Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

“Ah, haven’t you experienced this before? It happened last time too. Is it barking in frustration because the wave failed? Is it embarrassed?”

The users who had experienced this situation before were relatively calm.

Nevertheless, Leeha was instinctively able to feel it.

The disappearance of users’ bodies as soon as Toon roared.

And the gaze of Biyemi, who stared at Toon as soon as the bodies disappeared and her faint smile.
“I suspect it’s just an effect. Maybe the server is quickly removing the bodies to prevent traffic from overloading.”
“Hyun’s point does make sense, but if that was the case, shouldn’t it have been the same outside the capital during the National War?”

While Hyun and Bobae had a logical and valid discussion, all questions weren’t entirely resolved.

Seeing the guild members voicing out their various opinions, Biyemi gave a radiant smile.
“Hehe, we’ll know in time. The creators of Middle Earth don’t create monsters in vain.”

Leeha gave a slight nod, revealing a strange expression at lizardia’s words.

He speculated that Biyemi might have some piece of information, and this thought crossed his mind.

‘What is he thinking?… I guess my only option is to trust.’

Though Biyemi had always had a lot to hide, as was the case during the bonobo paleo incident, Leeha didn’t doubt him.

He had always been secretive from the beginning. And now that she was a full member of Byulcho, there was no advantage to his betraying Byulcho and Leeha.

Biyemi met Leeha’s eyes and gave him a peculiar look, but Leeha didn’t ask any further questions. Right now, he had something else that needed clarifying.
“By the way… I think most of you probably didn’t notice.”
“Huh? Notice what?”

When his sudden curiosity piqued, the attention of all Byulcho users was focused on Leeha.

Leeha received their attention and turned his head. He looked at the spot where Toon had been standing, but the dinosaur had already disappeared.
“Did anyone here, including Blaugrunn-ssi, happen to notice Toon’s foot?”
“The foot? What foot? That foot?”
“Yeah, that foot. The one it stood on.”

“Foot? It’s impossible to see Toon’s foot.”

While Kijung and Leeha paused in doubt, Bobae replied. If the 10th rank archer couldn’t see it, then it was impossible for anyone else to.
“I didn’t notice anything peculiar either.”
“Um, is that so, Blaugrunn-ssi.” It seems Mana also didn’t perceive anything strange. However, as their answers came in, Leeha nodded his head slightly.

What Chiyou, and Sasuke, could not predict was this.

“There certainly was something there on top of the foot. Didn’t something squirm around? After the wave ended, didn’t it emit a white light?”

Through the attribute of ‘object recognition’ under intelligence, Leeha’s vision was much sharper than reality.
“On top of the foot? Is there any magic that would be useful there?”
“I agree with Hyein. If it was a skill, there should have been some effect, but there was none. Initially, it doesn’t seem plausible for such a gigantic dinosaur to have long-range attacks.”
“Oh-hoho, Kijung-ssi! You’re pretty sharp this time? In fact, during the attack back at Mammoths’ base, Toon had almost no long range attack. I doubt it actually had any magic skills.”

Hyein, Kijung, and Bobae continued the discussion sparked by Leeha’s observation.

Things got a bit noisy quickly, but none of this was the answer that Leeha wanted.

‘Did I see it wrong?’

Leeha recalled the situation a while ago.

‘No. There was definitely something. Ah, damn! I guess I need to start finding the ingredients for the scope first. Let’s start by searching the places that I have not been to in the new continent.’

Having only a clear field of vision was way too insufficient.

Indeed, at this point, the most needed item was a scope, not only for seeing distantly but also for enhancing sniping accuracy. It was an essential tool.

‘Even for the quest of Black Bass.’

With Leeha’s determination, the second wave came to an end.

In many respects, the second wave became more of a hot topic than the first one.

The presence of the upgraded kids revealed by Leeha, the power of the diversified giant monsters, and above all, ‘the results’ had caused a ripple effect.

“Ha-ha-ha! Did you see the changed ranking?”

“Wh-what? Ram Hwayeon! I was just changing clothes-“

“Now is not the time to change your clothes! The ranking chart is a total mess!”

“Wwait! Hhold on! Let me get dressed!”The following morning, after his rehabilitation training was finished and while changing his sweat-drenched clothes, Ram Hwayeon barged into Leeha’s room.

While speaking desperately, her eyes quickly roved over Leeha’s bare upper body, but he failed to catch her gaze.

The Top 10 rankings were being announced directly in Middle Earth.

It was practically one of the few facts that could not be manipulated by simple rumors or schemes.

Once ingrained, significant time was required for it to change.

‘But, if Ram Hwayeon is making this much of a fuss…’

In the past, unless there were repeated occurrences like Faust or Chiyou dying and losing levels, even a one-rank difference in the ranking was not easily changed.

“What’s changed so much that Ram Hwayeon-ssi has hurried over to my place first thing in the morning?”

“Be quiet, and just look for yourself.” As soon as Leeha finished changing, Ram Hwayeon held out her tablet to show him.

“…What’s this?”

First place being Alexander and second place being Lee Jiwon stayed the same. But looking at the name of the player in the third place, Leeha looked at Ram Hwayeon with a baffled expression.

“Igor?”

Leeha recalled the rankings switching around the time when he had just started on Middle Earth.

It was when the fourth-place Peiyu overtook the third-place Igor. That very ranking had now been returned to the original order.

Ram Hwayeon nodded at Leeha’s question.

“That’s not all. Look down, further.”

