Side Story: Owen the Sharpshooter

Owen was just your normal kid who went to school only because he was forced by his parents.

Other than that, he lived in his own world on autopilot.

The only reason for his existence was Ancient Scrolls. Even if it was an old game, it had everything he needed.

That was until one fateful day when he was summoned to another world.

At first, he found it difficult to understand, being taken into a dungeon while half asleep in class.

He then noticed magic, princesses, maids, castles, and towers—it was the fantasy world he had always coveted.

The only problem was the intro—it was so darn long.

Something that would be skipped in a few clicks took hours and days.

All he wanted was to start leveling himself, something he knew must have been possible as soon as one of his skills activated by mistake.

As the king ordered Brian to go up to fight, Owen was busy looking around the room.

Whatever he focused on became marked by a crosshair, like those in games.

He tried to ignore this as the day passed, but he was itching to get a bow and use it.

After the long parade, he quickly went up to Butler Alric and ordered a bow to be brought to him.

He then tried to go outside after asking for typical medieval archer attire from the maid provided to him.

He thought about having her as a follower, but then again, she just looked like a normal maid who would probably drag him down in a fight, so he told her to stay in his room or just do her thing.

Owen quickly went to the castle's gates.

He felt his stamina was endless; he imagined the green bar on his screen would be like that of an endgame character with more than 600 stamina.

As soon as he reached the gate, he checked around and was thrilled to see the guards standing about, talking with each other.

He felt a bit nervous.

Suddenly, he heard something interesting with his new hunting senses.

It was now possible to hear someone's heartbeat when Owen focused hard enough.

"Wish I could run like that boy. Too bad I took an arrow to the knee."

Owen had to stop himself from jumping in joy.

He was too thrilled and even forgot to talk to the guards who only wanted to stop him for a quick check.

The boy rushed outside where he saw rabbits and deer prancing around.

He knew he needed to level up, and there was no better way than to start practicing on the low-level mobs.

Owen spotted various deer at a distance.

He knew they would be hard to kill as he had never done so before, so he ignored them for now.

What he needed was something smaller, like a rabbit.

Within minutes of going into the forest, he heard the noise of two creatures fighting.

It was a pair of rabbits using their horns to fight each other.

[There will be no better prey than these two. They're too busy fighting to notice me...]

Owen then readied his bow.

It felt like something he had done millions of times.

He did not know if this was because he did the same while using VR or if it was just a skill given to him in this world.

It did not matter; what did matter was getting his first level up.

So, without care, the boy shot the strange monster.

What he believed would miss from never having done so in real life was just an unfounded fear.

The arrow actually split in half, or so he thought—it was more like a phantom arrow.

Along with the two kills he got, the boy heard the clear sound of a bell that indicated a level up.

"If only there was a way to check my skills, darn it!" the boy cried out, stomping his foot on the floor.

He then went to the rabbits and wondered if there was an auto storage function. He did not want to touch the corpses, even if they were cleanly killed.

After a few minutes of failing, he decided to quit.

The only way his conscience would let him move on was to bring the two creatures back with him.

He picked them up by the ears and headed back to the castle, where he would ask the guards what he should do with them.

He thought that maybe there would be a merchant nearby who would accept them and give him gold.

"That is a very nice kill, hero. I could never have done that at your age… but if you want to sell them, then you should take them to town," a guard said while inspecting the kills.

"I guess I should, huh… How long do you think it will take?" Owen asked.

"Just call for a carriage. Wait, here comes one now. They should have given you an insignia in the castle, right? Show that around, and make sure you stay near the high district—in other words, stay away from the slums." The guard then made some hand signals to attract a passing carriage, which seemed to be this world's taxis.

Owen was excited. It was an open-air carriage just like those in Ancient Scrolls. He quickly jumped in and showed his insignia.

The carriage driver, an old man, quickly nodded and took the boy to a store the guard had suggested.

"Make sure you stay away from the slums, hero. If you need to go back to the castle, look for a carriage near the government district. It's easy to find as it's near the large clock," the old driver said as he pointed to an easy-to-see landmark.

Owen nodded and watched as the vehicle went its way.

As for where he was, he stood in a town similar to Seclusion, the capital city in Ancient Scrolls V.

The town was busy as people ran to and from areas.

To Owen, though, they seemed like NPCs that he just needed to ask to get quests from.

For now, he wanted to sell the weird rabbits and find the adventurers' guild.

Entering the recommended store, he noticed various animals and meats on display.

The place smelled, but it was where he was told he would receive the most money.

He eyed the one who was probably the shopkeeper, a man wearing a bloodied apron, and immediately went into vendor mode.

"Hey there, I want to sell these two." Owen raised his hand and showed the butcher his kills.

"Why boy, I know those aren't yours… Who's the big shot that killed those so cleanly? The only problem is that they weren't bled correctly. I will have to deduct the cost of using a tool to clean the meat. I will give you ten silver for both creatures—they aren't too big, but the pelt looks good." The butcher lifted each creature to inspect them carefully.

Owen, on the other hand, did not know how much he should ask for, so he just nodded and received the money.

He quickly exited the shop after thanking the man and went looking for the guild.

If he was to go out in this new world, the first thing he needed was a knowledgeable follower.

Luckily, the townspeople were kind as he asked a few people for directions.

It was most likely a perk from being in the high-class district and also from his elegant wear, which some in town complimented.

Within fifteen minutes, he was able to find the large three-story building.

It was wide enough to be mistaken for a bank as people entered through three large doors.

Owen liked the look of the place; it was a mix between a large cottage with some Gothic mixed in.

The roof had logs held together by stone arches.

The smell was probably the worst part—sweat, beer, and the stench of dead creatures being brought in to complete guild requests.

Owen stared at the guild notice wall, where a large map was on display.

It had many colorful markers and pictures of various monsters.

The pictures moved as if they were real, capturing what they needed to hunt or what zone they needed to explore.

Everything was just as Owen imagined.

He then looked around, trying to gauge how people reacted in this world.

It was less rowdy than he expected, as groups at tables ate and drank while others stood in lines to have their kills examined or to accept a quest.

Owen ignored this for now and tried looking for someone strong who would be able to be his follower.

He imagined a strong lady who would look like his best companion in the game, Lidia.

Since he was going for the best build, the stealth archer, he needed a tank to take a few blows if things went bad in the field.

Soon, he spotted a particular well-endowed woman leaning on a wall.

She looked free enough to possibly accept his request.