I Got A Legendary Sniper Rifle - Chapter 283

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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 283
Ep. 283
The grasslands burned.
In a night as black as pitch, creatures even darker and more lustrous than the darkness itself descended upon the campsite where nomadic tents clustered together.
Screams pierced the air, and blood stained the ground.
“Ahhhhh! Run! Run away!!!”
“Mom! Mom!”
“No!”
The people couldn’t even mount a proper defense before being slaughtered by the creatures’ claws, fangs, and incomprehensible appendages.
‘These don’t seem to be ordinary monsters….’
Ihyeon observed the forms of the creatures massacring people in a situation where I could do nothing.
Typically, the monsters that emerge from the Tower don’t originally exist on Earth, but rather take the forms passed down through mythology and fiction.
For instance, Goblins, Orcs, Trolls—aren’t they all like that?
But these black creatures were distinctly different from such monsters.
Even among themselves, they bore no resemblance to one another.
One creature moved erratically on three thick legs, another tore apart three victims with three separate heads, and yet another shredded tents like whips with eight arms.
There seemed to be no word to describe them except simply as ‘creatures.’
‘Do I have to defeat those things to reach the 90s?’
I couldn’t be certain yet.
Of course, those creatures would also be enemies I’d need to overcome.
But Erubein wouldn’t have confessed to being unable to advance further in the 90s simply for that reason.
The creatures were certainly powerful, but not so much that Erubein couldn’t even attempt to fight them.
Ihyeon let my gaze drift with the flow of events.
I had somehow ended up in the center of the campsite, beside the largest tent.
There, what appeared to be a Tribal Chief and his wife were conversing with a man in front of a carriage.
“Brother, please escape at once! We’ll buy you time however we can!”
“No, I’ll ensure the people can escape. Go now!”
The man appeared to be the Tribal Chief’s Brother.
“But, brother…!”
“If not me, then who can stop those creatures!”
The brother seemed desperate to evacuate his elder first, but even from my perspective, the brother’s words held truth.
‘There’s no choice. It seems everyone capable of fighting is already dead.’
The battle situation was dire.
No—it was already too devastated to even be called combat.
The best that could be hoped for now was perhaps for the Tribal Chief to rally the remaining Soldiers and get even one more person to join the evacuation column.
“Then what of your wife and the newborn nephew….”
The brother turned to look at his sister-in-law standing beside the Tribal Chief.
Her face was gaunt.
Seeing the newborn cradled in her arms made the situation abundantly clear.
Yet despite her haggard appearance, the resolve that glistened in her eyes remained unchanged.
Eriyu.
Thud—
She pushed the son cradled in her arms forcefully toward her brother.
“If I go with you, I’ll only be a burden. Take our son and flee at once.”
“What?!”
This time, her brother’s eyes widened in absolute refusal.
How could those who led the tribe all choose death in this place?
“Go! Do not dishonor Eriyu’s resolve! This is not your brother speaking—this is your Tribal Chief!”
“At, at least a name! Please, give him a name!”
In a desperate situation where not even a step ahead could be foreseen.
The Tribal Chief, drawing a sword already greatly curved, gazed upon his newborn son with wide eyes and spoke.
“Born when a comet fell, so let it be Kaez. Kaez shall be his name.”
That was the end of their conversation.
A Tribal Chief who abandoned life itself to save even one more of his people.
His wife who forsook the chance to watch her son grow, choosing instead his safety.
Their brother could not possibly be ignorant of what he must do now.
With tears streaming down his face, he cradled his nephew precious in his arms and mounted his horse.
The Tribal Chief struck the horse’s haunches hard and spoke to his brother.
“Herpah. From now on, you must lead the tribe. Steel your heart. And….”
What must be the heart of a father left behind in these lands, parted from his son?
“Tell Kaez that I will watch over him roaming the grasslands with my own eyes.”
And that was all.
As if the lights had dimmed, the scene Ihyeon had been watching vanished without a trace, and his surroundings turned pitch black.
‘…I understand now.’
Brief and chaotic as that passage was, Ihyeon intuited what he must do in the 90s floors.
The first to fall like a comet.
And the Tribal Chief and his wife, and the newborn baby witnessed at that scene.
Was it not obvious without anyone telling him?
‘I must raise this tribe anew. No matter who stands in my way.’
Kaez.
That would be the name by which Ihyeon would be called from now on.
Now he understood everything Erubein had said.
How far would Kaez’s life truly accomplish?
That comprehensive Achievement would be the criterion determining whether he could surpass the 90s floors and reach the 100s floors or not.
‘If I misstep on the first button on Floor 91… then like Erubein said, there will be cases where I cannot ascend.’
Erubein, the first on Earth to set foot on the 90s floors.
Had he faced such circumstances without any information or clues, he likely would have thought little of it.
The 90s floors are Kaez’s life itself.
Time that has already passed cannot be changed.
Keeping that in mind, achieving the system’s highest intended goal one floor at a time would be the only safe way to pass through this place.
And that was.
‘My specialty, isn’t it?’
For Ihyeon, who had conquered every floor up to this point with S+ ratings and climbed higher, it was perfectly suited to him.
As he entertained such thoughts, Ihyeon’s vision shifted once more.
