Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

“Let’s think this through. I was brought to the vicinity of bonobo paleo.”

One step, two steps.

“Here, there are beings who seem to know me.”

Three steps, four steps.

“They gave me a spacious and empty house, bigger than your average one-room, suggesting I should please them somehow…

Five steps, six steps. You’ll have to take six steps to reach the wall in this large house.

“So… what then? What do they want me to do? Cook them some bamboo dishes?”

What could they imply by asking for satisfaction? I’ve had a fair idea about the “Intimacy” in the Middle Earth system, but this situation was entirely unexpected.

‘Fortunately, I was not attacked.’

I had my weapon, the Black Bass, still hanging over my shoulder.

They returned my weapons promptly. My sanity would have preferred to escape such a ludicrous situation, but it wasn’t possible.

‘If they have set the stage like this, I can’t just leave. More than anything… I’ve got to find out who ‘that guy’ is.’

The bonobo paleo saw something in me that reminded them of ‘that guy.’ Was it the face? Or just the general likeness of a human being?

“Um… Who is this guy? He gossips behind NPCs? Who does that?”

Alexander wouldn’t do it, Byemi has already confirmed he wouldn’t, and nobody should have come this far.

“Sigh! This is just spinning in circles. I should get out and see.”

The priority is to understand the tendencies of the bonobo paleo to satisfy them.

“Ah!”

As soon as I walked out, I had to pause.

“Looks like a human.”

“Indeed, quite similar.”

“Do they use that thing instead of a tail?”

“That human was quite intelligent back then. Is this one as well?”

Just when I stepped out of the house, I was surrounded by the bonobo who were keenly observing me; I quickly scanned them back.

‘They’re definitely distinct. Their concept of clothing is more defined.’

Other paleos were practically naked. However, bonobo paleo had a clear concept of outfits, and not merely for covering themselves but properly fashioned according to their characteristics.

‘Just looking at their clothes, you could differentiate between white-collar and blue-collar. Even glasses… It is almost like a human society, isn’t it?’

Leeha mildly bowed towards the bonobo and started walking. The most intriguing part was the ‘paleo’ maintaining their form.

Other paleos up to this point had maintained a small human form, transforming only when they had to exert their abilities.

But here?

From the bonobo trapped initially to all bonobo now, all maintained their transformed state.

‘The Gorilla paleos were like this as well. Do primate paleos prefer this form more? No, that’s not it. I don’t often remember seeing a Gorilla paleo with a human form.’

There was a definite distinction between the human and animal form in the Red Goats, Great Cormorants, Eels, Badgers, Dogs, Cows, and so forth.

But the Gorilla paleo? I suddenly recollected that I’ve hardly seen a paleo with a human form in the Grid City.

‘The same goes here… It’s intriguing. It is possible that primate paleos as similar to humans do not have such a distinction inherently?’

Still, it was too early to reach a conclusion.

At least finding one more primate paleo will allow me to find answers somewhat.

While roaming around the village, which felt just like a movie set about a space escape, I continued observing them.The general grocery store chain shops and the restaurants were a surprise, but reaching the library pushed my surprise to its limits.

“The mermaids in the Dragon King’s Palace weren’t even this smart- If the NPCs here are of this level, living on the old continent might’ve been- Hmm?”

A peculiar sight caught my eye mid-sentence. I hadn’t noticed it before as I was too busy following the street from my empty house.

It was a building situated somewhere in the middle of the village. The roof was dotted with several chimneys emitting smoke.

The material was evidently wood, but the smoke spiraling from the chimneys made the building’s purpose clear.

“…A factory?”

I decided to take a sneaky look inside. The blast of heat that hit me as I entered the wooden interior plainly indicated the building’s purpose.

“Add more fullering! I’m losing strength!”

“The hardness and density of the peachwood are increasing! We’re currently at level 10, but we need to push it up to level 13!”

“There’s no way it’ll be satisfied at just 13! We need to push it up to at least 15 for Lord Koba! Pour in more lava!”

“Understood! Starting the pump! Don’t stop the fullering! Heave ho! Heave ho!”

They sung their work songs, hammering, shaving, lighting fires, and moving things.

The heat in the forge was unbearable but they seemed unaffected.

“…Lava?”

I doubted what I had just heard.

Lava in the middle of the jungle? But looking at the complex machinery the bonobo were operating, I couldn’t deny the possibility of lava.

Like a massive steel mill, all I could see was hot molten iron flowing like lava.

‘So they just call it lava? Wait a minute. But the canal seems to be made of wood? The whole building is made of wood too!’

Whether it was molten metal or not, the fact that the canal seemingly made of wood could bear such a temperature seemed absurd to me.

‘If it were normal wood, it should have been burnt to ashes. It’s not just the fire. Didn’t they say something about the wood’s density earlier? 10?’

If they were referring to the hardness scale of a rock, then a hardness of 10 corresponds to a diamond. I had never heard of any rock with a hardness of 15.

‘Insane. So they’re saying this wood is as hard as a diamond and they are trying to make it even harder?’

