Second World Online

Time continued to crawl past midnight inside the virtual world of Second World Online. Inside the stuffy "Waterwheel" workshop, the constant ringing of a hammer striking the forging anvil echoed loudly. The heat from the steel melting furnace made my silver hair cling to my forehead from sweat.

I stood in front of my worktable, which was now covered with mechanical design sketches and dozens of failed small brass cartridge prototypes. My eyes were red not only because of the natural color of my avatar, but also from the fatigue of staring at microscopic metal details.

Click... Ssshhh.

A pitiful hiss of gas escaped from the eleventh Bolt Action prototype I had just assembled. The rotary locking mechanism (rotary bolt) failed to seal the breech chamber perfectly. When I performed a pressure test simulation without a bullet, hot gas leaked through the gap around the firing pin hinge.

If I used a real bullet and gunpowder under these conditions, the back-blast would instantly blind me.

Ting! [System: Synthesis Failed!]

I threw my small screwdriver onto the table in frustration. The clinking sound joined the pile of scrap metal around it.

I wiped the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand and let out a long breath heavy with disappointment.

𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"As I suspected," I muttered, leaning my back against the wooden wall of the workshop. "The Advanced Blacksmith level does have engine limitations. My skill [Porous Material Manipulation] can create plates and armor with microscopic quality, but to assemble high-speed spring and lever mechanisms simultaneously inside a sealed space... the system’s coding simply refuses to accept it."

The Second World Online system was indeed designed to be realistic, but this was still a game. If every player could create rocket launchers or insane machine guns with just metal and imagination, close-range attacker classes like Yuna and Arthur would become useless. There was definitely a Gatekeeping system that bound technological innovation to profession tiers.

To advance from Advanced to Master, I needed hundreds of thousands of profession experience points and had to fulfill a hidden requirement (Limit Break) that was different from before when it only required SP. That was not something I could achieve in a single sleepless night.

I stared at the [Primitive Smoothbore Musket V2] lying on the table. That ancient muzzle-loading rifle was indeed lethal, but its procedure was far too slow. For now, the rifle could only serve as an opening weapon (First Strike), not a primary weapon for Area of Effect or high-tempo combat (DPS).

"Enough. I have to be patient. For the time being, I must return to relying on arrows and poison as my primary weapons on the battlefield," I told myself, gathering the failed iron fragments and tossing them back into the furnace to be melted down again.

I cleaned my dirty hands in a water bucket, then sat in the rocking chair in the back room. While resting, I opened my character Status interface screen to check my attribute allocation.

========== STATUS ==========

Name : Syl

Gender : Female | Race : Elf

Trait : Albinism (Permanent) [Stamina Consumption x2 | STR & AGI -50% | INT & DEX stats doubled]

Level : 35

EXP : (50100/70500)

Health : 120 / 120

MP : 3000 / 3000

Stamina : 200 / 200

========== ATTRIBUTES ==========

STR : 6 (+1.5) (+10)

INT : 152 (+3)

DEX : 152 (+10) (+3)

AGI : 3

VIT : 2

Attribute Points : 0

Skill Points : 28

My eyes fixed on those unbalanced numbers. My AGI and VIT values were pitifully low due to the Albinism curse, making me as slow as a turtle by nature and as fragile as glass.

Looking at my extremely high Intelligence (INT) and Dexterity (DEX) stats, I once again remembered the original reason I had designed this extreme build. It was all purely out of necessity. The permanent [Albinism] Trait cut my STR and AGI attributes by 50%, and in return doubled my INT and DEX gains. I had no choice at all. Becoming a close-range fighter or a pure physical archer would be suicide because my stamina leaked twice as fast and my agility was nearly nonexistent. I had to dump all my points into INT and DEX just so this character could be playable.

However, what attracted my attention the most right now was the Mana Points (MP) bar.

"Three thousand MP points..." I muttered in amazement. "My mana capacity is equivalent to a high-tier pure mage."

The Second World Online system was famous for its freedom because it did not have a binding Class or Sub-class system. Players were free to learn any ability and form their own combat style as long as they met the attribute requirements.

Many archer players learned light elemental magic merely to apply buffs to their arrows. But with 3000 MP and 152 INT, if I learned high-tier pure magic skills such as pure Fire or Wind magic, how insane would my magic damage become?

I might be able to fire a pillar of flame equal to Yuuki’s Overdrive magic with just a snap of my fingers. The combination of a sharpshooter who could spew nuclear-area magic if enemies got close sounded extremely Overpowered (OP).

