Kim Pil-sang, a sniper from one Earth, couldn’t believe the reaction caused by that massive robot.
‘It blocked my railgun strike?’
As an S-rank Hunter, he had defeated countless bosses with that one skill:
<Railgun Sniping>.
Even if the opponent were a Hunter controlling a giant mana-stone robot, built from the last hope of humanity from another Earth, it didn’t matter.
If it meant earning Tower Coins, he would do anything.
Since there was no longer a foundation to earn Tower Coins in his own world, if he wanted more, he had no choice but to ambush the newly ascended newbies and take theirs.
A form of PK.
– Your actions are extremely selfish and harmful to the Babel conquest! Cease your attack!
– Yeah, sure. Then give me a quest that lets me earn Tower Coins instead!
While the administrators who wished for Babel to be conquered disapproved of wiping out new entrants before they even joined the frontlines, there was no other option.
Tower Coins could only be earned by conquering the Towers.
Babel was a massive Tower, but if one couldn’t reach the top, it wouldn’t count as a full conquest, and if someone had already claimed all the Tower Coins from it, there was no other way to earn more.
So—
Kim Pil-sang gathered all his mana and fired his railgun.
A skill that could kill any boss—maybe not in one hit, but three or four at most. He aimed it at the Newbie.
From 4 kilometers away.
It was such extreme range that even calling it “long-distance” was a stretch, but even at such distances, Kim Pil-sang had taken out many bosses before.
The strike hit the Newbie, and even if the Newbie were to fall and be nagged by Babel’s fairies or receive penalties, Kim Pil-sang planned to snatch some Tower Coins.
‘There was no damage at all!’
A direct hit didn’t land.
Not only did it fail to strike the body, but the Newbie activated an energy shield, deflecting the attack—and even saved a Japanese S-rank Hunter in the process.
Dangerous.
There were rare Newbies strong enough to be deployed immediately to the frontlines, but this robot was in a different league. A truly dangerous entity.
He shouldn’t have made an enemy of it.
If he had even the slightest doubt, he shouldn’t have attacked.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have the power to turn back time.
That sort of transcendent ability might work on another Earth where Awakened could use it, but not in a place like Babel, which resembled a parallel space.
The only powers usable in Babel were those awakened on Earth, earned through conquering Towers—skills, abilities, and combat experience.
Therefore, since Kim Pil-sang had already attacked the giant robot, he had only two choices.
Either run and never be found—or fight to the end and win.
“Damn…!”
First, run.
If that giant thing even jumped, he’d be caught in no time—
“?!”
His vision darkened.
Something like a heatwave shimmered in front of him, freezing his body in place, as a holographic display appeared before his eyes.
The massive robot he targeted.
Something resembling a new part attached to its shoulder, and from that part, two artillery barrels extended.
“No way, is that to…!”
Was it preparing to snipe him?
That thought flashed through his mind—but that wasn’t all.
He’d been locked-on.
He couldn’t shake the overwhelming sense that the enemy’s strike was absolutely going to hit him.
“Tsk…!”
Relying on instincts honed through countless battlefields, Kim Pil-sang deployed a barrier.
If he couldn’t dodge, he had to block it with mana—
“Huh?”
From the corner of his vision.
As the yellow blast shot out from the turrets, two massive fists—previously hanging like cannons—launched toward him.
The distance was 4 kilometers.
No—he had even run further to widen the gap, so it was far more than that.
And yet, the fists reached him in an instant.
“K-Kurgh?!”
Caught.
The two hands clasped together, gripping him tightly, then swung up and down like a hammer, slamming him into the ground.
Boom! Boom! BOOM—!
He thought maybe only the fists would break from the impact, but Kim Pil-sang realized something.
“This…!”
What the fists were smashing wasn’t his physical body—but his mana.
If the attack continued, all his mana would be shattered, making him permanently unable to climb the Tower again.
He already couldn’t afford to buy an <Elixir> with Tower Coins—
If he lost all his mana now—
“U-Uwaaaaaah!!”
Kim Pil-sang used all his strength to escape the crushing fists.
He leapt high into the sky, breaking free from the ground-pounding strikes, soaring upward.
“Ha! That all you’ve got…?”
The hologram on his retina didn’t disappear.
As if it had predicted Kim Pil-sang’s trajectory, the robot clenched its fists and took a peculiar stance, despite the absurd distance between them.
