Broken Ranker Devours Myths - Chapter 20

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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 20

Adaptation (1)

 

 

 

“You’re late. If the raid starts at exactly 10 PM, you should have arrived at least an hour early to wait!”

Kim Min-jeong glanced at her watch for a moment.

9:40 PM.

They weren’t late.

Besides, maintenance was completed before departure, so they just needed to enter. If anything, they had arrived quickly.

Team Leader Jeong wasn’t really angry either. He was just trying to find fault.

‘How do they not deviate even an inch from expectations?’

Kim Min-jeong felt foolish for her brief worry about what would happen if Z Team didn’t show up.

Still, she did her best to act oblivious.

“Why are you here, Team Leader? The plan clearly stated that only the two of us would move.”

Team Leader Jeong thought he had caught Kim Min-jeong and Lee Hyeon off guard and acted triumphantly.

“How could I send just a mercenary from another team and a rookie, just two people? Of course the team needs to provide backup. No matter how much we’ve argued, I’m not petty enough to not distinguish between public and private matters to the point of not providing that level of support.”

A tone suggesting he was making a concession.

However, the words he used to refer to the two people treated them as inferiors.

His intention to firmly establish the hierarchy from the start.

Kim Min-jeong looked at Lee Hyeon to see what he would do,

“Sure.”

Lee Hyeon nodded with an unreadable expression.

Team Leader Jeong took this as surrender.

‘Boring guys. I was planning to discipline them for insubordination if they had spouted nonsense about not needing help. Fine. Let’s see how long you can keep acting so relaxed.’

Team Leader Jeong turned around while grinding his teeth internally.

Anyway, he didn’t really think these two people could clear the dungeon.

Long-term unsolved dungeons were dangerous places, after all.

‘The reason our team’s mission is closer to management rather than actual raiding is because of that.’

“Alright, if everyone’s ready, we’re entering the Gate!”

 

* * *

 

[You have entered the dungeon!]

 

[Dungeon ‘Pied Piper’]

[You have entered a legend passed down in the Hamelin region or a fairy tale written by some brothers.]

[Stop the flute sound that is causing children to disappear, and find the missing children.]

 

[Achievement Conditions]

1. Eliminate the flute player.

2. Find the missing children.

3. Safety of Hamelin citizens.

 

[Upon Success: Acquire ‘Flute That Enchants People’.]

[Upon Failure: Disappearance.]

 

This dungeon seemed to lack the extreme environments that other dungeons commonly had.

The warm sunlight on their faces felt very pleasant.

It really felt like entering a .

They were on a hill covered with lush green grass.

In the distance,

they could see a city and the castle walls surrounding it.

 

[Achievement condition #1 ‘Eliminate the flute player’ has been completed. However, for unknown reasons, the flute sound can still be heard.]

[Complete the remaining conditions #2 and #3 as quickly as possible.]

[Current clear rate: 25.1%]

 

As stated in the existing raid report, this dungeon was currently in a ‘suspended raid’ state.

It was because of the flute sound faintly heard from beyond the castle walls.

Piri-ri-ri-

 

[You begin to be affected by the flute sound. Mild hallucination symptoms occur.]

 

“Everyone, put on the issued earplugs first. If you’re too late, you might experience confusion symptoms due to the curse, so be careful!”

Their vision began to shake.

The team members quickly put on the earplugs they had received before entering the dungeon.

Lee Hyeon and Kim Min-jeong did the same.

 

[Everyone Shut Up and Earplugs]

Small earplugs made by weaving the thread of siblings who almost fell for the tiger that ate their mother.

When covering the ears, the power to reveal truthful voices activates, blocking specific sounds in the vicinity. Particularly effective at suppressing magical or deceptive powers.

-Origin: Folk tale ‘Brother and Sister Who Became Sun and Moon’

 

At that moment, the flute sound stopped as if by magic.

Their shaking vision also calmed down.

 

[The effect of ‘Everyone Shut Up and Earplugs’ activates, reducing the flute sound to minimum volume!]

[You have escaped the curse. You can now move freely for about 2 hours.]

[However, be careful as the available activity time may decrease depending on circumstances.]

 

[The countdown begins.]

