I Got A Legendary Sniper Rifle - Chapter 328

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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 328
Ep. 328
My uncle didn’t fully grasp what I was saying, but truthfully, it didn’t matter much.
After exchanging a few more words with my uncle, I headed toward the city gates to begin the expedition in earnest.
Since the Knights had already prepared expedition supplies and assigned warriors to accompany us, all I needed to do was ride Purung and depart.
“Remarkable, truly. I’ve heard that Purung can move freely in and out of the tower, but this is the first time I’ve witnessed it firsthand. It seems he serves his lord with genuine devotion.”
“Indeed. If Suyeon had come instead, there would have been absolute chaos.”
The Vice Captain gently stroked Purung, who had come to find me, as if impressed by the creature’s loyalty.
…However, Purung did not accept that touch gently.
With all his spiky fur bristling on end, he kept tapping his hooves against the ground, ready to deliver a kick at any moment.
Despite crying out “Ouch, ouch!” the Vice Captain’s determination to keep petting him was admirable.
Meanwhile, I remained unimpressed by the Vice Captain’s words.
My first meeting with Purung remained vividly etched in my memory.
He had been completely subdued by me and seemed pleased about it, yet when Suyeon held the Baikhon crossbow, he acted so submissively that he would have gladly surrendered his liver to her!
‘And I was the one who obtained that crossbow for him in the first place!’
It was a world where those who lived righteously and virtuously found it difficult to survive without feeling wronged.
…Of course, Suyeon was also one of the Hunters who lived with great virtue and integrity.
In any case, since a bad impression had been firmly planted at our first meeting, it would take considerable time before Purung could earn my complete trust.
“Giddy up!!”
With the Vice Captain’s thunderous command, the heavy fortress gates began to open with a creaking sound.
“?”
“Is something wrong, my lord?”
“No, it just feels like something’s missing.”
“That can’t be. I’ve checked multiple times.”
I wasn’t doubting the Vice Captain’s competence.
Though he often got pushed around in daily matters, he was the type to get things done properly when it counted.
This sense of incompleteness was purely my own feeling.
However, the true nature of the emptiness I felt soon revealed itself.
“Gaaahhhhh!!!!”
A shout erupted from behind the layers of Nomads gathered to see off the expedition.
I turned around to see a Shaman leaning on a staff approaching with surprising speed.
“Kaez! You were going to depart on an expedition without me? Have you lost your mind?!”
“Pardon? There’s no need to say such things….”
“Ahem. You don’t understand how perilous the prairie nights are, filled with legends and mysteries. Naturally, you must take me along so I can serve as your beacon.”
The embarrassed Shaman averted his gaze somewhat evasively as he spoke, and I, Jia, and the Vice Captain exchanged glances.
“What? Are you saying this old man is now useless?”
“No, that’s not it at all. Of course, your wisdom and experience are essential to us.”
“Ahem! Well said indeed!”
“However, those legends and mysteries you mention have never actually posed an obstacle to us so far….”
….
At Ihyeon’s words, the Shaman fell into deep silence.
Now that he thought about it, the man’s words held no falsehood.
After all, when Ihyeon first made a name for himself on the steppe, wasn’t it by capturing the legendary Thunderbird and a horde of Manticores in a single strike?
Back then, the Shaman had been despairing, saying they were all doomed.
But there’s a difference between words being right and feelings not being hurt!
Sigh—
The Shaman’s shoulders drooped so heavily, his wrinkled frame nearly touching the ground.
Unable to bear the sight, Ihyeon smiled and spoke.
“Even so, I never know when a legend beyond my capacity might appear. Had you not taught me about the Great Spring, I would never have used it properly. Will you journey with us?”
Brightening—!
“Do you truly mean it, Kaez?”
Only then did the Shaman ask, his face breaking into a wide smile.
Rather, there was no need to ask—he was already mounted on a horse he’d obtained.
No matter how much an elderly man might need to lean on a staff, he was still a child of the steppe.
True to the saying that steppe folk are born in the saddle and die in the saddle, his horsemanship had not yet grown rusty.
Thus Ihyeon’s expedition set forth.
Jia took position to Ihyeon’s right, while the Shaman positioned himself to his left.
…Originally, the left was the Vice Captain’s place, but such is the way of respecting age and hierarchy.
‘Though truthfully, by that logic the Vice Captain should rank higher.’
The Vice Captain, who handled practical matters, had plenty to do and showed no particular discontent.
“How long will it take to get there?”
“At our current pace, roughly a week. It would be faster with just the Ghost Horses and Purung, but since the Nomads are traveling with us…”
Ihyeon nodded at the Vice Captain’s answer.
Though somewhat slower than the Ghost Horses, the Nomads’ marching speed was hardly sluggish.
It’s said that in ancient times, Mongol armies moved over 100 kilometers a day as they swept across the world.
They were actually faster than mechanized units that came much later.
It was proof of just how vast the great steppe truly was.
However, just because the march would take a week didn’t mean Ihyeon had to spend every moment of it conscious within the tower.
Hadn’t he already skipped over fifteen years on the 91st floor?
It seemed the system would skip over time that wasn’t particularly important.
Whoosh—
Ihyeon’s senses felt slightly strange for a moment, then his perspective shifted to looking down from a great height.
The expedition dashing across the steppe, dust clouds rising in their wake, became visible.
The sun that had just risen in the east climbed swiftly to its zenith, then tilted toward the west.
As twilight fell, the Vice Captain’s commanding voice rang out.
“We’re still in safe territory! Ride harder! We’ll make camp only after we’ve crossed into the danger zone!”
It seemed the intention was to break through the territory secured by the Knights as quickly as possible.
Fortunately, the Nomads followed the Vice Captain’s orders well.
