I Got A Legendary Sniper Rifle - Chapter 120
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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 120
Ep. 120
However, even Ihyeon had to admit that this figure seemed far too clumsy to be a true enemy.
A real threat wouldn’t have opened fire the moment he appeared, nor would they have revealed themselves so carelessly.
Another Ihyeon spoke with a slightly fearful expression.
“If you shoot with that, I die too, right? You know that?”
To be honest, I was aiming to kill, but Ihyeon slowly lowered the gun anyway.
Then I furrowed my brow.
“Hmm, the kids didn’t tell you? Were you surprised?”
Another Ihyeon was saying something incomprehensible.
I shook my head.
“I was surprised, but not now.”
“Then why don’t you relax your expression?”
I gestured with my chin toward the other Ihyeon.
He turned his head backward as if he didn’t understand, then turned it back again.
Finally, unable to contain my frustration, I spoke.
“Who stands there leaning on a gun like it’s a walking stick?”
“…Oh, that’s what you meant? Sorry.”
Another Ihyeon finally picked up the gun.
Whoosh—
With a single gesture, it vanished into thin air.
Only then did my expression ease somewhat.
“A gun? I heard it was a type of staff, isn’t it?”
“Who told you that?”
“Well, it’s similar, isn’t it? It shoots mana, it’s long, it’s powerful.”
‘…Is it?’
Surprisingly, I was almost convinced by another Ihyeon’s argument!
Elsie had said the same thing before, but she hadn’t presented her reasoning so logically.
This one certainly seemed smarter than Elsie.
I couldn’t be sure if that was even a compliment.
In any case, this didn’t seem to be a combat space like the other ordinary floors.
“Did you call me here?” I asked.
Another Ihyeon nodded readily.
“That’s right. Sniper.”
…
“Just kidding, sorry. Choi Ihyeon.”
He apologized quickly, so I decided to let it pass.
Another Ihyeon introduced himself with an exaggerated greeting.
“Call me the Watchman.”
“The Watchman?”
At the unfamiliar title, Ihyeon tilted his head in confusion.
But he had definitely heard it before.
Watchman.
‘When the Tower first appeared… it was like some urban legend going around the city.’
It was literally an urban legend.
A rumor with no clear origin, no explanation for why it existed at all.
Yet here in this suspicious space, a being suddenly appeared introducing itself as a Watchman.
“Well, to be precise, I should say I was a Watchman? Now I’m nothing. Just a lingering echo remains.”
“So something like that actually existed?”
“As you can see?”
The Watchman answered by shrugging his shoulders.
Ihyeon didn’t fully believe his words.
I got sucked into some strange space, and suddenly this being appears claiming to be the Watchman from urban legends?
It would be strange to take such words at face value.
‘Still… maybe this creature is somehow connected to the Tower’s secrets that Jiana and Elsie mentioned.’
Ihyeon decided to wait a bit longer and listen.
The Watchman observed Ihyeon’s expression and let out a soft chuckle.
“It’s natural that you don’t believe me. Actually, someone like you fits the Tower better. Anyway, you’ve been climbing the Tower remarkably well, so I decided to call you once. This will probably be the first and last time.”
“You decided to call me?”
Ihyeon’s eyes narrowed.
One thing was certain—the Tower had extremely powerful restrictions placed upon it.
Even S+ grade items couldn’t carelessly violate them without accepting tremendous limitations.
If a being could speak of ‘calling’ someone at will in such a place, there was definitely something to it.
“But there must be many Hunters higher up than me.”
“Huh? Ha ha.”
The Watchman laughed softly as if bewildered.
“Ah, of course there are such beings. But that’s not my concern. Well, I was surprised that there are quite a few talented ones among ordinary people in this world.”
“Hmm.”
Ihyeon let out a small hum.
What makes me different then?
But Ihyeon had never thought of himself as particularly special.
He had awakened, but that was as common as a stone you’d kick while walking down the street.
And even then, he had the pathetic mana reserves to fire the Maesek Gun only twice.
In the special forces, he’d been crawling at the absolute bottom of the barrel.
Of course, thanks to the sniper rifle, he’d practically reversed his life, but still.
Considering all these factors, Ihyeon’s evaluation of himself was this:
“Isn’t someone like me just ordinary?”
“…?”
At that, the Watchman’s expression became truly dumbfounded.
“You really think that?”
I had seen that expression on Ihyeon’s face before.
Back when I explained that previous levels wouldn’t receive retroactive stat distribution after the per-level allocation increased by 5, Jia had worn that exact look.
I took a step back.
“…I suppose you could say the current situation is somewhat special.”
“Hmm….”
The Watchman fell silent for a long moment.
I didn’t like that silence.
“In any case, it means I’m not the sort of person who deserves special treatment. After all, I’m living while hiding my true identity.”
“Well… that’s….”
The Watchman’s expression revealed deeply conflicted emotions.
He was, after all, a person from inside the Tower.
Naturally, he didn’t know much about the world outside the Tower, only catching glimpses of it from time to time.
Yet despite that, he understood to some degree how the world’s people reacted to and evaluated Ihyeon—or rather, Ilgyeok.
Of course, he also knew why Ihyeon was hiding his true identity.
But since he seemed reluctant to discuss it, I decided to hold my tongue.
Instead, the Watchman offered sincere advice.
