Matan’s Shooter

Petyr looked reluctant, but his gaze was fixed on the bottle Kijung had brought.

Having fought against the undead Ringmaster, he was the one who needed this the most.

“Buhihihi! I finally get to play with Quidam again. Playtime is fun, playtime is good!”

“… I don’t want to play with you, though. Kekeke, but that’s what the guild master wants, right?”

Petyr tumbled and danced near Biyemi.

Biyemi shook his head, but he already anticipated what his guild master was thinking.

“Yes. Biyemi and Petyr, you need to investigate the movements of the chromatic dragons. If you go to their lair, you will surely be able to gather some information.”

It wasn’t just about analyzing the movements of the dragons.

They needed a top-level stealth ability to extract every bit of information, including the conversations between dragons.

“Keke, it’s no different than asking us to steal a dragon egg.”

In a word, Biyemi gauged the difficulty of Kijung’s request. However, the corners of Lizardia’s mouth were raised in a smile.

His blood boiled as he, alongside Petyr, was once the strongest assassin.

* * *

“Wow… I slept for 21 hours. My bladder’s about to burst.”

Leeha scratched his belly and headed to the bathroom.

He had overestimated his insomnia, thinking he wouldn’t fall asleep. But as soon as he lay down, he slept straight for 21 hours. When he woke up, there were roughly two hours left until his scheduled meeting with his companions in Laputa.

‘Five days have passed in Middle Earth since then― what? Kijung hasn’t checked my messages?’

While scrolling through his smartphone, Leeha found that Kijung hadn’t read his message.

‘Did he log out? What’s he doing?’

If Kijung was online, he could simply log in and check.

Leeha tossed his smartphone aside and checked the internet again. There was no particularly notable information except for a few speculation posts about Laputa.

‘So some users have figured out about Laputa… Users are really quick to catch on.’

If a new R- rank area had appeared, it would have to be acquired from an unrevealed region, and the only possibility was Laputa.

Nodding at the reasonable speculation posts, Leeha thought, ‘Heh, but even if they know it exists, not everyone can get there.’

To enter Laputa, one needed to have the Saur Land entrance authorization first.

Even Elizabeth and Brown, who accompanied the Arcane Sniper, had been refused entry there. Who else could go there?

If Leeha hadn’t killed Toon, he wouldn’t have been able to enter himself.

Moreover, no additional entrance methods had been revealed since then.

‘Wait, thinking about it again… Toon is dead and gone. Assuming he won’t respawn as a quest monster― what does this mean? Is there no way to enter Saur Land now?’ ŕàŊÒＢΕṥ

What method could potential users use?

Would Toon respawn for them to kill him? Middle Earth wouldn’t allow such a thing.

‘This doesn’t make any sense. What method is there? It’s logical not to access such a balance-breaking area easily― but why did they even create such a place?’

At this point, the skill gap was too stark.

Why had the Saur Land already appeared, and to add Laputa to it?

Even if someone managed to get into Saur Land, they would need to provide something that already advanced civilizations like those in Laputa would find interesting.

‘Bones from Peklo City. In other words, the bones that constituted part of Pyrot-Cocri.’

What items could match that value?

‘… The main body, Pyrot-Cocri’s bones?’

Leeha couldn’t close his mouth in astonishment. Was that even possible at this point?

‘It’s ridiculous. Pyrot-Cocri, strictly speaking… hasn’t even awakened yet. Does that mean…’

After the storyline dealing with all the Demon King’s Fragments?

“Woah…”

Was the aerial island, only reachable from such a dinosaur country not starting from that country, supposed to mean this?

Leeha shook his head.

Right now, rather than unfounded speculation, what was important was to quickly log into Middle Earth.

“Quickly― huh? Mail… Ah.”

Just as he was about to log out from the internet, Leeha noticed a new email.

It was an email from a domain he had seen someday before. Although the subject wasn’t translated, Leeha could surmise the content of the email well enough.

“Hong Kong… it’s time to go. And in three days, no less—way too quick.”

The email from Jachung included an invitation to the wedding taking place in three days along with a voucher for the accommodation where Leeha would stay.

‘If it were in Seoul, I could just show up 30 minutes before the wedding to make an appearance, but Hong Kong… I need to leave at least a day in advance.’

Strictly speaking, there was only about a day left.

One day for traveling to Hong Kong and the wedding would take place the very next day.

Leeha touched his forehead. He realized anew that he was completely absorbed in Middle Earth.

“To hell with it, the world won’t stop turning without me. Let’s go, let’s go. Anyway, I should have about 5 to 6 days of leeway in Middle Earth time.”

If he handled many tasks during this session, it should be enough, right?

Leeha hurriedly ran to the Middle Earth access machine and lay down.

“Ughhhhh—!”

Feeling the familiar, yet still unaccustomed sensation of falling, Leeha stood upon the ground of Laputa.

“You’re here early!”

“Fernand-ssi, you arrived even earlier than me. Did you rest well?”

Fernand was already logged in and wandering around with a magnifying glass in hand. While exchanging simple greetings, both Kidd and Luger also completed their logins.

There were still over half a day left until the promised time in Middle Earth, yet everyone logged in early to gather information.

“Did you find anything, human compass?”

“Would it kill you to call me Fernand?”

“Understood, human compass.”

“Sigh… Anyway… Just a bit further and something noticeable comes into view.”

Grumbling, Fernand pointed in one direction in response to Luger’s question. Leeha, Kidd, and Luger all gazed toward that direction.

Amidst the surrounding ruins and desolate landscape, there was one object that remained intact.

“… A door?”

“Is that really a door?”

“What’s that supposed to be? There’s no wall, nothing, just a door standing alone?”

