Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

While doodling various designs on a blank sheet of paper, Leeha wrapped his head with his hands in frustration. Silencers, depending on their types and structures, are categorized differently. Among them, finding one that not only suits Black Bass but is also easy to manufacture in Middle Earth and effective in sound suppression, was not an easy task.

“The problem is the gas. It needs to be the rapidly expanding gas that’s reduced, and in theory, eliminating the gas as soon as it fires would be best. But that’s impossible. Second would be rapid cooling… but cooling is easier said than done. That’s also difficult. Third is deceleration. Slowing down the expansion rate.”

Even if you understand the principle, exactly how it materializes can be hard to pin down.

“Cooling… Cooling…”

“Leeha, did you put away the fan?”

“Not yet. It’s a bit hot at night, hehe.”

“What are you talking about, even if you have a lot of body heat? Should Mom clean it up?”

“I’ll do it, I’ll do it.”

Leeha jumped out of his chair, trying to make an excuse, as his mother offered to take care of it herself.

At the moment when the fan’s blades hesitantly spun in the wind, something clicked in Leeha’s brain.

‘Gas expands and escapes simultaneously from the silencer’s bullet section. That means, noise is generated from that point on. If the sound can be weakened as much as possible until the very last moment it bursts out!’

If within the silencer, deceleration could be applied, and if the escaping gas could be efficiently expended and cooled?

Leeha plugged in the fan and hit the strong wind button. When the chilly breeze whooshed, blowing his hair, he was finally able to go back to his desk.

“Alright, it’s a challenge.”

The time it took Leeha to make a draft of the silencer’s design was about four hours afterward. By then, nearly a full day had passed in Middle Earth. By that time, the standoff between the forces was still ongoing in “Divine Staff.”

“No matter how much the knights try to maintain discipline, loosening up to some degree is unavoidable.”

“Rathis, I’d like to praise them. Even for a martial artist, standing in one place for more than 12 hours is one of the toughest trainings.”

At Bobae’s words, Tale nodded. Under the bright moonlit night, the knights and the legion were resting here and There , more comfortably than during the day. Yet, they didn’t take their eyes off the direction whise Toon’s vague shadow and monsters were, earning a pass mark from Tale.

“It seems There ‘s only one thing to think about…”

“What is it, Hyein hyung?”

“It’s psychological warfare. They’re trying to exhaust us deliberately. You must feel it too, Kay, seeing us all disheveled just after a day. Unable to properly rest… If this situation continues for more than ten days, what do you think will happen?”

“Just thinking about it makes me tired.”

“That’s right. They’re waiting for the moment we fall into our limits.”

Hyein wore a serious expression, quick-witted enough to notice the overt intentions of the enemy yet still forced to frown.

“Then what do we do?”

“That’s the problem.”

There ‘s no clear way to respond.

Should all the enemy’s appearances be deemed mere feints? That cannot be the case.

Mixed in with the feints were real threats. Unless one could foresee it beforehand, ignoring an enemy that has already appeared would be a critical mistake. Even if it were an illusion.

‘Just one slip could cause “Divine Staff” to fall.’

Up until now, it was mostly about sieges. For the users, taking something or exploring unknown points were the main quests’ flow in Middle Earth. But now, it’s about defense. Amidst the Wave event and given the situation that necessitated a constant “defensive” stance, fatigue started to build due to a lack of experience.

“The ones rushing in do so of their own volition. The same goes for those who rush at us. We need to think of how to handle this.”

Hyein counted the number of knights gathered around. Not everyone was present, but There were more than two thousand.

“Including the regular users of Juma City… it might not be impossible.”

She thought of implementing a rotation system, drawing on his experience from the voyage to the New Continent – to rotate the interception squad aimed at revealing the true nature of Toon.

“If we can just expose that shadow as an illusion, so many wouldn’t have to suffer. But I wonder if those who are not on a quest would cooperate? We’re putting in the effort to avoid a failure penalty, but those who came with the intention of just scoring points for knight order enrollment might not be much help.”

Nonetheless, confronting the mass of monsters that huddled There was inevitable. It was far from a task a few ragtags could accomplish. Hyein sighed deeply.

The first plan was dismissed, the second put on hold, and the third?

“Everyone could store energy in the crystal and head out for interception. If There ‘s an ambush near the ‘Divine Staff’, guessing they’d execute a diversion the moment we move – we could immediately teleport back. But that would confuse our command structure and take time to form a defensive formation. It’s impractical without fully grasping the enemy’s mobility.”

Even the knights specialized in reconnaissance reported no unusual movements or collective behavior among the monsters. Yet, wasn’t it a swarm led by a Demon King’s Fragment? If one considers the possibility of something perfectly invisible, or even a monster rigged for self-destruction creeping in.

Employing all the defense forces here was clearly an infeasible strategy. The third option was also rejected.

“Sigh, Kay.”

“Yes?”

Finally, Hyein thought of the most excellent solution. A unique existence capable of resolving all these concerns in one fell swoop. Even a dragon might struggle, but There was one user who could solve this predicament neatly.

“When is Ha Leeha coming?”

Ha Leeha’s ultra-long-range sniping was the most perfect card for solving all these problems. Only Ha Leeha could shoot a bullet that, in front of the ‘Divine Staff’, could blow Toon’s head off.

