Evolution of the Armored Archers
Mu-hyuk waited patiently.
Evolution rate 91%, 92%......
A tedious amount of time passed.
Finally, it reached 100%.
Mounted Archer 26 completes its evolution.
Achieves consecutive evolution stages, reaching Enhanced Armor Archer.
Specialized in bows.
Damage increases by 20% when using weapons suited to its traits.
Power Shot
Multi Shot
HP increase per level: ......
It had truly succeeded in evolving.
Was this for real......?
The bewilderment lasted only a moment.
Jackpot. For real.
Now he could evolve his entire mounted archer force into Enhanced Armor Archers. Just imagining that destructive power sent shivers down his spine.
"Dismiss Mounted Archers. Summon Skeleton Archers."
He immediately yanked out the skulls from all the Enhanced Armor Archers.
Sent out the skeletons again.
"Summon Mounted Archers."
He summoned the Mounted Archers one by one and replaced their skulls.
Mounted Archer 27 begins evolution.
Mounted Archer 28 begins evolution.
Mounted Archer 29 begins evolution......
Even after replacing skulls up to Mounted Archer 36, 14 skulls remained.
Summon Warriors.
Summon Cavalry.
Summon Mages.
He summoned all the skeletons and replaced their skulls.
Three warriors, three cavalry, six mages.
He set aside the remaining two skulls as spares. The Mounted Archers' levels were on the lower side, so they'd rise quickly anyway.
Every time a new Mounted Archer appeared, the urge to turn it into an Armor Archer surged.
All of them as Enhanced Armor Archers, ripping through monsters.
Now, what about the tail?
He pulled Helbart's tailbone from his inventory.
Give it to a Mounted Archer, right?
No matter how many times he looked, it resembled an arrow, so that was the only choice.
The question was, which bone to replace it with.
Ah, whatever.
He just pulled out Mounted Archer 1's tailbone.
This spot would do.
With the Book of Creation, he could reshape it, so it should be fine.
Shrink the size.
Make it barely noticeable.
Done.
At that moment, the tailbone emitted a faint glow.
Helbart's tailbone reacts.
1. Merges with summon of Archer class.
2. Takes root in the tailbone.
Some special conditions fulfilled.
Hidden function revealed.
1. Piercing Power Increase
2. Angle Prediction
He'd hoped for it, but to actually meet the conditions...
Just in case, Mu-hyuk removed Helbart's tailbone and tried swapping it with other parts.
Ribs, legs, arms, shoulders, neck, and so on.
But every other spot only fulfilled one condition, granting just the Cutting Power Increase effect.
In the end, Helbart's bone returned to the tailbone position.
Now to test the effects.
He already knew what Piercing Power Increase did, so he skipped that.
Angle Prediction?
He commanded Mounted Archer 1, and it moved. It drew its bow, pulled out the tailbone arrow, and nocked it. Mu-hyuk glanced at the instantly regenerated tailbone, then focused on the skeleton's field of vision.
Angle Prediction.
Activating the skill brought up a blue line.
What was this?
It looked like it was showing the arrow's flight path.
"Mounted Archer 1, aim at the upper part of the rock on the right."
Now two blue lines appeared.
One curving after hitting the upper rock on the right, and one piercing straight through.
In its current state, if it released the string, which path would the tailbone arrow follow?
Anticipation building, he ordered the shot.
Apply Piercing Power Increase option to first target?
[Yes/No]
He nodded instinctively.
So that's how it works.
Yes would pierce the rock and continue; No would make it curve.
Mu-hyuk chose No first.
Bang!
The launched tailbone arrow followed the curving path perfectly.
Spot on.
This time, he aimed at the upper left.
Apply Piercing Power Increase option to first target?
[Yes/No]
He hit Yes, and it pierced right through the rock.
Nice.
If used well, this would be hugely effective in large-scale user battles.
Hmm, and also......!
Lost in thought, Mu-hyuk sighed.
Well, he needed to know more first.
It was a moment when he felt the need to study again.
Yeah, today he'd read some books.
He moved to the spot where Sung Min-woo, Ye-rin, and Kim Ji-yeon had logged out, then exited Illusion.
He grabbed a book he'd bought earlier and headed to the living room. Sinking into the sofa, he opened to the first page. He began committing the still-hard-to-grasp contents to memory, mulling them over.
*
As pre-arranged, he met the three in real life, not in-game.
Sung Min-woo, Ye-rin, Kim Ji-yeon.
Time with them was more enjoyable and relaxing than expected.
By late evening, he realized how fast the time had flown.
"Already 11?"
"It's late."
"Time to head home?"
"Yeah."
As Kim Ji-yeon stood, Sung Min-woo got up too.
"I'll give you a ride."
"Ah, thanks."
Naturally, Mu-hyuk was left alone with Ye-rin.
"Oppa, let's have one more drink."
"Sure."
It was an intimate time for just the two of them.
"Ah, really, I mean it."
Already drunk, her tongue was starting to slur.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, so I......"
