Chapter 66

News that the guild house had burned down spread through the guild in an instant. The members, shocked as if struck by lightning, dropped whatever they were doing and rushed to Lucilvania—only to find the building charred black, nothing left but a brittle frame.

While everyone stood there in stunned silence, watching the remains of their home, a commotion was breaking out at the corner of the street—Noquia was still being grabbed and shaken by Father.

“You burned it down, you little firebug! You firebug!”

“Boss—oh, boss, I admit it was my fault, I really—ow, ow, ow!”

Curled up and taking a beating at the end of the alley, Noquia looked pitiful. Blaine, Bastard Kid, Mastar, and Marco ran over, insisting it was partly their fault too, trying to defend her. But Father wasn’t having any of it.

In the end, Noquia was made to shoulder the entire cost of rebuilding the guild house. The others—except Blaine—offered to chip in under “joint responsibility,” but Noquia refused with a wave of her hand, saying she wouldn’t take money from “kids with pocket change.” She tried to look cool about it, but inside, she was weeping blood.

After emptying her account to pay for reconstruction, the guild house was restored in the blink of an eye. Even the worn-out corners looked new again. Everyone buzzed around admiring how “it’s like a brand-new house,” but Noquia just sat alone at the central hall table like a dazed drifter. The display hovering above her hands read:

Father didn’t care whether Noquia burned out or broke down—she was busy rearranging furniture and tools inside the newly restored guild house. While helping Father with the setup, Mastar noticed a stranger loitering at the entrance.

He had never seen this person before, but the way the stranger kept glancing inside suggested he had business there. Mastar informed Father of the visitor, and she finally straightened her back and turned toward the entrance.

It was someone she didn’t recognize either. Dusting off her hands, she walked down the steps, and when the stranger spotted her, he gave a polite bow and introduced himself.

“Hello. My name is Jurz.”

“What brings you here…?”

“It’s nothing complicated. There’s someone named Theo in this guild, right?”

Father blinked, glanced once at Jurz and then over her shoulder toward the hall, before slowly nodding.

“I was one of the party members who ran a dungeon with Theo yesterday,” he said. “I had something I wanted to ask him, so… I hope it’s not too much trouble that I came by.”

His attitude was polite from start to finish. And whatever it was he wanted to ask Theo, it didn’t sound trivial. Father granted him permission to come in, and Jurz stepped inside, hesitating slightly.

After sending Mastar to fetch Theo, Father guided Jurz to the central hall.

Everyone tried not to stare but failed—every gaze trailed after the unfamiliar visitor.
Father led him to a table as if nothing were unusual, while Holanghee and Noquia exchanged questioning looks that said, Who’s this guy?

Before Father could answer, Theo came down with Mastar. Father told Jurz to wait for a moment, then approached Theo.

“Hey, do you know that person?”

Standing between Theo and Jurz to block their view of each other, Father asked quietly.
Still confused about why he’d been called, Theo peeked past her shoulder.

A face that wasn’t exactly familiar—but not a stranger, either.

Where have I seen him before…?

After a moment’s thought, Theo recalled he was one of the players who’d joined him in the Hexi’s Castle run.

“I think he’s one of the guys I cleared the dungeon with yesterday. Why?”

“He says he’s got something to ask you.”

“Me?”

When Theo repeated the word in puzzlement, Father nodded and stepped aside. Theo, still looking baffled, approached the table.

As Theo drew near, Jurz stood and gave a polite bow.

“Hello, Mr. Theo.”

“Ah, hello.”

After exchanging greetings, Theo gestured for him to sit, then took the seat across from him. Father, Holanghee, and Noquia all stood behind Theo—forming an unintended wall of guards. Up on the second-floor railing, Blaine and the others were peering down.

“I’m not sure if you remember me from the dungeon yesterday,” Jurz began. “My name’s Jurz.”

“I remember. You were… Party Leader No. 6, right?”

“Yes.”

“You said you had business with me?”

“…I’ll be blunt. I have doubts about your damage output, Mr. Theo.”

“Huh?”

“I’m not the only one. Many players who watched you throughout the hunt yesterday shared the same suspicion.”

“What part of it, exactly?”

“I know you possess an Eternal Item. And I also know that thanks to that, your damage surpasses the usual range of a Hybrid.”

