The Return of the Genius Ranker’s Myth Warehouse - Chapter 29

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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 29
Chapter 29
Kobold Lord.
All five commissions I had accepted were highest-tier requests, but this one stood apart from the others in sheer magnitude.
If the twin blood bats and the colossal ore worms were named monsters of Sterling Mine’s caliber,
then the Kobold Lord was, in every sense, a boss monster.
The most formidable creature Sterling Mine had to offer.
Which meant.
“Deeper than I expected.”
The Kobold Lord’s domain lay in the Sterling Mine Deepest Level.
In other words, the very bottom of the mine.
Fortunately, navigation proved straightforward enough that I descended without hesitation or need for specialized exploration items.
The problem, however,
“Kee-hehehek!”
“Human scent! Scent! Scent!”
“Sniff sniff, growl?”
was the kobolds blocking the path to the deepest level.
Their numbers were so vast that engaging each individually would prove endless.
By conventional standards, I would need to form a party, methodically defeat these kobolds one by one, and spend days advancing before I could even challenge the Kobold Lord.
But I had no such time.
To fell the Kobold Lord by today’s end, I couldn’t afford to waste effort on these common rabble.
I could have used concealment items as before, but now that I had advanced to All Master, I could employ stealth without relying on external items.
– Activating skill ‘Stealth’.
Stealth—a fundamental skill available to rogue-class professions.
Having only just learned it, my skill level was a mere 1.
‘But skills are only as effective as the user’s application.’
Using stealth didn’t mean I was bound solely by the system’s calculations.
The same stealth magic would fail if I walked boldly before a monster, yet succeed if I circled quietly behind it.
In that sense, I was already a master of stealth,
“Sniff sniff. I smell something. Why can’t I see it?”
“Did someone hide human meat somewhere?”
“Who was it?”
“Not me!”
“Not me either!”
“Then it has to be you! Kee-hehehek!”
“You liar! Kee-hehehek!!”
Slipping past kobolds—
mere child’s play.
Venturing deeper, I nearly got caught by something called a kobold fortune teller,
but—
“Kruk….”
I slit its throat before it could make another sound.
After traversing to the deepest reaches of the mine.
“Phew.”
The Sterling Mine Deepest Level.
I had finally arrived at the Kobold Lord’s Boss Room.
The Boss Room was sealed by a crude stone door, but as I drew closer.
Clang, clang, clang—!
The sound of a pickaxe echoed from within.
After completing my preparations before combat, I reactivated my concealment skill and slipped quietly through the gap in the stone door.
Fortunately, torches hung along the outer wall of the Boss Room, so it wasn’t particularly dark.
Following the sound of the pickaxe, I turned my head, and there.
“Grrrrr….”
Clang, clang, clang—!
A Kobold incomparably more massive than any I had encountered thus far.
No, it was such a colossal mass of muscle that I wondered if it wasn’t a werewolf instead—a Kobold wielding a pickaxe with tremendous force.
Over its bulging musculature, it wore plate armor.
Armor crafted with meticulous precision, a far cry from the crude equipment worn by Kobold heavy infantry.
Each time the Kobold Lord swung its pickaxe, the sound pierced my eardrums.
‘I haven’t been detected yet.’
I had thought that with a Kobold Lord’s keen sense of smell, I would be discovered the moment I entered.
Yet so absorbed was it in its mining that it remained oblivious to my presence.
‘All the better for me.’
This boss monster was incomparably more formidable than any target I had faced thus far.
If possible, it would be best to land the first strike through an ambush.
Gulp.
How long had it been since I felt such tension?
Back in First, even when facing the final boss monster, the Golden Dragon, I had grown so accustomed that I felt no such tension.
In Second, this was my first encounter with an enemy of such disparity.
Whether I recalled memories from First or simply observed the Kobold Lord swinging its pickaxe before my eyes.
That creature was overwhelmingly more powerful than I currently was.
– Entering the Boss Room unable to make a sound and preparing concealment. According to the plan, I shall provide you with the dagger as instructed.
As I advanced toward the Kobold Lord.
Luke placed a dagger in my hands.
Part of me wanted to launch a surprise attack with a powerful weapon like a greatsword, but carrying such a weapon would create too much noise and risk discovery.
Well, if I succeed with this dagger in an ambush, it will deal far more damage than swinging any large and powerful weapon.
And for good reason, this weapon was none other than.
[ Anubis’s Fang ]
( Non-Tradeable )
Form : Dagger
Rarity: Mythic
Requirements: Level 1,000 or higher, Dagger Mastery Lv 100, Agility 3,000 or above
Description: The Fang of Death, said to have been wielded by Anubis, god of death, to judge the souls of the guilty.
A mythic-grade dagger.
It was the ultimate weapon for assassin-class professions.
Gripping the dagger in reverse, I sprinted to the position directly behind the Kobold Lord.
Clang!
I leaped upward at the precise moment the Kobold Lord swung his pickaxe.
The sound of my feet striking the ground vanished beneath the metallic ring.
Still, the Kobold Lord wasn’t foolish enough to miss my approach, no matter how focused he was on wielding that pickaxe.
Whether he detected my faint landing sound amid the metallic clang, his ears perked up sharply.
But fortunately, before he could turn his head—
– Skill ‘Power Strike’ activated.
