I Got A Legendary Sniper Rifle - Chapter 115
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 115
Ep. 115
Elsie had been living with the joy of experiencing a new world through smartphones and learning about Earth.
Most of it was internet memes or gaming videos, but if her master feared this existence so greatly, wouldn’t it be appropriate for a loyal item like herself to help gather information?
‘Hehehehe, that stoic armored fox wouldn’t do something like this for the master.’
So Elsie waited for only the moments when Minjeong and Donghoo returned home.
“Mom and Dad are here.”
“Mother! Mother!”
“Oh my, our Elsie, did you have fun today?”
“Hmph, I went to the Tower!”
As Elsie deliberately pouted, Minjeong and Donghoo nodded with pleased expressions.
“Welcome home, Mother and Father.”
“Yes, Jia was well too?”
A fresh feeling had been added to a house that once had only a dark son.
Even now, seeing Ihyeon come out last to greet them solidified Minjeong and Donghoo’s thoughts.
In any case, once the greetings ended, Elsie extended her hand to Minjeong.
“Lend me your phone, Mother!”
“Don’t mix your speech levels.”
“Please lend me your phone!”
Behind her, Ihyeon frowned and scolded Elsie.
She seemed to accept “Mother” as a proper noun of sorts, but Elsie struggled to understand the concept of formal speech.
She was older and stronger, so why should she use formal language?
There was no logic to refute that, really.
At best, she would correct her speech when Ihyeon said something about it.
As Elsie opened her hand wide and spoke, Minjeong stopped mid-motion of taking out her phone from her pocket.
“Hmm.”
“Why, why not?!”
“It’s not that giving you the phone is bad, but…”
“It’s not good to give it to her. This girl watches strange things every night.”
Then Minjeong took a plastic bag from Donghoo’s hand and spoke.
“Let’s eat first. The mackerel was fresh today, so I brought home an extra one.”
“Eh, food? What about ice cream?”
“Elsie.”
“Yes?”
Elsie appeared noticeably disappointed at the word “food.”
Being a spirit, eating wasn’t necessary for her.
Jia, just as she had done with the beef bone soup before, would readily express gratitude and join in when Minjeong suggested eating, but Elsie found it bothersome and did not.
However, Minjeong and Donghoo seemed determined to make sure Elsie, who appeared as a young child, ate properly.
Minjeong spoke with a cunning smile.
“No phone if you don’t eat.”
“W-well…!”
Elsie looked up at me with an expression of profound shock.
I let out a soft chuckle.
“Looking at me won’t help. I wasn’t planning to lend you my phone anyway.”
“No, that’s not it.”
“?”
“How are you exactly the same as Master and Mother?”
“….”
Elsie seemed genuinely astonished.
Of course we’re the same—we’re family!
I started to explain it that way, then stopped myself.
If Elsie then asked that age-old question, “But how do sons come into being?”, it would be tremendously awkward.
Even with a Spirit as the subject, it would still be awkward.
Meanwhile, since the topic had come up anyway, I decided to have a serious word with Mother.
“Mother.”
“What is it now?”
“This is no joke, but you really should stop lending your phone to Elsie. After all, early childhood education shapes one’s entire life….”
“I’ll make braised mackerel with seasoned greens and radish in just a moment, so wait.”
“Yes, braised mackerel is definitely something to look forward to.”
My serious intention was immediately abandoned.
I thought it would be simple grilled mackerel, but braised mackerel?
And with refreshing seasoned greens and radish added to it?
‘I can’t resist this!’
What’s wrong with the child watching a phone at night!
She’s not even really a child—she’s a Legendary Sword who’s lived long enough to have aged.
“Is there anything I can help with?”
“Then could you prepare the seasoned greens….”
Watching me follow Mother into the kitchen as if I hadn’t just spoken with such seriousness, Elsie tilted her head in confusion.
“Master really is unpredictable. Don’t you agree, armored fox?”
But Jia, who might have answered Elsie, had already vanished.
She had gone to the kitchen to help Mother as well.
Realizing this, Elsie frowned and spoke.
“Really, am I the strange one? Is that normal here? Why would they volunteer to help with unnecessary work? I just wanted some ice cream….”
Not long after, a voice rang out from the kitchen, calling the family to gather.
Along with it came the appetizing aroma of food.
Mother, I, and Jia were already seated in the kitchen, followed by Donghoo.
Finally, Elsie entered with a distinctly reluctant expression.
“I’m only eating this because I need to borrow the phone.”
“Sure, sure, just try it first.”
“I’m a Spirit who doesn’t really need to eat, you know? Well, the smell is nice enough, but don’t expect too much—”
“Eat.”
“Mmph!”
To Elsie, who chattered endlessly, I simply tore off the thickest piece of mackerel flesh without a word, placed it over her rice, and fed it to her directly.
Elsie’s face contorted at the sudden foreign sensation, but she had no choice but to chew the rice and mackerel to say something to me.
