John Wick - Chapter 114: New Operator Skills and the Adjudicator (Patreon)

At six in the morning, Nate woke up and lay in bed idly browsing the System Store to see if there was anything else worth buying.

As he scrolled, his finger suddenly stopped.

His eyes widened slightly, and he immediately opened several items to check their effects.

[Sonic Trap: Once deployed, enemies entering the trap’s range automatically trigger a sonic blast that deals damage and applies slow and stagger effects. Effective radius: 10 meters. Duration: 20 seconds. 150 Resource Points each.]

[Volt Arrow: When activated, releases an electric grid within a 5-meter radius centered on the arrow, dealing damage and paralyzing enemies. Duration: 10 seconds. 200 Resource Points for three arrows.]

[Detection Arrow: When activated, automatically scans for sentry units along its flight path, ignoring building cover, and reveals their positions within range. 300 Resource Points per arrow.]

“???”

Nate shot upright in bed.

“System, why didn’t I see these last time?!”

The last time he had browsed the System Store, he had gone through it several times and only found Vyron and Hackclaw’s skills.

He had assumed those were the only ones available.

A cold line of text appeared on the panel.

[The System Store refreshes once a week.]

“So every week, three types of Operator equipment or skills can appear?”

[Yes.]

Then he definitely needed to stock up.

The last time he tested Hackclaw’s Data Knife, its effect had been far stronger than in the game. One throw had knocked out the power across an entire residential district.

Skills like these were way too useful not to hoard.

The store only refreshed once a week. Once these disappeared, who knew when he would see them again?

Stock up.

Stock up.

Stock up!

Ten sets of each to start.

That came to only 6,500 Resource Points.

Not bad.

Cheap enough.

Wait.

Detection Arrows were too useful.

He needed another ten.

There went another 3,000 Resource Points.

Looking at the Backpack now packed with arrows, Nate felt an immediate sense of satisfaction.

He had already figured out exactly how to use them.

Indoor assaults were incredibly dangerous for ordinary people.

Against an opponent on your own level, no matter how well you cleared angles or how quickly your teammates covered you, all you could really do was reduce your chances of getting shot.

But if he fired one of these arrows into a building before entering CQB, the enemy positions would be completely exposed.

Then he could just pull out the Barrett and shoot straight through the walls.

CQB?

With something like this, only an idiot would still bother with CQB.

[Current Resource Points: 25,015/64,000]

Once his excitement died down, Nate suddenly realized something.

He had the arrows now.

But he didn’t have a bow.

Would they still activate if he used a different one?

“No. I need to test this.”

Nate put on his suit and hurried straight to the Sommelier.

It was still early, and the Sommelier had clearly only just arrived.

He was adjusting his collar, and the necklace he normally wore wasn’t even on yet.

When he saw Nate enter, he calmly put the necklace on, turned around, and spoke with his usual elegance.

“Good morning, Mr. Lin. A pleasure to see you again. How may I assist you?”

“Morning. Do you have bows and arrows?”

“Of course. What exactly are you looking for?”

Nate thought for a moment.

Hawkeye’s bow came to mind.

“Lightweight, accurate, and preferably foldable.”

“Certainly.”

The Sommelier smiled and took a long black rectangular case from a cabinet.

“Allow me to recommend this custom Hoyt ‘Bison’ hunting recurve bow.”

“The entire bow is constructed from carbon fiber and aerospace-grade aluminum alloy, reducing its weight as much as possible while maintaining structural strength.”

“The Aralever limb system makes the draw exceptionally smooth. There is also a button on the grip that instantly reduces the bow’s length by half, while specialized mechanisms on the limbs adjust the bowstring length.”

The Sommelier demonstrated.

He pressed the button, and the limbs instantly folded inward as the string retracted into the mechanisms along both sides.

Then he pressed the button again and flicked the bow outward.

The string extended, the limbs unfolded, and the weapon returned to full size.

That was cool.

Nate had always thought Hawkeye looked ridiculously cool whenever he flicked his bow open in the movies.

“Because of the folding mechanism, the draw weight is limited to forty-five pounds, but that should still be sufficient for most situations.”

“Of course, you may need some training before you can use it proficiently.”

“Oh, and I’ll include two quivers of arrows for practice.”

“That comes to three gold coins. You still have complimentary credit remaining, so there will be no charge this time.”

The Sommelier paused, then smiled.

