Japan's Desperation and the Sniper's HUD

Tanaka Mitsuo, Japan's Defense Minister overseeing all hunters, received the following message from the Prime Minister.

He was at the point where he'd borrow even a stray cat's paw if he could.

'Japan is a hunter powerhouse competing at the top of the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠world.'

Korea's high-rankers might be stronger in raw power, but factoring in artifact reserves and defense tower capabilities, Japan held a clear advantage over Korea.

Yet there were three advanced gates and two supreme-grade ones.

Tokyo, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Naha, Sendai.

Gates erupting simultaneously in five locations, cleverly avoiding the defense systems and artifact coverage ranges they'd painstakingly built.

How were they supposed to resolve them without civilian casualties? It was impossible. Korea was just pulling off some freakishly solid defense right now.

'They're the ones achieving the impossible, so what the hell do they expect from me?'

America was suffering 9/11-level damage in multiple spots. The Statue of Liberty had lost its ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠head to Drake's airstrike. The Arc de Triomphe was reduced to rubble.

Russia's gate defenses faltered, causing a nuclear plant meltdown. The Kremlin Palace was half-destroyed, sending the nation into collective shock.

Only Korea felt like it was on vacation.

Even soccer players got tied up in national duty, and now they were the national representatives for gate clearing... Not just the Prime Minister—the entire Japanese public was pointing fingers at the Management Bureau and the Defense Minister.

"Fukuda Shinji!!!"

Defense Minister Tanaka summoned Detection Rank 1 hunter Fukuda Shinji. Still no leads whatsoever on the Unregistered.

"......"

Fukuda's expression was darker than usual. He'd been overusing his Thousand-Mile Eye lately. If only it had yielded results—but even that was absent.

Tanaka's focus was, of course, the Unregistered.

Amid gate disasters on Japan's scale, South Korea was lounging like it was on holiday. The reason? Just one: the Unregistered.

"They're flaunting national prestige over something they can't even grasp, Director Baek."

Simple enough. Just snag him in Japan.

Under the system, contracting with their Management Bureau made nationality irrelevant. Private guilds couldn't represent the state for similar reasons.

Just recruit him. That's all.

If only that dimwit Fukuda would get his act together, it'd be solved. Then Fukuda reported something with a troubled look.

"I found one."

A lead on the Unregistered.

"What?!"

Success at this point would shift national prestige into a whole new phase.

Tanaka's heart skipped as he pressed Fukuda, who looked increasingly uneasy and summoned a system window.

It was footage of a woman dying.

At the same time, a contact came through their pipeline in China's Management Bureau.

The same video, but different—something weird overlaid on her face.

The spy in China reported as such, and

"I think the same. We need to proceed step by step."

Fukuda explained how absurd the situation was. He'd killed the infamous Baekya and Heukhae in under a minute, breached China's Management Bureau security, and dumped the mess.

On the way out, he'd scraped every bit of intel on Director Jingwei down to distant relatives, copied it, destroyed the originals, and slipped away.

"Please reconsider, Minister."

Fukuda pleaded earnestly.

"......"

Tanaka sighed, staring at the bizarre special characters etched over Jingwei's face photo, and sank into the director's chair.

"Then what? What do you expect us to do?"

Two supreme-grade gates were a national extinction crisis. Fail to resolve them, and the director's seat wouldn't last a day. With public opinion flowing this way.

Was that the only problem?

"Necrophilia's Holy Relic is nearly in their hands!"

"'Nearly' my ass!!!"

Tanaka finally hurled the overflowing ashtray. The staffer flinched back as sticky tobacco juice splattered the floor.

'How many days have I been hearing reports like this? Detailed updates always end with no real progress.'

Necrophilia's Holy Relic was in Japan too.

The issue? They hadn't found it yet. Korea was probably the same... but with Yoon So-i's unparalleled expertise, they'd likely succeed soon.

Fall behind on this too, and the Prime Minister would come personally. That'd be the end.

Even worse, fail on the relic, and Japan would soon be in the position of that 'South Korea Cartibes Egg' they'd tsked at from afar.

Japan knew Necrophilia's second plan.

This time, not a massive blow to one nation like Cartibes—but opening Gates worldwide.

Fail to find the relic, and Japan would witness those Gates.

The Sniper HUD—Head-Up Display—was a helmet.

It fit my head size perfectly. The moment I put it on, a beep-beep sounded, followed by a cute AI voice announcing,

They'd even named it already. No name meant it had a name.

My immediate impression upon wearing it? Holy shit.

Had I really lived without knowing about this HUD?

The whole world started analyzing in green hues.

The 30 pre-positioned 'aerial bots' were perfectly scanned down to specs. Their heads glowed softly green. [CRITICAL HIT] displayed on the side.

I locked the 16x zoom scope on target. The goggle-style had a slight foreign object feel upfront, but it'd be no issue once adapted.

Ollie, back in the operation room, sent voice to me and Jenny in the training ground.

"Yeah, coming through clear. Really clear."

Ollie walked me through HUD usage. Crystal-clear audio as he explained each indicator one by one. Jenny listened via her agent earpiece too.

〓

▶ [4] Performance is impressive. Aiming auto-suggests optimal points. Wind, distance, altitude, ballistics factored in—a green dot (●) marks where to place the crosshair.

.

.

▷ [3]

.

.

▷ [2]

.

.

▷ [1]

〓

Remaining HP analyzed too. A mini status popped up. [Aerial Bot. Combat Power 0. Defense 100......]

"Firing."

- Phut.

- Paaaang!

4x distance with micro-breeze settings made the snipe easy—[CRITICAL HIT!] But doable without HUD.

"Bump to 16x range. Wind at 15 knots. Mobile aerial bot."

