The Return of the Genius Ranker’s Myth Warehouse - Chapter 43
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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 43
Chapter 43
Back in my First days.
Whenever I discovered a new Dungeon, my strategy was simple.
‘Wander as much as possible.’
There was no need to speedrun straight to the Boss Room on a first discovery—why would I?
I had to explore every corner of the Dungeon, investigating all its elements.
Finding hidden monsters.
Finding hidden rewards.
Finding hidden strategies.
Of course, including the Named Monsters I encountered.
[ Black Worm God’s Egg ]
Crack!
[ You have destroyed the ‘Black Worm God’s Egg’, weakening the Altar’s power. ]
Just like this unexpected ‘Egg’ element I hadn’t anticipated.
“Think I’ve covered everything?”
I’d fully mapped out the Altar now.
I’d destroyed all the Eggs that appeared to be strategic elements, and no more Named Monsters were appearing.
Considerable time had passed and I’d leveled up significantly, so only one thing remained.
“Time to finish this.”
Hunt the Boss Monster to complete the Altar conquest and finish the Quest.
– How shall we prepare your equipment?
“Properly. Gear me up according to my level. And if possible, something with poison resistance.”
The Black Worm God’s Altar.
The Black Worm God I’d faced back in First, and the monsters I’d hunted in Second—
They predominantly used an attack called ‘Black Poison’.
Given that, regardless of what emerges, the Boss Monster likely uses that same Black Poison.
My resistance was already quite high from various elixirs and effects, but I needed to prepare thoroughly.
– Then, would the ‘Green Spirit’ set suit you?
“Perfect. I’ll go with that.”
The Green Spirit set.
To describe this set item:
[ Green Spirit’s Hood ]
( Non-Tradeable )
Type: Armor
Grade: Heroic
Requirements: Level 140+, Wisdom 250+, Spirit Affinity
Description: A hood said to have been crafted by the Green Spirit, known to govern various status ailments, who infused their power to protect their cherished friend.
This was the kind of item it was.
One that boosted resistance to various status ailments.
Among them, a set item that particularly greatly increases resistance to poison.
Since it corresponds to cotton armor, its defense is somewhat lacking, but if it doesn’t fit, then it doesn’t fit, right?
Even with low defense, it’s level 140 heroic-grade armor, so compared to lower-tier equipment, its defense is actually quite high.
“Take out all the elixirs and skill books too.”
– Yes, Master.
Not just equipment.
As my level increased, I used every item that became newly available to me.
The reason I prepare this meticulously is because of the master of this altar—a creature called the Black Worm God.
‘It won’t be as strong as it was back then….’
The Black Worm God.
It was one of the evil gods that stained First with malice.
Even among evil gods, it ranks among the most base, but a god is a god nonetheless.
Its level was extraordinary.
Now that it’s called the Fallen Altar, I didn’t expect the Black Worm God to emerge unscathed.
But it’s called an evil god for a reason, isn’t it?
Since I couldn’t know how strong it would appear, it was only natural for me, still at a relatively low level, to be cautious.
[ Alchemy has succeeded. ]
[ Judgment: Critical Success ]
[ Elixir of the Raging Typhoon ]
Form: Potion
Grade: Unique
Requirement: Level 140 or higher
Description: A supreme-grade elixir potion created by combining ten elixirs including the Tears of the Typhoon.
The location was inconvenient, but since I’d cleared all the monsters, there was no risk of ambush.
Even in the middle of the Dungeon, I took out the alchemy kit and properly mixed the elixirs.
I drank the potion I’d created.
[ You have consumed the Elixir of the Raging Typhoon. ]
[ Agility increases significantly. ]
[ Health recovery rate increases. ]
[ Maximum mana increases. ]
[ Mana regeneration increases. ]
[ Poison resistance increases. ]
….
My stats rose dramatically.
I combined all the elixirs that became usable as my level increased and consumed them at once to maximize efficiency.
It was natural that the stat increase was substantial.
After using every character enhancement method available to me, including skill books,
“shall I go?”
I began heading toward the Boss Room.
Normally, finding the Boss Room in a Dungeon of this scale would be extremely difficult, but I’d already thoroughly explored the entire Fallen Altar.
I had already identified the location of the Boss Room.
“This chamber survived the collapse?”
The end of the Worm Burrow.
This Dungeon was certainly composed of tunnels carved by worms beneath the Fallen Altar.
Yet the tunnel’s terminus connected to the only chamber of the Fallen Altar that remained standing—the Altar chamber itself.
“Luke, are you ready?”
– Of course, Master.
While such occurrences were rare, there were instances where a boss monster would ambush the moment one entered the Boss Room, so I had made thorough preparations.
To guard against such ambushes.
If the enemy was a form I had never encountered before, I would need to analyze its attack patterns first—so I chose to wield a shield instead of my weapon.
[ Resolute Guardian’s Shield ]
‘This should suffice.’
Among the weapons available at my level, it was the most formidable shield.
It could withstand most attacks.
With that thought, the moment I opened the chamber door.
‘Killing intent!’
