A Mistake
6 pyung studio apartment.
No, it had somehow become a little wider than 6 pyung.
“Hah… hah…”
I was panting heavily…
It wasn’t from hard work; I’d simply forgotten to breathe.
'I keep thinking about exhaling and forget to inhale.'
I wiped the sweat from my palms on the blanket, tense.
'I’ve caught three so far.'
I’d only sniped the ones that were close and menacing,
'No matter how much I trained, the tension in reality is different.'
Now I worry about where the bullet I shoot might hit wrong.
Fortunately, all three shots hit somehow, so no problem.
But from now on, I need to be more careful,
'Over there. It’s definitely a bit far, but on the top of a high-rise building.'
There was a battlefield where hunters were fighting desperately on the rooftop.
About 20 to 30 gargoyles.
'If I sweep that away, there won’t be any gargoyles nearby threatening me right away.'
I need to catch as many as possible to earn a lot of gold/experience.
- Click. Click.
I raised the scope’s magnification to the maximum and aimed at the building top.
“Damn it.”
Looking at it like this, I could tell what the hunters were doing.
'They’re preventing the gargoyles from coming down to the building.'
To prevent civilian damage. Then they must be certified hunters.
'Good people.'
Of course, not everyone, but those people especially must not get hurt. Because they are kind people protecting my life.
“I’ll help you too.”
Still, I aimed at the gargoyles in the direction farthest from the hunters.
Just in case I missed and accidentally hit a good hunter and got hurt.
So, I chose a safe backup target as far as possible,
“Huuuuck.”
I exhaled fully.
The point I felt from sniping training was that the core was to completely relax the body’s tension.
Especially for a target this far, concentration was needed.
'One. For now, I’ll catch one and see the hit pattern.'
I lightly squeezed my fingers
Slowly, slowly pulled the trigger.
Without knowing when it would fire······
- Pshoooot······!
'I hit it!'
But
- Paaaaaaaak!
“Argh, damn it!”
Still a bit far. The one I aimed at didn’t hit, and a random gargoyle got hit instead.
'Oh, good. At least it was a gargoyle, not a person.'
At that moment,
“!!!”
The wrongly hit gargoyle fell to the rooftop floor with its lower body severely damaged
“I almost got it right next to me······!”
There was one person right next to it.
Looking at his outfit, he looked like a magician,
“I almost killed an innocent person···.”
Instantly, tension flooded my body.
Sniping was never easy.
'Concentrate. Concentrate. Concentrate.'
First, a hit pattern formed below in the left diagonal direction compared to where I shot.
'It’s awkward to adjust the zero now, so I’ll just shoot with an offset from the beginning.'
In the direction without people. Even if I miss, I must not hit a person.
I aimed at the upper part of the building, so even if there were fewer gargoyles, in the direction away from people.
“Huuu.”
I shot.
- Pshuuuoot······!
- Paaaaaaaak!
“Aaaah! Why! Why again!”
This time too, it seemed the bullet went near that magician.
Fortunately, it didn’t hit a person, and a gargoyle nearby luckily got hit and fell.
There, one magician and one male archer-like man were trembling.
'I almost killed two people at once.'
Damn it.
'I can’t believe my accuracy was 100% so far.'
It was open level.
It was because the gargoyles were flying around mindlessly and getting hit by themselves.
'Still, the hit pattern formed the same below in the left diagonal.'
This won’t do.
- Click. Click.
For a moment, I lowered the gun and adjusted the click a few times.
'This should have little error.'
If I shot at other distances later, I’d have to adjust zero again.
But for now, since there were the most gargoyles on that building top.
“Shooting again.”
This time there would be less error. But still in the direction without people,
'Fire!'
- Pshuuuoot!
- Paaaaaaaak!
“Got it!!!”
The gargoyle I aimed at was hit. Even if I don’t know if it was properly at that position because it was far,
Since it dealt a fatal blow, it should be fine!
'Confidence returned.'
That is, I was done for.
Attack-type [Penetration]
Penetrates 3 enemies with bullets for 1 minute.
(Cooldown 3 minutes)
※ 30% damage reduction on penetrated targets
I tried this skill in the training ground and it wasn’t bad at all.
Especially against those flying in swarms like a swarm of flies, there was no such firepower.
“In the direction without people, two or three will hit themselves no matter what.”
After all, I was still far from becoming a legendary marksman who could hit overlapping timings, so I just needed to hit one properly.
- Click!
Because it was a bolt-action, there was the inconvenience of having to rack the bolt every time I fired, but if I thought of it as emptying my mind at that moment, it wasn’t bad.
'Here I go…'
I aimed in the direction that was impossible for a person to hit.
- Pshoooot!
I fired an air bullet with the Penetration skill applied,
- Pabaaaak!
'Two kills!'
Nice! I got two at once.
