Chapter 4

On average, the system espoused high risk, high return. Looking at it that way, archers certainly fit the high-risk part. But when it came to the return, there was nothing that could be pinpointed as exactly this.

Unfortunately, Jaeha was a ranged dealer, and considering that 90% of those with the ranged dealer trait were archers, Jaeha had no choice but to go the archer route. He could have gone another direction, but other hunters surely would have thought of that too.

Yet the fact that only archers remained among ranged dealers suggested that the other options were probably impossible for various reasons.

‘Come to think of it, I recall there’s a hunter famous for being an archer. Does that hunter post videos on MuTube too?’

Just as he muttered that to himself, the herbs he was roasting began to burn slightly, and Jaeha hurriedly pulled them out. Only after checking the condition of the herbs could he let out a sigh of relief.

‘Thank goodness. The ones at the very bottom are unusable, but the rest are still serviceable.’

After confirming the state of the herbs, Jaeha nodded and began cooling them down.
Chapter 3

Having finished organizing the herbs, Jaeha immediately began crafting elixirs. Once the elixirs were complete, he checked their effects right away.

[Hua Tuo’s Pill]

[Produces an excellent effect in restoring vitality.]

“Good.”

Seeing that the word “incomplete” had disappeared, Jaeha let out a cheer and consumed it immediately. After eating about two, the penalty vanished entirely, and Jaeha smiled.

“What a relief.”

There were still quite a lot of ingredients left. Jaeha stared at the remaining materials, hesitated for a moment, but decided to turn them all into elixirs.

After all, finished elixirs counted as items, so they wouldn’t rot or spoil.

Grabbing the notebook in which he had organized the effects of the herbs, Jaeha headed to the old man’s building.

* * *

“Hmm. Is this for real?”

“Yes. I used a skill and the system told me, so it should be accurate.”

“Then it must be right.”

The old man nodded and scanned through the writing.

“Come by later if you need more herbs.”

“From now on, I’ll pay for them.”

“……I wouldn’t mind just giving them to you.”

“No. It’s fine.”

As he said that, Jaeha smiled, and the old man narrowed his wrinkled eyes and spoke.

“Honestly.”

“Haha…….”

Jaeha responded to the old man’s reaction with a laugh.

“Are you going to pay for them?”

“I’m not sure. I think I can earn money through other means anyway.”

“Hmm.”

“If there’s anything I can help with, I’ll be in touch.”

“You’re a clever young one.”

With that, he rose from his seat.

“Get lost.”

At the old man’s words, Jaeha smiled and took his leave. Returning home, Jaeha spotted the elixirs he had made in the living room and hesitated for a moment.

“Come to think of it…… wait.”

Realizing he had set aside the herb that boosted mana, Jaeha began searching for an elixir that could be made using it.

Before long, he found a suitable elixir, and Jaeha crafted it right away.

[Summoning Pill]

[Upon consumption, grants energy equivalent to 15 Ether]

“15 Ether?!”

Ether was the commonly used unit of mana, and one could obtain 1 Ether of mana by toiling for a year. So 15 Ether meant gaining in one pill what would take 15 years of effort.

“I could use this for anything.”

For a moment, Jaeha considered eating it himself, but soon shook his head.

‘I don’t have any skills right now, and I’m not going hunting anyway. I’ll just hold onto it for now.’

With that thought, Jaeha set it aside separately and checked his physical status.

[Na Jaeha]

[Trait: Ranged Dealer]

[LV: 1]

[Total Ability: 100]

[Skills: MuTube’s Power to Me, Half Recovery, Divine Physician Hua Tuo’s Secret Art]

“Total Ability of 100.”

As Jaeha’s penalty disappeared, his Total Ability, which had been 50, changed to 100. Seeing that, Jaeha smiled. The world’s most renowned top-tier hunters had Total Abilities of at most 40 when they awakened.

Of course, most of it was likely boosted by skills, but if he lacked the ability to utilize them, the system wouldn’t have given him a Total Ability of 100.

“Now that the penalty’s gone, should I start preparing to go into a dungeon?”

Jaeha began organizing everything he needed to prepare for entering a dungeon.

“First, skills…… I remember there was a famous archer.”

He was ultimately going to have to go the archer route. Other people spent money to obtain skills, but he didn’t need to spend money for skills.

Thinking that, Jaeha began searching for videos of hunters famous as archers. Before long, he was able to gather information on several renowned hunters.

“They’re on MuTube too.”

The hunter Jaeha had found was posting videos on MuTube. Selecting the video with the highest views among the many, Jaeha quietly watched it.

The video showed a hunter hunting with a bow, and after watching it to the end, a skill appeared again.

[Bow Mastery]

[Rank: Common]

[Helps you handle a bow more efficiently.]

[Damage +100% when using a bow]

[Proficiency: 100%]

[Mana Shot]

[Rank: Advanced]

[Allows you to imbue an arrow with mana and fire it.]

[Mechanism: Total Ability X 10]

[Proficiency: 80%]

‘Mana Shot is something like Sword qi? So damage increases in proportion to Total Ability. Mastery is nice to have.’