“Eh? Ha Leeha? Ah, right. Once Toon’s gone, the rest should be easy-“

“Kijung-ssi! There’s a big problem!”

Just as Kijung was hurriedly preparing to log out, Bobae rushed in frantically. The members of Byulcho, along with Hyein, were startled by his voice.

“What’s the matter? What happened?”

“Yes! Something happened! I got a message from Nara.”

Bobae relayed the message he had received from Shin Nara. Standing in formation next to Byulcho and Sacred, Kijung and Hyein realized that they hadn’t seen Shin Nara in a while. It was because There was something more urgent than protecting the ‘Divine Staff’.

“Those madmen, they’ve really done it. Let’s see.”

“Think hard, Kay. Our force might be small, but our combat strength is not to be underestimated. If Toon-“

Kijung, who had been listening to Hyein, may have had a momentary lack of insight, yet as a guild master, his animal-like instinct and judgment were more than enough to compensate.

“He’s not coming. And Leeha hyung will be here soon, so he’ll handle things when he arrives. Biyemi and Jin Gonggong, please act covertly for now. Everyone, we’re heading back. Let’s meet on the outskirts of Red Wood.”

Kijung made the decision. The guild master’s decision was, effectively, the guild’s policy.

Hyein was left speechless, unable to argue any furthis.

The entire team of Byulcho activated the crystal ball.

Several knights from the Sacred Order also used teleportation to head toward the capital of Shin Nara, joining the effort.

Despite knowing their power alone might be insufficient, they couldn’t just stand by.

“That insane Lark-”

A quiet moment had passed before [The Knights of the Rainbow] finally caused an uproar.

“If you intend to go, you’ll have to defeat me first.”

“Oh come on, what if the capital defense knights of Minis fight with those from Fibiel? Wouldn’t the entire Old Continent never know peace again? Do you keep wanting to block our path with war?”

“That’s what I’m saying! Don’t go! If our knights stationed in Juma City hadn’t sent us the news, you people would’ve-”

“What have we done? Did we do something wrong, Pung?”

“From the chancellor’s perspective, it’s not possible to judge your knight order’s actions as wrongful. Instead, actions benefiting the entire knight order warrant special bonuses.”

Lark shrugged his shoulders at him.

Pung nodded, agreeing with his statement.

It made sense for such a conversation to occur among members of the Virtuous Knight Order. Yet, Shin Nara and a few knights from the Sacred Order were diligently preparing for battle.

“What will you do when both the Red Goat paleos and the Black Crane paleos fall into mistrust of humans because of you? What about the users who come to the New Continent after this? They won’t be able to earn the affinity achievement because of you!”

Shin Nara was right to be furious. By the time he arrived here upon receiving an urgent message from the Sacred Order in Juma City, the Red Goat paleo, the Black Crane paleo, and even the Gorilla paleo on the outskirts of Red Wood had all been [Subjugated]. All this had happened within just 12 hours.

“And the numbers of the [Virtuous Knight Order] hardly changed from when I first saw them. Subduing three paleo tribes in such a short time without many casualties…”

Shin Nara swallowed hard.

She was confident against any single paleo.

But this was [Subjugation].

It meant subduing ‘every single member’ of the tribe.

Despite the considerable numbers of the Virtuous Knight Order, this was by no means an easy task.

“Moreover, to subjugate three legendary creatures in one day was nearly unthinkable.

Since the battle against the Red Goat paleo tribe, I had my doubts, but to think it was actually done in a day!

‘If it had been Harhei of the Gorilla paleos, I’d say it’s manageable, somewhat below or equal to an Adult Dragon. But Aibex of the Red Goat is slightly stronger than an Adult Dragon. Roughly speaking, it’s like clearing three dragon raids within 12 hours.”

It would be hard to believe even if Alexander and the Ancient Dragon Bailephus had done it. But to think it was done by a relatively unknown outsider, not even a high-ranker, was astonishing to Shin Nara.

“And you seem to misunderstand something, Shin Nara-ssi. Because of us, users won’t be able to gain affinity achievements… The affinity of creatures towards humans doesn’t just go from minus to more minus, but the speed at which affinity grows could slow down or, in severe cases, not increase at all… Isn’t that what you wanted to say? Right?”

“That, that’s exactly what you’re understanding-”

“Then it’s even easier. The future you worry about! If the upcoming users can’t grow strong because they can’t get achievements, then, they won’t be able to avert the crisis of the continent, right? Just make everyone strong.”

“What… What are you trying to say?”

Lark spread his arms wide and looked at Shin Nara.

Facing someone who doesn’t think they’ve done anything wrong isn’t easy.

A convict of perfect belief.

Especially when they hold their logic and cause, how should one guide them to believe?

“We spread the method of [Subjugation]. Then the future users won’t have to worry about being weak! Instead of tediously working on affinity, if users create temporary guilds and we just share the strategy with them? They can sweep through the [Subjugation] achievements! How great would that be! Our Virtuous Knight Order’s reputation would soar.”

“Hmm, true. As expected, our chief financial officer doesn’t hold the title for nothing. We might as well sell the separate [Subjugation] achievement strategies for each paleo. Or even get royalties for it.”

“Ha! Exactly! The financial officer isn’t one for nothing!”