Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

”There’s no helping it. If we had forts or walls, it would be a different story…”

“A city-sized wall is not sufficient for a siege, isn’t it? Aah, this is such a mess. Casting ‘Multiple Arrow’!” lamented Tale and Bobae, along with Kijung.

The problem with Juma, a city designed for expansion from the start, was its structure was not suitable for internal defense. There were too many routes for the monsters to infiltrate and the walls were too low.

“Save the complaints for later, everyone. I’ll demolish the formation first. ‘Polymorphism: Black Grizzly’!”

Kwooooh!

Its transformation into a grizzly bear and its roar weakened the assault of the rushing monsters.

During this brief moment, players from large guilds such as Byulcho, Rush, and Patriot, rushed in.

“Follow the bear! Don’t let even one monster reach the town!”

“Think of tower defense, tower defense! Damn it, it’s exhausting having to turn strategy games into RPG!”

The number of monsters rushing in was overwhelming, but the united strength of the assembled players was even more mind-boggling.

Moreover, this was not a ‘siege’, but a ‘siege defense’: there was no issue regarding supplies.

Mages and healers used their mana freely, quickly recovered their mana when they returned to town, and tanks and melee dealers could easily endure under their support.

“You think you’re something just because you’re bigger?!”

“Kwoaaaah!”

Kaang!

A 4m class troll and a warrior’s sword clashed. The resultant sparks were threatening, but no one blinked.

“I would understand if it was Toon, but I won’t be killed by the likes of you guys! ‘Heart Crush’!” To the players who had participated in the final attack of the common quest, this monster wave was less threatening than feared.

3m to 5m class monsters were common, often found but amongst trolls, ogres, and cyclops. No matter how frightening they appeared, they did not possess Toon’s aura.

However, there were a few problems with a few monsters that were different from ordinary ones.

“A giant monster is approaching! Jeez, this isn’t Godzilla!”

“We have to stop it! Attack the legs first, bring it down!”

Monsters over 15m in size possessed a fierce appearance unlike Toon.

Their strength was indeed formidable, but the trauma that arose merely from seeing their form brought ghastly memories.

A creature that looked like a bipedal hippopotamus, a creature that swung its tail like a massive mace, a creature with a large mouth on its chest that devoured players, and many more.

One attack could easily kill ten players and they led 3-5m class monsters, so ordinary players couldn’t stop these giant monsters.

“Breaking through! Left, left! We are broken through on the left! Requesting reinforcements-“

“[Split Buster]”

Except for the rankers.

Paaaaa!

With one skill shot from Alexander, the giant hippopotamus’s body was split in half. In a location far from Alexander, Lee Jiwon’s black sword cleaved through space.

Their participation exhilarated the players again. Just as their spirits soared, Bailephus fluttered its wings in the sky.

[Toon, why are you standing still?]

Bailephus couldn’t move carelessly.

Toon, who had fully regained his strength, was watching from over 500 meters away. Even the giant monsters of 15m or more stood only half as tall as Toon.

The gigantic dinosaur, looking intimidating enough to ignore the sense of distance, seemed capable of killing all the players with just a look.

[What’s he aiming for…… Is he expecting Le to return here?]

Ancient gold dragon and dinosaur Toon were like having a staring contest. Even Bailephus couldn’t brashly move, just because Toon’s gaze wasn’t visible.”The monsters are gradually being wiped out!”

“Huu… Let’s keep it up! Hang in there until the end!”

“Sweep them away! Damn, this is the first time we’ve battled for nearly ten hours straight!”

The fierce battle that happened in the front yard of Juma was finally nearing its end.

Starting their assault at dawn, the amount that remained to be cleared when the sun set was enough to send chills down the users’ spine.

Just as the battle was about to conclude, there was a commotion among the users holding the right side of the front line at Juma. Charging at them were two giant monsters, resembling huge rhinoceroses.

“Just two more of those giant monsters— if we clear them out, we only have small fries left!”

“But how are we going to take down those two! Alexander is over there! We can’t hold on—”

“Move aside.”

“What? Move, move! Everybody move!”

Someone forcefully made their way through the users who were solely focusing on the frontlines.

A user who recognized the invader yelled, but those who were fixated on the frontlines did not hear it.

“Hey, dumbass, if we move, the outer wall will collapse!”

How could they make way for the two charging giant rhinoceroses?

Considering the size and weight of the giant monsters and the earth-shaking vibrations, even a single charge could potentially tear Juma’s outer wall apart.

But, the agitated user’s order to clear the way was not meant for the giant rhinoceroses.

“No, no! Not that! Look behind you!”

“Behind? What’s behind—Oh, my God?!” The users who looked back hastily retreated, almost tripping over each other.

There she was, half as tall as them, emitting a light that was too conspicuous to miss.

Why didn’t they notice ‘this light’ earlier?

A girl, emitting a dazzling blue light bright enough to hurt your eyes, brushed past them.

“It’s, it’s Ram Hwajung!”

