Summary:

One-shot, one kill. These words are associated with trained snipers all over the world.

In reality, I am one of them and the training I had since childhood made me who I am as a sniper when I first tried to shoot a safe gun designed for target shooting for people all ages at the age of 6.

The interesting game, Infinite Dendrogram? I am one too there, they don't even know my face because of that mask I wore.

Unlike the 'inferior' quality snipers in that game who failed to take down a moving target when I observed them with my scope at that time, I showed them, including the Infinite Dendrogram community, what a real one with real-life training, in the words of gamers, a pro, can do.

Seriously though, at one time in my Infinite Dendrogram life around the time I started playing, there's this group who asked me such a question of why I am able to grasp it and what's the secret.

I teasingly gave them a reply: "Family tradition dating back to the American Revolutionary War, all thanks to my ancestor who recreated and kept the written accounts that'll later become known as sniping today. Now, now, everything's classified if you ask what kind of training I've been through including real life."

Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Harem, Romance, Slice of life

Tags: Alternate World / Alternate Universe, Childhood Friends, Childhood Love, Original Character MC, Original Character Heroine(s), Younger Love Interests, Older Love Interests Protagonist Strong from the Start, R-15, Polygamy, Unique Weapons User, Secret Organizations

A/N: Discord Link - 5zKT5MFPEY

Note to remember: Besides this site, this anime fanfic is also available in Web Novel, Wattpad, Scribblehub, Ao3, and Foxteller.

Volume 2 -Der Beginn der legende

The Last Bounty Assignment

Chilling in one of the restaurants, having finished eating salmon sushi, miso ramen, and consuming tea, undisguised, I left the restaurant for a sniping spot for my today's 'assignment' as I went to one of the darker alleys to use the optical camouflage.

The 'assignment' was Yuu Haneda, the bad kind of unruly captain of late daimyo's cavalry unit who he was part of until I assassinated his lord last week in real-life time. This Haneda behind the scenes was wanted for his affiliation with the pirates and engaged in sales of contraband items including kidnapping.

The reward of his death, it'll be 15,000 lir, and a blueprint of a hybrid West-East style mansion. He was a dangerous man because he had a group of 15 fairly-dressed companions with him if you go head on. But for my approach, he'll be an easy pick.

Positioned at the window of a house, I unlocked the safety of the weapon that was part of my embryo, a growth-type normal type of sniper rifle that had grown into an upgraded and modernized clone of M1903 Springfield chambered in GP11 due to these last 3 months and 2 weeks after I received my embryo who rewarded with me 5 growth-type weapons and ideal universal combat armor.

The nature of my embryo was on the lines of providing me the tools I needed and an anomaly because combined with The Ghost job, it made me a master, a pseudo-one-man army commando specialized in frontline, assassinations, stealth, and infiltration. The only drawback was the amount of money I needed for the weapons for them to consume and reach its potential that almost cost me a wallet if not for me taking weapons and materials from my hunting and working as a bounty hunter.

'A couple more.' Watching them moving and moving, I waited for them to stop at the middle of the road where there was no person blocking the range and caught.

'Perfect.' In sync, I pressed the trigger as the bullets flew off from various directions the moment I fired.

'Good night.' Using the optical camouflage, I left the spot.

"Yo, Hotaru!" greeted Magoichi. "You up to hit...I mean rescue the beautiful ladies and damsels in distress from bandits?"

"Sorry Magoichi, I have a fair share of ladies from my side. All beautiful and I love them very much." I said to him as I looked up to see a fresh slap mark on his face. "Besides, if they were here, assumingly, they'll think the same thing as I. "

'That I prefer real life girls than a worlder all day.' I mentally added to myself.

"Oh come on!" said Magoichi. "At least try it! It's your last day here!"

"Look, Magoichi, I respect your skills as your fellow sharpshooter but you can't change my mind that easily because I have...preferences. Now if you excuse me, I believe it's time for me to go now. Goodbye, Magoichi. Thank you for looking after me in Saika. Stay well and live, okay? Should I return, I'll be at Gideon first." Standing up, I offered a handshake which he gladly took.

"Sure, Hotaru." replied Magoichi. "One last thing though before you leave for the West."

"What is it, Mago?" I asked him in a friendly manner and called him by his nickname.

"Can you at least show me your true face behind the mask, please?"

'There goes his curiosity. I'm like a better version of Kakashi Hatake but had a face reveal to a friend.' I thought before answering. "Okay. Don't blink."

'Open.'

"Well, well, well, you are as good looking as me just as I suspected. Ladies would go for you because of your fox ears." jokingly commented Magoichi.

"Maybe..." I teased back. "But I'm confidently sure it'll be a dead center hit just like the time I showed you how I sniped fireflies at night without a scope."

"Haha, no wonder you are called Hotaru."

We both laughed.

Having arrived at the guild counter with the request paper specified for me, I sighed a bit before smiling.

'7 months passed irl, huh? It's been a while since I last contacted Francis.' The request was about Black Sparrow setting up a deal in Gideon, a city known as Duel City under the jurisdiction of Altar, the land of knights in this world.

From what I remember, Altar itself was like the Western country from real life. One of the clients I talked to as "Hotaru" who gave me a hit on the pirates five months ago rl time, told me the country itself was ruled by the Altar Royal Family. He also told me that it had abundant resources including metals alongside fertile soil which probably made me think, knowing the company, the Black Sparrow, wanted a piece of location for it and to introduce their goods and products.

