Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

“Hehe, Blaugrunn-ssid? Can’t I withstand this kind of heat now? Remarkable isn’t it?”

Leeha’s increased resistance to fire from various achievements was gradually turning him into a superhuman.

Blaugrunn looked at Leeha with awe-filled eyes as he withstood heat that was difficult for even a dragon to cope with, even though he was still at the juvenile level.

Whoosh, whoosh!

From an otherwise barren land, a burst of flames surged and simmered down, revealing, behind the girl who ignited those blue flames from her back, the fire spirit king, Ifrit, standing before them.

[Fire Flower! You, you, you really found it!]

“If I say I’ll do it, I do it! That’s my motto. I’m counting on you going forward, Ifrit.”

Leeha revealed his white, even teeth in a professional smile.

[You have completed the “Fight Fire With Fire” quest.]

“Damn… I think I’m gonna die between working and resting.”

“How can you feel sleepy in a situation like this?”

“Well, you may not know because you’re here, Blaugrunn-ssi, but from meeting the bonobo or some kind of monkey, fighting in lava, to picking fire flowers. I practically haven’t had a proper rest day.”

“I didn’t rest either!”

“Haha, exactly. Let’s take a grand rest after this job is done.”

Leeha comfortingly patted Blaugrunn’s head, who was crying out in surprise.

The place where they were standing was somewhere in an infrequently visited plain, quite a way from the city Gaza. There were no surrounding monsters, it was not a common transit route, and thus not often occupied by others.

“Do you have any updates about the item I mentioned?”

“Not yet. As it’s something like a lens or glass, I asked the Silver Dragon race if they had anything…but no news yet. They mentioned having a crystal ball made out of ice though.”

“Hmm, a crystal ball… That’s uncertain.” Could such a thing serve as a lens? Even if it could, it would be challenging to use it as the scope level Leeha and Bottleneck want at the moment.

‘I guess I need the eye of a monster from the new continent. Could I steal Argos’s eye from the vatican?’

Even with the high rapport he built up with the Ezwen religion, he could only think of these schemes out of desperation.

Somehow getting wrapped up in various quests and growing significantly, yet his ‘weapon’ remained the same.

“Finding and hunting down the largest bird monster on the new continent could be a start-“

An alert popped up in front of Leeha, who was scratching his chin and suggesting the next move to Blaugrunn.

[Your application for the synchronization rate increase has been approved.]

[Synchronization rate change candidate: Applicant Leeha]

[Synchronize change, current synchronization rate: 100%]

[From now on, you can enjoy sensations within Middle Earth on par with reality.]

[Beware, inappropriate play can harm the applicant’s body.]

[In the case of 100% synchronization, you can adjust each stat’s details.]

“Huh, What?”

Suddenly, Leeha’s vision darkened alongside a floating sensation.

As if every light in the world blinked on and off. After that, Leeha was amazed anew at the Middle Earth system.

“What’s the matter?”

“…What’s this…

Leeha had never experienced blurred vision since logging into Middle Earth for the first time.

However, if the display quality he’d been seeing till now was merely Full-HD,

What he was seeing now was more than four times clearer and sharper than UHD.

“What? Why?”

“No, what is this- my eyes are spinning.”

Why would it seem clearer than looking bare-eyed at the world in reality? Leeha felt dizzy due to the unexpectedly heightened visual quality.

Taking a dizzying, unsteady step forward, the sensation of dirt through his shoes was enough to send chills down his spine.

“Crazy. These lunatics.”

“Huh? Who are you referring to?”

“…are all of them playing like this and not telling me!? Hahaha!”

Leeha had believed that a synchronization rate of 50% was more than enough to enjoy the game. After all, he had climbed to his current position with that level.

However, the sensation brought by a 100% synchronization rate was in a different league.

