Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter] - Chapter 174

This time, neither combat power nor capital would be lost.

From Hwahong’s, who had fought the Korean guilds, point of view it would be nothing short of bloodless.

The war fought to get Dale Castle, paradoxically, ‘increased’ the power of Hwahong.

“What about you Hwajeong? Are there any rankers or outsiders around?”

“……Two, no, three.”

“Three? Who?”

“Czar Guild. Wandering around Dale Castle.”

“Phew, Igor is also waiting somewhere……. I knew that crazy guy would be like that. He is so mountain-like. Ah, but who is the guild master? Why are they together with Igor?”

Ram Hwayeon frowned.

“According to the investigation, he belongs to the Russian Military. It’s said to be a guild led by soldiers selected for cyber warfare…. It’s an open secret that the Russian government is supporting Igor.”

“Tsk, Pei Wu touched a beehive.”

“That’s right.”

After Igor outranked Pei Wu, large-scale guilds in China prevented Igor from leveling up. Even Russia intervened in secret when they heard the news.

Of course, it wasn’t an official intervention. Russia’s prestige would lower if rumors spread that they were putting such effort into a single game.

“What about the other two?”

“One is…… Kidd. Sleeping Kidd.”

“Sleeping Kidd. Who is that?”

“Hmm, an outsider that handles two guns. I think Ha Leeha-nim would know him.”

Jacheong looked at the file containing the outsiders’ information.

“Why? Is he here to meet Ha Leeha?”

“I don’t know. And there’s another one nearby. Near Kidd. It’s like they are chasing Kidd.”

Ram Hwajeong did not know everything.

She built a system that could do surveillance and monitoring using mana in various places near Dale Castle, however, she could not grasp the users’ intentions.

“Who?”

“Luger.”

Hwajeong’s face darkened slightly.

“Who’s Luger?”

“Luger? Hwajeong-nim, I don’t think it’s Luger-”

“Right. That’s Luger. ‘War Mercenary’.” Jacheong’s face turned blue. Originally, he was interested, and because of Ram Hwayeon’s instructions, he remembered quite a lot of information about the outsiders.

“Surely! Ah, no, it has already been a while- and he was outside the Fibiel Kingdom! So I was not able to reach him for the war against the Byeolcho Alliance…… and now he came-”

“Jacheong. Who is Luger?”

“It’s just as the nickname suggests. War mercenary! He’s good at fighting- he’s a warmonger that would fight if given money!”

“Is he strong?”

“I haven’t seen him either, but his nickname due to the rumors should be enough proof. Among his nicknames as a hired soldier are Mercenary, which literally means a hired soldier, and Dragon Fighter! In other words, there were rumors that he had obtained it by fighting a dragon.”

Jacheong pulled out a file he had organized from the filing cabinet. Ram Hwayeon quickly grabbed the piece of paper with Luger’s information from it.

“Did he fight a dragon? Did he raid a dragon?”

“No. I don’t think it’s a simple raid. Nicknames are often created from events with significant impact. They said it was PvP.”

“No way……? When it comes to dragon-related PvP, isn’t there only one person in Middle Earth?”

Jacheong was surprised, and Ram Hwajeong’s face hardened.

Looking at Ram Hwayeon, who couldn’t believe it, Jacheong barely answered.

“That’s…… right. It was the battle with that person that made Luger famous. After the battle with ‘Dragon Knight’ Alexander, who was also ranked number one in the world at that time.”

Alexander from the U.S., ranked number 1 in the world. Alexander W Great. Middle Earth’s first and only professional.

As a dragoon, he succeeded in becoming a Dragon Knight through an unknown quest. A job that first rode a horse and used a spear started to ride a dragon one day.

After that, leveling had never been easier.

The Magic Swordsman Lee Jiwon, who closely followed Alexander, had monster-like abilities, however, Alexander the courageous knight could be seen as a monster itself.

“Fighting with Alexander and earning a nickname……”

A-Alexander would not have lost. There were many different kinds of rumors.

Then why?

‘Why is he walking around Dale Castle?’

Now, there was one question that Hwayeon had to focus on. Igor worries me too, but why did Sleeping Kidd and Mercenary Luger come here?

‘It couldn’t be hunting. They could easily overcome the dungeons in Dale Castle. Was it to cross over to the Shazrasian Federation? Then they could use warp. Why were they walking around here?’

Hwayeon alternately looked at Jacheong and Hwajeong.

She shouldn’t be showing such a perplexed expression. When you don’t know the reason, you can just ignore it.

“Jacheong, if you have any informants nearby, ask them to return. Because we won’t get any benefits from getting entangled with them. Hwajeong you need to be careful too. They may come after you, so be prepared, don’t approach them first.”

Now, she was nothing more than the lord of the castle. If so, she needed to protect the castle. It was for the safety of the guild.

‘Maybe it’s because of Ha Leeha……?’

An ominous thought ran through Ram Hwayeon’s head as she gave her instructions. In that case, how should she act?

—

[You have leveled up.]

“Hmmm. This is perfect. Reaching level 144—”

Leeha smiled and took off the giant tulloc’s bodily fluid sack. He rose 26 levels from level 118 in just a few days. It was impossible to achieve such leveling speed, unless you used a cheat key.

