The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times - Chapter 202

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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 202

 

Episode 202.

 

-The fastest way to get stronger in the Empire? Oh, that’s obviously… Ah, before max level? Then without a doubt, it’s enhancement.

 

One of the things said in an interview by Fried, ranked 1,279th in Godseeker.

 

There were two reasons why he put enhancement first, setting aside all other routes.

 

One was that unlike other routes that often went against fairness to some degree, this was a growth route that gave equal opportunities to everyone who entered the Empire.

 

The second was…

 

-Actually, I wonder if I even need to explain this. Everyone knows there’s a world of difference between enhanced and unenhanced weapons.

 

It was an overwhelming numerical difference.

 

You could feel the difference between equipment that had even one enhancement and equipment that didn’t, but what if it was +10?

 

-There’s almost double the difference. It’s like having a different grade. Even from +11, the options get enhanced too, so you can just think of it as a different weapon…

 

He continued explaining the overpowered nature of enhancement, but to summarize, it was this:

 

Up to +10 was numerical enhancement like attack power or defense.

 

After that, options were enhanced in addition to those.

 

‘Violet-Flavored Auntie getting +15 is still a legend even now.’

 

Of course, since it was right before service termination, only Sword Master, his party members, and a few High Rankers knew about that legend.

 

The power of +15 that he saw back then was beyond imagination.

 

It was already a weapon of final equipment level at the time, and with +15, the options were enhanced to the maximum…

 

‘He didn’t reign as the strongest single-hit dealer for nothing.’

 

With that level of specs, he could easily cover for lacking control and more.

 

Being such a person, he knew the importance of enhancement better than anyone, which is why he pushed Dohyun to the enhancement shop.

 

It was when he was about to look around the enhancement shop he hadn’t visited in a long time.

 

“Shit!! I shouldn’t have entrusted enhancement to that bastard Harrison!!”

 

Without even having the chance, suddenly a man’s resentful cry of rage could be heard.

 

‘Whoa, that startled me. What, what’s that?’

 

‘Hmm, he’s not the only one acting like that.’

 

‘Risa?’

 

As Charlie said, the outburst wasn’t only coming from that man.

 

Alley of Strengthening.

 

This place was always a neighborhood full of screams and anger.

 

“Hey, what’s wrong? Calm down. If you make too much of a commotion, you’ll get dragged away by the guards.”

 

“But, but that bastard Harrison keeps letting his hands slip! Did he put oil on his hands or what, just go to a massage parlor instead!”

 

“You got hit by that devil… You should have gone to Hison in the next neighborhood instead.”

 

“Aaaahhh!! Damn enhancement! Give me back my ten million won!”

 

“Oh? Ooooh!!? It worked! It worked! Ahhhhh! God, deity, Buddha, I’m non-religious but thank you!!”

 

Most had bloodshot eyes flashing with murderous intent, and people cheering were as rare as beans in a drought.

 

There were even those beating the ground and crying their hearts out in front of broken equipment.

 

At that heartbreaking sight, Jihad panicked and poked Dohyun.

 

‘Whoa, that person is crying, Owner. Hey, are they crying?’

 

‘It’s just daily life.’

 

‘Hmm. It reminds me of when a subordinate knight went to the Alley of Strengthening in the past. He was a poor fellow who cried because he couldn’t get +7. Master should be able to go for +10 or higher.’

 

‘…No. I’m not confident about this either.’

 

At Charlie’s words, Dohyun slightly turned his head away.

 

The enhancement shop was the place Dohyun hated most and felt least confident about.

 

Most of what his comrades teased him about as “cries of god” was because he cried out when equipment exploded while enhancing.

 

‘My highest record was +9, I think.’

 

Even that was only one weapon that reached +9 after hundreds of destructions.

 

All his other equipment only reached +7.

 

This was because up to +7, even if you failed, enhancement would only decrease, but equipment wouldn’t be destroyed.

 

If the destruction point had been from +5, Dohyun wouldn’t have even touched the threshold of +9.

 

‘I won’t even hope for +9. Let me just get +7 without major difficulties, please.’

 

Dohyun, who was already feeling dizzy at the thought of repeating that process, looked around.

 

‘…Who should I go to. Hmm, let’s pass on that Harrison guy first.’

 

It was to find which enhancement NPC to receive enhancement from, the target who would determine his fate.

 

After looking around for a while like that.

 

‘That person looks good.’

 

Soon, Dohyun, who found a decent-looking NPC, opened his mouth.

 

“Please enhance this.”

 

“Hmm? A face I haven’t seen before. So, you’re entrusting enhancement to me?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“A very excellent choice. I’m quite an expert when it comes to enhancement. Hoho. Place your equipment here.”

 

As they were having this conversation, Jihad whispered carefully and asked.

