Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

“This could very well be humanity’s last hope…”

The conversation between Bailephus and the Pope captured the attention of those present.

Both were top-class NPCs.

Each word they uttered was almost a hint towards the events that would unfold.

The Pope sighed and Bailephus’s brows furrowed slightly. Even an Ancient Gold Dragon doesn’t know everything.

The other users were aware of the current predicament but were at a loss over how it came to be, making it challenging to speculate easily.

“If we can figure out how Le awakened Gibrid, we might be able to understand the situation better…

“Wha? Wha-wha-wha–!?”

Except for one person present.

“-Leeha?”

“Leeha-nim?”

Leeha’s eyes widened enormously.

Blaugrunn was flustered, looking back and forth between Bailephus and Leeha, but Leeha was too preoccupied to notice Blaugrunn.

As soon as he heard Bailephus’s words, Leeha’s mind started racing faster than ever before.

A single idea!

It completely captivated his mind.

‘Biyemi-nim, Petyr… they’re not here!’

Leeha scanned the surroundings.

Biyemi-nim and Petyr were not present. Meaning, he was the only one aware of ‘the situation’.

The eyes of those nearby, including Kijung and Bobae, and ShinNara, were all focused on Leeha’s lips.

Leeha swallowed nervously.

“…I think… I know something.”

“What do you mean?”

“How Le woke Gibrid… I roughly know it-“

“How could you know that? Can you explain in detail?”

Leeha hesitated for a moment.

This could be an opportunity to gain something. But should he exploit ‘information’ even in such a critical situation?

For now, at least!

“I’m not sure where to start, but…”

Leeha decided to just explain.

During the third wave, it was Biyemi-nim and Petyr who had suggested destroying the jar to Leeha.

They were quick-witted and cunning, but even they hadn’t fully grasped the purpose behind it.

Nobody present there, nor ‘ever’, had clearly spoken about it.

For Biyemi, it was a task directly ordered by Bluebeard to Toon, and Chiyou was cooperating, so they vaguely guessed the jar was of utmost importance for some reason.

They merely speculated it would either strengthen Toon’s power or, perhaps, enhance Bluebeard’s power, but nothing concrete.

“But, that wasn’t what they intended to use it for!”

The fact that, during the Second Human-Demon War, they fed on human souls was unknown to both Leeha and the others, Beyemi and Petyr included. As a result, predicting how it was to be used was challenging. Only Chiyou, who had traveled far and wide in search of the jar, knew this fact and had thus begun to suspect the potential uses of the soul.

Leeha quickly organized his thoughts and started speaking hesitantly. He talked about how the entire wave was planned, with no initial intention of destroying Juma City. Some humans had built a fortress in a specific area of the New Continent, safeguarding and cooperating in the collection and storage of souls for Toon. This directive had come from Bluebeard. Out of the five jars, he had managed to destroy three, but two still remained. In a dramatic reveal, Bluebeard had shown up at the fortress at the last moment. And most shockingly, Toon had been harboring over 10,000 souls within him.

“If we piece all this together…it seems likely that the souls of the players who died in the wave were used to resurrect Gibrid. Talking in the ballpark of over 30,000 souls.”

It was uncertain whether it was Bailephus who groaned first or the Pope who exclaimed, “Lord, Ahlo,” but the players were left clueless. The revelation that the wave was a strategic move by the demon army left them stunned.

“What…what are you saying? That the entire wave was just a show?”

“More than a show…a bait, rather. Bait to lure the players.”

Seeing Kijung’s wide-eyed look, Leeha nodded. Yet, agreeing with this was hard. “To gather them and increase the death toll among the players? Impossible! That doesn’t make any sense!”

“You’re right, Leeha-ssi. While labeled a ‘wave,’ these monsters were not mere illusions. They had a real presence, which the demon army would’ve had to exhaust as well. Why go through all this?”

“Exactly! If they had deployed enough monsters for the first, second, and third waves all at once during the first wave? The New Continent would have been impenetrable…

The news, coming less than a day after the third wave, plunged Bo Bobae, Hyein, and even Shin Na Ra into confusion.

The players swarmed Leeha, acting as if he was the prime culprit behind these events. Amidst the ensuing uproar at a corner of the Vatican, Luger quietly spoke up.

“Seems like none of you were really enjoying this.”

His voice was not loud, but it clearly reached the players’ ears, perhaps his confident tone helped calm the unrest a bit.

“What do you mean, Luger? You knew?”

“Know? Can’t say for sure if ‘knowing’ is the right word, but if it counts as knowing, then yes.”

Leeha’s question prompted Luger to tilt his head and respond.

Luger, with Kidd fiddling with his hat brim by his side, hadn’t evidently had a deep discussion regarding the incident, but their confidence indicated they had some insight, perceivable by the other players.

