“The Dark Forest is where teleportation spells don’t work. One must walk their way out, and moving at night without the help of a spirit of medicine is practically impossible.”
Meaning, even though the land is longer north to south and shorter east to west, the actual travel time is restricted to daytime, and that too without the aid of blink-level space magic – you are limited to walking or flying spells.
It was no wonder that Toon had only managed to exit the forest three days earlier.
“Above all, my situation is different from Toon’s. If he rests when he wills, it’s certain he didn’t move for hours each day. His stride is long, but I am confident I can catch up.”
It was time for the ‘sleepless nocturnal marches’, honed on the journey to the Dragon Palace, to shine once more.
“Jellypong! From now on, we move in full three-dimensional maneuvers. Got it?”
[Mongmong!]
“Let’s go!”
Leeha pointed in the direction of their travel, using the moment Toon emerged from the Dark Forest as a guide.
Shwoooosh- Shwoooosh-!Relying solely on moonlight and starlight was no issue for Jellypong.
The varied terrain only served as points for Jellypong to extend its arms for three-dimensional maneuvers.
Based on the maps of Elizabeth and Brown, Leeha began moving in a perfect straight line towards Toon.
Most fortunate was that this path was precisely the route Leeha had initially aimed for.
On the map, the end of an arrow overlapped with Leeha’s path, marked with the numbers 260, 280, 3,800.
“Levels 260 to 280, sniping range confirmed at 3,800. We’ll start there.”
Facing Toon meant preparing for any situation, and Leeha’s top priority was Black Bass’s quest, something he did not forget.
Before confronting Toon, acquiring at least one more powerful weapon was crucial.
How many hours had they been on the move?
Shwoooosh-!
The first hues of dawn began to breach Leeha’s view, just as the sensitivity of the dawn began to fade away.
Suddenly, a thought crossed Leeha’s mind.
“… Can I really take on Toon alone? Was this a mistake?”
Maybe calling Luger for help would have been wise?
The thought of inviting the battle-thirsty Luger seemed promising, but Leeha soon shook his head. It was impossible to go back and bring Luger along, especially since he hadn’t even met the spirit of medicine.
“If it’s their first time, someone inexperienced and without knowledge would take at least five days to get out of the Dark Forest, moving only during daylight. It makes sense.”
Now, when even the Trio’s teleportation was unusable, Leeha could only truly rely on himself.
“Jellypong, stop here! Here is good.”
[Mongmong!]
Relying on the tireless movement of Jellypong, after about 12 hours, Leeha could finally take a break.
On a hill with an open view, right at the top of a terrain somewhere between a hill and a mountain with a steep slope.
The sun was already high in the sky.
“Phew, Jellypong, are you hungry?”
[Mong?]
“Never mind. That’s not necessary. You don’t really eat anything special… Heh heh, I’ll ask the Sea God if there’s anything to upgrade you with later when we visit the Dragon Palace.”
[Bong!]
The eyes that emerged from Jellypong’s separated arm curved into crescents.
Smiling at the pleasant laughter, Leeha compared Elizabeth’s crude map with the surrounding terrain.
“If the triangle on this map represents that mountain peak over there…”
From Leeha’s current position, nothing was visible. A monster being 3,800 meters away meant it couldn’t be seen with the naked eye.
“Jellypong, [Combat Mode: Agile Type]!”
[Mong!]
Poof-!
From Leeha’s body, Jellypong detached and formed hands like the Thousand-Handed Guanyin, keeping watch over the surroundings.
“Kill anything that approaches me.”
It was a special measure taken solely to focus on observation and sniping.
Only after opening the scope and adjusting it to the maximum magnification did Leeha start to look around, determined not to miss even the slightest movement.
“I guess I do need a stabilizer after all.”
Using a stabilizer, which he hadn’t used in a while, wrapped around his waist and mounted on the barrel, even the vibrations caused by hand tremors were suppressed.
Yet, searching for something in the maximum magnification was no easy task.
With just a slight twist of the barrel, the landscape within the scope at maximum magnification jumped dozens of meters, making smooth observation difficult.
The surrounding landscape itself didn’t differ much from that of the Old Continent.
While in the Old Continent, it was common to spot a nearby village or a distant city through the scope, always revealing some artificial structure or road.
But here, such elements were completely absent. The place, appearing untouched and purely natural, felt somewhat unfamiliar even to Leeha.
“Hmm, perhaps beyond Zone 07 looks like this. No, that area has more mountainous terrain, so there wouldn’t be a place where the horizon is visible.”
It reminded him of a place in America or Canada, a beautiful and desolate location where one might expect such scenery to exist. Even now, Toon must be moving hastily. There was enough to cause impatience, but Leeha calmed his mind.
10 minutes, 15 minutes, 35 minutes.
Leeha’s gaze moved from a weed-filled plain to hills, to latecomers, to hidden mountains, constantly changing.
