CH 214

After closing Bottleneck’s door, Leeha left Hell Anvil. They said that it would take several days to make 100 new rounds and the scope.

‘I’ll have to go to the Siand Frontier and save the location there.’

He bought a map from the general store in Hell Anvil.

It was fortunate for Leeha that a lot of map makers had already visited Siand Frontier.

Still, it would be quite a difficult adventure to travel such a considerable distance.

“Okay, then…”

Leeha walked out of Hell Anvil.

In the beginning, there were roads to a certain extent thanks to the users that went hunting or entered the mine, but after walking for about an hour, that too disappeared.

Now, there were only wild paths that dwarves, and wild beasts passed through.

“Oink, oinkl!”

“Snort, snort–!”

When Leeha heard the sound of monsters in the Middle of Adamantine Mountain, he quickly crouched and hid. And quietly took out the [Black Bass] from its leather case.

‘The recommended hunting level for a party of 4 is 170, however……”

Leeha placed the muzzle of Black Bass on a small rock.

The direction was from top to bottom. In the mountain range where there were not many trees in the middle, there was nothing that could particularly block his sight.

Click, he pulled the bolt and reloaded.

“Oink, oink-!”

“Snort, snort!”

He saw two wild boars made of rocks. It was a monster that was far superior to the stone golem in terms of speed, pattern, and health. 

“Phew..”

Leeha carefully timed the moment when their snorting lined up–Click. He pulled the trigger.

Gunshot resounded from the Adamantine Mountain as the bullet hit the head of the stone boar in the front and the buttocks of the stone boar at the back!

Crack- He saw them break.

“Did it pierce them? Huh.”

Leeha carried the [Black Bass] on his shoulder and ran happily. However, only the first boar’s head was pierced, and not the second one.

“This…”

But both of them died due to Leeha’s ridiculous damage.

In fact, just piercing one and giving the other a shock was already amazing. However, Leeha was not satisfied.

‘I can’t even pierce two stone monsters. Even though Luger’s shot has the [Accuracy] effect at a certain distance…. it didn’t lose the power of [Pierce].’

But what about Leeha’s bullets? At this level, if Luger wanted to defend, he would be able to. He also wanted to have the [Pierce] effect, but his bullets were bound to basic limitations.

“Well, it’s because the attack is strong. I have to be satisfied with this for now.”

After checking his experience in the character window, Leeha decided to efficiently hunt on his way to Siand Frontier.

They gave a good amount of experience, but if he could catch two in one shot, there was no reason to waste bullets.

“Now, one shot, one kill is not worth it anymore, let’s go for one shot, two kills! Mana Clairvoyance！”

Shiing-.

Leeha saw a strange thing as he scanned all the stone boars of the Adamantine Mountain.

‘……What is that?’

It was a tree with a higher body temperature than the rest. There was a warmth on the tree that should have never appeared. Leeha quietly pulled the bolt.

It wasn’t even one tree. There was one about twenty steps from Leeha, and three about three to four steps from there.

It meant that ‘mana’ flowed from as many as four trees.

“Cough, where is that monster~? I need to get that stone boar.”

Leeha looked around and slowly took a step back. It was not normal. It was not even a monster either. Besides, he had already experienced it once.

To be in such a ridiculous state..

It was about an hour away from Hell Anvil, so it was a place with no users around.

He didn’t know how they got here, but it immediately occurred to him that they were experts and must have done something. Leeha also thought that it might be because of the achievement he got.

Leeha, who took a step backward, quickly knelt down on one knee and held the [Black Bass] up.

Then, he fired at the tree in front of him!

—!

“Come out, you bastards!!!”

As the bullets pierced through the trees, red blood gushed out into the air along with the gunshot. The tree slowly began to change into a human form, and soon a gray corpse dropped to the ground.

“Matt-ssi got caught!”

“He detected us, release your skills! Let’s all charge at him!”

In an instant, the shape of the other trees where mana flowed disappeared. It was an instant, but Leeha still saw it. The moment when the bare trees changed into the form of assassins with their arms raised high in the sky.

“Kuhu, Hihihihi!”

“Iha, iha!”

All three of them wore clown makeup and ran with strange laughter. As soon as he noticed that it was a transformation skill, Leeha knew who they were..

“Damn it, has it begun already?!”

Midnight Circus! The world’s best assassination group, led by the user Petyr, began to track him.

“Throwing daggers!”

