The Return of the Genius Ranker’s Myth Warehouse - Chapter 22

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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 22
Chapter 22
Following the direction Hans pointed, I came upon a narrow trail.
A path that couldn’t be found without Hans’s guidance after completing the graduation exam.
Once I fully traversed that path.
“The great land, Granvel.”
I had arrived at the true field of Second.
I turned back, but the narrow trail I had walked through was already gone.
The City of Beginnings was a kind of tutorial area, so once you left it, you could never return.
“That way, right?”
I moved following Hans’s guidance.
Even if it took longer, perhaps out of consideration for beginners, a single path stretched to the destination, so it seemed I only needed to follow the road straight ahead.
Normally, walking along this path, I would encounter monsters and gather items.
‘Why bother?’
I didn’t have time to waste on that.
“Luke, take out the horse whistle for me.”
– Yes, Master.
Black flames blazed, and a horse whistle appeared in my hand.
Its true identity was.
[ Horse Whistle – Grani ]
( Non-Tradeable )
Type: Mount
Grade: Unique
Requirement: Level 20 or higher
Description: A legendary steed descended from the blood of Sleipnir, the mount of Odin, the supreme god of the Aesir pantheon and king of gods, and a legendary steed that the hero Sigurd once rode.
It was an item that summoned a mount.
Second was an open-world game boasting an enormous field size.
While teleport gates were installed in each city, on the field itself, you ultimately had to run on foot.
That’s why mounts existed.
Even without being a Tamer or Rider, you could obtain a mount for travel, and the horse whistle I had pulled out was a Unique-grade mount.
It could be said to be the finest grade of mount available at this level.
As the description indicated, it was a legendary steed of a hero with divine beast blood mixed in.
Whinnnnny!
When I blew the horse whistle, which looked more like a horn than a pipe, a stallion with lustrous gray fur came galloping from somewhere.
Snorting as it ran, the legendary steed Grani lowered its head to me.
I mounted the steed that the hero Sigurd once rode.
“Let’s go.”
“Hyeeeigh!”
We immediately galloped along the path.
The sensation of riding, which I hadn’t felt in a long time.
Since reaching max level in First, I had primarily ridden Sleipnir—the finest mount in First and the progenitor of this Granny—so the transition was somewhat inconvenient.
“The realism here is remarkable.”
Second’s realism far surpassed First to an almost embarrassing degree.
The phrase “true virtual reality game” fit perfectly.
The galloping horse’s muscles, its tremors, even the wind brushing past—I felt it all with complete clarity.
“What, what is that!”
“Wow, that’s amazing!”
“Sir, let me ride too!”
“Where did you get that from?”
As I galloped forward on Granny, I could see users stopping in amazement at the sight of me.
Well, this was the main path where beginners traveled toward Labelt, after all.
For them, the very concept of a mount would be entirely new.
Since this wasn’t a safe zone, a few monsters appeared and locked eyes with me as I rode.
“Krrr?”
I ignored them all.
Hunting a few of those creatures was far less worthwhile than completing a proper Quest.
As I sprinted toward Labelt at full speed.
“Help me!”
A scream suddenly pierced the air.
* * *
A true virtual reality game—Second.
Living up to its name, Second made nearly everything imaginable possible.
Cooking and fishing, certainly, but also reading, swimming, and more.
As for travel, Second’s destinations—a fantasy world itself—were beautiful beyond reality’s measure.
One could even scale massive cliff faces that didn’t exist in reality without worrying about safety.
True to Second’s nature, there was one more thing possible.
Thud!
“Why… how could this…”
Murder.
In Second, it was possible to attack and defeat other users.
Of course, to prevent Second’s users from becoming murderers, The Number had implemented various restrictions.
Committing crimes such as attacking or defeating users accumulated a “Chaos” stat.
As this stat accumulated, NPC affinity would drop, one would become a wanted criminal with entry denied to cities, or face arrest.
At higher levels, NPCs would execute you.
But it’s a game—if you’re caught or killed, you just respawn, right?
Wrong.
If arrested by an NPC, you’re imprisoned for a duration equal to your Murderer stat.
If killed by an NPC, your connection is blocked for a duration equal to your Murderer stat.
Moreover, other users cannot kill a Murderer without penalty, and doing so triggers the same penalties while causing you to drop all carried items.
Because of this, most users refrained from attacking other players.
“Hehehehe, isn’t this fun?”
Not all users shared that sentiment.
In fact, there were ways to continue playing even with accumulated Chaos points.
After all, places existed where criminals gathered, and even in cities, one could interact with NPCs in the shadows without worrying about Chaos points.
And among such “murderers,” there existed a particularly vicious breed.
Namely.
“Damn, I didn’t get that on camera. I should’ve recorded that look in their eyes.”
On the road from the City of Beginnings to Labelt.
A murderer who preyed on beginners along this very path.
Most users passing through here were level 10 players who had just graduated from the City of Beginnings.
Those who attacked such users were considered the most vicious in Second.
The Guard Captain patrolled the roadside sporadically, but couldn’t stop murderers who carefully calculated their timing and exploited gaps.
“Ugh, this really relieves the stress. In higher hunting grounds, ambushes barely work anyway. But leveling up is such a hassle.”
One of them was none other than this fellow.
Bloody Wolf.
He’d come here today to vent the stress accumulated from being mocked by coworkers for his spelling mistakes.
Thwack, thwack!
“What the—”
“Unfair, isn’t it? If you didn’t like it, you should’ve started earlier than me. Hehehehe.”
This was the ninth one.
The stress his boss had inflicted—throwing documents at him for still making spelling errors at work—evaporated in a satisfying rush.
