abcnovels
Chapter 5: The Beginning of the Novel
Chapter 5: The Beginning of the Novel
< Chapter 5: The Beginning of the Novel (1) >
The Blessing of the World Tree.
A bow made from the branches of the World Tree, an [Ancient Relic] grade item that only elves can use.
I don’t remember the exact options of the bow, but I do remember this.
This bow has all the options that every archer dreams of.
From basic options to special ones, it’s dazzling.
“…Why?”
Why is this bow in my hand?
There must be a reason.
But right now, I’m not in a situation where I can indulge in thoughts.
“I asked you what that is!”
Piale shouted and swung his fist at me.
His fist seemed to approach my face very slowly.
“Ugh!”
I have to avoid it.
I don’t know if I can dodge his attack, but I have to avoid a direct hit somehow.
I put all my strength into hitting the ground.
Whooosh-!
A strong wind sound grazed my ears.
“…What?”
“…Huh?”
And the next moment.
I was standing far away from Piale.
“Is that so? The test is not so easy, is it?”
Piale growled.
His eyes were filled with deep wariness.
I was just dumbfounded.
The distance between Piale and me was more than 10m at a glance.
It was too far to move in an instant with just hitting the ground with full force.
It’s not something I can do, who is no different from an ordinary person who can’t awaken the status window.
“······.”
My head went cold at that moment.
My thoughts spun rapidly.
I definitely saw Piale’s fist ‘in slow motion’.
I moved more than 10m by just hitting the ground with full force.
The Blessing of the World Tree.
Everything changed since this bow came into my hand.
‘Is this the Blessing of the World Tree?’
The passive skill [Blessing of the World Tree] increases physical abilities near the World Tree.
That must be it.
If so······
But my thoughts didn’t last long either.
Whooosh-!
Piale, who had moved in front of me in no time, kicked me this time.
It was faster and sharper than before.
But to my eyes, it still looked slow.
I could even see the small bomb he was holding in both hands clearly.
He must be thinking of throwing the bomb as soon as I dodge it.
Then there’s no need to avoid it.
I bent my upper body slightly and blocked Piale’s kick with my right arm.
Thud-!
“How did you!”
Piale lost his balance with his leg caught by me.
It was a perfect defense even to my eyes.
“…Yeah. How did I do it.”
Sorry, but I don’t know either.
I just felt like I could do it somehow, so I tried it and it worked.
“Ugh! Don’t you dare!”
Piale’s eyes were filled with rage.
He must think I’m ignoring him.
He threw the small bomb he was holding at me.
He didn’t seem to care about hurting himself either.
Tat-!
I let go of his leg and quickly moved away from my spot.
Boom-!
A fierce explosion occurred where I was standing.
Smoke filled the air.
Anyone would think he had lost his mind and blown himself up.
I looked at the smoke and raised my bow.
That’s Piale Allo’s specialty.
He pretends to blow himself up with an explosion and tries to escape.
Do you think I’ll let you run away?
I pulled the string.
There was no arrow.
No, I didn’t need one.
Zzzzzz-!
With a fierce spark, intangible energy began to gather on the string.
This bow, made from the living wood of the World Tree, can condense natural energy into an arrow shape.
“…Ugh!”
The hand holding the bow and the hand pulling the string were hot.
And the heat was getting stronger.
It felt like I was holding a soldering iron in both hands.
Ziiing-!
I clenched my teeth and pulled the string harder.
If this bow is really [The Blessing of the World Tree], then pulling the string alone will amplify the damage with an effect called ‘Concentration of Nature’.
Baaang-!
My guess was right.
With a bright light, the intangible energy that had gathered in the shape of an arrow flashed like an explosion.
“Aaargh!”
Both hands felt like they were going to burn up.
But I couldn’t let go yet!
The smoke that was blocking Piale cleared up slowly.
A little…
Just a little more!
Just a little more!
“!”
I saw him!
For a split second.
I saw Piale crouching in the smoke.
I let go of the string right away.
Baaang-!
With a clear sound, the arrow tore through the air and rushed.
“Ugh!”
Whooosh-!
A fierce wind blew that made it hard to even open my eyes.
My body felt like it was going to fly away.
In the storm-like fierce turbulence, I unknowingly closed my eyes.
Is this the phenomenon created by one arrow?
“Ugh!”
But closing your eyes in a fight is tantamount to suicide.
