The Return of the Genius Ranker’s Myth Warehouse - Chapter 18

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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 18
Chapter 18
The Lower Trial.
Since it was identical to the trial from First, I knew the strategy completely.
Moreover, unlike my time in First, I now possessed various items and skills capable of exploiting the slimes’ weaknesses.
The Lower Trial was nothing more than a warm-up.
Because of this, I advanced to the next trial before drawing the attention of the onlookers.
[ Tower of Beginning, Middle Trial ]
[ The trial begins. ]
[ Defeat all enemies in the trial. ]
The second trial.
The Middle Trial had commenced.
Immediately, I rushed forward and, just as before, thrust my staff into the pool teeming with Water Slimes.
[ Lightning ]
Crackle!
Gurgle—.
The trials were fundamentally constructed on the same foundation.
The Middle difficulty did not completely change the trial; rather, the trial from the Lower difficulty became stronger, with new enemies added to the mix.
Because of this, the pool of Water Slimes remained, so I defeated them first using the same strategy.
Of course, the Water Slimes, now stronger with the increased difficulty, endured my magic somewhat longer.
Splash—.
That was all.
Even if the slimes lasted a few seconds longer, they had no way to oppose me.
To drain my mana by lasting a few more seconds would be impossible, given that my mana pool from my Wisdom stat was among the highest in the City of Beginnings.
Maintaining a First Circle spell a bit longer would never deplete it.
After defeating all the Water Slimes,
“Grrrr—.”
I sensed a new presence from behind.
It was a slime again.
However, it felt somewhat different from the slimes I had faced until now.
While the slimes I had encountered thus far possessed forms essentially no different from liquid,
‘An Earth Slime.’
This Earth Slime had a form closer to solid.
A slime composed of earth, true to its name.
Its body was correspondingly hard, granting it high defense, and unlike other slimes, it lacked acidic secretions entirely, instead attacking enemies with physical force.
Moreover, like a true slime, it moved its body fluidly to form hard spikes and attack in various ways, making it an exceptionally troublesome opponent.
To face this Earth Slime, I released my staff from my hand and spoke to Luke.
“Luke, take out a hammer for me.”
– Yes, Master.
The staff that left my hand burned black and vanished.
In contrast, black flames erupted from my empty hands, and a hammer materialized.
A weighty sensation.
Without even turning my head, I could recall the weapon’s name from the feel alone.
[ Stone Crusher ]
( Non-Tradeable )
Type: Hammer
Grade: Rare
Requirement: Level 20+, Strength 80+
Description: A sturdy stone hammer used in quarries known for extracting black stone, famous for its hardness.
A rare-grade hammer with a level 20 restriction.
The required strength is quite high for the level restriction, but my strength stat is exceptionally high, and the All Master ability disregards some insufficient stats.
Gripping the hammer, I swung it powerfully toward the Earth Slime.
The Earth Slime hardened its body further to defend itself, but.
Crack!
It could not withstand the Stone Crusher.
Defense meant nothing—the Stone Crusher simply shattered the Earth Slime outright.
The spikes the slime thrust out in counterattack crumpled.
Multiple slimes that had clung together and hardened their bodies to block the attack were crushed entirely.
Stone Crusher.
Slow as it was, the weapon’s offensive power was exceptional.
As I crushed the slimes before me along with their cores completely.
[ Trial Cleared ]
[ Trial Grade: B+ ]
[ Clear Time: 55 seconds ]
Once again, I cleared the second trial with the best record.
* * *
When Mir first entered the Tower of Beginning.
Seoul First Sword, the user who had proposed a party to Mir, had disliked him from the start.
“What, you’re going in alone?”
It made sense—Mir had rejected his party proposal and challenged the trial solo.
Seeing him pick up a staff, he seemed like a Sage.
A Sage challenging the trial alone.
It was practically suicide.
He was watching the entrance, expecting Mir to fail the trial soon and planning to graciously accept him into the party.
