Work Text:
"The road in front of you isn't a game, but harsh reality.”
He took a deep breath. Lights flashed around him as the crowd’s cheers faded, replaced by the steady thump of his heartbeat echoing in his ears. The ball bounced rhythmically against the court, each impact syncing with his pulse. He rolled his shoulders back and straightened his stance, eyes locked on his opponent across the net. Raising the ball to arm’s length, he tightened his grip on the racket, every muscle coiled in anticipation.
Then. . . He sent the ball flying across the other side of the arena.
The return came after seconds, but he was faster, meeting it with a sharp, controlled strike.
He was Lim Tae-gyu. The man who never missed.
He lived for the thrill. Once there was a target, it fueled his veins. A desire to not let it pass him.
While he found joy in the tennis court, Tae-gyu thrived in his victories. It was more than just a game to him. It was a battlefield and he was a soldier, armed with nothing but his racket.
A ball could bounce and hit someone. But an arrow could take a life.
Tae-gyu liked to think he was in the court again, the smell of soil and the sweat trailing down his cheeks, each stream igniting his excitement.
The glass doors slid shut behind him as he stepped onto the platform, bow in hand. Golden lasers surrounded him, his eyes scrutinizing each of their movements, then they went past him and a hologram of an armed goblin with an axe flickered to life. Tae-gyu raised his bow and summoned an arrow from his mana, shooting at the monster — its remains shattered into glowing cubes and vanished.
Another beast appeared from the upper part of the wall and pounced. Tae-gyu fired at it mid-air, then spun around smoothly to dodge a holographic spear. Without missing a beat, he struck the monster and fired at another one sneaking up behind him.
Out of the corner of his eye, Tae-gyu caught a lizard darting across the wall. The archer drew another arrow, tracking its movement before letting it fly. A larger beast lunged at him from a close range, forcing him to roll across the ground to dodge the attack. He killed it instantly as he got on one knee. He nocked his next arrow and loosed it free at the incoming monster from the distance.
This was his training.
More arduous than tennis.
It was more than his sweat to spill, it took blood.
The world of hunters was not for a simple feat, it was crueller and colder, a dream of a blissful life became a mere fantasy. Running in a court turned into running in a dungeon, or a place where bloodthirsty monsters roar and snarl for the kill. Awakened beings with powers had one role: protect. They were the ones who kept humanity alive — humanity's guardians. They faced their battles without turning back, no matter their fate that awaited.
As the holographic monsters multiplied, Tae-gyu could only smirk. He was built for the battlefield. His opponent was not one person, but an army.
Lim Tae-gyu knew he was not the most powerful among all hunters. He could not transform into a beast like Baek Yoon-ho, nor could he manipulate flames like Choi Jong-in. He only had his bow and his speed. But it did not mean it would hold him back, it became a fragment of him, a different version of him who took success in defeating monsters and preventing dozens of lives from being taken.
He never chose this life. He never wished for it.
But then, while he was hitting the balls from the tennis ball machine, light suddenly engulfed him.
Thus, the famous guild master, one of the founders of the Reapers Guild, was born.
He who knew his limits, but he would not turn away from a fight.
In the wilderness roamed with magic beasts, he was no predator. But an arrow. It pierced into monster after monster, they collapsed beneath his feet as Tae-gyu proceeded to the next monsters. They came at him in a frenzy. One lunged, he swerved and dropped it with a single shot. A goblin charged next, but he fired two arrows, which soon split into more projectiles and took several enemies down.
Shooting arrows wasn’t Tae-gyu’s only skill, he had also learned hand-to-hand combat, thanks to Ma Dong-wook, who had gently insisted on teaching him. The older man’s kindness made it hard to refuse, and Tae-gyu had eventually agreed, thinking it might be a good way to pass the time. Tae-gyu thanked him in his mind as he blocked the tall goblin’s wrist, twisted it sharply, spun around, and brought it down with a powerful kick, finishing it off with a swift arrow. Just then, an axe slammed into the ground beside him. Tae-gyu dodged, bow already raised, but paused. There were more of them.
Clenching his teeth, Tae-gyu backed away and rushed to the other side of the forest. Menacing roars followed. The hunter walked briskly across the log, halting his tracks as he turned to face the orcs at the other side. They roared and held up their weapons, and even as the current coursed strongly, it did not hinder them from wading into the raging river, pushing forward against the churning water.
But little did they know, they were caught in the S-Rank's trap.
Tae-gyu raised his bow to the sky and began to pull his bowstring in repeat, letting a rain of arrows barrage upon the orcs.
As sharp as an arrow’s tip, it tore through the strings of life and snapped them apart. If death came in the form of a black cloak and scythe, or an entity from the underworld, this one came with a bow and a cowboy hat with a feathered mantle cape.
The athlete who competed in tennis became a hunter who hunted monsters.
The two-headed orc roared, its bellow splitting the air with a thunderous force that reeked of fear and death. But the archer stood his ground, unfazed. The creature slammed its flail into the earth, fracturing the ground with a resonance. The smaller head lolled its elongated tongue, while the larger—main—head snarled and swung the brutal weapon toward the hunter. Tae-gyu dove aside, dodging the blow, then countered swiftly, unleashing two arrows that struck deep into the orc’s shoulder. The smaller head groaned in agony, but it angered the larger one.
The orc dragged its weapon once more, but Tae-gyu charged forward, sprinting straight at the monster. With a burst of momentum, he hauled himself onto its massive arm, aggravating it twofold. Its fist swung toward him, but the hunter leapt upward, stepping on it to launch himself through the air. He stretched his bowstring taut and summoned a tremendous arrow, power surging through him.
He smirked. “Bullseye.”
Releasing the arrow, its sharp tip struck the behemoth, swallowing the entire place with explosion.