Arcane Sniper [Matan’s Shooter]

It was only after fully enjoying the ‘look of respect’ cast by Kijung that Leeha addressed the palace guards.

“Cough, introductions are over. I was merely doing what needed to be done, after all. For the peace of the continent—”

“To carry on the will of the Nameless Paladin, we salute the Templar!”

“—It was nothing more than effort… Huh?”

Leeha’s expression changed as he began to reply. Directed at whom? Only then did Leeha properly look at the faces of the palace guards.

Their gaze was not on Leeha.

“Salute—Sword—!”

The palace guard at the door, with his sword raised in front of him, was looking directly at Kijung.

“Welcome! Guardian of the Sanctuary, Master Kay!”

Accompanying his greeting, all the cathedral guards around the Vatican, united in spirit and purpose, ceremoniously greeted Kijung. Even the players wandering around the Vatican were wondering what was happening, given the resonant shouts. The biggest beneficiary of the recent [Sanctification Quest] was not Leeha.

Nor was it the players who stopped by the Vatican’s treasure vault to claim their items.

It was Master Kay, a descendant of the Nameless Paladin, who had suddenly risen to a high-ranking position in the Vatican.

“Oh, uh, yes.”

However, the biggest beneficiary was struggling to grasp the situation.

“I initially came just to receive the quest rewards, but…”

Leeha sighed in the Vatican’s treasury vault. The treatment was vastly different than expected. While inspecting various items, none particularly appealed to him, nor could he concentrate properly because he was worried about Kijung.

Kijung: “Hey, hyung! What do I do with this? Where did you go?”

Leeha: “I don’t know. You’re a Templar, right? Throw out some words the Pope would like.”

Kijung: “No, it’s this side— Ahhh, it’s driving me crazy. I came to look at items with you!”

Kijung hadn’t received any items yet because he wanted to discuss various things with Leeha in the treasury. But Kijung was no longer beside Leeha.

Kijung, who was receiving VIP treatment, was having a one-on-one conversation in the Pope’s audience chamber.

“Still, it’s family first, right? No matter my achievements, I’ve never been treated that way.”

Leeha recalled the recent turn of events.

As he followed the cathedral guards without escort — Leeha trailed behind them willingly — approaching the moment to be granted an audience with the Pope, the Pope ran out of his seat to welcome Kijung.

“The second coming of the Nameless Paladin. It’s as if our Lord Ahlo has never ceased to extend His guiding hand to us. Come hither, Master Kay.”

The scene of the Pope, tears welling in his eyes, embracing Kijung left Leeha speechless from incredulity.

‘Would he have reacted like this even if I had vanquished Bluebeard head? Well, it’s nice to be welcomed like that but…’

Leeha had his own reasons for not being able to join the conversation between the Pope and Kijung, and why Kijung had declined the Pope’s invitation to join him.

“The same story came up again! Something about a Holy Knight or so!”

Holy Knight.

The Pope had mentioned to Kijung, currently a Templar, in passing. He said someone as noble as Kijung was fully qualified to be a holy knight fighting for the Church of Lord Ahlo.

Leeha missed hearing the part about being ‘noble’ due to bursting into laughter, but he had no trouble grasping Kijung’s expression and the nuance of the Pope’s words afterward.

“Is it a second class change?”

“Seems like it… Yeah, seems like it.”

It was an offer for a second class change. Aside from Alexander, who changed from Knight to Dragon Knight, no other second class changes had been revealed yet.

“Someone might have done it already, but Alexander’s the only known one. And Kijung’s second class change… To a knight class related to the clergy!”It was only natural that Leeha couldn’t focus on the items in front of him.

“Wow, me! Then that means… it could rival Alexander!”

Becoming a second-tier professional was something completely different from first-tier jobs, wasn’t it? It elevated the player to a new level, much like the best content in Middle Earth. Although Alexander had skills, his fame did not match his abilities until his transition to a Dragon Knight propelled him to the top, making him the unbeatable, strongest, and permanent rank 1 holder. After achieving this rank, he never once descended from that position.

Feeling as if he had accomplished this feat himself, Leeha was pierced by a sense of pride and pleasure.

However, this was accompanied by a feeling of regret, wondering, “Why don’t I have such an opportunity?”

‘No, that can’t be right. I must have it too.’

Leeha stopped in his tracks. If there was a profession that could be my second-tier job…

Swallowing his saliva, Leeha realized now was not the time to be lost in random thoughts. Just as he began to consider the profession that could be his potential second-tier job, he spotted an item he once saw – the Eye of Argos, a unique material item capable of creating a scope with infinite range.

After leaving this place, Leeha found that not even the Holy Grail Intelligence Guild, mobilized in its entirety, could find an item similar to it anywhere.

Picking up the Eye of Argos, Leeha thought, “But I don’t need this anymore,” and set it down.

Having already created a scope with the Eye of the Ice Ostrich, there was no need to acquire another item for a scope here.

“I don’t know how much more powerful Black Bass could become. If you can only see far but not aim, that’s no scope.”

