I Got A Legendary Sniper Rifle - Chapter 51
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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 51
Episode 51
It was neither the Goblin Warrior’s axe nor the Mage’s defensive magic that blocked his dagger.
Black heavy armor that hadn’t existed mere moments before.
An unidentified Tanker with his face obscured by a face guard attached to his helmet suddenly burst forth.
In his hands, without any other weapon, he held an enormous black shield large enough to cover his entire body.
I never expected a Tanker capable of blocking my attack so effortlessly to appear on the 30th Floor.
It was completely unexpected.
Thud—!
Ventuma immediately created distance, moving toward where the Assassin lay collapsed.
If the attack had connected, it would be one thing, but if it was blocked, I couldn’t afford to give the Tanker any distance.
However, what happened next completely overturned Ventuma’s expectations.
Whoosh—!
A thin sound echoing from very far away.
‘A projectile?’
Though I had never heard such a sound before, Ventuma immediately classified its type.
Dodge rather than block.
Ventuma shifted position once more using Specter’s Step.
It was a skill that consumed considerable mana, but it was better than taking an unknown projectile head-on.
However.
“Huh?”
The mysterious projectile’s target was not Ventuma.
Inexplicably, a white beam struck the Hunter lying collapsed on the ground directly.
‘What on earth is this?’
Was it another member participating in the Flea Market operation?
The operational zones should have been clearly divided.
Moreover, logically speaking, the primary target should be that black Goblin Warrior.
Why would they attack a Hunter who was already neutralized, where a finishing blow was the only meaningful action?
Ventuma’s mind grew complicated.
And immediately after, Ventuma noticed one piece of good information and one piece of bad information.
The good news was that thanks to the well-distributed operational zones, no other assassins had come to this location.
The bad news was.
“I… I survived?”
The Assassin who had been lying collapsed with a pierced abdomen suddenly pushed himself up from the ground as if he had received healing from a Healer.
‘A Healer? How absurd is this…’
Ventuma was shocked seeing this.
A Healer’s skills couldn’t be used from such a distance.
Most healing was done at distances barely beyond arm’s reach, and at most it couldn’t exceed 30 meters.
Yet that mysterious white beam appeared to be at least 500 meters away.
Using a healing skill from over 500 meters away?
Setting aside the sheer audacity of it, how was such a thing even possible?
But Ventuma had no time to dwell on such concerns.
Thud—!
The Tanker in black armor suddenly kicked off the ground and charged at Ventuma.
If I got hit, I was dead.
Ventuma, who had always lived on the razor’s edge of death, sensed it instinctively.
This charge was not the kind of power a mere 30th Floor Tanker could unleash.
Holding my dagger’s blade sideways, I lifted my body lightly just before the collision.
Crash——!!!
The Tanker’s shoulder armor and my dagger collided head-on.
Thud— crack—
“Ugh!”
I was knocked back ungracefully.
I had saved my life.
But there was not a single part of my body that didn’t scream in pain, and several ribs on my right shoulder were definitely broken.
My instincts screamed at me.
‘Is this Ilgyeok?’
If I let this person escape, the flea market operation would ultimately fail.
“Over there! There’s a fight over there too!”
“XXX! How many of them came in?!”
To make matters worse, Vigilantes pouring out from the village were closing in from behind.
‘…They said Ilgyeok was a Dark Mage.’
Cornered in an instant, my mind raced frantically.
Was this mysterious Tanker, or Goblin Warrior, truly Ilgyeok?
Perhaps not.
But one thing was certain—if I couldn’t take them down here, the flea market was finished regardless of whether they were Ilgyeok or not.
Then, the Goblin Warrior facing me ended my deliberation.
“You’re after me.”
“…!”
Though I wasn’t fluent in Korean, I could understand it well enough.
The Goblin Warrior removed the helmet she was wearing.
And from within it, Jia’s face was revealed.
Beautiful yet sculpted like a statue, with a hardened expression.
Jia spoke.
“I am Ilgyeok.”
“Indeed….”
“Wh-what…?!”
“Ilgyeok?!”
The Hunters nearby gasped at Jia’s words and stared at her face.
Was there any need for further confirmation?
In the end, Ventuma didn’t hesitate and opened the chat window.
「Ventuma: Ilgyeok spotted in Zeta Region. Goblin Warrior or Tanker in black armor.」
Whether it was Ilgyeok or not, Ventuma alone couldn’t handle this opponent.
Even if he managed to land a fatal blow, if there was that absurd healing like before, killing them would become even more impossible.
He needed reinforcements.
「Specter: Confirmed. Assembling from Gamma Region.」
After confirming the reply from Specter, Ventuma adjusted his grip on his dagger.
‘If only Specter comes….’
Whether this was truly Ilgyeok or not, I’d have to see, but even if it were, they wouldn’t stand a chance against Specter.
Ventuma’s trust in Specter was that extraordinary.
‘I just need to buy time.’
Ventuma’s goal was to pour all his strength into at least wounding the black-armored Goblin Warrior who claimed to be Ilgyeok.
Whoosh—!
First, I had to hide my body.
Ventuma used his greatest mobility skill, ‘Nightmare’s Twist,’ to move into the forest.
His body, transformed into an ominous violet hue, sank into the ground and disappeared. Jia, unable to track his location this time, remained standing at the spot where she had charged at him.
Next, I aimed for her back.
‘Virulent Slash.’
The most brutal and effective skill among those Ventuma had mastered—Virulent Slash.
There was no need to stab deeply; even a mere cut would cause the flesh to rot away from the wound throughout the entire body.
