The Duke's Son :Re
Chapter 89

Chapter 89

Bow Saint.

The title referred to an archer whose skills had reached the peak, earning the title of saint, a great person worthy of admiration.

In the current day, where scheming was rampant, the Bow Saint was a rare existence. Like the American Sword Saint, he was respected by people all over the world.

“I can’t believe these trivial people actually made the Bow Saint come forward!”

There were several other snipers who could destroy the core of a C-grade gate with a single blow. However, the arrow that just destroyed the core was a thunderbolt that went beyond the level of normal lightning.

Who else could bestow such a powerful attribute onto a thin arrow except the Bow Saint?

Jang Baek-San was furious that the Gugang Group, which had distanced itself from the Association just to save some money, had actually interfered with the Bow Saint’s seclusion. He almost wanted to get rid of everyone in the Gugang Group right then.

“B-Branch Manager, please calm down!”

His subordinates tried their best to stop Jang Baek-San from jumping out the window. How could they not know how Jang Baek-San felt?

Every time the Korean Players Association tried to save face in the international community, it always relied on the Bow Saint. Thanks to South Korea’s Bow Saint, powerful countries like China and Japan had to pretend to entertain the Association, so the Bow Saint was someone the Association was immensely grateful to. It went beyond admiration to the point of ardent love.

“Shit! Dammit!”

Bang, bang, bang!

Jang Baek-San stomped his feet. He barely suppressed his anger as he ordered, “I can’t show my ugly behaviour to the Bow Saint, so we will step down today.”

Officially speaking, the Association was an uninvited guest here. He would only turn red with embarrassment if he stepped out now and exposed his own underhanded behaviour in front of the Bow Saint.

Having made his decision, Jang Baek-San turned and left, prompting the other Association members to hurriedly follow him out.

***

At the same time, in a nearby building.

“B-Bow Saint? Did the Bow Saint really come? Ha!Hahahat! This was worth bringing in the Shooting Club!”

Gu Gang-Seon, the owner of the Gugang Hotel, cheered excitedly. Yeon Ho-Ryeong grabbed him by the collar.

“...Hyung, are you crazy? Aren’t you letting go?” Gu Gang-Seon exclaimed.

“Didn’t you promise not to attract the Bow Saint?”

“What promise? What we did was a contract.” Gu Gang-Seon didn’t raise an eyebrow despite Yeon Ho-Ryeong gritting his teeth as if preparing to eat him. “Besides, I did keep my word. Hyung, I trusted you so much that I didn’t contact the Bow Saint.”

The Gugang Group's creed was to stay true to their contracts even if the sky were torn apart.

Yeon Ho-Ryeong’s doubts were cleared after seeing Gu Gang-Seon’s confident attitude, and he released his collar.

Dammit, is the Bow Saint more of a fool than the rumors? Even in seclusion, he insisted on watching over his granddaughter like a mother hawk, rushing in at the first sign of trouble.

And thanks to that, things had gone awry.

He had wanted to educate those kids and ensure they never dared to set foot in Ocean’s shadow again, but what could he do now?

Baaaaaaang!

The rest of the auxiliary cores were also being destroyed. It seemed the skills of those famous snipers among the top B-class players were as good as rumored.

After the central core had split apart, the flow of mana congealing into a gate had stopped, swirling aimlessly. Now, with the destruction of the auxiliary cores, the dense mana grew unstable and began exploding repeatedly.

Yeon Ho-Ryeong was watching the scene with a disgruntled expression when he cocked his head. Hm? That’s strange.

The southern auxiliary core, which the Shooting Club was in charge of, was still intact.

The Bow Saint’s arrow came from the south, so why is the southern core still intact? Wasn’t the Bow Saint skilled enough to crush both the central- and southern core without delay?

Wait.

Yeon Ho-Ryeong recalled the boy, Roh Jun-Yeop, who represented the Shooting Club. He had become famous after winning a silver medal at a shooting competition organized by the Association, and in an interview, he had said that his dream was to become the next Bow Saint.

Could he have destroyed the core? Somehow, that makes more sense.

It was more likely for Roh Jun-Yeop to be a genius among geniuses than for the Bow Saint to be a severe fool.

