I Got A Legendary Sniper Rifle - Chapter 249
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Episode 249
Ep. 249
Weeee—————!!!!
「…!! @#!**(@!# …!?!#**)(」
Red emergency lights suddenly flashed in the underground conference room, and a blaring siren wailed.
Elsie added an ominous remark.
And a notification window filled with incomprehensible symbols appeared before Ihyeon’s eyes—it was impossible to tell which happened first.
“What, what is this?”
“What the…?”
Caught off guard, people couldn’t properly grasp the situation and looked around bewilderedly.
“I’ll go check what’s happening right away!”
An Minggyu rushed to his feet and dashed out urgently.
Whether a gate had truly opened as Elsie suggested, or if there was another reason.
In this underground conference room that prioritized security, it was paradoxically impossible to immediately understand what was happening outside.
* * *
The Bureau Chief had activated Code Black by executive authority.
All employees were called in for emergency duty, external contact was completely restricted, and the internet was cut off—only the intranet remained accessible. It was an extreme lockdown measure.
In truth, the Bureau’s alert status typically involved gate-related situations, so whenever a code was issued, the Gate Response Team’s situation room would enter the most severe emergency protocol.
Normally, one employee rotated through the response center, but now two employees had to monitor the screens on constant duty.
“…But why Code Black?”
An additionally deployed response team employee asked the original staff member about the sudden Code Black.
“How would I know? There’s no sign of a gate opening.”
Naturally, he knew nothing either.
Code Black had been issued based on actual circumstances, yet sensors across the nation had detected nothing.
“Last time during Code Red, didn’t Personnel Manager Baek say he was meeting with Ilgyeok?”
“Yeah, that’s what I heard. If they’d just explained the reason, we wouldn’t be so tense.”
“Come on, how could they broadcast a meeting with Ilgyeok to all employees? The manager handled that well.”
“I suppose that’s true….”
“This time, isn’t the Bureau Chief meeting with Ilgyeok? Heh, that’s impressive.”
“Is that really what’s happening?”
Since the most recent Code Red had been related to Ilgyeok, speculation naturally flowed in that direction.
However, now that contact between Ilgyeok and the Bureau had been officially announced, some argued there was no need for such fuss.
If Ilgyeok were coming, it would be more natural not to issue codes so ostentatiously.
They didn’t know it, but there was already precedent for such things.
However, normally codes issued due to gates were naturally issued after a gate was observed, so the employees’ tension could have eased.
“So what… does the Bureau Chief actually know in advance when a gate will open?”
“No way, that’s impossible. The Bureau Chief was originally a non-awakened person—there was a lot of talk about that at first.”
“Why? He could have suddenly awakened. There’s even a web novel title like ‘I Alone Peeked at Gates.'”
“…You read stuff like that?”
“What’s wrong with that!”
“If you find something that fun, you’ve got to let me in on it too, man!”
While the two Employees were bantering back and forth with playful bickering.
Beep beep beep beep——!! Beep beep beep beep——!!
“???”
The monitor in front of them flashed red while a deafening sound erupted from the speakers.
What they were signaling was simple.
A gate had actually opened.
“Check the location! And the rank!”
The two Employees who had just been joking around moments before immediately began organizing information about the gate detected by the sensors.
“Seoul! Two gates opening simultaneously! Both locations are near the Bureau Chief’s office!”
“This is insane, what are the odds of this happening out of nowhere?”
“The rank, what’s the rank?”
The Bureau Chief’s office determines gate ranks by comparing the energy readings measured when a gate opens against the grades the system has provided so far.
“This is absolutely crazy….”
“What is it?”
But when the colleague responsible for determining the rank said nothing, the other Employee pressed him impatiently.
The colleague spoke as if the world were ending.
“A… A-rank.”
“What?! What about the other one?”
“That one too… A-rank.”
“My God….”
Even a single A-rank gate opening would warrant a national emergency declaration.
Yet two of them had opened simultaneously.
And in Seoul, the very heart of Korea, near the Bureau Chief’s office no less.
So shocked they couldn’t find words, they remained silent.
Tap— tap-tap-tap— tap—
But their hands were frantically pounding the keyboards.
The unbelievable information they were seeing on their monitors was being transmitted across the nation and the entire world through their fingertips.
“Hey.”
“What.”
“Do you think… our Bureau Chief secretly awakened?”
“That… might actually be it….”
The Employees seriously considered whether the jokes they’d been exchanging moments ago might actually be true.
If two A-rank gates had opened in Seoul during normal operations, no matter how well they responded, they would have been overwhelmed at the start.
Civilian casualties would naturally have been unavoidable in the process.
Thanks to Code Black, which simultaneously elevated the alert status of related agencies like police and military units, initial response measures had proceeded smoothly.
The Bureau Chief had essentially saved the nation!
Crash—! Bang—!
“What’s going on? Why the sirens?”
“Oh, Manager An Minggyu.”
“Two gates have opened simultaneously near the Bureau Chief’s office! One to the east, one to the south, approximately 2 kilometers away. Both are estimated to be Grade A.”
Minkyoo furrowed his brow deeply at the mechanical briefing, pressing his forehead with his hand.
“What in the world is happening….”
“We’ll mobilize the Hunters immediately. Once the top-ranked Hunters are assembled, we’ll dispatch them for emergency response.”
“Huh?”
Minkyoo, who had been listening to the Employees’ response protocol report, suddenly relaxed his furrowed expression and tilted his head in confusion.
“Wait… hold on a moment. I mean, I’m not technically in charge, but just… give me a second.”
“Yes?”
