I Got A Legendary Sniper Rifle - Chapter 192

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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 192
Ep. 192
“Jia, could you show me that medal from earlier?”
“Of course.”
Jia retrieved the medal from her inventory and handed it to me.
A gleaming golden badge adorned with various gemstones caught my eye, along with a ribbon of commendation.
“This medal wasn’t awarded to me alone.”
“Keke, that’s right. The Armor Fox and I deserve credit too~”
“Of course, but… I think of it as something my entire squad received together.”
I offered only a faint smile in response to Elsie’s unusually playful remark, which was unlike my normal demeanor.
Only then did the two Spirits seem to realize that I harbored an extraordinary story, and they fell silent, listening intently.
“Yes, I suppose it’s time I told you both.”
Observing the Spirits’ reactions, I began to reveal my sniper rifle and the story of my past, piece by piece.
In other words, events that had occurred merely a year before I met Jia and Elsie.
After listening to my entire account in hushed silence, the Spirits’ first reaction was—
Shimmer—!
“Master…!”
Tears flowed from the Spirit’s eyes—strange tears, if one thought about it.
Jia, maintaining her usual composed expression, merely wept silently, which was relatively restrained.
“Waaahhhhh!!! Don’t die, 2nd Squad! Live forever, 2nd Squad!”
“…Were you even a member of our squad?”
Look at Elsie—from the middle of my story onward, she’d been holding her mouth in a triangular shape, desperately suppressing her tears, and now she was rolling on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.
For a moment, I almost believed Elsie had some actual connection to the 2nd Squad.
“Anyway, that’s why I want to believe my sniper rifle awakened because their strength—my squad members’ strength—dwells within it.”
I withdrew my sniper rifle, leaned it beside me, and gently ran my hand across it as I spoke.
Of course, that couldn’t be true.
What connection could there possibly be between squad members annihilated by monsters from a Gate and the Tower’s system?
Yet ever since I confirmed my sniper rifle’s awakening, right up until now on the 80th floors, I’ve chosen to believe exactly that.
“A truly touching story, but I’m afraid that won’t be the case.”
“…Jia.”
I hadn’t expected to be refuted so bluntly like this!
I felt the emotions I’d been immersed in shatter into pieces as I looked at Jia.
I’d need to have her take an MBTI test soon.
Jia would definitely come out as a capital T.
“I apologize, but the system operates entirely independent of any individual participant’s circumstances…”
“Hey, hey, Armor Fox, read the room.”
Elsie was poking Jia’s side repeatedly, trying to stop her from launching into a detailed explanation.
In any case, this didn’t mean the Spirits’ emotion and sorrow had disappeared.
Rather, after a storm of grief passed through them, the Spirits became enraged.
“Those Defense Ministry bastards… I never knew they were such terrible people!”
“….”
Elsie clenched her fists and bounced up and down.
Jia said nothing, but her silence resonated through the air with fury.
The spirits each expressing their anger in their own way!
“Ah, no, you two. It’s not really something to be upset about….”
Rather, Ihyeon himself, the one directly involved, found himself breaking into a cold sweat trying to calm the spirits down.
After the accident, the Military hadn’t entirely abandoned the matter or refrained from taking action.
They actively offered condolences to the bereaved families and provided compensation within reasonable limits.
Of course, countless young soldiers had perished, and no amount of compensation would ease that sorrow, but the point was they hadn’t tried to cover it up and wash their hands of it like they might have before the Tower appeared.
The tragedy had become news, though it hadn’t risen to become a nationwide sensation—and that was fortunate in its own way.
He didn’t want his family’s and his son’s names to be bandied about on people’s tongues even after death.
The reason Ihyeon had hesitated to take action against the Military, and why he’d decided not to climb the Tower as a soldier, was——
‘Perhaps it was my own selfishness.’
Because of the countless unfair treatment he’d endured afterward.
Because his abilities were dismissed and he was nearly cast out entirely, simply because he could only fire the Maesek Gun twice.
Because of the organizational culture that was swayed by superstition—the fear that if they accepted Ihyeon, they themselves might be completely annihilated.
Because of the despair of having nowhere to stand, and the self-loathing that no one welcomed him.
Because of the reality that even if he had reached his current height as a Military member and received corresponding treatment, he could never truly accept it in his heart.
