Chapter 5 : That rifle is…

‘Why is Udamhwa…?’

Team Leader Kim Hayun of the Dawn’s Constellation Team 3 couldn’t understand the scene of Udamhwa scattering.

No wonder, Udamhwa was a creature famously known for its relentless vitality.

It constantly regenerated, so without a strong burst of firepower at once, it was impossible to defeat.

However, no one who had come to Han River Park had ever poured that much firepower into Udamhwa.

In the first place, there were only three hunters, including her, who had the power to unleash that kind of firepower at the scene.

“Te, Team Leader! Did you defeat it?!”

One of them, a high school girl named Seo Arin, asked in a surprised voice.

“It wasn’t me.”

She looked down at her sword.

A legendary general of Silla.

Kim Yushin’s Heavenly Dragon Sword.

The blade, burning with blue magic, had traces of the severed Udamhwa on it.

But that was it.

Regrettably, due to lack of firepower, she had clearly seen Udamhwa begin to regenerate.

So it wasn’t her.

She hadn’t defeated Udamhwa.

It was the same for the vice team leader of Team 3, who had arrived with her.

Seeing Seo Arin’s surprised reaction, who was the only one with a possible chance, it wasn’t her either.

‘Then, who could it be…?’

Kim Hayun scanned the hunters gathering by the Han River, busy filming.

But even after thoroughly scanning, she couldn’t spot any high-level hunters who could have killed Udamhwa.

At that moment, Kim Hayun’s gaze fell upon Choi Seojun, who was putting away his rifle.

‘No way.’

It seemed impossible, but she quickly shook her head.

She had seen Choi Seojun firing his gun.

However, what he was aiming at was not Udamhwa but the cub.

Shooting at the cub wouldn’t make Udamhwa burst.

It wasn’t entirely impossible, but to do so, an absurd amount of firepower would be required.

‘At least an ancient-level artifact or a ranker would be needed.’

But Choi Seojun didn’t fit either category.

If he had an artifact of that level, she would have recognized it, and she had never heard of a ranker dressed so sloppily.

Erasing Choi Seojun from her mind, Kim Hayun searched the Han River Park for the ‘mysterious ranker’ who had hunted Udamhwa.

“Huff, huff.”

I had quietly exited Han River Park, but after walking a short distance, I slumped against a tunnel wall, unable to move.

My heart was racing.

“What is this…?”

My hand, gripping Napoleon’s rifle, was trembling.

It was ‘mana exhaustion.’

The moment I pulled the trigger aiming at the cub Udamhwa, all the mana in my body was sucked into the rifle.

I had only fired a single shot.

But what was more shocking was the power of ‘Napoleon’s Rifle.’

“Was that just ten percent?”

I had only used 10% of the artifact’s power, and yet Udamhwa had exploded.

It wasn’t just any monster; it was a boss-level creature with a name.

“… Insane.”

While staring at Napoleon’s rifle trembling on my knees,

“Huh?”

The shape of Napoleon’s Rifle suddenly became blurry, then disappeared entirely.

I was briefly confused, but I soon realized that Napoleon’s Rifle hadn’t completely disappeared.

=

Artifact List

• Napoleon’s Rifle

Napoleon’s Rifle was now stored in the newly created artifact list.

“That’s a surprise.”

I thought it had disappeared, and I nearly had a heart attack.

‘Is it because my mana is depleted?’

Although Napoleon’s Rifle was considered an artifact, it wasn’t technically an item from our world.

The ‘failed worldline’ meant that Napoleon was from a world different from mine.

It was merely a part of my awakening ability.

If we compared it to a game, it would be an ‘account-bound item’ that couldn’t be traded.

‘Actually, this is good.’

That meant it couldn’t be taken from me.

Anyway, it was now clear.

Napoleon’s Rifle.

This was an artifact of at least ancient-level quality.

It might even be legendary.

On the first day I opened the store,

I had obtained a ‘rare item.’

Through a day of experimentation, I was able to learn a few things.

First.

When my mana runs out, Napoleon’s Rifle automatically disappears.

Second.

The disappeared rifle cannot be reused for a certain period.

From what I learned, Napoleon’s Rifle had a cooldown of one hour.

If I was unlucky, I would be defenseless for an hour.

And lastly, third.

Napoleon’s Rifle was a ‘mana-consuming’ artifact.

This artifact absorbed mana endlessly, regardless of my will.

If I didn’t stay alert, it would quickly drain all my mana.

This part could only be overcome with practice.

And to practice with such an artifact, I needed to fight monsters.

“I should avoid Han River Park.”

The previous day, the video of Udamhwa exploding was flooding YouTube.

[Han River Park Udamhwa Explosion! Kim Hayun, Ranker Ascends?!]

