I Got A Legendary Sniper Rifle - Chapter 352

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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 352
Ep. 352
Even though Ihyeon had conquered the 96th and 97th floors and stood as an equal to Erubein, the story was far from over.
In fact, Ihyeon had been working even harder than before to hone his abilities.
He continued his repeated conquests of the Main Tower, and beyond that….
“Oppa, left!”
“I see it.”
Crash—!
After a long time, he and Suyeon cleared out the Instant Towers scattered across the nation like unwanted relics, and he was the first to step forward and seal off Gates in remote areas where the guild’s reach didn’t extend.
Gates typically required large numbers of personnel, but for Ihyeon, who could mobilize the Knights, it was hardly a challenge.
「Tower Defense: Hunter, thank you for your hard work again. The Acting Director has a message for you.
One-Strike: Yes, please go ahead.
Tower Defense: Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you….」
‘The system’s glitching again.’
For the Management Bureau, these were days so filled with joy they seemed on the verge of collapse from happiness.
Normally, they would have had to scramble to recruit guilds to handle Instant Towers instead, select personnel for Gate defense, and cause all manner of chaos.
Now, all they had to do was send in Ihyeon and Suyeon and it was done!
They didn’t even need to recklessly deploy Special Forces personnel to the Gates.
“Commence the blockade operation!”
“Woooow! What kind of monsters are coming out this time?”
“What was it again… Ah, Wood Orcs.”
“They’re weak, but they’ll do as snacks!”
Whenever a Gate opened, the One-Strike Knight Order would come galloping in like ghosts—though they were literally ghosts, being Undead—riding Ghost Horses and Purungs.
Though their numbers were small, their effectiveness rivaled the Special Forces, and was even comparable to Hunter units directly operated by the Ministry of Defense.
In particular, though it was information known to only a select few, there was one more person who had been secretly conquering towers with Ihyeon and Suyeon for the past two months.
Click— click— crack—
“The traps have been disarmed. You can safely pass through this corridor now.”
“Yes, understood….”
Thump—
Whoosh—!
“…Oh my, my mistake. There was one more stone slab. Now it’s really done.”
“Jia, summon just one Squad Member.”
“Yes, Master.”
Whoosh—
“Send down one person!”
“Go ahead and traverse this corridor once.”
“…Is that the answer, Lord?”
It was none other than Han Yunjeong, the Strategic Operations Director of One-Strike Commerce and a black ops agent from America.
After bringing her along on a few conquests because she complained of being cooped up in the office with an itching sensation all over her body, Yunjeong had become so enthusiastic that she now actively sought information about which towers needed to be conquered!
“Yes, I apologize for contacting you during your busy time, Personnel Manager Baek.”
– No, Hunter. Even if I’m called to the Presidential Office, my instructions are to take your call. But what’s this about?
“Ah, I contacted you because there’s an Instant Tower in Yanghung that’s become problematic.”
– Pardon? Yanghung? One moment… I don’t have any record of it.
“???”
– Yes, yes, I’ll verify and contact you back.
I was genuinely curious how one could inquire about a tower that even the Management Bureau—which oversees all Instant Towers and Gates in South Korea—didn’t know about. But regardless.
I had to admit that Yunjung’s abilities were something even I couldn’t deny.
Not only her strategic prowess in the real world and her ability to undermine opponents from within, but her capabilities as a Hunter were beyond reproach.
Especially in tedious tasks like trap disarming and reconnaissance that neither I nor Suyeon could handle well, her exceptional skills made our clearances considerably smoother.
…The only problem was that she occasionally overlooked a trap or two.
Of course, there were reasonable explanations for why Yunjung missed traps here and there.
“…So, One-Strike?”
“Yes.”
“Inside the tower… what do you use?”
“A gun. A sniper rifle.”
“That… the Maesek Gun used by Korean special forces?”
“Yes.”
