After logging out, Hyun-soo shook his hair dry with a towel following his shower.
“Ah… that’s refreshing.”
He had spent 16 hours in Ares, equivalent to two days in the game, crafting arrows.
Hyun-soo checked that he had a brief moment of leisure before the tournament after his shower.
He logged onto his computer and accessed the Ares homepage.
On the homepage, he could check notifications and artifacts.
He reviewed the notification received after crafting the arrows.
[An artifact imbued with Divine Customization has been completed.]
[The experience and knowledge of a master blacksmith have greatly increased its effect efficiency.]
[Effect efficiency is at 94%.]
[The Orichalcum has been utilized to its fullest, creating an exceptional arrow.]
[It is of Unique grade.]
[You have crafted an artifact closest to legendary.]
[It is named Hyun’s third custom-made arrow.]
[The title ‘God Blacksmith’ shines brightly.]
[You have chosen to apply all stat increase rates due to artifact creation once a week.]
[You gain 4 to all stats.]
[You gain 50 in Dexterity.]
[You gain 100 in Fame.]
[Your proficiency in Basic Bow Mastery Lv.1 increases by 54%.]
Having checked this, Hyun-soo then examined the Orichalcum Arrow, his third custom-made arrow.
(Hyun’s Third Custom-Made Arrow)
Grade: Unique
Durability: Infinite
Attack Power: 321
Restriction: No restriction for the creator, Level 300 or higher for archers
Special Abilities:
· Increase Agility by 1%.
· Increase Penetration by 130%.
· Increase Arrow Speed by 120%.
· Increase Accuracy by 35%.
· Active Skill Count.
· Active Skill Piercing Arrow.
· Passive Skill Piercing Arrow.
Description: The finest arrow born from a minimal amount of Orichalcum. No existing arrow surpasses this one.
“Wow…”
He was amazed. To understand how exceptional this arrow was, he compared it with the previous Arrows.
The durability of the previous Arrows was 100, indicating that it was prone to breaking.
But this Arrow had infinite durability, meaning it would never break.
Its attack power was particularly outstanding.
‘The attack power has increased more than threefold.’
Compared to the previous Arrows, it had tripled in attack power, and both penetration and arrow speed had significantly improved. He also achieved the desired ability for the arrow to return to him.
Hyun-soo suddenly understood why this arrow was close to legendary.
‘No arrow surpasses this one.’
It was the strongest existing arrow.
‘It’s time.’
Hyun-soo got up after checking the time and reconnected to Ares.
[You have logged in.]
Upon reaching the location where he had registered for the Super Rookie Tournament, there were already well over a thousand participants.
Some seemed to be there for fun, while others exhibited a determined will to win.
Then the time arrived.
[You will participate in the Super Rookie Tournament in 10 seconds.]
Hyun-soo took a deep breath, already familiar with the tournament format.
[You will be warped to the Super Rookie Tournament.]
Suddenly, all participants were enveloped in a bright light.
When Hyun-soo opened his eyes, he found himself in a vast plain.
“Oh, this is incredible!”
“Ha, I will become the Super Rookie!”
The players were burning with their own enthusiasm.
Screech!
Then, Hyun-soo spotted a wyvern descending from the sky.
Beckel, whom he had seen before, was riding the wyvern.
“Though you cannot see it, the king is watching, and not only him. Remember, there are many hidden spectators as well.”
Hyun-soo looked around at these words.
They were in a vast plain, but there must be a spectator area, and King Barad would be sitting there.
“There will be three instructions in total, remember to follow them. You will soon find out.”
Beckel smiled slightly.
“Why there were no preliminaries here.”
Contrary to his expectations, most users already knew the reason.
Screech!
Soon, the wyvern ascended back into the sky.
The players began to look around nervously.
The Super Rookie Tournament.
A tournament to determine the strong, without the need for preliminaries.
Ding!
[The first stage begins.]
All players started gripping their weapons tightly.
[Eliminate at least three players.]
[A contribution system will be applied.]
[Contribution: 0%]
No preliminaries were necessary.
At the start of the tournament, the first and second stages served as filters.
