Ranker Who Shatters Myths - Chapter 163
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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 163
Guam (8)
“A superstar, you say? Pahahahat! You really are a superstar, aren’t you?”
“Kakkakkat! Our boss came out looking so dignified! That mask suits you very well too! As expected, I gave you a truly excellent sacred relic!!”
Son Wukong clutched his belly and burst into laughter, while Sha Wujing gazed out the window with great satisfaction.
The room that Ramon Marquez had given him, saying he could rest comfortably.
It had a clear view overlooking Guam’s vast ocean and city, which was refreshing,
but thanks to that… the large electronic billboard in the distance was all too visible.
—All power gathers to Gwiroae.
The large electronic billboard designed like a temple facade had Gwiroae’s silhouette faintly visible on the central screen, with the emblems of main sponsors including the Slaughterhouse flashing on the pillars on both sides.
Lightning animations periodically flowed along the sponsor logos, converging toward Gwiroae in the center…
After installing that thing in just one day, what did Ramon say again?
Something about not only giving a message that many are joining forces to support one hero, but also declaring that the city of chaos is welcoming a new icon?
He had questioned what kind of nonsense that was, but Ramon answered so seriously that he eventually gave up.
‘If it’s necessary for business, there’s nothing I can say about it…’
But the most vicious part was that the sponsors’ names continuously scrolled up on the bottom LED panel like a betting scoreboard.
They even ranked them, so it seemed they were also advertising for the main sponsor, the Slaughterhouse.
It truly felt like witnessing the ultimate end of ruthless capitalist marketing.
“…Really, I never thought things would turn out like this. Sigh.”
Since it was installed while he was busy fighting the remnants of the City Cartel, there was no way to postpone it now.
“Still, well, you’re definitely getting the advertising effect you wanted, right? Let’s take comfort in that.”
The Collapse Demon King smiled bitterly while patting Lee Hyeon’s head with his small wing.
…It seemed like he couldn’t properly meet Lee Hyeon’s eyes and turned his gaze away, but let’s pretend not to notice.
His cheeks were also slightly flushed.
“If it weren’t for that, I would have immediately blown that thing up, saying it was an eyesore.”
“I see.”
“Sigh. It can’t be helped. Since it’s come to this, I have no choice but to see it through to the end.”
Lee Hyeon shook his head vigorously while removing his mask.
Although it had ventilation effects so his skin wouldn’t be damaged, wearing a mask for long periods was still an ordeal.
“Are you planning to go organize your magic power?”
“Yes. Since battles will probably continue non-stop from tomorrow onwards. I’ll be back shortly.”
The Collapse Demon King nodded readily.
“Alright. Don’t worry about here. And don’t overdo it yourself.”
“Thank you.”
Lee Hyeon gave a brief greeting and turned his gaze toward the table mirror.
Instantly, both his eyes turned golden.
Flash!!
[Activating ‘Sacred Relic: Golden Eyes of Truth’ to observe the inner mental world!]
A method he had developed at some point when he wanted to enter his consciousness world.
After doing this several times, his mind would feel refreshed as if he had meditated for a long time, and the effect was good.
Whoooosh!
Suddenly, Lee Hyeon’s vision twisted, and instead of the room, a world of blue ice appeared.
[Following the narrative of , you have entered the mental world!]
A snowstorm blew.
Beyond the snowfield, between two icebergs, an ice fortress stood tall.
Its scale was much larger than when he had seen it before.
It looked like the fortress he had seen in the four years ago.
No, it was that very fortress.
‘What was once like an enemy has now completely settled in my body…’
Perhaps he was the only person in the world who harbored a dungeon in his mental world.
With that thought, Lee Hyeon flew toward the ice fortress.
Whoosh!
* * *
“How many times have I explained that you don’t put that thing there!”
“And why did you leave that over there!”
“Bring it here. If we erect a beautiful statue here, even if enemies invade this place, they’ll have no choice but to bow their heads!”
The Snow Queen looked very busy.
Standing on the central platform, she was giving detailed instructions to guards and knights alike, making them carry things, carve stones, and use cranes to build castle walls.
Recently, she had rarely sent messages to the outside world.
It seemed she was putting all her effort into restoring the palace by using the vassals she had recovered after killing Xu Changyou.
