Broken Ranker Devours Myths - Chapter 14

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Broken Ranker

Devours Myths

 

Chapter 14

Condensed Lightning (4)

 

 

 

[Fatigue: 90]

[Warning! You are currently approaching a near-death state beyond severe injury. Please rest.]

[Warning!]

…

 

Lee Hyeon took deep breaths while looking at the messages densely filling his vision.

The difference between fatigue levels 89 and 90 was enormous.

His vision was too dizzy.

At this rate, he felt like he might lose consciousness if he wasn’t careful.

Still, Lee Hyeon kept staring at the message window as if searching for something.

However,

‘It’s not there.’

The message Lee Hyeon had been hoping for didn’t appear.

“Maybe the conditions aren’t just this?”

The resistance Lee Hyeon had wanted ultimately didn’t manifest.

He wondered if he should raise his fatigue level a bit more, or perhaps look for other conditions,

「Stop thinking useless thoughts and finish the Quest first, you brat!」

Son Wukong, who had been silently watching Lee Hyeon, suddenly shouted angrily.

「I don’t know what you’re aiming for, but with your current stats, if you push any further you’ll be heading straight to the afterlife, got it? If you want to die that badly, should I help you out? Huh?」

In the end, Lee Hyeon had to take a step back.

‘Let’s end the first attempt here and aim for the next opportunity.’

There was nothing wrong with Son Wukong’s words.

If his fatigue accumulated any further, his magic circuits that had just begun to recover would be damaged. Then it would truly be irreversible.

Lee Hyeon finally drank a potion he hadn’t been drinking until now.

 

[You have consumed a Recovery Potion. ‘Sacred Relic: Ruyi Jingu Bang’ interacts to enhance recovery.]

 

The scars all over his body began to heal. His fatigue level decreased rapidly and his eyes cleared.

“Phew…”

「Really trying to die by doing all sorts of crazy shit. All sorts of crazy shit, huh?」

“Thanks to this, I was able to climb up this fast, wasn’t I? I’ve built up enough power to destroy an entire raid party.”

「Your skill at running your mouth is truly amazing. When we first met, you seemed to have a quiet side to you?」

Son Wukong was quite displeased with Lee Hyeon, who now kept arguing back at everything he said.

Snort.

Lee Hyeon let out a dry laugh and drew his axe again, approaching Heo Se-woon’s corpse.

「What are you trying to do now? Take out your anger on the guy you killed?」

“Why would I bother with something like that?”

Lee Hyeon smiled.

“After fighting to our heart’s content, it’s time to farm.”

「…?」

Son Wukong tilted his head, not understanding what Lee Hyeon meant.

 

* * *

 

「Acquiring spoils of war is certainly a warrior’s natural right, but… I think you’re the first guy I’ve seen who examines and collects everything so thoroughly?」

“I’m very poor. I’m going to take everything I can get.”

Lee Hyeon not only took the equipment Heo Se-woon had, but also completely organized and put everything from the other raid members into his inventory.

‘I thought there might be something good since he’s the Guild Leader of Myeongga Guild’s younger brother. There was something much better than I expected.’

 

[Moonlit Brooch]

Ancient Celtic heroes sometimes possessed small bags that could hold everything. These bags are often depicted in the form of accessories or ornaments.

-Type: Inventory. Miscellaneous.

-Origin: Folk tale ‘The Secret Pouch of Tara’

 

Subspace function items, commonly called inventories, boasted tremendously expensive prices.

They could lighten the body and easily store various byproducts from dungeons.

However, the manufacturing process was very complicated, so even large guilds never entrusted inventory items to anyone other than professional porters.

So most Hunters couldn’t even dream of such things. Even if they somehow purchased one at an expensive price, it could only store one or two items at most.

But what Heo Se-woon had was large capacity.

Thanks to this, Lee Hyeon could comfortably store all the items he had farmed.

