Chapter 4 ….

After the clear message appeared, several more notification windows popped up at the same time.

But Lee Hyun ignored them.

As long as he still had bullets, and as long as enemies remained, he would keep pulling the trigger.

Bang—!

Baaang—!

Baaang—!

Deafening explosions tore through the air.

With a single shot, half of a goblin disappeared.

Dark red blood poured out from the severed cross-section.

With the twitch of a finger, someone dies.

At moments like this, a sniper feels a strange sensation.

A faint sense of omnipotence.

As if he were a reaper who carries death itself.

But Lee Hyun pushed aside that intoxicating feeling and focused only on firing and hitting his target.

Holding his breath, he pulled the trigger again.

Bang—!

“Kerr—!!”

The remaining two goblins looked around wildly and screamed.

Bzzz—

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

After firing five shots, the mana loaded in the weapon had been completely exhausted.

‘One shot per one mana point… for now.’

Lee Hyun killed the remaining two goblins using his own mana.

All the strength drained from his body.

No goblins remained.

Still lying at his firing position, Lee Hyun rolled over completely onto his back and gasped for breath.

He had fired seven shots in a row.

Using a mana-stone rifle.

“Haha… hahahaha.”

Even exaggerating a little, he barely had the strength to move a finger, yet weak laughter slipped from Lee Hyun’s mouth.

They were only goblins.

But this moment was special to him.

Because he had been able to fire seven shots.

Lee Hyun said,

“I’ll leave now.”

“Would you like to exit the 1st floor?”

“Yes.”

The next moment, Lee Hyun was no longer lying on the grassy field of the Tower, but on the dirt ground of the empty lot outside.

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

After that dreamlike shooting session—

Now it was time to check the results.

He had ignored them while concentrating, but quite a few notifications had popped up earlier.

Lee Hyun began checking them one by one.

“1st Floor Clear confirmed.
Please register your ID.”

‘Ah, an ID.’

Awakeners with levels can register an ID after clearing the main tower’s first floor.

Once you have an ID, you are officially registered in the system and can use community chats divided into general, national, global, and private channels.

National, global, and private were exactly what they sounded like.

General was a chatroom used among hunters on the same floor.

After the shared floors appear from the 10th floor onward, that chatroom becomes commonly used.

Though it didn’t matter much to Lee Hyun.

After thinking briefly, he said,

“One Strike.”

One strike, one kill.

It was Lee Hyun’s creed as a sniper—and the only way someone who could fire just two shots could survive.

“Would you like to register the ID ‘One Strike’?”

“…No, remove the Chinese characters.”

If he wrote it with characters, it would look overly pretentious.

The system registered his ID as “Ilgyeok (One Strike)”.

He decided to check the chatrooms later and moved on to the next notification.

“1st Floor clear record has been updated.
Location: Republic of Korea Tower
ID: Ilgyeok
Rank: S+”

“…?”

Lee Hyun tilted his head.

Everything else looked normal.

But the rank was the problem.

‘Wasn’t S the highest?’

Until now, the highest record had been S.

Yet for some reason, Lee Hyun’s rank was recorded as S+, surpassing it.

That was why a system-wide announcement had appeared.

“Well… I guess I did clear it pretty quickly.”

He had killed a goblin warrior in a single shot.

Unless someone overturned the entire field with massive magic, it was probably the fastest and most efficient method imaginable.

However, to Lee Hyun—who wanted to hide his identity—it wasn’t a very welcome message.

Of course, the announcement alone couldn’t identify that Ilgyeok was Lee Hyun.

But it would definitely cause a huge stir.

People would be obsessed with finding out who Ilgyeok was.

At least on the first floor, it meant Lee Hyun had surpassed even national-level superhumans.

Or rather—

Was the gap between S and S+ really just one step?

At the end of the announcement, a short explanation appeared.

“S+ is only awarded on the first clear attempt.”

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

“Item ‘Choi Lee Hyun’s Sniper Rifle’ leveled up.
Check your status window.”

Normally, clearing each floor gives exactly the experience needed for that level.

For example:

• Floor 1 → Level 1 to Level 2

• Floor 2 → Level 2 to Level 3

But by around the 10th floor, required experience increases so much that repeated clears become necessary.

“Status window.”

When Lee Hyun opened it, the stats he distributed last night appeared unchanged.

“?”

He tilted his head again.

This was strange.

Level 1 stats can be distributed by the hunter.

After that, the system automatically allocates them based on activity.

Since he leveled up, his stats should have changed.

“…What the hell.”

Looking further down, Lee Hyun cursed in shock.

There was a reason his stats hadn’t changed.

“Unassigned Stat Points: 15”

They hadn’t been allocated yet.

Just like at Level 1, 15 stat points were waiting for Lee Hyun’s command.

“Is this even allowed?”

Of course it was good for him—but it still felt absurd.

Distributing your own stats?

That was the ultimate cheat.

Why do hunters risk their lives fighting monsters?

Because that’s how they gain the right stat growth.

If a warrior used clever tricks instead of fighting directly—

Then intelligence or mana might increase instead of strength and agility.

But Lee Hyun had no such restriction.

As long as he cleared the floor, he could grow however he wanted.

“…Is it because it’s an item?”

That was the only hypothesis he could think of.

But what did it matter?

As long as a hunter—a sniper—could grow stronger.

‘Let’s move on.’

He considered allocating the stats now but decided to wait.

Important decisions should be made last.

“1st Floor Reward:
You obtained 3 F-rank Mana Stones.”

“S+ Clear Bonus:
3 additional F-rank Mana Stones awarded.”

“Nice!”

Lee Hyun cheered.