Considering simple calculations, experiencing more than twice the physical sensations should be expected. But the synergy of sensory upgrades doubling, has an impact beyond mere calculation.When Leeha burst into laughter, Blaugrunn cocked his head, completely confused by the situation.

“Do you really have time to laugh?”

“Huh? Pfft, why? What’s wrong?”

“There is. It’s about to happen.”

Even without being given a subject, Leeha could deduce his meaning. It meant something was coming soon.

“Ah… you’re right.”

Could the approval of the assimilation rate please him?

Leeha was abruptly covered in goosebumps. It was anything but a good thing.

‘Darn it, why must it be now?!’

[To Become the Strongest Dragon]

Content: Transfer [Fire Flower] to Onyx within 24 hours of acquisition

Remaining Time : 2 minutes

In two minutes, at the time when Onyx would appear before him, a 100% assimilation rate will be applied! Leeha imagined the feeling of his whole body melting down under the black dragon’s Acid Breath.

“What should I do? What should I do?”

“What do you mean, what? Everything we’ve talked about so far-“

Before Blaugrunn could finish his sentence, Leeha’s body was teleported with a whoosh.

“… it was because of that. Stay strong, Leeha-nim.”

Blaugrunn looked up at the distant sky, checking where Leeha’s mana had disappeared to.

“Ah!”

The sensation of teleportation also felt different to Leeha, his muscles clenched with the sensation of being thrown.

The place he appeared was a large sports field-like space where Onyx once resided.

After confirming that he was standing in the same ‘altar’ as before, Leeha could see the numerous chromatic dragons around him.

“Hello, Onyx-“

[Give it.]

The black dragon Onyx did not say anything else.

The remaining quest time was 1 minute. If he did not hand over the Fire Flower within a minute, Leeha would be met with immediate death on the spot.

“The… the Fire Flower, you mean?”

[Why even bother saying such useless things. What do you think I want from you?]

“Of course! Of course, it’s the Fire Flower. That’s why you’ve enchanted my bag. Hehe.”

Even while presenting a smile to Onyx, Leeha didn’t forget to survey his surroundings.

The number was a bit less than last time, but there were certainly about thirty dragons.

‘This time there are no juveniles. Purely adult and above, thirty in total.’

The black dragon Onyx and thirty adult or higher chromatic dragons.

The dragons present could easily annihilate the capitals of four countries of the old continent.

Especially now as all the elites of each nation have gone to the new continent, they could erase the entire nations from the map before they return.

“Right, where is the Fire Flower?”

Leeha started rummaging in his bag. If he could just hand over the item, he could also make progress in improving the relationship with the chromatic dragons.

[Becoming the Ultimate Dragon]

Reward: Familiarity with the Chromatic Dragon tribe +50%

Familiarity with the white dragon Shoblanc +100%

Familiarity with the green dragon Greenvogel +100%

Familiarity with the black dragon Onyx +100%

The familiarity with Onyx, the highest dragon of the chromatic dragons, would be reset to zero. From there again, by item offensives and various other efforts, his familiarity can be built up.

This is an opportunity to build a rapport with both metal and chromatic dragons for the first time in history. That was Leeha’s original plan.

The first plan that was theoretically possible.

[If you waste more time ……] Even while Leeha reached into his bag and rummaged, Onyx’s expression hardened.

Viewing Onyx’s dark complexion through a 100% assimilation rate vision felt more terrifying and menacing. His inky black eyes were fixed on him, a fact that Leeha was acutely aware of.

“Ah, found it. Found it. This is the Fire Flower.”

[Hm?]
Leeha knew he had to make a decision now. His hand in his bag signified that a message had arrived for Blaugrunn during his time-off.

He drew out his hand from the bag and extended it towards Onyx.

Where he had expected a Fire Flower to be clenched, however, his hand held nothing.

The only thing that had bloomed in his tightly curled fist was his middle finger.

“Eat this, you fool. I have nothing to give you,” he sneered.

[Incinerate]

[Grrrrr-!]

