Second World Online

The blood-red digital numbers floating in the sky finally ticked for the last time.

The moment the number zero appeared, the false silence that had briefly covered the battlefield shattered in an instant. The roars of thousands of monsters exploded simultaneously, creating a sound wave so powerful that the air around us seemed to vibrate. The rocky ground beneath my feet shook violently, as if a high-magnitude earthquake was striking the Beginner Continent.

From beyond the boundary of the Eastern Forest, the sea of carnivorous monsters began to advance. They were like a dark flood that swallowed everything in their path. Trees fell, dust rose high and blocked the afternoon sunlight, and the fishy smell of blood mixed with wet earth immediately assaulted my sense of smell, proving just how realistic the sensory system of Second World Online was.

"They’re coming! Hold the front line! Tankers, raise your shields!" shouted one of the Guild commanders standing in the foremost ranks, his voice nearly drowned out by the approaching beasts’ heavy breathing.

I did not allow myself to be swept away by the current of panic. As a player whose weapon focused on long-range attacks, standing on the front line during a massive-scale invasion like this was an act of suicide. If I were trampled by a line of Wild Boars or swarmed by Giant Ants, my already limited HP would be completely drained within seconds.

With agile movements, I immediately turned and ran backward. Using the footholds of several stone debris and abandoned merchant carts, I jumped upward, climbing the narrow stone stairs attached to the inner side of the fortress wall, until I finally managed to position myself atop the main gate wall of StoneBrook City.

From up here, the view was far more astonishing and terrifying at the same time. I stood in line with dozens of other players, most of whom were Archers, Mages, and Healers. We were like a second line of defense tasked with sweeping away the remaining monsters from the air.

Down below, the first clash finally occurred.

The sound of metal colliding hard against fangs and claws echoed. The Tankers using giant steel shields were pushed back several steps as a pack of Dire Wolves slammed into their formation. Virtual blood began to spray, staining the grassland outside the walls red.

I immediately drew my bow. The bowstring curved to maximum tension as my fingers pinched the base of the arrow. My eyes narrowed, locking onto a Forest Bear that was preparing to swing its giant claws at a beginner player.

Whoosh! Thud!

My arrow shot through the air and embedded itself precisely in the giant bear’s shoulder.

[-112]

A white damage number appeared above the monster’s head. The bear roared in anger, glanced toward the wall for a moment, then returned its focus to attacking the player in front of it. The monster’s HP bar only decreased slightly.

I clicked my tongue in annoyance. "Tch, the efficiency is really terrible."

I continued drawing the bow and releasing consecutive normal shots. Thud! Thud! Thud! Three arrows in a row hit a Giant Ant that was crawling toward the gate. However, without using any skills, the destructive power of my basic attacks felt severely insufficient against mid-level monsters with thick defenses like them.

The main reason I did not immediately use my signature combo from the beginning was resource calculation. This invasion had only just started, and no one knew how many waves of monsters we would have to face. If I continuously used high-level skills, my Stamina and MP would leak like a bucket full of holes. Yet relying on one-by-one normal attacks in the middle of a sea of thousands of enemies also felt like trying to drain the ocean with a teaspoon.

"I have to get an AoE Skill after this event is over," I muttered to myself while continuing to shoot. "An Archer without area attacks on a mass battlefield will only become a spectator."

Seeing the cluster of monsters growing denser and beginning to press the players’ defensive formation below, I knew I had to change strategy. Normal attacks would not be enough to make a real contribution, let alone dominate the event ranking board. I had to compromise between MP expenditure and destructive power.

I took a deep breath, calmed the rhythm of my heartbeat, and activated a modification of my main combo. I decided to discard [Vital Shot] from the rotation to save MP, and only combined the two skills that had high penetration potential.

Bluish energy began to gather at the tip of my arrow as I activated [Power Shot], significantly increasing thrust and base damage. The next second, I layered it with the wind element from [Piercing Gale Arrow]. My wooden arrow was now enveloped by a viciously spinning mini wind vortex.

"Take this," I whispered softly, then released the bowstring.

SWOOOSH!

The arrow shot forward at lightning speed, leaving a greenish wind trail in the air. The projectile did not hit only one target. The arrow wrapped in a whirlwind struck the head of a Dire Wolf, pierced through its skull, continued flying to hit a Wild Boar behind it, and finally exploded when it crashed into the hard carapace of a Giant Ant.

[-450!] (Critical) [-310!] [-285!] (Splash Damage)

[You have killed Dire Wolf Lvl. 18!]

[You have killed Wild Boar Lvl. 17!]

[You have gained 1,250 EXP!]

The residual wind from Piercing Gale Arrow exploded at the final impact point, creating a splash damage effect in the form of small wind blades that sliced monsters within a two-meter radius. Several poisonous spiders with thin HP were instantly killed by that sudden area attack.

My eyes sparkled at the result. "This is it! The perfect modification!"

