Subscriber of the Gods - C.123: Lightning Guardian (3)

“That’s an absurd method. It’s really absurd. Do you think it’s possible?”

Anisida exclaimed in seeming bewilderment after hearing Ethan’s words.

“We won’t know unless we try.”

“You don’t need to try to know that. Do you really think arrows can reach from that distance?”

“Spirit mage.”

Yerica looked at Anisida.

“It will work. I’m here, and we have you here too, spirit mage.”

“But, even so…”

Anisida could not trust Ethan’s words.

The method Ethan had proposed was to shoot the Lightning Guardian from a distance. It involved attacking with a bow from outside the range of the Lightning Guardian’s powerful attacks to incapacitate it.

“To make that possible, your archery skills would have to be almost godlike.”

Anisida had indeed confirmed that Ethan had various talents.

But was archery really one of them at that level?

“Don’t you not even have a bow in the first place?”

“Just wait for a bit.”

Ethan first separated himself from the two of them.

Then he immediately opened [New World].

‘I’ve secured quite a lot of likes.’

Having achieved various feats, he had already earned over 30 likes.

‘I should definitely be able to subscribe to at least one more god.’

Come to think of it, he did need long-range attacks. To deal with various situations, long-range attacks were essential, and the bow was undoubtedly the best for long-range attacks.

‘There may be many other unique options, but for long-range attacks, the bow is the best.’

Ding!

-Hang Woo has registered a new item.

‘Oh, already?’

Ethan ignored the notification for now and started searching first.

The search keyword was [archery].

-You have entered the keyword [archery].

-The algorithm is finding a suitable god for you…

-Search completed.

[Hood the Archer][Difficulty: High]

The god that appeared was Hood the Archer.

He had a moderate number of subscribers and likes, not too high or low.

Ethan was certain he could afford this one.

“Who is this?”

Since the algorithm had recommended it, this god must be perfect for Ethan right now.

Ethan immediately went to Hood the Archer’s channel.

He first checked the subscription reviews, and that’s when he learned who Hood was.

“Robin Hood.”

It was the famous Robin Hood, renowned for archery.

However, there was a difference between this Hood the Archer’s channel and other gods’ channels.

-The [Hood the Archer] channel is co-hosted with a guest.

“A guest?”

Ethan tilted his head and looked around.

Then he found information about this guest in the subscription reviews.

-[Hit in the Head Instead of an Apple]: I was a bit uneasy because there was no information about the guest. But I trusted Robin Hood and subscribed and watched the videos. And wow, they’re incredible. I can see why they were invited as a guest. I highly recommend the guest, Lord Jumong!

“Lord Jumong?”

Who was Jumong? Ethan didn’t know the details either, but Jumong was a king famous for archery in Korean history.

‘Wasn’t he the founding king of Goguryeo?’

“So this channel has two hosts? The main host Robin Hood, and the guest Lord Jumong?”

They were both undoubtedly archery masters worthy of being recorded in history.

Ethan then looked at the other subscription reviews.

-There are many other gods famous for archery, but truthfully I couldn’t feel much difference from them. However, with the guest god, I could subscribe to two gods with one subscription, so to speak a buy-one-get-one-free feel, which made me subscribe.

-I subscribed because I could learn from two gods with one subscription. I’m satisfied!

It seemed that what one could learn from gods related to archery was more or less the same.

“So this Hood is the most efficient among them?”

One subscription for two gods at once.

“Clever.”

This was also a strategy to secure victory in this New World. Without much hesitation, Ethan immediately subscribed to Hood.

-Would you like to subscribe to [Hood the Archer]?

-The number of likes required for subscription is ’20’.

When he had subscribed to Hang Woo before, the number of likes required was 15.

‘It has increased by 5 to 20.’

It was a considerable number of likes, but he had saved them up for times like this. If he could acquire the skills he needed right away, he could use them without hesitation.

Ethan promptly subscribed to Hood the Archer.

-You have subscribed to [Hood the Archer]!

-Likes used!

As soon as he subscribed, the screen transitioned with a burst of fireworks, and Hood the Archer’s videos were made available.

There were a total of three videos, all featuring both Hood the Archer and Jumong.

“The number of likes is quite high.”

The videos had more likes than he expected.

‘Almost all the subscribers must have used likes to purchase the videos.’

“The free videos must be that good.”

Ethan immediately checked Hood the Archer’s first video.

The video was titled Perfect Accuracy.

-Greetings.

-Greetings, gentlemen!

One was a man with thick eyebrows, sharp eyes, and a thin armor suit.

Next to him was a man in a green outfit with a long mustache.

-First, let me express my gratitude to the subscriber. I am Jumong. You all probably don’t know me, so let me explain – this name Jumong means a person skilled with the bow. How’s that? Don’t you trust me just from the name?

-Frankly, I haven’t seen a god better with the bow than this friend. Of course, I’m better in some areas, but this friend is truly an exceptional archer. This friend wasn’t interested in New World, so he didn’t have a channel, but I persuaded him. So this channel was created by the two of us.

The introduction was quite long, perhaps because there were two gods. However, Ethan was quite happy to see Jumong, who adorned a page of Korean history, so he skipped appropriately while watching the video.

-There are important elements in archery. First, the eyes. You must see clearly to shoot accurately. Nothing is as important as seeing the target precisely. Watch closely.

Jumong nocked an arrow in an instant and shot it immediately.

Thwack!

The arrow stuck precisely in the center of the target.

