Ranker Who Shatters Myths - Chapter 168

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

 

 

 

 

 

The Broken Ranker

Devours Myths

 

 

Chapter 168

 

Deep Sea Dungeon (1)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ASTRA’s Michael Shepherd stopped his car at a villa complex.

 

But somehow it looked familiar.

 

“This place… is where I fought Magic Dragon.”

 

The incident where Wei Gang-ning, dispatched by China’s Central Hero Committee, suddenly exposed his whereabouts to Korea and the entire world.

 

It was strange how Magic Dragon was so helplessly defeated,

 

but while his face was clearly exposed, Lee Hyeon’s face was processed with noise, which he found curious.

 

The CIA had worried a lot about that problem too.

 

If they could figure out that technology, it would be easier to hide the identities of their agents.

 

But he remembered they never managed to figure it out in the end.

 

“Come to think of it, Magic Dragon hasn’t appeared since then… Blue Thunder said they had a good use for him. But what happened after that?”

 

Are they still keeping Magic Dragon? What for?

 

Michael was deep in thought when he belatedly realized the neighborhood wasn’t particularly clean.

 

“He should have made a lot of money by now… Why is he still living in a place like this?”

 

Michael was about to take out his mobile phone to check the exact address.

 

“Hmm?”

 

Then he spotted a young man coming out of a villa in casual clothes to do recycling.

 

A familiar face. It was Lee Hyeon.

 

Huh.

 

What a coincidence.

 

Michael smiled lightly.

 

For some reason, meeting him outside of the company or battlefield felt oddly pleasant.

 

He’s handsome, so even those shabby clothes suit him well. But there was something strangely different from the usual Lee Hyeon.

 

How should he put it.

 

Like twin brothers with the same face, but with a slightly alien feeling…

 

“Hey… hm?”

 

Michael was about to call out to Lee Hyeon but stopped and narrowed his eyes.

 

Someone was passing behind Lee Hyeon, who was sorting plastic.

 

He thought it might be an ordinary neighborhood resident, but the atmosphere was different somehow.

 

Then suddenly the person reached toward their jacket.

 

Michael felt a chilling sensation.

 

“Damn!!”

 

 

 

[Victory skill ‘Servant Who Delivers Revelation’ is activated!]

 

 

 

Whoooosh-

 

Just before the suspicious person could draw their pistol, Michael had already activated his victory skill and was pouncing on them.

 

“…!?”

 

The suspicious person also hardened their expression, turned their body, and pulled the trigger.

 

Bang!!

 

‘This bastard! It’s a City Cartel assassin!!’

 

Michael easily dodged the bullets. He noticed the aura of a hitman and hardened his expression.

 

Rumble-

 

Flash! Flash!!

 

A battle between Rankers had erupted in the middle of the city.

 

However,

 

Lee Hyeon, who was the actual cause, just stepped back a little and stood there blankly.

 

Crackle-

 

Ice powder briefly flew near his eyes before disappearing.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

“That is… a blue ribbon? From the City Cartel?”

 

Lee Hyeon nodded while looking at Ramon, who asked with a trembling voice.

 

“As you can see.”

 

“Hah… You really did it. No, I knew you would, but I didn’t expect you to do it this quickly.”

 

The beach where the mine was located.

 

This place, which would have originally boasted beautiful scenery, now reeked with the corpses and remains of countless mobs.

 

All traces of having only harvested magic stones and valuable parts before being discarded.

 

This way, more mobs would smell it and flock here, right?

 

However,

 

To Ramon, the blue ribbons Lee Hyeon showed were more surprising than such desolation.

 

Even one would be incredible, but he had two of them…

 

Lee Hyeon had completely devastated all the remaining City Cartel remnants in Guam.

 

What remained now were just insignificant dregs.

 

Even they would soon be eliminated by hunters released by the sponsor alliance.

 

‘From the moment we decided to connect with Gwiroae, there was no place for the cartel and us to coexist anyway. It’s much more profitable to get rid of them and take their place instead.’

 

Thanks to this, the sponsors were spending busy days filling the void left by the City Cartel’s disappearance.

 

‘In just a few days since this person arrived, Guam’s power structure, which hadn’t changed much in over ten years, has completely flipped… Truly a frightening and amazing person.’

 

Ramon now looked at Lee Hyeon with eyes full of respect.

 

Indeed, where else could you find someone who achieved such an accomplishment with just their individual force?

 

There wouldn’t be any.

 

Except for the highest executives among the 13 forces of evil.

 

‘How will the power dynamics of Hagåtña’s Black Zone change from now on.’

