The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times - Chapter 240

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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 240

Episode 240.

“No, this is insane… What about the seal? Didn’t you say it would absolutely never open?”

As he shouted frantically at the warning messages flooding up, the Guardian coughed and answered.

[Ahem, I said it wouldn’t open as long as I held it back.]

“But?”

[Right now I’m not holding it back, am I? Since I’m in this cave instead of where the Sealed Gate should originally be.]

“Wow…”

Dohyun clutched his forehead.

Was it okay for a Guardian to be so shameless?

[For now, I’d appreciate it if you could calm down a bit. I’m just as confused as you are right now.]

“I’m sure you are.”

[Sigh, this is an unexpected variable… Did I reveal myself too carelessly? I thought I hid the door quite well, but it seems the Apostles’ search capabilities are better than expected.]

It was an absurd situation, but once the bewilderment subsided a bit, he felt uncomfortable.

Listening to the Guardian’s words, it seemed like it wasn’t entirely without his fault either.

‘So while the Guardian came forward because I destroyed the fragments of the Calamity, someone else discovered and opened the Sealed Gate?’

In other words, he was about half responsible for this mess.

But Dohyun felt wronged.

‘Why do things always get tangled up like this?’

He had simply done his best to break through blocked situations.

Every time he untied one knot, a bigger knot would appear.

At this point, he suspected the AI was saying ‘Oh? You’re breaking what I told you not to break? Then try breaking this too!’ and giving him vengeful trials.

‘They really manage this like a gem.’

Though praise naturally came out, blaming wouldn’t improve anything.

For now, dealing with the situation came first.

Dohyun let out a deep sigh and asked with a sullen face.

“Then what should we do now? Since the Sealed Gate has opened, will the Devourer of Existence appear?”

If so, they would need to prepare.

Fortunately, it wasn’t the worst situation yet, as the Guardian shook his head.

[No. Did you think I believed I could prepare for every situation? There’s one backup plan I left for the worst-case scenario.]

“What is it?”

[A seal.]

A seal?

[There’s a weapon that can seal that monster. If the target is from the Abyss and subdued, it can seal anyone. It’s an unprecedented weapon that the Ancient Imperial Mage Tower Leaders poured their hearts into creating.]

“If such a thing exists, isn’t that fine?”

[Well, if it exists, there’s hope. It would be difficult, but you just need to somehow seal that thing.]

“…If it exists?”

With a somehow ominous feeling, Dohyun stared intently at the Guardian.

The Guardian then avoided his gaze and slightly turned his head away.

Somehow he felt like he knew the answer without hearing it.

Sure enough, the words that followed weren’t very positive.

[That weapon. My main body has it.]

“…Why?”

[Well, because the main body is what self-destructed at the end and was buried underground together to create the seal.]

The main body naturally referred to the Forgotten King.

And what this meant was one thing.

[My main body that lost its ego. The supreme knight and king whose existence was devoured and forgotten by all. Take the weapon from him. That’s the only way to seal the monster.]

To have a showdown with the Forgotten King.

After seizing the weapon from him, they had to seal the monster.

‘That’s easier said than done…’

Usually they say “a chicken instead of a pheasant,” but this felt like catching a lesser dragon instead of a phoenix, which wasn’t comforting at all.

Dohyun clicked his tongue at this mountain range of obstacles.

[You don’t necessarily have to defeat the main body. Subduing and taking it would be most certain, but… if that doesn’t work, awakening the main body’s mind would be another method.]

At least it was fortunate that victory wasn’t absolutely necessary.

‘So this is why saving the king was the World Quest clear condition.’

Though an unexpected situation had occurred, seeing that the essence remained the same, Dohyun was nodding when.

Among the constantly ringing alarm-like notifications, a particularly heavy sound echoed.

[The Calamity’s reproduction rate is rising at an abnormally steep pace.]

[The current Calamity reproduction rate is 50%.]

[Cracks appear in the seal.]

[A great disaster licks its lips while looking at the still-faint cracks.]

‘Already 50 percent…’

‘I’m not sure if this is manageable, Owner.’

‘If that great disaster is truly a being from the Abyss, when it bursts outside, a real calamity will occur.’

‘Risa? Rizariza!’

Jihad looking anxious and Charlie clenching his fists with a serious face.

And while watching Eliza bouncing around next to those two, messages appeared in succession.

[The Forgotten King escapes through the cracks.]

[In the World Quest dungeon, Forgotten Tomb, the ‘Forgotten King’ has appeared.]

[Stop him.]

Finally, the Forgotten King had revealed himself.

