I Got A Legendary Sniper Rifle - Chapter 69

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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 69
Episode 69
The 43rd Floor, Western Gate District of the Ruined Fortress.
Unlike other districts operating relatively stably, the 43rd Floor was notorious for accidents occurring at the slightest misstep.
Moreover, once an accident happened, the damage would spiral out of control.
The primary culprit was undoubtedly the thick fog that blanketed the Western Gate District throughout the entire Wave.
And unlike other early-stage districts where Undead typically approached from a single direction, here they swarmed around the Open Field that protruded outward from the fortress.
Furthermore, a considerable number of those Undead were spectral entities like Specters or Ghosts.
When luck ran out, they would possess Hunters’ bodies and attack their allies—once one section began to crumble, there was no choice but to retreat into the fortress.
A safe retreat into the fortress was actually the better outcome.
Casualties occurred just as frequently.
Because of this, even in the 40s where parties held little significance, this district alone recommended hunting with a full five-person party.
At minimum, you needed to confirm your members’ positions in time.
And here, a party that had just set foot on the 43rd Floor was present.
“Ah, Ilgyeok must be heading to the 42nd Floor today, right?”
“Probably? I heard the 41st Floor was absolutely insane. Did anyone see it?”
“We were on the 42nd Floor at that time… how could we have seen it?”
“Haha, true enough.”
A five-person party led by Mage Jihoon as the party leader.
Most of them possessed respectable skills and had reached the 43rd Floor in just one year.
Since they had formed their party the moment they reached the 21st Floor, they were close enough to see each other frequently in reality as well.
“Ugh, but I can’t see anything at all.”
“Be careful. If you see a Specter before Ilgyeok, things get awkward.”
“Ugh…”
They were identifying their positions by the sound of their weapons striking against their armor.
They had to avoid where other parties were hunting, so securing a quiet location was the priority.
“Hey, there’s a forest ahead? Should we hunt here?”
“It doesn’t seem long since that party passed by… we might need to go deeper into the forest?”
“True, I heard other parties often venture into the forest too.”
Before long, they had left the Open Field and ventured into the forest.
Clatter— Clatter—
“Skeleton ahead!”
“Got it!”
Hanyoung, the Archer Hunter, had detected the Skeleton’s sound with keen sensitivity and issued a warning.
Jihoon immediately scattered fireballs forward in rapid succession.
Whoosh— Boom—!
Several of them struck the Skeleton directly.
The Skeletons engulfed in flames clattered their bones as they approached the party.
“Alright, let’s take them down!”
“Understood!”
Yunjung and Gangwan, the two Goblin Warriors naturally wielding a hammer and morning star, sent the Skeleton’s skull flying.
Whoosh— Crack—!
Finally, the Assassin Jimin emerged like a shadow from behind the Skeleton, piercing its back of the head with her awl.
Their perfectly synchronized movements, flowing like water, hinted at how they had managed to climb this far.
In an instant, an entire group of Skeletons was annihilated.
After that, Jihoon’s party continued their expedition smoothly.
Whether it was Skeletons or Specters, they simply disposed of the monsters skillfully based on their pre-planned strategies.
“Haha! We could even handle the 43rd Floor?”
“The mist is annoying. Let’s finish up and stay on the 44th Floor for a while!”
Smiles began to spread across the Party Members’ faces.
But as always.
Crisis struck in an instant.
Clatter— Clatter—
Five Skeletons approached from within the mist.
Whoosh—!
Jihoon’s fireball illuminated their vision, followed by Hanyoung’s arrows and the weapons of Yunjung and Gangwan—it was all the same as before.
Finally, Jimin drove her awl into the last Skeleton’s head.
‘This time too, we’re doing well…?!’
But in the next moment, Jimin was greatly startled.
The back of the Skeleton’s head that her awl had pierced suddenly twisted and warped.
Screeeech——!!!
A Specter burst forth with a horrific shriek!
The Specter gave Jimin no time to react, covering her face directly.
“What? What’s happening?”
The Party Members, unable to see what was happening clearly, approached Jimin to assess the situation.
