I Am a Bowman

As Lars walked into the general store, he thought to himself.

Quests are made to be completed. There must be some clues.

'Let's organize it once again.'

What he found out from the Village Chief was the story of a master archer and two witnesses.

From one of the witnesses, Smith, he obtained a bow.

Then what could he obtain from the other witness, Daphne?

Simply put, it was arrows that go hand in hand with a bow.

“How did you know about the arrows? I've never told anyone.”

“Isn't it just a feeling? I'm sorry, but I want to borrow some arrows. There's something I want to confirm.”

Daphne hesitated for a moment, then took out a signed arrow and a letter from under the counter.

When she untied the arrow, it was not really an arrow but more like a pointed piece of wood.

It was already known that it was nothing special, but why did Daphne keep such a thing?

'Could it be that she is commemorating the master archer?'

“It's okay to lend it. But... if you happen to find him, could you deliver this letter?”

“...Sure.”

“And just in case, I'll write up a contract. What's your name?”

“Lars.”

The contract written by Daphne promised to return the arrows within three days and also included clauses for confidentiality, damages in case of damage or loss of arrows, or if the return exceeded the agreed period.

Lars admired her attention to detail and carefully read the contract before signing it. He was quite meticulous himself.

“Please take care of the letter...”

Daphne bid farewell to Lars outside the door, her eyes filled with sorrow.

They had never seen Daphne give such a look to a man before.

Of course, her gaze was not directed at Lars, but at the letter he took with him. But they didn't know that.

The two men who were kicked out of the general store after fighting and looking at Daphne with strange eyes.

“Hey, you there. Stop for a moment.”

“Student, please stop for a moment.”

Yesterday's enemies became today's friends.

When a bigger enemy appeared, they became united in purpose.

“What's going on?”

“What's your relationship with Daphne?”

“Ahem. What kind of relationship do you have with Daphne?”

Lars openly frowned as if something annoying had stuck to his face.

It was a completely different attitude from when dealing with NPCs like the Village Chief or Smith.

“We have no relationship.”

“We have no relationship. I've been watching over Daphne since the opening, and this is the first time I've seen such a sorrowful expression!”

'From the opening until now? He's a complete stalker!'

Lars suddenly felt sorry for Daphne.

“Do you want to get close to her that badly?”

The two stalkers nodded earnestly.

Lars took out his bow from his inventory and showed it to them.

“Unless you're an archer, give up. It seems like you like archers.”

“......”

The two were speechless for a moment.

The power of the words 'archer' was tremendous.

In Grand Story, it was impossible to change to a different profession. The only way to change professions was to advance to a higher-level profession.

At first glance, the two men were definitely not archers. And the only way for a non-archer profession to become an archer was to delete the character, which cost 3 million won.

And to spend 3 million won just to become an archer?

It was a judgment that a normal person could never make.

Of course, at that time, I didn't know the details and only had thoughts of deleting the character I had been raising since the open beta.

"An archer? ...Hmm. Really?"

"Hehe. Daphne's taste is quite unique. An archer...."

"Yes, really. So please give up...."

"Ah, man. I have to raise another character from scratch. Thanks for the good information. Be prepared if it's not true. I took a screenshot."

"Miss Daphne. Please wait a moment. I will come to see you as an archer."

The two men who heard Lars' words immediately logged out and disappeared.

'Are they really not close friends? Their teamwork is perfect.'

Lars still didn't think they would actually delete their characters.

No matter how beautiful Daphne was, she was just an NPC in the game. Who would delete a character they had been raising since the open beta just to win over an NPC's heart, especially based on uncertain information?

Lars decided to focus on the quest again.

Arrows obtained from Daphne while writing the contract.

The arrows seemed useless at first glance, but Lars thought differently.

There is a term called 'Chehop's Gun'.

Simply put, if a gun appears in Act 1, it must be fired in Act 3, emphasizing the importance of foreshadowing.

These arrows were surely clues to find the master of archery.

[Crude Arrow]

An arrow made by breaking an Allen Tree. It has no arrowhead or fletching, so its accuracy is low. It seems impractical to use in actual combat.

-Grade: Common

-Attack Power: -10%

It was a pathetic ability. Even though it was called an arrow, having negative attack power was embarrassing. It was at a level where it was awkward to call it a weapon.

However, Lars was actually smiling. It wasn't a mocking smile.

He never had any intention of using it in the first place, and it was something he had to return to Daphne.

What Lars was looking at wasn't the ability stats, but the description of the equipment.

'Made by breaking an Allen Tree....'

According to what the Village Chief said, the master of archery made arrows by breaking them near his house.

'The quests are easier than I thought.'

Now all that was left was to wander around the village and find an Allen Tree.

[Allen Tree]

The most common tree seen anywhere on the continent. Deus created it based on the World Tree he saw.

