Second World Online

The Whispering Forest hid death behind every shadow of its pale ash trees. Armed with my new masterpiece, the [Whispering Ash Recurve Bow], and vision as sharp as a bird of prey from [Eagle Eye], I traversed the contours of the damp, mossy ground in absolute silence. The [Stealth] and [Slow Walking] skills made my Elf body truly blend with the purplish fog.

The black ribbon tying my hair into a ponytail proved to be the most crucial five copper coin investment today. No more rogue strands of hair blowing in the wind and disrupting my eyes’ focus. I felt as light as the wind, as deadly as a shadow.

My first destination was about three hundred meters southwest of the Ghoul slaughter site earlier: the territory of the [Weaver Spider - Level 14].

The closer I got to those coordinates, the surrounding ash trees began to look abnormal. Between the gaps of the giant tree branches and trunks, thick, sticky, slightly greenish silk webs were stretched out. Several human-sized cocoons containing either unfortunate deer or careless players who failed to escape hung helplessly above the forest canopy.

I stopped in my tracks behind a blue-fungus-covered tree trunk. "My gamer instinct says, never walk straight into a giant spider web if you don’t want to become a free dinner," I muttered softly.

I focused on my pupils. The gold ring in my red irises flickered as the Optical Zoom effect of Eagle Eye was activated. My vision pierced through a distance of dozens of meters up into the canopy, seeing through the dense foliage and silk webs.

There, clinging upside down to a tree branch right above the seemingly "safe" path, perched a spider the size of a hatchback car! Its body was thickly haired with toxic black and green patterns, its eight red eyes glinted watching for prey below, while its huge fangs dripped venom that hissed upon touching a leaf.

"An ambush tactic from above, huh? How very classic," I smirked slightly.

Instead of stepping into the aggro zone of its trap, I raised my resonance bow slowly. Because the spider’s position was obstructed by several layers of thick, elastic webs, a regular arrow might get stuck or veer off course before hitting the target. But I wasn’t using a regular bow.

I nocked a pine wood arrow onto the spider silk string, then channeled [Wind Arrow]. The white wood fibers of the Whispering Ash Recurve Bow immediately glowed blue. Its magical resonance multiplied the wind vortex at the tip of the arrowhead into a high-pressure mini drill.

My eyes locked onto the spider’s cephalothorax, highlighting its weak point which blinked faintly red thanks to the Weakness Highlight effect.

SWISS... ZWAAAAAASSH!

I released the bowstring. The shooting arrow tore through the air with a sound like a fighter jet. The wind drill enveloping the arrow easily shredded, tore, and destroyed the three layers of thick webs blocking its path without losing the slightest bit of momentum!

JLEEB! KRRIIIEEEK!

[Critical Hit! - 680 Magic & Physical Damage!]

The giant weaver spider shrieked in horror with a deafening screech. The piercing power of the resonance-element-infused arrow punched a hole through its cephalothorax all the way to its back. Its massive body lost its grip on the branch, fell with a thud hitting the wet ground, and instantly exploded into millions of golden dust particles before its body even stopped twitching.

"One hit kill. The wind penetration power of this bow truly cannot be underestimated," I whispered in satisfaction.

The sound of the first spider falling triggered a chain reaction. From behind the dark canopy around me, the rustling sound of hundreds of hairy legs moving quickly down the tree trunks could be heard. Three others [Weaver Spider - Level 14] had realized my presence and began spewing poisonous green silk webs from their mouths toward my position!

"Well, well, playing the numbers game now?"

I pushed off hard with my feet, jumping backward three meters into the air just as the clumps of poisonous webs smashed into the ground where I was standing a moment ago, triggering hissing acidic smoke.

While I was still in the air, my hands moved with the absurd speed granted by the [Bow Mastery] passive. I drew two arrows at once onto my bowstring!

I didn’t use Power Shot which took time to charge, but instead merely channeled an instant Wind Arrow into both arrows.

Swiss! Swiss!

Two wind arrows shot out in less than a second, striking the two spiders descending the tree trunks right in their clusters of eyes.

[- 310 Damage!]

[- 325 Damage!]

Even though it wasn’t a One-Hit Kill because I didn’t use the full-power combination, the double damage sent both monsters crashing down with their remaining HP below 10%. Showing no mercy, as soon as my feet touched the ground, I rolled to the side dodging the third spider’s lunge, drew another arrow, and fired from a kneeling position!

