Matan’s Shooter

“Ah… How long do we have to keep going?”

Leeha muttered. He was sure he had moved his lips and exhaled, but no sound could be heard.

“I guess sound is indeed that important.” he thought anew. The continuous silence evoked a strange fear.

“Are Jellypong and Black hearing what I’m saying? I want to hear my own voice too! I’m going crazy from boredom!”

It had already been 40 hours since he used the 〈Melding Breath〉 skill and began to move. By this time, he had caught up to the distance the eastern expedition of the New Continent had covered in a week.

Jellypong, who had been moving non-stop, was tired, and Leeha, who was being carried, was also extremely exhausted. The problem was not just the body but also the mind, which felt like it was about to give out.

He had experienced something similar when he headed toward the ‘Purification Pool’ in the Dragon Palace.

But the solitude he felt now was different from back then, when he could still communicate with his surroundings.

The scenes that passed by were not particularly special, and Jellypong’s speed was so fast that there was no time to leisurely observe them.

The surreal feeling of seeing everything around him but hearing nothing.

He could feel the wind hitting his skin, and he could see the bolt of the Black Bass rifle glinting, but Leeha felt entirely alone in this world.

“Well, I guess the silence might be good for thinking… about how to become the true owner of Black Bass.”

Before using 〈Melding Breath〉, and even when Black Bass first awakened and Leeha hurried to where Pyrot-Cocri was, they had already had plenty of conversations.

Black Bass, reluctant to be called ‘Black’, had given relatively detailed information, perhaps because of the possibility that Leeha was the ‘shortest-term’ person to awaken it.

One thing that stood out was the necessary sacrifices to advance to the next stages at 49.99% and 99.99%.

“The calculation of the resonance rate with a denominator of nine means that the seventh quest was divided into three stages. The first was to awaken Black Bass, that is, to achieve a charging rate of over 30%.

“Should I thank Chiyou or Preia? Thanks to them placing vampires in the right places and providing the necessary locations, the practical ‘seventh quest’ was as good as cleared. What remained was achieving a 50% charging rate for the ‘eighth quest’ and the final quest of 100%. However, I was informed in advance that a different method of ‘blood absorption’ was needed at 49.99% and 99.99%.

“Black Bass didn’t give the exact method, saying that even it didn’t know precisely.”

“It will change depending on how you achieved satisfaction up to 49.99%… It needs a freshness and exhilaration different from the methods used until now. This implies that catching vampires to fill 50% won’t work.”

Could it be hunting field bosses or monsters never caught before?

That’s impossible. It won’t be that simple. Black Bass would not want that, and Leeha knew that Middle Earth would not allow it.

While it was regretful not knowing the method immediately, conversely, it also meant that he could continue ‘as is’ until reaching 49.99%.

Leeha saw the bolt of the Black Bass rifle gleam once more.

Even though he couldn’t hear it, he believed it responded to his mumbling.

The tiny joy he could feel on this lonely journey was just this.

Leeha sighed at his predicament and rifled through his bag.

There was something as important to explore as his conversations with Black Bass.

〈Legendary Bones from the City of Shattered Souls〉

Description: Bones produced in Peklo City, overseen by Pyrot-Cocri. Unlike usual undead bones, these massive bones, as long as an adult’s arm, emit a subtle glow. Its use is yet unknown, but animals with keen senses like dogs seem to fix their gaze on the bag containing these bones.

“It’s a legendary item, a legendary item no less. With these massive bones… if I grind just the tip and use it like a spear, no, a bone spear, many spearmen would drool over it—”

“What is the meaning of this item’s description?”

Even though it seemed suitable for grinding, it specifically said ‘its use is yet unknown’ and included a mention that dogs and wolves would target the bones.

Is it suggesting using a legendary item as a dog toy?

The only people who possessed this item were all of Kijung’s party members, Rubini, and Leeha.

It would take another 10 hours or so for them to connect, so Leeha was the only one who could guess its use immediately.

If Leeha had known this would happen, he would have handed one over to Lark. Given his intuition, he would have come up with some method…

What would Lark do now?

Leeha pondered over this for a moment.

He was certain Lark wouldn’t hesitate to use any means necessary to become stronger. But how exactly did he plan to do that? That part was beyond Leeha’s grasp.

After brooding over it for a while, Leeha soon shook his head.

Anyway, for now, what’s important isn’t Lark and Tiamat.

Quickly, faster… but no! He needed to know how far away Luger and Kidd were from his current location to stay motivated!

Opening the Three Musketeers’ teleport window didn’t help at all, as he was seeing the names of places in the eastern part of the New Continent for the first time and had no idea how much distance they had covered.

For now, all he could do was keep going and going and going.

Whenever Leeha grumbled, only Jellypong, who always watched him carefully, cheered him on with enthusiatic 『Myong, myong-o, mew-mew!』 despite no one being around to listen.

* * *

After detecting Leeha’s rapid approach and realizing they needed to pursue Kaztor at an even faster pace, the speed of the expedition in the eastern part of the New Continent was unlike anything they had achieved so far.

“If it’s hard, you can speak up, Luger.”

“Huff, I’m not sure… what you mean, director.”

Most of the members here possessed stats far superior to those of ordinary users. Moreover, they had the achievement 〈One Who Knows the Joy of Running〉, allowing them to run even with their stamina fully depleted.

However, the terrain’s peculiarities, consistent undulations, and new monsters—all factors that increased difficulty—caused even those with high synchronization rates to experience cumulative physical fatigue.

“It feels like we covered more distance in a single day than we did in the past three days combined.”

