The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times - Chapter 76

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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 76

Chapter 76.

He said he’d wait outside, so I wondered where he went, but it seems he was waiting in the corridor.

But he called out as soon as I came out…

‘Was he waiting for me?’

That was the only way I could think of it.

Why would this guy who’s been dying to pick fights with me constantly?

It was uncomfortable, but I was secretly curious.

I stopped walking for a moment and made eye contact, causing Jerdic to furrow his brow.

It was just a minor change in expression, but it looked like a scene from a photo shoot.

‘…He is handsome.’

His face still looks young, but thinking of what Hyuna said, isn’t he probably making several women cry even now?

“…Are you going to the Foul-Smelling Rock Forest?”

A cold voice that didn’t match that pretty face slipped through his lips.

Dohyun answered coolly.

“Yeah.”

I understand the situation, but there’s no reason to use honorifics when he’s speaking casually to me.

And that bastard is only 19 at most.

Dohyun, who’s 23, should rightfully be receiving respectful speech instead.

Of course, this is what Dohyun thinks having grown up in Korea with strong Confucian values, and from Jerdic’s perspective as a knight, this might feel natural.

Whatever the case, maybe he didn’t expect me to speak casually. Jerdic, who hesitated for a moment, soon nodded his head.

“…I see.”

“Yeah.”

Silence flows. Like that for several seconds.

‘What’s this about.’

If he has nothing to say, can I just go?

Why would he suddenly stop someone and then not say anything?

I’m already dying because 10 hours of playtime isn’t enough… Just as Dohyun was reaching his limit of patience and about to turn away, Jerdic suddenly asked.

“How do you know about the Abyss? Have you met a contractor… no, let me correct that.”

“?”

“Have you ever met a contractor whose entire body has been consumed by the Abyss? With a broken horn on their forehead.”

“No.”

Dohyun answered immediately.

The only Abyssal being he’d encountered was the Iron-Blooded Demon Dragon. He had seen that summoner guy, but that bastard wasn’t exactly human either.

Jerdic, who had been making eye contact, soon nodded his head.

“…I see.”

His cold voice somehow sounded even lower.

But the voice that followed soon returned to his previous cynical tone.

“Understood. Good luck.”

“You too.”

Jerdic turned around and walked away without properly listening to the response.

‘How anticlimactic.’

Was he waiting there just to hear this one answer?

Thinking about it was strangely funny, but also left me feeling a bit uneasy.

But that was only for a moment. Dohyun, who had been watching Jerdic’s retreating figure, soon turned around as well.

As he left the corridor, there was no longer any thought of Jerdic in his mind.

More precisely, he didn’t have time for such thoughts.

‘I need to get out quickly and hunt. Oh, wait. Will those small fries try to attach themselves to me again when I go out? That would be annoying.’

There were too many things targeting Dohyun to worry about such matters.

All eyes would be focused on him as soon as he went out.

He had received all kinds of attention coming in, but if he went from the Grand Temple to the field, they’d think “got him” and follow along.

When it’s just one or two, he could deal with them briefly and be done, but if they came endlessly like sausages in a chain, that would be a different story.

Then he wouldn’t be able to properly proceed with his Quest.

‘Sigh… What should I do? Isn’t there some good method?’

It was when he couldn’t bring himself to leave the Grand Temple and was lost in thought.

-Owner, what are you doing not going out?

“Wait, I have a headache right now.”

-Why?

“It’s too annoying to deal with them all individually, and avoiding fights when they pick them would look bad… Sigh, it would be perfect if I could hunt secretly… It would be really nice if I had a stealth skill… Huh?”

Dohyun stopped and suddenly turned his head.

Jihad was startled by his owner suddenly looking at him and asked nervously.

-…Why, why? Why are you being so creepy all of a sudden?

Jihad looked up with anxious eyes.

A gleam appeared in Dohyun’s eyes as he looked at Jihad.

More precisely, not at Jihad himself, but at what he was wearing.

Finally, Dohyun spoke up.

“You… could you take that off for a moment?”

-…Huh?

The tempting form that caught Dohyun’s eye.

Its identity was none other than the Black Goblin Shaman’s robe that Jihad was wearing.

He remembered the special option attached to the robe.

The robe had a total of 2 options.

One was a substantial option that increased the power of magic-related skills by 6%, but that wasn’t what caught Dohyun’s attention now.

‘There was definitely a facial recognition interference option attached, right?’

At the time, he thought “what kind of option is this” and gave the equipment back to Jihad.

Ironically, there was no better option for breaking through the current situation.

Wasn’t its performance proven by the fact that Jihad, wearing that thing, had never once had his identity discovered?

The fact that the robe itself was good clothing for hiding one’s identity probably played a part too.

‘With that… I might be able to sneak out?’

He’d be noticed once he started hunting in the field, but that was something to think about later.

In any case, it would be sufficient to make that process smoother.

“What are you doing? I told you to take it off quickly.”

-…What?

That’s what he meant when he said it, but Jihad’s reaction was strange.

As Dohyun approached Jihad with big strides, Jihad seemed troubled and shrank back, then started backing away.

-Ah, no, Owner. I respect your preferences, but… I’m not really into that sort of thing… Wouldn’t all men dislike it? And we’re different species to begin with…

“No, what are you talking about? Stop saying weird things and just take it off quickly.”

-Ugh, uuugh! N-no way!

Dohyun ignored Jihad’s nonsense and tried to snatch the robe.

