The Genius Archer Who Became a One-Man Army

Chapter 38

The atmosphere shifted.

‘Well, look at that.’

As soon as archery was mentioned, Gerard’s eyes lit up with confidence.

He stood up and said,

“Did you ask if I can shoot a bow?”

“Yes.”

“I’ve been shooting for over ten years. It’s nothing compared to these sticks.”

“I hope your skill matches your confidence.”

Lian walked towards the archery training ground he had set up.

“Wow…”

Gerard was impressed by the well-made training ground.

A shooting range that stretched nearly a hundred meters in a straight line, vastly superior to the crude setups he had used before.

Lian spoke,

“Show me your skill.”

By now, Gerard’s bow had been brought to the training ground.

Seeing the perfect setup, Gerard picked up his bow and said,

“Don’t be surprised.”

He then nocked an arrow.

Thwip.

His form was clean and precise.

Nocking the arrow and drawing the bowstring were smooth and without unnecessary movements. Gerard aimed and released the arrow.

Whoosh!

The arrow flew swiftly, hitting the target with a thud.

It struck the center, and Gerard couldn’t help but smirk.

“How was that?”

“…”

Lian observed the arrow embedded in the target.

It was impressive, especially considering it was Gerard’s first shot in an unfamiliar environment. However,

‘If I praise him, he’ll get cocky.’

A character like this needed to be kept in check.

“You said archery is your specialty?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re this proud after just one shot?”

“Pardon?”

“Shoot in rapid succession. As fast as you can.”

“…Alright.”

Feeling slighted, Gerard’s expression hardened.

He felt the need to prove his skills and put Lian in his place.

Gerard took a deep breath and began shooting rapidly.

Whoosh! Thwip… Whoosh! Thwip… Whoosh!

His speed was commendable.

More importantly, the process of drawing and releasing arrows was incredibly natural.

‘He wasn’t lying about shooting for over ten years.’

However, it was a shame he hadn’t received proper training; he could have been much better.

When Gerard was about to shoot his sixth arrow,

“I said your fastest speed. What’s with this snail pace?”

Lian approached and took Gerard’s bow.

Gerard frowned at Lian, but then— Whoosh! Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!

It was like a crossbow unloading in rapid succession.

Lian shot ten arrows in the time it took Gerard to shoot two or three.

But that wasn’t all.

“What?!”

Lian held two arrows in his hand.

Instead of shooting one at a time, he nocked and released both simultaneously.

Gerard was left speechless, watching Lian’s seemingly supernatural archery skills.

“I’ll give you another chance. Do it properly this time.”

Lian handed the bow back to Gerard after hitting every target.

Gerard swallowed hard, sensing this might be his final opportunity.

He took a deep breath and picked up an arrow. Just then,

“Wait.”

Lian looked at Florang.

Florang nodded and ran towards the target. He started attaching something to a pole next to the target.

“Are you asking me to hit that?”

As soon as Florang attached a round object to the pole, Gerard asked Lian.

Lian nodded.

“Florang will knock it and step aside. I’ll give the signal then.”

He held up five fingers.

“You have five seconds to shoot.”

“What? That’s impossible. It’ll be a moving target.”

“If you lack confidence, take your bow and leave. I won’t stop you.”

“…”

This man was serious.

‘But the difficulty is way too high…!’

Gerard wanted to protest.

Who could do such a thing?

But Gerard couldn’t give up.

He had finally found a unit that would let him use a bow. Returning to his old unit meant swinging a spear around, aging as a mediocre soldier.

“I’ll do it.”

At Gerard’s response, Lian raised his hand.

It was the signal to start.

At Lian’s signal, Florang nudged the round target, setting it in motion.

Swish.

The target moved, and once Florang was clear,

“Begin.”

Gerard drew the bowstring and aimed at the moving target.

Lian watched silently.

Gerard was so focused on the target that he might not even notice if someone nudged him.

As five seconds were about to pass,

Whoosh!

The arrow flew through the air towards the target.

“Hit!”

Gerard couldn’t help but shout, watching the arrow. But then— Whoosh!

The arrow completely missed the target.

Gerard’s eyes widened in shock.

He had missed his final chance.

With a desperate expression, Gerard looked at Lian. He dropped to his knees and pleaded,

“Please, just one more chance…!”

“Hey, Gerard.”

“…Yes?”

“Were you watching when you shot?”

“…Are you saying not to look?”

Gerard replied with a puzzled expression. Lian couldn’t help but chuckle at his response.

In any field, talent is essential.