‘Most of them will have to be processed as stolen goods. But there were still some personal items I can use right away.’

However, there was something that bothered him.

 

[Fossil of ■■■■ ■■■■]

A fossil of unknown identity.

It seems to harbor some secret.

-Type: Unknown.

-Origin: Unknown.

 

It appeared to be something Heo Se-woon originally had, but its appearance was different from ordinary stones.

First, it was as large as a person’s torso.

Its shape was also like an ostrich egg.

He wondered if it might be something like a divine beast’s egg, but it had weathered too long to identify. The same was true even when examined with Golden Eyes of Truth.

Still, seeing how he had even put safety measures on it in case it broke, there seemed to be something to it…

‘Let’s keep it for now. The fact that he treasured it this much means there must be some reason for it.’

Lee Hyeon organized his thoughts about the fossil and turned his attention to the spoils he had been most eyeing.

It was the Yellow Wind Monster.

Lee Hyeon drew a small dagger.

「…Where on earth did you learn such techniques?」

Slice! Slice!

His old nemesis was being dismantled piece by piece. Son Wukong watched with a disgusted expression before asking.

“Do you know what the most annoying thing about being in the military is?”

「What?」

“The higher-ups always provide supplies sparingly.”

「…」

“So what choice do we have? We have to find ways to be self-sufficient.”

Lee Hyeon separately sorted the finger parts and staff of the Yellow Wind Monster that had activated various skills.

“In that regard, boss mob corpses are the most profitable spoils of war. Master Dotcheol will be very pleased with a specimen like this.”

「The higher-ups being the problem remains the same now as it was back then.」

While Son Wukong grumbled, Lee Hyeon finished all his work and dusted off his hands.

“Now it’s finished. Let’s go.”

 

* * *

 

Lee Hyeon arrived at the oasis, the final point of the dungeon, together with Son Wukong.

A lake so vast it seemed out of place in this barren desert.

Lee Hyeon cupped the water in both hands and took a sip.

Instantly, his mind felt clear.

His fatigue seemed to vanish completely. His magic power also surged to its peak.

‘This is Spiritual Water.’

A type of elixir, it meant natural magic power transformed into liquid form.

This was the first time Lee Hyeon had seen Spiritual Water of such vast scale.

Just as he was wondering if he should drink more,

Ding!

 

[You have successfully cleared all dungeon Quests. As a reward, you have obtained a large amount of ‘■■■■’s Karma’.]

 

The main Quest reward.

Lee Hyeon could feel strength surging through his body once more.

Crack! Crackle!

 

[Your rank is rising.]

[Your body has been readjusted and all stats have increased by 10.]

[Your core has evolved one stage. Magic power efficiency has increased.]

 

The core that had absorbed the Spiritual Water underwent a transformation. It became larger and more solid.

About 1.5 times its previous size.

The flow of magic power became more intense.

‘If I had been greedier, it would have been dangerous. This is just right.’

But the dungeon rewards Lee Hyeon had expected weren’t over yet.

‘If this dungeon also has the arrangement of the Flower Fruit Mountain monkeys…!’

 

[You have achieved 99.6% of the conquest share. For achieving an overwhelming first place, you receive the ‘Samadhi Divine Wind Skill Book’ as an additional reward.]

 

‘As expected!’

Lee Hyeon looked back at Son Wukong.

Sure enough, there was an additional reward.

Son Wukong crossed his arms and snorted.

「What are you so surprised about? All of that was in my myth. Naturally, if you ‘properly’ comprehend it, it would naturally be inherited by you as my apostle, wouldn’t it?」

Those words meant he could only obtain such rewards by continuing to complete myths with overwhelming results.

While the difficulty would increase accordingly, it also meant the obtainable rewards would automatically grow larger, which came as great motivation to Lee Hyeon.

Even just Samadhi Divine Wind was an attractive technique. If mixed well with Condensed Lightning, it could produce decent effects.

