I Got A Legendary Sniper Rifle - Chapter 222
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Episode 222
Ep. 222
However, unlike before, I didn’t go through the elaborate process of entering the Management Bureau’s basement via a secret passage, nor did I have to surrender my phone and electronic devices.
“That’ll be 8,600 won.”
“Yes, I’ll eat here.”
“You can eat over there.”
A quiet convenience store about ten minutes away from the Management Bureau.
My illusion settled into a window seat after purchasing a single lunch box.
Shortly after, someone approached and sat down beside me with a similar lunch box.
It was Seongnyun.
Click—
The moment Seongnyun took his seat, he pulled out a small device, placed it on the table, and activated it.
Whirrrr—
A faint vibration accompanied the emergence of a transparent barrier that enveloped both of us.
Ihyeon looked around with curious eyes and asked.
“What is this?”
“It’s a jamming device. Created by illusion mages. Now, not only will people outside be unable to hear our conversation, but we’ll simply appear to be eating lunch normally. The performance is reliable, so you can rest assured.”
“I see…”
The world had truly become a remarkable place.
…Though I wasn’t really at an age to be saying such things, I still found this new technology fascinating.
Tower Defense, a Hunter from the Management Bureau, had received my contact and provided Seongnyun’s personal number, and by mutual agreement, we decided to meet at a third location outside the Management Bureau.
It seemed unlikely that anyone would be watching us even if we simply met at a convenience store, but with such reliable security measures in place, it was even better.
“Couldn’t we have met like this last time as well?”
“Well… at that time, I didn’t know Ilgyeok’s temperament. I couldn’t possibly invite him to such a humble place.”
Ihyeon nodded in understanding.
Ihyeon was unpretentious enough not to mind such things, but many other Hunters had a strong sense of privilege.
And if there had been any sudden outburst, the Management Bureau’s basement would have been far better for handling it.
It seemed that trust had been built between us, not just on my side since our last meeting.
“Your appearance has changed since last time, but is it still…?”
“Yes, it’s an illusion.”
“As I thought.”
“I apologize for the rudeness.”
“Not at all. I’ll work harder so that you can trust us, Hunter.”
Seongnyun waved his hand dismissively, as if he truly didn’t mind.
What did it matter if it was an illusion?
Simply having a conversation with Ilgyeok was enough for the higher-ups to treat Seongnyun as a national hero.
If I actually met Ilgyeok face-to-face, they might even award him a medal.
Seongnyun was satisfied enough just knowing that I hadn’t brought Jia this time.
“So, the reason you requested this meeting is…?”
“Yes, you may have guessed, but it concerns the strategy for clearing from the 86th floor onward.”
“As I thought.”
It was a reason worth considering, and the timing of our meeting was perfect.
By deliberately avoiding the tower for a week, Ilgyeok had redirected public attention and sent a signal to the Management Bureau.
In truth, Seongnyun had sensed this meeting with Ilgyeok vaguely coming for days now.
“If there’s anything you desire or have in mind, please speak freely. I’ll do my best to reflect it. Actually, there’s no need to discuss whether to reflect it or not—it’s your strategy, after all.”
“Thank you for saying so. Then….”
And so, the meeting between Ihyeon and Seongnyun that took place in the convenience store ended in just thirty minutes.
It was barely enough time to eat a single lunch box and rest briefly.
And that meeting.
(Grade A-B) Management team, we succeeded in the first strike and tangential approach, let’s discuss the strategy for conquering the 86th floor.
└ Reporter, no matter how rushed you are, you need to write the headline properly
These days, it’s common knowledge that reporters who rush to break news write out their article headlines in advance, so when they actually type them out, their typing skills are poor ㅋㅋ
└ Wait, is this real? The Management Bureau met with Ilgyeok? ]
[ (Breaking) Management Bureau Personnel Manager leads meeting with Ilgyeok… Already discussed twice
Details to follow
└ Wow;; The Management Bureau actually does work
└ What are you doing? Management Bureau, raise the budget quickly. Double it for the Personnel Department ]
It dropped a bombshell across South Korea and the entire world.
The interest in Ilgyeok, which had quieted during the week-long silence, exploded spectacularly.
