The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times - Chapter 81

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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 81

Chapter 81.

‘I really need to do something about this guy’s mana.’

Since I’ve decided to raise Jihad as a dealer, I need to either increase his total mana capacity or drastically improve his recovery rate.

It was too much of a waste to let such potential rot away like this.

‘It would be great if Guardians could use mana potions too…’

Whether it’s for balance reasons or just setting limitations, Jihad showed little effect even when drinking mana potions.

Thanks to that, I still had potions left over from what Linda gave me at Raven.

It was unfortunate since Dohyun, with his overpowered specs, never lacked mana anyway.

‘Still, there was some gain from this.’

I was satisfied having properly confirmed Jihad’s potential, but Jihad didn’t seem to feel the same way.

Looking at how dejected and dispirited he had become.

His earlier excited, devious laughter was nowhere to be found.

-Risa, Risa…

-It’s okay, Eliza. That’s just how I am. I’m nothing but a pack mule… Maybe I wasn’t born to be a dealer but to be a porter instead.

-Risa!? Risa, Risa!

-I want to be alone for a moment, Eliza.

-Risa…

Eliza’s expression as she fidgeted anxiously beside him looked pitiful.

Dohyun shook his head and gave Jihad what he wanted.

“Eliza, shall we try your other ability?”

Eliza had 2 traits. I hadn’t checked one of them yet.

I planned to test it while I had the chance.

-Risa… Risa!

Eliza’s head shot up and she bounced excitedly.

Then she glanced at Jihad, and when he nodded, she scurried over and tapped her chest.

-Risa!

“What?”

-Hmph, follow me.

“Oh, what? You’re coming too?”

-Yes.

-Risa!

Jihad suddenly butted in, having recovered at some point.

It was bitter that he had been demoted back to pack mule so soon after stepping up to prove his abilities, but still, being alone was worse.

Dohyun didn’t bother to object and let it slide.

Whoosh, whoosh-.

Eliza beamed with joy at Jihad’s joining and looked around.

She was searching for a suitable target.

Just then, Eliza spotted a massive silhouette beyond the mist and scurried toward it.

Following behind her, I saw an Orc sitting on a rock, resting.

Whether it had been driven from its pack or was just temporarily separated, being alone made it perfect as a test subject.

-My ability isn’t what it used to be, but it should still work on these guys.

“Oh, then give it a try.”

-Risa!

-Just give it a small wound.

“Got it.”

It seemed there was a condition that parasitism only worked on wounded targets.

Well, even in reality, infection and parasitism usually occur through wounds, so it wasn’t a strange condition.

It made sense balance-wise too.

[Cheonbyeon (Thousand Changes) transforms into ‘Assassin’s Dagger’.]

Swoosh-! Thunk!

Squeal!?

When Cheonbyeon suddenly flew and embedded in its thigh, the Orc was startled and tried to get up but tumbled over.

‘Don’t tell me it’s dead?’

Just to be sure, I checked and heard groaning sounds as it writhed around.

It seemed panicked by the sudden large damage.

It was worth attacking with the dagger, which had the lowest attack power, without using Striking.

-Risa!

And Eliza didn’t miss that opportunity.

Swoosh-.

Before the Orc could notice, Eliza naturally approached the wound and inserted her web.

[Eliza’s trait ‘Parasitism’ activates.]

[Attempting ‘Parasitism’ on the Orc.]

‘So this is how it works.’

I thought she’d go inside the wound and struggle somehow, but it was more technical than expected, which was surprising.

Well, no matter how small Eliza was, she was still a living creature.

Who wouldn’t notice that white furry bundle entering their body?

Puff- Phew-.

After inserting the web deep inside, Eliza suddenly stopped at some point.

A few seconds passed like that.

[Eliza has successfully completed ‘Parasitism’.]

With that message, the writhing Orc’s movements stopped.

There were no particular effects.

Only the Orc’s left hand, which had been a deep swamp-like green, was now bleached white up to the wrist.

-Risa! Risa, Risa!

-Congratulations, Eliza. I believed in you.

