I Got A Legendary Sniper Rifle - Chapter 323

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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 323
Ep. 323
After greeting Ihyeon briefly, Seongnyun immediately bellowed at the top of his lungs.
“GAAAAHHH!!! Where is that filthy spy threatening the safety and peace of the Republic of Korea?!”
It was a display of fierce intensity that seemed impossible from the usually cheerful Seongnyun.
Even the legendary Ilgyeok stepped back half a pace, pointing toward a single location.
“Over there.”
“Ah, you’ve locked him in that warehouse? Let me go finish him off right now—!”
“No, beside it.”
“?”
Seongnyun turned his gaze in the direction Ihyeon’s finger indicated.
There, two people were crouched down pulling weeds from a vegetable garden when they suddenly noticed the helicopter and stood frozen with their mouths agape.
…Of course, it was Suyeon and Yunjung.
Seongnyun’s expression became similarly dumbfounded—he had never imagined that Korea’s second-ranked Hunter and an American intelligence operative would be leisurely tending vegetables in a garden.
Seongnyun asked.
“So, you’re saying… Seo Suyeon Hunter was an American intelligence operative?”
“Does that make sense?”
“Aha, right? Then it must be that person.”
Though Seongnyun had rushed over in great anger upon hearing that American hands had reached Ihyeon, now that he’d arrived at the scene and seen the situation, there was nothing to be angry about.
Until the Management Bureau coordinated with the NIS for an emergency dispatch, he had imagined a scene like an espionage action film—a burly former American special forces operative armed with various weapons infiltrating a residence and staging a hostage situation.
In any case, the helicopter awkwardly searched for a landing spot and departed temporarily.
Seongnyun brought only one NIS combat agent—the one in charge—and entered the annex with Ihyeon and Yunjung.
He needed to hear roughly what had happened.
“…This is how it happened.”
“So, an American black operative suddenly confessed and asked you to make any demands of her?”
“Yes.”
Seongnyun looked back at Yunjung with eyes that questioned whether that made any sense.
Hearing it summarized this way, Yunjung realized she had made a rather un-black-operative-like mistake, but since it was already done, she couldn’t deny it further.
“Personnel Manager Baek, was it? The situation was that urgent. I thought I was completely exposed.”
“I see….”
Seongnyun was deeply suspicious.
“You’re telling me she actually works for the American government as a black operative?!”
The meaning in that gaze was painfully obvious, so Yunjung felt deeply wronged.
No doubt he was thinking, ‘Isn’t she just an obsessive fan of Ilgyeok’s café, clinging to his side?’
“Tsk, yes, well. Let’s say that’s true for now.”
“It’s not ‘let’s say’—!”
“You don’t even have an ID or anything.”
“How would a black operative carry around an ID!”
It was an ironic situation—despite a capable spy confessing, the intelligence agency was the one who didn’t believe her and demanded proof.
‘Isn’t it usually the opposite?’
I had seen countless scenes of intelligence agencies trying to catch spies, but this was my first time witnessing something like this, so I observed with considerable interest.
Seongnyun nodded to the NIS Agent standing beside him.
If Yunjung really was a spy, then it was their specialty to verify her claims, so he was essentially telling them to proceed as they saw fit.
The NIS Agent also appeared equally skeptical.
“Very well then, Han Yunjeong. I have a few questions for you. Do you perhaps have a code name?”
“Yes, it’s Phoenix. You’re with the NIS, aren’t you? Then you should have heard of it.”
“Pfft!”
“???”
“Why are you doing that?”
“Phoenix, hehehehe! Ah, my apologies. I’m not sure where you heard that code name, but the legendary Phoenix would never get captured like this.”
“Is she that impressive?”
“Of course. Elusive and mysterious—America’s Robin Hood, so to speak. Believe it or not, China even formed a dedicated task force to catch Phoenix, but they couldn’t find a trace.”
“Pfft!”
“….”
Yunjung felt like she could cry.
What sin had I committed to suffer through this ordeal?
…Though I suppose I have committed crimes.
‘If you’re going to torture me, then torture me. What is this?!’
Han Yunjeong, the American black operative who had operated in the shadows of the world.
This was the moment she faced the greatest crisis of her life.
However, proving her true identity was not particularly difficult.
“What was the decisive factor that made Phoenix recruit the Lighthouse Keeper in Italy?”
“Of course, it was ten million dollars, a luxury yacht, and a lifetime guarantee of the Royal Cluster Hotel suite.”
“Pfft.”
“…or so it’s been reported, but the truth is it was to perform surgery on an old dog the Lighthouse Keeper had raised. That’s the detail I focused on.”
“….”
What other way could Phoenix, who had spent her entire life conducting covert and dangerous operations, prove her identity?
“Then… what about bringing in Russia’s Siberian Heart?”
“A guarantee of freedom.”
“Hmm.”
“or so the broadcasts kept insisting, but the real reason was her desire to fight the Doom Bear of the Rocky Mountains bare-handed. You could call it a masculine style.”
After asking several more questions, the NIS Agent eventually whispered something to Seongnyun.
Seongnyun nodded.
Beyond information known to the public, she knew all of Phoenix’s movements—even those classified as highly confidential by intelligence agencies.
Whether or not Yunjung was Phoenix herself, it seemed clear she was someone connected to her.
In fact, Seongnyun had also noticed from the rapid-fire exchange between the NIS Agent and Yunjung that the atmosphere was becoming unusual.
Seongnyun was, after all, the Personnel Manager of the Management Bureau, which oversaw Hunters of the Republic of Korea.
As such, he was well-informed about international affairs.
Nearly all recent cases of major Hunters moving between countries had been orchestrated by Yunjung?
