After downing the Lumina Sight Potions, Kaito and his party immediately felt the effect. Their vision expanded, sharpened, and cleared by the +10 boost to visual range. The once-impenetrable fog that blanketed the Misty Valley dispersed before their eyes, no longer able to cloud their senses. More importantly, the illusionary effects of the Mist Illusion Formation were rendered powerless.
The dense haze that had trapped countless players in endless circles was gone. What had seemed like a twisting labyrinth was, in truth, nothing more than a straight road concealed by illusion. The real difficulty of the formation had never been the terrain itself, but the way the mist corrupted the mind, disorienting those who stepped inside until they believed themselves lost in a maze.
Now, however, Genesis advanced steadily along the revealed path. No more tricks. No more confusion. Just the clear way forward.
At the far end of the valley, the fog parted to reveal an unexpected sight. A man stood there as if he had been waiting for them all along. He was dressed in scholarly yellow robes, his posture relaxed, a hookah pipe in one hand from which thin wisps of fragrant smoke drifted lazily into the air. Beside him sat a woven basket filled with assorted items, their faint glow betraying their unusual nature.
Kaito's eyes lit up in recognition. This wasn't just some wandering NPC merchant or bystander. He knew exactly who this man was—and what his presence signified.
When Kaito and his party laid eyes on the robed figure at the end of the valley, a faint ripple stirred in the air, and a translucent panel surfaced before them.
Bard – Level 15
Health: ???
Attack: ???
Skills: ????
Note: This is a wandering Bard near South Glade Town. Perhaps you can gain unexpected benefits from him.
The system's note made the figure look harmless, almost inviting. Many players in the past had assumed this Bard was an NPC who carried quests or rare goods. But Kaito's eyes narrowed, for he knew better.
The Bard wasn't a quest-giver. He was no merchant either. This robed man was, in truth, a humanoid boss monster—a yellow weasel demon adept in illusions. The refined figure with his pipe and basket of goods was nothing but a conjured disguise. In Kaito's past life, the revelation had thrown countless players into chaos. At first, they had approached him casually, only to be ambushed by his strange, illusion-laced abilities. By the time his true form was revealed, confusion and panic had already spread through the ranks. It had taken over a thousand players from South Glade Town to finally bring the creature down.
This time, however, Kaito intended to rewrite history. He wanted to defeat the Bard with nothing more than his Genesis squad.
He gave a single nod toward Mei Rin. She tightened her grip on her bow.
Kiting—the art of striking while keeping distance—was one of the fundamentals for any archer or ranger. Before arriving here, Kaito had taken the time to drill Mei Rin in both kiting movement and a special trick he had remembered from his previous life. Though she had been skeptical at first, she trusted her brother's judgment.
Hiding with the others behind a massive tree trunk, Mei Rin slowly raised her bow. As she drew back the string, her fingers didn't simply pull—it twisted. She wove the string into a thin spiral, the tension changing as it vibrated with a strange hum. An energy arrow began to take form, glowing faintly as she leveled her aim.
Curiously, she did not point the arrow directly at the Bard. Instead, she angled her shot slightly to his left.
This isn't right… she had thought the first time Kaito explained it. But now, with him watching, she released without hesitation.
Whoosh!
The arrow split through the air, veering wide at first—then abruptly curved in mid-flight, snapping back toward the Bard like a predator correcting its course.
The Bard stiffened, startled, as the arrow pierced into him. A damage number floated above his head. His illusion-woven expression faltered for just a breath.
Kaito's lips curved. Good.
Mei Rin didn't pause. She loosed again.
The Bard snarled, his eyes narrowing as he scanned for the attacker. Though the group was concealed, he had seen the direction from which the arrow had flown. With surprising agility, he leapt into the air, aiming to descend on their position.
Thwip!
Another arrow struck him mid-leap, the twisting force knocking his body backward. He staggered in the air, suspended for an instant before gravity could reclaim him.
Thwip! Thwip!
Two more arrows followed, each infused with the same spiraling force. The Bard's body jerked under the impacts, refusing to touch the ground. Each strike carried not only penetration but lift, bouncing him higher, chaining him helplessly in midair.
Kaito's cousins froze, eyes widening in disbelief.
"What… what is this?" someone whispered.
Before their eyes, Mei Rin was performing a feat none of them had ever seen before—aerial locking. The twisting string arrow technique that Kaito had taught her allowed her arrows to curve mid-flight, spin with brutal penetration, and most importantly, control the enemy's positioning. The Bard, a boss who had once terrified thousands, was now being toyed with in the air by a single archer.
Mei Rin's face flushed under their stares. She lowered her gaze briefly, then tilted her chin toward Kaito as if to say, it wasn't me—it was him.
Her cousins turned to Kaito, their eyes alight with admiration and envy. Their expressions all but shouted the same plea:
Teach me. Teach me. Teach me too.
Kaito only smirked. This was just the beginning.
....
Kaito watched the chained hits with a faint, satisfied smile. The technique wasn't something he'd invented on the spot. In his previous life, he'd studied it frame by frame from a master ranger's tutorial video—an obscure upload that many archers across Genesis tried to imitate, and almost all failed. The twisting string arrow wasn't just about curving a shot. It demanded a sharp mind, precise spatial sense, and the experience to read how an enemy's body would move between hits.
Most importantly, the first arrow's impact point had to be treated as the anchor for the second. Miss that alignment by even a hand's breadth and the follow-up knockback would slip, the chain collapsing back into ordinary chip damage. By contrast, Mei Rin's opening shot had landed perfectly—part luck, part nerve. With each subsequent release, she used that first impact's position and angle to "catch" the Bard in the air again, keeping him juggled where he couldn't counter.
In Glory, enemies knocked airborne suffer combo damage—a multiplier that grows with each successful hit before they touch ground. Typically, only warrior-type classes have the built-in launchers and follow-ups to capitalize on that window. Rangers rarely get the chance. But today, because Kaito drilled the sequence early and Mei Rin trusted the method under pressure, a ranger was delivering the kind of sustained aerial punishment usually reserved for melee specialists.
A strangled snarl tore from the Bard. The genteel mask slipped. Yellow smoke bled from his sleeves; the basket rattled; the hookah's bowl cracked with a pop. Then came a guttural roar that shook the mist itself.
Illusion peeled away like shedding skin.
The robed figure expanded violently, bones creaking, tendons bulging, posture hunching as the pleasant human silhouette shed into bestial reality: a yellow weasel demon, over three meters tall, hide matted in coarse tawny-brown fur, muzzle split by needle teeth. His eyes burned a cold, cunning gold; the air around him stank of musk and old smoke.
A new panel slammed into place:
Raging Weasel (Mysterious Iron)
Level: 15
Health: 102,500 / 125,300
Attack: 800+