Matan’s Shooter - Chapter 180
Translated by: xLordFifth
Edited by: Aadhitya
– Step back! Go back a little more.
-All right.
Hearing Leeha’s whisper, Jacheong stepped back. Step by step as he walked, dust rose. The Eagle’s Eyes skill determined Leeha’s distance from Jacheong.
‘Hmm, this is enough……:’
It was definitely far. When Leeha zoomed out to the original vision magnification, Jacheong could only be seen as a ‘colored dot’.
One could say that 400m and 440m were only 40m apart, but 40m was not short. It was a distance one had to run for more than 6 seconds at a sprint.
-Okay, you can stop at that spot now!
-Y-yes!
Jacheong went still at Leeha’s whisper. And Leeha shouted at the personnel who were waiting next to him.
“This much! Check the distance! Check the distance!”
“……Okay!”
Their cloak was engraved with Hwahong’s guild mark. The magician, who was suddenly called by Jacheong while hunting, became Leeha’s training assistant.
“How long do I have to do this?”
The magician grumbled as he untangled the tape measure that was over 400m long. He untied the heavy rope and ran for a long time towards Jacheong’s position.
Tik, The place where the tape measure stopped did not reach Jacheong’s position.
“It’s over 9000!!!!”
“Come again?”
“I mean it’s over 400m-”
-It’s over 400m.
Jacheong was 7 to 8 steps away from where the tape measure ended.
‘This. Okay.’
Leeha frowned. He wanted to quickly shoot and hit the target.
However, as mentioned before the target should be ‘444m away’, and it’s hell level difficulty.
‘This is driving me crazy. I thought I would get it right this time. It should be roughly 450m. Phew.’
He had already learned how to sense the distance for over an hour. The huge errors gradually began to lessen, but it was difficult to fix the 4-5m error.
“Well, it’s crazy to shoot with the naked eye without any assistance.”
The scope that Leeha used in the military was a laser-type electronic rangefinder.
Even Leeha, who liked shooting even before using a sniper rifle and who had a very good sense of distance, still had difficulty measuring the distance of 400 to 500 m without any assistance.
Other people wouldn’t believe that he only had around 4 to 5m error through simple observation.
“Hey, Ha Leeha, how long do I have to do this…”
“Why? Are you busy? Do you want to go?”
“No! No, no. No way. That’s why I am curious.”
Jacheong waved his hands and head, shaking.
As the vice-guild master of Hwahong was doing this, the magician from Hwahong was not able to say anything.
“If you’re measuring the distance, why don’t you use a different method?”
“How?”
“Something like a telescope…”
“Haha, that’s right. I could use a telescope.”
It didn’t matter if it was a normal sight. It wasn’t like Leeha did not think of it.
If the distance was 400m and 500m, it was possible to do with optical measurement rather than electronic laser measurement.
‘Even with the PSO-1 scope of Russian SVD-Dragunov, it could loosely measure up to 1000m. But his Eagle’s Eye skill was already at that level…’
In the end, even if he used a scope, some degree of error was bound to occur.
And Leeha already reduced the error to 4 to 5m using the Eagle’s Eye skill.
In fact, it was a situation where the effect of the scope was maximized.
“Why don’t you just mark the telescope?”
“Well. It’s because my eyes are more accurate now than when they are marked.”
PSO-1 is also scoped. When the target was 1.7m tall, he could accurately hit the targets at 200m, 400m, 600m, 800m, and 1000m.
Just like when Leeha used Eagle’s Eye.
‘However, hitting at 444m is the problem, if it was 400 or 500m, I could have done it already. I would prefer it if the target was 450m away! All I have to do is set the target between 450m-500m, and practice firing.’
As Leeha sighed and exhaled, Jacheong tilted his head.
“I mean…… why don’t you make a scope that is marked at 444m? I don’t know because I am not familiar with this, but is it impossible?”
“……What?”
And sometimes the answer comes from a beginner.