No, at this level, it seemed more like expansion rather than restoration.
“Who exactly is supposed to invade this place?”
“Who dares to interfere with what I’m doing… Hm? What brings you here?”
The Snow Queen spotted Lee Hyeon and raised one eyebrow.
“To check on the thoughts. It seems like things will get hectic again soon.”
The Snow Queen crossed her arms and lifted her chin in a haughty pose.
“You really have a personality that can’t stay still for even a moment. Now that your revenge is over, you could rest a bit longer. Can’t you stand the peace and are stirring up trouble somewhere again?”
“I still have mountains of things to do.”
Lee Hyeon shrugged his shoulders.
The Snow Queen shook her head.
“It’s not like you can keep blaming me for the trouble you cause.”
“That might be true. But repeat what you said earlier. What do you mean someone will invade?”
As the conversation seemed to be getting longer, the Snow Queen told her vassals to take a break and led Lee Hyeon inside the fortress.
“Both the divine power of the Jade Emperor that you brought, and the causing unnecessary trouble, won’t you continue to be involved with the heavens in the future?”
“That might… be true?”
Lee Hyeon nodded heavily.
Certainly, as his contact with Son Wukong’s group increased, he would naturally become more closely connected to the heavens.
“The heavens are a spiritual world. It’s a place where metaphysics is predominant. There, the body is merely a prison, and training only the soul is everything when it comes to personal cultivation.”
Lee Hyeon silently followed behind the Snow Queen. She was heading toward the deepest part of the fortress and palace.
“When clashing with such spiritual beings, where would be the most dangerous place?”
Lee Hyeon could finally understand what she meant.
“…The spiritual dwelling, you mean.”
Spiritual dwelling. The residence where the soul stays.
Commonly called the pineal gland, or sometimes the brain gate.
The extreme point where self and consciousness all converge.
“Right now, the Golden Headband raises high mental barriers and might be effective against psychic attacks, but as enemy levels get higher and higher, there might come a level that the Golden Headband can’t handle.”
“…….”
“So I’m trying to prepare in advance. Your mental landscape and unconscious are the dwelling place of me and my people.”
Lee Hyeon nodded heavily.
“In a way, I’m in debt to you.”
“It’s an agreement. Mutual assistance. Weren’t we always that kind of relationship?”
Lee Hyeon could see a slight smile playing at the corners of the Snow Queen’s lips.
But still, she didn’t offer any words of gratitude.
And the Snow Queen probably didn’t expect any either.
Between the two of them still flowed, no, would eternally flow an unbridgeable river.
“You came to see this, I suppose… Fortunately, the thawing work has been progressing without much difficulty recently.”
The two had somehow come to stand in a prison located in the deepest underground part of the palace.
High-standing walls.
The moment the Snow Queen pushed it open forcefully,
Kukukoong!!
Paaaaaa-
With a sound like a heavy iron door opening, tremendous cold air of absolute zero poured out.
Lee Hyeon’s eyes naturally widened as he peered inside.
There… in each prison cell lined along the walls, dozens of ice statues were placed one by one.
“Now only the ones with murderous looks remain. This will be difficult to melt in its own way, but the work is progressing steadily.”
Lee Hyeon passed through the iron door and entered the prison.
In reality terms, this was the Banner of Eternal Ice, the deepest central part.
The lingering thoughts of the highest-grade boss monsters that the Department of Defense had injected to make use of the Snow Queen’s corpse. These ice statues were the result of freezing those thoughts to the extreme.
As the Snow Queen confidently said, most of them were almost finished with thawing, purification, and absorption.
Thanks to that,
His overall ability coefficient including magic power had increased.
‘My demon senses have become that much sharper too. An achievement gained from being the same kind of demon… no, it was a fateful encounter.’
So what remained now were mostly monsters from the early dungeon proliferation period that were equal to or even surpassed the Snow Queen.
Lee Hyeon looked over the ice statues one by one.
All of them had nothing but vicious appearances.
Since these were things he’d only seen in textbooks during his history studies, even though he’d seen them several times already, it felt fresh.
However,
Among these, what actually caught Lee Hyeon’s attention was something else entirely.
