Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

Ha Leeha shouted with the loudest voice he could muster.

“I have uncovered all the secrets of the Sniper of Magic Bullets!”

“What?”

Kaztor’s movements came to an abrupt halt.

“. .”

Ha Leeha pulled the trigger.

From the muzzle of Black Bass, Uncanny and tracer bullets were fired simultaneously. Forty-two streaks of light swirled through the air and flew straight towards Kaztor.

Could he use curve shots without relying on mana? Ha Leeha had just answered that question.

“Arrrghhh!”

Without time for the barrier to react, Kaztor’s scream echoed as he was struck. Ha Leeha immediately swam towards where he anticipated Kaztor would fall, but unfortunately, Kaztor did not drop.

His altitude briefly dipped, causing a wavering motion, but he was still flying.

“Wh-what? How…”

“Hoo… hooo… a Terror Spirit? I heard you killed Toon, but to have tamed a Terror Spirit as well, Ha Leeha.”

Kaztor, hovering in mid-air, looked down at Ha Leeha.

‘He didn’t faint? Did the Terror Spirit have no effect on him? No, no, it worked. That scream earlier confirmed he witnessed a target of fear.’

Why didn’t he faint, then?

If he were an undead completely immune to fear, that would make sense, but Kaztor wasn’t undead.

“Ha! You followed me believing in just one Terror Spirit—”

Thud!

“—didn’t you?”

Had the multi-headed bullet extinguished the barrier? Kaztor’s body wobbled, with his left elbow being blown away. However, black mana soon gathered there and restored it.

“Not bad. No, very impressive. But this level of attack won’t kill me.”

“Maybe not kill you. But the vitality stored in your Vitality Jar isn’t limitless, is it?”

Ha Leeha pulled the bolt again and fired another bullet.

With each shot, parts of Kaztor’s body were damaged but promptly regenerated.

A sinister smile appeared on Kaztor’s lips.

“Do you think you can drain an ocean with a ladle? Compared to the three musketeers of the previous generation, you are absurdly foolish.”

“It’s not foolishness. It’s a strong spirit of experimentation.”

Ha Leeha pulled the trigger once more. Yet, it seemed to have an effect similar to attacking a spirit.

‘That’s not a spirit. Last time, there was definitely damage.’

The advantage of transferring his life into the Vitality Jar was eliminating physical weaknesses, but it wasn’t the same as being a spirit.

In other words, he still had to use his own life force to repair any damage to his body after being hit.

As Ha Leeha fired the fourth shot after three, Kaztor began to inch away, which was evidence enough.

Ha Leeha stopped shooting precisely at that moment.

“See? You can’t scoop the ocean with a gourd, but you can certainly scoop what’s in a rubber basin.”

“Arrogant… If you have nothing more to say—”

“I do! I have plenty to say.”

There was no such thing as an attack without meaning. This was currently Ha Leeha’s best effort. Until the helpers arrived, his goal was to hold on and extract as much information as possible. The moment the Terror Spirit had no effect, Ha Leeha realized he couldn’t kill Kaztor on his own.

Ha Leeha felt a deep sense of sorrow but had no choice.

“He’s not someone you can kill with just damage. If there were a user with a restraining skill, we might cook something up alongside the dragon. Attacking further now would only provoke him. Once Kaztor finds Ha Leeha’s attacks bothersome, who knows what he might do. It was a situation to avoid at all costs.”

“I even visited a Dark Elf’s tribe to learn about Matan’s Shooter, and there I—”

“Hehe… You went to such lengths, and even summoned the Terror Spirit, but in the end, I remain unscathed. So what if your companions come here now, thinking they can tickle me?”

“What on earth are you saying? I actually found something out about Matan’s Shooter, so I mentioned it.”

Tickling space?

Had he already sensed Hyein’s skill?

Ha Leeha spoke as calmly as possible, but Kaztor didn’t miss Ha Leeha’s slight stammer.

Kaztor was already smirking.

Ha Leeha felt a chilling sensation at the sight of the Dark Elf still retaining “Rothjak’s” appearance, laughing.

“You can’t have found out anything. Hehe… because I didn’t leave anything behind. But I can certainly sense your strong desire to know about Matan’s Shooter. Fine!”, Kaztor waved a hand towards the air.

A pitch-black space opened under the dark sky. From it emerged a rather thick book.

“I’ll tell you a few things you don’t know about Matan’s Shooter.”

Ha Leeha didn’t respond.

In reality, timing his distraction would have led him to dismiss Kaztor’s words as nonsense. However, now Ha Leeha needed to stall for time. No matter what those words meant, he had to listen first.

“There are no free lunches, I suppose?”

“Of course not.”

Kaztor grinned.

The look on Kaztor’s face made Ha Leeha want more than anything to put a bullet through it, despite the temptation presented.

“You’re not gonna ask me to join you, are you…?”

“Ha! Do you think I’d believe anything you say, even if you kissed my feet? What I want is a trade.”

Ha Leeha hesitated, stalled. In that brief moment, he was pushed back about 50 meters. The strong wind even made Kaztor stagger in mid-air.

Ha Leeha barely managed to recompose himself and returned to his position to ask.

“A trade?”

What could he possibly want?

Kaztor nodded and said to Ha Leeha.

“You killed Toon, didn’t you? You must have his laryngeal bone.”

