I Got A Legendary Sniper Rifle - Chapter 71

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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 71
Ep. 71
The contribution of someone who was not an official participant was abnormally high.
Everyone could tell who that person was without being told.
Who else could it be but the Dark Knight standing before the Ghoul King?
‘Well, it’s me, after all.’
It was Ihyeon, who was currently retrieving the sniper rifle from the watchtower, but it was better that no one knew.
The people gradually gathered around Jia.
“Ilgyeok…”
“Thank you so much.”
Endless waves of gratitude poured in.
Recalling what they had endured at the hands of the Infective Specter, it was nothing short of a nightmare.
What if Ilgyeok hadn’t been there?
If time passed while possessed by the Specter, even if a Healer arrived, the aftereffects would be severe, or it would become impossible to completely separate the malevolent spirit.
In that case, it would be an immediate death sentence.
Of course, among the Hunters who had directly defeated the Specter that Jia possessed, some showed considerable shock, but it was incomparable to being judged as a malevolent spirit and killed.
Besides, they wouldn’t even remember it anyway.
And most importantly, one crucial fact.
Ilgyeok had no need to intervene in whatever happened on the 43rd Floor.
He could simply clear his own 42nd Floor wave and quietly exit the Tower—who could possibly blame him for that?
The 43rd Floor was a wave Ilgyeok couldn’t participate in.
In other words, he had to intervene with nothing but the desire to save people, without any reward.
In a Tower that operated entirely on the logic of self-interest, such goodwill was difficult to expect.
For the isolated and possessed Hunters, Ilgyeok was a pure savior of life.
Then, someone in the crowd shouted.
“Ilgyeok!”
Until now, many had praised Ilgyeok as remarkable.
But how many among them truly revered him from the heart?
It is difficult to acknowledge someone you have never directly witnessed.
“Ilgyeok!”
In the dark Open Field, the cry gradually spread.
“Ilgyeok!”
At least the people gathered here were calling out that name with all their hearts.
“Ilgyeok!”
“Ilgyeok!”
Hunters chanting Ilgyeok’s name as if to shake the very fortress.
「Jia: Everyone is calling out your ID, Master.」
「Ilgyeok: Yeah, I can hear it.」
Though the owner of the ID they were calling out was not Jia.
It was a passionate roar that reached Ihyeon descending from the watchtower loud and clear.
That was sufficient.
After all, a sniper operated from positions invisible even to their own allies.
As long as I could trust the sniper behind me and perform my duties with confidence, that was all that mattered.
I didn’t mind if everyone there didn’t even know my face.
What good would a hundred rounds of cheers do me?
‘If a notice from the Ministry of Defense arrives tomorrow….’
That was the one thing I absolutely wanted to avoid.
Cheers are cheers, but re-enlistment is re-enlistment!
The Ministry of Defense maintained a strict separation between public and private matters.
Thud— thud—
Jia silently cut through the Hunters cheering around her and returned to the castle.
Even for her, this kind of reaction was quite unfamiliar.
Until now, her life had been….
「Ilgyeok: Let’s not clear it today and just head home for now. Good work.
Jia: Glory to my master.」
Would this master truly be able to reach heights that Jia had never attained before?
Jia had always been filled with faith in her master.
But somehow, this time that conviction felt even more solid.
* * *
This was an unprecedented incident once again.
Whenever Ilgyeok was involved, it was hard not to achieve a world first, but this time in particular had stirred the hearts of countless people.
[ Ilgyeok Joins the 43rd Floor Wave in Crisis. The Bearing of a Hero? ]
[ (Editorial) Ilgyeok, Just How Magnanimous Is He? ]
Countless media outlets began flooding with articles about Ilgyeok’s participation in the 43rd floor.
They spoke of the heroic figure who had rescued the Open Field from crisis and despair in a single moment.
[ Ilgyeok did not clear the 42nd floor. Entering the 43rd floor in such circumstances is truly remarkable. It means he’s giving up all his own rewards, doesn’t it? ]
Even listening to expert interviews yielded only praise.
[ Title: Honestly, even if you give up a day’s earnings to save someone, it should be natural, but isn’t all this praise for Ilgyeok a bit much?
Content: King God General Majesty Ilgyeok, don’t let your filthy spit touch him;; If Ilgyeok runs away, will you take responsibility?