Now an entirely different world unfolded before him, nothing like the devastation from moments before.
A sprawling plain, difficult to find in Korea.
A clear, boundless sky without a single cloud.
Several nomadic tents stood there, and Ihyeon found himself in the center of that nomadic village.
Now he could feel his body properly.
His arms and legs moved without issue.
‘At least my body type seems similar to before.’
Likely the previous situation was Kaez’s background exposition, and now Ihyeon had properly stepped into Kaez’s role.
Ihyeon approached a large water trough nearby and gazed at his reflection.
“There is a resemblance.”
Ihyeon nodded, observing his face reflected in the water’s surface.
He appeared to be around fifteen years old.
His facial features weren’t drastically different from Ihyeon’s own childhood, but with the nomadic clothing and lifestyle applied, he seemed like an entirely different person.
Then someone called out to Ihyeon—or rather, Kaez.
“Kaez! Kaez! Where are you?”
“…Ah, Uncle.”
Ihyeon easily recognized the person calling him.
The Tribal Chief’s Brother, looking noticeably older than before.
He must have escaped that catastrophe, gathered the tribal members, and led the people until now.
‘Though the tribe’s size is quite small for that explanation… which means it was that devastating.’
The tribal members appeared to number fewer than two hundred.
Ihyeon wasn’t well-versed in nomadic peoples, and he was even more ignorant of this world’s circumstances, but at a glance, the numbers were pitifully small compared to the tribe’s size when Kaez was born.
Kaez’s uncle approached with a gentle smile and spoke.
“Today is the day you undergo your coming-of-age ceremony, is it not? Were you here because you were nervous?”
The 91st floor began with Kaez’s coming-of-age ceremony.
‘Covering from childhood would take too long, so they’ve skipped ahead appropriately.’
Ihyeon nodded with an awkward laugh tinged with playfulness.
“Yes, well… it is a coming-of-age ceremony, after all.”
He couldn’t know what form this tribe’s coming-of-age ceremony would take.
But generally, a coming-of-age ceremony is a rite of passage into society, making it harsh or significant.
It wasn’t strange for a boy to be nervous.
Yet the uncle gently guided Ihyeon forward and said something rather puzzling.
“Haven’t I told you countless times not to mind people’s gazes? You are Kaez. The son of your great father.”
‘People’s gazes?’
Ihyeon soon understood his uncle’s meaning.
As he passed through the village, he could clearly hear people whispering about him.
“A cursed comet passes overhead.”
“Today is the coming-of-age ceremony, and… well, I’m certain something extraordinary will come of it.”
“Isn’t the Tribal Chief showing too much favoritism toward his brother’s son?”
The atmosphere itself felt far too familiar to me.
‘At this rate, it feels like I’ve returned to the Azure Dragon Battalion all over again.’
I could grasp the background well enough.
The tribe was attacked by monsters on the very day Kaez was born.
And it wasn’t just any attack—a comet fell in perfect timing with Kaez’s birth.
It was far too easy for people to spread sinister rumors and ostracize a single person.
Kaez had likely lived his fifteen years enduring such gazes and isolation.
Relying only on his Uncle, the one who cherished him.
Whether Kaez had grown despondent from the tribe’s reactions or had even fallen into despair, I couldn’t say.
‘But from now on, things will be different.’
I had no intention of tolerating whatever the coming-of-age ceremony might bring.
Well, if I’d just arrived straight from my time in the Azure Dragon Battalion, perhaps it would be different.
But since then, I had lived as Ilgyeok, and I had changed completely.
What mattered was not people’s judgment, but my own self-worth.
If I didn’t lose faith in myself, the gazes of others would become meaningless.
My Uncle led me away from the village entirely.
Though the tribe members had plenty to say about me, curiosity about the ceremony drew them to follow in small groups from a distance.
When we had traveled far enough that the nomadic tents appeared small, I spotted another figure ahead.
An elderly man with a hunched back stood leaning on a staff, watching us from the grassland as if waiting for my Uncle and me.
Crunch—
At this point, even my Uncle seemed somewhat tense, his grip on my wrist tightening slightly.
Though the smile at his lips remained unchanged.
“Remember this well. The coming-of-age ceremony is a ritual where you obtain a companion and a weapon you will keep as lifelong friends.”
“A companion and a weapon…”
I couldn’t see anything around us, so I had no idea how such a thing was possible, but there must be a way.
My Uncle nodded.
“Yes. You simply step onto the formation drawn by the Shaman Elder, and it is done. But that result will change the course of your entire life.”
Hearing my Uncle’s words, something suddenly came to mind.
‘My inventory.’
「Inventory usage is restricted.」
My inventory wouldn’t open.
Moreover, my clothes were not the black outfit I always wore, but simple garments made of cloth and leather, similar to those of any nomad.
‘So I can’t use items for now.’
Well, if I’d possessed Kaez and the Hunters could freely use their original items while causing chaos, it would defeat the entire purpose.
Having them go outside each time to fetch necessary items and then clear dungeons also went against the intention entirely.
“Above all, your weapon is crucial. For your reference, your father wielded a beautiful curved blade.”
“I understand.”
“Huh? How did you know about that?”
‘…Ah.’

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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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