“I haven’t even been able to attempt that one yet. Either save it for the very last, or touch it only after you truly become a demigod… It’s still far too dangerous.”
There was a lingering thought trapped in cold so tremendous you’d believe it was the chill of an icy hell.
Even that wasn’t enough – ice bars were layered countless times, and the being was even bound tightly with chains around the statue.
“The Serpent of… Blood Transformation.”
A python boasting tremendous length as if it could coil around this entire world stood upright.
Its scales were black, but they glowed red as if blood was flowing over them,
And its ominously glittering eyes shone like reflections in a pool of blood even from a distance.
From afar, its appearance was like a red sea come to life and moving.
There seemed to be an iron smell coming from somewhere too.
He felt survival instinct warnings incomparable to any monster he’d fought before.
[Combat Sense (S+) warns you not to look too deeply into that lingering thought!]
[Golden Headband activates to raise high mental barriers.]
……
[You have escaped from ‘Status Abnormality: Confusion.’]
[You have escaped from ‘Status Abnormality: Fear.’]
……
A being that caused status abnormalities just from looking at it.
“How on earth did you people in the past repel that thing? Even though it’s just a ‘fragment,’ such evil karma… Ha.”
The Snow Queen extended her ice-white hand. Goosebumps had risen on the back of her hand.
“Do you see? Even I, who regained my prime power thanks to you, can’t bring myself to face that thing.”
“…….”
“I’m being humbled by a mere fragment. Can you really think this is normal? If a fragment is that level… how powerful was the original body?”
Lee Hyeon smiled bitterly.
“I don’t know the details either. When that thing was rampaging, I wasn’t even born yet. What’s known to the public is also locked away except that it was the incident that first made the Mountain God’s name known.”
Lee Hyeon quietly looked up at the Serpent of Blood Transformation.
Looking at those red eyes made his head ache as if it would split again, but strangely, he didn’t want to back down.
As if…
A sense of déjà vu, as if he’d seen something similar somewhere.
Even though he knew it made no sense, Lee Hyeon made sure to examine the Serpent of Blood Transformation every time he accessed his mental world.
“Just what exactly are you?”
Lee Hyeon threw out that question he would never get an answer to.
* * *
Lee Hyeon began concentrating on melting one lingering thought he selected from the Banner of Eternal Ice, which had now become a magic power warehouse.
The thawing and purification work wasn’t difficult. He had a narrative of flame attributes that were the complete opposite of ice attributes.
[The narrative of carefully breathes dragon’s breath into your mana circuit.]
[Banner of Eternal Ice begins melting ‘Lingering Thought: Shadow Crow.’ Purified magic power is stored in the mana circuit.]
……
[Strength increased by 3.]
[Agility increased by 2….]
……
[All ability coefficients have exceeded 200. You have not yet opened all secondary additional functions. Prepare to open them.]
While Lee Hyeon was concentrating on condition management like this,
“La Sombra, negotiations with Black Maria have been arranged, Lord Gwiroae. Hahaha.”
Ramon looked somehow very tired, yet his face was full of vitality.
Meeting the distinguished person Lee Hyeon had given him energy as he started various businesses he hadn’t dared attempt before.
La Sombra was a gang that claimed to be a vigilante group and operated mainly in the Dededo slums, while Black Maria was a PMC (mercenary company) based in the Philippines.
Both were places that boasted influence and power in Guam equal to the City Cartel.
“What are the conditions?”
“We take the City Cartel’s ribbon, and they take the mine shares in exchange. As you wanted, the path into the Hagåtña Black Zone has opened.”
At those words, Lee Hyeon’s eyes flashed.
Finally, the deep sea dungeon wasn’t far away.
“What time is the negotiation?”
“9 PM, we agreed to meet at the warehouse in Pierre District 21 of the Apra Harbor area.”
Lee Hyeon glanced at his watch.
“5 hours left. Perfect. Let’s go check it out first.”
“What, already?”
Ramon was startled.
Lee Hyeon nodded.
Pit.
Somehow, it seemed like a quiet chuckle had escaped, which was unlike Gwiroae.
“I don’t believe in anything other than what I’ve seen with my own eyes from the start. Before we negotiate, there’s something I need to go check first.”
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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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