Matan’s Shooter

Chapter 442

Chapter 442

TL: xLordFifth

ED: 

While Leeha, active in Team C saved a lot of bullets, Kidd, active in Team A, had significantly depleted his bullet reserves by constantly shooting without rest.

“Ha! No bullets? If Leeha were to fight you to the death, he would have killed you.”

“Huh, do you think I would participate in such a fight?”

“If you don’t participate, what are you going to do? Don’t you remember the atmosphere when we left the waters of the Dragon Palace?”

Kidd nodded in response to Luger’s words. It was indeed a serious situation. The users even tried to create factions for their own benefit and growth.

Apart from straightforward coercion, some subtly extracted information through camaraderie.

“I remember what the Sea God said to Leeha. ‘Bluebeard spreads contamination and corruption, everything in his wake will be corrupted.’ At that time, we all thought it was a skill cast on Leeha. Disgusting jealousy, envy, greed… and on top of that, Ram Hwajung’s threats. It was a mess.” Kidd reminisced about the situation at that time.

In a way, Leeha’s ‘kind(?) exploitation’ might have been a wise choice to escape the intricate traps of Middle Earth.

Even when Kidd’s thoughts progressed to that point, Luger remained silent. Despite just having a lively conversation, he suddenly closed his mouth. Kidd looked at him, but Luger showed no particular reaction.

“Luger?”

“Hmm? Oh, no. It’s nothing. I was just thinking about whether that Hahi guy will leak achievement information or not.”

Luger hastily opened his mouth. Kidd chuckled briefly. Luger’s expression was somewhat dark.

After smoothly completing the logout rotation and Leeha fully recovering their stamina, they logged back in. The journey was now on the 114th day, approaching its final stages.

“Kraven users are really something. How do they level up just by sailing around on a ship?”

“It’s nothing special; those guys just ride the boat a lot, unlike us, who don’t travel for days after riding it once.”

Kijung responded to Leeha’s complaint. Thanks to Leeha’s exploitation of stocking up on food, they were now in a situation where there was enough food for the next two weeks.

Considering that the journey would end in about a week, there was already plenty of leeway, and Leeha’s tension also relaxed gradually.

“Haaah… Well, that’s true. It’s actually too quiet, and it’s getting boring. I prefer something more dynamic, like the atmosphere in the Dragon Palace area. It doesn’t feel like a game when it’s this calm.”

“Yeah, you’ve been through a lot, eong-ah. Take a break.”

“Taking a break is not as easy as it sounds, Kijung… these days, even the country’s weather is strangely chilly. What about Bobae-ssi?”

“I don’t know. She didn’t tell me anything. Maybe Nara-ssi didn’t tell Bobae-ssi anything either?”

The reason Leeha’s mind was uneasy was because of Shin Nara. Kijung couldn’t help with that.

Leeha sighed again and asked other users nearby. Jin Gonggong, Biyemi, Bobae, and others were logging out in rotation, so there weren’t many users around Leeha and Kijung. Rubini was the one Leeha asked. 

“Hmm, I don’t know. What do you think, Rubini-nim?”

“Well, I don’t know.”

“As the one who foresees the future, the Oracle, you can read people’s minds, right? Hehe, I could give you a good fortune if you read her mind. How about it?”

“I only analyze the given information, except when using skills. Reading people’s minds…”

Rubini felt embarrassed by Leeha’s joke and waved her hands.

Leeha laughed playfully, seeing Rubini embarrassed. The reason why Shin Nara treated Leeha coldly was entirely unknown to him.

Not having any interest in what Rubini might be thinking and with the peaceful and leisurely progress of the 114th day of the journey, about half a day passed.

At that point, Elmi, the summoner on the Blue Marlin, saw something during her scouting. The reconnaissance information was immediately reported to Alexander and Fernand.

Baaaaang! 

The door of the cabin swung open forcefully, and Fernand popped out. “No way, this can’t be true.”

“Why, Fernand? Is it the seawater?” The eyes of the surrounding users focused on him. Fernand’s expression was not good.