I watched their work with wide eyes. The act of hardening the wood and making it sharper was just the tip of the iceberg.

Essentially, they were making ‘hand tools’.

These wooden implements were then used to skillfully handle all materials.

Starting with glass, onto metal, ore, and even melting and molding rubber.

‘Indeed… That’s it.’

I don’t know how they did it. Yet, the ‘wood’ bonobo paleo tribe was manufacturing was something even Jellypong could not cut. As I left the central forge of the bonobo paleo tribe, I sorted out my thoughts.

What should I do to satisfy them?

The things that Koba, the leader of bonobo paleo, mentioned from the very beginning.

The fact that the building situated in the middle of the village was a large-scale ‘forge’ resembling a factory.

Despite already having great food, the library and bookstore reflect their intense interest in learning.

‘Intellectually curious NPCs. I can’t win them over with just cooking.’

Considering all these factors, there was only one way I could please and satisfy them.

After observing the bonobo paleo tribe all day, I returned to the house assigned to me. One of those who had been with me from the trap was dawdling near my front door.”Did you make any progress?”

“Huh? What’s your name?”

“Uh? Pygmy.”

Pygmy didn’t seem to mind the lack of direct answer.

Even though their familiarity remained at 0%, they had been treating Pygmy as a ‘customer’.

“Pygmy-ssi, I have to go somewhere briefly. Is that going to be okay?”

“Hmm, if you can’t satisfy us and try to run away–“

“No, no, it’s not about running away. Rather, it’s something I must do to satisfy you.”

“Huh?”

Pygmy tilted his head, unable to comprehend the ideas brewing behind Leeha’s smiling face.

“Well, now that I know what you like, I just need to bring that.”

“What do you expect to bring? If you think we’ll be satisfied with a simple gift, you’re gravely mistaken.”

“Uh-huh, I’m aware. Then, see you tomorrow morning!”

Watching Leeha’s departure, Pygmy squinted.

“Hmm, he caught our attention in an instance. But I’m not sure why I was jealous of him.”

Pygmy turned his back to go and report to Koba.

It was only natural that the bonobo paleo district was bustling the next morning.

“Hey, what’s that?”

“A human? No, it’s much smaller than a human.”

“But it looks older than a human! How fascinating!”

The bonobo chattered at the sight of the person with Leeha. Equally bewildered were the people around Leeha.

As far as Leeha knew, he was the only person who could ‘whisper softly.’

“What on earth! Did you bring me to chat with the monkeys?! I have a mountain of work to do.”

“No, just, just have a look and go back. Have you ever seen me suggest something you’d regret doing?”

“Well, well, you– I mean, you, the Lord, could! Always with your devilish whisperings–“

“Hey, if you’re going to complain that much, you might have to step down as the ‘Chief Engineer’.”

“Wha–! You think I can’t do that?!”

“Hehe, calm down. Just take a look, the Beard Brothers have already started focusing. It would be problematic if the chief continued making fuss. Isn’t it, Bottleneck-ssi?”

The ones Leeha brought were the Chief Engineer Bottleneck of Gaza City and his right-hand man, the Beard Brothers.

‘bonobo paleo values craftsmanship the most. So, it’s inevitable that they would be interested in the finest blacksmith from the old continent.’

While oblivious to Leeha’s thoughts, the smaller-than-human bonobo and the likewise smaller-than-human Dwarf were checking each other out.

“So that’s your answer?”

“Yes. That’s the answer.”

Koba smoothed his chin and tilted his head, unable to comprehend Leeha’s confident expression.

The only company alongside him was a scruffy-bearded dwarf. He was a creature that even Koba, the mystical beast of bonobo paleo, never saw before.

“If you think of us as savages like those from other districts… We don’t have cannibalistic habits. Offering such a thing as a sacrifice would be of no use. To be frank, it seems like you are weak–“

“What, what’s this? Why is this despicable ape talking about strength in front of me? The apes, even the strongest among you wouldn’t be as sturdy as my arm trained with hammering.”

Leeha was greatly surprised by Bottleneck. Given the Dwarves, only three including Bottleneck and Beard Brothers were there. Adding Leeha, if they were allies, there would be only four.

However, there were well over a hundred in the bonobo paleo, including Koba, surrounding them. It’s audacious to shout at the leader with such a small force.

“You! How dare you disrespect Lord Koba!”

“What! Do you mean to threaten us with those clumsy weapons of yours?”

“Clumsy? This is made with the best technique passed down by Lord Koba himself!”

While Koba himself remained silent, his followers, bonobo paleo, could not.

Pygmy, standing next to Koba, raised his weapon and turned red.

“That’s laughable. The technique is a term used when creating this kind of item. It’s not a term to be used when making something peculiar which isn’t exactly a spear nor a tool, nor a weapon!”

Undaunted, Bottleneck walked forward.

Leeha had hastily brought him, but he always had an item in hand.

A blacksmith’s hammer symbolizing a blacksmith.

It was Bottleneck’s personal item made of a material that would never wear out even when melted and hammered on any material.