Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

“The Mosin-Nagant – it’s gone. The White Reaper’s Mosin-Nagant… What’s going on? I even checked it five times just in case… There doesn’t seem to be any additional effect on the Black Bass. Even though Mosin-Nagant disappeared and Black Bass looks the same… my expectations weren’t completely dashed. After all, Mosin-Nagant’s attack power wasn’t lower than Black Bass’s anyway. So there was one effect that I hoped would be transferred from Mosin-Nagant.”

“Transforming into the surroundings for more than 5 seconds… In other words, an infinite camouflage! What? What’s going on with that?”

Leeha checked Black Bass multiple times in suspicion.

Nothing had changed. He even checked the number of quests for Black Bass, and it was the same. The seal remained at 『7』, and there wasn’t a single change in attack power, range, or anything else.

“Sir, what’s going on? Please explain!”

“Eh, uh! What?”

“Stop with the meaningless sounds! What exactly is going on? You said it would be combined! You said it only needed a legendary item! But why is Black Bass still the same!”

Most importantly… Bottleneck, what’s up with your level up?

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What does it mean that your skill increased for attempting the synthesis? Leeha found it most absurd. It was a moment that resounded with achievement along with failure.

『Achievement: Ardent supporter of the God of the Anvil (S)』

Congratulations!

You have exerted all your resources to support the God of the Anvil and his disciple! Thanks to you, another disciple can strive for the reenactment of a legend. The God of the Anvil is pleased! Perhaps when the blacksmith you sponsor can handle all the materials in mythology, the God of the Anvil may descend to commend you personally.

Reward: Strength +15, stamina +10, Absolute trust of the sponsored blacksmith of the God of the Anvil

You are the first registrant of the achievement.

The first three registrants of the achievement will be recorded in the Hall of Fame, and an additional 200% of the existing effects will be applied.

Effect: Strength +30, stamina +20

A remarkable S-grade achievement!

However, Leeha’s expression did not brighten as he rechecked the achievement window.

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‘Just… this? If you use the expression “putting all your resources into it.” then the achievement acquisition condition is ‘when a legendary item is destroyed due to synthesis’… The cost is just the – ‘recognition in the Hall of Fame, totaling strength 45 and stamina 30.

A tremendous figure.

‘Yes, it’s a tremendous figure, but… oh, 75 stat points are essential for melee combatants, a tremendous figure indeed. If it’s simply a calculation of stat points based on level, wouldn’t it be an increase of up to 15 levels?’

“Argh! I’m not happy at all! Give me stat points instead. Who cares about trust.”

Leeha couldn’t stop grumbling.

After all, the sponsored blacksmith is none other than Bottleneck. Who else would have brought the dwarf working in Hell’s Anvil to the Gaza City and given him the position of Chief Engineer? It seemed that there was already a sufficient level of trust between Leeha and Bottleneck.

In such a state, absolute trust?

“Bottleneck-ssi.”

“I heard you. At the moment I struck the hammer, I heard the voice of Black Bass. No, it seemed like I even saw the appearance of Black Bass.”

“What?”

Bottleneck slowly regained consciousness as his eyes opened.

‘I definitely heard it,’ he murmured.

‘What did the White Death’s rifle? Where is the rifle?’

‘Black Bass has definitely said it,’ I replied.

‘The… the rifle of White Death, how is it?’

‘It was definitely a real rifle,’ Bottleneck replied, hitting his chest deliberately. The situation was so absurd that he was left speechless. What…

‘The food this guy ate, it was… Black Bass’s rifle!’

Bottleneck rushed towards Leeha dancing, and grabbed his hand, dancing excitedly.

“Thank you, my lord! This was it! The missing piece we needed was that! I now have the qualification to follow my ancestors’ footsteps!”

“Ugh! Why are you so excited! Stop jumping around! My rifle is missing!”

“Yes, I know! But don’t worry, don’t worry!”

Bottleneck stopped dancing abruptly, smiling gleefully. Leeha shook his head as even the other dwarves around Bottleneck looked at their boss, questioning his sanity. A dwarf who couldn’t control his emotions, stared at Leeha seriously.

“I will sacrifice my life to provide assistance as needed, my lord.”

His voice was solemn, committing his life to Bottleneck’s cause. And to reciprocate that, he made an effort.

“No, so my rifle went missing, and you want to upgrade Black Bass instead!?”

Bottleneck had been running around frantically for a while, then he abruptly led Leeha outside the blacksmith’s shop, saying he had something to try out.

“Wait a moment! That’s my item! You have to return it even if I entrusted it to you!”

“Wait, that’s not important right now! Come back in a few days! I’ll have it ready by then! Here’s a rifle! Seems like my lord doesn’t understand what I’m saying!”

“No, because Bottleneck here doesn’t understand a word I say -!”

Baaang!

The door to the blacksmith’s workshop slammed shut.

“But this is my city….”

Being thrown out by a tenant upon the city lord’s arrival in the city! To add insult to injury, being stripped (?) of weapons by that very tenant left Leeha feeling nothing but unjustly treated.

“Sigh… Am I really going to miss the chance to upgrade Black Bass?”

Leeha sat dejectedly in front of the blacksmith’s workshop door. When will I have the chance to touch a legendary rifle again? Will such an opportunity even present itself?

“Am I destined to stick with Black Bass until the end? Seriously, did he have to ‘crack’ like that? Are you kidding me!”

Anger surged through Leeha as he gripped the rifle. Crackling over a rifle subject?

Then, out of curiosity, Leeha wondered, “Wait a minute. If it’s ‘truly alive’ enough to require food…”

Moreover, Jellypong didn’t require food. The only creature Leeha had seen that needed food was a Koma. Koma ate bits of Leeha’s cooking and only witnessed it eating.

