In a mystical arena where no help from party members could reach. A one-on-one duel in a magical battleground impervious to physical support, magic, or holy power.

Logically speaking, forcing a 1:1 duel with a boss that should require five members for a party hunt was a cruelly unfair gimmick. If you pushed in a tank thinking your party members needed to survive, you'd be slowly whittled down by insufficient attack power. Conversely, if you sent in a damage dealer intending to kill, they might die from the stat difference.

But that premise had been completely negated.

"...Grace? Did you shoot this?"

Because a tiny arrow had somehow flown in from beyond the magical barrier that should have blocked all physical and magical interference.

Grace's passive skill—simple yet effective—partially ignored defense when targeting vital spots. The arrow had pierced the eye, a critical weak point for any living being, and apparently drilled straight through to the brain.

The Orc Champion, with physical abilities surpassing even high-ranking superhumans who wielded aura, couldn't possibly fail to block an arrow flying toward his eye. Yet between being electrocuted and trusting his ritual tool, he'd let his guard down and—thunk!

Even with a body incomparably stronger than any human's, he couldn't survive an arrow piercing his eyeball, skull, and shredding his brain.

"What the hell..."

The Orc Champion, who had been squeezing my waist with all his might just a moment ago, now collapsed and died.

All that talk of a final 1:1 duel with one of the Four Heavenly Kings, the RPG power inflation that even a natural 6★ couldn't ignore, the mana drawing lightning and holy sword applications—none of it mattered in the end, resulting in this anticlimactic outcome.

The tank held him in place while the damage dealer landed a critical hit and killed him. It was a scenario so common in game worlds that it was practically common sense, but my helmet-rack brain had long since stopped processing. All I could see were the champion's body disappearing into a corpse and one of the spoils rolling on the ground.

The Ring of Wisdom that had fallen from the Orc Champion's waist. Now that its owner was dead, the previously disassembled ring began interlocking again, coming together so tightly it might as well be called a bell rather than a ring.

"The barrier, already?"

"No, it's only halfway down?!"

-Hmm? So it was a hunt rather than a duel

Simultaneously, the hazy barrier faded and disappeared. Since only a few minutes had passed, the surrounding chaos remained, and all eyes turned toward us.

The beast-kin warriors were stomping the fleeing orc stragglers; Irene had built her sacred law of protection like a fortress in the middle of the battlefield to shield Han Se-ah; Han Se-ah, protected by Irene, was firing mid-level magic in all directions; Katie was rampaging alongside her frost giant some distance away... and then there was Grace, who had been aiming her bow at me from atop a tree.

Since it was obvious to everyone that she had blown off the Orc Champion's head, the gathered gazes quickly turned into an uproar.

"Huh? Huuuh? I thought you were helping the beast-kin, but you blew off the Champion's head?! What's going on, did you secretly awaken without even showing me a quest notification?"

-Wait wtf lol the Orc Champion had an arrow sticking out of his head, did she shoot and kill him?

-I thought teacher was going to smash him to pieces but she cleared him instead lolololololololol

-Is it for real that taking out the boss was faster than clearing the minions? That's insane lololol

-But teacher looks confused while looking up at her, was there some awakening sign from her or what?

-I mean her eyes were sparkling but can that really be enough to snipe a Four Heavenly King's head?

Even though the Orc Champion's body had turned into mana stones the moment the barrier disappeared, the situation was filled with superhumans with excellent eyesight and senses. Despite the crumbling corpse, anyone could see the long, thin arrow lodged in his head.

After annihilating one of the five beast-kin villages, the Orc Champion now faced a large-scale battle with the four allied beast-kin tribes joined by human heroes. In numerical terms, he had singlehandedly wiped out 20% of the beast-kin population, so this war shouldn't have ended so anticlimactically, yet it concluded with surprising ease.

"The enemy leader has fallennnn!"

"Send them to join their captaaain!"

"Woo! Woo! Death to orcs! Death to invaders!"

Death by instant headshot from an arrow that flew in from outside the barrier during the duel.

The combat noise briefly subsided at the Champion's underwhelming end, but resumed at the bull beast-kin's thunderous shout. Was it because the powerful yet simple-minded Champion had died so ridiculously? Or perhaps they had been bound by fear rather than loyalty.

The orcs scattered in all directions the moment they saw the barrier dissolve, me standing there dumbfounded, and the Orc Champion's remains rolling on the ground.

"Turn them into forest fertilizer!"

"For Mother World Tree!"

"The Serpent shall protect us!"

What enemy is easier to hunt than one fleeing with their back turned? The beast-kin began hunting down the stragglers with gleaming claws and fangs.

"Hmm, so this works."