"Okay, I accept the job." I said in a low-key voice, aware of my disguised voice in courtesy of my embryo.

"Great, send him in. Oh-he's here. Didn't notice him finishing a small ale."

Looking in that direction, I saw the same man who I worked with since my first day of playing Dendro.

The man himself hasn't changed at all for the last 3 months after we parted. He had his two 1911 hidden concealed in his person. Like Magoichi Saika I met in Dendro, he's a good man, an excellent sharpshooter of his own league, and can turn off the light from a candle with a single bullet from a pistol and a rifle like me.

He's Francis Hastings of Black Sparrow, the man from Sakai whose family in Tenchi introduced and improved firearms.

"Business as usual, eh, Francis?" I greeted.

"Yes." replied Francis. "The 'man' himself told me you made a name for yourself as a warrior and a myth. He also told me he was impressed that someone assassinated the zealous retarded daimyo with a clean headshot including wiping out the cult of religious political crazies."

"Not a fan of a religion honestly including them going political and think it's their right to speak when in reality they're hypocrites." I stoically replied, putting down the memory of my hit assignments involving a 'cleansing' of a shady religious cult in Tenchi that left me a bad taste after the discovery similar to what happened to real-life religion including the Roman Catholic Church in Pre-Global Pandemic Philippines and elsewhere. "I've seen enough things behind closed doors. The last thing I need to see will be some almost-powerful religion not helping the war effort because of a state government refusing the demand of their religion to be a state religion."

"Right..." commented Francis. "Now, please follow me to the harbor. Our ride's there."

"Okay."

In what appeared to be like 45 minutes or more than that because of numerous escort ships and me having a day of sniping at the hierarchy of pirates or whatever that was which was like me firing off at the target from a helicopter during the training drills in real life one time, we arrived at the harbor, located West of the Kingdom of Altar.

If I remember it right, the route we used was called Wez Sea Route.

"There's likely some bandits, or any. Not many had a possession in firearms and rifles in this continent, correct?" I asked.

"Maybe. But you know the drills and common sense." replied Francis

"Very well, I'll go ahead to clear up some threats. I bought plenty of maps." I said.

Summoning my trusty steed, Jade Storm, to ride on, I used its ability, Storm Acceleration, for me to fly like an aircraft which was ideal for me to snipe the enemies below while I'm literally airborne.

Jade Storm, when I won him from the gacha two months ago, had an arrogant view because of its excellent specs. The mechanical bicorn bastard when I first summoned him had this annoying behavior until I tortured him enough and shared stories from my world of great men and civilizations falling from pride to peg down his arrogance. It would have been a waste of money if I left him but that's the method I used.

For his specs, I named him Matsukaze because he's that fast and mobile. At one time, I originally intended to name him, "Arrogant McAsshole" for the waves of laughter and lolz but decided not to because that's too much should the future masters ask me the name of this good useful bastard should I get spotted with him.

Now airborne, for sniping, I switched to my sniper rifle.

"Time for fly fishing." I said with a glint as I saw the targets down below in courtesy of my embryo's ability. "Matsukaze, my partner and my friend, you know what to do for this 'hunting' scenario."

My trusty steed grunted in approval.

Now in a sniping position with safety off, as I looked down literally, watching the bandits lying in wait for their scout or any rubbish involved with bandits, I readied my trigger as I softly muttered. "No matter what part of the world, there's still unlawful criminals."

BANG!

"Time to end this." Through willpower and mental command, 4 units of hovering sniper rifle drones with cameras appeared as I locked on the targets as they aimed their barrels in the direction I desired.

'Synchronized Chain Shot.'

'I can't believe character reset is not allowed in the first place because of that darn tech. The embryo will remain the same after reset. Oh well, at least I told Francis that I'll be gone.' Looking at the empty cup of consumed brewed tea as I thought about the growth of the embryo and the weirdness it gave me in Dendro performance-wise last 7 months I started playing, I shifted my attention to my two girls whose 'assets' I sensed from my arms with Caro herself playing a relaxing tune using her violin.

The looks of their faces like before were small smiles of satisfaction and enjoyment including Caroline.

"Bernie, Caro, Mari, it seems you three were almost parallel to each other in a way that I am seeing mirror versions." I jokingly commented.

"Maybe." said the blonde, one of my friends in AISC who was a school idol of our alma mater, Marina "Mari" Graham. "It's your fault, Darling. You have to take responsibility."

"Yeah." agreed Bernie. "You even achieved a harem ending by conquering us."

"I agree." agreed Caro.

I smiled as I initiated my teasing. "My beautiful ladies, what can I say? I took responsibility through 'that' and looking after all of you. How can I say no to that? "

Looking at Mari first after saying that, her face was bright red as she shyly muttered. "Caesar, you ecchi."

"Me, ecchi?" I teasingly remarked. "Why? Let me drag you Mari-chan to join me in the shower and show you what ecchi is."

"..."

With the blonde off guard, I kissed her first before Bernie and Caroline.

Staring at Mari who was blushing compared to the time we shared our first kiss and 'that', I smiled at her as I gave her a head pat. "Girls, let's go. Everyone's waiting for us."

"Right, the picture taking." sheepishly said Bernie with her cute laugh as she then hugged me. "We're gonna miss you, Caesar."

"Me too, Bernie. I will miss everyone in our household. Always remember...look at the pictures we have."