The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times - Chapter 54

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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 54

Chapter 54.

Dohyun paused at the suddenly appearing message.

For a moment, he couldn’t grasp the situation.

‘Slayer? Location?’

However, after a brief moment, Dohyun was able to quickly understand the situation.

The second ability of the Slayer trait.

He remembered the effect that allowed him to check the location of monsters of the type for which he had obtained a Slayer title.

It was an effect he had forgotten about since there had been no occasion to trigger it.

All roads lead to Rome, as they say – who would have thought he’d see the location through a different method than the Eye of Truth he had been hoping for.

‘But why?’

However, he was puzzled as to why this had appeared.

Given the prerequisite condition of having obtained a Slayer title for that type, he didn’t have a spider-type Slayer title, did he?

There was only one hypothesis that came to mind here.

‘Could it be…’

The only Slayer-related title Dohyun had was the legendary title ‘First Slayer’.

‘Was this not just applied to devoured bosses, but does it attach Slayer effects to all bosses?’

When he checked the hidden information during Jihad, he had just devoured a goblin, so he thought the effect applied because of that.

That would have been more balanced after all.

…Yes, that would be reasonable.

‘What kind of broken balance game is this? Even if it’s legendary grade, does this make sense?’

He would have known if he had obtained many legendary grades before.

Since legendary grade was extremely rare even in Demroc, he never expected it to display such overpowered performance.

‘Or not? Strictly speaking, you need the Slayer trait to properly utilize the effect…’

A kind of synergy effect, you could say.

Looking at the Slayer trait and First Slayer title individually, they’re perfectly understandable…

But when these two combined, it became an ability that could only be described as truly overpowered.

If you think of it as conditional overpoweredness, it makes sense balance-wise…

‘Hmm, that’s a bit much. Still, it’s overpowered.’

Well, a criminal with a sob story is still a criminal.

No matter how much you dress it up with flowery words, overpowered is overpowered. And this was overpowered among overpowered abilities that would provide incredibly timely help in the current situation.

[Would you like to check the location of Field Boss ‘Eliza the Spider Queen’?]

‘Oh.’

When he agreed, changes occurred in the minimap at the bottom of the screen.

On the small square map that had only shown Dohyun’s location as a blue dot, a large dark red dot was added.

‘Huh?’

But that location was somewhat strange.

‘Why is it overlapping with mine?’

The blue dot indicating Dohyun.

That dot and the dark red dot were overlapping.

And then he saw it.

[Eye of Truth activates.]

Writhe.

A large red silhouette that hadn’t been there moments before was writhing beneath the ground.

It definitely had the shape of a spider.

Something red that was gradually moving toward the left…

‘Could it be?’

Dohyun, who had a hunch, instinctively used a skill.

‘Backstab.’

[Using Backstab.]

Then the skill activated and Dohyun’s figure disappeared.

“Huh? What?”

“Why?”

When the Soldier beside him flinched, the Mage who appeared to be his companion tilted his head in confusion.

The Soldier looked around and spoke cautiously.

“No… there was some man standing alone next to us just now, but he suddenly disappeared.”

“He probably gave up and logged out. Looking at how he was standing alone while hunting a field boss, he probably couldn’t even form a party.”

“I guess so… Oh, come to think of it, there was some kid nearby too.”

“A kid? This is an 18+ game, you know? Probably just a short woman. Anyway, that’s not important right now. 30 seconds left, focus.”

“Oh, right. Yeah.”

Raven’s field boss, with its particularly fierce competition, also had many people who gave up.

So they brushed it off as nothing significant and focused all their attention on the Spider Nest.

Now only 10 seconds remained.

They had to concentrate since they didn’t know where it would appear.

[Time remaining until Field Boss respawn 00 : 00 : 00]

And so, when those eternal 10 seconds passed and respawn time arrived!

The eyes of the players, including them, swept in all directions.

“Where is it!”

“Nothing to the east! Is it over there?”

“No, there’s nothing here either…”

“Nothing to the west either.”

“Huh? Nothing to the north either?”

And they fell into confusion.

Respawn time had come, but the field boss wasn’t showing itself.

Dumbfounded, they stared blankly at the Spider Nest like marionettes with cut strings.

It was the first time in Raven’s history that a field boss had been stolen.

* * *

And at that moment.

[Using Backstab.]

[Mark is created.]

-…What?

Eliza the Spider Queen paused, stopping her movement at the sudden presence she felt behind her.

In her eyes, she saw a human.

A man in overall red attire with some blue accents, holding an iron sword of moderate thickness.

“Wow… this actually works?”

It was Dohyun.

He had used it wondering if it might be possible since he could see the silhouette, and the skill actually activated.

It was unbelievable even as he witnessed it.

He had used a movement skill not just across space, but with the ground surface in between.

‘It’s theoretically possible.’

The range of Backstab is targets visible to the eye.

And Dohyun had seen the creature in the form of a red silhouette.

Considering just the conditions, it was a perfect match. Of course, it was normally an absurd theory.

‘Hah… I’m probably the only person who’s used Backstab like this.’

Even Dohyun, who had directly succeeded, felt bewildered.

Still, he roughly grasped what principle was at work.

It seemed that when the boss’s location became visible through Slayer, the hiding creature’s status was considered stealth, triggering the Eye of Truth.

And Backstab was used on the creature revealed that way.

-Master, how did you do that?

