The relentless rain kept falling as a girl ran for shelter inside a cave.
"Damn rain!" the girl exclaimed.
She sat down at the entrance, watching the downpour with a melancholic expression.
"Now I'm cold..."
A moment later, her stomach growled.
"And I'm hungry too..."
Looking up, she noticed through the trees that the sun was setting.
"Going out to look for food now is out of the question. I'll have to survive on fasting today."
Her stomach growled again.
"I miss my fridge... the walls of my home..."
She paused for a moment.
"My family..."
The girl was on the verge of tears, but she held them back.
"I can't cry. If I want to see them again, I have to stay strong!"
Then she reasoned further.
"Stronger than 800 million boys and girls in the same shitty situation as me..."
She sank into depression.
"That's impossible."
She looked up and opened her status screen, where her full name appeared: Amina Juma.
Amina's dark braids, streaked with deep-night blue reflections, shifted slightly as she spoke. Her face naturally drew attention without asking permission. In her brown eyes, something unstable lingered—an ever-changing emotion that never stayed still long enough to be fully read.
"I'm still level one. If I don't level up quickly, the others will pull ahead of me."
Amina picked up her bow and stood.
"Silent Firmament, that's the name of this divine bow."
She examined it through the system.
"It even has a unique skill: Celestial Trace."
[Fired arrows experience reduced air resistance, increasing accuracy and speed over long distances.]
[Effect: +8 Vision, +5 Dexterity.]
[Duration: 15 seconds. Cooldown: 45 seconds.]
"So it reduces air resistance... meaning it doesn't lose that much speed either."
She stood up and drew her bow, manifesting an arrow.
"Let's try without the skill first."
She fired at a tree, but missed as the arrow dropped short.
Amina sank into depression again.
"I'm useless..."
[Skill activated: Celestial Trace.]
"Let's see what changes."
Amina drew her bow again, an arrow forming in her grip.
The moment it was released, a thin silver trail lingered in the air for an instant before fading away.
She noticed something, stunned.
It's staying in the air...
The arrow cut through the rain without being affected, as if the droplets couldn't even touch it.
Finally, it embedded itself in the tree.
Amina was speechless.
She stared at the arrow.
Then she broke into a huge grin and started bouncing with excitement.
"This is insane! I did it!"
[Skill effect ended.]
"This skill is insanely strong. Not only does it improve my accuracy, but just like the description says—it reduces air resistance. So it doesn't lose speed and doesn't change direction."
She examined the bow again.
"So in extreme cases, I can use this skill and shoot straight at an enemy... it'd be like a guaranteed hit!"
She drew the bow again with an amused expression.
"Though I'd like to learn how to use it without relying on skills."
She shot another arrow.
Then another.
She kept going until she fell asleep inside the cave from exhaustion.
[The next morning]
Amina woke up with her bow still in her right hand.
It was still raining.
"It's already morning... and it's still raining..."
Her stomach growled again.
"You're complaining first thing in the morning too?" she said, resigned.
Then she looked at her bow with excitement.
"What do you say... we go practice a bit?"
She froze.
"I just talked to a bow..."
She stood up and stepped outside for a moment.
"I didn't even want to get wet..."
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps in the forest startled her.
Seriously!? They're coming this way!
Quickly, she rushed back into the cave and went deeper inside, hiding behind a rock.
"Come here, girls!" a male voice said as he approached the cave.
"This seems safe."
The person who entered was Dalai, followed by Dana and Estrella, still limping.
Amina watched them anxiously.
How am I supposed to get out of this situation!?
"Well..."
Dana helped Estrella lean against the cave wall.
Estrella looked at Dana with a sad expression.
"Sorry... you're basically carrying me around like a sack of potatoes."
"Don't worry. Let's just treat this as training," Dalai replied jokingly.
While checking the cave, he got hit by a small stone thrown by Dana, who clearly didn't approve of the joke.
Dana adjusted Estrella's position and smiled at her.
"We're here to help each other. I know you would've done the same if I were in your place," Dana said, standing up.
Estrella felt relieved by her words.
Dana turned around and noticed wet footprints leading deeper into the cave.
Her eyes widened.
Then she immediately looked at Dalai.
"Dalai, watch out! There's someone here!"
Dalai turned toward Dana, right near the rock where Amina had been hiding.
Amina took advantage of the distraction, grabbed his spear, and held him hostage.
"Shit! Not again!" Dalai exclaimed, his expression tense.
"Don't move or this ends badly!" Amina threatened.
"I swear I'm not moving!"
Dana grabbed her sword with a tense expression.
I didn't notice those footprints… I was too focused on Estrella!
Amina quickly assessed the situation.
"You, drop that sword!" she said loudly.
"Only if you don't do anything stupid!" Dana replied.
"If you do, nothing will happen... trust me."
Dana hesitated, then eventually let go of her sword.
"Good... now step away from the entrance."
Dana did as she was told and moved aside.
Amina threw Dalai's spear away from the entrance, then shoved him back and ran out of the cave.
Dana and Estrella watched her disappear into the rain.
Dalai, still on the ground, slammed his fist into the earth.
"Damn it… always us!"
Dana approached to check on him.
"Yeah..."
Amina ran as far as she could from the cave, then stopped, panting heavily as she leaned against a tree.
"Lucky me..." she said breathlessly, holding her knees.
As she caught her breath, she replayed what had just happened… then smiled, almost excited.
"Just like in a movie..."