The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times - Chapter 359
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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 359
Part 2, Episode 25.
The New Continent has various content.
As a place where numerous different races live, it’s teeming with various content that couldn’t be experienced on the Main Continent.
Among them, there was famous content representing each New Continent or village…
[World’s Greatest Disciples Tournament]
“Who is the world’s greatest disciple! A once-a-week opportunity! Registration closes soon, so hurry up and participate.”
“Wow, look at all these people swarming around.”
“Really. Is this a human village or an elf village?”
“It’s not like the World’s Greatest Disciples Tournament is a one-two day thing, what’s so surprising about it,”
In the case of the Elf Village, the World’s Greatest Disciples Tournament was exactly that.
Looking at the players gathered like it was some celebrity fan signing event, Dohyun nodded his head.
‘Right, that was a thing.’
Due to the nature of elves having longer lifespans than humans, it inevitably takes more time to build intimacy with someone, which directly correlates to the probability of obtaining quests.
And those accumulate to ultimately affect the graduation quest.
In other words, building intimacy with elves is the top priority for players…
“This is the most effective content for raising that intimacy, so how could you not do it.”
“Agreed. You can only do it once a week, so you absolutely have to do it.”
“Not doing it would be a huge loss.”
“There’s no elimination or anything like that either. If you participate, you get something, so you should just participate and see.”
What received the most praise from players was the tournament’s format itself.
Unlike its name which suggested one-on-one tournaments, the World’s Greatest Disciples Tournament was closer to a kind of survival game.
[Ranking Measurement Criteria]
1. Exterminating monsters that harm nature.
2. Purifying nature.
3. Finding items hidden throughout the forest by the organizers.
4. Fulfilling requests from forest spirits.
5. Bonus points for surprising or delighting forest spirits.
…
Rather than focusing on combat between participants, the rules focused on purifying the forest.
Things like fulfilling spirits’ requests or exterminating monsters that harm nature.
‘They’re legally getting players to participate in forest purification work and seeing if they’re trustworthy.’
As such, anyone causing problems for nature would have to face the elf legion, so even villains didn’t cause major disturbances.
Thanks to this, players could farm while maintaining a certain level of safety.
Not only that.
Apart from intimacy, the quests received from forest spirits during the tournament were quite rewarding.
If you were lucky enough to make it into the top 10?
You’d receive recognition from the elves along with special rewards, truly killing two birds with one stone.
‘I was planning to participate when I got the chance, and today happens to be tournament day.’
I was just about to search the homepage for some method, and today happens to be the day of the tournament.
It couldn’t have been more perfect timing.
Of course, I’d only gotten the opportunity – it wasn’t going to be an easy path.
“That’s true, but… doesn’t it seem like there are especially more people today?”
“You’re right. Is it because there are no beginners who got beaten by villains thanks to Kaiser?”
“That’s part of it, but I think it’s because today’s championship prize is particularly legendary?”
“Huh? Why today?”
“The Elder returned, didn’t he? There are rumors that they’re putting extra effort into preparation today because the Village Chief had to fill in while the Elder was away.”
It was because Dohyun’s rampage and the Elder’s return coincided to create a record-breaking crowd.
Having to win among 1.5 times more players than usual to meet the Elder.
And it wasn’t just about the numbers.
“Raihass is participating too?”
“That’s crazy. I heard he was chasing someone, so why suddenly?”
“They control the forest when the tournament is held. I think it’s because of that… I don’t know the details either.”
“Sigh, it seems like a lot of famous people besides Raihass are participating. Making it into the rankings is hopeless again this time.”
“I wonder if there will even be any monsters left to hunt.”
Raihass, the master of Arc Guild which was one of the Top 10 Guilds, along with other well-known figures had announced their participation in large numbers.
‘Oh my. Raihass is that guy from earlier, isn’t he, Owner? This seems too difficult…’
‘Rizariza…’
‘Ahem! Are you doubting Master? Master can certainly achieve victory. Above all, it’s not simply a fighting tournament.’
Jihad expressing concern and Charlie showing unwavering faith.
It was indeed a lineup that made you wonder if there had ever been anything like this recently, but that couldn’t be a reason for Dohyun not to participate.
If he gave up now, he’d have to wait a week anyway, so there was no choice.
‘This should be fun.’
Unlike the players participating reluctantly, Dohyun instead raised the corners of his mouth and grinned as he turned his steps.
* * *
The first New Continent, Ellanis.
The continent where players who left the Main Continent first set foot, and the continent with the most places to adventure.
As such, it had the most elements that could influence graduation quests, which is why countless players remained here without leaving.
As a result.
“It’s a mess, a complete mess.”
“Shit, really. Is this right? Why do I, who started a week ago, have to compete with bastards who came three months ago?”
“People who started the game late must be so frustrated they could die.”
“If you don’t like it, graduate, you bastards. Did anyone threaten you with a knife not to graduate? They chose to stay to build up their foundation, yet they complain so much.”
It was fair to say the balance here was completely screwed.
From newbies who just entered Ellanis to vicious villains and various celebrities like Raihass whose names alone were recognizable.
Those who normally shouldn’t be gathered in one place were now entangled together competing.
Fortunately, the continent was vast enough that they didn’t encounter each other as much as expected, but the problem was shared content like weekly content.
“Look over there, it’s Butcher Remon.”
“Isn’t that Reaper next to him?”
“Crazy… why are Zone 3 villains here?”
“Look over there. The Blue Tower Vice-Captain and Mordred’s Disciple are there too.”
