It seemed I might be the best at finding enemies in this group.
“Over there, behind the forest. I heard footsteps… about five hundred meters away?”
“Wow, Gyeoul, you can hear that far?”
“Yes. If I concentrate, I can hear sounds from afar.”
My face flushed at Yeoreum’s praise.
Feeling somewhat embarrassed, I lowered my head, and then Encia approached me.
“That’s amazing. I have good hearing among the beast-kin, but not to that extent…”
Encia perked up her large wolf ears.
However, she seemed to hear nothing, tilting her head in confusion.
‘Oh.’
Maybe my tracking abilities were also decent.
Feeling a bit more confident, I boldly led the group.
“I’ll take the lead.”
“Okay.”
So, I led everyone to a spot in the woods.
In a clearing far away, a goblin was picking berries.
“There it is.”
“Can you catch it, Gyeoul?”
“Yes, I’ll try…”
There was no reason to hesitate once I made up my mind.
I quickly fitted an arrow to the bow.
Stretch—
I drew the bowstring and aimed at the goblin.
My target was the head, an important spot for any living creature.
The moment the creature raised its hand to pluck a fruit from the tree.
Fwooosh—
With a brisk sound cutting through the air, the arrow was launched.
As always, the flight of the arrow seemed to move in slow motion.
This allowed me to clearly see how the goblin died.
Thwack—!
The long arrow pierced right through the back of the goblin’s head.
It penetrated so deeply that only the feathered end of the arrow protruded from the back of its head.
“!”
I had taken down a goblin!
In shock, I tilted my head back to look up at Yeoreum.
She then smiled with her eyes and tapped me on the shoulder.
“Pretty impressive, huh?”
“Indeed, your archery skills are exceptional.”
“It’s–it’s because I used to play with slingshots a lot…”
I was embarrassed by everyone’s compliments.
But it wasn’t a bad feeling.
I let my tail sway freely, awkwardly smiling.
It seemed like the dungeon adventure, which began with anxiety, would end on a good note.
✧✧✧✧✧
That day, I caught a total of ten goblins in the dungeon.
I wanted to catch more goblins as my confidence grew, but I left the dungeon without hesitation when Yeoreum suggested we stop.
There was no reason not to listen to such an experienced adventurer.
“We’re not catching the boss, right?”
“Right. If we kill the boss, the gate disappears. That’s why in these dungeons, we sometimes don’t kill the boss.”
“Ah…”
Perhaps to secure mana stones steadily and to cultivate rookie adventurers like me.
I was in awe of how people utilized even disaster phenomena for their benefit.
‘Am I a full-fledged adventurer now?’
Before returning to the tent.
I took one last look at the gate when Yeoreum grabbed my hand.
“Shall we head home now?”
“Yes…”
And so, I returned to the tent with ten goblin mana stones.
Even if we divided two stones per person, that was a whopping forty thousand won.
The enormous amount made my ears and tail shoot up in surprise.
I had earned forty thousand won in a day.
And I even received a hundred arrows from Sophia.
If I keep this up, my life will surely improve.
I couldn’t help but pick up the bow and arrows again.
“Why are you holding the bow again?”
“I want to practice shooting.”
“…Just make sure you only shoot towards the tent, in case you hit someone.”
“Okay.”
I placed a box next to the tent and put an empty can on top of it.
That should suffice for a target.
Since the area behind the tent wasn’t frequented by people, it was safe to shoot arrows freely.
Finally, perking up my ears to ensure no one was passing by, I confidently shot an arrow towards the can.
Whang-!
The swiftly shot arrow flew towards the can.
With my skills, I was sure to hit the can 100%.
Without doubt, I followed the trajectory of the arrow, but it passed right next to the can, piercing through the tent instead.
Clang-!
A sound of something breaking came from inside the tent.
However, the arrow didn’t stop there; it pierced through the tent and shattered a nearby tree branch.
It was the branch to which the tent’s supporting rope was tied.
One side of the tent, losing its support, sagged down.
Several glass bottles that were placed nearby fell onto the dirt floor.
Clang-!
Fortunately, not all the glass bottles broke, but a couple did shatter upon hitting a stone.
“Uh-oh…”
Why couldn’t I hit a can that was so close?
I was so shocked by the scene that I just blinked my eyes.
“Ah, you’ve caused an accident.”
Sophia sighed and approached me.
Even then, I couldn’t move from my spot.
The collapsed tent and my plummeting accuracy.
I couldn’t grasp which one to address first.