Traveling through the game world, starting out as a third-rate villain

"Forehead......"

In the room, I held my breath and endured the severe pain coming from my body. Why should I endure this pain?

Quite simply, I needed to get stronger. And the pain would never stop.

"hiss......"

I took a deep breath and clenched my fists, feeling them trembling. The training these days has been very hard, pushing my body to its limits and even beyond them. But it is necessary.

“Hmm…Hmm…”

Just like that, the pain came to an end as I looked at my body below.

"There are some scars here from the past month... When I have money, I can get some potions to heal them."

I thought, pushing myself up.

It turns out that today's training was really useful, and I feel that my mana control is getting better and better.

It's like when you take up a new hobby, you quickly figure out how to do the basics. When things get more complicated, it takes more effort.

Now that's me. The process of infusing the arrows with mana has gone pretty smoothly, and flowing mana isn't hard for me now, it's like I just know how to do it instinctively.

But that's not what mana is really for, at least not just to add mana to a bunch of arrows or bullets, so I knew I needed to learn how to use it properly.

But this should be enough for now, I thought, as I started thinking about my new feature.

【shadow】

This is one of the best features in the game.

It allows you to blend into the shadows, and as long as you are in a dimly lit area, you can hide your presence.

'Shua'

I imagined myself moving behind the shadows, and soon they obeyed my will, and I merged into the darkness of the world.

My vision was unobstructed and I could see the world around me clearly, but at the same time, it felt like I was not there.

In fact, I've also been trying this feature, even though I know its purpose from the game. But it's much better to feel it in real life than to see it in the game.

Well, that's all for today.

As I was thinking, I fell asleep because it was already one o'clock in the morning and I had classes the next day.

......

The ringing of the alarm clock woke me up from my sleep.

"uh-huh......"

The residual pain from training is still there, but it's still bearable.

"Five in the morning, huh? That should be enough time for me to change weapons."

Because I needed to change my weapon, and I couldn't afford it with my limited money, so I had to get one from the academy.

"I shouldn't be using a gun at this point."

A gun is not necessary, as I don't want anyone to know that I can buff bullets. I want to keep this talent hidden, and guns are relatively cheap compared to bows, so I can get one before I go on a dungeon crawl.

"The important thing right now is to improve my shooting ability, so that using a gun won't be a problem when the time comes."

With this thought in mind, I left the room.

As it was close to winter and the sun had not yet risen, there were not many students around.

When I arrived at the Student Administration Building, I saw a staff member waiting there. The working hours in this world are a little different from usual.

Most of the time, things like student affairs or hunter-related work would start around 3am, as portals and dungeons would refresh at any time.

She nodded to me and said, "Which weapon do you want to change to? I'll make arrangements for you."

"A bow," I answered.

She raised an eyebrow, as if surprised by my choice. "Oh, interesting. Very few of our students choose to switch from dagger to bow, but never mind, it will be arranged for you soon."

She's right. Generally speaking, you won't see someone using a melee weapon switch to a ranged weapon unless there are special circumstances.

Although I am the last-ranked student, she treats me with respect. This is because she knows the difference between the standards of Arcadia Hunter Academy and the outside world. Although I am ranked last here, it does not mean that I will be weaker than the hunters outside...

I followed her instructions and headed to the testing area. There, I was given a recurve bow and a set of arrows to demonstrate my abilities. It was the same bow I used at the training grounds.

I spent some time on my own in the testing area to warm myself up, and then was greeted by an instructor who would evaluate my shooting skills. He was the instructor for the archery course and I knew him from the game.

"Joey Hartman," I thought to myself as I saw him.

The area is a wide open space with different target ranges set up at different distances. The targets are made of sturdy material that can withstand the force of arrows and come in different shapes and sizes.

"Okay, let's get started," said Instructor Joey, motioning me to the designated firing line. "Let's start with the basics. Hit those five fixed targets over there."

The first part was easy, and I kept my eyes on the target. After observing the distance and recalling the feeling yesterday, I nocked the arrow, drew the bowstring, and aimed at the first target.

Taking a deep breath, I released the arrow, and with a "bang", the arrow hit the center of the target.

"Not bad." The instructor nodded, and my confidence increased. Just from his body movements, I knew he really recognized me.

As the stages progress, the difficulty increases. In the second stage, the number of targets increases to eight, and they move left and right. I have to adjust my aim and timing to hit them as they move, and my Perception Insight trait helps me see their movements more clearly.

In the third phase, the targets are set at longer distances, testing my accuracy and precision. I also have to consider wind direction and adjust my shots accordingly.