“It’s complicated to explain, but just know that it’s incredibly sweet.”

-Yeah.

Jihad nodded at Dohyun’s casual response to the question.

Though he answered roughly, for Dohyun there was no more fitting explanation than this.

[You have encountered the Western Forest’s field boss ‘Eliza the Spider Queen’.]

[The ‘Predation’ effect will activate if defeated on first encounter.]

[You are the first to enter ‘Eliza the Spider Queen’s’ movement corridor.]

[Benefits are applied only to the first discoverer.]

[The density of field boss ‘Eliza the Spider Queen’s’ essence orb increases.]

[Drop rate increased by 30%.]

[Experience increased by 30%.]

[Due to sudden location change, Guardian is summoned to current position.]

‘If this isn’t jackpot, what is?’

As a first discovery reward, all stats increased, and even drop rates and essence orb rewards were enhanced.

Though it wasn’t a guaranteed equipment item reward like before, the increased density meant better rewards when harvesting, so he was satisfied.

‘Just the stats increased from the first discovery reward alone are quite nice.’

Probably no one received more than Dohyun in this section, right?

-Eliza!

At the shriek from Eliza the Spider Queen, who had been cautiously on guard, Dohyun snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the creature.

His first impression upon seeing it was singular.

‘Damn, it’s huge.’

An overwhelming size that made him wonder if that was really a spider.

It might rival a playground slide in size – he thought the giant tarantula from that foreign movie he saw in the past wasn’t this big.

The next thing he felt was that it wasn’t as disgusting as expected.

Was it because of that pure white fur combined with its majestic size?

The fur was longer than expected and soft like silk, reducing the typical creepy feeling of insects.

-Eliza, Eliza!

However, despite its luxurious appearance, its two eyes were dyed red and glowing fiercely, giving off a dangerous feeling.

It might be even more so because the spider kept shouting “Eliza” like a drunk person.

[HP : 40,000 / 40,000]

‘40,000… I can experiment plenty with this.’

Sufficient numbers to test the performance of newly acquired skills and items.

Dohyun grinned and swung Bastard’s training sword once through the air.

He liked the sharp tearing sound as it cut through the air.

‘This feels more familiar after all.’

Though Dohyun had handled all kinds of swords, the one he used most was a swift sword exactly this size.

-Eliza!!

Eliza the Spider Queen made the first move.

She struck down simultaneously with the front two of her eight pairs of legs, and the speed and power were considerable.

Crack-!

As he dodged to the side, her legs pierced into the ground like awls.

But Eliza used what was stuck in the ground as support to pull her massive body forward and charge.

Thud! Crack! Thud!

Multiple sharp awls kept striking at Dohyun, but he was relaxed.

Relaxed enough to check the creature’s information window.

[Eliza the Spider Queen]

-Title : Elite Field Boss

-Type : Spider

-Traits : Steel Spider Web, Deadly Poison, Spider Sensor

-Description : Eliza the Spider Queen, ruler of the Western Forest.

As a clever hunter, she has the trait of driving prey to where she wants and finishing them instantly.

Additionally, with powerful deadly poison, spider webs harder than steel, and spiders’ characteristic sharp sensors, she’s difficult to catch alone.

‘So this is that sharp sensor.’

Her reflexes were certainly excellent.

Unlike other bosses, Eliza was dodging the sword Dohyun occasionally swung at her front legs.

Though her agility seemed high, it wasn’t reaction speed from seeing attacks.

It was the level of predicting attack paths and dodging.

At this level, most close-range dealers would have trouble landing proper damage in one-on-one combat.

Of course, that was just superior evasion compared to other bosses.

Whoosh- Crack!

-Eliza, Eliza, Eliza!

She also couldn’t land a single hit on Dohyun.

When he came in close, she’d thrust forward with poison-filled fangs, and when he backed away, she’d strike down with awl-like legs, but Dohyun didn’t allow a single clean hit.

As they continued failing to hit each other and only backing away.

‘This should be enough.’

Dohyun glanced around and nodded.

Then immediately used a skill.

[The mark disappears.]

-…Eliza?

Eliza hesitated as Dohyun suddenly disappeared from sight.

But soon her sensor reacted, and she tried to dodge after reading an attack coming from behind.

Thunk.

Until she was blocked by the low ceiling.

Eliza, who bounced off the ceiling as soon as she jumped up and rolled on the floor, looked very bewildered.

Seeing this, Dohyun raised the corners of his mouth.

‘As expected.’

The reason Dohyun didn’t fight seriously and kept luring her?

It was to utilize the terrain.

Unlike the spider nest with high ceilings, this was a somewhat narrow and low corridor. And the corridor’s size wasn’t consistent.

The corridor where he first encountered the creature seemed rather high, so he lured it here to prevent proper movement.

In other words, it was a rat trapped in poison.

-Eliza, Eliza, Eliza!

Though Eliza seemed to realize this fact and got angry, she soon had to quiet down.

Behind Dohyun, who turned around belatedly, the form of a golden dragon was visible.

[Using Seungryong-gak.]

[Set option effect deals 6% additional damage.]

The dragon behind him came down along his leg and wrapped around his foot, and in the blink of an eye, a back kick flew out and sent Eliza’s massive body flying.

This was the power of Seungryong-gak executed based on tremendously high strength.

Crack- Bang!

Eliza’s body flipped as she flew and crashed into the wall, raising a cloud of dust.

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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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