Occasionally, something that looked like an animal appeared, but it was too small to be considered a monster.
In the New Continent, especially searching for monsters above level 260 was not an easy task.
Without overlooking the possibility of flying type monsters, he moved from below to above, from above to below, and then a click to the left.
With extreme caution, Leeha continued his observation.
Still, nothing appeared.
“It can’t be for nothing. Just seeing the number 3,800 tells me that I should have the ability to see and use something here at this point in this place.”
If Elizabeth had ill intentions, monsters should have been visible here. If there are no monsters?
Leeha might consider Elizabeth’s quest and map a “diversion.”
If Elizabeth is sincere. Or even if it’s a decoy out of malice, there definitely should be monsters here.
“There definitely are.”
40 minutes, 55 minutes, 1 hour and 10 minutes. Even after making a full round, nothing appeared.
“It’s okay. They’re here. There must be. Let’s start from the beginning again.”
After concluding all observations, Leeha returned to the starting point and began observing again.
Had he missed anything before?
Had he carelessly overlooked any area?
As he started observing again, something very small caught Leeha’s eye.
In the waters, creating a slight ripple – something quite different from the water striders usually causing such ripples – Leeha focused on that spot.
Slowly emerging was a creature unlike any dinosaur, with a tail swollen like a club and an appearance that seemed to be a kind of dinosaur, but the size was no joke.
Moreover, it was covered all over in a shell-like armor, prickled with horn-like protrusions akin to the shell of an ancient warship.
Leeha’s lips curved up.
“At levels 260 to 280, that’s the least I would expect.”
Leeha immediately began to measure the size of the target. Knowing the size of the target is essential to determining the distance, and only by determining the distance can one adjust for an impeccably accurate shot, free of even the slightest margin of error.
The length of the body seems to be around 20 meters, give or take. While there are individual differences, it’s more than twice the length of the largest crocodile known to exist on Earth.
Its low posture and quadrupedal movement gave it the appearance of a crawling creature, so although it wasn’t very tall, its body length was significant.
The hide seemed exceptionally tough. At this rate, even Black Bass’s bullets might not penetrate it. Considering that, the target area seemed decent overall.
However, the likelihood of the damage not fully taking effect depending on the area hit was high. For an instant kill, there was only one spot to aim for.
‘The hide might as well be impenetrable from the back to the tail. The head looks hard too… The only area not covered by that horned hide sticks out just one place.
The neck, or rather, the cervical spine.
The neck area, connecting the head and the back, was largely covered by hide as well. However, the joints needed to move, leaving some flesh exposed.
‘Without a reference object for scale, this is tricky.’
The body length is around 200 meters.
The radius of the cervical region, which could be targeted for an instant kill, was roughly 40 to 60 centimeters at a distance of around 3,800 meters.
But in sniping, words like ‘approximately’ are unnecessary.
Especially when the target area is extremely small, even more precise observation was required.
“Sigh.”
In the end, the reference point Leeha chose was a small bird flying around the monster.
‘I’ve never seen a bird as small as a sparrow here. In the New Continent, even birds are bigger. It had to be at least the size of a pigeon.’
Assuming the size of the bird is about 30 centimeters, what’s the size of the monster?
92…340 is definitely too high. Between 2200 and 2300, much closer to 230. The length of the monster within the current scope view is only a few hundred.
If the original size of the target is 23 meters, what is the distance between the sniper and the target currently?
Leeha didn’t need much time. All these calculations were just a bit more concrete feedback for Leeha’s ‘instinctual’ sniping system.
‘It’s no wonder Chief Kim disliked me. The distance to the target is about 3,815~3,816 meters. Moving at a very slow pace.’
Wind speed and direction don’t matter. Nothing in the flight path will obstruct Leeha’s view.
No need for a curved trajectory. Only one thing remained.
“Haaah… Let’s go.”
Disengage the safety.
Leeha pulled the trigger.
–!
[Bang!]
The sudden gunshot made Jellypong momentarily turn towards Leeha.
A shot, a direct hit, a splintered cervical spine.
The monster, its neck completely severed, turned into light.
[You have completed the Black Bass’s Seal-5 quest.]
[You have learned the skill – Ghost in the Shell.]
[Black Bass’s Seal-6 quest has been generated.]
[You’ve earned the achievement – One shot, one kill – Ankylosaur.]
“Excellent job, Jellypong! Come back, let’s set off again!”
[Mongmong!]
Leeha licked his lips as the system windows popped up in succession. Compared to the confusing skills, what was this result?
In the world, what kind of name is this – so adolescent yet cool! Is this the first time living up to the name of Black Bass? Ghost in the Shell…
“It’s like, the soul within the shell of a bullet. A total, soul-shattering strike!”
As Jellypong’s arms stretched out again, Leeha opened the quest.
Alright, the skill description is-
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