The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times - Chapter 34

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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 34

Chapter 34.

Slash!

Screech! Screech!

Dohyun boldly charged between the soldiers and cut down a goblin soldier without hesitation.

Bastard Sword also recognized it as the familiar charge slash.

‘…Wait, is that really a charge slash?’

The speed was so fast that it made him doubt whether Dohyun was really holding a greatsword, but the movement itself was indeed a charge slash.

While watching Dohyun swing his sword among the soldiers.

“…That’s him, right?”

A low voice came from behind.

It was the Paladin who had also been watching Dohyun.

Gone was the innocent smile he had shown in front of Dohyun, replaced by a cold expression and low voice.

Bastard Sword answered as if familiar with this change.

“Kaiser with warrior set… and a greatsword. I’m certain. There can’t be multiple guys like that in this area, right?”

“True… warrior sets aren’t exactly common either.”

“So what do you think?”

At Bastard Sword’s question, the Paladin thought for a moment before answering.

“Not bad. He dodges vital points well and he’s fast despite using a greatsword.”

“Is it because his gear is good? His damage seems high too, and he does look fast. That guy over there went down without even taking many hits.”

Bastard Sword nodded in agreement with That Bastard’s words that echoed the Paladin’s sentiment.

He was definitely fast and powerful.

So much so that it made them wonder if he was really level 20. At that level, he wouldn’t be outmatched by gear in this area.

However.

“Something’s strange.”

“What is?”

He couldn’t understand it.

“Assassin Boy got beaten by just a gear-carried scrub like that?”

High damage and fast?

He acknowledged that.

But the Assassin Boy he knew was by no means weak either.

Moreover, Assassin Boy’s class was assassin.

With stealth and paralysis poison, he rarely lost in PVP under normal circumstances.

Under those conditions, losing 3 vs 1 had made him internally tense, but….

“He’s just a typical guy who pushes through with gear.”

“Hmm… now that you mention it, it is a bit strange. Even if the new guys he recruited were subpar, this doesn’t make sense.”

The Paladin also found it odd and stroked his chin.

Their identity was Assassin Boy’s friends and former companions.

They were the ones who had been part of Assassin Boy’s griefing party in the past, the original party members.

As such, they knew Assassin Boy’s tendencies and skills better than anyone.

“He’s not the type to let his guard down.”

“Rather, he’s a thoroughly meticulous bastard.”

Assassin Boy never fought opponents head-on, no matter who they were.

So much so that even his own allies found him ruthless.

But what about that guy?

He was strong, but that was all there was to it.

“His combat sense is mediocre and his judgment is mediocre too.”

“If you say he could burst down enemies so he went in, that would make sense, but… even considering that, he’s at amateur level.”

He dodged vital points well, but that didn’t mean he landed critical hits well either.

The decision to deliberately go between soldiers and get surrounded was also disappointing.

In many ways, it didn’t feel like someone experienced in combat, but rather the typical movement of a middle-aged man pushing through with gear.

Well, it was unavoidable for a swordsman to face three spear-wielding soldiers.

He had to charge in to even attempt an attack.

“That method is just a bit stupid.”

“Still, be careful. His damage is higher than expected.”

“I know. Assassin Boy probably got caught off guard by that damage too.”

“They didn’t even have a tank, so….”

That said, they had no intention of being careless.

This wasn’t their first or second time doing this. During their heyday with Assassin Boy, they had destroyed countless parties.

Now they had luckily been scouted by a guild and had stopped, but they could proudly call themselves experts in this field.

And that was why they had sought out Kaiser.

“A kill order just had to be issued… making things messy.”

“Honestly, you didn’t believe me until the kill order was issued, right?”

“Still, we’ve been steadily benefiting from him, so we need to get revenge at least once to avoid being exposed.”

If they just ignored it and the unhinged Assassin Boy exposed their past to the guild?

Then they would all be dead together.

That’s why they couldn’t refuse Assassin Boy’s request.

Instead, they had set a time limit of until graduation for their search, but… they didn’t expect to find him this quickly.

“Well, this worked out better. This should shut him up.”

“Let’s cut ties after this incident.”

“If he keeps bringing this up after this, then we’ll just go all out.”

“We’re also taking risks doing this, so if that bastard has any conscience, he won’t do that.”

Tsk, Bastard Sword clicked his tongue, looked ahead, and composed his expression.

