Matan’s Shooter

“Anybody home?”

Creeeeaak.

The wooden corridor cried whenever Leeha stepped on it.

It had a dark interior with neither lights nor windows. Was this an academy or a haunted house?

“Anybody here?”

“Middle Earth really did everything right for Musketeer-”

Click, Leeha felt the touch of cold metal touching the back of his head.

Inside the creepy house, he got surprised by a person. He didn’t even feel any presence. It felt worse than a haunted house.

“Don’t move. Don’t speak. Just breathe. If you don’t follow, I will blast your head.”

Suddenly, his nape felt cold. It felt thicker than a thumb. Cold metal dug into his hair and touched his scalp.

Gun, no, to be more accurate, it was a musket. Leeha did not look back or answer.

He didn’t know who it was, but he knew that there was a very skilled hunter behind him.

With the slightest bit of movement, he might get shot.

‘He is not an ordinary marksman……Where and how was he hiding?’

It was said that even beasts won’t notice a perfectly disguised sniper. Leeha felt that the surprise attack that he was not able to detect is comparatively at that level.

He was extremely vigilant upon entering the academy, however, he didn’t really feel anything.

“You can only move your mouth. If other parts of your body move, I will blast your head off.” 

It seemed the person really liked to blow heads off. Of course, Leeha planned to follow the orders as much as he could.

“I understand.”

“Who are you?”

“I am Ha Leeha, a musketeer.” 

After Leeha answered, he could hear the sound of breathing. Isn’t this unbelievable? The voice was rather thick. He thought that the person was pretty much a middle-aged person.

“Who sent you?”

“Nobody sent me, however, Candle Castle’s Guard Captain Jiat gave me an introduction letter.”

“Slowly go forward three steps and turn around. If you walk more than that, you die.”

With four steps it would affect his accuracy.

With two steps, the muzzle could be grabbed using an outstretched hand.

The person thoroughly understood how to use a musket.

Leeha, while admiring it, walked three steps and turned around.

“Put the letter of introduction on the floor.”

“Uh, my musket is not loaded, would it be okay for me to hold my musket?”

Leeha slowly leaned over while holding his musket, looking at the man.

He was wearing a wide-brimmed, feathered hat, so Leeha could not see his eyes, but he could see that the man had a thick beard.

The man’s upper lip shook.

“I guess you have shot a few times. In that case, take three steps back.”

“If I stepped back twice, I’d die… right?”

“……Seeing how cheeky you are, I realize you are a stranger.”

“Yes. A musketeer stranger.”

Leeha carefully stepped back three steps.

He felt like he was dealing with an extremely nervous cat, but at least he felt that the bearded man in a hat wasn’t a bad guy.

“Candle Castle’s Honorary Guard. You are also able to shoot a target 100m away……”

The bearded man in a hat picked up the letter of introduction and quickly read it and then looked at Leeha from top to bottom. The eyes hidden under the brim of the hat flashed.

‘He can also grasp my achievements in an instant. Is it because he is an NPC?’

He was also an NPC that knew guns very well.

If he was an ordinary robber, he would have told him to drop his weapon first. However, knowing that Leeha’s musket wasn’t loaded, he just told him to hold it.

Muskets that were not filled with gunpowder took time to reload no matter how fast one was. In fact, he could have told him to throw it to the ground.

Why didn’t he then?

‘He seemed to like guns quite a bit. It seems he keeps the adage to treat a gun like a lover.’

Leeha suddenly remembered his military days and burst into laughter. He was pretty nervous, but the bearded man knew muskets pretty well and he must be a gun enthusiast.

“Is there something funny?”

“No. I laughed because I thought that you liked muskets as much as I did. I’m sorry if that made you get in a bad mood.”

Leeha replied with a smile. The man alternately looked at Leeha and the letter of introduction.

And he lowered the musket right away.

“Follow me.”

“Yes?”

The man went into the room. Raising his musket onto his shoulder, Leeha hoped that his laugh helped him make a good impression…

Inside the dark room, there was plenty of furniture, such as cabinets and desks. Could it be that he didn’t turn on the light because of his work? Staying in the dark, the man sat in the chair behind the desk.

“Sit down.”

“Okay.”

Seeing the furniture arrangements and seats, was he the director of the academy? The camouflage and ambush skills were just like a skilled musketeer, but to be sure, Leeha asked.

“Is there no one else?”

“Are you looking for a girl at the academy?”

“No, no. Still, this is an academy, there should be someone in charge of business…… Someone who could offer a cup of tea-.”

“Academy? Tea?”

The eyebrows of the man sitting in front of Leeha wriggled. To be precise, the place where the eyebrows should be, wriggled.

He took off his broad-brimmed feathered hat. 

He had a large burn scar on his face and there were no eyebrows in its place.

“Academy…… Isn’t this place like an academy? Teaching people how to use a musket?…”

“Don’t say anything that smells like milk and be quiet.”

“Ah…… Is this not an academy?”

It wasn’t easy for Leeha to ask the question with someone like a soldier in front of him. The air and the atmosphere.

