Since hunting goblins last time, I maintained my K2 rifle at home using a gun cleaning kit, and the skill [Rifle Maintenance] appeared.
Adding the two skills gained from shooting a pistol at the range, the gun-related skills have now increased to 5.
'If I get just one more, they all integrate and upgrade into a 'Advanced Skill' related to guns?'
I can't hold back on this. I immediately order a pistol from the Untied black market.
"I just need to clean a pistol."
And a few days later, a K5 pistol was delivered.
"Good, let's clean it right away."
[You have acquired the skill 'Pistol Maintenance' through pistol cleaning!]
[Pistol Maintenance Lv.1: Keeps the pistol in good condition through pistol maintenance. Pistol durability recovers slightly.]
[You have acquired 6 gun-related skills. The 6 skills are integrating and evolving into an Advanced Skill!]
['Rifle Marksmanship', 'Rifle Inspection', 'Rifle Maintenance', 'Pistol Marksmanship', 'Pistol Inspection', 'Pistol Maintenance']
[…]
[You have acquired the skill 'Beginner Firearm Proficiency'!]
[Beginner Firearm Proficiency Lv.1: You become proficient in handling all types of firearms. Firearm damage, accuracy, aiming speed, and reload speed increase slightly.]
"Wow, crazy."
If it's all types of firearms.
'Sniper rifles, machine guns, air rifles, and even relics of the past like muskets are all included!'
It's totally overpowered.
"And if this is Beginner...."
I don't know what kind of additional effects will be attached when it upgrades to Intermediate.
"Good. I should do one more request this weekend."
Since it's a public enterprise, the work-life balance is good despite being a combat position. It seems okay to do one more request this weekend.
"Haa... recruiting mercenaries to participate in the Kaema Plateau retaking operation...."
Kim Song-hyeon, the manager of the Untied request board, was deeply pondering the agenda brought up in the management meeting.
'They said they would give immunity to unregistered Awakened if they participate in this operation.'
The entire management team was tempted by those words. In fact, since all the Untied admins were unregistered Awakened, they were living in hiding. But since the government stepped up promising immunity, they are tempted.
"Clearly we would become cannon fodder though."
But even knowing that, 'immunity' is something one can't help but be tempted by.
They even proposed making Untied an official guild registered with KAMC and incorporating it into the institutional system.
"Is this an offer we have to accept... an offer we can't refuse?"
Even so, Kim Song-hyeon felt somewhat bitter.
She remained an unregistered Awakened despite awakening decent abilities because she hated a life tied down somewhere. If tied to a guild or KAMC, there are requests that must be solved obligatorily. If the government wants, one must participate forcibly.
However, in the case of unregistered Awakened, although most work is illegal, they could work whenever they wanted.
"I'll have to ask the forum about this."
The deep web forum where unregistered Awakened from all over the world gather. The exact name is Anti Register Forum. Abbreviated as ARF.
Naturally, asking on the public board of the forum is not allowed… so she decided to post the question on the admin board that only forum admins can see.
The forum's admins consist of admins from unregistered Awakened communities of each country. So she was also part of the admin team.
"I'll do that later, and for the incoming requests… there are 5 of them. There are quite a lot of people using requests here these days."
'The frequency of Gates appearing is also gradually decreasing.'
Some argue that as time passes, Gates will no longer appear.
Since new Awakened are gradually decreasing and Gate generation frequency is also slightly decreasing, they say that eventually both new Awakened and Gates will become '0'.
"This request is… handle quietly please. Revenge? It's a bit of a dangerous request though."
Revenge against a murderer who brutally killed their son was requested. The client must be quite rich as they set a high amount of 100 million won.
—Special Note: The target is known to be an Awakened.
"This is the problem."
A murder request. And it seems the target is also an unregistered Awakened.
'Those among unregistered Awakened who fall into the criminal category....'
Most possess quite strong abilities.
Among unregistered Awakened, petty criminals like pickpockets get caught even by regular police, so they don't last long. After being caught, they are forcibly registered as Awakened and punished. Awakened receive aggravated punishment if they commit crimes.
But a violent criminal who committed murder and hasn't been caught yet? This is a dangerous guy.
"Ah, there was that person who uses a gun last time."
The nickname was… 'Cassandra'?
"Is it a woman? It is a unique nickname."
An Awakened who left a deep impression by cleanly handling the request to deal with the goblin pack in Cheorwon just one day after it was assigned.
Even if it was an easy request, she didn't expect it to be handled immediately. Action was fast, the cleanup was neat, and above all, an Awakened who uses a gun as a main weapon, which is rare.
'If it's a gun....'
No matter how strong an Awakened is, if they don't have defense-related skills, nine out of ten die to bullets.
That's why that chuunibyou redneck Awakened from the American South who broke into the White House to eliminate the government died becoming a honeycomb from bullets while shouting about Awakened supremacy.
So unlike monsters, guns still work on Awakened, maintaining the balance between non-Awakened and Awakened.
"Hmm… let's let this request sit for a bit and then assign it. Even if they shoot well, they are a rookie in this industry."
She plans to assign a few other requests first, and if the work handling is decent, she will assign this revenge request right away.
