Matan’s Shooter

Lark immediately drew his sword. As the sword was drawn from its sheath, a brilliant light residue followed, catching Cheka’s attention momentarily. However, he quickly returned to reality. Cheka knew well how important the current situation was, more so than Lark’s sword.

“There are no survivors nearby.”

“I can see that. We should start searching first. There might still be dragons around, so let’s split up and move.”

“Split up?”

“If those troublemakers… no, whoever they are, stick together, wouldn’t there be a high chance of both of us dying? Let’s form a party.”

It seemed like being separated meant at least not being taken down at once.

Cheka understood this without Lark having to say it.

And he was not the type to boast about being strong even in such situations. Cheka started to trace back to where the initial battle had begun, while Lark searched for survivors.

Step by step, the two had moved far apart, their footsteps now even inaudible to each other.

“If these are just bandits, their combat ability must be decent… So they wouldn’t have just basic defense like city guards. There must have been at least a knight unit stationed nearby, right?”

It had only been a few minutes since they discovered the corpses. Lark furrowed his brows as he examined the bodies.

Fast. This was too fast. The corpses did not discriminate between users and NPCs. Even without looting, the levels of the corpses could be roughly estimated based on the equipment they wore.

While the majority of users were below level 100, there were also some users around level 200.

Even with the combined forces of the users and NPC guards, they couldn’t ‘escape’ since the slaughter happened so swiftly.

‘Could it really be a dragon? No, even if it’s a dragon, it would be difficult to do this alone. Then… multiple dragons? Judging by the range of the incident in Dijong Village, there was no way a single individual could have done it. Furthermore, there were only user and NPC corpses, not a single corpse that looked like a monster.

‘A crime committed by a group?’

Lark’s thoughts were racing.

“But for what reason?”

If it was a fight to gain substantial control over Dijong Village, killing everyone off like this seemed meaningless. Was it just for the sake of the game?

‘That could be possible, but if that were the case, they would have attacked another village on the outskirts instead of going through the trouble here. Dealing with a frontier village or a small-scale village without a trace would have been possible. If we think this way, those who would resort to such actions must be affiliated with the Minis’ guild.’

If they had carried out the attack under the banner of the Cubil or Shazrashian guilds, it would become an issue between countries.

To resolve that problem, the home country would have to purge the users who initiated such actions first, but even then, regaining lost trust would be difficult.

Therefore, it was undoubtedly a crime committed by a group affiliated with Minis.

Lark was on the verge of coming up with an answer. They only needed to meet Chaka at the opposite end of the town through different routes.

“There are no survivors. Judging by the nature of the corpses and the speed of the incidents, it seems like something the Gideon’s guild was involved in. I’m not sure of the purpose, but if we keep searching for a criminal group made up of chaotic users-“

“No.”

“-Huh?”

“…’All the corpses I inspected died instantly with the same pattern of attack. Above all, I discovered only one movement that was peculiar among the fleeing humans.”

“Uh… What does that mean-“

“It means one person did it.”

Dijong village was annihilated.

By just one person.

Lark realized the seriousness of the situation.

“Let’s head back to the capital.”

What started as Lark’s investigation triggered by the unfounded rumor of Alexander’s death led to an unexpected discovery.

---

“What could possibly be here?”

“According to the map, this is correct… and my location is also marked here. Hm.”

Leeha chuckled as he surveyed the inside of the house.

A shabby hut that clearly showed no sign of human touch. There were no special items to be found in the cramped house where barely one person could live.

“It was the house of a human hunter, so I thought there might be some eerie items, but…”

“Eerie items?”

“Yes. For example… firearms used by the White Reaper, you know.”

The item Leeha was truly hoping for was exactly that. Of course, he didn’t have high expectations.

“You won’t encounter those who easily give up items after just one or two tries. They’re not that simple to hand over their items.”

There must be some kind of quest.

By assigning a very difficult quest and clearing it, there is a high probability of receiving a rifle as a reward.”

But how? They said the White Reaper was already executed.”

Leeha took out a potion of White Reaper’s Snow Sickness from his bag and drank it.

[Legendary White Reaper’s White Plague Potion]

Description: The White Reaper who ascended the scaffold said this.

“Do not fear the winter. Enduring the cold is impossible. Just be cold. However, if you have the potion I made, you can endure the cold a little better.”

This potion contains the secret of the legendary human hunter, the White Reaper, who traversed the frozen ice and snow-covered mountains. It is said that he withstood the cold by creating a disease known as ‘Snow Sickness’ and taking the potion.

“Up on the scaffold… No, no way? Went up but didn’t die and came down? Are you trying to tell me something like that? Ah, it’s absurd. That can’t be.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing. Even in a place like the Middle Earth, joking about that… If I joke about that, I’ll get in trouble.”

He let out a disappointed laugh and looked around.

It was clearly stated in the description of the potion. He personally created a disease called ‘White Death’.

Where did he create it?

Connecting the map he saw when he used White Death, this place was clearly it.

‘So, there should be traces of the White Reaper, ‘Shimo’, somewhere around here… What should I look for in a place where even spider webs aren’t properly spun because it’s too cold?’

What could possibly be in a place where even animals don’t use as shelter because they couldn’t properly block the snowstorm?

