I Got A Legendary Sniper Rifle - Chapter 43

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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 43
Episode 43
“Jia?”
When I called out lightly, Jia finally looked at me directly.
*Click*
She knelt on one knee and bowed.
“Who… who is this?”
Meanwhile, Minjeong, unable to comprehend the situation, asked in a bewildered voice.
“Ah, this friend is…”
I explained the situation briefly.
The item I’d obtained this time was something rather special—it possessed consciousness and could manifest as a physical form like this.
“Ah~”
Fortunately, despite having studied Hunters somewhat recently, Minjeong didn’t know much about this sort of thing yet, so she seemed to accept the explanation readily enough.
If a Hunter who knew the details had heard this, they would have cried out, “How is an item with consciousness only ‘somewhat special’?” or “Isn’t it remarkable that it can manifest physically?”
“But why did she come out?”
After finishing my explanation, I tilted my head in confusion, wondering why Jia had emerged without me calling her.
“…”
We were at home, so there shouldn’t be any danger.
Then Minjeong scolded me as if I didn’t even know that much.
“It’s mealtime, so she came out.”
“But Jia is a spirit, so she wouldn’t eat or anything like that.”
Of course, I hadn’t actually asked and received an answer.
But wasn’t it common sense?
Spirits and souls didn’t eat meals to sustain themselves.
However, as Minjeong stared intently at Jia,
*Splash*
she unhesitatingly ladled soup and placed it in front of Jia.
“Mom really… how can a spirit eat—”
I burst into laughter watching this.
This is why adults are paradoxically pure-hearted.
Was this spirit—the very embodiment of loyalty who had silently demolished an entire Kobold fortress—really materializing on her own just for a single bowl of beef bone soup?
I’m sorry, but…
*Clink*
“?”
Moments later, I truly felt sorry.
While I was laughing, the beef bone soup and rice that Minjeong had generously ladled out had vanished without a trace.
Minjeong smiled triumphantly and said,
“No matter if she’s a spirit or whatever, everyone has to eat to live. It was delicious, wasn’t it?”
“…”
Without answering, Jia rose from her seat and resumed her statue-like stance beside me.
‘When on earth did that guy finish eating?’
Having observed Jia’s character to some degree, I found this utterly bewildering.
“Then I’ll head back to the store, Mom. The child must be suffocating cooped up. Why don’t you buy her some new clothes and change her into them?”
At Minjeong’s words, I finally waved my hand in protest.
“That’s really not it, Mom. What would a spirit need clothes for….”
Then I suddenly glanced up at Jia standing behind me.
‘…Would she really change?’
Now that I’d said it, I felt a twinge of doubt.
With that plaster-like expression, she rarely spoke, so there was no way to know what she was thinking.
Glance—
As I stared intently at Jia, she rolled her eyes slightly, acknowledging my gaze.
And then.
Whoosh—
She transformed into light once more and was absorbed back into my black suit.
‘Did she really just come out to eat?’
With an uncertain expression, I began eating my portion of rice.
* * *
Management Bureau, Talent Search Department.
Seongnyun clicked the back of his pen and called over a subordinate for no particular reason.
“So… there’s still no contact from Ilgyeok?”
“No, sir.”
Five minutes later.
“So… from Ilgyeok—”
“Sir, if you ask one more time, do you realize this will be the 100th time today?”
“W-has it really been that many?”
Seongnyun sheepishly scratched the back of his head and withdrew the question.
He’d certainly thought he’d tracked down at least the shadow of Ilgyeok’s identity, if not the identity itself.
But then it hit another dead end.
According to the Hunter who encountered Ilgyeok’s phantom, he’d confirmed the message.
So our intentions were certainly conveyed….
‘But still, having dealt with two Gates simultaneously—why?’
Seongnyun simply couldn’t understand it.
Was handling two Gates at once such a trivial matter?
Even expanding the scope beyond Korea to the world, there weren’t many precedents.
At best, only France’s Transcendent ‘Puppeteer’ and Mexico’s Transcendent ‘Lord of Death’ had records of simultaneously handling them by fully utilizing their characteristics.
And even they hadn’t handled it almost entirely alone like Ilgyeok this time, but rather under active cooperation from the local guild in charge.
Well, since the circumstances differed, direct comparison would be difficult, but it meant Ilgyeok’s achievement was that remarkable.