If I could just graze the gaps in her armor, the operation would succeed.
Just as Ventuma confirmed the deep green aura coating his dagger and was about to move again with spectral steps.
“…What?”
Ventuma couldn’t help but let out a voice of bewilderment.
He had been certain that this Goblin Warrior was most likely Ilgyeok.
Or at worst, someone of Ilgyeok-class strength.
After all, the Goblin Warrior’s skill—overwhelming and crushing even someone like Ventuma, who could operate comfortably in the 50th Floor range—seemed more than sufficient to achieve an unprecedented S+ rank.
But.
In this moment, Ventuma understood clearly.
‘Ilgyeok-class’ was a term that couldn’t even be established in the first place.
There was only.
————!!!!
Ilgyeok.
The murderous intent rushing toward him from afar.
Even Ventuma, a professional Assassin who had lived alongside death, only sensed it.
Anyone else….
Crash——!!!!!
Would have lost their life without even realizing that Ilgyeok’s attack was stealing it away in an instant.
Ventuma looked down at his right arm with eyes of disbelief.
The arm that had been holding the dagger coated with Virulent Slash skill was completely gone.
That was far from all.
The shoulder connected to his arm was torn away as well.
Truly, the destructive power was overwhelming.
‘Wait… that wasn’t a Healer?’
By instinct, I deduced the position was similar to the light beam that had healed the Assassin earlier.
The form of the attack was also similar.
However, since Healers don’t typically engage in direct combat, I had ruled that out for now.
More than anything, how could they have found me so quickly in this forest when I was using Nightmare’s Distortion?!
A surge of emotion—
But the questions that came after the attack were meaningless.
Ventuma’s consciousness grew hazy as he stared at his shoulder pouring with blood.
Only unanswerable questions swirled through his mind.
From where exactly?
From how far away?
No, more than that…
Ventuma’s consciousness began to fade.
「Specter: Ventuma. The members are getting close. What’s your exact location?
Specter: Ventuma?」
Ventuma could no longer respond to Specter’s messages.
“Are you alright?!”
“Is anyone injured?”
The Vigilantes arrived at Jia and the four Hunters next.
“Ah… we’re fine.”
“This person here saved us…”
The Hunters stammered as they explained the situation to the Vigilantes.
Yet they still seemed uncertain about Jia’s true identity.
Ilgyeok had never revealed himself once, so there was no way to know if this was real, and even if it were, they wondered whether they should keep the secret.
“Thank you. Thanks to you, these people’s lives were saved.”
“Phew, things are chaotic in other places too. Please head back to the village and exit the Tower.”
“We’ll escort you.”
The Vigilantes thanked Jia and tried to at least wrap up the situation here.
Meanwhile, Jia, who had been quietly listening, pointed toward one side of the forest and spoke.
“The one who attacked us is collapsed over there.”
“Pardon?”
The one who appeared to be the leader among the Vigilantes nodded at those words.
“There, there he is!”
Sure enough, not long after, Ventuma, who had lost an entire arm and shoulder, was dragged out.
The crimson skull that still hadn’t faded.
His breath hadn’t stopped, but judging by his condition, he wouldn’t last long.
As the shocked Vigilantes and Hunters alternated their gazes between Jia and Ventuma.
Jia fastened her helmet once more and spoke.
“It is not yet over.”
* * *
‘….’
I fell silent.
Both inwardly and outwardly.
It was not solely because of Ilgyeok.
The hotter my chest burned with rage, the colder my mind became.
From the moment I sensed something amiss in the village, I had tried to clear the dungeon as swiftly as possible to assess the situation.
Sure enough, four innocent Hunters had nearly been slaughtered right before my eyes.
Had I not immediately switched to healing mode and fired, one of them might truly have perished.
Moreover, unlike when she escorted me, Jia—equipped with both shield and helmet—proved invaluable.
An overwhelming display of force impossible for a Dummy to achieve.
Without her….
‘How dare they.’
My grip on the rifle’s handle tightened with such force that my knuckles turned bone white.
The enemy reflected in the Thermal Scope had been completely neutralized.
I had aimed for the heart, but at the last moment he twisted sharply, so I had to settle for shattering his shoulder.
Whether he died from excessive bleeding would be his fate.
Yet as two Villains had already appeared here, I could not know how many more were encamped near the Public Village.
Judging by the suspicious signs I had felt in the village alone, there were more than a few.
An indiscriminate assault within the Tower—unprecedented in history.
Individual mad Villains had caused incidents before, but never had such an organized collective surrounded an entire village and orchestrated an operation like this.
But why now, all of a sudden?
I could sufficiently deduce the reason.
‘It’s because of me.’
In that brief span of time, I had observed their movements and become certain.
They were foreign soldiers.
Highly trained combat weapons.
There was no way such individuals would infiltrate another nation’s Tower en masse without reason.
It was to flush out Ilgyeok.
I had to admit that I had been far too passive.
What?
As long as my identity remains hidden, that’s enough?
Ilgyeok’s presence and value had grown too great to be satisfied with that.
They would willingly level that entire region if they could not find me.
I looked at the four Hunters who might have died.
In my mind, their faces naturally overlapped with those of my squad members from two years ago.
Why must only the innocent endure? Why must only the innocent face danger?
‘Remember why you gained this power, and why you climbed the Tower, Choi Ihyeon.’
Ihyeon recalled the vow he had made when his sniper rifle first awakened.
Never again would he allow the tragedy of the 2nd Squad to repeat itself.
Crack—
Veins bulged visibly across Ihyeon’s knuckles as he gripped the handle with white-knuckled intensity.
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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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