‘Divine authorities of the main gods, plus the techniques of Son Wukong’s former enemies… I really could become endlessly stronger.’

Nothing could make Lee Hyeon happier than this.

‘Although I didn’t obtain the resistance I wanted, I can gradually learn more about the conditions for that. For now, let’s focus more on the Great Sage Equal to Heaven’s myth.’

Son Wukong was only gruff on the surface; the corners of his mouth were subtly turned up slightly.

 

[Based on ■■■■’s Karma, your communion level with the Ruyi Jingu Bang increases much higher.]

[You have become able to utilize the Golden Eyes of Truth much better.]

…

 

[The dungeon is beginning to close. All participants please retreat to the Safe Zone.]

 

Rumble!

The dungeon began to collapse.

“Great Sage.”

「What?」

Son Wukong stopped looking around with eyes filled with nostalgia and turned his head.

 

[10]

[9]

 

“Still, don’t you think I’m decent enough as a temporary apostle?”

What was he talking about?

Son Wukong crossed his arms and snorted.

「You’re still far from it.」

“Would it kill you to give me some praise…”

As Lee Hyeon was about to grumble, Son Wukong casually threw out a comment.

「But it was tolerable.」

“…!”

「So work harder, kid.」

 

[3]

 

Lee Hyeon’s eyes widened slightly.

And then,

 

[2]

 

“Yes.”

Lee Hyeon smiled.

 

[1]

[0]

[Count finished.]

[The dungeon is closing.]

 

* * *

 

Lee Hyeon returned to the hospital looking like a beggar.

Since it was so late, he tried to enter his hospital room very quietly, but,

“…Jin, Jin-woo hyung?”

The moment he turned on the light, Go Jin-woo was sitting on the bed with his arms crossed.

He thought it was a ghost.

“What time is it right now?”

“Hyung, weren’t you supposed to get off work…?”

“I should have gotten off work by now if things went normally. But someone who lives somewhere prevented me from getting off work. Want to die?”

Come to think of it, Go Jin-woo was wearing casual clothes for going out, not medical attire.

There was nothing worse you could do to an office worker than prevent them from getting off work.

Lee Hyeon immediately bowed his head down.

“I’m sorry!”

“I don’t know where you’ve been fooling around to come back looking like such a beggar, but this time I really need to break your legs so you can’t go anywhere…”

Lee Hyeon urgently shouted.

“I’m all better now.”

“What nonsense are you…!”

“It’s true. My curse, it’s all gone.”

“…!?”

“My magic circuits have recovered too.”

“Give me your hand.”

Go Jin-woo urgently grabbed Lee Hyeon’s wrist and checked his pulse.

Thump! Thump!

A vigorous heartbeat.

It contained powerful magic power.

“How on earth did you…!”

Go Jin-woo had also noticed that Lee Hyeon’s curse had finally started to break during the Monkey Den dungeon exploration.

But compared to then, only a single day had passed.

Yet there had been too great a change in just one day.

Go Jin-woo also examined Lee Hyeon’s physique.

Through the gaps in his tattered clothes, he could see a solidly built frame.

He had trained consistently before too, but the feeling it gave off was different.

Back then it felt like a sick person hiding their illness, but now it felt solidly forged.

It had the scent of a warrior.

Like seeing him back in his Thunder Unit days…

“I went to get my body checked. I can use magic power freely now, and my legs are completely healed.”

“…!”

Go Jin-woo grabbed the wrist of Lee Hyeon, who was casually hopping around on the spot.

“This won’t do. You need to get a thorough examination first…!”

“No. Not that.”

But Lee Hyeon carefully pushed Go Jin-woo’s hand away.

“Why? We need to check if there are any other side effects first!”

“And then what? Are you planning to spread rumors all over the neighborhood that Jet is back?”

“You missed your Thunder Unit days, didn’t you? You could go back! Even if not that, there are many among your old comrades who are curious about your news, so we could do something…!”

