Chapter 101: Guild War (2)
Bow Ghost Nam Cheolmin.
He took great pride in that moniker. At least in Korea, no other Awakener could match his skill with a bow.
But then Kim Minwoo shattered that pride in an instant.
What?
Put down the crown?
And even Seo Yerim, who had switched to archer less than a month ago, was inheriting it?
It was so absurd he felt like storming out. And what came next was even more outrageous.
‘Ha, Divine Archer?’
What an arrogant title.
That was exactly why it left him speechless.
‘If you’re gonna put on a show, at least keep it moderate so people can play along or not.’
It wasn’t that he didn’t understand the intent.
Honestly, he thought “Bow Saint” was a bit lacking as a title himself.
So, give a little praise this way too.
Show some respect to your senior.
Then toss out something moderate as another title, and he would’ve chuckled and offered some words of encouragement.
Why bother making an enemy of the Ilsung Group’s eldest son? It’d be better if they got along.
But from the start, it was a total mess.
‘Arrogant bastard.’
Look at him crossing the line the moment you start praising him.
Even in the Awakener world where skill was everything, this was beyond arrogant—it was downright insolent.
Of course, he ground his teeth.
‘Let’s see what you’ve got.’
Buffed up.
He openly sniped Kim Minwoo.
High-Speed Barrage.
It was a skill identical to his signature move, firing hundreds of arrows per second.
When he unleashed hundreds of arrows at Kim Minwoo, Nam Cheolmin was brimming with confidence.
He had perfectly calculated the wind, trajectory, and direction. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d shot so cleanly.
Yet the guy didn’t move.
He just stood there like a statue, staring straight at Seo Yerim.
‘No way he’s planning to deflect these with arrows?’
Ones already accelerating from the sky?
Nam Cheolmin smirked.
That was a feat even world-class rankers couldn’t easily pull off, let alone in Korea.
Maybe this guild war would end even easier than he’d tensed up for. Once Kim Minwoo was down and his tanky summons gone, taking out one swordsman and one archer would be a breeze.
He nearly burst out laughing—until Seo Yerim pulled back her bowstring at blinding speed. “...Huh?”
Nam Cheolmin blinked.
‘What’s this?’
Why was that woman using a skill that was his trademark?
‘She had High-Speed Barrage?’
It was rare for achievement skills to overlap, especially at higher tiers—maybe one in a thousand, or ten thousand.
Had she beaten those odds?
Or…
Soon, Nam Cheolmin swallowed hard.
‘What am I seeing right now?’
Mana arrows fired from the ground were turning his arrows into scrap metal. Not just barely grazing the tips to sap their momentum.
The swarm of mana arrows, undiminished, was now flying straight at him.
‘Insane…’
A master recognizes a master.
Nam Cheolmin wasn’t just a master archer—he was half a step into superhuman territory. So he could tell at a glance.
‘What the hell is that trajectory?’
A scene from earlier flashed in his mind.
Seo Yerim staring intently while he used High-Speed Barrage.
‘No way… she analyzed my skill?’
And copied it right then?
“Guild Master!”
“Don’t interfere! Absolutely not!”
He snarled at his guild members rushing to use defensive skills against the incoming arrow swarm.
Kim Minwoo had calmly stood there and deflected everything—should he rely on his guild for help?
No way that’d look good. And this was his domain of supreme archery.
Gritting his teeth, Nam Cheolmin drew his bowstring.
‘Fine, I’ll smash them!’
He’d do the same.
Deflect the arrows?
He was Korea’s top archer.
Difficult, but doable.
[High-Speed Barrage (S) activates!]
With fierce eyes, he drew the string. Hundreds of arrows soared into the sky once more.
As his arrows closed in on the falling mana arrow swarm.
“Wha…?”
Nam Cheolmin’s eyes widened in shock.
The parabolic mana arrows twisted slightly, dodging every single one of his.
Even more ridiculous.
The twisted trajectories reconverged, heading straight for him.
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!
Before he could react, the arrow pile slammed into his body.
[Barrier shattered.]
[You are out.]
Somehow, Nam Cheolmin was already outside the guild war zone.
Even as the first to drop, the shock wasn’t overwhelming.
Just utter bewilderment at the unfamiliar sight.
‘What?’
Did she control the arrows?
No?
Something like telekinetically wielding a flying sword was martial arts novel fantasy.
Let alone controlling hundreds mid-air while firing?
He’d never heard of such a skill.
Suddenly, Nam Cheolmin felt the faint breeze.
His eyes bulged.
‘No way… she calculated the wind?’
Even accounting for that, it was weird.
Suppose she calculated everything from the start. Suppose the trajectory shifted midway.
But why?
‘…!’
Soon, Nam Cheolmin’s eyes widened again.
The mana arrow swarm precisely dodging his arrows to embed.
‘She knew I’d shoot to block and calculated from the firing?’
That’s why it veered mid-descent and curved back?
Goosebumps rose on Nam Cheolmin’s arms.
If that was true…
Divine Archer.
He’d thought it was just bravado.