'Wait…'
But something was strange. From some point on, the hunters on the rooftop stopped moving.
'Is something wrong?'
After all, I was far away, so it didn’t matter,
If they stayed still, I was grateful.
“Yeah. That’s good. Don’t move if you’re in danger.”
I didn’t know the reason, but it reduced the chance of accidentally hitting a person, which was welcome to me.
“Huuu.”
At this point, I had to shoot as much as possible. If the hunters moved again, it would be annoying.
'Hurry.'
- Click!
I quickly racked the bolt,
- Pshoooot······!
When shooting, I was fast but careful, one shot after another into the gargoyles.
Because the Penetration duration was still active, I occasionally got lucky and two fell at a time.
“How many have I caught?”
Now only about two were left.
One more shot.
- Click.
“Ah, damn it.”
The magazine for the 20 full charges was empty. I’d already shot 20.
I quickly filled two air bullets in desperation and
Loaded one more shot and charged into the gargoyle sniping.
'Now I really have to aim well.'
I exhaled to my limit and completely relaxed my body.
At the same time, to prevent any small tremor, I imagined my body as a hard stone
And waited while placing a pre-aim point on the moving direction of one gargoyle.
'Looking at the flying form, it definitely comes this way.'
When it almost arrived, I pulled the trigger.
'Here it comes. Here it comes. Here it comes!'
Fortunately, the gargoyle didn’t deviate from the path I had pre-positioned and reached it,
'Fire!'
- Pshoooot!
- Paaaaaaaak!
“Success!”
I felt a slight thrill without realizing it.
'This is the first time I’ve successfully sniped at 100% of my skill like this.'
With a bit more confidence, I sniped the remaining one in the same way.
- Paaaaaaaak!
'Slightly off, but I hit.'
Still, as damage was damage, I successfully eliminated it.
“All done!”
Of course, the gargoyles flying far away were much more numerous, but I had sniped countless gargoyles with my own hands.
'How was it. I helped you properly. Aren’t you grateful?'
I maintained the magnification and looked at the hunters on the rooftop through the scope. But
'Their expressions are really bad.'
They hadn’t moved a muscle since earlier. Faces frozen stiff.
'What’s going on?'
I didn’t know.
At that moment,
- Kiiieeeeeek!
“What the hell!”
The King Gargoyle that had been flying around from afar began flying toward this side at high speed.
Exactly toward the rooftop of the building where I had been pouring fire.
'No way, because their subordinates died?'
Thinking that the situation was pushing because he had eliminated them at a fairly fast speed,
Or perhaps because he smelled the blood of the subordinate gargoyles and went berserk,
He was definitely coming this way.
The troublesome thing was one more thing,
'The gargoyles are following!'
With the King Gargoyle at the head, it seemed like a formation was moving, and as the King roared and flapped his wings, the other gargoyles followed behind him in unison and flew together.
'Ah, they won’t come all the way to my house.'
It was unlikely. There was no reason for it.
As expected, while approaching the building, their flight speed gradually slowed.
'Wait, this is actually a gain?'
Earlier it was too far to be ambiguous to shoot, but if they gathered here, it matched the zero point within my aimed distance.
'I’ll pour more fire like this.'
I filled the magazine with air bullets.
The cooldown of the Penetration skill was exactly 3 minutes and had passed, so it was usable again.
Attack-type [Penetration] (00:59······)
Here we go.
First, judging from the fierce battle over there, the number of following gargoyles was about 20, similar to earlier.
But if I shot now, the situation would be different.
'They’re flying in like a formation and coming in a line.'
I ate one each on the ordinary gargoyles next to the King Gargoyle.
- Pabaaabak!
- Pabaaabak!
'Got it!'
By shooting at the same point and distance repeatedly, I got used to it and my accuracy rose.
One shot with Penetration hit three enemies.
Another shot with Penetration hit two enemies.
'Now I’ve got it.'
Since I had completely caught the rhythm,
I gave the King Gargoyle a proper one-shot.
The target was the head.
I aimed for a [Critical Hit]!
Just in case it didn’t die in one shot, and because it would be very troublesome if it got angry and came this way.
“Huuu…”
Ultra concentration.
- Click!
I racked the bolt and loaded.
One eye closed, I focused my sight on the scope.
〓
▶ [4] You look so scary… You’re dead,
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▷ [3]
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▷ [2]
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▷ [1]
〓
I pulled the trigger as is
- Pshoooot!
I fired an air bullet with the Penetration effect applied straight into the King Gargoyle’s head.
And
- Pabaaaaargh!
'Critical hit failed.'
It didn’t hit the head, but instead hit the body.
- Kiiieeeeeek!
The thought that there might not be enough damage was unnecessary worry; the King Gargoyle’s body was ruthlessly pierced, and its back was wide open.
But,
“???”
I think I saw something just now.
