บท 3: Archer (3)
Chapter 3: Archer (3)
"I missed," Jake commented, his eyes on the arrow stuck in the soft mud.
Richard chuckled, "Keep going."
Jake nodded. He repeated, putting an arrow on the bowstring and shooting it. He had again missed his target, but this time, Jake had put more strength into his arm, translating it into more speed and slightly better accuracy.
At least fifty meters had been between him and the effigy, yet ten arrows had missed their target. There was, however, progress with each one as Jake slowly got the hang of the archery and the needed strength to reach the finish goal.
The more strength he put into his arm, the worse his accuracy became. It could have been said that he focused more on getting to his target than actually hitting it.
Richard hid his thoughts about his potential and encouraged him, "Nearly all mages went through what you have gone. A few had lucky hits, and even less showcased their unnatural grasp of magic and mana. As for archers, only those who had some experience before coming here had hit those effigies. You know, a few players that tested archery quickly gave up on it after tasting the comfort of magic and mana."
Perhaps he had said it out of hidden worries that Jake would be the same and give up on his ambition to become the best archer. It was a part of human nature, after all.
Richard, however, had underestimated Jake and his stubbornness fueled by his desire to go against the mainstream.
"Losers," Jake sneered before stuffing his feet in the mud. His beginner clothes were a plain shirt, pants, and rough shoes from the old era. He didn't mind dirtying them at all.
Richard smiled and followed him, helping the young man pick up the arrows, "This training zone shouldn't cost you any arrows, but nothing is certain. Nonetheless, I can now tell that you are a total beginner and, at most, have seen others drawing an arrow. I'll fix your form so as to you can effectively practice without picking up any bad habits. Just like with any weapon, muscle memory is important. You must practice and practice until you see good results."
Good results were a crucial part here.
Every person had a different view of good results—some were content with five out of ten effigies hit and believed it to be enough to stop training and have a real, thrilling hunting experience on the tutorial island.
Having seen so many 'good results' in the three-month-long practice of the newbie helper, Richard could talk about them for a few days.
He'd tell his friends about those players who concluded that three effigies hit out of ten was more than enough to descend the cliff and get into the forest to level up. What followed that assumption could have been called a circus as those players were chased like dogs to the cliff—the safe zone.
Richard would have loved to share those with Jake had it not been for the young man insisting on him to teach him the proper form of archery.
"Alright," he said, "Straighten your back and put it into your form! Since you're a beginner, root yourself to the ground and focus on the point you want to reach as much as possible. Breathing is an important factor here. Breathe in and out. Calm down your heart and mind. Draw the trajectory for your arrow and let it follow it. You're the archer here."
After correcting Jake's arms and patting his back alongside the advice he had just told him, Richard took a few steps back and overlooked Jake's form, smiling.
The newbie was rigid and keen on not crumbling what he'd just learned. Since Richard had corrected his form with the arrow nocked on the bow, Jake only had to aim and let it go.
Jake hadn't done that yet and remained in the same form for a few minutes.
That was when magic happened—at least Richard believed it to be magic.
Jake's aura seemed to have blended with the bow and the arrow. Just from staring at him, Richard couldn't have sensed anything except his focus and the target—the effigy Jake had been aiming for. It was as though Jake's concentration had compelled Richard's view of vision to shift and have them both in his eyes.
Jake's line of vision unrolled toward the effigy's head as he'd imagined the trajectory.
The experienced Richard—whose origins were mysterious—was skilled enough to see that in the newbies's eyes. It was, however, something that a mere newbie who had never held a bow should ever be able to produce.
Jake let the arrow go, and it seamlessly tore through tamed air, hitting the effigy's head.
He exhaled and smiled, "Feels so good."
At that moment, Jake slightly scratched the peak of the archery.
That one moment got him hooked on it.
-
A week later.
Jake took off his virtual reality helmet and left the bed.
It was recommended by the company to play on the bed or just lie on a comfortable spot so as to the body could rest while players' minds flew to another world.
He perspired so much, even more than during his P.E. classes, which was weird yet uncommon. Jake opened the doors of his room with the thought of bathing, only to have it crushed by his sister standing close to the threshold.
"I've been holding back asking how the gaming goes for you for the week…" she said.
Jake rolled his eyes, "So that's why you have been acting like a weirdo?"
His older sister, Mary, nodded, "You only asked about the relationship levels of NPCs… and that's when I realized that you must still be on the tutorial island…"
"Yep, I've been practicing archery for the week. Tomorrow, I'll descend into the forest and try hunting for the first time. Yeah, don't tell me what I can find there. I'm enjoying the game at my own pace. It's been fun, so I can see myself spending all my free time there from now on."
Mary shook her head and sighed, "I feared you'd go for the archery when I told you about it being the weakest class… is it really fun? You have to taste any fun of this world yet! Sigh! It'll be years before we can exp or do quests together. It's been a while since we've enjoyed something together."
"Isn't it because you go for the extreme stuff? I remember when you nearly killed me once in the ax-throwing pub," Jake glared at her, recalling the moment he'd nearly tasted death.
His sister shrugged, "I mean, you are alive, so it's fine?"
And that's why he didn't like any common activities with her.