[Now there’s really no time. I heard that the other Apostles are stronger than you, but I honestly don’t quite believe it… Though I’m doubtful, I have no choice but to place my hopes on you.]

The Guardian, speaking somewhat faster, narrowed his wrinkled eyes and looked at Dohyun.

[You said there were two ways to get the weapon from the main body?]

“Yes. Either subdue and take it, or awaken his mind.”

[The main body only lost its identity because its existence was devoured, but hasn’t been corrupted by the Abyss yet. Though slim, if you give him an intense shock that could recall memories from life, it’s not entirely impossible.]

The Guardian’s eyes changed as he stopped speaking.

Though he looked calmly, a firmness and pressure like a great mountain could be felt.

That pressure became complete when the Guardian gripped his sword and took a stance.

A suffocating pressure that made him doubt if this was the same old man he had faced moments ago.

Clench-

While Dohyun hesitated, realizing he had unconsciously gripped Cheonbyeon.

The Guardian spoke in a low voice.

[The swordsmanship you received from us. You only received a portion of it. Our swordsmanship isn’t an empty shell like what a corpse would use, but advanced swordsmanship containing the soul. You haven’t properly learned even half of it.]

…Well, of course, since he learned it from a corpse.

But Dohyun didn’t bother to say that and listened carefully.

The words that followed solved that problem.

[Your Seolhwa Sword is a beloved sword we used for a long time. Seeing it should provoke a reaction. Showing that and ‘this’ that I carried close to my heart might cause a reaction. But this alone isn’t sufficient. So…]

“…”

[Perfect that one and only sword technique.]

Because we are knights who are most familiar with conversations through swords, having no other choice.

With those words, the Guardian pointed his sword instead of continuing to speak.

Then a blizzard swept through. No, that wasn’t an ordinary blizzard.

As if each snowflake had its own will, they were swirling in different directions.

Whoooosh-

A white lion that had descended to the ground glowed its eyes fiercely and approached.

Then, in an instant, it rushed forward and pounced on Dohyun. Startled, Dohyun barely managed to resist the urge to swing his sword.

‘…I would have been hit if I had swung.’

That was fighting spirit.

The white lion was just standing still and watching, not moving at all.

The liveliness of each snowstorm and lion as if they were breathing and alive.

His sharp senses had reacted to the sense of disparity that came from there.

[Song of the White Lion. This is originally a swordsmanship that goes beyond moving as the user desires, granting a single ego to the energy. Can you follow it?]

The Guardian made a gesture as if telling him to draw his sword quickly.

Ding-

[Emergency Quest, ‘The Forgotten King’s True Swordsmanship’ has occurred.]

[The Forgotten King’s True Swordsmanship]

-Grade: Emergency Quest

-Description: The Guardian of the Forgotten Tomb, ‘Belief of the Old King’ is trying to pass down the true Song of the White Lion to you.

However, there isn’t much time left.

Within the little time remaining, receive the swordsmanship training and complete the true Song of the White Lion.

-Quest Success: Inheritance of the true Song of the White Lion.

-Quest Failure: Failure to inherit the true Song of the White Lion.

-Time Limit: Before the Calamity’s reproduction rate reaches 100%.

A swordsmanship that seemed impossible to follow just by watching.

That’s why it was even more thrilling.

The special option of the unique legendary weapon would become more perfect than now?

‘There’s no reason to refuse.’

Thinking about using this along with the second technique Break he had obtained this time made his hands tremble with excitement.

Dohyun grinned and gripped Heavenly Transformation that had changed into the White Lion’s Snow Flower Sword, taking the same stance.

The Guardian also seemed satisfied with that unhesitating decision and showed a smile.

[Then let’s begin.]

Beneath the tomb where a massive disaster had peeked its head out.

It was the moment when the secret lesson began.

* * *

[Someone has opened the Sealed Gate.]

[They have awakened the massive disaster sleeping in the Forgotten Tomb.]

[The Calamity’s reproduction rate is rapidly soaring.]

The moment the world message appeared in the World Quest dungeon.

The first place that went into chaos was the community.

-Crazy, what is this? Massive disaster?

-Someone opened the Sealed Gate?

-What’s with the speed of the calamity rate rising;; I blinked and it’s already at 40%.

-Which bastard was it. Suddenly monster waves came rushing and we all died. Fuck.

-The calamity level is on a different dimension. Now even decent players will have trouble hunting monsters. They’re all moving in legions.

-What is this. I was excited because it was a World Quest, but is it right for this to happen in less than a day?

-For real, this is ridiculous;;

It was because players who had been brutally killed due to the drastically increased difficulty had logged into the community first.