“Ah! Damn it!”
I was so shocked that I couldn’t feel the joy of catching the King Gargoyle at all.
'I saw it. You saw it. Damn it.'
If what I saw was true,
'I properly messed up.'
It was a mistake.
My bullet had the Penetration applied and
Behind the King Gargoyle’s body, there was clearly…
'A person.'
Because it was too fast a moment, it was only a vague impression of a shape passing by,
But it was clear that the bullet I penetrated had hit and the person had flown far away.
'Please let me have misseen it.'
I wanted to believe that I was too excited and hallucinating right now.
Or originally, the King Gargoyle was flying in the sky, and there was a person behind it?
There was no way a person could be in the air.
'T-that’s right. I must have misseen it?'
I wanted to believe it wasn’t true.
Rank 1 in Korea.
Rank 3 in the world.
S-rank awakener.
Class is [Hero].
His name was Cheon Seunghyeok.
It took half a day to defeat the highest-grade gate, [Imugi], in Gangneung. Even though he cooperated with other high-rankers, it was never an easy opponent.
He was the kind who could take on a boss of a high-grade gate one-on-one and win in a few minutes.
However, when the grade went up one level to the highest, the difference in skill was indescribable.
'I have to train harder from now on. The average difficulty of gates will keep rising.'
His intuition was telling him so.
After the battle with the Imugi ended, Cheon Seunghyeok immediately rushed back to Seoul as fast as possible.
Maintaining ultra-speed through the legendary skill [Floating in the Air].
Reason: [Mid-high grade gate] - [Gargoyle Wave]
He couldn’t afford to be lax even if he didn’t know, from the perspective of someone who knew.
On the way, a system communication came from Director Kim Chungyu of Team 1.
Currently, an ultra-supernatural hunter called 'Unregistered' had appeared, and he had defended Seoul from the Minotaur.
'I was so focused on the Imugi that I didn’t even know about the Seoul Minotaur incident.'
Without hearing whether it was Unregistered or what, only the judgment of the Minotaur incident remained in his mind.
'But it’s another Gargoyle Wave at mid-high grade.'
Seoul must have been in ruins.
Since all the high-rankers had come to Gangneung, Seoul was probably being beaten up by now.
'I’ll arrive soon. Hold on a little longer.'
Quickly kill the King Gargoyle and sweep away the remaining gargoyles in one breath.
It was Cheon Seunghyeok’s job to clean up the situation.
- Zwaaaak!
The sound of slicing through the air.
Cheon Seunghyeok arrived in Seoul in an absurdly short time,
'There it is.'
Fortunately, the back of a large red gargoyle was visible in front.
It seemed to be flying somewhere.
'It’s the boss. I’ll kill it right away.'
First kill the boss, then deal with the subordinate gargoyles later.
Cheon Seunghyeok didn’t stop his speed and charged at the King Gargoyle. Using acceleration to kill it in one shot.
- Zwaaaak!
He reached right up to it in an instant.
Cheon Seunghyeok lifted the 'Holy Sword' in his right hand
And swung it down to bisect the King Gargoyle in one strike,
But at that moment.
'!!!'
Rank 1’s intuition.
'Something is dangerous.'
An overwhelming pressure was felt. A killing intent that transcended something.
Cheon Seunghyeok reflexively stopped his attack and took a defensive stance,
- Paaaaaaaak!
“!!!”
The body of the King Gargoyle that had been flying in front of him exploded horribly
And then an enormous shockwave came to Cheon Seunghyeok’s body as well.
“Kruuugh!”
- Ppeoeoeoeoeoeok!
An incomprehensible, mind-blowing shockwave.
Cheon Seunghyeok was bounced back along the path he came.
“Kkuuugh······ what the hell!”
He flew back for a while and then, pulled by gravity, crashed into one building.
- Gwaaaang!
- Kurururung······.
Shattered building debris covered Cheon Seunghyeok’s body
“Damn it!”
- Ppeong!
He swung his arms nervously, creating sonic booms around him, and stood up his dirty body.
What the hell was this?
The Imugi hadn’t dealt him such shocking damage.
But just now, even though he had properly guarded, it was an enormous shock. Cheon Seunghyeok had been bounced back far.
Not only that.
- ······Ppeok.
“!!!”
The 'Hero’s Armor' that had been astronomically expensive had been half-destroyed.
No matter how much his durability had been damaged from fighting the Imugi,
“Unbelievable.”
With a single blow, he had pierced Cheon Seunghyeok’s guard,
Flung his body, which was as heavy and tough as a high-rank tank, far away,
And half-destroyed the 'Hero’s Armor'.
“Who the hell is it.”
He wanted to see the face right away.
He sat on the bed in the studio apartment and wiped away the cold sweat.
“No. It felt like I hit a person.”
The discomfort didn’t go away…