I Got A Legendary Sniper Rifle - Chapter 152
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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 152
Ep. 152
Once Jia confirmed that the audience was sufficiently focused on her, she spoke in a calm and crystalline voice.
“Ilgyeok has no intention whatsoever of revealing his identity to the world at this time. While he is grateful for your interest and affection, he has asked that you refrain from making any overt efforts to locate him.”
“Ah…”
A collective sigh of disappointment escaped from the crowd.
So Ilgyeok’s first message was asking them not to search for him.
Of course, that wouldn’t stop many people from trying anyway, but at least Ilgyeok had made his intentions clear.
The reporters began asking questions to ease their disappointment.
“Well… couldn’t you at least tell us something about Ilgyeok’s characteristics? The weapons he primarily uses or… his skills? Now that Jia has been revealed to be a Spirit, it seems likely that the Mage-type characteristics that were previously known would be the strongest candidate.”
For a Hunter, characteristics were the most important thing.
If they could at least definitively learn Ilgyeok’s characteristics, much of the public’s curiosity could be satisfied.
But this time, before Jia could even answer, Claude stepped forward and spoke.
“I’ll tell you that.”
“Ooh!”
Testimony from Claude, who had directly cleared the tower with Ilgyeok!
The reporters quickly returned to their true nature, their eyes gleaming as they waited for his words.
Claude spoke with a meaningful smile.
“Ilgyeok shoots a gun.”
“?”
Silence fell the moment the word “gun” left his lips.
The reporters didn’t understand what they had just heard and tilted their heads in confusion.
“Bang, and he shoots, and all the monsters just die. The Lich died without us even knowing when it happened. Isn’t that amazing?”
Claude conveyed the situation exactly as he had witnessed it—100% truth—but the more he spoke, the less the reporters believed him.
Someone burst out laughing loudly.
“Come on, you never intended to tell us from the start.”
Another person let out a small complaint.
Shooting a gun inside the Tower? Did that even make sense?
They would find it more believable if Ilgyeok were a system bug.
“No, I’m serious?”
Claude spoke again, his expression showing frustration at why they wouldn’t believe him.
“Haha, Claude! You’re quite the comedian!”
“You’ve really become Korean now~”
“Anyway, thank you for all your hard work. We appreciate it.”
The reporters interpreted Claude’s demeanor as indicating he had no intention of continuing the press conference and began preparing to leave.
Jia had also vanished like magic at Ihyeon’s summons, making the atmosphere even more subdued.
Only a few reporters who had been filming Jia let out sighs of regret.
Then someone suddenly cried out.
“Wait? Now that I think about it, is Ilgyeok in this area?!”
“Huh?”
The entry condition for an Instant Tower was that the Tower had to be visible to the naked eye.
Naturally, in the middle of a mountain like this, the visible positions where the Tower could be seen were limited, so Ilgyeok might have been closer than I initially thought.
The reporters, as if they had just realized something, began scattering in all directions.
Being reporters who covered Towers and Hunters, there were quite a few Awakened and Hunters mixed among them.
They lacked the talent and courage to enter the Tower, but for coverage like this, Hunters had their advantages.
They could also check various announcements first, making it even more so.
However, among the reporters who rushed out a step too late, none of them caught sight of Ilgyeok.
Perhaps it was only natural.
How could those who feared Hunter life possibly chase after Ilgyeok, who had ground through every record in the world?
Besides, there was Jia’s warning too, so they weren’t genuinely trying to find him.
But surprisingly, I had been in that vicinity ever since I emerged from the Tower.
After confirming that all the reporters had withdrawn from the surrounding area.
“The effect is quite good, isn’t it?”
I emerged from the path like a shadow, silently and smoothly.
One of the three items obtained from the Lich—the one I hadn’t given to Claude.
「Robe of Dark Shadows (A+)
Consumes a minimal amount of the user’s mana to perfectly conceal existence.
Stealth increases significantly.
Effect decreases the more attacks are made.