Two Grade A gates—an unprecedented crisis.
Yet he was asking them to pause their response?
The Employees stared at Minkyoo with expressions suggesting they’d heard every absurd thing imaginable.
But Minkyoo’s mind was equally tangled with thoughts.
‘So, right now there are two Grade A gates near the Bureau Chief’s office? But in the Bureau Chief’s basement, there’s… uh….’
Minkyoo recalled the faces of those who had been in the underground conference room just moments ago.
‘Do we really need to call anyone else?’
Even if the Bureau Chief were to mobilize everyone, the strongest cards were Hwi-yeong and Suyeon.
And right now, both of them were gathered in the Bureau Chief’s basement.
That wasn’t all.
The two individuals who had essentially triggered Code Black.
Ilgyeok and the Hero.
Ilgyeok had a precedent of performing the absurd feat of handling two gates simultaneously even early after ascending the tower.
‘And the Hero supposedly single-handedly nearly cleared an American Grade A gate….’
The Hero possessed an equally formidable track record that lived up to his name.
Crash—!
“What on earth is happening!”
At that moment, the Personnel Manager of the Gate Response Division—the one who could truly be called responsible for this crisis—burst through the door.
Upon hearing that two Grade A gates had been generated nearby, he had rushed over in haste.
“Um….”
“??”
But the atmosphere inside the command center felt oddly strange.
The command center, which should have been busy broadcasting the situation and assembling response personnel, was instead shrouded in an awkward silence.
And in the middle of it all were clearly the Personnel Manager An Mingyoo and the Personnel Manager.
“Why are you here?”
“Well, it’s complicated to explain, but first, have the perimeter controlled as usual. But there’s no need to panic—let’s wait a bit.”
“Hey, at a time like this…!”
“Yeah, I understand your concern. I’m going to step out for a moment.”
“???”
His movements were certainly hurried, but not so frantic as to suggest every second mattered.
Rather, there was even a hint of quiet confidence that he could navigate this situation.
“What’s with him?”
“W-we’re not entirely sure either.”
The Personnel Manager and Employee from the Gate Response Division stood dumbfounded, staring blankly at the empty space where Minkyoo had vanished.
* * *
“Two A-rank Gates have appeared to the east and south of the Bureau!”
“Yeah, I figured something like this would happen.”
“It’s the result of accumulated restrictions from the tower.”
The Spirits nodded knowingly at Minkyoo’s report as he returned to the underground conference room, as if they had anticipated this.
“I just got a strange notification window, oppa. Could it be…?”
“Yeah, I saw it too. Hwi-yeong Hunter, did you see it?”
“I did.”
All four Hunters present had witnessed the fractured notification window.
This clearly meant the two A-rank Gates were connected to this meeting.
‘The information we exchanged must have triggered something in the system.’
Once Ihyeon grasped the situation, I saw no reason to hesitate and rose from my seat.
“I’ll take the Spirits and head south. Suyeon, Hwi-yeong Hunter—would you handle the east?”
“Got it!”
“Understood.”
Suyeon and Hwi-yeong sprang to their feet as well, as if they’d already made up their minds.
It was sudden, and there would certainly be casualties, but in a way, this was fortunate.
Three of the strongest Hunters that could be assembled in Korea were gathered in one place, and Gates had conveniently appeared nearby.
As the three Hunters immediately expressed their willingness to raid the Gates, all eyes naturally turned to the one person remaining.
But strictly speaking, he stood apart from this crisis.
“Hero, you should return to America immediately. We’ll arrange your flight.”
Chris Erubein.
Now that his meeting with Ilgyeok had been arranged and his purpose achieved, he needed to return to America.
Though he had recently acquired Korean citizenship, Korea had no intention of reading anything into that.
“Yes, thank you for your consideration. Chris, did you hear? Let’s head back quickly. If we stay here and something unexpected happens, it’ll be awkward for everyone.”
Erubein’s Representative understood Seongnyun’s intent and immediately tried to leave.
Even the smallest incident here would be irreversible.
The impact would far exceed Erubein’s naturalization and subsequent disappearance for about two weeks.
It might be cleaner for the Korean government if they simply departed without further concern.
Erubein, dressed in crimson plate armor, rose from his seat.
“Yes, you’re thinking clearly. Let’s head to America quickly—”
“I will participate alongside Ilgyeok.”
“?!?!?!!!”
And he dropped a bombshell.
He would participate in Korea’s Gate raid.
And alongside Ilgyeok, no less!
“Ah, no, there’s really no need to go that far…”
“Yes, Hero, why would you participate in Korea’s Gate? We’re truly grateful for the sentiment alone.”
As the situation unfolded this way, Korean civil servants found themselves sweating profusely, desperately trying to restrain Erubein.
Had the gate appeared in Seoul, it would have been possible to command all the major guilds to mobilize their available forces and participate in the defense line.
Moreover, with Ilgyeok, Shin Gung, and Hwi-yeong together, even an A-rank gate would already be equipped with a luxurious lineup.
“One side has two people. This side has one. That’s fair, isn’t it?”
However, Erubein, having already made his decision, spoke with his own logic intact.
…As a former soldier, Ihyeon—who found himself oddly understanding the feelings of civil servants like Seongnyun and Minkyoo—spoke with reluctance.
“Strictly speaking, with Jia and Elsie, that makes three.”
“….”
Erubein’s mouth clamped shut, apparently not expecting Ihyeon to counter like this.
‘If I include the One-Strike Knight Order, that’s over a hundred people.’
But Ihyeon still had one more move up his sleeve!
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————