[ Trial Cleared ]
[ Trial Grade: C+ ]
[ Clear Time: 9 seconds ]
“Huh, wh-what?”
An unimaginable result appeared.
Mir had cleared the first trial in less than ten seconds.
And that was while receiving the highest grade possible from the first trial—a C+ rating.
What in the world was happening?
Unable to comprehend the situation, Mir proceeded directly to the next trial.
And moments later.
Approximately one minute later.
[ Trial Cleared ]
[ Trial Grade: B+ ]
[ Clear Time: 55 seconds ]
“W-w-what?!”
An absurd record appeared once more.
Up to that point, I could understand it.
Occasionally, users who had been national-level athletes or professional gamers in reality would solo the lower difficulty trials.
Of course, none of those people had ever received a C+ rating in under ten seconds.
Still, it was somehow comprehensible.
But this? This made no sense.
Clearing an intermediate trial in under a minute?
And with the highest grade—B+ at that?
The problem was that Mir didn’t stop there.
“He’s entering the advanced trial right away?”
What kind of place was the advanced trial?
Solo play was out of the question—only those with proven skill, who thoroughly researched strategies and equipped themselves with the finest gear available in the City of Beginnings, could even attempt it.
Even then, achieving a high grade was nearly impossible; the number of users who received an A rating was truly countable on one hand.
“No way… surely not…”
Seoul First Sword rejected this reality.
It was impossible.
No matter how skilled one was, the advanced trial was a level that no one could overcome alone.
Though he had never experienced it directly, he understood it well from his diligent study of strategy guides on NewTube in preparation for this moment.
So why was this happening?
He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the door Mir had entered.
And moments later.
[ Trial Cleared ]
[ Trial Grade: A+ ]
[ Clear Time: 1 minute 59 seconds ]
“This can’t be real!”
Mir emerged from the door.
He had cleared the advanced trial.
With an A+ rating at that.
In under two minutes.
Seoul First Sword had been unable to progress to Second due to lack of both money and time, but precisely because of that, he had consumed an enormous amount of Second-related content on NewTube.
From the perspective of an armchair analyst like himself, someone capable of clearing the advanced trial with the highest grade would be…
‘Even the great Guilds would covet this, wouldn’t they?’
The great Guilds.
The Five Great Guilds of South Korea would certainly take interest in this.
And the Five Great Guilds purchased information for a price.
Wouldn’t they offer a generous sum for information about someone of such caliber?
With that thought, Seoul First Sword attempted to log out and contact the Five Great Guilds.
“My goodness….”
He could not log out.
Mir was entering what could be called the final trial—the highest-tier trial.
Someone else here might contact the Five Great Guilds faster than him.
“Could it be that he’s challenging the highest-tier trial alone?”
He could not do it.
He could not tear his eyes away from this impossible scene.
Whether Mir could truly conquer the highest-tier trial alone, whether he could achieve the highest grade again, how quickly he could clear the trial this time.
Consumed by this curiosity, he could not bring himself to press the logout button.
* * *
In the beginner trial, Water Slimes appear.
In the intermediate trial, Water Slimes and Earth Slimes appear.
Then, as one advances to higher grades, wouldn’t the variety of slimes increase by one each time?
‘That couldn’t be.’
No.
The Tower of Beginning was not a trial so simple.
If the test were that easy, users would not find the graduation exam so difficult.
As proof of this.
“Screeeee-.”
“Screee-!”
“Screee….”
The advanced trial featured a total of four types of slimes.
Including the existing Water Slimes and Earth Slimes, there were Fire Slimes that spewed flames and Wind Slimes that fired wind magic.
All four elemental slimes appeared.
Moreover, the slimes themselves had grown stronger.
For example, the Water Slime that could not withstand my lightning magic for even ten seconds in the beginner trial now required roughly twice as much to scatter its core.
But it was fine.
I now possessed the trial strategies and experience from my time in First, along with power and equipment far superior to what I had then.
