Part 4. Sibori Musket Academy (3)
‘The zero point is off. I aimed for Ronnaro’s glabella, but it missed quite a bit at a distance of 15 meters. The skewed angle I saw then was roughly 15° to the left, 27° upward. The margin of error is very small.’
At that moment, Ted was racking his brain desperately. To calculate the exact angle.
‘Then I’ll lower it by 15° to the right, 27° downward, and shoot.’
Ted drew a picture in his head.
So that the 10-copper targets hanging on the tree would all be located at the lower right compared to what he actually saw.
And the moment certainty formed in his mind.
Bang—! Bang—! ….
Ten shots were fired continuously at 1-second intervals.
And those ten shots were fired exactly as Ted had thought.
Even the places the bullets pierced through were the exact centers of the coins.
‘Huh! What in the world is this!’
Raiden’s jaw dropped. It was a breathtaking feat.
The 10 seconds held great psychological significance.
The time it takes for a weapon called a musket to fire one shot is 1 second. It is the time required for the explosive magic engraving inside the musket to charge its power.
This was systemically identical regardless of the musket’s type or grade. That was the identity of the musket. Because if a powerful musket fired one hundred shots in one second like a machine gun, it would violate the system’s balance.
Therefore, to hit all ten targets within 10 seconds, one’s sense of time had to be precise.
If you pull the trigger at 0.9 seconds, nothing happens at all.
And if it becomes 1.1 seconds, you lose time.
That was precisely the bullet cycle calculation that a Musketeer had to learn first.
Ted, a mere beginner at level 10, was already doing it perfectly.
Clap, clap, clap.
Raiden applauded.
Hitting all ten shots in this exam was no easy task.
So he had intended to pass this arrogant man if he hit about six shots. Because anyone who could hit six shots was worthy of becoming a chief disciple.
But now. Ted had hit all ten shots with a gun whose zero point was so far off.
Would I be able to do that without skills?
‘That wouldn’t be easy… difficult….’
Though he thought that, his true feelings were different.
It wasn’t merely difficult. Even Raiden himself couldn’t do that.
“You have passed the exam. I acknowledge it. You truly possess monstrous skill. It was indeed worthwhile for Master to cherish you.”
“Thank you.”
Ted stretched refreshingly.
He had shown off in a fit of pique.
But the moment he fired, he had worried about what if the wind unluckily shook the coins and he missed… Fortunately, it seemed he wasn’t unlucky this time.
“Since you came seeking a class change, I shall grant it. Once you fill out some simple paperwork, I shall administer the advancement oath immediately.”
As Ted filled out the paperwork,
A status window appeared.
Passive skill acquired:
Passive skill acquired:
When using a musket weapon, proficiency increases.
Attack power increases by 2% for every 1% increase in proficiency.
After stopping for 5 seconds or more, when taking the first step, a dash is granted if jumping far.
Dash distance increases by 0.05m for every 1% increase in proficiency.
‘Perfect!’
Musket Mastery. A job passive skill without a rank. Attack power increases by 2% for every 1%.
Currently 0% proficiency. Additional attack power 50%!
Thus, Ted’s pure attack power surpassed 710.
He was beginning to surpass level 200 users armed with all kinds of skills and wielding rare weapons in terms of attack power.
‘Shall I go power-leveling now?’
With this, he could enter high-level hunting grounds or dungeons right away and sweep through everything on his own.
If things went well, it wouldn’t even take a week to reach level 100.
Just as Ted was smiling broadly and about to leave the academy.
Suddenly, Raiden’s gaze seemed unusual.
Wait? But he remembered Raiden saying something about a Pateuk or whatever when he was angry at him.
Then the moment he turned around to leave was precisely….
“You. I will take the liberty of making a request….”
“I apologize.”
Its beginning was Raiden’s surprise attack.
Ted succeeded in defending before his attack ended.
At that moment, a sharp battle of masters began.
“I’m not asking for anything grand….”
“Even a small task is diffi….”
“I will prepare a reward that won’t disapp….”
“Even if you give me the entire academy building, I don’t want….”
“No, don’t be like that. As fellow academy alumni….”
“Even if you were my parents, siblings, or second cousins, I would have refu….”
“Ah! You go too far!”
Requests and refusals cutting each other off!
Soon, the frustrated Raiden cut Ted off and shouted abruptly.
“Can’t you at least hear what it’s about before speaking?”
Ted fell silent for a moment after hearing Raiden.
‘He’s quite persistent? Must be something regrettable.’
Someone who had just completed their first class change couldn’t obtain decent quests. Usually, they were just asked to do chores.
So he had thought they’d back off after one or two refusals. But if not?
“May I first hear what you will give?”
Ted had been about to leave just then.
“What? This is the academy’s business. You were a candidate for this academy’s chief disciple, so how can you have such an attitude!”