Geniuses were overflowing in every era. Yeon Ho-Ryeong recalled his brother’s face and spat. Then he asked the subordinate monitoring the CCTV, “What’s the current situation in the south?”

“It’s impossible to check; all the CCTVs in the area are down.”

It seemed the thunder in the arrow that had smashed the core was powerful enough to destroy all electronic devices.

Damn, is it the Bow Saint or not?

It was best to check for himself rather than step back from uncertainty.

It is okay even if it is the Bow Saint.

It hurt his pride, but he would just have to change his approach if it was the Bow Saint and gently request the Shooting Club students stop selling Tuna.

No matter what, it was his responsibility to save Ocean Shipping's chain stores. If they experienced any more losses, his standing in the guild would become even more precarious.

He took a deep breath to relax and then flew south.

***

The southern sniper point.

“W-wow... ”

The members of the Shooting Club were speechless and could only gasp.

They had glimpsed it: the moment Jae-Hyeok had unleashed his sword-drawing technique, a thunderbolt had shot from Roh Jun-Yeop’s bow. It was a feat that could only be called miraculous.

“W-what? What the hell just happened?”

However, Roh Jun-Yeop couldn’t grasp the situation. He had been pulling the bowstring back as hard as possible when something heavy had caught it. And when he let go, a thunderbolt flew out...

Looking back at the incident from his perspective, it was indeed confusing.

“I just threw the hwando,” Jae-Hyeok explained patiently.

Time was running out. He felt more at ease with the most difficult core destroyed, but their team’s original target, the southern core, was still intact. Jae-Hyeok hoped Roh Jun-Yeop would calm down quickly.

Roh Jun-Yeop finally understood and clapped. “Ah! You threw a sword and made me shoot it as an arrow.” Roh Jun-Yeop froze a beat later. “How does that make sense?!”

Jae-Hyeok sighed and gave up on explaining. He urged, “We still need to make another shot. Calm down and pull the bowstring.”

Contrary to Jae-Hyeok’s calm demeanor, his insides were burning. It’s unlikely that luck will be on my side a second time.

His Thunderbolt Sword was a Skill that had a low probability of occurring when attacking. In fact, Jae-Hyeok hadn’t expected to destroy the central core in one blow. Although Byeon Seok-Gu was quite cautious, Jae-Hyeok had still felt uneasy and decided to contribute an attack, even if it were just a bit of damage. Fortunately, Thunderbolt Sword had activated, resulting in a perfect outcome.

The situation this time would likely be different. The probability of the Thunderbolt Sword activating twice in a row was unlikely. Not to mention, the time remaining to destroy the southern core within the time limit was running out.

Having read the atmosphere, the shooting club members hurriedly pulled out their bows and guns. “We will support you.” Although they said that, they didn’t look particularly confident.

Every core created a magic storm, so it was necessary to keep a distance of at least 2 km to snipe it.

To snipe the southern core, surrounded by a ferocious magic storm, from 2 km away... that was nearly impossible even for the Shooting Club members.

We will be of little help.

Even if an ordinary student poured out hundreds of thousands of bullets and arrows, they wouldn’t be able to break through the storm. Their arrows and bullets would just be turned to powder and scattered..

But couldn’t they be a bit of help? The club members tried to think positively. If the magic storm diverted even a fraction of its power to block their attacks, then Jae-Hyeok and Jun-Yeop’s arrow might be able to take advantage of the gap.

“That’s hilarious,” Roh Jun-Yeop criticized them.

He knew the level of the Shooting Club members well.

In the first place, the main skills of the members they had recruited for this operation were specialized for support roles, such as observation and identification. They would only embarrass themselves if they attacked.

“Stop it. You guys can’t... ”

Roh Jun-Yeop was about to refuse the members’ help, but he fell silent halfway through. He couldn’t say anything after seeing the determined look in their eyes.

Since when did I start caring about other people’s feelings?...Damn, working with Kang Jae-Hyeok makes me feel weird.

Well, it wasn’t just Kang Jae-Hyeok.

He was also grateful to the club members who never laughed at him for losing his manager position and still followed him.

The embarrassed Roh Jun-Yeop glanced at Jae-Hyeok. You decide.

“Of course, you need to help.”

Jae-Hyeok took out the spare hwando he had stolen... No, borrowed from Kim Jin-Myeong, and smiled mischievously.