Those who participated for fun, the weaker players, were promptly eliminated.
They couldn’t showcase their wit in the face of those dreaming of becoming the real Super Rookies.
Then, Hyun-soo heard another notification.
[10% contribution will be awarded to the person who defeats the most users.]
“…?”
Hyun-soo hadn’t known about this level of detail.
He then witnessed a barrage of magic and arrows flying around.
This made Hyun-soo curious.
He had only tested Hyun’s third custom-made arrow on targets after making it.
It had created a shocking scene, penetrating trees.
But more importantly, he wondered if it would be as effective against players or monsters.
‘Are there any average players around?’
The easiest way to test the power of his arrow was to shoot at average players of the same level range.
This would help him gauge his relative strength at his level.
While he was looking around, someone began approaching Hyun-soo.
***
“I’m counting on that new steel shield you bought.”
“Of course.”
Knight Cole had entered the Super Rookie Tournament with a friend.
They thought it might be possible together, though impossible alone.
“Hey, who should we target first?”
“Isn’t it common sense to start with the clueless ones?”
His friend was an Assassin class, not exceptional but not bad either.
Then Cole noticed a player. The player had a sword at his waist and a bow in hand.
‘…Is he a knight or an archer?’
Cole could tell.
“Hey, that guy’s a jack of all trades.”
“Yeah, really? A jack of all trades in Ares is a big no-no.”
Being a jack of all trades made mastering other skills difficult.
In a game where knights should gain sword skills and archers should gain archery skills, a jack of all trades had no advantage.
It meant the player had made a foolish choice.
And the way he was looking around, seemingly clueless, made him an easy target.
“Let’s go for him, stay close behind me.”
Cole brandished his newly acquired square shield.
The shield was large enough to completely cover his body.
“Once we get close, we’ll rush him together.”
Cole was considerate of his friend. This was their plan.
To block attacks with the shield and then strike together.
Cole had another reason for choosing this player.
A player with a bow was at a disadvantage against one with a shield.
What is an arrow?
Minus its tip, it’s a rather unremarkable weapon.
It lacked destructive power or strength, usually unable to penetrate a shield.
“Let’s go.”
Worried someone else might snatch his prey, Cole approached the player who was looking around.
“Hey.”
Then Cole looked puzzled.
‘What?’
Why is he smiling at him?
With a puzzled look, Cole, hiding his face behind the steel shield, slowly approached.
Click-
That’s when he heard an unfamiliar sound.
‘What’s the connection between an arrow and a click?’
As he peered over his shield with a puzzled expression, he thought,
‘Bamboo?’
The player he had called out to had inserted an unknown arrow into a bamboo tube.
‘What’s that?’
Cole had never seen such an arrow before.
The arrow, from its tip to the shaft, was black and looked enchanting at first glance.
But soon, Cole laughed.
‘After all, an arrow is just an arrow.’
Swoosh-
The player in front pulled the bowstring. But Cole didn’t care and kept advancing, shielding his friend.
As he walked, looking at the man over his shield, Cole saw the bowstring snap.
‘Let’s see the power of my new shield…’
That moment.
Swoosh-!
Cole looked puzzled.
‘Swoosh…? Can an arrow make that sound?’
Then suddenly.
Crash-!
As soon as the mysterious black arrow hit the shield, a powerful impact surged.
“What, what?!”
Shocked, Cole felt himself being pushed back by the force.
At that moment, he thought the pushing sensation had stopped.
Boom-!
The arrow pierced through the shield, going through Cole’s heart.
“Argh!”
Thrown back about 4 meters, Cole couldn’t hide his astonishment.
‘What, what did I just get hit by?’
A gun?
No, even a gun couldn’t have this much power, he thought.
As Cole turned to check on his friend behind him, he couldn’t hide his dismay.
“Hey, Tae-sung, are you okay… huh?”
His friend had turned into ashes and was scattering away.
A single arrow had penetrated both his shield and himself, ultimately taking down his friend as well.
It seemed he survived only because he had a higher health pool than his friend.