It takes 1 week for someone to get from level 18 to level 44, but someone who was in the 100s was able to level up faster than that!

‘Haha, it was only natural that I didn’t want to sleep. It’s slowly getting hard to earn experience.’

Anyway, since 5 days have passed in Middle Earth, it meant that he had only played 24 hours in reality.

‘When I was in middle school and high school, it wasn’t even a big deal for me to peel chestnuts through the night. I’m more tired mentally than physically. No, my brain seems to be overloaded after a few days. Smack.’

He was rather on fire when he fought against the Rising Sun. The exhilarating life and death battle made the brain stay alert. However, what about hunting?

The Sealed Underground Waterway Dungeon was not able to excite Leeha at all.

It felt like a repetition of a boring simple task. It must not have felt great to have done such repetitive work without a break.

Name: Ha Leeha / Race: Human

Job: Musketeer / Level: 144(0%)

Title:Fearless / Achievements: 37

HP： 2,544(4,240) / MP: 1,070

Stats:

Strength: 123(+93),

Agility: 1008(+250)

Intelligence: 103(+52),

Constitution: 145(+52),

Mind: 40(+30)

Remaining Stat points: 217

“Hmm, that’s a lot. Should I only use 150?”

Did it mean that he could use stats like water? He had 217 stat points that were precious to others……. Leeha paused to take a look at his constitution and thought for a moment.

‘Wouldn’t I get only one shot anyway? I need it …… to withstand the mobs.

But what if there’s a situation where I need to fight against boss mobs or high-level users? I would only get one shot anyway.

Distributing 10 or 20 points to constitution wouldn’t make any difference, it won’t make a difference unless I invest 150 points to constitution.

‘[Forbidden Rage] cuts total health and increases total attack power. My attack power would not increase even if I increased my constitution. Then investing in it would be a waste.’

Leeha decided to put 27 points in strength and 92 points in agility.

Stats:

Strength 150(+93),

Agility: 1,100(+250),

Intelligence: 103(+52),

Constitution: 145(+52),

Mind: 40(+30)

Remaining stat points: 98

“Hahahaha! There’s still 98 points left! Now I can graduate from the underground waterway.”

Should I try the level 170 dungeon or something higher? Leeha, without coming out of the underground waterway, touched the Hummingbird.

‘No, now…… I think it’s time to try that now.’

It was extremely difficult to hit a target that was 444m away with only three chances. However, there was hope now.

Although the target was much larger than an adult male, he had a lot of shooting-experience.

‘It was close. I kept shooting for the head, but except for the first shot, I only hit places like the thigh or shoulder…. It was also between 360m〜380m.’

It was usually on the higher end of 300m, but what about the last shot? As mentioned in the broadcast, it was 407m. And he hit Igor’s face, which was exactly where he had aimed at.

‘At that time, it was 70% luck and 30% hard work, but now ……it feels like it’s 30% luck and 70% hard work.’

Agility 1,100. He felt that the stability of the Hummingbird was at its maximum.

“Okay! I will clear the quest! I will now earn 20,000 gold in earnest-”

-To the south gate of Dale Castle.

“-! Huh?”

A humming noise was heard in Leeha’s head as he was about to prepare himself. It was a voice he had once heard.

The voice was urgent so Leeha was not able to remember right away, Leeha knew who the owner of the voice was

-Hurry! Come here.

-……Kidd?

-I have to go.

-Suddenly- no, the south gate? Are you in Dale Castle now?

Leeha, who was about to ask Kidd why, immediately changed the question. If he asked, there was no way to get a proper answer. However, he did not receive any reply.

“Damn it! Anyway! You need to converse properly!”

Leeha tightened the musket’s strap. The underground waterway was close to the south gate. He ran with all his might.

He went straight to the south gate. Leeha kept running while whispering to Kidd. Since it was not a beginner village, there was no way anyone would hunt outside. There were no users around.

“Haa, haa, where are you ? Kidd! Mister Kidd!”

-Quiet! To the left tree.

It was only then that he heard Kidd’s whisper. Leeha grumbled and followed Kidd’s instructions.

‘Am I your underling? Still, he’s the best guy I know. I have no choice but to figure out what he wants to talk about.’

In a place where a few trees were gathered, Kidd was sitting down in the shade. His side was red and wet.

“Why did you call- blood? What? Where did you fight?”

Leeha no longer grumbled and looked through his bag. He took out a potion and handed it to him, but Kidd did not take it.

“It’s no use. I must go to the temple. Because there’s a curse on it”

“Curse- hmm?!”

When Kidd released his hand, the wound was exposed. The coat, as well as the skin, flesh, and muscles, were all pierced, and there was a hole in it.

“W-what a scar like this- ah!? No way?”

The wound gave Leeha goosebumps. It was different from making a hole through a window.

No other weapon in Middle Earth could cut a hole so neatly. If there was, it would be…….

“[Pierce]?”

Bullet. No, if it’s this size, wouldn’t you call it a cannonball?

A hole the size of a human fist. Had this been in reality, Kidd would have died instantly.

“Y-yes. Make a party with me. I have to get out of here before he comes.”

“Before he comes? Who?”