Chapter 88
Chapter 88
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: The Bow Saint's Arrival
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‘Hey, that was just a joke, right?’
No Jun-yeop clung desperately to Jae-hyeok, making a huge fuss.
‘What makes you think we can smash the center core? Even if we somehow luck out and fix the coordinates, our firepower’s gonna fall way short!’
When a Gate forms, the mana density in the target area spikes to abnormal levels.
The ‘core’ that this mana first gathers into at a specific point becomes the Gate’s framework—the ‘center core.’
Once the center core splits into multiple cores and they link up with each other, the Gate is complete.
“A joke? We’re already getting brushed off as it is—if I crack jokes now, they’ll kick me out.”
Jae-hyeok looked at Jun-yeop in bewilderment.
Byeon Seok-gu stared at Jae-hyeok in disbelief.
“Tall kid. Do you even know how to destroy a Gate before it fully forms?”
“By smashing every single core. This Gate’s C-rank, so that means five cores total for us to take out.”
“You’re missing the most important part. There’s a one-minute time limit when destroying the cores.”
Was the guy drunk or something?
A B-rank Player with an unusually flushed face jumped in.
“The thing about cores is they fully regenerate exactly one minute after taking damage—and they get twice as tough. Plus, they share life. Even if you destroy cores one through four, if number five’s still kicking, it’ll regen the rest.”
In other words, once you start attacking, you have to destroy all the cores within one minute, no exceptions.
“That’s why you usually go for the center core first.”
The center core is over three times tougher than the split cores.
You damage it first, then kick off the op—that’s the only way to pull it off in that tight one-minute window.
“Right?”
Jae-hyeok tilted his head.
He wore a helmet with heavy tinting, so his expression was hidden, but it came off like, *Why state the obvious?*
The Players bristled, but Byeon Seok-gu felt a strange spark of interest.
*What an odd one.*
Can’t see his face, but I can read him.
Why?
Probably those crystal-clear gestures.
*Does that mean he’s got killer body control…? Nah, I’m overthinking the small stuff.*
Byeon Seok-gu let out a chuckle and shot a glance at the Gugang rep.
“These kids are definitely joining us on the mission?”
“Y-Yes, sir.”
The rep nodded furiously, sweating bullets.
They’d reached out to Lion’s Castle Archery Club purely for Jang Yeon-ju.
The plan was to leverage her status and drag in the Bow Saint for this.
Handing it off to just Byeon Seok-gu and the B-ranks felt too shaky.
‘Stopping a Gate from forming is a whole different ballgame from raiding one.’
Top-tier B-rank Players were impressive, no doubt.
A few of them could probably clear a C-rank Gate.
But Gugang’s goal was Gate suppression—preventing formation.
They knew damn well how tough it was to smash mana-clustered cores, so they couldn’t fully trust the B-ranks sans Byeon Seok-gu.
‘That’s why they tried pulling in the Bow Saint.’
That was all the Gugang rep knew.
No clue why they’d suddenly upped the Archery Club’s pay, or if they’d even secured the Bow Saint.
Higher-ups hadn’t explained a thing.
“Hmm. You’re saying we can trust these kids with the center core?”
“W-Well… probably not?”
The rep gave an awkward smile and scratched his head.
This was a multibillion-won hotel on the line.
Entrusting the critical task to a bunch of students defied common sense.
Byeon Seok-gu agreed.
“That’s what he says.”
He turned to Jae-hyeok and Jun-yeop, shrugging.
“You kids handle the southern core. Leave the center one to me.”
Truth be told, even Byeon Seok-gu found soloing the C-rank center core in one minute daunting.
His calc was succeeding with maybe ten seconds to spare.
*Ten seconds is plenty.*
The southern core was closest to the center one.
If the kids botched it, he could clean up.
Visualizing the play in his head, Byeon Seok-gu pumped himself up—then Jae-hyeok replied.
“Sure.”
“?”
“…?”
Byeon Seok-gu, No Jun-yeop, and everyone in the tent stared in shock.
“What the hell…? If you were gonna back down that easy, why’d you strut in demanding the center core?”
“You guys looked uneasy after sizing us up.”
Jae-hyeok explained to the red-faced guy who couldn’t hold back.
“Your reactions told me you lacked confidence in us. So I stepped up—no choice.”
Leading when everyone else backs off.
That was Jae-hyeok’s idea of noble duty.
Of course, to listeners, it sounded like nonsense.
“We weren’t lacking confidence—we just didn’t trust you punks. What kinda twisted logic is that? Man, you’re a weirdo. You eat some bad elixir as a kid or what?”
As the red-faced man’s face flushed even deeper, Byeon Seok-gu stepped in.
“Time’s up. Cut the chatter and gear up.”
He relayed a few warnings, clapped his hands, and the Archery Club and Players scattered in five directions.
***
“You sure we can trust them?”
In a building near the op zone.
Gu Gwang-seon, Gugang International Hotel president, watched via CCTV, his voice thick with tension.
The Daeyang Shipping president, sprawled on the sofa yawning, waved him off.
“Relax, will ya? You know who this is? Yeon Ho-ryeong—the future head of Daeyang Guild.”
Heirs in politics and business had their own networks.
Yeon Ho-ryeong and Gu Gwang-seon went way back.
