I Got A Legendary Sniper Rifle - Chapter 356

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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 356
Ep. 356
The Great Demon Two-Eyed Sini remained in relatively good condition, with patches of its original fur and markings still intact, as I’d observed from the beginning.
Click-clack— Click—
Ihyeon switched his sniper rifle to healing mode and fired at the Great Tiger, who was on high alert.
Thwip—!
A soft sound accompanied the white beam as it struck the Great Tiger.
I’d worried whether the healing performance might suffer now that black markings had appeared on what was originally a white healing rifle after fusing with the demon’s horn, but it didn’t seem to be the case.
However.
Krrrraaaaahhh—!! Kraaagh—! Krrrraaaaahhh———!!!
“…Master, isn’t he in too much pain?”
“…That’s just how it is.”
“Is that really normal?”
Whether it was my imagination or not, he did seem to be suffering a bit more than usual.
‘Since escaping the earthweb was always painful in the first place, this must just be my imagination.’
Ihyeon decided to think of it that way.
Since he’d never experienced being caught by the earthweb or been hit by a healing rifle himself, he couldn’t know for sure, but after all, even doctors don’t anesthetize their own flesh and cut into it without numbing to experience their patients’ pain.
In any case, judging by Ihyeon’s reasoning, the Great Tiger hadn’t been caught by the earthweb very long ago.
Krrrhhhh….
After thrashing about on the ground for quite some time, the creature finally stopped moving once all the grotesque black mucus visible on its surface had disappeared, and it began breathing heavily as if completely drained.
“Ooh~ That’s impressive!”
“…Elsie, you’ll get bitten doing that.”
After that, even as Elsie approached curiously and petted it this way and that, the creature only rolled its large eyes and behaved obediently.
“It’s okay, it’s okay, our tiger doesn’t bite people~”
Snap—
“Aaahhh! Master, it bit me!”
“I told you so.”
No matter how drained and docile it became, it was still a Great Tiger—how could it not bite at a small child flailing about in front of it?
Even a large house cat that’s grown accustomed to human hands will snap and bite if someone waves their fingers like that in front of it.
Since it hadn’t bitten hard, Ihyeon simply pulled Elsie’s hand away and turned his steps toward the Lawkeeper.
Elsie also ran to Jia behind him, complaining about how much saliva had gotten on her, before following Ihyeon.
‘Seeing it in person, the death was far more gruesome.’
Around the corpse of the Lawkeeper with half its head blown off, the earthweb still hadn’t completely disappeared and continued to writhe.
Those who had absorbed large amounts of earthweb generally tended to show this pattern.
The Vice Captain and the Knights, upon seeing the Lawkeeper’s corpse, chuckled beside me and spoke.
“Hehe, looks like the twins’ heads burst in perfect harmony.”
“Indeed. They all met their proper end, Vice Captain.”
“Since they’ve gone to the afterlife, they’ll reunite with that precious younger sibling, kehehe.”
Ihyeon frowned and spoke.
“Isn’t that a bit too harsh a thing to say?”
Of course they’re enemies, but that doesn’t mean I’d touch their families!
The Vice Captain, hearing Ihyeon’s words, flinched noticeably and waved his hands in denial.
“Ah, Lord, among us this means offering prayers for the departed. It’s more about respect for a strong opponent, that sort of thing.”
The Squad Members beside him nodded in agreement.
Having lived in such a brutal world where someone inevitably died meaninglessly on any given day, it seemed they viewed sending off the fallen this way as natural.
Even so, Ihyeon had no intention of accepting such a culture within the Knights.
“Still, there are standards, so let’s refrain from such language.”
“Pardon? What standards do you mean?”
“Did the Tower have standards too?”
These ignorant common knights who failed to grasp their Lord’s deeper meaning!
Ihyeon clicked his tongue and spoke.
“Should I establish a standards and ethics committee? With me and Jia as members.”
“P-please, anything but that!”
“Gasp! A committee with the Lord and Captain as members?!”
“We’d rather have military discipline training!”
They seemed quite opposed to the idea.
Well, when Ihyeon was watching they were somewhat restrained, but whenever they gathered among themselves, the Knights spouted all manner of crude language, so this reaction was inevitable.
“There are children listening, so be careful.”
“Yes, Lord!”
