I Got A Legendary Sniper Rifle - GLSR Chapter 4 (Part 1)

After the clear message, several other notification windows appeared simultaneously.

But Lee Hyun shut off his awareness of them.

As long as bullets remained, as long as enemies remained, he would simply keep pulling the trigger.

Bang—!

Bang—!

Bang—!

Ear-splitting blasts.

With each blast, about half of a goblin vanished.

Dark red blood spurted from the cross-section.

A finger twitch meant someone died.

At that moment, a sniper feels something strange.

A faint omnipotence.

As if becoming a grim reaper who leads death.

But Lee Hyun discarded that exhilaration and focused solely on firing and hitting.

He held his breath and pulled the trigger again.

Bang—!

Kereeek—!!

The two remaining goblins looked around and howled in confusion.

Whuuuum—

Lee Hyun’s sniper rifle vibrated faintly as it absorbed his mana.

After firing five shots, the preloaded mana was fully spent.

‘So, one shot per point of mana.’

Lee Hyun took down the remaining two goblins with his own mana.

Strength drained from his entire body.

No goblins remained.

From his sniping position, Lee Hyun turned and lay flat on his back, panting.

He had fired seven consecutive shots.

Using a mana stone rifle.

“Haha… hahahaha.”

Exaggerating slightly, he barely had enough strength left to twitch a finger, but a faint laugh spilled from Lee Hyun’s mouth.

Even though he had only taken down goblins, this moment was special to him.

Because he had been able to fire seven shots.

Lee Hyun spoke.

“I want to get out now.”

「Would you like to exit the 1st Floor?」

“Yes.”

The next moment, Lee Hyun was lying on dirt, not the tower’s grass.

After catching his breath for a moment, he felt strength returning to his body and sat up.

After that dreamlike shooting session…

Now it was time to check the results.

He had ignored it at the time due to his focus, but quite a few notifications had popped up.

Lee Hyun began checking them from the top.

「1st Floor clear confirmed.
Please register your ID.」

‘Ah, ID.’

Awakened beings with levels can register an ID after clearing the first floor of the Main Tower.

Once registered, they’re officially logged into the system and gain access to a communication network categorized into General, National, Global, and Private chatrooms.

National, Global, and Private are self-explanatory.

General is a chatroom shared among Hunters currently in the same floor.

It’s mainly used starting from the 10th Floor, when “shared floors” are introduced.

Well, that didn’t really apply to Lee Hyun.

After thinking for a moment, Lee Hyun said:

“One Shot.”

His sniper creed—“one kill per shot”—and the only way someone like him, who could only fire two shots, could survive.

「Would you like to register as ‘One Shot (일격)’?」

“…No, remove the Chinese characters.”

It felt too pretentious with the hanja included.

Per his instruction, the system registered his ID as ‘(One Shot)’.

He decided to check the chatrooms later and moved on to the newly popped-up notification.

「1st Floor clear record updated.
Location: Republic of Korea Tower.
ID: One Shot
Grade: S+」

“…?”

Lee Hyun tilted his head.

Everything else looked normal.

But the grade was the problem.

‘Wasn’t S the highest?’

Until now, the top record had been S.

But for some reason, his was marked S+, exceeding that.

Hence the global announcement.

“Well… I did clear it pretty fast.”

After all, he’d killed the Goblin Warrior in a single shot—hard to imagine a more perfect clear than that.

Unless someone flipped the entire plain with a massive spell, it was probably the fastest and most efficient method possible.

Still, for Lee Hyun, who wanted to keep a low profile, it wasn’t a welcome message.

Of course, just this announcement alone didn’t reveal that “One Shot” was Lee Hyun.

But it would certainly stir massive waves.

“Who is One Shot?” would become a hot topic.

At the very least, it meant Lee Hyun had outperformed national-level superhumans—at least for the 1st Floor.

But then again… was the difference between S and S+ really just one floor’s worth?

At the end of the notification, a short note was added:

「S+ is only awarded for a first-time clear.」

…

Lee Hyun stared silently at the S+ grade for a moment before moving to the next notification window.

「Item ‘Lee Hyun’s Sniper Rifle’ leveled up.
Please check its status window.」

Initially, each floor grants experience appropriate to its level.

For example, clearing the 1st Floor gives enough EXP to go from Level 1 to Level 2.

2nd Floor gives EXP from 2 to 3, and so on.