“You came here to fight alongside us, didn’t you? Don’t even dream of standing in the back and doing nothing.”

Jae-Hyeok knew as well that they wouldn’t be of much help. Still, he was glad the others were willing to fight alongside him despite knowing they were helpless. He was happy and grateful for their desire to help.

“Yes!”

“Leave it to me!”

As he listened to his companions' vigorous responses, Jae-Hyeok put his hand on the hilt of his sword and lowered his stance, leaning forward.

Fighting with people who wanted to help him—it was a situation he could never have imagined before entering Lion’s Castle.

Somehow, he felt energized. That alone meant the Shooting Club members were a great help to Jae-Hyeok.

Just then—

[A fourth code of chivalry has been established.]

[Chivalry of Piety and Comradeship: Inseparable Relationship]

You are respected on the battlefield and share trust with your companions.

* If you form a party with someone who trusts you, your stats will increase by up to 10%.]

Noble Chivalry responded to the bond of trust between Jae-Hyeok and the Shooting Club members.

What was a knight? A knight inspired trust and respect through their honorable deeds, and the System had acknowledged Jae-Hyeok’s actions as comparable to a knight’s.

[You have requested Roh Jun-Yeop to join your party.]

[Roh Jun-Yeop accepts.]

[The target trusts you slightly. All stats have gone up by 1%.]

“......”

Roh Jun-Yeop wondered, “What? Why are you glaring at me all of a sudden?”

“I’m starting.” Jae-Hyeok let out an empty laugh and drew his sword.

His hands blurred.

This time, Thunderbolt Sword didn’t trigger. Nevertheless, the force behind his hwando was great. In addition to Roh Jun-Yeop, other club members had also joined his party and increased his stats, making the hwando he threw much faster and more powerful.

“Kuek...!”

Roh Jun-Yeop’s body tilted back significantly as he caught the hwando in the bowstring and shot it like an arrow.

Unable to bear the rebound, he fell back on his ass, only to witness the sight of dozens of bullets and arrows filling the night sky, each one wreathed in different colored mana.

It was a sight created by twenty-nine members and one outsider, all working together.

Bang bang bang bang bang!

Most of the bullets and arrows vanished without a trace when they collided with the magic storm. That was to be expected, though it wasn’t a welcome experience.

Shit, hurry and fire another one... Roh Jun-Yeop tried to struggle to his feet.

“Looks like you kids need some help!!” The red-faced middle-aged man burst onto the scene with a shout and used a Skill, a lightning-fast AOE that enchanted and strengthened all the projectiles already colliding with the magic storm.

“I’m glad I still have a chance to step up.” Byeon Seok-Gu also arrived at the scene. He opened fire together with the B-class players, his shots accurately trailing the same trajectory as the hwando that Jae-Hyeok and Jun-Yeop had fired.

Under their combined power, the ferocious magic storm was forcefully scattered, revealing the cracking core as it finally shattered.

Baaaaang!

The darkness, which was deep despite the bright moon, gradually faded. It was proof that the area’s densely packed mana from the forming gate was dissipating.

"W-we did it! We did it!”

"Uwaaaaahhhhh!"

The players watched as the members of the Shooting Club cheered with joy. Maybe they were feeling more generous after things went well, but they let the kids have their celebration.

Meanwhile, Byeon Seok-Gu was looking around, looking for traces of the Bow Saint. But he found nothing. As expected. It was hard to believe but...

Byeon Seok-Gu’s trembling gaze fell on Roh Jun-Yeop.

Yeon Ho-Ryeong arrived at the scene just in time and also focused on Roh Jun-Yeop. “I guess it wasn’t a lie when you said you dream of becoming the next Bow Saint.”

“...Why? Why are you all looking at me like that?”

Roh Jun-Yeop had been feeling ominous ever since Kang Jae-Hyeok had formed a party and glared at him earlier. Now he couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat.

Of all places, he tried to hide behind Jae-Hyeok.

“As expected, the manager is amazing.” Jae-Hyeok clapped and praised him.

“Huh?”

“Y-yes. Our manager Roh Jun-Yeop is amazing.”

“W-wow... ”

All the club members instinctively followed Jae-Hyeok’s lead. Clearly, their actions revealed who the real power behind the Shooting Club was.