I Got A Legendary Sniper Rifle - Chapter 153

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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 153
Ep. 153
Now that I think about it, Minjeong rarely remembered holding her son like this.
She had thought he might dislike it, and it felt like she was being overly sentimental.
But this time, she needed an embrace that came from the heart.
How much hardship must he have endured alone, bearing the weight of the name Ilgyeok all this time.
Though he was now a proper adult, in his parents’ eyes he would always appear as their young child, which made it all the more poignant.
In particular, Minjeong recalled how she used to give Ihyeon meaningful looks whenever news about Ilgyeok appeared on television.
…She also remembered enthusiastically investigating Ilgyeok’s true identity with the neighborhood ladies at the supermarket.
Once Minjeong grew accustomed to Ihyeon’s warmth, she released him and asked.
“The Tower really wasn’t dangerous for you?”
Ihyeon answered with a smile.
“Really, Mom. I’m stronger than you might think. Well… as you and Dad have heard until now, you probably know.”
“Hmm, so Ilgyeok is quite strong indeed.”
Donghoo nodded in agreement, looking a bit sheepish.
Then he casually opened his phone screen and showed it to Ihyeon.
On the screen was surprisingly Donghoo’s account, registered as a member of the Hanban Café.
“People kept saying this place was trending lately, so I decided to join too… but I never expected it to be our son’s fan café.”
Ihyeon’s expression turned bewildered as he saw the account information.
‘Just how massive is the Hanban Café?’
Nearly everyone he met these days seemed to be registered at the Hanban Café.
Of course, the café’s rating was the highest, and the member count visible right now was staggering, but each time it really drove home just how big it was.
Minjeong frowned at Donghoo, calling him foolish, then asked Ihyeon.
“So Hyeon, I was wondering—I saw that press conference earlier and it made me think. Your weapon, is it really…?”
Other people had simply dismissed Claude’s claim that Ilgyeok used a gun with an “as if that’s possible,” but Ihyeon’s parents couldn’t do the same.
They knew firsthand how excellent their son had been at marksmanship during his military service.
Ihyeon nodded vigorously.
“Yes, I use a gun. That’s also why it’s not dangerous.”
In combat, distance equals safety.
Especially in battlefields like the Tower where close-quarters combat is the norm, this is even more true.
In truth, there were moments when Ihyeon wasn’t entirely free from danger, but he saw no need to mention that.
Those were dangers he had already overcome.
Minjeong and Donghoo let out sighs of relief upon hearing Ihyeon’s answer, genuinely grateful.
Jia and Elsie also chimed in from beside him.
“Mother, Father, I assure you that I will take full responsibility for Master’s safety. Furthermore, Master is actually so strong that our assistance is hardly necessary. As his servants, we even feel a sense of guilt about it.”
“That’s right, that’s right. …yo. Master is really strong! …yo. Anyway, there’s no need to worry, that’s what I’m saying!”
The forced addition of “yo” at the end made the last statement sound a bit odd, but with the Spirits stepping forward like this, Minjeong and Donghoo seemed to gain confidence.
Minjeong’s final question.
“But Hyeon, how far are you planning to climb in the Tower?”
So far, fortunately, her son’s safety hadn’t been seriously threatened.
By now, both of them understood that Ilgyeok was approaching the limits of human exploration to date.
Reaching the 80th floors and even the United States couldn’t properly breakthrough — partly to effectively utilize the 100-day count — wouldn’t things be different once we reached the 90th floors?
To be honest, Minjeong and Donghoo wouldn’t have minded if Ihyeon stopped here.
From a parent’s perspective, at least.
But Ihyeon answered with certainty.
“As far as I can climb.”
It was Ihyeon’s unwavering conviction, decided upon since the moment the sniper rifle awakened.
To climb as high as possible.
Because I believed that was the final tribute to my squad members who had fallen before me.
Of course, I had no intention of dying meaninglessly in the Tower.
Meaningless death ends there.
If I ever reached a stalemate somewhere, I would have to think again and find another way.
But as I climbed the Tower floor by floor, confirmed the sniper rifle’s astonishing growth rate, and gained reliable spirits.
The height of the stalemate I anticipated kept rising.
And now….
“There’s still quite a bit left, so don’t worry.”
“Quite a bit…?”
Minjeong and Donghoo were startled by the unwavering confidence and resolve they felt in Ihyeon’s eyes.
They never dreamed their son, who came home from the supermarket every day and lay on the couch like an unemployed person watching TV, harbored such profound thoughts.
But in a way, this might be Ilgyeok’s true form.
If this was Ilgyeok, the one the world’s media featured prominently every day and everyone cheered at the mere mention of his name, then it was only natural he possessed such a gaze.
Ihyeon felt that he had received his parents’ complete approval and carefully broached the subject.
“So… that’s what I wanted to talk about, Mom and Dad.”
“Yes, Hyeon. Go ahead.”
“What do you need?”
Minjeong and Donghoo prepared themselves to listen with warm eyes.
Ihyeon swallowed once before stating his purpose.
“Sometimes when I need to urgently tackle a Gate or Tower, I think I’ll need a car. Um… it’s a bit awkward to keep borrowing the supermarket truck. I was thinking of buying a car.”
Money had already accumulated sufficiently.
The fifty-million-won Goblin bone had played its part well.
If it fell short, I still had items to entrust to Deokhuun that were practically rotting away.
“Of course, I’m not planning to buy something flashy that stands out, just a normal, modest car.”
