Matan’s Shooter

TL: xLordFifth

ED:

‘How is Hyein here? Why? He was one of the key figures under surveillance, and there was nothing unusual in his recent movements!’ Chiyou was flustered.

What should she say first? Would that kind of talk even work on someone like him?

Once a puppet of Shinobigumi, he hadn’t been of much interest since being expelled from Byulcho. Shinobigumi started paying attention to Hyein again after the national war. Including a talent like him in the ‘observation targets’ during the New Continent voyage was natural.

Perhaps Hyein was the first person ever to be removed and then readmitted to Shinobigumi’s list of observation targets. But was that just due to his skills? Chiyou had re-added him to the watchlist for one reason.

‘No, it wasn’t his skills that bothered me about Hyein!’

It was the obsession hidden behind his innocent face and the surprising perseverance of someone who’d fallen off the track but managed to climb back up. His ability to smile while angry made Chiyou start observing him again.

“Are you in a hurry? Sure, you must be. You’re probably sending lots of whispers here and there. Sasuke, that annoying guy, I wanted to see his face too…”

“Ah, such a cute face. But what to do? I’m getting real-time updates from Leeha. So stop fooling around. If you keep this up, I’ll want to kill you. You know what I mean?”

“Are you here to kill me?”

“Want to keep talking like that?”

Hyein’s expression suddenly changed.

It wasn’t a threat. His body was already being infiltrated by purple particles.

Chiyou: Sasuke! What’s the situation?

Sasuke: Leeha- powerful-

Chiyou: Fool… Be prepared when you log in next time!

Chiyou cut off the whisper.

She turned off the location windows of the agents and Sasuke. Her vision cleared, and she wore a coquettish smile.

“It seems you have some misunderstanding, dear Hyein. Let’s talk instead of this.”

Chiyou swayed her hips as she walked towards Hyein. Hyein wasn’t a fool. Despite the situation seemingly going his way, there was no one around. In a 1:1 situation, a Dancer’s attack power would overwhelmingly surpass a Sage’s.

“[Space Gr-“

“Don’t want to? Then die.”

SWOOSH!

Chiyou was well aware of this. She was just stalling for time to assess the situation!

Before Hyein could tap his staff on the ground, she had already leaped forward.

Her agility closed the gap, and a sharp blade protruded from the fan in her right hand.

Space Grab!

A targeting skill that could halt movement. She thought even Chiyou couldn’t avoid it, but her speed was faster than Hyein anticipated. The sharp blade aimed precisely at Hyein’s neck.

As Chiyou’s smile formed, instead of the expected tearing sound, a loud clang echoed.

“What?!”

“[Space Grab]!”

A purple pillar engulfed her entirely. Hyein, who had cast the skill, was surrounded by a blue outline.

“Could it be…?!”

“Hey! Chiyou! Long time no see! Wow, I used [Guardian’s Seal] and still the damage is harsh! A ranker is a ranker. It felt stronger than even Tale-hyung’s skills!”

“Of course, what else would you expect, Kay? After all, she’s a ranker.”

“Kijung always says such things to get himself disliked. Right, Tale-hyung?”

“Indeed, you know him well, Bobae-ssi.”

Trudging down from the top of the Silver Plain hill were three silhouettes. Chiyou recognized them. Even just hearing their voices was enough.

“Leeha-hyung too, it’s originally our Byulcho’s matter, but he stubbornly insisted on ‘making it his own.’ Anyway, he has a strange sense of pride.”

“Haha, but isn’t that cute? He’s trying to differentiate between ‘public and private.’”

“No, it’s not about public or private. From what I see, Leeha hyung is sulking. He’s sulking because we hunted together in the New Continent and didn’t include him.”

Complaining yet vigilant. The robust shield bearer with a legendary sword was Byulcho’s guild master, Master Kay, Kijung. Alongside him, wielding a flaming sword, was Byulcho’s assault captain Tail. A user with much to say about Shinobigumi, especially Sasuke.

And with them was Bobae, a female newbie in the Byulcho guild with no connections to Shinobigumi. Ironically, she was there to protect the ‘helpless men.’

“Kay, I was worried you were late.”

“Actually, it was pretty close.”

Hyein sighed as he looked at them. Without Kijung’s protective skill just now, Hyein would have been killed in one strike. But they moved as previously discussed, arriving just in time to control the situation.

“Where’s Leeha hyung?”

Chiyouoooooooo-niiiiiim—!

Overriding Kijung’s question, Sasuke’s shout was heard. Emerging from the forest and charging towards Chiyou’s location, his figure was visible. However, no agents of Shinobigumi were accompanying him. Hyein, Kijung, Tail, and Bobae all watched the black dot crossing the plain.

“Ah, I just got a whisper from Leeha-hyung.”

Bobae responded to Kijung’s question.

“Hyung? What did he say?”

“Hmm, he asked me to suppress someone because they might die if he shoots. Honestly, only Leeha-hyung would be so bold to say that to a tank.”

Bobae grumbled and pulled back her bowstring. Light arrows formed on her previously empty bow.

“What? Who are we suppressing?”

“That man running over there.”

“Sasuke?”

With a whoosh, the arrow was shot, creating a gust. Despite Sasuke’s fast approach, the distance was still over 500m. But for a top 10 ‘Bowmaster’ like her, that distance wasn’t a problem.