It is difficult for experts to expand their thinking because they are already locked in a frame, but for beginners, there were no such restrictions.
“It’s not simply marking the distance-”
“Ah..! Should I make a dedicated scope for 444m distance?”
“If it helps, then it should be fine-”
In other words, a one-time item for this quest?!
Seeing Leeha’s eyes expand, Jacheong’s expression also brightened. He had to do his best to help Leeha because he did not want Ram Hwayeon to hear about his ‘mistake’.
“Jacheong-nim.”
“Yes! Please tell me, Ha Leeha-nim!”
“Is there a Hwahong guild warehouse in Dale Castle’?”
“Hmm?”
The magician next to Jacheong glared at him. His expression looked like he was saying, ‘Aren’t you increasing our work by talking nonsense?’
Making a scope is easier than one would think if they had the proper material. Even the material was nothing special.
‘ These days, there are videos from Wi-Tube, so that’s all I have to say. Of course, there is a lot of work to do in terms of accuracy..’
It’s different from a toy. It took several days to create the lens, and a few trial and errors to get the perfect distance measurement.
On top of the Hummingbird, the scope, which had been created using the material from Hwahong’s guild warehouse, as well as the efforts of NPCs, such as blacksmiths, carpenters, and jewelers in Dale Castle, was shining brightly.
It was not an exaggeration to say that it was a sniper rifle just by looking at its appearance as the scope was mounted on a long silver-gray musket.
“Phew…… great.”
Leeha placed his eye about 5 cm away from the eyepiece. As with a regular scope, if one closed their eyes and attached them to the lens, the recoil may crush one’s eye.
“It’s in good condition.”
Leeha was satisfied by the state of the scope. He wondered if he could make a simple scope. Most importantly, he knew that he could use ‘optical science’ to play Middle Earth.
‘When Hwahong fought Dragon Knights and Seomgwang, Ram Hwajeong showed it to me.’
She used ice magic and refraction to take advantage of the light and made an image of herself in the air.
Compared to Ram Hwajeong, who could do magical things, a scope was child’s play.
-A little further back- Stop!
Leeha whispered to Jacheong over the scope.
Instead of a simple crosshair.
When the 175cm Jacheong was 444m away he perfectly fit at the center of the scope.
“Check the distance!”
“Okay!”
The assistant wizard quickly measured the distance with a tape measure. Cli-cli-click, the rope loosened from Leeha to Jacheong.
Tik, When the tape measure was released, Jacheong and the assistant bumped into each other.
It was at the level where one could at least say that there was no visual error. Even if one measured carefully, it would probably be less than 15 cm from where the tape measure was released to where Jacheong was.
At the 444m distance, the assistant waved his arms.
“Yeeees!!”
Leeha clenched his fist, so far, the success rate was 100%! They succeeded
locating all 10, which Jacheong placed randomly at the distance of 444m!
-Place the target and go.
-All right.
Jacheong received Leeha’s whisper and put a 1.7 high wooden board on the ground. Looking at the target with a head attached to it, Leeha fixed his breathing.
‘Phew……. If I had made the scope sooner- no, it wouldn’t have had any use even if I made it earlier.’
It was different from the [Rapid fire] test. [Accuracy] meant that even if he succeeded in making a certain item, he still had to hit the target in the end.
In the past, when it was difficult to hit the target at 400 m if he had gotten a scope for some reason, he might have wasted all three chances.
‘It’s okay. I’m not in a hurry. If I complete the quest, I will become strong too.’
And after he became strong?
He could get a lot of gold in Middle Earth. Like [Pierce] Luger or [Rapid fire] Kidd.
‘Of course, I simply don’t want gold. I need 20,000 gold. 2 billion won in cash…… I have to earn that much.’
He wanted to earn money as fast as possible to fix his lower body.
Leeha calmed his mind when he saw Jacheong moving over the scope. He shouldn’t get excited. It was a luxury and arrogance to look at the target and think about other things.
There was an old joke, ‘Do you know how it feels to shoot a person for the first time?’