“Lar—laryngeal bone?”

Ha Leeha struggled to hide his astonished expression. He had looted pieces of Toon’s great armor, Toon’s skin, and even Toon’s vocal cords.

‘I’ve already used up the chest armor. I have one piece of skin left… Come to think of it, there are also the vocal cords. But why? What is he after?’

The term ‘Toon’s vocal cords’ might sound better than it actually was; it referred to the massive bone that had been in the neck of a dinosaur over 400 meters long. What could be the reason behind wanting such a huge bone, sizable enough to be turned into a weapon?

‘The item description didn’t have anything special, did it? No special effects or anything. I just thought it was a material item. Well, I suppose since the chest armor is a material, the vocal cords could be used for something too—’

What kind of item could a Dark Elf like him be planning to make with Toon’s vocal cords?

“Make your decision quickly. I’ll give you five seconds.”

“Wa-wait! Why? Why do you want that?”

“Did you ask that thinking I’d actually tell you? You’re unbelievably foolish.”

It was obvious that he wouldn’t get an answer. However, Ha Leeha hoped to catch something in Kaztor’s reaction—even the smallest twitch of a fingertip or curve of a lip.

Of course, Kaztor gave no such hints.

“Four seconds. Three seconds.”

Ha Leeha bit his lips tightly.

‘He’s heading to the New Continent. Is there a place in the New Continent where Toon’s vocal cords would be useful? If not, it wouldn’t make sense for him to need it now. Toon’s vocal cords don’t seem to be related to the magic sniper. Damn, I need to buy more time—’

“Two seconds. One second.”

“All right—”

“Too late.”

“Whhhooo—!”

Kaztor resumed his flight. At that moment, a violet light flashed over Ha Leeha’s head. Kaztor had perfectly timed the arrival of Hyein.

“Hyung!”

“I’ll seal the space first!”

“No, it’s not teleportation! We need to stop him from flying—”

“What wind— What the heck is this!”

Kijung, Hyein, and Bobae all tried to intercept Kaztor at once, but this place was the sea. The arrows Bobae fired spiraled away helplessly.

The typhoon, which couldn’t even allow bullets with a speed of 830 m/s to fly straight, was too ruthless to be overcome by arrows.

“Eh? No boat either? In this sea, I thought you’d at least have a small boat or something—”

Ha Leeha didn’t even look at the members of Byulcho drowning and struggling against the fierce waves.

“Remember the multi-warhead shot when under short impact.”

Kaztor’s cloak fluttered as he flew. His body swayed left and right as he moved.

There would undoubtedly be more turbulence. Bullets, with less mass, would be even more affected by the wind.

But the speed was different.

He considered Kaztor’s flight speed and the Black Bass bullets’ speed.

“Shoo— controlling the wind…”

Ha Leeha lifted the Black Bass. He did not aim at Kaztor. It made more sense now.

What happens when a wind traveling at 43 m/s meets another at 40 m/s? What effect does it have when a bullet is shot through the space between them?

“No, it’s not that I understand it.”

He felt it.

Ha Leeha quietly pulled the trigger.

—

The sound of another gunshot was drowned out by the rolling thunder.

A flash of light burst from Kaztor. No sound was heard. Nevertheless, Ha Leeha felt as if he heard the sound of the bullet breaking through the barrier.

“Hyung! Hyung! What’s going on? What happened?”

“Kaztor… Damn it, the situation is so different from what we were told—Sorry about that. We just naively assumed he’d be on the ship…”

Hyein used flying magic to lift people up one by one. Only then did Bobae find her composure and asked Ha Leeha.

“Just now, Ha Leeha… You hit him, right?”

Ha Leeha didn’t answer. He rummaged through his bag instead.

“Bobae, just a moment.”

Ha Leeha immediately threw something towards the typhoon.

“Screech!? Wh-what’s that?”

“An eagle? A pig? A shark?”

“Huh? What is that—”

Amid the strange noises from the typhoon, three semi-transparent animals suddenly appeared in the sky. Souls without bodies were caught up in the wind, flapping helplessly.

Ha Leeha quietly observed them.

“I see. Now I understand.”

He aimed the muzzle of the Black Bass at the sky and pulled the trigger.

The tracer bullet traced a snake-like figure with little curvature.

The bullet flew toward the flapping soul of the maze.

Crash!

Just as the soul of the pig disappeared, a holographic window appeared before Ha Leeha’s eyes. Ba-bam!

『White Reaper: Piercing Eye- 1 completed.』

『Achievement gained: Cutting Through the Wind.』

The events in the Sea of Dawn soon spread to the key individuals. However, there weren’t many who could move immediately.

This incident ultimately became an issue among users.

Users from the Knights of Narnia and Lark, along with other national knight orders, rushed to the new continent’s Juma City, hunting him down, while Ram Hwayeon and paleo immediately established a surveillance network.

“…

“Are you really not sending the NPCs? Then it’s just our country suffering!”

“The sortie—no, the advance is tomorrow, and hurrying things now will only add to the confusion. They seem to have sent a small vanguard, so it’s going to be tough for you and Ram Hwayeon.”

This time, four nations were joining forces under the banner of . The key figures were finding it difficult to control the situation due to Kaztor’s emergence.

Although there was a valid point, the users felt it was merely an ‘excuse’ from the side of the NPCs.

(To be continued…)