The Return of the Genius Ranker’s Myth Warehouse - Chapter 108

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 108
Chapter 108
Before my audience with the Emperor.
I was receiving recruitment offers from the Empire’s Knight Commanders.
Among them, joining the Blue Moon Knight Order was something I viewed quite favorably.
But then.
‘Join the Imperial Guard? Me?’
This was something I truly hadn’t imagined in the slightest.
The largest empire by size on the continent of Second.
An offer to join the Imperial Guard that protects the Emperor of the Baltika Empire—essentially the ruling power of the entire continent itself.
And, as if to prove this wasn’t the Emperor’s jest,
[ Hidden Quest ‘The Emperor’s Guard’ has been created. ]
Rank: Unique
Description: The Imperial Guard—where the Empire’s finest knights gather to protect the great Baltika Empire’s current Emperor, Drakeon Baltika.
You have been granted the opportunity to enlist in the Imperial Guard and protect the Emperor from his very side.
Objective: Accept the proposal of the Emperor, Drakeon Baltika.
A quest window materialized before my eyes.
If I nodded my head here, I could immediately enlist in the Imperial Guard—what could be called the Empire’s finest knight order.
I had been deliberating about joining the Blue Moon Knight Order even before coming to the Audience Chamber, but…
‘The Imperial Guard would impose far too many restrictions, wouldn’t it?’
The Imperial Guard was different.
With a knight order, it seemed I could pursue personal ventures occasionally while conducting my duties, or leave the order after adequate service.
But protecting the Emperor in the Imperial Guard didn’t seem to allow for that flexibility.
Likely, the moment I logged in, I’d have to be watching over the Emperor.
“Adventurer Mir. Should you enter my Imperial Guard, I promise you the Empire’s highest treatment without discrimination.”
As befitted the Empire’s finest knight order, I wouldn’t need to worry about finances.
My level would rise considerably, and through various training, I could learn numerous skills.
But.
“My apologies.”
More than anything, the unique restrictions inherent to serving the Emperor in the Imperial Guard didn’t appeal to me.
I played Second partly to earn money, but far more importantly, to enjoy the game itself.
I didn’t want to surrender that freedom by entering the Imperial Guard.
To my response,
“Hahahaha! Indeed, adventurers despise being bound by restrictions and having their freedom shackled, or so I’ve heard.”
Fortunately, the Emperor responded with a laugh.
I’d heard that the current Emperor pursues quite user-friendly policies toward players.
It seemed that was indeed the case.
“Adventurer Mir. If I cannot have one such as you, then at the very least, I shall make you my ally.”
The Emperor continued with his smile and spoke.
At last, it was time to receive my reward for defeating the Orc Lord.
“Come now, speak. What is it that you desire?”
And I had already contemplated what reward I wished to receive.
Truthfully, I’m uncertain whether even the Imperial Capital’s treasure vault would possess such a thing, but there’s no harm in probing the waters.
In that sense, what I had in mind.
The reward I had been considering ever since the City of Beginnings was none other than.
“By any chance, might I receive a Special Enhancement Token?”
“A Special Enhancement Token?”
This was it.
The reward I had received from the graduation examination in the City of Beginnings.
The reward I had obtained from the Second Crown’s victory.
Using these, I had enhanced my All Mastery skill and my Agility stat.
Through such use, I came to appreciate just how exceptional a reward this Special Enhancement Token truly was.
So if possible, I wished to use Special Enhancement Tokens to strengthen all of my stats.
“Guard Captain. When you speak of a Special Enhancement Token, do you perhaps mean ‘Blessing of Destiny’?”
“I believe that to be the case as well.”
“If I recall correctly, the inventory was not particularly abundant.”
“I received it as a gift from His Majesty, and I believe only one remains in the Imperial Palace’s vault.”
“Ah, so one still exists.”
“However, Your Majesty. The Blessing of Destiny is….”
“Enough. Should I not grant such a reward to a hero who has slain the Orc Lord and shall grow to become a great pillar of the Empire?”
“Indeed, most wise of you.”
On the surface, it sounded like a conversation flattering me.
But why was it.
That to my ears, it seemed to carry the meaning: ‘Should I not bestow such an item upon a free-spirited adventurer to bind him to the Empire’s name?’
Well, there’s nothing I can do about that.
If I later receive a major episode Quest related to the Empire, it might actually prove more advantageous in the end.
“Adventurer Mir. I shall grant you the ‘Blessing of Destiny’ as you wish.”
Thus I obtained the Special Enhancement Token.
