Talent That Demands Attention
Kang Arin muttered under her breath, "…What the hell is that?"
"Surprised?"
"If you're going to keep hanging out with Jiyun, you might as well get used to it."
Yoo Sumi and Kim Seohwa answered in turn.
"It took me two whole weeks to learn the Focus skill."
"Took me about three weeks too."
At Kang Arin's words, Kim Seohwa—who was also a ranged type—chimed in.
"But Jiyun gets told about a skill like that and picks it up in under five minutes."
"Remember that Barrier skill she used to save your life? She couldn't even use it before, but she created it on the spot. And she'd never even heard the theory behind it."
The three of them—Kang Arin, Yoo Sumi, and Kim Seohwa—stood in a loose triangle and glanced over at Lee Jiyun.
There she was, holding her bow perfectly still, completely focused.
Thwip—
A single arrow flew and struck a moving target dead center. Another perfect bullseye.
"Yesss!!"
Then, completely breaking the intense concentration she'd just shown, Jiyun hopped in place with pure joy.
"With talent like that, everyone who's been bragging about being a promising prodigy should just kneel. But why is someone with that kind of gift still unregistered?"
"She must have her reasons. Don't ask her about it."
"I get the feeling she'll reveal herself eventually, but until then she wants to build up her skills. So when she finally steps into the spotlight… she'll become famous in one explosive moment."
"Wow… that's the kind of delusional middle-school syndrome thinking a self-proclaimed genius would have."
"But you've seen her, right? Jiyun can pull that off. She really does have the talent to make it happen."
A brief silence fell over the three of them.
That silence was broken by a bright voice that didn't match the mood at all.
"Arin unnie! Can you come look at this for a second?"
"Ah, y-yeah!"
Talent was talent, but cuteness was cuteness. Faced with Jiyun's happy smile, Kang Arin couldn't bring herself to dig any deeper.
"Since you've definitely learned the Focus skill, all that's left is raising its proficiency. So… yeah. Let's move on to basic attack skills."
"Ooooh…!!"
Finally, attack skills. Honestly, the Bow of the Great Tree's basic attack power wasn't all that impressive. It could attack, sure, but that was about it. If I learned and used proper attack skills, I could make up for that weakness and help the bow grow even stronger.
I had zero intention of becoming some totem in the back that just threw out heals and buffs. No, I was going to be the kind of overpowered badass who saved people groaning in pain with a single heal, rallied a desperate army with one buff, and pierced through hordes of enemies with a single arrow…!!
"What do you think the most basic attack skill for an archer would feel like? Just say whatever comes to mind."
"Like shooting a bunch of arrows at once, or firing them really fast?"
"Correct. They're simple, easy to learn, and powerful. Skills you'll still be using even after you reach S-rank. They're called Multishot and Rapid Fire."
Multishot was a skill that fired multiple arrows at once like a shotgun. It could deliver a surprise burst of damage to enemies that got too close. Rapid Fire was exactly what it sounded like—firing arrows in extremely quick succession. It was an archer's bread-and-butter attack that worked at any range.
Multishot wasn't hard. All I had to do was create three or five magic arrows at once instead of one. The moment I pulled it off in about five minutes, Kang Arin looked like she was about to faint again.
She said it normally wasn't that easy. The passive skill for creating magic arrows was built on the subconscious idea of "firing one arrow accurately." So when you tried to make multiple arrows at once, even if you understood it in your head, something inside would just clog up and refuse to work.
I'd simply broken through that wall. Probably because I hadn't learned the magic arrow skill separately—it had come built into the Bow of the Great Tree.
You have learned the skill Multishot.
But even a super-genius talent monster like me found Rapid Fire a little tricky.
"Umm… is this right?"
I'd just fired five arrows in quick succession and looked at her for confirmation.
"No. What you just did was fire five normal shots really fast. For Rapid Fire, even if you're shooting five arrows, the motion has to flow organically, like one single movement. Try visualizing it better in your head."
"Hmmmm…"
How was I supposed to visualize this? No matter how hard I thought about it, all I could picture was pulling the bowstring five times and shooting thwip thwip thwip.
"Umm… oh!"
Suddenly, an FPS game I'd played came to mind. There was an archer character who could fire five arrows in rapid succession. If I just imagined that exact feeling…!!
In an instant, blue magical energy swirled around the Bow of the Great Tree.
Bang bang bang bang bang—!!!
Five arrows fired at incredible speed.
"W-whoaaa!!"
"Yes! That's it exactly!"
The moment the technique succeeded, Kang Arin let out a cheer. She seemed even happier about it than I was.
You have learned the skill Rapid Fire.
The status window popped up immediately, making me even happier. Thanks, Shimada Hanzo!
In the end, I learned three skills in a single day. I felt so proud and accomplished I thought I might cry.
Right on cue, lunchtime arrived, so we headed to the cafeteria. The food quality was… average at best. All the other facilities were top-notch, but the meals left a lot to be desired. Maybe that was why there were so many restaurants nearby when we came in.
While we were eating, Kang Arin asked me something.
"By the way, why do you keep wearing that hood? Isn't it stuffy?"
It was stuffy, sure, but what bothered me more was the stares from other people. I had no choice. I lifted the hood slightly and showed Kang Arin the problem.
"Whoa. What is that? Your ears look like an elf's. Did that happen after you awakened?"
"Yes. If I don't wear the hood, people keep staring at me everywhere I go…"
"Wait a second. Elf? The ears, the fact that you're a healer who uses a bow… then…?"
She'd figured it out. Oh well.
