The Return of the Genius Ranker’s Myth Warehouse - Chapter 419

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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 419
Chapter 419
While talking in the game was fine, it had been a long time since I’d seen Kang Ju-hyuk in person.
To get some fresh air after so long, I arranged to meet him in reality.
“The most expensive place?”
“Yeah, can you find one for me? I don’t really know about these things.”
“The expensive places are seriously pricey though? I heard a single meal costs hundreds of thousands of won as a baseline?”
“Even without doing anything, my Territory generates enough income. Don’t worry about it—just find somewhere good. Please.”
“Then I’m booking somewhere truly amazing! No backing out!”
Of course, I left the meeting place to Kang Ju-hyuk.
Well, Kang Ju-hyuk, to be precise.
I had no interest in such matters myself.
Still, since I was going out after so long, I wanted to eat at a proper place.
When I checked the Auction House site, the items I’d recently listed sold for astronomical prices, so I wanted to dine somewhere expensive and nice.
And so, on the day of our appointment.
“Please take me to this address.”
I took a taxi to the meeting place.
I’d considered buying a car, but honestly, how often would I actually use it?
Out of three hundred sixty-five days a year, I’m logged into Second for nearly three hundred of them.
Even with the money, I didn’t want to buy a car that would just gather dust.
Anyway, the reservation place I arrived at was.
“Gauri?”
“This place is completely famous. You don’t know about it?”
“I told you. I don’t know about these things.”
“It’s a place that appears on TV all the time. You know, celebrity chef Han Do-yoon!”
“I think I’ve heard the name.”
“He runs this place! It even has a Michelin star!”
“Really?”
“Really? Not ‘really’! This place is completely famous! It’s incredibly hard to get a reservation!”
“But how did you manage to book it?”
“Heh heh, who do you think I am? You wanted to go somewhere proper, so I pulled some strings!”
“It’s not illegal, right?”
“There are ways to do these things, you know!”
It was a place called Gauri.
As I entered, I saw a sign indicating it was a teppanyaki restaurant.
I’m not sure how he managed the reservation, but as soon as I gave my name at the entrance.
“Kang Ju-hyuk, your reservation is confirmed. Please come this way?”
I was immediately guided inside.
The place I was led to was right in front of the teppan grill.
Most importantly.
“Wow, it’s Chef Han Do-yoon!”
“Ha ha, hello there. You two are quite fortunate. My scheduled shoot got cancelled, so I decided to personally handle tonight’s dinner service.”
“Amazing!”
“Shall I show you the menu first?”
“Here, the most expensive items! Add everything you can—make it as delicious as possible! Right, Mir?”
“Spend freely. That’s what we came here for.”
“Yes!”
“You two certainly have generous spirits! I’ll have to give this my absolute best!”
The star chef Kang Ju-hyuk had mentioned was right in front of me.
Judging by Kang Ju-hyuk’s reaction, he hadn’t known beforehand—this was genuinely a coincidence.
Thanks to that, I could watch the star chef work his craft right before my eyes.
Sizzle—
Teppanyaki cooking certainly was spectacular.
Perfectly trimmed fish was placed on the iron griddle, seasoned on the spot, and additional ingredients were added.
Then wine was drizzled in a circle.
Whoosh!
“Whoa!”
Flames erupted.
Before I’d even tasted the food, watching the fish cook within those hot flames already stirred my appetite.
“A perfectly seared rockfish topped with gold caviar and bracken fern. I recommend enjoying it with wasabi to suit your preference.”
“Insane. Absolutely insane! This has to be delicious! I haven’t even tried it, but it’s definitely delicious!”
It certainly was delicious.
Cooked as it was within the flames, the char flavor was perfectly absorbed, and there wasn’t a hint of fishiness.
The caviar’s delightful pop paired beautifully with the texture, and the wasabi’s heat complemented everything perfectly.
The next dish was equally impressive.
“Abalone topped with truffle. I’ve divided it into three portions so you can adjust the truffle amount and discover the flavor profile that suits you best.”
“The lobster gratin you requested. I’ve used premium butter to enhance the aroma….”
Visual appeal and taste.
Both were masterfully executed in every bite.
The prices were brutal, but what did it matter?
I had nowhere else to spend the money anyway.
Eating like this, I thought occasionally leaving home to hunt for restaurants might not be such a bad idea.
More than anything, watching the cooking process made me think—
‘If I recreated something similar in the Eastern Region, it would probably be popular.’
‘If I just had an iron griddle made, I could easily cook using my fire magic, couldn’t I?’
‘When I log back in, I should treat the guild members to some teppanyaki.’
These thoughts came naturally.
I really am a Second user through and through.
Anyway, after eating the fried rice—the signature dish of teppanyaki cooking—and filling my stomach.
I savored the dessert that arrived last.
“So, a world tournament is being held?”
I broached the main topic.
Well, I already knew the general details anyway.
I’d heard about the world tournament several times while Second Crown was underway.
After hearing from Kang Ju-hyuk that a world tournament was being held, I’d done some basic research on it.
“It’s a bit late in the year, but apparently it’s happening this year!”
Second’s world tournament.
There was no reason not to participate.
The rewards from Second Crown alone were things like ‘Special Enhancement Vouchers’ that couldn’t be obtained through normal methods.
The world tournament would offer even greater rewards.
“What are the participation requirements?”
“Basically, rankers participate, right? By level.”
“Hmm…”
“Oh, right. You’re not in the rankings yet, are you? Wow, but thinking about it, that’s even more impressive? How did you beat Jeok-hwa with such a low level?”
