Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

The laborers were sweating profusely as they tried to dismantle the city wall, but it was not an easy task.

“Even with our skills, it seems impossible to restore. It might be better to completely destroy and rebuild—”

“How long would that take?”

“Even if we try to blast everything, clear the rubble, and rebuild the city wall as quickly as possible, it would still take more than four months…”

The laborer lowered his head as if ashamed.

Four months of practically leaving a hole for external invaders to exploit. During that time, the number of people trying to infiltrate the city, exposed to danger, would decrease.

Changed city walls, collapsed buildings, a dead knight order, and news of the invasion had caused the population to dwindle.

“Ugh… This is maddening.”

Leeha was a sharpshooter, a musketeer.

He had an enormous single attack power of over 30,000, but such abilities were of no help in fixing the city walls.

―You’re here? How does it feel? Not as easy as you thought, right?

At that moment, just when he felt like crying, the voice that resonated in Leeha’s mind was like a ray of light.

―Ram Hwayeon!!!!

Leeha couldn’t help but call her name, filled with sincerity.

***

As Ram Hwayeon sifted through documents at Castle Dale’s inner court, her face flushed.

“Sis, your face…”

“Huh? Ah, well, it’s nothing, Hwajung.”

Ram Hwayeon hurriedly raised the documents to cover her face.

Ram Hwajung gave her sister a deadpan look, then spun around in her chair.

“Lady Ram Hwayeon, aren’t you making the room messy like that?”

“Uh.”

“Ugh… Stop that and you need to get used to reviewing these documents now—”

“Not doing it.”

Jacheong, who was standing by, was perplexed, but Ram Hwayeon didn’t even notice such things now.

―What, what is it? Am I so happy to see you?

“Did Highha wait for me?”

Why?

Without even having time to organize her thoughts, Leeha immediately responded to her.

―Of course! How could I not have, considering how much I’ve been thinking about you, from earlier until now!

Ram Hwayeon’s face reddened even more. If this were reality, her cheeks would be completely crimson by now.

―Leeha, don’t you think I’ve been stuck with my 24-hour game console? I only went out for a while because of Father’s business.

―Of course. It’s the Lamrong Group, after all. Dependable as always!

―What brought this on? You’re talking like you want something from me?

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Ram Hwayeon’s heart pounded as she covertly glanced at Leeha.

She wondered what Highha might be thinking. Could it be that she and Highha were on a special wavelength?

―She’s really changed the way she thinks. You’re an amazing woman.

―What’s so amazing about it?

―Why are you being like this—

Thump, thump, thump!

Ram Hwayeon’s heart raced so much that she worried if there might be something wrong with the Middle Earth Access Device, fearing it might force a logout due to excessive strain on her body.

―Did you manage the city well?

―… What? City management?

And Leeha’s immediate reply was, naturally, not what she had hoped for.

In the first place, Leeha had waited for Ram Hwayeon because the chimeras had a vulnerability to fire magic.

And now, with the invaders Igor and Zar barely repelled, he sought advice on city management.

Either way, it was not what Ram Hwayeon had been expecting.

―Yeah. Like you said, it’s not an easy task. It’s really not the usual. Moreover, the city has been completely devastated by the attacks from Faust and Igor. And these NPC idiots are not even thinking about cooperating…

“Wh-what?”

“It wasn’t Bluebeard who was causing havoc with the chimeras in Minis.”

“What? That can’t be true. Then who else could it be?”

“Well, sorry, I might have left something out. I’m sure Bluebeard is involved in some way, but this time, it’s clear that Faust has been appointed as the leader for the action.”

“Just a collaboration? Like the user being a kind of representative for the monsters? Not even an NPC…”

“But that’s not all. Igor and Crouly are also there. It might even expand further.”

“Unbelievable.”

Ram Hwayeon looked at Leeha with a face of disbelief.

It was a fact that Leeha had told her before that Faust was likely involved, even though he was also aware of Bluebeard’s connection to the matter. However, after experiencing the City Gaza attack incident, Ram Hwayeon had come up with several hypotheses, and the most plausible one was shared with Ram Hwayeon.

“Certainly. Faust became the overall commander over there. It’s very likely that he used the fact that you become much stronger in terms of stats and skills when you become a demon lord as bait.”

However, Ram Hwayeon still had some lingering questions. How did Igor know about this? How did he get in contact with Faust?

“In the end, it all comes back to the idea that someone is involved. It’s likely that someone informed them of this. That pesky guy causing trouble in Shazrashia Federal State came all the way here, near the southernmost part of Minis? Someone surely must have informed him and helped him bridge the gap.”

As Ram Hwayeon pondered, her conclusion led to one particular possibility.

Someone who had played a pivotal role during the national war, someone who had an in-depth knowledge of the events happening within Minis.

“There’s undoubtedly someone behind this. The one who was ‘outside the opposition’ and was by Evin’s side during the national war. But who exactly could that be…?”

Since then, something had been bothering her.

“Anyway, since the war has concluded, I didn’t pay much attention to it afterwards, but now I regret it,” sighed Leeha. “If I had somehow found and exposed their identities back then, it would have been better.”

“But now it’s a situation where there’s no way,” replied Ram Hwayeon.

“What are you going to do about this? Do you have a plan? Honestly, this is the first time I’ve seen a city get destroyed like this.”

“We have to restore it, there’s no other option,” said Ram Hwayeon.

Leeha let out a sigh. “So, how are you managing external security in Castle Dale?”

“We… Hwayeon handles that. She uses some kind of magical stone, placing them like markers all over the place and then connecting them with her own mana. It creates a huge magical fishing net, blocking most infiltrations.”

Ram Hwayeon continued to explain what she knew, but even for Ram Hwayeon, the explanation wasn’t easy to grasp.

Even for a fellow mage like Ram Hwayeon, it was difficult to explain precisely. This led to the conclusion that Ram Hwayeon was likely creating some kind of boundary based on items and skills.

“R-Ramhwayeon, you’re truly a genius in Mid Earth. It’s not something I can utilize. I guess I’ll have to go back.”

“Go where?”

Leeha reached for her crystal ball, interrupting Ram Hwayeon’s explanation.

Ram Hwayeon raised an eyebrow, wondering where she was going.

“I just realized I need to contact Ramhwayeon.”

“Why so suddenly? What will you do if you suddenly disappear like this?!”

“Oh, and something I heard from that pig lord earlier, let me see… ah, never mind. Got it?”

Leeha didn’t just spend her time idly while she waited to contact Ram Hwayeon.

During the post-war recovery period, she took the time to talk to the lord NPCs and their advisors about the general aspects of city management.

Among the things she asked about, this one was the first.

“[Delegating Authority]? Are you telling me to manage everything here for a while?”

“Just wait a moment. I just need you to cover for me while I’m gone.”

Ram Hwayeon was surprised as she looked at the hologram window that appeared before her. It meant that she would have the authority over City Gaza, possibly even concerning income and higher-level decisions, for a while. But Leeha, with a warm smile, just vanished.

Left alone, Ram Hwayeon pondered the last words Leeha had left for her.

“I trust you….”

Leeha’s words unexpectedly kept Ram Hwayeon’s heart racing all day long.

The place Leeha had gone to was Hell and Vill, a fact that was revealed through her contact with Ram Hwayeon.

It was a rather simple realization, considering that Mid Earth was an online game.

“It’s surprising yet obvious. This isn’t SimCity. Whether it’s managing a city or anything else!”

Online games were not meant to be played alone.

When you have someone reliable nearby, the difficulty of online games decreases significantly.

“Bottleneck Ajusshi!”