Strike 133

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The Red Bandana Guild ranks within the top 200 guilds in Korea.

The guild master, Hel, is a level 335 archer and ranks third among archers in Korea.

Furthermore, the Red Bandana Guild is generally known as a guild that people avoid conflicts with.

This is because the guild itself is formed as a murder guild, known for its bad manners.

The high-rankers avoid conflicts with them not out of fear.

Is it because they are afraid of dung? No, it’s because it’s dirty.

Anyway, each member of the Red Bandana Guild is also strong.

The condition for joining the guild is that one must be a high-level user above level 300.

There are as many as 40 such members.

And the more a user enjoys being ill-mannered, the more welcome they are.

Thus was formed the Red Bandana Guild.

Not long ago, when Kun, the leader of the Black Dragon squad, came with a huge sum of money, Hel welcomed him.

“A massacre? Don’t worry, it’s our specialty.”

Hel and the guild members have participated in countless massacres and receive requests quite frequently.

Why do people seek them out?

Because they can kill a large number of people quickly and efficiently.

Unlike the knight or assassin classes, which need to be close to their enemies, they could kill people with a single arrow.

Why does a single arrow kill?

It’s simple.

The usual targets of the massacres are ordinary civilians.

“Guilt? What guilt is there in killing NPCs?”

Hel enjoyed this kind of hunting.

The thrilling pleasure of killing a person with just one arrow!

And today was no different.

When the guild members joined forces to shoot arrows and wipe out 100 people at once.

Something strange happened.

Whooooosh—

All of their hundreds of arrows suddenly turned to ash and scattered.

Then, the client Kun was suddenly blown backwards.

Hel couldn’t tell who had caused this bizarre incident.

“Who the heck is it?”

An unofficial ranker?

Even possibly someone holding a legendary artifact above legends.

Yet, he could only scoff.

Just one guy, what could he possibly do?

At that moment.

Zzzzing—

With a harsh whizzing sound, an arrow struck the heart of a guild member right beside him.

Boom—

The arrow, much shorter than a regular arrow, pierced through the guild member’s armor and blew him away for about 10 meters.

“Phils, are you oka—”

Phils, an archer of level 301.

Hel, looking back at him, was utterly dumbfounded.

“Uh, aah, what, what the!”

He struggled as he was engulfed in flames stuck to his body and turned to ash.

“Just one shot?”

Hel was completely taken aback.

In Ares, there are three professions known for having the lowest HP.

Firstly, magicians had the lowest, followed by assassins, and then archers.

Archers mostly invest their stats in agility.

This is to increase their accuracy and destructive power.

“Even so, just from a single arrow?”

At that moment.

Szzzzik—

Boom—

Crack—

Hel saw his guild members being blown away by arrows coming at two-second intervals.

“Ah, aaaaah!”

“What the!”

“Khuuk!”

“Gah!”

At first, he thought the enemy was shooting fire arrows. But that wasn’t the case.

The moment a normal arrow struck, it ignited into flames.

“It doesn’t make sense… How is this possible…”

And then, at that moment.

Zzzzing—

Hel felt an arrow pierce through his chest.

“Ah, aaaah!”

Hel, the third-ranked archer.

He flew about 7 meters and felt the hot flames clinging to his body.

[Flames that do not extinguish easily ignite.]

[You have allowed a critical attack.]

[HP drops below 22%.]

Hel, hurriedly extinguishing the flames on his body, wore a look of disbelief.

More unidentified arrows continued to fly in.

Crash—

With the power to even break rocks.

“Is this, is this a normal attack?”

He realized it after being hit directly.

He thought it was the manifestation of a skill, but it was literally a normal attack.

“The guild members logged out with just one hit?”

The attack power of Jumong’s horn bow is in the 600s.

And the attack power of bows held by ordinary users ranges from 350 to 400.

Moreover, Jumong’s horn bow significantly increases the critical hit rate as the accuracy increases.

With the destructive power of orchalcum arrows and the synergy with the horn bow, their power had increased even further.

What made even less sense was.

