The Age of Confusion
A total of 521 snipers had joined this program.
They had all thrown down a challenge to the mysterious veteran sniper.
Some wanted to prove their skill and earn confidence. Others had come for the prize attached to the program: a sniper rifle worth 80,000 points.
Bang! Bang!
The open field rang with gunfire. Automated targets lined up on the hill rose and fell again and again.
Each time they did, fresh bullet holes appeared across their surfaces.
There were even targets with no bullet holes at all.
The long-range targets at 2 kilometers were especially immaculate.
Even through a high-magnification scope, they were as tiny as ants. Hitting them couldn’t have been easy.
Of course, the biggest problem was the wind.
This was the bunker at Gimpo Airport, and there were no mountains or forests around to block it.
The place was completely exposed, which meant there was nothing to do about the winds blowing in from every direction.
So most of the participants were left helpless before those 2-kilometer targets.
All except one.
Bang! Thunk!
The once-still 2-kilometer target toppled backward.
Then the target in the neighboring lane fell over as well, one after another.
It would have been easy to call it cheating.
But this was closer to a ceremony of sorts.
"H-he’s insane, seriously..."
"I mean, is that even possible? He’s not just calculating straight-line distance—he’s casually doing diagonal shots like it’s breathing..."
"That’s not veteran-level. That’s a master. How much has he even shot? Was he born holding a Glock and firing only guns since he was three?"
"Maybe he was a national team shooter?"
"Hey, I know that guy, and he’s shorter than that man. I don’t even know if he’s alive, so what are you talking about?"
"Why not? Maybe he got augmented and grew taller. You never know."
"I guess...? Then he’s really a national shooter?"
Everyone stared in shock at his overwhelming marksmanship.
They talked among themselves endlessly, trying to figure out who the sniper really was.
National team shooter, special forces sniper—while they traded wild guesses, they had long since forgotten why they were here in the first place.
Proving their own skill? The sniper rifle worth points?
None of that mattered anymore.
Mesmerized by the sniper’s control, by the way he sat in a stable stance and ruled his surroundings perfectly, they could only stare at him in a daze.
All they could do was crane their necks like turtles, hoping to learn even a little by looking over his shoulder.
Once every target had been knocked down, Yoo Sung-hwan stood.
Just as his brother had advised, he kept his movements neat and his mouth shut, sitting down in the prepared chair like a taciturn sniper.
He wanted to hurry over and brag to Jeyca and his brother about this result. But he held back.
If he didn’t, all this acting would go up in smoke.
He told me not to do anything that could identify me.
So Yoo Sung-hwan folded his arms, straightened his back, and closed his eyes.
Just like Yoo Sung-jun, he kept his visor darkly tinted.
No one here could see Yoo Sung-hwan’s face.
And because of that, everyone interpreted him however they pleased.
A seat with a full view of the shooting range. A stern posture. Eyes fixed dead ahead...
The users waiting their turn began to sparkle with excitement.
"First come, first served."
"Hey, don’t push!"
The sniper who had produced such an impossible result was watching.
Maybe, if they were lucky, they could pick up a correction to their stance or a word of advice.
So they rushed into the lanes.
Before long, every lane was full, and each of them settled into position and began to shoot.
Meanwhile, Yoo Sung-hwan merely sat with his eyes closed, thinking.
I wonder if Ryong-i’s growing up healthy. I wish someone would bring me some rumor, anything, about Ryong-i. Since I might see him while he’s injured, I should review the medical knowledge I learned last time.
The final destination of his train of thought was a review of the medicine that would let him treat his comrades—and, eventually, Ryong-i.
At the moment, Yoo Sung-hwan was receiving an intensive crash course from an internal medicine specialist recruited by Choi Hyun-seok.
There had been injured people showing up at the clan every other day, people hurt during missions and waiting to clear them.
Thanks to that, he’d been able to study almost like he was in the field.
Even if he made mistakes, it didn’t matter.
