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Chapter 3: I Still Want to Shoot (3)

“I can’t believe it’s so similar.”

Sang-Hyeon felt surprised at the accuracy of this virtual reality Olympics.

— Wooohooo!

— Yu Sang-Hyeon! Yu Sang-Hyeon!

— Ah, player Yu Sang-Hyeon has stepped up with his bow. What do you think? Player Yu Sang-Hyeon has shown genius potential since a young age and…

The cheering and the commentators he occasionally heard during his athlete days made him nervous as if he actually competed at the Olympics.

Ba-dump. Ba-dump.?

It shouldn’t have been possible, but he could hear his heartbeat thumping in his ears. His virtual lips also felt dry.

A familiar target stood 70 meters out with multiple colored circles: red, yellow, and blue. His dream finally appeared in front of him. How long had it been since he stood like this?

“Whew.”

Sang-Hyeon immediately pulled back an arrow to feel it out. Keeeeek.?The sound and sense of nocking an arrow felt familiar. His heart raced at the vivid sensation.

‘I-It really works?’

A problem always arose when he assumed the holding position after pulling the string. He looked at his right hand.

“…!”

His right hand should’ve been trembling by now, but it firmly pulled on the string as if nothing ever happened.

Sang-Hyeon froze for a moment as his throat tightened.

“…”

He swallowed what could’ve been sadness or joy and carefully felt the bow.

‘It’s a bit different.’

The string’s tension based on his strength, the grip, etc. The tiny details definitely felt off, but none of that mattered. He could get used to this toy bow as long as he could pull the string like normal.

‘Let’s do this.’?

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Sang-Hyeon entered the battle between himself and the arrow. Archery was always a silent war between oneself and the arrow. Players had to make the arrow theirs in this silent battle of blood.

It began with a full draw. This essential prelude occurred when he pulled the arrow into the position that suited him best. The right hand’s accuracy and steadiness were key in the full draw stage, so it had been a while for Sang-Hyeon.

Keeek!?However, the string rested on his nose and lips as if he did it yesterday. His right hand instinctively sat beneath his chin in the perfect holding position.

His hold felt perfect, but…

‘The bow’s weight and the string’s tension are lower than I thought. Is it so beginners can do it too?’

The lightness actually felt uncomfortable. He didn’t feel the familiar weight, so he exerted more strength than necessary and his aim began to wobble.

“Again.”

Eventually, he lowered his bow and arrow without shooting.

***

Ju-Hyeok and the owner gulped when Sang-Hyeon nocked an arrow. The look in his eyes suddenly changed.

“D-Dang, pros are something else. His stance is on another level!”

“Y-Yeah, I’ve only heard about it. It’s my first time seeing it too.”

Ju-Hyeok never knew Sang-Hyeon could make such an expression.

‘That’s Yu Sang-Hyeon?’

Sang-Hyeon only aimed his bow inside a game, but it made anyone watching feel like they were being hunted. Silence descended like a fog. If the wind blew, it probably would’ve stopped for him.

“Huh? Why isn’t he shooting?”

“…?”

Sang-Hyeon suddenly placed his bow and arrow down.

“Does the issue with his right hand still affect him mentally?”

Ju-Hyeok bit his lower lip and the owner spoke up from next to him.

“I’ve seen this happen before in the Olympics. You know how players do that sometimes. It’s not a good sign, but it’s not something special either.”

“Ah, right.”

“He must be too nervous.”

Ju-Hyeok recalled how an Olympic archer raised his bow and arrow before resting it back down. Athletes also struggled with anxiety and pressure during competitions.

‘Sang-Hyeon? Nervous?’

Yu Sang-Hyeon became nervous from a mere virtual reality game? Ju-Hyeok couldn’t imagine that because he knew how Sang-Hyeon acted at work. That guy always seemed laid-back about everything.

‘He must really like it.’?Ju-Hyeok realized how much Sang-Hyeon loved archery and how much he must’ve missed it. He could tell from Sang-Hyeon’s gestures, expressions, and even his breathing.

His nervousness made sense. It probably felt like seeing your crush again after a long time. ‘Wasn’t money just an excuse?’

It didn’t seem like Sang-Hyeon wanted to make money through gaming. More like he wanted to use that as an excuse to shoot again. He wanted to escape the boring work life and return to archery in this vast field. His grandmother passed away some time ago too.

Sang-Hyeon only attended work because of his grandmother. A year had passed since her funeral. He probably wanted to let go of that burden and do what his heart told him.

‘What his heart guides him to do…’?

It had nothing to do with Ju-Hyeok, but his heart began to race too. How did it feel to do what your heart wanted and become the best in that field? Ju-Hyeok had never experienced that before.

“Hey, he’s nocking the arrow again.”

The owner nudged Ju-Hyeok’s shoulder.

“Whoa…”

It happened so quickly Ju-Hyeok could only react like that.

Pew!?

Sang-Hyeon shot the arrow like a stream of water.

“!”

His arrow seemed different even to Ju-Hyeok’s untrained eyes.

“Wh-What the?” the owner exclaimed. The arrow didn’t land yet, but they already knew it would hit the bull’s eye when Sang-Hyeon released it.

Ffft!

“Whoa!”

“Who is he? This is different from the archery I know!”

Most people had only ever seen archery competitions between top pros. The general public didn’t watch unless it happened at the Olympics.

However, Sang-Hyeon seemed to be above what they had seen before. They didn’t know much, but it clearly seemed like that?. Just like how Kim Yuna’s double axle looked more elegant than other skaters' unstable triple axles.

Sang-Hyeon’s archery had another layer to it. Pew! He shot another arrow and it naturally landed in the center as if sucked in. Pew!?Three consecutive shots all scored ten points.

Sang-Hyeon didn’t stop there. He instantly shot two more. Pew! Pew! The target almost seemed pitiful after that.

Ten!?

Ten!

No tension remained and the voices shouting the perfect scores became pointless. Sang-Hyeon continued shooting and every arrow perfectly struck the center.

Ju-Hyeok thought the phrase, ‘Easy as one, two, three,’ had been made after seeing Sang-Hyeon’s archery.

“You said it would be different from real life though.”

“Uh, yeah… A lot of athletes can’t get used to it, but he’s different. They usually struggle at the beginning and improve later. That guy…”

The owner scratched his head.

“I don’t know anything about archery, but isn’t he different? He’s on another level. Is that the archery we know?”

Ju-Hyeok told him that Sang-Hyeon had been South Korea’s youngest gold medalist at nationals.

“The youngest?”

“Yeah, he told me over some drinks.”

“If it’s Korea’s national competition, then doesn’t that basically make him the youngest world champion ever?”

“He was supposed to be.”

“That’s incredible. I guess it looks different to even ordinary people if you’re on that level.”

Loud cheers came from the monitor.

— Woooohoooo!

— A perfect score! All in the center of the target! Incredible!

— Oh my, I can’t believe it! He broke the record for shooting time too! This is unbelievable!

The game ended with Sang-Hyeon shooting every arrow into the very center.

Ssssss. The capsule lid slowly lifted with the sound of air being released. Ju-Hyeok thought Sang-Hyeon would confidently sit up and smile, but he didn’t come out.

“What’s taking him so long?”

Ju-Hyeok approached thinking this idiot didn’t know how to exit the capsule.

“Dude, do you not know…”

However, Ju-Hyeok paused when he looked inside.

Sang-Hyeon was crying with tears all over his face. He sobbed as if letting out all the emotions from the ten years he couldn’t hold a bow.