Became the Weapon Monopolist of the Gods

‘Why… the Udanghua…?’

The 3rd team leader of the Dawn Star Constellation, Kim Ha-Yoon, couldn’t comprehend the sight of Udanghua exploding into fragments.

After all, Udanghua was infamous for its tenacious vitality.

It constantly regenerated, making it impossible to defeat unless overwhelming firepower was unleashed all at once.

But none of those present at Hangang Park had unleashed such firepower on the Udanghua.

To begin with, there were only three hunters capable of that kind of firepower here, including her.

“T-Team Leader! Did you defeat it?!”

One of them, high school girl Seo Ah-Rin, asked in astonishment.

“It wasn’t me.”

She glanced down at her sword.

The legendary blade of General Kim Yu-Shin from Silla.

Though it blazed with azure mana, a severed Udanghua tentacle clung to it.

But that was all.

Unfortunately, her firepower was insufficient as she clearly saw the Udanghua beginning to regenerate.

So it wasn’t her.

She hadn’t defeated the Udanghua.

Nor had her 3rd team’s deputy leader who arrived with her.

And judging by Ah-Rin’s surprised reaction, it wasn’t her either.

‘Then who…’

Kim Ha-Yoon scanned the hunters gathered by the Han River busily recording videos.

However, no high-ranking hunter capable of defeating Udanghua was among them.

That’s when Choi Seo-Joon putting away his rifle caught her eye.

‘Nah, can’t be him.’

Though the thought crossed her mind, she quickly shook her head.

She had seen Choi Seo-Joon fire his shots.

But his target wasn’t the Udanghua but rather its offspring.

There was no way attacking the offspring could cause the Udanghua to explode.

Not impossible, but it would require absurdly immense firepower.

‘At least one would need an ancient-level artifact or be a Ranker.’

But Choi Seo-Joon fit neither category.

If he possessed a secondary-grade artifact, there was no way she wouldn’t have noticed. And she’d never heard of any sloppily dressed Ranker like him.

Erasing Choi Seo-Joon from her mind, Kim Ha-Yoon looked around Hangang Park for the mysterious Ranker who hunted the Udanghua.

*

“Huff, huff.”

I quietly slipped out of Hangang Park and slumped against a tunnel wall after walking just a little ways.

My heart was pounding.

“What is this…”

The hand gripping Napoleon’s Rifle was trembling.

It was ‘mana exhaustion.’

The moment I pulled the trigger aiming for the baby Udanghua, all my mana was sucked into the rifle.

Despite firing just one shot.

But what shocked me more was the power wielded by ‘Napoleon’s Rifle.’

“Is that ten percent?”

Even using merely 10% of the artifact’s power caused the Udanghua to explode.

Not just any monster, but a boss-level monster with a name.

“…Crazy.”

As I stared with shaking eyes at Napoleon’s Rifle resting on my knee, it suddenly grew blurry and disappeared.

“Huh?”

Though momentarily startled, I realized Napoleon’s Rifle hadn’t vanished completely.

=

◆ Artifact List

– Napoleon’s Rifle

=

Since it was listed in the new artifact inventory, I knew Napoleon’s Rifle hadn’t truly disappeared.

“Got scared there.”

Seemed like it was giving me ten-year sensory deprivation.

‘My mana’s all gone, huh?’

Though Napoleon’s Rifle was technically an artifact, strictly speaking, it wasn’t really from our world.

After all, ‘failed worldline’ essentially meant Napoleon from a different world than mine.

It was fundamentally part of my awakened ability.

In gaming terms, it was probably best considered a non-transferable ‘bound item.’

‘Actually, that’s good.’

Meaning there was no possibility of it being stolen.

Anyway, it was confirmed.

Napoleon’s Rifle.

This was an artifact above ancient grade.

Maybe even legendary.

On the first day of opening my curio shop, I obtained a ‘divine artifact.’

*

Through experiments over the day, I discovered several facts.

First.

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

Second.

Once disappeared, the rifle cannot be reused for a set period.

Based on my findings, Napoleon’s Rifle has a cooldown of one hour.

In other words, if unlucky, I’d be defenseless for an hour.

And lastly, third.

Napoleon’s Rifle is a ‘mana drain.’

This artifact consumed mana without limit regardless of my will.

If I didn’t keep my wits about me, it would instantly suck up all my mana.

This was something I’d have to overcome through practice.

And to practice with an artifact of this magnitude, I’d have to engage in actual combat against monsters.

“I should avoid Hangang Park.”

Videos of yesterday’s Udanghua explosion had plastered Nertube.

[Udanghua Explosion at Hangang Park! Is Kim Ha-Yoon now a Ranker?!]

[Does the Government Bear Responsibility for Udanghua Appearances?]

