The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times - Chapter 354

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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 354

Part 2, Episode 20.

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Time flew by like an arrow, and two days had passed since clearing the sudden quest.

During that time, Dohyun had searched the entire ship.

He wasn’t just saying that – he had literally searched every part of the ship.

He even accessed the restricted areas by sneaking in when the captain and crew were asleep, checking every space where the girl could possibly hide.

But even so, the girl was nowhere to be found.

“No, does this even make sense?”

It wasn’t like he had seen a hallucination.

The very person who triggered the sudden quest and dropped the necklace had vanished without a trace from the ship?

‘This isn’t some fairy tale about a celestial maiden and a woodcutter – this is truly a situation that would make even ghosts weep.’

Only after searching every location on the ship could Dohyun finally accept it.

That the girl leaving the necklace behind and disappearing was part of the quest from the beginning.

He didn’t know how she had vanished without a trace, but nothing else made sense.

‘No wonder only the necklace was listed alone in the rewards.’

He never expected to obtain it this way.

He thought he had encountered a fateful meeting, but it left him feeling deflated.

It was a situation that only brought sighs, but the moment he saw the necklace obtained as a reward, those sighs were completely drawn back in.

[Elaine’s Necklace]

[Grade: ?]

[Description: A necklace imbued with mysterious power, the only trace left by a young girl.

Perhaps she is desperately searching for it right now.]

[Equip Restriction: One who received the necklace as a gift from Elaine]

[Absolute Counter: When attacked, reflects the attack back to the target. May fail if the attack exceeds what the necklace can handle.]

‘Reflecting attacks back – isn’t this like the Mirror of Reflection?’

The graduation quest reward that had performed brilliantly against the Forgotten King.

Even as a one-time use item, it had that level of performance, but this one seemed to have no usage limit or even cooldown.

Though he didn’t know how much damage the necklace could handle, it was definitely an overpowered item.

The grade was also a question mark.

‘Who is Elaine to give such a gift? And what’s the identity of that girl?’

Even if he didn’t know about Elaine, from the circumstances, the girl seemed to be a non-human race NPC.

Though he hadn’t seen her face properly, despite her young appearance, she had an oddly noble aura.

Both receiving such a gift and disappearing without a trace like this.

She was definitely no ordinary girl.

Though something incredible had rolled his way unintentionally, he couldn’t be entirely happy about it.

[You are not the permitted owner of the necklace.]

[Cannot equip the necklace.]

He couldn’t even wear it around his neck, let alone use its abilities.

But Dohyun didn’t give up and found a way to wear it, eventually succeeding in wearing it around his wrist as a workaround.

Of course, this didn’t activate its abilities, but Dohyun was satisfied.

His purpose wasn’t to activate its options from the start anyway.

[Eye of Truth is activated.]

“Hmm, I still don’t understand why this keeps glowing red.”

The fact that the Eye of Truth was reacting meant there was definitely something hidden…

No matter how he looked at it, examined it, or touched it, nothing changed.

‘Could it be reacting to the owner because she’s hiding nearby?’

That thought briefly crossed his mind, but he had thoroughly confirmed over the past two days that it was a complete dead end.

After giving up with both hands raised, he had mindlessly entrusted his body to the hammock, which was his current situation.

‘Sigh, I don’t know.’

Since there seemed to be something about the necklace for sure, wouldn’t he stumble upon something while adventuring in the New Continent?

It was while he was lying in the hammock listening to the sound of waves.

[Will arrive at the dock shortly.]

-Wow!! Owner, owner! Do you see that? We’ve finally arrived!

-Risa! Rizariza!

-Indeed… Even from a distance, it’s overwhelmingly large. I can’t even grasp where the island begins and ends.

The ship was now preparing to dock.

Breaking free from his thoughts, Dohyun got up from the hammock he had grown fond of over two days, stretched his neck, and headed to the bow.

Seeing where the excited Guardians were pointing, Dohyun smiled slightly.

“Finally arrived.”

The first New Continent, also known as the Island of the Fairy King.

It was the moment Dohyun finally set foot in Ellanis.

* * *

Ellanis, the Island of the Fairy King.

There are words that players who first set foot there unanimously say.

“It’s the island that best expresses the word fantasy.”

“There’s something that makes your heart flutter.”

“It’s overwhelming.”

“Adventure’s Paradise refers to this place.”

Fantasy.

Adventure’s Paradise. An exciting unknown world.

A place that makes even players who had grown dull from the fresh shock they first received during tutorials, and who had become accustomed to enjoying fantasy on the Main Continent, return to their original mindset.

That place is precisely Ellanis.

-Wow…

-R-Risa…!

-My goodness.

“Wow.”

The moment they entered that place.

Dohyun and the Guardians showed exactly the same reaction as if they had made a promise.

They had no choice.

A beautiful natural forest that was on a different dimension from the dense forests they had seen so far, like a fairy tale illustration come to life.

Giggle. Giggle.

Young elves were playing throughout the forest, and sparkling reindeer were quenching their thirst at a pond.

And beautiful female elves gently petting those reindeer.

The animals here were not monsters.

They were all part of nature and friends of the non-human races.

Could there be anyone who wouldn’t be amazed seeing this scene where even a fairy descending wouldn’t feel out of place?

He could confidently say there would be no such person.

“Damn, this is real fantasy.”

“This is insane, really.”

“Wow… so beautiful.”

“The forest? Or the elf ladies?”