Mu-hyuk listened to Ye-rin's chatter with a happy smile.
"Why stare like that?"
"'Cause you're pretty."
"Ah, really......"
He reached out and pinched her cheek.
She was just too cute.
"Ow!"
"Sorry."
That night, they drank till dawn.
The next day.
He woke to a throbbing headache.
Ugh.
Turning his head, he saw Ye-rin sleeping.
Her face buried in the pillow, breathing softly—it filled him with happiness and rising desire.
As he brushed her hair, she stirred and opened her eyes.
"Oppa......?"
"You're awake?"
"Mmm."
Even her furrowed brow was beautiful.
"Sleep well?"
"Yeah. What time is it?"
"11."
"Already......?"
"Yeah."
"Ugh, gotta get up."
At that moment, Mu-hyuk pulled down her blanket.
"I can't hold back anymore!"
"Kyaa!"
From early morning, hot passion filled the room.
A bit later.
After showering, Mu-hyuk left the hotel and saw Ye-rin off to the station.
"See you in Illusion tomorrow, oppa."
"Yeah, get home safe."
"Okay!"
After parting with Ye-rin, Mu-hyuk headed home.
"Finally back?"
"Yeah."
His blood sister, Kang Ji-yeon, was in the living room.
"You know we're eating out as a family today, right?"
"Yeah."
Mu-hyuk changed clothes and came out to the living room. He picked up the book on the table.
"Reading a book?"
"Yeah."
"What's gotten into you."
Ignoring her, he opened to the marked page. Basic explanations of strategy and tactics filled his view.
Tough, but.
If he applied them one by one, it'd be fine.
"What book?"
"Strategy and tactics."
"Ah, for the skeletons?"
He nodded.
"More diligent than I thought."
"Gotta be. It's my hobby and job."
"Hoo."
Mu-hyuk focused back on the book.
He finished one and picked up another. By the time he'd read both, evening had come.
"No preference on food?"
"Beef?"
"Hm, I like something clean."
After some deliberation.
"How about Korean banquet?"
"Sounds good."
"Me too!"
A satisfying menu was decided for all.
They headed to a famous Korean banquet restaurant.
He cleanly devoured the table full of food.
"Tasty, right?"
"Yeah, the best!"
"Yes, thanks for the meal."
Patting his full belly, they arrived home.
Mu-hyuk sat on the sofa again.
He checked the book to see where he'd left off.
Up to here.
He continued absorbing the content.
Hmm......!
It was more interesting than expected.
The next day.
Mu-hyuk woke much earlier than usual. After a moment's thought, he logged into Illusion.
Contribution points were iffy; he'd use achievement points instead.
He planned to spend the achievement points earned from skill combos before Sung Min-woo, Ye-rin, and Kim Ji-yeon logged in.
To that end, he warped to the empire and entered the massive temple nearby.
"Welcome."
"I want to use my accumulated achievement power."
"One moment......!"
The priest stepped away, and soon the high priest appeared to guide Mu-hyuk.
"This way."
"Yes."
Through him, he entered the Gate of Achievements.
A space filled with darkness.
Soon, a hologram lit up his view.
Step 2.
Achievement Points Step 2
Strength Potion
Permanently increases Strength stat by (1).
Required Achievement Points: 15
Agility Potion
Permanently increases Agility stat by (1).
Required Achievement Points: 15
Stamina Potion
Permanently increases Stamina stat by (1).
Required Achievement Points: 15
Knowledge and Wisdom too.
Same old phrases.
"Hmm."
Just imagining it was thrilling.
A whopping 5,300 points.
Enough to buy over 300 stats.
First, start purchasing.
When he'd bought about 20 Strength Potions.
You have purchased a total of 100 Strength Potions.
Strength Potions can no longer be used.
He frowned at the message.
100......?
He'd already bought that many.
"Damn."
Didn't expect a limit.
No choice; he balanced Stamina and Agility next.
50 Stamina, 70 Agility—then messages said 100 each.
2,100 achievement points spent.
3,200 remaining.
Yeah, need to boost mage magic damage too.
MP recovery rate higher would be better.
After some thought, he bought Knowledge and Wisdom.
Purchase Knowledge Potion (95)?
[Yes/No]
Required Achievement Points: 1,425
Purchase Wisdom Potion (90)?
[Yes/No]
Required Achievement Points: 1,350
He hit Yes repeatedly.
Then drank all the potions.
An enormous stat boost.
425 achievement points left.
Attack power or something.
He dropped to Step 1 and bought Physical Attack Potions.
Total 141.
Drank them all, boosting attack by 141, then checked stats.
"Haha......"
A chuckle escaped involuntarily.
Insane. For real.
His heart raced at the cheat-level stats.
Well, couldn't use Step 2 anymore. Step 1 probably had limits too.
And that limit felt close.
After that......?
Probably move to Step 3.
With a rough plan in mind.
Creeeak.
He opened the door and exited the Achievement Chamber.