‘Hmm, it’s edible enough. Ice cream is better, of course. Mackerel, was it? The flavor is quite pleasant. It’s soft too.’
And ten minutes later.
“Mackerel!”
“Did you enjoy it?”
“Mackerel! Mackerel!”
Elsie had become completely obsessed with mackerel.
It seemed she’d devoured nearly a third of all the mackerel placed on the table.
The only reason disaster hadn’t struck was because she was still clumsy with chopsticks and had to carefully remove the bones.
After that, she kept shouting about mackerel just like when she’d first discovered ice cream.
Minjeong watched her with an amused expression and handed her a phone.
“Here, play with this now. Don’t overdo it like Ihyeon said—you need to go to bed early, understand?”
“Mackerel! Phone! Mackerel! Phone!”
Elsie’s eyes and nostrils wide with wonder at each new discovery, she scampered off into the room with a patter of footsteps.
Before entering, I thought I heard her shout something like “Defense Ministry!”
‘…Why would she shout that?’
I felt slightly uneasy, but the dishes still needed washing, so I couldn’t follow her.
“Mom, please go rest now. I’ll take care of the dishes.”
“Don’t be silly. You must be exhausted from going into the Tower.”
“I’m not really tired.”
“That’s just what you say?”
No, I’m genuinely not tired.
My body was in peak condition, better than merely fine.
As my stats continued to rise, my physical endurance—already excellent even by special forces standards—kept improving.
Though my parents didn’t know, I, operating as Ilgyeok, hadn’t even exerted myself much in clearing the Tower!
I felt deeply satisfied internally.
‘Mother, your son is none other than the famous Ilgyeok! How could I possibly be tired!’
I couldn’t speak, but my mouth itched to burst with the words.
Meanwhile, Minjeong picked up rubber gloves, paused to think, then set them back down as she spoke.
“You’re right, our son isn’t Ilgyeok. He’s still working in the lower layers, so it should be fine.”
“…”
I looked at Minjeong with a deeply wounded expression.
Minjeong laughed belatedly and explained.
“No, I mean, Mom just wants you to be safe. If you worked in the higher layers like Ilgyeok, it would be dangerous, right? Every new layer is more perilous. Even if you earn less money, safety comes first, understand?”
I’m safely working in the higher layers, though!
How I wish I could say that.
I nodded with slightly deflated spirits.
“I understand, Mom.”
“That’s right, thank you, son.”
With that, Minjeong headed to her room to rest her exhausted body from working at the supermarket, and I picked up rubber gloves instead.
“I’ll help you with that.”
Jia quickly moved to my side—there was no way she could just watch me work alone.
“You will?”
Jia was already an established master of housework.
By now, she had become so skilled at cleaning, laundry, dishes, and organizing that she could draw admiration from Minjeong.
‘She’s quite different from that idiot who just wastes ice cream in her room.’
I glanced sideways toward where my room was located and thought to myself.
“Eek! What is that? It’s scary!”
…Elsie was making strange noises, though I had no idea what she was doing.
* * *
Floor 55.
The place where one must engage in a fierce battle with the Troll Gargoyle guarding the totem within the temple.
…Of course, I had cleared it by firing a sniper rifle from a distance, but that’s beside the point—something was off about this place.
And here, there was one Hunter who had just finished that fierce battle.
Kwuagwang——!!!
“Ugh! What kind of damn bastard exists like this!!!”
Clatter— Clatter—
“Charge! Charge! I barely have any mana left now!”
Nearly a hundred ordinary Skeletons, and besides those, a Dark Mage commanding an Undead legion mixed with occasional higher-tier variants like Mages and Warriors.
The distinctive feature was that unlike other Dark Mages who left combat entirely to their Undead and watched from behind, or at best provided magical support,
Scrape— Scrape—!
“What if you can’t fight better than me? Do you want to get chewed out by Elsie?”
Clatter—!
This Dark Mage stood out for fighting almost at the frontlines herself, wielding a sword and swinging it directly.
…It was Minjoo, climbing the Tower with the singular determination to see Ilgyeok’s face, if only out of spite.
After considerable effort, the Troll Gargoyle was cracked in places and looked as though it could collapse at any moment.
Though it felt like it was in its final death throes, I couldn’t afford to be careless.
My mana and other consumables were nearly depleted as well, so I had to be even more careful.
Minjoo didn’t want to lose the victory she had barely secured after nearly three hours of intense combat.
And finally.
Thud—!
The massive body of the Troll Gargoyle, which had been flailing its limbs and striking with its sword until the very end, collapsed.
The battle ended with an impact that seemed to shake the very earth.
After having a Skeleton poke it a few times to confirm the kill(?), Minjoo wiped the sweat dripping down her forehead and spoke.
“Phew, still, it was the right choice to join Frontier. The support is solid too… Mom was right about getting a job at a big corporation after all. Yeah, better to be the tail of a dragon than the head of a snake.”
