Chapter 21: [Main Scenario #2]

[Skill Blood Lust has been activated]

[Attribute Ruthless is significantly increasing the effect of Blood Lust]

The Festival of lights fair.

It came alive once a year towards the end of November and lasted a few days. It had various food stalls, hoopla, Ferris wheels, dart stalls, spin the wheels, and of course the bow stall. In the evenings, I'd often sneak out with my grandpa to visit the fair and ask my parents to take me there after dinner. It used to be my favorite part of the year, and also the place most of my happy memories originated from. Now they are just bandages on a mortal wound, a reminder of something I could never have.

The last time I visited the fair was when I was around five. After that, I was sent off to a boarding school, so my memory hitting the needle at the bow stall may just have been the fragment of a small child's imagination who was desperately trying to hold on to what he had left.

This sudden but inevitable realization had occurred at the worst possible timing. A skill I was proud of and desperately needed right now may have been fragmented. The shimmering arrow poised between my fingers and the bow suddenly gained a few pounds. I could not afford to miss, Ethel's life depended on it. I closed my eyes for a quick deep breath and when I opened them I focused on nothing but the target, never straying from it, everything else was irrelevant, fading away until the only thing I could see was the man bringing his sword towards Ethel. As the bow grew heavier in my arms along with the doubt in my mind, another memory found its way to the forefront of my mind.

The story of Arjun and the fish eye. A story my grandma would often repeat. Arjun along with his brothers was asked to pierce the eye of a wooden bird by his teacher Guru Drona, when all his students were poised with their bows drawn Guru Drona asked each student one by one as to what they saw, all gave similar answers stating that they saw the wooden bird, trees, animals and the various surroundings, when it was Arjun's turn to answer the same question, without looking away from his target he answered that the only thing he saw was the birds eye. He was the only archer who found his mark that day.

"I only see the Enemy" I repeated to myself and allowed the power of the story to guide me.

Whenever I heard or read a story, I always imagined myself as a being inside that story, living it through the eyes of its characters. This was also why I decided to become a game developer. To live the story. I immersed myself into a story being told or read so much so that they started to feel not like stories but actual experiences, like something I had experienced myself, through the eyes of its characters, felt every betrayal, heart break, love, joy. I would begin reading and wake up through the eyes of the protagonist.

"I see only the enemy" I repeated, keeping my eyes fixed on my target.

[Unique Skill: Reverie has been activated]

[Attribute: Escapist is increasing the effect of the skill reverie]

[Character Dorain is diving into the story, An Archer's Vision]

Although the words were not initially true, they slowly became so as one by one everything but the target started to disappear from my vision until the only thing left was the man standing before Ethel, his sword had completed its arch backwards and had begun its swing towards Ethel's exhausted body.

[The constellation Dharma's Fractured Blade is looking at you]

[The constellation Dharma's Fractured Blade is nodding in affirmation]

[You have temporarily acquired the story An Archer's Vision]

[The story An Archer's Vision is opening its eyes]

[Your incarnation body is unable to wield the power of a story]

[The power of the story will be reduced to 1%]

[The story an Archer's Vision has begun its storytelling]

[The story An Archer's Vision has forcibly canceled the skill Blood Lust]

[The story An Archer's Vision is bearing it fangs at the attribute Ruthless]

[Attribute Ruthless has been lost]

The bow felt weightless and the wind calming, even before I released my arrow I knew I wouldn't miss. My posture and technique improved as if an invisible hand was guiding my every move, but with it so did my vision, and I found a terrified swordsman looking back at me, his hand frozen mid-swing as pure terror enveloped his face, terror so pure it seemed to spread causing my aim to waver.

The bow that weighed a feather grew heavier in my arms, which suddenly became sore as I realized I had been pulling the bow and arrow apart with more strength than my muscles could endure. The picture of the swordsman's face burned into my memory.

[Your will is wavering]

[Unique Skill: Reverie has been forcibly terminated]

[The story An Archer's Vision has ceased its storytelling]

As my senses returned, the surroundings that had disappeared found their way back into my vision, and I realized the fighting had stopped. No one dared make a sound, no swords clashed, no arrows could be heard cutting through the air, no war cries that had been abundant moments ago were heard. It took me a moment to realize that everyone's gazes were fixed on me, some eyes told of shock, others terror, occasionally I also caught some with confusion, none of them looking at me with warmth or indifference.

The sudden attention sent a shiver down my spine as my introversion resurfaced, nervousness budding from within me. I was never someone who liked being the center of attention, in fact I preferred to be completely ignored and left alone.

[Skill Blood Lust has evolved into the Skill Predator's Gaze]

[You have successfully acquired the Skill Unparalleled Concentration]