Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

Leeha, who had been anxious not to see the desired passage, finally heard some good news.

[You have obtained the rare crystal body of the Freezing Ostrich.]

“Yes! Yessssss! Got the crystal body!”

The item that wouldn’t drop no matter how much he sliced at the corpse’s head! Leeha finally managed to acquire the eye of the Freezing Ostrich.

“Whoa! What kind of eye is this! It’s bigger than a basketball!”

Leeha, lifting the eye high with both hands, looked almost like an athlete hoisting a championship trophy.

[Rare Crystal Body of the Freezing Ostrich]

Description: The eye of the freezing ostrich, among the bird species, boasts the best vision. To hunt for food in the frigid tundra and protect themselves from predators, their exceptional vision is unmatched. They can spot how ants are moving at a distance of 85m and detect intruders up to 20km away. Moreover, their eyes, capable of refracting and re-refracting light, are known to partially dispel invisibility magic.

The item description was more than satisfactory for Leeha.

“85m away ants?! Sounds unbelievable, but who cares!”

The part about spotting something from up to 20km away!

Of course, Leeha was well aware of the loophole in the item description.

This was only under the condition that he could see 20km away when given the right environment.

Especially in places like mountainous terrains where objects blocking the view are present, no matter how far you can see, the view would inevitably be obstructed.

“But—But! If I have Blaugrunn-ssi! Even some transparency is visible. How does that work? Well, I’ll know once I make it! The scope’s a sure thing now!”

When combined with levitation magic, just what kind of power would this wield! Leeha felt like he had met the item that would bring his vague ideas into reality.

“Alright! Yeah! Yes! Yeah!”

Dancing to this bizarre chant was Leeha, towards whom Blaugrunn was approaching. He was letting out a light sigh mixed with a smile.

“Are you that happy? You’re not a kid.”

“What do you mean, not a kid!? Heh, of course, I’m happy!”

“Then, you’re going to like this too.”

“Huh?”

Blaugrunn snapped his fingers with a flick, making a snap! sound.

Something nearly the size of Blaugrunn’s torso was floating behind him and approaching.

More splendid than its oval shape was the sight of its insides completely visible. Although Leeha instantly guessed ‘what’ it was, it was not a dreadful sight.

He had only expected to see the diligently growing baby of the Freezing Ostrich inside the egg, yet, what were all these countless rainbows now in front of his eyes?

“Wow…

Could this happen if you filled a prism inside?

Plus, the rainbows spread out in all directions only within the egg,

Not extending outside the egg.

“While I’m not sure about other things, this one thing I can tell you. His Highness will definitely love this.”

“Huh? What’s it do?”

An item for crafting?

Definitely not a wearable item. Or since it’s an ‘egg,’ could it somehow be edible?

As if he already knew all of Leeha’s speculations, Blaugrunn shook his head.

“This, in itself, has no effect.”

“Then why would I like it?”

“If the Silver Dragon tribe rushes for it with fiery eyes.”

“Silver Dragon—Ah, aah?!”

If the Silver Dragons strongly desired it, wouldn’t Leeha have to secure the ‘price’ for it no matter what!

“Blaugrunn-ssi! This, it’s like hitting the jackpot!”

“Keke, does that mean Leeha-nim has been a scoundrel up until now?”

“No, I mean, cancel that. The Moon of Trade! The Miracle Negotiator!”

Though it might make people suffer quite a bit, Middle-Erth also teaches that equivalent rewards come.

With over 100 million registered players, this game certainly had its reasons.

Holding onto Blaugrunn and joyfully hopping around, Leeha opened the quest window to check the remaining numbers.

[The Crystals of Snow]

Content: Slaying of 100 frozen ostriches (32/100)

“Where is another flock of ostriches? Let’s detect them right away!”

“Understood!”

Though one can’t catch them one by one, it’s possible when they’re in flocks.

The pace of hunting frozen ostriches, which requires a different approach than typical monster hunting, began to pick up.

“Is everyone ready? It starts first thing tomorrow morning, so hurry up!”

Ha-!

With Chiyou leading the charge, not even the smallest mistake was allowed. She managed her loyal subordinates who followed her even to the New World, sometimes with a smile, sometimes with anger.

Among them were a very few trustworthy members from the Shinobi, and also members from [Yamato] following her commands.

“Keh, hurry up all you want, but in the end, aren’t we just cleaning up after you? The wave is only for you and your minions.”

Step, step.

A tall shadow loomed beside her.

Without even needing to look, knowing who it was, she replied without wasting time to turn her head.

“Cleaning up after us? Hmm, last I checked, someone who just got overtaken in rankings shouldn’t be the one talking.”

“That’s because I did a good job.”

“Oh really? Could Igor and those brainless Czars have overtaken the rankings by themselves? Why didn’t it happen before then? Don’t pick a fight now when I’m busy.”

Chiyou made a shushing sound.

Igor continued to laugh heartily, but the faces of other men beside him weren’t as cheerful.

“Brainless? To dare speak such nonsense to us-“

Shiiiiik-!

One of the Czar’s guild members lunged at Chiyou, only to be swiftly flung away.

‘Huh, that’s unexpected.’

Chiyou had anticipated someone from the Czar would attack, and she was ready to potentially kill him, so she looked ahead with a surprised expression.

“Don’t start trouble.”