 

‘…You’re going to entrust it instead of doing it yourself?’

 

‘Yeah.’

 

‘Re… ally?’

 

Jihad, asking back like that, seemed to be questioning whether that was truly the right decision.

 

And for good reason…

 

“Oops, my hand slipped.”

 

“No, why would your hand slip there! I saw you deliberately let go just now.”

 

“It was really a mistake. Don’t despair. This time I really have a feeling. Really.”

 

“Look, look at that bastard’s eyes. They’re crazy.”

 

“Ah, damn. Production job or whatever, enhancement should be done yourself for mental health? I’ll just give more enhancement stones.”

 

Wasn’t the answer obvious just from what was happening right next to them?

 

Every time he turned his head, dozens of curses about enhancement masters could be heard – was this right?

 

As those people said, the enhancement masters’ eyes looked unusual, as if they were addicted to something.

 

But Dohyun answered calmly.

 

“It doesn’t matter.”

 

-Why?

 

“Even those crazy-eyed enhancement masters won’t have worse hands than me. Would you believe me if I said I failed 10 times in a row trying to get +5?”

 

-…

 

Enhancement masters’ hands slip often? They’re being unfair?

 

What did any of that matter?

 

Even so, it wouldn’t compare to Dohyun, who had god-cursed negative hands in the enhancement world!

 

-Uh… Fighting!

 

-R, Risa!

 

“Come to think of it, didn’t you mention some poor friend who couldn’t get +7?”

 

-…A, ahem. You seem to have misheard. Growth should be achieved through one’s own power. Admirable, Master.

 

Seeing them immediately understand, Dohyun also sighed and placed his weapon.

 

Actually, though he said this, he had no choice.

 

Anyway, unless you were a blacksmith-type production job, it was common sense that entrusting it to enhancement NPC had much higher success rates.

 

[Enhancement NPC Kilhi designates Cheonbyeon (Thousand Changes) as enhancement target.]

 

[Not outstanding, but a fairly skilled expert’s touch increases enhancement probability.]

 

[Due to the equipment’s high grade, many enhancement materials are needed.]

 

[Consumes Enhancement Stone x5, 398 gold.]

 

[Success probability is 80%, destruction probability is 0%.]

 

The expert’s probability assistance couldn’t be ignored.

 

It wasn’t for nothing that they cursed NPCs like they wanted to devour them, yet still stubbornly entrusted enhancement to NPCs.

 

‘Well, if I really hate it, there’s the method of asking those called masters, but…’

 

This was too expensive and hard to schedule time with.

 

“Then I’ll begin.”

 

[Enhancer NPC, Kilhi begins the enhancement of Cheonbyeon (Thousand Changes).]

 

[When enhancement stones are melted in the furnace and the heated hammer correctly strikes the hit point, enhancement succeeds, but if it strikes the vital point, it fails.]

 

[Hit points and vital points are random and depend on the enhancer’s intuition and skill.]

 

It was the moment when enhancement, called the warrior’s grave, began.

 

A task where the enhancer’s skill was more important than anything else, as everything was determined by hit points and vital points.

 

Clang-! Clang!

 

“Hmm, one more time should do it.”

 

Since it was the first enhancement, he watched without much tension.

 

Ding- Whoosh-!

 

“W-wait a moment!”

 

“Hmm? What’s wrong?”

 

With a cheerful notification, Dohyun urgently shouted as something caught his eye.

 

Kilhi tried to stop, flustered by Dohyun’s disbelieving expression, but it was already too late.

 

The hammer was falling due to gravitational acceleration.

 

Clang-!

 

The moment the hammer and Cheonbyeon collided.

 

[Congratulations. Enhancement has succeeded.]

 

[+1 Cheonbyeon (Thousand Changes) has been completed.]

 

“You startled me and made me panic, but befitting my skills, I succeeded splendidly. Shall we continue the enhancement?”

 

“Wait a moment. This isn’t the time for that.”

 

The enhancement succeeded with a cheerful notification, and Dohyun still had a stunned expression.

 

It was because he had seen something unbelievable.

 

‘This can’t be… huh?’

 

But then it happened.

 

Murmur murmur-

 

Before Dohyun could continue thinking about this phenomenon, the surroundings began to become noisy.

 

It was because of one person’s appearance.

 

“Whoa, it’s Leon.”

 

“Leon? Isn’t Leon the person who recently became a master in the enhancement field!”

 

“What? Leon appeared? This isn’t the time!”

 

“Where, where?”

 

Dohyun also temporarily stopped enhancing and turned his gaze.

 

There stood a young man in his late twenties, confidently receiving countless attention.

 

It was Leon, a famous craftsman among production workers recently.

 

‘The first master in his twenties.’

