Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

“Could you please be quiet for a moment?”

“What do you mean—”

Leeha didn’t respond any further. The most crucial thing at this moment was focus! And the silence around!

“How dare you! To speak to the Cardinal in such a manner—”

The face of a bishop NPC, who caught up late to hear Leeha’s words, flushed red, but Leeha was already in a state where such things were no longer heard.

The only concern right now was the sensation in the index finger.

Baaaaang——–!

A louder and more tremendous tolling of a gun resounded than ever before.

“Wow!?”

“Click!”

It was no ordinary gunshot. Centered around where Leeha stood, it was an act of attack accompanied by powerful vibrations strong enough to stir up the dust.

“Oh!? Ouch.”

Leeha, who was in a shooter’s stance, was pushed back and lost balance enough to stumble due to the recoil.

“Leeha-ssi, are you all right!?”

“Uh, I’m fine but—just a moment—” Leeha detached the hands of Blaugrunn assisting him and checked the scope first. Then, he pointed with his finger.

“Do you all see that over there?”

“See what?”

“I’m not sure what you’re suggesting. We don’t see anything.”

Blaugrunn and Fernand shook their heads.

Leeha flicked his fingers and showed an expression of regret.

“That’s a shame. I can’t show you the manticore falling. Oh, but Cardinal Romero? Didn’t you mention something about Ghibrid’s messenger or something? One shot, right?”

“One… shot?”

Romero pronounced “one shot” with difficulty as if he had just learned to speak, causing the bishop NPCs to look at the cardinal in confusion.

“Cardinal Romero?”

“One… shot? What does ‘one shot’ mean, may I ask?”

“Really? You’ve come from the Vatican and you don’t know what that means? Ah! Is it because I was too vague? Hmm… What I mean is, why did the manticore, the whatever of Ghibrid, die in just one shot?”

Leeha asked nonchalantly, but Romero still had a blank face.

Blaugrunn and Fernand were bewildered.

“Leeha-ssi? Did you just—”

“Ah, how far did you say it was?”

Seeing their dumbfounded expressions, Leeha sighed. It was regrettable but true; he did take it down in one shot, yet explaining the situation himself felt bitter.

“Yes, the manticore is dead. Sigh… Anyway, it was the distance that was the issue. A manticore should definitely be above level 250! That damn thing was incredibly fast. I thought I shot it before it entered within 3.5km but…

Leeha aimed for a one-hit lethal shot.

To test the power of 《Black Bass》 enhanced by Bottleneck, and in the meantime, to clear the quest 《Seal of Black Bass-5》.

The manticore was indeed a monster-level creature surpassing 250 levels.

It would have been a clear shot if it stayed still, but during the aiming and the bullet’s flight, the distance moved by the creature exceeded 100m, barely resulting in its death within the 3,500m range.

“That… That’s… over a distance of 3km, anyway—”

“Ah, well. Hehe, Fernand-ssi? Not that it needs to be said, but you know this is a secret, right?”

By now, the look of regret had disappeared from Leeha’s face.

Looking at Fernand, he winked subtly. Ha’s face bloomed with laughter, a reaction that was inevitable. Just moments ago, the recoil from his shot had caused him to lose his balance and tumble – a clear indication of what had just transpired.

“I didn’t even use the Joint Fixation down or the Sniper skill. Ehehe… and yet!”

He had successfully hit a manticore from a distance of almost 3.5km.

Suppressing a laugh, Leeha turned his gaze to the Black Bass he held in his hand, its name derived from the dark hue that now bore a faint blush of excitement.

[Lava-Powered First Enhancement of the Legendary Black Bass] (Not Tradable)

Attack Power: (User’s Agility) + (User’s Agility * 9)

Effect: Agility +25

Description: Hearing about Black Bass’s range and lethality from Miss Elizabeth, the legendary dwarf decided to seal it in the form of a musket following her disappearance.

“Such a thing should not exist in this world! I, the ‘Bright Hammer’, will seal its power for the sake of all living beings.”

Perhaps due to the legendary dwarf’s seal, no one has since utilized Black Bass’s original power.

Additional Effect: Activation of extra skill upon seal release

Additional Description: Dwarf hero Bottleneck managed to enhance Black Bass’s basic abilities using lava. While he was successful in the first enhancement, he seemed unsatisfied.

“Damn, I can sort of manage to make it shoot further, but increasing its firepower is another story. Who in the world is the madman who originally made this? I can’t trust the analyses of monkeys; I need to analyze this myself!”

Nonetheless, the first enhancement resulted in a 25% increase in attack power and doubled the effective range.

Additional Effect-2: Change in base attack power (Additional 25%)

Change in Basic Range: “Hehehe… The agility-based attack power has already been adjusted from Agility + Agility*9 as mentioned in the additional description, bringing about an increase of about 25%.

Yet, what Leeha desired wasn’t just a boost in attack power.

‘A whopping double the range!’

Considering the gun’s original specs, Leeha had calculated its effective range to be about 2,000m, but with this enhancement, it had increased to an astonishing 4,000m. It was this enhancement that allowed him to hit a manticore nearly 3.5km away without using any skills and without even aiming the muzzle.