A sense of superiority he couldn’t achieve in reality welled up, and his lips curled into an involuntary smile.
But.
“I’ll just make it an even ten and then leave.”
It was time to go.
By now, the Labelt Guard Corps would be arriving soon.
As a major city, Labelt’s Guard Corps was formidable.
If he encountered them, he’d be arrested—no, executed on sight.
As he scanned his surroundings.
Thwack!
Bloody Wolf spotted his final prey and immediately swung his dagger.
The target tried to flee, but a level 10 user couldn’t possibly escape from his hands.
Since this was the last one, he intended to toy with them before finishing them off.
Clop, clop, clop!
“Hm?”
The sound of hoofbeats echoed from the distance.
He flinched, wondering if the Labelt Guard Corps had already arrived, but the direction was wrong.
Focusing his vision, as expected, the source of the hoofbeats wasn’t the Guard Corps—it was a user.
“Looks like a newbie from the looks of it.”
Occasionally, such users appeared.
Users who graduated from the City of Beginnings and immediately received item support from acquaintances, starting with ease from the very beginning.
Bloody Wolf particularly despised such users.
…Though, to be fair, every piece of equipment he used was given to him by his older brother.
Anyway, while contemplating whether to catch just one more user while he was at it.
“Please! Save me!”
The user being attacked by Bloody Wolf raised his voice in desperation.
Worried that his prey might escape.
Crunch.
“Ugh!”
He finished off the user he’d been toying with.
He thought it was already too late.
“Coming this way? Still haven’t got a brain, have you? Kekeke.”
But he was wrong.
The novice riding the horse was charging straight at him, contrary to Bloody Wolf’s expectations—not fleeing at all.
The reason was obvious.
Fresh from graduating the City of Beginnings, brimming with confidence.
Thinking in terms of the City of Beginnings where level 10 was the maximum, with equipment support on top of that, he probably believed there was no opponent he couldn’t defeat.
That’s clearly what he was thinking as he charged at him.
“I’ll cut through you and the horse both!”
Bloody Wolf drew out a short blade.
A vicious short blade with jagged teeth protruding from its surface.
The horse would have decent base defense and health, so he deployed all his class skills to cut it down properly.
A sinister aura flowed from his body, and a crimson edge extended from the blade.
Then, he confidently charged toward the approaching horse and swung his blade.
But then.
Whoosh—
In an instant, black flames flickered across the horse’s body.
The flames spread across the entire horse’s torso so quickly that Bloody Wolf was startled.
Fortunately, the black flames died down quickly, but on the horse’s body revealed as the flames faded.
“Horse armor?!”
Proper horse armor, called magia, was equipped on the steed.
It looked far from ordinary at first glance, but he’d already used his skill.
The moment the sharp blade energy coating his short blade touched the armor.
Ting!
His blade bounced off.
He couldn’t believe it.
His level wasn’t that high, but he was strong enough to send a level 10 novice to their grave without even using skills.
He’d thought that even a horse—a low-level mount like that—should be cleaved in a single strike.
Yet his attack bounced off so pathetically.
“Tch!”
The impact sends a sharp, tingling pain through my wrist.
I leap upward to disperse the shock, twisting my body to avoid colliding with the horse.
Startled as I am, I use this rotational momentum to attack the novice rider, but then—
“…What?”
Our eyes meet.
And in the hands of this novice, whose gaze locks with mine, is a long spear.
What kind of spear is that?
I’ve never seen one like it before.
A spear with sharp, crescent-shaped blades called moon-fangs attached to both sides of the spearhead.
Rather than a novice’s weapon, it looks far more suited to a ranker’s grip.
Whoosh.
It swings with precision directly toward Bloody Wolf.
* * *
A user attacking others at a path frequented by novices.
Clearly a Murderer.
The worst kind—one who preys only on helpless, weak novices.
The moment I spot such a Murderer—
“This might be doable.”
I feel my mouth water.
After all, Murderers are a golden opportunity: if stronger than me, they’re dangerous, but if weaker, they hand over items, experience, and bounty rewards without fail—a golden goose in every sense.
Of course, this one clearly appears higher level than me… but I have the stats and equipment to bridge that gap.
So, without changing course, I charge toward the Murderer.
He recognizes me and rushes forward with a grin, swinging his dagger, but—
[ Red Hare’s Horse Armor ]
( Non-Tradeable )
Type: Armor
Grade: Heroic
Requirement: Combat Horse Level 400 or higher
Description: Among men, Lü Bu; among horses, Red Hare. The light yet sturdy horse armor worn by the legendary warhorse of Lü Bu, who gained renown throughout the realm for martial prowess bordering on the divine.
Granvel’s body ignites in black flames as the horse armor equips.
Its performance will be weakened to match my level, of course.
Ting!
I easily block the Murderer’s attack.
Then—
“Luke.”
– Yes, Master.
[ Serpent Spear ]
( Non-Tradeable )
Type: Spear
Grade: Unique
Restrictions: Level 400 or higher, Strength 1500 or above, Spear Mastery Lv 40 or higher
Description: The legendary polearm wielded by Lü Bu, known throughout the realm for his near-divine martial prowess and valor—”Among men, Lü Bu; among steeds, the Crimson Hare.”
I drew the Unique-rank spear.
*Screech!*
Without hesitation, I swung it toward the Murderer.
As a Unique-rank weapon with a 400-level restriction, even in its weakened state, it was more than sufficient to cleave through the thin armor of a rogue-class enemy.
The vivid impact reverberated through my senses—that distinctive realism unique to Second.
“Aaaagh!”
In that same instant, the Murderer’s scream pierced the air.

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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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