Chapter 22: Wave (4)
At most, there were only ten flying beasts approaching.
I could have shot them down at any time, but instead, I waited.
Waited for them to deliver my gifts.
[Kiiieeeeeeek!]
—Buzzzzz. Buzzzzz.
The shrill screeches and the hum of insect wings grew louder.
There was no reason to be afraid.
At the end of the day, these things were nothing more than oversized sparrows, pigeons, or houseflies.
The distance between us shrank—
500m.
350m.
200m.
Now, they were practically right in front of me.
That was when I finally raised my Ark-15 automatic rifle.
"Thanks for the delivery."
"Now, I'll let you rest."
—Click.
The moment I aimed my rifle; the flying beasts and giant insects suddenly shifted their flight paths.
A last-minute evasive maneuver.
A typical move for airborne monsters.
Of course—
In front of me, it was nothing more than pointless theatrics.
'Too predictable.'
Did they really think that such a simple feint could make me miss at this distance?
'Left wing folded— in two seconds, it'll veer three meters to the right.'
I had played The Defense for far too long.
The behavioral patterns of nearly every beast and monster were as clear as day to me.
I knew what they would do before they even did it.
—Bang!
My first shot pierced the wing of a Grade 9 Flying-class beast.
Its body wobbled midair as its wings flailed desperately.
At this distance, I could have blown its head off instantly, but I deliberately avoided a fatal shot.
'I can't risk damaging my loot.'
A purely practical reason.
[Kiiieeeek!]
Realizing their evasion tactics were useless,
The beasts and insects all charged at me at once.
Even though I could have shot them down midair,
I only aimed for their wings, forcing them to descend closer to the ground.
—Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
Firing in full-auto mode was an entirely different skill from precision sniping.
I had to control recoil, track moving targets, and land accurate shots—all at once.
In some ways, this required even greater skill than long-range sniping.
But—
'I can handle it.'
I didn't go through all the trouble of min-maxing my shooting abilities for nothing.
Not to mention, my enhanced strength and endurance far surpassed the average Red Line soldier,
allowing me to effortlessly control the recoil.
[Kiiieeeeeeek!]
One by one, holes pierced through the wings of the flying beasts and insects.
They began to fall.
But I controlled my shots carefully, ensuring that they didn't drop instantly— just enough to make them spiral downward.
100m.
70m.
50m.
They descended—
But they never reached me.
Because at this point, they were no longer flying.
They were falling.
—BOOM!
One by one, the arrogant predators that once ruled the skies crashed into the dirt.
—THUD!
—THUMP! THUMP!
[Kiiiiii….]
With their wings shredded,
The once-mighty flying beasts
Were now nothing more than helpless worms.
The giant insects were even worse off—
Unlike flying beasts, whose wings were merely riddled with holes,
The insect wings had been completely incinerated by my Shatter Rounds.
'Well, that's not my problem.'
Now that they were on the ground,
They were no longer my concern.
—Click.
I finally aimed for their heads.
—Bang!
A final gunshot.
[You have slain a Grade 9 Flying-class Mutated Cormorant.]
[Damage against Grade 9 Mutated Cormorants increases by 0.05%.]
—Buzzzzz!
Watching the massacre unfold,
The giant insects flailed their burnt wings in a frenzy,
But without them, they were nothing more than oversized caterpillars.
[You have slain a Grade 9 Insect-class Meliai.]
[Damage against Grade 9 Meliai increases by 0.05%.]
With every last beast dead,
I calmly walked toward the fallen soldiers.
I had worked so hard to avoid damaging my loot—
Now, it was time to claim my reward.
"A shame they didn't survive, but…"
I had called them "gift packages" earlier, but in truth, I did feel some regret for their deaths.
Ark constantly suffered manpower shortages.
Every time a Wave hit,
Countless soldiers died.
And with each new stage,
Ark weakened—
While the beast horde only grew stronger.
