Matan’s Shooter

Matan’s Shooter 782

Like three armored vehicles facing off, about five more minutes passed as the tilted map stayed still.

The Amunsan Trio tried to encourage the guild members, but once disheartened, they couldn’t even move past the handle.

“It’s over. We should leave this behind.”

“… Who would’ve thought it would end up like this for one person. What about shields? Tell the tanks to guard the front…”

“Is there anyone who would charge in like that right now? And if we fall behind…”

The Amunsan Trio were running at the front.

Although the formation had been disrupted by the large explosion, there were still countless Giants chasing after them.

“We can’t go through the main road, can we?”

“It will be the same. Since it’s come to this, we have to advance sideways, sneak through the mountain path.”

There were many routes to the ruined village from Hamina Castle.

The current road they were on was chosen because it was a “road” that had existed in the past, with flat terrain and good visibility.

They could proceed along the forest on the hillside, or even take a large detour around the hill itself and march back to the iron gate in front of the ruined village.

Among these options, the Amunsan Trio chose to advance along the hillside and through the forest.

“Taking a detour will take too long. Let’s finish it before Vantal comes back.”

The Amunsan Trio immediately gave orders to guild members. Since they were inside the armored vehicles, the Giants who had already felt their terror did not resist their orders.

However, some of the Giants who had survived and followed behind the armored vehicles, not members of the Pack Guild, bravely started running on the main road.

Of course, they couldn’t even reach 200 meters before they all turned gray.

“See that? We still haven’t found his location! But thankfully, he’s probably alone!”

“But do the Pack Guild know what ‘that’ is? There was no mention in the quest. Who could it be—”

“… There is a guy named Ha Leeha. Whatever, don’t worry about it! He might be something special in this place! We are right there!”

Some Giants who didn’t even know the existence of Ha Leeha and had no idea how this quest was unfolding wanted to ask more questions, but the Amunsan Trio didn’t give detailed answers.

The more they talked, the more they would keenly feel what had happened to them in the presence of ‘one alone.’

“We go through there! If our sight is restricted, no matter who it is, they won’t be able to touch us!”

The Amunsan Trio used the armored vehicles as cover and pointed to the forests on both sides of the road. Users who had experienced Ha Leeha even once were different. The three Amunsan Trio remembered how they always climbed up to the mast to secure their view on the ship for the voyage to the New Continent Harbor.

“Still, there will be losses.”

“No, it will be much better than now.”

“If we don’t move forward after yelling at Karelin… not only will Banthil be disappointed but the guild’s reputation will suffer.”

They exchanged glances and signaled each other.

“Move! Lean left and right! Quickly, quickly, quickly!”

“From the main unit to the 6th, lean left! From the 7th to the 15th, lean right!”

“Follow me! Those fools who don’t understand the situation just follow behind me!”

The swift movements of the front-line guild members were enough to fend off the other giants as they swiftly shifted left and right, amidst the sound of gunfire and a few casualties, they managed to reach their destination relatively unscathed.

“I already informed Karelin! We will advance from the point where our armored vehicles are stationed!”

“Okay! Let’s go! Tanks in the front! Build a wall! Move quickly between the trees!”

They started advancing with a solid defensive formation and smiled. The sound of trees being stripped of their bark could be heard in various places.

Although sporadic gunfire was heard in the background, the fact that no casualties were reported was reassuring.

“Alright, that guy is useless after all.”

Now, all they needed to do was to advance.

They were momentarily slowed down by the enemy’s strange trap, but that was it. At that moment, a ranger who was part of the Amunsan trio widened his eyes.

“W-wait! The light of the teleport just flickered!”

“What?”

“Probably… it seems like they used teleportation.”

“They went back? Ha Leeha?”

“I, I can’t say for sure, but maybe this was felt by Leeha, that the momentum of the giant at the front is starting to rise again.”

The Amunsan Trio laughed heartily and nodded their heads. Their decision was indeed the right one.

In such a dense forest, no matter how high their accuracy rate was, they couldn’t target anything!

“Excellent! There are no more enemies! Charge! The Front-line guild occupies first!”

The fact that the enemy retreated was quickly relayed to the rear of the front line, and both the Front-line guild and other giant knight units began to increase their marching speed.

It was a somewhat hurried question from the White Reaper, but Leeha welcomed even such reactions.

Even he, a top-grade NPC, couldn’t predict what Leeha would do, and the anticipation for his actions was growing.”Hmm… By now, they probably saw me teleport. If they saw the silver light, realized my absence, then all that’s left is to keep moving forward at full speed, right?”

『Wouldn’t it be more disadvantageous if they increase their speed?』

“Hehe, shimo-nim probably tried it too. To draw enemies in the desired direction, you have to show this kind of appearance.”

『Is it that the direction you’re moving forward at full speed is the one you want?』

The White Reaper chuckled and checked the time.

“Hmm, it would be nice if we could watch together. That’s a pity. Probably… right now.”

The moment his words finished, a giant from the northern part of Hamina Castle that was moving forward touched something.