It was the first words that he had heard from his instructor when he was training as a sniper. Ten elite trainees were selected from the army. The ten people gave different answers.
Guilt, flushed, sobriety, tension……. The instructor shook his head at the answers.
And when Leeha answered, everyone in the room laughed. Except for the instructor.
Of the 10 people, only Leeha answered correctly.
‘When the instructor said that it was the correct answer, the faces of my classmates were a sight to see.’
Leeha, with a slight smile, click, pulled the trigger.
When the loud gunshot resounded across the plains, he remembered the ‘correct answer’.
‘The first thing you feel when you shoot a person is [gun recoil]. Hehe.’
Perhaps that joke was the essence of a sniper.
The only way to become a great sniper was to rule out all emotions.
Leeha laughed while watching Jacheong and the assistant make a fuss near the target.
It wasn’t surprising that there was a hole in the middle of the target.
* * ♦
“Thank you, Jacheong.”
“It was nothing. I am happy that I could help, even in a small way.”
It was over, finally! Jacheong spoke calmly, but in his mind, he hoped that Leeha would go away quickly. Not to mention hunting, he helped Leeha so much that it was difficult to work.
There were also the items stolen from Hwahong’s guild warehouse. Although they were not expensive, Jacheong still had a hard time getting them out.
“Will you help me out again next time?”
“Huh? N-next time-”
“Hey, what’s wrong? Will you help?”
“Uh……uh……”
If you have a conscience, you should do it in moderation!
However, Jacheong could not say such a thing to Leeha. It was also because he had already changed his mind to some extent.
Shin Nara, Kidd, and Hwahong, Jacheong thought that he was an opportunist at first, but he realized that Leeha did not make use of other people that way. ‘That’s why he didn’t want to rely on Ram Hwayeon and Ram Hwajeong. He only trusts his skills.’
Can it be called good? Perhaps it was closer to the cold-hearted side. He did not know Leeha personally, but Jacheong had a vague understanding of his social life.
’It’s because he has the skills to match such a lone wolf-like personality……’
It was worth it because Leeha had the skill to make a scope at the word ‘telescope’, and even had the skill to snipe at such an enormous distance.
“Hahaha, I’m kidding. If I need additional help, I will call Hwahong.”
“Phew, it would be better if we could help Ha Leeha-nim.”
“What? You’re being straightforward.”
“Because you want it straight.”
Leeha looked at the unfamiliar Jacheong and smiled. Why is the person who made it obvious that he didn’t like it suddenly smiling?
“Eek, what’s wrong with you! Besides, I’m not such a good-looking man, and I don’t want to hear those words from a man in his 40s.”
“Is that so? Anyway, Ha Leeha is-”
“Huh?”
Jacheong, who was talking, looked around. It was inside Dale castle. He didn’t know what the girls would do if he continued this kind of talk.
“No, no. Then, take care.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Jacheong raised his voice to Leeha, who was heading to the warp gate after saying goodbye as if he remembered something.
“Ah! That, Bess.”
“What?”
“The talk about snakes and lizards. The one that Kidd and Leeha talked about.”
[Crimson Geckos], [Cobalt Blue Python], and the one that Leeha had not yet obtained, [Black Bass]. Jacheong remembered the conversation Kidd and Leeha had a few days ago.
“Ah, yes. What about it?”
“I’m telling this because Ha Leeha-nim has not tried fishing before, but Bass is a tyrant in freshwater. When you open its stomach, I heard that snakes and lizards could appear in its stomach.”
“Fishing? What are you talking about? Who fishes?” When Leeha tilted his head, Jacheong laughed out loud.
At this time, he thought he knew why people liked Leeha.
“No, it’s nothing. See you next time.”
“What? Okay. See you next time, Jacheong-nim!”
Leeha separated with Jacheong and warped to Aelstock. At the place he left, Jacheong stretched out with a pleasant smile.
“He’s an interesting guy. I have one more thing to report to the president.”
(To be continued…)