At Onyx’s command, a figure shot forward. It was none other than the red dragon, Lavartel who Leeha had encountered in the volcano of an old continent.

“Wait, just wait! All this over a little joke?! I need some time-“

[Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaa———–!]

Lavartel instantly exhaled a breath of fire.

Radiating scorching flames, it targeted the altar where Leeha stood.

Even the chromatic dragons standing on the opposite side of Lavartel had to step back. The range of the breath was wider than expected, and any dragons not yet at their peak could risk fatal injury, even if they used magic to protect themselves.

“Woaah!”

The fire-breath was unleashed in so short a time that even Blaugrunn had not yet arrived, and Leeha could not even use the Platinum Shield.

[You foolish boy. If you had brought the Fire Flower, I might have granted you an end to your suffering.]

Hearing Leeha’s screams, Onyx wore a satisfied smile.

Whether Leeha brought the Fire Flower or not, his death was almost certain.

That was the flaw in the quest.

Even with Fire Flower, his intimacy score was 0%.

This meant that if it didn’t go positive, his intimacy score essentially represented no relationship at all. No matter how much he tried to cultivate a friendly relationship, there would be no effect unless the other party accepted his efforts.

Could Onyx be persuaded by Leeha’s effort to establish a bond?

Could he become the first user to win the favor of both the metal dragon and the chromatic dragon?

“I knew it. I knew that even if I brought you the Fire Flower, you’d kill me, you black dragon.”

[Huh?]

The one who had investigated this was Blaugrunn.

Having informed Leeha of not only the tendencies of the black dragons, but also the relationship structure of the chromatic dragon tribes, Leeha was able to make the right choice.

[You, you- did you dare- to consume the Fire Flower-]

“That’s right. I ate it.”

[Legendary Fire Flower]

Effect : Fire Resistance +50%

Restores 30% of health from fire-attribute attack damage

Description: A flower that blooms only near lava, nourished by magma. The flame merely aids the growth of the Fire Flower.

Choosing to consume the Fire Flower instead of handing it over to Onyx.

[You have failed the quest to become the Ultimate Dragon.]

[You will be attacked by the Colored Dragons, including the black dragon Onyx.]

“You wanted to kill two birds with one stone by using me, didn’t you? Even the powerful figures among the metal dragons like the Platinum Dragon and Gold Dragon, most of them use fire-breaths. So, the value of the Fire Flower alone is sufficient. Especially for the red dragon, I know that it shares the same tribe as you, Onyx but the red dragon has had a rivalry with the black dragons since Kuzgunak’sh’sh’s parents.”

[You, how dare you- Grrrrrrrr-]

Lavartel was taken aback.

The dragon blew another breath of fire with all its strength, but Leeha felt nothing but warmth.

Fire resistance and damage reduction are slightly different. Fire resistance not only reduces damage, but also prevents one from feeling the heat itself.

“Don’t waste your energy, Lavartel. It’s not me you need to be angry with, it’s Onyx over there. Wasn’t Onyx the one who killed the Kuzgunak’sh’s father, who was the strongest of the Red Dragon tribe? Yet are you still going to live bowing your head to him?”

As Leeha took the dragon’s fire head-on, he tilted his head back as if it was merely water from a shower head.

[How dare you- and you, a mere human, insult us noble red dragons!]

“I’m not insulting, I’m showing you the right path. At least, Kuzgunak’sh tried. His efforts may have been misguided, but he at least tried to break free from Onyx’s tyranny. He didn’t live as a dog to a black dragon like you.”

[Shut uppppppppppp————-!]

Fuhaaaaaa!

Lavartel did not listen to Leeha’s words. The fire breath coming out of the mouth of red dragon was more powerful than ever.

Even some of the chromatic dragons had to use their shields to protect themselves from the stronger Lavartel’s breath. But Leeha merely licked his lips and pitied the sight of the red dragon.