My Sniper System

Chapter 21 - The Portal's Deceit

I had forgotten to eat and take a rest. After dealing with the previous portal, I immediately went straight toward a different portal and conquered it. Those portals were inside the city that appeared out of nowhere and away from citizens’ eyes. I had thought that these portals would catch the attention of the Crimson Guild, other guilds, and the government. Luckily for me, they didn’t. This place was my own domain. And the only one that had found it was me, with the help of social media. Since those cybernauts thought the sites introduced in the comment section were fakes, they didn’t bother checking the areas. And once the netizens claimed the portals were real, it was already too late. I had already conquered them.

Even though I spent countless hours inside the portals, I had only wasted a few minutes in the real world. And those minutes were the times I was travelling towards the designated place. I didn’t have any personal automobiles, so commuting on the trains and occasionally inside the buses was my only means.

The instructions were the same. I had to survive for two hours this time and fight back the monsters that dwelled in that place, while others remained the same as usual. Those portals asked me to defeat the monsters inside the area and clean it all up. And the treasure I kept receiving wasn’t anything special. It was the old and same weapons that lower-class adventurers could use and equip for themselves. I was a sniper, so these weapons weren’t for me.

I could only guess that the special event and the prize I won moments ago were just an illusion. And there were no unique treasures, to begin with. Even the social media accounts and commenters claimed that the guilds and the government hadn’t seen any Class-A and above portals. We were stuck with the Class-B portals and below, and they gave off lower rewards with low risk.

I had defeated ten portals, earned ten treasures, and spent roughly twenty hours inside those pocket dimensions. The last time I remembered eating a decent meal and sleeping on the bed was twenty-four hours ago. But even so, less than two hours had already passed by on Earth. Time was completely out of hand.

The portal did not differ from the one I had defeated earlier. But the monsters were different and stronger than the ones I faced from the Class-C dimension. It was as if the portal had learned about its mistakes. And that was the only thing new that I knew.

Instead of battling against worms, bats, goblins, and other creatures, my enemies became smarter individuals, had humanoid features, and stood five feet taller than me. The golems were just small fries. I was paired against a titan, which was still a golem made of stones and pebbles, but even worse. And there was a horde of them, chasing me down like a lone rabbit in the middle of the woods.

The winged creature I had recently battled were gargoyles around level 40 and above. Every monster I faced was around level 40 and higher, but never reached level 100. Maybe it was because level 100 was reserved for bigger bosses and special and challenging portals.

Everything went according to my plan. There was not a single conflict that obstructed my goal of conquering portals and collecting the treasures. At least, that was what I had expected.

However, that wall finally hit me.

Despite exterminating the creatures inside, I never levelled up. The experience bar right beside my name didn’t move an inch, even after killing thousands of them within minutes. I thought there was a glitch in my system. Usually, games had these problems where players couldn’t open anything. And in my terms, I couldn’t level up. Since I had linked myself and this system like a game, maybe the problem could be solved once I tamper with the settings.

After exiting my eleventh portal and receiving my eleventh treasure, the distorted portal kicked me out in the alley, devoid of anyone except the trash cans and cats roaming around the city for the nth time. I already lost count of how many times these portals tossed me like a stray dog. But I cared little about it. As long as I was far from the crowd’s eye, there should be nothing for me to worry about.

And then the thought crashed into me. The system sent me a panel and gave me a few instructions on dealing with my bottleneck, specifically for the level cap. Just like any other game, my character - which was me, had reached my maximum potential, like any other adventurers. But I could continue growing once I got past my level cap and resume levelling up until who knows when. However, I read the note inside the box and understood its contents for the time being.

[Congratulations on reaching the maximum level cap for a player with a system! Unfortunately, it would be best if you found better equipment to aid you in battles. Your character is a Class S sniper, so you need to find sniper weapons and replace your original/equipped weapon or upgrade the one you currently have. The system does not accept Military-grade weapons, standard handmade and machine-made weapons. The player shall find a blacksmith in order to use the sniper class and level up. It would be best if you could find materials dropped from the monsters inside the portals.]

The message was a lengthy paragraph. But it told me what I needed to do to break that barrier that hindered me from progressing to my levels. All I had to do was to find a blacksmith around these areas, pay for their work, and eventually buy the weapons I needed. If they also had a suit of armour, maybe I could spare some for emergency purposes.

I had already consumed two days since the time I left Hina from the hospital. I didn’t have any time to nap as I went towards the following objective. And this was my last portal.

Even though I had already retrieved eleventh treasures in total, this might not be enough for our daily expenses. The hospital fees paired with their procedures would cost a fortune. And there were also our meals that we needed to purchase and the necessities we needed to have throughout the rest of the months.

I was an adventurer. And I could defeat portals without exerting extra effort. However, it didn’t mean that Hina and I would idle around inside the house and wait for a miracle to happen. Money didn’t grow in trees, so we had to work our arse off and battle against these monsters every day. Risking my life was one thing, and the other was the legal aspect of my missions.

Everything that I had done so far was against the law. The prime minister and the Crimson Guild had already mentioned that entering the portals was something adventurers could only do. And adventurers who wished to partake in that mission were advised to apply for a guild and an adventurer’s identification card.

I didn’t have any. I was impatient enough to breach these portals, especially when I needed to pay the hospital bills prior to my deadline. Everything was against me. And I had to do what a brother would do to his loving sister.

“One more portal and I would return inside the hospital and rest for the time being… I just hope that the time inside wouldn’t greatly affect the real world. If it does, then I will have no other choice but to defeat the portal’s game,” I muttered to myself, while standing face to face against the portal.

My hands twitched at the thought of butchering every monster that would appear inside the portal. I couldn’t help but feel my legs wiggle in excitement, like a cat would do with its tail. The portal was in an isolated place, far from the city. If I could guess this site right, this land was a park or a shrine that only a few people would visit. It was the most distant area yet, which was still good for me.

As soon as I prepared everything, I entered the portal without a doubt and braced myself for impact. But instead of maintaining the shrine’s setting, I was transported back into the middle of the city. The usual crowd entered my sight, and none saw my existence. Just like before, I acted like a ghost.

“But this is strange… Why the hell am I even here?” I pondered, while looking around.

Within a few seconds, I came into turns that this place was just a portal and sent me to where there was a mass of people or human beings. Among all the settings it could choose, why was the city? I could be taken to any place, including overseas. But why had you chosen Japan as your area, portals… Why?

Perhaps there was a reason. And that reason came to me like a homing missile.

[An adventurer has entered the portals.]

[There are multiple portals in this dimension. Leaving the place is not allowed.]