"Unfortunately, Skill Points (SP) cannot be used just for experimentation," I sighed softly, looking at my remaining 28 SP. In this game, SP was extremely difficult to obtain. Learning and leveling pure offensive magic skills would mean I had to sacrifice the development of advanced bow skill trees, poison crafting, or crafting professions. The risk of ruining my build was still too great at this stage.

"Enough. I’ll focus on arrows and my mechanical rifle experiments for now."

Looking at the system clock, dawn was beginning to break inside the game. Silvergrass Village was starting to wake with the sounds of farmer NPCs and the distant ringing of blacksmiths.

My virtual muscles itched to move after a full night of staying still in the workshop. I needed an outlet, a hunt, and exotic materials that might help me perfect this rifle.

I put on Kitsuna’s masterpiece White Military Uniform once more, ensuring the mantle fit perfectly. On my shoulder hung the Titan’s Ironbark Compound Bow, while the Primitive Smoothbore Musket V2 and several Lead Balls were stored in my quick-access inventory slots.

My destination today was no longer the Obsidian Forest. I opened the holographic map and directed the cursor to the eastern side of Silvergrass Village: Area 3 - Sun-scorched Savanna.

That region was known for monsters with extraordinary mobility and running speed, making it a nightmare for slow players like me. One of its main terrors was a flock of Ironbeak Ostriches, monsters whose running speed matched that of racehorses.

"Ostriches that run as fast as lightning?" a challenging smile painted itself on my lips. "Let’s test whether those giant bird legs can run faster than a lead bullet’s charge."

Moreover, at the eastern edge of that map lay a new large city, Gale-Wind City, the center of magic material and technology trade. If I wanted to find blueprints or a Master Engineer, that city was the logical destination.

I walked away from the village. The moment I broke through the outer forest, dry hot air immediately swept over me. The green scenery was replaced by an endless yellowing savanna grassland. The wind blew strongly, parting the waist-high grass.

Not even ten minutes into the walk, my Elf hearing caught the sound of heavy, high-speed footsteps striking the dry ground.

From behind a small hill, thick dust billowed. Three giant birds more than two meters tall appeared, running at extraordinary speed. Their bronze feathers were dull, and their black beaks gleamed sharply.

[Ironbeak Ostrich - Lv. 37]

[Ironbeak Ostrich - Lv. 37]

[Ironbeak Ostrich - Lv. 38]

The moment their eyes locked onto my white figure, they sharply turned and targeted me.

For a normal player, this speed was lethal. Especially for me, whose base AGI was only 3. However, I did not rely on pure running speed. I relied on the processing reflexes of 152 DEX and the miracle of the basic wind magic skill I possessed.

Instead of panicking, my hand reached into empty air and summoned the Primitive Smoothbore Musket V2 into my grip. I had already loaded the gunpowder using the brass Powder Measure before setting out.

I pressed the wooden stock against my shoulder. The Level 38 ostrich shot forward from its colony; the distance remaining was thirty meters. Its steel beak was ready to spear my chest.

"Focus," I whispered. The Focus skill from Bow Mastery activated, locking onto my target.

Click! DOOOMM!

A cloud of gunpowder smoke exploded from the rifle barrel. The recoil kicked my shoulder, but I absorbed it with my stance. The lead ball shot forth, ignoring the savanna wind, and slammed straight through the chest of the giant ostrich.

[-6,800 Physical/Piercing Damage!]

[Lethal Hit! Armor Ignore!]

Its bronze feathers tore open instantly. The extreme momentum of the projectile flipped the massive Level 38 monster’s body backward; it tumbled for a dozen meters before shattering into pixel dust.

The other two ostriches braked suddenly. The sound of my rifle triggered a natural fear effect. They screeched in panic and turned to flee.

Because my rifle needed 15 seconds to reload, I immediately stored it and summoned the Titan’s Ironbark Compound Bow.

Even though my AGI was crippled, I chanted the skill [Wind Walk]. Wind wrapped around my boots, pushing my body forward and covering the deficiency in my running stats.

While gliding forward carried by the wind, I drew the bowstring and used [Rapid Shot]. Although the damage was reduced to 70%, it was already enough to kill prey running away from me.

DZHANG-DZHANG!

Two arrows shot with precision, piercing the backs of both monsters and dropping the remaining bars of their HP.

[Gained 12,000 EXP!]

[Obtained 3x Ironbeak Core]

The savanna plain that had been noisy earlier returned to silence. I smiled in satisfaction, letting the wind sweep the residual rifle smoke from the muzzle of my weapon. On the eastern horizon, the silhouette of Gale-Wind City began to appear, challenging the skyline.