I Got A Legendary Sniper Rifle - Chapter 52
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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 52
Episode 52
「Jia: Master, they’re converging as you predicted.
Ilgyeok: I’m aware.」
“One strike: I know.”
A chat exchange with Jia.
Jia seemed to have been recognized as an independent Hunter.
Since radios couldn’t be used inside the Tower, I’d opened a chat channel instead.
Through my thermal scope, several blurred silhouettes were precariously visible, rushing toward me.
It was also my instruction to have Jia reveal herself as Ilgyeok.
If they were moving organizationally, reports would certainly reach their commander.
Only then could I make the Villains moving simultaneously in this area converge voluntarily.
And it seemed to be working perfectly.
They were no ordinary fighters—skilled not just as soldiers but as Hunters as well.
Roughly the kind of people who should be operating about twenty floors higher than this.
Without the thermal scope, I wouldn’t have been able to properly locate them in this densely forested area.
「Ilgyeok: Protect the people as much as possible. As discussed beforehand, you need to make them mistake you for me as much as possible.
Jia: Understood.」
Gia: I understand.
I bit my lower lip.
A tension entirely different from facing monsters seized my entire body with a sharp tingle.
This was a situation where I had to kill people to save people.
If I hesitated, innocent others would die.
Though I’d never faced Villains in the special forces before, I steeled myself with that thought.
‘One target.’
I moved the scope quickly yet calmly, finding my next mark.
The one on the far right, isolated as if coming from a distance.
I’d reduce their numbers as much as possible before the situation among them could stabilize.
Villains already marked with a crimson skull incurred no penalty if killed.
Breath held.
Trigger pulled.
Bang—!
…!
Direct hit.
I confirmed the hit with clinical detachment.
No matter how fast a Hunter moved, it meant nothing before a gun—especially a Maesek Gun with bullet velocity far exceeding standard rounds.
‘Still, they definitely react.’
Different from the monsters I’d hunted so far.
They possessed some instinctive sense of death.
Even when struck without escape, they twisted their entire bodies, desperately seeking any remaining option.
Earlier, I’d been excited and aimed carelessly for the heart, but now that my head was sufficiently clear, it was different.
Knowing they’d react sensitively, I deliberately avoided targeting vital points where instinct ran sharpest.
Instead, a location that could definitely remove me from combat.
The legs.
No matter how skilled an Assassin might be, none could move with one shin blown clean off.
Above all, blood loss would render me unconscious almost immediately.
Whoosh—
My gun barrel shifted once more.
Fire.
Hit.
Fire.
Hit.
Just as the Hunters, unaware of their plan, fell helplessly to this inhuman terror.
They too could not have anticipated my attacks, and were forced to sacrifice their legs.
After toppling three Assassins in mere moments.
‘That’s enough for now.’
I decided to observe the situation for a moment.
I could reduce their numbers further if I pushed, but doing so risked the Assassins realizing Jia had an ally beyond themselves.
Right now, it was crucial to make Jia appear as Ilgyeok alone.
Within mere seconds, Assassins began appearing around Jia and the Vigilantes, as if encircling them.
“What…? What on earth is happening?”
The Vigilantes were dumbfounded by the larger-than-expected numbers.
Well, they had reason to be.
Who could possibly have imagined that a 30th Floor Common Village of a single nation would be exposed to such collective and brutal assault?
Moreover, even for Vigilantes, the crimson skulls emblazoned on their opponents—figures they rarely encountered in normal circumstances—only deepened their sense of dread.
Five Assassins appeared in total.
The Vigilantes outnumbered them by roughly double, yet the advantage clearly tilted toward the Assassins.
“Please get behind us for now!”
“Protect the people!”
They stepped forward courageously before Jia and the Hunters, yet the anxiety mixed in their eyes could not be hidden.
Meanwhile, one Assassin with an exposed face smirked and stepped forward, asking Jia a question.
“Are you Ilgyeok?”
From the somewhat unfamiliar accent, his identity was easy enough to discern.
Jia, who had been silent for a moment, answered.
“I am.”
“Ha! Finally seeing you in person. Do you know how much is on your head?”
The one who posed the question to Jia sneered mockingly while running his finger along the blade of a dagger, and the other Assassins exhaled excited breaths in succession.
Jia pushed through the shocked Vigilantes and stepped forward decisively.
“Stay back.”
“Huh? Ah…”
My command.
Protect the people at all costs.
Since it was confirmed that the enemies’ target was me, having someone nearby would only be a hindrance.
Meanwhile, the Assassins initiated their attack with practiced efficiency.
A subtle nod—
In an instant, they exchanged glances and launched themselves forward, pushing off the ground.
Each one deployed their finest skills to strike at Jia.
Their approach split into two distinct groups.
One group simply accelerated their movement speed and charged directly at Jia.
The other group, skilled in coordinated assaults, staggered their movement speeds to enable sequential attacks in perfect synchronization.
Clang, clang— Crack—
Even so, the gaps between their attacks were not wide.
In a flash, blades collided against Jia’s heavy armor.
Though I deflected them with sparks flying, another wave of attacks pressed forward relentlessly.
Screech— Crack—!
Jia moved my limbs with fluid grace, intercepting and redirecting each attack before the blades could gain full force.
The Assassins never could have imagined it.
That Jia was methodically absorbing all of their full-powered strikes.
Clang— Screech—!
And preparing to return them all at once.
“You’re holding up well!”
“So what are you going to do about it?”
The reason Jia wasn’t taking immediate action was simple.