“Dodge! Her mana, her mana is no joke! You’ll get caught in the blast—”

As hurriedly as they dropped their weapons and armor and ran backwards, Ram Hwajung reached her hand toward the frontlines.

Smaller than the rhinos’ horn, but the energy she emitted was anything but small.

“[Ice Age]”

“Argh!”

“My, my ears!”

“Aaaaah!”

The users clumped their ears and crouched down due to the sudden noise.

The sound was like the world was collapsing, irritating the nerves of Alexander and Lee Jiwon, who were far away.

“What…?”

“Fr, frozen…”

“Two fast-approaching giant monsters are…All frozen…”

It was inevitable. Because Ram Hwajung’s latest and most potent magic, coupled with the maximum amount of mana, froze everything in the frontlines.

“Phew.”

Ram Hwajung took a light breath and turned back toward Juma. A white light radiated from her body.

“Even though everyone you brought is dead, won’t you join the battle, Toon.”

Bailephus glared at Toon. Toon, as if responding to Bailephus’s words, opened his mouth wide and roared.

Ah…… ahhhhh…….[Crack.]

Baeliphus hesitated for a moment. As for the other users on the surface, no words were needed. The roar alone was powerful enough to make the users falter, but there was no further action.

“Huh? What’s this!”

“Oh, wow. All the bodies that were here just disappeared.”

The ashy corpses of the users had simply evaporated into dust.

The users were more interested in the ashes left behind by the disappearing corpses than their simultaneous disappearance.

“Ah, it’s cleaner now. Let’s see what our unfortunate users have dropped~”

“This is mine!”

“Hold on! That belongs to our guild member, give it back!”

As the users stared at the items and their voices grew louder, the Heat Wave had already disappeared.

It symbolized the end of the first monster wave aimed at destroying Juma.

The happiest point for the users was not that they had successfully blocked one wave. Nor it was the ash left by the dead users.

The change brought by this wave far exceeded their expectations.

“Did our level just increase?”

White neon lights were flashing everywhere. The flashing lights, like fireworks, made the users stare in awe.

There were no special rewards. But for the ‘surviving’ users, a massive amount of experience was granted.

Even the least of them were over level 220, and all the users in the New Continent received a significant level up or a bulk of experience from this single event.

“……Isn’t this a great event? My level has gone up by one, and filled up to 30%.”

Kijung scratched his head, pulling an absurd facial expression.

It was quite a long battle, but could a level simply increase with a single day, a one-time event?

Following Kijung’s shock, the rest of the Byulcho folks were too.

“Hmm, I’ve leveled up by three, Kay.”

“Wow, Tale-hyung! Awesome! I mean, my experience is no joke either? It’s at the level of when we discovered New Continent?”

The relatively low leveled Tale had gained three levels and Bobae, the user with the highest level in Byulcho Guild, also gained a large amount of experience.

This was an impossible level through normal Middle Earth play. They gave out the experience that only could be gained by investing at least ten days into quests or by repeatedly going through Dragon Raids!

“Wow, next time we should gather all the guild members. We should post a notice asking even the office workers to take a vacation and attend.”

“Hmm, that’s a good idea, Kay.”

“Ah, Nara! She didn’t listen when I called her. Lately, Ram Hwajung has been climbing like crazy, I don’t know what she’s doing without leveling up. Next time, let’s include our country as well? I’ll drag her by the scruff of her neck if I have to.”

“Okay! It would be perfect if Shin Nara joined. I’ll also invite Leeha.”

“Ah, if Leeha comes, Nara will too. Hehe, sounds good, Kijung.”

Kijung and Bobae were thrilled as they conspired. They were thinking about their relatives.

“…It would have been nice if Biyemi were here too.”

“Yeah. I don’t know what Biyemi is doing these days. She said she was going to intensively level up, but she didn’t attend this leveling event…

“Looking at her location, she seems to be wandering around somewhere in the New Continent.”

“Yes, that’s all I heard too. She doesn’t reply even when I ask if she needs help.”

Looking at the noisy Kijung and Bobae, Tale and Jin Gonggong sighed.

Biyemi, a player who would never miss this kind of event, was nowhere to be seen, and they found it quite regrettable.

“Well, Biyemi will figure it out herself.”

“I guess so. I think I should let Hyein know about this sooner rather than later.”

“Hmm, please do.”

Tale patted Jin Gonggong’s shoulder in comfort. Jin Gonggong, who had become good friends with the original members of Byulcho, was also quickly leveling up.

As the conversations spread, the ‘penalty’ of the shared quest, on the contrary, excited the users.

The overwhelming volume of attacks, intermittent rampages from powerful monsters, and the fear that the Heat Wave might join in at any time meant they had to fight hard. But only if they survive?

In terms of generously granted experience, unlike usual, the Monster Wave had enough incentives to draw users in.

Not only Byulcho, but also guild members from other countries are determined to bring more users into the fray next time, very few users doubted the meaning of this reward.

“…… It’s unlikely that Middle Earth would do this kind of thing.”