I blocked the wind with my hand and tried desperately to open my eyes.
I somehow managed to open my eyes and looked around for Piale.
Piale was easy to find.
“…Is he dead?”
Only his lower body was left on the ground, rolling around.
I stared blankly at the sight.
I aimed for his forehead, but his waist was completely gone.
“…This is the power of [Ancient Relic].”
I was out of it, staring blankly at The Blessing of the World Tree when it happened.
“Aaargh!”
A sharp pain came from the hand holding the bow.
With unbearable heat and sparks flying, an electric shock hit me.
That’s when it happened.
[Error! Error! ? ?? ? ???? ? ??]
A meaningless message popped up in my mind between the terrible pain.
A special message I’ve never seen before.
“W-what… Aaargh!”
But my thoughts didn’t last long either. The terrible pain tore my mind apart.
Whick- Thud!
I dropped the bow as if throwing it away.
Zzzz…
Then the sparks stopped in an instant. I gasped for breath and looked down at the bow.
“Haa, haa…!”
The World Tree began to move then. The branches of the World Tree moved as if they were alive, wrapping around The Blessing of the World Tree. And then, like a mother who had found her lost child, it gently pulled it into its embrace.
The bow slowly sank into the World Tree and disappeared.
“…What the hell.”
It was all a mystery from start to finish. I had an urge to solve this curiosity right away, but
Unfortunately, this is not a situation where I can indulge in thoughts.
Piale is dead, so the superhumans who were asleep will wake up soon.
And when they wake up, they’ll find out that I’m the one who took down Piale.
I can’t let that happen.
The situation is already bad enough, I can’t create a new variable with my own hands.
I quickly left my spot.
There’s no harm in thinking about it later when I get home.
* * *
The incident caused by Piale Allo spread across the world in an instant.
The world was shocked by the fact that the World Tree, famous for its strict security, was breached by a terrorist.
What was more shocking was that Piale Allo’s ability had incapacitated all the superhumans who were there.
And not just any superhumans, but S-rank superhumans who were ranked within the top 100 in the world.
What was even more astonishing was that when all the unconscious people woke up, Piale Allo was dead.
All the attention of the world was focused on the unidentified superhuman who had taken down Piale Allo.
“I’m sorry, Guild Master.”
The middle-aged man who had been in charge of the scene knelt down to a woman.
“No, it’s not your fault. If Shinwoo was unable to react at all, it wouldn’t have made any difference if I had been there.”
The woman, Yu Hwa, the guild master of Bihon Guild, smiled faintly.
“By the way, did you secure the video footage at the time?”
“I’m sorry. All the CCTV cameras nearby were out of order…”
“Hmm. I hope those self-proclaimed pure-blooded elves didn’t secretly take them away.”
Self-proclaimed pure-blooded elves.
That meant the family of ‘Shinjia’, a traditional family that inherited the blood of elves directly from ancient times.
“No, that’s not it. I’m sure of that.”
“Hmm. Is that so.”
Piale Allo’s ‘Status Window Interference’ is also applied to inanimate objects.
Of course, all the CCTV cameras that operated by status windows were out of order at the time of the incident.
“Then it’s going to be hard to find that superhuman.”
“…I’m sorry.”
Yu Hwa clenched her chin and recalled Piale Allo’s corpse.
The corpse with only the lower body left, as the upper body was completely gone.
‘How did an archer do this?’
The forensic team was convinced that the attack was done by a bow.
There were several pieces of evidence, but the biggest one was the ground where the archer had stepped.
The forensic team said:
?Here. Do you see these marks on the ground? When skilled archers gather mana on their bows, their lower bodies also get filled with mana like this. On soft ground, traces like this are left.
?And do you see these footprints? They are very similar to the positions that archers take when they hold their bows.
It was a convincing explanation.
But Yu Hwa still looked incredulous.
‘How can a bow have such destructive power?’
It was beyond Yu Hwa’s common sense.
‘…If it really was an archer who did it. He must be at least an S-rank superhuman.’
And an S-rank superhuman who is not affiliated with any guild.
‘If he belonged to a guild, he wouldn’t hide his identity in this situation.’
Yu Hwa lost her appetite.
‘If I could only scout him, he would be a great asset to the guild.’
But there’s nothing I can do if I can’t find him.
Yu Hwa swallowed her regret.
“By the way, what about that self-proclaimed pure-blooded elf family? She said she would take care of Piale Allo himself, and never let anyone touch him.”
