Matan’s Shooter

TL: xLordFifth

ED: 

Observing Kidd’s attitude and the firm conviction of the eldest gorilla paleao, Leeha eventually decided to accept and follow.

“Okay. Since Kidd seems to know something, we can trust him. Let’s go.”

Leeha took the first step. The passage was so narrow that only one person could barely enter. It was notably different from the 6th laboratory; there was only one direction, no maze-like structure, and no traps.

There were occasional lights along the way. Leeha could roughly sense that there were no measures in place to prevent outsiders.

Above all, it wasn’t deep. Even considering that other laboratories had a dungeon-like feel and grandeur, this place was remarkably ordinary. It could be seen as a simple basement, at most going down to the 2nd or 3rd underground floor.

Finally, Leeha, Kidd, and Luger discovered a door.

“Well, let’s just keep it open if it was meant for personal use. Why bother adding another door?”

“The moment you touch the door, lightning strikes excessively, and then I’ll… deal with you, Ha Leeha.”

“Don’t talk nonsense, Luger.” The firmly closed door had a regular handle.

While Luger joked and Kidd laughed, Leeha remained serious.

“It’s really not going to happen, right?” Getting hit in the back of the head at the last moment made Leeha worry about it now. Leeha reached out with courage, grabbed the doorknob, and pushed.

Creak…

The door opened without any issues. At the same time, pa-ah! The light inside illuminated.

“Even though it was made 50 years ago…”

“Is it a mana system that can still operate?”

Luger and Kidd, not to mention Leeha, couldn’t help but be surprised as they looked inside. The laboratory emitting bright light was quite neat compared to other places. The items inside seemed to be well-preserved.

“Ready?”

“If you’re not mentally prepared by now…”

“Then it’s okay to give up. I’ll go first.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! I’m going first!”

As Kidd was about to step forward solemnly, Leeha lightly pushed his chest, taking the first step.

Clang!

The moment Leeha’s foot touched the ground, a loud noise echoed in his head. Bubam!

[Achievement: First Discovery – Kaztor’s Laboratory No. 7 (A)]

Congratulations! You have discovered a mysterious location. Laboratory No. 7, where Dark Elf Kaztor conducted his research, is well-preserved compared to other labs. You need to figure out what he did after crossing the continent to find this new research place. Time is running out.

Reward: 34 stat points

(No Hall of Fame achievement)

“Ah… right. Come to think of it, No. 6 seemed to have achieved the achievement simultaneously, but Kidd and Luger…”

“At the same time? Who raised their foot with such an idiot? If you’re that stupid, I should have sneakily stepped on it too.”

“I agree.”

“Well, okay. Since you say that, it seems you didn’t achieve the achievement. Heh, I’ll let you curse at least once.”

Leeha suddenly recalled the moment when he discovered Laboratory No. 6 but looking back, the situation was different now. Unlike the past when Fernand, Jin Gonggong, and Leeha all raised their feet simultaneously, allowing all three to gain the achievement without a Hall of Fame, this time Leeha clearly achieved the achievement alone. When Kidd and Luger came in afterward, no achievement was generated.

“Even when things are tough, Middle Earth is surprisingly lenient at times. Strictly speaking, the concept of ‘simultaneous’ doesn’t exist, and even though… at least among party members – Leeha was only in a party with Jin Gonggong at that time, not with Fernand, he remembered – the intention might have been not to pick a fight.”

In any case, Leeha was satisfied with the stat points he gained alone and carefully read the details of the achievement.

“Um.”

“What is it?”

“Hurry up. Do you think you’ll get an answer by whining endlessly?”

“No, wait a bit, please.”

Leeha, a step behind Kidd and Luger urging him, checked the document again. When he recalled opening Kaztor’s Laboratory No. 6, he also remembered the achievement at that time.

“It’s different. The wording is definitely different. Instead of the usual ‘Be careful of ancient dust’ or ‘Beware of the Guardian,’ there was something different… I couldn’t confirm, but it would have been the same for Labs 1-5. It was natural to assume that most labs on the Lope continent would have the same wording.”

“There is an additional expression in the achievement wording itself, like ‘crossing the continent,’ and a straightforward mention that it’s different from other labs. ‘Then, what is the meaning of this last sentence?”

“[You must understand everything. Time is running out.]”

Leeha somehow felt his heart pounding. The more he knew, the more dangerous Kaztor seemed. He also hesitated whether to tell Kidd and Luger about this or keep it to himself.

Leeha took a deep breath, looking alternately at the eyes of the two.

“Sigh… How long are you going to hesitate about some secret in the achievement description?”

“…You’re not going to tell us, are you?”

Luger and Kidd urged Leeha again.

In reality, Leeha wanted to shout it out immediately. It would be better to face it head-on. But, it was a dilemma.

However, Leeha held back.

“First, let’s see what information is inside. Let’s find out and talk about it later.”

With a serious expression, Leeha turned and walked inside, leaving Kidd and Luger to organize their thoughts.

It was clear that this laboratory was extremely important, and there was a strong assumption that something crucial was included in the achievement description.

“Damn it. He’s really holding it back.”

“Holding it back until it turns into shit.”