It had been quite some time since I was unexpectedly called to the hotel and parted ways with Elsie.
If it hadn’t been for Frontier, would I have been able to climb this far this quickly?
Minjeong didn’t see it that way.
She had assumed Frontier made the recruitment offer out of embarrassment for calling someone completely uninvolved, but their support turned out to be quite genuine.
They provided not only equipment for a Dark Mage, but also sword training, and even various know-how for effectively conquering each floor.
Since the information was far superior to what was generally known, Minjeong had been climbing the Tower at a speed nearly comparable to Ilgyeok’s.
Though the gap was gradually widening nonetheless.
Still, Minjeong hadn’t requested that Frontier form a party for her.
She was well aware that there weren’t many Frontier agents in Korea, and if she climbed the Tower by being carried like that, she’d have nothing to say even if she met Ilgyeok later.
Then, suddenly recalling the Squad Leader who was in charge of her training and knowledge transfer, Minjeong flinched.
If Elsie had at least shown her character from their first meeting, making adaptation manageable, her current Squad Leader was….
‘A madman with clear eyes, I suppose.’
Minjeong suddenly recalled the blonde foreign Squad Leader grinning and shook her head.
ID ‘ForeignLabor’.
In Korean translation, foreign laborer.
Minjeong just called him the foreign laborer.
He introduced himself as Jack, but his full name was still a secret.
Of course, Jack consistently called Minjeong ‘Tarakdwaeji Minjoo’.
The psychological warfare over IDs wasn’t without reason.
– Didn’t you say not to call me by my ID? My name’s in the ID anyway.
– No, I don’t know Korean well.
It was nonsense.
He only pretended not to know Korean when it was disadvantageous for him.
Once, they happened to go to the market together in reality, and at that time his skill in negotiating three thousand won off from the woman selling blood sausage was masterful.
– Foreign laborer.
– Oh, boss. When you call me that, Foreign Labor feels sad.
By now, such conversations had solidified into something like a familiar greeting.
In any case, thanks to Jack and Claude’s help, her swordsmanship and the methods of utilizing Dark Magic had become far more refined, so she couldn’t call him a completely useless person.
Minjeong gazed at the cave deeply hollowed out before her and recalled Jack’s words.
– Once you defeat the Troll Gargoyle, there’s nothing inside the cave. Finding the totem won’t be difficult either, so you should be able to clear it right away. Three hours should be enough to complete it, right?
‘Look, when he says things like that, he speaks more coherently than me. But three hours? He’ll just complain a lot once we head back.’
Minjeong grumbled and stepped into the cave.
It was fortunate that Jack was a handsome blonde; if he’d been even slightly less attractive, she would have just—bang!
…Of course, no matter what Minjeong did, she still couldn’t defeat Jack.
In any case, the three-hour time limit Jack mentioned was nearly up.
Minjeong cancelled most of her summons and only brought along a few skeletons.
After such a prolonged battle, Minjeong moved with a rattle, rattle, just like the skeletons.
The totem came into view not long after.
“It’s quite larger than the others?”
Unlike the previous totems that hid in all sorts of strange places and tormented her, this totem sat there like a statue, plain and simple.
Of course, even so, its quality was as crude as before.
At this rate, one couldn’t even tell if it was supposed to be a person or an Orc.
“Well, everything in this Tower is like that anyway.”
Minjeong resigned herself to the situation and swung her sword, cleaving through the totem.
With a crackling sound, the totem split into two pieces and crumbled to the ground.
「Troll Gargoyle defeated.
Unidentified totem destroyed.
Floor 55 cleared.
Rank: B」
At the same time, a message confirming the clearance of this tedious 55th floor appeared.
The rank was B.
It was roughly the result I had anticipated, but Minjeong clicked her tongue.
Three hours for a solo run was an impressive record, yet it was only a B.
“How on earth did Ilgyeok manage to clear this with an S+ rank?”
I couldn’t understand it at all.
Most of the floors I cleared these days ranged between C and B+.
Only when my condition was truly excellent and everything unfolded according to plan would I occasionally achieve an A, rare as rain in a drought.
Yet even with this performance, the atmosphere at Frontier was one of considerable satisfaction, noting that I was doing remarkably well for someone climbing the Tower alone.
Would I need to defeat the Troll Gargoyle in a single strike to receive an S+ rank?
“…That doesn’t make sense.”
Recalling the Troll Gargoyle that had rampaged wildly until moments ago, slaughtering hundreds of Skeletons including resummoned ones, I felt my spine chill despite having already conquered it.
A mid-boss I had no desire to face again.
With that thought, my legs gave way and I collapsed onto the ground.
I intended to check the rewards and leave.
Since it was only a B, it would probably just give me some Magic Stones and nothing more.
Or so I thought.
「…. ….」
“…What?”
An anomaly appeared before my eyes.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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