Broken Ranker Devours Myths - Chapter 42

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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 42

Goblin Market (7)

 

 

 

What Lee Hyeon realized while running several operations with the Thunder Unit was,

that he must never get excited during mission execution.

Rather, he needed to stay calm.

How to plan, how to deal with unexpected situations.

He had to make the overall situation favorable to himself.

Not giving the opponent any breathing room.

The most important thing was to corner them into a single choice.

This time was no different.

As soon as Lee Hyeon entered the , he wanted to resolve the dungeon Quest first.

‘The Goblin Market is precisely a place that tempts outsiders and sells desires. But what if they don’t purchase such temptations and desires? No, what if they can no longer purchase them?’

Wouldn’t there be no reason for the market to exist?

「Kekekek! Rossetti’s poem has similar content! The protagonist sisters purchasing apples according to temptation creates different outcomes!」

Sha Wujing’s words became a major clue to solving the Quest.

 

[You have successfully discovered the hidden by the dungeon using ‘Sacred Relic: Golden Eyes of Truth’ and found the answer.]

 

[1. Non-human merchants selling goods]

[What the merchants in the Goblin Market want to sell is precisely their ‘names’. The more widely their products containing their abilities spread, the more recognition they accumulate to become Named.]

[Non-humans who gain names become beings with status and can write their own narratives like outsiders.]

……

 

[2. Customers purchasing desires]

[Customers can purchase products containing non-human abilities to fulfill their ‘desires’.]

[However, if there are no attractive products to satisfy customers’ desires, the number of customers will naturally decrease.]

[Then merchants must also seek out new customers and find other markets.]

……

 

[3. The reason for the market’s existence]

[The market can only continue to exist when there is agreement between merchants wanting to make their names known and customers wanting to fulfill their desires.]

……

 

The reason why the Drug King and cartel were so obsessed with the Black Market’s security.

It wasn’t simply because of their reputation.

If the Black Market became unsafe and customers decreased, the market would disappear along with it.

 

[4. A ghost market that only opens at specific times and disappears without a trace when it ends]

[The Goblin Market is maintained when it judges that time has stopped if merchants and customers are present.]

[However, when customers leave, the stopped time will flow again and the market will disappear.]

……

 

The hint that the Goblin Market was a ‘ghost market’ was already stated in the Quest description.

In other words, the Goblin Market was not a permanent market but a flash market.

Lee Hyeon focused on exactly this point.

Make the market’s stopped time flow again to close the marketplace. Then naturally the dungeon would close along with it.

‘There’s nothing better than this to throw the cartel into chaos.’

When Lee Hyeon searched all the way to the Butcher Shop Area, he didn’t just pass through each section.

He also scattered necessary items throughout the market floor.

 

[Yellow Wind Monster’s Electrified Fingers]

Items made by carving Dueoksini’s origins onto the various fingers of the Yellow Wind Monster who loved sorcery. Single-use.

Where fingers roll around, Dueoksini’s wrath will also wander around like a ghost.

-Type: Single-use item. Debuff.

-Origin: Myth ‘Journey to the West’, Legend ‘Goblin Dance Formation’

 

Since he already carried the legend related to in his body, he no longer needed the previous version.

Instead, Lee Hyeon asked Elder Taotie to carve his own legend onto the remaining fingers.

And as a result,

while Lee Hyeon was fighting Myeongga, the lightning energy that spread throughout the marketplace stimulated the fingers…

Boom boom boom boom bang!

Crash! Crash crash crash!

“Kyaaaah!”

“It’s a bomb attack!”

“Damn it! The security guards weren’t doing anything!”

“Could this be a war with other cartels or mafia?”

“Who would use this place feeling unsafe! Let’s hurry to another marketplace!”

Explosives went off one after another throughout the market. With lightning pouring down as well, it instantly became pandemonium.

Hunters frantically fled outside the dungeon, merchants folded their stalls and evacuated outside the market.

 

[The dungeon’s stopped time has begun to flow again!]

[All merchants and customers are leaving.]

[The reason for maintaining the market has disappeared. The ghost market begins to close.]