“Wow, really! You climbed all the way to the 95th floor with that?”
BOOM——!!
“Oh my!”
So One-Strike, whom I’d been absolutely convinced was a Dark Mage until now, was actually using a Maesek Gun from the special forces!
Moreover, the power of that Maesek Gun exceeded Yunjung’s imagination.
…In fact, calling it “beyond imagination” was almost embarrassing.
Honestly, even with a full party of five—me, Suyeon, Yunjung, Jia, and Elsie—I doubted the Instant Tower was designed for that many people, yet my single rifle obliterated everything. It made me question why other Hunters were even necessary.
I honestly suspected Yunjung was leaking my weapon information to America to solidify her double-agent status, but fortunately, she had no such intentions.
The demon dagger I’d given her played a crucial role in that.
– Phoenix, what did you just say? What did you receive from One-Strike?
“An S-rank item. A demon dagger. He told me to use it.”
– Tsk, Phoenix. You’re truly a patriot!
The American government concluded that not only had Yunjung secured a key position in One-Strike’s organization, but she’d also obtained an S-rank item from him—meaning the recruitment operation was on the verge of success.
…No one could fault the American government for such a miscalculation.
Who could have imagined that someone would genuinely give away an S-rank item as if it were worthless to them?
Upon receiving such a report from his minister, American President Roy Stevens demonstrated the keen analytical mind befitting a national leader.
“How could our intelligence asset receive such a precious item if they’re supposed to be our recruitment target?”
“Well… that is…”
“But it must mean Phoenix has done an excellent job. Very well.”
He attempted to demonstrate it, but fell short.
Even for an American president, an S-rank item was that valuable.
Put bluntly, a single S-rank item could cover all the costs of this operation and still turn a profit.
In any case, before entering the 98th floor, after two months of busy days, my level and stats had skyrocketed vertically.
「Choi Ihyeon’s Sniper Rifle
Lv.82
Firepower: 450
Range: 170
Precision: 180
Stability: 170
Stealth: 445
Rate of Fire: 180
Mana: 349
Unallocated Stats: 0
Fusion: Demon, Horn of Erkastrula
Fusion Effect Confirmed.」
Seven levels gained over two months.
“Still, seven levels in two months is quite impressive.”
“Yeah, I think so too.”
“So what’s your level now?”
“82.”
“…You’re a fraud.”
Yunjung, who had been listening to their conversation with interest, interjected subtly.
“Excuse me? Ilgyeok, you’re level 820? Wow… that’s why you’re so powerful.”
“It’s 82.”
“Yes, 820… 82?”
Nod—
“…You’re a fraud.”
Though these two would believe Ihyeon even if he claimed the sky was green, their expressions had grown considerably strained.
In any case, the skill obtained upon reaching level 80 was a modest B-rank Thermal Scope.
With thermal detection capabilities and the added infrared detection function, it was an effect that could prove quite useful even in dark areas.
When hunting Bishops on the 97th floor or in instant tower instances with dark backgrounds, I had actually reaped considerable benefits from it.
‘Perhaps because I’ve already obtained most of the practical skills, no particularly eye-catching ones are appearing.’
Though somewhat disappointed, Ihyeon was reasonably satisfied.
…Other hunters might have wondered, ‘If he’s obtained that much, shouldn’t the five-star skill selection option be removed entirely?’ but unfortunately, only a select few retainers knew of Ihyeon’s skills.
In fact, Ihyeon had obtained new skills and skill rank-up tickets multiple times, meaning he was gaining tens of levels worth of advantage over ordinary hunters.
In terms of stat effectiveness, level comparison had already become meaningless.
After spending two busy months like that, Ihyeon finally.
“Vice Captain.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
“How prepared are we for the 98th floor?”
“We’re completely ready!”
I was able to complete preparations to enter the 98th floor.
* * *
Floor 98.
The 90s floors, which had felt considerably longer than the others, were finally approaching their end.
