Novel Bin Chapter 21: Assassination Mission (3)
Chapter 21: Assassination Mission (3)
A hand rose through the gap in the wall under the dark sky and shadows.
Thud.
The hand grasped the wall as if gripping gravel.
“Huaap!”
Almond exhaled one last time and finally reached the top of the castle wall.
“Wow, this is intense.”
Nothing would ever be easy in this game.
“Everything else is hellish except for shooting the bow.”
Indeed, from Almond’s perspective, everything was more difficult than shooting a bow.
— ????
— That’s the hardest.
— That’s enough, boss.
— You even did a great job climbing. It usually takes three or more attempts LOL
— Yeah… did you train or something?
‘Training… yeah I did.’
Almond completed all the capsule training at the highest difficulty in the morning. He planned to repeat it every day and found this repetitive training familiar as an experienced athlete.
“Let me move the corpses first.”
Almond dragged the two corpses and threw them into a hidden fortification. Then he carefully adjusted his black hood and approached the next target.
Another guard holding a torch could be seen.
“What the… where are the torches?” the new guard foolishly mumbled and scratched his head.
“Are those guys sleeping again?”
Almond realized the guards seemed lax in their duties from just those words. He smiled in the dark and pulled his bowstring.
Creak…?
— It’s dangerous if they hear screams from this close.
— The castle is just behind.
The chat expressed their concerns.
Swoosh—?
The opponent couldn’t even scream and instantly collapsed.
Kuugh—?
Only the slight sound of blood gushing out could be heard. The guard couldn’t even make a loud noise because the arrow pierced the center of his throat and punctured his vocal cords.
— Wow!
— Shit!
— We can barely even see.
— Just. Crazy.
— Neck shots are instant kill too?
— Necks are also a vital point and count as a perfect shot.
— It must be a perfect shot. Just dying like that.
Almond calmly carried the torch and placed it in the middle of the castle wall. He knew the enemies would react if the torches went missing. He also hung the torches of the two guards that he had killed earlier.
‘It won’t be visible from the other side like this.’
After that, he moved the corpse to the hidden fortification. Looking at the three bodies, he started to ponder.
‘More enemies will be waiting when I infiltrate the castle.’
He successfully cleared the castle wall, but now he had to go inside. Many more would be waiting with their guard up.
Almond couldn’t deal with more than ten enemies at once even if people called him the god of archery.
‘Hmm…’
***
A soldier with a bow walked within the castle compound.
His new armor felt slightly uncomfortable, but he naturally went to the armory to get more arrows.
Another soldier passed by without noticing anything.
“...?”
However, the soldier suddenly turned around with a suspicious look.
Swoosh—?
An arrow pierced the center of his forehead as the air whistled.
“Kugh!”
The soldier fell to the ground and drew his last breath.
— Wow, are you really going to kill everyone?
— He must’ve misunderstood the quest lol
— That’s right. You only have to kill the castle lord, Almond!
The viewers kept backseat gaming, but Almond didn’t notice due to the tension and excitement. The competitive feeling of a match like in the past took over his body. He called this trance-like state the zone.
‘Good.’
Almond enjoyed being in this state. He couldn’t hear anything and only saw the target. The complex world became very simple.
Hit or miss.
This world only had two possibilities.
Almond came across an extreme fork in the road and drew back his bowstring even more.
Creak…?
‘One more.’
Swoosh—?
No hesitation could be seen in his shooting anymore.
The arrow instantly flew 500 meters and the guard carrying a torch in the dark collapsed.
— Oh!
— Wow… almost like a sniper!
— He’s crazy.
— How did he not miss once? Is he hacking?
— I’m getting goosebumps.
— Pfft, newcomers are surprised (literally pissing my pants).
“Alright.”
Almond muttered to himself without realizing it and charged forward. His footsteps loudly echoed.
— That’s too loud!
— Almond, what are you up to?
He knew that running would make too much noise and would be dangerous, but he didn’t realize it at that moment. He no longer noticed such things in the zone.
“Hey! Over there!”
A soldier’s loud voice echoed out for the first time. Almond didn’t slow down and pulled his bowstring.
The arrow flew without proper aim.
Thwack!
“Urgh!”
The soldier screamed and fell.
— The foot?
— Why the legs?
— I guess even Almond sometimes falls from trees.
— Almonds originally fall from trees :)
— Oh shit, you’re fucked now. Good luck!