"Oh, right. How many effigies did you hit before descending to the forest? You're a mage."
She sneered, "Ten out of ten, consecutively!"
"It only matters if it's consecutively," Jake underlined that and smiled, "Good to hear that you aren't one of those losers. I heard so many stories from Richard about them."
"You got pretty close to him. He didn't bother telling me anything even though we became friends," Mary tilted her head and pondered.
Jake believed he knew the answer, "Were you too loud? I mean, were you yourself on the tutorial island?"
"Yep."
"That's why. Anyway, let me go to bath."
"Right, right! Go and take a bath, you stink!"
"There's no word to describe how you stink whenever you log out."
The siblings began their argument like usual.
บท 4: Leveling Up (1)
Chapter 4: Leveling Up (1)
"Welcome back! I've been waiting for you!" Richard called Jake out immediately after he'd logged in. He had been raring to go with Jake to the forest and have him evolve into a better archer.
Jake had been diligently training his archery for the past week and building his muscle memory.
He'd been so diligent that it was frightening.
Jake hadn't just stood rooted on the ground and let his arrows whistle, but he took necessary breaks at perfect intervals, allowing his stamina to regenerate much faster. He didn't exhaust his mind with too much information, keeping his training efficient and at the highest level.
Having no need to remind him about that, Richard's impression of him only increased this week.
"Morning, Richard," Jake smiled.
"Good morning!" Richard laughed without caring about manners or keeping his impatience in check.
Jake was such a fresh breeze amidst the avalanche of notorious newbies that it had been such a pleasure to have him around and see the progress of his growth.
He didn't look down on NPCs, wasn't one of those virgin players that left the island as fast as possible to see female NPCs and build relationships with them and was overall a good dude to have around. His image of the otherworldly archery was such a nice concept to talk about that Richard hadn't been keeping lots of information away from him, telling Jake about the world beyond the tutorial island.
Jake didn't hold back with his ideas and practice, aligning his interests with Richard's. Therefore, these two were now on the same page when it came to descending to the forest.
The forest in question didn't have a name, so everyone called it The Tutorial's Forest. Even Richard had done the same when he had introduced it to Jake. Conversely, the mountain and its invincible presence was known as The Unconquerable Mountain.
Though it may have been named like that, the mountain's spire had been obtained by players.
Those players, however, weren't casual existences, but either those with ambitions or twisted minds or perhaps both…
After all, no sane person would climb the mountain without any insurance. Even if this was the game world and players respawned, everyone was here in person.
Some would tremble in their legs only from imagining looking down from a skyscraper or looking into the bottomless pit.
The Unconquerable Mountain's spire had been drowned in the clouds, and it was so steep that even the most courageous person would get cold feet.
Though damage from falling from the mountain could be turned off, and the player would only lose their consciousness and wake up in the black room where they'd be told they died, the feeling of the wind clobbering at the body and throttling the ears couldn't be prevented.
A few frames of falling into death after losing their footing also couldn't be erased, and all could turn into a trauma so devastating that some wouldn't return to the game world, let alone climb any mountain or stairs of apartments.
"I want to climb that mountain," Jake said after hearing numerous stories and warnings from Richard's side.
Having gotten to know him so well this week, Richard nodded, "You told me yourself that you like to go against the mainstream and the impossible… I knew you'd want to try it even without me telling you about the mountain's infamous woes."
These two had long since begun descending the cliff and making their way to the forest. With the mountain overlooking them, it was common to start talking about it.
"The level cap here is ten, right?" Jake asked.
Richard nodded.
Jake opened his game system and peeked at his stats.
[Archer Lv.1 HP: 100/100 MP: 100/100]
[VIT: 10 STR: 14 INT: 10 DEX: 16 END: 10]
His strength and dexterity had been increased due to his archery practice. It hadn't been too much stats-wise, but Richard had often mentioned how impressive it was that he could improve himself so fast.
Apparently, only a few mages with a talent for mana had increased their intelligence stats from hurling fireballs at effigies. The same went for swordsmen swinging their swords at them to improve their strength and tanks protecting themselves from the enchanted effigies bashing their shields to increase their endurance.
Speaking of those practices, it was important to highlight another stat.
[Archery(Beginner—II)]
Jake was at the beginner stage, level two.
Each stage had ten levels—X being the highest.
Anyone could get that stat upon picking up a bow and shooting arrows. Currently, Jake's archery level at the beginner stage only slightly increased the damage and speed of his arrows, but it was so little it was better not mentioned.
It could be raised faster by wielding a better weapon, skills, or targets or by having an actual archer class.
That's right.
The Tutorial Island only served to give familiarity and ideas to the newbie players about weapons and what they were compatible with, as well as have them taste a little of the fantasy world with a safe zone to which they could run off to save themselves.
Jake stood at the forest's feet, feeling the ominous aura of danger creeping in its shadows.
It wasn't just the mountain that could leave trauma in players.
The monsters and the rest of the tutorial island were the same unless a player wanted to go for crafting or any other class unrelated to fighting.
Such dangerous experiences could only be mitigated in this way.
Jake extended his hand for an arrow and seamlessly nocked it on his bow, "I'll now head inside."
"Good luck," Richard smiled.
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