So Ihyeon had decided not to reveal his identity.
Contrary to people’s fantasies, Ilgyeok was not an honorable person.
Beyond merely whether the issues related to his discharge were resolved or not, whenever Ihyeon thought of his squad members, he always felt diminished.
Ihyeon’s inner self had already reached that conclusion.
Ihyeon grasped Jia’s and Elsie’s hands, one in each, and asked.
“No matter how high I climb, you two will be watching over that figure from now on, won’t you?”
“Of course, Master.”
“Naturally!”
“Then that’s enough.”
This was Ihyeon’s honest heart.
And would it be only the spirits from now on?
The connections he’d inevitably encountered while climbing the Tower.
The people of Frontier, Deokhuun, Suyeon, and even Hanryeol whom he’d met recently.
That was sufficient without needing to reveal his identity to the world.
Now that all the minor practical issues had been resolved, what remained was——
“I don’t know if I can make it, but let’s try to climb all the way to the end.”
The 82nd Floor.
And whatever might remain of the Tower beyond that.
Simply reaching that place.
It would be even better if he could go as Ilgyeok like now.
At the same time, Ihyeon had a premonition.
‘It feels like the end is finally approaching.’
Nothing had been definitively revealed yet, but I knew the end was drawing near.
That evening, I told Minjeong and Donghoo the truth as well.
Even if my identity was exposed after confronting the Management Bureau today, I would never have to return to the Military again.
“Is that… is that really true…?”
“My son…!”
Minjeong and Donghoo’s eyes trembled uncontrollably at my words.
Only then did I understand that my parents had suffered just as much anguish as I had all this time.
After all, what parent would be happy knowing their son might return to that abyss he’d been trapped in?
I nodded with a warm smile.
“Yes, Mom, Dad. So please don’t worry too much anymore…”
“Then can we tell Yuhee’s mother that our son is Ilgyeok?”
“Can we tell President Park?”
“…”
Mom and Dad, you’re still far from being sharpshooters!
I glared at Minjeong and Donghoo with cold eyes, and only then did the two of them realize they’d misunderstood something. They let out awkward coughs and retreated.
“I won’t be revealing my entire identity. There could be unnecessary problems, so please don’t even mention that I’m a Hunter. I’m just letting you know you don’t need to live in anxiety like before.”
“Oh, of course~ Mom understands~”
“Ahem, Dad was just testing to see if you’d gotten cocky. You understand, right?”
It seemed my parents were quite disappointed that they couldn’t brag about their accomplished son all over the neighborhood.
After all, nothing elevates a parent’s pride and confidence quite like boasting about their talented child.
“You can tell people that after I’ve climbed the entire Tower, can’t you?”
“That’s way too long to wait…”
Bzzzzt——!!!
“…Hahahaha! Well then~ Dad can wait that long!”
* * *
A scorching lava plain where hot winds sweep through with every breath.
Massive beings thunder across this land, shaking the very earth.
Boom— Boom—
Lava Golems.
These creatures, powered by cores whose locations couldn’t be determined by the naked eye, ceaselessly spewed lava and hurled massive fists—true giants of molten stone.
Of course, for me.
Thwang——!!
None of that mattered.
My sniper rifle blazed with mana, and the Lava Golem with its abdomen torn open collapsed to the ground, its core lost.
“Master, nice shot!”
“Your marksmanship is particularly excellent today, sir.”
Beside me, Elsie and Jia clapped their hands together.
“Where did you two pick that up?”
“We saw it in dramas, and everyone does it that way?”
It seemed Earth’s culture had corrupted these two pure Spirits in the worst way.
“Anyway, the Thermal Scope keeps proving its worth. It even helps me locate the core.”
Whether the temperature was low or high, the Thermal Scope performed its function flawlessly.
The core of the Lava Golem burned at an exceptionally high temperature, glowing far more crimson than its surroundings.
Of course, even so, it was merely a rough hint rather than the precise location of the core.
And the real limitation was that without sufficient destructive power to shatter the golem’s sturdy body, it was useless.
“Finding the core’s location is one thing, but what’s truly strange is how my Master pierces through a Lava Golem in a single strike.”
“…I won’t deny it.”