Jleb! Jleb! Jleb!

In less than two minutes, the area filled with disgusting webs was silent once again. The four giant spiders had vanished, leaving behind piles of loot gleaming on the moss.

I walked over to the pile of drop items and opened the system panel. A wide smile immediately blossomed on my face.

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[Sturdy Weaver Silk] (Uncommon) x 6

[Spider Venom Sac] (Uncommon) x 3

[Weaver’s Many-Eyes] (Common) x 2

Total Money: 35 Silver Coins.

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"Sturdy weaver silk and venom sacs! Now this is actual mid-tier loot!" I exclaimed cheerfully while putting everything into my dimensional storage.

"This silk will surely fetch a high price from Kitsuna for making armor, and I can sell these venom sacs to the apothecary to make poisoned arrows. This forest truly is a money farm!"

After spending about an hour slaughtering over two dozen Weaver Spiders and gathering dozens of meters of valuable silk, I decided to change arenas.

The spiders provided valuable materials, but their attack patterns relying on static traps were too easily predictable by my Eagle Eye. I needed something more adrenaline-pumping to test my character’s reflex speed and dodging instincts.

I directed my steps westward, toward a geographical formation consisting of a dirt hill covered in giant tree roots the size of culvert pipes. This place was home to the fastest land predators in the Whispering Forest: [Dire Wolf - Level 15].

Unlike the foolish Ghouls or the spiders waiting silently, Dire Wolves were pack monsters with (AI) designed to mimic the hunting tactics of real wolves. They wouldn’t attack blindly from one direction; they would spread out, surround, and attack from a player’s blind spots.

As I crawled up one of the giant roots stretching four meters high off the ground, I saw them.

A pack of Dire Wolves consisting of five members was patrolling at the base of the hill. Their body size was almost as large as a calf, with pitch-black fur that absorbed light and eyes glowing blood red. Their fangs jutted out sharply, saliva dripping to the ground.

I crouched atop the giant wooden root, locking my target onto the wolf positioned at the very back. I drew the Whispering Ash Recurve Bow, focused the Wind Element resonance, and fired with lightning speed.

ZWAAASSH! JLEB!

[Critical Hit! - 550 Damage!]

The first wolf was destroyed instantly before it could even let out a howl.

However, the sound effect of my resonance shot which sounded like a soft explosion immediately triggered the aggro of the other four wolves. Their ears perked up. They immediately turned toward the giant root where I was hiding.

Awooooo!

One wolf howled, and the next second, all four of them darted with terrifying speed! The agility of their movements could not be underestimated. Two of them ran straight toward the base of the root I was standing on, while the other two split off to the left and right, trying to find a way to climb up from the surrounding rocky cliffs to surround me from above.

"Smart AI," I said, praising the Chronos Tech system. "But you’re dealing with me."

Instead of standing still, I jumped backward, utilizing the wide surface of the giant root as my personal highway. While running backward, I fired arrows in rapid succession. My finger dexterity was now at its peak. Every time my foot touched the wood, a wind arrow was released from my bow.

Swiss! Jleb!- 280 Damage!

Swiss! Jleb!- 300 Damage!

The two wolves chasing me straight on fell in a few seconds. However, the two wolves that had circled around earlier had now managed to climb up onto the same root, ambushing me from the front and back simultaneously!

The distance between us was only three meters. The wolf in front of me leaped into the air, opening its jaws wide with gleaming fangs, preparing to tear my throat.

For an ordinary archer weak in close combat, this would be a dead-end position. But I smiled.

I did not retreat. Instead, I dropped my body backward in an extreme sliding motion with my back touching the surface of the wooden root. As my body slid right under the belly of the wolf leaping in the air, I aimed my bow vertically upward, pressed the arrowhead directly against the monster’s soft belly, and released it!

ZWAAASSH! BOOM!

The wind element arrow exploded from zero centimeters away! The wolf’s body above me split open and exploded into light particles instantly, showering me with a sparkle of golden dust.

I quickly planted both my hands backward and executed a backflip jump to stand back up elegantly. The final wolf running from behind immediately greeted me with a deadly pounce. Without panicking, I jammed the sturdy tip of my wooden bow into its open jaws as a wedge, then used my right knee to smash into its chest with all my might, sending it staggering backward. Before it could regain its balance, an arrow embedded itself squarely in its pitch-black forehead.