「Ilgyeok: Now.」
I was simply waiting for Ihyeon’s command.
Boom——!
The moment Ihyeon’s message arrived, Jia unleashed all the power I had been absorbing, scattering explosive shockwaves in all directions.
“Ugh!”
“Hack!”
The Assassins, desperate to pierce Jia’s vital points, groaned under the unstoppable explosive impact and were hurled backward.
The Assassins using movement skills for their next attack suffered the same fate.
In common parlance, a wide-area stun.
And by the time they had regained some semblance of consciousness—
Thud— Thud—
“…!”
Two Assassins had already lost their legs and arms, collapsing into unconsciousness.
Thud—
Before they could even comprehend the situation, another one fell.
The Assassins’ eyes wavered.
What was happening?
Had that Goblin Warrior, who had withstood their attacks with ease, used some kind of skill?
Or perhaps….
Was there an assassin targeting them from a distance, turning the tables?
Even as they pondered this, they knew the truth.
In a situation like this, contemplation was
Thunk—!
simply death itself.
A faint sound, as if echoing from very far away.
Thud—
Only one assassin remained.
The tide of battle had completely reversed.
The assassins who had rushed in, banking on their opponent’s panic and ignorance, had instead fallen into a trap of confusion and blindness themselves.
「Ilgyeok: Clean it up.
Jia: Understood.」
Given that, finishing them off was simple.
Jia vanished from her position in an instant, reappearing behind the assassin and striking the back of his neck with her shield.
‘…Is it over?’
Watching this unfold, I lowered my eyes from the scope and considered the situation.
By now, reinforcements from the Management Bureau and guilds who had finished their preparations should be arriving outside.
Since I hadn’t severed the assassins’ lifelines, they could be interrogated without issue if treated properly.
The ones who fell in the forest would also be retrieved once Jia guided them out.
Of course, whether those who came prepared for death would willingly reveal their positions outside the Tower was questionable.
‘That’s… well, I’ve heard they have their own techniques for such things.’
Though the situation seemed largely concluded, I hadn’t completely released my guard.
‘Is it truly over?’
An inexplicable suspicion gnawed at the back of my mind.
Nine villains had fallen.
It was enough to consider an entire squad eliminated—a full team wiped out.
Yet something felt wrong.
At first glance, I sensed no hierarchy or command structure among them.
Was such a thing possible?
If they were soldiers, there should have been someone giving orders.
‘Remote command via communication from outside is possible, but madmen bold enough to assault a public village wouldn’t move so passively.’
Or perhaps a field commander was among those I’d already eliminated.
‘Yet they didn’t seem panicked at all.’
That narrowed the remaining possibilities to two.
Either the commander watching from afar realized the operation had failed and withdrew from the Tower immediately.
“I found it.”
Or he’d detected my presence and broken away to hunt me down alone.
A chill ran down my spine—!
The moment I heard that low, eerie voice, I twisted my body from my prone position.
Crack—!
A sickle with a curved blade was embedded precisely where the heart had been.
A black hood and a skull balaclava.
I didn’t know it, but this was the appearance of Specter, who had orchestrated the entire operation.
‘How?’
I had anticipated discovering the presence of someone other than Jia, but I never expected my location to be exposed.
And for good reason—my current position was a distance so far that even an ordinary Hunter wouldn’t dare attempt an attack.
Yet I wasn’t the only one shocked.
“A gun? A gun, you say?”
Specter’s eyes widened slightly beneath the balaclava.
After Ventuma’s communication cut off and hearing some Goblin Warrior mention Ilgyeok, Specter had abandoned the location entirely to find the real Ilgyeok.
Though I had been discovered, Specter had never imagined the existence of a gun.
No, the posture itself was far too familiar—distinctly out of place.
Who would ever think to see a prone shooting stance within the Tower?
In Russia, soldiers do use sniper rifles.
But bringing a Maesek Gun into the Tower is common sense—it simply cannot be done.
Moreover, the Maesek Gun itself lacked the firepower necessary for the 30th Floor range.
Unless the gun itself became stronger.
Here, Specter’s deduction began to advance as if it had sprouted wings.
A Hunter using a Maesek Gun.
It made no sense.
But then again, didn’t the very existence of Ilgyeok itself defy all logic?
“Hahaha! Yes, that’s it!”
Specter laughed loudly, facing me as I aimed the Maesek Gun at her.
“Is the gun itself strengthening? Or do you possess an ability to enhance firearms? My, to think Ilgyeok harbored such a secret.”
Though laughter tinged her voice, it was sinister beyond measure.
Combined with the sickles in both hands and the skull on her face, it was all the more so.
Of course, since she spoke in Russian, I couldn’t understand her words.
‘…I cannot let her live.’
Yet this doesn’t change our respective objectives.
I cannot allow Specter to live, having seen both my face and the existence of the Maesek Gun.
Specter, too, cannot be satisfied merely by learning Ilgyeok’s identity when all personnel deployed in the operation are dead.
Regardless of what happened to those sent by China, many of her own carefully cultivated agents were among the casualties.
At minimum, she must obtain this mysterious firearm to make the operation worthwhile.
Our gazes collided in the empty space between us.
Specter spoke with intrigue.
“A soldier, then. Well, carrying a Maesek Gun in Korea makes it obvious enough.”
Moreover, the way she evaded my sickle, the stance she currently held.
The formal movements were executed perfectly.
But interest ended there.
A corpse is unremarkable, regardless of whether it’s called Ilgyeok.
Specter adjusted his grip on the scythe and charged at me once more.
I didn’t simply stand idle watching his approach.
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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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