 

Normally, the security forces should have stepped in before the commotion grew to reassure merchants and customers,

‘But they all took bribes from Myeongga and left their posts, right? Ah, have their heads been cut off by Camila by now? Then it’ll be even harder to calm things down.’

Camila also realized all these situations and hardened her expression.

The scales in her mind moved restlessly.

Finally,

“Damn it…! What are you all doing! Hurry up and run! We need to stop time first!”

Camila turned around and started running.

Her eyes were filled with killing intent.

As if she would never let him go if they met again someday.

Of course, Lee Hyeon responded with a light snort,

 

[6]

[5]

 

Flash!

He vanished from the collapsing dungeon.

 

* * *

 

As soon as Lee Hyeon emerged from the abandoned building carrying Go Jin-woo on his back, he immediately began moving busily again.

Screech-

「Where are you planning to go? Wouldn’t it be bad to take him to a hospital?」

Son Wukong asked while hanging from the top of Lee Hyeon’s head.

Sha Wujing was continuously providing emergency treatment with curse incantations, but it wasn’t proper medical care.

‘Yes. If we do that, this side’s identity might be exposed.’

Unless Camila was a fool, she would surely search through domestic Hunter hospitals and major emergency rooms.

‘I’m thinking of going to my mentor.’

「Mentor? The one who made you into a Hunter?」

‘Yes. His wife was a healer with a surgical background. She also knows many people in the area.’

「What about the risk of information leaking?」

‘If she were loose-lipped, would I have trusted and followed her?’

「That’s true, I suppose.」

‘She’s someone I trust and follow like my own parents. If she were to betray me… well. I don’t think I could ever trust anyone again.’

「So you think of her that specially? Good. Then where does she live now?」

‘Fortunately, she’s retired now and not too far away. I’ll pick up the pace.’

If Lee Hyeon had to pick the moment he was most grateful to Son Wukong, it would probably be right now.

He had gifted him a decent movement skill when he had no proper movement abilities.

 

[Movement speed utilizing lightning energy increases. The influence of Samadhi Divine Wind is added.]

[As acceleration builds up, Dueoksini’s Sprint has transformed into ‘Dueoksini’s Swift Thunder (迅雷)’!]

 

[Dueoksini’s Swift Thunder (迅雷)]

Goblins are not constrained by the location and time they wish to appear, and can appear here and there, east and west, to startle people.

-Type: Sub-skill of ‘Dueoksini’s Deep Breath (A)’.

-Origin: Legend ‘Curse of the Seven Star Rock’

 

Whoosh-

Flash!

“What’s that? Did lightning suddenly strike from a clear sky?”

“Huh? Where? Aren’t you still half asleep?”

“Maybe? Hmm.”

People who happened to be where Lee Hyeon had passed tilted their heads at the sudden flash of light.

Even that was barely visible due to the Steps of Eodukseoni.

‘Here it is.’

Lee Hyeon was soon able to arrive at a village not far from Uijeongbu.

Thud!

A two-story Western house located in an isolated part of the village.

In the yard, a Jindo dog was sleeping soundly, and on one side, a well-maintained lettuce garden was visible.

A place that clearly seemed to be where a dignified elderly couple stayed after retirement.

Lee Hyeon landed right in the center of it.

Woof woof!

Then the Jindo dog suddenly got up and started barking while looking somewhere.

“Why is Inseok suddenly acting like that? They say guard dogs can see things people can’t – are you one of those?”

An old man who was quietly selecting lettuce from the garden looked at the Jindo dog and chuckled.

Woof woof woof!

“Really, what’s wrong?”

The old man was about to get up, wondering if something was wrong with the dog, when he was startled.

Whoosh-

Space seemed to ripple in the middle of the yard, and then a man in a white coat appeared.

He was carrying a man covered in blood like a corpse and even wearing a mask.

Anyone would find his appearance suspicious, but,

Click!

The moment he removed his mask, the old man’s eyes widened as well.

It was his beloved disciple whom he was meeting after four years.

“You… are you Lee Hyeon…?”

“It’s been a long time, General.”

“How do you have skills…? No, more importantly, who is that guy you’re carrying…”

“It’s Jin-woo hyung. He’s badly injured. Could I possibly ask for your wife’s help?”

