Max’s senses were jolted back to those of his real body as he was forcibly disected from the game server.

  “Huh? What? Why?”

  Max exited the game capsule and looked around. To his knowledge, the only possible expnations for dise would be either a medical emergency, or someoting the emergency stop button on the capsule’s exterior.

  ‘???’

  Nobody was there. There was also no arm from the game capsule, so it wasn’t a health emergency. Max erplexed as he was left without an expnation.

  Finding his phone, he decided to call Rone. Surprisingly, Rone’s name appeared on the homes before he could even open his phone app. Max accepted the call.

  “Hey Max, were you just logged out?”

  “Yeah, I was kicked out of the game randomly. How did you know?”

  “All the livestreams are doeople are already starting to pin on the forums. It’s not just you, it looks like everyone was disected. Maybe the entire server crashed or something.”

  “Oh, man.” Max had thought it was just him. For everyoo lose e on unch day; it didn’t bode well for the game pany at all. After all, millions of people had logged in to py the game at unch. “Have Virtek put up an annou?”

  “No, not yet. It’s really strange.”

  “Huh... Well, that’s disappointing, but it’s not terrible timing for me, actually.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I have to go to work soon.”

  “Wha-? You mean you didn’t cel for the game unch?”

  “Dude, have you fotten that you gave me the game st night? As if I could have celled. The other instructor ’t even do Fridays.”

  An exaggerated groan came through the phone speaker. “Couldn’t you be less diligent for once? Seriously, who works on their birthday. You suck.” Rone pined in a fake whine.

  “Haha. Hopefully the server is back up when I get back so y some more.”

  “Are you fetting I’m dead?”

  “...Oh.”

  “Nevermind, send me yame recs so I watch them while yone. Sinobody is streaming, I’ve got nothier to do.”

  “Alright, how do I do that?”

  Rone fed Max the instrus as Max held the phone up to his ear using his shoulder. Fortunately, Max was a quick learner, so he mao download the recs ahem over without much difficulty. The pair chatted for a bit longer before Max eventually had to leave for work.

  “I’ll text you when the game server es baline.”

  “Yep. Alright, see ya.”

  “Bye.”

  Max hung up the call. Halfway through the door, he remembered that Lina had baked a cake for him, so he did a 180 and packed some in a small tainer. She was a really good cook, so there was no way he would leave without it.

  He also left a thank-you note o ter, so she would see it whenever she woke up.

  “Alright, time to go.”

  Donning his signature red cap and jacket, Max’s keys jangled as he shut the door behind him.

  ...

  ...

  Max arrived at the clubhouse to the sound of plete silence. Uedly, there was nobody here.

  ‘That’s strahere should be a group session in the m.’ Max checked the time on his phone. ‘Yeah, it’s about the right time, where is everyone?’

  “Hey, Mason?” Max called out for his boss. The clubhouse had been unlocked, so he should be around here somewhere.

  “Max? Ah right, I fot to message you.”

  A buff elderly man emerged from the ba with a mencholic expression. “I have some bad news unfortunately. Very bad.”

  The man named Mason awkwardly leant on the doorway, as if he was trying to find a good way to broach a difficult topic.

  “What is it, old man? Spit it out. Where are all the students?”

  “About that... They’re... The school is shutting us down.”

  “Wh-What?!” Max was taken aback. “So suddenly? What happened?”

  The archery business where Max worked was run in partnership with a local high school. Following the school’s endorsement, students would e to the club to receive training from Max or another instructor, while Mason allowed the school to borrow the club’s facilities iurn.

  “Well, you know that kid named Zach?”

  “Darron’s student? Did he do something?”

  “He was pining about his cssmates earlier this week and joked to Darron that he’d take his bow into school one m and teach them a lesson. Naturally, Darron, being Darron, ughed along and agreed.”

  “No, don’t tell me...”

  “Yeah, he wasn’t joking. He took his own bow from home and started taking pot-shots at his cssmates, chasing them around the school grounds. He didn’t hit anyone, but they definitely would have been traumatised. Immediately after that happehe principal implemented a school-wide ban on all use of bows he school grounds and in school uniform.”

  “Oh sh*t.” Max was astohat basically sounded like a school shooting.

  “Over half of our members have already either celled their uping lessons or called to request refunds.” Mason sighed. “Basically, we’re screwed.”

  “...” Max wasn’t even sure what to say. Students from the sade up over 90% of the club’s paid lessons, so he couldn’t refute; they really were screwed.

  Mason moved into the club’s kit fss of water, “It’s not so bad, I had a good run, and I’ve saved up just enough to retire. The main problem lies with yourself.”

  “Me?”

  “Even if I’m an old fart, I still have my memories; I know how much this club means to you.” Mason showed a sombre face, “Or did you think I wouldn’t notice?”

  “...”

