I Got A Legendary Sniper Rifle - Chapter 170

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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 170
Ep. 170
It was much like the relationship between a fighter jet and the portable anti-air missile pursuing it.
A final confrontation between those who die if caught and those whose defenses crumble if they fail to catch.
In a way, the chase burned far more fiercely than the ground battle itself.
Ping—! Ping—! Crack—! Ping—! Ping—! Crack—!
Like a performance with a steady rhythm, Ihyeon and Mikhail’s exchange of attacks continued.
By returning to the entrance, I had instantly reached the limit of my ability to switch sniper points and use shadow movement.
Meanwhile, Mikhail moved to the opposite space, subtly obscured by Pulisto, as if mocking me.
Now I had no means to pursue Mikhail as Ihyeon.
At least, not as ‘Ihyeon.’
“Looks like you won?”
I chuckled softly, gazing at the invisible Mikhail.
Though Mikhail certainly wasn’t visible to my naked eye, she was crystal clear in my vision.
One principle I hadn’t forgotten even while engaged in a frantic chase with the ice spirit.
The Dummy, transformed into a Perfect Target, always moved on the opposite side from me.
Similarly, right now, Mikhail was—
‘Checkmate.’
—clearly captured in the Dummy’s sight.
From behind Mikhail, who stood motionless in place as if mocking me for being unable to move further.
Bang—!
My shot, fired through the distorted firing range, was unleashed.
Crash——!!
Though it happened in an instant, Mikhail’s response was equally swift.
Unable to teleport in time, she appeared to be desperately trying to block the shot by creating an ice barrier.
But as always.
Shatter—— Boom——!!
A mere barrier was torn to shreds like blank paper by my shot.
The ice spirit Mikhail was struck directly by the mana bullet and dissipated entirely.
Simultaneously.
「Ice Spirit ‘Mikhail’ eliminated.
You have cleared the 80th Floor.
Rank: S+」
The system notification window appeared.
Guoooooo———!!!!
Perhaps confirming Mikhail’s death.
Pulisto’s presence became ominous as well.
A terrible roar and an angry shriek resonated through the cavern, sending shivers down the spine.
However, it didn’t lead to any aggressive rampage.
Drip—— Drip—
The lava that had been covering Pulisto’s body began to flow away.
Of course, it had been flowing before, but this time was distinctly different.
Where the lava receded, Pulisto’s bare skin was revealed.
Flesh not greatly different from a human’s, a beard thickly covering his jaw, and a golden crown resting upon his bald head came into view.
“What?”
“The Lava Giant’s lava is disappearing…?”
“I’ve never seen anything like this.”
As the situation abruptly shifted toward its conclusion, not only the Knights but Elsie too stood frozen in place, visibly bewildered.
While it was known that an Ice Spirit was the requirement for clearing, this appearance of the Lava Giant seemed to be a first.
‘Well, it was nonsensical from the start for a boss monster to become a Named creature.’
Since the very appearance of beings like Pulisto and Michaelie was unprecedented, it was perhaps only natural.
Yet Pulisto’s anguished cry grew increasingly mournful as time passed.
It was like a funeral dirge lamenting the death of a cherished friend.
Pulisto’s massive frame and the cavern resonated as though they had become a single instrument, vibrating and….
“Uuuu….”
Even the Knights, who had been locked in fierce combat mere moments ago, found their hearts stirred, no longer displaying any hostility.
And not long after, Pulisto’s colossal body began to gradually sink beneath the lava pool.
Since the clear was now confirmed, combat could not continue, and so his exit proceeded in this manner.
But then.
Bang——!!
An incongruous blast echoed through the cavern where Pulisto’s funeral dirge still resonated.
“???”
At the gunshot, everyone turned their heads to look toward where Ihyeon stood.
There was nothing left to turn and look at, really.
The hole piercing through Pulisto’s head and the abrupt cessation of his humming made it clear what had happened without further examination.