As long as he kept them alive, they could be treated in the Enter Room.
Whiiir...
For a local anesthetic, lidocaine has to be used as lidocaine hydrochloride, with the concentration set precisely at 2%...
The buzz of a fly twitched his brow.
He steadied his thoughts with an exhale and kept going.
First, check with your eyes to make sure the epinephrine is mixed in properly, then flick out the air bubbles with your finger, and after disinfecting the wound, inject it four times total, twice on each side of the inside...
Buzzz!
"Damn it!"
At his sudden shout, the shooting range fell silent.
Everyone in the lanes took their hands off the triggers and turned their heads.
As the irritation flared up in him, Yoo Sung-hwan stood—and felt every gaze in the place lock onto him.
They were silently asking why he’d raised his voice.
So Yoo Sung-hwan waved a hand.
"It was annoying me. Keep going."
He spoke in a deliberately lowered voice.
His throat hurt like hell. Ahem. Yoo Sung-hwan sat back down and looked around.
He was checking to see if there was anything suitable for swatting those flying pests out of the air.
But to everyone who had stopped shooting, his behavior landed with terrifying pressure.
Did he compare the sound of missing a target to the flutter of a bug’s wings?
He’s looking for something to hit us with. So he disciplines people with corporal punishment too, huh.
Focus. We have to hit the target. We can’t act like insects anymore. This is an opportunity for guidance worth more than gold. We can’t waste it by making a mistake.
Everyone reached the same conclusion and made the same vow.
Then a sharp pebble flew through the air and struck one user on the thigh.
The sting spread in a jolt.
The user, who had just finished making his solemn promise, stared at Yoo Sung-hwan in surprise.
Yoo Sung-hwan opened his hand, showing the one that had flicked the pebble with his thumb.
"That was a mistake."
He swallowed the words sorry before they could escape.
Seeing the user suddenly go pale, he tilted his head in confusion.
That user, in turn, took his shooting far more seriously than before.
He had no idea what on earth was going on.
Should I even care?
There was something else Yoo Sung-hwan needed to focus on now.
Dozens of tiny movements caught within his trajectory.
Irregular, and quick as hell.
Still, he’d just gotten a feel for it by flicking the pebble.
Now he intended to finish off all the flies and return to his review.
He scooped up a handful of the pebble-sized stones scattered on the ground.
Then he took aim, identified in advance where the flies would be when they arrived, and flicked his fingers.
Thunk! Splurt.
A bug exploded mid-flight, and that was the signal.
One flick brought one down.
Sensing the danger in the air, insects of all kinds tried to flee their positions.
Like hell you will.
Yoo Sung-hwan was not about to let them escape.
He wasn’t good at “shooting.”
He was simply a genius at hitting what he aimed at.
And no matter how you looked at it, insects were too fragile to slip past that talent.
They weren’t fast enough to dodge the pebbles.
Before long, after eliminating every insect in sight, Yoo Sung-hwan blew the stone dust off his thumbnail.
"A lot quieter now."
At Yoo Sung-hwan’s mutter, everyone in the range smiled faintly.
This wasn’t some half-hearted use of body augmentation.
Even through the gunfire, they had heard him clearly.
They had heard the satisfaction in his voice.
So this is how you’re supposed to shoot.
Yeah, I heard masters correct and refine you with one sentence instead of ten. So I must be doing well right now!
Whether the snipers realized it or not, their admiration—and their faint, growing loyalty—was rising by the second.
Yoo Sung-hwan, unaware of any of that, sat quietly with his eyes closed.
Then he resumed reviewing his medical knowledge inside his head.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Gah!"
The woman who sprang upright immediately groped at her own face.
Rose. She had fainted after Yoo Sung-jun’s one-sided beating had caved in her face, and now she exhaled in relief when she found that all her features were intact.
After waking, she looked around and gathered herself.
The Enter Room? Who brought me here?
"It was me, Rose."
As if he had read her thoughts, a familiar voice came from behind her.
