I Got A Legendary Sniper Rifle - Chapter 167

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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 167
Ep. 167
The next day.
While Suyeon was at home, she received a call from Huiju, the contact coordinator at the Management Bureau.
“Yes, hello?”
– Ah, Hunter Suyeon. I heard you cleared the 78th Floor yesterday?
“Yes? Oh, yes, yes….”
I’d roughly expected this, but I never thought they’d actually call.
Suyeon tensed up at the thought that the moment had arrived, but internally, she steeled herself with firm resolve.
‘I absolutely won’t get caught!’
It was a promise with Ilgyeok, and no one else.
Suyeon was ordinarily hopeless at lying, but if she couldn’t overcome even this trivial crisis, she’d be betraying her trust with him.
– I heard Ilgyeok cleared it at the same time. Did you happen to meet him?
Huiju didn’t beat around the bush, but thrust forward directly like a fencer.
Suyeon took a breath, clenched her fists, and answered with feigned nonchalance.
“Oh, no?”
– …You didn’t meet him?
“No, I didn’t meet him.”
– Really?
“Really, I’m telling you… I was curious about what kind of person Ilgyeok is, but I didn’t even know if he was clearing it and ended up finishing anyway.”
– ….
‘That was natural enough, wasn’t it?’
By her own assessment, it was a flawless performance.
…If Ihyeon, a seasoned sniper, had been watching, he would have pointed out over 300 issues, but for Suyeon, that’s how it was.
After a brief silence, Huiju let out a small sigh and conceded.
– Well, that’s unfortunate. I thought if anyone could spot Ilgyeok, it would be you, Hunter Suyeon. Though the 70s floors must be quite expansive. Understood. I’ll report it that way.
“Yes.”
– Oh, are you going into the Tower again today?
“Yes, I’ll be doing my usual 86th Floor training.”
– Understood. You work hard as always, Hunter.
And with that, the call with Huiju ended.
As Suyeon’s tension dissolved all at once, her energy drained away too, and she found herself sprawling across the sofa without realizing it.
“I did it….”
Did this mean she possessed such remarkable acting talent?
At this rate, wouldn’t she have the ability to succeed as an actress if she retired from being a Hunter?
“Haha, people have been calling me slick since I was young!”
Suyeon opened her friend list while patting herself on the back for her acting prowess.
It was a friend list she’d opened over a hundred times since leaving the 78th Floor yesterday.
Every time she saw the newly added name, it was so moving.
And from the friend list, she could tell whether a person was inside or outside the Tower, and if inside, which floor they were on.
A sense of rapidly closing distance with Ilgyeok.
“You haven’t entered the Tower yet?”
Suyeon pondered for a moment before sending a message to Ilgyeok.
「Baekbalbaegjung: Hello!」
I waited a bit for a reply, and soon Ilgyeok’s message came through.
「Ilgyeok: Yes, hello.」
It was a truly businesslike response, but that was enough for me.
The fact that Ilgyeok was actually responding meant everything!
Hunters and guilds from around the world, renowned for their aloofness, all had their personal messages blocked, or so I’d heard.
I chuckled and continued sending messages.
The weather is really nice today, yes, it is. Did you watch the anime broadcast yesterday, no I didn’t. Oh, what a shame….
Then, Ilgyeok’s status displayed a location: 78th Floor Advance Base.
“Ah, so he’s about to attempt the floor now.”
I decided I shouldn’t bother Ilgyeok any further and closed the messages.
Instead, I picked up my phone and accessed the Hunter Café.
The rank update notice would appear soon, and I wanted to post my verification immediately to match the timing.
‘Hehehehe, now I’m absolutely guaranteed to be number one.’
It felt like a small happiness had been added to my life, something I could only enjoy at home.
Meanwhile, Ihyeon, who had entered the Tower to ascend to the 79th Floor as Suyeon had predicted.
“…What?”
“What’s wrong, Master?”
“It’s nothing.”
Shin Gung had suddenly contacted me, and I thought she might have something important to say, but it turned out to be just greetings and small talk about daily matters.
…Sharpshooter Choi Ihyeon, so obsessed with keeping things brief that I’d completely lost the concept of small talk!
‘She’s supposed to be Rank 1, so surely she’s not just staying at the 86th Floor?’
If Suyeon, who trains in the Tower every day, heard this thought, she’d find it quite unfair.
