Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

“Uncanny… Trembling due to fear.”

The terror spirit had not appeared in the world for a long time. Even Blaugrunn was surprised, and the supreme ice spirit mentioned it directly.

‘If this is a hint…’

There was nothing to fear.

Gerda’s words were likely correct. If so, it meant that at least there was no problem involving the ice spirit or dragons.

Then?

The target was likely the terror spirit.

“I’ll handle it.”

With Uncanny present and an increased affinity with all dark attribute spirits, Ha Leeha couldn’t find an easier task.

* * *

Ha Leeha walked while checking the quest window once again.

It seemed related to spirits, but he couldn’t help wondering if it was Middle Earth’s trap.

‘Anyway, since I’ve accepted the quest, it’s set… I just hope my guess is right.’

Of course, he couldn’t be completely relieved just by that.

When the cave at the foot of the mountain became quite visible, Ha Leeha asked Blaugrunn about the current quest.

* * *

― A group of fear spirits? I don’t think such a thing still exists on the continent.

― What if they live deep underground where even dragons might not know?

― Hmm… My past mana may not have been great, but at least I’ve never detected any presence. And though my social skills are not the best, not a single metal dragon I know has ever mentioned a group of fear spirits. And I’ve told you before.

The terror spirit was extremely rare.

Even if it had appeared in this world instead of the spirit realm, Blaugrunn judged that it wouldn’t be found in a group.

* * *

― Then what could it be? An opponent that even the supreme ice spirit would fear.

― I’m curious too. Ah! Can’t we just leave those useless humans and go there?

Blaugrunn complained, but Ha Leeha opposed it.

― No, no. Who knows what might be there? Imagine finding Blessed Mithril or something like that super expensive Pink Diamond! The finances of Gaza City aren’t great, so we need to save every penny. Please bear with it a bit.

― Ugh, alright.

Hearing Blaugrunn’s cute sigh, Ha Leeha also felt a bit regretful.

They had spent too much money in the war against the giants, so they had to scrape up resources by any means.

‘I need to buy a new hat too… I saw a legendary hat at the auction last time!’

A mask suitable for assassins!

It increased agility, movement speed, and also had special effects that reduced footstep noise while hiding in shadows.

For Ha Leeha, no longer had the harpy hat, it was a mouth-watering item, but for someone without money, it was an unattainable dream.

Whooooo…!

Talking with Blaugrunn, Ha Leeha eventually reached the entrance of the cave.

A cold wind blew out, making an unpleasant noise.

“Alright… Let’s go in. Jellypong, hold the torch.”

『Nyong!』

As Jellypong lit up the fire, Ha Leeha grabbed the Black Bass tightly.

On his waist dangled the claw daggers of Toon and two musket-pistols, prepared for close-range threats.

‘Huh? No regional achievements popping up.’

Had someone already been here? No, that couldn’t be.

‘To get here, you’d have to pass through the spot where I used the Snowball. If anyone had, Gerda wouldn’t have appeared.’

He had completed the quest.

Pure snow.

Since no one had stepped foot here, Gerda had appeared.

Yet a cave that seemed to contain something didn’t show any regional achievements?

‘High probability of a spirit. Low probability of a dragon. Either way, something more than just a monster is here.’

It indicated that there was something more than just a simple monster.

Walking into the dark cave didn’t particularly scare Ha Leeha.

Whatever was in here, he believed he wouldn’t be killed in one blow.

And so far, teleportation wasn’t obstructed.

Could it be called an adventure if defense and escape were guaranteed? Moreover, he had 《Piercing Eyes》 and 《Mana Clairvoyance》!

Clack—!

Ha Leeha pulled the bolt back, loading a round, and continued walking. The cave was dug into the mountainside but wasn’t flat.

Just as Gerda had mentioned, at certain points it sloped steeply downward or had terrain close to a cliff, allowing him to reach ‘deep under the ground.’

‘How deep does this go?’

Overcoming all the obstacles, Ha Leeha descended further.

The chill grew increasingly severe.

After descending for about an hour, something finally caught Ha Leeha’s eye.

You resisted abnormal status: Extreme Cold (Enhanced).

You resisted abnormal status: Frostbite (Enhanced).

You resisted abnormal status: Freezing (Enhanced).

“The status ailments from the Everlasting Snow Mountain…? No way… Is it that level?”

He knew there was a coldness strong enough to daunt even the supreme ice spirit. But starting penalties at an Everlasting Snow Mountain level of cold?

That couldn’t be.

If it were, the surroundings should be ice walls instead of stone walls.

And yet, to impose status ailments like those from the Everlasting Snow Mountain?

‘If my ice resistance wasn’t at 90%, I would’ve had to turn back from here.’

Ha Leeha’s instincts began to sense danger.

Something not merely unpleasant but dangerous and lethal was here.

‘At least something on the level of…’

At minimum, something comparable to Bathory.

“Jellypong, shine the light over there!”

『Nyong!』

At that moment, Ha Leeha finally detected movement. Jellypong quickly redirected the torch.

In the direction where a lump of mana was wriggling, Ha Leeha shone the light to confirm.

Though resembling a human form, it slightly glowed blue and was a skeleton.

“… Undead? Skeleton?”

The clattering sound of bones echoed in Ha Leeha’s ears.

* * *

『Myong―』

“Shh. Jellypong, turn off the light.”

Jellypong immediately rubbed the torch against the cave wall and extinguished it.