Was there a building here in the past?

While there was a door, there was no wall to support it. It was literally a door standing alone amidst the desolate ruins.

Just as Fernand said, it was indeed eye-catching.

As Leeha, Kidd, and Luger stared blankly at it, a head suddenly popped out between them.

“We call that the ‘Stairway to Heaven’.”

“Whoa! GM-nim?”

“Wh-What!”

“Jeez, I nearly shot you!”

The GM gave an awkward smile and looked at the Three Musketeers, who were hastily readying for battle.

Fernand also stared at him with wide eyes.

It wasn’t just the sudden appearance that surprised them.

“GM-nim, do you know about this? You said it’s your first time in Laputa…”

“Yes. But I know about it.”

The GM nodded and surveyed the surroundings.

Ulrek and Browless were nowhere to be found, and Bailephus was waiting for Alexander to log in.

He then turned back to the Three Musketeers and Fernand and opened his mouth.

“Isn’t it interesting?”

“Huh? What is?”

Asked Fernand, and the GM suddenly laughed.

“Red Zeppelin and ‘Stairway to Heaven.’ Haha! Anyway, you have to appreciate the nonsense from the development team.”

The GM was now chuckling heartily. But the users in front of him were bewildered.

And they were astonished.

Leeha finally understood why he always felt a bit uneasy with the GM’s presence.

The GM recognized the name Red Zeppelin, which existed only in reality as a 1970s rock band.

And now, here was a door with the same name as Red Zeppelin’s song ‘Stairway to Heaven.’

Common names might coincide, so it wouldn’t be strange even if they overlapped.

The issue was that both Red Zeppelin and ‘Stairway to Heaven’ were used simultaneously, and the NPC laughed while referring to it.

Moreover, what did he mean by ‘development team’?

“…… No way……”

“Th-that’s absurd. You, you, you are―”

“…… I see. So that’s why your name was that.”

Leeha, Luger, and Kidd had realized his identity. Fernand drove the final nail into the coffin.

“Are you……the Administrator?”

“Whew, it’s tough to talk where there are no NPCs. It’s really different from seeing it from the outside. Nice to meet you. I’m the GM.”

GM = Game Master.

An abbreviation that stands for an administrator of an online game!

For the first time, the administrator who had never interfered with Middle Earth’s flow was now standing in front of Leeha.

‘No wonder……it looked strange no matter how I saw it!’

Leeha quickly scanned the dinosaur in front of him.

When the Red Zeppelin was attacked, Ulrek had used magic to protect it. However, he did not show any reaction at that time.

Back then, Leeha vaguely thought it might be due to issues of rank or limitations in activity range, but no matter how he thought about it, it didn’t quite make sense.

Each entity possessed combat power comparable to an Ancient Dragon.

The reason they had to remain defenseless.

‘Because they are in a position where they must not intervene directly.’

As his assumptions turned into reality, it struck him with fresh shock.

Just like Leeha’s mind grew complicated, Fernand blinked and stuttered, and Luger looked as if a thief was caught red-handed, visibly flustered.

“How― No, why? How―”

“The, the Administrator! What’s going on? Did we do something wrong or……?”

The GM just smiled.

Kidd also hesitated and took two steps back.

“Are you here to impose sanctions? We have not done anything that violates Middle Earth’s rules.”

The users knew about ‘the cases where an Administrator intervenes in the game.’

The presence of a Game Master usually hinted at an issue that needed addressing and solving, which naturally caused tension.

But the GM, looking rather embarrassed, waved his hands.

“What? Sanctions? No, no way. If that were the case, I wouldn’t appear like this. To be precise, this time, I just have something to tell you. Oh, let’s move over there first, shall we?”

The GM pointed to the door that Fernand had found and began to walk.

“But! Alexander hasn’t logged in yet!”

Leeha suggested, but the GM seemed unbothered.

“Hmm…… It’s no problem. The matter I need to discuss concerns you all anyway.”

Though the GM said ‘you all’, his eyes were firmly fixed on one person.

That person was none other than Leeha.

Kidd, Luger, and Fernand also felt the GM’s gaze.

The Three Musketeers and Fernand began to follow the GM, not understanding the situation.

Finally, as the shock wore off a bit, Fernand, who had been fidgeting, quickly moved next to the GM and asked.

“Excuse me, GM-nim. What happened to Saur Land?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Aside from Kaztor― Um, as you might know from watching my actions, no matter which store or NPC I talked to, there was no chance to receive a quest. If it were an ordinary city or village, there would definitely be some place giving out quests……”

Fernand had been running around tirelessly even when Kyle was being treated.

It was, of course, an effort to build familiarity within Saur Land, as he knew that increasing familiarity to a certain level would lead to quests from the corresponding NPC.

However, Fernand had obtained nothing.

While gripping Ulrek, he barely managed to extract a clue about ＜Laputa＞. But even this was not in the form of a quest, only a passing conversation that might have ended there if it were not for Leeha.

Hearing Fernand’s question, the GM laughed.

“Haha, it can’t be helped. Saur Land, what a bizarre name― In any case, most of the dinosaurs there are not actual NPCs. We only placed a few in the areas where you guys walk around.”

“…… What?”

“Since I have to explain it anyway, let’s just say it now. Spending a day in reality earns five days in Middle Earth. Efficiency at work, you know? Since we developed this game, it’s obviously more efficient for us to work inside it.”

The GM said brightly, winking.

The Three Musketeers’ jaws dropped in shock, much like Fernand’s.

“W-wait a minute. So you’re saying－”

“…… Most of the dinosaurs in there were－”

“G-Goople Plus－ Goople Plus employees?!”

Luger jumped up in shock.

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