Lian, with the distinctive longbow of a Divine Eye Archer slung across her back, moved swiftly towards the outer edges of the map.
Concurrently, the distance between her and the NPC, who was also a Divine Eye Archer, steadily widened, already exceeding 120 yards.
The 150-yard large-map arena differed significantly from other arenas in that it wasn’t an open, exposed space; instead, it was a circular platform carved into a cliff face, densely populated with trees. In essence, it was a composite map featuring both open ground and forest terrain, making the term ‘arena’ feel somewhat imprecise.
Nevertheless, 150 yards was already considered a safe attack range for a Divine Eye Archer; indeed, most Divine Eye Archer players could only accurately shoot up to about 100 yards.
It was no exaggeration to say that the Divine Eye Archer was arguably the most challenging class to play in `Companion God Realm`.
In this game, a Divine Eye Archer’s basic attack (normal attack) only had guaranteed targeting within 80 yards; beyond that range, neither skills nor basic attacks possessed auto-targeting capabilities.
This meant players had to rely entirely on their own aim and precision.
Therefore, while the system stipulated that a Divine Eye Archer’s shooting distance was tied to their Strength attribute—implying that with high enough STR and sufficient drawing power, one could theoretically shoot up to 1000 yards—
The effective maximum range for most Divine Eye Archers still remained within the 100 to 150-yard bracket, and even then, accuracy was far from guaranteed.
On Yan’s previous server, which had been active for several years, Divine Eye Archer players who could master all their operations and consistently hit enemies at 150 yards could still be counted on one hand.
Yan couldn’t fathom Lian’s intentions. Since her opponent was also a Divine Eye Archer, increasing the distance should only result in both parties being unable to hit each other.
‘Could she actually be… choosing to forfeit?’
“Hey! This person’s already run to the edge of the map!”
As Lian halted her run, a fresh wave of commotion erupted within the crowd.
On the large screen, Lian had reached the map’s farthest boundary, directly opposite her opponent.
Below her, a bottomless chasm yawned.
“Looks like she’s going to forfeit, then…”
A Greatsword Player remarked.
“What a letdown. I thought she had some new strategy up her sleeve.”
Another Divine Eye Archer player grumbled with dissatisfaction.
Even Yan began to wonder if Lian had suddenly decided to forfeit for some unforeseen reason.
Yet, Lian did not leap off the cliff as everyone expected. Instead, like someone preparing for exercise, she straightened her back and rotated her wrists and ankles.
Then, with a sudden spring, she leaped up, scaling a large tree beside the cliff like an agile cat.
“What is she doing!?”
The spectating players gasped in astonishment. Before their shock could fully register, Lian had swiftly climbed to the very top of the treetop, gaining an unobstructed view of the entire map.
There, perched lightly on the treetop, she unslung her longbow from her back.
“Is she going to try to shoot her opponent from the absolute limit of 150 yards!?”
The Divine Eye Archer player from earlier let out a cry of incredulous surprise.
“No, that’s impossible. How could she possibly hit anything from such a distance?”
‘No, it’s possible.’
Yan cast a glance at the loudly exclaiming player before returning his gaze to the large screen.
From Lian’s agile tree-climbing just moments ago, Yan had vaguely sensed something unusual.
This wasn’t a skill learned in-game; rather, it was a real-world ability, merely enhanced and reproduced by the game’s stat boosts.
It was akin to how Yan, in reality, could only perform four ‘Consecutive Thrusts’ per second, while in-game he could manage eight.
‘If Lian also possessed archery skills in reality…’
Yan’s eyes were fixed intently on Lian on the large screen as she drew a black arrow from the quiver on her back.
“It’s Piercing Willow Shot! And she only brought one!”
The Divine Eye Archer player gasped in renewed shock.
But he couldn’t be blamed; even Yan was stunned by Lian’s audacious move.
[Piercing Willow Shot] was one of the Divine Eye Archer’s skills, specifically a Tier 3 primary damage-dealing ability.
Its effects included a chance for critical hits and increased critical damage.
Unlike other classes that consumed mana to cast skills, Divine Eye Archers expended arrows.
For the [Piercing Willow Shot] skill, a maximum of five arrows could be carried.
If five were carried, each arrow had a 10% critical hit chance and dealt +20% critical damage.
However, if only one was carried, the critical hit chance soared to 50%, and critical damage increased by a staggering +100%!
Every player understood the advantage of carrying only one [Piercing Willow Shot]; who wouldn’t want a one-shot kill?
Yet, no one could guarantee a hit with that single arrow, and missing meant instant defeat.
Lian, astonishingly, dared to gamble so boldly.
Yan chuckled, his conviction in his own hypothesis growing stronger.
Lian was unaware that the eyes of all the spectating players were fixed upon her and the arrow in her hand.