└ ID Caller: Check the curveball;;>
└ Kimchi Fried Rice with Sesame Oil: Rushed over excitedly then disappointed, that’s the vibe
└ Blue Wind: The recipe for braised short ribs is as follows. 1. Drain the blood from 1kg of ribs cleanly…. ]
Various inflammatory posts appeared on the internet, but that was the extent of it.
Public opinion of Ilgyeok had ascended to an entirely different level from before.
Moreover, as more people who had directly witnessed Ilgyeok—or rather, Jia—increased compared to before, the image became more concrete on the internet.
[ Title: Anyone see Ilgyeok on the 43rd floor?
Content: Seriously insane… He’s a dark knight, but when I saw him shooting white beams, I lost it. Seeing how well it works on Undead, it seems like a Healer-type class, but does anyone know?
└ If anyone knows, that person must be Ilgyeok
└ Seriously lol
└ Maybe like a Paladin? Damn… a black holy knight
Fan art of Ilgyeok flooded the internet.
Most depicted her as an extraordinarily beautiful woman in black armor wielding a silver spear.
“Jia, look at this. Doesn’t it look a bit like you?”
“…Is that so?”
Some pieces were so remarkably well-done that I showed them directly to Jia myself.
The Dark Knight of Light.
The Hero of the 43rd Floor.
All manner of embarrassingly flattering titles were attached to Ilgyeok.
The Ilgyeok phenomenon that began in earnest spread not only throughout Korea but across the entire world.
[ Government Decides to Award Ilgyeok First-Class Medal of Honor… Can visit anytime. ]
The Korean government, of course.
[ United States Pays Tribute to Ilgyeok’s Noble Humanitarian Spirit… Considering 5% Reduction in Korean Tariffs.
└ Yo, we could actually lower this?
└ Dunno lol
└ Korea should pay Ilgyeok more taxes;; ]
Nations around the world expressed their favor toward Ilgyeok in their own ways.
Of course, as Ilgyeok’s reputation skyrocketed, the ones who felt increasingly uncomfortable were China and Russia, confirmed to be connected to the previous terrorist attack.
Though they made some gestures of support, all they received in return was cold ridicule and mockery.
And gradually, perspectives began to surface linking Ilgyeok to Frontier.
[ (Column) Ilgyeok’s actions resemble Frontier’s spirit.
└ Oh… Is Ilgyeok really part of Frontier?
└ Wow, that would explain why her identity hasn’t been revealed.
└ My uncle works for the Management Bureau, and he said Ilgyeok’s a criminal?
└ Report for defamation pls
└ Damage;; ]
Of course, the more such talk circulated.
“…I wish that were true.”
Claude, still waiting endlessly for Ilgyeok’s contact at a hotel in Seoul, could only feel his stomach ache.
* * *
Meanwhile, around that time, Tarakdwaeji Minjoo and Elsie, the Legendary Sword, had cleared the 36th Floor.
In fact, Elsie had already noticed the eyes of Frontier informants subtly following them.
“Hmm… Is this actually beneficial?”
At first, she had avoided their gaze by taking the form of a sword entirely out of caution, but now she simply revealed herself without hiding her face.
As a sword that could both save and kill, Elsie was extremely sensitive to others’ killing intent.
At least from those currently tailing them, she felt not a shred of murderous intent.
Rather, despite the act of surveillance, they even showed consideration toward her group.
Handling monsters unrelated to their mission themselves, or driving them away.
“Huh? What did you say, Sister?”
At that moment, Minjeong, who had just been practicing her “Five Million Horizontal Slashes,” asked Elsie with a dazed expression.
“Shut your mouth and swing the blade! You’ve only done 2,491,593 swings!”
“Aaaahhhhh!”
It was grueling training that brought tears streaming down my face.
After all, Minjeong wasn’t a swordsman but possessed the traits of a Dark Mage, so this kind of training was absolutely brutal.
But there was one truly remarkable fact.
‘Somehow, after finishing training, I do get stronger….’
Though my stats didn’t change, as I repeated the training Elsie assigned, I genuinely felt myself becoming more accustomed to swordplay.
Training that stimulated the raw strength of a human being itself, not expressed through the system.
In any case, since the results were certain, Minjeong complained but still followed Elsie’s training methods.