“Why do you think I didn’t become the chief disciple?”
“Ngh…….”
In matters like this, the side with nothing to lose has the advantage.
“Judging by your skill, you wouldn’t want money or equipment… Is there something else you desire?”
“Yes. What I want is….”
Raiden nodded at Ted’s words.
And after hesitating briefly, he revealed the detailed circumstances.
Stories about beginner otherworlders who no longer came, and thus the fallen Musketeer Academy. And so on.
It wasn’t the story about the Pateuk that Ted had thought of. When Ted asked about it, he said, “The otherworlders who have been causing trouble recently,” and cut his words short.
‘Anyway, that’s how it is.’
Raiden’s request was something that wouldn’t interfere at all with Ted’s power-leveling that would begin now.
After accepting the quest, Ted immediately opened the academy headquarters’ door and went outside.
But then, someone caught his eye. That bastard running away toward the armory in the distance.
“Ronnaro!”
It was Ronnaro, the armory manager, who had clearly recognized Ted but avoided him.
Even though the other party was an NPC, the situation left him in a terrible mood. Ted activated Thousand-League Road and ran, quickly catching up to the bastard from behind.
Ronnaro, who had been trying to escape through the opposite door of the armory, was caught by Ted’s hand and dangled limply.
“Ronnaro. Did you pretend not to know me?”
“….”
But the reaction was unexpected.
The hunchbacked Ronnaro held something out to Ted with a cold expression.
“I hate you, Sir Ted.”
What he held out was a square box decorated with silver. On top of the box was a small folded note, stamped with the Beopdo Society’s seal.
A seal of first-opening verification that disappears once opened.
Yet Ronnaro was making a sour face while holding out such a box to Ted.
“Count Sibori left this place because of you, Sir Ted.”
“…What does that mean? Tell me slowly.”
“Sibori Academy, which had been declining despite all efforts and failed to produce a celebrity, was on the verge of closing. But then, Count Sibori came to know you, Sir Ted, and was overjoyed.”
That was how it had been.
Generally, second advancement or higher requires a long period of time.
During that time, Ted and Count Sibori had lived together and made quite a few memories.
Count Sibori had repeatedly called Ted his chief disciple and treated him better than anyone else. Though he was born a mischievous and kind old man, it was excessive even accounting for that.
But Ted had been uncomfortable with that.
He had felt it was a sort of business courtesy. If Ted appeared in the Caronia Martial Arts Tournament, revealed he was from Sibori Academy, and won, he could save the declining academy.
But that was an NPC’s matter.
To Ted, who was then solely fixated on the goal of reaching rank one, it was something that didn’t resonate with him at all. Moreover, he couldn’t even hope to win given his bad luck in everything he did.
“Count Sibori said it was all your fault and left this place to achieve an even more sublime realm himself. The missing person report was merely an excuse.”
Even then, Ronnaro had greatly admired Count Sibori.
Because Count Sibori had treated him no differently from others despite being a hunchback who was ignored.
‘But why is it my fault that the Count left?’
Ted wanted to say something, but he decided to go along with it since he understood the guy’s feelings.
“…I see, so you were quite angry at me?”
“No. I just hate you. Because of this.”
Having finished speaking, Ronnaro handed the box to Ted.
“When Count Sibori left this place, he gave gifts to me and Master Raiden. But he gave one more gift. He said to give it to you, Sir Ted, should he ever return. But I hated so much to give it to you. I apologize.”
A repetitive-action NPC acts while possessing two emotions and wills simultaneously.
For example, hungry but wanting to lose weight. Then they starve. Only this much is possible.
Recalling that fact, Ted could understand Ronnaro’s seemingly complicated behavior.
‘I have to give Sir Sibori’s gift to him, but I thought Sir Sibori left because of him, so I came to hate him and didn’t want to give it. That’s why he acted that way….’
The exquisite act of turning away from Ted and trying to get him expelled from here.
It was detestable but understandable.
Though a repetitive-action NPC, it was complicated behavior that emerged when two values conflicted within Ronnaro’s algorithm.
“Still… I’m glad you’re back. Though you’ll probably leave again.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No. It is I who am sorry. Then I shall go.”
Ronnaro left just like that.
Ted also opened the academy’s door and went out.
‘By the way… It’s a gift from the old man, but this definitely can’t be anything good….’
His luck with trivial matters was no different from others.
But his history was such that he would inevitably become unlucky when it came to big things.
Considering that, he would rather it be something trivial but helpful.
‘Or who knows? Maybe my history disappeared when I was reborn. The misfortune of the past twenty years gave me the +19 enhancement, after all. So maybe I used up my bad luck again when I was reborn.’
Thinking that, his heart pounded.
Soon, Ted opened the box nervously.
Crack—
The Beopdo Society seal broke, and the box slowly began to open.