Matan’s Shooter

Chapter 754

Arcane Sniper 754

At that moment, Leeha, who was still rummaging through the White Reaper’s house, abruptly stopped. Blaugrunn’s words felt like a blow to his skull.

Leeha: What did you just say?

Blaugrunn: Excuse me? I’m just relaying what I heard.

Leeha: “The human woman crossed the wall. Second ice. Start.”

Blaugrunn: That’s all they said.

Leeha: Second ice? What does that mean?

Leeha asked.

Blaugrunn: I just passed on the message as it is.

Leeha couldn’t contain the pounding of his heart. Everything had been rapidly changing ever since Chiyou merged with Bathory. And among those changes, this part was perhaps the most rapidly transforming.

‘Second class advancement?’

Leeha felt like Midl Earth was swirling from within.

Dookyyayayeo

The cave was so quiet that only the sound of water droplets falling could be heard. There was no artificial light, but from a corner, footsteps echoed urgently against the walls.

A nervous voice responded to the sound, “Are you so forgetful that you can’t even remember the appointment time?”

“Kakaka, so what? It’s daytime in Middle Earth anyway.”

Igor’s laughter boomed through the cave. Despite being three hours late and showing no hint of apology, Faust trembled with anger.

“Still, a promise is a promise. If you don’t keep it next time-”

“If I don’t keep it? You think you can handle me just because you got a couple of skeletal dragons?”

Though visibility was almost nonexistent, Igor locked eyes with Faust. The giant over twenty-two feet tall gazed down at Faust playfully brandishing his bone wand. However, Faust, draped in heavy armor, didn’t flinch. Instead, he casually pulled out a bone wand, saying, “Believing in dragons like that?”

“What if?”

Igor upped the ante, lips curling in provocation. It was the moment when Faust seemed to be giving in to the provocation.

“Both of you should stop.”

Another voice. Igor turned his head away from Faust as if his patience had run out and sat down on a rock.

“Don’t interfere recklessly, Chiyou’s lackey.”

Sasuke spoke without any agreement, stating his own business.

“Don’t try to act smart. I don’t want to, either. I just want to convey that Chiyou wishes to have precise status information from all of you and the content of the orders received from Bluebeard.”

Faust flinched for a moment, but Igor yawned as if he didn’t care at all.

“Status information? Same as before. What’s there to change?”

“You’re being too dismissive. Bluebeard remembers what you did back then. I hope you won’t ignore my eyes. I clearly saw what you received from the vampires… No, what was forcibly injected by Bluebeard. It’s ridiculous to say you avoid people’s eyes by meeting in a cave with no trace of light during broad daylight.”

Sasuke already knew. Not only had he long ago deciphered their behavioral patterns, but he had also reported offline to Chiyou what he had been thinking so far.

Chiyou realized that they had turned into vampires. But the issue was the lack of experience! Due to the ‘death penalty’ suffered in the game, Chiyou couldn’t access Middle Earth, and as a vampire, having never properly acted as one, she wanted to indirectly gain experience on the strengths and weaknesses of vampires through Igor and Faust.

“You don’t have to cooperate.”

Sasuke chuckled coldly.

“As you heard from the play, Chiyou has the authority and power to control you-”

“Are you trying to say he has enough authority and power to control us…?”

“Yes.”

Sasuke turned back to Faust, who he could still communicate with reasonably. Although he was an avatar of the real world, Sasuke was a ninja active in the shadows, so he had skills to adequately observe his opponents even in the darkness.

“Well, but there’s nothing particularly to tell you. What you think and what Chiyou thinks. Just leave it at that. Above all, Chiyou will find out for herself when she logs in, about this vampire… thing, which we actually have many questions about.”

“Kakaka, this bastard here is floating quite high.”

Igor sneered.

“That idiot dog doesn’t seem to have a clue, right? So let’s not let our guard down. After all, we should go in assuming that our ‘condition as three people’ is the same. Should we call ourselves the three vampire siblings?”

All three of them had gained vampire powers, hadn’t they? All three of them hadn’t undergone a second job advancement. So, let’s not get caught up in a power struggle over that point. That was what Igor intended to say. Faust furrowed his brow at Igor.

‘You’re already spilling information without even having a conversation with Chiyou once!’

Ignoring Faust’s gaze, Igor said to Sasuke, “But, idiot, that’s not important right now. It’s about what we have to do next.”

“And what exactly do we have to do?”

“Tame dragons.”

“What??”

“Haha, isn’t that funny? What could possibly be the reason for us roaming around catching dogs if not that!? Hm?”

Kakakakak! Sparks flew as the cave wall and Igor’s sword clashed.

“Th-that’s to increase our power.”

“… There’s no need to answer. The truth is, Igor doesn’t even know himself. It’s to cover up the fact that he’s clueless.”

Trying to create an oppressive atmosphere on purpose to make Sasuke shut up. Faust clearly understood why Igor was showing off by clashing with the cave wall.

“What the hell!?”

This time, Igor, who had realized his intentions were understood, glared at Faust, but Faust ignored that gaze and said, “What’s important is the instructions received from Le. Make at least four Lich Dragons within two months. Tell it to Chiyou just like that. Our condition… If you tell it like Igor said, she will understand.’ Faust said as he distanced himself from the riotous Igor and turned to Sasuke. Faust and Igor were quite perceptive and intelligent, but they didn’t compare to Chiyou’s ability to read the situation. They also wanted to find out why Bluebeard ordered them to create Richt Dragons, through Chiyou’s leadership.