Crash—

An arrow hit another guild member beside him.

“500m?”

A range that defies common sense.

The guild members fired arrows at the enemy.

The arrows flew but lost power and fell to the ground.

Thus, the range of this bow was about twice that.

[You have been attacked by Ian.]

[Since Ian is a KAO user, he will not become a KAO state.]

Hel was even more shocked to learn that the falling ranker was Ian.

Hel was one of the users who anonymously mocked Ian, who posts daily in the Blacksmith’s Forge.

“It doesn’t make sense…”

And then Hel devised a clever plan.

“Everyone hide behind the rocks and run towards the prisoners!”

If he was far away, they just needed to bring him within their range.

As all the guild members ran towards the prisoners, the incoming arrows stopped.

He was closing the distance with them.

300m.

250m.

200m.

Soon when he arrived, Hel shivered.

“Finally within range…!”

Seeing Ian come much closer, Hel scoffed at him.

“You’re done for…”

But then, Hel’s eyes widened.

Around Ian, who had prepared another arrow, a giant flame surged upward.

Whooooosh—

The flame, rising up to 5 meters, was sucked into his arrow.

Ssssss—

The moment he released the bowstring, Hel’s eyes bulged.

A concentrated form containing a massive, seething fire demon.

[Flame-guided shot]

The arrow pierced through one guild member who was at the forefront.

Whoooosh!

The guild member’s skin instantly ignited, turned into a skeletal form, and even that form turned to bone dust and scattered.

But the arrow did not stop there.

Second person.

Third person.

Fifth person.

“What is this arrow?!”

Szzzzik!

Sixth person.

Boom.

Eighth person.

“Khaaaaak!”

Ninth person.

Boom!

“Ah, aaaaaah!”

After burning ten people, it finally fell to the ground.

“An arrow that precisely hits ten people?”

Only then did Hel realize something.

Ian, once fallen.

He would be officially recorded as the greatest archer in Korea.

“No, perhaps…?”

Hel, forced to log out by the arrow piercing his heart, thought.

“Maybe the greatest in the world?”

***

It was always the same.

Hyun-soo faced moments of inevitable crisis without backing down, burning with the will to win.

[A story for you begins.]

Startled by the notification, Hyun-soo had heard it numerous times before.

A new story begins.

But this was different.

[You have overcome new stories that put you through great crises in your own way.]

[These stories have connected, and today you create your own new story.]

Ding!

[Your own story will give you much greater rewards than any new story.]

Hyun-soo realized.

The many hardships and difficulties he had overcome.

The privileges granted by the system due to them.

Rewards that are much more exceptional and great than those of any new story.

Ding!

[Your own quest: Defeat Black Dragon squad Leader Kun]

Rank: SS

Limitation: Initiator of your own story

Reward: Astounding increase in negotiation skills

Penalty if failed: Death of all prisoners.

Description: A story has emerged tailored just for you, with maximized rewards. Defeat Black Dragon squad Leader Kun.

Every new story made Hyun-soo’s heart race.

The tension and fear, followed by anticipation and the joy of potential rewards.

“This story is prepared just for me.”

The listed reward, an astounding increase in negotiation skills.

He was also excited about how much that might be.

He chewed and swallowed the grapes he had put in his mouth.

[Experience gain rate and artifact drop rate increase by 50%.]

[All stats are maximized.]

[All stats increase by 26%.]

A powerful strength surged through Hyun-soo’s body.

[Please select a skill that can be activated twice in a row.]

Hyun-soo already knew it wasn’t an easy opponent.

The wall of an 80 level difference.

“My remaining HP is merely 12%.”

The enemy’s HP is 89%.

And then.

[Assassin’s Space]

[A radius of 100 meters becomes his space.]

[Within that space, the assassin’s movement and attack speed double.]

Kun, aware of the danger, released his peak ability.

Crack—

The moment he stepped on the ground, he vanished from sight.

Left.

Right.

Above.

Appearing from all directions at an untraceable speed, Kun plunged a dagger into his heart.