However, the Emperor’s words were not yet finished.
“Furthermore, I grant to adventurer Mir the opportunity to select another treasure from the Empire’s vault alongside the Blessing of Destiny!”
The Special Enhancement Token alone was already a reward beyond my expectations.
And now I was being allowed to choose yet another treasure.
It felt like fortune had arrived in abundance.
Yet the final reward that followed was something ambiguous to call a reward at all.
“I shall proclaim throughout the entire Empire your Achievement of slaying the Orc Lord and an army of thirty thousand for the sake of the Empire, and bestow upon adventurer Mir the title of Baron of the Baltika Empire!”
Unexpectedly, I had become a Baron of the Baltika Empire.
* * *
The ‘proclamation’ the Emperor spoke of was not like the System Messages commonly used in Second.
Rather, it was a more traditional and classical method.
For instance.
“Hear now the great proclamation of His Imperial Majesty!”
This was how it unfolded.
In the Grand Plaza of the Baltika Empire.
The Emperor’s spokesman stood at its center, raising his voice to publicly announce Mir’s achievement.
“Citizens of the Baltika Empire! Beneath the great shadow of our empire, a legendary monster that threatened the Baltika Empire has fallen—the Orc Lord!”
“The Orc Lord?”
“What is the Orc Lord?”
“Tsk, tsk. You don’t know of the Orc Lord?”
“Elder, what exactly is the Orc Lord?”
“Eighty years ago, it was a legendary orc sovereign that threatened the Empire.”
“Gasp! Then this must be incredibly dangerous!”
The citizens listening to the spokesman’s voice were taken aback.
Those with knowledge or advanced years understood just how perilous the Orc Lord truly was.
But then.
“However, with the aid of the Empire’s operation, a single adventurer stepped forward and through valor and wisdom defeated the Orc Lord and tens of thousands of its army!”
“An adventurer?”
“An adventurer aided the Empire’s operation?”
“No matter how valorous or wise, how could a mere adventurer defeat the Orc Lord and tens of thousands of troops? This makes no sense.”
The citizens’ murmurs grew louder.
After all, it was unbelievable that an adventurer without loyalty to the Empire would defeat the Orc Lord for its sake.
And above all, it was unbelievable that a single adventurer could defeat such a legendary monster.
Especially to have defeated the Orc Lord alongside tens of thousands of its army.
Did this even make sense?
Just as everyone harbored doubt.
A deep hum resonated through the air.
With the spokesman’s speech, the Sage standing behind him cast a spell.
It was an illusion-class magic that recreated a scene from the past, manifesting a colossal image like a hologram.
Unlike other magic, it could only evoke true memories.
Before the Sage sat a knight of the Wyvern Knights, and the image that materialized above showed.
“Gasp!”
“What is all this!”
“Is this… truly real?”
An adventurer piercing the Orc Lord’s chest, and.
Tens of thousands of orcs buried beneath the Cliff were displayed before them.
As everyone reeled from the shock, the spokesman continued his proclamation.
“Therefore, the great Emperor of the Empire, Drakeon Baltika, bestows upon the adventurer Mir the title of Baron!”
“Baron!”
“He grants a noble title to an adventurer!”
“Unbelievable!”
Baron.
While a baron’s rank was the lowest among noble titles, a viscount was still undeniably a member of the aristocracy.
Until now, no matter how remarkable an achievement an adventurer accomplished, the Empire had never bestowed a noble title upon them.
The Empire’s perception of adventurers was simply not favorable.
The Emperor had just, for the first time, granted a noble title to an adventurer.
While the citizens were startled upon hearing this, those who were truly shocked were not the citizens, but the Empire’s nobility.
“Preposterous! How could His Majesty bestow a noble title upon a mere adventurer!”
“If such a precedent is established, other adventurers will surely seek titles as well.”
“This cannot stand! We must lodge an appeal at once! If we all unite our efforts….”
“It will not work.”
“Why not!”
“That adventurer’s achievement is genuine. The Capital Defense Commander and the White Wyvern Knights have personally witnessed and acknowledged it.”
“Even so…!”
“Furthermore, the Empire’s Knight Commanders are viewing that adventurer favorably. If we oppose rashly, we may face retaliation.”
“But….”
“Most critically, which among us could lodge an appeal before His Majesty and overcome his overwhelming presence? Without legitimate justification, no less.”
“Hmm….”
The problem was not simply that one more noble had been created.
That much could be understood easily enough.
The problem was that the recipient was an adventurer.