No, perhaps she did know the attention her audacious move would garner, but she neither cared nor worried about drawing too much attention, becoming a target for experts to devise counter-strategies against her.
Gazing at her opponent 130 yards away, a confident smile played on her lips.
With her index and middle fingers, she delicately held the nock of the arrow, resting it lightly on the left side of the bow. Her left hand held the longbow steady, while her right index, middle, and ring fingers together drew the bowstring back a short distance, positioning it against her cheek.
The Mediterranean Draw!
When Yan saw her drawing motion, his eyes lit up. Although he personally knew nothing about archery, as a practitioner of ancient martial arts, he had encountered techniques for various cold weapons.
It truly seemed Lian possessed real-world archery skills and knew how to adapt her shooting style to the bow in her hand, which resembled a Scottish longbow.
Yan’s lips curved into a smile. If Lian was indeed proficient in archery, then all that remained was to watch her utterly dominate her opponent.
The screen now displayed an aerial view of the map. The Divine Eye Archer, hidden in the forest on the other side of the map, continued to roam, occasionally ducking behind trees and other cover.
At this distance, hitting even a stationary target would be difficult, let alone an irregularly moving one. Without proper lead prediction, the enemy could shift during the arrow’s flight, causing the [Piercing Willow Shot] to miss entirely.
‘Could she really hit it?’
The many spectating players held their breath, fearing they might somehow affect Lian’s performance through the screen, anxiously awaiting the release of that single arrow.
Lian then closed her eyes briefly. A faint, glowing yellow light flickered around her, as if she were activating a skill.
Immediately, she snapped her eyes open, and without seemingly reconfirming the enemy’s position, the arrow flew from her bowstring!
“[Piercing Willow Shot]!”
With a sharp *whoosh!*, the arrow from Lian’s hand streaked across the sky, soaring towards her opponent 140 yards away!
At that very moment, the NPC was still in motion, having just emerged from behind a tree…
*Thwack!*
The [Piercing Willow Shot] (TL Note: The text here says [穿云箭] ‘Piercing Cloud Arrow’ while earlier it was [穿杨箭] ‘Piercing Willow Shot’. I will assume it’s a typo and use Piercing Willow Shot for consistency with the skill described) struck the NPC squarely in the face. The NPC’s health instantly dropped to zero, and it toppled backward onto the ground, dissolving into motes of light.
One arrow!
Only one arrow!
“Winner: Lian!”
Lian, who had been the last to enter the arena, was paradoxically the first of all first-round challengers to conclude her battle, leaving everyone in a daze.
“…”
The boisterous spectating players had fallen silent the moment Lian nocked the [Piercing Willow Shot] onto her bow; now, the quiet was chilling.
A moment later, a sudden burst of exclamations erupted from the crowd.
“Holy crap! What was that!?”
“She’s too strong!”
“Just one arrow! Only one arrow!”
“So cool! Ah, no, so fierce!”
Yan, however, gazed at Lian, who stood silently and expressionless on the treetop after her victory, and frowned slightly.
‘The damage from that [Piercing Willow Shot] was far too high…’
‘Even if that Piercing Willow Shot had critically hit, even if the critical damage had doubled, even if Lian had specialized in Strength for critical hits or attack power, and even if her opponent was a squishy Level 40 NPC archer.’
‘It still shouldn’t have been an instant kill with one arrow…’
‘Could it be?’
Yan suddenly recalled the faint, glowing yellow flash that had appeared around Lian just before she released the arrow.
‘A Companion-level… skill?’
‘It must be a Companion-level skill related to damage amplification, but I wonder what its specific effects are…’
‘Moreover, why did Lian run to the edge of the map in the first place? If she possessed the damage to one-shot her opponent with a single [Piercing Willow Shot] and the accuracy to hit a headshot from 140 yards, why didn’t she just eliminate her opponent immediately?’
‘Her Companion-level skill must have some kind of limitation.’
Yan felt a surge of curiosity, an almost irrepressible urge to rush to the large arena and challenge Lian, to force her to reveal her Companion-level skill.
“Calm down, calm down.”
Yan patted his own cheek, a wry smile gracing his lips.
‘For a Spearmaster like me to run to a 150-yard large map would just be asking for trouble.’
‘Ah, I’ll just wait patiently for a bit and head to the 80-yard medium arena. That’s the optimal zone for a Spearmaster.’
Naturally, it would be an arena that Qing Bai hadn’t chosen.
Yan chuckled, then looked back at the large screen. An Dong and Qing Bai’s battles had also concluded.
Qing Bai had undoubtedly won, but An Dong, a tank, winning was something Yan hadn’t expected.
Though Yan was curious how An Dong had won, his attention had been drawn by Lian’s fight during that battle, so he hadn’t noticed.
‘Well, I’ll just have to watch the next match.’
That was his initial thought.
But in the very next moment…
Someone leaped onto Qing Bai’s arena.