Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

The moment Shin Nara and Lark discovered Kaztor, Leeha also received a whisper.

However, he couldn’t move.

『Hide and Seek: 14:35:51』

The game of hide and seek with Simmo was still ongoing.

Out of the 24 hours he needed to evade Simmo, a whopping 10 hours had already passed.

It had started at dusk the previous day and now had reached dawn of the next day without him being caught.

Leeha was lying buried in the snow, completely hidden except for his eyes, in the northwest part of a ruined village.

* * *

‘Pass by, pass by, pass by.’

The distance between Leeha and Simmo was roughly 350 meters.

The area was still heavily snowing, so as long as Leeha didn’t make any sudden movements, he would remain unseen.

What was especially significant was that Leeha managed to secure his position within just five minutes due to his experience in the war against the Giants.

‘There are sixteen potential observation points where the entire village can be seen. Among them, this location is the fourth shortest in distance and has the most surrounding trees.’

From the initial starting point at the ruined house with the large operations map, he had moved to this spot, quickly shoveling out some snow to make a trench while recalling his time as a sergeant, buried himself in it, and covered himself with snow again—all within five minutes.

‘It was only possible because of Jellypong…’

With the water spirit made from the essence of the Sea God, he could disguise his tracks without leaving a trace.

Using camouflage alone could easily get him caught; he had to undertake direct concealment.

‘My mana… 17. It’s all good. Maintaining Black Bass: SASR consumes 50 per hour, so in the next 35 minutes, I’ll recover to a safe 50.’

Leeha opened his character window to check his status.

Simmo was still wandering around, peering into different areas.

Out of his total mana of 3,760, he currently had only 17 left. He had deliberately drained all of his mana.

Although the skill “Distorted Vision” he had learned from Simmo did not include “Mana Detection”, if the original White Reaper’s “Distorted Vision” had thermal imaging capabilities, he could be in danger.

‘I even summoned the fear spirit to dig the snow! I dismissed Koma as soon as I summoned it, used a Bahamut illusion, and even Ghost in the Shell while moving here.’

The snow covered his body heat.

With his mana depleted, he wouldn’t stand out even under mana detection or mana vision.

With the naked eye?

Of course, he would be impossible to find.

Leeha was confident.

Unless Simmo shot randomly into places, there was no chance of being caught.

‘Haha… He doesn’t know I am experienced, that’s why such mistakes happen. Sergeant Kim and I trained intensely.’

One of the most crucial aspects of sniping was hiding.

No matter how accurate your shots were, once your position was revealed, a sniper’s life was in jeopardy.

Despite Ha Leeha being considered proficient in shooting from the start, stealth was an entirely different issue. Thus, it was an area where Sergeant Kim could only teach him with a beaming smile.

“No matter the terrain! No matter the climate! You need to hide perfectly! Don’t even breathe! If you think you’ll get caught breathing, just suffocate and we’ll treat it as dying in the line of duty… Seriously, is that rational or absurd? And then he’d stomp around with his military boots.”

It was a test of whether Ha Leeha was well-hidden or if he flinched clumsily under the threat of enemy attacks.

Sergeant Kim, even knowing Ha Leeha’s hiding spot, would base the situation on assumptions and stomp all over the place. How many times had Ha Leeha’s entire body been pummeled by that nauseating footwork?

‘In the worst-case scenario, the only option would be to engage in a gunfight with the White Reaper. Well, after all, the quest’s failure condition is simply being shot.’

The success condition was to evade his pursuit; the failure condition was being hit by his attack.

This implied that even if he revealed himself openly, as long as he could flee and counterattack during the chase, he could buy time.

Of course, Ha Leeha didn’t choose such a method.

‘Even though he’s using paint bullets, if by any chance I eliminate the ‘White Death’, he’d be dyed not white but bright red.’

The phrase Shimo had recited about tracking every eye and icicle.

And the mysterious attacks that divided whenever they collided with snowflakes or ice shards.

Ha Leeha had early on acknowledged that avoiding these was impossible.

‘Anyway, I won’t get caught. He’s not paying any attention over here.’

Shimo was wandering in and out of the abandoned house or occasionally pausing to look at the snow accumulating on the roof.

‘As expected, he’s a master. Or rather, it’s an AI sufficiently implanted with sniper actions.’

If there’s a camouflage similar to transparency, it’s safer to hide in plain sight.

Ha Leeha knew that hiding in wooded areas or places with many rocks, seemingly good hiding spots, was the action of ‘beginners.’

‘If I have a ghillie suit, lying down in the open meadow is safer than going into the forest.’

However, Ha Leeha’s current location was precisely that forest. Knowing Shimo’s exceptional sniping skills, Ha Leeha’s strategy involved exploiting the reverse.

‘This quest looks manageable, but the problem is the next one… Kisulje? Is that like a rainmaking ritual? It teaches you rituals for summoning snow—’

– Eong-ah, are you busy?

– Hey, Kijung. What’s up?

Ha Leeha’s skull buzzed, interrupting his idle thoughts.

