Arcane Sniper

“‘Beware of people’… That was a bit of a strange advice.”

Even close to midnight, there were still many people in Candle Castle’s Fountain Square. Leeha opened his bag to check his lunch box before logging out.

‘Let’s start with the lunch box of the Golden Eagle Quest reward.’

『Excellent Special Lunch Box (Golden Eagle King)』

Description: A special lunch box made by Madame Lu of the Holy Grill. When 3 people eat, even if 4 die, no one would notice. The Ruler of the Candle Mountain even has an imposing taste! Non-Tradable.

Effect: Agility +3, constitution +1(Permanent)

“Oooh, Yeeees!”

Leeha jumped up from the bench and screamed.

“Kkak! What?”

“Why did you suddenly scream?”

People were startled and looked at Leeha as if he was crazy.

“I-I’m sorry.”

Leeha came to his senses, bowed his head, and apologized.

‘Black Angus had +1 Agility and +2 Constitution. This is higher! And the rank is ‘excellent’’.

It had the same rank as Black Angus, but it had a better effect. It was only a well-grilled barbecue, but in Leeha’s eyes, it looked like celestial food.

“Ah, amazing. It suddenly smells like chicken.”

“What the- is delivery possible in Middle Earth?”

The users of the plaza sniffed and while they were dumbfounded, Leeha hurriedly ate the wings and legs.

“Oh, it’s crazy delicious.”

『Agility has increased by 3』

『Your health has increased by 1』

He was amazed by Holy Grill’s cooking skills. Moreover, since Leeha learned cooking from Kiyo-Mifgar, he felt even more moved. Now if he could make this…

‘How the hell was this grilled?’

He wanted to go and quickly raise his cooking skill. If he could cook like this, he could repair his legs and lessen his mother’s burden. Leeha, who sucked even the meat attached to the bones, suddenly became curious.

‘What about the lunch box that was sent to the capital?’

‘Food prepared by the Holy Grill for the tribute!’

Perhaps Madame Ju, who lived in Aelstock, would take the lunchbox to someone to taste it to get permission to open the branch of Holy Grill. Of course, there was a high probability that the person was of high status in the capital.

‘Then, it would make sense if it has a higher rank than the one that was given to me.’

Leeha opened his bag and took out the lunch box.

“Hmm, this one looks normal.”

There was no difference from what I ate. In particular, it didn’t have a special scent like Leeha’s lunch box.

‘What? Why doesn’t it smell?’

Leeha sniffed and opened the item’s information.

『Rare Lunch Box of Truth(Golden Eagle Kind)』

Description: A special lunch box containing all the secrets of the Holy Grill. As soon as the preservation is released, all breathing creatures will become slaves to Madame Lu. The only drug the country allows, it’s the Holy Grill’s barbeque! (-180 days in storage)

Effect: Strength +5, agility +10, constitution+5(Permanent)

“Oh? Oh! What’s this?”

Leeha jumped up from his seat. He almost dropped his lunch box.

“Wha-”

Oops, Leeha managed to hold his breath and prevent the sound from escaping.

‘No way!’

Rare rank! It was the highest item rating that was currently revealed in Middle Earth. Was it just barbecue?

‘What are these ridiculous stats? A total of 20 points? Its effect is similar to leveling up 4 times.’

His heartbeat sped up. It was similar to his heartbeat when the Combat Assistance System was turned on. It’s ridiculous. It was a cheat key that increased one’s ability level.

“What’s going on??”

“Yes? Ah, it’s nothing. It’s okay.”

It was only after someone had spoken that Leeha realized what he must have looked like. He himself even wondered what was going on.

“What are you doing standing there alone? What’s in the lunch box?”

“Oh! Please don’t touch that!”

“Goodness. Why are you yelling?”

“Hu, ha. I’m sorry.”

“You looked like a low level so I tried to help, but this is what I get…”

The man who spoke to Leeha frowned and walked away. In case someone else saw it, Leeha quickly covered the lid of the lunch box and put it in his bag. It was natural that his movements were extremely careful and gentle.

‘Haa, crazy stats, crazy items. It didn’t even have a limit.’

Since it was food, there were no restrictions on consumption. But it was not the restriction that Leeha was thinking about. Gulp, it was decisively better than the quest reward.

“Right, it’s tradeable…”

He did not see the words “Non-Tradable”. An item that increased total stats by 20 points, and didn’t need to be equipped. What would the price be?

Leeha logged out of Middle Earth.

‘This is a jackpot. The quest that started in Black Angus snowballed greatly.’

Leeha focused on the screen while scrolling down with the mouse.

Cash trading sites were still active. Still, the gold price is about US$ 100 per gold. With Korean money, the market price was around 100,000 won per gold.

『Premium Sale』 Level 180 Special Rank One-Handed Sword 『W25,000,000』

『Sale』 Mi$ddle$Ear$th 50 Gold『W1,200,000 per 10 Gold Split Transaction』

『Buy』 I’m buying 50 silver, fast Trade! T_T 『W55,000』

『Purchase』 Buying Level 80 Excellent Rank Two-handed Sword Appearance does not matter. 『W3,000,000』

『Sales, transaction completed』 Level 110 Leather Shoes. Movement Speed +15%, agility +6 『W14,000,000』

『Buy』 Buy 30 gold. Fast Transaction 『W3,000,000』

There was no need to look up the last transaction record.

