Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

or, “Does matching certain criteria in each area trigger changes?”

The reason was simple.

“It’s obvious… Luger himself is already breaking through similar quests… That must be it. Damn, I can’t afford to fall behind. Jellypong!”

[Myong?]

“It was a bit too much not to mark on the map the places we needed to go to – but since it’s to the east, we just have to charge forward, right?”

[Myong!]

Leeha ran toward a location marked with an arrow pointing east from their current position, labeled 260-280 / 3,800. This was an area inhabited by monsters ranging from levels 260 to 280, with a sniping distance of 3,800 meters available.

“Even Madame Ju had no idea about the eastern part of the New Continent. It was regrettable not to obtain monster data, but who knew we’d benefit from such a place. Heh:”

Leeha, who had only been given headaches by Gaza City without gaining much in return, gained new information thanks to the trickery (?) of Elizabeth and Brown.

“We have to stop by at least once to verify if this map is true. Let’s clear Black Bass Quest No. 5 first before departing.”

Fortunately, despite the map’s lack of detailed records, it included the Forest of the World Tree, which was near their current location. Leeha anticipated they could reach it by walking through the night without any incidents, underestimating the New Continent’s ‘night’ severely.

Leaving the house where Brown and Elizabeth had stayed, three hours later, Leeha’s steps faltered.

KUOAAAAAAA———-

With a loud explosion, Leeha felt the aftermath clearly on his skin. Yet, despite the risk and adventure, nothing was there.

“Ugh… Why can’t I see any flames?”

Leeha, who carried gunpowder and emergency bombs, was in a location where not even the slightest light could be produced.

The eastern part of the New Continent was a completely different environment from the west.

※ ※

“I can feel the heat, but…”

Walking in the forest at night was dangerous, a fact well-known to Leeha.

However, being neither a novice nor lacking experience in battles in various environments like Middle Earth’s bonfires and ‘Lightless of Forest’, Leeha had somewhat underestimated the situation.

“Damn, so this is the New Continent.”

Leeha thought individual firearms might be usable, but even flint couldn’t produce a spark of light here.

The forest completely blocked external light sources like the moonlight.

Internal combustion failed to ignite as well, essentially rendering visibility nil.

In this situation, Leeha, as a sniper, was virtually useless.

“Jellypong?”

[Myong?]

“Do you see anything?”

[Myong? Myong!]

“Right?”

Though communication was limited to vocal sounds, the intent was perceived.

“… This would’ve been a good time for Blaugrunn.”

Apparently, Jellypong saw nothing as well.

It was akin to being blindfolded, making it difficult to take even a step forward.

“Is this some kind of status ailment or something blocking my vision?”

Leeha sat down, pondering without moving rashly.

“No, if it were a status ailment, it would show up in the system window. It can’t be a connection issue or something like that…”

Yet, the absence of light led Leeha to doubt the Middle Earth connection device. However, that was unlikely.

That would’ve resulted in system notifications or forced logouts.

Indeed, such situations weren’t unprecedented. Leeha remembered the time with Anderson and Hatchling Blaugrunn, entering a purifier near the Dragon Palace? The three entities had once ventured into the deep sea where not a speck of light entered. And even in those depths, devoid of light, their tactile and other senses remained relatively alive.

“Maybe summoning Koma will help?”

Leeha pondered for a moment. It seemed worth trying. After all, isn’t it a flame spirit?

“Since it’s self-igniting… Maybe its light won’t be swallowed up.”

In such a state, moving was practically impossible. Despite his attempt to activate the Correction Sphere, Leeha found that teleportation was also ineffective.

Leeha: Luger! Where are you?”

Luger: “Why should I tell you?”

Leeha: “You gotta be kidding me. Here you are, completely lost in a forest where you can’t see a thing, and you still act all high and mighty

Luger: Look! How did you…?”

He fell into a puzzled silence, then shouted,

Luger: “Can you see me? Is that it?”

Leeha: Pfft.

At Luger’s reaction, Leeha laughed. Once again, he realized that in terms of ‘testing the waters’, few were as susceptible as Luger.

Leeha: “Teleportation doesn’t work, huh?”

Luger: “Damn you. Don’t ask if you know.”

Leeha: “Why so serious? I can’t even begin to fathom how vast this forest is… How long have you been in here?”

Luger: “You don’t need to know.”

Luger curtly cut off the conversation. After all, their location was plain to see with the Musketeers’ teleportation ability.

Leeha opened the friend window to check.

“[Forest of Darkness].”

He smirked.

“It’s not like it’s a mystery to either of us that we’re in the Forest of Darkness. What’s the point of hiding? But seriously… Compared to other places that go on about being devoid of light and all, this is quite straightforward.”

As simple as it is, the problem is severe. Just one word, ‘Darkness’, with no further explanation.

To describe this space, which feels almost like a universe, with just one word ‘Darkness’ is indeed a cruel move by the administrators.

“Talk about a lack of description. There’s nowhere else like this, and to brush it off with just one word…”

[Myong, myong! Myong myong myong!]

“Huh? What’s wrong, Jellypong?”

