Chapter 16: Chapter 16: Cowardly Ranged Weapons

In Leon’s world, ranged weapons are cowardly weapons for the lowly.

They are unacceptable to a knight who values honor, and the only people who use them are serfs and free soldiers who have no need for honor.

Of course, he was a natural commander and an undefeated rising general so he had no shortage of archers, catapults, and cannons.

But ranged weapons have their limits. There’s something called recoil, and it’s the same with firearms.

There’s a limit to the amount of ammunition, a limit to the amount of firepower… It’s like a weapon with a maximum value. But swords and spears are different.

What you swing is what you swing, and what you throw is what you throw, and it’s purely up to you.

If you can’t split a boulder with your sword, you’re not a knight.

Can’t blow away an opponent’s mounted charge? A good knight can pierce through pikemen.

In the end, honor and fame are earned through sheer strength, not through the use of a bow.

For a Holy Knight who has completed the quest and been chosen by the Grail, a ranged weapon is a dishonorable admission of inadequacy.

“No, there’s something wrong with you!”

Of course, it didn’t make sense in modern terms.

“You’re a funny fellow.”

Oh Kang-hyuk laughed it off, but not the rest of the party. They were about to say something when a frantic Hunter employee shouted out.

“We need to get going!”

“Okay…….”

Koo Dae-Sung followed where the Association employee led, thinking this test might be a bust.

“This test… how does it work?”

Koo Dae-sung asked, and the Association staff answered.

“Basically, you’ll be hunting 50 kobolds. They’ll be out in the field, but if it’s too dangerous, I’ll step in.”

Even though the staff member said that only kobolds could be hunted, Koo Dae-Sung wanted to earn a higher score.

Of course, hunting gnolls and boss monsters earns higher points, and there are specific areas where they appear.

“Hey, guys. I know a place, why don’t you go there and hunt?”

“You’re more experienced than us, so…….”

“I’m in……..”

“……”

The three agree, and Leon remains silent so Koo Dae-sung led the party out of the meadow and into the forest.

Tae-hoon and Na-yeon, the newbies, craned their necks to see where he was leading them.

“Mr. Dae-sung, I see a village at the end of the meadow. There must be a lot of them.”

“Don’t mess with the villages. We’re outnumbered and could be surrounded by kobolds and gnolls.”

Koo Dae-sung is a veteran of the game, tackling the Seoul Station gate for the tenth time.

He has seen kobolds and gnolls at other gates as well, although they’re not as frequent because they’re only set up for testing.

“We’re going to target the kobolds in the cave.”

Koo Dae-sung explained the advantages of fighting in caves.

First, the cramped quarters and one-way passageways meant they wouldn’t have to worry about being surrounded.

Tearing off a patch of grass he’d found along the way.

“I’m going to light a fire with the grass here and inject smoke inside, so we can easily target the cave kobolds.”

“Ah~”

“You’re different after all.”

Even as he was praised by the party members, Koo Dae-sung smiled bitterly.

Coming to the test gate ten times wasn’t that big of a deal.

As his rank increased, the test gates would naturally change. For C-rank was the Samjeon Station gate and for B-rank, the 63rd Building Gate.

He studied and researched all the strategies, imagining that one day he would be able to enter the top gates, but he could only see the gate here at Seoul Station.

‘I have to move up this time, I can’t stay a D-rank forever.’

He wanted to be strong, and he was sick and tired of being D-rank.

“Kobolds up ahead!”

At that moment, Shin Tae-hoon, who was in the lead as a tank, stopped and the kobolds spotted them because they were so loud.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Grrr…!”

Kobolds are humanoid monsters with the heads of dogs. They are about the height of an elementary school student and are the lowest class of monsters.

“Block them with your shield in front Tae-hoon!”

“Yes!”

The kobolds’ charge was straightforward and simple and they had a strong tendency to go for pure strength and power.

In that case, the hunters would win unless they were overwhelmingly outnumbered.

“Kiaaak!”

The kobold that had been charging upright was knocked down by Na-yeon’s arrow.