“That pose—surely not—”
It was preparing a straight punch, aimed directly at him.
Of course, that punch shouldn’t physically reach him.
But the robot wasn’t punching Kim Pil-sang—
It was aiming at a mana sphere forming in front of it.
The moment its fist slammed into the sphere, the sphere spiraled like a bullet—
And flew straight at Kim Pil-sang.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me.”
At that moment, he knew—
He couldn’t dodge this.
KWA-AAAAANG!!
Critical!!
120,459!!
Along with an incomprehensible number, Kim Pil-sang saw his face appear in the top-right corner of his screen.
[Kim Pil-sang: I-I’m such an idiot! Me, of all people!!]
Shouting like some low-tier mob before death, the number <HP 12,500 / 12,500> started to plummet rapidly.
BOOM!
A pink explosion erupted, accompanied by a crackling sound, and Kim Pil-sang lost consciousness.
* * *
“Phew.”
A moment later and he would’ve gotten away.
‘Adjusting the long-range parts to max and firing from a distance was the right call.’
Speeding up Justice to chase him was an option too—but doing so wouldn’t have sent the right message.
‘That bastard wasn’t the only one thinking of sniping us from afar.’
He was just one of them.
But it’s unlikely he was the only one currently eyeing Justice.
[Partner. I sense gazes—sinister men aiming at the cockpit where you sit!]
“Yeah, I feel it too.”
Same for Yui Otohara, the other Hunters, and the S-rank Hunters from my own world.
“They fight with their own bodies, while I’m piloting a giant robot—of course they’d be curious.”
Unlike the powers they wield, mine was on a completely different scale.
It’s only natural that they’d be envious of Justice, the overwhelming force I control.
A gaze drawn to Justice alone.
If it were Elaine, they’d just think she was an S-rank Hunter who cosplays as a maid.
If it were Drei, they’d assume she was a handgun-specialist support type who joined Babel.
Kiharu, Illinois, and Justice are exceptions.
Even in this place that spans countless Earths, there’s probably no other Hunter fighting alongside a super robot like I am.
Which is why—
They’ll want it even more.
‘It’s someone else’s world, after all.’
Even if they show their face in Babel and get caught, if they succeed in a so-called “rip-off”—
If they steal my machine and return to their world, would I be able to chase them to another Earth to get it back?
“Hey, Miss Yui Otohara.”
“Y-Yes?!”
Her tone changed.
Her whole “perfect maid” persona was already falling apart, and in her gaze toward me now, I could see faint fear and dread.
“Do you know anything about the man who was fleeing earlier—Kim Pil-sang?”
“Ah, yes! If it’s that name… he’s <Railgun>!”
“Railgun?”
“He’s a ranged DPS who uses magic to fire his sniper like a railgun! He’s from a different Earth than me, um…”
“What is it?”
“Well, I heard that on his world, North Korea… uh…”
“Ah.”
Well, damn.
“What kind of mess is this place.”
I just ironblooded a Hunter from a unified North Korean peninsula.
“Think they’ll come for revenge?”
“It’s possible, but… there’s no way to launch an attack from their side. If someone leaves Babel’s gate, they basically log out and return to their original world.”
“Logout, huh. Interesting.”
Even though this space feels so grounded in reality, using a word like “logout” gives it an oddly nostalgic feel.
“Alright then, Miss Otohara? I’ll give you some Tower Coins—how about you share everything you know?”
“H-How much do you have…?”
“…Want to know? Then 50,000 Tower Coins—”
Beep!
Tower Coins were deposited.
She bounced the smartphone I had just handed her in her hand and gave me a silent but firm look.
“…Not telling.”
“HUH!?!?”
Tower Coins.
“Why should I tell you, exactly?”
I have quite a lot.
“I’m not obligated to share. But… if you tell me the average assets of Hunters in Babel, I could give you, say, 100,000 Tower Coins.”
“T-The average is about 50 billion!”
“…Ah, I see.”
50 billion Tower Coins, huh.
“That’s a lot.”
My current Tower Coin balance.
“Wow, 50 billion?”
2 trillion.
“Miss Yui Otohara.”
“Y-Yes?!”
“You’ll be Alice for a bit.”
“Huh…?”
[A-Ah?! Is it finally my turn?!]
A real-time, experience-compressed guide from someone else is far better than any tutorial from a control AI.