“Obviously the latter… no, both!”

The immediate reactions of the players who disembarked from the cruise with Dohyun were proof of that.

After staring blankly for several seconds.

-Hehe.

The female elves at the pond, whose eyes suddenly met theirs, gestured with their hands.

It was such a small gesture that you wouldn’t notice unless you were paying attention, but no player here would miss that movement.

“Damn…”

“Wow…”

“Ah.”

Letting out an unknown exclamation, they simply entered the forest as if enchanted.

As they entered the forest, the natural scenery became visible in greater detail.

They even had the illusion of becoming one with nature.

“Oh my, sister, you’re so pretty.”

“Ah, let go. That sister seduced me.”

“Shut up. She seduced me, not you.”

“Sister, take me.”

“Anyone can see you’re older though?”

“She’s an elf, so she’s obviously older than me, you bastard.”

“Aha.”

There were players talking to the elves, and others making a fuss from a distance.

But they couldn’t get any closer than that.

Flinch.

Thud thud thud-

The animals that had been peaceful when with the elves fled like arrows as soon as they saw the players.

Looking closely, the elves’ reactions weren’t much different either.

They didn’t ignore the words or run away.

However, whenever some players tried to close the distance even a little, they would sharply step back and maintain a certain distance.

This was the same regardless of gender.

“Ah…”

Watching the players express genuine disappointment at this, Dohyun, who was following behind, nodded.

‘It feels like they’ve memorized a manual.’

Like how a guide memorizes a customer service manual.

They too provided appropriate kindness and responses, but clearly formed formations to guide the way while preventing humans and elves from mixing.

They said they had succeeded in establishing exchanges with the elves, but it didn’t seem they had become close.

However, there was only one exception…

No, only one being was an exception.

-Rizariza! Riza!

Kyaruruk.

-…Owner, why do those guys play so well with Eliza?

“Maybe because she’s not human?”

-Then what about me? I’m not human either…

“You’re… never mind.”

Dohyun looked Jihad up and down, started to answer, then shook his head.

Jihad’s expression became subtle at this.

-…? What’s with that reaction? I feel strange about something?

“It’s your imagination.”

-No way. Your eyes definitely looked strange.

Anyway, his intuition for these things was annoyingly sharp.

How long had they walked while ignoring Jihad’s constant grumbling?

At some point, they gradually felt like they were leaving the forest, and eventually arrived in front of a village with a huge fence built like a city wall.

Nod.

Male elves who appeared to be guards checked the people on this side and opened the door.

As they entered the village, the elves waved their hands as if they had been waiting for this moment and coolly disappeared.

However, most players didn’t pay attention to them.

More precisely, it was correct to say they didn’t have time to.

“Wow, this is crazy.”

“It’s like entering the Lord of the Rings.”

“Amazing…”

“So mystical.”

Their hearts were already completely absorbed in the scenery inside the village.

The same was true for Dohyun’s group.

-Riza! Rizariza!

-Wow, cool.

-Indeed… what a mystical sight. To see humans and elves intertwined together.

“Right. It feels strange.”

This place was completely different from human villages.

It felt like they had built their settlement while maintaining the forest’s appearance as much as possible.

They built houses using giant trees as roofs, constructed facilities using nature as a playground, and pitched tents under the shade created by nature to sell goods.

“How much is this herb?”

-10 leaf coins. If it’s credits, give me 100 credits.

“How is the village chief doing?”

-Don’t even mention it. The elder has been away for so long that he seems to have quite a headache.

“Where is Druel? I have something to deliver that I was asked to.”

And players were naturally mixed in and living in their settlement.

That scene was quite colorful and unique, but what caught the eye even more was the giant tree visible beyond the fence surrounding the village.

Despite seeming very far away, it was of an immeasurable size.

At the same time, it had a mystical aura that seemed to bewitch just by looking at it.

“…World Tree.”

Truly a divine tree.

The World Tree seen in reality lived up to that title.

Seeing the World Tree made him newly realize that he had come to Elinass.

It was when he was marveling anew at this.

-…Owner. I don’t think now is the time for this.

-Rizariza.

Jihad spoke in an anxious voice, and Charlie quietly placed his hand on his sword.

Looking ahead, he could understand the reason.

Saa-

The village had become quiet.

Like when one becomes aware of a dream, weren’t the players in the village stopping what they were doing and all looking this way?

“…It’s Kaiser.”

“I only heard news, I thought I wouldn’t see him in the New Continent.”

“He beat Demroc and reclaimed 1st place, right?”

“When he left the Empire, the Emperor and all the residents came out to see him off.”

“Even so, isn’t that Empire level? It’s a different class from the New Continent.”

The murmuring guys showed interested reactions, but they didn’t just show interest.

From groups in alleys with obvious killing intent, to groups sharpening weapons while not taking their eyes off Dohyun.

And even men with subtle faces as if measuring something.

Clank- Shing.

Swish.

A strange wariness and tension lingered.

Seeing the reactions that were unknowingly bristling with thorns, Dohyun chuckled.

This feeling.

It was familiar yet very long-awaited.

‘Look at these guys. Not backing down, are they?’

Hostility.

Was it because of all the chaos he had caused while in the Empire?

Dohyun grinned at the sharp sensation he was feeling after so long.

The reason such reactions were coming now wasn’t because the New Continent players were rough, or because criminals were overflowing.

There was only one reason.

‘This looks doable.’

And cracking the heads of such guys was Dohyun’s specialty.

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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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