The Management Bureau, which operated under the motto of ‘quiet management is peace,’ suddenly became the hottest government department in an instant.
Every phone in the Personnel Department rang without pause, so hot you could feel the heat radiating from them.
“Yes, yes, the Personnel Manager is preparing for a press conference, so please wait a moment.”
“We don’t know anything either. We can’t say anything.”
“This was conducted at the manager level. It’s classified information even from our employees.”
Though quick reporters attempted to contact them, they achieved nothing substantial.
The employees truly knew nothing.
What were they supposed to do when Seongnyun had simply left saying ‘I’ll grab lunch alone today’ and single-handedly turned the nation upside down?
Of course, the employees harbored no resentment toward Seongnyun.
Anything related to Ilgyeok was more than justified, and knowing how hard Seongnyun had worked all this time, they even thought he’d received proper compensation.
Thus began what was arguably the Management Bureau’s greatest press conference in history, bearing the title ‘Successful Contact with Ilgyeok.’
Whoooosh———!!!
Amid flashing camera lights as if every broadcast camera in South Korea had been brought out.
“Ahem.”
Seongnyun, dressed in a neat suit unlike usual, stood at the podium.
First, Seongnyun announced several pieces of news agreed upon with Ilgyeok.
“From the 86th floor onward, considering the main tower’s timer, we have determined that clearing one floor per day, unlike before, would be inefficient. We have decided to establish certain rest periods between floor clears. The timing of the next strategy will be left to Ilgyeok, though in consultation with the Management Bureau.”
Whoooosh——
“Furthermore, we have agreed to collaborate temporarily with Hunter Seo Suyeon, currently under the Management Bureau’s jurisdiction, in clearing the tower. This is at the request of both hunters and is intended to enhance each hunter’s abilities and strengthen South Korea’s competitive edge in tower conquest.”
“Ohhh…!”
“Finally, regarding this matter, the Management Bureau and the government declare that we will spare no national-level support for these two hunters.”
It was simple news on the surface, but its contents were anything but light.
Then again, was there anything Ilgyeok ever said that could be treated lightly?
If he so much as mentioned a lunch menu, every establishment of that type across the nation would shut down due to depleted supplies.
Listening to Seongnyun’s words broadcast live, people began to feel hope about what lay beyond the 86th floor.
They believed Korea’s main tower record would never stop at the 86th floor.
Perhaps with the wings of Ilgyeok, they could even aim for the 90th floor and beyond—something once thought to be America’s exclusive domain.
Though Seongnyun couldn’t see the expressions of the citizens watching him at this very moment, he felt overwhelmed by such fervent energy.
‘…No, I’m actually feeling the heat from all these camera flashes.’
No wonder my face felt so warm.
In any case, the prepared announcement was complete.
“Now we’ll take questions.”
The question-and-answer session—the practical highlight of the press conference and a moment where awkward situations often arose—had arrived.
Dozens of hands shot up sharply.
Seongnyun pointed to one of the first to raise their hand.
“Did you really meet Ilgyeok?”
“No. For security reasons, Ilgyeok sent a proxy. Of course, all proper verification procedures were completed.”
“Ah…”
The atmosphere in the conference room, which had been buzzing with excitement like any ordinary person’s, deflated somewhat at Seongnyun’s answer.
The Management Bureau wouldn’t be deceived by a fake Ilgyeok and make false announcements, but still, if it wasn’t the real Ilgyeok, some of the air inevitably went out of it.
More importantly, that statement meant they couldn’t answer any questions about Ilgyeok’s characteristics, primary weapon, and all the other information that had been the focus of interest until now.
Seongnyun had anticipated this level of reaction, so he moved on calmly.
Next question.
“What exactly were these proper verification procedures?”
“Yes, we went through several methods, but most definitively, we met Jia—the spirit of the S+ item publicly revealed as Ilgyeok’s proxy.”
Seongnyun brought up Jia precisely because she too enjoyed nationwide popularity.
Revealing this much would prevent expectations from being crushed too severely.
But then.
“Ooooooooh!!!!!”
“???”
Jia’s popularity turned out to be even better than Seongnyun had anticipated.
