I Got A Legendary Sniper Rifle - Chapter 270

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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 270
Ep. 270
Hero and King
“If the Tower disappears, there will be some chaos afterward, but when I think about it, it’s not entirely a bad thing. The world would become more peaceful.”
Ungdo gazed toward a horizon far beyond the Tower’s summit.
Well, if Ihyeon and the Hero were people who looked at the Tower’s peak and climbed upward.
‘Then Claude and Chairman Park Wungdo could be called people who dash toward the horizon.’
Their aspirations differed.
Those who reach for the stars versus those who expand the land beneath their feet.
“Perhaps, Hunter, if the Tower disappears, wouldn’t the era that follows become one of distributing merit and reward?”
“Distributing merit and reward… but a moment ago you said whoever destroys the Tower would become a great criminal.”
Ungdo smiled faintly.
His gaze remained as cold as frost.
“That’s precisely why such a thing must not come to pass. That’s what we’re discussing with the Hunter right now.”
Ungdo rose slightly from his seat and moved toward the window overlooking the outside world.
“Who contributed most to destroying the Tower? I have no doubt whatsoever that it would be you, Hunter.”
Ihyeon, who would ascend to the highest floor of the Main Tower, filled with monsters and all manner of mysteries.
And.
“And who accumulated the most wealth while the Tower was being destroyed? If I were to desire something, it would be precisely that—the second-place prize.”
“…”
Ungdo, who would stand at the highest point if the world were built as a Tower outside the Main Tower.
This was precisely why Ungdo had summoned Ihyeon earlier.
And it was the bird’s-eye view of the world he envisioned beyond the Tower’s end.
Now Ihyeon felt he could gain some certainty about this man called Ungdo.
And how to respond to him.
“Then wouldn’t that simply create another Tower?”
“…”
To Ihyeon’s question, Ungdo fell silent in a manner entirely different from before.
It seemed he hadn’t anticipated such a response, or perhaps he had fallen into deep contemplation of his own.
“You’re quite the romantic, aren’t you?”
But Ungdo quickly regained his composure.
“Is that really so strange? I think not. Was the emergence of this Tower truly exceptional? Wasn’t it merely a perfect summary of the form that human civilization has maintained for thousands of years? The Tower isn’t disappearing. We’re simply remodeling it.”
“That could be true.”
“Then our task is simply to adapt to the world. Just as you, Hunter, exert yourself painfully to climb one floor of the Tower, isn’t it natural that we all strive to ascend even slightly higher in the Tower that is the world?”
Ungdo’s typically dry expression seemed to show the faintest crack.
Perhaps he had sensed that his conversation with Ihyeon wouldn’t unfold as smoothly as expected.
Ungdo’s ability was remarkable.
He acted as though reading Ihyeon’s innermost thoughts.
His intuition proved correct.
“Yes, it seems I’m more of a romantic than I thought.”
Ihyeon had no desire to comply with Ungdo’s intentions.
It was not an unreasonable proposal.
Ungdo’s ambition to make Ihyeon a hero and himself a king.
Between the two of them, they possessed more than enough capability to realize that plan.
But Ihyeon had not climbed the Tower all this time merely for such a world.
Ungdo, frowning slightly for the first time, spoke in a sharp voice.
“A great man must play in great waters, Hunter. A dragon that plays in a stream will eventually become a loach.”
At this point, it was nearly a half-threat, as if telling him to accept defeat gracefully.
Great waters, indeed.
“You speak truly.”
Ihyeon nodded and rose from his seat.
Then he moved to a slightly more spacious area behind the sofa.
Ungdo, standing by the window, seemed to be observing what Ihyeon might do.
He showed no sign whatsoever of believing Ihyeon might attack him.
Perhaps that was the confidence of a king.
Ihyeon, too, had no intention of attacking him outright.
Instead, he retrieved an unexpected object from his inventory.
“…What is that mirror?”
Ungdo gazed at the full-length mirror Ihyeon had produced with a curious expression.
Ihyeon smiled and spoke.
“I would like to introduce you to someone.”
From Ungdo’s position, the space beyond the mirror was not visible.
Had he been able to see it, he might have found it rather strange.
