The Lone Sniper: I Was Just Minding My Own Business Sniping Players, and I Ended Up Becoming a Raid Boss

Chapter 41

To avoid making the same mistake as last time, I immediately enter a nearby two-story white house.

I go up to the second floor and check the surroundings from the window.

Sky: clear and sunny. To the west and south of the town lies the sea. A forest spreads to the east, and to the north I can see a paved road.

If I go to the sandy beach near the sea, Dust Mirage can show its true power. However, taking position at a low elevation is dangerous.

(Now that I think about it, Dust Mirage might not pair well with a sniper...)

Snipers prefer high ground. The field of view is wider and the line of fire is clearer. On the other hand, Dust Mirage is effective on sandy terrain, which is basically low ground. Mismatch!

(The town is lined with plain white two-story houses, with a few isolated mansions. The most conspicuous is a huge hotel near the sea. It's five stories tall. Right next to it is a golf course.)

The town is about 700 m across. Since I'm roughly in the center, the Enhanced Radar (search radius 500 m) covers the entire town.

Looking at the overall map, this town is quite near the edge. It'll probably be excluded from the safety zone after the first or second area shrink.

Three enemy icons show up on the radar.

'Niko-cchi is 4.5 km to the northeast, Sheena-cchi is 1.8 km east. Pretty far away.'

Team members are always transferred at least 800 m apart. Getting more than 1 km apart is just bad luck.

'Shiki-san, what's your status?'

"Three enemy icons within 500 m."

'Understood. Those three are probably all the enemies nearby. It's almost impossible for more than five Space Girls to spawn together in one place.'

'Stay put! If you're spotted, you'll be the sniper's first target!'

Ugh... Niko-san's advice is sound. But...

(If I just obey now, nothing will change!)

I don't have absolute confidence in my judgment. Still, I'm certain that hiding here isn't the best option.

"P-please let me try. I can take them down. All three!"

'Then do it!!'

"Yes! ...Huh? W-wait, is that really okay, Niko-san?"

'If you're willing to push aside my advice, you must have serious confidence. I'll bet on that confidence. Right from the start, go wild!!'

"Y-yes!"

I open the second-floor window and look through the scope of my sniper rifle.

(The key point of this town is definitely that resort hotel. Whoever captures the top of the hotel gains a huge advantage—everyone will think that. For me, the hotel is just bait. Heading for the resort hotel on the edge of town means your back inevitably faces the center. You'll be turning your back on me, who's in the center.)

300 m away, I see a Space Girl moving by motorbike. She's heading for the hotel.

(See, wide open.)

I fire at the back of her head. The laser bullet cleanly pierces her occiput and deletes her. The instant she's deleted, the remaining Space Girl icons start moving.

(The other two are coming this way.)

Trying to eliminate the long-range sniper first is only natural.

I climb from the window onto the roof.

The remaining two are both hiding behind buildings and can't be seen even from above. Then I don't need to see them.

(This is why I installed the Precision Radar.)

As long as I know their coordinates, I can shoot without seeing them.

I'll take out the closer one first.

(Radar sniping... take this!!)

Ignoring the building (obstacle) in between, I pull the trigger toward the enemy coordinates.

First shot. The laser bullet passes through the house. I think it hit, but there's no deletion. Probably blocked by Shield Pieces.

Second and third shots in rapid succession. More hits, still no deletion.

150 m away. I dispel the sniper rifle and switch to an assault rifle.

"Bullet Pieces!!"

Six firing drones fly from my waist toward the enemy.

Bullet Pieces can travel 100 m from me and have a 50 m range, for a total attack radius of 150 m.

The opponent is hiding inside a single-story white house 142 m from mine.

Spraying the assault rifle head-on, plus angling the Bullet Pieces for radar shots, a Space Girl tumbles out of the house's entrance onto the street. She probably jumped out of the cramped space to avoid multi-directional, blind-spot attacks, but her reaction is too slow.

(Damage to her legs. Shield Pieces almost gone. I can finish the rest with the assault rifle.)

After one shot, Bullet Pieces return to me for recharging (3-second cooldown).

The enemy has fewer than 10 Shield Pieces left. I chip away the rest with the assault rifle, switch back to the sniper rifle, and land a headshot.

Two down. One to go.

(50 m away)

The enemy climbs onto the roof of a different house. It's the roof of the house six doors down from mine.

She unloads her assault rifle at me. I slide across the roof to dodge the bullets and fire my Bullet Pieces while switching from sniper rifle to assault rifle.

(Restricting movement by shooting from six directions: left, right, front, back, up, down.)

I place one Bullet Piece each 7 m to the right, 8 m to the left, 4 m behind, 8 m above, and 2 m below on the second floor directly under the target, then fire simultaneously. I add continuous fire from the front with my assault rifle.

Six-direction attack. The enemy has no choice but to stop and block with Shield Pieces.

(Got her.)

I place the last Bullet Piece I kept above my head and fire.

Then I immediately draw the G-AGE from my hip holster and fire rapidly like a gunslinger. The live round hides behind the laser bullet. Naturally, the enemy blocks the Bullet Piece's shot with a Shield Piece, and the following live round is also blocked.

"What!?"

The G-AGE penetrates everything except lasers. The fired bullet pierces the Shield Piece and drills into the center of the Space Girl's chest, one of her weak points.

——All clear.

"All targets eliminated! No noticeable damage!"

'Well done, Shiki-cchi!'

Where the enemy units fell, a green case drops. It's similar to the silver cases that drop when Machine World Beasts are defeated.

I approach the case and open it. Inside pop out two repair kits and one grenade.

(Drop items.)

In Rank Match, getting killed makes you drop the consumable items you earned in the match. These are the items the Space Girl I just defeated had picked up. I'll gratefully accept them.

'I can rendezvous soon. Niko-san—'

'Ah~ I've been caught by a troublesome one.'

Through the communicator, I hear the startup sound of Wings.

"That sound... it can't be!"

Kurenai-san...!?

"Sheena-san! I'm fine here, so head for Niko-san..."

'That's impossible. To reach the town where Niko-san is, you have to cross the big bridge. The bridges on this map are also called checkpoints, often camped by snipers and bombers. Breaking through alone is... difficult.'

No way...!

'It's fine. All I have to do is beat this guy one-on-one.'

Kurenai-san is strong. Niko-san is strong too, but my personal impression is that Kurenai-san is slightly above.

Still, it's only a slight difference. There's a good chance of taking the win.

(Niko-san...!)

All I can do now is believe in Niko-san's strength.