However, there was one problem.
To participate in the world tournament’s preliminaries, I had to be within the rankings.
At least, one small mercy was—
“If five players are competing, do I need to be in the top 5 by level ranking?”
“No, you just need to be in the top 100.”
“Why?”
“That’s the minimum requirement. Just having a high level doesn’t guarantee selection. They hold preliminaries among the top 100 to pick five players.”
“What format are the preliminaries?”
“I heard last time they did it in a survival format, but I’m not sure about this time.”
So I didn’t necessarily have to be in the top 5 rankings to be selected.
Fortunately, the criteria were quite lenient.
I just needed to be in the top 100 rankings.
However, the problem was—
“Hey, it’s fine. You can just go next year! By next year, you’ll be rank 1, right?”
“What are you talking about? Next year is obvious, but I need to participate this year too.”
“Hey, you need to be in the top 100 rankings! What’s your current ranking?”
“I’m not sure. Should I check?”
My level and ranking.
I’d been leveling up quite rapidly lately.
So what exactly was my ranking?
The answer could be easily found on Second’s main homepage.
[ Mir: Rank 9,899 ]
“That’s low.”
“What rank?”
“Nine thousand, eight hundred and ninety-nine.”
It was far below my expectations.
True enough, I’d heard that Yul-ha, currently ranked first, was approaching level 700.
Even though my level had surpassed 600, the gap was inevitable.
While I was lamenting this, Kang Ju-hyuk’s reaction was entirely different.
“Whaaaaaaat?!”
“Be quiet. Lower your voice.”
“No, that doesn’t make sense! How long has it been since you surpassed my level, and you’re already in the top ten thousand?”
“Even so, it’s still far from breaking into the top hundred.”
“No, being in the top thousand itself is incredible! Besides, you started two years late after Second opened!”
Rather, his reaction was that breaking into the top ten thousand was remarkable.
After that, I struggled to silence the noisy Kang Ju-hyuk.
I had to put another dessert in his mouth before he finally shut up.
In any case, this won’t do.
At rank 9,899, I can’t even participate in the preliminaries, let alone the world tournament.
“When are the rankers who participate in the preliminaries decided?”
“Well, I’ve never done it myself, so I’m not entirely sure. But if I recall the posts from last year’s community, they said the announcement comes just one day before the preliminaries begin.”
“When are the preliminaries?”
“Let me see, it should be on the homepage… Oh, here it is. Eight days from now.”
“Eight days. Subtract one day from that, and I need to break into the top hundred within a week from now to participate in the preliminaries, right?”
“Right. Now do you see? Just give up cleanly and aim for next year. Does breaking into the top hundred rankings in a week even make sense?”
There’s only one way.
Breaking into the top hundred within a week.
It’s impossible by any measure.
After all, I started Second later than most people, and once I passed level 600, I entered a period where leveling became extremely slow.
The rankers in the top hundred must all be in the late 600s by now, and they’re asking me to catch up in a week.
It’s an absurd challenge.
But.
“Let’s get up once you’re done eating.”
“Huh? Why? Let’s stay a bit longer. The bill includes the table charge anyway?”
“I’m busy.”
“Busy? But you said you cleared your schedule today?”
“Something just came up.”
“Just now… Don’t tell me!”
“If I want to break into the top hundred within a week, I think I need to log into Second right now.”
In my opinion, it was entirely possible.
* * *
On the taxi ride home.
I began formulating my plans for the future in my mind.
Naturally, the plan I was devising was to rapidly level up within a week and break into the top hundred rankings.
The first method that came to mind was discovering new dungeons.
When you discover a new dungeon, the experience points you receive as a reward increase, making rapid leveling possible.
The item drop rate increases as well, making it the method I’ve relied on most until now.
‘But it’s not enough.’
Having hunted this way all this time, I could see the limitations clearly.
If I continued with that approach, I could level up quickly, but even so, breaking into the top 100 within a week would be impossible.
At best, I’d manage to crack the top 1,000.
Others would be astounded by such speed, but it doesn’t align with my goal.
The second method is.
‘Mass hunting in the field.’
Also known as herding hunts.
While field hunting efficiency is generally poor, there are rare fields where enormous quantities of monsters converge.
In such places, it’s possible to achieve efficiency surpassing even dungeons.
The place that comes to mind now is….
‘The Northern Front.’
Where monsters are currently pouring down in waves.
The Northern Front of the Empire.
There, a single use of area magic would be enough to fell an enormous number of monsters.
But.
‘No.’
That’s problematic too.
Most importantly, information is far too scarce.
Would monsters pour out endlessly just because I went north?
If the monster levels were lower than expected, experience gains would suffer, and since it’s a battlefield, I’d hesitate to charge forward recklessly.
I cannot entrust my future to such an unstable place.
As I cycled through various methods in my mind.
‘If this were First, the answer would already be clear.’
A memory from the past surfaced.
First had a location designed purely for leveling up.
‘Wait, could it be.’
My eyes suddenly brightened, and I immediately grabbed my phone.
It was one of First’s core contents after all.
Could it possibly still exist in Second?
After finishing my search.
“Perfect.”
A smile spread across my face naturally.
Arriving home, I.
[ The Second World. ]
[ Welcome to ‘Second’. ]
Logged into Second immediately.
“Should I head there? To the ‘Golden Altar’.”
I set out toward the hunting ground that would push me into the top 100 within a week.

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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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