The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times - Chapter 171

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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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Chapter 171

Episode 171.

Blue Forest, Troll Settlement in the corner.

Dohyun reached a relatively secluded spot among the numerous troll settlements and showed a satisfied expression.

“This should be good enough.”

-There are definitely no people here. It seems you’ve found a good location, my lord.

-Huff huff… Too fast. Pl-please, slowly…

Charlie stood beside him wiping away sweat, while Jihad was catching his breath some distance away.

Because excited Dohyun had run at full speed without controlling his pace, it was difficult for them to keep up.

Charlie, being a knight, had enough stamina to endure it somewhat, but Jihad, being a necromancer, was absolutely exhausted.

-Risa risa!

-…I’m jealous. I want to ride in a pocket too.

-Risa? Risa!

-Obviously I wouldn’t fit with my body size, you fool.

Jihad grumbled while looking at Eliza, who was smiling brightly, oblivious to their speed struggles.

When Dohyun chuckled and took a step forward, a message soon appeared.

[You have entered the Troll Settlement.]

Although a message appeared, this place wasn’t a dungeon.

It wasn’t a Hidden Field either. It was just a subsidiary area attached within the field.

Therefore, no additional benefits or sudden quests would appear.

One might ask what meaning the settlement had then, but for those confident in their skills, there was no better hunting ground.

[The trolls have detected an intruder. Prepare for battle.]

There was no need to gather monsters since they would swarm over to eliminate the intruder on their own.

The difficulty increased, but in other words, it meant gaining a lot of experience in a short time.

‘This is perfect for experimenting.’

That was why Dohyun had come to this place.

There was no place more suitable than here to test the performance of Fierce Strike.

Moreover, most of the quest materials for Luliel were in the settlement, so it was killing two birds with one stone.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

Grroar? Grroaar!

Grroaaar!

Just then, a group of trolls spotted Dohyun and came charging.

Their number exceeded ten.

It was more than the settlement he had visited last time while doing a quest.

It seemed to be a place where many trolls gathered among the settlements.

-Should I summon undead?

“No.”

-Okay.

Jihad awkwardly stepped back.

Meanwhile, Dohyun took a step forward.

Grroaar!

Just that alone significantly closed the distance with them.

It was partly because Dohyun took a wide stride, but also because they were so excited and charging forward.

Soon, when the distance narrowed to about 4 meters.

[Activating Fierce Strike.]

[The sword is imbued with the energy of fierce attack.]

Dohyun’s figure moved like sliding.

Was this what it meant to float like a butterfly and sting like a bee? His figure scattered hazily then shot forward at tremendous speed, swinging his sword.

The sword contained a subtle green energy.

Slash-!

One strike.

Grroaaar-

The troll that was cut by the sword was pushed back several steps by the pale green shockwave that burst from the blade.

Dohyun took another step forward.

Then the sword swung again.

Second strike.

[You have defeated a Troll of the Settlement.]

He cut down the troll with two slashes.

Then he cut down another troll that came from behind.

This one also required two slashes.

But the next moment.

[You are in a Four Strike stacking state.]

[Damage is stacking.]

[The movement distance of Fierce Strike increases according to stack level.]

[If used within 1 second, you can continue the Fierce Strike.]

Slash- Grroaar!

Fifth strike.

[You have defeated a Troll of the Settlement.]

The troll died with just one slash.

The sword, which had turned yellow, now contained a different momentum than before.

From then on, the rampage began.

Slash! Slash-

Seventh strike, ninth strike, twelfth strike…

Every time he swung his sword once while advancing, a troll died.

That was simply all there was to it.

Even when several trolls, enraged by their companions’ deaths, charged at him, they just became cold corpses when he slashed and passed by.

[You have defeated a Troll of the Settlement.]

[The trolls have detected an intruder. Prepare for battle.]

Soon all the trolls that had exceeded ten in number were dead, and new trolls swarmed in instantly.

Nothing would change.

No, it actually got worse.