It could be exaggerated a bit, but it was too literal of a description.

Allen Trees were evenly distributed throughout the entire village. It was impossible to pinpoint a specific location.

As things didn't go as planned, Lars started walking.

It was his habit.

When his thoughts became complicated, he would just start walking.

'There must be something I missed. Let's think carefully.'

Clearing his mind, one step at a time.

"Huh?"

Around the time when it started to get dark, Lars, who had entered the outskirts of the village, suddenly stopped walking.

He saw an Allen branch in front of him. It was unusually short compared to the other branches.

Lars flicked his finger.

The Allen Tree was a trap, and the hint was in the fact that it was 'broken'.

No matter how many years had passed, if a tree was broken, wouldn't there naturally be evidence of it being broken?

And there it was, one, two, three.

Three places where the story matched, where the tree was broken.

"Right."

“Lars entered the closest house to the tree.”

It was an old, dilapidated house that seemed so neglected that one would think no one lived there.

"Who's there?"

"...Who are you?"

“A low and solid voice came from right behind Lars.”

Lars tried to turn around and greet him, but the man didn't allow it.

I subdued Lars by breaking his arm with one hand.

And I felt a chilling sensation on my neck.

“If you move, you'll be bent. Answer my questions.”

Lars glanced down slightly and saw a well-sharpened dagger pointed at his neck.

'What is this mess just because I wanted to change jobs....'

But there was no time to throw a tantrum. Even though it was a game where you could come back to life no matter how many times you died, I had no desire to have my throat slit. I had no choice but to listen to the man...

“I'm an adventurer named Lars.”

“What business does an adventurer have in a place like this?”

“...I'm looking for a master archer.”

Lars answered cautiously.

Based on his experience so far, the term 'master archer' only made the other person more wary.

Sure enough, the dagger dug deeper into his neck.

“Who are you?”

“I...”

“Are you from the Archer's Association?”

Even if Lars said no, he didn't believe him.

Instead of answering, Lars took out his bow from his inventory and showed it to him.

The man remained silent for a while.

“Where did you get it?”

“I got it from Smith at the weapon shop.”

“Smith? Why does Smith have it?'”

'Don't tell me this nobleman doesn't remember? Is the village festival just about drinking and not remembering anything?'

Lars recalled the memory of last spring's festival and vowed to avoid this village festival at all costs.

“Tell the truth. How did you get it?”

“I heard that you revealed your identity to Village Chief during the village festival.”

“...That's right.”

The man let out a low groan.

“At that time, the master gave it to Smith.”

“Ha... I must be crazy.”

The man put away his dagger, scratched his head, and snatched the bow from Lars' hand and went into the house.

Lars sighed and followed him.

The man sitting at the table had a muscular, large build with rough facial features.

'This person is supposed to be a master archer? He's not Legolas, he's completely Aragorn.'

“Master Archer.”

“I'm Helum. So why did you come?”

Lars found the reason why he had been running non-stop until now.

“Yes. Helum. I want to become an archer.”

“An archer?”

“Yes!”

“Alright. Do it. Archer. Take this too.”

“Yes?”

Helum threw his own bow that he had recovered after several years as if he was throwing it away.

⟦Quest 'Unknown Master Archer' cleared!⟧

⟦As a reward, obtained the job 'Bowman'!⟧

⟦As a reward, obtained 'Old Longbow'!⟧

Although he became an archer, Lars felt that all his past struggles were in vain.

Helum looked at Lars who was staring blankly into space (actually, he was looking at the notification window) and said again, thinking that he had misheard.

“Just do it. Archer. What's the big deal.”

“Thank you!”

“But keep it a secret that I'm a bowman. Now get lost.”

Helum sighed and scratched his head. He seemed quite annoyed.

Lars knew that if he spoke, all of Helum's annoyance would be directed at him, but he had one more thing to tell Helum.

“Oh, by the way, Helum.”

“What? You're still here?”

“Daphne asked me to deliver something to you.”

In an instant, Helum's expression changed completely.

“...Daphne?”

Without saying much, Lars handed over Daphne's letter. It seemed that this nobleman also had feelings for Daphne, as his trembling hand did not suit him at all as he received and read the letter.

“Then I'll be going now.”

Helum didn't even notice Lars leaving and focused on the letter.

Meanwhile, Lars, who successfully changed jobs in half a day, headed to the central square for party hunting.

* * *

As the story ended, Chocco got excited and shot out.

"You fool. That's obviously a completely hidden job quest!"

"What...?"

As Lars seemed like he was about to raise his voice again, Chocco put a finger to her lips and warned him in advance.

"Hidden?"

"Yeah. It'll become clear if we look at the skills. Show me the skill window for a moment."

To show her, Lars opened the skill window.