Slimes, no matter how many, posed no threat whatsoever.
As a result.
[ Trial Cleared ]
[ Trial Grade : A+ ]
[ Clear Time : 1 minute 59 seconds ]
I cleared the advanced trial swiftly.
Naturally, I did not stop there and immediately opened the door to the next stage, stepping through.
The final difficulty trial available in the Tower of Beginning.
The highest-tier trial.
[ Tower of Beginning, Supreme Trial ]
[ The trial begins. ]
[ Defeat all enemies in the trial. ]
True to a trial where monster varieties multiply exponentially, the supreme trial featured a staggering eight types of slimes.
Counting only the number of slimes rather than varieties, there were easily over a hundred.
Yet facing such opponents, my movements remained unchanged.
[ Lightning ]
Crackle, crackle, crackle!!
First, I electrocuted the Water Slimes.
Pushing more mana to increase Lightning’s power, I accelerated and electrocuted all the Water Slimes in an instant.
Next.
[ Owl Hunter’s Bow ]
I drew the bow and shot at the Wind Slime preparing wind magic in the distance.
Though the distance was considerable, my arrow struck the Wind Slime’s core with perfect accuracy.
This owed partly to my skill and the aid of items, but even more so to the existence of a certain ‘skill’.
Namely.
[ All Mastery Lv 1 ]
A unique skill of the All Master class, it is a superior skill encompassing all mastery skills in this world.
– It replaces all mastery skills for equipment items including weapons and armor.
– It possesses double the effect of all mastery skills.
The All Mastery skill.
The unique skill of the All Master that appeared in my skill window the moment I advanced to the All Master class.
It was the superior version of ‘Weapon Mastery’, the skill I possessed when I advanced to Weapon Master in First.
Its effect replaced all mastery-type passive skills exactly as written.
True to its name, All Mastery was a skill that applied not only to weapons but to all equipment including armor.
Thanks to this, my archery skill received system correction, becoming far stronger and more refined.
Hitting the core of a Wind Slime, which was little more than a balloon, was simple.
[ Water Orb ]
“Aqua.”
The orb was no different.
All Mastery replaced the ‘Orb Mastery’ skill that only Sages could learn, enhancing the orb’s performance.
When I subsequently cast Aqua, a first-circle water spell, the orb elevated the magic’s performance to an extreme degree.
Though merely a spell that generated water, the Water Orb produced a considerable volume.
The Fire Slimes caught in this sudden deluge.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—.
Rumble, rumble, rumble—.
Their bodies hardened and froze, unable to move.
It was not instant death, but at this rate, I could afford to take my time and topple it last.
And so, I continued.
[ Stone Crusher ]
[ Crackling Dagger ]
[ Flowing Water Sword ]
Fwabababat!
I kept switching weapons and felling the slime.
Why was I not using the mythic-grade weapon with a 1,000 level restriction that Luke possessed, and instead only wielding arms suited to my level?
Simple.
First, I was confident I could earn the highest grade without resorting to such a weapon.
Second, I wanted to reconfirm my skills—to see if they had grown rusty during the two years I had slept—and to hone them anew.
Not long after.
[ Trial Cleared ]
[ Trial Grade: S+ ]
[ Clear Time: 2 minutes 35 seconds ]
I had conquered the supreme trial flawlessly.
The evaluation grade was naturally S+, the highest possible from a supreme trial.
The clear time had not even reached three minutes.
That concludes the trials.
I was told I had a total of five attempts at the trials, so one opportunity remained.
Since I had already obtained the highest grade from the supreme trial, the remaining chance was unnecessary, and I awaited my rewards.
[ You have cleared the lower, middle, upper, and supreme trials with the highest grade. ]
[ You still have one attempt remaining. ]
[ Will you challenge the Tower of Beginning’s hidden final difficulty—the Transcendent Trial? ]
Even I, who had believed I had completely conquered the Tower of Beginning during my time in First, now beheld a difficulty level I had never seen before.

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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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