“Oh, no. It’s not seawater, but—no, maybe it would have been better if it were seawater.”

“What’s wrong?”

“There’s something that shouldn’t be there! A ship! About 6 km ahead, there’s a ship!”

A ship!

If it were a regular sniper or hunting scenario, there would be no need to snipe from such an unreasonable distance. However, for Leeha, the first concern was the existence of Black Bass’s quest. The devil-like quest could extend the distance indefinitely, and the second concern was the presence of an unknown enemy. ‘Matan’s Shooter… the Royal Record mentioned a distance of 10 km.’ Even 6 km seemed too far, almost impossible for a sniper. But a sniper who could succeed in a headshot from 10 km away meant that Leeha could potentially fight an enemy not yet encountered.

“Matan’s Shooter… when all the demon armies cross the Dawn Sea, Matan’s Shooter is said to be among them. What if the remnants of that demon army have arrived in the New Continent? What if they are hiding there?”

The most reasonable conclusion for Matan’s Shooter’s current location was the New Continent. For Leeha, who couldn’t snipe at a 6 km distance, it meant the possibility of engaging in a 10 km headshot sniper duel. While other users were buzzing about the identity of the ship, Leeha couldn’t focus on such talk.

“It definitely won’t be a user ship. NPC, maybe? Like some human race NPC in the New Continent?”

“The possibility of monsters can’t be ruled out.”

“Monsters? Even if they try to use tools, they can only manage crude weapons. Those creatures can’t even make iron items on their own. Are they supposed to plunder nearby human villages for supplies?”

“That’s talking about monsters on the Old Continent. And they may lack the technology to make iron, but can’t they build a ship? That one is made of wood.”

“But, I mean! Umm, it’s about lacking skills. Craftsmanship? Using well-seasoned wood to build a ship and come this far, aren’t those creatures supposed to be non-existent?”

“I agree with that. If they were monsters from Middle Earth, they would have been designed as life forms adapted to the sea. Like giant moray eels or sea serpents… There were many marine creatures, right? I don’t see a reason to create monsters like that specifically to sail across the sea.”

“I don’t know about that! In the Kraven Sea, if you go north for a long time, there’s a place called ‘Shipwreck Island.’ It’s where the wreckage of sunken ships accumulates like an island. There, ghost ships are said to appear. I led a reconnaissance fleet through there, and it was terrifying…”

The opinions of the expedition members were diverse. They speculated based on information within Middle Earth and approached it from the macro perspective of a virtual reality game. However, without concrete information, it was a natural debate.

“It’s not important whether humans or monsters. What we need to know now is whether they are allies or enemies. If they are allies, it doesn’t matter if they are monsters, and if they are enemies, it doesn’t matter if they are humans.”

Alexander summarized the situation. The primary objective of the New Continent Expedition was to safely arrive at the New Continent. Whatever is on the ship in front of them is not ‘immediately’ important.

Other users had no choice but to agree with that statement. And Leeha knew that the only way to confirm it was to see for themselves. Leeha could feel the gazes directed towards him.

“We have no choice but to see it with our own eyes. We need detailed reconnaissance to do anything.”

Normally, users skilled in stealth and covert operations like Petyr would be the ideal candidates, but currently, they were in uncharted waters, making movement not so easy. However, it was not feasible to use slow boats or large ships.

In the end, it required an individual who could move smoothly underwater, had expertise in reconnaissance, and would not be greatly hindered by being ‘underwater.’ Leeha was the only suitable candidate.

“Can you do it?”

“If Bailephus uses invisibility magic and Hyein uses spatial teleportation first. I’ll give it a try. Blaugrun, you stay here.”

[Kyukyu!]

More than anything, Leeha believed in himself. Acknowledging Leeha’s response, Alexander nodded.

After about 5 minutes, during which water-resistant magic and various buffs, including the defense enhancement buff from the saint Raphaela and the defense enhancement buff from the Taoist brothers, were applied, the deck of the New Serpent glowed with a dazzling violet light.