Shatei Kyokufuri Yumi-Ojisan - Chapter 14
Data.13 – Old Bowman, Center of Attention
The stone tower stood in the center of the ever shrinking area.
Unlike the wooden buildings, this place was strong and could not be destroyed with skills.
And I was the long-range archer who had this place all to myself.
“Hmm. They definitely hate me. I’d hate me if I were in their place.”
Still, it wasn’t as if I could change places either.
The tower was now the only building left in the area.
If I got down, it would mean allowing the others to get close.
Even though I stuck out here, I had to protect my position to the end.
Ugh, the area just got smaller again.
There must have been something lucky about this tower, because it was still safe ground.
Now even more players would be desperate to get in.
Kiriri…shu! Shu! Shu! Shu! Shu!
I shot down everything that stepped into my vision.
If they were too hard to take down, I shot them again. If I missed, I shot them again.
In Fight, Bound, Clear, Web… I used all of the arrows in my arsenal.
—Beep! The ‘Archery I’ skill has evolved to ‘Archery II.’
? Reason for Acquiring.
‘Beginning the Way of the Bow.’
Became more proficient with the bow.
[Archery II]
+20 to Attack and Range when a bow is equipped.
I had assumed there would be another level because of the number…and here it was.
It was good timing too.
Now I could kill more enemies.
Kiririri…shu! Shu! Shu! Shu! Shu!
The number of players went down surely and steadily.
This would likely not continue for too long…
Still, I couldn’t let my guard down.
It was unusual, but in this game, the number of remaining players was not displayed.
And so I had to stay on my guard until the last second, until the announcement of victory.
–Beep! You have acquired the new skill, ‘Multi-shot.’
?Reason for acquiring
‘Your arrows have hit many enemies’
Killing many enemies with a ranged weapon in a short amount of time.
[Multi-shot]
Hit multiple targets at once.
Range is as far as the eye can see. Number of targets is up to 10.
Now this was a very powerful skill…!
It was like the game was telling me to win!
“Lock!”
The players in my vision suddenly turned red.
I guess these were the targets of Multi-shot.
“Multi-shot! Eat this!”
Kiririri…shu!
Multiple arrows were unleashed at once, but there was only one sound.
The 10 arrows all hit a player and took them down.
But it didn’t use too much MP, and it did a lot of damage.
I could still use it!
“Multi-shot!”
Kiririri…shu!
I took down 9 enemies with my second try.
And so I took aim at the one that got away and with another Multi-shot…
No, they were gone.
I looked around but there were no other players.
So I just needed to take down this last guy, the one in the mud green gear. Then I would win!
“Concentrate…concentrate…”
I aimed at his head and unleashed the arrow.
However, he easily hit it out of the air with a whip.
It was a green, slime-like whip that wriggled around. It was pretty impressive.
But there was something else that made this guy stand apart from the others.
Perhaps I wasn’t the best judge of such things, being a beginner, but he had the movements of someone who was accustomed to playing VR games.
Even if he hadn’t been playing NSO for very long, he must have had plenty of experience with others.
Basically, I saw no openings at all.
I had no idea how I could defeat him.
So I had no choice but to spam arrows at him!
Even if the damage was low, I could chip away at him from far away. That was my fighting style!
“ARRRGHHH!!”
I couldn’t exactly create a rain of arrows, but I unleashed an obnoxious amount over him. It was a matter of perseverance.
If I could just get one arrow through that stretchy slime whip, I would gain the advantage all at once, and more arrows would get through.
On the other hand, if he kept pressing forward and reached the tower, I was finished.
Even if I used skills and changed the trajectory of arrows, he still blocked them.
Even the Clear Arrows which were supposed to be invisible were blocked.
With studying, exercise, games…your instincts were honed when you reached the heights. I felt like that was what happened with this guy.
But that didn’t matter.
I would keep shooting!
Kiririri…shu! Zhunk!
I heard the faint sound of an arrow piercing something in the distance.
After that, arrow after arrow began to sink into him.
“Now it’s over!”
The last arrow hit him right in the head.
He shouted with rage as he disappeared into light.
You were strong…
Clearly a stronger player than me.
However, I had the superior position and some luck.
“I…win!”
Zhunk! Zhunk!
“Huh?”
I heard the sound of something being cut.
And it was very close by.
No. My neck was just cut?
While my head didn’t roll off of my shoulders, I felt the sensation around my neck.
I was the one who had been attacked.
I could see my body turning into light and fading.
I was killed…?
But, where was the enemy?
Was there someone else with long ranged attacks?
No, it had been a blade that swung down at me.
The person had to have been close by.
But how did they get up?
There were supposed to have been Magic Mines by the entrance.
While I was concentrating on shooting, I would have still heard the sound…
“Aha! I did it!”
Suddenly, a short girl with cat ears popped out of nowhere.
As if she had been invisible up until now…
“…Ahhh!?”
It must have been the special ‘Invisible’ action chip!
Even I knew of its effects.
Among the enemies I had shot down, there had been a few who tried to escape by turning invisible.
However, the effect only lasted for a short while, and they could never get away.
However, this girl had escaped my sniping.
That must mean she used a lot of them.
Either that, or she put all her points into speed.
And like that, she had got to the base of the tower and escaped my eye.
But that didn’t explain how she got past the Magic Mines.
While you were invisible, you would still trigger such traps.
And so stepping on them would cause an explosive sound.
…Her weapons were the answer.
They were claws that were equipped on both hands.
Like this, she would be able to climb the outer walls!
I had gotten too confident…!
At first, I was aware that I was fighting other people. But at some point it just started to feel like I was shooting at targets.
A person climbing up the walls with metal claws would have still made some noise.
But I had missed it.
Furthermore, even if I had realized it, I would have likely not been able to run, due to the demerits of ‘Immobile Sniping Stance.’
There was no way that I could survive a battle with someone in the advance guard, if I couldn’t even move for 30 seconds.
They had caught me off guard.
I was…completely defeated!
??????
Ultimately, I came in 3rd.
Apparently, there was someone else who had been hiding somewhere and survived.
Well, in this kind of battle royale game, survival was more important than racking up kills.
I wouldn’t call it cowardice. If anything, it’s what you were supposed to do.
However, it didn’t feel very good knowing that the cat girl, who won, had 5 kills. And the potato had 0 kills. Perhaps I had chosen the wrong strategy…
However, there was good news too.
The reward for this event was small medals known as ‘NSO Medals.’ And you could trade them in for all sorts of things.
The winner received 100. The runner up 50, and the second runner up received 30.
Aside from that, winners of different categories were also given medals.
In my case, they were ‘Most Kills’ and ‘First Kill.’
The ‘Most Kills’ award meant that I got an extra medal for every kill.
As I had ultimately killed 158 players, I received that number in medals.
The ‘First Kill’ award gave me an additional 20 medals.
So I received 208 NSO Medals in all.
That was more than twice the amount you received for winning.
In a way, perhaps I had won more than anyone.
However, 3rd was 3rd.
And I wasn’t a man that could be satisfied with anything but 1st place.
If I get another chance, I would definitely win!
This meant I would have to study VR battle royale theory and brush up on my playing style, skills, and equipment.
While I had lost, my motivation was at an all-time high.
I had a reason to become stronger!
Yes, I would still have fun in Next Stage Online!