At a time when adventurers from across the world were growing rapidly and achieving remarkable feats.
If a precedent were established that adventurers could become nobility, other adventurers might also aspire to become nobles of the Empire.
The current nobility feared this outcome.
If adventurers ascended to the ranks of nobility, their own standing would diminish.
And the nobility’s fears proved to be entirely justified.
“Master, this proves that we too can obtain titles.”
“I thought the system was fundamentally blocking us, given that nothing we tried worked. But it seems I was mistaken.”
“Should we not take action as well?”
“Of course. Once we reach the rank of baron, we can claim territories. When that happens, the true ‘territorial wars’ will begin.”
“Exactly!”
“The key will be which guild reaches the rank of baron first and receives territories. The standing of the Five Great Guilds will soon be determined by the territories they control.”
Players began to take notice of noble titles.
With enough effort, adventurers could become nobility.
Once they became nobles, they could receive territories, and thus the late-game content of Second—territorial wars—would open.
Therefore, players quickly began seeking ways to become nobility.
Some sought out threats like the Orc Lord to defeat them, just as the newly-minted viscount had done, while others sought to distinguish themselves in the wars the Empire was waging.
Various methods were explored, but among them, the most promising approach was clear.
“Find Mir!”
“He’s already received a viscount’s title, so with just a bit more effort, he could become a baron and receive territories!”
“Mir? Do you mean that Mir who won the Beginner League in Second Crown?”
“Unbelievable—if he’s the Beginner League champion, his level shouldn’t even be 200 yet. How did he defeat the Orc Lord?”
“Tens of thousands of Orc soldiers? How is that even possible?”
The protagonist of this announcement could be called the first noble among users.
Finding Mir.
In fact, at this point in time, the user with the highest probability of becoming a Baron was none other than Mir, who had already received the title of Sub-Baron.
Not just users with simple ambitions or small guilds.
“We should have captured him then, after all.”
“And yet, just days later, he achieves this…”
“How did he defeat the Orc Lord without even reaching level 200? And how did he even find the Orc Lord in the first place?”
“Find Mir quickly, please. I need to prepare properly and make a serious recruitment offer.”
“Hahahaha! Impressive! Exactly the talent our Legion needs!”
Hwarang, Taegeuk, Parcheon, Royal, Legion.
Even the Five Great Guilds of South Korea began searching for Mir once more.
As everyone set out to find Mir.
There were those who had stopped searching for him, for a different reason.
“Damn it, he suddenly disappeared and I wondered where he was. He was in the Imperial Capital? How on earth?”
“More than that, hyung, if he became a noble, isn’t this getting dangerous?”
“That’s the problem! Damn it!”
Red Skull.
Those who sought to assassinate Mir.
It was good that they had discovered Mir’s location after he suddenly vanished and left no trace anywhere.
But that Mir had become a noble.
This was no ordinary matter.
“If you kill a noble among NPCs, an official Imperial execution order is issued and you become wanted.”
“Right. Even as a Sub-Baron, a noble is a noble. If we kill Mir, we’ll be hunted by the strongest Empire on the continent.”
Defeating an adventurer is not the same as defeating a noble.
If you defeat a noble, you must face tremendous consequences.
Even as a Sub-Baron, a noble is a noble, and from the circumstances, it appears the Emperor holds Mir in particularly high regard.
If Mir were killed in this state, the Empire’s Knight Orders might target Red Skull.
Especially if the Ash Dust Knight Order, said to gather the Empire’s greatest assassins, comes after them.
Red Skull would surely perish without a sound.
Not only the assassination skills of the Ash Dust Knight Order, but the Empire’s intelligence network—every NPC belonging to the Empire would become the Empire’s eyes and ears.
“Damn it, damn it, damn it!”
“Hyung, what do we do? If we give up like this…”
“In that case, we strike fast and hard. The moment Mir leaves the Imperial Palace, we eliminate him.”
“Will it really work?”
“If we abandon Mir like this, Red Skull’s position as Second’s greatest assassination guild will weaken. We must demonstrate our guild’s power, even if it costs us. Or rather, with this opportunity…”
The Guild Master of Red Skull.
Moonlight Wolf’s eyes gleamed as he spoke.
“We use Mir to spread Red Skull’s terror throughout all of Second.”
As Mir’s achievement spread throughout all of Second.
Mir, the protagonist of this Achievement.
“Follow me.”
To receive the additional reward bestowed by the Emperor.
I was heading toward the grandest treasure vault within the Imperial Palace.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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