Who in the world could have imagined that a Dark Mage Hunter could single-handedly cut down Muscle Apes?
‘If creatures like that belong to a group, they’d be quite strong. Let me think about this differently….’
Elsie counted the number of times Minjeong swung her sword while her mind worked.
2,491,593… 2,491,594… 2,491,594… 2,491,595….
Occasionally she’d miss one, but those were numbers where Minjeong hadn’t swung properly.
If she just swung carelessly because it was hard, that wasn’t training—it was just whining.
Then, Elsie asked Minjeong a question.
“So, what floor is Ilgyeok on now?”
“….”
Smack—!
“I told you to keep your mouth shut, so why aren’t you answering? Are you rebelling?!”
“W-wait, I was thinking! It was originally the 42nd floor, but because I went to the 43rd floor to save people today….”
“So it’s still the 42nd floor?”
“Yes yes, that should be it, sister.”
“Hmm.”
Elsie fell back into thought.
‘If I can buy time, that’s good for me. We’re at the 36th floor now… if things delay just a bit more, we’ll have plenty of room.’
Then something crossed Elsie’s small mind.
“Ah, armored fox!”
“Huh?”
“Swing your sword! If a monster talks to you during a fight and you make that stupid ‘huh?’ sound, you’re planning to die?!”
“S-sorry! But if a monster talks to me, I’d probably be startled….”
Elsie recalled Jia, who clung to Ihyeon’s side like a fox, and smiled with satisfaction.
…In fact, Jia’s true form was the black robe Ihyeon wore, so saying she clung to his side wasn’t entirely wrong.
In any case.
‘Soon he’ll arrive at the 45th floor, and because of that armored fox, trouble will break out… hehehehe.’
No matter how impressive Ihyeon’s clear speed had been so far, he’d have no choice but to spend considerable time on the 45th floor.
Well, unless he possessed destructive power to send every monster down in one hit, and since Ihyeon was bound by the system, that couldn’t be the case.
…Or so Elsie believed with absolute certainty.
And so time passed.
“You’ve swung through them all. Stop.”
“Phewwwww!!!!”
Minjeong had finally completed the staggering five million horizontal slashes of training.
These days, she barely made it home because of this insane practice regimen.
Though swinging a blade outside or inside seemed the same, training within the Tower proved far more effective, so she had no choice but to comply.
One day, when her mother offered those warm words—”You should take breaks during your training too. Pushing yourself too hard will damage your body”—tears nearly streamed down her face!
‘Mom, I’m not doing this because I want to! You need to see this crazy sister of mine yourself!’
Minjeong desperately suppressed the urge to cry out in despair right then and there.
Just then, Elsie quietly extended her staff toward Minjeong.
“Here, take this.”
“Huh…?”
Minjeong alternated her gaze between the staff she hadn’t seen in what felt like forever and Elsie’s face.
Her heart swelled—!
“Could it be… you’re telling me to come down the mountain…!”
Did this mean her grueling, agonizing training was finally over?
If that were truly the case, Minjeong could have served Elsie as her sister for the rest of her life.
“Come down the mountain? Don’t be silly. Summon a Skeleton right now. I need to check how much you’ve improved.”
“…”
“Answer me.”
“Yes, sister…”
Well, she’d have to serve her as a sister anyway, so it didn’t matter.
Minjeong let out a heavy sigh and summoned a Skeleton for the first time in ages.
Infuriatingly, the Skeleton had grown noticeably stronger from Elsie’s training as well.
“Now, fight the Skeleton. This should be easy for you now, right?”
“Y-yes…”
Minjeong walked toward the Skeleton with a swish-swish, sword in hand.
Of course, since the Skeleton was her summon, it wouldn’t normally attack her, but with her command, a sparring match was possible.
Clatter—clatter—
The Skeletons raised their rusty, chipped blades and swung them at Minjeong.
Whoosh—slash——
But in the next instant.
With just two swings of her blade from a seemingly weak arm, five Skeletons had their bones cleanly severed and were immediately unsummoned.
Despite the fluid movements, the power contained within them now rivaled that of a Swordsman-class Hunter.
“Oh…”
Minjeong herself was secretly pleased, wondering if she had really become this strong, and looked toward Elsie.
“Tsk, ten thousand more slashes.”
“W-what, sister…!”
Minjeong wanted to cry.

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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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