However, Ihyeon clearly remembered what disaster had unfolded on the dinner table when he revealed his status as a Hunter in the past, so I couldn’t help but be cautious.
“Well, it would cause quite a problem if you suddenly took the supermarket truck. It happened before too.”
Donghoo nodded.
Judging from his reaction alone, it seemed quite positive, so Ihyeon’s expression brightened.
I had obtained my license long ago and delivered with the supermarket truck whenever I had the chance, so there were no issues with my driving skills.
If I just got a car, my range of movement would become incredibly flexible. How wonderful that would be.
“Yes, so I had a model in mind….”
But.
“What are you talking about right now!”
Crack——!!!
“Wait, no, why me… Ihyeon’s the one buying the car.”
Minjeong, who had been sitting quietly, suddenly opened her eyes wide and smacked Donghoo across the face.
Donghoo’s eyes watered slightly as he backed away from Minjeong, rubbing his stinging cheek.
“A car? What car! Ilgyeok broke through the Instant Tower just today, and if I go buy a car right away, what will the neighbors think? Huh? Oh, don’t tell me you bought it with the money from breaking the Instant Tower? That’s exactly what they’ll think!”
“No, Mom. People won’t think about it that specifically….”
“There’s already a rumor spreading through our neighborhood that Ilgyeok might be living here. Why would we want to draw attention with unnecessary actions?”
Minjeong’s words had merit.
No matter how hard I tried to hide my identity, Gaecheon-dong had inevitably become known as the most likely area where Ilgyeok might reside.
It was something I had worried about when blocking the Gaecheon Intersection Gate, but the situation had been so urgent and my body had moved on its own, so there was nothing I could do about it.
However.
“Still, I don’t think people will jump to conclusions just because I buy a small car… We can just say I used my severance pay and added some money from you and Dad.”
This time, I didn’t want to back down so easily.
As long as I was active as Ilgyeok, money would undoubtedly pour in by the bucketful.
Of course, it wasn’t in my nature to spend that money lavishly and indulge in luxury, nor could I afford to.
But I definitely wanted to improve my parents’ living conditions, which had been so frugal and harsh until now.
When we went on that family trip to Gangwon-do last time, the three of us were cramped in a truck cab. It was so uncomfortable.
When I was young, I had a bit more room sitting in the middle seat, but now I’m a grown adult.
Above all, if I kept running into opposition every time I tried to spend money, honestly, what was the point of earning it as Ihyeon?
Even if climbing the Tower itself carried a greater purpose, one of the strongest advantages of being a Hunter was the high income.
The fact that I had replaced all the appliances in the house first after earning money was part of that thinking.
Zzzt——!!!
My gaze and Minjeong’s clashed sharply in the air.
“Master, please hold steady! You too, ma’am!”
“Ahhhhh! The master is shooting a gun!”
“…That’s not happening.”
The Spirits, who had never experienced anything like this before, were actually tensing up in alarm.
I spoke with an exasperated expression as I watched Elsie crouching down with her head covered.
What kind of crazy thing would it be to fire a gun inside the house just because of a family disagreement?
After pushing Elsie far away, I faced Minjeong again with a stern gaze.
However, our confrontation ended surprisingly anticlimactically.
“I guess what you’re saying makes sense?”
“…Really that easily?”
Honestly, I had been prepared to face some serious backlash, so I felt somewhat deflated.
Minjeong chuckled and spoke.
“It’s not strange for parents to buy their son a small car these days. Besides, you probably do have real severance pay… I guess Mom was being a bit excessive.”
“Wait, then why did you hit me…?”
At those words, color flushed to my face.
Minjeong asked me with a subtle expression.
“By the way, Ihyeon. How much money are you actually making?”
The universal concern of everyone in the world.
Just how much money was Ilgyeok earning?
However, I could answer with certainty.
“Since I’m keeping my identity hidden, I can’t earn that much. From the start, there were limits to what I could sell….”
“Still, there’s a rough market value for things you’ve accumulated, right?”
“That’s true.”
I nodded and opened my inventory, calculating the value of the items I’d accumulated over time—roughly, very roughly.
And then.
“So at this level… I’m not entirely sure myself, but….”
It was truly a rough estimate.
After all, byproducts obtained from the 50th to 60th floors and above didn’t circulate well on the market, so the market value fluctuated considerably.
I also excluded rare items whose exact prices I didn’t know in the first place.
Naturally, I didn’t apply any Ilgyeok premium either.
I whispered the figure quietly to Minjeong and Donghoo.
“…This much?”
“!?!? …!!?!? …!?!?!?!?!!?!!”
Minjeong and Donghoo’s expressions immediately became worth watching.
They stopped being shocked, looked at each other, were shocked again, looked at each other again….
Did that even make sense?
No matter how they thought about it, the amount was incomprehensible by their standards.
They might have even fainted in shock if they’d known I’d cut out a substantial portion before telling them.
And the Spirits who overheard my words from the side.
“What? When we went to the hotel last time and ate 300,000 won worth of ice cream, I thought that was really expensive, but it wasn’t even that?”
“You should learn to be grateful for small things, Elsie.”
Having realized that the cost of living here was cheaper than expected (?), they were having this conversation.
In any case, after hearing my asset value, Minjeong and Donghoo cleared their throats and spoke.
“Hmm, at that level, we could get a car….”
“These days there are quite a lot of decent trucks coming out… what was it called, a cyberpunk truck?”
“Oh, that does look cool.”
Suddenly, spending becomes more generous!

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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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