I Got A Legendary Sniper Rifle - Chapter 221

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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 221
Ep. 221
“Phew~ Phew… Ah, really not needed~”
Minjeong stood deliberately far away, even whistling to feign indifference.
Still, there was a reason Ihyeon had brought all of the Dokkaebi’s fire seeds he’d originally obtained.
“I brought three, so you can take one.”
“Huh?! Really?! That’s 5 billion won?!”
“Well, money is… you’re even helping with the Golem’s creation, so it’s hardly enough compensation.”
Honestly, from Ihyeon’s perspective, it wasn’t wasteful at all.
Entrusting the Golem’s creation in the first place had relied on Frontier’s goodwill, so I wanted to give some reward regardless.
If I could compensate with just one of these miscellaneous items, wasn’t it actually a profitable deal?
“Th-th-th-thank you!!! Mom, I did it! Yay!”
After confirming Ihyeon’s words were true, Minjeong began bouncing around the basement like she’d acquired the whole world.
Meanwhile, Roel expressed gratitude for receiving a useful item for his master, then broached the main topic.
“A Dokkaebi’s fire seed… there would be no problem adding it at this stage. Fire by nature both embraces all things and burns everything to ash… If I command fire, the Golem’s overall functionality will be enhanced.”
“That’s a relief. I’m counting on you.”
“It would have been impossible without me… I, Roel Agriatus de Flobang Kaiser, the Overlord’s right hand….”
“By the way, where is Claude?”
“Ah, he’s over there. Captain! Captain!”
Roel’s lengthy name was of no consequence anyway.
Ihyeon looked toward where Minjeong was pointing and calling for Claude.
‘… It’s already grown that much?’
There, the Golem’s core—which had somehow grown suspiciously large—was writhing about.
It was fortunate that people I knew were operating it; had I encountered this visage in an unfamiliar place, I would have fired a sniper rifle without hesitation.
And then, from a spot subtly hidden from the entrance, Claude poked his face out.
“Ah… Ilgyeok, you’ve arrived….”
“W-wait, Claude?!”
“Wh-why does his face look like that?! These cowardly bastards…!”
But that face was the problem.
Claude had never paid much attention to grooming, so his red beard was thick, yet he still had a fairly handsome appearance.
But now?
His cheeks and eye sockets were sunken, his hair soaked with sweat and matted down—a sight you’d only see in an intensive care unit.
Elsie even wondered if the Dark Mage Minjeong and Roel were absorbing Claude into the Golem’s core.
“N-no, that’s not it! Golem creation just requires an enormous amount of mana… you’ll understand if you look!”
Minjeong, realizing Claude’s appearance was indeed suspicious, hastily made excuses.
Indeed, from outside the safety perimeter, Claude appeared to be simply pouring mana into the Golem’s core diligently, not doing anything particularly dangerous.
Ihyeon stared intently at Roel.
‘At this rate, isn’t he grinding Claude down rather than just being careful?’
Saying he couldn’t make it without himself, that because he’s making it he can add the Dokkaebi’s fire seed midway, yet in reality Claude is doing everything….
Roel, belatedly interpreting Ihyeon’s gaze, jumped up and denied it uncharacteristically.
“No, that’s not it! Claude, my Master, and I take turns channeling mana into the Golem’s core. I just switched out for a moment!”
“Hmm… I see.”
Well, it wasn’t entirely convincing, but if that’s how it was, then so be it.
“Claude, if those two are forcing you to do this, please wave your staff.”
“Huh? What? Um?”
It really didn’t seem like that was the case.
‘The fact that he’s not waving his staff is an admission in itself.’
Ihyeon nodded and prepared to wait for the results of the Golem, which now contained all manner of precious materials.
“How much longer until the Golem is complete?”
“Well… at the current pace, perhaps another month or so…”
“I understand.”
It was faster than expected.
According to Roel’s explanation, the difficulty of Golem creation wasn’t directly tied to the timeframe.
Rather, because it was an S-rank Golem’s core, its growth was proportionally faster, and creating a stable structure within it made the difficulty increase exponentially.
Even Ihyeon, who knew nothing about magic, could naturally understand such an explanation.
‘It’s like saying you have to drive a car going 300 kilometers per hour while also solving problems written on the roadside.’
Thinking about it that way, it made sense why three Mages were stuck here without budging, and why one of them had ended up in such a critical state.
Of course, judging by the fact that he wasn’t waving his staff, there was absolutely no coercion involved.
Ihyeon left the Frontier’s inner residence after expressing his gratitude and asking them to continue their good work.
“Take care as well, Claude.”
“Ugh… once this is finished… I’m leaving Korea…”
“Yes, it’s about time you attended to Frontier’s affairs as well.”
“…?”
Claude looked at Ihyeon with eyes that seemed to say, ‘That’s not what I meant,’ but he simply smiled and turned away.
Again, since Claude hadn’t waved his staff, there was nothing for Ihyeon to help with.
‘It’s been quite a while since he came to Korea looking for me. He can’t keep avoiding his main responsibilities forever.’
Though Claude was currently living in Korea like a leisurely traveler, he was still the leader of the massive organization known as Frontier.
Since he’d mentioned planning to leave before even entering the inner residence, it was arguably overdue.
“Take care, Minjeong.”
“Yes, have a safe trip~”
And so Ihyeon and the Spirits departed.