Honestly, whatever crime he’d committed, if he just promised to prevent recurrence, a pardon would be no problem at all.
If Ilgyeok had been an ordinary person, the Management Bureau would have had to immediately contact him and demand ‘Pay 10 billion!’ as blackmail—and the Bureau would have had to scrape together the funds.
‘Well, perhaps in a past life I sold out the nation….’
While Seongnyun pursued the elusive identity of Ilgyeok, who seemed just within grasp yet always slipped away, Ilgyeok continued ascending the Tower as always.
Not long ago, a notice had emerged announcing that he had finally reached the 30th Floor.
The world trembled in astonishment, and the entire nation erupted in cheers, yet Seongnyun and the Talent Search Department faced mounting pressure.
Recently, he had even received something akin to an ultimatum from Donghyeon, the Tower’s top-ranked Hunter.
– If you can’t find Ilgyeok before he clears the 40th Floor, I’ll have no choice but to question your competence, Director Baek.
The meaning of those words was painfully clear.
But even being generous a hundred times over, such things could be accepted.
If a talent scout whose livelihood depended on discovering talent failed to find a mega-talent like Ilgyeok, there would be no excuse for not stepping down gracefully.
But Seongnyun’s true concern was….
‘I need to make contact again before something happens in the 30th Floor tier.’
Though Ilgyeok had overcome every obstacle and reached the 30th Floor, the real question was whether he could maintain that momentum in the 30th Floor tier.
He had already achieved thirty consecutive S+ rank evaluations.
What if that streak were to break?
Whether it became an S, an A, or even an F didn’t matter.
It was the shock of failing to achieve S+ that concerned him.
Seongnyun simply didn’t want to see the chaos that would result.
‘Working alone like this has its limits. What is Ilgyeok planning to do?’
* * *
The next day.
Ihyeon, Jia, and the one he had summoned as the Perfect Target—the Dummy.
The three walked through a small village nestled in a forest.
Naturally, it wasn’t a location on Earth, but surprisingly, it was inside the Main Tower.
This was because the Main Tower’s structure changed once again starting from the 30th Floor tier.
It was a format called the “Open Field,” where residential areas that previously served as Public Floors existed, and upon leaving those zones, Hunters received missions corresponding to each floor.
Once missions up to the 40th Floor were completed, one could advance to the 40th Floor tier.
Solo and party formats were technically optional.
Because of this, from here onward, Hunters typically didn’t operate in random parties like in the 20th Floor tier, but instead worked with pre-arranged partners.
Meanwhile, there were those who exploited these changes for nefarious purposes.
‘I’ve heard that villains do operate in Open Field tiers….’
Namely, villains.
Most were motivated by greed, targeting other Hunters’ spoils, but rumors suggested that guild-to-guild competition sometimes involved backroom dealings.
However, such activities weren’t particularly prominent on the 30th Floor.
There weren’t yet any noteworthy powerhouses, and the Management Bureau and major guilds maintained order.
In any case, there was a reason why Ihyeon made himself, Jia, and the Dummy appear like a party.
‘Ilgyeok is practically the symbol of solo play.’
It was precisely to exploit Ilgyeok’s image in reverse.
A mysterious Hunter whose identity remained unrevealed.
Even in the 20th Floor tier where party play was mandatory, credible claims of seeing Ilgyeok were virtually nonexistent except from a tiny minority.
Dark Mage, Goblin Warrior, woman, man….
So walking openly like this with three people made it impossible not to avoid suspicion.
In my newly acquired dark robes, I am an Assassin.
Jia, equipped with heavy armor, is a Goblin Warrior.
This Dummy was specially disguised as an ordinary Mage.
A party composition that was nearly textbook perfect.
There was one more advantage to this arrangement.
“Um, if you happen to be clearing the 31st Floor, would you perhaps consider going with me…?”
“I apologize. I already have companions.”
“Ah, I see. My mistake.”
The ability to politely decline Hunters who occasionally approached seeking a party.
‘Indeed, it’s worth cultivating many friendships.’
I felt a quiet satisfaction and glanced back at Jia and the Dummy.
…Though I wasn’t sure if I could truly call a spirit and a Dummy friends, they certainly served similar roles.
Incidentally, spirits were apparently treated as half-Hunters within the system.
