Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

“Is that Leeha?”

“Really?”

“Must be the sound of a gun, right? But was it possible from this distance?”

Tales of sniping a manticore from a distance of 3000 meters were well-known, but seeing it in person had a completely different impact.

~

Below the standard, Leeha continued his unwavering stance. Even after finishing his shot, he remained still, fixating on what was ahead.

Swoosh!

A Blaugrunn waiting on the ground leapt into the air, approaching Leeha hastily.

“Leeha-nim…? Are you alright?”

Blaugrunn saw Leeha’s face.

It was only then that Leeha took his eyes off the scope.

“Sigh…”

There was no smile on Leeha’s face as he breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing him like this, Blaugrunn swallowed hard. Whenever Leeha had this look, even he, a dragon, felt an unbearable sense of pressure looming.

“Still, it must have been difficult to take the shot. Don’t worry. Next time…”

“No, Blaugrunn-ssi.”

Leeha gently shook his head, a small smile appearing on his face.

“Toon is no more.”

“What?”

Blaugrunn couldn’t fully grasp what Leeha was saying.

“Is he dead?”

There had been no fluctuation in mana. For a monster of Toon’s caliber to have died without any change was strange. Yet, Leeha said he was gone.

“Not dead, not vanished, but gone?”

“It’s a bit hard to explain. If he had died, there would surely be some sign…”

“So then-“

Finally, Blaugrunn understood what Leeha meant.

“Yes. Right in the middle of Toon’s head. Bang.”

“Leeha-nim! You’ve finally done it! Congratulations! I congratulate you!”

Blaugrunn jumped joyously in the air. It was only now that Leeha could fully feel it.

At last, the fear towards Toon had been completely overcome.

“Thank you, captain.”

Leeha could smile again at the sight of the cheerful Blaugrunn. The first thought after completing a difficult mission was not of joy or triumph. It was relief and peace.

The comforting feeling stemming from knowing they wouldn’t have to face this again.

“Ah… truly, let’s not go through this again, seriously.”

Leeha’s body then gently descended from the air.

People who hadn’t fully grasped the situation looked at Leeha, bewildered.

“They’ve stopped! The monsters have halted their movement!”

“Dust scattering has ceased! No more dust scattering!”

“The flying monsters are not moving either!”

“Possible enemy charge imminent! Maintain formation as is!”

Reports from scouts followed. The movement of the monsters, which had been circling the Divine Staff to form a large ring, stopped.

The encirclement was now complete.

Soon, they would begin their assault towards the Divine Staff, facing head-on the formidable firepower.

-Prepare for the charge!

“Prepare for the charge!”

Tanks and knights raised their shields and stepped forward, followed by close and long-range attackers taking positions.

Magic from buffers resonated, and war cries from warlocks to boost morale burst forth without end. As tension tightly gripped the frontline, another shout rose from the sky.

“Come on! They will stop!”

The attention of the knights turned in that direction as a member of the Sacred Knights halted with the flag and looked at him.

“A little one?”

“It’s over! Those guys will stop. Leeha-ssi there has opened Toon!”

Blaugrunn conveyed the joyful news with a bright smile.

However, both the members and the onlookers took quite a while to grasp what Blaugrunn had said. A buzz of confusion spread quickly among the people who were momentarily dazed trying to comprehend his words.

“What does that mean?”

“He opened Toon?”

“Toon is dead?”

“That’s impossible. How could Toon be eliminated? I mean – not that I think the child would lie, but…”

Blaugrunn grumbled.

“Believe it. Believe it. It’s coming from a dragon, after all!”

Yet, the murmurs among the people did not subside.

“Blaugrunn-ssi.”

“-Yes?”

“Could you amplify my voice, please?”

“Oh, of course.”

Blaugrunn cast a spell of amplification on Leeha.

Leeha cleared his throat and methodically explained the feat he had accomplished.

[A moment ago, I finished firing. I might have startled some of you due to the loud noise; for that, I sincerely apologize in advance.]

Leeha gave a bow, leaving some unsettled, while those familiar with him began to chuckle.

Despite not all reports being finished, the playful tone in Leeha’s beginning hinted at how he would wrap up his story.

[As you’ve just heard, I fired at Toon. The bullet hit its target. I aimed for Toon’s head, choosing to shoot at the most lethal point, and the result surpassed my expectations.]

Leeha cleared his throat again, the concentrated gaze from everyone feeling quite burdensome, yet he wasn’t nervous.

[Toon has vanished. It is presumed that the monsters have stopped moving for this reason.]

“Wow! Does this mean Toon is dead?”

The quiet ambiance once again flipped.

It was hard not to believe since the sniper was the one providing the narrative, and since the monsters hadn’t dispersed, it wasn’t easy to lower the defenses just yet.

However, right before the noise could escalate further, Leeha hurriedly spoke up, having anticipated such a response when he asked Blaugrunn for the amplification magic.

[No! Please listen to me once more. Toon has ‘vanished.’

But it’s hard to say ‘died.’

If he had died, there would have been an achievement or a system message, but sadly there was none.]

This was the reason behind Leeha’s ambiguous expression.

It was clear that Toon had vanished. Even with the scope zoomed in to its maximum, not even his shadow was visible.

