Matan’s Shooter - Chapter 200

Translated by: xLordFifth

Edited by: Aadhitya

When she saw Kidd, Shin Nara, who was emaciated, got energized. The person she didn’t want to lose to more than anyone else was Kidd. Shin Nara did not want to show any weakness in front of him. 

“Thank God it worked out.”

Of course, it was the outcome that Leeha had hoped for.

After all 10 participants were filled out, those who had gathered walked into Fibiel’s Royal Palace.

It was not an exaggeration to say that these were the strongest people Leeha knew.

Although he didn’t know why Ram Hwayeon always provoked him.

People sat down in the large conference room of the Fibiel Royal Palace.

Byeolcho and Biyemi sat on the left side while Hwahong and Kidd sat on the right side. On the top of the table was Shin Nara with Leeha beside her.

“I will tell you what I heard yesterday. What we have to do is-”

“Excuse me, wait a minute, Ha Leeha-nim? Where’s the last person?”

Jacheong raised his hand and interrupted Leeha. As he said, there were only nine people in the conference room. Shin Nara’s friend had not come.

“Hmmm, Nara-ssi?”

“Ah, I called her just now. My friend was guarding the king’s bedroom, and since we’ve sent five Sacred Knights, it should be fine for my friend to be away for a while.”

“I see. Then once your friend comes, we’ll introduce ourselves to each other and proceed with the meeting.”

Leeha sat down. The meeting room was extremely quiet even though there were many people who were usually very friendly.

Ram Hwayeon and Ram Hwajeong gazed at Shin Nara while being wary of Byeolcho, and Biyemi examined the faces and the items of everyone.

Tale showed curiosity towards Shin Nara and Biyemi and sneakily glanced around.

In addition to that atmosphere, Kidd laid down, not interested in what was currently happening…….

‘I thought we would be like the Avengers, but would we be able to do well?’

Leeha thought it was a good idea to bring Kidd to cheer Shin Nara up, but Leeha was worried about whether Kidd could fit in because of his personality.

How much trouble did he experience just to bring him here?

Leeha used a lot of underhanded tactics in order for Kidd to come, such as

“Did you forget that I saved you in Dale Castle?”, “Is the person who succeeded [Rapid Fire] such a cowardly person?”, “Are you so afraid of Shin Nara that you don’t even want to come?”.

‘Well, with the members we have, I can’t even imagine losing to anyone……”

As Leeha contemplated various things, the door to the conference room swung open.

“Who-”

There was no time to say ‘hey’.

While Leeha was lost in thought, everyone was in a state of tension, therefore, they were about to draw their weapon or cast their skills.

When everyone in the conference room reacted in an instant, Leeha wanted to applaud.

“W-Wait. Are you going to kill someone because they didn’t knock?”

“Phew, I told you to enter carefully! Say hello. These are the people Leeha-ssi gathered.”

The person who entered was a black-haired woman with her hair tied in a ponytail. More impressive than the headband was the white bow she held.

Kijeong, Tale, and Jacheong were startled, Ram Hwajeong’s forehead twitched and Biyemi smiled.

Everyone recognized her white bow, except for Kidd who looked uninterested and Leeha, who didn’t know many people.

“Did you say you were Shin Nara-nim’s friend?”

“No, no, I understand. I could tell where the two of them met. Maybe it was in Taereung.”

“Oh, birds of a feather flock together. Indeed, the friend of the 6th rank is also a ranker.”

She politely raised her bow in front of her and bowed her head.

“Nice to meet you, everyone. I am Bobae.”

Number 10 in the ranking, the only ranged-dealer among the top 10. The ‘Archer’ Bobae smiled innocently.

6th Rank – Fencer: Shin Nara, Olympic gold medalist in fencing, Nationality – Korea

9th Rank – Ice Magician: Ram Hwajeong, Middle Earth’s Genius / Youngest Daughter of Hong Kong’s Largest Conglomerate, Nationality – Hong Kong

10th Rank – Archer: Bobae, 1st place at World Archery Championship 3 times in a row, Nationality – Korea

Kijeong couldn’t keep his mouth shut as he saw the three of them gathered in a single location, something that had never happened in Middle Earth’s history.

There were times when three of the top 10 rankers appeared in one place during the war. However, this was different from back then.

‘They’re all female rankers! Three out of four female rankers in the top 10 are in one place! Wow-!’

If you add Ram Hwayeon, who did not lose in terms of beauty, it was truly awe-inspiring! It could be said that it was the bloodiest flower garden on Middle Earth!

To relieve the awkward atmosphere, Shin Nara opened her mouth first.

“As expected of Tale-nim, you are sharp. Haha, that’s right, I first met Bobae at the Korean National Training Center.”

“Uh-huh, you said you didn’t want to play Middle Earth together~ You said you didn’t want to play, but before I knew it, your ranking was higher than mine.”

Shin Nara and Bobae laughed together. Bobae, who shook everyone’s hand, also reached out to Leeha.

“Ha Leeha-ssi?”

“Yes, I am Ha Leeha.”

“I have heard a lot about you from Nara.”

Bobae brought her face toward Leeha and whispered in his ear.

“What? What are you talking about-”

“Ah, ahhh! Bobae, you!! Come here and sit down quickly!”

Shin Nara quickly got up and separated the two of them.

In a friendly atmosphere that was absurd compared to the reason for their gathering, veins appeared on Ram Hwayeon’s forehead. When Jacheong trembled as if to shout at Shin Nara, someone else opened their mouth.

“What a leisurely quest.” Kidd laid down on the chair with his feet on the table. His voice came out slowly with his hat covering his face.