"Then… Orc Warrior disposal request, Goblin pack disposal request. I'll assign these two."
She connected the incoming requests to 'Cassandra'.
Two more requests came in.
—Deadline is within this weekend.
"Now I won't even be able to rest on the weekend."
Still, to raise my specs, I have to keep taking requests and experience real combat.
As experienced in the last goblin pack extermination request, skill proficiency rises faster in real combat.
'I must level up combat-related skills as quickly and as much as possible.'
Only then will I be able to earn my keep when the 'Day of Destruction' warned by the system comes.
"Two Orc Warriors are roaming a movie set... this and a goblin pack disposal request like the Cheorwon one last time. So two like this."
A goblin pack isn't even scary. The problem is the Orc Warriors.
'The grade has gone up.'
From Orcs, I have to consume more bullets to handle them. For goblins, a single shot can pierce the skin and tear up the insides, but Orcs have hard and tough skin, so I have to shoot three shots to pierce it.
'Plus their bones are hard too.'
It's better to aim for the heart rather than the head. To pierce the hard skull, ammo consumption would be tremendous. It would be better to aim for the heart between the ribs.
"Let's handle the goblin pack request simply first, level up skills even a little bit more, and then try the request to handle two Orc Warriors."
As soon as I thought that, I drove my car straight to Yangyang where the goblin pack is said to be.
'Since they said it's a resort construction site… there are plenty of places to take cover.'
It's the optimal environment for me who uses a gun.
Vroom—.
The engine started with the unique humming noise of an electric car.
"Let's go right away."
[Driving Lv.1 $\rightarrow$ Lv.2]
"Is this the place?"
Thunk—.
I quietly closed the car door and entered the inside of the closed resort construction site.
"You cannot enter."
"I am Cassandra, here upon request."
"Ah... please wait a moment."
One security guard who was blocking people from entering made a call somewhere and then let me in.
"Please, take care of it."
"Do not worry."
The number was quite large this time. A whopping 40 of them.
'I heard a lot of funds already went into building the resort here.'
So they would have wanted to hide that it is an area where Gates can appear.
Additionally....
'They said a few workers died because monsters came out, and they probably hated for such rumors to spread too.'
If the fact that goblins appeared in large numbers was revealed, it was bad news for the construction company in various ways, so they made a request to the shadows. And I accepted it.
"Only the workers are pitiful."
Compared to general industrial accidents, damages caused by Gates and monsters require more compensation.
Because it is damage caused by the company not properly preparing for a special situation. A situation even more special than industrial accidents.
'They probably didn't want to give compensation money either.'
I wanted to publicly expose this dirty mindset, but I held back.
'To receive more requests from Untied, I have to follow the industry rules.'
All contents of the request are confidential. Absolutely must not be exposed. That is the rule of the industry.
Approaching the construction site, I heard the sounds of goblins chattering 'Kereuk'.
'They said goblins don't come out of the construction site after popping out of the Gate.'
What does that mean? Most monsters roam around poking everywhere like mad dogs when they come out of a Gate.
But why? Are they staying here?
"Hmm...."
Who cares. Since they are gathered in one place, it is comfortable to shoot them dead. It works out well for me.
Rustle—.
I quietly lay prone and moved slowly.
[Stealth Lv.1 $\rightarrow$ Lv.2]
[Crawling Lv.1 $\rightarrow$ Lv.2]
'Nice.'
Moving while prone, my movement speed became a little faster, and the noise reduced further.
Rustle—.
Continuing to move, I succeeded in taking a position in the desired location.
"I can see clearly."
Kereuk—
Kereureu!!
Kweeeek―!!!
50 of them? It looks much more than that though....
Scanning the goblin pack with the scope like that... I discovered a somewhat disparate existence.
"What the, f*ck."
[Goblin Chieftain]
[A chieftain leading a sizable goblin pack.]
[Currently preparing a ritual to evolve into a Goblin Great Chieftain.]
'Goblin Great Chieftain...!'
Goblin Great Chieftain.
One of the strong existences that appeared when Gates first opened.
'They said destruction is approaching... to think it would approach this fast.'
That aside, they posted the request as a general goblin pack, are these construction company bastards scamming me?
"...Let's see after the request ends."
The second rule of the industry is that when making a request, one must reveal all detailed circumstances without addition or subtraction.
And the client, the resort construction company, broke the second rule of the industry.
"That is that. First... let's kill them all."
Actually, I am a bit scared. But....
'It's too much of an outskirt area, so even if I call for backup, it will be late.'
It's tough.
And this is my request that came to me.
'I will frequently encounter situations like this in the future.'
To stop the destruction of the world, I should be able to fight at least this much.
"Phew... Hup―."
I controlled my breathing, took a stable posture, and pulled the trigger.
Bang—!
"Kweeeek!!!"
"Kereuk?"
"Kueeee!!"
I shot a bullet toward the Goblin Chieftain preparing the ritual in the center, but unfortunately, the Goblin Chieftain did not die.
'Ah, crap....'
Wooooong—.
A barrier made of red mana blocked the bullet.
"Damn it."
Click—.
I switched the K2 rifle to burst mode.
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