After checking the skills, Jaeha looked for other videos. Then he found one with fairly high views and clicked it without even looking at the title.

“Hm?”

The video was a foreign documentary, one that covered the history of weapons shifting from bows to guns and the principles behind firearms.

Realizing it wasn’t what he was looking for, Jaeha considered closing it, but it was short, and he was curious what kind of skill might be created, so he waited and watched.

[Shooting Skill Acquired]

“Shooting?”

Tilting his head at the newly created skill, Jaeha checked it.

[Shooting]

[Rank: Rare]

[Accuracy +80% when equipped with bow or gun-type weapons]

[Additional damage when hitting a target from range with a bow, gun, throwing star, etc.]

[Mechanism: Total Ability × 2.5]

[Proficiency: 100%]

“Oh ho.”

It was a skill he’d never seen before. After obtaining those skills, Jaeha thought for a moment, then searched for more videos. He found videos of the national archery and shooting teams and began watching them.

“They really can shoot.”

[Zeroing Acquired, Breath Control Acquired]

[Zeroing]

[Rank: Common]

[Accuracy +10% when shooting]

[Proficiency: 100%]

“……This one’s not great.”

As he said that, a window appeared.

[Cancel the acquisition of the Zeroing skill?]

“Oh, you can cancel it?”

As he nodded, the Zeroing skill disappeared.

[Breath Control]

[Rank: Rare]

[When holding your breath and firing while aiming, damage +100%, accuracy +100%]

[Proficiency: 100%]

“Assuming I use Breath Control, that’s 180% accuracy. Does that mean I’ll hit everything even if I shoot carelessly?”

Muttering to himself, he began organizing the skills he’d obtained. With all his skills acquired, Jaeha now thought about what he needed.

‘Normally you’d need a weapon and armor…… but I have to use a bow. So I need to buy one. Do they sell arrows too?’

With that, Jaeha used the internet to look up bows used by hunters.

“What the.”

Bows easily went for tens of millions of won at the very least.

“How much money do I have left?”

He immediately checked his remaining balance through internet banking. After confirming the balance, Jaeha let out a sigh.

“Only 3 million won.”

Jaeha thought for a moment, then got up and came back with the elixirs.

“The vitality recovery one has good effects too. It should fetch a decent price, right? If there’s something similar, it’d help me set a price. Let me check the Auction House.”

Muttering that, Jaeha opened the Auction House. The Auction House was a trading system managed by the system that could be used after Awakening.

It guaranteed 100% anonymity and allowed direct buying and selling with cash, making it a system favored by many hunters.

He checked whether there were any items with similar effects. There wasn’t a single item comparable to the elixirs he possessed.

‘I’d rather not sell the Summoning Pill if I can help it.’

With that thought, Jaeha decided to try selling Hua Tuo’s pills first. After listing the item on the auction, he began mulling over the price.

“Hmm.”

If there had been any comparable item to use as a reference, he could have set the price accordingly, but since there wasn’t a single similar item, pricing it proved difficult.

After deliberating for a moment and looking around here and there, Jaeha discovered that the Auction House had a system that appraised prices for him.

“They have something like this?”

Since he had no idea what it was worth anyway, Jaeha used it to determine the item’s price.

‘15 million won per pill?’

He was surprised the price was higher than he’d expected. He immediately listed the elixirs he had on the auction. Jaeha currently had five elixirs in his possession—if all of them sold, he’d earn the equivalent of 75 million won.

‘75 million won…… that should be enough to get a decent weapon. I hope they all sell.’

After that, Jaeha tidied up his apartment and went straight to bed. When he woke up the next day, he checked the Auction House first.

“Oh, they all sold.”

Jaeha immediately received the sale proceeds. As the money landed in his account, a smile spread across his face, and he searched the Auction House for a bow.

However, just as there were few archers, the bows listed on the Auction House were also scarce, and none of them were worth using. Eventually deciding to check out the Hunter Shop in Myeongdong, Jaeha got ready and headed straight for the Hunter Shop.

* * *

“Father.”

“……You’re here.”

An old man lay in bed, and a middle-aged man stood beside him.

“Yes. How are you feeling?”

“Fine. At least my mind is somewhat clear today.”

The old man answered the middle-aged man’s question with a faint smile. Then the man looked at the old man and spoke.

“Ah, actually, I came across a peculiar item at the Auction House this time.”

“What kind of thing is it?”

“I bought it because I thought it would be good for you, Father.”

With that, the middle-aged man pulled a Hua Tuo’s pill from his breast pocket.

“Hmm, a pill?”

“Yes. I’ve never seen this type of item before. The system wouldn’t lie, so it should be quite effective for restoring vitality.”

The man handed the pill to the old man he’d called Father.

“I see.”

Taking the pill, the old man brought it to his mouth with trembling hands. After consuming it, his complexion visibly began to change.

“Mm, good. As expected of an item. I can feel my body improving the moment I take it.”

“……”

“……Do you know who made it?”