Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

“Brother? What are you up to?”

“Dude, I crafted this while overcoming death in the New Continent. It’s in another dimension compared to ordinary durability, talk to Bottleneck-ssi here. Would anyone enhance this so easily?”

Leeha’s gift was nothing other than [Enhancement]!

Having already completed the testing phase, Bottleneck was almost harassing Leeha in his eagerness for the item to be [Enhanced].

Even if it wasn’t a complicated weapon but Kijung’s ‘shield’,

“Good! It’s been a while since I enhanced that little lady’s staff! I’ve been so bored! Who knew it would take this long for the second Lord to show up! Here, you! Come over here! Let’s plan out how to [Enhance] this!”

With these words, Bottleneck practically snatched Kijung’s shield and headed into the [Enhancement – exclusive blacksmith’s workshop].

To a still bewildered Kijung, Leeha whispered, “You’re welcome?”

With a smirk on his face, Leeha playfully patted his shoulder. There was an undeniable sense of respect blended with the irritation towards him.

“Really,-hyung… You’re such an unpredictable person. I admit it!”

“Giggle, yeah. Complete it nicely! Contact me if anything comes up!”

“Okay! Thanks,-hyung!”

Only after watching Kijung wave brightly, did Leeha start operating the crystal ball.

There was only one destination he needed to reach right now.

Leeha headed for the northernmost point of the New Continent that he knew.

“Now, let’s go fetch the lens!”

-[Temperature drops to minus 20 degrees.]

-[The chances of getting frostbitten due to the cold increases.]

“Oh dear, it seems we’ve finally reached the perpetual frozen tundra.”

“I think it’s just starting for me.” The northernmost point of the New Continent Leeha knew was the Jade Mountain.

Even though he had climbed the mountain and downhill several times through Blaugrunn, in the end, he had no choice but to walk.

And so, after about six more hours…

Finally, Leeha arrived at what he thought was the entrance to the northernmost point of the New Continent.

“Ugh, I should’ve just travelled riding Blaugrunn-ssi!”

“But you’re the one who said not to do that, Leeha-nim.”

If he travelled around riding the changed Blaugrunn, there would be no limit to his speed.

There wouldn’t be any obstacle he couldn’t traverse, and he would reduce his travel time significantly, but Leeha had chosen not to.

“That’s just petty complaining. Honestly, it would catch the eye and if I wander around above the clouds, I’ll be totally clueless about the terrain below. Knowing exactly the terrain and ecology of the New Continent is important. I also discovered the paleo tribes on my way here.”

Hiding the power of the Bronze Dragon was the first reason.

If it catches the eyes of the people on the way, rumours will spread. Once a rumour spreads, it becomes information and someone with swift reflexes may notice.

Moreover, he could easily miss out on the possibility of encountering other paleo or monster tribes.

Leeha knew very well just how much of a significant force each piece of live information could become.

“Well… I just looked from afar and ran away.”

“There’s nothing we can do about that now! I’ve just marked it for now, we’ll have to fetch the lens first and then, I’ll capture all those tribes, hah!”

The penalty of the Common Quest, which made befriending more difficult, was not an issue for Leeha alone.

This means that for now, the users are struggling even to raise the intimacy to the point where they are ‘not attacked’, let alone reaching a 100%.

Especially here, in the wilderness!

These are paleo tribes that hardly any user has reached. Then there’s a high chance the spot for 100% achievement in the Hall of Fame hasn’t been taken yet.

Who wouldn’t be envious of that, given how agility stat is quite high? However, any stat related to attack power is better the higher it is.

So far, he’s only been focusing on agility, but it’s not agility that Leeha is coveting the achievement for.

‘I need to increase my intelligence. My intelligence needs to go up.’The fine-tuning of intelligence stats at a 100% synchronization rate alone made things ‘visible’ that were previously unseen. If I could further elevate my intelligence stat, perhaps there would be no need for things like lenses?

Below, Elizabeth’s words still lingered.

Still can’t see it?

Below mulled over what that phrase meant.

That is, did Elizabeth mean ‘seeing’? Without the need for lenses, covering distances of 6 kilometers, or even 8 kilometers, isn’t that what she implied…

‘Well, that’s something to think about later. First, I need to make a scope. If I’m lucky, I can recover the Black Bass within 5 days. If not, I’m in for about a week?’

The time had passed unnoticed from the moment I had left it to bonobo paleo.

How might it have been enhanced?

‘Simply seeing from a distance has no value. Just being able to shoot from afar won’t cut it either.’

I need to acquire both traits.

In that respect, if one were to categorize the enhancements by the bonobo paleo as ‘range’, I will need to find a lens and make a scope until then.

At least until now, the execution of the plan had been proceeding flawlessly.

“As long as I can find a lens. Ugh, it’s freezing because of the synchronization.”

He walked for thirty minutes on the ground covered in a layer of frost.

Blaugrunn looked worriedly at Below as he stomped on.

Fortunately, it wasn’t snowing, but the biting wind felt like it would cut into the tips of their noses.

“Oh right, Leeha-nim, let me cast an ‘Ice Resist’ spell. Just wait a moment.”

“Oh, that? Mmm… can you do it later? I’m okay for now.”

“Really? But why-“

“I have this, you see.”

[You resisted the state of ‘Extreme cold’]
[You resisted the state of ‘Frostbite’]

Despite the conditions, it was still bearable.

The ‘Hero’s Coat Graced by the Sea God’ increased resistance against cold and ice, and since there was Jellypong, it worked out.

“Sometimes, I think Sir Haiga is a dragon polymorphed into a human…”

“That’s partly correct! After all, I am a member of the family of metal dragons and a relative of Bahamut. Isn’t it right?”