“Huh? Children? Who? Don’t tell me you mean me? I’m old enough, you know?!”
The child in question was quite displeased, but there was nothing to be done about it.
Ihyeon turned his attention back to Blue.
“Thanks to you, we cleared the 98th floor so easily. I’m grateful.”
At Ihyeon’s words, Blue knelt on one knee and responded.
“Beep beep beep. I am a Golem. It is only natural that I serve as your strength, Master.”
By then, as the Saedos and Duogsinis that had been rampaging about were largely dealt with, the clear notification appeared without fail.
「Main: Defeat the Left and Right Hobeobs
Sub: Enter the Land of Storms
Research achievements regarding earth spiders
Minimize allied casualties
Occupy the rocky mountain in the Land of Storms
Complete annihilation of Saedos and Duogsinis
Celestial beings join forces
Revival of the prairie’s spiritual entity
You have cleared the 98th floor.
Grade: S+」
The contents and grade were, as always, exactly as expected…
‘Hm?’
As Ihyeon casually began reading through the main and sub objectives as he usually did, he suddenly noticed something odd.
He could have simply glossed over it, but.
“Blue, you said the one you just killed was the Right Hobeob, correct?”
“Yes, Master.”
“When did you kill the Left Hobeob?”
The objective of the 98th floor was clearly ‘eliminate both the Left and Right Hobeobes.’
Which meant that at least until I entered the 98th floor, the Left Hobeob had still been alive.
“Beep beep beep. I eliminated the Left Hobeob 39 minutes and 28 seconds after you entered the 98th floor, Master.”
“…?”
It was an absurd story.
My words caught in my throat for a moment before I spoke with a somewhat deflated tone.
“So that means….”
“I am a body whose soul is connected to yours, Master. I can sense whenever you enter or exit the tower.”
“?!”
I had thought I only found Blue on the 98th floor, but if that were true, then Blue had known about me since the beginning of the 90s floors.
Blue’s explanation aligned closely with my realization.
It was true that Blue had separated from me when entering the 90s floors.
And we were at opposite ends—I was at the far southwest of the vast grassland, while Blue was at the north end, making us at the extremes of the sprawling prairie.
With Blue’s abilities, he could have easily found me somewhere in between, but he chose not to.
“Why?”
“Beep beep beep. Because this was the optimal possibility for you to clear the 90s floors, Master.”
“Blue…!”
I wondered if this was what it felt like to be moved to tears.
Such a loyal golem indeed!
Even if Blue had joined me immediately, the strategy up until then wouldn’t have changed much.
I had already cleared every floor with an S+ rating to reach this point.
So Blue had calculated that he needed to do his part in the Land of Storms—on the opposite side from me and where the cult’s headquarters lay—so that I could clear the 90s floors in optimal condition.
And among those efforts, the most critical element of clearing the 98th floor was.
“There was a reason you killed the Left Hobeob first?”
It was the assassination of the Left Hobeob the moment I entered the 98th floor.
Originally, the Left and Right Hobeobes were twin brothers.
But when they fought together, beyond simply being two individuals, they underwent a kind of enhancement phenomenon where they grew stronger through the resonance of the Twilight Spider.
Since it was certain that the expedition I led would encounter both Hobeobes when entering the Land of Storms, Blue struck first.
‘…If I’d left it alone, wouldn’t I have ended up killing the High Priest myself?’
Having confirmed that I killed the Right Hobeob with ease, I had this thought.
Of course, according to Blue, it wasn’t an easy task.
“Beep beep beep. If I don’t receive your orders, Master, an emergency protocol activates. I cannot release the limiter restrictions, and various other constraints are imposed on my actions.”
Without your permission as my master, my range of movement is greatly reduced.
Even so, Blue’s role as the primary contributor to clearing the 98th floor didn’t change.
Elsie immediately grumbled with jealous eyes.
“Tch tch, that golem fox—who said you couldn’t do something like that? I’m Elsie, the Legendary Sword who made a name for herself as a goddess in the central grasslands!”
“Be quiet for now, Elsie.”
Of course, as Elsie said, the Spirits had each become great sources of strength for me as well.
Jia and the Knights had established a solid stronghold for me in the west, after all.
But Blue’s assistance was of a different nature altogether.
“So you were researching the Earthweb here?”
“Chirp chirp chirp. That is correct.”
