On a vast grassy plain, I materialized my bow in my hand. Then I drew my arrow and took aim at a rabbitlike creature a few dozen meters away known as a horned rabbit. When the creature stopped to nibble on some grass, showing me its defenseless back, I unleashed my arrow. Ain’t nothing personal, bunny!
“Rabiii!” the creature snarled.
“Oh, crap! I didn’t just miss, I gave myself away! Retreeeeat!”
I fled the moment the rabbit looked at me. I’d already taken one hit from another rabbit, and it’d knocked me down to half HP because my defense stat was 0! Damn! These are supposed to be the weak monsters for practicing on, but I’ve had to run from them three times in a row now!
Running at an ordinary pace with no speed boost from the game, I made a desperate attempt to escape the game’s weakest monster.
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⬧⬨⬧
“Haah... This is no good. Summoner and bow with all points spent on luck... Nothing about it works.”
Several hours after leaving town, I still hadn’t defeated a single monster, and it was getting dark already. Since it was probably the middle of the night in the real world too, I decided it was about time I logged out. I sat down on a large boulder in the middle of a field and called up a menu window.
“Where’s the log out button...? Oh, I should check my items first.” I should still have the Beginner’s Arrows that came with the Beginner’s Bow after character creation... Whoa! Only two left?!
Unless I could retrieve my arrows, I’d only have two more shots. I sighed once again, realizing that this was yet another drawback of the bow.
“Buying more arrows in town is gonna cost money... But I’ve got none since I haven’t killed a single monster yet! And now it’s too dark to see what I’m shooting!”
I was at a total loss. My class was entirely geared toward controlling tamed monsters, with no arts to help me bring down the wild ones. On top of that, I’d screwed up big time when I’d put every point into luck. I couldn’t even take two hits without dying.
Landing a hit’s hard enough already! You’re telling me I’ve got limited tries?! What a joke!
“Gaaaaah, this is the worst luck! Baldy might have been a nice guy, but everything else about this game sucked! Fine! I’ll make a new character!”
I reached for the log out button, but just as I was about to tap on it, the earth in front of me bulged up, then exploded. A rusty sword burst out of the ground, and it was headed straight for me!
“Curse you!” it shrieked. “Curse you!”
“The hell is this thing?!”
The screeching was coming from the mysterious sword, but it didn’t even have a mouth. I was still trying to make sense of it all when some floating text appeared in front of me.
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Rare Monster: Living Weapon
An abandoned starting weapon reanimated by feelings of resentment toward its former owner.
Okay, that checks out. It’s a monster, obviously. Oh, and it is nighttime, so I should’ve guessed there’d be a ghost or two. It says “rare monster” here, so I won’t encounter these too often.
“Currrrsssssss!”
“Ack?!” I don’t have time to think about monster types!
I rolled to the side to dodge the living weapon’s attack, then quickly materialized my bow. “Take this!”
I drew the string and loosed an arrow...but rather than hitting the small target afforded by my opponent’s slim body, it flew off into the distance. Oh, crap! I only get one more shot!
I was still reeling from the shock when I realized the living weapon was charging straight at me.
“Curse yoooooooooooou!”
It’s all or nothing! As the living weapon shot at me like a bullet, I clapped my hands together in front of my own face, and...I caught the blade! I’d pulled off a perfect blade catch! A shirahadori! I’d stopped the living weapon dead in its tracks.
“Curse...you...!”
“Guuuh... Ngh?!”
But this thing was determined. And with a strength stat of 0, it took everything I had to hold it back! With the blade still between my hands, I was pushed to the ground with its point nearing my face.
“Curse you! Curse yooooooou!”
I felt friction between my palms and the metal surface as the living weapon edged closer. The creature’s cries of hatred for its former owner filled the night sky.
This thing might be ticked off...but it’s not the only one! “Screw this! I just wanted a break from real life, and this is what I get?! First I fall headfirst for a cruel prank, then I die without achieving a single thing?! Screw that! I’m not gonna take it!” I whipped my head to the side so abruptly that I felt my neck might break, and at the same time, I let go of the living weapon. The blade grazed my cheek before plunging into the ground.
“Curssssss?!”
I might have caught the monster off guard, but it was rising back up out of the soil in an instant. Not if I’ve got anything to say about it! I grabbed it tight by the hilt, then materialized my last arrow in my free hand. But I didn’t nock this one in the bow.
“Eat this!”
Instead, I slammed my arrow right into the rusty body of the living weapon! My arm simply bounced back because of my low strength, but I wasn’t going to give up easily. I gripped the arrow shaft firmly near the arrowhead to make sure it wouldn’t break, then I slammed it into the living weapon again and again...and finally, I saw the fruits of my pure luck build!