Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

“Huh?!”

Being killed by a member of the [Midnight Circus] results in the loss of a significant amount of stats.

Such a conditional achievement was something he hadn’t forgotten.

“Keke… Anyway, Leeha-ssi, you don’t miss a thing.”

Though Biyemi spoke in a tone as if she was beyond help, Petyr didn’t easily agree. Nevertheless, after a series of lengthy negotiations (?), Petyr had no choice but to give in.

What he secured was a conditional negotiation.

Do not attack on the New Continent.

‘This should be enough.’

Just getting rid of the burden of worrying about an assassin from the [Midnight Circus] in such an absurd place was more than enough.

As soon as everything was settled, the three immediately teleported to Chiyou’s fortress where they had infiltrated beforehand.

About twenty minutes after they positioned themselves in a spot with a clear view of the fortress square, Igor and Faust and their group entered, followed by Chiyou and Toon returning to the fortress about ten minutes later.

Biyemi: I was right, wasn’t I? Keke.

Leeha: …That time with the snake, paleo something… You had already found this place, didn’t you?

Biyemi: Well, I am lizardia who keeps promises as sharp as a knife. The grudge of the Vietnamese is not ordinarily strong.

Leeha: I can’t stand it. Well, there was nothing good about being seen with Petyr anyway.

Biyemi: Actually, Petyr had something hidden because he was trying to kill Leeha-ssi. Keke, I hope you think of it as saving your life.

Leeha: Wow… It’s a relief you put forward that condition earlier.

Thinking back to the day he encountered Biyemi in the jungle, he shook his head. So this was what she had been hiding.

In the midst of shaking his head, Sasuke finally took out a jar.

Even without any further words from Biyemi or Petyr, he immediately recognized the jar.

‘Five of them. Just need to break those.’

They weren’t far.

At a mere distance of 600m, it was possible to snipe without any need for skill adjustments at the scope’s minimum magnification.

‘I’ve also got Blaugrunn waiting in Juma City.’

He had prepared for the possibility of space being locked.

If Blaugrunn’s summoning magic and his appearance skills were linked, most levels of space locking could easily be broken through.

‘Considering it’s the skill that had a chance to break through red dragon Lavartel’s space lock. There’s no need to worry about dying. So, should I just shoot?’

Doing so would put Biyemi and Petyr at risk, but it was obvious that in the worst case, everyone fending for themselves was nothing new.

He swiftly adjusted his click and aimed at the jar.

Set to minimum magnification, not only the jar but also the surrounding users and Toon’s massive form came into view.

He had no intention of targeting Igor or Faust, or even Prea.

The same went for Chiyou.

Like Biyemi, he also knew that causing her the greatest pain wasn’t by killing her at this moment.

‘Let’s just give them a scare. The target is simple. It’s neither moving nor alive.’

Huooooo…

Haaaaa…

His breathing became slightly rapid.

No one noticed his movements.

There was nothing to worry about. However, a glimpse of Toon caught in the scope’s edge put pressure on his mind.

‘Damn! Why is this happening?’

Even after all preparations were done perfectly, sniping was still frightening.

But wasn’t that a known fact? Not only known but something he had overcome countless times.

‘Hey, what’s going on? Finger, why are you acting like this?’

He blamed his immobile finger and focused on the scope.During the third wave that was still ongoing, when I looked at Toon through my scope, the tension, excitement, and trembling that I had felt back then were all present, as if it were happening right now. Even though I wasn’t currently looking at Toon’s face, the feelings were the same.

“HiHi, what are you doing? Hurry up!”

“Buhihet, is this thumping heart also part of the surprise?”

“Damn, I want to shoot too!”

I took aim with serious resolve and top-notch equipment. I even hit the target. However, Toon had a history of surviving such sniper attacks without dying. Could the memory be creating a sense of fear? But, I didn’t feel this way during the second wave when I saw Toon.

‘Of course, back then, I hadn’t seen him through a scope but from a distance… Is it different when seen through a scope? Does looking through it bring back the shock of the failed attempt from that day?’

“Dammit, a kind of PTSD…No, what am I saying! I can shoot. I can do this. Just need to calm my breath. Relax.”

Despite the mental fortitude to assess their own condition, their body refused to cooperate.

‘All “syndromes” talk about the disconnection between mind and body. It means knowing isn’t enough to avoid it.’

“HiHi, hurry up! The fifth jar is filling up now!”

“Just a moment – please, don’t rush me!”

For Leeha, the situation was exceedingly frustrating. The target was an inanimate object. A jar. But what if the jar broke? What if Toon charged at us?

Despite having an emergency escape route prepared with Blaugrunn, still feeling scared over this!

I certainly did not want to relive being torn apart by Toon’s front legs in a state of full synchronization.

“Damn it, you crazy fingers, just listen to me!”

The fingers that always moved in tandem with my mind were now immobile, as if cast under a petrification spell, right at this moment.

The fear of the dinosaur pressed down on Leeha.

The breathing that needed to be steady quickened, and the gun barrel, which needed to remain utterly still, trembled slightly.

Because Leeha’s body was shaking.

‘If I don’t look at Toon – aim precisely and… No, what foolishness. A sniper closing their eyes to shoot should just strip their rank and retire! Stay calm, HiHi.’

But calming down wasn’t happening. Instead, Leeha thought of an alternative. If the cause was Toon, and overcoming it in the current situation was difficult, then the solution was not to look at Toon.

