The Blind Archer of the Apocalypse
Kyle Crane.
The name alone brings to mind a game I’ve only ever heard of.
It’s a game called Salvation, known in the subculture community as a total nightmare.
With its dark atmosphere and soul-crushing story, the barrier to entry is notoriously high.
It’s a game that polarizes players—those who hate grimdark settings won’t even give it a second glance.
As the title Salvation suggests, the protagonist’s goal is to save the broken wives within the world and, ultimately, save the world itself.
I placed my hands over the bandages wrapped tightly around my eyes.
I’ve possessed a body in a world filled with nothing but despair, yet I feel strangely calm—almost detached from myself.
Shouldn't I be panicking or at least surprised?
More than anything, there’s this text obscuring my vision.
[ Kyle Crane ]
[ Blind Archer ]
[ Descendant of Horus ]
It feels like I’m wearing a headset and playing a VR game.
Even looking forward feels like staring at an unrendered screen.
“Skill window?” I murmured under my breath.
> [ Unique Effect : Sniping ]
> [ No other skills currently possessed. ]
So, this works too.
Can I really use all the abilities Kyle had in the game? Well, it’s not like only bad news is guaranteed to happen.
That said, I won’t go so far as to call this situation good news.
Out of all the games in existence, why Salvation? And out of all the characters, why possess Kyle Crane, the only one with a “blind” concept?
Kyle Crane was a limited 5-star character, one of the old-school units picked up in Version 1.
His gimmick is that he’s blind, but not in the way that prevents him from seeing.
“Descendant of Horus.”
Kyle Crane is a late-bloomer who eventually gains Clairvoyance as a descendant of Horus.
Of course, in the original story, his Clairvoyance never actually manifested.
There was only a record stating that his Clairvoyance would one day awaken.
Though it looks like I can’t see because of the bandages, the information about my surroundings is already being drawn inside my head.
The background is pitch black, and blue lines trace the outlines of objects and living things, telling me exactly what’s around me.
The world I’m seeing is a holographic one.
Thanks to this, even if I look up at the sun, there’s no intense glare, so I can stare at it as long as I want.
“Haa….”
I let out a long sigh.
That sigh was filled with despair.
Unfortunately, this game features boss monsters based on Egyptian mythology.
Archaeologists meddled with Egyptian civilization, turning myths into reality and leading to the ruthless slaughter of humanity. The gods of myth have risen to overturn human civilization and wage war to rebuild their own legends.
It’s a war between gods and humans.
Right, if that’s the case, the protagonist is obviously on the side of humanity, the character who saves the world.
Then what about me?
Horus.
The god who observes all things and can see through everything.
I don’t know if that’s true. It’s game lore, so I’ll just have to roll with it.
If Horus is a divine being from Egyptian mythology, what does that make me, his descendant?
Horus was a protector of humanity, but currently, the gods have turned their backs on mankind, making them our enemies.
What happens if I go around shouting that I’m a descendant of Horus?
I could get hit in the back of the head with a rock on the street and die, get beaten to a pulp on a rainy day, or get swarmed by a mob and killed like a dog on a summer day.
Kyle Crane even appeared as an antagonist to the protagonist, so I might just get killed by the protagonist’s own hands….
A chill ran through my body.
“What do I do?”
Possessed by a character in a game called the worst, and a flawed one at that.
There couldn’t possibly be worse news than this….
‘This should be enough.’
I stepped outside and placed three or four tin cans on a rock.
I needed to test Kyle’s abilities.
A bow and a quiver full of arrows.
I’ve shot a bow less than ten times in my life.
Maybe a plastic toy bow when I was young, or a messy one I made with a mechanical pencil case and rubber bands in middle school?
I stood some distance from the cans and picked up the bow.
“Seriously… what am I doing?”
I raised the bow, wondering if it would even work, but I didn’t feel like I would miss those cans.
Why?
I felt like I wouldn’t fail.
I inhaled. The humid air seeped deep into my lungs.
The bow in my hand was cold and hard.
The rough texture of the well-worn wood scraped against my palm.
“Hoo….”
I exhaled deeply.
I extended my left hand, holding the bow straight, and lightly pushed the grip with the fleshy part below my thumb.
My fingers rested just enough to keep the bow from sliding.
This entire process was naturally ingrained in my body.
As if I were born with a bow in my hand.
Maintaining my posture, I turned my body halfway.
My toes pointed diagonally toward the target cans, and the weight on my right foot slowly settled into my hips.
My spine straightened like a taut bowstring.
My right hand reached for the quiver on my back.
As soon as I felt the fletching of an arrow against my fingers, I grabbed one.
With a soft shhh, the arrow slid out smoothly.
