I Got A Legendary Sniper Rifle - Chapter 362

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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 362
Ep. 362
“Things have been pretty noisy lately because of the Training Tower, haven’t they?”
“Yes, hyung. Everyone says they’re envious of how well we’re doing.”
“…Well, I suppose that’s true.”
As someone from Ilgyeok dedicated to world peace and humanity’s safety, I couldn’t simply stand by and watch meaningless conflict unfold!
…Or rather, I just stepped in because it was getting on my nerves.
Ihyeon proposed a strategy to Deokhuun to navigate this situation.
Deokhuun’s eyes widened in astonishment as he marveled at the idea.
“Hyung, how did you devise such a brilliant strategy? We were actually thinking along similar lines!”
“Oh, really?”
“Truly worthy of the legendary merchant who sold Goblin bones for fifty million won!”
‘That’s not really related, is it?’
Ihyeon felt somewhat uneasy about this, but since Deokhuun had already devised his own solution, he decided to wait and see.
Not long after, Ilgyeok Guild made an announcement.
[ Ilgyeok Guild to Sell ‘Training Tower’ Licenses! ]
In essence, guilds wanting to build a Training Tower could have Ilgyeok Guild directly oversee construction and use the same name in exchange for a licensing fee.
The plan included far more diverse species varieties than the knockoffs other guilds had made so far, plus the special structure that Yunjung had personally designed.
[ └ Wow, is Ilgyeok Guild’s magnanimous moment real? ;;;
└ Honestly, I thought they’d file lawsuits when other guilds were copying recklessly, but instead they’re opening up licenses.
└ I heard all licensing fees are being processed as donations?
└ Our guild wants to make a donation too! ]
Of course, it didn’t stop there.
They created tiered licensing: Ilgyeok Guild’s main headquarters Training Tower as ‘Original’.
Other Ilgyeok Guild branches as ‘Premium’.
General external guilds as ‘the Ilgyeok’.
They had essentially created a ‘tier difference’.
‘Deokhuun really is incredible when it comes to business tactics. Absolutely incredible.’
Ihyeon, who had simply suggested that external guilds be allowed to build Training Towers for construction costs alone, clicked his tongue at this scheme.
Thus began the grand opening of the Age of the Training Tower!
Guilds that had initially hesitated to ask the fledgling Ilgyeok Guild for help soon expressed their willingness to purchase licenses without exception.
Even if it was only the lowest-tier ‘the Ilgyeok’ edition, what choice did they have?
If they didn’t build one, their affiliated Hunters would start leaving in droves!
[ Ilgyeok Guild Prioritizes Training Tower Construction for Newly Affiliated Guilds! ]
…In fact, quite a few guilds were even joining Ilgyeok Guild with the Training Tower as their primary motivation.
The moment license sales were announced and sales began in earnest, an astronomical amount of donations flowed into Ilgyeok Guild, through the trading company, and into the foundation!
Compared to the consumer-focused approach of before, the scale of full-fledged B2B operations was on an entirely different level.
“Hyung! Hyung! Our lives have finally taken off! This is huge!”
“…Yeah, I can see that.”
Upon learning of this, Jonggeon rushed over to Seongcheol with a triumphant shout that seemed to make the world soar.
However, Seongcheol was intently studying the documentation from the license deal results with an exceptionally serious expression.
Jonggeon flinched at that stern demeanor and carefully observed Seongcheol’s reaction.
‘…As expected of him. Unlike us common folk, he’s already envisioning the future even when faced with such an enormous sum.’
Appropriate mercenary tactics, outstanding foresight, and the courage to maintain composure and steadiness in any situation.
That was how Jonggeon perceived Seongcheol.
But how was Seongcheol evaluating his own situation?
‘This really won’t do anymore. When should I escape? Tomorrow? The day after? If I suddenly say I’m going on an overseas trip, won’t these guys find it suspicious? No, even if they don’t find it suspicious, they’ll definitely insist on coming with me….’
He didn’t evaluate himself nearly as favorably….
* * *
A month had passed since Ilgyeok cleared the 98th floor.
In that time, Ihyeon’s level had risen by one to 84.
Elsie’s sword technique secret had also reached 98.5%.
Not obtaining the level 85 skill and failing to reach 100% in sword technique were both disappointing, but there were circumstances.
‘I never imagined I’d clear all those instant towers that seemed to flow endlessly.’
The instant towers that appeared to spring up without end had simply run dry.
…It was something the Management Bureau would find utterly exasperating to hear.
They would say that instant towers weren’t popcorn—they couldn’t possibly appear at a pace matching one cleared per day.
In any case, now only the towers secured by each guild remained.
Because of Ihyeon, instant towers were experiencing such a shortage that even guilds were greedily competing to conquer tower grades they would normally have deferred to one another.
“Well… honestly, we’re not even sure whether we should be pleased or displeased with this situation, Hunter. In any case, thank you. It seems life really does throw everything at you.”
“Ah, yes, I see.”
Since this was the first time the Management Bureau had encountered such a situation, they were perplexed, but they expressed their gratitude to Ihyeon nonetheless.
Every time a troublesome instant tower appeared, they had to exhaust themselves coordinating between guilds, so at least that necessity had been eliminated.
If there was other news, it was that Erubein had also conquered the 98th floor in the meantime.
Ilgyeok and the Hero now stood at equal positions once more, but there was one thing that couldn’t be denied.
While Ilgyeok would certainly maintain the comfortable lead he’d had until now, the Hero had now reached his limit.
The Americans, too, without openly stating it, were acutely aware of this fact.
That’s why they had thoroughly prepared defenses against the Korean netizens who would flood in when Ilgyeok cleared the 98th floor.
[ Why are the Koreans being quiet?
I even prepared backup keyboards. Why isn’t anyone starting anything?