  “We’re closer than that.” “...We’re also close enough for me to know your financial situation.”

  Max grimly looked away.

  “Since we’re closing down, this is your three weeks’ notiot that you have to do any work in those three weeks, because our tele’s colpsed.” He chuckled weakly. “I highly reend that you find a new job in the meantime. I’m more than happy to act as your referee.”

  “I uand... Thanks for your support.” Max needed a moment to process; this was extremely bad news. Just yesterday he’d been pnning to look for a sed job, now he didn’t have even one.

  “I don’t suppose you know any other clubs hiring instructors, do you?”

  “Sorry kid, no ce... I have one idea for you though.”

  “What is it?”

  “You could try to going pro.”

  “Sorry?” Max was unsure if he heard correctly.

  “I know, I know. I told you that all those tours and petitions were just pissing tests for rich people... but things are different now. You’re the evidence. You have that weird game that you practi, and I’ve seen your skills improve tremendously because of it. You’ve even surpassed me now.”

  “That’s not-”

  “It’s true, so don’t try to deny it.” Mason smiled, “Too much humility is a demerit, you know.”

  “...Alright, I’ll look into it then.” Max decided to trust his teacher’s judgement.

  “You should still get a job on the side, just in case it doesn’t work out. I have no idea what the bar is to shoot professionally, but only a few people at the top of the try do it.”

  Max khat Mason had once participated in an archery petition many years ago. During that petition, the scores were maniputed to favour another pyer, essentially stealing Mason’s victory. From then on, he’d paid no attention to any archery petitions or tours, not even the Olympics. He also disced others from watg them.

  “Anyways, just help me with some paperwork and then you go home. You’ve always beeer tha that mathsy stuff.”

  “Haha, sure. You know my cssmates used to call me the human calcutht?”

  “I’d believe it.”

  ...

  ...

  Max helped Mason to finish all his paperwork and the outside to eat the cake he’d packed.

  “Mm.”

  As expected, Lina’s cooking was always the best.

  He walked around the range while he ate, taking in the sights since he probably wouldn’t e back here. Mason po sell this nd to buy himself a cushy house by the beach wheired.

  After wandering around aimlessly for a bit, Max ran out of cake and found himself uhe rge oak tree which stood at the end of the range. He remembered once climbing to the very top of the tree before his dad yelled at him, demanding he e down.

  Max smiled widely at the memory as he imagined his panicked dad at the base of the tree.

  L his vision, he sed the thick bark, following its deep vertical fissures until he found it; a small dent. One so minor and insignifit that anyone would have missed it if they weren’t specifically looking for it.

  Its significe was anything but minor to Max, as he stared at it thoughtfully.

  ...

  “Go on kiddo, take the shot.”

  “What’s the point of taking the shot if I’ll just miss anyways?”

  “Who says you’ll miss? You might hit it.”

  A young Max with a frail body and a pimpled face wore an unvinced expression as he adopted his best shooting stance. After drawing an arrow and aiming for a few seds, an arrow was released which missed the target pletely, flying well over it and into a distant oak tree.

  “Ha~ Hahahahaha!”

  Max was extremely dissatisfied and pouted as he watched his dad ughing in schadenfreude. “See! I couldn’t do it.”

  His dad stopped ughing and looked at Max. “Ah~ But that’s incorrect!”

  “How is that possibly incorrect? You have eyes, I clearly missed the target by miles.”

  “Yes, but that’s not what you said. You said you couldn’t do it, which is wrong. Just because you missed once doesn’t mean you’re incapable of doing something. You know what all the top masters of every sport and skill in the world all have in on?”

  “Talent?”

  “Hard work. They practiced for thousands, if not tens of thousands of hours to be as skilled as they are in their fields. No one is ever born an expert at something. You could bee eveer than them if you put in enough effort.”

  “…Is that really true though?”

  “Of course it is! There is nothing in the world that ot be overe with hard work. From now on, whenever you find something difficult, I want you to throw yourself at it to take it down!”

  “Why would jumping at it help?”

  “No, I don’t mean literally throw yourself at it. I mean try your hardest. Every time you fail at something hard, there is something to learn, somethier you do ime. Take your shot just now as an example.”

  “My shot? Did I do something wrong?”

  “Well duh, if you hadn’t done anything wrong you would have hit the target. Right at the st millised you pulled the b back further, which threw off your aim. Try again without doing that.”

  Max bli him with some doubt but still did as he was told and took aim again. Following the advice, he gently let go of the arrow at release and made sure not to tug ba it. The arrow sailed into the target and hit a red ring, only tws from the bullseye.

  “Hey, nice shot! See, you improved, right?”

  Max looked at the arrow iarget with some shock as he pted what his father had just told him. ‘ I really be the best?’

  …

  Max stopped looking at the tree and turned around to go home. He had work to do.