“What’s… what’s this underfoot-”

Their conversation ended there. In the hills on the left and right, a rain of ball bearings poured down.

It wasn’t just falling from top to bottom but from bottom to top, left to right, right to left, front to back… The one who could remotely control time bombs had installed Claymores in the same way.

『You have leveled up.』

While timing the conversation with the White Reaper, Leeha chuckled as he watched the light emanating from his body.

『Huh? That light-』

“Yes. It’s a bit faster than I expected. They are Giants after all. They have no fear. They might not even have any thoughts.”

Leeha shrugged his shoulders.

From the first sniper shot to the final operation of the Claymore, everything was depicted by Leeha as part of the 『Pre-Empive Attack』 operation. Why didn’t he target the Amunsan Trio immediately? Turning the armored vehicles into sitting ducks and smoothly herding them onto the side road served the purpose of confining their movements.

‘Perhaps they thought they could escape into the forest. When you enter a dense forest, Leeha cannot accurately see the Giants. But they also had to consider the opposite case.

Giants couldn’t meticulously inspect everything while advancing in a thick beech forest. Moreover, if they even saw Leeha ‘retreat’, given their nature, it was obvious that they would charge like mad pigs.

『My eyes were accurate as expected.』

“Thank you for the praise.”

The White Reaper looked at Leeha with a pleased expression. Leeha quietly bowed his head.

‘If we can strike 10% of the entire enemy forces as soon as the battle begins… it doesn’t matter how many thousands are gathered.’

Leeha remembered what he had said to Jin Gonggong. This isn’t a fight of 10,000 to 1. Even if about 30,000 Giants gather, Leeha, and Blaugrunn don’t need to handle 10,000 each.

‘It’s not 30,000. It is a single 『one』 military force.’

The mindset one should have when facing a larger force with a smaller one is to not see the lack of troops as a weakness and move boldly.

The difference between Leeha who had been preparing for war and the Giants who had rushed in without any preparations was natural.

And the Giants, at least the ordinary Giant users and knights like the Trin-Orrel Knight Order, were hardly deviating from Leeha’s expectations.

***

“Ah, we must move forward…”.

“How?! What- what will happen if something else explodes?”

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One couldn’t even find a corpse. The sight of meat lumps scattered all over, transformed into light, felt surreal. Even the Giants who had raided several field boss-level monsters and conquered a significant number of dungeons couldn’t quickly erase this sight.

“Back! Move back!”

“Don’t push, you son of a b****!”

“Call for Karelin-nim! It must be relayed to Karelin-nim!”

All they could do was relay this matter to the highest-ranking administrator currently on the battlefield and await instructions. The fact that they were still standing their ground, even a bit, amidst a scene where ordinary users would have logged out, was a testament to the courage of the Giant users.

However, Karelin currently couldn’t muster the courage even for that.

“Is that really true?”

“Y-yes. The front— the front, right now… Ah.”

Feeling the blood draining from his body, he barely managed to put strength into his legs.

“Unbelievable… It hasn’t even been four hours yet…”

The momentum of those who seemed like they could pierce the sky had long disappeared. The issue was not just the momentum but the unimaginable actual losses.

The distance the Giants advanced on the first day of the battle from Hamina Castle’s north gate was a mere 4.86 km.

Still needing to cover around 1540km more, their feet no longer moved.

“Casualties- around 2,800…? How do we report this-”

In the meantime, what had been lost included all the members of the Pack Guild, including Bantal and the Amunsan Trio, three armored vehicles, over 2,800 Giants, and the rapid morale decline of all remaining survivors.

“Investigator Karelin- no, Member Karelin.”

“Uh, President-nim.”

“Are you telling me to believe that?”

The investigation of the location where the White Reaper’s Ghost was now complete. Due to being relieved of his position as an investigator, the President of Shazrashian no longer referred to Karelin as an investigator.

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Of course, that wasn’t important to Karelin.

“2,789 deceased. Around 100 unauthorized departures… This is confirmed.”

“Are you suggesting we just let the unauthorized departures go?”

There was no concept of injury in Middle Earth. Even those with injuries would quickly recover, so apart from death, they could be quickly reassigned to the frontlines. However, this was only related to the physical aspect.

Faced with the terror of death, some players abandoned the quest and illicitly left the battlefield, with the number reaching almost 100.

“Well, we are currently experiencing extensive morale-boosting activities…”

『…』

“Do you suggest capturing… them?”

“You. Personally.”

President Vladimir pointed his finger at Karelin, making him feel as if a gun was aimed at him right before his eyes.

“By the time the night is over, capture and execute at least 10 people. Use them as examples.”

“Understood.”

“And you will personally command tomorrow’s operation. I’ll assign a logistics officer to assist you. There shouldn’t be any supply issues, right?”

“Of course not.”

The choice of ‘I can’t do it’ did not exist from the beginning.

If not, Karelin would be immediately removed from this quest and the authority would be transferred to another player. Having the title of ‘investigator’ allowed for such authority to be passed on, which, for Karelin, was akin to a ‘joint quest’.

Ranked 12th Wrestler, Karelin had no intention of easily giving away his authority.

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