Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

Pygmy was reticent to forgive the arrogantly smiling dwarf, but he was in front of Lord Koba, so he couldn’t make a scene.

“Do you think they’d even consider something like this?”

“Is a mere hammer being regarded as a worthy tool? Minimum standard should be…”

Bottleneck offered his hammer, and Pygmy held out his weapon, which was a blend of pickaxe and spear.

The moment they confirmed what each other was holding, Pygmy let out a laugh.

‘Done. Heh… It’s done. It’s done!’

Suddenly, Pygmy became dumbfounded as if he had tasted something sweet, and so did Bottleneck, who was trembling from head to toe, even though only his back was visible.

“How is it, Pygmy?”

“Lord, Lord Koba… this- this thing, please take a look.”

“Hmm?”

Koba made a nonchalant face.

Bottleneck’s stupefied expression was obvious from where Koba was sitting.

However, the moment he caught sight of Pygmy’s reaction when he turned to hand him the object, Koba grew dubious.

Pygmy’s bewilderment was as evident as Bottleneck’s.

“…What is this hammer head made of? It feels similar to a mineral… no, stone… it seems to be made of a material that doesn’t exist in this world.”

“Damn… you figured it out right away. It’s made of a meteorite fragment. It was crafted with a piece of adamantine. It’s an heirloom from our great-grandfather who sculpted the moonlight. When our great-grandfather, the greatest blacksmith in Hell’s Anvil, crafted this hammer – no, that’s not the important part!”

Although his words rang of pride, his tone was far from joyous.

He was more interested in hearing an explanation about the item Pygmy was handing him than explaining his own hammer.

“What… what is this tool? The handle looks like it’s made from a lightning-struck jujube tree, but its strength and elasticity are absurd. How was it carved to become like this? The blades too! Damn it! I swear by the beard of Vulcan! I’ve never seen nor heard of a mineral with this color! I haven’t tried chipping it, but such toughness and perfect sharpening retention at this level, is this iron?”

“We call the process ‘enhancement’.” The master recognizes the master. Sparks flew from the eyes of bonobo, with his sparse fur, and from the eyes of the hairy dwarf.

‘Is the common point of masters always a white beard? A white-haired monkey and a white beard—Bottleneck, when did he last wash? His beard is always so dirty…

The one who stopped the snickering Leeha in the middle of such historic moment was Bottleneck’s reaction.

“Enhancement… Enhancement! Oh, damn it! No wonder the color of the ‘Kobalt Blue Python’ has been weird recently! Even though I never touched it, they asked me to increase the explosive charge, and I sensed something strange… They did it here, they enhanced the ‘Kobalt Blue Python’ here! Right?”

“Huh? What’s up?”

Leeha’s eyes popped out in surprise as he listened to Bottleneck’s suspicions.

What is the item Bottleneck is talking about? Who uses it?

Koba, upon hearing Bottleneck’s words, didn’t question anything. He simply opened his mouth with a satisfied smile.

“Ha, I was hoping you wouldn’t discover this place… but I knew something interesting would happen if you did. It seems I was right.”

“That… the person who said that-”

“Yes. A human named Luger visited. He asked to ‘enhance’ his firearm.”

“–Luger!”

Leeha felt a chill running down the back of his head.

“Humph, hmm, so? They’re using lava instead of groundwater to cool it down?”

“Yes, we first cool the object heated over 1500°C down with 600°C lava, then use the spring water blessed by Lord Koba for rapid second cooling while shaping.”

“It is theoretically plausible, but hell, actually seeing it in person… Beard Brothers! Are you seeing this?”

“Yup, Boss.”

“When we get back to City Gasuaro, let’s research on how to expand our blacksmith in this way too.”

“Hey, where are you bringing the lava from, don’t talk nonsense like that……

“One way or another, it’ll work out! If the lord and that, that redhead help out, we can make it happen!”

Among the bonobo paleo tribe’s village, the chatter could be heard from the factory located at the village center.

In the distance, sitting on a slightly far-off chair, Leeha watched the factory with great concern. The earlier conversation refused to leave his mind.

‘Luger… What a folly, why did I not realize sooner?’

Luger did not conceal anything. His secret was already exposed.

Didn’t his weapon color look oddly different when they met for the last time in Gaza City to neutralize ‘Toon’?

‘You foolish punk, you brushed off the weapon color change as a mere mood change! There is no way that the weapon’s color would change based on a ‘mood’ in Middle Earth! Even if he wouldn’t answer when asked, I should’ve asked about the reason for the change in the weapon color. If I had gotten even a tiny hint, I could’ve somehow empowered my weapon.’

‘If I’d done so, the consequences of the common quest would’ve been different. I had no effect with the ‘Mana Evaporation Bullet,’ but, Toon had survived the single shot empowered with the title of ‘Shadow Hitman’… If I’d made a full-power attack, I might have killed Toon in one stroke……

Leeha was filled with a sense of guilt.

The right hand man of Bluebeard Le was so powerful to an extent that it could survive despite being pierced by an icicle.

The Middle Earth’s gameplay and its storyline wouldn’t have shifted as drastically if he had been able to kill them straight away.

The thought of him missing out on such an opportunity even made it hard for him to sleep at night, causing him to kick his blanket out of frustration.

‘Before the failure penalty of the common quest was applied, Luger had already started his enhancement here! Right here! Alone! By eating up the intimacy! Damn him!’