Next was Robin Hood. He too lightly nocked an arrow and shot it.

Thwack!

Their archery styles were similar yet different.

‘Speed is Jumong’s strength, while power is Hood’s.’

-My archery focuses on speed, while Hood’s focuses on power. The archery we’ve created anew combines both our strengths.

Jumong said that as he covered his eyes.

-Fast and powerful anytime, anywhere. Archery that can hit the mark even with my eyes covered.

Thwack!

The arrow struck the target again. And the arrow Robin Hood shot immediately after penetrated Jumong’s arrow and stuck in the target.

-This is the archery we will teach you.

Ethan started watching Robin Hood and Jumong’s video intently. Apart from the introduction, the two archery masters’ video had almost no parts to skip.

Ethan himself often used archery for long-range attacks while playing MePan, so he could fully understand the various points they were making.

‘So that’s what it felt like.’

With their excellent explanations too, Ethan could understand the two gods’ archery as if the knowledge was being directly imparted into his mind.

‘Now I see why everyone used likes to purchase the next videos.’

“That’s all for now. This was just the beginner’s level. If you liked it, please watch the intermediate and advanced levels next.”

Ding!

-You have learned Divine Archery!

-Divine Archery [A]

The name of the archery he had newly learned was Divine Archery.

‘The video quality is so good that you can’t help but go for the intermediate and advanced levels next.’

Ethan instinctively realized this. This channel run by Hood the Archer and Jumong.

‘If I write a subscription review, it will be a huge hit.’

It just wasn’t famous yet. But if it gained fame, there was a high chance it would surpass any of the gods Ethan had written subscription reviews for so far.

Ethan immediately watched the intermediate and advanced levels next.

‘At this rate, I’ll run out of likes.’

But he couldn’t skip the next videos.

‘The quality is excellent.’

Seeing this made him want to write a subscription review.

‘There’s nothing but praise to give.’

-Our people, from the king above to the commoners, have honed archery like a game since ancient times. It’s fair to call us the archery people. That’s why various techniques developed. The most representative is this curved shooting.

Ding!

-You have learned Curved Shooting!

In the intermediate level, he learned Curved Shooting.

-Shooting is important, but what’s crucial is hitting the mark for sure? My archery is powerful enough to penetrate even the sturdy armor of knights.

In the advanced level, he learned Robin Hood’s Penetration.

After watching the intermediate and advanced levels, he was able to learn a total of three skills.

Sublime Archery, Curved Shooting, Penetration.

-The three separate skills are merging into one skill.

“So they had divided them into three.”

Beginner, intermediate, advanced. These three skills seemed to be combining into one.

-Skill complete.

-Divine Archery [S]

-Lastly, let me tell you about the right mindset. You could say this is the most important part.

Jumong spoke with a smile.

-Free yourself from the obsession of having to hit the mark.

Robin Hood nodded at those words.

‘Free myself from the obsession of having to hit the mark?’

An archer with a hundred percent accuracy.

Weren’t nicknames like divine archer or master archer derived from accurately hitting the mark with arrows?

-That’s all.

‘For now, it’s just advice, but I should keep it in mind.’

It seemed to be saying not to be burdened.

After learning archery, Ethan checked Hang Woo’s items on the off chance they could be helpful.

-You are a premium subscriber!

If Hang Woo considered him a premium subscriber, he might even provide items for free.

-You can view Hang Woo’s merchandise.

-Beleaguerment [An item that plays the song of the Chu]

-Hang Woo’s Conqueror Armor [Replica]

-Hang Woo’s Sword [Replica]

-Ochuma [You can summon Hang Woo’s beloved horse Ochuma and ride it.]

‘Wasn’t the Beleaguerment the parable that appeared when Hang Woo was defeated?’

To sell that as an item. Does it mean he doesn’t want to forget his defeat?

And most of the items were replicas.

In other words, they were imitations, not the real thing.

But one item stood out the most.

‘Ochuma?’

Ochuma was the horse Hang Woo used to ride.

‘This could be good.’

As Hang Woo’s beloved horse, it must be strong enough to withstand his immense power.

Not only could it run, but it seemed it could also be used as a summon.

-Premium subscribers receive one free item!

Ethan immediately chose Ochuma.

-Ochuma has been awarded!

After obtaining Hang Woo’s item as well, Ethan exited New World.

“Divine Archery.”

The advantage of this archery was that it didn’t require a bow.

Shaaack—

A bow that seemed to be made of mana materialized in Ethan’s hand.

‘No need for a bow or arrows.’

They were created instantly if desired. It seemed to be one of the powers of Sublime Archery.

‘Other archery gods probably can’t do this. They would need a bow and arrows.’

But Hood and Jumong were different.

“Hoooo.”

Ethan took a deep breath.

Thanks to Hero’s Breathing, his breathing settled instantly.

Then, the Eye of Horus locked onto the target precisely, making it essentially a collaboration of four New World gods.

‘Hercules, Horus, and now Robin Hood and Jumong too.’

The skills of four gods had combined.

Shwaaack—

Ethan shot an arrow right away.

Thwack!

The arrow flew in a straight line and embedded itself in a tree. No, it penetrated that tree and the one behind it too.

“Excellent.”

With this, he should be able to defeat it.

Author's Thoughts

Want to read ahead of the scheduled release? You can check the Novel page on the website (or press the next chapter button) and buy an advanced chapter with only 20 Honeys! (100 Honeys is only 5$! So you can basically read 5 advanced chapters ahead of schedule!)