 

Having two ribbons would inevitably make him a target for that many more places.

 

But Lee Hyeon wasn’t someone who would refuse fights that came to him, so probably an even bigger aftermath would follow.

 

‘But the biggest variable is really whether Gwiroae intends to stay in Guam.’

 

As far as Ramon knew, Lee Hyeon wasn’t originally from this region. He had no particular attachment to Guam.

 

If he just achieved his goal and disappeared, what kind of results would emerge then.

 

In the end,

 

Everything was uncertain and unpredictable situations.

 

‘Ultimately, it depends on what final choice Gwiroae makes…’

 

Just as his thoughts about Lee Hyeon were deepening.

 

“Take it.”

 

Suddenly Lee Hyeon threw the City Cartel’s blue ribbon to Ramon.

 

“…Gwiroae?”

 

“You said you wanted to grow your company as much as possible, right?”

 

Ramon realized what Lee Hyeon meant and his eyes widened.

 

His worries and concerns completely disappeared.

 

“N-no! I didn’t serve Gwiroae to receive something like this…!”

 

“Grow it to your heart’s content. With your skills, I think you’ll be able to make something work based on Hagatnya.”

 

“……!!”

 

“Of course, it also means you should continue to support me well like you’ve been doing. If I see even the slightest negligence, I’ll take it back.”

 

At that moment, Ramon realized.

 

That Gwiroae had no intention of leaving Guam anytime soon.

 

“I, I will serve you with utmost loyalty from now on!!”

 

Ramon hastily bowed his head.

 

His hand holding the blue ribbon trembled violently.

 

Pfft.

 

From beneath the mask, a slight chuckle escaped.

 

“What loyalty. As long as we don’t forget our mutual loyalty, that’s enough.”

 

“No, sir. That’s my creed. Never forgetting kindness. And repaying it somehow. The same goes for the kindness I’ve received from Gwiroae-nim.”

 

Ramon’s eyes were firm as he slightly raised his head.

 

The mental image reflected through the Golden Eyes of Truth was the same.

 

“Do that as you see fit. When expanding the business, consider joining hands with Esteban too.”

 

“As expected, you think similarly to me. I was already planning to have a business meeting soon, considering his ability to control other sponsors and his exceptional boldness and insight. I’ll produce good results then.”

 

Lee Hyeon pointed out several additional aspects besides this.

 

Most were insights he had gained during his few days of living in Guam rather than business-related areas.

 

Business was an area he didn’t know well anyway.

 

But by properly utilizing the Golden Eyes of Truth and the Golden Headband, he could quickly grasp the parts needed for future activities as Gwiroae and for the Slaughterhouse’s expansion.

 

Ramon’s eyes sparkled as he recorded some important points in his notebook.

 

His eyes were blazing with ambition.

 

“……And when entering new territories, if the territorial disputes seem too severe, you can try knocking on Black Maria’s door.”

 

Then his note-taking stopped midway.

 

“But Black Maria is,”

 

“Quite dissatisfied with us. But they won’t show it outwardly. Same goes for Luciano.”

 

Ramon finally understood the meaning and nodded.

 

“Business, then.”

 

“In the end, what matters most in the underworld is who holds the interests.”

 

Lee Hyeon turned his gaze to the sea stretching behind the beach.

 

Ramon also swallowed dryly as he looked in that direction.

 

‘That place is…… Black Cyclone.’

 

Unlike the northeastern area where Tumon Beach was located, the southwestern sea here was completely black.

 

It looked like massive amounts of black ink had pooled in one place.

 

While creating enormous storms by forming large whirlpools across a wide area. Even the sky was gloomy, unlike the sky on the opposite side.

 

Evidence that it was being affected by the powerful magic storms of the deep-sea dungeon.

 

‘Just looking at that makes it seem like the end of the world has come.’

 

“Are you planning to go there right away?”

 

“That was my original destination anyway.”

 

“Aren’t you thinking of forming a separate raid team? Won’t there be backlash from the sponsors? Same goes for the Blue Ribbons……”

 

The deep-sea dungeon was a goldmine that brought important interests to the 21 companies of the Blue Ribbon.

 

If there was any need to approach this place, they had to obtain prior consent from other companies.

 

Or be subject to separate surveillance.

 

Considering that dozens of dungeons were tangled together, and the main dungeon was also located in the Challenger Abyss at a depth of over 100,000 meters,

 

The possibility of the deep-sea dungeon itself being conquered was extremely rare, but it would still be a big problem if even one was conquered.

 

“Tell them it’s just preliminary reconnaissance. If they want to follow, let them follow.”