The kobold spun around to face Tae-hoon’s shield and crashed head-on into it, bleeding from the nose.

“Stupid bastards.”

Tae-hoon plunged his sword into the fallen kobold but just then, another kobold threw himself at Tae-hoon, and he fell to the ground in anger.

“Ouch…!”

“Tae-hoon!”

Just as the kobold was about to sink its teeth into him, Dae-sung’s sword pierced the kobold’s neck and hot blood poured out onto Tae-hoon’s face.

“Don’t let your guard down! They may be weak, but they’re quick!”

There are five kobolds left but Na-yeon’s arrow, drawn straight, pierces the second kobold.

“Hmph.”

The old man, Oh Kang-tae, takes over the fallen line and punches the kobolds in the face with his armored fist. It was a swift jab.

“Kung!”

“Kung!”

The kobolds’ fell, one after another, as Dae-Sung picked up Tae-Hoon and joined them.

“Whoa….”

“I’m sorry. I made a mistake.”

When Tae-hoon apologized for his mistake and breaking the formation, Dae-sung clapped his hands to encourage him.

“It’s okay, it happens to everyone at first.”

He, too, had made his share of mistakes against the kobolds. Considering he was a rookie, Tae-hoon’s mistakes weren’t even on the error side.

“Na-yeon took care of two of them, and thanks to you, no one got hurt. Everyone did a good job.”

Despite his initial misgivings, this is not a bad party, except for one person.

“Hey, foreigner, you… you didn’t do anything in our fight, did you?”

“That’s right, I just stood in the back and watched, Mr. Employee, is this okay?”

The arrow was returned to Leon, who remained silent. He was dying to get rid of Leon and get another party member.

“Haha…I’ll take that into consideration, so don’t worry too much.”

Leon would get the lowest score, and the others would get extra points. Dae-sung was disappointed but he thought it was fine if they would get extra points.

“If that’s the case… let’s go further in. We’ll find a cave soon.”

True to his word, they walked further into the forest, and a cave appeared.

“There really is a cave.”

“Ugh… Do we have to go in and fight? I don’t like dark places.”

Na-yeon’s complaint made him want to say, “You’ll never be a hunter…” but Dae-sung held it together and smiled.

“No, we’re going to ‘raid’ the cave.”

“Raid?”

“Well, a basic part of being a hunter is raiding gates, so I need you all to gather some leaves from around the area. We’ll set them on fire and send the smoke into the cave.”

“Aaah! You’re going to choke them to death with smoke?”

“Wow, awesome. Then we’ll just have to catch the ones that jump out.”

That was it. In Koo Dae-sung’s experience, there were more than twenty kobolds in this cave.

He had been using this method since the sixth game, as it allowed him to take out more than two dozen kobolds with little loss of health in a gate attack where health balance was crucial.

As he organizes his plan and gathers the leaves and grass clippings around him, his eyes catch sight of Leon, arms crossed and eyes closed.

“Hey, why don’t you help instead of playing?”

Leon opened his closed eyes. His blue eyes pierce Dae Sung.

“In your eyes, you see this king being lazy.”

If not that, then something else…But he couldn’t say it out loud.

He couldn’t explain it with logic or reason, but a strange gut feeling told him that if he said anything more here, he might get in trouble.

“Uhm… Oh, whatever, you’re the lowest of the low, so you know!”

It was the best he could do to avoid eye contact.

“I’ve got it all!”

“Do you need a lighter for the fire?”

“This old man has a lighter. Oh, I’ve long since given up smoking, don’t get me wrong.”

He was about to light the tinder.

“Do you really think that’s best?”

Leon spoke up.

“What, you haven’t even helped yet?”

“This king asked you if that is the best move, don’t make me tell you twice.”

“……I’ve tried this three times. And it worked all three times.”

“It’s based on experience, which isn’t bad. But how can you rely on experience when that experience is so shallow?”

“What are you talking about, really…….?”

For a moment he thought he did something wrong, but he knew better.

“Oh, never mind. You’re too young to have experience…….”

He lit a fire and pushed the smoke from the large leaves around him into the cave.