Even more so if she knew it was coming from Ihyeon, who only clears one floor a day and doesn’t even enter the Tower regularly!
Either way, I still didn’t completely trust Suyeon yet, so it was unavoidable.
In any case, Suyeon didn’t send any more messages either, and I looked up at what was essentially the final obstacle of this floor range—aside from the Floor Master—on the path up to the 79th Floor Advance Base.
“This time there’s nothing I’d call a variable. Let’s go.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Let’s go to the 80th Floor!”
The Spirits responded powerfully, honoring my strong resolve.
The 79th Floor had nothing particularly special compared to the 78th.
Just the frequency of Mountain Drake appearances increased slightly.
And so, just as Suyeon had predicted, not long after.
「The 79th Floor clear record has been updated.
Location: Tower of South Korea
ID: Ilgyeok
Rank: S+」
Ilgyeok lived up to everyone’s expectations and confidently conquered the 79th Floor as well.
At the Management Bureau’s Talent Search Division, around the time these events were unfolding.
Personnel Manager Seongnyun was receiving a report from Huiju.
“What about Shin Gung? Did you happen to discover Ilgyeok’s identity?”
“No, sir. She said she didn’t meet him.”
“Really?”
Seongnyun regarded Huiju with a skeptical gaze.
Not just anyone—it was Shin Gung.
As an Archer Hunter, she was exceptionally skilled at discovering and tracking people.
Yet Huiju spoke in a tone that suggested such suspicion was frustrating.
“You don’t know Suyeon’s personality? She’s terrible at lying—it shows immediately. She’s so kind… She wouldn’t lie to me of all people.”
“Well, that’s true.”
Seongnyun’s spirit was dampened by Huiju’s unexpectedly forceful rebuttal.
Indeed, the few times he’d met Suyeon, she matched Huiju’s assessment.
She was inherently kind-hearted.
Perhaps because she’d been active as a Hunter under the Management Bureau’s protection since such a young age, she was naively innocent compared to other weathered Hunters.
Most people who knew her felt sorry about sending her into the Tower.
But her combat ability and talent were so overwhelming that there was no alternative.
“Well… it’s unfortunate then.”
Seongnyun nodded without pressing further.
In fact, ever since Ilgyeok entered the 70s, his desire to uncover the identity had nearly vanished.
Why?
“Once he enters the 80s, he’ll be exposed whether he likes it or not. Let’s wait a bit longer.”
The problematic 80s.
As Ihyeon had predicted, the final line where identity could no longer be hidden.
It was essentially where all of South Korea’s superhuman Hunters gathered, and it had long since stagnated like a still pond, making newcomers inevitably conspicuous.
From the 75th Floor onward, most people fit the description of “yetis”—a term commonly used in game rankings.
It meant they had no intention of climbing further and were content with their current position.
The snowy mountain setting made the nickname even more fitting.
Compared to such 70s floors, the characteristics of the public floors wouldn’t help Ilgyeok’s secrecy much either, so Seongnyun’s prediction would prove accurate.
“Still, already in the 80s. Aside from identifying him, I’m genuinely curious what kind of person he is.”
“Me too, sir.”
Seongnyun leaned his chair back and imagined Ilgyeok, who had left not even the smallest clue thus far.
Once he ascended to the 80s and made contact with others, would he finally reveal the secrets surrounding him?
Why had he hidden his identity so meticulously, and why had he made no demands?
Seongnyun sighed briefly before speaking to Huiju.
“Anyway, you can go now. You’ve always worked hard.”
“Yes, sir. Please let me know if you need anything anytime.”
Though nothing was yet decided, someone like Seongnyun, who had worked in close proximity to countless Hunters, possessed something called intuition.
‘He really doesn’t seem ordinary… But honestly, I’m worried he’s extraordinary in a different sense.’
There were certainly theories like “Ilgyeok the criminal” or “Ilgyeok’s atonement” that had solidified into conventional wisdom around him, but recently Seongnyun had grown skeptical of such hypotheses.
If there truly were such circumstances, it would have been natural for him to negotiate with the government upon reaching the 40s at best.
When someone had achieved a rank that no one in the world had ever accomplished, spanning dozens of floors, it was only human nature that if he wanted something, he would speak up.
Yet even after the administration extended its hand first, he maintained his silence?