 

But Lee Hyeon didn’t seem to care much about such things.

 

A reaction befitting Gwiroae.

 

“And remember well what the price was for giving you that ribbon.”

 

Then Ramon belatedly realized his true role.

 

As much as he was expanding business by selling Gwiroae’s reputation, it was the sponsor’s role to clean up any incidents Gwiroae caused so there would be no problems.

 

Ramon quickly thought about how to handle the backlash from the Blue Ribbon companies, and concluded that he could actually use this opportunity better, then bowed his head.

 

“My thinking was short-sighted. Don’t worry about what’s behind, and go comfortably.”

 

Lee Hyeon didn’t respond.

 

Instead,

 

Crackle!!

 

He struck the ground hard with his rune staff infused with massive amounts of magic power.

 

Rumble……!!

 

“……!”

 

With tremendous thunder, a pure white lightning storm began to rage……!

 

In an instant, the dark clouds covering the sky above Black Cyclone were washed away as if by magic.

 

For the first time in decades, blue sky was revealed above the mine.

 

Ramon was left speechless and trembling at that overwhelming sight,

 

And Lee Hyeon poured even more magic power into the rune staff.

 

Now came the most important part.

 

 

 

ᛏ.

 

 

 

The rune character, Tīwaz.

 

A character meaning the sun god, he strived to create magic as if the sun god himself had descended by condensing an enormous amount of lightning.

 

He was trying to create an ultimate technique containing the maximum firepower he could produce as ‘Gwiroae’.

 

Rumble, rumble-

 

Flash! Flash!!

 

 

 

[‘All lightning composing the Thunder Whale condenses at one point!’]

 

 

 

In the middle of the sky where the dark clouds had retreated.

 

The Thunder Whale that had been burning Black Maria and the City Cartel while containing high-temperature lightning returned to Thunder Orb form.

 

However, that Thunder Orb was much larger, more intense, and hotter than those normally summoned.

 

It looked like a new sun had risen.

 

Ramon couldn’t even look at it properly due to the blinding light.

 

Lee Hyeon gazed at the sky and thought.

 

‘Continuously driving the Thunder Whale was partly intended to engrave Gwiroae’s name in Hagatnya, but it was also to raise the temperature of the flame heat……’

 

Flash! Flash!

 

Inside the demon mask. Lee Hyeon’s golden eyes flickered several times with white lightning.

 

 

 

[‘Sacred Relic: Golden Headband’ is used to dramatically accelerate thinking speed!]

 

[Through countless operations and calculations, new magic is combined. A new type of lightning magic is born.]

 

 

 

‘Here I mix in the divine punishment I stole from the Jade Emperor!’

 

 

 

[‘Event: Lightning Collector’ – The Jade Emperor’s divine punishment is reassembled and implemented in magical form!]

 

 

 

Lee Hyeon recalled the intense pressure he had felt when facing the Jade Emperor.

 

The dignity that overwhelmed heaven and earth.

 

If he could carry that, he might be able to create a passage to the deep-sea dungeon under tremendous water pressure, even if just for ‘one moment’.

 

As if accepting Lee Hyeon’s wish, the rapidly enlarged Thunder Orb soon transformed into a pillar of light.

 

“Descend.”

 

With the incantation, an enormously large lightning bolt struck directly at the center of the sea surface.

 

 

 

[A new magic ‘Lightning Punishment (罰錢)’ has been created.]

 

[You have comprehended the 2nd stage of Diovis. Klasma is infused into Lightning Punishment, increasing its firepower.]

 

[You have succeeded in comprehending a part of Astrape.]

 

 

 

[Lightning strikes down!]

 

 

 

Kwarrrrrrrung!!

 

As if Zeus from the sky was striking down white lightning, an enormous bolt of electricity moved,

 

and amid tremendous storms and fierce tempests swirling together… a hole was punched straight through the middle of the sea.

 

The power was far superior to what Lee Hyeon had expected.

 

‘The second stage of Diovis has opened? No, more than that… Astrape?’

 

Lee Hyeon staggered slightly from the dizziness caused by his mana circuits suddenly emptying, yet his eyes widened slightly at the unexpected message content.

 

But Lee Hyeon didn’t dwell on his thoughts for long.

 

The hole was already trying to fill itself back up.

 

‘Now!’

 

 

ᚱ.

 

 

[Attempting spatial movement by stepping on the ‘Trajectory of Radiance’!]

 

 

 

Lee Hyeon rode the lightning and attempted to move to the Challenger Sea Area.

 

It was entry into the Dungeon.

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