[Are China Behind Udanghua Appearances?]

It was utter chaos with political agitators, fake news mashups, and Nertuber live streams.

Searching through to see if there was anything about me, but found nothing.

All videos and media unanimously pointed to Kim Ha-Yoon as the one who defeated Udanghua.

└ Wow, our Ha-Yoon can now one-shot Udanghuas.

└ She’s reaching Ranker status now, isn’t she? ㄷㄷ

└ Honestly, her skills are already beyond Ranker level.

Kim Ha-Yoon is the 3rd team leader of the large guild Dawn Star Constellation.

With idol-beating looks, A-grade awakened ability, and General Kim Yu-Shin’s sword as an artifact, she was a popular star who seemed to have all the luck.

Though Kim Ha-Yoon herself stated she didn’t defeat the Udanghua, no one believed her.

└ Are they saying everyone worked together to catch it?

└ Whoa, so humble.

└ Our Ha-Yoon isn’t a world star yet.

Comment sections were flooded with praise for Kim Ha-Yoon’s character.

└ Kim Ha-Yoon didn’t do it.

Because I did.

└ What’s wrong with you?

└ So you caught it? lol

After watching the comment section get flooded with insults, I turned off the community site, called a taxi.

Destination: Mount Buk.

The intermediate hunter zone where the C-grade Gate ‘Black Cave’ was located.

*

“E-rank, you say?”

“Yes.”

“Your job is an appraiser?”

“That’s correct.”

The Gate staff managing Black Cave looked at me incredulously.

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

“Yes.”

“And you’re going in alone?”

“I’ll come out if it gets dangerous, so no need to worry.”

Though the staff shook their head, they didn’t stop me from entering.

After all, your life at the Gate is your own responsibility.

Once past the Gate, the dark scenery of the cave greeted me.

I covered my jaw with a black mask I brought from the curio shop.

If word got out that my rifle was no ordinary artifact, swarms of people would come after it.

“Over there! Catch him!”

“They ran off on their own!”

Inside, hunters who had entered earlier were busy hunting monsters.

Pitch-black toads were hopping around all over the walls and ceilings of the cave.

‘Seems like Shadow Toads.’

They were monsters that not only climbed walls but could also disappear into shadows.

I aimed my Napoleon’s Rifle at the jumping Shadow Toads.

Though their erratic movements made them impossible to hit with a regular gun…

Bang─!

The bullet cleanly pierced the Shadow Toad’s body.

Accuracy Rate: Increased by 60%

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

Bang─! Bang─! Bang─!

Unlike the previous day, I carefully controlled my mana with each shot to avoid collapsing.

“Whoa…”

“Who’s that guy?”

The hunters stopped hunting monsters and gawked at Choi Seo-Joon’s shooting.

“Wasn’t that supposed to be hard to hit?”

Choi Seo-Joon didn’t miss a single one of the wildly leaping Shadow Toads.

Then, as Choi Seo-Joon moved inward, one of the onlookers shouted in alarm.

“It’s dangerous over there!”

“Keeeeeek!”

A Poison Toad hiding in the shadows jumped out from the ground.

An impossibly difficult trajectory to hit.

Bang─!

The rifle inevitably pierced through the monster.

One of the observing hunters quietly pulled out their phone and pressed the record button.

*

“Everyone, take a look at this.”

Jae-In-Woo, the 1st team leader of Dawn Star Constellation, brought a laptop into the waiting room where the guild members were gathered and played a video.

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

The man in the video, whose lower face was masked, was clearing out Shadow Toads with a rifle.

The masked man in the video was none other than Choi Seo-Joon.

“What is this?”

“Isn’t it amazing?”

“His accuracy is good. But is that all?”

One of the guild members tilted their head in confusion.

Apparently, they didn’t understand what was so impressive about it.

The other guild members felt the same way.

After all, none of them were hunters incapable of catching Shadow Toads.

Shadow Toads were exactly the type of monster that even a regular C-rank hunter could handle.

“Do you all really see it that way?”

“Is there anything else?”

“This guy is holding back his abilities. Quite significantly.”

“Huh?”

Only then did the guild members look at Choi Seo-Joon in the video with surprised eyes.

Jae-In-Woo sharply eyed Choi Seo-Joon in the video.

‘This guy is interesting. He’s suppressing his abilities.’

What Jae-In-Woo didn’t know was that Choi Seo-Joon wasn’t fully utilizing the capabilities of Napoleon’s Rifle.

“Ha-Yoon, what do you think?”

“…”

“Ha-Yoon?”

Silently, Team Leader Kim Ha-Yoon stared at the video.

All she could see in her gaze was the rifle Choi Seo-Joon was using.

‘That rifle…’

The figure she saw at Hangang Park flashed through her memory.

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