I drew my bow again, repeating the same rhythm. [Power Shot] combined with [Piercing Gale Arrow]. Explosion after explosion of wind was created in the middle of the monster crowd, sweeping clean their front line and giving breathing room to the close-combat fighters below. My name slowly began climbing the local event contribution board.

While I was busy bombarding from atop the wall, my eyes occasionally monitored the conditions on the lower battlefield, searching for a familiar figure.

In one of the sectors on the right side, far outside the protection range of the wall, there was a sight that made me unable to hold back a proud smile.

It was Alya.

She had fully utilized her form as a small silver two-tailed fox. In the middle of the terrifying giant monsters, the little fox looked like a dancing point of light above a pool of blood.

Her small size actually became an absolute advantage. Alya used the innate agility of her race to move at a speed difficult for the eyes to follow. A Venom Spider tried to pounce on her, but Alya only performed a light sidestep, letting the monster’s poisonous jaws slam into empty ground.

In the blink of an eye, from the tips of both of her blue tails, high-temperature fireballs were created.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

A series of Fireballs shot from close range, hitting the spider’s face until it was burned black. Not stopping there, Alya jumped onto the back of a Wild Boar that was running at full speed, used the monster as a foothold, then released the magic Flame Burst, a ring-shaped explosion of fire that swept clean a group of Giant Ants trying to surround her.

"What a terrifying little girl," I chuckled softly. "She’s really maximizing mobility and the shortened casting time in her beast form."

While continuing to release my piercing wind combo toward the cluster of Forest Bears, my gaze accidentally fell on another crowded point on the left side of the battlefield.

There, a party consisting of five people was fighting very aggressively. They were not defending near the gate, but instead pushing forward, cutting through the sea of monsters like a hot knife slicing through butter.

My attention was immediately drawn to the Vanguard or front-line fighter of that party. A man in sturdy-looking silver plate armor, swinging a large sword whose size was almost as tall as his own body.

Every swing of that large sword sliced the air with a heavy humming sound. He cut down the bodies of two Dire Wolves at once in a single rotation, creating a dramatic spray of blood. When a forest bear tried to strike him from above, the man blocked the attack with the back of his sword, his feet sinking slightly into the ground from the pressure, then with a loud roar, he struck the monster back until it was sent flying.

I narrowed my eyes, trying to read the player name that floated faintly above the silver-armored man’s head.

Arthur.

"Arthur..." I whispered, a sense of excitement further igniting my spirit.

My best friend from the real world had also been allocated to the eastern gate. Seeing his brutal yet highly coordinated fighting style with his party, I could see how rapid Arthur’s development had been since the first day the server opened. He did not only rely on raw muscle power, but also knew exactly when to attack, block, and give space for the Mage behind him to cast magic.

Watching my little sister and my best friend fight so brilliantly on the front line completely ignited my competitive spirit. I could not afford to fall behind. As someone who planned to dominate both the economy and power in Second World Online, I could not merely become a support archer hiding behind the walls.

"Alright, let’s increase the tempo!"

I refocused my gaze. My fingers moved even faster. Draw, lock target, release!

[Power Shot!] [Piercing Gale Arrow!]

Deadly whirlwinds continuously rained down from the sky like green meteor showers. Every time that combo landed, the monster ranks below were shattered. I deliberately directed my shots to points where other players were being pressed, stealing kills while also saving their lives, ensuring that my EXP gains and contribution points continued to flow heavily.

Time felt as if it was moving very slowly in this chaos. The first wave of monsters appeared to be thinning, yet the system warning sounded again, indicating that the second wave containing higher-level monsters was moving out from within the forest.

My breathing began to grow heavier. The Stamina indicator in the corner of the screen started blinking yellow, signaling fatigue, while the blue bar showing MP had already shrunk to only twenty percent remaining. Continuously using mid-level combos truly consumed a large amount of resources.

I stopped my attacks for a moment. I sat leaning against a stone pillar atop the gate wall, allowing the Mages around me to temporarily take over the aerial bombardment duty.

With my left hand slightly trembling from the bow’s recoil, I opened the inventory menu. I took out a small glass bottle containing a thick, glittering blue liquid. It was a novice Mana Potion of my own crafting.

While other players were screaming on the forums because they had run out of potions and the prices of healing items in the market had skyrocketed by three hundred percent due to panic buying, I sat leisurely atop the fortress wall, drinking a potion of my own making whose quality was far above the average NPC-sold goods.

A refreshing sweet taste flowed down my throat. A cold sensation seeped into my virtual body, and at that very moment, the previously critical MP bar was immediately filled back to one hundred percent. Likewise, my Stamina bar slowly recovered thanks to the passive effect of the skill [Stamina Regeneration].

I wiped the corner of my mouth, then stood up again. I walked back to the edge of the fortress wall, staring at the new group of monsters that had grown even more ferocious. The bow in my hand was raised once more, ready to slice through the wind.

The real battle had only just begun, and I would make sure that this eastern gate would become the stage for my performance.