Chapter 31: Skill or Luck?

“Wow, amazing! How did you even hit that!?”

“As expected of Enthusiast! I knew you had it in you.”

“Unranked, but still this good… You’re a natural talent!”

Something felt strange.

I had been so desperate for the event to end, but now that the noise was back, I wasn’t as happy as I thought I’d be.

Was I actually going to die from a ruptured eardrum? Seriously, I wanted the silence back.

Despite the team members’ loud praise, I kept moving forward.

At least the event had passed without any major issues, and for that, I was grateful.

The game had transitioned from the early stage into the mid-game.

What was our team doing now? Of course, we were diligently looting.

In terms of time, battles only took up a small portion of the game.

Looting, which occupied most of the time, was merely preparation for those brief fights.

This wasn’t unique to this event but a characteristic of most battle royale games.

Even if the pacing was sped up, looting and leveling up were essential.

While many found these peaceful moments boring, I quite enjoyed them.

I liked feeling myself grow stronger and more prepared.

No matter how skilled or good at combat you were, a significant gap in base stats made winning nearly impossible.

If an exceptionally talented general faced a weak and frail elephant, who do you think would win?

The example might be extreme, but it highlighted the importance of building up strength through growth.

“Ah, here, take this too!”

“Enthusiast, I found arrows! Aren’t I amazing?”

“I found tons of bandages! Come and grab some!”

But this constant offering felt overwhelming.

It wasn’t just overwhelming; my inventory was about to max out.

“I can’t carry any more. Pink Point, you take it.”

At my refusal, she blinked her wide eyes before reluctantly stuffing the items into her bag.

Even then, she added an unnecessary comment.

“If you ever need more, just let me know. I’ll give it to you right away.”

“I think I’ll be fine until the end of the game.”

Oddly enough, even though her gaming skills weren’t great, her looting abilities were incredible.

It felt like she somehow knew where all the items were.

How does she do it?

It wasn’t a joke she might be better at finding items than I was.

Was she a dog in her past life, sniffing things out?

Anyway, I had concluded that this girl was a unique character in every sense.

And what about the other teammate?

Let’s just say it was complicated.

“Wow, Enthusiast, how is your bag already full!?”

“That’s because Pink Point—”

“As expected of a player who dominates tournaments. Your skills are unmatched!”

“No, really, this is because she—”

“I’ll just trust you completely and enjoy the ride. How lucky am I to have you as a teammate!”

In the end, I gave up trying to explain.

If anything, this teammate was even more infuriating than Pink Point.

He kept chatting non-stop, his words a constant stream of praise from beginning to end.

If this continued, my ears would start bleeding.

With these two constantly talking, focusing on the game was nearly impossible.

It felt like I was playing a solo time-attack game in real-time.

My mental stamina was depleting rapidly.

“Do you both have enough food?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“I… I think I can manage!”

Her vague answer made me stare her down and ask again.

“Give me a clear answer. What’s your food situation?”

“…It’s embarrassing when you look at me that closely. By the way, your character customization is gorgeous! It really resembles you—like, so pretty!”

Wow. I seriously wanted to give her a flick on the forehead.

As I sighed heavily, the male teammate timidly raised his hand.

“Um, can I see it too—”

“Let’s focus on gathering food and water first. We’re in a safe zone, so let’s use this as a shelter.”

“Could I just take a quick look?”

“What did you say?”

My sharp glare made him immediately back down, shaking his head.

“N-Never mind! I didn’t say anything!”

“Good. If you say it again—”

I didn’t bother finishing the sentence.

The warning was enough.

Judging by how he was trembling, he got the message.

Anyway, we decided to stop moving temporarily to gather survival resources.

Normally, splitting up would be more efficient, but who could trust these two to go alone?

I firmly instructed them to stay hidden and set off by myself to search for food nearby.

What annoyed me the most was that I couldn’t stop worrying about those two idiots.

It felt like a mother leaving helpless children home alone.

Still, there was no choice.

Food was a necessity in any situation.

Although the tournament server drastically reduced the importance of survival mechanics to speed up the tempo, food and water remained indispensable resources.

The more intense the battles became, the faster stamina depleted, making food and water all the more critical.

To prepare for any unforeseen situations, it was essential to carry a generous amount of supplies more than the bare minimum.

So far, my haul included two rabbits and five fruits.

Combining this with the canned goods and other provisions I had gathered earlier, it was still a little shy of enough for three people.

If I could catch just one more, it would be perfect.

As if on cue, a doe leapt into view up ahead, seemingly out of nowhere.

Perfect. This one will be more than enough.

Since ranged weapons were ideal for hunting, I immediately pulled out my bow and took aim.

But just as I was about to release the arrow, the forest was pierced by the sharp sound of gunfire.

Bang!

The doe collapsed to the ground instantly. A clean shot.

I quickly put away my bow and hid behind a tree. I hadn’t expected enemies to be this close.

Had I let my guard down because of all the chaos caused by my clueless teammates? That might explain why I hadn’t noticed.

Footsteps approached, accompanied by casual chatter.

Fortunately, it seemed they hadn’t realized I was nearby.

“Wow. You really are a good shot.”
“This is just basic stuff.”
“Do you think we’re actually going to win this? Just the two of us?”
“If one of us gets taken out, it’ll be tough. But I’ll give it my best shot.”

One carried a sniper rifle and a short sword.

From their conversation, it seemed like their third teammate had already been eliminated, leaving just the two of them.

“That lunatic. Got distracted by some random bait and ran off. I thought they’d lost their mind.”
“Well, it was worth a try.”
“Seriously? That stunt?”
“They were low on health just one hit would’ve taken them out. If we’d managed to finish them and steal their loot, it would’ve been a huge gain.”
“But they got killed!”
“Well, yeah. I didn’t think they’d get taken out in one hit by an arrow while someone was tailing them that closely. The opponent just got lucky.”

Hmm. Their chatter was starting to get on my nerves.

“Lucky? What if it wasn’t luck?”
“Then that’d be impressive. But I doubt it.”

There was no need to argue. I could simply show them.

These two seemed pretty confident in their abilities.

Fine.

Let’s see if they could tell the difference between luck and skill once they experienced it firsthand.

I stepped out from behind the tree and nocked an arrow.

The enemies were casually strolling toward the fallen doe, completely unaware of my presence.

Step by step, the gap between us narrowed.

Three…

Two…

One…

The man in front bent down to pick up the doe, and our eyes met.

His face was frozen in shock as he spotted me hiding near the tree.

But it was too late.

The arrow had already left my bow.

Whoosh!

The arrow struck him square in the temple.

His helmet absorbed some of the damage, so it didn’t take him out instantly, but that was fine I’d already prepared a second shot.

The other guy, realizing they’d been ambushed, pulled out his sword and charged at me.

If he managed to get close, I’d be in trouble.

But there was no need to let him close the distance.

I fired another arrow, this time using a skill.

The English Longbow skill was simple: Power Shot.

It greatly increased damage but made stealth attacks impossible due to its distinctive effect.

In a standoff like this, the downside didn’t matter.

Thrum!

The arrow flew with a weighty sound, hitting its target squarely in the head.

Even with armor, surviving a direct hit from a skill like that was impossible.

The swordsman collapsed, critically injured and incapacitated.

Now, only the cocky sniper remained.

The man looked at me, clearly aware of his impending fate.

I debated how to deal with him. Should I toy with him or finish it quickly?

Finally, I decided on a single line:

“Well, looks like I got lucky.”

Thunk.