Sweiiik-. Two daggers flew fiercely through the air, but they were not a major threat to Leeha.

“It’s still a long way off!”

He stood up, pulled the bolt of the [Black Bass], reloaded, and turned to the right to dodge the dagger, into the stand and shoot posture.

The accuracy will obviously decrease because of this position, but at this distance, it wasn’t a problem. Leeha pulled the trigger toward the nearest guy. 

“Dod-”

Bang–!

Even before he could finish saying the word dodge, the bullet of the sniper rifle had already pierced his spine. One more person turned gray, and now only two were left. The faces of the assassins distorted.

“Acrobatic Sneak!” 

If this had been his first time to encounter their swaying figure, Leeha might not have been able to defend himself like this.

“I already know-”

However, he heard it from Biyemi.

It was a pattern of skills frequently used by assassins during a surprise attack.

The Acrobatic Sneak was a spectacular skill that showed an illusion, but in fact, Biyemi said that there won’t be a problem as long as Leeha aimed straight ahead.

“-That’s it.”

Even though Leeha took out and aimed the Needle-gun pistol into an empty spot, he was full of confidence.

“Click!”

The grapeshot bullets that scattered while making a net of fire hit something invisible.

When the main body of the man who staggered backward appeared, Leeha aimed at him using the Black Bass.

“Backstab!”

And just as he was about to pull the trigger, the other assassin used a skill. The person who had been 5m away disappeared in an instant. The assassin’s skill was not only a simple movement skill, it was also incredibly fast!

“ I have already seen that move before!” Leeha leaped forward.

At that brief moment, he was floating in the air, he pulled out the Hummingbird-pistol and shot it at the one using ‘Acrobatic Sneak’! When white smoke rose out, Leeha, who had been thrown to the ground, turned around and lifted the Black Bass, and pulled the trigger.

Two gunshots resounded in a row!

The person who was staggering after getting hit by grapeshot bullets had his forehead pierced by an iron bullet from the Hummingbird. And the person who was about to attack him from behind had his left shoulder blown off.

“Haa…… haa……”

After both assassins turned grey, Leeha stood up and brushed the dirt off his butt.

‘Phew, this really isn’t a joke, is it? It’s definitely different from the time  the Rising Sun or Czar were after me.’

What if he didn’t find them first and dealt the first blow?

If he had to deal with all  four assassins at close range, this would not have been possible.

‘No, since I have Force Barrier and Soul Link-’

It was only supposed to be used in case of an emergency.

The cooldown was so long that it could only be used once a day. If he was subjected to such attacks one after another, it meant that he was going tosuffer in the end.

‘I have to thoroughly manage my ammunition.’

He currently has two magazines of bullets left. Leeha reloaded both of his pistols. It would have been dangerous if he didn’t have the habit of carrying preloaded pistols all the time.

“Those bastards showed some signs before coming out. I almost lost my nerve.”

Leeha walked towards the grey corpses, picked up the items carefully, and looked up again. Using the mana clairvoyance to its limits, he did not see anything suspicious

‘I still have a few more hours before I  get to  Siand Frontier……”

The rugged Adamandir Moutain looked even more terrifying to Leeha.

However, after walking three more hours, nothing happened. Every time he heard a rustling sound, Leeha would get startled, but it was only an animal or monster.

‘Of course. If there were still some in hiding, there would have been more in the immediate vicinity.’

If they had foreseen failure, or if there were any reinforcements, they would have been nearby. The fact that they haven’t appeared yet meant that there really were only four of them.

‘There’s still a bit more time left for the access restriction, so they must have been ordinary assassins…. If Petyr connects, will he come to find me first?’

Leeha trembled at the image of the ranker with cat-like movements. The strongest assassin in the Midnight Circus, both in name and ability,  Petyr.

The difference in ability that Biyemi confidently said was that Leeha would never have the chance at winning against Petyr in a one-on-one fight. ‘He may not know about my weapon, but he said that I wouldn’t be able to hit him regardless.’

The assassins’ patterns and skill lists Biyemi gave were based on his own experience

In other words, he said that he could not predict Petyr’s movements now because Petyr is higher leveled now than when he was ‘Nguyen’.

‘Right. If it’s a rifle, I should be able to scratch him if I shower him with bullets, however, it’s not possible with bolt action.’

Not to mention the general musket that needed to be reloaded by gunpowder one step at a time. Smoke entered Leeha’s vision as he contemplated how to take measures against Petyr

(To be continued…)