For the mirror’s surface reflected not the chairman’s office, but another space entirely.
Ihyeon nodded as he looked at the person on the other side of the mirror.
The figure showed hesitation even at Ihyeon’s signal of approval.
A face uncertain whether he truly should cross through this mirror.
Ihyeon gave him sufficient time.
Fortunately, it did not take long before he answered Ihyeon’s expectation.
Whoosh—
“….”
Ungdo’s expression hardened like wax upon seeing the figure who had crossed through the mirror.
He appeared quite displeased.
Ihyeon continued calmly.
“Your words were excellent, Chairman, but there is one error in what you said.”
“…What is that?”
“I am not a dragon.”
Then he introduced the one who had crossed through the mirror.
“The dragon who stands with me is Jang Deokhun, Chairman.”
I myself am not a dragon, but another great water.
I was confident enough to call myself that.
*Bow*
Deokhuun, dressed impeccably, bowed deeply toward Ungdo.
It would be his final gesture of respect toward Ungdo.
At least, that’s what I intended to make it.
‘Chairman Park Wungdo must have misunderstood me.’
In fairy tales, the hero is one who obeys the king’s order.
He defeats the demon lord and the dragon to save the princess, then returns to the kingdom and succeeds to the throne.
That was precisely the relationship between king and hero that Ungdo desired.
But I was not such a purely virtuous hero from a fairy tale.
That image was closer to Erubein or Suyeon.
If I were to describe myself in Ungdo’s worldview, perhaps….
‘A revolutionary.’
A revolutionary who seeks to overturn the kingdom and create a new world.
In the world a revolutionary dreams of, the king no longer exists.
Even if I fail, there’s nothing to be done about it.
“May I take this as Ilgyeok’s answer to my invitation?”
“Yes.”
Ungdo’s face had transformed 180 degrees from when he first welcomed me.
With only the same appearance, it was nearly impossible to think of him as the same person.
Deokhuun’s expression was tense, but he reaffirmed his intentions to Ungdo.
“Chairman, I believe I asked you not to investigate my background.”
“You stay quiet.”
“Even so, I failed to mention that you won’t be able to obtain what you desire.”
“….”
Ungdo’s expression twisted as never before.
The face of a king betrayed by a prince he had paid no mind to.
Of course, when Deokhuun first said those words, that wasn’t what he meant.
It was more accurate to see it as the timid revenge of a prince who had only just begun to properly raise his flag.
But the significance of that meaning was not small.
In Ungdo’s eyes looking at me, hostility now swirled.
Revolutionaries are typically called traitors until they succeed.
“Do as you please, both of you. I’ll watch to see what great things you can accomplish before me.”
Ungdo spoke with a growl.
Beside me, I felt Deokhuun flinch slightly.
It was a part that showed how desperately he had struggled to escape Ungdo’s sphere of influence until now.
And just how immense a presence Ungdo was to him.
I nodded.
“Thank you for calling me. Then.”
We had come by elevator on the way in, but not on the way out.
Ihyeon slipped through the mirror passage first, and after a brief moment of staring at Ungdo, Deokhuun followed him out.
As the two disappeared, the mirror passage vanished as if by magic.
“….”
Yet Ungdo continued to stare at the place where they had vanished for a long while.
* * *
“Phew…!”
They had returned to Deokhuun’s warehouse.
Even that brief encounter with Ungdo seemed to be a tremendous burden, as Deokhuun staggered and exhaled a deep sigh.
Ihyeon steadied his arm and asked.
“Are you really that afraid of your father?”
“Well… not so much afraid, I’d say.”
Deokhuun shook his head, searching for the right words.
“Yes, I suppose I am afraid. I’ve been tormented by him since childhood.”
Ihyeon didn’t know much about Deokhuun’s past.
What on earth had happened that made someone usually so spirited lose all his vigor like this?
“Until yesterday, when you readily accepted Secretary Choi Jaehyeon’s proposal, I was worried.”
“Why?”
“Honestly… Father isn’t the type to make proposals that work against his interests. Especially not to someone of your caliber.”
Ihyeon pondered for a moment, then nodded.