Concern and confusion filled the chat, but Almond showed no signs of hesitation. Two more soldiers appeared from behind.
“Oh no, Damian!”
One of them helped the injured guard and the other charged at Almond, who readied his bow.
Then…
Twang—?
He released the bow light as a slingshot.
“Kugh!”
The soldier running towards him fell just like that.
“!”
The other one helping the injured guard turned around with a terrified expression.
Thwack!
The arrow pierced his head and another arrow pierced the injured soldier as well.
Thwack!
With that, all the soldiers chasing him had died.
— Wow, he aimed for the distraction.
— World War 2 minefield meta???
— Korean military pride!
— Military archer LOL
Almond had a chance to boast, but pressed onwards while holding his breath. He no longer looked the same.
Creak…?
He pulled his bowstring with a blank expression and released it like a machine.
Swoosh—?
It struck a soldier running on top of the castle wall.
“Kugh!”
“Dammit!”
Several soldiers nearby noticed the commotion and started to gather.
“There!”
“It’s an invasion!!!”
They shouted to warn of an invasion and also blew their horns.
Buzz!!!
Clink, clank!
The sound of armor clashing and pouring in could be heard.
— Oh shit, now he’s actually screwed.
— True true.
— This is too much.
— Almond went over his head.
— He fucked up.
— What will you do if you’re caught like this?
The viewers complained because he didn’t follow the basics of assassination. However, Almond remained unfazed and saw a path.
‘It’s okay to be seen.’
It’s been a while since Almond made up his mind like this. He confidently kept firing.
Swoosh!?
Swoosh!
He didn’t need to be concerned about the sounds produced by the flying arrows anymore, so he shot even faster.
Th-Thud!
Two soldiers in the front fell together with holes in their foreheads.
Swoosh!
The air whistled once more and another soldier fell in the back.
[Consecutive Shooting Skill. Activated!]
This skill activated after three headshots in a certain time frame. It allowed for high-speed constant shooting.
Almond placed his arrows on the ground and got on his knees.
Thwack!
He instantly picked up the arrows and pulled his bowstring. The arrows couldn’t be followed with the naked eye.
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
Swoooooosh!
The speed of the arrows made one loud crack in the air.
“Keeugh!”
“Kugh!”
“Urgh!”
The soldiers who swarmed in fell left and right with the same injury.
“What… what is this!?”
“All on the foreheads…”
Th-Thud!
The confused soldiers suffered the same fate. Only arrows raining down and screams could be heard from on top of the castle wall.
“R-run! It’s a monster!”
Around twenty soldiers turned back and ran away. However, that only extended their lives for a few seconds.
Thwack!
Almond leaped forward as if he had been waiting and aimed his bow. It felt like combining archery with running, but he thought to himself.
‘I can do this.’
He never doubted his skills.
His right arm became perfectly fine again in virtual reality. His physical attributes had also been enhanced. Only his focus on shooting mattered.
Swoosh—?
The arrow flew through the air faster than the running Almond.
“Kugh!”
It landed on a fleeing soldier’s back, who fell into an amusing pose. The others ran faster upon seeing that, but…
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Almond’s arrows flew straight into them.
“Kugh!”
“D-Dammit! There’s no point running away!”
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Half of those fleeing had already fallen.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Now, a quarter remained…
And finally, he targeted the last soldier standing. nove(l)bi(n.)com
Thwack!
No more soldiers remained on top of the castle wall. The castle had lost all its men.
“Phew.”
Finally, Almond wiped his sweat and smiled.
“It worked.”
— Kyaa! How crazy!
— Wow… he’s so fucking cool.
— You’re so cool!
— Your skills are crazy!
— Crazy looks as well!
— Is that what they call a killer smile?
— I’m dying from his smile.
— Oh man!
His performance crushed the viewers’ initial doubts and their celebration didn’t end with just words.
[RubySword has donated 10,000 won.]
[Kya!]
[Thor has donated 5,000 won.]
[You’re incredible.]
[Kwon Oh-Jin has donated 1,000 won.]
[Boss, I’m broke. Here are all of my savings…]
The donations poured in.
‘I’m getting a healthy amount of donations now too.’
Sang-Hyeon could feel that his stream went well.
“Okay, now I’m going to kill the castle lord.”
He stepped over the corpses lying everywhere and confidently opened the gates.