“How could you?! Knowing yet not saying-“

“Stupid. Don’t you understand what we’re dealing with here?”

“Huh?”

Luger’s expression soured, but upon realizing Leeha didn’t understand, he sighed and explained.

“Didn’t someone mention earlier that we couldn’t even capture Toon until recently, let alone Bluebeard? That was the root of this mess, wasn’t it?”

Though it wasn’t a question aimed at anyone in particular, the players could vaguely grasp what he was trying to communicate.

It doesn’t make sense for the demon army to utilize the waves inefficiently.

Within the logic of Middle Earth’s system, there’s only one way to make sense of something that inherently doesn’t – through a systemic understanding.

This was the point Luger wanted to stress.”It’s not that it doesn’t make sense, it’s about making it make sense…? To do that-“

“Right. On the surface, this wave was ostensibly for the collection of souls for Gibrid, but ‘in reality,’ it was to help users level up. It was an event meant to strengthen us, who are still struggling to level up. Damn it, this is a game. It’s ridiculous that not a single person can see the game as a game.”

With those words, Luger suddenly lifted his cobalt blue Python revolver.

In an instant, he had his gun pointed at Alexander.

“Kyaa!”

“Luger-nim? What are you doing?!” Amidst the sudden chaos, Alexander, the one at gunpoint, was unmoved, as was Bailephus.

“You knew too, Alexander. After leeching off the wave three times, how much do you think you’ve grown?”

“…I won’t answer. If you don’t lower your gun immediately, I can ensure you’re permanently banned from the Vatican.”

“Huh, acting all high and mighty.”

Viewing it as a game.

Luger believed that the reason for the wave was because the users’ levels and stages of growth had not reached what the system of Middle Earth desired.

Kidd seemed to somewhat agree with him.

Indeed, with each wave, the users’ levels, experience points, and stats significantly increased, and they greatly benefited from that.

“There’s logic to it. And even if we don’t embrace that line of thought, we can still ponder the waves from a ‘nominal’ understanding. There must have been a limit to their waves too, but what if they had unleashed all monsters in the first wave?”

“It’s not a question of what would happen, Kidd! I told you. If they had sent the monsters of the third wave’s caliber in the first, Juma City would’ve been utterly destroyed… Ah…?!”

Shin Nara was responding to Kidd’s statement, but she too realized something mid-sentence.

“Luger and I might have seen the sequence differently, but the purpose of Bluebeard and Toon was soul collection. If they had used all the wave monsters initially, Juma City would’ve been completely annihilated, leaving no users wanting to head back to the new continent.

Therefore-“

“A failure to achieve their objective… I see. They needed to sacrifice the monsters, to gather more souls, to lure more users.”

“That’s right. I believe asking the Gold Dragon would offer further insights.”

Kidd slightly tilted his hat brim upwards towards Bailephus.

Bailephus understood the terms ‘user’ and ‘game’ perfectly well, but Kidd’s words were not about that at the moment.

The reason Bluebeard and Toon sacrificed a number of wave monsters was singular.

“Even if you combined all monsters from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd waves, they couldn’t match a single Gibrid.”

The sacrifice of the many for the sake of one significant entity. Despite the countless monsters, it was declared that none were as crucial as the Demon King’s Fragment—Gibrid.

The company fell silent for a moment.

What should be done moving forward?

While all had grown considerably, the enemy remained formidable. Predicting the outcome was difficult as is, and with Gibrid’s appearance, what could happen?

When users were confused, it was the role of NPCs to provide direction.

“If HighHa’s words are true, Gibrid hasn’t fully regained his strength. Naturally, they would gather more monsters than in this wave to completely destroy Juma City.”

“They’ll use our assumption of a 4th wave to their advantage.”

Once the schedule for the 4th wave is roughly known, users would joyfully gather again. However, this time it would signify an attack far beyond a simple ‘wave.’

“Originally, Bluebeard wanted 50,000 souls. That number would be enough to get Gibrid moving at least. We need to prepare for that. If Gibrid fully awakens…

“It would be troublesome. If Gibrid, already a challenge, adds to our troubles, the awakening of Pyrot-Coquiry would become a certainty. We must stop them by any means necessary before their minions solidify their power!”

The Pope exclaimed, gripping the armrest of his chair as if to break it.

However, standing by the Pope, Fernand wore a look of despair. ‘We must stop them,’ but how?

“It’d be great if we could disperse them before they gather, but that’s difficult. As you know, the roots of the demons are all connected. The reason Bailephus can roughly predict the timing of the waves is because we can confirm the movements through the demon’s roots. Needless to say, we can’t access those ‘roots.’”