Rose turned with an awkward look on her face.
Then, the moment she saw Victor’s face, she burst out laughing.
"Pfft! Bwahaha! What the hell, Victor? You’ve turned into a blind man overnight? Can you even see ahead? Your eyes look like all the ink’s been drained out of them—you probably can’t see a thing."
"That’s why I waited until you woke up."
"Why, did you run out of healing points or something?"
"I used them on you. Can you lend me some points?"
"Then tell me what you can see right now."
"Darkness."
"Yep~ That’s your future. I’m not healing you."
"Then I’ll report to the Boss. I’ll say you were completely outclassed by Meteor."
At Victor’s words, Rose’s face stiffened.
"You saw it? You lured in another bug just to watch that? You pervert."
"I had to restrain you if you went berserk."
"And yet you still got absolutely wrecked."
"That is Meteor’s skill, Rose. What did you feel when you faced him?"
"What about you? What the hell did you do to go blind?"
"Meteor’s companion sniper. His skill was real. He wiped out every insect linked to my vision."
"And the backlash made you blind, huh?"
"I didn’t lose. It was only a minor injury for analysis."
"Sure, whatever. I didn’t lose either. I found out one thing."
"And what was that?"
"Meteor’s nature is poison to the killing techniques we’ve mastered."
"Neural disruption. Meaning joint-breaking doesn’t work."
"Exactly. I kept trying, but instead of landing, I nearly broke my own pretty fingers."
"Then are we proceeding with the plan as scheduled?"
Victor’s question made Rose think.
She remembered the prismatic light flashing in Meteor’s visor and smiled thinly.
"That filthy-strong all-rounder and that freakishly accurate sniper. What happens if we take them out of the picture?"
"The bunker can be taken."
"Exactly. So you do your part. I’m going to report to the Boss."
"You want me to keep watch on them?"
"You caught on fast. Give us a signal—when either of them, or any other strong one, leaves their post for the long term, that’s when we move."
You can handle that, right?
Rose asked softly while scratching at her neck.
With that motion, the tattoo on her throat came into view—a red diamond.
"Of course. I’m the man who blends into his surroundings and watches everything."
"You’d better heal those eyes before you can watch anything."
"Didn’t you say you weren’t going to heal me?"
"I was lying, idiot."
Rose shrugged and healed Victor’s eyes.
Then she spat out her next words like a growl.
"After we take over the bunker, it’s Meteor. I’ll kill him with the Boss. That old bastard with his pathetic sermons."
Tch. Rose spat a thick gob of phlegm and headed off toward the others.
Victor, now healed, returned to the bunker once more.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"...Hmm. Miss Jeyca brought some excellent information. A killer group is planning to attack..."
"Then we need to carry out physical checks. The red diamond tattoo is the key feature. Any good ideas coming to mind?"
"They could hide their identity with a talent or equipment and infiltrate us first. Before the attack, the priority is advance investigation."
"You make it sound like you’ve done this a lot."
"Don’t joke. If you’ve ever done clan wars in a game, you end up seeing every kind of dirty trick. A raid is just one tactic among many that anyone can think of."
In a newly arranged conference room inside the bunker, Choi Hyun-seok rested his arms on the large table and let out a relieved sigh.
"Haa, still, this is a relief. They gave us a clear date too. Fifteenth day... with a proxy, we should be able to prepare enough and keep carrying out the screening operation."
"What? Isn’t that your job?"
"If we want to catch the bastard perfectly, it’s better to make it look like the core personnel intentionally left their posts. In other words, we need to create a certain gap on purpose. A gap that gives them confidence—confidence that our investigation is thorough, but that holes still exist."
"So what you’re saying is..."
He trailed off, thinking the answer before he said it.
"Yeah. It’s exactly what you’re thinking. And separate from the attack, I’d already decided to do this."
At this moment, he was no longer the clan leader of Blood Rain.
"The one who’ll support Meteor’s party as a helper is me."
Helper Choi Hyun-seok smiled.