Of course, around the 10th Floor, the required EXP increases significantly, and people begin repeating clears—so the pattern breaks down.

“Status window.”

When Lee Hyun opened the window, the ability stats he had distributed the previous night popped up exactly as they were.

“…?”

Lee Hyun tilted his head again.

This was clearly odd.

Level 1 abilities could be distributed manually, but after that, the system auto-allocated them based on performance.

If his level had increased, the stats should’ve changed.

“…What the hell?”

Lee Hyun’s eyes wandered downward, and he swore as he spotted the reason.

「Unassigned Ability Points: 15」

Because they hadn’t been distributed yet.

As with Level 1, a full set of 15 stat points waited for Lee Hyun’s input.

“Is this… even allowed?”

Sure, it was a good thing for him—but he couldn’t help feeling unsettled.

Being able to assign your own stat points?

That was basically a cheat among cheats.

Why do Hunters risk their lives, throwing themselves at monsters with everything they’ve got?

Of course, it’s because that’s how they advance.

A warrior who clears a stage with clever tricks? Their stats go into Intelligence or Mana.

To raise Strength or Agility, they must defeat monsters in a way fitting their role.

But Lee Hyun was free from such limitations.

No matter how he cleared a floor, he could grow however he pleased.

Just imagining the advantage that gave him was overwhelming.

“…Is it because it’s an item?”

That was the only hypothesis he could think of.

Well, what did it matter?

As long as the Hunter—the sniper—became stronger, that was enough.

‘Guess I’ll go to the next one for now.’

He thought about distributing his stats now but decided to put it off.

Important things should be saved for last.

He could do it after checking all the notifications and handling the aftermath.

「1st Floor Reward:
You have acquired 3 F-rank mana stones.
Please check your inventory.」

「S+ Clear Bonus:
An additional 3 F-rank mana stones awarded.」

“Nice! That’s what I’m talking about!”

Lee Hyun cheered at the unexpected bonus message.

Mana stones were not only materials for mana stone rifles but also a Hunter’s primary income source.

F-rank stones went for about 50,000 won each, but their value increased exponentially with rank.

Once he officially registered as a Hunter, he’d be able to sell them.

And with the S+ bonus, he got double the amount.

He didn’t know how long these bonuses would last, but a rosy future briefly came to mind.

‘Let’s have a look first.’

Lee Hyun opened his inventory and pulled out a mana stone.

The raw materials and mana stones were automatically stored in a Hunter’s inventory, so civilians rarely got to see them.

Ssshhh—

“Oh.”

Lee Hyun admired the glowing violet mana stone.

Probably because it was F-rank, it was only about the size of a thumbnail.

“I heard you can’t even make a mana stone rifle with F-ranks. Tch.”

Before his rifle awakened, it looked like junk—but in reality, it had been crafted from a C-rank mana stone.

Who knows how many floors he’d have to clear to get another C-rank?

As he finished admiring it and was about to put it back—

Whuum—!

The mana stone rifle beside him vibrated.

“Huh?”

Lee Hyun glanced at it—it went still.

Whuum—!

He tried putting the mana stone away again—another vibration.

He repeated the process a few more times, then narrowed his eyes.

“…You want it?”

No answer.

Well, it was a gun.

Still, just in case, he held the mana stone up to the rifle’s body.

…

Nothing happened.

Same with the muzzle.

Same with the stock.

“…Guess not?”

As he tried putting the mana stone away again—

Whuum—!

The rifle vibrated again.

Only one likely spot left.

Lee Hyun brought the stone to the mana injection port.

Sshhhhh—!

“Whoa!?”

The mana stone suddenly dissolved into smoke and was absorbed into the gun!

“My fifty thousand won!!”

Lee Hyun reflexively shouted in shock.

Even an F-rank stone was big money to an unemployed man!

He had been thinking of turning it into cash to buy his parents some thermal underwear!

Then, a new notification popped up.

「Item ‘Lee Hyun’s Sniper Rifle’ has absorbed an F-rank mana stone.
Mana: 6」

“Well done! Very well done!”

Reading the message, Lee Hyun’s attitude flipped instantly, and he hugged the gun tight.

The ability to raise mana with just 50,000 won!

What a clever little thing!

He could buy his parents luxury-brand underwear after making even more money!

Early-stage businesses needed reinvestment, not dividends.

And besides, his military severance pay was on the way!