Matan’s Shooter

“Ultimately, it seems we didn’t find out much.”

“Argh, if Saur Land was a kind of bonus stage, I wanted to ask more about what Laputa signified…”

“Damn it, more importantly, your R- rank achievement! That’s what needed addressing!”

Even though Kidd, Leeha, and Luger belatedly grumbled, the GM had already disappeared.

There were countless things they wanted to ask the all-knowing GM. Though, even if they did ask, proper answers might not have been given.

“Damn, it’s regretful… but that’s Middle Earth for you.”

A game crafted by its users. What more could one want from a fully automated game that even the development team couldn’t patch midway?

Realizing that even the administrator could do nothing was a significant gain.

Browless called out to the players who were huddled together.

It was time to begin the main exploration of Laputa as Alexander had appeared.

However, those who had already encountered the GM couldn’t easily sort out their feelings.

The GM had said he couldn’t intervene directly and wouldn’t engage in partial actions by providing information or aid to specific players.

“But… even just appearing and speaking itself—”

“Is an immense help.”

“Damn dinosaur, it doesn’t even accept whispers. Might as well have given outright instructions!”

Even during this, Luger tried to whisper to the dinosaur named ‘GM’.

Of course, it was to no avail.

The Three Musketeers’ eyes were fixated on one spot.

And Fernand was already gazing at it too.

“Regardless of Laputa’s significance, the most important thing here is… this.”

Perhaps it was to prevent them from wasting time exploring Laputa. Hearing Fernand’s words, Leeha nodded.

The significance of Laputa, the difference between it and Saur Land, a de facto bonus stage and former workplace of the Guple staff—none of that mattered now, did it?

They had essentially identified the most crucial point in Laputa.

“The GM explicitly mentioned it… that alone exponentially increases its importance.”

“Moreover, they even brought up 《Arcane Sniper》 and highlighted its counterforce. In other words,”

“The ‘Power of God’.”

Luger interrupted what Kidd was about to say.

Listening to his words, Leeha nodded.

Assuming Laputa had no other hidden meaning, excluding piles of gold and jewels, its presence in Middle Earth’s story implied that the true essence of Laputa was this.

‘The Power of God, also known as the White Rose. There’s a way to acquire it. The likelihood is high.’

Losing Arcane Sniper to Chiyou had led to this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Had Kyle still been here, even if he discovered the gate named ‘Stairway to Heaven’, he wouldn’t have guessed its incredible significance.

“Life’s unpredictable, isn’t it?”

“Nothing is certain yet. We only know its name, not how to open it.”

As soon as Kidd finished speaking, Luger pulled the doorknob. Without a hint of rattling, the doorknob remained unwavering.

“What the!? It feels like pulling a wall!”

Grunting, he tried pulling harder and even struck the doorknob with the muzzle of the Cobalt Blue Python, but nothing changed.

That’s when light flickered from the trigger part of the Cobalt Blue Python.

“What? What is that?”

“Hmm?”

Leeha and Kidd didn’t miss it.

“What, what was it? Come on! Let’s get it done, director!”

Luger abruptly stopped what he was doing and turned around. He began running toward the direction where Browless was.

Kidd frowned at Luger’s sudden bizarre behavior. Leeha had seen such a light before.

No, Luger had already given enough hints with his own words.

‘When he fired the rail gun… right. He said ‘he hates losing more than death’, referring to the python—! Damn it, Luger!?’

Leeha felt elated but also had mixed emotions.

Was this something to be happy about?

Kidd felt the same. He glanced at Luger running away and Leeha’s subtle expression while adjusting his waistband.

* * *

“Focused on the ‘Stairway to Heaven’, have you? It seems you didn’t spend the last five days in vain.”

Ulrek nodded.

The Three Musketeers and Fernand had already informed Ulrek and Alexander which areas to concentrate their investigation on.

There was also an unspoken agreement not to mention the GM to Alexander, who believed Fernand’s exploits alone were key.

“Yes, indeed. Ulrek-nim, have you done any investigations in Saur Land as well?”

Nodding appropriately at Ulrek’s remark, which perceived logout status as ‘individual investigation time’, Leeha inquired.

Ulrek, gazing at the ‘Stairway to Heaven,’ responded.

“Human Ha Leeha, you asked about this before, didn’t you?”

“Yes?”

