Broken Ranker Devours Myths - Chapter 22

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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 22

Adaptation (3)

 

 

 

As expected.

Lee Hyeon smiled coldly at the fact that the flute had a new owner, just as he had anticipated.

And if his prediction was correct, the identity of the Hidden Boss was…

“How did you get here?”

The figure was wearing a robe pulled deep over their head, making it difficult to guess their gender or age.

But somehow, their voice had a youthful quality to it.

Whoosh!

Of course, being easily fooled by appearances would make dungeon clearing impossible.

Lee Hyeon didn’t answer and immediately kicked off the ground.

An extremely fierce movement.

“Oh no!”

The Hidden Boss hastily retreated while forming hand seals.

 

[The Hidden Boss activates a curse. The sewage in the underground waterway creates waves!]

 

The stench that had been stinging his nose became tremendously stronger.

At the same time, black sewage leaked out along the walls of the underground waterway, instantly forming a torrent.

‘A black mage. Specifically, a curse mage type?’

Lee Hyeon quickly analyzed the opponent’s nature with his Golden Eyes of Truth.

 

[Stench Resistance (F) has been generated.]

 

Pa-ba-ba-bak!

The torrent continuously shot arrows made of clumped sewage.

Poison arrows filled with toxic energy.

However,

 

[Dueoksini’s Collar activates, raising defense to maximum!]

 

The blue-white lightning that enveloped Lee Hyeon had now become clothing with tightly woven warp and weft, boasting much stronger durability than before.

Peo-peo-peo-peo-peong!

The poison arrows burned away in the lightning fire before they could even reach Lee Hyeon.

At the same time, toxic fog spread through chemical reactions and stung his nose, but,

 

[The proficiency of Poison Resistance (E) has rapidly increased to D rank.]

[Stench Resistance (F) has increased to E rank.]

 

That only served as a catalyst to stimulate even more growth in Lee Hyeon.

Swish!

Lee Hyeon, who had arrived in front of the creature, crossed the Taotie fangs in both hands, Iron Devourer and Flesh Thirster, in an X shape.

The Hidden Boss urgently swung their hand downward.

From the ceiling, sewage containing terrible acid poured down like a waterfall over Lee Hyeon’s head.

‘I need to dodge this.’

Lee Hyeon instinctively thought that the acidic sewage couldn’t be blocked by his collar and hastily pulled his body back.

Hissss!

He could see the ground melting where he had narrowly escaped,

And he also saw the Hidden Boss letting out a slightly relieved sigh through the folds of their robe.

Lee Hyeon didn’t miss that exact moment.

‘Now!’

He threw Iron Devourer from his right hand with great force.

Whirrrr, thunk!

Iron Devourer struck right in the center of the flute.

And,

“…!”

It split in half.

 

[The flute has been damaged.]

[The flute’s curse is forcibly interrupted.]

 

“The, the flute…! The flute that uncle left for me!”

Through the robe, he seemed to see bloodshot eyes.

“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!”

The sewage that had risen to ankle height created fierce waves. From the massive whirlpool, all kinds of arrows, spears, swords and such poured down on Lee Hyeon.

At the same time,

Squeak! Squeak!

Rat swarms that had been hiding who knows where began emerging from pipe tubes and brick crevices, scurrying about.

 

[The Hidden Boss switches to Phase 2!]

 

Thwack! Thwack!

Lee Hyeon somehow managed to strike away the sewage that penetrated through his collar with his axe, but he felt the toxicity and acidity gradually intensifying.

Crackle!

『Senior! Almost all the citizens have woken up!』

Just then, Kim Min-jeong’s voice came through the [Bamboo Forest King’s Ears] he had separately equipped.

Through his expanded cognitive information, he could sense citizens who had just awakened from zombification gathering to check the sinkhole that had formed in the middle of the city.

『Evacuate them all! It’ll be a disaster if they come this way!』

『Order confirmed!』

Bang! Peo-peo-bang!

Lee Hyeon deflected another poison arrow that had flown right up to his face.

Clack!

He could sense the opponent’s intention to gradually push him deeper into the waterway where no light could enter.

‘This place is too cramped. There’s not enough room to move around.’

Lee Hyeon’s advantage was wide-area attacks that combined instantaneous destructive power with broad range.

It was proof that the creature knew how to fight properly.