‘It means he’s someone twisted—deeply twisted in some way. I just hope it’s not in a malicious direction.’
To be honest, Seongnyun harbored something close to fear toward this person called Ilgyeok, still veiled behind secrecy.
The longer anything is suppressed, the more violent its backlash becomes.
What kind of massive ripple effect would the secret of Ilgyeok, who had endured eighty floors, create?
For this reason, Seongnyun had been quietly placing his people throughout every department within his sphere of influence.
Whoever emerged, Seongnyun’s grand strategy was to ensure that the existence called Ilgyeok would be embraced without fail.
‘Come on, Ilgyeok.’
To his subordinate employees, Seongnyun was merely a useless manager who sat around wasting time and constantly tried to steal credit for their work—but even he possessed a sense of duty.
Seongnyun straightened the chair he had been leaning back in and asked one of his employees.
“The 80th Floor’s Floor Master—that’s the one, right?”
“Yes, that’s the one.”
“…Do you understand what I’m asking?”
“Huh? Well, isn’t that what you’re asking about?”
The employee responded innocently to Seongnyun’s petulant remark.
Seongnyun let out a small chuckle before asking.
“Can Ilgyeok defeat it?”
“Well… I mean.”
The employee paused briefly in thought before answering.
“It would be strange if he couldn’t at this point. It’s already been revealed that he’s not alone, and with the power of the Spirits on his side, what more is there to worry about…”
This was the current expectation people held regarding Ilgyeok.
No one worried about clearing it.
Could he achieve S+ rank?
Or how quickly could he conquer it?
“Well, I suppose that’s true too.”
Seongnyun shrugged once and agreed with his employee’s assessment.
* * *
The 80th Floor.
It was common knowledge among all Hunters before Ilgyeok, but it was thought to be even more difficult with a solo clear rather than a party—the Floor Master’s floor.
In particular, even Shin Gung Suyeon, who preferred solo clears due to her unique personality, had a record of assembling a full party here with the administration’s cooperation.
‘The final stretch of the 70s. And the gateway to the 80s.’
Before entering the 80th Floor, Ihyeon was steeling his resolve.
The entrance to the 80th Floor was roughly at the peak of the snowy mountain he had climbed through while passing the 70s.
A narrow passage so cramped that two adult men would struggle to pass through simultaneously.
Beyond this passage, descending downward, the Floor Master of the 80th Floor would appear.
‘Only fifty people in Korea have crossed this threshold.’
In other words, if one considered the current number of personnel in the 80s to be that figure, it was truly an appalling number.
That was the result of a twenty-year struggle, after all.
Moreover, this figure included retired Hunters, so the number of active ones was even smaller.
Ilgyeok clearing the 80th Floor meant adding one more person to that count.
Not just in Korea, but by global standards, the 80th Floor held a symbolic meaning.
To put it more bluntly, it was the decisive and absolute ceiling that separated the superhuman from the ordinary.
Those called superhuman were defined by the standard of 10 ability points per level.
The difference between 9 and 10 was not merely a single digit.
‘They say there’s a dignity to crossing into a new order of magnitude.’
In almost every nation, Hunters above the 80th Floor are managed in secret, making precise statistics impossible, but it was said that ability points of 10 or higher held that level of significance.
And from 10 onwards, even a difference of 1 creates a gap as vast as heaven and earth.
Originally, it was a difficult hypothesis to confirm due to the scarcity of samples and the maintenance of secrecy.
‘Based on the Spirits’ explanations, it’s certain that ability points per level affect the quality of the abilities themselves.’
In my case, I had the Spirits to verify such ambiguous hypotheses.
Even calling it ‘quality’ fell short—the difference in ‘grade’ itself was widening.
Having already received 15, I now received 20, and even by the Spirits’ standards, I had reached an unprecedented realm.
That was why I cleared the 79th Floor without hesitation and immediately challenged the 80th Floor.
Moreover, I was not alone.
By my side, as always, were reliable companions….
“Ugh, it’s freezing! Why did you make this damn mountaintop so cold?!”
“You shouldn’t complain even while wearing the thermal undergarment my Master graciously provided, Elsie.”
“Oh really? Your lips are turning blue too, aren’t they? Try putting your tongue on your armor—it’ll stick right to it!”
…Unreliable as they appeared, my two dependable Spirits, Jia and Elsie, were with me.

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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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