“Was it to prevent Laputa’s civilization and technology from leaking out that our nation closed itself off from the outside?”

“Oh, yes. That’s correct.”

In order to obtain a ticket to Laputa, Leeha had asked this while persuading Ulrek with Fernand.

At that moment, Ulrek had merely sipped his coffee without any response, but Leeha interpreted it as tacit agreement and did not press further.

‘Ah… wait. If he’s bringing this up now―’

Leeha realized why Ulrek mentioned it then.

It wasn’t something one could figure out easily.

It was information he could piece together from what the GM had said!

Was it that Saur Land declared isolation to prevent Laputa’s civilization from leaking out?

‘That wasn’t it!’

Ulrek tilted his head, seeing the shock in Leeha’s wide eyes.

“Indeed, you’re a smart human. Yes, the reason you’re guessing is correct.”

There was no reaching Laputa without passing through Saur Land.

Without awareness of the place called Saur Land, no one could even know of its existence.

In other words, as long as Saur Land remained isolated from the outside world, no one could reach Laputa.

What was the reason for going to such lengths to block it?

“This, this is it! To protect this― the existence known as the ‘Stairway to Heaven’! To prevent its existence from being known to the outside!”

“Correct.”

Ulrek agreed simply.

As Ulrek, the third prince of Saur Land, testified that Saur Land had shut itself off solely to protect ‘this,’ Kidd, Luger, and Fernand became even more convinced.

‘We can consider the probability to be over 90%.’

‘Heh heh… the power of a god.’

Here lay the power of a god.

It was almost certain by a very high probability.

“Hmm. So it’s not to prevent Laputa’s power from leaking out, but rather to protect Laputa itself. Fellow dragon, do you sense anything?”

“Not really. It doesn’t seem worthy of the grand name ‘Stairway to Heaven’.”

Alexander and Bailephus too were looking at the door from a distance.

Bailephus could sense mana and divine power, which was a concept set apart from mana.

Yet, the ancient gold dragon just shook his head.

Ulrek chuckled softly.

“Of course. That thing is perfectly sealed, so no energy can escape. If you’re curious, would you like to see it for yourself, dragon?”

“I’d appreciate the opportunity.”

Ulrek personally led Bailephus to the door.

Leeha and other humans followed them.

Alexander and Browless, seeing the ‘Stairway to Heaven’ for the first time, looked curious.

However, the users who had already heard the story from the GM focused more on the reactions of Ulrek and Bailephus than on the door.

“I still don’t sense anything. You said you’ve investigated this?”

“Indeed. Not just one or two years, but many. Every head of the Department of Creation Science has been through here, and even my father, the current king, has visited this place, only to conclude that this door can’t be opened.”

Like an adult giving a child the correct answer while they struggled over a problem, Ulrek was now teaching Bailephus based on his prior experiences.

But it wasn’t just an issue that could end with the statement “it can’t be opened.”

“It… it can’t be opened? Even in Saur Land?”

Wasn’t this the very door the GM had insisted must be opened?

Naturally, the clue should be within Saur Land.

Leeha’s reaction mirrored the expressions of Kidd, Luger, and Fernand exactly.

“As I said, our technology only derives from investigating the relics of Laputa. It stands to reason that our current technological science can’t open this.”

“B-but ― that

Even though Saur Land only possessed modern technology for the convenience of the Goople employees, trying to explain this wouldn’t make sense to Ulrek.

“Speaking of which, where did that dinosaur, GM, go?”

Alexander suddenly remembered and asked Ulrek. Ulrek tilted his head in confusion.

“GM? Who’s that?”

“What? You don’t know GM?”

Ulrek had already forgotten about the GM’s existence.

Alexander, bewildered, glanced at Bailephus, who returned an expressionless ‘What are you looking at?’ face.

“W-what the heck? What’s going on?”

Alexander looked back and forth between the users.

Nobody easily opened their mouths. Leeha, without even time to enjoy Alexander’s confusion, asked Ulrek again.

“Even if it can’t be opened― then do you know how it can be opened?”

“Isn’t it obvious? You need the appropriate key.”

Ulrek pointed toward the ‘Stairway to Heaven.’

Alexander grabbed Luger and Fernand and asked, “What the hell is going on? Why doesn’t anyone know about a giant like GM?!”

But no one paid him any attention.