[Myong! Myong myong!]

Leeha’s eyes still saw nothing.

Hoping against hope, he opened his eyes which he had kept shut to try and adapt to the darkness, but with the light level at zero, it was of no use.

However, he could feel sounds and textures, the sensation of Jellypong moving in his chest, and the wooshing sound of stretching.

Jellypong’s urgent voice and sudden reaction.

Leeha lifted the Black Beast.

“Jellypong! What is it! What’s there?”

“Myong, myong, myong myong!”

The sound of Jellypong’s limbs stretching out with a woosh was heard from all directions.

Not towards a single point, but it felt like an assault from everywhere. This meant Jellypong also couldn’t clearly perceive the threat!

Leeha quickly shouted,

“Stop! I’ll fire if you come any closer!”

Whether they understood the language was uncertain, but he didn’t bother to elaborate.

Instead, Leeha immediately used [Mana Clairvoyance].

[Mana Clairvoyance] wasn’t hindered by light issues, he thought he would surely see the existence, but still, Leeha saw nothing.

“Myong, myong myong!”

“I said stop. Stop!”

He must leave. He must get out of this forest.

“Damn it!”

But how?

He had tried throwing bombs, and even creating light with gunpowder and fireflies. All such efforts were futile in this space.

It felt like less than ten minutes since he entered the forest, but to find a way out,

he had no idea which direction to go. At that time, it wasn’t this hard to see.

In the end, there was only one course of action immediately available to Leeha.

Other than the sound of Jellypong, there was no sense of anything approaching, but that didn’t mean there weren’t ways to pose a threat, even in the current situation.

Leeha raised the muzzle of Black Bass skywards.

And then, he pulled the trigger.

As the echo of the gunshot faded, Leeha trained his voice forward in a low tone.

“I told you not to come closer. Approach any further, and I will shoot in your direction.”

A bluff, not a threat. How could he shoot at an unseen enemy?

Yet, a threat delivered with a roar always yields a result.

“Kishishish, how can you shoot when you can’t even see me? You’re not even looking my way.”

Leeha reflexively swung his gun toward the voice that suddenly came from his right rear.

Despite spinning around swiftly, the next voice came from his left rear.

“Woah, so fast! Too fast, kishi. But with that movement, you can’t possibly attack me.”

It was a laugh somewhat similar to Biyemi’s, but the whistling through the wide gap in the teeth felt profoundly more abundant.

Leeha focused on the chilling voice and laughter.

The one who was on his right had moved to his left while speaking.

The voice seemed almost right beside his ear, yet no sound betrayed the creature’s movement.

‘My footsteps are this loud, how can there be no sound from him? Could you be from the Miyaw race? Or a paleo capable of completely silencing their footsteps?”

Kishishish… An ominous laughter began to echo from all around Leeha.

Unable to ascertain if it was coming from a single entity or multiple, Leeha was forced out of choosing to fight.

A sniper unable to use teleportation, fighting blind in this place would render him utterly useless.

A fight would surely be a path to sure defeat, a lethal deadlock.

As Leeha was mulling over how to initiate a dialogue, the other party spoke first.

“I definitely smell something~… What is it?”

“What do you mean by ‘what’?”

“The stench, the stench. It’s similar to what the Undine folks emit, but there’s no Undine here. Only this strange jelly attached to your chest. There’s also a peculiar scent of gunpowder. Aren’t you a spiritualist? How can you be such a fool despite having an affinity with mystical creatures?”

The kishishishish laughter echoed again.

Leeha finally had a clue.

Although unable to discern the species, he had enough hints to figure out it was some form of creature.

“It’s a spirit!”

Identifying his affinity with mystical creatures instantly. And connecting his frequent summoning of a Koma and his contractual relationship with a fire spirit to the half-lifeform Jellypong species born from a water spirit!

“A spirit… Are you?”

“You didn’t come here to see us!?”

“No, that’s- well, yes. That’s why I’m checking. May I know your name…?”

His voice suddenly rose, and Leeha adopted a lower stance.

Judging from the laughter, he could easily infer the spirit was whimsical.

“My name is Shade Spirit Adom. But you’ve got the wrong address. We have no intention of making a deal with you. Kishiseth.”

The Shade Spirit laughed once more.

Though it was the first time Leeha heard the name of such a spirit, he did not panic.

Leeha: Blaugrunn-ssi, what is a Shade spirit?

He had a ‘cheat key’ that allowed communication at any time, even if they couldn’t act together.

Blaugrunn immediately responded. At last, Leeha understood. Well, it was obvious from the start. What kind of spirit would one expect in the [Dark Forest]?

Blaugrunn: Shade? You mean a mid-level spirit Adom? Did you encounter it just now? Where? It’s been known that Adom do not emerge into this realm lately.

Leeha: Recently? How long is lately?

Blaugrunn: About… 100 years?

Leeha: A hundred, that’s considered ‘recently’? Okay, got it. I’ve encountered it now, so I’ll talk to you later. Blaugrunn: Wait! Please, call me too! Leeha-ssi! Leeha-ssi!