Minjeong gazed at the Dokkaebi’s ember she’d newly acquired with eyes full of emotion, about to rush upstairs.
Then Claude called out to her.
“Minjeong… come here for a moment…”
“Yes, Captain. What is it?”
“The Dokkaebi’s ember will be taken by Frontier…”
“?!”
Minjeong expressed the intense sense of deprivation she felt—that she’d received this from Ilgyeok—with her entire body.
It was worth five billion won!
But Claude wasn’t saying this because he was petty.
“I still need to check how much of that staff’s value remains from when Roel absorbed it last time without permission…”
“Hahaha! I was planning to contribute it to the organization anyway, boss! All for one! One for all, isn’t that right? When the organization thrives, I thrive too~”
What Claude was referring to was the ‘Cursed Dark Spike Staff’ that he had received from Ilgyeok in the last Lich Instance Tower.
It was an S-rank item, no less!
Minjeong had been lamenting the substantial withholding tax deducted from her salary statement under the category of ‘Item Payment Repayment’…
Claude had said he’d given her a significant discount since they were fellow agents, but at this rate, she might end up spending her entire life buried in debt at Frontier.
‘Well, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, though…’
In any case, once she handed over the Dokkaebi’s ember spark, she’d be repaying 3 billion won in one go, which would be quite a substantial help to Minjeong’s meager financial situation.
As Claude nodded as if he’d made a good decision, Minjeong trudged upstairs with noticeably drooping shoulders…
* * *
After Ilgyeok cleared the 85th floor, which had been considered the highest level in Korea.
Naturally, the internet erupted in chaos.
[ Title: Our Ilgyeok is definitely world-class.
If it’s 85 floors, shouldn’t it be entering the world rankings by now? If this isn’t world-class, then what is? lol
└ But why isn’t Ilgyeok on the ranking list? He only appears in rumors and gossip
└ You need people to have actually seen someone to rank them, and no one has officially confirmed seeing him yet. Even rankers only have speculation that he might have been seen, but officially everyone denies it;;
Schrödinger’s one-hit KO lol
└ Shouldn’t he be considered co-1st in Korean rankings now? We haven’t seen him, but the floor clears prove it
└ Plus all his clear ratings are S+ and even EX
Compared to our Suyeon, the instant top and gate performance are so lacking that being perpetually second place is the established consensus in the academic community.
└ Trolls, get out ]
Credible media outlets were still somewhat hesitant to officially rank Ilgyeok.
Rankers, while varying by individual personality, all had clear affiliations and had done many official broadcasts and interviews.
Most importantly, there were official channels through which one could contact them anytime.
But Ilgyeok?
He probably existed, but there was no official channel to reach him.
It was strongly suspected that a hunter named Bong Jangseondal had some connection to him, but no one even knew who that person was.
Deokhuun was a non-combat hunter who didn’t climb towers and thus left no records, and his father Park Wungdo was controlling information about him.
With no information available about Ilgyeok, it was quite awkward to hastily place him above other rankers.
Moreover, the biggest problem was that, paradoxically, Ilgyeok was climbing the tower far too quickly.
Typically, media outlets released rankings quarterly, or at most annually.
But Ilgyeok hadn’t even been around for a full year.
Most media outlets had set these unprecedented records before even releasing new rankings, so reactions were naturally slow.
Now that he’d reached the 85th floor, Suyeon was Ilgyeok’s only point of comparison.
Objectively speaking, he should probably be placed at rank 1, above Suyeon, but everyone was being cautious to avoid potential unnecessary complications.
As a result, except for Hunter Now’s personal video channels that consumed gossip events, Ilgyeok was difficult to find in official rankings.
Of course, Ilgyeok’s fan cafe, One Shot Cafe, wasn’t particularly dissatisfied with this situation.
[ Title: But isn’t this actually better?
Author: Suyeoning
Content: Honestly, I actually liked it better when Ilgyeok wasn’t on the rankings haha. It’s just more mysterious that way, you know? I feel like the mystique would fade if he got ranked. I hope Ilgyeok continues like this.
└ I agree.
└ I strongly support Suyeoning’s opinion!
└ Haha, me too. Ilgyeok is at his best right now~
└ Wouldn’t it be overwhelming if he were included in the rankings? Ilgyeok is the best! ]
Ihyeon likewise paid no mind whatsoever to the fact that he wasn’t included in the rankings.
In fact, it was far better than having his name constantly circulating on everyone’s lips.
‘From now on, I’ll need to pace myself anyway.’
The explosive barrage of arguments erupting across the internet gradually subsided once Ilgyeok took a week-long break from clearing dungeons.
Word had it that the Management Bureau was making secret contact with him.
Word had it that various guilds were trying to recruit him.
Word had it that foreign powers had begun full-scale recruitment operations.
Various speculations circulated, but only briefly.
As usual, ordinary news took center stage—which guild member had entered the 70th floor, which instant tower had been cleared.
Such mundane reports captured people’s attention, and critics even coined a new term: “Ilgyeok Detox.”
It was around that time.
「Ilgyeok: I’d like to meet with Personnel Manager Baek Seongyun.
Tower Defense: Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, of course, of course, of course, of course, of course….
Ilgyeok: ?」
‘What’s this? A glitch?’
Ihyeon’s request to meet with Seongnyun once more was—

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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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