“Even if the Archery Club kids fail, I’ll step in personally and fix it. Your hotel ain’t collapsing—chill.”
“You gotta move on time. If it goes down, my dad’ll kill me for real.”
“What’s a few hundred billion to your old man? Quit whining. If this flops, I’m the one screwed—might be hawking fish heads for years.”
No room for screw-ups, then.
*Show ’em next-level skills and lay down the law.*
Reaffirming his resolve, Yeon Ho-ryeong rose from the sofa, fierce blue aura surging like waves.
The overwhelming presence of an A-rank Player.
At the same time, inside another building.
“Gugang pulled in Lion’s Castle Archery Club after all.”
“Did the Bow Saint emerge from seclusion?”
“No. Still no word.”
“Means Gugang’s plan’s toast. As if the mighty Bow Saint would fall for such petty schemes.”
Jang Baek-san, Korea Player Association Gangnam Branch Chief, grinned in satisfaction.
Papers clutched in his hand listed info on Byeon Seok-gu and the Players hired by Gugang.
*Byeon Seok-gu. Basic-attack DPS.*
Like most Players, Byeon hit a wall right after hitting A-rank.
No killer active skill for his ultimate meant he couldn’t melt high-level monsters with heavy defense and HP fast enough—party invites for high-rank Gates dried up, leaving him scraping by on third-rate gigs.
Slim chance he’d shine here.
*That center core’ll be way tougher than you think, Byeon.*
Center cores halve damage from non-elemental attacks.
Worst matchup for a basic-attack brute like Byeon.
“No way a rogue like you knows intel this good… Gear up, everyone. Second they SOS from Gugang, we move in and suppress the Gate.”
He’d etch it deep: on this peninsula, you don’t survive without the Association.
Jang Baek-san’s eyes gleamed with determination.
***
“Huh? What’d you say?”
On a building rooftop overlooking the predicted southern core spawn point.
No Jun-yeop couldn’t believe his ears.
“Aim at the center core direction, not south?”
Jae-hyeok’s demands were weird across the board—he’d handed Jun-yeop a bow, not a gun.
“And what? Don’t load an arrow, just draw the string? You begged us to team up and pool our strength, and now you want me playing scarecrow? What’s your deal?”
“I’ll throw the arrow for you.”
“What kinda bullshit is that…?”
“You draw the string, and I’ll time a throw onto it. You just release when it lands.”
“That’s what I’m calling bullshit.”
“Man, you’re not getting it at all. Turning into Baek Do-jin?”
“Y-You psycho! You say that to a guy’s face?”
“Chill out. You’ll get it once it happens. Trust me like I trust you—trust yourself.”
Words wouldn’t cut it, and time was short.
The Archery Club members had already nailed their roles.
They’d pinpointed the center core spawn coords, calculated wind paths and obstacles.
True to their shooting skills, they handled what Jae-hyeok couldn’t.
“3.2 km.”
The distance felt close to Jun-yeop.
With First Shot boosting accuracy and power, plus Hawk’s Eye piercing the night, his vision cut through the dark.
He aligned bow, body, and gaze for a perfect hit—then slowly drew the empty string.
No arrow.
Felt weirdly light.
He could pull harder than ever.
*This really it?*
Jun-yeop’s doubts spiked with anxiety.
Less than a minute till core spawn.
*Damn it.*
Eyes shut, he fought to steady himself.
The bow and gun he’d fired his whole life.
His dream to become the Bow Saint.
The relentless effort for it.
His life’s path converged into razor focus.
He merged senses with the bow, oblivious to the sudden stir around him.
[Entering Flow State.]
Union of Archer and Bow.
Why’d he hit this realm now, one he’d never reached before?
*Trust yourself like I trust you.*
Jae-hyeok’s voice echoed in his head.
A kid he couldn’t respect personality-wise, but had to acknowledge skill-wise.
Yeah—he believes in me.
Gotta not let him down, pride on the line…
“Five seconds!”
Focus at its peak, Jun-yeop’s eyes snapped open at the countdown.
And he saw.
“Here goes.”
Jae-hyeok, leaning forward, locking eyes with him.
*Spang—!!*
If Jae-hyeok’s draw speed had registered to Jun-yeop…
*Huh?*
He’d have flinched, losing all that hard-won focus.
But Jae-hyeok’s Quick Draw outstripped Jun-yeop’s perception by miles.
To him, Jae-hyeok’s odd stance blurred at the fingertips—then the string suddenly weighed a ton.
*Paaaaaaaang!!*
Stunned, Jun-yeop reflexively released.
A heaven-splitting roar erupted.
House Kang Quick Draw adapted for throw—the rebound from the thrown sword hilt hitting the string, Jae-hyeok’s power infused, Jun-yeop’s First Shot turning it into an arrow, [Thunder Sword]’s might—all fused into a single bolt of lightning ripping through the night.
The shockwave hit hard.
The freshly formed center core couldn’t withstand the plummeting bolt and shattered.
“What?”
“!?”
Byeon Seok-gu facing the center core, Gugang reps, Yeon Ho-ryeong loosening up, Association Players.
All froze in shock, forgetting to breathe.
“…The Bow Saint.”
Only after the explosion faded and darkness returned.
“The Bow Saint is here.”
Snapping to, they pieced it together—and shivered.