Death.
Meanwhile, Ihyeon, who had suddenly become the focus of everyone’s gaze, asked awkwardly, as if he hadn’t anticipated this outcome.
“…Was that not supposed to happen?”
“Uuu… My lord is quite ruthless.”
“Well, we should have known from when you drove us through that PT exercise hell.”
The Knights gathered around Jia with expressions as gloomy as if they themselves had been shot.
“There was no need to shoot like that, was there, Master?”
Even Elsie looked up at Ihyeon with a somewhat disappointed expression.
‘After killing so many monsters all this time, and now saying such things!’
Of course, Ihyeon felt a bit embarrassed at having broken the mood, but he still didn’t regret finishing off Pulisto with that final shot!
In fact, it wasn’t as though Ihyeon had done something he shouldn’t have.
What is a Hunter?
A professional who hunts monsters inside the Tower and sells their byproducts to make a living!
‘Not even an ordinary Lava Giant, but a Named boss—to give that up? That makes no sense.’
The sorrow of losing a friend is sorrow, but that’s simply what happens when Pulisto is defeated.
If Ihyeon were to lose Jia and Elsie here, would Pulisto sing another sorrowful song for him?
Of course not.
Ihyeon was merely a cold-blooded sniper without blood or tears, securing his maximum profit.
He earnestly explained these circumstances and insisted on his own grievance.
“Even so, to grieve the loss of a friend so cruelly….”
“Even if we serve the Evil God, chivalry still lives within us.”
“I knew it from the moment you made us do PT exercises like that….”
‘These Knights bastards, they’re more resentful than I expected?’
Ihyeon considered whether to start another round of PT exercises inside the sweltering lava cavern.
It was standard practice to assert firm discipline when a new commander took over, for the sake of military order.
Besides, honestly speaking, Ihyeon didn’t want to go that far either.
They spouted nonsense about attacking if they were summoned first, acknowledging Jia as their commander but refusing to acknowledge Ihyeon, so wasn’t it only natural that Ihyeon had to swallow his tears(?) and tighten discipline?
But since the Knights would be unsummoned anyway and he wouldn’t see them for a while, that was fine.
What was fortunate, however, was that Jia and Elsie understood Ihyeon’s intentions.
“Your words are correct, Master. I was too hesitant.”
“Now that I hear the Master’s reasoning, it makes sense. You’re right—we shouldn’t fall for emotional manipulation.”
“Well, I wouldn’t call it emotional manipulation exactly….”
It wasn’t as if Ihyeon had shot Pulisto with some psychopathic thought like, “Wow, this bastard’s trying to run off without even giving compensation?”
He certainly hadn’t entertained the kind of “emotional manipulation” that Elsie was describing.
It was simply that sadness was sadness, and what needed to be done had to be done.
Ihyeon glanced around briefly before gesturing to Jia.
“Just send them back quickly.”
“Ooh, you tyrant!”
“Transparent revenue, fair compensation!”
“If you want to do obstacle courses after PT, then stay behind.”
“Commander, please send us back!”
“We’ve completed our mission—there’s no need for us to linger here and waste air!”
The Knights of the Evil God, whose character seemed to have subtly changed since the last training.
Ihyeon had no intention whatsoever of being called a tyrant by those who served the Evil God.
In any case, it was Ihyeon’s order, and since the Knights eagerly desired to return, Jia immediately unsummoned them.
Ihyeon collected the byproducts from Mikhail and Pulisto.
From Mikhail dropped an item called an Ice Spirit’s Crystal, which wasn’t particularly special since it was commonly found when hunting Spirits as before.
Next was Pulisto, whom Ihyeon had grabbed by the hair and forcibly stopped(?) just before disappearing.
「Harvestable Byproducts
Somewhat Special Pulisto (Lava Giant) Bone*1
Pulisto (Lava Giant) Bone*231
Pulisto (Lava Giant) Hide*183」
“Huh?”