Thwack!
My dagger buried itself in the nape of his neck first.
“KRAAAAAAAAAAGH!!”
The Kobold Lord’s scream echoed through the cavern.
I wanted to follow up with another strike, but his roar itself carried physical force.
Because of that, I had no choice but to be sent flying backward, leaving the dagger embedded in him.
Though I couldn’t land a follow-up attack—
“How does that feel? Hurt?”
“KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!”
The ambush had landed perfectly.
I’d attacked from stealth, striking from behind with bonus damage, and I’d pierced the nape of his neck cleanly—critical damage had been applied as well.
And Anubis’s Fang, true to its nature as an assassin’s ultimate weapon, inflicted tremendous additional damage upon successful stealth attacks.
As proof of this—
Whoosh!
Black energy began pouring out violently from Anubis’s Fang embedded in the nape of his neck.
The aura of death.
Though it was weakened to match my level, even so, Anubis’s Fang was formidable, befitting a mythic-grade weapon.
As the death aura poured out, his health would plummet rapidly—victory was mine if I simply waited.
“Human, how dare you unearth the moon hidden in the depths of the earth and obstruct my path toward becoming the true king of beasts!”
The Kobold Lord’s eyes turned crimson.
His muscles swelled, and the seams of his armor stretched taut as if they would burst.
‘Berserker.’
The most common second phase state for boss monsters.
Berserker.
In other words, he’d entered a berserk state.
Normally, you’d need to shave off more than half his health to trigger phase two, but it seemed my ambush attack had landed far more effectively than expected.
He charged at me, drooling in his excitement.
‘Fast.’
My level and stats had grown considerably while hunting the quest target, but the Kobold Lord’s speed in its berserk state transcended even my enhanced abilities.
Incredible velocity.
Continuing to fight like this would be dangerous, that much was certain.
“Luke.”
– Yes, master.
[ I activate Black Flame Transformation. ]
[ I borrow the power of the ‘Black Flame Dragon, Luke Nir Desperado Ignoxtan’. ]
I immediately activated Black Flame Transformation.
Whoosh!
In that instant, I threw my body to the side, narrowly evading the Kobold Lord’s charge.
I quickly twisted my upper body and dodged the pickaxe being swung at me by ducking low.
‘If I can just match its minimum speed, the Kobold Lord’s attack patterns are simple enough.’
A berserk pattern?
If anything, the patterns become even more straightforward.
Some might think that faster patterns make things harder, but from my perspective, it’s child’s play.
The patterns amount to little more than swinging a pickaxe, shoulder tackles, and roars.
Compared to dragons that unleash breath attacks, swing their tails, use biting attacks, magic, flight, and countless other patterns, this is trivial.
– Master.
“Right, time is running short, isn’t it?”
However, there was one problem.
My pattern recognition was flawless, but fundamentally, my stats were inferior to the Kobold Lord’s.
I was borrowing Luke’s stats to evade, but once his power ran out, even that would become difficult.
Well, I could continuously pull out speed-boosting equipment from my warehouse and keep dodging indefinitely, but.
“Don’t worry. I’ll finish this before time runs out.”
The berserk state is the most common pattern among boss monsters.
Because of that, I knew better than anyone how to handle a boss monster in its berserk state.
“Graaaaaaagh!”
I continued evading the charging Kobold Lord while repositioning myself.
As the distance widened, it naturally prepared a charge pattern to close the gap.
And I.
– I activate the First Circle Earth magic ‘Earth’.
I used the magic I had recently learned in the same manner.
Earth.
Like Aqua, it was a First Circle basic magic that merely generated soil, possessing no offensive power in itself.
I invested mana into it to increase its size.
Thus, an earthen wall large enough to conceal my entire body was created.
Of course, it looked fragile enough that the Kobold Lord could destroy it with just a light touch, but that was beside the point.
“Become a sacrifice to the great beast king!”
Crash!
The creature charged forward without hesitation, shattering the earthen wall I had conjured.
But I had already used my concealment skill to vacate the area.
Instead, what awaited the creature’s eyes after demolishing my wall was.
“Krrgh?!”
The very wall it had been mining away at with its pickaxe.
CRASH!!
Unable to control its own momentum, the creature’s head slammed into the stone.
This was the critical weakness of the berserk pattern.
Physical abilities surge dramatically, but the attack sequence becomes predictable and monotonous—the creature loses control over its own movements.
Using a berserk monster’s charge pattern to crash it into walls or trees was one of my primary strategies back in First.
Of course, this alone wouldn’t bring it down.
Thud.
I seized the opening and vaulted onto its neck.
“It’s over.”
“KRAAAAGH!”
I brought the hilt of Anubis’s Fang—embedded in the creature’s nape—down with all my strength.
CRACK!
Anubis’s Fang burrowed so deeply that the hilt vanished from sight.
This was no ordinary weapon—a Mythic-grade blade driving through the nape with such penetration left no doubt as to the outcome.
[ Kobold Lord Extermination – Complete ]
[ Your level has increased. ]
[ Your level has increased. ]
….
[ Achievement Unlocked: Lone Wolf ]
Condition: Consecutively hunt Named or Boss monsters solo
Reward: Attack power increase during solo play, attack power increase when hunting Named or Boss monsters
Thus, all five commissions were now complete.

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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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