‘I told him not to just invest in weapons and to buy some armor too…!’
Another reason was that his friend, an assassin player, had focused solely on weapons.
Anger surged within Cole.
“You, you bastard!”
He rushed towards the man, realizing the arrow was his killer move.
So, that arrow couldn’t be shot again…
“Retrieve.”
The man muttered softly.
Cole looked puzzled.
‘Retrieve?’
He knew the word meant something coming back.
What was returning?
He turned his head anxiously and saw it.
Swoosh-!
The arrow, embedded in the ground, was pulling itself out and flying back to its owner at an incredible speed.
Then the arrow pierced his back once again.
Thud-!
[Retrieve.]
[It returns to the user.]
[If there’s a monster or enemy, it inflicts 50% of the original damage while returning.]
Cole, pierced in the back again, looked at the man.
Click-
The mysterious arrow smoothly slid back into the man’s hand.
“Ugh… what skill is this?”
Cole, kneeling, asked.
He had never heard of such a skill among low-level archers.
“It’s just a basic attack.”
“…What?”
Cole’s face showed disbelief. Then the man stabbed him in the throat with the black arrow.
Thud-
Cole’s vision faded to darkness.
***
[You have forced two players to log out.]
[The stage ends in 5 minutes. Those who fail to force three players to log out will be eliminated from the Super Rookie Tournament.]
‘Incredible…’
Hyun-soo marveled at the power of Hyun’s custom-made arrow.
It had penetrated a player’s shield and forced another player behind him to log out.
Of course, the two were presumably weaker in this Super Rookie Tournament.
Hyun-soo was then hit by a Fireball.
Boom-!
[HP drops below 91%.]
He swallowed a bitter smile.
The impact was minimal.
His stats and the effect of the Armor of Light Lord were beyond normal.
‘It seems even for Super Rookie aspirants…’
They were no match for him.
And then Hyun-soo became curious.
‘I’ve only used one skill so far.’
The Orichalcum Arrow had three skills in total.
One was Retrieve, and the other two were the same: ‘Piercing Arrow.’
The reason there were two Piercing Arrows was that one was passive and the other active.
‘Where should I use it?’
Hyun-soo’s plan was still in the early stages.
Yet, he was confident enough in the cooldown times to use a skill now.
Soon, he spotted a group of players engaged in a melee.
‘10% contribution for logging out the most players.’
Swoosh-
Hyun-soo aimed his bow at them.
[Piercing Arrow]
He activated the skill.
***
King Barad.
While the tournament unfolded on the screen projected by a crystal ball, he showed little interest.
“How boring.”
The purpose of this tournament was to find strong warriors.
Yet, finding such warriors proved difficult.
“Your Majesty, it’s understandable you feel that way,” a retainer commented.
Barad didn’t respond, just flipped a page of his book.
Flip-
Then.
Swoosh-!
For a moment, Barad’s hand paused.
His highly developed senses recognized the sound.
‘There’s an archer, it seems.’
That was it. He flipped another page.
Flip-
Flip-
Then Barad’s expression turned curious.
Crash-!
He paused again, frowning.
‘What’s that sound?’
His senses told him it wasn’t the sound of a sword or magic.
It was the sound of something piercing the air swiftly.
Barad looked up at the screen and saw a shocking scene.
An arrow flew with a sonic boom towards a cluster of players.
Crack-
The first player it hit was torn open.
The arrow pierced through one, two, three players.
And after penetrating five players, they started to disintegrate into ash.
The retainer was astonished by the king’s next actions.
Click-
First, because King Barad closed his book, and second, because he spoke with curiosity.
“An interesting fellow.”
And then he began to watch the screen intently.
Cliche Novel 
The naming doesn’t make much sense. It’s his first time making an arrow, so its name should be ‘Hyun’s first custom-made arrow’. I presume it’s called his third arrow because it’s supposed to be his third custom-made item, but even that doesn’t check out since ai believe this is his fourth item in the “custom-made series”.
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Thanks for the chapter!
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i thought it’s a translation error when both Active and Passive skills have the same “Piercing” ability but still confusing on how it actually works
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