Boom—

However, Hyun-soo did not falter. He gripped his right hand with both hands.

At that moment.

[You are holding Asunium.]

[HP has dropped below 10%.]

[HP will be restored to 15%.]

Hyun-soo’s eyes flashed open.

It was true that it had been an attack that couldn’t be blocked.

That’s why he chose it.

In that split second, Hyun-soo planned his moves in his mind.

Just these two times.

‘I have to kill the assassin with 90% HP in these two moves.’

So he meticulously visualized it in his mind.

[Ghost Step selected.]

A total of 16 stable uses.

“Ghost Step.”

His form vanished.

Ghost Step triggered only towards a single target.

Crack—

Whizz

Thump, thump

Flick!

Solid

Crack—

Boom—!

Roar—!

“Kheuk!”

Hyun-soo’s eight afterimages were engraved towards Kun.

And the final attack was an upward strike.

Kun was sent flying upward.

[Kun’s HP is below 50%.]

Kun was the leader of the Black Dragon squad.

He was someone who had once witnessed Ben’s Ghost Step in action, knowing it could go up to 24 times at full power.

But this one was only 8 times per activation.

And that too only within an extended duration of 0.4 seconds.

Kun was certain.

The moment this Ghost Step ended, the last dagger he had plunged would turn him to ashes.

“Ghost Step.”

Hyun-soo activated it once again.

Crack—

Thud

Crack

Thump—

Clang

Creak

Meanwhile, Kun had transcended his usual self by dominating this space.

Ting—!

Deflecting the sixth sword.

Boom—

Blocking an incoming fist with both arms.

Swoosh

Dodging a swinging sword from the side.

The cunning of the leader of an assassin group transcended common sense.

“You’ve lost.”

[Kun’s HP is below 18%.]

Kun still looked at his robust self and was sure of victory.

At that instant, Hyun-soo calmed down.

In the past, Hyun-soo had achieved 9 movements in one second at a banquet hall.

He tried to recall that sensation.

‘This is how I did it.’

There was still an unspent 0.4 seconds.

Hyun-soo continued to move without stopping.

Ninth time.

Slash—

Kun was bewildered as his flank was sliced.

“What, what!?”

Then the 10th, 11th times. His sword struck down from all directions.

It wasn’t just Kun being attacked.

Slash—

Crack—

Hyun-soo, dispersing into afterimages, inflicted damage on him.

Hyun-soo’s afterimages kept moving.

12th time.

Crack—

13th time.

Boom—

Kun, kicked off his feet, couldn’t believe it.

Crash—!

14th and 15th times.

“It can’t be…”

Just a blacksmith, Hyun-soo had activated Ghost Step 15 times.

But Kun finally realized that he had narrowly won.

He still had 5% of his HP left.

Conversely, it seemed that just one slash of his dagger could kill the blacksmith named Hyun.

Then, suddenly.

Ssssshr—

Kun noticed the sword in his hand.

“Frost Flower.”

A sword that could freeze the surrounding air. At that moment, Kun realized.

“He made me panic with the first Ghost Step…”

By activating the second Ghost Step, Hyun used the power that had just come off cooldown.

Kun hadn’t noticed it while focusing on Ghost Step.

His arm, stretched out to pierce Hyun’s chest, wouldn’t respond.

The cold emanating from the sword had frozen Kun’s already exhausted arm.

Clang—

As his arm froze, Kun dropped the dagger.

Soon, the entire body of the Black Dragon squad leader Kun was frozen.

Together with the falling Hyun-soo, he soon heard a harsh sound.

Crash—!

It was the sound of Kun breaking apart.

Hyun-soo, who had barely won, was curious.

Currently, he was benefiting from double negotiation skills and receiving 1.5 times the experience.

Additionally, by defeating Black Dragon squad Leader Kun in “A Story for You”, he was supposed to gain astounding negotiation skills.

“Really, how far will I climb today?”

Negotiation skills.

This was what would determine his title and prove the results of his efforts so far.

Boom—

Belatedly, a barrage of notifications hit Hyun-soo.

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