The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times - Chapter 79

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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 79

Chapter 79.

How far had he gone?

[From here, the fog becomes thicker.]

[Tip. Be careful of orcs hiding in the fog and ‘charging’ at you.]

‘This should be enough.’

Dohyun stopped walking after confirming the system window had appeared.

Just as it said, the surroundings were thick with fog.

It wasn’t as bad as when he had hunted excessively before, but enough to make things slightly blurry ahead.

‘Perfect.’

This would be the stage for this massacre.

[Canceling ‘Weak Stealth’.]

As Dohyun became clear from his semi-transparent state, Jihad also stopped following.

-You’re going to hunt here?

“Yeah, seems like a good spot.”

-There are still some humans around though?

“Can’t help it. This far from the city should be fine. Plus it’s hidden by the fog.”

Finding a place without people in the Foul-Smelling Rock Forest was nearly impossible.

Without tricks like the fog created by excessive hunting like last time, there would be people everywhere you went.

Still, with this much fog, they’d be too focused on the more difficult hunting to pay attention to other things.

‘That was really creepy though. How did he guess so accurately?’

Dohyun shuddered as he recalled the speculation that player had made earlier.

It was still creepy thinking about it again.

Such an accurate guess, as if he had watched the process in real time.

It was so spot-on that Dohyun had momentarily considered whether he should ‘deal with him’ before leaving.

It was fortunate that his companions had dismissed it as nonsense.

‘Well, it is an absurd ability.’

As they said, Eliza’s bracelet was an unimaginable item, at least in this area.

Signature skills of a profession like stealth don’t easily come as equipment options.

Even if they did, such equipment would have ‘equip restrictions’ in nine out of ten cases.

At least in this area, it was safe to say such items didn’t exist.

But conversely, it also meant he could get caught if it weren’t for such special circumstances.

‘This is why sharp-witted brats are troublesome…’

Dohyun shook his head and drew Cheonbyeon (Thousand Changes).

Then Eliza jumped out from the robe pocket and climbed onto Dohyun’s shoulder.

-Risa!

“Huh? Are you participating this time too?”

-Risa risa!

-She says she’ll show them what she’s made of, Owner.

This time, Jihad’s translation was unnecessary.

Eliza was puffing out her chest and glaring with her small eyes courageously, clearly looking like a general ready to enter the battlefield.

…More precisely, she looked like a kid playing the role of a general in a war game.

Still, he was secretly looking forward to it.

‘Last time I hunted alone because I was checking Cheonbyeon’s performance.’

Back then, he had been too busy testing all the rewards he’d gained, including Cheonbyeon, so he hadn’t been able to assess Eliza’s abilities.

This would be a good opportunity to see what level Eliza was at.

Squeak- Chup-.

Just then, a couple of massive silhouettes appeared through the hazy fog.

‘Before entering combat then…’

Dohyun quickly operated the system window.

Soon a message appeared.

[Recording begins.]

[Recording will end when you shout ‘stop’ or press the end button.]

It was none other than a recording message.

‘Got to get some YouTube content.’

Dohyun was now a proper YouTuber with 800,000 subscribers.

He had an obligation to create videos for YouTube for the people waiting.

One might ask what kind of content a mere hunting video could be, but YouTube content tends to be captured unintentionally.

‘If I keep it running, I’ll catch something.’

Who knows?

He might discover a mutant boss, or like last time, some PK bastard using stealth might crawl in.

Thinking that far, Dohyun chuckled.

‘That’s not likely to happen.’

Surely there wouldn’t be such bastards even in Brion.

All Dohyun could do now was hope he could clear the Quest well. As he swung Cheonbyeon (Thousand Changes) through the air, its form changed instantly.

[Cheonbyeon (Thousand Changes) transforms into ‘Black Raven Spear’.]

[Using Striking to increase physical attack power by 40.]

‘Good grip.’

Squeak-.

Just then, an orc came charging.

Normally dodging here would be the standard strategy, but Dohyun boldly swung his spear. As the spear swept in a large circle and sliced the orc’s neck,

[Judged as first attack, dealing 18% additional damage.]

[Set effect increases melee attack damage by 6.5%.]

…

[You have defeated an Orc.]

The creature’s neck was severed while it was still running, cutting off its breath.

Unable to stop its momentum, the massive body collapsed only after traveling a few more meters.

‘Keuuu…’

Clearing difficult content was fun too, but for regular hunting, overwhelming damage was truly the way to go.

Charging? Why bother dodging?

When they come running with their necks exposed, just slice them as they are.

The charging momentum actually made it possible to cut more cleanly.

‘Great feel.’

He couldn’t help but admire the thrilling sensation.

It was then that the remaining orc took advantage of his momentary lapse and charged.

And at that moment.

Swish-.

With a rather cute sound effect, something white shot out from beside Dohyun.

It was a spider web.

The web shot in a straight line soon spread into a small net pattern and hit the orc’s eyes precisely.

Squeeeak!

Suddenly finding its vision dark, the startled orc flailed about.

It instinctively tried to remove the web from its eyes, but…

Stick-.

Chup?

Far from coming off, its hand got stuck instead.

Eliza’s spider web had stronger adhesive power than the orc had expected.

With enough force it might not be impossible to remove, but doing so would surely rip out its eyeballs too.

But staying like this meant fighting an enemy while seeing nothing?

No, but if its eyes got ripped out, wouldn’t the result be the same anyway?

Squeal! Squeeeeal!

Faced with an unexpected dilemma, the orc couldn’t move forward or backward.

Moreover, for some reason, its body felt sluggish, as if gravity was affecting it more than usual.