“Wow… is today’s lineup for real? I’m seeing all these people here.”
“If only we’d come a bit earlier. We could have seen Raihass.”
The World’s Greatest Disciples Tournament that all players could freely participate in.
Due to its nature, beginners following extremely ordinary routes suddenly found themselves facing off against players on the verge of graduation.
If it continued like this, it would become a one-man show for rankers like Raihass, giving no opportunity to enjoy the content.
But fortunately, the elves weren’t so inconsiderate.
“Ah, you want to participate? Well then, could you try hitting this Horn of Rupalo once? We’re trying to assign starting locations with appropriate monsters based on the participant’s level, so it would be best to attack with full power.”
By assigning starting locations based on players’ levels, they somewhat prevented the opportunity to enjoy content from being taken away.
And what measured that level was precisely the Horn of Rupalo.
When a player struck the horn, it would flash different lights depending on the damage the horn received, and they measured based on the color and intensity of that light.
The reason this was possible with just a beast’s horn was that the horn wasn’t from an ordinary beast.
[Horn of Spirit Beast Rupalo]
A mysterious spirit beast with the hardest horn in Ellanis.
A deer that lived for a thousand years, with the setting that its horn had never been broken even once.
Elves with tremendous firepower, nymphs with sharp cutting power, capricious fairies, and more.
No race had ever broken Rupalo’s horn.
Of course, that didn’t mean the horn visible now was actually Rupalo’s real horn.
To be precise, it was only half true.
That horn was a fragment that fell when Rupalo shed its antlers.
“That thing is fascinating every time I see it. If a fragment is that big, how huge must the actual horn be?”
“That piece is about 50cm… so the real thing must be over 4 meters at least?”
“I’d love to see it in person.”
“Even Barion has never encountered one, so fat chance.”
“At this point, I’m not even sure if it actually exists. Isn’t it just lore?”
Whether Rupalo truly existed or was merely a legendary tale like modern myths was still heavily debated, but such matters weren’t important to the participants.
What mattered was that achieving a high grade was advantageous for winning.
It was simple logic.
You had to hunt many strong monsters to earn more points.
But in this place where balance was completely broken, not everyone could be the protagonist.
Crack!
At the crisp impact sound, the chattering players looked up to see a massive man frozen in a punching stance.
It was the martial artist who had just declared his participation and was receiving the explanation.
“Quite a loud sound. Let’s see what grade that earns… Oh my~ it’s green. Let’s see, with this brightness, Area C would be suitable. You’ll be assigned to Area C~”
“Damn it!”
The massive man stormed off, clearly displeased with the result.
But no players mocked him.
Brown, green, yellow, golden.
Among the four colors, green meant neither outstanding nor lacking.
“Wow, another Area C.”
“Ugh, isn’t Area C going to be packed again this time?”
“At this rate, it might actually be better to end up in Area D.”
“For real. I saw on YouTube that many people deliberately hit weakly.”
“Still, the point levels from Area D monsters versus Area C monsters are different, so that’s too much of a gamble.”
Most participating players were indeed assigned to Area C.
To what extent? About six out of ten ended up in Area C.
Naturally, the competition was fiercest there, and being assigned to Area C essentially meant giving up on making the top 10.
Proportionally, 35% went to Areas D and F, while 60% went to Area C.
In other words, only 5% were assigned to Areas B and A.
Crash!!
“Oh! Golden light has appeared! With light this bright, Area A is possible! A strong candidate has emerged at the last moment.”
“Wooooooh!!”
“Incredible, what’s with today? Why are there so many golden lights?”
“Hey, don’t you know him? He’s a combatant from Lawless Zone Area 3. From Area 3 onwards, there are only monsters, so of course he’s on a different level than us.”
“Oh, really? I think there was another Area 3 member earlier too. There are many from Area 3 today.”
“Besides them, how many people have been assigned to Area A today already? Today’s participants seem exceptionally skilled.”
“Really, it seems like record-breaking levels.”
Naturally, every golden light drew all attention, but today was especially intense.
“Wow~ that makes 241 people assigned to Area A. This is the first time we’ve exceeded 200 in recent memory. What kind of day is today?”
Just when you thought a big one was coming, another would appear.
And before you could recover from that shock, yet another would follow.
As the recruitment neared its end, the continuously bursting golden lights made excitement inevitable.
In this atmosphere of heated excitement.
“Now then, isn’t there a 242nd participant for Area A? Normally we’d have to close now, but today we’ll make a special exception for one more person.”
The host, whose energy had risen with the crowd, spoke up, but no more players declared their intention to participate.
Not only had all the waiting participants already joined, but many had given up participating due to the record-breaking lineup that had formed.
“Ah~ no more participants? If not, we’ll close here…”
Just as the host was about to wrap things up.
“I’ll participate.”
“…up… hm?”
A pleasant baritone voice suddenly cut in, and naturally the host’s head turned toward where the sound came from.
The moment the players also turned their heads.
“Huh?”
“…What?”
“Wow, is that really?”
The players’ eyes widened in shock, and soon an uproar close to cheering erupted.
“K-Kaiser!”
“Wow, Kaiser is participating!”
“Incredible! Today’s lineup is absolutely insane!!”
“Damn, I wasn’t going to participate, but I can’t miss this. I absolutely have to watch!”
“Me too, me too!”
The man who had caused chaos against villains from the moment he set foot on the New Continent.
This was the moment Kaiser would crown the record-breaking lineup.
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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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