[Udamhwa Appearance, Is the Government Responsible?]

[Is the Udamhwa Appearance the Work of China?]

It was a chaotic mess, with political clickbait, fabricated fake news, and live videos from YouTubers.

I searched to see if there was anything about me, but I couldn’t find anything.

All the videos and media were pointing to Kim Hayun as the protagonist who defeated Udamhwa.

Nck, our Hayun is now one-shotting Udamhwa.

Isn’t she becoming a ranker now?

Honestly, her skills are beyond rankers.

Kim Hayun is the team leader of the great guild, Dawn’s Constellation, Team 3.

With looks that could rival idols and an A-grade awakening ability, plus the Kim Yushin sword, she was an incredibly popular star.

Even her sword.

Although Kim Hayun herself had declared that she hadn’t defeated Udamhwa, no one believed her.

Is she just saying she defeated it?
Wow, how humble.

Our Hayun is a world star, isn’t she?

The comment section was flooded with praise for Kim Hayun’s character.

I wrote a comment.

It wasn’t Kim Hayun.

I defeated it.

Where does it hurt?

Then did you defeat it? LOL

I briefly looked at the comment section, filled with insults, before closing the community and calling a taxi.

My destination was Bukhansan.

It was a mid-level hunter zone, where the C-grade gate, ‘Black Cave,’ was located.

“Are you C-grade?”

“Yes.”

“Your occupation is an emotional assassin?”

“That’s right.”

The gate staff, who managed the Black Cave, looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“You know this is a C-grade gate, right?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re planning to go in alone?”

“If it’s dangerous, I’ll come out, so you don’t need to worry.”

The staff shook their head, but they didn’t stop me from entering.

It was a principle that you take responsibility for your own life in the gate.

As I passed through the gate, the dark cave landscape greeted me.

I covered my lower face with a black mask I had brought from the store.

If it became known that my rifle was no ordinary artifact, there would be a lot of people trying to take it from me.

“Where are you?! Catch him!”

“He ran that way!”

Inside, hunters who had entered before me were in the middle of hunting monsters.

Pitch-black toads were bouncing off the cave walls and ceiling, jumping here and there.

‘It must be a shadow toad.’

It wasn’t just climbing walls; the creature could also enter shadows.

I aimed my Napoleon’s Rifle at one of the shadow toads hopping around.

Its movements were so erratic that hitting it with a gun was almost impossible…

But—

BANG—!

The bullet precisely pierced the body of the shadow toad.

Hit rate: 60% increased.

It was the effect of Napoleon’s Rifle’s accuracy buff.

BANG—! BANG—! BANG—!

To prevent it from collapsing like the previous day, I carefully controlled my magic with each shot.

“Wow…”

“Who is that?”

The hunters, who had been hunting monsters, paused and watched in awe at Choi Seojun’s shooting.

“Is it really that easy to hit like that?”

Drawing an insane trajectory, Choi Seojun didn’t miss a single shadow toad, hitting them all.

At that moment, as Choi Seojun went further inside, one of the watching hunters shouted in surprise.

“It’s dangerous in there!”

“Kiiieee!”

One of the poison toads, hiding in the shadows, suddenly leaped out of the ground.
Its trajectory was nearly impossible to hit.

BANG!

The rifle, without fail, pierced through the monster.

One of the hunters watching quietly took out his phone and pressed the record button.

“Everyone, take a look at this.”

Team Leader Ha Jinwoo of Dawn’s Constellation, Team 1, brought a laptop to the guild members’ waiting room and played a video.

It was a hunting video uploaded to YouTube by an anonymous hunter.

The man, with his lower face covered by a mask, was using a rifle to wipe out the shadow toads.

The man in the video, wearing the mask, was none other than Choi Seojun.

“What is this?”

“Amazing, isn’t it?”

“The accuracy is good, but isn’t that all?”

One of the guild members tilted his head.

He didn’t understand what was so impressive about this.

The other guild members seemed to feel the same.

None of them were hunters who couldn’t hunt shadow toads.

Even an average C-grade hunter could hunt shadow toads.

“Is this really how you all see it?”

“Is there something else?”

“This guy is hiding his abilities. A lot of them.”

“Eh?”

Only then did the guild members look at Choi Seojun in the video with surprised expressions.

Ha Jinwoo stared at Choi Seojun with sharp eyes.

‘Is he suppressing his abilities? Interesting guy.’

He didn’t realize that Choi Seojun wasn’t fully utilizing the capabilities of Napoleon’s Rifle.

“Hayun, what do you think?”

“Hayun?”

Team Leader Kim Hayun of Team 3 silently gazed at the video.

In her eyes, only the rifle Choi Seojun was using was visible.

‘That rifle…’

The image of the man she had seen at Han River Park flashed through her mind.