its story created by the interaction between players and NPCs rather than following the scenarios created by the development team.

Grand Story was truly a great epic and a new world.

It was only natural for the world to be ecstatic about it.

Korea was no exception.

Especially when it was revealed that the head of the Grand Story production team was a Korean named Lee Jun-hyuk, even people who weren't interested in games started to take an interest in Grand Story.

At least at this point in time, there was no one who would dare to curse at Grand Story.

Criticizing Grand Story was like insulting the proud Korean, Lee Jun-hyuk.

Oh, except for one person.

It's Lars and Baek Su-Hyun who just logged out of the game.

* * *

'I worked hard for half a day to become an archer, but I'm just trash! I'm trash!' Suhyun, who was furious, stopped himself from throwing the helmet-shaped game access machine.

t was an expensive item worth at least 5 million won, and even the used price averaged around 3.5 million won.

'Yeah. What's wrong with the helmet? The problem is this crappy game called Grand Story.'

Suhyun still couldn't believe what the examiner said.

"Archer is trash."

At first, Suhyun thought that the examiner was angry because he lost to a fox and lied about it.

"I used to be a level 41 archer, but I deleted it and started over."

"Why? Why?"

"Instead of explaining it here, why don't you log out and check the strategy website? There's a post I wrote on the best strategy board."

However, his expression and tone were clearly sincere.

He sincerely emphasized that archers were trash.

In fact, Suhyun also vaguely felt it.

The fascination and sympathetic gazes from the square.

People who refused to party for no reason.

Arrows missing foxes without any adjustments unlike other games.

All of this pointed to the fact that archers were trash.

Suhyun turned on his laptop and entered the Grand Story strategy community.

As he searched for archers on the best strategy board as he said, he immediately noticed a post.

Title: Never Choose Archer if You're a Beginner.

Author: Robin Hood

I am a level 41 archer user, Robin Hood.

I think I have more affection for GS than anyone else since the open beta.

But why am I only level 41?

Because I'm an archer.

Anyway, let me explain why you shouldn't choose archer.

Warrior or rogue users swing their swords up close.

Mages can cast spells wherever they want.

But archers have to shoot arrows directly at monsters.

There's no adjustment related to accuracy in the game.

I heard that one of the developers was crazy about bows, so they reflected it as it is in reality...

Anyway, if a man draws a sword, shouldn't he cut something? From the day I became an archer, I started shooting arrows like crazy at the training ground.

If you've ever shot a bow in real life, you'll know that shooting a bow is not easy at all.

It took me several days to get the hang of it.

I was able to hit about 7 out of 10 shots.

I thought that was enough and went to hunt monsters, but where are the monsters?

They keep moving back and forth for no reason.

What can I do? I have to shoot and hit them somehow.

But what if the arrow misses? Just think of it as dying. It counts as an attack judgment even if it misses, so they counterattack.

Honestly, isn't that too much?

And once the battle starts, you should never let them come close or throw rocks at you.

The second reason why you shouldn't be an archer is because of the melee penalty.

If you engage in melee combat, all your stats will drop by 50% for a certain period of time.

I allowed some distance once and got hit by a monster 5 levels lower than me and died.

The more I do it, the more frustrating it gets.

Being an archer is hopeless.

I'm thinking of deleting the character I raised for a month and creating it again.

If you are not an archer or have not been in the field for a long time, please don't make the foolish mistake of switching to an archer like me.

'I messed up.'

Suhyun checked the comments below the article, but despair only grew.

-I totally agree. Since I died after partying with an archer during the early stages of the game, I never party with archers anymore.

-Wow, even though you're a Robin Hood, you ended up deleting your archer character.

-In summary, if you switch to an archer, deletion is the answer.

-I'm an archer main and it's so hard lol. You can't fine-tune it like in real life lolololol

Still, just in case, Suhyun searched for more posts related to archers.

A post saying not to choose an archer became the best strategy guide just a few hours after the game opened. The archer board was flooded with posts that pointed out the disadvantages of archers one by one for beginners.

Most users avoided archers because of their tearful efforts, and looking at the distribution of professions, the ratio of archers and hidden classes was similar.

“This is really messed up.”

Suhyun pondered whether he had to continue playing as an archer, even though it was difficult even for former athletes.

In fact, looking back, Suhyun's reason for wanting to be an archer was nothing special.

The classic fantasy movie he saw yesterday was the trigger.

The fantastic action of the elf archer in the movie.

Using a shield like a board and shooting arrows while descending the castle stairs, it was so cool that even men would be captivated by it.

That's right. It looked cool. That was all.

'Let's raise it again. I've only played for 3 hours anyway.'

The ratio of time between reality and Grand Story was 1:4.

In other words, even if you spent 12 hours in Grand Story, only 3 hours would pass in reality.

Suhyun put on his helmet to log back into the game, but he received a phone call at that moment.

“Hello?”

“Baek Su-Hyun!”

The woman who shouted out of the blue was Kim Yoo-Jeong.

She was one of Suhyun's closest friends.

With long hair that could be called a man's dream and a innocent face, she was the most beautiful person Suhyun had ever seen.

The confessions of men who fell for her were more than enough to surpass what Suhyun had seen dozens of times.

Yoo-Jeong rejected all those confessions skillfully with various excuses.

When Suhyun asked her the real reason why she didn't date anyone, Yoo-Jeong gave an answer beyond imagination.

'Who has time for dating? We don't even have enough time to play games.'

Yoo-Jeong was more of a gaming enthusiast than Suhyun.

“What's up?”

“Didn't you say you're starting GS? Why didn't you add me as a friend!”

“I did? Chocopie.”