[02:00:00]

[01:59:59]

[01:59:58]

…

 

“As you can see, the earplugs’ effect isn’t perfect. Since emergency situations might occur and reduce our activity time, check the countdown frequently.”

Team Leader Jeong said while irritably running his hand through his hair.

Even with the earplugs on, the flute sound that occasionally penetrated his ears kept stimulating his sensitive nerves.

The report also contained content related to this flute sound.

 

==============

-Failure Analysis Cause: The flute sound that occurs upon dungeon entry causes mental confusion. Self-inflicted chaos due to debuffs is the greatest threat factor.

-Countermeasures: Since it’s an area-wide debuff, items that can defend against it are needed. However, most have the disadvantage of short duration effects.

-Limitations: The flute sound was expected to disappear after defeating the boss mob, but it remains, suggesting the actual cause lies elsewhere.

Or it’s predicted that a subordinate mob is playing the flute, so urgently devising a plan to find and eliminate it is necessary.

==============

 

Lee Hyeon thought while mentally reviewing the report contents again.

‘This is exactly why most raid teams failed here. It’s practically impossible to find the source of the flute sound and discover clues about the children within 2 hours.’

It was the same reason Samadhi Divine Wind was troublesome in the Yellow Desert.

The difference was that while Samadhi Divine Wind mainly tormented Hunters around the Boss Room,

the flute sound remained even after the boss mob died, continuing to dominate the dungeon.

White Burn had also made great efforts to find the source of the sound.

But they hadn’t found it yet.

No matter how thoroughly they searched the entire city, they couldn’t discover any meaningful clues.

However,

Lee Hyeon could find traces of right here.

 

[‘Sacred Relic: Golden Eyes of Truth’ has activated, discovering the hidden ■■■■’s myth in this dungeon.]

[The flute sound is being influenced. Find the corresponding ■■■■’s myth and inherit ■■■■’s karma.]

 

If Son Wukong’s myth was mixed into the flute sound, the story became easier.

‘Find the source of the flute sound within 2 hours.’

It wasn’t difficult for Lee Hyeon.

Pathfinding was his specialty, after all.

And,

‘I’m practically immune to curses like this anyway.’

 

[Curse Resistance (S) has activated, making the flute sound unable to have any significant effect.]

 

[User’s countdown has stopped.]

[01:59:57]

 

This place was actually a very advantageous dungeon for Lee Hyeon.

However, he didn’t show it.

“So Manager Kim and Section Chief Jang… be careful and search well. We’ll be waiting here. Contact us immediately if you need help. Fighting.”

Of course, Team Leader Jeong, who didn’t know these facts, naturally thought Lee Hyeon and Kim Min-jeong would fail.

No, he intended to ‘make’ them fail no matter what.

‘Acting like you can’t even reveal what you did before. I don’t know what scheme you’re plotting, but did you think I’d let things go your way?’

Team Leader Jeong’s eyes looking at Lee Hyeon were full of jealousy.

Lee Hyeon, who had been sticking to Kim Min-jeong like rice cake these past few days, was a thorn in his side.

So he mobilized every connection he could to somehow figure out his background,

but there was nothing he could actually confirm.

Same when asking the HR Team.

No, there was exactly one thing he could find out.

That Lee Hyeon had worked as a guide for a long time. And that he had helped A Team’s previous raid.

When he learned that fact, he was so dumbfounded…

‘A guy whose power seemed similar to mine is just a simple guide? Nonsense. There’s definitely something else. He’s a hunting dog that Im Won-young secretly raised. He’s planning something.’

So he intended to check directly.

What his exact skills were like.

Or what he was hiding.

Swish.

Z-Team all stepped back following their team leader’s orders. As if it wasn’t their business.

Kim Min-jeong found their now blatantly line-drawing attitude ridiculous, but,

“Let’s go.”

Lee Hyeon stepped forward without caring.

Kim Min-jeong followed behind him.

The dungeon raid had begun.

 

* * *

 

[You are approaching the city. The flute sound’s influence is getting stronger.]

[Item duration has been reduced by 10 minutes.]

 

Kim Min-jeong said while looking at the message that appeared on her retina.

“Now we only have about 1 hour and 40 minutes left.”

“That’s enough.”