Mana stones were the material for mana rifles—and also a hunter’s main source of income.

An F-rank stone was worth about 50,000 won, and the price skyrocketed at higher ranks.

After registering as a hunter, he could sell them.

Thanks to the S+ bonus, he got double.

‘Let’s take a look.’

He took one out of his inventory.

“Ooh.”

The purple crystal sparkled beautifully.

It was only the size of a thumbnail.

“I heard you can’t even make a mana rifle with F-rank stones…”

Before awakening, his rifle had been made from a C-rank mana stone.

He wondered how many floors he’d need to clear to get another one.

Just as he tried putting the stone back—

Bzzzz—!

The rifle vibrated.

“Huh?”

When he looked at it, it stopped.

When he tried storing the stone again—

Bzzzz—!

It vibrated again.

After repeating this a few times, Lee Hyun muttered suspiciously.

“…You want this?”

Of course the gun didn’t answer.

Still, he pressed the stone to the gun.

Nothing happened.

He tried the barrel.

Nothing.

The stock.

Nothing.

“…Not that?”

When he tried storing it again—

Bzzzz—!

It vibrated.

Only one place remained.

When he placed the stone at the mana injection port—

Swoosh—!

“Huh?!”

The mana stone dissolved into smoke and was absorbed by the rifle.

“My 50,000 won!”

Lee Hyun shouted reflexively.

But then another notification appeared.

“Item ‘Choi Lee Hyun’s Sniper Rifle’ absorbed an F-rank Mana Stone.
Mana: 6”

“Well done! Very well done!”

Lee Hyun instantly changed his attitude and hugged the rifle.

Increasing mana for just 50,000 won?

What a wonderful item!

He could buy his parents better clothes later.

New companies reinvest instead of paying dividends.

And he’d get severance pay anyway!

“Here, have another bite.”

He fed the rifle another mana stone.

Then another.

“Mana: 8”

Eight bullets now.

He decided to feed it only three stones.

The remaining three he would keep—just in case he needed to sell them later.

“Now… should I distribute my stats too?”

He opened the status window again.

First priority?

Firepower?

No.

“Mana: 13”

Mana.

Even after feeding stones, it was still his top priority.

He had already needed all his mana to kill every monster on the first floor.

If future floors had more enemies, ammunition was crucial.

Firepower was already more than enough.

He had erased a goblin warrior instantly.

Precision: 2 → 3
Stability: 2 → 4
Stealth: 0 → 2

Lee Hyun invested five more points.

Range was already enough.

The first floor’s sniping distance was about 300 meters.

For Lee Hyun, that was practically point-blank.

Accuracy mattered more.

He also added stealth.

Higher firepower seemed to create louder noise.

Five stat points remained.

He decided to save them for later.

Even after keeping five, he had already used ten.

A normal hunter would only gain five.

In total stats, Lee Hyun was already equivalent to Level 5.

Satisfied, he picked up his sniper rifle and stood.

The first floor was a huge success.

Actually—more than that.

“Tomorrow I’ll go in again~”

He hummed happily as he headed home.

Then he looked at the huge rifle in his hands and quickly hurried away.

Better to carry it like a toy gun than suddenly store it in the middle of the street.

“…Maybe I should paint the muzzle orange.”

Unbeknownst to him, someone had been watching.

Was it some shadowy organization that discovered his identity?

“Hey… isn’t that guy crazy?”

“Yeah. Why’s he walking around talking to himself with a toy gun?”

“Man, I’m too scared to even smoke. Let’s get out of here.”

They were indeed a dark force.

High school delinquents skipping class to smoke—who just happened to see Lee Hyun exiting the tower.

“I’m home!”

“Where’d you go? You’re back already?”

“Just out!”

Lee Hyun ran straight into his room.

Then he saw something shocking.

“Private messages: 1,853
Check your private chat.”

“…What is all this?”

The ID Ilgyeok had received an overwhelming number of messages.

Just the previews were dizzying.

Guild invitations.

Congratulations.

Recruitment offers.

Lee Hyun muttered,

“Block all.”

“Private chat notifications have been blocked.”

Messages would still arrive, but alerts were turned off.

“That’s better.”

A sniper lives by secrecy.

Private chats were a luxury.

Meanwhile — Korean Government

The Tower Safety Administration, responsible for managing towers and hunters, went into emergency mode.

Because of a system announcement.

“1st Floor clear record updated.
Location: Republic of Korea Tower
ID: Ilgyeok
Rank: S+”

Even if it had happened in another country, it would have triggered an emergency.

But this was Korea’s tower.

And it introduced a new rank: S+.

At the Hunter Management Agency, Section Chief Baek Sung-yoon gathered his team.

“Who is it?”

“…Pardon?”

The employees stared blankly.

They knew he meant Ilgyeok.

But how could they know?

Sung-yoon showed his phone.

Messages from superiors:

• Director: Who is it?

• Commissioner: Who is it?

• Vice Minister: Who is it?

• Minister: Who is it?

• Presidential Office: Who is it? The President asks. Quickly.

Everyone sighed.

“Contact all regional offices. If anyone newly registered sells F-rank mana stones, report immediately!”

“Yes sir!”

Normally, newly awakened hunters register within a day.

That was their golden time.

But the next day—

No one sold first-floor mana stones.

“…Still no one?”

“No, sir.”

“Is he rich or something?”

“…What if he’s a villain?”

“Don’t say that!”

Villains were rogue hunters who ignored the state and operated in the underworld.

The worst kind of criminal.

Sung-yoon sighed.

“Fine. Just give me a list of all new registrants.”

Not ideal—but it was something.