The Return of the Genius Ranker’s Myth Warehouse - Chapter 243

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

Chapter 243
Chapter 243
Ranking 1st, Yul-ha.
I was aware that she stood apart from the other test-takers, lingering at the periphery.
How could I not notice when it was none other than the 1st-ranked user behaving that way?
If it had been someone else, I might have assumed they were stubbornly insisting on a one-on-one duel.
‘But Yul-ha is different.’
She was currently the strongest user in Second.
And I, unlike with others, considered her a formidable rival worthy of respect.
After all, like me, she was one of the rare few who had genuinely enjoyed playing First.
Watching her stand alone after defeating all the others, I recalled the words she had left behind when I went to claim my reward after winning at the Second Crown.
‘I’ll definitely come find you next time and greet you properly! Mir!’
Those were the words she had spoken while bouncing with joy, having received my autograph as an unimaginable fan.
However, I hadn’t had occasion to see her since then.
I never expected to encounter her here.
‘Did she really come just to greet me?’
It made no sense that the 1st-ranked user would join the Heukryeom Guild.
From what I heard, she had rejected all recruitment offers from the Five Great Guilds.
Though the Heukryeom Guild was gaining prominence, it wasn’t at a level that would attract the 1st-ranked player.
More importantly, for someone of her rank, founding a guild would be more advantageous than joining one.
‘Regardless.’
It didn’t matter.
After the test, if she simply came to greet me, she didn’t need to join the guild.
Right now, I wanted to test myself against her.
Though I was underleveled, I wanted to cross blades with her with all my might.
She was one of the rare few users who, like me, had played First with genuine passion.
“Mir.”
She called my name and straightened her sword.
The Crowned One’s Greatsword—the first reward she had chosen at the Second Crown.
Combined with the Crowned One’s Ego that I had selected for her, it had become a growth-type ego sword.
Though the base form was a legendary-grade item, thanks to her journey as the 1st-ranked user, it had grown to rival mythic-grade items, living up to its name as a growth-type weapon.
Gripping such a blade,
“Let’s do this!”
She charged toward me.
Her weapon was one that performed at mythic-grade level, and as a growth-type weapon, it would be strengthened to match her level.
[ Theseus’s Straight Sword ]
( Non-tradeable )
Form: Sword
Grade: Mythic
Grade: Mythic
I drew out a Mythic-grade weapon as well.
I had expended all my high-tier Mythic-grade weapons during the Age of Fallen Mythology, but I still had mid-tier Mythic-grade weapons in reserve.
Taaht!
The Sword Saint’s movement speed was extraordinarily swift.
So fast that afterimages trailed in her wake, independent of any skill effects.
Normally, the stat disparity would have made it impossible to track her movements, but through the combat experience I had accumulated in First, I could anticipate her trajectory.
Kaang!
I managed to parry her attack.
Though not perfectly, I must admit.
Despite meeting her strike with a Mythic-grade weapon of comparable quality, I was the one sent reeling backward with greater force.
‘Weapon performance, combat experience. Both flawless.’
Most of the test-takers I had faced thus far were equipped with little more than Epic-grade gear.
It was unavoidable, really.
Legendary items and beyond saw their prices and rarity skyrocket exponentially.
Combat experience, too, was merely what one accumulated over a couple of years hunting monsters.
But Yul-ha was different.
She wielded a Mythic-grade weapon befitting her level, and like me, she possessed combat experience honed since First.
At least when it came to swordsmanship alone.
‘We are equals.’
Or perhaps not—while I had been a vegetable, she had continued to wield her blade relentlessly.
She might well surpass me.
Combined with the stat advantage from her higher level, defending against her became nearly impossible.
I released Theseus’s Straight Sword, which had been sent flying, and hastily drew forth a shield.
[ Demon Beast Bone Shield ]
( Non-tradeable )
Form: Shield
Grade: Epic
Kagakak!
I blocked her assault.
Her attack power was so tremendous that the Epic-grade bone shield splintered, its durability plummeting, but in that moment I managed to create distance.
Yet she showed no mercy, charging forward with even greater speed.
“Luke, let’s do this properly.”
– Yes, Master.
[ Activating Black Flame Transformation. ]
[ Borrowing the power of the Black Flame Dragon, Luknir Desperato Ignockton. ]
That brief window was all Luke and I needed to activate the Black Flame Transformation.
I didn’t know her exact level, but this would substantially close the stat gap between us.
Or perhaps, considering all the nutrients Luke had consumed thus far, we might even surpass her stats.
With that transformation complete, the weapon I drew forth was.
[ Aegak Spear of the Heavens and Earth ]
Form: Spear
Grade: Legendary
A spear.
The Spear of Heaven’s Edge—a weapon imbued with the meaning that none in the world dared stand against it.
Though merely a legendary-grade spear, its combat prowess was exceptional enough that I had wielded it frequently even in First.
The reason I drew this spear was, naturally enough—
– Activating skill ‘Black Insect Flash’.
– Activating skill ‘White Fish Swimming’.
Thud!
—to strike at her weakness.
Her swordsmanship was as dazzling and formidable as my own, if not more so, but that was all she possessed.
Her attacks were limited to swordplay alone.
She employed no martial arts mid-combat, no hidden weapons of any kind.
From beginning to end, she wielded only her blade—a being more knightly than any knight herself.
Yul-ha.
‘And conventionally speaking, the weakness of a sword is the polearm.’
That was precisely the weakness I intended to exploit.
Though the sword was called the panacea of weapons for its overwhelming power, when faced with a polearm like a long spear, its range disadvantage became apparent.
Someone of Yul-ha’s caliber possessed the skill to overcome that weakness.
Clang!