“Let’s go in now. Manage your expressions well.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Let’s go with the usual approach.”

Having finished their discussion, they returned to their innocent young men personas.

The Paladin hurriedly ran over to block a goblin’s spear, and his companions joined in late to deal damage.

Once they joined, the tide of battle was instantly reversed.

After quickly finishing off the remaining goblin soldier, a message appeared.

[You have defeated a Red Goblin soldier.]

[Through contribution distribution, ‘Kaiser’ has obtained Red Goblin soldier leather.]

“Wow.”

At the same time, they opened their mouths as if genuinely impressed.

“You’re really good at hunting! Is this what a warrior set is like? Your damage was incredible!”

“We joined just in case, but it looks like you would have killed them all even if we left you alone.”

“See, there’s no swordsman who’s bad at this! This is what a swordsman is like~.”

At their display, Dohyun smiled and waved his hands dismissively.

“Not at all. You all seemed quite skilled yourselves.”

“We’ve just coordinated together often. At this rate, Kaiser, you’ll be able to match our pace quickly too, right?”

“How did you manage to recruit such a skilled person?”

“It’s all thanks to my eye for talent.”

Watching them shamelessly heap on praise, Dohyun was internally dumbfounded.

Originally, throwing a party member alone into battle to test their skills was bad manners.

The party member would draw all the aggro alone, and party members might abandon them and run, and if they were unlucky enough to drop equipment, there would be no greater disaster.

It was basically something that would put anyone in a bad mood….

‘This isn’t their first or second time doing this.’

But after pulling such a stunt, they were praising him with such innocent faces that it was absurd.

Most low-level players would probably feel a bit uncomfortable at first but then be completely won over by this display and have their mood restored.

They did join in, albeit late, and no one dislikes praise.

That’s why Dohyun also pretended to be ordinary.

He moved as sluggishly as possible, deliberately taking hits from obviously telegraphed attacks and dealing damage as sloppily as he could.

If he kept this up, there would surely come a moment when they’d take the bait.

“Then shall we try going with a more coordinated approach this time?”

“Sounds good.”

Bastard Sword extended his hand with a benevolent smile. And Dohyun clasped that hand.

‘I’ll find an opportunity to quietly stab him.’

‘Act incompetent… act as incompetent as possible…’

Each harboring different ulterior motives, they shook hands while wearing the mask of the most virtuous party.

And so their uncomfortable raid continued.

* * *

[You have defeated a Red Goblin Soldier.]

…

[The Goblin Chief is terrified.]

It was after they had continued raiding for about an hour.

As the group of goblin soldiers fell, Bastard Sword wiped his sweat and said.

“Phew. Shall we rest for a bit?”

“Let’s do that.”

“Yeah, let’s rest a little. I’m dying here.”

The party members who collapsed as if falling flat showed signs of exhaustion.

Well, it was understandable.

The difficulty had gradually increased, and now more than ten soldiers were charging at them.

The soldiers were definitely stronger and tougher than the forest goblins. They wore armor and wielded spears, so it was natural.

With ten or so of those guys appearing at once, how could it not be overwhelming?

‘This is why swordsmen get treated like that.’

Swinging a sword against ten spear-wielding soldiers?

It would be hard to even reach them under normal circumstances.

If you tried to rush in to deal damage, you’d be surrounded instantly, and if you maintained distance, opportunities to deal damage were hard to come by.

On the other hand, ranged dealers could deal comfortable damage without wavering like a metronome as long as the tank blocked in front, so naturally ranged dealers were preferred.

In such a situation, this party had two swordsmen, making it the worst possible condition in some ways…

“Wow, Kaiser’s damage is really incredible.”

“With two swordsmen achieving this kind of speed, isn’t that amazing?”

“He’s really become a damage dealer, so it’s definitely different. You should try harder too.”

Dohyun was no ordinary swordsman.

A gear-dependent player who boasted firepower rivaling mages once he caught an opportunity, even under adverse conditions!

That power shone here as well.

That was the reason.

‘…Why is that guy so strong?’

‘It’s not that his control is bad, but that he doesn’t need to control, right?’

‘Sigh…’

The reason they didn’t rashly target Dohyun.

Dohyun’s overwhelming damage had become a cause for wariness. Moreover, there was the precedent of what happened to Assassin Boy’s party, so they had to be even more cautious.

No, to be precise, it wasn’t that they hadn’t tried at all.

‘Hit him properly. Why can’t you hit that?’