“Does that mean it can be awakened? Transform into something like Jellypong, capable of communication…. Could this be a clue for a quest?”

Suddenly, one possibility crossed Leeha’s mind. The sealing quest of Black Bass.

“What happens if all the seals are released? Does it transform into a different form?”

If unlocking the sixth and seventh quests not only grants two additional skills but transforms Black Bass upon acquiring all seven skills?

In a fleeting moment of bright anticipation in Leeha’s eyes, the spark vanished.

“Well, it’s just a mental victory… A 5,000 meter snipe shot is something I have to practice somehow, targeting monsters above level 300, but where can I find them. Maybe in the far eastern part of the new continent? No, more importantly, I can’t even use a 5,000 meter snipe shot now.”

『Black Bass’s Seal-6』

Objective: Catch a level 300 or higher monster from a distance of 5,000 meters or more (0/1)

“Sigh, in the end, it means I can’t obsess over the quest right away. So, I have to face either Igor or Faust in my current state… That’s challenging. There’s only one thing left to do then.”

Leeha pulled out a teleport scroll. He would have to inquire from Bottleneck about the state of Black Bass and that too in a few days.

With no weapon at hand, what could Leeha, now defenseless, do?

“I can’t end it like this. How can I let this opportunity slip away like that!”

And then, he activated the teleport scroll.

Swooosh…!

He found himself back in the cabin of the White Reaper. Leeha’s thoughts had changed just like when he first arrived here.

“Surely the White Reaper must have some achievements. He wouldn’t have brought someone all the way here who even had to resort to using the White Plague Potion, only to give them a rifle just like that. Middle Earth wouldn’t be so sloppy.”

After tossing the keyword “synthesis” at the back of his mind, Leeha nonchalantly dismissed it. If that wass the case, there must be something to see. Considering Middle Earth’s actions so far, there must be something here without a doubt.

Something very important that he hadn’t discovered yet!

He couldn’t shake off the thought that through the massive “bait” of the White Reaper’s legend, there must be something within the Secret Cabin that Middle Earth was hiding.

It was a sort of intuition or insight that only someone who had been deceived by Middle Earth countless times could possess.

Shaaaah!

As Leeha searched for the White Reaper’s journal and his information, a faint white light briefly appeared behind him before vanishing, but he didn’t feel it at all.

It looked like a pair of wings.

***

“Bring it out.”

Ram Hwajung nodded her head. With her wand in her right hand and her left hand supporting it, she raised it as if in a proper casting stance, her expression more serious than ever.

“The Abyss is…”

“Dark.”

Paaaaah-…

Mana particles were gathering around her wand. They weren’t the usual sky-blue particles. In between the blue ones were hidden black particles. Arzenmacht studied them intently before speaking again.

“Only for assistance?”

The mana storm grew faster and stronger. Ram Hwajung couldn’t even properly open her mouth. Her arms, as unsteady as a broken reed, struggled to even hold the wand, her whole body trembling.

“Anywhere you want?”

Arzenmacht asked once more. Ram Hwajung looked at him standing opposite her.

As the mana storm whipped her blue hair in all directions, she finally managed to speak.

“No, also cold.”

Poooooof——-!

At that moment, all the mana particles around Ram Hwajung’s wand that had been gathering suddenly turned green.

Arzenmacht raised his voice.

“Use it!”

“『Ice of the Abyss Night: Lump』”

Whoosh!

In the midst of the ice abyss that gathered at the tip of Ram Hwajung’s wand, a quest window appeared before her as the ice manifested. It had been a full eight days since she descended from the Altamont Mountains to arrive at today.

Ram Hwajung finally achieved the feat of not logging out even for just one day, reaching it only today.

“Yoyeo~ Ppyeo~ Uuuuunniiiiiiii!”

At that moment, thinking of the two people she missed the most, Ram Hwajung collapsed backwards. Just as she was about to fall flat on the ice-made floor of Arzenmacht’s Lair, Arzenmacht instinctively held her head and waist, preventing her from crashing down. Watching her faint and crumble, Arzenmacht displayed a subtle smile, a smile that no dragon, including Blaugrunn, had ever seen.

Shortly after, Ram Hwajung’s physical form vanished into thin air, forced to log out due to accumulated fatigue. Arzenmacht, unfazed, gazed at the space where Ram Hwajung disappeared as if sensing her energy fading from his embrace.

Without hesitation, he used teleportation. Moments later, Arzenmacht appeared in the Lair of Blaugrunn.

“Woah, Arzenmacht-nim?”

“Blaugrunn, greetings.”

“What’s with the sudden visit? Wait a moment, I’ll call Leeha-”

“No need.”

“What?”

As Blaugrunn was about to call for Leeha, he stopped abruptly. Arzenmacht stood before him, pouring out what he wanted to say as if frustrated by the lack of someone to converse with, yet only a few words escaped his lips.

“What do you mean by that?”

“That’s all, so then.”

“Wait-”

Whoosh!

Arzenmacht vanished on the spot. Blaugrunn, frozen in her posture without sitting or standing, without reading a book or listening to a story, watched him disappear with a strange sense of indescribable feeling.

In Middle Earth, at least one user must be present for important matters to progress. Without needing to explain, Arzenmacht’s words were indirectly relayed to Leeha through Blaugrunn.

Blaugunn: Leeha-nim?

Leeha: Oh, Blaugrunn-ssi. What is it?

Blaugrunn: Just now, Arzenmacht visited and then left.

Leeha: That gentleman? What did he say?