Normally, closing one’s eyes would prevent one from seeing, but what about now?

‘I’m only aiming for the jar.’ Leeha adjusted the magnification on the scope. A little more on the higher magnification side.

Essentially, adjust the scope so that, except for one jar, nothing else was visible!

“HiHi! It’s all filled up now – completely filled! If you let them escape, you’re responsible!”

“Buhihet, this nerve-wracking feeling isn’t so bad!”

“Damn it, if you don’t fire in 3 seconds, I’ll just run out there myself! 3!”

As the whispering pair seemed to bounce around, finally, Toon completely disappeared from Leeha’s view.

It was a moment both joyous and sad. The tremor stopped, as if by magic. Being able to shoot was a relief, but the fact that Toon was confirmed as the cause behind the physical anomaly was assured.

“2, 1–fire.”

The target was the first jar on the extreme left.

Changrang———–

The clear sound of destruction was followed by an ear-shattering gunshot.

Leeha immediately turned the gun. Despite the close distance, aiming was a bit hard due to the massively increased magnification, but if Toon isn’t in view, there was no need to worry about the accuracy rate.

Thuquaaaaang-

When the gunshot echoed within Chiyou’s secret fortress, the second jar had already shattered.

“Block it! Even if you have to throw your body in front, block it——-!”

Who? Where? How? Why? Such questions weren’t considered. This voice, this situation! There could only be one assumption, and thus, only one action needed to be taken!

Chiyou was the first to rush out, shouting.

Action over understanding the cause!

Thanks to her sharp outcry, the other users, caught up in the chaos, quickly jumped into action.

One of Sasuke and Shinobigumi’s agents threw their body to protect the third jar.

Yet, their physical bodies couldn’t stop Leeha’s bullet.

Thuquaaaaang-

Two bodies and one shattered jar tumbled to the floor.

“How dare——-“

“What the!? Who’s the idiot who tagged along!”

“Be careful, Igor!”

“[Bone Shield]! All zombies, surround me!”Faust cloaked himself in a veil of skills and summoned undead.

Igor, too, positioned the flat side of his saw-edged sword to shield his body. Users from the Czar quickly gathered around him, enclosing him in their ranks.

There were only two users capable of delivering enough destructive power to penetrate through two corpses and strike a jar. Among them, if the gunfire was familiar to his ears, the only candidate was Leeha.

Users who had previously suffered at Leeha’s hands instinctively protected themselves first.

Prea’s legs trembled for a moment, but she did not summon any spirits.

Unlike Igor or Faust, who were completely engulfed in fear, she retained the power to think. “The one who broke the jar wouldn’t start sniping at people now. The target has been clear from the beginning.”

It was clear they wouldn’t turn their barrels on a player until all jars were broken! Naturally, Prea wasn’t the only one to predict this.

“Croooooar–“

“Hurry, block it, Toon-nim! ‘Social Dance’!”

Chiyou, encircling a jar, could see the bullet coming through her abdomen.

Just as she hugged the jar and leapt to the side, a cloud of dust rose from the spot.

There was no time to be relieved just for rolling on the ground.

This time a yellow bullet aimed at her chest, Chiyou immediately leaped again upon standing.

Even with premonition, dodging a bullet fired from such a short distance in a brief moment was an incredible feat.

“Who is it? Brown? Elizabeth? How dare you repay the Count’s grace in such a manner!”

Toon’s foot stepped forward, in front of the jar.

Having roughly located where the bullets were coming from, the next step was simply to cover. Toon’s thick ankles were more than enough to shield the entire jar.

“We don’t know who that is, but it’s not them! It’s Leeha! Someone who once targeted you, Toon-nim—”

“So, a presumptuous human dares—! To think they’d try to ruin the Count’s plans with such an attack!”

One jar was protected by Chiyou, the other by Toon.

This made Leeha’s targeting even more challenging.

“Toon-nim, straight ahead! On the fortress roof!”

Chiyou narrowly escaped Leeha’s attack range and quickly identified Leeha’s location with ‘Vibrational Dance’.

Hearing Chiyou’s words, Toon, moving his heavy body, began heading towards the fortress.

During this, Chiyou, through ‘Vibrational Dance’, sensed another peculiar wave.

“Could it be— Aaargh! What is this!”

Suddenly, a small amount of liquid sprayed onto her face from the darkness.

However, the moment it made contact, the liquid began corroding her skin, making it impossible to see clearly or to wipe it away despite her efforts.

“Aaaargh—!”

Instinctively, Chiyou reached into her bag, frantically sprinkling healing potion over her wounds and shoving it down her throat.

She couldn’t see while her eyes were closed.

She didn’t notice the green-scaled lizard, lizardia, watching her struggle in the shadow of an alley, holding a small water balloon-like pouch in his hand.

“Keke, I said I’d pay you back.”

“This voice— Biyemi!?”

“Die, bitch.”

Biyemi plunged his dagger into Chiyou’s stomach. Or, that’s what he thought he had done.

But in that moment!

“Tsk!”

Biyemi saw an odd object piercing through his back and protruding from his chest.

“How on earth…”

It was Biyemi who had been stabbed.

“Really, to fuss over such a small matter as soul harvesting… Should I deal with this nuisance first?”

Though his face was unseen, he knew who it was.

Even amidst the near-lethal shock, Biyemi didn’t miss the whisper.

-Run away. Bluebeard-

Bluebeard had appeared.