The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times - Chapter 26

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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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Episode 26

Chapter 26.

Godseeker has something called an arena.

Commonly called PVP, it provides some level of balance correction, though not perfect, allowing players to compete based on skill.

You can also engage in ‘duels’ outside with mutual consent, but these don’t have balance corrections.

Nevertheless, duels were quite popular.

After working hard to get good gear, you’d want to show it off, and no one wants to fight while being suppressed.

The ability to fight comfortably anytime also played a part.

Thus, Godseeker was generous when it came to combat.

How merciful to let everyone fight according to their preferences.

But wherever you go, there are always those who don’t follow the rules.

“Duels? What’s fun about that. Life is about real combat.”

“Picking on guys weaker than me is the real fun~.”

Instead of using the legitimate duel system, there were always users who engaged in unauthorized killing, or PKing.

They existed in Demroc, in other RPG games, and Godseeker was no exception.

For fun.

For coveting items.

Just out of spite.

To make people quit the game…

For various reasons, quite a few people engaged in PK, making it something users commonly experienced or heard about.

If you asked them who was the worst, nine out of ten would say:

“Bullies who pick on newbies.”

“Those who PK just for fun should really get their ID cards suspended by the game company.”

“Damn, I still get pissed thinking about dropping that rare item because of those bastards.”

Those who PK for fun are the worst.

And among them, the most vicious are the bullies who deliberately PK beginners.

They form teams and systematically prey on novices.

Despite reaching graduation level, they don’t graduate, instead hunting users who just entered the city with decent-looking gear.

Getting items and having fun too.

Since high-level players can’t return, as long as they don’t mess with those connected to major guilds, it’s practically heaven.

“Hey, let’s make a killing today too.”

“I’m getting tired of this… Can’t we find someone decent? All their reactions are the same, so it’s boring.”

“Kekeke, you’re my friend but you’re really vicious.”

Assassin Boy, If You’re Angry You Do It Too, No It Doesn’t Fit.

These three were also devils living in that heaven.

All level 24, having reached graduation level, but they deliberately didn’t perform the graduation quest.

It was natural.

“Why would I?”

“Graduation my ass. If I go up, I’ll just get pushed around by others, so why suffer unnecessarily?”

When they could play king here in Raven, why bother?

It’s not like they could become rankers anyway, and even now they had enough fun and made decent pocket money.

The thrill of picking up items dropped from death penalties and selling them was quite satisfying.

And.

“I’m going to rot here forever.”

There’s no place like here for easy pickings~.”

The moment they graduate from here, this kind of bullying becomes difficult.

Arde is tough because there’s no death penalty, no skills, and everyone forms parties in fair conditions, and from the next city onward, everyone has guilds and carries several skills, making it difficult.

More opponents, harder to pick on people, and connections become more important.

In many ways, there was no paradise like Raven.

Such people were searching for suitable prey today as well.

But no one particularly caught their eye.

It was because they’d been working (?) too hard lately, spreading rumors and making users engage in more thorough party play.

Occasionally they’d see solo players, but…

“That guy, isn’t he the one?”

“Oh, the guy supported by Hero Guild. Let’s pass on him.”

“Right, the gods finally smiled on us, so it’d be troublesome to get marked.”

Some of them were known faces.

Many were rookies marked by major guilds or those receiving support from solid mid-to-large guilds.

Messing with them carelessly would be troublesome in various ways.

They didn’t want something they did for fun to become bothersome.

“Then what about that guy?”

“Hmm… I don’t recognize his face, but his items look pretty mediocre?”

“This bastard’s gotten picky about gear lately. He used to pick up anyone easily before.”

“People can’t just eat kimchi stew and soybean paste soup all the time. You need to cut into a steak once in a while, right?”

The kimchi stew Assassin Boy mentioned referred to ordinary people who just shed their newbie status with no backing or anything.

Then what about steak?

“Isn’t there someone with no backing but lots of money, perfect for eating~?”

Watching Assassin Boy lick his blade and hum while looking around, If You’re Angry You Do It Too and No It Doesn’t Fit shook their heads.

He’s pretty normal in real life, but his eyes go crazy the moment he starts gaming.

‘Well, it’s fun for us.’

It’s just a game anyway, so who cares.

He was so skilled at tormenting others that following him led to many interesting situations with his creative ideas.

Didn’t he gather a bunch of monsters saying he’d help the last guy, then slip away with stealth?

Just thinking about those guys’ faces trembling with betrayal made them chuckle.

“Let’s see~ where’s the steak~ Oh!?”

That’s when it happened.

A user caught the eye of Assassin Boy, who had been humming about steak like a crazy person.

A man dressed in red and black overall, carrying a massive greatsword.

“Holy shit… Jackpot. Isn’t that a warrior set?”

“What? Where… Wow, really? He must have quite a bit of money.”

“Is a guy like that part of a guild?”

At No It Doesn’t Fit’s words, Assassin Boy thought for a moment then shook his head.

“Nope. My acquaintance is a scout in charge of Arde, and there was no one like that in recent intel. I heard from him today too, so I’m sure.”

If they had recruited someone wearing a warrior set, rumors would definitely have spread among scouts.

If that wasn’t the case…

“Oho?”

“Then…”

Assassin Boy met eyes with the other two and grinned wickedly.

“He’s a nouveau riche bastard. And one who’s fearlessly solo playing.”

At that single utterance, the same smile appeared on the other two’s faces.

A low-grade, despicable, and greedy smile.

“Hehe… Even his design looks deliciously like steak. I’ll be drinking some fine liquor after a while?”

“What a gift on a Friday night. I’m booking a room right away.”