“The one who broke uncle’s flute. You will absolutely, absolutely never escape from this place. I’ll bury you in the sewage without leaving even your bones.”

Moreover,

‘There are more curse mages deeper inside.’

 

[‘Sacred Relic: Golden Eyes Mirror’ has detected about a dozen curse mages running this way.]

[Be careful!]

 

Clatter!

Mages who clearly possessed skills comparable to the Hidden Boss he was currently facing.

‘Right. I expected he wouldn’t be doing all that non-stop flute playing alone.’

Probably curse mages scattered throughout various locations, plotting something, had noticed the urgent situation above and come to provide support.

If those things gathered together, it would become truly dangerous.

He considered changing the battle location to the surface,

‘No. If I do that, the sewage will flood the surface. That would devastate the city.’

The Quest condition of keeping as many citizens alive as possible was the problem.

The sewage was filled not only with acid and poison, but also with curses of unknown nature.

So,

‘Inside here, I’ll defeat them separately, one by one.’

Fortunately, Lee Hyeon was almost immune to curses.

Then there was only one method left.

To transform from a fire goblin into a night goblin.

Whoosh…!

 

[Activating Eodukseoni’s Steps. Hiding your body in the shadows with stealth technique.]

 

Lee Hyeon vanished into the darkness.

“…!?”

 

[The Hidden Boss can no longer detect you!]

 

Bewilderment crossed the Hidden Boss’s face as he lost sight of Lee Hyeon right before his eyes, just when he thought he had him cornered once his allies arrived.

“Where are you! Stop hiding like a rat and come out!”

Stop hiding and come out… Come out… Out… Out…

The echo reverberated loudly through the underground waterway, but no sound could be heard in response.

What?

Where the hell did he go?

The Hidden Boss looked around restlessly.

But even with his vision and senses, accustomed to darkness after living nearly 10 years in underground waterways without a single ray of light, he couldn’t easily find any trace of Lee Hyeon.

“Damn it…!”

The Hidden Boss felt his mouth go dry for a moment.

Even when he kept activating tracking curses,

 

[The curse fails due to Curse Resistance (S).]

[The curse fails due to Curse Resistance (S).]

…

 

They just kept failing.

The Hidden Boss felt anxious thinking about how Lee Hyeon, who could be hiding anywhere, might target him.

Bubble bubble!

Just as the sewage connected to his mental state began to boil,

…Splash.

From very far away, deep within the underground waterway, came the sound of footsteps on the water surface.

‘No way!’

The Hidden Boss’s eyes widened at the thought that flashed through his mind.

But the situation had already unfolded.

“Kyaak!”

 

[Curse Mage 2 has been eliminated.]

 

“■■■! Damn it!”

The consciousness of one of his psychically connected comrades—no, friends—had been severed.

The Hidden Boss urgently began running toward the inner part of the underground waterway.

 

* * *

 

‘What the hell is happening down there?’

Kim Min-jeong glanced down at the now-distant bottom of the sinkhole, but couldn’t sense anything.

The sinkhole was that deep.

But more than that,

‘The poison and stench are too strong to perceive anything. There are plenty of curses too. The flute sound wasn’t the only problem.’

Kim Min-jeong sighed at the reality that even after solving the flute’s curse, an even greater obstacle awaited.

‘How can senior possibly be fine down there?’

Actually, Kim Min-jeong had been struggling considerably to endure the mental confusion since entering the city.

No matter how much she wore earplugs, she couldn’t block all the curses.

Yet Lee Hyeon had endured it as if nothing was wrong. And now he had even infiltrated the more terrible Boss Room.

‘Could it be that the Snow Queen’s curse was so strong that he built up resistance? Just how terrible were the curses he suffered through…?’

She recalled what Lee Hyeon had said during last night’s operation planning.

 

-I won’t have much trouble with activities even if I enter the city. So while I’m taking down the boss, you handle the citizens freed from the curse.

-You’re free from curses? Even ranker-level team leaders couldn’t manage that here. That’s reckl…

-What do you think I’ve been through all this time?

-…!

-So while I’m dealing with the Hidden Boss, there’s something you absolutely must do.

 

Resistance was something a person could only obtain by being pushed to their absolute limits.

Usually, the process was so painful that people didn’t dare attempt to gain it.

But resistance close to immunity…

“Are you an outsider?”

Kim Min-jeong was organizing her thoughts when a voice calling her brought her back to attention.

