Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

The vicinity of the large vacant lot, which had been reserved for development delay, was now crowded with dinosaurs.

“Human Ha Leeha.”

“Ah, Ulrek-ssi! Has it already been that long?”

“T-This… what is going on?”

Regardless of the need for separate mealtime for players, and with the NPCs’ judgment that ‘current affairs’ were important, Leeha’s party decided to proceed with the confrontation.

This location had been chosen by Luger, who had roamed around Saur Land, and the dinosaurs had stopped to watch the humans clanking about while taking out all sorts of weapons.

“It’s nothing special. Oh, come to think of it, I forgot to mention that it might get a bit noisy for a while. Just a moment before leaving, you know, to check the condition of the weapons! Ulrek-ssi, you said you needed to go outside of Saur Land, right? To take the House-house to Laputa, right? We’re just checking before heading to a perilous place, haha.”

Leeha, although momentarily flustered, skillfully persuaded Ulrek.

It was the only reason for the gunfire echoing in an otherwise peaceful place.

“Hmm… it shouldn’t matter since I’m not going alone.”

“Pardon?”

It was then that another dinosaur came into Leeha’s chaotic view, baring its teeth behind Ulrek.

“Human Ha Leeha-ssi, pleased to meet you. I am Ji-em.”

“Oh, ah, yes.”

He approached Ulrek and, with a sociable gesture, extended a handshake to Leeha.

Leeha grabbed the extended arm of the dinosaur; it was a different entity from the secretary dinosaur he had seen last time.

“It’s been years since we last went to Laputa. We thought there would be almost no need to go, now that our research is nearly complete. But it’s fortunate to get another opportunity like this.”

“Oh, yes? Yes, indeed.”

Leeha felt flustered watching the dinosaur speak at such an incredible speed.

Apart from the king and Ulrek, with whom he had engaged in serious conversation, Leeha had also seen many dinosaurs in cafes, streets, hotels, and hospitals.

‘Still, I don’t think I’ve seen such a noisy dinosaur before.’

And with a smiling face? For some reason, Leeha thought of Lark.

A strange creature approaching with a sudden smile and familiarity. Even though it was with Ulrek, Leeha somehow felt he needed to be wary of it.

“So, what are you going to do?”

“Oh, it will be over soon. Please wait a moment. Just take a look around! We’ll show you that we’re not such simple humans!”

Leeha gave Ulrek a rough greeting and then rejoined his party.

“At any rate, we only have one test! Let’s proceed in three categories: 『Pierce』, 『Accuracy』, and 『Rapidfire』.”

The basis and root of the Three Musketeers.

Since it was already discussed, there were no particular complaints.

“Just hurry up and start.”

“You can be the target yourself.”

Luger and Kidd, brimming with enthusiasm, held their firearms.

“Um… Do we really have to, senior Leeha?”

“Of course! We definitely have to! How can we not have an initiation ceremony!?”

“Right… haha.”

Only Kyle, who had the face of a sickly pretty boy, smiled awkwardly under the breaking sunlight. The gun next to him seemed almost bigger than him.

“Son, do your best!”

How long had it been since such an event occurred for Elizabeth?

Watching Elizabeth cheer energetically, Leeha felt somewhat warmed in his heart.

“Alright! Bailephus-nim will assist as the target! The first category is 『Pierce』! Let’s see how many of the overlapping barriers created by Bailephus-nim you can break!”

“I didn’t use much mana to lower each barrier’s defense power. It’s a test to see pure penetration power and destructiveness.”

“As expected of an Ancient Dragon. Your quick thinking is unparalleled. Alright then! Ready?”

After giving a ‘thumbs up’ to Bailephus, Leeha looked at the ‘players’.

Luger, Kidd, and Kyle nodded.

Three barriers, each a different color, were formed about 100 meters away from them.

“From the prepared shooters, fire!”

A single-shot match without skill restrictions! Luger was the first to step forward.

“I’ll grab the first victory, 〈Acht-Acht〉!”

The blue mana surrounding his Cobalt Blue Python startled the surrounding dinosaurs.

Among the murmuring crowd, Jiem standing next to Ulrek particularly had his eyes shining.

“I don’t like the single-shot match rule, but I won’t lose. 〈Execution〉.”

There was no shortage of lethal skills in 『Rapidfire』.

Kidd also possessed one-shot skills specifically designed to penetrate the enemy’s body with a single shot.

Leeha’s heart pounded as he watched the Crimson Geckos turn a heated red.

‘I wonder just how powerful that will be—hmm?’

His expectation that Kyle would use some skill soon was quickly shattered.

Unlike the two people who took some time for the skill activation, Kyle calmly assumed a kneeling shot stance.

“I will shoot.”

He didn’t even take special aim. He used no skills.

Holding an abnormally long barrel with just his hands, without any stabilizers or bipods, he pulled the trigger.

At that moment, the skills of Luger and Kidd also completed casting.

“I’m going too!”

“I am the same.”

───────!

“Whoa!”

“What an incredible sound!”

The sound of cannons and gunfire was so powerful that the dinosaurs staggered back.

Leeha’s party members were equally thrilled. Fernand openly took out binoculars to examine the barrier, and even Alexander, pretending to be uninterested, couldn’t hide his gaze.

“Bailephus, what’s the result?! Is there a tie—?”

“There is no tie. The outcome is clear.”

Bailephus didn’t need to check; he could tell because he had created the barrier.

His expression hardened slightly.

“What happened? Who won?”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it? Just proceed with 『Accuracy』!”