“Ugh. It's not Chocopie, it's Choccopie!”

“Why did you make it Choccopie to confuse me?”

“Because it's cuter... Ah, forget it! I'll add you. Your nickname is Lars, right?”

Lars was Suhyun's nickname in all the games and communities he played.

“Yeah. But I have to create a new character anyway.”

“Why?”

“Because I switched to an archer...”

Before Suhyun could finish his sentence, Yoo-Jeong suddenly got angry.

“Ugh. You idiot! Look at some guides! If you had read just one beginner's guide, you wouldn't have chosen an archer!”

Actually, Suhyun didn't completely ignore the guides. He read guides related to leveling up such as hunting grounds and quests.

“Why are you so mad when I'm going to create a new one anyway?”

“Create a new one? Didn't you say you spent all your money on buying the device?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I can't do it. Deleting the character and creating a new one costs 3 million won.”

“What? Is that a lie...?”

Yoo-Jeong's words were correct.

Grand Story strongly penalized character recreation.

It was for the sake of reality and immersion with the character, but from Suhyun's perspective, it was an unreasonable argument.

Even the device I'm currently using was barely obtained by combining part-time job money and savings, totaling only 2.5 million won. There was no way I could afford 3 million won.

“Should I give it to you?”

“It's okay. I'll just continue raising it.”

“Tsk. 3 million won is not a big deal. Ah, how about supporting me with some gold or equipment? Then maybe it'll be okay.”

Yoo-Jeong was not only a ranker in the top 300 of the Korean server, but also a member of the Imperial Guild, which dominated the guild rankings.

What was surprising was that she had never made any in-game purchases, despite the fact that most rankers were doing so.

Why would she spend money when she's only twenty?

Yoo-Jeong was what people commonly referred to as a silver spoon. She had saved up enough money in her bank account to have eight digits.

“It's okay. If I need something, I'll let you know.”

“Yeah yeah. Oh, Suhyun. Sorry, but I think I need to go back to GS again. They said they're starting filming soon.”

“Filming?”

The call had already been disconnected.

‘I'll ask her later when we meet.’

Suhyun also connected to the game, wearing a helmet-like device on her head.

* * *

Lars considered going hunting again, but decided against it.

‘Last time, it ended with a steal, so I'm glad. If I accidentally shoot an arrow into a user's head...’

After a moment of contemplation, Lars decided to go to the training ground and practice archery like the author of the best strategy guide.

Swoosh-

The training ground he entered through the door was deserted.

Inside, two users were testing their newly acquired skills against training dummies.

They glanced at Lars' bow and sent him sympathetic looks.

“Cheer up!”

‘Encouragement out of nowhere...’

Lars felt a strange mix of happiness and discomfort as he picked up his bow.

According to the author who wrote about archery, he was able to hit 7 out of 10 shots. If that was the case, there was nothing he couldn't do. He had never lost to anyone in the game.

Not just aiming for 7 out of 10 shots, but going further and hitting every single shot before leaving this place.

That was Lars' goal.

It seemed like an impossible goal, but Lars believed in himself.

How could someone as ordinary as Lars become so close with Yoo-Jeong?

By chance? Smooth talking? Protagonist buff?

No.

Yoo-Jeong recognized and admired his overwhelming talent in the virtual reality game.

What was the nickname of the top scorer in most virtual reality games prior to Grand Story, which only supported single-player mode?

‘Lars.’

Furthermore, Lars was not an ordinary talented person. For example, in a game where he became an assassin and infiltrated, he practiced a bug-like technique called 'wall climbing' thousands of times to make it 100% successful.

Lars was someone who had the talent bestowed by God and the perseverance to move mountains.

After a long time passed since the two people left, Lars finally left the training ground.

“Hahaha!”

“Lars laughed with satisfaction. Did he achieve his goal?”

“Should I quit?”

“It seemed not.”

‘Well, if it had been this easy from the beginning, I wouldn't have been treated like trash.’

In addition, it was extremely difficult to shoot arrows without resting.

My arms are still freezing.

Lars let out a deep sigh and took a step forward.

There was no specific destination. Just wherever his feet took him.

But soon he had to stop.

Every time people passed by, they would glance at him and whisper.

It was easy to ignore those gazes when he didn't know much about archers, but now that he knew, those looks didn't seem so pleasant.

He put the bow back in his inventory and started walking again.

When he arrived at the central square, an alert message appeared in front of Lars.

'Choccopie' has sent you a friend request message.

'Yoo-Jeong's place.'

Lars accepted the friend request.

-Lars! I'm finally done with guild work....

Yoo-Jeong's voice echoed in his ears as if they were on a phone call.

She looked really tired as she let out a sigh.

Lars quickly learned the controls and replied.

-Oh, Yoo-Jeong. Can you hear me?

-Call me Chocco in GS. Let's meet. Where are you?

-Okay. Still in the starting village. Central square.

Chocco revealed herself in the central square a moment later, attracting everyone's attention.

The men just stared at her with their mouths hanging open and dumbfounded expressions on their faces.

Long hair that reached down to her waist and a pure white dress.

The snow-white staff in her hand emitted a faint light.

If there was a goddess of magic, would she look like this?

"Lars!"

Chocco waved her hand happily when she saw him, and Lars couldn't help but notice how pretty she was.

"Oh, what's up? You're pretty, aren't you?"

"Hehe."

"No, I mean your clothes."

Chocco playfully slapped Lars on the back of his neck.

"Ouch!"

"Hmph! I'm just teasing you since you came all this way."

"Sorry, sorry. But what happened with the guild work?"

Chocco hesitated for a moment before moving to a different spot and starting to talk.

"Well, sexual harassment?"