‘… Maybe not.’
Was there a title that suited her better?
He recalled overseas archer Awakeners.
He was Korea’s top, but comparing to the global elite was laughable.
Comparing a weak nation’s number one to a powerhouse’s? Absurd.
‘Sword Sage is the outlier.’
Korea’s top swordsman ranker.
Sword Sage Seo Jin-cheol.
Just a special case.
―World-rank level.
Nam Cheolmin remembered Kim Minwoo’s past interview comment on Seo Yerim.
“Ha…”
Right now.
A true archer who could compete globally might have just been born.
‘Whatever else…’
Ilsung Guild was screwed, at least.
Their guild master out, and that monster archer raining arrows.
For the guild, he should’ve accepted help instead of 1v1.
‘… No regrets, though.’
How could he back out?
That wouldn’t be an archer.
So, no regrets.
Admitting the gap even lightened his mind.
‘No wonder they bid 60 trillion…’
With an archer like that?
The price made sense now.
“… But not at a discount, huh?”
Full price, probably.
Maybe there was more to show?
* * *
“Whoa, massive upset! Nam Cheolmin, the guild master—first elimination!”
“Looks like he tried to parry arrows like Seo Yerim, but got countered hard! What, do those arrows have AI? What kind of movement is that?”
“Ilsung Guild in trouble. No guild master from the jump!”
“Alert! Arrows pouring from the sky! Ilsung’s feet are pinned!”
“Seems like she’s generating arrows with mana, and Divine Archer—no, Seo Yerim’s not skimping on mana at all?”
“Guild master down, so she’s pushing without looking back!”
―Lol wtf was that arrow movement?
―Calculated everything from the shot. Otherwise couldn’t counter that cleanly.
―Nam Cheolmin goes out so pathetically;;
―Feeling the skill gap? Dude went crazy?
―Class difference too much tbh; no excuses. Straight-up 1v1 smashed.
―Time to drop Bow Saint for Divine Archer…?
―Divine Archer pouring arrows rn, form is insane lol
―This the same Awakener swinging a sword a month ago? Chest swelling with pride…
―Damn; this could compete globally. For real…
“Oh, and right as I say that, the undead horde advances! Giant golem, skeleton squads, even Cedric!”
“They’re too busy defending the arrow rain? Sure, low-tier undead, priests could purge with one prayer…”
“Park Siwoo with the holy sword charges too! Top-class potential at least! Sword Sage’s disciple! Ilsung, get tense!”
Park Siwoo led the undead horde forward.
And…
A woman with a parasol leaped up, stepping on the ground as she advanced.
“That summon looks like a mage, right?”
“Yeah. Looks like Earth Shift, a mage skill.”
“Cedric wasn’t ordinary. Wondering if that mage is too—super curious!”
Ilsung didn’t sit idle.
Mages erected barriers against the arrows. As the undead charged, priests unleashed waves of holy light.
To counter Kim Minwoo efficiently, five of their first-string were priests.
High-level priests’ flashy skills hit the undead swarm.
That moment.
“Huh?”
“What?”
“Hit but…?”
Holy bursts exploded amid the charging skeletons.
Normally, low-tier summons like that would collapse, purified.
But…
“… No damage?”
“No artifacts for holy resistance either? What’s going on?”
“Undead swarm keeps charging!”
“Uh-oh? Big problem! Can’t stop them approaching, gonna wear you down! Not just a few!”
Murmuring Ilsung side reacted fast.
Priests now threw up barriers against the arrow rain.
Mana gathered over the mages’ hands.
Priest skills failing? Blast with magic.
That was the plan.
Then.
Kim Minwoo’s second summon raised a hand.
Immediately after.
Ilsung’s top mages spewed blood and collapsed.
“?”
“?”
“?”
―?
―??
―???
“Th-this is…”
The casters’ eyes trembled.
They were pros.
Veterans commentating even overseas matches.
Sometimes in global games.
Top mages would shut down others like this.
Reading all opponent spells, countering a beat early to cancel.
Commonly called…
“M-Magic Null?”
“R-Really Magic Null?”
“No way! That’s world-ranker stuff!”
“No, a summon doing it?”
Rear lines shattered instantly.
But Ilsung’s bad luck didn’t end there.
Park Siwoo and Cedric.
One undead and one Awakener hit the front line…
“Wha? Front line… breaking?”
“Can’t hold?”
“What’s happening? S-rank warrior and swordsman getting pushed! By one summon and a lowbie Awakener!”
Park Siwoo on the swordsman, Cedric on the warrior.
The two S-Rankers scoffed briefly on clash, then sweated as they were repelled.
A gaping hole in the front.
Toward it.
“Gap! Golem, body slam! Boom! Oh no! Frontline warriors flying! How much strength does that golem have?!”
“Skeletons flooding in! Like a tidal wave! Skeletons called meat shields, but they fight well in chaos?”
“Backstab means out for undead or human alike!”
Like ants swarming a nest, skeletons burrowed in, attacking everywhere.
Korea’s 5th guild first-string.
That first-string was crumbling helplessly.