Following Lee Hyeon’s orders, she had first rescued the citizens freed from zombification from the sinkhole.

Their representative had approached her.

He was a middle-aged man with a distinctly greedy impression.

“My name is ■■■■ ■ ■■■. I’m the mayor of this city. Could you explain what’s currently happening?”

Natives residing in dungeons perceive their world as ‘real.’

They recognize themselves as truly alive.

And they distinguished the Hunters who came from the other world to solve their ‘problems’ as outsiders.

Conversely, the dungeon system recognized the natives as living in a .

Hunters also viewed them in the same way.

Like NPCs in a game.

 

-Take the citizens and prepare for the next curse that’s coming.

-Curse? Is there something else besides the flute?

-In , why did the mayor call the piper?

-Well, that was because they were troubled by rats… Ah!

-Right. So what happens when the flute sound disappears?

-…!

-They’ve probably been tormented by the curse for so long that they must be absolutely furious.

 

Kim Min-jeong recalled Lee Hyeon’s instructions as she spoke to the Mayor.

“I think everyone must be very confused. But in times like this, we need to stay even calmer. As you can see, the flute’s curse has been turning you all into zombies…”

 

[The Citizens listen to your words.]

 

“…Because of this, a rat swarm could overflow soon. Our colleague can somehow block the lower area, but not the rat swarm. We need your cooperation.”

“You mean this city will fall into chaos again?”

“That’s right.”

Kim Min-jeong nodded at the Mayor’s words.

She thought the persuasion was over,

“Look here! Are you joking?”

 

[The Mayor raises his voice in protest.]

 

Her expression hardened at the following outburst.

“We’ve endured inconvenience all this time because you outsiders said you’d solve that damn flute! But instead of solving that flute, you’ve made us into this mess and even brought back the rat swarm? Are you kidding me right now!”

Kim Min-jeong’s eyes gradually turned cold.

Whether he knew it or not,

The Mayor’s lips, full of greed, twisted into a wide smirk.

“If you’re mercenaries, handle the job properly like mercenaries! If not, at least compensate us for the damage we’ve suffered!”

The reason the piper made the children disappear with his flute in the fairy tale .

It was precisely because the greedy Mayor, reluctant to part with money, didn’t properly pay the musician his fee.

‘He’s being this greedy even in such an urgent situation?’

Kim Min-jeong looked at the other Citizens.

Most of them seemed uninterested.

Either looking for children or fearing the approaching rat swarm.

Some even showed hostility, agreeing with the Mayor’s opinion.

‘…What would senior do in times like this?’

“If you properly compensate us, who knows? We might even be willing to help a little… Uwaaak!”

The Mayor made a coin shape with his thumb and index finger, then panicked when Kim Min-jeong suddenly drew her pistol and pressed it against his forehead.

“P-put that away! Y-you’re cra…!”

Bang!

“Uwaaaak!”

The Mayor fell backward.

The Citizens also screamed and hurriedly crouched down.

Bang! Bang! Baaang!

“…!”

Kim Min-jeong pulled the trigger several more times.

Several bullet holes were left below the Mayor’s crotch.

His pants were soaked wet.

“Keep babbling and I’ll put a hole in that head of yours first.”

“…!!”

“Got it?”

“…Y-yes, yes…!”

Usually Hunters, and Kim Min-jeong with her rational personality, tried not to create trouble with Natives for smooth Quest progression,

but in situations like this, the ‘Jang Lee Hyeon Method’ seemed perfect.

It felt a bit refreshing too.

“So what are you doing? Why aren’t you moving? Do you want to see the city perish…!”

Just as Kim Min-jeong was about to say something,

Ding!

A dungeon message suddenly rang out without her doing anything.

It was a global message too.

‘Don’t tell me, already!’

She hurriedly looked up.

 

[A hidden new has opened.]

[The flute sound had been enchanting the rat swarm that had long been the city’s troublesome problem.]

[But now that the flute sound has disappeared, the rat swarm is preparing to move again. In 10 minutes, the city will be overrun by rats.]

[The rats have been hiding in the terrible underground waterways for so long that they carry tremendous germs.]

[An epidemic could break out. Be careful.]

 

Just when they barely escaped the zombie curse, now it’s an epidemic.

It was much faster than expected.

Kim Min-jeong shouted urgently.

“Hurry! Quickly!”

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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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