The shaft glided along the side of the bow, and the nock at the back locked onto the center of the string.
Click.
A small, clear sensation traveled to my fingertips.
From that moment, the bow, the arrow, and my body became one.
My right index finger hooked over the arrow, while my middle and ring fingers gripped the string from below.
The string against my fingertips felt as hard as stone.
I slowly drew the string back.
The stiff tension traveled from my fingertips to my arm, my shoulder, and my back.
The bow bent deeper and deeper.
The wood trembled minutely, as if holding back a scream.
The string passed my lips, brushed under my chin, and finally reached my ear.
It was taut.
As if it would snap at any moment.
But my posture didn’t waver in the slightest.
In the silence, as if even my breath had stopped, only my gaze pierced the target.
The distant target.
The blue lines of its clear outline.
I released the fingers holding the string and the arrow.
TWANG—!!
The string vibrated as if it were exploding.
The tension I had been suppressing with force released in an instant, and the entire bow vibrated briefly.
The arrow pierced the humid air.
THWACK—!!
I knew just by the sound.
The arrow had buried itself in the center of the target.
A wave of pleasure washed over my body.
My brain flooded with dopamine, and I immediately grabbed another arrow to hit the next can.
THWACK—!!
THWACK—!!
The arrows I fired in succession pierced the cans.
“Hoo….”
I breathed out shortly.
My fingers, stiff with tension, loosened, and the minutely trembling bowstring returned to stillness.
That was when it happened.
Clap, clap, clap, clap—
The sound of palms striking each other rang clearly in my ears.
“Wow, you hit them all even with your eyes covered?”
A woman’s voice echoed from behind me.
I turned my body toward the source of the sound.
The outline of a woman emerged against the black-stained background.
A conical hat popped into existence above her head.
There had definitely been nothing there a moment ago.
The hat appeared abruptly, like an object that had finished loading late.
“…Who are you?”
I asked in a low voice, keeping my guard up.
I gripped the bow tightly.
In this game, you shouldn’t trust anyone.
It’s full of people who spend every day thinking about stabbing the protagonist in the back.
And since I’m the one who played and experienced all of that, being wary of others was only natural.
“Is there any need to be so defensive? I’m Clemia. And you?”
The moment I heard the name from her lips, I loosened my grip on the bow.
“Kyle… Crane.”
“Hmm~ Crane, is it? Who taught you how to use a bow?”
I hesitated at her question.
Did I learn it on my own?
Or from my parents?
Clemia.
I know who she is.
The Chancellor of Valtreon Academy.
Clemia possesses the Eye of Truth, a power that allows her to see through lies and discern the truth.
“I, I learned… on my own.”
She stopped speaking at my answer.
An answer can be the truth, but it can also be a lie.
I don’t know who the owner of this body, Kyle, learned from.
However, I did learn on my own.
Because I taught myself how to use those toy bows and the ones made from pencil cases, purely on my own.
And I’ve only used a real bow for the first time since coming here.
“I see.”
Clemia said in a calm tone.
I’m anxious because I can’t see her expression.
What kind of look is she giving me right now?
Since I can only see the outlines of people, the situation itself feels suffocating.
“You, are you interested in the Academy?”
“Pardon?”
“Ah— I only gave you my name and didn’t tell you who I am. I’m the Chancellor of Valtreon Academy.”
A small laugh leaked from her lips.
It seems she feels quite pleased with her own introduction.
“So, would you like to join the Academy?”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
Clemia never rests until she gets her hands on a gem she’s found.
That gem must be someone capable of opposing the gods, and furthermore, their abilities must exceed the categories she has imagined.
The protagonist was also forced into the Academy after running into Clemia while she was out hunting for gems.
“Why? Are you worried?”
I’m not sure if it’s a place I should go.
My heart is telling me I should go, but my brain is rejecting it.
I can’t see the characters I watched through a monitor in reality, but I can at least talk to them, so I’m excited.
Even so, who is the guy I’ve possessed?
Kyle Crane.
Kyle Crane is a descendant of Horus.
In other words, a child of a god.
Entering the territory of those who oppose the gods of my own volition?
It’s the same as a deer sticking its head into the mouth of a sleeping tiger.
I have to refuse.
“Would I even be able to go?”
‘Huh?’
I thought I was definitely going to refuse.
But different words slipped out of my mouth.
“Ah, that’s not wha—”
“Of course! If you have a special recommendation, admission is a piece of cake.”
“Isn’t it ‘easy as pie’?”
“Same thing. Anyway, I’ll expect you tomorrow!”
“Tomorrow?”
“See you at the Academy!”
As Clemia waved, her outline vanished in an instant.
“Wait, hold on….”
Was it a dream?
I’m screwed.