“Hey hey, how much would that sell for? Over 500, right?”

“I don’t know, bastard, it’s just fucking sweet as hell.”

They were giggling and chatting as if it was already their money when they suddenly stopped.

The man who had been resting suddenly started hunting goblins.

But the power was extraordinary.

A quick dodge and a stab, and the goblin died.

Whoosh- Stab!

Then the man who instantly slid and one-shot the goblin on the opposite side.

No matter how you looked at it, he didn’t seem like a mere beginner.

“…Is that really the power of someone who just graduated?”

“He’s pretty strong but… no matter how high, he’d be below level 16, so what’s there to worry about?”

“That’s just gear power. If we sell that stuff, we’ll make a fortune.”

“Hehe, well that’s true.”

Of course, that was the extent of their assessment.

At most, he was just a rich upstart who surpassed beginner level through gear power – he couldn’t possibly beat them.

After all, he was just one person.

Meanwhile, they had three people at graduation level.

No matter what traits or unique abilities he had, in the low-level range, level was ultimately king.

“Still, just to be safe, let’s start with a shot.”

“Keke, going to apply paralysis poison?”

“This time money matters more than fun. Go ahead.”

The Assassin Boy walked over making an okay sign with his hand, waving it around before using stealth.

His skills were stealth, paralysis poison, moving slash, and ankle sweep.

True to his nickname, he had properly followed the assassin tree and could proudly say it was the best PvP skill tree for this level range.

He had a whopping two rare-grade skills after all.

[Unique ability ‘Ambush’ is activating.]

[Upon successfully attacking while avoiding the enemy’s eyes, delivers a critical strike.]

[Trait ‘Fairly Sharp Dagger Technique’ is applied.]

Moreover, the god he had drawn was actually a Hero god.

Specifically, the Eerie Shadow Dagger God, one of the assassination-type gods.

Though it wasn’t highly rated among assassination-type Hero gods, it was still Hero god class.

A unique ability sufficient to compensate for somewhat disappointing traits.

‘Nothing’s more optimized for bullying than this.’

Especially for assassins like Assassin Boy who enjoyed stealth ambush PKing, there was nothing better.

If the ambush failed, it became a completely useless unique ability, but the moment the ambush succeeded, high enough potential burst forth to make up for that.

But what about that guy?

‘Charge slash one-trick.’

Since you get two skills from Arde, he’d have one more, but seeing as he wasn’t using it, it probably wasn’t a very good skill.

Maybe he was using a buff-type skill to produce that kind of damage.

Whatever it was didn’t matter.

‘Approach with stealth, stab with poison, deal some bleeding damage then gang up for a clean finish.’

This wasn’t even a fight.

No, it wasn’t a fight but a hunt.

If even one of those items dropped, they’d book a room tonight and have a liquor party. He was already having happy thoughts about what to do for fun tonight.

Startled.

‘…What?’

Assassin Boy stopped mid-approach.

Suddenly he felt an eerie sensation.

‘Didn’t we just make eye contact?’

Was it his imagination?

He definitely felt like he had made eye contact with the guy…

Assassin Boy tilted his head at the uncomfortable feeling, then shook it.

‘That’s nonsense.’

This was someone who had just graduated from Arde and was hunting in Raven Plains.

His class was even warrior.

He didn’t have any skills to detect rare-grade stealth.

He’d never heard of such a trait either.

Later on, you could detect it somewhat with items or skills, but that was a story for the distant future. Common sense said it was impossible to be detected while stealthed right now.

‘It really was my imagination.’

Look.

He had approached within arm’s reach, yet the guy was walking around nonchalantly.

So Assassin Boy drew and gripped his dagger.

Green liquid dripped down the blade.

It was the rare skill paralysis poison.

‘Still feels a bit uncomfortable, so let’s finish this quickly.’

He was just about to creep up and stab the side from behind.

Swish-.

“…!”

Suddenly the guy moved.

The man instantly turned around, struck his wrist, and knocked the dagger away. Before he could even panic, a rough grip seized his throat.

“Kugh! Kek!”

Simultaneously, stealth was broken and Assassin Boy’s figure was revealed, lifted into the air while being held by the throat.

The only weakness of stealth was being vulnerable to area attacks.

Because stealth breaks when you take damage.

‘What the hell…’

But he hadn’t been hit by an area attack just now.

Not only was it questionable what trick he used to detect stealth, but even more incomprehensible was the guy’s ridiculous strength.

‘…I can’t move at all!’

No matter how much he struggled and tried to pry the hand away, it wouldn’t budge.

It was like a solid rock.

Even if he was an assassin, he was level 24.

To be overpowered in strength this much by someone who was at most below level 16?

This was completely absurd…

“What are you?”

That’s when the man spoke.

“Wow… I wondered, but you really are a PKer.”

A tone as if it was no big deal.

Despite nearly being ambushed, there wasn’t a trace of agitation.

Rather, he seemed curious, but his expression was eerily frightening. That gap struck Assassin Boy as terror.

“You, you bastard… what are you!”

When he instinctively shouted, his waiting comrades raised their heads above the bushes.

“Huh!?”

“What’s that situation?”

Then they shouted as if panicked.

The man slowly took in that sight and chuckled.

“Well look at that? Professional. You’re repeat offenders, aren’t you?”

At that cold voice, Assassin Boy’s pupils shook violently.

For some reason, this man seemed enormous.

As if he could easily crush someone like him at any time.

However, the man – Dohyun’s eyes weren’t actually looking at him.

But slightly above.

[Eye of Truth activates.]

‘I didn’t know it could detect stealth too.’

It was an unexpected new discovery about the Eye of Truth.

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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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