In other words, no matter how many other Hunters wielded the Thermal Scope, while it would certainly help, a brutally efficient strategy like ‘the core is there, destroy it in one blow!’ simply couldn’t be executed.
The fact remained unchanged that Ihyeon’s firepower—now beyond even the word ‘absurd’—was the cornerstone of their strategy.
The Spirits who had already conquered the 80s floors felt Ihyeon’s prowess all the more acutely.
S+ rank items were truly treasures beyond measure.
Among them, Jia and Elsie boasted exceptional abilities.
It went without saying that they had ascended another tier after meeting Ihyeon.
But what was the reality?
Ihyeon’s solo performance was unfolding so dominantly that it was almost embarrassing to call it a collaborative conquest.
Though they had experienced countless life-and-death struggles alongside their Master, being excluded from the conquest itself was a first—strange even to them.
Yet like humans, Spirits too were creatures of adaptation.
“Next, that one over there!”
“The ground nearby is unstable. We must exercise caution during movement.”
“Okay. I’ll be careful.”
Now Jia and Elsie naturally accepted the question of whether they even needed to act at all.
Spirits could only survive by adjusting their strategy to match their Master.
After meeting Ihyeon, Jia and Elsie had shifted to a philosophy of ‘just provide whatever support I can.’
In Jia’s case, she controlled the Black Robe to ensure Ihyeon could always conduct a smooth conquest, and she identified threats in the vicinity beforehand.
And Elsie utilized her superior search abilities to locate monsters to hunt across this vast expanse.
Ihyeon felt that even this level of assistance was substantial help from the Spirits.
In fact, Ihyeon himself knew that the Spirits’ partial involvement wasn’t a major variable in achieving S+ rank.
But unless absolutely necessary, Ihyeon took the lead in conquests himself.
A sniper survives by sniping.
Each shot fired now was a means to save someone—that singular conviction.
“Let’s begin again.”
Click-click— Click—!
Boom—!
The massive golems moving across the flat terrain were easy prey for the sniper.
The thirty Lava Golems that were the objective of the 82nd floor were eliminated in an instant.
With Elsie’s assistance, locating the Frozen Stone, the final objective, posed no significant problem.
「Thirty Lava Golems eliminated.
Frozen Stone located.
82nd floor mission complete.
Rank: S+」
82nd Floor cleared.
Once again, Ilgyeok’s record spread across the world, and I earned the qualification to ascend the 83rd Floor.
‘How quickly can I break through the 80s?’
Most Hunters would be unable to hide their joy at such a moment, but I fell into contemplation.
I’m progressing smoothly through the 80s, regarded as a cursed zone in Korea, but paradoxically, because it’s going so smoothly, I’m troubled.
“Is it because of the timer?”
“Yeah, probably.”
I nodded readily at Jia’s question.
Korea’s main Tower had been reset after Suyeon cleared the 85th Floor.
Well, since I haven’t been to the 85th Floor myself, I can’t be certain I could finish it in an instant there either.
Based on the trends so far, there shouldn’t be any major issues.
Then should I immediately challenge the 86th Floor?
If I clear the 86th Floor, must I challenge the 87th Floor the next day?
No nation in the world has consumed the timer in such a manner after Tower conquest entered stable territory.
What if I rapidly update the timer several times and enter the 90s, only to hit a wall there?
‘Korea would waste hundreds of days because of me.’
In fact, my recent contact with the Management Bureau was entangled with concerns related to this.
When I truly set a new record for Korea’s highest floor, I should reasonably consider the Management Bureau’s intentions as well, since they essentially manage the Tower.
However, no matter how much I deliberated, it was a question without an immediate answer.
「Item ‘Choi Ihyeon’s Sniper Gun’ leveled up.
Please check your status window.」
The reward notification this time displayed a level-up alert I hadn’t seen in a while.
Obtained 20 distributable stat points.
The standard reward was, as expected, 10 B-rank Magic Stones.
‘Let’s see, the S+ privilege is….’
I naturally turned my eyes to the final privilege reward.
“Huh?”
I tilted my head in confusion, having expected something around an A-rank Magic Stone.
“What’s wrong, Master?”
Elsie asked as if wondering what had happened.
I read aloud the name of the item before my eyes.

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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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