The community was already bustling with talk about the World Quest.

In such a situation, when the dead came flooding in like a tide spreading their eyewitness accounts, naturally all attention had to be focused there.

-It seems like this chaos happened because that Sealed Gate was opened.

-Who’s the bastard that touched it, they’re dead if caught.

-Investigation starts immediately. Just tell us.

There’s a saying on the internet.

That netizen investigation teams are better than most official investigation teams.

That saying, which could be called an unchanging truth, worked without fail in Godose as well.

No, since it was a game played by 1 billion people, it was even more so, and they were able to find the culprit in less than 5 minutes.

-Found the culprit who opened the gate.

-Those Earnest bastards. They stopped controlling the area and suddenly disappeared.

-Seems like they found hidden pieces, then found the Sealed Gate, opened it and ran.

-Have you ever seen such fucking bastards. They should clean up before leaving, how dare they run?

-But Harrington is nowhere to be seen?

-He probably ran first, shit.

The 1st ranked guild, Earnest.

The timing when those guys stopped controlling the surroundings and when the Sealed Gate opened matched perfectly.

Normally they wouldn’t dare think of touching a Top 10 Guild, but now it was different.

The justification was too clear.

Top 10 Guilds and High Rankers who hadn’t arrived yet were anxious, and those already in the middle of conquering weren’t pleased with the sudden difficulty increase either.

-What’s so great about Earnest?

-This is a World Quest dungeon crawling with High Rankers. Let’s just pass the information along.

-Best to pass it to users affiliated with NPCs.

-Catch those troll bastards.

When they passed the information to those who would be most furious, the necks of Earnest Guild members who had been running away in a hurry were quickly caught.

-We caught them while they were running away in fear and beat them up, but their condition is strange.

-They just keep repeating the word monster? They keep saying everyone will die.

-They keep saying weird things about the World Quest failing.

-? What about Harrington? What is Harrington doing? The guild image is about to be completely ruined.

-Hey hey crazy… big news. Harrington died. They say he got brutally killed by some monster as soon as he opened the Sealed Gate?

-Harrington? Even though he gets ignored for sniping from afar, he’s a top-class archer?

-Seems like he died before he could even draw his bow.

-Something’s going wrong. Is this difficulty right? Isn’t this a mistake?

But when they actually caught and beat them up, something felt strange.

They felt that the situation was more serious than they had thought.

[The current Calamity reproduction rate is 50%.]

[The Forgotten King escapes through the crack.]

[The ‘Forgotten King’ has appeared in the World Quest dungeon, Forgotten Tomb.]

[Stop him.]

That seriousness was felt firsthand when the Calamity reproduction rate reached 50 percent.

-Hey, the King appeared!

-Wasn’t the World Quest conquest condition to save the Forgotten King?

-Turns out Earnest wasn’t messing around but carrying us.

-Who’s the bastard that said to beat them up, shit, we’ll get in trouble later for no reason.

-Is that the problem now. If we don’t go in quickly, it’ll be taken.

-I’m logging in right now. Everyone good work for now.

-All the rankers are gathering, if we don’t go watch quickly we’ll miss it. Everyone log in first!

-If we clear it before the remaining top 10 guilds arrive, it’ll be fucking hilarious lol

When the King first appeared, people cheered.

There was no reason not to cheer since they were getting closer to conquering the World Quest.

The King could be found quickly.

“Over there!”

“It looks like some kind of temple. There’s a door here too?”

“If it’s a door… first come first served?”

“There’s a limit on entry numbers. Only one person can enter at a time.”

“Me, I came first!”

Like looking at a large mart during a market sale, people instantly began to crowd in.

The atmosphere was that whoever arrived first would achieve 1st place in conquest.

But it took less than 5 minutes to realize that was a mistake.

[Player Leopard enters the Forgotten King’s Temple.]

“Ah! Leopard challenged it.”

“Ah… isn’t it too much for a High Ranker to enter from the start? We should get a chance too.”

“Damn, it’s over….”

Leopard, a promising talent from the Knight’s Castle.

He had shown exceptional qualities from the start, grew rapidly, and even became a direct disciple of the Lord of Heiden Castle, making him a top-tier Player in the knight class.

His challenge had given many Players a sense of disappointment.

Many Players were clicking their tongues in regret and about to start gossiping when it happened.

[Player Leopard has died.]

[A Player who entered the Temple has died, increasing the Calamity’s reproduction rate.]

[The current Calamity reproduction rate is 51%.]

“…?”

“Huh?”

An unexpected message appeared.

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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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