“Your speech is increasingly becoming similar to the Lord’s…”

“Eh? What did you just say?”

“No, nothing.”

It was then that they heard the sound of someone almost retching.

O O O O_______

wi~rs .

“Hmm?”

“Huh.”

The sound itself wasn’t loud. It was very faint, getting barely carried over by the wind, but the distinct feeling was sure.

“What’s that sound?”

“Shush.”

Below pressed down Blaugrunn’s head, lowering their posture.

Suddenly, something caught Below’s eye. Should I say he saw it, or should I say he didn’t?

Something gleaming in the sunlight was moving at high speed.

“Ugh, it’s bright! ‘Eagle’s Eye’!”

Without hesitation, Below used the skill. And he then was certain. The ‘Icebound Ostrich’ Ramhayan had spoken of was exactly that.

Just as its name suggested, an ostrich completely composed of ice was sprinting across the frozen earth, its colossal size unfolding exactly as Below predicted.

“Blaugrunn, can you teleport?”

“It’s going pretty fast, so it would be tough to aim directly above it.”

“Nearby is okay too. As long as it’s a distance of around 30 meters.”

“If that’s the case, I can manage it.”The moment clusters of turquoise beads began to accumulate inside Blaugrunn, Leeha started to load his gun.

A grapeshot, a bullet. Now, loading two musket-pistols takes less than five seconds.

Considering the time when even the quickest load took about ten seconds for a single musket, it was a remarkable evolution.

Blaugrunn, who was predicting Leeha’s movements, and Leeha, who had unwavering faith in Blaugrunn, were in themselves the perfect partners.

“[Mass Teleport]!”

Sha-a-a-a-a-a-at—–!

With the flash of light, Leeha concentrated his mind.

Where had he fallen? In which direction was the frozen ostrich running?

Leeha spun in the air to his left, raising both arms.

“Over here!”

“What?”

Ta-da-a-a-a-ang——-!

Grapeshot and bullet were fired simultaneously in the same direction.

Bang-a-ang-!

The head and neck of the frozen ostrich that had been baffled at the sudden appearance of Leeha and Blaugrunn in mid-air were smashed to smithereens.

When Leeha landed on the ground with a full turn in the air and Blaugrunn also safely touched down, all that could be seen on the ground were shards of ice.

“Phewwwww…Nice play! As expected, we’re completely in sync.”

“Of course. I’m 100% in sync with Leeha. By the way, your movements have become much more-nimble. Have you been doing some special training behind my back?”

“Special training? I can manage this much naturally. Hehe, now, let’s take a look at what this ‘Frozen Ostrich’ was up to. What kind of item has it left?”

With a hearty chuckle, Leeha headed towards the corpse of the frozen ostrich.

Although unmistakable ice shards were scattered on the frozen ground, nothing was as Leeha had expected.

“Huh? What is this?”

“What’s up?”

“Where did the ostrich’s body go?”

What was sprawled on the ground was nothing but ice shards and bits of ice.

There was no ‘ice in the shape of an ostrich’ at all, and it seemed as if rough ice had simply been ground down to create nothing but scattered ice.

“Wouldn’t it be over there? Take a good look.”

“No, it’s truly gone. The ostrich’s grey body… Can’t we even see fragments of the smashed grey carcass?”

Leeha tried searching with his foot, but found nothing at all.

“Can’t find it?”

“It’s not that I can’t find it. There’s no trace at all. Can’t we track it with mana detection or something?”

“Hmm, really. What would you have done without me? Just a moment.”

Leeha’s own[Mana Detection]only works on living creatures and can’t detect dead ones.

“Huh?”

“What is it?”

“The mana should at least be traceable if the body hasn’t disappeared…

“What about it?”

Blaugrunn just tilted his head.

“I don’t feel anything at the moment. It’s as if the mana has evaporated from this place. This is the first time I’ve seen this happen…”

Flabbergasted Leeha and confused Blaugrunn scanned the area one more time, but no change in the result.

At the very least, there was no trace of the frozen ostrich’s carcass in their vicinity.

“What the hell happened?”

Wondering if Lang Hwajung might know something, he checked the friend window, but both Lang Hwajung and Lang Hwayeon were logged out.

Leeha rubbed the back of his head in disbelief.

“Blaugrunn! Let’s move on for now. It’s not like there’s only one ostrich around. Could you please keep checking if there are any ostriches or anything else around?”

“Understood.”

In the end, Leeha gave up searching for the body and moved on.

From the frosty eastern land to the north, how much further did he have to walk? The hard sensation that used to be felt through the shoes had turned into a soft texture.

Squish, squish.

With each firm step on the snow, Leeha walked more carefully.

‘The hard snow, the ground below is more like ice than earth. If you slip, your nose is gonna take the fall…’

Hadn’t he experienced it before in the northern part of the old continent, where crawlods appeared?

Walking on snowy ground is incredibly difficult.

Moreover, when the snow sticks to the shoes and pants, the repeated freezing and melting due to body heat turns it into ice chunks that act as weights, making it even worse.

“Ah! Blaugrunn, are you uncomfortable walking since you’re shorter…?”

Suddenly, Leeha looked back at Blaugrunn, standing behind him.

A creature far smaller and shorter-legged than Leeha, Blaugrunn would naturally find such terrain more difficult. But worry was needless.

“Yes. That’s why I’m flying.”

Blaugrunn, being a dragon, was showing off his dragon-like knack for problems. Floating about 15cm off the ground, he was following Leeha. Seeing that, Leeha couldn’t help but have a mischievous thought.

‘Dirty trickster’, ‘Can’t you walk a little for me’ — even though Leeha was about to grumble, the sound of another monster silenced him.