Instantly, the bewilderment disappeared from the old man’s eyes, and the resolute gaze of the commander who had led Cheongroe appeared.

“My wife went shopping for a moment, but she’ll be back right away if I call her. Come inside first.”

“Excuse me.”

Lee Hyeon was able to carefully lay Go Jin-woo down in the guest room prepared on the second floor, following behind the old man Lee Gun-san.

Perhaps from rushing such a long distance, Lee Hyeon was also drenched in sweat.

“His condition is… terrible.”

Lee Gun-san let out a deep sigh.

“Excessive blood loss is a problem, but the emergency treatment was done well, so it should be fine with proper suturing. But the biggest problem is his hand.”

Lee Hyeon clenched his teeth tightly.

The reason he had been so furious.

More than other parts, Go Jin-woo’s left hand… was badly mangled.

It seemed like they had originally tried to cut off his wrist but changed their mind midway, but if left like this, it would probably become unusable.

Go Jin-woo was a doctor.

“I brought potions for now.”

Lee Hyeon brought out the potions he had obtained by raiding the inventories of Heo Jae-woon and the Myeongga guild members.

“There are large capacity potions too. There’s also Elixir Company’s highest-grade healing medicine. This should do it.”

Lee Hyeon could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

「Thank goodness.」

‘…Yes. It’s really fortunate.’

Lee Hyeon looked at Go Jin-woo with a bitter expression.

He, who was in deep sleep, was still slightly frowning, as if the pain hadn’t completely subsided.

“What on earth happened? And what’s with your current appearance?”

Lee Gun-san asked carefully, but Lee Hyeon calmly shook his head.

“It would be better if you didn’t get too deeply involved, General. It could become dangerous for you.”

“That’s rather unpleasant to hear. Are you telling this retired old man to just waste time in the back room?”

“…That wasn’t my intention.”

As Lee Hyeon tried to make excuses, he saw Lee Gun-san smile playfully and let out a hollow laugh.

But his eyes were still firm.

In the end, Lee Hyeon felt that, now as before, he couldn’t manage without this person’s help.

“General, you also worked with intelligence agencies like the NIS, didn’t you?”

“It was very brief, but yes I did. Why? Is it related to that side?”

“If we were to hit Myeongga’s headquarters, where would be the best place to start?”

Instantly, Lee Gun-san’s eyes flashed coldly.

The look he mainly showed when facing enemies.

“Those bastards kept crossing the line precariously even when I was around, and they finally went and did it. They dared… to touch my boy?”

Eyes that looked ready to rush out immediately.

However,

“You can’t.”

“What can’t I?”

“I’ll finish this with my own hands. Please step back, General.”

Lee Gun-san gazed intently at his former beloved disciple.

What on earth had happened during all this time?

Ever since he took off his military uniform four years ago, or more precisely, since Moon Su-chan, who had been like a brother to him, died in battle, he had always been a guy with nothing but emptiness filling his eyes.

The beloved disciple he met after so long had changed somehow.

Different from four years ago,

No, different from even his Jet days.

“……If you insist that much, I have no choice. But you won’t stop me from helping, will you?”

“Of course not.”

When Lee Hyeon nodded, Lee Gun-san finally smiled too.

“That’s a relief. Then follow me. I have related materials in the study room.”

Lee Gun-san hooked up an IV drip mixed with potion to Go Jin-woo, then headed underground with Lee Hyeon.

But then,

‘……A blast door?’

Lee Hyeon was startled to see a bunker steel door that he never thought he’d find in an ordinary house.

Even a hydraulic dog gear system at that.

It was an underground bunker that looked like it could survive a nuclear war.

“The door’s a bit unusual, isn’t it? I thought a regular study room would be too boring, so I decorated it with some character.”

“……”

This is just a little……?

Just as Lee Hyeon’s head started throbbing, wondering where to even begin pointing things out,

Whirrrr!

The sliding door slid to the side, revealing the interior of the bunker.

“Here we are.”

Seeing it, Lee Hyeon finally couldn’t hold back and let out a groan.

“……Are you planning to fight a war all by yourself or something?”

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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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