An unexpectedly jackpot had appeared.
“Not just Lava Giant bones, but Pulisto’s bones?”
I hadn’t dared hope for something like this, but logically speaking, if a named monster like Pulisto bore that designation, its byproducts should naturally be far superior in quality to those of an ordinary Lava Giant.
If there were no significant difference, there would be no reason to distinguish them by name.
“Then… then…!”
Ihyeon’s eyes widened as he checked the clear notifications one by one.
「Item ‘Choi Ihyeon’s Sniper Gun’ has leveled up.
Please check your status window.」
The level-up was certainly welcome, but it wasn’t the priority right now, so I moved past it quickly.
「80th Floor Reward:
Item ‘Reinforcement Stone’ obtained.
Please check your inventory.」
“A Reinforcement Stone from the regular rewards?”
“A Reinforcement Stone?”
“Did you say a Reinforcement Stone?”
Reinforcement Stones typically appeared as S+ tier bonuses, yet one had suddenly dropped as a regular reward.
‘If this is the standard, I wouldn’t mind facing named bosses every single time!’
So what on earth could the remaining S+ tier reward possibly be?
Ihyeon opened the next notification window with trembling hands.
「S+ Tier Clear Bonus:
1 A-Rank Magic Stone will be additionally awarded.」
“Huh?”
Ihyeon’s heated anticipation cooled instantly.
An A-Rank Magic Stone.
Of course, it was good.
The highest grade Magic Stone humanity had obtained so far was B-Rank.
So an A-Rank Magic Stone would be that much rarer, and perhaps I was the first to obtain one.
But that was merely speculation.
Nothing was known about the Tower beyond the 90th Floor, so for all anyone knew, A-Rank Magic Stones might drop as regular rewards there.
Moreover, considering the Magic Stones I’d obtained so far, aside from a mere 1 point increase in Mana stats or the enormous cash value they could generate, they were frankly not particularly useful.
If I only considered my own stat growth, the Reinforcement Stone felt far more practical.
“Are you not satisfied with the reward?”
“What dropped that’s got you looking like that, Master?”
The Spirits also noticed Ihyeon’s expression darken in an instant and asked in bewilderment.
“I obtained one A-Rank Magic Stone.”
Ihyeon told them the truth without bothering to hide it.
Well, the Spirits were creatures who lived by contentment as a virtue, so they’d probably scold me for complaining about even this much…
“Ehhhhh?!”
“A-A-Rank Magic Stone?!?!?!?!”
“?”
It was nothing like that.
While Elsie was always loud and excitable, it was extremely rare to see even Jia react with such astonishment.
“Why are you all acting like that?”
Ihyeon asked in bewilderment.
Was an A-rank magic stone really that special?
“I, just take it out for a moment, Master.”
At Elsie’s tone suggesting she would explain after seeing the actual object, Ihyeon readily retrieved the magic stone from his inventory.
But the moment he held it in his hand, Ihyeon could sense something distinctly different about it.
‘It looks quite different, doesn’t it?’
From the F-rank magic stone that was only the size of a finger joint, all the way to the B-rank magic stones he’d been obtaining recently.
The crude blue-green stone-shaped magic stones had grown progressively larger with each rank increase.
Though each magic stone had subtle differences in appearance, their overall volume remained similar.
But the A-rank magic stone was a clean, transparent ore that evoked the image of a diamond.
Moreover, its size had actually become much smaller than the B-rank magic stone that fit in his palm.
Most of all, Ihyeon felt a strange sense of familiarity emanating from the A-rank magic stone.
“A soul stone?”
At that, Jia immediately nodded.
“Your discernment is truly exceptional, Master.”
“Ha, what’s so impressive about that? It’s all thanks to your assistance, Jia.”
“…They certainly get along well.”
Elsie watched the exchange with a jealous glint in her eyes, though it wasn’t particularly important.

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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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