A sudden scream had erupted, and Jimin was now standing motionless in place.
“If a Specter has possessed her, we need to restrain it immediately, so stay back.”
“Ah, understood.”
Though it wasn’t something that happened as frequently as eating, Specter possession of Hunters was a chronic problem on the 43rd Floor, so the party approached with Yunjung and Gangwan, the Goblin Warriors, leading the way.
But even they had failed to anticipate one thing.
A normal Specter wouldn’t burst forth from the back of a Skeleton’s head in the first place.
A truly rare special monster that had been reported—the ‘Infective Specter’.
Literally, a creature that possessed Hunters’ bodies and moved between them.
It had never been reported in Korea before, and only a few nations had experienced incidents reminiscent of zombie outbreaks caused by it.
Even those cases were not on the 43rd Floor, so this party could not be blamed.
Screeeech—!
The Specter that suddenly burst from Jimin’s face grazed past Yunjung’s shield and burrowed into her face.
“Y-Yunjung!”
“What? A Specter?”
And so Gangwan, Hanyoung, Jihoon….
Even the other nearby Hunters, who couldn’t have imagined that an entire party had been possessed.
In the thick mist of the 43rd Floor, an army of things that wore the bodies of Hunters but were not Hunters was slowly encroaching on the territory from places unseen.
In other words.
Thump— thump—
“Huh? What are those people?”
“A Dark Mage…?”
“No, wait, that doesn’t make sense!”
When a grotesque group mixing Hunters, Skeletons, and Ghouls together became visible to many Hunters in the forest, it meant the situation had already spiraled beyond control.
To Hunters who had experienced every conceivable trial within the Tower, the sight was grotesque and ominous beyond measure.
The Hunters with unfocused eyes looked no different from Undead themselves.
“L-let’s escape to the fortress first!”
“Wrong! There’s already something blocking the rear…!”
Given the convex nature of the 43rd Floor’s terrain, once the surrounding forest fell under occupation, cutting off escape routes took mere moments.
Had monsters been blocking the retreat, they would have forced their way through regardless, but with fellow Hunters mixed among them, they hesitated to wield their weapons freely.
“I-Infective Specter…?!”
At least they succeeded in identifying the enemy’s nature, preventing the spread from accelerating further.
Yet with only passive countermeasures available, the remaining Hunters could only grow increasingly isolated.
One.
Then another.
The terror of a Hunter who stood before them suddenly turning into an enemy with a scream.
Even when Mages frequently used magic effective against Specters to exorcise them, the fallen Hunters didn’t immediately become combat strength.
As more and more Hunters fell to possession, the situation could only grow more desperate.
‘T-this is a real catastrophe…!’
The commotion coming from the fortress was a positive sign.
The Self-Defense Force must have noticed this situation by now.
But whether proper aid would arrive first or whether all the Hunters isolated here would be possessed first was an obvious question to anyone.
In fact, the Self-Defense Force had urgently requested the deployment of Healers specialized in Undead, but when they would arrive remained unknown.
And deploying unprepared members would only worsen the situation.
“XX! Just like the last terror attack, what on earth is this…!”
Faced with a succession of extreme misfortunes, the Vigilante Members struck the fortress wall’s bricks in frustration.
But there was one fact they had overlooked.
Certainly, the previous terror attack and this Infective Specter incident could be called great misfortunes.
Yet this place also possessed fortune incomparable to that.
Creak—!
While no one dared venture onto the 43rd Floor, the sound of the fortress gate opening was heard.
The Vigilante Members let out startled cries.
“Who is it? Who said you could go out there?!”
“W-well….”
A Vigilante Member controlling the people near the gate wore a troubled expression.
But before he could even explain the circumstances.
CRASH———!!!!
“???”
An astonishing turn of events began beyond the gates, where only despair had reigned.
A sudden, thunderous boom.
The Vigilante Members immediately turned their heads toward the direction of the sound.
BANG—! BANG—! CRASH—!!
“W-what on earth is happening out there…?”
Beyond the mist, a terrifying aura swept through as if a ferocious beast were rampaging.