-Kyaaaaah!

A monstrous screeching sound echoed through the cave.

“Oh, they’re coming!”

Tae-hoon shouts as he raises his shield, and everyone prepares for battle. And just as the first group of kobolds burst out of the cave, they stop dead in their tracks at the sight of the flames blocking the entrance.

“Now!”

The arrow Na-yeon pulled flew, and the rocks thrown by Old Man Oh and Dae-sung crushed the kobolds’ faces.

-Crack!

-Khahak!

One after another, the kobolds fell. After killing five of them in an instant, Dae-Sung exclaimed in triumph.

“See! My method is not wrong!”

The next group of kobolds jumped up. They were gasping for air to keep from choking on the smoke, and they looked dizzy.

“Alright, let’s get on with it!”

He shouted as he took down the seventh kobold.

“Krrr…!”

Another similar but different howl was heard and Koo Dae-Sung doubted his ears.

“Gnoll?”

He turned to the sound and there, staring back at him, was gnoll, armed with armor and shield… and a one-handed axe.

With the head of a vicious hyena, and one and a half times larger than the average gnoll…….

“Gnoll Captain?!”

Gnoll Captain is the boss here at the gate of Seoul Station. His monster rank is definitely C-class. It’s too strong for them.

“Oh, no. Why now?”

Suddenly, Dae-Sung’s mind flashed back to Leon’s words ten minutes ago.

‘Do you really think it’s the best move?’

It was as if he’d been expecting this, but how?

“Dae-sung, what should we do?”

Na-yeon’s urgent cry made Dae-sung’s heart race.

“You and Na-yeon, stop the kobolds in the cave, and me and Tae-hoon will deal with Gnoll Captain!”

They needed people on both sides. Above all, it would be suicidal for a D-rank to fight against a Gnoll Captain without any tactics.

He could only hope that Tae-hoon, who was technically a novice, could hold his own with the shield.

“Kraaaaaaaaah!”

The Gnoll Captain screams and charges. Tae-hoon takes the lead and raises his shield, but his legs are shaking from the roar. He can’t even block an attack like that!

“Tae-hoon, wake up…!”

Before he could finish his sentence, a terrifying axe slammed into Tae-hoon’s shield and Tae-hoon, unable to withstand the blow, fell to the ground, losing his shield.

‘Holy shit!’

The Gnoll Captain was about to strike Tae-hoon down but Dae-sung moved to save Tae-hoon.

“Krrr…!”

The Gnoll Captain lightly blocked the charge with his momentum and the longsword was unable to penetrate the shield from the front, and he was stopped.

“Krrr…!”

The Gnoll Captain grunted as his back snapped forward and swung his axe towards Dae-sung.

Dae-sung was thrown away by the impact that his armor had barely absorbed.

“Ouch, ouch…….”

It was then that I saw the terrified Tae-hoon about to be struck by the great axe.

Has the party cleared out the kobolds yet? Why hasn’t the Association’s staff moved?

His thoughts didn’t last long as Dae-sung raised his shield, forgetting to even grip his sword.

“Tae-hoon, step back!”

Dae-sung’s shield blocks the axe as it strikes and his knees buckled under the unimaginable weight of the axe.

“Thud!”

But he held on and he instinctively adjusted the angle of his shield to deflect the axe at an angle.

“Krrr…?”

The Gnoll Captain let out an annoyed howl as his weapon slipped, and he raised his axe again.

A second blow, could I stop it? If only Tae-hoon could come to his senses and fight back.

The axe comes down, and Dae-sung grits his teeth.

-……!

The expected clang is not heard, and Koo Dae-sung’s pupils dilate as he stares at the Gnoll Captain axe without closing his eyes the entire time.

“That’s a good enough score.”

The Gnoll Captain axe was still in Leon’s hand, trembling in his fingers.

“You saved……..”

“Try again.”

“What…?”

“Raise your shield and face him again, I say. If you have done it once, why not twice?”

“???”

Leon, who had let go of the axe, urged, and Koo Dae-sung and the Gnoll Captain both shook their heads.