Adds the dark magic attribute ‘Shadow’ to the user’s attacks.
Can cast the skill ‘Shadow Movement’ 10 times per day.」
There was a reason I had kept only this item.
It was the most useful of the three items for me.
It was a perfect upgrade to the Concealment Cloak I had been using until now.
Considering the Concealment Cloak was D-grade, this surpassed it by three entire tiers just in letter grade.
The effect was correspondingly tremendous.
Though it consumed a minimal amount of my mana, when I actually tested it, it felt like less than 1 was consumed per hour.
At that level, I could manage it sufficiently with just my own stats shared through the Soul Bond effect without even needing to draw on the sniper rifle’s mana.
Besides, I had no reason to use this robe for extended periods, so it was essentially penalty-free.
There was the condition that the effect decreased the more I attacked, but the Concealment Cloak was mercilessly dispelled anyway, so there was no comparison.
Shadow Movement, which allowed me to instantly traverse from shadow to shadow, could be used very effectively alongside sniper point conversion, and it even had a generous 10 uses per day.
The A+ grade was not wasted at all.
“Sniff sniff, this is really… I can’t feel anything, Master.”
“If you say so, then it must be true.”
“Hehe, I’m the legendary sword Elsie!”
The fact that even Elsie couldn’t detect my presence while wearing the robe said everything.
This alone was sufficient gain for me.
But the Instant Tower’s generous rewards didn’t end there.
「Instant Tower, conquest complete.
Calculating rewards.」
Just as with the previous Instant Tower where massive monsters had emerged, the system’s rewards naturally followed in sequence.
The byproducts from the miscellaneous monsters I’d hunted in the corridors were merely the baseline.
「Item, ‘Choi Ihyeon’s Sniper Rifle’ has leveled up.
Please check your status window.」
「Item, ‘Choi Ihyeon’s Sniper Rifle’ has reached level 35.
Please select a skill.」
The first thing was the level up.
Given the sheer number of monsters I’d defeated inside the Tower, and considering that the Lich operated on an entirely different scale than ordinary boss monsters, this reward was only natural.
‘And a new skill before entering the 75th Floor? This is definitely a win.’
「Instant Tower Clear Bonus.
You have acquired 10 B-rank Magic Stones.
Please check your inventory.」
And true to the Instant Tower’s nature, the magic stones were distributed quite generously.
One might think it was a bit meager for defeating a Lich, but 10 B-rank Magic Stones were worth over 500 million won at market value.
Besides, since I’d expended relatively little effort, it would be greedy to complain.
‘A person should always live virtuously. Yeah.’
Unless it concerned my own stats, I had no greed in such matters.
‘…But if I think about it, B-rank Magic Stones being equivalent to the Goblin bones I raised does feel a bit stingy.’
Such thoughts crossed my mind, but good is good.
Who knows how much B-rank Magic Stones would be worth once Ilgyeok’s premium was added?
And finally, the S+ rank bonus.
「S+ Rank Clear Bonus.
Item, ‘Skill Rank Random Increase Ticket’ x2 will be additionally granted.」
“Kya… Now that’s what I’m talking about!”
Just as I’d been feeling a bit unsatisfied here and there, the system quenched my thirst by giving me two tickets.
Well then, the press conference should be all wrapped up by now.
“Should I check everything after I get past this final hurdle?”
I called over Jia and Elsie and asked with a very serious expression.
The spirits, as if resolved for what was to come, nodded solemnly.
“Yes, Master. Even if death stands in our way, we will follow.”
“Yeah, Master. This is really the final hurdle now.”
The Instant Tower had already been cleared.
And I’d even defeated the Lich in the process.
Yet there was still a final hurdle remaining?
The answer became clear only after I returned home.
“Phew….”
Before opening the front door, I exhaled a very deep sigh.
Beyond this threshold awaited something far more terrifying than the Lich.
I needed to open the door, but my hand wouldn’t move.
I hadn’t been this nervous even when crossing the stone gate on the 5th Floor.