For instance, they weren’t counted toward the party’s five-member capacity, and aside from their owner, they received no contribution credit like when we cleared the previous Gate, but in almost every other respect they received identical treatment to Hunters with official IDs.
That was information I’d extracted through something like an interview with the taciturn Jia.
‘Well, I’ll learn the details as we clear floors together going forward.’
Meanwhile, Jia followed silently behind me.
‘I will absolutely be of help.’
Her heart was filled with unwavering loyalty toward me.
Who was she, after all?
An S+ rank Ego Item, no less.
Though she rarely expressed it outwardly, honestly, it would be difficult to find another item with comparable performance even if one searched the entire Tower.
To possess such ability yet fail to be of use to a master who was the very reason for her existence—to whom she owed endless loyalty—would be a sin.
Moreover, yesterday that master had surprisingly bestowed an even greater kindness upon her.
‘Beef Bone Soup….’
In Jia’s lifetime (?), she had never tasted such a dish.
Recalling the taste of Beef Bone Soup, Jia etched her master’s kindness even deeper into her very bones.
Had Minjeong heard this, she would have said, ‘One person feeds you, another shows you kindness,’ but for an item like Jia, such a line of thinking was entirely natural.
In any case, in that sense, the 31st Floor.
She would become the greatest contributor to her master’s historic first successful conquest of the 30th Floor tier!
Though her outward expression and demeanor were cold as ice, the loyal spirit Jia made such a vow with burning intensity in her heart.
Just then, as I reached the edge of the village, a notification window appeared before my eyes.
「Republic of Korea, Main Tower 31st Floor—will you accept this mission?」
“Yes.”
As I nodded, the notification window changed as if it had been waiting.
「You have accepted the 31st Floor mission.
Eliminate 5 Muscle Apes.
Check your mission log.」
Content that resembled a game Quest.
Yet the essence remained unchanged from before.
Before entering the forest, I habitually glanced back at Jia and Dummy one more time.
“….”
As expected, neither of them responded.
The reasons differed for each, but I hesitated for a moment.
‘Well, it’s a bit silly to expect that now.’
It was a memory from over a year ago.
Before every operation, my 2nd Squad would always perform our ritual of unity before disembarking from the vehicle.
I thought I had mostly forgotten about it by now.
Tower conquest, which was hardly different from operations, had already reached the 31st Floor.
I believed I had sufficiently organized my memories of the 2nd Squad into mere nostalgia.
But the moment I unconsciously began thinking of these people as comrades, that memory returned.
It came back as if my body, not my mind, had been remembering it all along.
“….”
As I stood silently observing them, Jia glanced back at me slightly.
I smiled faintly and shook my head.
“It’s nothing. Let’s go.”
As I stepped into the forest, I retrieved the concealment cloak from my inventory.
In the village, I had decided not to hide my appearance for various reasons, but the field was different.
If a sniper like me were to be ambushed by monsters, it would be catastrophic.
The risk grew even greater on the 30th Floor tier, where open fields began in earnest.
“….”
Jia showed a slight reaction as my presence became extremely faint, but that was all.
After all, the black robe I wore was her true form.
No matter what I did or where I went, as long as I wore the black robe, Jia would never fail to sense my existence.
Thump—!
As if understanding everything on my mind, Jia brought one fist to her opposite chest in a gesture.
Though different from a military salute, it seemed to carry a similar meaning in her own way.
Clank— Clank—
Without hesitation, she then began striding deeper into the forest with confident steps.
Why would her master suddenly hide his presence?
Of course, to draw the attention of the wicked monsters toward herself, who would serve as her master’s reliable shield and vanguard.
In Jia’s mind, the flow of thought naturally continued as follows.
She would gather not only the five Muscle Apes specified in the mission but all nearby monsters and annihilate them all at once.
Then she could obtain not only an enormous amount of experience points but also far more byproducts than expected.
Recognizing Jia’s abilities from this unexpected great harvest, I would promise to accompany her on all future conquests, shedding tears of emotion.
For such a loyal spirit as Jia, it would be a truly meaningful first step.
Of course.
‘…that’s not it.’
I, who disagreed entirely with such thoughts, watched her spirited retreating figure in bewilderment for a moment.
Whoosh——
I summoned her back into the darkness once more.
“?!”

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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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