Of course, they didn’t forget to add a few remarks, and they also moved their feet into Laboratory No. 7.

“There seems to be quite a bit of data… It will be difficult to read it all in a day.” Leeha, Kidd, and Luger each started rummaging through the laboratory in different directions.

The number of books on the shelves was considerable, and there were quite a few rolled-up scrolls. Not to mention the clear traces of magic circles on the floor, indicating that something experimental had definitely taken place, which was intriguing.

Where should they start examining?

Leeha chose a scroll, Kidd headed toward the magic circle, and Luger grabbed the nearest book within reach.

“Better than nothing, right? Hm?”

Then, he frowned.

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“…Damn it. Middle Earth is Middle Earth.”

“What’s up with that?”

In response to Luger’s words, Leeha and Kidd approached him, examining the books. From their reactions, Luger could understand the reason for his grim expression.

“What’s this? How do you read it?”

“Just when I thought I had gathered a lot of information… It’s unreadable characters…”

All three of them had the same reaction. The content of the books was filled with intricate and unreadable characters.

“Are the other books like this too? No way, all of them?”

“If that’s the case, it’s ultimately just a fantasy-“

Leeha and Kidd quickly dispersed, flipping through the books and scrolls. As they opened more and more, their expressions darkened. Some books were readable, but the majority contained characters that couldn’t be understood.

“What! There are so many, but only a few are readable. With this, we might have slightly more information than what was left in No. 6.”

“Hmm… If it’s like this, then—No, no, no… That’s right.”

“Ah, I see. That’s how it is.”

At that moment, the expressions of the three, who were rummaging through the documents randomly, gradually changed. Unreadable? Why couldn’t they read it?

All three of them had experience visiting the royal record office of the Fibiel Kingdom. There, Leeha, Kidd, and Luger had sifted through various documents in their own ways.

At that time, every document in the vast royal record office of the Fibiel Kingdom was ‘readable.’ They had learned that Middle Earth, in contrast, didn’t bother making books for interior design.

So why was there a mix of readable and unreadable content now? What was their task at hand?

The three closed their mouths, and then quickly checked their respective quest windows.

Of course, they were all looking at the same content.

[Retrieve the lost records of the Dark Elves

Content: Collection and return of Dark Elf data, including the journal of “Matan’s Shooter.”

‘This is Dark Elf data. Information that Kastor took out a hundred years ago, even older records! Ancient books passed down from the Dark Elves! If it’s natural that current human users can’t understand these characters, the significance of this item’s existence is—’

Leeha’s pupils twitched again.

From that direction, Kidd was already looking at Leeha’s eyes.

Luger’s fingers twitched, making a very subtle movement. It was a signal.

Paaaat———-!

“Let go of everything! I entered first, so everything is mine!”

“If you got the achievement, that would be enough! I will clear the quest!”

“You fools! Do you eat books with your mouths?”

The three simultaneously scattered, indiscriminately sweeping unreadable documents into their bags. They had to gather whatever they could since they didn’t know how much was needed to satisfy the clear conditions.

“Hey, Jellypong! Sweep up all the books!”

[Mongmongmong……!]

“Ch-ch— that’s cheating!”

The book Kidd was trying to grab stuck to Jellypong’s arm like glue!

“What’s with this jellyfish?”

Luger’s situation was no different.

As he tried to sweep documents randomly into his bag, just before they entered, Jellypong pulled them out one by one like fishing.

“That thief!”

“Thieves are those who take it. Jellypong! Put them here, here! Well done.”

Leeha, after sweeping a torrent of documents into his bag, patted Jellypong on the head. Although it felt somewhat squishy, looking at his smiling eyes, it must have been a mood-improving gesture.

“Whew… Have we roughly swept everything up?”

Feeling rather relieved that there were few bullets left, Leeha filled his bag to the brim with books. As they had caused quite a ruckus, the interior of Kastor’s research lab now felt eerily quiet. Now, all that remained were the readable documents.

“Nobody caught the bastard who dared to read recklessly, right? If caught, I’ll blow off their arms and legs.”

“I believe there’s no one so ruthless and foolish.”

“Why, why are you both looking at me? Did I catch it? Seriously, it’s unbelievable.”

Leeha playfully scolded Kidd and Luger while counting the remaining number of documents.

While it seemed like they were acting indiscriminately, on the other hand, he suddenly thought that this competition might be the most efficient way to unlock the secrets of Kastor’s research lab.

“If we had to catch unreadable things one by one, it would have just wasted our time… After considering them as quest items, we grabbed everything, and now, we interpret what we can read collectively?! How fast and efficient is this?”

Perhaps having similar thoughts, the three of them exchanged meaningful glances, still playing in the hands of Middle Earth in various ways.

“Now, let’s read them one by one. Naturally, starting with this, right?”

Excluding the unreadable documents, Leeha moved towards the scattered remaining papers, some of which were clustered together.

He stepped toward that spot, and Kidd and Luger nodded in agreement.

“That’s right. There’s nothing easier to understand about that person than his diary.”

“In that case, this is the first one.”

Documents recorded by date.

Among them, Luger picked up the one with the earliest date.

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