It was Igor who had tossed aside the guild member.

He hadn’t even needed to swing his blade, simply using the strength of his arm to pin the guild member down.

“Igor! This kind of treatment is unfair to us!”

“Indeed! Consider your ‘situation’ carefully! Why you were able to come this far!”

“What you should be doing is retaking the first place in the rankings as soon as possible-…”

The Czar’s members were the ones taken aback by his response. Their faces flushed more with humiliation from Chiyou’s insults than from their reproach.

“Keh keh keh, I know, I know, my friends.”

Igor merely responded with laughter. It was an open secret that Russia supported one character nationally for gaming pursuits.

That Igor was the chosen one, and that the state-sponsored supporters were members of the Czar guild were widely speculated by users.

Thus, their relationship was inseparable.

Czar was exactly the one who, behind the scenes, took care of everything from item farming, subsidies, to controlling hunting grounds, just so Igor could concentrate solely on leveling up.

“So, this is what irritates me. According to this tiny Chiyou’s words… why do we level up faster here than when you guys are pushing?”

At least, that had been the case up to now.

As Igor growled in a low voice, the Czar members clamped their mouths shut. They couldn’t miss the sudden change in atmosphere.

Compared to other Czar members who could not control their emotions, a certain calm individual nodded and spoke.

“I will report this to the guild master.”

“Report? Ha! But what will you say? ‘The current priority target is leveling up smoothly, reaching the 3rd rank, and will strive to reach the 1st rank as soon as possible.’ What else is there to say, vice-guild master?”

“Besides results, there’s plenty to say about attitude. Since it’s the guild master’s will, anyway.”

“Ka-kak, those who can’t even support properly are just full of talk.”

Igor spat on the ground.

The Czar’s members stared at his retreating back.

The most surprised person to witness this was Chiyou herself. Not just because he had protected her, but ‘why would he take such an action specifically for her?’

Hmm… If the Czars are here…So that was the reason why things were dispersed. A management target number one, you say?’

Could it mean there are more users like Igor?

Maybe that’s why the Czar has decentralized, managing a small number of people each.

However, in terms of rankings, aside from Igor, there are only a few Russian users in the Top 100. They are significantly less important than Igor, who is in the Top 10.

“Chiyou! If you leave me behind again, just do as you please! Kya kya kya!”

Chiyou had another thought as she watched Igor shouting without turning back. There could be a hidden meaning behind the words and actions Igor and the Czar had shown in front of her.

‘It seems like a protest to take him with them.’

Maybe they want to convey an image that our team can’t be stopped!

Or could it be a hint that there’s another management target, trying to divert her focus?

‘Or perhaps… they’re trying to entice me to come closer for infiltration into the Shinobi group.’

Regardless of the reason, to Chiyou, the actions of Igor and the Czar felt laughably like an ‘act.’

The thought of these giant figures groaning and planning such a show just to get a bit of core information seemed funny to her.

“Let’s assign you a more important task than just coming along, Igor!”

Chiyou notified Igor with a light-hearted voice.

However, her eyes were already scanning the Czar’s users. Although they all maintained poker faces, they couldn’t fool Chiyou.

‘This is great, stimulating both from the outside and now from the inside.’

She shuddered with delight.

For her, a battle of wits and strategy was exactly what she had always desired. A new person quietly approached the joyous Chiyou.

“What about me? Last time, you mentioned coming along!”

“Ah, Prea.”

An elf with snow-white eyes rubbed her right foot against her left leg and smiled gently.

Chiyou grabbed her shoulder and nodded vigorously.

“Of course, of course. We need Prea to go and check things out.”

“Yay! Ah, truly, being here, setting up this fortress, only to make various requests to the spirits without even getting a chance to breathe fresh air has been quite stifling! It’s such a relief to get out this time. I even managed to secure 10th place in the rankings, but had nowhere to really use my strengths. I thought I was going to die of boredom. Oh! So, does this mean we’re going with [Toon]? Is there anything special I need to prepare?”

As Prea bounced around jubilantly, her rapid-fire speech continued without pause. Watching the spirited and chatty her, Chiyou managed her expression as best as she could.

“No special preparation needed, just be your usual self.”

“Got it! Hehe, then who shall I take along, hmm~”

Chiyou’s eyes sparkled as she watched Prea walk away, drawing out spirits in a flurry of chatter.

A whisper then reached her.

It was Sasuke, keeping watch over the users from the shadows.

Sasuke: Are you sure about this, Oka-san?

Chiyou: About what?

Sasuke: I still don’t think we can trust Prea.

Chiyou: Ufufu, do you think I don’t know that?

Sasuke: Ha, Ha! My apologies.

Hearing Sasuke’s flustered voice, Chiyou smiled lightly. The sharp gaze she had while observing Prea had already disappeared.

‘But Sasuke has a point. Igor and the Czar are actually easier to understand… Fools with clear motives are the easiest to predict.’

Knowing what they want makes predicting their actions easier.

But here, in Chiyou’s New Continent fortress, the most troublesome opponent was Prea.

‘At first, I thought she was just a fool lusting after a higher rank.’

Because it was impossible to understand what she truly wanted.

Her often-observed behavior of summoning and chatting with spirits alone; too far to hear clearly and, more often than not, unseen by regular users due to the spirits’ invisibility.