The inside of the cave plunged into complete darkness. Ha Leeha confirmed the skeleton’s movements through mana vision, then cautiously pulled out his night-vision goggles.

After a brief buzz―, the shape of the skeleton began to come into view.

‘That’s a high-level skeleton. It’s perfectly equipped with armor, and the quality of its weapon is excellent.’

The level of an undead is generally determined by the equipment it wears.

Even Faust, in his ranker days, had only used mere skeletal soldiers or zombies with significant parts of their bodies damaged.

Recently, although it’s unclear if it could be called a second job change, he transformed into a vampire, utilizing full-fledged zombies, ghouls, and skeletons wielding armor and swords.

The difficulties he’d gone through because of that were immense.

‘Does this mean the level of this skeleton exceeds that of Faust’s summoned creatures?’

The skeleton in front of him was so spotless that it was hard to make a comparison.

‘That’s definitely top-grade.’

Ha Leeha wondered if, someday, even a user or Faust could summon something of this level. That would indeed be troublesome.

After scanning the surroundings thoroughly with the night-vision goggles, Ha Leeha moved slowly.

‘The creatures without ears are sensitive to sound.’

Sensitivity to sound was a common trait among undead like zombies!

Even the smallest noise would make the creature charge at him immediately.

‘Good thing there’s only one of them…’

Could that skeleton have really scared even a high-ranking ice spirit?

Impossible. No matter how strong, a skeleton couldn’t do that.

‘There’s no way such a skeleton could frighten a top-grade ice spirit.’

Blaugrunn had already informed him.

‘It started with the spirits of light and darkness, right? Spirits of light and darkness are considered a grade higher than basic spirits… If that’s true for the ice spirit as well…’

Would that mean the top-grade ice spirit Gerda is on par with the water spirit king Elaim?

Ha Leeha shook his head.

No matter how he thought about it, it couldn’t be.

He couldn’t consider it stronger than the spirit king; otherwise, the spirit realm itself wouldn’t make sense.

‘It’s more likely stronger than a top-grade water spirit but below a spirit king. That’s probably accurate.’

Thus, Gerda would never lose in a fight against other top-grade spirits and could probably handle more than one at a time depending on the situation.

There was no way that a spirit of such power would be afraid of a single skeleton.

Reassessing the situation, Ha Leeha observed the skeleton’s movements.

It seemed to be on patrol, not straying from its range as it moved with a bony rigidity.

‘The path is over there, and I have about 13 seconds to move. Time doesn’t seem short.’

He could slip into the path behind the skeleton when its back was turned.

Ha Leeha signaled Jellypong to be ready to move and waited.

Then, as the clattering skeleton turned around.

‘Now!’

『Myong!』

Swish―!

Jellypong’s tendrils started moving, striking the cave walls.

“Caw caw caw?”

Perhaps due to the sound generated by three-dimensional movement. The skeleton suddenly turned around.

“Caw caw caw… caw.”

But that was it.

Ha Leeha had already slipped past it.

Infiltrating relatively smoothly, he advanced further into the cave.

‘Nice― no, Jellypong! Stop! Stop! Stick to the ceiling!’

Ha Leeha clung to the cave ceiling like Spider-Man. It was a relief that the cave’s interior was spacious.

The clattering of bones and the sound of torn flesh scraping the floor echoed everywhere.

“Caw caw caw… caw…”

“Caw caw caw caw―”

“Grigg grigg grigg…”

Peering down from the ceiling, Ha Leeha blinked his eyes.

‘What on earth―’

What walked below were countless undead. The skeleton he encountered earlier could have just been a ‘stray’.

The undead below moved with clear order and even communicated in seemingly incomprehensible chatter.

‘Undead? Acting like this― Undead acting in such a manner, I’ve never heard of!’

But this astonishment was just the beginning. Not just the cave ceiling Ha Leeha was clinging to, but all the surrounding paths were tunnels.

Until now, he thought it was just a cave, but the realization struck him clearly.

And at the end of the tunnel, illuminated so brightly even through the night-vision goggles, was a blinding light.

A light so brilliant it could be seen without the goggles!

‘Undead behaving collectively… the light at the end of the tunnel, and those markings and styles on the tunnel walls seen between the skeletons and zombies…’

The bizarre undead monsters seen between the skeletons and zombies, and the various markings and styles on the walls of the tunnel extending towards the light―

‘A town? A city? A fortress?’

Those were the terms that came to Ha Leeha’s mind first.

If he exited through the end of this tunnel, reaching that faintly illuminated place, what would he find?

Could it be a massive city of undead that lived collectively, unlike natural occurrences at graveyards or former large battlefields!

‘No, if such a place exists―’

Who rules over it?

Ha Leeha swallowed his dry spit. In the past, he would have left immediately. Because there was no way to pass through the tunnels without getting caught by the undead.

No matter how quietly he moved on the ceiling, Jellypong’s tendrils would inevitably make some noise on the cave ceiling, and the sound-sensitive creatures would surely find him.

‘But this time.’

He had the 〈Breath of Melting〉.

Unlike camouflage, a perfect assimilation skill without a “1 meter per minute” movement limitation.

-Blaugrunn?

-Yes?

-Have you ever heard of undead living collectively― forming villages like Kobolds, Goblins, or Orcs?

-What!? What are you talking about? Undead fundamentally don’t have intelligence. And high-class undead like Dullahans aren’t numerous enough for that. That’s why necromancers― wait, where are you? Should I come?

-No, no. Stay where you are. It’s better if you’re outside in case of an emergency extraction.