Only floors 99 and 100 remained above this point.
However, Ihyeon was focused not on these facts, but rather on the so-called “rumor” that the Vice Captain had obtained.
“We have already secured control over the entire grassland except for the northern region.”
In the annex’s living room where Ihyeon stayed.
The Vice Captain pointed to a massive map of the great grassland spread before him as he reported to Ihyeon.
The Vice Captain’s words were accurate.
When Jia first created the map, the red territory had spread across nearly half of the grassland.
Now, the red territory had shrunk so considerably that it was difficult to even find it on the map.
We had secured victory by annihilating the allied forces of the Three Bishops on floor 95, and then slaughtering all the Bishops who had stubbornly held their ground in the north on floors 96 and 97.
“So the only place left is the north.”
“Yes, the north is called the ‘Land of Storms.'”
“The Land of Storms?”
“Literally. The sun never rises there, and severe weather persists throughout the day. We suspect the High Priest or some other being with such power must be present.”
As Ihyeon nodded, the Vice Captain brought up that “rumor.”
“And we have obtained a rumor.”
“A rumor?”
“A land struck by lightning—a celestial being descended from the heavens crushes Duobuxini with a single fist and tears it apart with both hands. That is the rumor.”
“A celestial being….”
From experience, rumors had proven extraordinarily important to me throughout the 90s floors.
After all, it was through rumors that I found Jia and Elsie.
So if this rumor served that same purpose once more.
“Is Blue there?”
“That is what we believe.”
The protagonist of this rumor, the celestial being, was likely my golem Blue.
Come to think of it, the epithet “celestial being” suited Blue quite well.
Tall stature, beautiful appearance, and—save for that peculiar beeping sound effect—few words and an air of mystique that made others hesitant to approach.
However, there was one thing that didn’t make sense to me.
“But how do you all gather rumors so well? I’ll grant you the case with Elsie, but there shouldn’t be any living nomads in that Land of Storms.”
“….”
The Vice Captain couldn’t answer my question and seemed to be pondering for a moment.
But there was no real need to hide it.
There’s a saying: know yourself and know your enemy, and you’ll win a hundred battles.
After all, one must understand both the enemy and oneself to achieve victory in war!
The Vice Captain felt perfectly justified in his judgment, regardless of the means and methods employed.
“That’s because we directly infiltrate the Land of Storms to gather rumors!”
“…?”
Ihyeon tilted his head as the Vice Captain, tapping his breastplate once, spoke with confidence.
“So, in other words, you directly gather rumors, meaning….”
To reiterate: there is no way Nomads could possibly survive in the Land of Storms.
Yet rumors are stories passed from mouth to mouth among people.
Then where on earth did the Knights obtain such rumors?
“Heh, we paint our faces black and directly converse with the Saedos.”
“That’s actually possible…?”
It was the only method available, yet even hearing it directly, it was difficult to believe.
I could accept that the Knights might manage such a thing.
‘Just how stupid are those Saedos?’
What kind of Saedos would simply answer when an obviously unfamiliar Undead appears and asks, “Say, don’t you know any interesting rumors lately?”
However, contrary to my thoughts, the Knights said they didn’t feel particularly out of place among the Saedos.
“Whether it’s the earth spiders or black spiders they use, since they’re connected to the power of death, our auras are surprisingly similar to theirs. During combat it would be clearly distinguishable, but in non-combat situations, we can certainly deceive them.”
“I see, so that’s how it is.”
True enough—the Saedos aren’t even Bishop-class; they’re merely humans exposed to earth spiders.
Meanwhile, the One-Strike Knight Order are all high-tier Undead powerful enough to more than hold their own even in the 80s floors.
If such Knights deliberately set out to deceive them, the Saedos would have no way to resist.
“And we’ve also learned the techniques of espionage from Han Yunjeong along the way.”
“From Yunjeong?”
What in the world is this now?

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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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