It was no different from ‘Doctor’ Rubini’s precognitive abilities or illuminating maps, which was not what Leeha wanted.

“What I need the most right now. What I have to do moving forward.”

Leeha organized his thoughts and opened the friends panel of the Three Musketeers. Kidd was at Fibiel’s Musket Academy, and given the quest to protect Browless, Leeha figured he couldn’t leave for a while. And as for another musketeer, Luger’s location was, “Central New Continent Erika – Forest of the World Tree (Contaminated)… seems he’s found it already. Well, that position was likely from Fernand.”

Luger, having received a quest to seek him out from Brown, was already heading to the eastern part of the New Continent. Thus, Leeha’s next destination naturally aimed towards the eastern part of the New Continent. Leeha nodded in agreement.

“Good. If Blaugrunn can’t join, and the kid can’t be summoned, then I should choose based on the type of item that can protect me- or”

“-Ah, there’s Jellypong? Haha, my bad, my bad. Hmm… then I guess I don’t need a defensive item… It would be better to obtain an item that could be used in emergency situations. Something to divert the enemy’s attention~”

Meeting Elizabeth was on the agenda. Leeha thought it unlikely that even Jellypong, treated as an item, would be restricted by her. However, one must always prepare for contingencies – encountering monsters along the way or, in the worst case, being attacked by Elizabeth or the Demon Archer.

“An item that can overcome that situation!”

The conditions to receive an item from the pope’s treasury this time were up to [Legendary] class. This condition alone acknowledged the presence of Mythical class items, causing many players to search for them.

Of course, the result was chaos. Leeha cleanly gave up on the desire for Mythical items.

“I’ll find it among the Legendary class. No, as long as it fits the purpose, even Hero class is fine. Let’s find what I need the most.”

Leeha scoured the pope’s treasury to find it. After two and a half hours, and even though Kijung did not show up, Leeha, absorbed in finding the item, did not even realize this fact. He was satisfied when, after two hours and thirty minutes of searching, he discovered an item.

“What is this…?”Leeha opened the description window for the item.

ㅎ ※ ※＊

[The Glasses of the Spy Hero, Kojobu]

Description: The glasses of the spy, codenamed [Kojobu], who infiltrated the Demon King’s Army during the First Human-Demon War. With nothing special to look at, these ordinary glasses were used to penetrate the tight security of five divisions of the Demon King’s Army and steal top-grade intelligence that led the Human-Demon war to victory. After the hero Kojobu passed away, it is said that in honor of him, a model of his nose was attached to his glasses.

“… Kojobu’s glasses? For real?”

Although the description was grandiose, the item Leeha picked up truly was ‘Kojobu’s Glasses’.

“What in the world—”

They looked like something out of a birthday party prop, yet they were hero-grade and related to the Human-Demon War?”

“Does this even make sense?”

Along with this thought, another crossed Leeha’s mind, “Well, it would make sense in Middle Earth.”

Not only was the description of the item ridiculously serious, but what was truly astonishing was its ‘effect.’

Just like how Leeha was amazed, these were indeed hero-grade items with a serious effect.

“This effect… wait, hold on.”

Leeha tried on Kojobu’s glasses. There seemed to be no noticeable change to him.

“What if this actually works?”

Then he took off the glasses. Leeha hastily summoned Jellypong.

“Jellypong!”

[Mongmong?]

“Hehehe…

[Combat Mode: Melee]!”

[Bong!]

Swoosh—

The jelly-like creature that was clinging to Leeha’s body and disguised as a vest instantly separated. From a lump of slashed slime, arms sprouted forth in moments.

Jellypong’s numerous arms, not only taking on various forms of weapons but also embodying their sharpness.

Leeha, looking at Jellypong, nodded.

“Perfect! Let’s go with this!”

[Mya, mongmong?]

“If we’re not looking for a coat with good defense or shoes that increase movement speed at this late time, and it’s not going to be sold at the auction, then I should use it because ‘effect’ is more important than ‘grade’, right?”

[Miyaw…]

Jellypong nodded its head with a troubled look.

Being an ‘item-type creature’ that didn’t fully understand everything Leeha said, agreeing was pretty much all it could do.

[You have acquired [The Glasses of the Spy Hero, Kojobu].]

That’s how Leeha received the reward for the [Sanctification] quest.

It was a couple of hours later that Kijung, looking troubled, appeared before Leeha.

Leeha and Kijung moved to the Holy Grill in Gaza City.

He wanted to inquire about various information and it was also time to do some inner-work maintenance after a while.

Besides, where else would be better to share secretive talks than in an ‘information space that is on your side’?

At least here, even if keywords related to the second job transfer were to leak, Ju wouldn’t be selling information that could harm Leeha.

“Why do you look like you’re about to die? You should be jumping for joy.”

“Haah… It’s just, it’s not as easy as it sounds. It feels like a lot of pressure.”

The fact that the cooking was excellent was a bonus.

Kijung let out a sigh as he dug into the well-cooked rabbit meat steak with gusto, devouring it in a single bite.