“Sasuke!”

Sasuke’s shin was pierced by the arrow. Kijung, Hyein, and Tail watched in disbelief.

Not turning ashen but getting up to limp towards Chiyou, there was a kind of pitifulness to him.

“Hahaha! No, Sasuke! Where are you going? Let’s play some more!”

Then, another user, riding a burning bear with a Bronze Dragon hatchling on his head, shouted while laughing.

“Sometimes it seems like Leeha-hyung is playing with cheat codes, doesn’t it?”

“We should report him to the GMs.”

Kijung and Bobae could imagine Leeha’s laughter just by hearing his voice.

However he did it, his plan and actions perfectly subdued all of Shinobigumi.

“Hard work deserves reward.”

Tail smiled as he watched the grumbling Kijung and Bobae.

“Good triumphing over evil is also natural.”

All eyes turned to Chiyou. She could move her hands and feet, but her body was fixed. She could hear everything. When her arms and legs stretched out, everyone could predict how the situation would end.

“Jellypong!”

“Cough!”

Limping Sasuke was suddenly snatched by a translucent hand as Leeha joyfully shouted.

“Caught you! This is a big catch, a big catch!”

The hunt for Shinobigumi, with traps within traps and counter-traps, was almost at its end. It wasn’t that Leeha had perfectly predicted everything. The mental battle outside the actual combat was more intense.

Space Grab was as annoying as paralysis, fear, or petrification because once fixed in place, movement was impossible.

“…How on earth…”

Chiyou muttered, giving up everything. After high-fiving Kijung, Bobae, and Tail, Leeha dismounted the hatchling and walked towards her.

“How did I know? What, you think I knew?”

“Then how did you prepare like this?”

“Haha, who knows? Even I find it amazing.”

Leeha grinned. The hurried preparations of the past few days flashed through his mind.

“There’s no way Holy Grill would suddenly ask for information like that. Even if they utilize a system-driven NPC information guild.”

It was fundamentally about understanding the difference between NPCs and the game. The user who had used the NPC information guild the most was undoubtedly Leeha. Having experienced how they handled information numerous times, Leeha had been suspicious of Holy Grill’s sudden capture of Chiyou’s movements. He didn’t believe she would expose herself without reason. There had to be an ulterior motive.

So, Leeha thought about what strategies Chiyou could employ, her characteristics, and the methods she had shown so far from the standpoint of ‘Shinobigumi’. Leeha’s decision to take insurance was based solely on ‘experience’. He had seen the meticulousness of Shinobigumi during the guild war between Byulcho and Hwahong, and later in various situations, including national wars.

“If I think about it, there’s only one conclusion.”

A bold trap.

If Chiyou exposed herself, Leeha would inevitably appear. Although he was momentarily startled, he knew her skills.

‘Because she has overwhelming confidence that she can dodge. If she can avoid my attacks with a 100% probability, it makes sense she wouldn’t hesitate to expose herself. That’s exactly what happened.’

Leeha didn’t know his quest event had been leaked, but that was irrelevant. What mattered was he had accurately grasped Chiyou’s intentions.

Without his past experiences, he wouldn’t have been able to predict the possibility of Shinobigumi agents appearing, or that Chiyou would set a trap and use Sasuke to subdue him.

“Experience…?”

“Haha, you thought you were hiding well, right? Well, you did hide well. I didn’t expect Chiyou to be the head of Shinobigumi. But you are… selfish.”

“Selfish?”

“Yes. What Shinobigumi needs to hide isn’t ‘Chiyou.’ It’s ‘Shinobigumi’ itself.”

Chiyou looked struck by Leeha’s explanation.

She and Shinobigumi were one and the same; how could she think of them separately?! That was the fundamental difference between Leeha and Chiyou.

“But even so, Leeha – you’ve always been a solo player! And now you’re calling people?”

“This bitch is asking to die-“

“Hyung! Please hold back!”

Chiyou’s rebuttal prompted Hyein to raise his staff, seemingly about to strike her like a club. Kijung barely calmed the unusually excited Hyein.

“Wow, are these ordinary people here? Chiyou, you didn’t show your face during the guild war, so maybe it feels like someone else’s business? It was your idea that almost crushed Byulcho. And yes, I’m a solo player. But that’s my personal choice.”

“Is it different now?”

Chiyou asked, but Leeha didn’t answer. He just smiled.

‘I’ve received a quest, so now I don’t have to treat this as a personal matter.’

It was an official directive from the court of Fibiel. No longer a ‘personal’ matter.

And the composition of the users he called for help? Excluding Bobae, they were practically the biggest victims of Shinobigumi, members of Byulcho.

They too had full grievances against Sasuke and the person who gave orders to him – Chiyou, who nearly ruined their guild.

“So, any more questions? I guess all your last wishes before death are fulfilled, so who should die first? Who wants to die first?”

Leeha raised Black Bass, pointing its muzzle alternately at the completely subdued Sasuke and the perfectly restrained Chiyou.

“…I see. So that’s how it was.”

Chiyou quietly spoke up, her expression quickly changing.

“What’s that? What are you talking about?”

Leeha felt a moment of unease. Was she thinking she could escape this situation? As he thought this, Chiyou was already moving.

Space Grab only immobilizes one’s position, not the body.

“Dance!”

Meaning, she could still dance.

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