Does anyone here know the Korean atmosphere? ]
Contrary to American netizens’ expectations, the Korean netizens—who would normally rush in at the slightest provocation and fill community comments with Korean—were silent.
The reason was soon revealed.
[ Ilgyeok’s fan community said they’d revoke membership if anyone caused problems in other countries’ communities.
As if trolls would care about that?
└ I’m a Korean student studying abroad in LA. ‘Hanbangs Café’ is a place where having your membership revoked is treated almost like losing citizenship in Korea.
└ ?!
└ When did Korea become that kind of country? ]
While some facts were mixed with considerable exaggeration, the Hanbangs Café’s firm enforcement of silence proved effective.
Though users with itchy fingers like the nicknames “Legendary Sword” or “Seonggwangdong Pibaraggi” weren’t entirely absent, everyone feared being permanently banned from Hanbangs Café, so the effect was good.
Of course, unlike the netizens who were unknowingly taking opposing stances,
「Ilgyeok: I heard about the conquest of the 98th floor. Congratulations.
Hero: Yes. Thank you.」
In truth, my relationship with Erubein was quite amicable.
We shared secrets about the 90s floors, and we had even dealt with the Baikhon Gate together in the past.
Camaraderie naturally forms from living together for a few months in the barracks, but between true comrades who had walked through life and death together, there was nothing more to say.
In fact, we had even exchanged phone numbers when Erubein stayed at my house!
The reason I chose to use chat instead of calling the number I had exchanged was due to potential security concerns, not because I lacked confidence in understanding English.
Really, it was.
‘Since Hero said his limit was around the 98th floor… he probably won’t make it to the 99th floor.’
Fortunately, it seemed no major incidents would occur before the Main Tower was unified.
Then came the remaining question.
What exactly did Hero’s 90s floors look like right now?
「Ilgyeok: If I may ask, what was the main objective of the 98th floor?」
The 90s floors change their appearance depending on how each Hunter cleared the previous floors.
I had reached the neck of the High Priest, but Erubein could be standing in an entirely different position.
After a moment of silence, Erubein sent a message.
「Hero: Hmm.」
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
I wondered why he bothered sending a message if he was just going to ponder it alone.
Suddenly remembering something, I asked Elsie.
“When I asked Erubein what I did on the 98th floor, he said ‘hmm’—do you know what that means?”
I thought if anyone could understand it, it would be Elsie, who had brilliantly(?) translated conversations between Erubein and Hwi-yeong in the past.
Elsie then frowned as if she’d heard every absurd thing under the sun and asked,
“What are you talking about, Master?”
“Yeah, yeah, you can’t figure it out just from that either, right?”
“He’s saying he defeated the Demon of the Plains on the 98th floor.”
Really?
I couldn’t believe it.
How on earth could two syllables like ‘hmm’ turn into such a lengthy explanation?
「Ilgyeok: Do you mean you defeated the Demon of the Plains?
Hero: Yes.」
I narrowed my eyes and glared at Elsie.
“Why, why are you like that? Am I wrong?”
‘Isn’t it more suspicious that it’s correct?’
For a moment, I suspected that Elsie and Erubein had exchanged messages first.
But I couldn’t very well spy on their private messages.
I belatedly recalled what Erubein had mentioned—the ‘Demon of the Plains.’
「Ilgyeok: The Demon of the Plains… could you be referring to Erkastrula?
Hero: Yes. It seems you also defeated Erkastrula on the 98th floor. It was a formidable enemy.」
That’s not quite it.
I couldn’t figure out what to say to Erubein, who was already starting to feel a sense of kinship with me.
If he’d caught Erkastrula on the 98th floor, just how slow was his progress really?
But if I’d been honest about that, it might have gone beyond just hurting Erubein’s feelings and sparked an all-out war between Korea and the United States.
After a moment had passed, Erubein seemed to have caught on to my hesitation, and this message came through.
「Hero: It’s fine. I’m aware of the characteristics of the 90s floors. Then perhaps you cleared it on the 96th floor?」
It wasn’t quite that either, but I just went along with it.
‘Whether it’s the 94th floor or the 96th floor… and I did actually catch a demon on the 95th floor too, so it’s not really a lie.’
What was needed to make the world a little more beautiful was a white lie.
Besides, no one was going to interrogate me about exactly what I’d caught on each floor in the 90s, so there was no risk of getting caught.
「Hero: As expected, you’re truly remarkable. I knew that individual performance could affect each floor differently, but I never imagined it could be accelerated that much.」
Despite his imposing physique and stern appearance, Erubein himself was such a warm person!
I’d contacted him first to offer my congratulations, but instead I’d ended up receiving a flood of kind words from him.
After exchanging a bit more conversation about the 90s floors, I eventually tried to wrap things up.
「Ilgyeok: Thank you for all your hard work so far. From now on, I’ll take it from here.」
Now I was entering the 99th floor.
Given the pace so far, it was certain that the 100th floor would fall within a month.
The Floor Master there would probably be on a completely different level from what I’d faced so far, as Erkastrula had hinted, which did make me somewhat anxious.
‘But then again, every single floor up to now has been like that.’
Even though I’d climbed the Tower at what seemed like an insane pace to others, I didn’t approach it with a light heart.
In my attitude toward the Tower, I was the same as other Hunters.
I’d simply achieved an overwhelming breakthrough with the power I’d accumulated so far.
Now it was finally time to hand over the burden that the Hero had been carrying, supporting America and the world all this while.
‘And I should probably start thinking about setting that burden down entirely.’
Erubein, who had been silent for a moment after my words, sent back a brief response.
「Hero: Mm.」
I asked Elsie to interpret for me again this time.
“Mm.”
“Mm?”
“Mm.”
“Mm.”
It was just “mm.”

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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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