 

A rising star recognized by the skilled blacksmith NPCs of the Empire, a blacksmith player with unprecedented talent.

 

Among them, he was a man who received the master title for his exceptional skills in enhancement.

 

He was also the only master of the Hero Guild, which received the greatest support from Berjhe.

 

“I heard the Top 10 Guilds were keeping an eye on him? Berjhe supposedly recruited him after visiting three times.”

 

“So jealous… Some people beg to be accepted but the Execution Guild won’t even look at them.”

 

“If you’re envious, you do production work too. Combat jobs honestly have no prospects now.”

 

“That’s a bit… When would I finish all that grinding.”

 

Dohyun nodded at the players’ chatter.

 

‘Unexpected? To see that precious master here.’

 

If combat jobs had rankers, production jobs had masters.

 

A position that could only be achieved after a long time, receiving recognition from master-level blacksmith NPCs and passing an examination.

 

Achieving master level grants overwhelming buffs in one of the crafting-related fields like weapon creation or enhancement.

 

‘I also broke through 10+ enhancement for the first time thanks to Violet-Flavored Auntie.’

 

So much so that Violet-Flavored Auntie suddenly started learning blacksmithing during Demroc, saying this was absolutely necessary, and after long grinding, became that difficult-to-achieve master.

 

Thanks to that, Dohyun entrusted enhancement to Violet-Flavored Auntie afterward and could finally escape the nightmare of enhancement.

 

Anyway, that guy was really a persistent guy.

 

Watching from the side, you’d stick out your tongue thinking ‘Wow, he grinds even that?’

 

He wasn’t called the incarnation of grinding for nothing.

 

‘He doesn’t seem to be doing that here… or is he? If the masters were almost wiped out like in Demroc, he might have grinded directly.’

 

…He was definitely someone who would do that and more, that auntie.

 

Anyway, those great masters often had high pride and often didn’t easily succumb to money.

 

I don’t know about Babylon’s masters, but seeing that even Violet-Flavored Auntie couldn’t cancel his schedule, I think it’s the same case as other masters.

 

“I heard he was leaving for the New Continent, why is he still in the Empire?”

 

“I think he has something in progress recently. I heard he’s leaving after one last title challenge?”

 

“Amazing… Would he enhance for us if we asked?”

 

“Would he do it? He’s famous for his nasty personality. We’d be lucky not to get cursed at.”

 

“Anyway, I’ve never seen young guys who succeed early not be cocky.”

 

Well, that’s why masters were often eccentric and had nasty personalities.

 

Needless to say about Leon, who succeeded at a young age.

 

“Um… Leon sir. Hello.”

 

“What?”

 

“Well, I’m a fan. Could I possibly… ask for an autograph?”

 

“Get lost.”

 

“…Excuse me?”

 

“I said get lost because you’re annoying.”

 

Leon was merciless even to the fan who cautiously approached him.

 

Leon frowned in disgust and waved his hand dismissively.

 

“Ha, do you think I don’t know your ulterior motive of eventually asking for enhancement after approaching me like that?”

 

“No, why are you saying that? I just requested out of fan sentiment…”

 

“Ah~ Is that so? Well then, choose. Should I enhance one piece of equipment you want? Or give you an autograph?”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“What are you hesitating for? Choose honestly, I absolutely never break promises. But if you choose one, I’ll never do the other for life, so think carefully.”

 

“…What? That… uh…”

 

Leon’s lips curled into a sinister smile as he watched the hesitating player.

 

“I knew it, you cowardly bastard. Hand over your equipment and get lost.”

 

“You can entrust your equipment here. Since Leon sir is specially doing just one, please choose carefully.”

 

“No, that’s not it… Geez.”

 

When the bodyguard following Leon extended his hand, the player protested as if wronged but didn’t back down.

 

The sight of him handing over equipment with an undeniable smile looked disgustingly pathetic.

 

“Ugh, disgusting.”

 

“Would anyone want to live like that.”

 

“…But I’m kind of envious. Should we try asking too?”

 

The players in the Alley of Strengthening cursed while showing subtle envy.

 

That was the position of beings called masters.

 

Beings that made you secretly tempted even after seeing such ugly behavior.

 

Of course, Leon wouldn’t let that happen.

 

“By the way, this is the last time, so if anyone acts rudely… yes, you understand without me saying it, right everyone?”

 

“…Haha, of course.”

 

“Ah, I figured. Tsk.”

 

The players who were immediately cut off looked away, feigning indifference.

 

It was then that he made eye contact with Leon, who was looking down at such players with contempt.

 

Leon’s eyes widened slightly as if surprised to see Dohyun, then he soon wore a mocking smile.

 

At that annoying smile, Dohyun thought.

 

‘What? That guy who looks like a villain.’

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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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