Ihyeon observed himself standing at the very front of the expedition—that is, what Kaez looked like.
‘I’ve been quite curious about what that fellow looks like when I’m not in the tower.’
For now, I observe the situation from within the tower, but for most of the time, I don’t inhabit Kaez and live outside the tower instead.
So how does Kaez behave during those periods?
“Kaez, are you not tired?”
“No, Shaman.”
Surprisingly, Kaez’s personality and manner of speech showed little difference from when I inhabited him.
If I had to compare, he was simply more taciturn and refrained from complex actions.
It seemed he was being controlled to maintain the status quo, since he couldn’t afford to do anything that might affect the conquest of the 90s floors while I wasn’t inhabiting him.
‘That much is… fine.’
In my case, the Knights handled things well on their own, but for other Hunters conquering the 90s floors, such control would be essential.
Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
On the fourth day, we encountered a Duobuxini for the first time since departing on the expedition.
The expedition’s direction of travel was northeast.
One Duobuxini each from the north, south, and east charged toward the expedition with bizarre bounding leaps, without much delay between them.
I watched with interest as the expedition responded.
Upon receiving word that the Duobuxini were approaching, Jia issued orders without the slightest hesitation.
“Send three squads of Nomadic Warriors. The main force continues forward.”
“Yes!”
Simultaneously, three clusters of warriors separated from the expedition.
Each squad, composed of five warriors, intended to face one Duobuxini.
Thud-thud-thud-thud——!!
“Charge! Charge!”
“Do as you’ve been trained!”
The warriors appeared quite experienced, forming their formation smoothly under their squad leader’s command.
Two warriors charging directly at the Duobuxini held a sturdy rope stretched between them.
In an instant, the warriors and Duobuxini met.
Whoosh—!
Unable to match the warriors’ speed, the Duobuxini caught on the rope and was hurled high into the air.
The warriors, halting their mounts, immediately dismounted and surrounded the Duobuxini.
Thud—!
With a heavy sound, the Duobuxini that had been airborne crashed to the ground.
The real fighting began after that.
“Hah!”
“Die, you beast!”
“Because of you monsters, my sister…!”
The Duobuxini’s resistance, thrashing violently, was formidable, but the Nomadic Warriors’ fighting spirit burned even fiercer.
Without a shred of fear, the warriors drove their weapons deep into the Duobuxini’s body.
Ordinarily, human strength alone couldn’t pierce the Duobuxini’s tough hide, but their weapons, reinforced by the Great Spring, cut through it with ease.
Moreover, among the Nomads who had come to my fortress, it was difficult to find even one who hadn’t lost a family member to the Duobuxini and Saedos.
With the power of their resentment added, they could display combat strength that transcended mere skill alone.
The localized battles occurring simultaneously in three locations ended almost at the same time, as if by agreement.
We were advancing in the direction of travel, and our reunion with the main force, which had deliberately slowed its pace, unfolded as naturally as a well-rehearsed script.
‘They’re actually quite capable, aren’t they?’
I had heard that one squad of Nomadic Warriors could handle a single Duobuxini, but their technique was clean enough to earn even my admiration.
In terms of Hunter rankings, they demonstrated movements equivalent to roughly the 60th floor level.
Of course, further growth was beyond them, and group combat would inevitably bring unavoidable casualties, yet they were far stronger than I had anticipated.
From that point on, the expedition’s march was nothing short of swift.
When Duobuxinis roaming the plains were drawn by the scent of human blood and charged, the Nomadic Warriors took turns engaging them.
Though more and more Duobuxinis gathered, the thirty squads moved with such organic coordination that they seemed like a single living organism.
In fact, this was all part of their training.
When moments came where three or more Duobuxinis charged from a single direction—situations too difficult for the Nomads alone to handle—Jia would dispatch the Knights without hesitation.
It was only worse news for the Duobuxinis.
The Knights didn’t engage in localized skirmishes in the first place.
Thud-thud-thud-thud— Whoosh-crack— Thwack—!
They would charge forward, first unleashing a barrage of crossbow fire, then cleanly piercing the vital points of the writhing Duobuxini with their spear-swords, and the situation would be over.
After that, they would leisurely rejoin the main force.
Jia hadn’t even remained here while attending to me, yet her command was remarkably clean and efficient.
Even on nights when I finished my activities, she had been conferring with the Vice Captain about something, and it seemed she had thoroughly prepared herself regarding the world of the 90th floor and the military capabilities of both the Knights and the Nomads.
“The Knights are truly formidable…!”
“After training against the Knights, doesn’t fighting Duobuxinis feel much easier?”
“Yeah, I don’t even feel like my life is in danger anymore?”
Whenever the Knights literally slaughtered a Duobuxini and returned, the Nomadic Warriors would exchange these conversations in amazement, as if their souls had left their bodies.
‘…They trained against the Knights regularly?’
Only then did I feel as though I had found the final puzzle piece explaining how the Nomadic Warriors had developed such unexpectedly formidable strength.
The Great Spring, their resentment toward Duobuxinis.
All of those were certainly important reasons, but the training they regularly received went even further.
So that’s what they meant when they said they had their own training curriculum!
In any case, I was currently separated from Kaez’s body and observing from above the sky, so any real confirmation was impossible….
“Who told you to let go of the rope against a Duobuxini!”
“S-sorry. It was stronger than I expected….”
“Since when do Duobuxinis come saying, ‘Oh, I’m stronger than the others, so please be especially careful’?”
“I’m sorry!”
“When we get back, it’s 100 repetitions of PT exercises number 8!”
“Ugh! Anything but PT exercises!!!”
…I thought that would be it, but I could roughly guess what was happening.
PT exercises—earning a fearsome reputation even across the plains!

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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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