Exclamations burst forth even among reporters who typically maintained silence except when absolutely necessary.
‘Is it really something to get this excited about?’
After all, she was merely the spirit of an item.
Though Seongnyun had even registered Jia and Elsie as official citizens, he did view them separately from actual Hunters.
However, judging by the real-time reactions flooding the internet, people’s enthusiasm far exceeded Seongnyun’s expectations.
[Send Personnel Manager Baek Seongyun to the National Assembly! The Assembly!
Wow! He actually met Lady Jia!
That’s more than enough, yes yes.
Honestly, didn’t he do much? lol to those people
Manager, pay more taxes!!! ]
The mere mention of meeting Jia completely transformed the evaluation of the press conference.
That dramatic shift in atmosphere could be perfectly summarized by a single comment that followed.
[ FutureHopeJiaFootstool : At this point, isn’t Jia more popular than Ilgyeok? Not that I’m saying anything bad ]
* * *
After the Management Bureau’s infamous “massive explosion press conference.”
Ihyeon was still preparing various things without attempting to clear the 86th floor.
“Since I don’t need to break through the 86th floor right away, I should focus on leveling up to fill in the gaps for now.”
So-called level grinding.
While ordinary hunters typically spent considerable time climbing floor by floor or transitioning between floor tiers, Ihyeon had essentially skipped that entire process so far.
Which meant my current level was 38.
To be honest, it was absurdly low for someone claiming to be an 80-tier hunter.
Of course, I had occasionally filled in lacking skill counts and grades through S+ privileges, and above all, I had pushed through with the overwhelming quality of 20 stat points per level.
And while it seemed I could climb higher for a while longer after defeating the Dokkaebi, it felt like now was the right time to consolidate my foundation.
“That is a wise decision, Master.”
“Right, even though I’m strong, you can’t ignore levels.”
The spirits agreed with that assessment.
Having reached the 80-tier floors, I could now repeatedly clear high-tier dungeons without worrying about drawing unwanted attention.
“And I’m glad I met with Manager Baek.”
I recalled my conversation with Seongnyun.
Since it wasn’t a frequent meeting, we hadn’t simply parted after Seongnyun announced his findings at the press conference.
– From the 85th floor onward, the mission content differs significantly from the early 80-tier floors. This is information from Hunter Suyeon, who is currently attempting the 86th floor, and it’s been cross-verified by the American side as well.
The information was that from the 86th floor onward, positioning the frost stones wasn’t the true essence of the mission.
As for the details, since I’d be teaming up with Suyeon anyway, I was told to ask her directly.
As for other matters, they simply asked for my cooperation whenever troublesome gates or instant towers appeared in the future.
That was something I’d already been doing before being asked, so I agreed without much hesitation.
I turned on my computer and accessed the Management Bureau’s website.
After entering my information in the ‘Team Status Management’ tab, all the details about my team appeared.
[ Team Name: Watchmen
Members:
Choi Ihyeon
Choi Jia
Choi Elsie
Jang Deokhun
Seo Suyeon ]
Jia and Elsie, registered under my surname Choi in order.
Followed by Deokhun, who had joined later.
And finally Suyeon, already listed on the roster.
‘They really are fast with this kind of administrative work.’
A few days ago, I received a text saying the new team member application had been received, and everything proceeded smoothly.
Then again, thinking about who was directly handling this matter made it only natural.
Ranking first place Seo Suyeon, and a Personnel Manager from the Management Bureau’s headquarters.
‘I never imagined I’d end up on the same team as Hunter Suyeon….’
This was what they meant by the passage of time bringing unexpected turns, by overwhelming emotion.
When I was with the Special Forces, I’d always thought of Suyeon as someone who would live in a completely different world from me for the rest of my life, yet here she was, joining my team.
Ihyeon felt a fresh wave of sentiment wash over him as he opened the chat window.
Now we’re truly on the same team. I should meet up and talk things through first.
「Ilgyeok : I’d like to meet with you once. When would be convenient for you? If you’re busy, whenever suits you best….
Baekbalbaegjung : Today?」
“?”
「Baekbalbaegjung : Right now?」
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————