Theo’s brow furrowed slightly. Hybrid?

“But even compared to others who wield Eternal gear, the damage you dealt simply isn’t possible for an Eternal Hybrid—”

“Hold on.”

Theo raised a hand to stop him.

“Yes?”

“I’m not a Hybrid.”

“…Excuse me?”

“I’m an Origin who uses a bow.”

“That can’t be right. Sure, you mainly used a bow, but you also fought with a dagger! I—and several others—saw you clearly using one.”

Theo reached into the pocket belt strapped around his thigh and pulled out a bolt, placing it on the table.

“It’s not a dagger. It’s an arrow. A bolt.”

“What?!”

Jurz stared down at it in disbelief. But it didn’t look like an arrow at all—the blade was large, there were no feathers, and it even had a guard like a short sword. If that wasn’t a dagger, what else could it be?

He looked up at Theo, eyes filled with doubt. Does he take me for an idiot? Calling this an arrow?

“How could this possibly be an arrow?”

Jurz’s voice dropped low, edged with restrained anger. But Theo’s expression didn’t change in the slightest. Calmly, he gestured for Jurz to inspect the item.

Skeptical, Jurz opened its item window.

“?!”

It really was a bolt. Unless the system itself was lying to him.

“That arrow was made by one of our guild members, Marco. If you still doubt it, I can call him to show you the crafting log.”

Jurz just stared at Theo, speechless, mouth slightly open. Finally, still unable to process what he’d seen, he stammered out, “I… I don’t understand…”

“Why would an Origin use arrows like daggers in the first place? They don’t even deal proper damage unless they’re thrown—no, wait, that’s not even the issue. You’re an Origin who uses a bow, so how did you deal that kind of close-range damage? That’s what doesn’t make sense.”

“Because I’m not ranged.”

“What?!”

“I’m melee.”

“That’s… impossible. You’re an Origin who uses a bow, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Then how can you be melee? You use a bow!”

“My Eternal Item has melee properties.”

“What?”

“So I modified my ranged setup to count as melee so I could activate it.”

“…Is that even possible?”

“As you can see.”

Theo shrugged as if to prove his point. Jurz could only stare, stunned.

“It’s hard to believe you can deal that kind of melee damage… with a bow.”

“I built it that way—sacrificed accuracy and range to boost raw attack power. The materials weren’t ordinary, either.”

“You reduced accuracy and range? But during the hunt yesterday, your arrows never missed once.”

“I compensated for that with the materials I used. When the target was out of range, I just turned off auto-targeting and aimed manually.”

“You turned off auto-targeting to shoot?”

“Yeah. My aim’s pretty good.”

“……”

Jurz was speechless. How could someone brag so casually about something so absurd?

After that, he began asking Theo more detailed questions, like he’d finally figured something out. Theo didn’t hide anything—he explained everything, from the materials used to make the bow to how he enlarged the arrowheads for more impact.

But standing behind him, Father, Holanghee, and Noquia couldn’t shake off an uneasy feeling.

When Jurz finally finished and bowed before leaving the guild house, a large longbow was slung across his back. That only deepened their concern. From his build and gear, Jurz clearly seemed to be a Hybrid who also used a bow.

Watching Mastar see him off, Father turned toward Theo with worry in her eyes and sat beside him.

“Was it really okay to tell him all that? You basically handed over your secret recipe.”

“It’s not really a secret. And even if he knows, without an Eternal it’s impossible to replicate. He’ll end up with some half-baked build that doesn’t do anything right. He’ll realize soon enough it was a waste of time and money.”

“Still, you went through a lot of trouble to figure it out yourself. Don’t you think you gave it away too easily?”

“If I tried to hide it, it’d just make me look more suspicious. I don’t want another round of cheat accusations.”

“Fair, but… you could’ve at least charged him for it.”

“…Ah.”

Theo let out a hollow groan, then slumped forward on the table, radiating pure despair. Father and Holanghee exchanged pitying looks, shook their heads, and walked off.
Noquia, her face pale from her own financial ruin, patted Theo’s back gently.

One had no money left. The other had thrown away a chance to make some. They comforted each other in silent sympathy—two penniless comrades bound by tears and empty wallets.