“And since you’re one of my best customers, I’d like to give you something personally.”

“What is it?” Nate asked curiously.

“I’ve heard that your skill with throwing knives is exceptional, so I thought this might suit you.”

The Sommelier took a small square box from a drawer and handed it to Nate.

It was surprisingly heavy.

Nate opened it and found a deck of playing cards inside.

He picked one up and tested the feel.

It was made of metal and slightly thicker than an ordinary playing card.

All four corners had sharpened edges, and the entire card gleamed gold, giving it an unusually refined appearance.

Something with sharpened edges should count as a blade, right?

Nate weighed the card in his hand and looked at the Sommelier.

The Sommelier immediately understood and smiled.

“It isn’t gold. The surface is merely coated with an oxidation-resistant layer.”

“It’s simply a personal gift from me. I hope you enjoy it.”

“Thanks. This is pretty nice.”

Nate said goodbye, picked up the bow and arrows, and turned toward the range.

He had only taken a few steps when the Sommelier’s British accent sounded behind him.

“Enjoy your stay, Mr. Lin.”

Nate’s mouth twitched.

That damn sense of ceremony.

Nate arrived at the archery range.

Before coming over, he had slipped a few of his new “special toys” into the quiver.

At this hour, the range was practically empty.

Other than the attendant, there was no one around.

There was a dedicated archery section with a target roughly thirty meters away.

Nate nocked an arrow and drew the bow to test it.

He could pull it back, but reaching full draw took some effort.

After holding it there for a moment, his shoulders were already starting to ache.

He released.

The arrow struck dead center.

Nate blinked.

He hadn’t even aimed.

He didn’t even know how you were supposed to aim a bow.

He fired another arrow.

Bullseye again.

Was thirty meters just too close?

Nate frowned, stepped farther back, switched to an Volt Arrow, and fired again.

Another bullseye.

But the arrow didn’t discharge any electricity.

Nate walked over, pulled out the Volt Arrow, and examined it closely.

Near the rear of the shaft, he noticed a small rotating mechanism.

He twisted it.

A blue light immediately appeared at the arrowhead.

He twisted it back, and the light disappeared.

The Detection Arrow used essentially the same mechanism, except its light was red and gave off waves resembling sonar pulses.

Good.

As long as they worked.

Nate continued testing how accurately he could shoot.

After a series of shots, he figured out his limits.

Within forty meters, he could hit the bullseye.

Within sixty meters, he could reliably hit the target.

And he still wasn’t actually aiming.

He was doing it entirely by feel.

Seriously, how were you even supposed to aim one of these hunting bows?

Maybe [Firearm Proficiency] was somehow helping.

But did a bow really count as a firearm?

Shouldn’t arrows count as projectiles?

Projectiles?

Wait.

Nate stood thirty meters from the target, picked up an arrow, and casually flicked his wrist.

Whoosh!

The arrow shot through the air and buried itself in the target.

Nate grinned.

Now that was the proper way to use it.

The attendant had been watching him the entire time.

When he saw that, his eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open.

He stood frozen for several seconds before finally asking,

“Sir... how did you do that?”

Nate waved dismissively.

“Nothing special. I was born ridiculously strong~”

The attendant pursed his lips and reluctantly looked away.

Nate’s phone vibrated.

A message had appeared in the group chat.

Elena and John were calling him back for breakfast.

He checked the time.

Just after seven.

Nate picked up the bow and arrows and headed back.

He was in an excellent mood.

He had just gained another option for dealing with enemies.

Whether he ever needed to use it or not didn’t matter.

One more option meant one more possibility.

As Nate passed through the lobby, the receptionist greeted him.

He nodded back.

At that moment, a figure dressed in black with a crew cut entered through the hotel doors.

They held their head high and slowly surveyed the lobby as though inspecting their own territory.

Then, carrying a bag, they walked unhurriedly toward the front desk.

Even from where Nate stood, he could feel the arrogance radiating from them.

“Welcome to the Rome Continental Hotel. How may I assist you?”

The newcomer wore gloves.

Without saying a word, they casually took a black coin from their bag, placed it on the counter, and slid it toward the receptionist.

Then they tilted their head and stared silently at her.

The young Black woman behind the desk immediately became serious.

She picked up the badge, examined it carefully, then respectfully returned it.

After that, she slowly reached for the phone and dialed a number.

“Sir,” the receptionist said quietly, “an Adjudicator is here to see you.”