Whoosh-

Grroar?

Now Dohyun’s Fierce Strike had reached the level of cutting through a distance of over 4 meters in an instant.

What used to be just one step of distance had now become a charging slash.

[Maximum stack reached.]

[Movement distance is at maximum. It will not increase further.]

[If the attack is blocked or fails, it will reset.]

[The sword’s fierce energy reaches maximum and turns red.]

One shot, one kill!

No, beyond one kill, he was cutting down two at once with each strike as he advanced, and soon Dohyun had become an unstoppable destruction tank.

Would this be what an 8-ton truck with broken brakes would be like?

Bang! Crash! Slash- Thud!

Originally it was a skill that knocked targets back while continuing fierce consecutive attacks, but now it was nothing short of a civilian massacre technique.

Charlie stuck out his tongue watching Dohyun madly sweep through the settlement’s trolls.

-That fierce momentum… It’s definitely the swordsmanship used by the General of the Opposing Army in the past.

-What, you know that?

-It’s a kingdom that has now perished and disappeared. Though he was a general who ultimately lost the war, no one could stop that man’s momentum.

-Oho…?

-There were many who tried to imitate him, but no one could execute his swordsmanship so magnificently like that. Just where is my lord’s limit? The speed of his growth is simply marvelous.

Every time he scattered the red aura, blood splattered and trolls died.

He cut down all enemies blocking his path and advanced endlessly.

Seeing that sight, it felt like facing the battlefield slaughterer he had seen in the past once again.

He had heard that parts of his forgotten swordsmanship had been passed down to the apostles, but facing it like this felt truly strange.

‘Hmm.’

Dohyun, who had been cutting through while listening to that story, showed interest.

The battlefield slaughterer.

The swordsmanship of the knight commander of the fallen kingdom…

‘The current NPCs’ secret swordsmanship can’t be learned through skill draws.’

If that were possible, why would players bother becoming disciples of NPCs?

Are dead NPCs’ techniques an exception?

Hero-grade skills often wielded considerable power, so perhaps their source might be the techniques of past heroes who had died or been forgotten.

It wasn’t just Dohyun’s speculation.

The community that loved discussing such useless topics had debated this subject before.

One of the claims that came up then was the theory that player skills are techniques of past heroes.

‘Somehow I ended up proving that theory.’

It was interesting, but that was all.

Dohyun chuckled and stepped forward again, swinging his sword.

Whoosh-

“Ah.”

Dohyun paused as he watched his thoughtlessly swung sword slice through empty air.

Before he knew it, all the enemies had disappeared.

[You failed to activate Fierce Strike within 1 second.]

[Fierce Strike is terminated.]

[You have eliminated most of the trolls in the settlement.]

‘To nearly wipe them out with just one skill. It really is overpowered.’

Since no more trolls were visible, they must be hiding or haven’t emerged yet due to terrain issues.

If all the trolls had come out, wiping out an entire settlement with one skill wouldn’t have been an exaggeration.

‘No wonder Purple Uncle coveted it so much.’

It was indeed a perfect skill for Purple Uncle.

When it came to burst damage and raw stats, Purple Uncle was stronger than anyone else in Demroc.

If Purple Uncle had used Fierce Strike…

‘Ugh, how terrifying.’

All those trolls would probably have been turned into players by now.

Anyway, he would have properly enjoyed the effects of Fierce Strike.

Now all that remained was to earnestly sweep the troll settlement and collect materials.

At this rate, forget two weeks – he could finish all the grinding quests in even less time.

‘Alright, let’s go.’

It was when Dohyun, with rising momentum, stepped forward.

Ding-

[10 seconds remaining until connection time expires.]

[Connection will end shortly. Please retreat to a safe location.]

“…”

Dohyun paused at the untimely notification and scratched his head.

He felt his momentarily boiling enthusiasm cool down completely. Well, for an hour’s worth, hadn’t he gotten his money’s worth and then some?

[RCD video recording terminated.]