* * *
「Warning. You have not completed the 42nd Floor mission.
You cannot obtain experience points or other rewards.
Will you proceed?」
A warning window appeared as Jia crossed through the gates.
But I paid it no mind.
「Ilgyeok: Can you do this?
Jia: Of course.」
I simply urged Jia onward, again and again.
Originally, I had planned to conquer the 42nd Floor today.
But upon entering the 40th Floor range, something felt off.
Infective Specter.
And the news that Hunters in the 43rd Floor zone might be massacred.
It hadn’t been confirmed exactly, but the moment I heard those words, I immediately sent Jia to the 43rd Floor zone.
And I myself ran toward the tower like a madman.
Click—
In this fog-shrouded situation, even I couldn’t engage in combat.
However, by simply switching my scope to thermal imaging, I could easily discern the situation beyond the walls.
The visibility was hazier than when there was no fog, but it posed no significant problem for sniping.
‘Those with abnormally low body heat must be the people possessed by Specters.’
The Hunters with red body heat were pitifully clustered in the center like reefs in a vast ocean.
With each wave that swept through, they were gradually worn away, much the same.
Jia had already begun her assault.
Using the blunt face of her shield and the shaft of her spear, she either defeated monsters or knocked Hunters unconscious.
Knocking out a Hunter possessed by a Specter was known as a temporary measure until exorcism.
‘…Their body heat is returning, though.’
The Hunters that Jia knocked out somehow had their body heat return to normal.
Well, since she could deliver strikes that even erase memories, driving out a Specter should be simple enough.
In any case, this wasn’t the time to be curious about the mechanism.
SCREECH—!!
A Specter lunged at Jia, who was freely striking down everything that appeared from the rear.
CLANG—!
Jia swung her shield and struck down the Specter as well.
Matchups and attributes—she simply ignored them all!
Jia’s strikes seemed to possess far more devastating power than I had anticipated.
「Ilgyeok: Keep advancing. I’ll provide cover for the Hunters from the opposite side.
Jia: I acknowledge your orders.」
For now, leaving Jia to her own devices shouldn’t pose any problems.
Click-clack—click-clack—!
I immediately loaded a round into the chamber.
My target: the possessed creature closest to the Hunters.
Hummmmm—
I felt the chamber vibrate softly.
Bang—!
I began pulling the trigger.
“X… XX…. We’re really all dead.”
One of the isolated Hunters muttered in terror.
Where exactly had things gone wrong?
If they had responded forcefully from the moment these possessed creatures first appeared, they might have at least been able to retreat to the castle.
Now the situation was far too late.
No matter how hard they fought, they would surely be caught in the midst of the encirclement before breaking through the layers upon layers of siege—there was no doubt about it.
Yet despite their morale completely collapsing, not all the Hunters had given up entirely.
“This is an emergency! Everyone, let’s try to carve a path without killing anyone!”
“In times like this, self-defense doesn’t cause any legal problems!”
The Hunters charged forward with such courage.
What became of those Hunters who rushed into the fog with their weapons raised?
Only the explosions echoing from the castle direction since earlier had kept the Hunters from completely abandoning hope.
“J-just hold on! It looks like someone’s coming to rescue us!”
“Damn it! How?”
Meanwhile, the possessed creatures and Undead steadily tightened their encirclement.
Seong Gyuhyeon, ID ‘Braised Mackerel’, found himself among those slowly retreating at the very front lines.
“Ugh… there’s nowhere left to go….”
Eyes devoid of focus, rotting like dried pollack.
A trembling body.
Lurking within it—the rare monster known as the Infective Specter….
Gyuhyeon didn’t want to end up like that himself.
‘Damn it, I was supposed to come tomorrow safely.’
If it had been tomorrow, I would have cleared this with Ilgyeok and returned home safely.
Could I hold the front line until help arrived?
Kyaaaah——!
Then, a Specter nearby finally unleashed a hideous shriek and lunged its grotesque face toward Gyuhyeon.
Gyuhyeon squeezed his eyes shut.
Then.
Whoosh—! Thud—
A change began to unfold.
A single ray of hope descended through the despair.

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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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