“Kikis, right. I am well aware of your great prestige and skill, but it will still be difficult. We would not be fighting [Midnight Circus] 10 vs 10. We need to stop the assassination. It’s not a fight against them. We do not even have the time to be surprised..”

It was followed by Biyemi. Ram Hwayeon made a face like it was saying, ‘You’re good.’

“Ah, that’s right. Everyone is here to help. Sorry. I was so excited that I was not able to express my gratitude.” After Shin Nara apologized and bowed, the atmosphere became heavy again.

She only apologized like that once.

When she raised her head, she was once again the 6th rank of the top 10 rankings, and gave the feeling of being the first user to be knighted in Middle Earth.

“Leeha-ssi has heard it briefly, but I will explain everything I know. Please listen.”

Shin Nara quickly and concisely summarized the details of the quest.

The suspected assassin was Petyr, who was ranked 5th, and there were guards and magicians to protect the Royal Palace, but it wasn’t a situation where it could not be entrusted to the NPCs for protection.

The failure condition was the death of the king.

In other words, the 10 people who were gathered here will have to work in shifts for the next 46 days.

Whether it was day or night.

“And Biyemi— -ssi, right? As you said earlier, there’s a high possibility that Petyr will not move alone. He has fanatic-like followers…”

“It is not a possibility, it’s inevitable. Kikis,  he is more than a cult leader of [Midnight Circus]! Dozens of experts that are level 150 or higher will be attacking the Royal Palace. If we fought head-on, the people gathered here would be able to win, but-”

“If we get caught in a surprise attack, we could die instantly.”

Tale sighed.

Obviously, the assassins’ attacks were unpredictable. The types of items they used were diverse, it was impossible to predict their skills.

“Yes. In extreme terms, they might even have transformed into the chairs that we are sitting on. Kiki. First of all, I have compiled the types of transformations and camouflages that assassins can use, so you can refer to this.”

Biyemi handed out papers to everyone. There was only one person who was not astounded by the documents.

It was unavoidable. There was only one thought in everyone’s minds.

‘How did he know this?’

Unless they were an assassin, they would not know this information.

Even if one searched the internet, they would not be able to find such an organized document for each job. 

Although the signature skills of some jobs were listed randomly, the data that Biyemi gave them was not that much.

“Phew. As expected of Biyemi-nim. How did you know, won’t you tell me?”

“Yeah, of course, it’s in the in-”

“-ternet. All right. I won’t ask. So hide it well.”

Biyemi smiled brightly at Leeha’s grumbling. Seeing the lizard’s well-aligned teeth, Ram Hwajeong trembled.

“But if they could transform into a chair or table-Isn’t it a bit of a scam? Doesn’t that mean that if they waited like this, and the assassination target came, they could release their transformation and stab them?”

Leeha clicked his tongue as he looked at the list.

“Strictly speaking, they would not transform into a chair or a table. They would only decorate their body in the shape of a chair or table and put it in. Dogs also have their own hardships. It is said that they are supposed to do weird yoga poses like wizards focused on casting, would you be able to call that easy? Kis Kis. If they lose their concentration even for a moment, their transformation would be released.”

Biyemi giggled as if it was something funny, but it was still surprising for others to hear.

‘So, how did he know the mechanics of the assassin’s skills?! That person- no, what the hell is that Lizardia?’

Not only Kijeong, but also Shin Nara, Bobae, and Tale managed to suppress their ticklish mouths.

“Hmm, that must be annoying. It’s not like we could use detection skills for 24 hours a day.”

Leeha noticed a strange thing while checking the list.

‘Hmm? Oh?’

But it disappeared. Ram Hwayeon sat in front of Leeha. There was something odd hanging from one of the legs of the chair she was sitting on.

‘What? Did I see it wrong? Something like a finger on the chair-’

He suddenly got goosebumps.

What did Biyemi just say? Leeha swallowed his saliva and slowly opened the leather case.

“Leeha-ssi? What are you doing? By the way, did you change your weapon?”

“Haha, yes. I’m thinking of cleaning it up a bit.”

Then slowly, at a very low speed, he combined the magazine. An unfamiliar sound of clicking echoed in the quiet meeting room, but no one thought it strange.

It was not a musket but a modern firearm. However, non-experts wouldn’t be able to tell the difference without looking closely.

‘Huu, huu. If-if I am right……’

Leeha caught his breath and leaned against the wall of the conference room.

“What…… are you doing?”

“Phew……. Haa……”

“Ha Leeha?”

Leeha did not answer Ram Hwayeon’s question.

The people in the conference room tilted their heads at Leeha’s abnormal behavior. However, Leeha could not explain the situation. If he opened his mouth now, everything would be over.

‘I’d rather not! ……Mana clairvoyance!’

Shiing- In an instant, people in the conference room began to show up in detail.

According to Shin Nara’s words, only those involved in the quest should be in this conference room. In other words, there should only be 10 people that could be seen by mana clairvoyance.

However, what appeared in Leeha’s view right now?

Leeha bit his lips and slowly lowered his gun.

“W-wait, why are you aiming at me?”

“Ram Hwayeon-ssi, do you believe me?”

“I-I do believe- wait! What are you going to do?!”

Heup.

Leeha breatherd in-

And suddenlu shouted.

“Everyone stand up! We’ve already been infiltrated! Assassins!!!”

Bang-!

Leeha pulled the trigger without hesitation. The target was the chair that Ram Hwayeon was sitting on, to be more precise, the assassin that had turned into a chair.

(To be continued…)

TL’s Corner:Pretty stacked up team, imo. Bobae means treasure in Korean.