It would’ve been easier for him to increase his level of intimacy.

The problem was the extremely perilous road that led to this place.

Thanks to Blaugrunn, Leeha had come effortlessly, but any ordinary user wouldn’t have dared to even consider coming here.

Leeha was truly taken aback by Luger’s ability. He held a certain degree of admiration for the raw talent he possessed.

The ‘strong smell’ that enabled Luger to hunt was something even beyond Leeha’s capability.

As Leeha wallowed in his suffering, he suddenly remembered the performance of the ‘Enhancement’.

‘Enhancement… what could possibly be the effect?’

A question to which neither Koba nor the bonobo paleo tribe had given a satisfactory answer. They had only ambiguously replied that ‘it depends on the weapon.’

Leeha was certainly not unaware of the general enhancement system in Middle Earth. Leeha already knew of the basic +1 +2 system similar to other games.

The enhancement that could be done at the users’ level usually only resulted in an overall improvement in durability, most of the blacksmiths roughened and repaired their work.

If a blacksmith in a regular user context wants to ‘create’ it’s always more efficient. Even if they’re of the same grade, the performance is better than store items or drop items. Though it is also more expensive.’

In other words, the concept of enhancement essentially means increasing the overall durability to ensure the weapons are less prone to damage.

However, did Luger come here just to increase his durability?

[“Achievement: Lava Jungle’s bonobo (A+)”]

Congratulations! You have successfully won the complete trust of Erika’s Continental tribe, Koba, and his paleo. Your remarkable achievement and fame in pulling faith from the spirit even with little trade among the paleos in the Erika continent will be well-known.

Rewards: Strength +9, Agility +9, Intelligence +9, Erika Continental Common Reputation +25

You are the ‘Lava Jungle’s bonobo’ achievement’s second registrant.

The details of your achievement will be recorded in the Hall of Honor until the third registrant, and you will additionally receive 200% of the existing effect.

Rewards: Strength +18, Agility +18, Intelligence +18, Erika Continental Common Reputation +50

Luger was unquestionably the first to acquire. This was the first A+ class intimate achievement after the Golden Carp, but Leeha was not overjoyed.

Because he had been left behind for the first time in a while.

‘That bastard, he was backbiting so much without even telling any good news, wasn’t he?’

There was no way to tell what Luger had actually said. Koba and the bonobo paleos might have exaggerated the conversation.

Ironically, the reason Koba took an interest in Leeha first was that Luger mentioned his name.

However, Leeha still cursed and grumbled about Luger.

After a few minutes, Leeha finally stood up heading towards Koba’s home.

“Lord Koba.”

Koba was engrossed in his book.

Leeha gazed upon the wise ancient bonobo, marvelling anew at his high intellect. Their technological power certainly didn’t rely merely on mana.

This bottleneck of surprisingly thorough theoretical focused technological advancement, its origin could have merely been study.

“Hmm, what is it? Haven’t I given you enough information about the ‘Lonely Volcano’ and the magma flowing beneath it?”

Indeed, they had obtained a fair amount of information about their initial target, the ‘Volcano’. However, that didn’t seem too significant at the moment.

“No, it’s not about that.”

As Leeha shook his head, Koba closed his book. The white-haired bonobo slowly approached Leeha.

From Leeha’s expression alone, he knew what was to be discussed and what was desired. It was that kind of face.

“Just as Luger said.”

“Yes?”

“You want to ‘strengthen’… that, right? Luger said you wouldn’t just back down. He said you’d definitely approach to strengthen.”

“Did he… talk about that too?” Leeha grinned with embarrassment, his mind read like an open book.

The fact that he wanted to strengthen was anticipated, and the friendly attitude? The atmosphere seemed fairly positive.

Had Koba not made the last remark, it would have been even more positive.

“So, back then, I also told you to take full advantage.”

Whoosh—!

Leeha saw Koba’s smile rising along with the hologram window.

Looking at the white-haired bonobo revealing his white teeth, there was only one thing Leeha could do.

“You…you bad fellow — You, you! Even though I hesitated, I wanted to help you, even taking care of you and you stab me in the back -“

While wearing a smiling face, profanities poured out of Leeha’s mind.

Yet Leeha did not know. Already a day ago, Luger, confirming Leeha’s ‘position’, grinned and blocked the whisper.

“Why does my ear itch so much? Must be some fool talking.”

Rosily chuckling, Luger was hunting with his enhanced [Kobalt Blue Python].

“[Foundation of Enhancement: Analysis]”

Explanation: “I can make the weapon you carry even more powerful than it is now. But in order to cater to your demand, to know which part, which characteristics to strengthen, I have to know exactly what that weapon is. Of course, we might make errors during the process. The more intricate the design and technology the object carries, the higher the chance of it not being able to be dismantled and reassembled for analysis. It’s especially difficult to concentrate when there are nuisances.”

Koba, the bonobo paleo’s artifact, is requesting a weapon analysis time for enhancement. Leave your enhancement target item to Koba and the bonobo paleo for a certain period of time.

However, depending on the rank of the item, there is a possibility that the item may explode, and disappear during analysis.

Content: Enhancement Target Item [Legendary Black Bass: SASR] custody

Reward: Analysis Data of Enhancement Target Item

Failure Condition: When the item is retrieved within the deadline, or during the analysis, if Koba and the bonobo paleo are attacked

Failure: The destruction of the secured enhancement target item

Would you like to accept?