The Return of the Genius Ranker’s Myth Warehouse - Chapter 327

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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 327
Chapter 327
“This can’t be….”
Lee Hwa-rang, having regained his senses, felt the sting of defeat.
Fortunately, he didn’t throw a tantrum or refuse to acknowledge his loss.
Had we fought in some secluded place, it might have been different, but now thousands upon thousands of players were watching.
He’d called it cowardly, but in truth, his combat style had been completely countered—he knew better than anyone that he hadn’t fallen to some underhanded trick, but rather to a superior strategy.
“Guild Master, you fought brilliantly!”
“Ha, Mir. You’ve got some solid fists on you. Not bad at all?”
“Not bad? I’m better than you, that’s what. But did you see that? It’s a fighting style you can master too—remember it well.”
“I’ve got it burned into my eyes! Just wait, next time I’ll use it against you too. Hehehehe.”
“Fat chance.”
The moment victory was decided.
Kang Ju-hyuk and the other Black Flame Guild members rushed over to congratulate me on my win.
And then.
“Mir really won?”
“Wasn’t there a significant level gap? How did this happen?”
“Didn’t you see in that last fight? The level difference barely showed. His speed kept pace, and his damage output was solid.”
“So he’s already caught up to Lee Hwa-rang’s level?”
“No way. Lee Hwa-rang’s a ranker—how could he have caught up already?”
“If he did catch up, that’s incredible. But if he didn’t and still overcame the level gap to win, that’s even more incredible, isn’t it?”
“This is insane, seriously.”
The players were marveling at my victory as well.
Of course, they probably didn’t even know my level was 500.
Even if they did, compared to a ranker like Lee Hwa-rang, it would still be a low number, so their amazement was natural.
But my attention, even as I received their congratulations, was directed elsewhere.
Specifically, at the duel between Jeok-hwa of Parcheon Guild and Victor of Legion Guild.
Or rather, where that duel had taken place.
Because their battle was already over.
“Hahahaha! One-on-one combat really is difficult! It’s not my specialty, after all!”
“For someone saying that, you held your ground pretty well. Annoyingly tough, actually.”
“Thanks for the compliment!”
The result of their duel was, naturally, Jeok-hwa’s victory.
This was only to be expected.
After all, Victor, the Guild Master of Legion, was skilled in group combat and command by nature of his character—he wasn’t built for one-on-one duels.
Still, that didn’t mean Victor wasn’t a powerhouse. But.
Victor’s condition was in terrible shape.
His heavy armor was dented and caved in, and blood was streaming from wounds all over his body.
By contrast, Jeok-hwa showed no signs of strain whatsoever.
I’d been too focused on my duel with Lee Hwa-rang to properly witness their fight.
The fact that she had brought down the stalwart Victor in roughly the same timeframe as me was itself proof of her martial prowess.
‘Just how strong is she?’
I found myself anticipating the match.
She was a ranker evaluated as the strongest in Second in terms of raw individual power.
Many predicted that if she faced off against Yul-ha—or rather, if they truly clashed one-on-one—Jeok-hwa would emerge victorious regardless of rankings.
‘I have a rough idea of her class.’
I hadn’t seen it clearly, but I hadn’t missed it entirely either.
From glimpses during my sparring with Lee Hwa-rang, I could make a reasonable guess at her class.
If my prediction was correct, her class was likely….
‘Celestial Demon.’
An ultra-rare hidden class—the Celestial Demon.
If the All Master class didn’t exist, I suspected the Celestial Demon would be the rarest and most powerful class available.
The Celestial Demon class was indeed that rare and formidable.
“You finished quickly too. Want to go right now? Both our first matches were pretty uneventful anyway.”
With that, she stepped toward me, leaving Victor behind.
She certainly didn’t need rest.
I hadn’t taken a single hit during my fight with Lee Hwa-rang, and since I hadn’t used magic, my mana reserves were still abundant.
It seemed Jeok-hwa was in the same condition.
Given as much.
“R-ready!”
We immediately prepared for the match.
