The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times - Chapter 268

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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 268

Episode 268.

[You have entered the Labyrinth of Denial.]

[Due to the large number of entrants, the labyrinth’s difficulty has increased.]

[Additional conditions have been added to the labyrinth. Those who die in the labyrinth cannot re-enter.]

[The labyrinth’s structure has changed. Please be careful.]

“…The difficulty increased?”

Dohyun frowned at the messages that greeted him upon entry.

There was no such content in the dungeon information, and the system was thoroughly backstabbing the players.

‘If everyone had been allowed to participate, it would have been chaos. The Emperor’s personality of not trusting the players’ abilities actually worked out well.’

If there had been no entry conditions, hundreds of thousands of players would have entered.

Considering that difficulty increases with the number of people, it would have become an unimaginably difficult level.

Not only that. A condition preventing re-participation had been added.

‘I almost wasted this opportunity foolishly.’

Thinking about it made him break out in a cold sweat.

“What the hell is this? Why are there monsters on every path?”

“And why are there so many traps? What’s with this damage?”

“Ugh! That spear has paralysis poison! Be careful!”

Looking up at the commotion, he saw players struggling.

The structure was definitely very different from when he first entered, with all sorts of traps and monsters lurking from the very beginning.

‘But the basic structure of maze to labyrinth is the same.’

It felt like the same framework had been recombined in a more complex and difficult way.

Monsters were lurking everywhere, making the Eye of Truth meaningless.

Even the level of those monsters was extraordinary.

Despite appearances, those were top-tier players verified by the Imperial Knights.

The fact that such skilled players were struggling meant the monsters were at boss level.

‘The maze has also grown larger to match the number of people.’

His prior reconnaissance had become meaningless, but Dohyun grinned.

This was actually better.

‘I can test it out quickly.’

It was an opportunity to check the performance of his new armor and his improved specs.

Dohyun took out the armor from his inventory.

But no matter how generously you looked at it, it couldn’t be called armor in appearance.

‘This stone is armor? I wondered what it was when I first received it.’

A small, insignificant stone.

The only notable thing was its deep black light that shimmered mysteriously, as if containing the universe.

But when he placed the stone in mid-air, something mystical happened.

Swoosh-

It floated in the air as if unaffected by gravity.

Not stopping there, the stone slowly approached and the moment it touched his hand.

Swish- Crack-

The stone’s form changed and something black wrapped around his arm.

Like when he had proven his iron will, the stone that engulfed his entire body beyond his shoulder was no longer a stone.

Dohyun turned on the customization mirror and grinned.

“Oh, this looks clean.”

A thin martial arts uniform made of black cloth.

Though it was light clothing that seemed to offer no defense, its unique material that looked scorched by repeated lightning strikes showed it was extraordinary.

Overall, it matched so well with the black rain mask that they could be called a set.

Swoosh.

After removing the stuffy armor and putting on the comfortable uniform, Dohyun looked around more comfortably.

With eyes searching for prey.

‘That place looks good.’

And the moment his eyes turned to the left fork, they narrowed sharply.

Since so many people had gathered, there weren’t no people around, but it was the only place where no players were fighting monsters.

In other words, it meant the monsters there were inefficiently strong, but he didn’t care.

‘Shall I go wild for once?’

These were perfect conditions for checking performance.

Grinning, Dohyun kicked off the ground.

* * *

“Damn it! What’s with these monsters’ levels?”

“Wow, this is supposed to be a dungeon? I thought it would end quickly seeing the number of people, but there was a reason the Emperor requested this.”

“Each monster is like a decent boss?”

“With traps constantly flying at us, this is driving me crazy.”

Roughly 40 minutes since the labyrinth conquest began.

Numerically it wasn’t much time, but considering thousands were conquering it, it was considerable time.

Especially for conquests conducted on a guild scale rather than small groups like this.

“The Guild Members are breaking through with numbers.”

“Sigh, only we without guilds are dying. Why couldn’t NPC factions enter?”

“The Guild Members must be grinning ear to ear.”

In this situation, those still remaining at the entrance were close to stragglers.

Those belonging to NPCs rather than guilds were usually like this.

Quick-witted players had already teamed up with other NPC-affiliated players, but these were those who couldn’t even join that.

A makeshift raid team hastily formed by the leftovers, no different from a ragtag bunch.

No, it was embarrassing to even call them a raid team – more like a small party.

“Still, we’re rankers too, aren’t we? Let’s try our best to conquer it. We should at least get some scraps.”

But they too were top-tier players who walked with some swagger outside.

They had no intention of exiting bitterly like this.

“Right. Where should we try to break through?”

“Obviously the right side. You’re not going left, are you?”

The player who had been fired up had a fit.

He remembered getting badly hurt when he first headed to the left fork without knowing anything.

“Why? All the guilds are going left.”

“There are dozens of traps and the monster attack power is insanely strong, making it tough. That place is hard without a faction.”

Instead, compared to the right side monsters, their defense was much weaker, but what use was that?

In that crucible of traps, it would be hard to land a proper hit.

If you showed off recklessly and got grazed wrong, it would be fatal.

You needed at least dozens of people gathered to break through easily.

“Right, then let’s do as you say… Hmm?”

It was when the party members were about to give up cleanly after hearing the explanation.

A party member who discovered something tilted his head sideways.

“…Hey, then what’s that?”

“? What is it… Huh?”

The moment the questioning player’s eyes turned left, they shook greatly.

An unbelievable scene was unfolding.

“…He’s fighting alone right now, right?”

“What? There was no one there just now?”

“Why are the party members behind him just standing still… Wait, that blonde is Charlie.”

“Huh? That mask! Co-could it be Kaiser?!”