Click—clack—
At that moment, Jia and Elsie, standing on either side of Ihyeon, placed their hands over his.
It was a reassuring gesture, just as they had done inside the Tower, offering their strength to support him.
“Yeah, I survive because of you two.”
Ihyeon sensed that the moment of decision had arrived and opened the front door.
Creak—
As you know, Jia had revealed her face to the world starting from this raid.
Questions about Ihyeon’s abilities had been glossed over when Claude demonstrated his exquisite and seasoned skill at crafting perfect falsehoods from perfect truths, one hundred percent each.
But there were cases that couldn’t be dismissed so easily.
“Mom, Dad. We’re home.”
Precisely.
“…Hyun, come sit here. Jia and Elsie too.”
Flinch—!
It was Minjeong and Donghoo, who had cherished Jia and Elsie like newly acquired daughters.
Normally, it wasn’t yet time for them to return from the supermarket, yet both had come home early.
From the living room came Minjeong’s coldly subdued voice.
Donghoo too, unlike usual, wore an exceptionally stern expression—he wasn’t even sitting in his massage chair!—and glared at the three entering the foyer.
“…Yes. Come on, you two.”
But Ihyeon had already anticipated this, and was prepared for it.
He no longer intended to avoid it.
From the moment he first hid his true identity from his parents, this was a moment he had to face and overcome.
Ihyeon, Jia, and Elsie all walked to the living room with resolute expressions and sat down facing them.
On one side were Minjeong and Donghoo.
On the other, Ihyeon and the Spirits sat facing them in a large formation.
Once everyone was seated, Minjeong spoke in a firm voice.
“Mom and Dad saw it on TV too.”
“Yes.”
Ihyeon answered briefly.
At this very moment, he knew better than anyone that he had nothing else to say.
“A familiar person appeared.”
For others, the items could hide their presence, and even if they’d seen the face, it would have ended at “I feel like I’ve seen this somewhere before.”
But deceiving Minjeong and Donghoo, who lived under the same roof, was impossible.
Ihyeon too had been prepared since the moment he decided to disclose the information about being an S+ rank item.
Ihyeon bowed deeply to Minjeong and Donghoo and spoke.
“I’m sorry for hiding it all this time, Mom and Dad.”
He had wanted to keep it hidden until the very end if possible.
A son who had experienced a terrible accident in the military and had nearly closed his heart.
It was good that he had recovered considerably after becoming a Hunter, but that was probably all his parents desired.
What parent would wish for their son to be Ilgyeok and simultaneously engage in perilously dangerous activities in the ultra-high floors known as the Tower’s frontline?
Yet Ihyeon had to climb the Tower, so he had wanted to live pretending to be a leisurely semi-unemployed person like this.
But now it had become difficult to keep hiding.
And Ihyeon had grown confident in his own standing.
The confidence that even if he revealed the bare minimum of his identity, no one would harbor any ill intentions toward him.
Especially now that the Frontier had joined the united front.
It was time to reveal everything to his parents.
Minjeong fell silent for a moment before speaking again.
“You said S+ items didn’t exist until now.”
“Yes. I was fortunate enough to obtain Jia and Elsie.”
Until now, Minjeong and Donghoo had thought items housing spirits were unique, even rare, but they hadn’t imagined they were completely unprecedented in the entire world.
Yet the spirits they had grown fond of were actually proof that their son was Ilgyeok.
They may have felt a sense of emptiness, or even betrayal.
Ihyeon desperately wanted to apologize for his parents’ feelings.
“As you know, Mom and Dad, I am Ilgyeok. I was fortunate that my sniper rifle became truly remarkable… and I’m climbing the Tower well with these two. It’s not as dangerous as you might think. As you know, I haven’t been injured so far…”
Whoosh—!
“You must have been under so much stress all this time, our son.”
“…?”
Just as Ihyeon was about to reveal the story he had prepared.
Minjeong didn’t even wait to hear the rest of it before pulling her son into her arms in a tight embrace.
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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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