But I, conversely, possessed the skill to maximize the spear’s advantages.
– Activating skill ‘Green Stone Rigid Wall’.
And there was one more thing.
After defeating the Green Stone Demon, I had discovered a new application of Green Stone Rigid Wall.
I had thought the skill could only be used while wielding a shield, but that was not the case.
It could be used freely while holding any weapon—spear or sword alike.
As I activated Green Stone Rigid Wall, the spear shaft became enveloped in a verdant barrier, and using it to deflect Yul-ha’s strikes—
Thud!
—I thrust the spear forward with all my might toward her.
Naturally, she did not yield easily, but my assault did not cease.
I maintained the spear’s range advantage meticulously, widening the distance between us.
When she attempted to close in, I blocked her attacks with Green Stone Rigid Wall and White Fish Swimming, then increased the distance.
All the while, I continued my relentless barrage with Black Insect Flash and Dark Night Blood Tide.
“Haah!”
Screech!
She attempted to shift momentum by unleashing a sword aura, but—
[ Jet-Black Shield ]
I blocked the attack and seized the opportunity to widen the distance further—
[ Centaur’s Bow ]
—then released arrows toward her.
– I use a 4th Circle fire spell, ‘Fire Wall.’
I block her approach with magic.
Thus, the two successful candidates from the Second Crown began to clash in earnest before everyone’s eyes.
* * *
Ranking 1st in Second.
Sword Saint Yul-ha.
She had loved the sword since childhood.
The kendo dojo she rushed to the moment school ended, waiting for her parents who always came home late.
When she wielded the sword at the dojo, time seemed to disappear, and eventually her parents would come find her.
In truth, aside from sleeping hours, the sword was what she spent the most time with—more than her own parents.
‘I want to try it.’
However, there was one problem.
The kendo dojo she attended was quite small.
With no peers her age, she always had to spar with adults or the master, but the weight class difference was too severe.
So proper sparring could never take place.
Then she discovered it—First, the original virtual reality game.
‘This is fun!’
She could actually wield a sword.
Not a wooden sword or practice blade, but a sharp real blade.
And not through training or sparring, but through actual combat against monsters.
Though First itself was riddled with bugs and had terrible balance, it didn’t matter to her.
She only needed to swing the sword.
However.
‘There are so few users.’
The lack of opponents was the same there too.
She could fight monsters endlessly, but there were no opponents worthy of PvP—player versus player combat.
Most users who came interested in the original virtual reality had quit the game, overwhelmed by its brutal difficulty.
Then she discovered it—Mir, ranked 1st in First.
“Wow!”
Mir was strong.
He effortlessly subdued monsters she couldn’t handle, and swept away the relentless waves of creatures with ease.
He wielded various weapons, and like her, he used the sword—but his swordsmanship was a form she had never encountered before.
To put it another way….
‘Swordsmanship optimized for virtual reality games.’
In the virtual reality game First.
Swordsmanship created to fight not people, but monsters, and to maximize the game’s systems.
Unique swordsmanship belonging only to Mir, crafted solely for First.
Seeing this, her eyes gleamed with fervor.
‘I want to fight.’
I want to fight that man.
I wanted to experience a proper duel—something I had never encountered in reality or in games.
But compared to Mir, she was far too weak.
That’s why she had worked tirelessly to level up in order to face him.
She dreamed of one day reaching level 1,000 like Mir, and then challenging him to a duel as equals.
But then.
[ We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all users who have loved the first virtual reality game, First. ]
Before she could catch up to Mir’s level, First’s service had ended.
It didn’t matter, though.
Not long after, the second virtual reality game, Second, was released.
But.
‘Where could he be?’
Mir was nowhere to be found.
While she maintained the number one ranking, there was no word of Mir anywhere.
Mir would surely have made his mark in Second as well.
This time, she wanted to cross blades with Mir as an equal.
Yet Mir’s presence remained elusive.
Two years passed like that.
Just as she was beginning to forget about Mir.
– I’m a fan!
She found him.
At none other than Second Crown, the greatest event in Second.
She didn’t know what circumstances had led to it, but judging by his entry into the Beginner League, it seemed he hadn’t been able to play the game at all.
She wanted to challenge him to a duel immediately, but she held back.
Mir’s level was far too low.
So she had decided to wait until Mir caught up to her level.
– Second’s rising star, Mir! Becomes the first in Second to obtain a noble title!
– Mir, a Baron this time? Then, a Territory as well?
– Mir, who founded the Heukryeom Guild! Now known as Guild Master, Mir!
– To meet Mir, Emperor of the Baltika Empire, people flock to Mir’s Territory.
….
News of Mir kept reaching her without end.
Even the latest report that the Heukryeom Guild would conduct a “test” to recruit new members.
At this point, she could wait no longer.
Though Mir’s growth wasn’t yet complete, she wanted to face him even if it meant restraining her own power.
And now.
Clang!
She was engaged in the one-on-one battle with Mir she had dreamed of for so long.
‘He really is strong!’
Mir’s level was far below hers.
Yet he held his own against her without yielding an inch.
I swiftly identified her weakness and subdued her with sweeping strikes of the spear.
Cowardly, you say?
Hardly.
Rather, I found it admirable.
Just as I cherished the blade, watching Mir wield every weapon with such fluid mastery was inspiring.
And I realized something.
Coming here today had been the right choice.
If Mir ever caught up to my level, he would have already surpassed it by then.
With that thought in mind.
“I look forward to training with you, Mir!”
The metallic ring of steel sang out.
She began wielding her blade with everything she had.

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