Though his outfit had changed, they could be certain.

His Guardians had become such famous figures that they couldn’t be mistaken.

No matter how strong Kaiser is, he’s going to break through that alone?

Ignoring the easy right path?

Just as they were about to shout to stop him from this incomprehensible act, they closed their mouths.

“Is it… possible?”

“He’s even flying around?”

“Does he have eyes on the back of his head? Why isn’t he getting caught in any traps?”

Kaiser was literally massacring the monsters.

Swoosh- Crack!

Crunch!

His movements, dodging traps and attacks while delivering counters with almost divine agility, were truly at the level of art.

What was incomprehensible was that he occasionally seemed to deliberately stop and take hits…

“Didn’t they say those monsters hit hard? He’s not even getting a scratch when he gets hit?”

“…That’s strange. That’s definitely cloth armor, right? Why is it so sturdy?”

Attacks that had sent even himself flying despite wearing heavy armor didn’t budge Kaiser in his cloth armor at all, and he was instead counter-attacking devastatingly.

Seeing such an incomprehensible scene, it all made sense.

‘…So it really was true that he caught Bloodshed’s master.’

‘Even the Top 10 Guilds didn’t break through like that.’

‘Kaiser, is he a god?’

The worry and concern they had harbored until moments ago had completely disappeared from their faces.

They were simply absorbed in the overwhelming battle unfolding before their eyes.

* * *

Thunk!

[You have defeated the demon beast of the left path.]

[Your level has increased.]

As he pierced through the last demon beast’s jaw like a skewer, Dohyun stopped at the notification that appeared.

Looking around, he could see demon beast corpses piled up everywhere.

Their number easily exceeded fifty.

Meanwhile, the time spent hunting was barely over 5 minutes.

‘My specs have definitely increased ridiculously.’

While leveling up over three days had an effect, the armor’s benefits were still the greatest.

[Atram’s Masterpiece – Heaven-Defying Robe]

[Grade: Legend (Unique)(Growth)]

[Description: Master Craftsman Atram of Argethram Workshop.

This is a masterpiece created by him, who receives the admiration of all craftsmen, using a special mineral that exists only one in the world.

Only those chosen by the mineral can wear it, and others can only refine it with the chosen one’s permission.

It will stand firm against any adversity while defying the heavens.]

[Equip Restriction: One chosen by the Heaven-Defying Stone]

[Physical Defense: 3,594]

[Magic Resistance: 3,275]

-Strength + 10

-Agility + 10

-Stamina + 10

-HP + 1,000

-MP + 1,000

[Unbreaking Stone: Damage taken is reduced by 20%, and defense increases when taking consecutive damage. Also, it can never be damaged without the wearer’s permission.]

[Heaven-Defying: All options are amplified when overcoming adversity. The greater the adversity, the greater the amplification, and hidden options can be used when reaching the limit.]

‘This thin robe is sturdier than plate armor.’

Its physical defense and magic resistance easily surpassed other legendary plate armors.

Thanks to this, he could hunt while taking attacks, greatly reducing the time needed.

Not only that, his stats had also increased by a total of 30.

The basic options that greatly increased health and mana like a complete meal also reduced mana shortages significantly, enabling more efficient hunting.

‘Damage reduction on all incoming damage plus defense amplification… the options are excellent too.’

Among them, the Heaven-Defying option was somewhat unique.

It was the first time he’d seen armor with the concept of growing stronger as one overcomes adversity.

But for Dohyun, who wielded heaven-defying techniques, there was no option that suited him better.

It would increase the probability of successfully executing high-risk, high-return strategies.

‘There won’t be a better option than this when clearing the Main Quest.’

He was inwardly curious about what that hidden option might be.

It was disappointing that monsters of this level weren’t even considered adversity, so the option didn’t even activate.

‘Already level 88?’

He had only gained 2 levels over three days, but just gained 1 level from this single hunt.

It was probably just filling up the small amount of experience remaining, but even considering that, the experience was quite high.

It was natural since the left path had higher difficulty than the right.

‘Usually people group up to break through, so experience gets distributed and it ends up being the same either way…’

But it was different for Dohyun moving alone.

[Eye of Truth is activated.]

His eyes could see where the traps were located, what kind of traps they were.

He could even see where monsters were hiding.

‘A hunting ground with no people and high experience? This is pure gold.’

After all, hunting grounds without people are always the best honey spots.

Dohyun grinned and moved forward at high speed.

Bang! Crash!

Various traps roughly greeted him, but Dohyun easily dodged or deflected them.

Later, even that felt like a waste of time, so he reached the level of triggering traps beforehand or breaking through by taking them with his body.

“…What is that thing?”

“I don’t know either. He just doesn’t seem human.”

“Let’s just give up. I don’t think we can do it.”

“Yeah…”

The players watching his retreating figure in bewilderment eventually decided to give up understanding.

As the players, who seemed to have entered sage mode, trudged away dejectedly, there were no more people in this place.

Step.

Except for one man who had naturally blended in with the group of players, pretending to be a straggler.

Looking at the left fork where Dohyun had headed, he quietly moved his lips.

“…He’s entered. Yes, alone. He’s heading down the left path. But… he’s breaking through using unusual methods. He’ll likely reach the labyrinth faster than expected.”

As his cautious voice ended, a cold voice soon returned.

-To think he’d plan to go alone even here… How utterly arrogant.

“…”

-If that’s the case, we’ll have to make our own preparations.

“…Yes, Master.”

A low, thick voice that somehow had a snake-like, fishy quality.

-I do hope you’ll find it to your liking, Kaiser. Since this place will become your tomb.

The master of Aegis, one of the Top 10 Guilds.

Damian Alexander was beginning to move in earnest.

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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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