“That’s true, Kidd. Though Bailephus helped a lot… now that we don’t have to worry about other factors and just focus on navigation, our speed has naturally increased. Oh! Do you want to rest if you’re a bit tired?”

“… There’s no need. Although someone over there might want to rest.”

“Shut up, Ki—Kidd.”

Luger, carrying a Colbalt Blue Python on his shoulders, climbed using both hands.

Alexander also used his spear like a trekking pole to distribute his body weight.

“To ignite the flames of the expedition’s justice, resting wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

Alexander struggled to maintain a dignified voice as he regulated his breathing.

Luger, although too proud to agree, paused momentarily beside Alexander, giving a silent nod.

However, none of those leading the group stopped.

“Damn it… Those agility-type humans.”

Luger finally had to voice his complaint.

With Bailephus, the 『Rapidfires』 of the past and present, and the guide Fernand, most of the group excelled in agility and movement.

They were in far better condition than Luger or Alexander.

“Right! Jen, Zhang! Rather—take—a little—rest—”

“Hm!?”

“Ah!”

Leading guide Fernand and his close follower Bailephus suddenly halted their steps.

“Sh—!”

Fernand clenched his fist and raised his hand high, crouching down immediately.

Everyone knew the STOP signal, and the group crouched low.

“You must have sensed the same thing as me.”

“Yes, if the Dragon himself sensed it, then my detection must be correct.”

“What’s going on?”

Alexander approached cautiously and asked.

Bailephus and Fernand informed the back.

“There are traces of a Lich Dragon.”

“Faust… has likely passed by this area recently.”

“Faust? Is that true? Then what about Kaztor?”

Listening to the urgent voice of Browless, Bailephus shook his head.

“I can’t tell. The power of the Dark Elf isn’t detectable.”

“Same goes for vampires. While many vampire auras are present, it’s impossible to ascertain if any belong to Chiyou or Faust due to their shared nature as vampires.”

Fernand’s tracking skill and Bailephus’ mana detection efficiently complemented each other.

They couldn’t determine when Kaztor and Chiyou had passed through, but it was certain that Faust had been there recently.

And that alone was enough to boost the morale of the group.

“Is there any possibility that it’s nearby?”

“We’d have to look into it more precisely, but it doesn’t seem likely. A few days ago? Maybe…”

Fernand’s confident voice trailed off.

“It might have been yesterday.”

“More importantly… the flow of mana from the dragon is quite turbulent. There might have been a battle.”

Though they couldn’t track the usual flow of mana, Faust had a Lich Dragon.

Not just an ordinary undead, but a dragon that was practically the same as it was during its lifetime.

Bailephus sensed the unique mana that dragons have.

“Are you saying that Faust was in a battle?”

To Luger’s question, Bailephus responded.

“We need to find out from now on. Let’s go, Fernand.”

“Yes, Bailephus-nim.”

Bailephus and Fernand ran swiftly toward that place.

Browless, Alexander, and Kidd also started to follow them, but Kidd quickly stopped and approached Luger.

“That ‘shh’ earlier, were you trying to suggest resting?”

“W-What are you talking about? When did I ever? J-Just like Fernand said, shh! It meant to be quiet!”

“Hmm… So it was my mistake to think that you were admitting you were tired?”

Kidd looked at Luger with eyes that demanded honesty.

As their eyes met, Luger briefly looked away, unable to meet Kidd’s gaze, who had lifted his hat slightly.

“Yeah, you jerk! You’re always looking for a flaw. If you think about it, you’re worse than Ha Leeha!”

“Well, I’ll go ahead.”

“W-Wait! Kidd! Let’s― Damn it!”

Watching Kidd sprint away while he was grumbling, Luger quickly gathered strength in his legs.

By then, the others were already out of sight, having disappeared quickly.

“Huff, huff. So! How! Huff, did you manage?”

It was a few minutes later when Luger eventually found his comrades.

He had circled around a nearby hill, descended it for a long time before finally reuniting with them, but their faces were grim.

“… Luger, this may be fortunate for you.” “What do you mean, huff?”

To Luger’s question, Kidd pulled his hat down lower.

Bailephus mentioned sensing dragon energy and suggested there might have been a battle here.

But the one whose face was most troubled was not Bailephus.

“F-Faust fought. Absolutely. His Lich Dragons fought here. But the problem is, with whom…”

Fernand cautiously glanced at someone.

Luger’s gaze followed and rested upon the same person.

“Director?”

Browless struggled to maintain a composed expression. Faust had fought here, with his Lich Dragons.

Who was he fighting?

“… My friends…”

In his hand was a single spent shell casing.

* * *

“Director! Are you saying that ‘Arcane Sniper’ was here?”

This was not a musket ball. A spent casing would be an item practically impossible to find in the current world of Middle Earth.

Recently, bonobo paleo’s mystical creature, Koba, had produced a limited quantity and supplied it to the 〈Partisan〉, but the distribution was strictly controlled by Ram Hwayeon, making it impossible for any to reach outside.

In other words, aside from the old and current generation of the Three Musketeers, there were barely anyone in Middle Earth who used such ammunition.

Even including NPCs.

“Hmmm, indeed, their guns were not mere muskets.”

“Elizabeth’s—no, Brown’s guns were like that too. They were not simple muskets.”

Luger clamped his mouth shut as he attempted to agree with Kidd by mentioning Elizabeth’s rifle.

The ridiculously long-barreled rifle that Elizabeth used.

The fact that it was a gun that fired magic bullets was known only to Leeha, Kidd, and Luger himself.

There was no need to give other people extra information.