Yu Hwa’s expression sneered.
“She fell asleep in front of her parents’ enemy. I would be too ashamed to sleep if I were him.”
Yu Hwa hated Shinjia’s family.
She didn’t like them for acting all high and mighty, claiming to be a venerable family that inherited the blood of elves directly, and blocking Bihon Guild’s way in every way possible.
‘They’ve already degenerated for a long time and they still claim to be pure-blooded.’
They should just disappear from this world.
“That’s…”
The middle-aged man, Kim Shinwoo hesitated and said:
“I heard she’s actually excited…”
“Excited?”
“Yes. I don’t know why, but she’s been smiling all day.”
Yu Hwa’s face, which had been filled with anticipation, sank sharply.
“Has she finally gone crazy?”
* * *
Early morning.
I opened my eyes without realizing it.
Maybe it was because of the complicated situation.
Yesterday, after the incident was over, I returned home and did nothing else but sit on the floor and immerse myself in thoughts.
About yesterday’s incident.
About my current state.
I mulled over all the questions and thought over and over again.
And finally, I came up with my own answers.
First of all, this world is the remake version of the novel world of [S-rank Status Window].
The difference from the original is the protagonist’s ability.
So, in this world that is remade from the original [S-rank Status Window], the protagonist’s ability is [having no status window].
At first, I thought this was a penalty rather than an ability.
But after a long thought, I came to a conclusion.
So, having no status window is a definite advantage and a unique ability of the protagonist.
“….It’s really a special ability.”
This world’s equipment has something called ‘user restrictions’.
Ability limit, skill acquisition limit, race limit, etc. There are countless conditions depending on the equipment’s grade and legend.
But for me, who has no status window, those ‘wearing restrictions’ do not apply.
Maybe the rules are different for me.
Or rather, there are no rules to apply to me.
Using the [World Tree’s Blessing] was the proof of that.
I also experienced it when Choi Ji-hoon threw a sword at me.
And when I touched a different race’s sword at the department store.
Looking back now, it was strange.
No matter how light the sword was, I shouldn’t have been able to lift a real sword so easily.
The novel didn’t describe it in detail, but the ‘rejection reaction’ wasn’t supposed to be so mild.
“…I was stupid.”
I should have noticed it then.
I made a mistake by being too excited and letting it go.
Anyway, through these reflections, I came to a conclusion.
My ability is, in a word, [item luck].
This is a really big advantage.
“What else is there?”
There were also many other questions, but I came up with my own answers for all of them.
But, just one thing.
There was one thing that I couldn’t figure out.
“…What was the Error message?”
I really don’t know about this one.
But apart from this, I think I came up with a good conclusion.
It was really complicated yesterday.
‘I killed someone for the first time.’
Even if he were a villain who committed terror, he was still a human being.
Honestly, I still feel guilty about it.
I shook my head vigorously and shook off my thoughts.
This world is different from the original world, a world where death is closer.
There will be more of these things in the future.
It’s not right to care too much about killing a villain.
I’m sure my mind will wear out first.
I turned my mind away from the guilt and tried to think of something else.
“Ah. Clothes.”
Then I saw the rag I was wearing.
A dirty cloth that kept the traces of the fight. I must have fallen asleep in these clothes yesterday.
The bed was also a mess with dirt.
I smiled bitterly.
“…Let’s take a shower first.”
I decided to postpone the cleaning and headed to the shower room.
I took off my clothes with a lighter heart and adjusted the water temperature.
Swoosh-
Hot water flowed from my head to my whole body.
It felt like my body and mind were melting in the warm water.
“Ah. Good.”
I lightly shook off the water from my hair and flipped my bangs back.
Then I saw the full-length mirror in the shower room.
An alien appearance that didn’t seem like me.
It still feels awkward.
By the way, this is the first time I see my naked body.
I had decent muscles.
And my male pride is alive and well.
I was satisfied.
That’s when I was observing my body here and there.
“…Huh?”
Something drawn on the back of my right shoulder caught my eye.
“This. Is it a tattoo?”
I didn’t think I’d ever seen a description of a tattoo on the protagonist’s body in the novel.
I wiped off the steam on the mirror with water and looked at it closely.
It was indeed a tattoo.
A refined tattoo engraved in green.
“What is this….”
The tattoo looked strangely like the ‘World Tree’.