“My time’s up. I’m going…”

-Mm. Take care, my lord.

-Let’s rest now too.

-Risa Risa!

Though Dohyun’s words were cut off as he logged out, Charlie, Jihad, and Eliza, who were used to it, coolly received his farewell and entered the Guardian Room.

Pssh-

“Today was another fulfilling day.”

As the capsule opened and Dohyun stretched, he wore a satisfied smile.

Days when he drew good skills always felt great.

After loosening up his body moderately and coming out to the living room, he saw Hyuna crouched on the sofa with her back against it, watching TV.

Dohyun frowned at the sight.

‘Suddenly I feel disgusted.’

Hyuna’s shy face when she had requested an autograph came to mind.

As Dohyun grimaced at recalling something terrible, Hyuna, who made eye contact with him, made a similar expression.

“What are you doing? Why are you making your ugly face even uglier?”

“I saw something too terrible today.”

“A mirror?”

“You’re really dead.”

After exchanging their usual pleasant(?) words, Dohyun quenched his parched throat with water.

Indeed, a cool glass of water after gaming was the best.

That’s when it happened.

“When will Kaiser’s video be uploaded?”

“Pfft!”

“Hey, what are you doing! Why are you spitting water so disgustingly!?”

“Ah, no. I choked. But why Kaiser’s video?”

Dohyun, who had spit out water at the sudden remark, asked with a flustered expression.

Then Hyuna flipped her hair and answered confidently.

“Ah~ I saw Kaiser today. I watched him catch a field boss live? Jealous? His control was seriously insane.”

“…R-really? Didn’t you not like Kaiser that much? You said Berjhe over Kaiser.”

“Well, it’s not that I didn’t like him… I just wasn’t particularly interested.”

“Then why suddenly?”

“Seeing him in person, I understood why Min and Suyeon kept singing Kaiser, Kaiser.”

Hyuna’s eyes became nostalgic as if recalling recent events, and she continued excitedly.

“And Berjhe’s image has been a bit off lately, so his popularity is waning? Well, there are still many girls who like him for his face, but I’m not really into him anymore? Kaiser is more manly and cool instead.”

“This crazy…”

“What? Why are you suddenly cursing?”

“No. Kaiser is cool. Manly.”

“Right?”

Does Hyuna know?

That she’s currently praising her own brother as cool with her own mouth. He was once again resolving never to get caught when it happened.

“Ah!”

Hyuna’s attitude suddenly changed as she exclaimed as if something had occurred to her.

Just moments ago she was praising Kaiser, but now she was suddenly frowning.

“But Kaiser seems to have a bad personality.”

“…? That can’t be right?”

“No. I definitely heard it. When I requested an autograph, he cursed at me? I guess the rumors about him folding people who get on his nerves are true.”

“N-no way. You must have misheard. Or maybe he was cursing about something else and the timing just coincided? You’re probably being too sensitive.”

“Really? I don’t think so… But why are you defending him? You’re not someone who defends others. Unless you’re being shielded yourself.”

She stared at him suspiciously as she said this.

Dohyun, realizing his mistake, shut his mouth.

Bzzzz-

At that moment, his phone vibrated.

[Kwak Jaeyeol: Holy shit! I saw Kaiser!]

[Kim Duhyeong: Seriously insane. I really hope the video gets uploaded soon. Wow…]

[Kim Hyeonsu: Guys, congratulate me. Starting today, Jonghyun has decided to join our King God General Kaiser Punch Guild too.]

[Yu Jonghyeon: I had no choice. Kaiser seduced me too much. This devilishly charming man…]

[Kim Duhyung: Fucking crazy lololol]

[Kwak Jaeyeol: But what’s Dohyun doing? Hasn’t he been acting suspicious lately? He barely talks.]

[Kim Duhyung: For real, especially when Kaiser comes up, he goes quiet. Does he have something going on with Kaiser?]

Watching Hyuna and his friends closing in on him, Dohyun gulped.

‘…Am I screwed?’

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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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