- Shwoosh! Whiiiing...

Ollie remotely adjusted without me touching. One aerial bot far off, wind blowing, cruising left-right at decent speed.

Definitely distant. Aim point caught slightly outside target at steep angle.

Right. Applied instantly. Even with bipod, I lacked confidence at 16x. Time to nail it with HUD.

- Phut!

......

Miss. Per Ollie's analysis, excessive trigger pressure at firing warped the trajectory slightly.

'Knew it. Down to my skill in the end.'

Key point: high-quality intel layered on my usual sniping. HUD doesn't replace skill.

But not the end. Green line traced my bullet's path, dots around target. Bullet grouping confirmation now possible.

"Think I can adapt now."

Fully experienced HUD-operation room linkage across firing procedures.

Once I read indicators myself, I'd layer my judgment on Ollie's briefings.

They sensed my guilt and urged continuing. Fine—last one.

- Woooong...

Rifle vibrated faintly as warned. 'One shot only.' Cooldown a day, no reset.

Details: 'No linkage with other skills.' Got it—daily one-shot kill move.

Training ground, so no cooldown. Spawned 'ultra-fast aerial bot 1' at 16x.

One that'd normally be unshootable zipped far off.

This time, 'target lock' effect hit my eyes directly, not HUD.

Hover crosshair nearby—whole bot glowed green softly. 'Guidance Applied' above.

'Lock target like this, fire—becomes guidance bullet endpoint.'

To showcase guidance fully. Ultra-fast bot now darted like a hunting bird.

But proximity lock made it feasible.

Fire.

- Phut!

"......"

- Paaaang...

Tiny bot that fled insanely far exploded. Sound hit a second later.

"No joke. This."

Guidance trajectory displayed on HUD—a modern art curve. Bullet bent path to follow the ultra-fast bot.

Only Baek Moon-seong and Kim Chun-gyu remained in the South Korea Authorized Management Bureau conference room. Private guild masters had left. Agenda passed.

Remaining task: How much cooperation to request from Unregistered, including compensation. But,

"Could end up zero."

"Indeed."

If Unregistered refused, no choice. Hence pre-securing guild masters' buy-in.

Match his offer, high or low.

'Tailor everything to him. At least 50% of Korea's flawless defense record is Unregistered.'

Downplayed for guild egos, but they knew—hence silence.

World in catastrophe. Korea? Practically lounging ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠by comparison.

Then report from Cheon Seung-hyuk investigating Jeju.

"......Lucky."

Biggest homework advanced. Domestic relic—not fully inscrutable like Cartibes.

Yoon So-i and Cheon Seung-hyuk detailed: Origin was an 'altar.' Immediate destruction impossible,

Blocked as 'trial'—untouchable even by humans, Necrophilia included.

'Not fully resolved, but progress.'

"From now, only you two and us know proceedings."

World thinks Korea hasn't found relic—at least for now.

Baek's rough picture required that setup.

'Didn't I say I'd ask for help then?'

Time to show why this old man still held the director seat. Nurturing a snake in his heart—something even he took pride in.

Cheon Seung-hyuk replied, "Of course." Continued report.

"Leave Yoon So-i hunter and tank support. Cheon Seung-hyuk hunter, return to bureau."

Domestic progress confirmed. Director Baek Moon-seong instructed Kim Chun-gyu.

"Summon Kim Chi-gon hunter and TOP 10 high-rankers."

Exclude Hongmaehwa etc. already abroad—bureau staff focus. Next gate stir in 'Seoul' too.

Then,

"I'll contact Unregistered immediately."

Baek Moon-seong moved.

Always true, but Unregistered's weight exceeded Korea's embrace.

World in disaster, nations craving networks—even one lead absent.

Moreover, Baek knew how China got wrecked by Unregistered. Even he hadn't expected that scale—complicated feelings.

Japan, US, Russia likely knew too—shocked at least as much, if not more.

'His value skyrockets. Korea's prestige with it.'

Baek Moon-seong alone ahead with 'cooperation' triumph.

Because South Korea Management Bureau.

Shelter [Function Upgrade] pissed me off from my view, but undeniable massive effects.

"Whoaaa!"

"Ooh. Tastes amazing."

[Cooking] function added to shelter. Game-changer. I stuck to rations, but could order market foods for small gold.

Ding!—microwave-like new furniture spat out legit dishes.

Tonight's dinner: tteokbokki/fried stuff/sundae. Dessert: Jos bars and ration soda for the kids.

"Huff! Haaah!"

Jenny near catatonic. Tteokbokki enlightened her. Earth rocks. Korean food especially!

"★_★???"

Ollie shocked by Jos bar. Expressive face.

- Snatch.

Ollie stole Jenny's Jos bar, popped it.

Jenny warped his tteokbokki to Busan via tidy distortion magic.

"Ate it already—Jos bar slaps—"

"Hey! House rule 10! Juniors respect seniors!!!"

"You made that—total scam, no cap—"

"Captain! Ollie ate my Jos bar!"

Emergency measure.

"Fight again, no more next time?"

"Gasp! Sorry!"

"Ah, Ollie sorry!"

Bought extras, stuffed their mouths. 50 gold anyway.

After feeding them, brief rest—then news: Gangneung gate opened, cleared by Hae-dong/Kim Chi-gon duo.

Ollie explained, rubbing full belly.

'Gate opens but no EXP? Such cases exist?'

Weird. Necrophilia-related? Might need to press bureau for updates.

Then an email arrived.

Why include me in high-rankers? No interest in rankings.

Content complex.

"Jenny."

"Yes! Captain!"

"Time for outing."

Dunno what Holy Relic is,

but Management Bureau knew about Power Fragment too?