He had experienced enough of this feeling.

‘When I just joined the army……. Tea time with the master sergeant after getting the first batch? It was something close to that feeling- right. It’s the army. This is not an academy, this is like the army.’

When Leeha thought of being in the army, he rather felt comfortable.

Was it okay to think of it as a training camp? He thought of it as the NCO’s school – NCO -> Non-Commissioned Officers!

“Jiat had high praises for you.”

“Is that so?”

As soon as he was conscious of being in the army, his tone immediately changed.

Did he immediately notice that Leeha’s attitude changed? The man raised his eyes and looked at Leeha.

“He puts in great effort, I mean, he is always eager to spare no effort for Candle Castle. He wrote that you were a talented individual and that you would be a great knight that could support the Fibiel Kingdom. I have never received such a letter of introduction from him.”

There were only a few people who came, but the bearded man did not say that.

“That’s a relief.”

Leeha thought of the Guard Captain. The NPC who gave him a hug before he left.

The 100% intimacy and Honorary Guard certainly made the difference in these places. Will it go well thanks to Guard Captain Jiat?

“It’s only words. What good would that be?”

“Come again?”

It only took three seconds for his expectation to shatter.

Leeha had a flustered expression, but he was not concerned.

“Effort is useless. What is the use of hard work for a musketeer? Talent……. Everything depends only on talent. Effort? Hahaha, it’s not irrelevant. Reloading can be shortened through effort.”

The man criticized bitterly.

But Leeha clearly knew what he meant. Shooting a gun. Shooting and hitting.

In fact, it does not have anything to do with practice and effort. Of course, there are things that could be improved through effort and practice, but Leeha seemed to understand when the man spoke about talent.

“I think I understand what you mean.”

“You understand?”

“That’s right.”

“Interesting. Are you proud you were able to hit a target 100m away?”

“No.”

Leeha was sincerely sympathetic.

Bullets moving through the air, a sense of unity with the gun, and the subtle sensation of hitting the target through the small movement of the index finger.

Before the bullet leaves the gun, every minute movement can mean several meters of difference from the target.

It was not a matter of effort.

It is the feeling and sensation that the man in front of Leeha was talking about.

Moreover, Middle Earth did not have a rangefinder, nor did it have observers and scopes.

You can not be a sniper unless you are gifted with talent by the heavens.

“If you understand, it would be easier to talk.”

“Yes?”

“Let’s pull some fire once.”

The man stood up and carried his musket.

‘Pulling fire…’

Leeha understood, it was a slang used when firing an arquebus. In other words, the man wanted to test Leeha.

Leeha stood up from his seat and followed.

‘By the way… isn’t this academy something that you could enter unconditionally as long as you are level 10 or higher? What would happen if I fail?’

I won’t become a trainee?

[Let’s take a look at your skills]

Description : Musket Academy Head ‘Browless’ wants to test your guts and skills. He’s looking at you with anticipation but you don’t have to be scared. There are no penalties for not meeting his expectations. You are only a beginner musketeer.

Content : Browless’s exam

Reward : ??

Condition of Failure : Failing to pass the challenge

Penalty for Failure : Denial of admission to Brown Bess Musket Academy

– Do you accept it?

A notification window appeared in front of Leeha, while following the instructor wearing a feathered hat.

‘Is his name really Browless.’

People really live up to their names. Of course, he didn’t have eyebrows because of the burn and didn’t do it on purpose but Leeha felt the tension getting relieved because of the strange matching name.

“Are you nervous?”

“No. I’m looking forward to it.”

Leeha read the notification window. Browless, far from being kind, couldn’t teach him, so he had to get hints through the quest window.

‘If he didn’t tell me about the exam and failed, I won’t be able to enter? It doesn’t even show the reward.’

If he failed, he wouldn’t be admitted. It was too harsh.

Similar to Kijeong going to his ‘Academy’ to perform a quest, job-related training centers are a place where users have to stop by until they reach level 200.

But the penalty is not getting admitted?

‘The description is quite simple. Does this mean that I should not accept it?’

Was it because he had gotten to the unkind world Middle Earth quests now? Leeha immediately realized that the correct answer to the quest was by “Abandoning” it.

Taking a step back in order to take a step forward was perhaps one of the most important virtues for a shooter, the quest might be in order to test it.

Although there was a penalty for failure, there was no penalty for giving up.

‘I just need to give up…. I’m interested in what it is. It also takes guts to not take on a challenge.

Recklessly taking on a challenge is actually the worst course of action for a sniper. Because recklessly taking on a challenge can not only cause harm to a sniper but will also cause harm to his allies.’

‘Right, got it. That is the correct answer. However, it’s not an answer I want to choose.’

Leeha also wanted to take a shot. No, it was not about taking a shot. When it comes to shooting, he was confident in being able to beat anyone in Korea.

‘It is clear that it takes guts to objectively look at one’s skills and know when to give up. Isn’t it true the other way around?’

It also takes guts to take risks and challenge yourself because you know your abilities.

Above all, Leeha hated giving up.