The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times - Chapter 48

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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 48

Chapter 48.

A message that appeared like a ghost the moment he lowered his fist.

-Why, Master?

Looking at Jihad’s innocent attitude as he stared up, the message didn’t match at all.

‘Did I see it wrong?’

For a moment, Dohyun doubted his own eyes at how natural the appearance was.

Rather, he was so calm that you’d believe his loyalty had actually increased.

Even when he rubbed his eyes thinking he might have seen wrong, the message remained the same.

When Dohyun raised his fist again just in case,

Flinch.

[Loyalty increases by +1.]

Jihad’s body trembled for just a moment and his loyalty went up again.

Swoosh.

[Loyalty decreases by -1.]

And when he lowered it, the loyalty went down like a ghost.

In this absurd situation, something naturally climbed up his throat and burst out as an exclamation.

“What kind of crazy kid is this…”

-M-Master. I’ll go pick up the items!

Sensing the danger, Jihad hurriedly went to pick up items, ending the situation.

The sight of him frantically running away was absurd enough, but the loyalty that rose afterward with a cheerful ding- notification was even more ridiculous.

Unable to stop himself from being dumbfounded, Dohyun let out a hollow laugh.

‘Is this the Opportunist trait?’

It was definitely a guardian trait worthy of being called legendary in many ways.

No wonder he only gave up thoughts of betrayal after getting beaten hundreds of times…

Anyway, as a result, his loyalty had gone up by 1 and he was listening well, so Dohyun decided to let it slide and sighed.

‘Well, at least he listens well.’

Like most RPGs, Godose was a game where you had to pick up items directly.

Special rewards or merit rewards were exceptions that were automatically given, but normally you had to pick them up yourself.

In the case of parties, when distributing merits, after picking them up, they were distributed in turn…

‘I was hoping for something like a pet function, so this worked out well.’

It was probably for realism, but honestly it was a bit annoying.

In such a situation, having an excellent pet was welcome news. It wasn’t just talk – he really was an excellent pet.

Swoosh- Swish-.

[The trait Quick Hands activates.]

[You have obtained Giant Spider’s Poison Fang.]

[You have obtained Forest Red Goblin Hide.]

…

“…?”

True to the name “Quick Hands,” he had collected junk items at tremendous speed.

Maybe because of his small build, watching him move nimbly and sweep everything up, he could understand why several fantasies often featured goblins as thieves.

‘Maybe he’s more useful than I thought?’

It was the moment Dohyun gained an excellent auto-pet.

* * *

The efficiency of the auto-pet was beyond imagination.

Slash-.

[You have defeated a Forest Blue Goblin.]

“Jihad.”

-Yes!

Swish-.

[The trait Quick Hands activates.]

[You have obtained Forest Blue Goblin Hide.]

Just by defeating monsters and calling Jihad, items would be picked up automatically, so he could focus only on hunting without worrying about junk items.

Collecting items in batches was fine once or twice, but when repeated, it inevitably ate up quite a lot of time.

But leaving them behind when they all added up to money… that was a painful loss.

[You have defeated a Forest Red Goblin.]

[You have defeated a Giant Centipede.]

Swish- Swoosh-.

[You have obtained Giant Centipede Fragment.]

[You have obtained Forest Red Goblin Claw.]

But how about now?

Without such worries, he just moved forward blasting monsters, and Jihad followed, picking things up faster than anyone.

Considering Dohyun’s considerable hunting speed, it was an insanely fast collection rate.

“Hey, tell me honestly. You’re not a sorcerer but a thief, aren’t you?”

-Comparing me to a lowly thief! Isn’t that too much, Master!

“No, but it doesn’t make sense. Why are your hands so fast?”

-Ahem, ahem… I am a bit fast. Among sorcerers, there probably isn’t anyone with faster spell casting speed than me, right?

Pleased by the praise, he puffed out his chest and made hemming sounds. Normally this would have been unpleasant to watch, but this time it was acknowledged.

Because he had discovered Jihad’s unexpected talent.

‘Was Quick Hands a more amazing trait than I thought?’

It seemed to be a trait that didn’t just speed up magic casting, but everything related to hands.

At that level, there would probably be considerable demand.

Anyway, thanks to this he could continue hunting smoothly, but his level still wasn’t going up.

‘How is it not going up at all? It’s rising much slower than I thought.’

There were no more hunting quests that gave a lot of experience.

But grinding in the village would probably be the same thing, and at this rate hunting, who knows how many hours it would take.

With 2 levels left until graduation level, this was an unexpected obstacle.

The joke that experience containers doubled in size starting from level 20 wasn’t said for nothing.

“Sigh… It would be nice to catch a boss. Elite mobs haven’t respawned yet either…”

Field bosses weren’t ready to be caught yet…

Going to party dungeons was also troublesome and awkward, so at times like this, nothing beat elite monsters.

Just like elite mobs appeared once in dungeons, elite monsters also appeared in field hunting grounds besides bosses.

Catching one wouldn’t make him level up, but it was better than catching several groups of regular mobs, so thinking of it as bonus experience was perfect.

However, the problem was that those guys only showed themselves in specific areas at specific times.

‘In the Western Forest’s case, it was usually 12 o’clock, 6 o’clock, and 9 o’clock, wasn’t it?’

Exactly three times a day.

With many players but only three respawns, getting a chance to hunt was like plucking stars from the sky.