As written in the sub-objectives, research on the Earthweb.
…I had momentarily forgotten due to Blue’s insane exploits, but the body parts of Saedos and the tentacles of Duobuxinis that he had been dangling all over himself were also part of such research.
‘Is there really something to research about the Earthweb?’
I harbored a moment of doubt.
To be honest, the Earthweb was clearly an otherworldly force.
Even if I tried to conduct scientific analysis, there would be no proper equipment, and I could only sense it vaguely.
“Master, isn’t carrying such things on your body not exactly a scientific approach to begin with?”
“….”
I nodded to Elsie, who was pointing out a perfectly valid fact.
But Blue’s following answer was a masterpiece.
“Chirp chirp chirp. I shall report on the research results. Currently, I have succeeded in extracting cultured cells of the Earthweb, and am conducting vaccine research through them. I have identified fourteen weaknesses of the Earthweb, including host destruction, exposure to sunlight for more than three hours, temperatures above 800 degrees Celsius, and temperatures below absolute zero. The transmission methods of the Earthweb are broadly….”
“??????”
At Blue’s endless response, as if reading from an already-prepared thesis, my expression and those of everyone around me went blank.
‘C-couldn’t we just beat it to death?’
Even I, who had normally criticized the Knights’ simplistic methodology and urged them to use common sense, paled before Blue.
And the extent of Blue’s research was such that.
“I shall explain why my Master’s healing mode alleviates the symptoms of the Earthweb and restores organisms to their original state. Currently, within the system, attributes belonging to the ‘healing’ category are broadly five in number: first, sun; second, warmth; third, regeneration; fourth, mercy; fifth, water. Among these, my Master employs healing through the second category, warmth….”
“N-no more, Blue.”
“Shall I omit the remaining explanation?”
“Yes, that would be best.”
Fearing that if I listened any longer, the Main Tower’s timer would run out before I even attempted the 99th floor, I stopped Blue’s explanation at an appropriate point.
“Uuugh, my Lord… it seems we have reached our limit here.”
“May we serve you in the next life as well….”
“Master, I don’t think I can take much more either… Golem Fox, you’re talented. I’ll give you that.”
Boom—!
Of course, there were truly many interpretations of what “an appropriate point” could mean.
Among the Knights who had initially listened to Blue’s explanation with startled expressions, several were summoned back, and Elsie too chose to return to her inventory with an exhausted look.
“That was an enlightening explanation, Blue. It seems it will be of great help going forward.”
“Chirp chirp chirp. It is only natural for your sake, Master.”
Only Jia remained the sole person to listen to Blue’s entire explanation with a perfectly composed expression.
Though I had cut Blue’s explanation short midway, as Jia said, those research results would certainly prove to be of great help.
Even in the moments when I was not inside the tower, the Knights worked tirelessly for the stability of the plains, so I need only show them how to utilize this knowledge.
And what mattered most was not that.
Pat—
I placed my hand on Blue’s shoulder.
“Anyway, I’m sorry for arriving late. You must have had a rough time on your own.”
Blue’s choice was entirely different from that of Jiana and Elsie.
Jia had been forced into recuperation due to the Earthspider’s curse, and Elsie had to wander alone because of her nature.
But Blue had spent all those long years in enemy territory solely for Ihyeon.
“Beep beep beep. Qualitative assessments such as ‘hardship’ are not appropriate for a Golem. I merely operate for my Master’s sake at every moment.”
“…I see.”
Even that response was so very Blue.
Perhaps it was unreasonable to expect Blue to feel the same human affection and preciousness that Ihyeon held when he looked at him, but maybe that stiff manner of speaking and action was simply how Golems expressed emotion.
What did it matter if the tone and behavior were rigid?
If the person accepting it felt warmth, that was enough.
Ihyeon, thinking it was time to wrap up the 98th floor, checked the notification window that had appeared.
Naturally, they were all regarding the 98th floor’s rewards.
「Item ‘Choi Ihyeon’s Sniper Gun’ has leveled up.
Please check your status window.」
「98th Floor Reward.
You have acquired 15 A-grade Magic Stones.」
These were rewards he could have reasonably anticipated.
But then there was the S+ bonus.
“Huh?”
Ihyeon tilted his head in surprise at the unexpected reward and turned around.
“They’re giving me that as a reward?”

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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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