The Blind Archer's First Quest

A month had passed since my possession. Even now, thinking back on it, the whole thing was still utter bullshit. All I’d done was tap an extra character out of boredom on my way home from work. I hadn’t touched anything else. Hell, I was about to cancel the whole thing at the last second. Yet somehow I’d ended up becoming that character.

I kept hoping it was just a dream, but of course it wasn’t.

“Haa… why couldn’t this be a dream?”

I wanted to spit out every curse I knew, but the character settings I’d personally added forced polite speech out of my mouth instead. With a quiet sigh, I turned my gaze to the status window drifting in the air before me.

After a month of frantic adaptation, I had somehow clawed my way up to level six. Right after the possession, my level had been so pathetically low I genuinely wondered if the character was even human. Level one was just too much. Even for an extra, that was ridiculous. It made me question whether he was actually a person at all.

Still, after a full month of effort, I had reached level six before enrolling at Edin Academy. Considering I’d done it without any grace period or starter quests, I’d call that decent progress.

The only thing that still nagged at me was that suspicious Cash Shop trait. Why the hell is that one still locked?

As I let out a long sigh while staring at the window, the coachman glanced back at me.

“What’s wrong? Why the heavy sigh?”

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

“Ahahaha, I just remembered an unpleasant memory, that’s all.”

I scratched the back of my head with an awkward laugh, and the coachman looked at me with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pity in his eyes. Or rather, he was staring at the bandages covering my eyes. I couldn’t exactly blame him. Anyone who saw me would think I was blind. Which I’m not, by the way.

There were two reasons I kept my eyes wrapped like this.

The first was obvious.

A five-star trait. An absurdly overpowered ability. To use it to its full potential, I had no choice but to keep my eyes shut at all times. But a person can’t live with their eyes closed forever, so I resorted to these bandages. They let me keep the trait active constantly without drawing too much suspicion.

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason.

The second reason was even more annoying.

This damn author had saddled me with the quest. On its own, I could’ve endured it. There was no reward, but at least the difficulty hadn’t been set too high. The real reason I wanted to curse the writer was the snide message that came with it.

The fact that the author had read my thoughts and trolled me with that message made my blood boil. Was this bastard secretly reading my mind the whole time?

I let out a deep sigh in my heart. Whatever. Let’s stay positive.

Even with my eyes bandaged, I wasn’t truly blind. The world looked like it was viewed through a thermal scope, but I could still make out shapes and distances. And if I focused—

If I concentrate hard enough, I can see everything clearly.

When I focused on a person, their real appearance came into view. I could even read their status windows if I wanted. There were many other useful abilities, but the point was that it wasn’t that inconvenient. Since the difficulty was still low, I could live with it.

At this rate, as long as I don’t get caught pretending to be blind, killing the Demon Lord shouldn’t be too hard.

I was busy trying to convince myself of that when—

“Kyaaaaaaaah!”

A desperate scream suddenly tore through the air. The coachman jolted in surprise as well. He quickly brought the carriage to a halt. I turned my head toward the source of the sound.

In my vision, I caught sight of tiny wisps of mana and demonic energy. It was clearly a woman being attacked by monsters.

And at that exact moment, a new window appeared.

It was the first quest I had seen since my possession. It seemed the main story was finally beginning today.

I don’t know what the reward is, but… it was my first quest. Accepting it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠couldn’t hurt.

I slowly spoke to the flustered coachman.

“Excuse me, could you stop the carriage for a moment?”

“Pardon?”

“I would be grateful if you could.”

The coachman nodded with a bewildered expression. I leapt up onto the roof of the stopped carriage in one smooth motion and turned toward the location where I sensed the demonic energy.

“That small amount of demonic energy… it must be goblins.”

I had slaughtered so many of them over the past month that I could identify them instantly without even needing to check a status window. A few goblins won’t be a problem.

I circulated the mana inside my body through my circuits. Thanks to the Mana Application talent, the energy flowed smoothly without any resistance. I shaped the mana flowing out of me into a solid form.

A blue mana bow formed in my hand with a low hum. I would have preferred a proper weapon, but normal bows couldn’t harm monsters. Mana-infused weapons were required, and a commoner like me had no way of obtaining one. So I had no choice but to create my own.

I condensed mana in my other hand. A glowing blue arrow took shape. I nocked it, drew the string, and exhaled slowly.

My entire focus narrowed to the goblins. I held the perfect posture, becoming one with the bow. The moment felt right.

I released the string.

Meanwhile, Risa had no idea how she was supposed to escape this crisis. She was indeed a new student at Edin Academy on the Manchester Continent, but she was only an alchemy major. Her combat ability was barely better than an ordinary civilian’s.

Should I use one of the escort potions?

She was making a grim face at the slowly approaching goblins when—

Thud!

A mana arrow suddenly buried itself in the heart of the nearest goblin.

“…….”

“…….”

A brief silence fell over the forest at the unexpected intervention. Then—

Shwaaaaak!

Countless more arrows of pure mana rained down. Each trajectory was impossibly precise. The goblins panicked at the sudden ambush and tried to hide behind trees, but it was already too late.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Every single arrow had pierced a heart. The goblins that had been about to attack her rolled across the ground in agony. They thrashed, trying to pull the arrows out, but died before they could.

In less than ten seconds, ten goblins had been completely wiped out.

Any skilled fighter could have killed goblins. What shocked Risa was that they had all been killed with arrows. This was a dense forest full of trees. Yet every shot had found its mark with perfect accuracy, as if the obstacles didn’t even exist.

Whoever helped me… I should at least thank them.

Risa forced her trembling legs to stand. Just as she was about to leave the forest, she heard steady footsteps approaching.

Step. Step.

The gait was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠confident, as if the owner knew without a doubt that every goblin was dead. She hadn’t seen the person yet, but one thing was certain: her savior was an archer with extraordinary eyesight. There was no other explanation for such confidence.

She waited for her benefactor to appear.

“Huh?”

The moment she saw the figure, a stupid sound escaped her lips. She had assumed the person would be extraordinary. At the very least, she expected someone with perfectly functional eyes. After all, every arrow had struck a goblin’s heart with surgical precision.

But the person who emerged from the trees was none other than—

Does this even make sense?

A blind man with his eyes completely wrapped in bandages.