With its vision blocked and body slowed down, even an orc couldn’t help but feel fear.

Squeal-!

Bipedal creatures rely heavily on their vision.

They’re species that depend so much on sight that they often lose their sense of direction from being unable to see even an inch ahead.

That bastard was no different.

Crash- Squeal!

Its center of gravity gradually became unsteady, and eventually it ended up diving into the innocent ground before even reaching Dohyun.

Even in the midst of this, it instinctively swung its double-bladed axe, but Dohyun wasn’t someone who would be hit by such blind attacks.

Whoosh-.

He lightly dodged and thrust his spear into the fallen creature without hesitation.

Thunk!

[You have defeated an Orc.]

[Your Spearmanship proficiency has increased.]

[Your Spearmanship proficiency has reached LV3.]

He had taken down two in an instant.

But it wasn’t completely over yet.

Squeeeeal-!

An orc that had been keeping its distance and looking for an opportunity suddenly charged in a surprise attack.

Its eyes, reddened as if maddened by its companion’s death, gleamed fiercely.

It brought down its axe viciously as if to split Dohyun’s skull right then and there, but Eliza was faster.

Thwip- Thwap!

She quickly shot out webbing.

However, the orc wasn’t stupid enough to fall for the same method it had clearly seen its companion fall victim to.

It easily blocked with the large flat side of its double-bladed axe and charged forward with even more menacing momentum.

It was at the moment it approached within arm’s reach.

Snap.

Squeal, squeal!?

Something caught around its shin, and soon both feet became tangled as the orc fell disgracefully.

It was a thin spider web connected between the rocks on both sides.

Thwip- Thwip-.

Hop, Eliza jumped down from his shoulder and circled around the fallen creature.

Each time she did, spider webs that shone luxuriously as if holding moonlight tightly bound the orc’s hands, feet, joints, and eyes.

Before long, the orc looked as if it had been tied up.

-Risa!

At Eliza’s cry that seemed to shout ‘Finish it!’, Dohyun approached and stabbed Cheonbyeon, transformed into an ‘Assassin’s Dagger’, into its nape.

[Judged as first attack, dealing 18% additional damage.]

[Set effect increases melee attack damage by 6.5%.]

[Bleeding is activated.]

….

[You have defeated an Orc.]

[You have obtained quest material ‘Orc’s Concentrated Blood’.]

Not only did he easily defeat the orc, but he also got the concentrated blood!

After confirming there were no more orcs in the vicinity, Dohyun immediately looked for Eliza.

“Eliza! What was that just now? That was amazing!”

Then Eliza puffed out her chest and shrugged her shoulders as if she had been waiting for those words.

-Risa risa!

“Eliza! You’re more useful than I thought? Why didn’t you do that when you were fighting me?”

-Risa… Risa risa!

-She says every time she got hit by Owner, her mind became confused and she didn’t have the chance to do it. Also, while parasitized, she originally couldn’t use her spider webs.

“Ah… Ahem, sorry. I didn’t mean to back then. Anyway, so that’s what happened. Well, it would be too overpowered if there wasn’t such a penalty.”

-Risa!

-She says it’s fine. Since we met as enemies, it was natural.

Now Jihad was translating perfectly, understanding every nuance.

Thanks to this, Dohyun, who learned of Eliza’s true value, couldn’t help but be amazed.

‘I thought it would be similar spider webs like before… but the performance is better than I expected.’

Steel spider web and Sky spider web.

The difference between them wasn’t just in name. Even the steel spider web had sufficient power, but the sky spider web was faster and had stronger adhesive force.

It didn’t deal damage per se, but it had infinitely versatile characteristics.

‘Perfect for a support role.’

Just blocking vision during combat, tripping enemies like now, or restricting movement would make hunting much easier.

If she hid like this and put on a surprise show, it would be absolutely devastating.

Eliza’s small frame had become an even more powerful weapon.

“As expected, Eliza. You’re perfect from head to toe.”

-Risa!

“You’re already worth your weight just being cute, but you’re truly excellent. Such a capable guardian… no, divine beast, Eliza.”

-Risa!

That was why he genuinely admired her and didn’t spare his praise.

Each time, Eliza’s eyes sparkled brightly as she bounced around as if asking for more. And Dohyun, following Eliza’s wishes, showered her with praise.

Jihad’s expression became strange as he watched the two of them.

‘…What is this? This weird feeling.’

It was good that Eliza was being praised.

It felt proud, like when one’s pet dog or child gets praised by others.

However….

‘Still, I’m the senior here… It feels like I’m the only one not doing anything.’

The problem was Jihad’s current position.

Even though he was supposedly Eliza’s former owner and the senior who became Dohyun’s guardian first, all he did was pick up items and translate Eliza’s words.

But what about Eliza?

She came in later than him but was performing brilliantly, and she was even cute on top of that.

-Jihad? Oh, that porter?

-Geez, he calls himself a necromancer but what legion? He can’t even properly summon goblins.

-He’s just a pack mule~. He was born to pick up junk, so don’t worry about him too much.

-Our Eliza is a million times better than that useless guy! Aww, our cute Eliza. Don’t hang around with him, come here.

Dohyun’s voice saying such things echoed in his ears like a hallucination.

It was a hallucination now, but at this rate, it wouldn’t be strange if it really became reality.

‘N-no, this can’t go on. My position…!’

This couldn’t continue. He had to do something.

He needed to prove his abilities in a way that even that annoying owner would have to acknowledge.

Jihad clenched his fist tightly, trying to calm his violently shaking pupils.

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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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