I Got A Legendary Sniper Rifle - Chapter 344

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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 344
Ep. 344
As Ihyeon entered the 95th floor with the Spirits, the sound of hoofbeats suddenly erupted from all directions.
Thud-thud-thud-thud———
The thundering rhythm of galloping horses assaulted my ears from every side.
To be honest, when the Vice Captain mentioned I’d need to face three Bishops simultaneously, I felt a twinge of concern.
In a localized skirmish confined to a narrow space, it might have been manageable, but I hadn’t held the Nomadic Warriors in particularly high regard—despite their overwhelming numerical advantage within my forces—because their individual quality simply didn’t measure up.
The Knights had trained them as best they could, but ultimately they remained combatants who were also under my protection.
It was difficult to recklessly throw them into the front lines against the Duogsinis.
But then.
“…What in the world is all this?”
Ihyeon surveyed his surroundings and was genuinely startled by a sight that far exceeded his expectations.
The Vice Captain riding beside him laughed heartily and spoke.
“Did I not mention that considerable time has passed compared to the 94th floor? My Lord has now just turned twenty!”
“No, but even so….”
Ihyeon began examining his surroundings more carefully, bewildered.
It was, quite literally, a great army.
A magnificent military formation of the sort one might see in films depicting ancient wars from the distant past.
This wasn’t merely about the Nomadic Warriors increasing by ten thousand in number.
The individual quality of each Nomadic Warrior had improved as well.
‘Not just cavalry armor, but actual horse barding and full plate mail….’
The standard of their equipment had transformed entirely from before.
They had shed their previous appearance as light cavalry and now bore equipment practically equivalent to the One-Strike Knight Order itself.
Simply observing them radiated an overwhelming and majestic aura.
At this point, it felt almost disrespectful to still call them Nomads.
The Vice Captain continued his explanation.
“As Nomads gathered, many arrived with diverse skills and talents. While developing the cliff where the fortress stands, we fortunately discovered a rich mineral vein, which made all of this possible.”
I had received rough reports intermittently even from outside the tower.
Yet the Nomads’ military enhancement far surpassed my expectations—it was far more sudden and formidable than I had anticipated.
At this level.
“We could even conduct a decisive strike against the Duogsinis.”
“Haha! That is precisely the standard we aimed for in their training.”
The Vice Captain nodded with a satisfied expression.
Ihyeon had momentarily forgotten something.
The One-Strike Knight Order were already such exceptional subordinates in their own right that I hadn’t felt the need for more.
But true Knights were meant to lead and command soldiers individually.
More than that, they were the leadership that actually prepared and conducted warfare.
In other words, the One-Strike Knight Order were not merely warriors hungry for battle, but experts in warfare itself.
Ihyeon offered his honest praise to the Vice Captain and the Knights.
“Impressive.”
“Thank you, Lord.”
Satisfied with that single word of praise, the Vice Captain increased the pace of their advance even further.
Leading a force of ten thousand was a first for Ihyeon as well.
‘Come to think of it, this is practically an entire division-level force….’
Ihyeon, who had been nothing more than a Sergeant, had achieved a promotion beyond his wildest dreams!
Who could have imagined that the two seagulls adorning his collar would transform into two stars?
That entire day was spent riding hard until nightfall, yet not a single moment felt tedious.
In the hastily erected command tent, Ihyeon began a tactical briefing.
The black field map that Jia created displayed not only the surrounding terrain but also the positions of both enemy and allied forces with perfect clarity.
…Though “perfect clarity” was the term, the enemy forces were marked at a level that resembled an almost black sea, quite unlike our own forces which could be described in just a few words.
“By tomorrow, we should encounter the Bishop’s forces approaching from three directions like this.”
“How many are we talking about?”
“According to our scouts, they outnumber the Duogsinis we faced on the 94th floor. Of course, that’s for each individual Bishop’s forces. It seems they’ve also gathered considerable numbers in preparation for war.”
Quite substantial.
Just as Ihyeon’s forces had made sufficient preparations, the Bishops had been given an equal amount of time to do the same.
The sheer number of Duogsinis pouring in was easily enough to qualify as a mid-boss floor in the 90s.
But.
“It should be sufficient.”
“Yes, there’s no chance of us losing.”
Smiles played across both Ihyeon’s and the Vice Captain’s lips simultaneously.
No matter how many Duogsinis swarmed toward them, Ihyeon’s current forces had clearly transcended conventional limits.
The fruits of S+ rank clearances accumulated since the 91st floor had snowballed into what they were now.
‘The critical factor in the 90s is that unresolved threats from previous floors keep getting pushed forward to the next one.’
Conversely, if you exceeded your objectives decisively in the earlier floors, you’d gain increasingly more breathing room in the later stages.
Of course, even so, crises would still come crashing down floor after floor, and one couldn’t afford to be careless.
But Ihyeon could be certain.
The path to clearing wouldn’t be as treacherous as all that.
Ihyeon began moving the pieces that Jia had created on the map.
“If our forces are sufficient, then we divide our troops as well.”
“Pardon? You mean to divide our forces?”
The Vice Captain showed a hint of surprise at Ihyeon’s words.
The Vice Captain had also judged that their forces were adequate, but dividing them was still a considerable gamble and risk.
Normally, the side with fewer numbers had better odds of winning if they stayed tightly grouped together.
“We had been thinking of making this plain our primary battlefield….”
The Vice Captain pointed to the vast plain situated to the north of their current direction of advance.
Despite being called a vast plain, the gorges and rocky mountains that spread out behind it formed terrain where they could fully utilize overwhelming superiority without fear of encirclement.
Ihyeon shook his head.
“No, that’s safe, but precisely because it’s safe, there are no variables.”
Wasn’t having no variables a good thing?