"...Isn't that a rather underwhelming reaction to having shot and killed a Four Heavenly King?"

"I didn't know I could do it either."

Except for our party, which had gathered around Grace as she grinned.

※

A big sister with playful, narrowed eyes.

Somewhat unusual gray hair with brown eyes that mixed mischief and kindness. No one could deny she was a beautiful woman from her appearance to her figure, but there was nothing particularly extraordinary or unusual about her character.

A 3★ archer by birth. Considering that the average companion NPC was around 2★, she was slightly above average but still lower than 4-5★—an ambiguous rank. As a result, her passive skills weren't outrageously overpowered but simply enhanced detection abilities and "partially" ignored defense "under certain conditions."

So even her fan club, the self-proclaimed "Noona Squad," was captivated by her beautiful appearance and playful, friendly personality, not because anyone particularly praised her combat abilities.

"How did you shoot through that barrier...?"

"I don't know either."

Even though Han Se-ah had developed a close human relationship with her, she had never considered Grace a main damage dealer. Despite having supernatural detection abilities thanks to her passive skill, her firepower had clear limitations, requiring alchemical arrows.

...But everything we'd assumed was turned upside down after what she'd shown today.

She simply smiled and giggled amidst the noisy war as orcs were chased down and slaughtered. Her sparkling eyes in the flickering shadows cast by the dense branches were particularly striking.

"But seriously, how did you do it?"

"I just concentrated and something became visible, so I shot it."

She waved her hand dismissively as if it were nothing, but Han Se-ah's expression remained troubled.

From Grace's perspective, she had simply figured out how to counter the Orc Champion's tool-powered ability, but from Han Se-ah's view, a mere 3★ had bypassed a 70th floor boss and Four Heavenly King's gimmick and one-shot killed him without any special skill.

[Does BB Games Watch This donated ₩10,000!]

[IsThisReallyNotABug?VirtualRealityGameButHeadshotOnABossIsOP]

[Sister's Reliable Quiver donated ₩50,000!]

[If this is a bug and she gets nerfed I'm burning down BB Games HQ]

[Why No Awakening To Use Awakening Skill donated ₩30,000!]

[HanIsMeansSoIsSisterNow5StarOr6StarPleaseCheck]

Viewers also seemed to think it made no sense balance-wise, as the chat speed accelerated and donations poured in uncontrollably.

Some viewers were gushing over their favorite character's achievements, while others worried that Han Se-ah's bug-like gameplay might cause problems with Grace's data.

Though it might just be unfounded excitement and anxiety, if it really was a bug, it wasn't something to be laughed off lightly, so Han Se-ah's face noticeably stiffened. Of course, Grace, unaware of these behind-the-scenes concerns, thought Han Se-ah was just impressed and kept waving her hands with a bright smile.

"Shooting beyond the barrier... That's amazing, Grace!"

-Is this girl part fairy or something?

"No, I'm just an ordinary country girl who grew up under a forest guardian father."

Unlike Han Se-ah, who was inwardly anxious amid the viewers' excited speculation, Irene genuinely expressed surprise and lavished praise on Grace.

Even as orcs were being impaled by horns, trampled by hooves, and bitten by poisonous fangs around them, the scene remained heartwarming.

-Not part fairy? Hmm, that's strange

"What's wrong, ancestor?"

-Then what's with those eyes?

"Eyes? Uh, what?"

Whether he'd heard something from the Goddess or simply had the keen eye of a centuries-old specter, the ancestor raised an issue before anyone else noticed.

Having calmed the snowstorm, the Wesley family ancestor moved behind Katie like a shadowy mastermind. What he pointed out was Grace's amber eyes that sparkled brightly. Her eyes had clearly changed from brown to bright amber at some point, now emitting a soft glow.

But since no quest had appeared and the system hadn't designated her as 6★, Han Se-ah had simply dismissed it. The fact that the ancestor was only now pointing out her glowing eyes when they'd been that way for quite some time made me think his ghost antenna needed tuning... but at that moment—

"What? Do I have something on me? Why are you staring?"

"No, uh, um..., what's this?"

With Grace suddenly coming close enough that I could feel her breath on my face, I finally noticed something reflected in her eyes. Something small that had stealthily flown toward me from above her shoulder.

When I reached out my hand toward the tiny creature, it seemed to sense I meant no harm and naturally landed on the back of my hand. Grace closed her eyes gently, probably thinking I was going to pat her forehead or remove a leaf.

But when my outstretched hand didn't move toward her, she slowly opened her eyes and—

"Ah! Good grief! What is that?"

"Don't ask me... You're the one who's been carrying it around."

She took a startled step back at the sight of the fairy.

Enjoy the chappy!