'Bang'

However, it wasn’t too hard for me at the moment and I hit the target again.

When I entered the fourth stage, the targets were made of harder materials, and I needed to enhance my arrows with mana to ensure they could penetrate the thick surface.

This is a basic skill that archers must have. It can infuse magic power and attributes into one's arrows.

At this point, I'm pretty sure I have the talent to be an archer, but it would be better for him to think I have the attributes related to the bow. I thought as I infused the arrow with mana and released the string.

'Swoosh' 'Bang'

"Well, that's a good use of your trait," the instructor commented, noting how I was imbuing the arrow with mana. As I expected, he thought that this was the trait that allowed me to imbue the arrow with energy. In a way, he was not wrong, but also wrong.

Phase 5 was the most challenging. It combined moving targets, long distances, and hard targets. I had to stay focused and use mana to prime my arrows while constantly changing my position to get better angles.

But it doesn’t matter because I still completed this stage within the limited time.

"Huh?" I saw Instructor Joey exclaimed in surprise. It seemed that he didn't expect me to make greater progress at this stage.

"This guy is a good candidate..."

I heard him mumbling to himself. At this time, he had already started taking notes on his tablet.

“I should have passed, but I want to keep going,” I thought to myself.

I took a deep breath, tried to calm down, and prepared for the sixth stage. The target was harder now, made of reinforced material, and required a lot of force to penetrate.

My body was also aching because the bow I was using was a recurve bow, which required a lot of strength to pull the bowstring continuously, which made me feel very tired.

But I still kept my breathing steady and kept moving forward.

I nocked the arrow, focused my magic power, and poured it into the arrow to increase its power. Then I released the bow and watched it fly to its next target.

'call out'

The arrow struck the surface of the target with force, but to my dismay, it did not penetrate deeply enough. The arrow bounced out, leaving only a scratch in the solid material.

Instructor Joey looked expressionless. "Keep going," he said, and I nodded. He wanted to assess the limits of my enhancement abilities.

I tried again and again, injecting more mana into each shot, but no matter how hard I tried, the arrows were never strong enough to penetrate the target's defenses.

"As expected, I can't seem to penetrate the 6th stage target yet." I thought so, but I was not disappointed. After all, I had just obtained the feature and didn't know how to use it more effectively, as well as my mana.

'Swoosh'

I released two more arrows with the same result, they bounced off the target surface without any noticeable impact.

"Okay!" Instructor Ethan finally stood up and said, "It seems you have reached your limit for today."

Hearing this, I lowered my head. Indeed, I have reached my limit for today, so I didn't speak.

“Hmph…Hmph…”

At this point, I could no longer hold back the heavy breathing in my lungs. To be a good archer, the most important thing is balance and breathing, and to do that, no matter how fast my heart beats, I need to hold my breath.

Instructor Joey approached me with a look of approval in his eyes. "Your performance is impressive, especially considering that you are just starting to use the bow. For a novice, your mana control is very good. I just checked and you couldn't use mana before, it seems that you have finally figured it out."

As he said that, he showed me his tablet. There, I could see a bunch of information about me and my past records. Just as I thought, Morse was unable to use mana before, so he was called a mana-less hunter in the records among the instructors.

I nodded in response to his words. "Yes, I just recently discovered my talent in archery and magic."

He nodded, his eyes moving down my body.

"But while your speed and physical skills are great, you lack strength and endurance. You look exhausted."

"Yes."

"Then you should use a compound bow instead of a recurve bow. Although a compound bow is heavier and more difficult to use than a recurve bow, it also requires less strength. I believe that with your ability, you can better control a compound bow."

Sure enough, he saw through my thoughts. I kept going until I was tired just to let him know this. Compound bows are expensive, so colleges generally don't like to let students use them, but my physical strength doesn't allow me to use a recurve bow.

"Understood, instructor."

"Not bad." He smiled. "I will discuss this with the academy, and we will get you a suitable compound bow to practice with, and your weapon will be registered as a bow. But I need to confirm one thing. Has your dagger talent disappeared? Although this situation is rare, there are cases where previous talents have disappeared."

“No, it’s still there.”

'Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh'

I took the dagger from my belt and swung it as quickly as before.

"Very good. I'll file my report. Your bow will be in your possession by noon."

"Thank you, Instructor Joey," I said gratefully.

And so I left the testing area, feeling exhausted but satisfied. My body ached a bit, but that was okay.

Now, with all that, the only thing left is to make money and buy guns.

Just like that, I went back to my room to prepare for class...