‘No… I’m sure I aimed correctly, but it strangely doesn’t hit.’

‘What are you talking about? He’s standing still, but you’re shooting weirdly.’

‘Ah, this is frustrating.’

That Bastard had occasionally pretended to make mistakes during hunting and cast magic, but it never seemed to hit.

Either a goblin that was attacking would get hit instead, or Dohyun would luckily dodge by being pushed back by an attack.

The biggest highlight was when he shot because Dohyun was moving forward, but suddenly Dohyun stopped.

It’s not like he was a robot with automatic detection sensors…

‘There’s no way he knew and stopped… how can his luck be like that?’

He clearly looked like he had poor control, but strangely he dodged every single attack that was shot.

And seeing him smile and shout ‘Nice!’ made it seem like he wasn’t trying to dodge, which drove That Bastard even crazier.

He wanted to just kill him outright, but that monstrous damage output was concerning.

There was no reason to gamble when there was a safe path available.

‘Right, next time…’

‘Next time, please let me hit.’

‘No. If we do it too consecutively, it’ll be obvious. Let’s take it slow.’

They were smiling on the outside, but inside they were sweating bullets.

Dohyun wasn’t much different.

‘I feel like I’ve tried my hardest to play poorly, so why are they acting like that?’

He had instinctively dodged magic skills a few times, but after coming to his senses, he blatantly put his body in the way.

Then this time the magic missed on its own.

How would he feel when they couldn’t hit him even when he offered his body?

‘Wait, they’re not taking the bait? Should I just charge first?’

Even after creating openings several times, they just quietly continued hunting without any action, so his frustration was the same.

No, in some ways he could confidently say it was worse.

Because of this, Dohyun had to contemplate several times.

Whether to pick a fight first or wait.

As they engaged in this battle of wits, they had reached this point.

[Boss stage is now open.]

[You can now enter the Goblin Chief’s room.]

“We’re already at the boss room.”

“To achieve this speed with two swordsmen… it’s amazing when I think about it again.”

Before they knew it, only the boss room remained.

With this, those who had been somewhat anxious could regain their composure.

‘Right, there’s no way we can fail here.’

The Goblin Chief.

To defeat him, you needed a mage.

Since it was a boss that was troublesome for swordsmen in many ways, if they used this situation well, they could definitely handle that one guy.

“Then it seems like we’ve rested enough, shall we go in?”

“Understood.”

“Let’s go.”

With a bright face, Bastard Sword threw open the boss door.

Creak-.

[You have entered the boss room.]

[The Goblin Chief has discovered intruders.]

[Red Goblin Elite Soldiers attempt to stop the intruders.]

The boss stage opened with the sound of rusted metal friction, and Bastard Sword immediately looked for Dohyun as if he had been waiting.

“Kaiser. Please handle the elite soldiers for now.”

The boss room of the Goblin Chief’s Lair was a bit different from other dungeons.

Not a single boss, but a boss accompanied by two elite soldiers.

[Red Goblin Elite Soldier]

-Title: Elite Monster

-Type: Goblin

-Trait: Tenacity

-Description: The strongest and best-trained elite soldiers among Red Goblin soldiers.

They serve as guardians of the Goblin Chief and have tremendous tenacity toward those they recognize as enemies.

Elite monsters with traits, unlike regular monsters.

Such elite soldiers were quite troublesome opponents.

The ‘obsession’ trait where they don’t change aggro until the first person they recognize as an enemy dies was a considerable headache.

That was the reason for hiring sub-tanks or healers in this dungeon.

It was too much for a tank alone to handle both the boss and elite soldiers.

The standard strategy was either to endure with a healer or have a sub-tank take care of the elite soldiers.

“Kaiser?”

They planned to assign that role to Kaiser.

Monsters whose aggro absolutely never changes until they kill or are killed. When Dohyun was dealing with such elite soldiers, if they approached and struck…

‘Crushing someone who’s tied up is as easy as eating rice cake while lying down.’

That was why they boasted a 100% PK success rate in this dungeon.

5 versus 1 was a combination where it was hard to lose even if you wanted to.

No matter how strong that guy’s damage was, he couldn’t possibly handle both elite soldiers and the three of them at the same time.

That’s why they were certain this time would definitely succeed.

“Kaiser… sir?”

“…?”

“What the hell, where did he go?”

But…

That very Kaiser had disappeared and was nowhere to be seen.

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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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