The same user who had refereed my bout with Lee Hwa-rang took on the role again.
Though honestly, I wasn’t sure a referee was even necessary.
In any case, our gazes collided sharply in the empty space between us.
“Begin!”
The moment the referee’s voice rang out.
Jeok-hwa and I rushed forward in an instant.
Boom!!
We collided violently.
* * *
The moment my match with Lee Hwa-rang ended.
‘Phew….’
The guild master of Taegeuk Guild.
Tae-ryeon exhaled a sigh of relief without realizing it.
When we had sparred before, Mir was already sufficiently powerful.
But now, he had grown unrecognizably stronger than back then.
Had I fought him now, I might have been defeated far more devastatingly than Lee Hwa-rang lying on the ground.
Thinking it over, I felt once again that it had been the right call to acknowledge Mir’s strength and refrain from participating in the Commander selection tournament.
“You’re quite formidable.”
“…But why didn’t you participate?”
“Didn’t I say so? I share the same thoughts as Tae-ryeon. Or perhaps you had different thoughts?”
“No, that’s not it.”
Just then, the voice of Million, the Guild Master of the Royal Guild, reached her from beside.
Tae-ryeon acknowledged Mir because she knew his capabilities.
But why Million hadn’t participated in the match—even Tae-ryeon couldn’t understand that.
With equipment as fine as his, Million should have been able to withstand Jeok-hwa’s attacks.
Regardless, she set aside the enigmatic smile on Million’s face.
“Begin!”
The match between Mir and Jeok-hwa commenced.
Crash!!
The two collided the moment the match started.
Not only Tae-ryeon, but most players expected Jeok-hwa to win this match, regardless of how skilled Mir was in combat.
The raw power Jeok-hwa displayed in one-on-one situations was simply overwhelming.
It might have been different if their levels were comparable.
But with Mir’s insufficient level, victory against Jeok-hwa seemed impossible.
Yet.
“They’re evenly matched.”
“…Indeed they are.”
It was not as expected.
The battle between Mir and Jeok-hwa naturally evoked the phrase “dragon and tiger contending”—a clash of titans.
Jeok-hwa charged forward fiercely, like a savage tiger.
And Mir received every strike perfectly, analyzing Jeok-hwa’s attack patterns methodically as if conquering a boss monster, countering each move with precision.
Of course, this was merely the perspective of a ranker like Tae-ryeon; to ordinary eyes, it would appear only that Mir and Jeok-hwa were locked in an intense struggle.
“I was anticipating something, but I never imagined it would be to this extent.”
As Tae-ryeon marveled at the match between the two,
Million’s voice continued to reach her from beside.
Could it be that Million knew something about Mir?
The question arose, but that wasn’t what mattered now.
As a player involved in PVP herself, she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the match between Mir and Jeok-hwa.
‘Magnificent.’
It was a more splendid match than any PVP she had witnessed thus far.
Whether it was Jeok-hwa pushing Mir to the limit by maximizing her stats and skills, or Mir calmly receiving and analyzing each attack,
it could be called a textbook example of PVP.
Yet there was something that stood out even more than their skill level.
‘They’re smiling.’
Their expressions.
Mir and Jeok-hwa.
Both wore expressions brimming with exhilaration.
They smiled as if the match was incredibly enjoyable, as if they were savoring the greatest pleasure in the world.
Tae-ryeon, watching this,
‘I envied her.’
Yes, I was envious.
I envied Mir and Jeok-hwa’s skill and spirit—the way they could relish such a sparring match so completely.
But what about myself?
I had assumed I would lose to Mir, so I had refrained from sparring to protect my image.
That decision of mine now filled me with regret.
If only I had challenged Mir despite knowing I would lose.
Even in defeat, if I had kept challenging Mir until I won, wouldn’t I have been able to wear an expression like that?
Such thoughts consumed me.
The other players felt the same way.
Mesmerized by this breathtaking battle, they could only stand in awe.
And then.
“Heavenly Demon’s Descent!”
“Goodness, does she really need to resort to that?”