‘While the priority was the range, the power is not to be underestimated either! The range may have doubled, but 25% – how much has each shot increased by?’

Ha’s current agility stands at 3,579, making the standard attack power a staggering 35,790 with a tenfold increase. But that’s not all. Leeha possesses a skill known as Forbidden Fury, a Dark Elf berserker-class skill that boosts attack power by sacrificing total HP. The applied attack power reaches an astounding 42,948.

Considering the difficulty of detecting Leeha over significant distances, surpassing even a dragon’s basic mana detection range, what if Leeha remains undetectable to his target from over 4km away?

‘To think the title of Shadow Hitman applies… the attack power would be—’

85,896.

‘Right, right. There was also what I earned slicing up those trolls?’

Eighty-five thousand is an absurd figure. Yet, Leeha had gained additional attack power against large monsters by acquiring the Troll’s Bane. Including the effect from the Hall of Fame, a further 15% was added, leaving Leeha speechless.

‘Insane, a single attack power of 98,780…? If I level up agility a bit more, without even using skills, a basic attack could hit 100,000!’

Without considering defenses, this was an outrageously high figure, capable of killing even a buffed Kijung with a single blow.

And yet, there was more. Leeha had thought he’d failed to achieve a one-hit defeat with the Black Bass quest, but he had achieved it through another means.

‘I even bagged an achievement, hehe.’ Leeha remembered the achievement fanfare that erupted at the moment the gunfire ceased. Just as he was about to open it, the person who spoke to him was Fernand.

“Excuse me, Leeha-ssi?”

“Ah, Ah!? Yes, yes. Let’s go now. It doesn’t seem like there’s anything around.”

Urged by Leeha, Fernand also hurriedly got to his feet.

Though Fernand thought he knew enough about Leeha, from the ‘moment he thought he knew’ him, Leeha had been changing, constantly and consistently.

‘Where does this person end…’

As Leeha quickly finished his preparations, Romero’s expression returned to normal.

His face still held astonishment at the sight of Leeha, but it wasn’t the soulless stare of before; now, it was a mix of pride and admiration.

“To defeat a manticore in a single strike… Truly, you are a person blessed by God himself. You are truly amazing, Leeha-ssi.”

“Oh, why are you making such a fuss? Hehe, you’ve seen it, right!? I’ll surely guard you as steadfastly as a Cardinal, so, when you enter the Vatican, please speak well of me to the Pope. Ahem, well, not that I’m desiring any reward but… You know, right?”

Leeha showed Romero a bright smile.

The astonishing and audacious achievement of Leeha rendered the bishop NPC standing beside Romero utterly unable to express any further anger.

“Let’s go! Forward march! We’ve almost reached halfway!”

Leeha once again led his forces towards the [Divine Staff].

The joy and the accomplishment of capturing the manticore were indeed events worth being elated over. However, the failure to seriously contemplate why the manticore was here, where it was headed, or why it had revealed itself at this moment was, at this point, a clear oversight by Leeha.

[Executor and Proxy of Ghibrid’s Will and Purpose]

Being the first to know of the manticore’s demise was a privilege reserved for those entrusted with its will and purpose.

[Achievement: One Shot, one Kill – Creator of Chimera (S-)]

Congratulations! With a single strike, you have dispatched Ghibrid’s emissary, the manticore! The demonic aura is already enveloping the continent of Middle Earth. What you need moving forward is formidable power and the will to achieve it. May you rescue the God’s creatures from the grip of the demon king.

Reward: Strength +7, Agility +7, intelligence +7 Damage Increase +10% when hit by a flying monster Attack Increase +5% when attacking a flying monster

You are the first to register the [One Shot, one Kill – Creator of Chimera] achievement.

The first three registrants of the achievement will be recorded in the Hall of Honor, with the original effects increased by 200%.

Effect: Strength +14, Agility +14, intelligence +14 Damage Increase +20% when hit by a flying monster Attack Increase +10% when attacking a flying monster

‘Oh, it’s definitely an S- rank!’

Proud of himself for slaying such a creature in a single blow, Leeha reviewed the details of his achievement.

If the S- rank one-hit achievement had been triggered, the level must have been over 250.

It was regrettable, once again, that he had been slightly too far away to clear the Black Beast quest.

‘Plus, additional attack power against flying monsters! The extra damage doesn’t really matter since I’ll likely never get hit anyway but… Huh?’

If it includes all flying monsters?

It occurred to Leeha that ‘dragons’ fell within that category. Being large and flying types, their already formidable attack power would increase by a total of 30%…

‘Hehe, maybe another one will show up? This time, I’ll definitely take it down from 3.5km away. I’d like to see that, Mr. Manticore!’

Leeha’s spirits were high enough to want to draw in again the monster that had given Cardinal Romero and Blaugrunn the chills.

“A chimera creating chimera, you say…”

“Yes. That’s another name for the manticore. You heard what the bishop said earlier, didn’t you?”

“Uh… What did they say?”

“Ah, come on, the emissary delivering Ghibrid’s will! That’s what’s annoying about it.”

“What does it do?”

“Huh? Leeha-ssi just told you.”