“Oh! Miss Ram Hwajung has risen to sixth place, that’s- wait, what! Chiyou is in seventh place?”

Their eyes met again. Ram Hwayeon nodded.

“Something’s happened.”

An unusual atmosphere indicated by the rankings began to brew in Middle Earth once again.

Alexander
Lee Jiwon
Agromni Igor

Peiyu
Pierre
Ram Hwajung
Chiyou
Shin Nara
Faust
Prea
Bobae

‘Even if a single rank in the top ten shifted, it stirred things for few days…’

Almost all the rankings except for the first and second had shifted. It indeed was logical for Ram Hwayeon to look for Leeha early in the morning.

“It’s impossible. How can this happen? Even if this event was a stepping stone for leveling up, could this really happen? If experience points are at stake, we should all be gaining them equally. It was a given that our Hwajung would rise, but this…”

Ram Hwayeon grumbled.

Leeha kept staring at the ranking chart.

‘Indeed, it was known amongst users that the Monster Wave Defense event was primarily organized by Middle Earth to boost users’ abilities. Provided one was willing to face the danger, the huge gain was guaranteed.’

No event in the history of Middle Earth had ever offered such extensive experience rewards.

However, after hearing Ram Hwayeon, Leeha felt a certain discomfort. Soon, he figured out the cause.

“No.”

“What?”

“Ram Hwayeon-ssi, didn’t you participate in the Wave Defense?”

“Well, my level… I was at a certain level.”

She wasn’t even playing the game to level up in the first place.

Her main objective in Middle Earth was to gather information and manage different cities in the mainland. Moreover, Ram Hwayeon was not a member of ‘Byulcho’.

Therefore, her speculation was bound to be inflated.

What about Leeha?

He knows. There was a commonality among those who had a shift in their rankings.

“Igor, Chiyou, Prea. None of them participated in the Monster Wave Defense.”

“What? So, so how did they level up? There should have been no event during the Wave that could give more experience! Did they conveniently clear an enormous quest by coincidence?”

“I don’t know about that. But there’s one thing I do know.”

There were two commonalities among the users who found the shifted rankings strange. One was that they did not participate in the Monster Wave.

“And what’s that?”

“It’s Chiyou’s crew. The ones who moved with ‘Yamato’.”And yet another was a user who revealed himself from the side of Chiyou, the Infinite Assassination Target of “Byulcho.”

Looking at Leeha’s frowning face, Ram Hwayeon’s eyes widened in surprise.

“The rankings were announced today, right?”

“Uh, yes.”

“Okay. Thanks for letting me know. Oh, and could you help me with ticketing to Korea? I’d like to go straight away.”

It’s not like going to Korea would overturn the situation in Middle Earth again.

But this was all about attitude. It was a revealing statement about Leeha’s resolution to focus 100% on Middle Earth without any sort of distraction.

Ram Hwayeon, too, fully grasped what Leeha was implying.

“All right. As long as Dr. Heinrich allows it, I’ll arrange for a private plane right away. So you could leave as early as tomorrow.”

“Huh? I don’t expect a private plane, but thanks.”

Always anxious about the change in the rankings, yet so bold in his actions.

‘Perhaps it’s not so much that he’s audacious, but that he is simply more knowledgeable?’

Her confidence and action came from her knowledge.

Leeha thought that the saying ‘ignorance is bliss’ would never apply to her.

“Oh, and one more thing.”

“Hmm?”

“Is there somewhere I can buy gifts for my mom –”

Gahhh-!

“Woah!”

“Oops!”

The door to Leeha’s ward opened in a rough manner. The force it generated was enough to surprise both Ram Hwayeon and Leeha. The culprit was a little girl.

“Oppa. I…”

“Uh, yes?”

“Where to buy gifts, I know.”

From where had she been listening? Unable to close their mouths, Leeha and Ram Hwayeon were staring at Ram Hwajung who stormed in as if breaking down the enemy’s castle gates.

The final day in Hong Kong had just begun.

“But, isn’t she moving a bit too flashy?”

“What? Because the heliport is far from Canton Road, a vehicle might be better. If it were a shopping mall, a helicopter would be preferable, but it’s just a street.”

“Oh… I see you never thought about public transport in the first place.”

Sitting in a pure white limousine, Leeha shook his head.

In a high-income city like Hong Kong, a vehicle not easily seen would undoubtedly attract the attention of pedestrians, yet Ram Hwayeon and Ram Hwajung seemed completely unfazed.

“Hm? What did you say?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Shortly feeling embarrassed, Leeha soon became accustomed to the spacious ride in the limousine.

From his seat, how many people can lie down straight to the driver’s seat?

It was strange how such curiosity came to mind, and it was also amazing that no immediate answer came to that thought.

‘A limousine is a sight to behold, only seen in movies… it’s like a long vehicle in Hollywood, the ones movie stars ride to film award ceremonies.’

He chuckled at the thought of experiencing all sorts of bizarre events in life.

“Oppa, are you thirsty?”

“Huh? Ah, no, it’s not a dry cough, but the situation is just amusing – “

“Just a moment.”

Pop.

Maybe it was because Ram Hwajung, who had been staring intently at Leeha, felt any small detail, she reached out and pressed a button near her.

The long limousine wasn’t just long for no reason.

You wouldn’t build such a long vehicle just to test if two or three people could lie down in a straight line.

“Wow…”

Whoosh-!

She casually opened a small fridge next to her. It was no surprise that she skillfully opened a bottle of soda and handed it to Leeha.

Seeing Leeha’s bulging eyes, Ram Hwayeon chuckled.