“What if Ye-bin or Chang-woo find out too?”

Go Jin-woo immediately shut his mouth tight.

Na Ye-bin. Seo Chang-woo.

Names he could never forget.

The bastards who had taken his friend from him, and his older brother from Lee Hyeon.

“I need to catch those bastards. But if they find out my body has healed, I won’t be able to catch them. Or rather, those bastards will come to catch me.”

Go Jin-woo couldn’t answer that he was wrong.

Na Ye-bin had completely disappeared without a trace, but Seo Chang-woo was still actively operating out in the open.

No, now ‘Xu Changyou’ would be the correct name. It had already been over three years since he naturalized to China.

As an apostle of the Jade Emperor, he was known to enjoy tremendous popularity in the Chinese-speaking region.

“Even though my body has healed, I haven’t recovered my abilities from my Jet days yet. No, even if I do recover them, I’m not sure if I could catch Chang-woo right away.”

Seo Chang-woo, who had boasted tremendous growth based on the Sacred Relic obtained from the Snow Queen, was now one of China’s top high rankers.

There were rumors that he would soon challenge for the top 9,000 rankers, so even Lee Hyeon was being cautious.

Eventually Go Jin-woo let out a long sigh.

“So you’re going to hide as much as possible and rebuild your body first?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you have a place for that? You know better than anyone that this industry, despite its size, is incredibly small, right?”

Dungeons for awakening outstanding abilities were limited in number. And such places were usually managed by large guilds.

In other words, rumors about Lee Hyeon would inevitably spread someday.

For now, Na Ye-bin and Seo Chang-woo wouldn’t pay any attention to this side, but what if they happened to take a look?

Or if the name Jet rose to prominence again?

Could he block their interference even then?

However,

“Hyung, I’m Jang Lee Hyeon. I’m Jet. You think I’d move that carelessly?”

Go Jin-woo couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh at Lee Hyeon’s confident attitude.

He remembered what kind of guy Lee Hyeon was.

“Those bastards don’t have much time left to sleep peacefully, is that it?”

“Obviously.”

Eventually, Go Jin-woo, who had been agonizing, also made his decision.

“Fine. If you’re saying this much and I don’t help, Su-chan will raise hell later, won’t he? I want to see those bastards’ faces get crushed anyway. So, what should I help you with first?”

Lee Hyeon saw Go Jin-woo’s eyes sharpen and smiled as he handed over the Inventory Brooch.

“What’s this?”

“Stolen goods. Please dispose of them quietly. I need a large sum of money. Are you still in contact with ‘that side’?”

Go Jin-woo’s expression changed strangely.

“I could if I tried, but it’s been a while since I last did… Let me try to establish contact again first and then tell you. I can’t say anything definite right now.”

He said it was difficult but didn’t ask where the stolen goods came from.

Lee Hyeon was always grateful for Go Jin-woo’s such consideration.

“Tell them I’ll supply 20 A-Grade Magic Stones and 5 S-Grade Magic Stones every month from now on. They’ll come running like crazy dogs drooling all over themselves.”

“Are you insane? How could you maintain such a schedule…!”

Go Jin-woo was about to say something, but seeing Lee Hyeon’s eyes, he shut his mouth tight.

Eventually he stuffed the brooch into his inner pocket.

“Ah, damn it, I don’t know. I’m only doing this because you’re telling me to. Since it seems urgent, I’ll get going first.”

Go Jin-woo pulled his cap down low and left the hospital room first.

Lee Hyeon, left alone in the room, opened the drawer and took out a note he had stored separately that morning.

 

-Please contact me when your body recovers.

 

Below the dry, cursive writing, a business card was hidden.

 

Im Won-young

White Burn│Dungeon Strategy Department Team A Leader

010-2XXX-XXXX

 

Lee Hyeon quietly took out his phone.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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