Overgeared

The first generation of players who played Satisfy the moment it opened—many of them perceived Satisfy to be similar to traditional games. They were convinced that, like with traditional games, fighting was the core concept of Satisfy and was the ultimate goal, so they chose combat classes.

They hadn’t fully understood the concept of a virtual reality beyond that of just a game and underestimated the scale of the societies that existed in this vast world known as Satisfy. As the aftermath of feeling the pain that actually accompanied real combat, nearly 70% of those who chose combat classes chose an archer class.

This was why the first generation of players were wronged as the ‘weakest generation’ despite having outstanding figures such as Grid, Kraugel, and Yura.

***

Zibal—he was once the leader of the largest guild and he was now living a completely different life. After several incidents, he was chosen by Grandmaster Zikfrector and was active as an apostle helping with the resurrection of the seven malignant saints.

“I am getting used to life here now.”

The East Continent, Xing—it was a kingdom that seemed to be China in ancient times. There were many tall towers so it seemed that Dali Kingdom itself was used as the basis. It was a very different feeling from the Cho Kingdom that was a mixture of east and west cultures.

At first, Zibal found it strange and awkward, but now he was quite accustomed to it. He had long forgotten the discomfort of moving around with the dopo, and the greeting method of a fist against the palm had become natural. He wasn’t shocked anymore when seeing food made of centipedes and snakes. There was just one problem...

“They’ve once again showed their refusal. It is annoying. Why don’t we just push with force?”

There was no progress in his work—the hydra was beaten by an unknown person and thanks to this, Zibal’s group was able to move to the East Continent relatively easily, with their purpose being to visit the Hwan Kingdom. However, both the Cho Kingdom’s royal family and Xing Kingdom’s royal family were uncooperative with Zibal’s group. Forget even telling them the location of the Hwan Kingdom. Every time the Hwan Kingdom was mentioned, they shuddered and closed themselves off.

Susan’s patience reached the limit after more than a month with no progress.

“In this state, we won’t be able to reach the Hwan Kingdom in months or even years.”

A nation founded by the displaced gods—the first step in Zikfrector’s grand plan could only happen once they visited the Hwan Kingdom. It was just frustrating because the kings of the Cho and Xing Kingdoms didn’t provide any information despite knowing the location of the Hwan Kingdom.

Susan nervously kicked the table and gritted her teeth. “We should’ve used strength from the beginning. Once the two kingdoms are subdued by force, we would get the information we need on the Hwan Kingdom.”

The Cho Kingdom and Xing Kingdom were originally colonies of the Hwan Kingdom. There were traces of the Hwan Kingdom in both kingdoms. However, it seemed they recently became independent from the Hwan Kingdom and was hostile to the Hwan Kingdom. This was why the two kingdoms felt wary of Zibal’s group and monitored them.

Susan knew that their situation was very bad.

“The grandmaster told us to watch a bit more.”

“What is the point of watching? It is a waste of time. Zibal, you should try to convince Sir Zik. Huh? You are favored by Sir Zik.”

‘This is why she doesn’t have the grandmaster’s trust.’

The reason Susan’s scarred forehead turned red from time to time was because she was easily agitated. She wasn’t steady, unlike the other Neo Red Knights. She was almost childish compared to her relative, Mercedes.

Zibal clicked his tongue and explained, “The reason the grandmaster asked us to observe a bit more was to judge how the expelled gods view the Cho Kingdom and Xing Kingdom. It isn’t good if we leave a negative impression on the gods who have been driven out of both kingdoms.”

“Hah? Weren’t the expelled gods driven out of the two kingdoms? Is that possible? Both kingdoms have strange monsters such as the red phoenix and black tortoise as gods. Why would the expelled gods care about the two kingdoms who drove them out?”

“We don’t know what is going on. If you are feeling frustrated, then you can ask the grandmaster yourself.”

“What...?! I’m just complaining because I’m frustrated! I don’t doubt Sir Zik!”

Susan blushed and directly left the room. Zibal was left alone and sighed.

‘It is frustrating.’

In fact, Zibal’s thoughts were the same as Susan. He was almost certain that the Hwan Kingdom would be hostile to the Cho Kingdom and Xing Kingdom. In a confrontation with the Hwan Kingdom, how could the two kingdoms be fine? Furthermore, Zibal had inferred some of the situation on the East Continent through Grid’s epics. It was unlikely that the expelled gods would be angry even if Zikfrector destroyed the Xing Kingdom right now.

However, he kept to keep safety in mind and not rush into anything. It was worth noting that the Hwan Kingdom had protected the people of the Cho and Xing Kingdoms previously. They shouldn’t blame the grandmaster’s prudence. Zibal had served the grandmaster for nearly two years and never lost anything.

‘The quest this time is especially important. I have to calmly wait for the right time... Huh?’

Zibal’s eyes widened slightly as he looked out the window. Yangzhou, the capital of Xing—he was amazed by a beauty who was striking even in the city center where countless people came and went.

‘Jishuka?’