A business built on deceiving others might shine briefly at first, but it’s not sustainable.
Eventually, its limits become apparent, and a moment of ruin arrives where losses far outweigh gains.
In that regard, Ungdo’s strategic acumen was befitting of his position.
Ihyeon had merely rejected his proposal—he had made an offer where both parties would benefit.
“It was somewhat tempting, I’ll admit.”
“Brother!”
At Deokhuun’s outcry, Ihyeon smiled with a hint of mischief.
Tempting as it was, I had no intention of accepting Ungdo’s proposal.
“You know me—I’m not the type to be tied down to one place.”
“? Brother, but then why did you become a soldier?”
“….”
I cowardly dodged Deokhuun’s pointed question and cleanly ignored it.
“And there was no place for you in Chairman Park Wungdo’s plan. I didn’t like that.”
Of course, following Ungdo’s vision wouldn’t have left Deokhuun in a precarious position.
But in his vision, only Ihyeon and Ungdo existed.
Everyone else could be made to disappear as circumstances dictated, and he was the type of man capable of doing exactly that.
That was the greatest reason I rejected his proposal.
“Brother…!”
Deokhuun’s eyes glistened with tears at my words.
For some reason, he shed tears especially easily in front of me.
As if compensating for all the years of his life when he wanted to cry but couldn’t.
However, Ihyeon had no interest in watching a grown man—especially Deokhuun—cry.
“You’re leaving again?”
“I-I’m sorry.”
Deokhuun hastily wiped away his tears, terrified that Ihyeon might actually leave.
It was something I’d felt from the beginning, but now it truly seemed impossible to remove Ihyeon from Deokhuun’s life.
Still, this time I felt a certain unease.
“But what exactly are you planning to do? I’ll follow your lead, of course, but Father is absolutely not someone to be taken lightly.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
Ihyeon agreed.
Ungdo’s influence in Korea was truly formidable.
The fact that he’d extracted information about Ihyeon—classified as top secret even within the Tower Administration and Management Bureau—was proof enough, wasn’t it?
Now that I’d made an enemy of him, I had to prepare myself for the public opinion, which had been entirely favorable, to deteriorate to some degree.
At the very least, it would be impossible to get away with anything as I had before, receiving praise instead.
However, Ungdo wouldn’t be reckless enough to expose Ihyeon’s identity to the world in a fit of anger.
‘That would only backfire. It would just make me more of a spectacle.’
Ungdo would likely choose to slowly strangle Ihyeon instead.
There was no need for someone with power to confront their opponent head-on.
Then what about Ihyeon’s side?
“We need to show that we have power too.”
“Pardon?”
Deokhuun’s eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected words, tilting his head in confusion.
Of course, Ihyeon’s power was something no one could ignore.
‘To be honest… I don’t think I’d lose even if I fought against a decent nation.’
Ihyeon alone was formidable enough, and on top of that, there were two Spirits, the Knights, and now Blue—a Golem with absurd performance capabilities.
I’d also built a relationship with Frontier that was practically like sworn brotherhood.
Was he planning to use Frontier’s organizational power?
While it would certainly be a significant force, in Deokhuun’s assessment, Frontier wasn’t the right organization for this kind of power struggle.
They were unmatched when it came to Towers and Gates, but they kept their distance from political conflicts from the start.
No matter how much Claude thought highly of Ihyeon, he would politely withdraw if he heard about fighting the Tower Association.
‘And surely he’s not thinking of having the Knights storm the Tower Association headquarters.’
Despite being Ihyeon’s closest aide, Deokhuun couldn’t get a sense of what he was planning.
Watching Deokhuun’s bewildered reaction, Ihyeon stood up as if to strike while the iron was hot, brushing off his clothes and heading out of the warehouse.
“Well, since we’re on the subject, let’s get started.”
“???”
This opportunity was actually when I planned to make contact with people I hadn’t paid much attention to until now.
So it was only natural that Deokhuun couldn’t quite grasp what was happening.
Ihyeon smiled faintly and spoke.
“This time, you and Jia will have to step up in my place. Since you’ll be my representatives, that should be fine, right?”
“Huh? Ah, yes, of course…”

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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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