Chapter 189

Chapter 189

“Haha, I will make sure to tell the director when I get back. Can I ask for your name?”

“Did you not see the sign? It’s Bottleneck!”

“I-is that so?”

“I didn’t know it was your name.” The neck of a bottle is not....... Leeha swallowed his last words and nodded.

In a normal store, the customer is king, but not here. This might be the only place in the continent that could make the bullets he needed, so there was no need to play around.

“Heung, alright. Let’s not talk about it anymore. Anyway, you’re here to make bullets, so let’s talk about that.”

“Great.”

When the topic of work came, Bottleneck’s mood changed. Leeha’s eyes also sharpened.

“Can I look at it for a while?”

“If you promise to make the bullets, I’ll show it to you.”

“I don’t know what kind of bullet you need, so how could I make it?”

“The bullet is like this.”

Leeha handed him a folded piece of paper. The length of the bullet and the cartridge case, as well as the size, caliber, and the internal structure where the gunpowder or detonator would be located were all drawn.

Bottleneck’s eyes widened for a moment, but then calmed down.

“He’s similar to that Kidd who didn’t have any charm. As expected, this generation’s trio aren’t fun. Is it because Browless raised them?”

“What are you talking about?”

“It means that our interest in making the bullet will dwindle if you tell us to make it like that. It’s more fun if there’s intrigue and surprise. We are not assembly machines.”

Does this mean that there was no room for craftsmanship? Leeha was surprised by the professional spirit set for the NPC.

“Beard Brothers! Can you make this?”

“Of course, boss. It’s certainly a lot easier to make than the bullets for the [Cobalt Blue Python].”

“Hmm. It’s rather similar to [Crimson Geckos]. It’s just that the size and design are slightly different.”

The two dwarves, who had been restless, rushed over from behind and looked at the drawing.

“That’s right. He surely is one of the Three Musketeers. Kidd and Luger’s bullets were made by us. If you doubt our skills, you will lose your neck.”

Bottleneck’s voice was full of pride. There was no need to offend him when he was like this.

“I believe in you. Then, please. Please make a bullet box that can fit the bullets into it as well. One set of five shots.”

Leeha wanted to match all the conditions with the gun that existed in reality. Bottleneck nodded, carefully examining the places where the bullet was combined.

“Good. It’s more convenient for calculating the price.”

“How much?”

“5 gold per set.”

600,000 won for five shots. Around 120,000 won per shot, equivalent to 1 gold.

Leeha’s face was distorted.

“What? Why is it so expensive! Even in America- no, in any case! A normal bullet costs 20 dollars for every 50 rounds, uhm- in Middle Earth it’s worth 20 silver!”

He knew from shooting. It wasn’t cheap either. Because if it was 20,000 won for 50 rounds, it was about 400 won per shot.

But how much was this? He said it was 100,000 won per shot?

‘Don’t let these bastards eat you.... Even in the U.S, these types of military ammunition were not sold to the private sector, so I can’t compare the prices, but- isn’t it too much?’

It hadn’t been long since he escaped the expensive price of gunpowder and iron bullets, but he had to live with the high price of the ammunition again! It was only natural for Leeha to complain.

“Did you know that the casings are a bit expensive?! Brass is rare even in the Adamantine Mountains! The detonator, gunpowder, and bullets don’t cost much, but the brass-”

“Is brass expensive?”

“Of course! Fuck, the last of the Three Musketeers is the worst, you came here without even knowing and made a ruckus! The others paid without saying a word!”

As if not wanting to lose, Bottleneck responded, with veins bulging on his neck.

The reason why the Korean military recovered cartridge casings is also due to the high cost of brass. Could this be called realistic, or simply annoying?

‘Damn it, aren’t those bastards loaded with money? If Luger’s bullet is more expensive than mine and Kidd’s, it couldn’t have been cheap...’

****

Riiing-, riiing-.

Even before dawn, Leeha’s phone rang.

“Yaaaawn. Hello.”

-Eong-ah? Were you sleeping?

“Ah, Kijeong. What’s up.”

Leeha peaked at the clock. 5 o’clock in the morning. Doesn’t this guy sleep?

-It’s getting crazy now! If you’re not busy, turn on your computer immediately!

“Crazy? What’s going crazy? Is there a war?” His hazy mind woke.

-What are you talking about! Of course, it’s Middle Earth!

There’s no war. After hearing Kijeong’s words, Leeha lost all the strength in his body. He got woken up by a Middle Earth addict.

“Kijeong....... I haven’t slept at all in the past few days. Can’t I check it out after I wake up?”

-Isn’t it better to watch it in advance? It was posted on Middle Earth’s homepage.

“Post? What post? Did they say my name?”

Leeha thought that he was saying something meaningless. However, Kijeong’s voice was serious.

-No, it’s not like that. We’re going to enter Middle Earth’s phase 2.

“Phase 2?”

-Don’t you know updates and patches? I assume it’s probably like that. It means that they are moving on to step 2.

Considering that there had never been anything like this since Middle Earth was opened.... He couldn’t figure out what was going to change.

It has been nearly two months since Leeha had started playing Middle Earth. His time in Middle Earth was almost a year.

‘Middle Earth has been open for 6 months in real-time. Considering the 5 times time difference...’

More than 2 years have already passed. Doing the update now would not be considered fast.

“Do you have any information?”

-There are no details yet, but there’s a small hint.

“What was that?”

– It’s [The successors of all heroes have been decided. Hurry up, attack is the best defense.].

“Huh? Is that all?”

-Yes. And in the back, it says phase 2. I can’t guess because there were too few clues, but people think it’s a patch because it says “Hurry up and attack”.

Kijeong’s words were true, but Leeha’s focus was elsewhere. It was on the phrase ‘the successor has been decided’.

“Maybe I was the last......?”

-Hmm? What are you talking about?

“Wait. Let me think about it for a moment.” Leeha was a musketeer, the third of the Three Musketeers.

What was the achievement and weapon he got? Besides, he remembered the line written on the achievement

‘It will be known all over the continent..... Is that what it meant?’

Heroes who were active during the second Human-Demon war.

It is not known what occupation, who, and how many there were, but there should be at least one who had acquired a ‘heroic’ weapon like Leeha.

Did phase 1 end when the last of the Three Musketeers, a job that very few users had selected, appeared as the heroes’ successor?

Although it was not possible to make a hasty conclusion, Leeha was confident that his guess was right.

-What, eong-ah? What do you know?

“Kijeong-ah, please connect. I will talk to you in-game.”

-Ok. I’ll log in right now. See you in the capital.

Leeha logged into Middle Earth.