And for some reason, Jihad resisted desperately.

-Th-this kind of thing is unacceptable for our genre…!

“What the hell have you been talking about? Don’t waste time and just give it to me quickly.”

No matter how much this was the Caretaker’s area, there were bound to be high-ranking NPCs like senior priests, and they couldn’t have missed hearing this commotion.

“What’s going on? Before that, who are those people?”

“Well… I think they’re distinguished guests invited by the Caretaker.”

“Shouldn’t we stop them? No matter how distinguished they are, causing a disturbance in the Grand Temple is a bit…”

When a commotion suddenly broke out in the corridor, priests began gathering to watch.

Finally, Eliza, unable to stand it anymore, separated the two.

-Liza! Lizaliza!

-Huh?

Dohyun, who couldn’t understand Eliza’s words, showed little reaction, but fortunately it was effective on Jihad, who understood Eliza’s words even better than human speech.

As soon as Eliza finished speaking, he stopped struggling.

-Ah, I was being…

Jihad nodded his head, realizing he had misunderstood.

But that didn’t mean he was willing to hand over the robe obediently.

-…You said giving something then taking it back is the worst thing, Owner.

“Taking what? I’m just asking to borrow it for a moment.”

-If you take it and find it useful, you’ll keep wearing it around. Then what about me? You said it would be troublesome if my identity was revealed.

“…Hmm.”

It was an unusually logical rebuttal from Jihad.

If he wore that robe, Dohyun’s identity would be hidden, but instead it would reveal that Jihad was a black Goblin Guardian never seen before.

Drawing attention would be unavoidable.

The whole point of wearing the robe was to avoid attention, so it would be useless.

“Can’t be helped. Just go into the Guardian Room for a bit.”

-…What? Owner, are you abandoning me now!?

“Abandoning what? You like it in there anyway. Your mood brightens up every time you come back from there.”

-Well, that’s true, but going in there alone is a bit… And you said my growth would slow down if I went into the Guardian Room.

That was exactly right.

The reason Dohyun had never sent Jihad to the Guardian Room until now, and went through the trouble of giving him the robe to take him around, was for smooth growth.

‘Once you reverse summon, the re-summoning cooldown is 8 whole hours.’

If he canceled the summon and re-summoned every time they visited a city, there would be no time to gain experience.

That’s why people who raised Guardians usually took them around cities too.

Even when hunting, they were careful not to die and get reverse summoned.

‘I don’t know why they made this kind of system.’

It was a system with an obvious intention to impose penalties.

Well, he understood it.

If there was no such system, there would probably be more players who just casually got multiple Guardians to use them.

They probably wanted to establish the identity of Guardian owners and tamers this way.

‘Still, thanks to dragging him around persistently, Jihad’s already level 8.’

Experience aside, the auto-pet function that picked up items incredibly well was the real deal.

So much so that he felt Jihad fulfilled his role just with item picking alone.

Not using those incredible hand movements would be a waste.

“Hmm… what to do.”

-Owner, think carefully. There’s a saying about being penny-wise and pound-foolish.

“How do you know such sayings?”

-You learn things when you live for over 150 years.

“Hmm…”

Should he just say screw it and charge into the hunting grounds?

Or accept some losses and reverse summon?

At this crossroads where neither choice was satisfying, Dohyun was contemplating more carefully than ever when.

-Liza!

-Huh? Eliza, why… Huh? Ah! Right, there was that?

-Liza liza!

-Yeah, that would be perfect.

The two Guardians suddenly started chattering in agreement.

Curious, Dohyun asked.

“What, what is it?”

-Ah. I don’t think you need to give me the robe, Owner. I found a better way.

“How?”

So suddenly?

He tilted his head at the incomprehensible words, but Jihad didn’t bother to answer.

Seeing is believing.

Rather than explain, Jihad took something from Eliza with the determination to just show him directly, then extended his hand to Dohyun.

“This is… a leash?”

Its identity was a necklace.

The necklace Eliza had been wearing when the Guardian Rooms merged.

He’d heard it was used as a leash, but why was he suddenly giving this?

-It was essential to carry around during walks… but it’s not just a simple leash.

“Then?”

-It’ll be faster to see for yourself.

As he took the necklace, a message appeared.

[You have obtained ‘Eliza’s Bracelet’.]

[Eliza’s Bracelet]

[Grade: Hero]

[Description: A bracelet cherished by Guardian Eliza.

An accessory worn out of concern that others might covet and kidnap the unique species Eliza.

It has a ‘Weak Stealth’ effect applied, making it useful for hiding one’s identity.]

[Equip Restriction: Eliza, Eliza’s Owner]

[Durability: 26 / 50]

[Special Option: When wearing the bracelet, you can use ‘Weak Stealth’.

Stealth is canceled when touching something, and can be easily detected by abilities like clairvoyance or detection. (Cooldown: 300 seconds)]

[Special Option: Eliminates mana consumption required when using ‘Weak Stealth’.]

“Whoa?”

The moment he checked the options, a “whoa” escaped his lips.

It was an incredible option.

Actually, ‘Weak Stealth’ itself wasn’t that amazing an ability.

Compared to regular stealth, the effect was minimal and it was too easy to detect.

‘It can even be caught by an Explorer’s search skill…’

It should be considered detectable by most detection abilities.

Moreover, since there were more conditions that canceled stealth, it was inevitably a useless skill that was awkward to use in actual combat.

However, this bracelet’s second option more than covered all those shortcomings.

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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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