“Is there any distortion of mana?”

“I checked immediately. There are no hidden spaces.”

“I thought it might be similar to when we were at Kaztor, but… it doesn’t seem like that either.”

Leeha expected there to be hidden parts covered with mana while exploring the research institute of Fibiel Castle. However, there was nothing like that?

So, is it really just a cabin with nothing?

Thud, thud, thud.

Leeha paced around the cabin with a furrowed brow.

“But this doesn’t make sense. Even if it reflects reality to some extent, it’s still a game… It can’t be that we came all the way here and there’s nothing. There must be something somewhere-“

Thud-.

~

“Why are you like this, Ha Leeha-nim?”

Leeha raised his foot and carefully set it down.

The sensation felt beyond the withered carpet on the verge of complete decay soon turned into conviction.

“Aw, darn it. Yeah, it’s not an illusion by mana. But this is such a classic trick!?”

Leeha immediately lifted the carpet. As dust and snowflakes fluttered and drifted, a wooden floor identical to the surrounding tree floor but with very subtle blemishes caught his eye.

“Oh! A secret hiding place!”

“Hehehe, that’s right. Just like in the movies.”

Blaugrunn marveled, and Leeha chuckled in response.

“A movie?”

“No, no. Anyway. Blaugrunn! There are no special trap spells here, right?”

“Yes! If there was such a thing, I would have triggered it when I detected mana earlier,” the curious Bronze Dragon said, eyes gleaming. Carefully observing its appearance, Leeha gently placed their ear on the ground.

Inserting a finger into a small groove and lifting a wooden plank would reveal the entrance.

“Just because they didn’t use mana doesn’t guarantee there are no traps. However, using classic disguises like this, are they low-tech enough to have a trap?”

Inserting a finger and lifting the wooden plank with just enough force to trigger like pulling a trigger, Leeha raised the wooden plank.

Creak-!

Aside from the sound of the old wooden latch twisting, it was quiet.

“Okay, it’s clear.”

Satisfied that there were no apparent threats, Leeha fully opened it after confirming there were no danger elements.

As soon as the stairs leading underground appeared, Blaugrunn cast a light spell.

“Shall I go first?”

“No, please just provide the light. I think it’s better for me to go first since there are no magical traps, considering your skill.”

Being aware that there were no traps set by magic, Leeha’s skillful techniques would be more helpful.

Taak… Taak…

Taking one step at a time, Leeha descended underground, preparing for any potential accidents.

Leeha also checked the dirt walls, pressing them to see if there were any suspicious spots or elements that needed to be pushed to proceed.

What would be the White Reaper-related quests? How could they acquire their firearms? What task could they accomplish to obtain them? At least at this moment, Leeha’s purpose was not to obtain an item for Blackbeard’s synthesis purpose.

Driven by the innate curiosity of a sniper, at that moment, Leeha was descending underground with just that thought in mind. Carefully, step by step, taking almost 30 minutes to descend a depth of barely twenty steps, Leeha finally found the door to the basement.

“It won’t be detected by mana detection.”

“Phew, good. It must be where the senior is.”

“The senior?”

“Heh, when I was being educated, I heard a lot of real names. Among them! The one and only! Now, the dongsaeng is here!”

Click-!

Convinced that there were no more traps, Leeha opened the door.

With a rush of musty smell, Blaugrunn’s light illuminated the “White Reaper’s hideout!”

“Wow, amazing! Cool!”

“I’m not sure what’s so great about it.”

There were a few items that looked like scientific experiment tools, and a few books. Some decayed scrolls were scattered around.

Each trace telling the story of long-gone days seemed splendid in Leeha’s eyes.

“Huh?”

“Hmm? Hey, what’s that… What is it?”

While Leeha and Blaugrunn explored the hideout that was wider than a house above ground, a peculiar item caught their eyes.

“Isn’t that a rifle?”

An object hanging on the wall. It was undoubtedly a rifle.

“Seems like it. But why… why is there a rifle?”

Leeha quickly approached it. Despite not being maintained and covered in rust, the rifle bore traces of human touch.

‘And if this model is correct, then I’m sure. If my memory serves me well, it’s the Finnish-produced Model 1428 from Mosin-Nagant. It was the White Reaper’s rifle.’

“No, it could be the White Reaper’s rifle, but—it shouldn’t be here! It shouldn’t be here at all!”

“Eh? Isn’t it a good thing? I thought you’d be thrilled.”

“No, it’s good. It’s good… But…”

“The quest? Various exciting stories related to the White Reaper? Legends like the sniper and grand tales?”

Erasing the name of a missing country like Shazrashian Federation to ‘Panrand,’ the alias ‘White Reaper’ and ‘White Soldier,’ even delving into his name ‘Shimo’ and the historical records of his assassination in Middle Earth’s model… is this how it ends?”

“Ah… Something feels… feels empty.”

“Empty?”

How could Leeha express this complex mix of emotions? Leeha sighed as he watched Blaugrunn raise his eyebrows.

“Well, I guess I should just accept that it turned out well. Oh well.”

Nevertheless, it was what it was! With that in mind, Leeha picked up the rifle, thinking that he should achieve his goal quickly.

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