Zibal jumped up. The legendary archer who had recently appeared—contrary to expectations of the public, the identity of the new legend that appeared was ‘Bow Saint’ rather than ‘Povia’s Descendant.’

‘I’m curious!’

Zibal had competed with Kraugel in his prime. He was one of the best rankers in the game. He was forced to experience bitterness several times after Grid appeared like a comet and ended his dream of being the supreme one, but his blood was still hot. His desire to duel with a new legend and use it as a nutrient for development suddenly rose. There was just one thing...

‘Her level should’ve been reset.’

This was the case with Kraugel. Zibal hesitated for a moment, but then he ran onto the streets. It was easy to find Jishuka even with the crowd. Jishuka wore a black cloth over her face like many noble women, but she still caught the attention of many men. Men’s eyes followed her and Zibal was able to naturally follow her.

‘The public opinion is that it is meager.’

The potential of a Bow Saint was evaluated as low by the rankers. Povia’s performance recorded in history was far less than that of other legends and in fact, there were disadvantages with the archer class itself. It should be noted that 43% of players with a combat class had the archer class.

Archers were played by a lot of people and when compared to other combat classes, there were too many weaknesses and few strengths. Ranged attacks were possible and the attack power was high—excluding these two things, it was a class with more disadvantages such as being weak in melee, having a weak defense, and delays in attacking. They played an easy role in team battles but were very weak in 1v1.

Of course, Jishuka was an exception. Even so, the reality was that her win rate was low when fighting rankers of the same level with other classes.

‘Shall I see what it is like?’

Jishuka moved to a place with few people. She went to the bamboo forest outside the walls and stood in front of a shabby shrine.

‘Is she on a quest?’

The sign of this shrine had the word ‘bow’ engraved on it. It was easy to guess that it was a shrine for someone who shot a bow well. Zibal watched from a distance without disturbing Jishuka. His purpose was pure. He just wanted to see the skills of a Bow Saint. He had no intention of maliciously attacking Jishuka or being hostile to her.

Jingle. It was around five minutes after Jishuka entered the shrine. A clear bell rang. The location was from the south of the shrine. The distance was around 350 meters.

“......!”

Zibal’s eyes widened. The moment the bell rang, an arrow was fired from the shrine and struck the bell that had just made a sound. ‘Is it possible to have such accuracy with that speed?’

Hundreds of bamboo trees stood between the shrine and the location of the bell, yet the arrow fired from the shrine flew through the gaps in the trees and accurately shot the bell 350 meters away. It was just three seconds after the bell rang. The moment the sound was heard, the person grasped the location of the bell and aimed at it in less than a second. This archery was unbelievable to see.

‘If it is Jishuka who shot that arrow...’

If so, it was clear that Jishuka would be even more unrestricted in a melee. Archers were vulnerable to close combat because it took time to place the arrow on the string and aim their bows. It was virtually impossible to cope with incoming attacks and fight back. Unlike archers in 2D and 3D games, moving shots were extremely difficult.

Jishuka, who developed her agility stat in an abnormal manner, succeeded in implementing a moving shot that used ‘speed’ and ‘evasion’ but she shot one arrow for every two steps on average. This meant that if an opponent approached her and wielded the weapon two or more times, she could barely counterattack once.

Now the story seemed to have changed. Based on these reflexes, she could fire one or two arrows instantly instead of every two steps.

Jingle.

There was a new bell sound. This time, it was from the north of the shrine. The distance was around 400 meters.

Chaaeng!

Next was the east side of the shrine. The distance was 500 meters.

Chaaeng!

‘...Crazy.’

40 seconds—in just 40 seconds, seven bells rang in the forest and Jishuka shot all of them. At the very end, the final bell was exactly 900 meters away.

‘The arrow’s power has grown stronger.’

Zibal couldn’t help gulping as he stared at the entrance of the shrine.

Step. Footsteps could be heard in the silence. It was a sign that Jishuka was about to emerge from the shrine. Zibal thought it would be like this. However, the sound of footsteps was actually a deception and three silently fired arrows struck Zibal’s shoulders and chest.

“Keuk...?”

Zibal, who used to be second in the unified rankings, had completed all sorts of quests under the grandmaster and surpassed level 380, yet he was hit by Jishuka’s attacks after her level was reset and even lost health. Smiling as she came out of the shrine, Jishuka’s voice entered the ears of the flustered Zibal, “I don’t like stalkers.”

“I’m sorry that I secretly followed you. I just...”

“Do you want to fight? I also feel the same.”

‘So suddenly?’

Zibal’s face was filled with shock. It was due to the rain of fire falling from the sky. It was like spraying paint on paper. Jishuka was easily able to fire a large number of arrows to dominate the field.

***

The value of the golden walnuts was very high. It was a precious elixir eaten by the royal families of the East Continent. The method of growing the golden walnuts and the origin were naturally advanced information. An average person could never discover where the golden walnuts came from.

However, Grid had an information network. It was also a huge one.

“It is Xing. I’m glad.”

Grid was informed of this information after drinking tea with the king of the Cho Kingdom himself. He headed out of the castle without any delay.

The king of Xing would also be favorable to Grid so his heart was very light.