A crimson aura erupted from Jeok-hwa’s body.
Her combat footage was renowned, so her secret technique, Heavenly Demon’s Descent, was widely known.
A form of berserk state.
It was a skill that unleashed a mist of blood while dramatically amplifying her physical prowess and the potency of her martial techniques.
The problem was that once activated, she couldn’t stop herself until she was on the brink of death.
So unless her opponent was exceptionally strong, she rarely deployed this skill.
The fact that she had used it meant Mir was a threat of considerable magnitude.
“It’s over now.”
“Right, no one has ever withstood Jeok-hwa’s Heavenly Demon’s Descent.”
“Even Yul-ha would struggle against Jeok-hwa in that state, wouldn’t she?”
The moment the crowd became certain of Jeok-hwa’s victory.
A roaring inferno erupted.
Flames burst forth from Mir’s body as well.
Not ordinary crimson flames, but pitch-black fire.
Tae-ryeon recognized the technique from having witnessed it alongside Mir before.
But.
‘No, it’s different.’
It was different from before.
The previous Black Flame had been a display of restraint and control—wielding the flames attached to his body with practiced mastery.
But the Black Flame Mir unleashed now was the opposite.
The black flames clinging to his body burned ferociously, as if consuming their very master.
Then, Mir and Jeok-hwa, both engulfed in searing black fire and ominous blood energy.
Crashed together with a deafening boom!!
They collided once more.
* * *
‘As expected.’
Jeok-hwa’s class was exactly as I had anticipated.
Celestial Demon.
She attacked with threatening skills like Celestial Demon Dominion, Blood Demon Doppelgänger, and Celestial Demon Divine Fist, making her an exceptionally formidable opponent.
‘She has no weaknesses.’
Until now, my combat style had been to draw a weapon suited to my opponent’s vulnerabilities and engage accordingly.
Since Jeok-hwa was a martial artist type who wielded no weapons, it should have been simple to overcome her with just a sword.
But.
“Kyahahaha! You’re fun! Come on, more! More!”
She was different.
The short reach inherent to martial artists?
That concept didn’t apply to her.
When she extended her fist, a destructive wind of force erupted from it and came flying at me.
When she raked her nails, sharp blood energy formed from her vital essence stretched out menacingly.
When she used Celestial Demon Dominion to approach, my shoulders felt pressed down and my body grew sluggish, and her Blood Demon Doppelgänger created duplicates so difficult to distinguish that even Luke’s eyes struggled to tell them apart.
But why was it?
‘This is fun.’
I was enjoying myself immensely.
Fighting her.
I had never properly savored a battle against an opponent of equal standing back in First, and yet this was proving so exhilarating.
As I exchanged attacks with her and analyzed her combat techniques, a smile spread across my face without my realizing it.
But I couldn’t afford to drag this out.
Kwaaaah!
Jeok-hwa began to unleash her true power.
‘Celestial Demon Descent.’
I was already familiar with this skill.
Though there were no users with the Celestial Demon class in First, I had faced enemy NPCs who possessed it before.
A skill that consumed blood essence to dramatically amplify stats and skill potency—Celestial Demon Descent.
Now that she had activated that skill, maintaining an even match was no longer possible.
Therefore.
[ Activating Black Flame Transformation. ]
[ Borrowing the power of the Black Flame Dragon, Lucknir Desperate Ignoxtan. ]
[ Entering Black Flame Rampage state. ]
I too entered a rampage state.
A simple Black Flame Transformation state would have struggled to resist Celestial Demon Descent.
But Black Flame Rampage was different.
Celestial Demon Descent was certainly a formidable skill, but Black Flame Rampage was an ability even more powerful than it.
“What, you were hiding such an entertaining technique?”
Kwang!!
I collided with Jeok-hwa once more.
Even in her Celestial Demon Descent state, I could feel from this single collision that I was not being pushed back.
No, with this, I’ve surpassed her in physical ability.
So then.
“Now it’s my turn.”
“Kyahahaha! I like that spirit! Come on in!”
Now it was my turn to push her back.

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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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