The Squad Leader-level officers who had attended the briefing but remained silent wore ambiguous expressions.
There was no better strategy than winning a war without any variables.
At least, that’s what I thought.
“Yeah, Master’s right.”
Elsie, who had been listening quietly, nodded in agreement with Ihyeon’s words.
Ihyeon waited silently to hear what Elsie, who had little sense for large-scale battles like this, would say.
Elsie pulled back our allied horses slightly from the great plains.
It was a region where the gorges and rocky mountains—originally intended to prevent encirclement—were tangled in disarray.
“Is this what Master was trying to say?”
“Go on.”
“The terrain here is complex, but if you look at it broadly, it can be divided like this.”
Elsie drew divisions among our allied horses with a serious expression.
She was right.
The rocky mountain terrain was largely composed of four ridges extending from the peak.
And naturally, three gorges split along these ridges.
Elsie blocked off the ends of the gorges as she spoke.
“Divide into groups, one for each, and block the enemies from entering the gorges.”
“However, Elsie! If we do that, won’t the battlefield become far too expansive?”
In the Vice Captain’s view, it was a rather foolish strategy.
It was fine to call them gorges extending from a single peak, but if done this way, our forces would spread across an area so vast it couldn’t be considered a single battlefield.
Mutual coordination between units would become nearly impossible, and if one position broke through, the other two would face a devastating pincer attack from behind—the worst-case scenario.
This was the extent of the Vice Captain’s orthodox strategic thinking.
As I mentioned before, at least.
“Master is here, so what’s there to worry about?”
“…?!”
An overwhelming weapon that had suddenly joined this pre-modern warfare fought with swords, spears, and at best bows.
“Right, there’s nothing to worry about.”
That was only true when Ihyeon and the sniper rifle—an overwhelmingly dominant weapon—weren’t present.
Shhhhk—
Jia created a new horse among our allied mounts, one notably larger and gleaming with a lustrous sheen.
The ‘King,’ symbolizing Ihyeon.
Though she didn’t voice her thoughts as actively as Elsie did, she had clearly already grasped Ihyeon’s intention and prepared accordingly.
Ihyeon, as if he’d been waiting, moved that horse to the highest point of the mountain peak.
From the left entrance to the right entrance, if you drew an arc, it would indeed be quite a long distance, as the Vice Captain had said.
Even if you navigated through the labyrinth winding within it, it would be incredibly complex.
But if Ihyeon were to climb atop the peak.
“The straight-line distance from here to each entrance isn’t that far.”
I could utilize my overwhelming abilities to bring the entire area within my range of fire.
“Ah!”
The Vice Captain let out an exclamation of realization.
In fact, the greatest military asset of this expedition was neither the Spirits, nor the Knights, nor the Nomadic tribes.
Only Ihyeon stood alone.
A completely asymmetrical force.
With the battlefield divided and thus expanded, the three Bishops’ armies would inevitably be split as well.
Naturally, the Vice Captain would have judged that this favored the enemy more than our side.
But if Ihyeon could ascend the mountain peak and simultaneously control all three battlefields, the situation would be entirely different.
The balance of gains and losses would be completely reversed.
“However, Lord.”
“Hmm?”
“That is… forgive my presumption, but would combat be possible at this distance?”
The Vice Captain asked carefully.
It was a final confirmation as the field commander overseeing Ihyeon’s unit.
He understood that Ihyeon’s sniper rifle possessed tremendous power.
But it was because the concepts of ‘sniper rifle’ and ‘sniper’ still hadn’t properly settled in his understanding.
Since the Knights joined Ihyeon, most battles had involved him fighting in the thick of the battlefield, which made it even more so.
Ihyeon chuckled softly.
“Heh.”
Elsie’s laughter was far lighter than his.
Jia made no sound but wore a deep smile.
“Why, why are you all doing that?”
The Vice Captain flinched at their reactions and asked, but no one reproached him.
Ihyeon simply left behind these words.
“You’ll see.”
“???”
* * *
The next day.
Since they decided to stop short of the battlefield the Vice Captain had originally planned, the expedition was given considerably more time.
“Dig deeper! Deeper!”
“M-more than this?”
“What? You think this is enough? This is your grave, not a moat!”
“Eek! Y-yes, understood!”
The Knights were positioned in their respective gorges and devoted themselves to fortification alongside the expedition members.
In truth, despite being called gorges, they were quite expansive upon direct inspection.
They had no choice but to stake everything on preparation.
Warriors who had lived their entire lives on the steppes didn’t fully grasp the concept of fortification.
Some even thought, ‘Wouldn’t the Knights blocking the front be the most reliable thing, rather than these moats?’
…It was actually true, but just as Ihyeon, as a sniper, methodically eliminated every danger element, the Knights too possessed their own philosophy.
In war, no amount of preparation is ever enough!
Even if you dig a 50-meter moat, if you have time to dig 10 meters more, don’t regret it later—dig ahead of time!
Moreover, the Nomads couldn’t simply voice endless complaints.
“Like this! Like this! Like this! Dig it out clean and wide!”
Pap-pap-pap-pap-pap-pap———!!!
“W-wow….”
“Is this even human?”
“No, it’s definitely not human.”
“Ah, right, of course.”
Whenever work hit a snag, the squad members would step in themselves and demonstrate the kind of destructive power that rivaled heavy machinery.
Thanks to their efforts, we managed to equip the entrances to all three gorges with defensive capabilities that seemed less like hastily constructed fortifications and more like fortresses painstakingly built over several months.
Of course, even so, the entire day passed, and as the sun began its descent toward the western horizon.
Boom—! Boom—! Boom—!
With the ominous sound of drums, the atmosphere that had been filled with hope began to shift rapidly.

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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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