Everyone else, including Leeha, Kidd, Browless, and even Fernand, who had been captured by Alexander, was staring at a part of the door that Ulrek was pointing to.

“Engraving…? It looks like a carving—”

In the center of the door, there was a specific shape that was recessed inside.

Fernand shook his head as he observed the deeply carved part, which didn’t seem like an engraving.

“No, it’s a keyhole. It looks like we need to insert a key that fits this shape.”

“Yes, that’s what we thought too. We tried to create the shape using all possible minerals and materials available, but nothing worked. Even when we infused mana, it didn’t react.”

“Hmm… It means we might need an artifact-like item.”

Given the advanced technology of Saur Land, it would have considerable item replication power.

The fact that none of their crafted keys could unlock the door indicated that it was likely a very unique item, possibly one that only existed one or two times in Middle Earth.

“But what is this pattern? A bar that runs straight with… a circle on top, and— something protruding from both sides… Normally, a lock would just have a regular keyhole, right? Hmm, seems familiar though.”

Fernand mumbled as he touched the recessed part.

At that moment, Leeha shouted, “Aah!? Th—the key, that key! Hold on a sec! Fernand! Let me see that for a moment!”

Leeha pushed Fernand aside and quickly squatted down.

The pattern recessed into the door was certainly not common.

It wasn’t a typical shape where you insert a key, turn the cylinder to unlock the mechanism. This slot required something to be ‘inserted’ into it, and the shape was?

‘A protruding bottom part. This is the leg of the key. And the top part is the key head. The parts sticking out from the sides of the key head are… wings.’

“Do you know what this is? Kidd, do you know as well?”

“Well! I think I am familiar with the shape, but I can’t recall exactly.”

Fernand was the one who dug out the clue from his faint memory.

Luger and Kidd tilted their heads, unable to recall properly. Even Alexander and Bailephus could not figure it out further.

And it made sense.

“Yes, that’s it.”

“You know something, Ha Leeha.”

“Yes, I have… held this item before.”

Because Leeha was the only one who had ever held that item.

“What!?”

“No, how—where did you get that—”

“Ha Leeha! No way! Didn’t you say this was your first time in Laputa?”

The users were instantly flustered and started babbling.

Even Ulrek shook his head in disbelief, but Leeha was certain.

He had indeed acquired an item that matched the shape etched into the door.

‘Is that why GM targeted me?’

As far as Leeha knew, since that time, the item had never been transported outside. He murmured softly.

“Do you remember chasing Bluebeard on the continent of Lope? The quest where we had to actually kill Igor, Crowley, and Faust.”

“Well…, ah! The 〈Operation to Exterminate the Demon King’s Army〉, right?”

“Yes. Does anyone remember the item I received from His Holiness the former Pope during that time?”

Only Leeha, who was the leader of the extermination squad, received this item.

The item, given by Pope Gaio IV, was to ensure convenience and cooperation across the continent, symbolizing their mission to kill Bluebeard.

“Could it be…?”

“Yes. It’s exactly this shape, exactly like this.”

Leeha recalled the name and description of the item. He felt a sudden urge to laugh.

‘Indeed… there are no useless items in Middle Earth. A key that wasn’t used back then is being used now.’

Why was Ezwen Church so welcoming of the investigation into Laputa? They had probably anticipated this.

Middle Earth contained hints at many places.

Realizing or not realizing them made a significant difference.

“The item that can open the 〈Stairway to Heaven〉 is the 〈Key of Jannate〉.”

Leeha still remembered the description of the quite unique item.

〈The Key of Jannate〉

Effect: Buff while held – ‘Blessing of Ahlo’

Description: A gift given by Ahlo to his earthly representative. There are two conflicting theories: the 『Spiritual Symbol Theory』, which suggests it symbolizes opening the closed hearts of humans, and the 『Material Reality Theory』, which posits it as a necessary item to see the god’s physical form and access Upper Earth. The Great Pope Leorio XIII of the 77th epoch once left a will granting the treasures of the Pope to the one who resolves this conflict, but it remains unresolved.

Since they had already entered Laputa, there was no need to leave immediately.

At least for one day, Leeha and his group decided to spend time investigating to ensure there was nothing they missed.

And afterwards? The next destination?

There was little doubt about it. They would head to where the 〈Key of Jannate〉 was found.

The next destination was Ezwen Church.