However, for archery, the importance of talent is even greater.

One of those talents is having good eyesight.

To hit the target accurately, you need to see it clearly.

‘This guy… he was following the moving target precisely.’

Gerard had released the arrow exactly when the target moved to the left end and stopped.

This meant he was observing the target’s movements very closely.

‘If he learns the right methods… he could be good.’

He saw considerable potential in Gerard.

Lian had learned archery at about the same age as Gerard.

It seemed that Florang was right to mention him.

Lian extended his hand to Gerard.

Though still stern, he said,

“Get up, I accept you into the unit.”

“Really? Thank you so much!”

“But you’ll need to train relentlessly. With your current skill, you won’t be able to form the archer unit I want.”

“I’ll work hard! I promise!”

Gerard grabbed Lian’s hand and bowed deeply.

Lian grinned, thinking they had acquired a valuable member.

—

“One, two, three, four! One, two, three, four! One, two, three, four!”

With about 90 members, the Arrowhead unit continued its training in earnest after its formation.

Since they were originally part of the Eagle Company, they did their basic company training along with additional Arrowhead-specific training.

“Run!”

“Anyone who falls behind dies! Keep up!”

The training intensity of Arrowhead was so high that even other companies were in awe.

“Ugh…”

They jogged at a steady pace and then sprinted at full speed on command.

They operated in three groups of thirty, but each group had members collapsing.

“Ugh!”

Three of them quickly covered their mouths and ran to the side wall of the training ground, vomiting their breakfast.

Kyle looked at them with a pained expression.

He remembered his own early days.

‘This crazy training…’

He knew it well.

He knew just how brutal the training was at first. But as a squad leader, he couldn’t just comfort them.

“If you collapse from just this, you’re useless! Keep up! Run while you vomit! Grit your teeth and run till the end!”

Kyle’s harsh words made those who had been vomiting quickly wipe their mouths and rejoin the group.

Kyle started running behind them,

“Hey, Squad Leader Kyle. Isn’t this too harsh?”

“No, this is necessary.”

Kyle replied nonchalantly to Brent, who had joined him.

Brent laughed.

“Didn’t you puke after running twelve laps when you first started?”

“Shut up!”

Kyle shouted, but his squad members were already looking at him with cold expressions.

Kyle flinched and shouted,

“What’s with that look? Do you all want five more laps?”

“We’ll just run!”

“Sorry!”

Their exaggerated expressions showed they were still holding up well.

Kyle chuckled.

“You’ve definitely changed a lot in a month.”

“We went through the same.”

It had been a month since Arrowhead officially started operating.

During that time, Lian had solidified the unit’s foundation and continued intense training.

“They’re doing well.”

“I’m just grateful they’re keeping up.”

Lian replied softly to Isaac, who was standing next to him.

There was still much to do, but their teamwork was improving thanks to the enhanced tactical and physical training.

‘What I learned back then is helping a lot now.’

Though he had never advanced beyond platoon leader, he had learned a lot under excellent commanders.

However, it was challenging to implement advanced systems from 10 to 20 years in the future too openly.

Someone, somewhere, might be researching them right now.

“Alright, now…”

Lian looked at Gerard, who was running at the back of the group.

Contrary to his initial impression, Gerard was quite tenacious.

Aside from being good with a bow, he seemed to have no other strengths.

‘He was physically weak and lacked muscle.’

However, his greatest asset was his determination to never give up once he set a goal.

He looked like he was about to collapse, but his feet kept moving.

“Gerard! Come here!”

“Huff… Huff… Huff…!”

At Lian’s call, Gerard stopped and bent over, gasping for breath.

He felt like he was about to die, but he couldn’t ignore his commander’s order.

Lian chuckled at Gerard, who stumbled over like a zombie.

Then he turned to Isaac.

“Move on to specialty training. Overdoing physical training can be counterproductive.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Gerard, you’re coming with me to the archery range.”

“Huff… Huff… Yes, sir!”

Lian and Gerard headed to the archery range.

Lian envisioned the future.

One day, this place would be bustling with comrades shooting arrows.

Lian picked up a bow in silence.

He preferred using the standard military bow for training.

Using the bow given by Walter felt unfair to Gerard.

Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!

Each arrow released by Lian hit the target with a loud thud.

But Lian, with unwavering focus, continued drawing and releasing the bowstring.

“…Commander.”

Gerard, watching Lian, called out.

Lian glanced at him.

“How can I shoot like you, sir?”

Gerard asked with earnest eyes.