The prices the items were sold at that immediately appeared in front of Leeha weren’t a joke.

An item that increased agility by +6 with an additional effect that increased movement speed by 11%.

It was worth 14 million won.

‘That’s crazy. It’s even a product that has been used, right?’

Looking at the ability increase, the rank was only excellent. However, it was expensive because there was an additional effect of 15% movement speed.

The title that sparkled at the top was a premium sale, the item was ‘special grade’ and was worth 25 million won.

‘It is expensive because the one-handed sword is the most popular weapon. Of course, the special rank is incredibly good but compared to my lunch box…

The lunch box that Leeha had was ‘rare’, above the special grade.

Items in high demand were expensive. This made sense when looking at supply and demand. So how about Leeha’s lunch box?

“Everyone can use it!”

It wasn’t a skill that required you to have a certain job. You didn’t have to wear it because it was ingestible food.

It could raise stat points and it didn’t have any requirements, so it could be used by anyone.

In other words, it could be sold to users in virtually all occupations.

‘Even if I give a conservative estimate, it would still cost at least 50 million won. The price will increase even further if I include high-level players. Should I proceed with an auction? It may exceed 100 million.’

It was not easy to measure the price because you couldn’t compare it with something similar.

However, even if it cost 50 million won estimating it conservatively. There was a possibility that the fair value was 100 million won.

‘If I sell it for only 100 million…’

I could simply earn Middle Earth Gold! It was not enough.

Money. I can also have an awful lot of cash at hand.

Leeha began to get greedy.

For him, money was like a cure.

‘If this item is sold for 100 million, it’s like 5% of my leg repair, right?’

The treatment costs 2 billion won, which seemed virtually impossible. And right now, Leeha was already in a situation where he could earn 100 million won.

Suddenly, Leeha came up with a different idea.

‘No. No, you need to calm down, Ha Leeha.’

Leeha calmed his heartbeat that was about to explode, cooled his head slowly, and organized his breathing.

‘What would happen if a sniper gets excited?’

The condition of the quest’s failure…

‘In case of failure, intimacy decreases.’

The 100% intimacy at Candle Castle would be gone, and he would also lose intimacy in the capital when he hadn’t even arrived yet. And as soon as he arrived, he would get ignored.

So?

Wasn’t that only a decrease in intimacy with NPCs?

“What’s that compared to 100 million won?”

How much money was 100 million won? Even for a young person, that just entered society, might not be able to earn 100 million even if he worked hard for years. Even if Leeha did not spend a single penny of his sergeant’s salary he would die before saving that amount of money.

‘It takes more than 5 years to live while drinking only the Han River water. It’s a lot of money.’

In reality, the money was much larger than that. For salaried workers, 100 million won was a goal and dream-like money.

‘This quest’s success reward… Huu, what kind of opening ceremony is it?’

Participation in the opening ceremony of the Holy Grill Capital Branch. Was it worth 100 million won?

Leeha held his head.

The moment he sold the lunch box, he would be betraying Madame Lu, so to speak. Holy Grill Capital branch may not be able to open.

No, it definitely was impossible for it to open. It was because the required item for tribute disappeared.

‘No! Shouldn’t this quest have been completed already? If so, there should be a Holy Grill Capital branch already. Middle Earth has been open for 4 months… But no one can complete it?’

After arriving in the capital, the second Holy Grill may be open already. In other words, this was simply one of the repeating quests, and Madame Lu may be the NPC responsible for it.

If so, there shouldn’t be any damage to Madame Lu even if he didn’t deliver this lunch box to her sister in the capital, right?

‘Right. First of all, it’s not a person! It’s just a game NPC. Just think of her as an NPC!’

‘But what is this feeling that pierces my heart?’

It looks like there were sharp thorns in Leeha’s mind. Beings he met in a world capable of moving his disabled body. NPCs, no, people whom he met in a place more realistic than reality. People? Leeha laughed self-deprecatingly.

‘I’m really crazy.’

Was Leeha too good, and simply couldn’t treat them as NPCs?

At that moment, madame Lu’s words came to mind.

‘Is it possible to be careful with people?’ Wasn’t it something like that? Didn’t she mean that it wasn’t easy? Not to be tempted.

Wouldn’t the person Madame Lu was referring to, not someone else, but Leeha himself?

“Haa…”

“How can a young man sigh so much? How are you, son?”

He was greeted by his mother who just came in.

“Ah, mom. You haven’t slept yet?”

“I woke up to drink water. What are you doing not sleeping? Are you busy?”

“I’ll sleep soon. Do not worry.”

“Yes, I think I’ll be a little late tomorrow because I have guests booking dinner. I’ll have a side dish, so make sure you have dinner.”

Overtime at a restaurant that didn’t even give extra allowances. Leeha nodded, concealing his bitterness.

When he saw his mother closing the door and going back to bed, Leeha fell into temptation even more.

(To be continued…)