It was Luger who snorted at Leeha’s question. He deactivated the 〈Acht-Acht〉 skill and began reloading his Cobalt Blue Python.

Kidd, hearing Luger’s confident words, lightly shook his head. Was there no avoiding the outcome of the 『Pierce』 competition?

“How will we measure the distance of 『Accuracy』? In kilometers from here—”

“Kyle is the winner.”

“…what?”

Interrupting Luger’s words, Bailephus calmly declared. Leeha was also surprised, thinking Luger would be the winner.

“Wha- Bailephus, what about 『Pierce』—”

“Yes. Kyle is the winner. There were a total of 30 overlapping barriers for each participant. Kidd destroyed 11, and Luger destroyed 23.”

“And Kyle?”

“Ha Leeha, can’t you see that?”

Bailephus pointed to the barriers 100 meters away. Fernand dropped his binoculars before Leeha had even looked.

“Oh my god….”

“What the….”

Leeha also had to gape like Fernand. The remaining barriers’ colors were only two.

“… Completely destroyed?”

It explained why Bailephus’s expression was not good.

Out of the barriers allocated to the three, Kyle’s had entirely vanished.

Luger’s biggest skill, 〈Acht-Acht〉, destroyed 23 barriers, while Kyle shattered them all with a single bullet.

Luger wore the most dazed expression.

His gaze had completely lost focus, staring blankly into space.

* * *

“You truly are our son! Well done, so well done!”

“But, um, mom, the seniors are watching.”

Elizabeth hugged Kyle, bouncing with joy. She looked as excited as a teenager.

“Ahem… Well, it’s only natural. I told you from the start, didn’t I? How amazing our Kyle is.”

Brown felt the same way.

He wasn’t as animated as Elizabeth, but his flushed face and twitching mouth corners betrayed his excitement.

Contrary to this, Browless…

“… Kidd. Luger.”

Browless no longer attached the honorific “ssi” as he pushed his hat down and approached them.

“T-Teacher!”

“Director! Wait a moment! That gun is too―”

“Are you… not going to do it properly?”

The grinding sound of teeth reached even Leeha’s ears.

Leeha subtly turned his head and stepped back. There was nothing good to come from getting involved needlessly.

Luger, more flustered than ever, tried to soothe Browless.

His primary thought was that they needed to calm down the “mentor-like NPC” who was angry, but Luger’s expression started to change gradually as well.

“Of course! I’ll do it! Ahem, anyway, that gun… was beyond my expectations.”

In some sense, Luger felt that no one was more wronged than himself.

“It was just that I didn’t know. If I get one more chance… I can show a different side.”

Luger’s teeth ground against each other again.

“Do you think that opportunity will come again? The test for 『Pierce』 has already ended.”

“Test? What does that matter? What’s important is real combat, real combat! Damn it… it was wrong to―touch Acht-Acht…”

Luger kicked a pebble at his feet hard.

Kidd snorted and practiced drawing his Crimson Geckos from his holster. Browless watched his movements intently.

“『Pierce』 may have been careless, but 『Rapidfire』 won’t be.”

“… I trust you, Kidd.”

Browless’s face relaxed a bit, likely because Kidd’s skills had met the NPC’s expectations.

With the atmosphere easing slightly, Leeha raised his voice again.

“Alright, ahem! The second event is 『Rapidfire』! Competitors must use only one rifle, and the winner will be the one who destroys the five randomly generated targets in the shortest time! Of course, Bailephus-nim will take care of target generation!”

The rule about using only one rifle was, naturally, tailored to Kidd.

Everyone had to hit the same five targets, which was more disadvantageous for Luger, who wielded something closer to cannonballs than bullets.

Even so, Luger was laughing.

With an expression as if he meant to tear Kyle apart.

Kyle himself, who felt Luger’s gaze, just scratched his head awkwardly.

“The first contestant will―”

“I’ll do it. Tch, I’m going to make that smug face weep tears of blood.”

Luger, whose pride had been trampled on, stepped up first. Bailephus cast a spell as he looked at Luger briefly.

“Are you ready? Five targets will be generated simultaneously at a distance of 30 meters, and their positions will be unknown to you.”

“Shut up and just summon them, you golden lizard.”

“Ahem… I’ll fix that impudence of yours one day. Ha Leeha?”

“Understood! Everyone looking forward, raise your hands above your heads!?”

Leeha shouted excitedly.

No dinosaurs responded. Only Fernand awkwardly raised his hand and then hurriedly put it down. Leeha clicked his tongue and started the countdown.

“Then we start, three, two, one— go!”

As Leeha lowered his arm, Bailephus summoned five targets. As expected, they were barriers.

Very thinly set barriers.

“Kahahahaha—! This time, I’m the winner!”

From the moment Leeha had started counting, Luger had already been aiming somewhere. At the signal, without even specifically targeting, he pulled the trigger.

Boom────!

“Whoa!”

“Crazy― explosion?!”

His confidence stemmed from the fact that he planned to use explosive ordnance from the start.

Considering the players’ skills present, there were no significant injuries, and the dinosaurs were merely startled and stepped back, avoiding any direct harm.

However, from Leeha’s perspective, as the supposed organizer of the event, it was utterly bewildering.

“Hey, how can you use a High Explosive Shell! This was a quick-fire contest, not an explosion contest!”

“The condition was to destroy all the targets, wasn’t it? I complied with the condition you set.”

The only condition was that they had to use one gun.

Given that was the sole condition, Luger had technically followed the rules.

Leeha sighed and shook his head. But Luger could not be purely happy.