“If you really want to hide your identity, why not just give up on the S+ rank clear?”
Then it would be a simple matter.
After all, the world’s obsession with Ilgyeok was something Ihyeon had brought upon himself.
If you simply wanted to live modestly, you could just act accordingly.
Even if you achieved S+ rank unknowingly in the first few floors, everything after that was your own choice.
I shook my head firmly.
“That’s impossible.”
“Why?”
The Watchman’s expression suggested he was hearing a fascinating story.
I answered without hesitation.
“Because more than wanting to hide my identity, I’m someone who wants to see the end of the Tower. To do that, I need to maintain S+ rank as far as possible.”
“Why do you want to climb to the very top of the Tower?”
“To prove that even someone like me can reach the highest place. …And there are people I want to show this to. Most importantly, people shouldn’t have to die because of the Tower anymore.”
I felt something strange stirring within me.
It was as if my true feelings, which I hadn’t even recognized myself, were pouring out naturally.
It seemed to be because of this Watchman before me, who had a face identical to my own.
I pushed past the sense of alienation and asked.
“But if you’re the Watchman, then you’ve seen the end of the Tower?”
The legend of the Watchman.
The story that one becomes the Watchman upon reaching the end of the Tower.
Had he, who introduced himself as the Watchman, truly reached the very top?
But the Watchman offered no clear answer.
“Hahahaha!”
Instead, he simply laughed loudly.
Ihyeon shot back a remark.
“If you have nothing more to say, I’ll be on my way.”
“Wait a moment. Actually, the reason I called you here was to give you something like a gift.”
“I see.”
“?”
The Watchman tilted his head for a moment.
Well, he had mentioned giving a gift, but wasn’t that answer far too quick?
Then again, since Ihyeon maintained such a cold expression throughout, it didn’t seem like he was reacting to the mention of a gift at all….
‘I’ll just take the gift and leave right away.’
Of course, Ihyeon had been reacting to those words.
Regardless of who the other party was, he would extract maximum utility from whatever he could!
After all, a truly excellent marksman had to secure the greatest possible advantage from everything.
In any case, their hidden intentions crossed paths.
The Watchman shrugged and spoke.
“That may be so, but this is still a legitimate floor I created through my authority, so you’ll need to complete the task to claim the conquest reward.”
“As you wish.”
“Then.”
The Watchman waved his hand once toward the shooting range.
At that, a target suddenly rose up from far within the range.
“Hit it using only your own ability and your sniper rifle—no skills or items allowed. Success if you hit it, failure if you miss. Of course, even if you fail, there’s no problem with you proceeding to the 71st Floor.”
“Hmm.”
Ihyeon squinted and gazed at the target he had mentioned.
It wasn’t at the distance of the targets normally in the shooting range.
It was far beyond that.
The Ihyeon of the past wouldn’t have been confident he could hit it.
‘But now that I have stats, I don’t need to worry about that.’
Assessment complete.
Yet Ihyeon hesitated without preparing to shoot.
“Why are you hesitating?”
The Watchman asked with confusion.
Just moments ago, he had acted like he couldn’t resist anything related to a gift, so why was he suddenly wavering?
Then Ihyeon spoke to the Watchman with a suspicious expression.
“I’m wondering if this might be some kind of scam.”
Just hit the target and he’ll give a gift.
Wasn’t that certainly suspicious?
‘It seems too easy.’
The Watchman spoke with a deeply wounded expression.
“…Have you been deceived your whole life? Even like this, I have a certain reputation within the Tower.”
“Well, it does seem that way.”
Ihyeon had no intention of denying it that far.
Still, he’s supposed to be a Watchman, so I should trust him for now.
That’s where the conversation ended.
Ihyeon began examining the target more carefully.
With no skills whatsoever—only his own abilities and the sniper rifle’s power.
It was indeed simple.
Ihyeon shouldered the gun while standing and aimed at the target.
His distance stat had grown considerably by now, so this range posed no real obstacle.
However.
‘Hmm.’
Ihyeon kept his sights on the target and observed for a moment.
Whoosh— Bang—!
Unexpectedly, he shifted his aim significantly and pulled the trigger.
“Huh?”
The Watchman tilted his head, clearly not having anticipated this.
Of course, he didn’t understand the principles of firearms well, but he certainly knew how crucial the angle of a projectile weapon was.
The greater the distance, the more a single degree of deviation could create a massive difference.
But in the next moment, the Watchman smiled.
Crack—!
The mana bullet Ihyeon fired flew far below where the original target had been.
And it shattered a strange barrier of energy.
The original target vanished like a mirage, and a new target appeared along the bullet’s trajectory.
The real target, refracted and concealed by the strange energy.
Naturally, Ihyeon’s mana bullet destroyed that true target.
The Watchman asked with an impressed expression.
“How did you know?”
Ihyeon shrugged.
“I rolled around so much on the 60th Floor that it would be strange not to know.”
The Mirror Maze of the 60th Floor.
Not just simple flat mirrors, but as you progress deeper, convex mirrors, concave mirrors, and all manner of mirrors appear, dizzying the eyes of Hunters.
Fighting monsters in such a place gives you a certain sense for light distortion and confusion.
The Watchman then asked again with an even more bewildered expression.
“But didn’t you smash all those walls?”
“….”
Using facts and truth as a cowardly tactic.
Ihyeon remained silent.
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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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