"Yes. My class is Elf. That's why I have both supporter skills and a natural talent for the bow."
"Then… Unique-rank…? You're actually Unique-rank?"
Yoo Sumi and Kim Seohwa, sitting across and diagonally from her, both nodded. Kang Arin slapped her forehead like a meme.
"Please keep it a secret. I don't want things to get noisy yet."
"O-of course!"
Kang Arin spent a long time picking up and putting down her spoon, then her chopsticks, before finally sliding a sticky note and a ballpoint pen toward me.
"…Can you give me an autograph in advance?"
"Aigoo, Arin, you're really going overboard."
"Don't put weird pressure on the kid."
Yoo Sumi and Kim Seohwa immediately started scolding her.
"Wait, aren't you guys the weird ones? She's Unique-rank! Korea's first one, and she's going to become the strongest in the country and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Eleanor Carter in America. Of course I need to get an autograph in advance!"
"This idiot. She's still a kid. Stop saying useless stuff."
Kang Arin immediately shrank at the words. Still, I couldn't completely disagree with her thinking. I could at least give her an autograph. Especially after she taught me three whole skills.
"I'll do it. The autograph."
I scribbled my name on the sticky note with the ballpoint pen. It was my very first autograph. I already felt like a celebrity. Since I'd never made a signature before, it came out as messy handwriting, but Kang Arin seemed satisfied, so whatever.
After we finished eating, we headed back to the training area. What we were doing next was actually pretty fun. I was going to have a target-hitting competition with Kang Arin.
The rules were simple: whoever knocked down more of the targets that popped up quickly in succession would win. To make it less boring, we decided to add a bet.
If Kang Arin won, I'd have to go with her tomorrow morning to cafes and shopping. A truly terrifying price. But there was a reason I agreed.
If I won, Kang Arin would buy me one full set of hunter equipment—including the AS insurance package. That was why I had to win no matter what.
Proper hunter gear wasn't cheap at all. The initial purchase price was ridiculous, and when you factored in maintenance costs, it was basically a money-eating whale. Of course, Kang Arin had about a hundred times more hunter experience than me (no exaggeration) and was a veteran B+ rank hunter.
Because of that, she was given a handicap. If I scored at least 75% of her points, I would be considered the winner.
"I set the conditions myself, but honestly, I don't plan on losing. I've got three years of hunter experience under my belt."
Kang Arin looked extremely confident.
"Exactly. If you lose, you should just retire. If you lose to a baby who's only been awakened for like two weeks, you should break your bow and retire for real," Yoo Sumi said.
"Jiyun, win and make her buy you a combat suit that costs five or six million won. Drain her entire bank account," Kim Seohwa egged me on.
"Looks like I need to show you the power of a Unique-rank talent again."
I summoned the Bow of the Great Tree in my left hand and stepped forward.
"You'll learn it once you start working as a hunter. Experience and proficiency matter more than talent."
"But I'm Unique-rank."
In the midst of that tense atmosphere, Arin and I took our positions.
The Nest training facility had a competitive system designed to foster healthy rivalry and goal-oriented mindsets. In the ranged training area, multiple people would hit targets at the same time and compete for real-time scores.
Honestly, I couldn't say I was extremely confident. No matter how god-tier my talent was, my experience and proficiency were overwhelmingly lacking. Still, it was worth trying. Above all, it looked fun.
When both Arin and I pressed the ready button, a countdown appeared on the ceiling monitor. The moment the countdown went from ten, past three, and reached one—
Bwaaang—!!
A trumpet blast rang out, signaling the start.
Thud thud thud—
Dozens of targets rose up at once in the field ahead. I immediately drew my bowstring.
I started with Multishot. Five arrows formed instantly in my right hand and fired together, striking four targets. The training area's cameras and AI system automatically calculated the score when targets were hit.
Beside me, Kang Arin was knocking down targets with terrifying speed and accuracy, but I didn't pay attention and raised my concentration even higher. The Focus skill activated, and I entered that slowed-down sense of time.
Then I used Rapid Fire to shoot five arrows in quick succession. The heightened cognitive ability within the slowed time allowed me to aim with perfect precision even at high speed.
Thudthudthudthudthud—
Not a single arrow missed.
And then.
Purple and golden targets began appearing in the far back. If white targets were worth 1 point, purple and gold were worth 3 and 5 points respectively. Because of their high value, they were smaller and appeared much farther away.
While maintaining Focus, I boldly aimed for the purple and golden targets. Thud thud— I even managed to steal the golden target that had appeared on Kang Arin's side, steadily raising my score.
It was a fierce back-and-forth battle of stealing and being stolen in the blink of an eye. Surprisingly, it was helping my shooting practice far more than I'd expected. Recognizing fast-appearing targets, aiming, and firing in the shortest time possible—it was basically hardcore training.
Bwaaang—
While I was shooting without noticing the passage of time, the trumpet sounded again and the match ended.
"The score! What's the score? Who won?"
Yoo Sumi came running over from behind, making a fuss. Kang Arin's expression wasn't nearly as confident as before. The sweat dripping down her face proved this match hadn't been easy for her at all.
The monitor on the ceiling displayed Kang Arin's score first.
121 points.
"121? Then Jiyun needs… 91 points! Anything over 91 and she wins!"
I wiped the sweat from my face and stared at the monitor.
Please…!!
My score appeared next.
101 points.
"Waaaaaaaaah!!!"
I have no idea whether that cheer came from me, Yoo Sumi, or Kim Seohwa. Maybe all three of us at once. When I came to my senses, the three of them were hugging each other.