Lee Hyeon and Kim Min-jeong had already arrived in front of the castle walls.

But it was difficult to approach closer.

Because hundreds of zombies were crowded at the wide-open main gate of the city’s castle walls.

“…You can say that even after seeing that?”

 

[As the flute’s curse continues, all citizens of Hamelin have fallen into collective hallucination symptoms.]

[Currently they are acting like zombies due to hallucination symptoms.]

[Please refer to achievement condition 3 ‘Safety of Hamelin citizens’ and be careful not to harm the citizens.]

 

The second reason why the dungeon hadn’t been cleared so far.

The flute’s curse didn’t only affect Hunters.

The zombies with limbs bent in bizarre directions, drooling constantly, were ready to burst out of the castle walls at any moment.

Even dealing with the zombie-like citizens alone wasn’t easy, and the taboo of having to keep them alive as much as possible was too great.

Son Wukong on Lee Hyeon’s head tilted his head.

「Can’t you just ignore them and sweep them all away?」

‘Then the Quest completion rate would drop drastically. And we don’t know what other variables might emerge. It’s better to follow the achievement conditions as much as possible.’

「You guys really live complicated lives, don’t you?」

‘That’s the problem. We never know when or where additional taboos might be added.’

Lee Hyeon activated his mana circuit.

Crackle!

‘Anyway, let’s begin. I think I can gain many things here too.’

Rumble-

Instantly, blue-white lightning reminiscent of a blue-white sun exploded outward with Lee Hyeon at the center.

 

[Dueoksini’s Sigh (B+) has activated, revealing furious rage for the first time!]

 

“…!!”

Kim Min-jeong unconsciously stepped back.

She never dreamed that Lee Hyeon, who had just escaped from a curse, would be hiding such magic power.

‘As expected! Being evenly matched with Team Leader Jeong last time wasn’t a coincidence! No, at this level he’s much higher…!’

Lee Hyeon smiled looking at Kim Min-jeong’s surprised expression.

“You asked how I’d handle the zombie horde and flute sound? I think this should be answer enough…”

Lee Hyeon took out one of Taotie’s Fangs hanging at his waist and gripped it in his hand.

In the distance, he could see the zombie horde trying to rush toward them from the castle walls.

Zombie types are usually vulnerable to external stimuli. They had been stimulated by the lightning and thunder.

Of course, this was all exactly what Lee Hyeon had intended.

‘I need bait to bury the entire zombie horde at once.’

Crackle!

In an instant, the axe was covered in bright yellow lightning,

‘Let’s see how much Breath of Dueoksini has been enhanced?’

He threw it toward the Castle Walls with all his might.

Whirrrrr-

The axe flew into the sky, creating a tremendous gust, followed by incomparably greater air-cutting power than before.

With the effect of Samadhi Divine Wind added, it had become stronger in all aspects – power and speed.

And as a result,

Flash!

 

[Dueoksini’s Rage erupts!]

 

Even more enhanced Lightning Bolt rained down upon the Castle Walls.

Along with tremendous thunder.

Rumbllllle!

The zombie horde stopped running and found their attention drawn to the axe that had suddenly flown overhead.

And as the lightning struck and the Castle Walls collapsed, they were completely buried beneath it.

Lee Hyeon then threw the remaining 2 axes as well, completely bringing down the Castle Walls.

A large number of zombies were buried alive underneath.

Rumble…!

An enormous amount of dust spread thickly through the air.

“That should do it, right? This much should be enough.”

“I… suppose so.”

Kim Min-jeong nodded in a daze.

She felt as if she had been bewitched by a goblin.

“Then what are you doing? Why aren’t you running? We need to find the Flute.”

“…!”

“I’m going ahead.”

Whoooosh-

Lee Hyeon suddenly wrapped himself in the wind that had blown forth from the lightning and shot forward.

Once again, it was a mysteriously enchanting movement like a goblin.

 

[Dueoksini’s Sprint activates!]

 

Kim Min-jeong stared blankly at his retreating figure, then hastily activated her Movement Skill and ran after him.

Thump!

Her heart kept racing as she watched Lee Hyeon running ahead.

She felt as if she had returned to 4 years ago.

 

[01:41:21]

…

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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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