The Orc… no, Eliza seemed excited about succeeding on the first try.

It was all good, but hearing that cute voice from such a fierce face was incredibly unbalanced.

I guess parasitism doesn’t allow copying the voice too.

“Still, there’s less change than last time?”

When I glanced at the left hand and asked, Eliza-turned-Orc answered in a cheerful voice.

-Risa! Risa, Risa!

-She says it’s random and she can’t help it, Owner. But on average, it seems lower-grade targets show less change.

“Oh?”

It was quite a reasonable balance.

Honestly, at a glance, you couldn’t tell if this was an Orc or a parasitized Orc.

Usually when hunting, players don’t stare closely at the left hand.

Since it was the left hand, when holding a two-handed axe, it would naturally be covered and hidden.

-Risa!

It wasn’t just from a human perspective either.

To top it off, Eliza boldly walked toward where the Orcs were beyond the mist.

“Hey, wait a minute, Eliza…”

Squeal? Grunt-.

That’s when Dohyun, who was trying to urgently stop her, hesitated.

All the Orcs who made eye contact with Eliza looked away as if it was no big deal.

Among them were Orcs trying to communicate with grunting sounds.

The ones who quickly lost interest and left after Eliza casually ignored them showed no signs of hostility.

Grunt? Squeal!

Instead, Dohyun became the target.

They belatedly discovered Dohyun, who hadn’t even made eye contact, and were about to attempt a mindless charge.

And at that moment,

Thwack!

Squeal!?

The orc that was suddenly struck on the back of the head looked up with a bewildered expression.

Nearby, only the orc he had seen earlier was visible.

Squeal…?

What? Don’t tell me you hit me?

The pupils of the creature looking at Eliza with such eyes trembled.

Like someone experiencing something unbelievable, it looked completely stunned. In that gap, Dohyun quickly rushed over and dealt with the orc.

[You have defeated an Orc.]

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

-Risa!

“Right. Well done, Eliza.”

This time, Jihad’s translation wasn’t needed.

The way she pointed at herself and shouted was clearly saying ‘I did good!’ to anyone watching.

Eliza grinned broadly at the praise.

With that fierce face smiling, she looked exactly like a kidnapper before abducting a child, so Dohyun didn’t praise her further and turned his head away.

A smile was forming at the corner of Dohyun’s mouth.

‘This is better than I thought?’

The parasitism effect was better than expected.

Even with the prerequisites attached, this level wasn’t bad, and once parasitism was activated, the duration didn’t seem too short either.

He wasn’t sure if her mana pool was larger than expected, or if there was no mana consumption.

Jihad seemed to have the same thought, wearing a bitter expression.

-…You’re better than me, Eliza.

-Risa?

-Right, it’s good that at least you’re being useful. Yeah. I’ll go pick up some items.

-Risa? Risa risa!

From Jihad’s perspective, struggling with mana shortage, Eliza’s abilities must have hit him harder.

Still, Jihad’s expression wasn’t too bad, as if he was half-joking.

It seemed he had accepted it to some degree now.

‘Eliza does have good impact.’

Even now, her flustered appearance saying it wasn’t like that was quite amusing.

He figured they probably played around like this back when they lived together.

-Risa!

After chattering for a while, once the situation was somewhat settled, Eliza shouted spiritedly.

Naturally, Dohyun’s gaze turned toward Jihad. Then Jihad skillfully provided translation.

-She says she’ll patrol around and take out anyone trying to ambush, so hunt comfortably.

-Risa!

Eliza nodded enthusiastically in agreement.

Dohyun chuckled and nodded his head.

Actually, whether they ambushed or not wouldn’t have made much difference, but wasn’t her thoughtfulness quite admirable?

“Alright, I’ll count on you.”

-Risa!

-Roger!

“You don’t need to translate that far.”

-Roger!

Watching Eliza’s retreating figure for a moment, Dohyun gripped Cheonbyeon again.

‘I’ve got 2 concentrated blood samples now.’

He still needed to obtain 48 more.

Considering he’d only gotten 2 despite killing quite a few, probability-wise he’d need to kill 150-200 more to fill the quota.