It was what made The Defense such a brutally difficult game.
"But there's nothing I can do about that."
No amount of sympathy would bring them back to life.
What I needed to do now was maximize my gains.
"Let's see what we've got here."
There were seven bodies.
I began stripping their weapons and equipment one by one.
"Hmm..."
Despite all my efforts to be careful, most of the soldiers' firearms were damaged beyond use.
It wasn't from the fall—
Rather, the gunfire from their own allies was what had rendered them useless.
"Even Ark-made shape-memory alloy couldn't withstand this kind of damage..."
A shame.
A real shame.
However—
Not all their gear was destroyed.
I managed to find one functional firearm among them.
──────────────
[Ark-15 Auto-Conversion Rifle MK.2] [★★★★ (4-Star)]
—An upgraded version of Ark's standard-issue Auto-Conversion Rifle MK.2.
—Fire rate has been increased by 1 level.
—Can switch between Assault Rifle, Anti-Materiel Sniper, and Shotgun modes.
"View Details"
──────────────
"An upgraded weapon!"
Each time an Ark-15 Auto-Conversion Rifle was upgraded, it allowed one stat to be increased by a single level.
This one had fire rate boosted.
A lucky find.
'Not bad at all.'
Unable to hide my excitement,
I immediately checked its detailed stats.
──────────────
"Detailed Stats"
Attack Power: ★★★ (3-Star)
Fire Rate: ★★★(+★) (4-Star)
Bullet Speed: ★★★ (3-Star)
Range: ★★★ (3-Star)
Stopping Power: ★★★ (3-Star)
──────────────
"It would've been best if Attack Power got upgraded, but... this isn't bad either."
Fire Rate, alongside Attack Power, was one of the biggest contributors to DPS.
In terms of MK.2 upgrade priorities, this was 'the second-best possible outcome.'
"Let's see what else we've got..."
Even though this was the only intact firearm, it didn't mean everything else was useless.
Many of the weapon attachments were still usable.
──────────────
[A-01 Muzzle Stabilizer] [★ (1-Star)]
—A muzzle attachment that reduces recoil.
"View Details"
──────────────
"I've never had trouble managing recoil, but... better to have it than not."
Assuming you could always be at peak physical and mental condition was pure arrogance.
You never knew what could happen in battle.
So, any extra stability was a welcome bonus.
'And this... this is useful.'
──────────────
[SW-01 Swap-Type Magazine] [★★ (2-Star)]
—A dual-chambered magazine capable of holding two different ammo types.
—Pressing a button allows instant ammo switching.
"View Details"
──────────────
A Swap-Type Magazine.
It allowed me to carry two different types of ammo and switch between them instantly with a button press.
Most players saw it as a gimmick, since it cut total ammo capacity in half.
But for me?
"This will make things so much easier."
Swapping magazines wasn't hard, but compared to simply pressing a button, it was unnecessary effort.
And that wasn't all.
What I found next…
Was on an entirely different level.
At first glance, I wasn't even sure if I should call it a weapon attachment.
But technically—
It did attach to the Ark-15 Auto-Conversion Rifle's underbarrel.
'This… this is insane.'
I never expected to find something like this intact.
──────────────
[NO-13 Grenade Launcher] [★★★ (3-Star)]
—An underbarrel-mounted grenade launcher.
"View Details"
──────────────
It was only 3-Star, but that didn't matter.
What mattered was that I now had an entirely new attachment for the Ark-15 Auto-Conversion Rifle.
And not just any attachment—
A grenade launcher.
They were notoriously fragile and prone to malfunctions.
I never dreamed I'd find one fully intact.
"Underbarrel grenade launchers have one major drawback—limited grenade capacity. But for me…"
Did grenades count as bullets?
There might be some debate on that.
But I didn't need to bother with technicalities.
I'd simply 'find out for myself.'
***
Read 80+ chapters ahead!
Patreon(.)com/SiRoasa