“… Understood. I’ll convey your goals and conditions as they are. However, it is advisable to be particularly careful in your actions. Since Hyey revealed that you are with Chiyou already-”

“I know. That’s why we plan to hide here for a while. After resting for more than a fortnight, when interest in us subsides, we’ll come out again. Since only two are left until the goal, there’s not much time to spare.”

“Then, then! Hahaha, too much spare time is annoying!”

Sasuke felt the strong men’s composure in Faust and Igor’s voices. However, he couldn’t understand their true intentions.

“In terms of nuances, it felt like Lich Dragon would be retrieved when created. What is Le aiming for?”

“Do you think I’d be giving out information to someone like a moldy NPC? Hmph! If you collect dragons slowly, Chiyou will come asking for information then. So, all you have to do is find a way to escape from the Demon King’s Army while holding onto this power!”

It was only natural that a somewhat reluctant feeling arose towards Faust and Igor. When people gain power, they tend to change. Even after completing the second job advancement and obtaining two Lich Dragons, there was still a peculiar tension between the users affiliated with Bluebeard.

※: ※ ※

Based on the information heard from Blaugrunn, Leeha urgently tried to contact Ram Hwayeon.

However, ran Hwayeon had already logged out.

“Just now?”

“Yes. It hasn’t even been 30 minutes since the director logged out. She suddenly left without saying anything—oh, is that so? Alright, I understand, Jachung-ssi.”

Even Ram Hwayeon urgently left without saying anything to Jachung?

There would only be one incident that Ram Hwayeon handles urgently.

“It must be related to Ram Hwajung. Alright, I can ask when he returns.”

Just by hearing from Blaugrunn, significant deductions could be made. Simply a list of words, but even with what the dragon said, ran Hwayeon could roughly anticipate the situation.

“Considering the last words, it’s unlikely that the second job advancement has been completed yet.”

One of the reasons Ram Hwayeon still rummages through the abode of the White Reaper. The first advancement ended by grabbing a weapon in the class tower. What about the second job advancement?

Could the second job advancement also be determined by events like a weapon or other factors?

“It’s unlikely that the second job advancement would be a quest.”

Even if a quest for the second job advancement appears, it can be refused. Ram Hwayeon understood this principle through precedents.

“Even if I don’t know… the second job advancement will be completely different from the first advancement. Even within the same job class, depending on how the user played and how they approached elements like NPC quests would be assigned. So, even within the same first job class, there might be multiple branches for the second job advancement.”

Leeha eagerly waited for Ram Hwayeon to log in, while skimming through the data collected and recorded by the White Reaper. However, the content seemed scarce.

“The basic teachings of the Krabavi Knights… regarding the Krabavi Knight formation… expected infiltration routes of the Krabavi Knights… It’s mostly these types of data.”

There was a plethora of information about the White Reaper’s former enemy, Krabavi. Filled with detailed and regularly updated information, ran Hwayeon couldn’t help but admire the intensity of it.

‘Indeed, he is worthy of being called 『Human Hunters』.”

Just the mention of the White Reaper’ name would have made the members of Krabavi tremble in fear. Hiding in anticipation of an expected infiltration, always successfully executing a perfect sniper shot – that was the power of the White Reaper, who not only rigorously conducted his research but also proved his effectiveness in action. It was no wonder that the members of Krabavi had met their downfall.

“Looking back now, the national war was quite interesting. Setting the stage for players to clash and fight each other… I could even leisurely reminisce about the past battles, like a war of sniping… Huh!?”

As Leeha looked through the records of the White Reaper and recalled past events, a sudden chill ran down my spine. This sensation was not unfamiliar to him.

“A spirit? I sense the presence of a spirit. And quite a few of them.”

Simultaneously, I could sense six distinct presences. It was clear that they were approaching me.

No, strictly speaking, they weren’t coming for him.

“Oh… they’re coming here!?”

The White Reaper’ hideout! It was highly likely that the forces were coming to investigate the mysterious figure who had entered there.

In a rush, Leeha ascended from the underground chamber and concealed the entrance. Covering the fallen carpet and placing an armchair on top of it before cautiously approaching the window.

“It’s getting clearer. Krum, is this Wan? I can’t see anything yet, but… I can sense it, so I feel relieved. But still, I can’t let my guard down. There might be people without spirits too.”

This wasn’t near the city of Wood Elves! Near the Shazrashian, where Giants were the dominant race. Therefore, there were hardly any individuals close to spirits.

Reflecting on thinking that he had comprehended everything based on the spirit’s presence, Leeha carefully observed the outside world.

“Indeed, it wasn’t just six. Only six with spirits. The rest… about ten that I can see.”

More than sixteen people were starting to surround the house where Leeha was. Considering that they were with spirits, the possibility of them being related to the Demon King’s Army decreased.

If they were not hostile towards Leeha in the current situation, and if there was no sudden increase in animosity from the Wood Elves, then the remaining suspects were likely only the Giants.

The chances of any influential group associated with the Wood Elves increasing hostility towards me were slim. Apart from Eigor and Czar, practically non-existent. However, this place wasn’t really a suitable area for Czar anyway, and above all, Czar’s members were all inspectors, weren’t they?

Out of all the Czar individuals that Leeha had fought against so far, none of them were adept in handling spirits.

Then the users of the Shazrashian Federation shouted at the cabin, “This is the 216th Ranger unit! You are surrounded! Disclose your identity now and surrender unconditionally!”