No, considering Dohyun’s luck, he might need to kill even more.

Well, none of that mattered.

[Brion Vicinity Monster Elimination (278 / 1,000)]

‘Might as well clear the main quest too while I’m at it. My level doesn’t seem to be rising much anyway.’

Whatever the case, everything would be filled before killing a thousand monsters.

As he looked around to find orcs to hunt, he soon spotted two orcs.

They were standing at a distance, not yet becoming targets as they were still hidden by the fog.

‘If they won’t come, I’ll have to go in first.’

Just as Dohyun grinned and was about to transform Cheonbyeon’s form.

“Aaarrgh!?”

“?”

-Huh?

At the sudden thick shout from behind, not only Dohyun but also Jihad paused and tilted their heads in confusion.

Was there a player behind them?

Before that thought could fully form, his head instinctively turned around.

Then he saw it.

[Guardian ‘Eliza’ has taken damage from Player ‘Duke’.]

[You have been attacked first by Player ‘Duke’. Self-defense is recognized.]

[Your karma will not increase even if you kill the opponent.]

“…Huh?”

A completely unexpected message appeared.

* * *

Duke was originally an open beta player who started as soon as Godose was released.

A player who had built his position over more than a year, one of the so-called pioneers.

As such, he was confident in his skills.

Although his ranking barely scraped into the top 100,000, being in the top 100,000 in a game enjoyed by 1 billion people was an incredible ranking.

Even by simple ratio, wasn’t that the top 0.01%?

While ranking wasn’t necessarily an absolute indicator of skill and strength, it was true that they were somewhat proportional.

A ranking that would let him swagger anywhere he went.

Duke was the man who had broken into the realm called rankers.

‘Damn it.’

That was Duke’s pride, and also his reverse scale.

The pride of becoming a ranker in the world’s most popular game, and the despair from feeling the wall he couldn’t climb beyond.

Those two things constantly stimulated Duke’s heart.

‘No matter what I do, I can’t climb higher. What is it? What’s the problem?’

Even pouring all the money he earned as a ranker into it, this was his limit.

No matter what he did, his ranking remained as immovable as a firmly embedded rock.

It wasn’t just about ranking.

The actual strength and position he could feel had also stagnated at some point.

‘What’s the problem? There’s no one here who invests more than me!’

They were busy spending money, not desperately trying to climb rankings like him.

When others put in 1 unit of effort, he was pouring in 5 units of effort.

Duke truly believed this.

All the people he hung out with and befriended were satisfied with their current positions and content to stay there.

In contrast, Duke didn’t hesitate to invest money as well as effort.

But despite all that, Duke was ultimately shoulder-to-shoulder with those who made no investments at all.

‘…’

No, it was more accurate to say he was barely hanging on.

Only by making this much effort could he stand shoulder-to-shoulder with his acquaintances.

Without even this, he would have quickly been pushed out of the top 100,000.

In other words, this was his limit. Duke just didn’t want to admit it himself.

‘If I can’t climb any higher, I’d rather start over.’

Some might call it foolish.

No, there would be plenty who’d click their tongues and call it beyond foolish—downright stupid.

But Duke hated stagnating more than anything.

To be precise….

‘I can’t stand having people worse than me above me.’

No matter how he looked at it, he seemed better.

He seemed to have better control!

Yet they were positioned higher than him, and that gap was widening in real time.

Duke believed the reason was ‘traits’ and ‘deity draws.’

He was a spearman with a fable deity and ordinary traits, rare even among rankers.

‘Damn, if I’d known this would happen, I would’ve kept retrying until I drew something good back then.’

Now the importance of traits and unique abilities was widely known, and grinding to obtain them was the trend, but it wasn’t like that in his time.

Starting the game quickly and getting ahead was what mattered most.

Thanks to that, only those with monstrous talent and money got to enjoy the sweet benefits. People like him reached their limits and were forced to stop.

It was so unreasonable.

That’s why Duke boldly deleted his character and started over.

‘Shit… I’m screwed.’

And then he regretted it.

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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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