The battlefield grew silent once again. I exhaled slowly, feeling my heart rate slightly elevated but filled with tremendous euphoria.

"Doing it from close range like this is way more fun than just standing still in a tree," I laughed lightly.

Just as I was about to climb down to collect the valuable [Dire Wolf Fur] loot, the hairs on the back of my neck suddenly stood up.

My Eagle Eye caught an incredibly dense, blood-red wave of mana darting from a cave opening beneath the hill of roots. The sound of a roar that was much deeper, hoarser, and ground-shaking echoed fiercely, causing the blue mushrooms around the area to dim in fear.

From the darkness of the cave, a giant wolf twice the size of a regular Dire Wolf stepped out. Its fur was no longer black, but dark silver with glowing red lines running along its back. On the monster’s forehead, there was a scar carved in the shape of a cross.

Above its head, a purple ID (the mark of an Elite monster) floated arrogantly: [Alpha Dire Wolf - Elite Level 16]

"An agility-type Elite mini-boss?" I frowned, yet my grip on the handle of the Whispering Ash Recurve Bow only tightened. "Excellent. Loot from you can surely let me sleep on a bed of gold tonight."

Without any warning, the Elite monster took the initiative to attack. The Alpha didn’t run along the roots; it bent its muscular hind legs, then leaped six meters high straight through the air, lunging right at my position with open jaws enveloped in an aura of its own wind element! Its speed far exceeded that of a normal wolf; to the eyes of a normal player, its movement might only look like a flash of a gray shadow.

"So fast!" I shrieked, stifling my voice.

The Distance Accuracy and Weakness Highlight effects of my Eagle Eye worked at full capacity, forcing my eyes to process the Alpha’s speed and read its attack trajectory in slow motion.

I activated the most deadly combination of my abilities. All the Mana (MP) I possessed was channeled without remainder into my wooden bow.

[Wind Arrow] was triggered. [Power Shot] was activated to its maximum limit.

The Whispering Ash wood fibers howled, resonating with my magic to create an incredibly bright storm vortex surrounding my body. My white hair and black ribbon fluttered violently, battered by the air pressure from my own weapon.

The Alpha was now only five meters away in the air, its sharp claws ready to tear open my chest. My eyes narrowed coldly, locking onto the weak point the cross-shaped scar on the monster’s forehead.

"Sweet dreams, big dog."

KABOOOOM!!

As the bowstring was released, a booming sound much louder than thunder exploded above the hill of roots. The arrow was no longer in the shape of a wooden projectile; it had transformed into a ferociously spinning green storm spear, absorbing the 35% bow resonance and multiplying the elemental damage to an absurd limit!

The storm spear struck the Alpha’s forehead dead center in mid-air. The collision of the two wind elements triggered a spiral shockwave that uprooted dry leaves and destroyed several giant mushrooms around us.

[FATAL CRITICAL OVERKILL! - 1,450 Magic & Physical Damage!]

The massive body of the Alpha Dire Wolf was hurled backward as if hit by an invisible train. Its thick HP bar was instantly drained down to the negatives! The Elite creature fell crashing into a giant tree trunk, then exploded into a blinding waterfall of golden, silver, and purple light particles across the entire Whispering Forest area!

Ting! Ting! Ting!

Golden bells chimed repeatedly in my ears, announcing a grand harvest.

[System: You have successfully defeated [Alpha Dire Wolf - Elite Level 16]]

[System: You gained 2,500 EXP!]

[System: Congratulations! You have leveled up to Level 14!]

Panting breaths escaped my lips as I lowered my bow which was still smoking slightly with magic. The consecutive two-level increase immediately infused a warmth that restored all my stamina and HP back to prime condition.

I jumped down from the giant root and ran toward the pile of purple-glowing treasure on the ground. My heart pounded fast as I picked up and read the information of those items.

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[Pelt of the Alpha Wolf] (Rare) x 1

[Alpha’s Wind Fang] (Rare - Crafting Material) x 2

Total Money: 2 Gold Coins, 50 Silver Coins.

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"Good heavens... Rare tier fur and wind element fangs!" I laughed cheerfully while doing a little happy hop. "Two pure gold coins in a single kill! This Whispering Ash bow is truly an illegal money-printing machine!"