Now, with the dust settled and a clearer view, there was no sign of Toon’s body anywhere. So, where did Toon go? What effect did the bullet that hit him squarely have?

Not even Leeha could answer these questions definitively, let alone the knights.

Fortunately, their focus shifted more toward the reality in front of them.

“So, the monsters aren’t coming then?”

“Without Toon, we might stand a chance against them.”

“Let’s stay on guard a little longer, just in case.”

After all, they had gathered here to protect the “Divine Staff.”

Toon’s fate was crucial, but they had to concentrate on the imminent battle.

Kijung: So? What happened,-hyung? Toon?

Of course, those most interested in ‘Leeha’s’ action were his acquaintances.

Leeha bit his lip as he read a whisper from Kijung.

He couldn’t answer whether Toon was dead, but the sudden disappearance suggested an expectation.

Leeha: Kind of… I think I understand.

Kijung: What is it?

Leeha: It was an illusion.

Kijung: An illusion? Of Toon?

Leeha: Yes. Remember how Toon escaped last time? You know who’s out there, right?

Kijung:…Prea. Hyein hyung said last time that a spirit mage could create illusions.

Hyein of Byulcho had similar thoughts as Leeha.

Leeha, too, had considered this, which is why he could formulate such a hypothesis now.

Leeha: Right. That’s what I think. And that Prea created the illusion of Toon.

This was where Leeha’s speculation reached. However, the reason why this couldn’t be made public was because it was difficult to explain.

Kijung: Why would she do such a thing?

Why?

There had to be a clear reason for Prea to engage in such an act.

Why would she simply summon the illusion of Toon and ‘dismiss’ monsters without any visible benefits or concrete results?

Leeha: Well, I don’t know either.

Leeha was also unable to provide an answer to that question.

That was one of the reasons why they didn’t bother informing the other knights.

Leeha: Let’s just observe for now. I might as well go hunting while I’m at it. I’d appreciate it if those bastards could go a bit further away.

Kijung: Uh, what? Hyung?

Leeha: It feels like it should be at least 3,500 meters away.

Leeha’s voice became playful, catching Kijung off guard.

The previously serious contemplator had vanished.

‘Grasping at unknowable answers is also a meaningless act.’

Leeha pulled the trigger. A heavy shot was loaded.

Toon disappeared. So what? Thanks to Toon disappearing, the monsters stop moving.

The farthest Toon was about 3,300 meters away.

Inside that range, a group of monsters that had stopped?

“This is completely like practice targets, don’t you think, Blaugrunn-ssi?”

“Yes. Yes??

“Puhahaha, Toon bastard, no, Prea! Whatever you’re trying to do!”

Leeha adjusted the click.

What was clearly visible beyond the scope was a giant elephant-shaped monster he once faced as a ‘kid’!

“Thanks to you, I can level up!”

Baaaaaang——–!!

[Your level has increased.]

A white light burst out of Leeha’s body.

About an hour later.

The monsters were still stationary, facing off against the defense forces. The constant gunfire that lasted for the hour had finally quieted down.

It wasn’t because all the monsters were killed.

“Ah, I’ve already used up all my magazines.”

Leeha clicked his tongue in disappointment. Typically, he carried a bag full of magazines with him. The number of magazines he emptied in an hour was, in fact, countless. In that context, Leeha’s expression of disappointment was essentially nothing more than excessive greed.

The level Leeha had gained until he ceased firing was a whopping three levels.

A user exceeding level 220 leveling up this quickly was unbelievable.

Considering every shot was expensive ammunition, it was as if he had poured money into leveling up in a very short time.

“At least you had fun, hyung. We don’t even know what we’re doing here, really.”

Kijung, who had been levitated by Blaugrunn’s [Levitation], was floating around Leeha. In reality, there were many users capable of long-distance attacks, but none had the range Leeha possessed. And what about the close-range users?

The users and knights gathered here had no choice but to continuously listen to Leeha’s gunfire for an entire hour.

Kijung fiddled with his ears as he looked at Leeha.

“That gunfire is real torture, man. Hyung, can’t you turn down the volume?”

“If I could reduce the noise, buddy, do you think I would be doing this?”

“Right. Only hyung wouldn’t have thought of that.”

“I did think about making a silencer—”

Leeha grumbled as he wrapped the barrel of Black Bass with a rag stuffed into his bag.

The larger the gun, the louder the noise.

The larger the bullet, the more gunpowder used, thus louder the shot.

“You thought about it?”

“Silencers aren’t that simple.”

“Not simple? Isn’t it just about attaching it to the front and shooting? Ah! Is it because of a decrease in range, something like that?”

Listening to Kijung, Leeha chuckled.

The level of knowledge one might have from general FPS games.

“The range doesn’t really get affected that much. It’s more about how difficult it is to achieve proper sound dampening.”

Attaching a silencer to the barrel isn’t difficult.

However, getting a silencer to effectively silence the sound is quite challenging with just the simple structure of a silencer.

A silencer based on the baffle system could be quickly made, but with the size of a Black Bass’ bullet, expecting significant noise reduction from a simple baffle silencer would be difficult. If suppressors worked like they do in movies, emitting nothing but a soft ‘pop, pop,’ Leeha would have prioritized their creation over scopes.