Even if the rewards were mediocre, the experience alone was quite sweet, but because they were such honey monsters, there were tons of players wanting to hunt them.

‘With 2 levels left… I guess I have no choice but to look into dungeons.’

In Raven, everyone he met was a villain too…

For Dohyun, who had to hide being an all-master, he preferred not to form parties if possible, but at this rate it would take all day.

Finally, the scales were tipping toward compromising with reality.

-Huh? Elite mobs? Are you talking about those elite guys, Master?

Jihad’s voice suddenly interjecting brought Dohyun out of his thoughts.

He had heard that he’d been hiding for hundreds of years.

Still, being a former boss, he probably knew something about elite monsters. It was interesting but plausible enough that there wasn’t much impression.

“Right. Though they’re harder to see than stars right now.”

So he planned to give an appropriate answer and move on.

If only it weren’t for what followed.

-If it’s that guy, I know where he is?

“…What?”

Dohyun’s gaze naturally turned as he hesitated.

Jihad, who met his eyes, tilted his head as if he genuinely couldn’t understand.

-You’re talking about the Tribal Warriors, right? Why can’t you find them? Except for the exiled ones, they’re always just sitting still.

“…Exiled? Sitting still?”

-Yeah. Otherwise, they absolutely never leave their tribe.

“Wait a minute.”

…If what he’s saying is true.

No, before that, how does that bastard know such things?

Jihad answered that question with world-class coolness, shrugging his shoulders.

-Of course I know, master. I was the ruler of this forest, so what wouldn’t I know about the forest? Unless they moved their entire territory, they should still be there.

“My goodness.”

-Hm?

“You… were more capable than I thought?”

-Ahem! You’re finally recognizing me, master. Should I take you there right now?

Dohyun nodded his head vigorously.

It was the first time that bastard genuinely looked cool.

* * *

Forest Goblin Warriors.

They’re elite monsters that all players residing in Raven know about.

They’re also warrior-class like the ‘Mutant Goblin Warriors’ he had painfully encountered in Arde, and they’re the ones everyone hopes to meet.

There’s experience points, but more than that, it was because of the rewards.

‘They give inferior warrior sets.’

Compared to the Mutant Goblin Warrior set, the options and grade are lacking, but the level restriction is higher, so items with quite decent performance drop.

The effects aren’t only applied to goblins, so considering the next city, they could practically be called pre-graduation gear.

Since they’re even hard to encounter, the drop rate is quite high.

It’s not for nothing that people line up in droves whenever it’s time for them to respawn.

However, the respawning Forest Goblin Warriors had one strange characteristic.

[Forest Red Goblin Warrior]

-Title : Elite Monster

-Type : Goblin

-Trait : Warrior

-Description : A great Goblin Warrior from the Red Tribe.

Only the greatest warriors in the tribe can bear the Warrior title. Excellent greatsword skills and ferocity are their characteristics.

[Forest Blue Goblin Warrior]

-Title : Elite Monster

-Type : Goblin

-Trait : Warrior

-Description : A great Goblin Warrior from the Blue Tribe.

Only the greatest warriors in the tribe can bear the Warrior title. Excellent medium sword skills and high vitality are their characteristics.

Whether it’s a Red Tribe warrior or a Blue Tribe warrior.

This is determined randomly.

Without any particular rules, just randomly one of the two warriors appears.

Sometimes even two would appear simultaneously.

“Luck of the draw.”

Therefore, players called this “luck of the draw.”

Due to the nature of this place where parties are usually formed, advantages and disadvantages change according to the characteristics of Red Goblin Warriors and Blue Goblin Warriors, so it was a modifier attached meaning it’s left to luck.

Blue Goblin Warriors required high damage because their HP and recovery speed were very fast, while Red Goblin Warriors needed a tank who could reliably hold aggro.

Therefore, players heading out to hunt warriors tended to form the most common and textbook basic party composition.

‘If you have tank, DPS, and healer, whatever comes out is fine.’

Even if they couldn’t achieve the fastest clear time, they’d form a composition that wouldn’t result in losses.

That way they could easily catch both even if two appeared.

‘I heard there are bastards who use that luck of the draw to divine their daily fortune?’

If they guessed blue or red correctly, the day would go well, and if they guessed that two would appear, that day would be when their luck exploded?

Due to the nature of communities with many bastards, strange news occasionally came through, but that was really something only a minority of players did.

Dohyun had tried similar things before, but not that kind of nonsense.

-How about it, master. Those are the ones, right?

“Yeah, that’s right.”

With Jihad looking proud behind him, Dohyun gulped.

‘Jackpot.’

He answered coolly for the sake of his master’s dignity, but he was genuinely surprised.

He had to be.

Kireuk! Kireureuk!

Kureuk! Kereuk!

‘How many are there in total?’

Contrary to thinking he knew the location of just one, the warriors were gathered in a pack.

Just the number visible from afar was already five.

He was confident there would be more gathered inside.

[Habitat of the Warriors]

[You have discovered the hidden field ‘Habitat of the Warriors’ for the first time.]

[First discovery benefits are granted for being the first to find it.]

[If you succeed in the first clear upon first encounter, boss-related equipment items will drop with certainty.]

[Experience points increased by + 20%.]

[Drop rate increased by + 20%.]

Because it was a hidden field whose name was blatantly “Habitat of the Warriors.”

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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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