– Well, today’s the ‘Sacred Alliance’ sortie date, right? It’s bustling near Juma City. I heard Ram Hwayeon said the construction on the fortress sites she scouted has already started.

– Really? Well, a camp alone wouldn’t be enough, as expected.

– Yeah. So, Kaztor also mentioned tracking yesterday’s pursuit and the future plan for the ‘Sacred Alliance’. So, we should get together—”

– Whoa, whoa! He’s coming! He’s coming!

– Huh? What’s coming? You? What’s coming?

– What the heck, all of a sudden?!

Ha Leeha couldn’t hear what else Kijung was saying.

This was because Shimo, who had been scanning here and there, suddenly changed direction and started advancing towards him.

Thinking about the movement, it was bizarre.

How could Shimo, all of a sudden, flip directions so abruptly as if he knew exactly where Ha Leeha was positioned?

– How is this possible? If he knew, he would have acted already! No, he would have just shot me!

Shimo, who had been advancing calmly, suddenly halted.

『Hmm…』

Floating in place, tilting his head, he began scanning the surroundings again. However, the distance between him and Leeha had already closed to 150 meters.

Leeha felt his heartbeat quicken.

Had Shimo realized something?

Did he stop deliberately to test him?

To put pressure on him and see how he would react?

‘No. No, he doesn’t know. His initial direction was probably just a coincidence.’

Leeha squinted his eyes and observed Shimo carefully.

When it seemed Shimo had regained his calm state, Leeha whispered again.

―Sorry, I couldn’t respond earlier. What did you say?

―Are you okay? Should I just tell you the locations through whispers?

―Hmm, even if you tell me, I’ll need to see for myself to be sure. Just tell me which fortresses are near each country’s paleo.

―Okay. First, Fibiel’s―

―Oh, oh! Again, again?!

―What? What are you talking about, suddenly!

‘How!? How did he know?’

At that moment, Shimo began to move again.

Every action he took, what did it mean when he moved precisely in Leeha’s direction?

‘No, that’s impossible. Could he have known from that?’

Leeha realized how Shimo could sense his presence!

To Leeha, who was watching his every motion, Shimo looked like the Grim Reaper himself.

* * *

‘He read my whispers!’

This was different from when the Kaztor incident was reported to him.

Was there something that could track the whispers of a hidden target within a certain range?

‘It’s not entirely impossible. There are communication jamming scrolls. If a whisper-ban scroll exists in the game, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for something that detects whispers to exist as well.’

Moreover, Shimo’s movements seemed a bit sluggish.

Leeha guessed that while Shimo could detect whispers, he could only estimate the general range or intensity, not pinpoint the exact location instantly.

If he could pinpoint the exact location through whispers, he would have fired a paintball immediately without such hesitation.

– Hyung? Hyung? What’s going on? The location only says it’s in Northern Shazrashian. Are you in a dangerous situation? Can’t respond via whispers?

Thump, thump, thump.

Kijung asked about Ha Leeha’s well-being in a concerned voice. However, Ha Leeha couldn’t reply.

If his speculation was correct, Shimo, already within a range closer to 150m, would be able to narrow down his exact position even further.

– In battle—Igor!? No, it can’t be. Nara said to Bobae that Igor, being a vampire, can only move at night. So, it can’t be him now. Ah! Then it must be Czar! Czar is attacking, isn’t he? Should I come?

‘Kijung, please, stop!’

Thump, thump, thump!

Shimo did not leave Ha Leeha’s vicinity.

Having once ‘locked on’ to a signal, it would not easily move to a completely different area. This was the basic principle of searching, and Ha Leeha knew it well.

He had to stay even quieter. Hide his presence even more.

– I have a Chain Teleport Scroll ready to use! Let me know if it’s dangerous, hyung!

– Ha Leeha-nim? Kijung says it seems dangerous right now. Are you okay? The Sacred Alliance’s expedition can proceed without me, so… should I come to you?

‘Argh, even Nara! Kijung, can’t you just stay quiet?’

Were they making a fuss because they were together?

Ha Leeha’s skull buzzed. Shimo, who had been looking around, began to turn towards him again.

– The Commander is participating in the expedition, so you not coming? You’re the last one to complete the second class advancement, and missing this event means you’ll be forever behind. By the way, Luger is here too.

– Heh… Kidd’s whispering nonsense again? That idiot seems to want you to come and take his side. Well, weaklings like you two have to band together to have any hope, so what can he do?

Thump, thump, thump!

‘Kidd and Luger too? These guys, normally they don’t even whisper, and now they’re nagging me? And who’s the slowest, if anything, I was faster than them—’

Shimo was now staring directly at Ha Leeha. He began to float in Ha Leeha’s direction.

‘Why? Why? I didn’t even whisper!’

He had been holding back on whispering on purpose, even though he had a mountain of things to say!

Ha Leeha’s heartbeat quickened. Naturally, his breath grew ragged. But had this given him away?

His breath didn’t show.

There were no snowflakes drifting from his nose.

There was no way to see him with the naked eye. So why…?

‘Ah.’

If he perfectly… perfectly blended into the surroundings, what would happen then?

How could he attack him if Leeha wasn’t there?