‘…A person trapped in someone else’s garden, unable to move, is the famous Phoenix?’
As a regular visitor to the Tower, Seongnyun had never truly seen Yunjung’s real nature, so thinking this way wasn’t unreasonable.
In any case, as the back-and-forth questioning continued, the momentum between Seongnyun and Yunjung completely reversed.
Seongnyun’s expression grew increasingly rigid, but Yunjung shrugged her shoulders triumphantly and held her head high.
“See? What I’m saying isn’t a lie. You believe me now, don’t you?”
At Yunjung’s confident question, both Seongnyun and the NIS Agent let out a reluctant grunt.
Ihyeon, who had been quietly observing, added a comment.
“But why would someone so distinguished be staying at our house…?”
….
Yunjung clamped her mouth shut at Ihyeon’s point.
Regarding that matter, even with ten mouths she would have nothing to say due to her shame.
Meanwhile, Seongnyun and the NIS Agent looked ready to jump up and give a standing ovation.
So this is why everyone keeps saying Ilgyeok, Ilgyeok!
A single remark that silences even Phoenix, the living legend of the intelligence world—such devastating wit!
…Not that this was exactly why everyone praised Ilgyeok, but in any case, the Management Bureau and NIS had regained the upper hand once more.
Seongnyun called Ihyeon aside and spoke to him.
“It certainly seems confirmed that she is Phoenix.”
“Yes.”
“First, as the person responsible for managing the Hunter’s safety and information, I offer my apologies.”
With that, Seongnyun bowed respectfully.
Ihyeon shook his head.
“There’s nothing for you to apologize for, Personnel Manager.”
“But Hunter.”
“…Did you perhaps sell my information to the United States?”
“That, that couldn’t be!”
At Ihyeon’s suspicious gaze, Seongnyun jumped up and waved his hands frantically.
There’s someone else to blame, so why would he sell out Ilgyeok when there’s nothing else to sell?
‘Rather than that, I’d sell out the country…no, no, that’s not what I meant.’
In any case, Ihyeon’s meaning was simple.
Find the person truly responsible and hold them accountable.
Don’t blame someone who was just doing their job well.
“…I understand what you’re saying, Hunter. I’ll report the results soon.”
“I trust you’ll handle it well.”
Since Seongnyun understood the meaning clearly, what Ihyeon wanted would be accomplished before long.
After the situation was roughly settled that way.
Seongnyun began interrogating Yunjung again, this time with the NIS Agent.
This time more specifically, about the circumstances and background of how she came to Korea and found Ihyeon.
Yunjung’s words that she would cooperate with everything she could were not a lie.
“I came under orders from the Tower Conquest Division. The director gave the instruction directly, and it’s overseen by the External Special Operations Bureau.”
Beyond that, she showed them the original files she had received, and information about the personnel involved in the Ilgyeok recruitment operation became crucial intelligence for rough deduction.
‘I didn’t expect her to come clean like this…but at this rate, I can figure out which line in the Management Bureau leaked this information.’
Seongnyun clenched his fists, unable to contain his anger at the framework taking shape in his mind.
Like any government ministry or organization, the Management Bureau and Top Agency were divided into factions within themselves.
It appeared that information was leaking primarily from one specific line within those divisions.
Perhaps it was fortunate that Seongnyun belonged to a different faction.
“Even so, how could anyone sell such information to a foreign nation…?”
As Seongnyun spoke each word deliberately, Yunjung let out a soft laugh.
“Don’t place too much faith in people or organizations. Then you’d have nothing to be angry about, would you?”
Yunjung seemed far too cheerful and insubstantial to be a black operative, but her hidden depths were something else entirely.
Countless scars forged from wounds had tempered her, and bones broken and reset repeatedly had become sturdy pillars supporting her frame.
Han Yunjeong carried secrets so vast that even Seongnyun, who prided himself on having experienced everything, felt utterly dwarfed by comparison.
“…Tsk.”
After that, he attempted to continue interrogating her about Phoenix’s movements unknown to Korea and American intelligence capabilities.
But Yunjung drew a sharp line even there.
“I can’t tell you that. My cooperation only extends to matters related to Ilgyeok.”
“What kind of distinction is that?”
Seongnyun and the NIS Agent tried to pressure her, saying she was hiding too much for someone in custody.
“I was captured by Ilgyeok, not by the Korean government. You don’t understand what that means?”
In that instant, Yunjung’s expression and demeanor transformed completely.
The woman who had been giggling moments before vanished, replaced by a beast with gleaming eyes, baring her claws before them.
Perhaps only now did Seongnyun truly accept that Yunjung was Phoenix.
To push further would be death.
Instinctive mortal threat made him swallow hard.
Wondering if the tension had become excessive, Yunjung shrugged her shoulders and spoke.
“Besides, this much is something even America can understand. If you cross that line, the target won’t be Ilgyeok—it’ll be me. I surrendered to save my life, not to throw it away.”
It was such a dramatic transformation that it seemed as though she had become a different person entirely before returning.
Seongnyun and the NIS Agent exchanged glances, then nodded.
“…I understand, Han Yunjeong. However, the Korean government will continue to monitor you.”
“Oh, if there’s anything you’d like to request, just say so. I’m a freelancer these days, after all. Considering this meeting as a fortuitous encounter, I’ll help with most things.”
“Really, is that true?!”
“…Chief.”
“Oh, I apologize….”
Seongnyun regarded the NIS Agent with disdain for being overly delighted by Yunjung’s playful words.
Seongyun looked at the National Intelligence Service employee who was excessively delighted by Yunjeong’s playful remark with a pitying gaze.

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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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