As someone who had been a ranker of First.
I could sense it instinctively.
The overwhelming killing intent seeping through the narrow gap as the door opened.
That intent had transformed into a razor-sharp strike hurtling toward me through the cramped doorway.
I immediately raised my shield.
– Activating skill ‘Iron Wall’.
A defensive skill learned through the skill book.
I activated the skill that pushed my defense to its absolute limit while wielding the shield.
In that instant.
Clang!
A tremendous impact reverberated from the raised shield.
The problem was that this was merely the ‘beginning’.
Clang-clang-clang!
As the door continued opening.
Sharp attacks relentlessly hammered against the shield.
The strikes were so ferocious that without the Resolute Guardian’s Shield and the Iron Wall skill, I would have struggled to endure them.
Moreover, as time elapsed.
Crack—.
‘The shield is….’
A heroic-grade shield with a level 140 restriction.
The Resolute Guardian’s Shield was fracturing.
Its durability was depleting as it failed to withstand the impacts.
It wasn’t as though its durability had been worn down from traversing the Dungeon—I had retrieved this shield fresh for the boss encounter.
Yet in these brief moments of assault, its durability was eroding so rapidly that cracks were already forming.
It was evidence of how devastatingly powerful that attack truly was.
And what I identified the attack to be was.
‘A spine?’
It appeared to be a spine belonging to some kind of insect.
Like the legs of a centipede, perhaps?
By the time another crack appeared on my shield, I had already discerned both the power and pattern of this mysterious assault.
Clang!
I tilted my shield and deflected the unknown attack at an angle.
The strike curved along the face of the shield.
Releasing the shield from my grip.
[ Substitute Soldier, Karim’s Blade ]
As if reading my thoughts, Luke promptly produced the sword, which I seized firmly.
– I activate the skill ‘Power Strike’.
I swung the blade horizontally with all my strength across the exposed side of the spine as my shield fell.
Clang!
It was certainly a well-aimed strike at an opening.
Despite using a powerful weapon and activating a skill, I failed to sever the spine completely.
The spine’s outer shell was so incredibly hard that sparks flew as I barely managed to swing the blade through.
Well, though I didn’t cut it clean in two, I did succeed in severing roughly half of it.
“Unholy intruder….”
As the spine came under attack, the boss monster ceased its assault as well.
In that moment, the door swung wide open.
Thanks to this, I could finally identify the boss monster.
[ Apostle of the Black Worm God, Musca ]
“I intended to grant you a merciful death, piercing a hundred holes through you for swift and painless demise, yet you dare spurn even this minimal courtesy of mine.”
Musca.
I didn’t know the name beforehand.
But describing its appearance.
“A fly?”
It resembled a fly.
More precisely, a fly standing upright like a human?
Of course, it wore something like a black priest’s robe befitting an apostle, but even that couldn’t fully conceal its grotesque form.
Did it hear what I said?
“A, a fly? Did you just call me a fly?”
The apostle, Musca, trembled violently.
No matter how I looked at it, it was definitely a fly.
It must know itself that it’s a fly.
I couldn’t fathom why it was trembling with such fury.
“I, who have devoted myself to the Black Worm God and cast off my limitations, beginning to resemble the divine form itself—how dare you call me a fly?”
Resembling the divine form or whatever.
In the end, isn’t it just a fly?
Looking at it, those spines I saw earlier are there too, and parts of its body have transformed, and it’s even walking upright.
But no matter what, a fly is still a fly, isn’t it?
“…But?”
I nodded as if it were obvious and answered.
“How dare you, how dare you, how dare you dare you dare!”
Musca became absolutely furious.
The transparent, delicate wings characteristic of a fly, hidden beneath the priest’s robes, revealed themselves.
And from within the lifted priest’s robes, the spiky front legs that had attacked me moments ago—replacing what should have been a fly’s forelegs—also became visible.
Thinking about it once more, that appearance was.
“Definitely a fly, right?”
“How daaaaaare you!!”
It was indeed a fly.
* * *
“Kang Team Leader, shouldn’t we begin preparing countermeasures for the first main scenario?”
“Sigh….”
The Crisis Management Team of Second.
Kang Team Leader and Seo Deputy continued monitoring Mir’s Dungeon conquest.
Since Musca hadn’t yet hatched the eggs, the Black Worm God’s creatures remained in a weakened state, barely receiving divine power.
Yet they were still powerful monsters, far exceeding Mir’s current level.
And such monsters.
“What the hell is that guy!”
Were being cut down far too easily by Mir’s hand.
It was a conquest no other user could possibly achieve.
The monsters appearing in the Fallen Altar came in numerous varieties.
Yet Mir seemed to know every attack pattern and weakness of each one.
Evading attacks, striking at weak points.
It was fundamentally basic combat play, yet that combat play was absolutely flawless.
Having already conquered all the dungeon’s monsters, only a single boss monster remained.
“As you know better than anyone, Kang Team Leader, once the first main Quest is cleared, the main scenario will truly begin.”
“Yeah, I know. I know. The evil gods will attempt resurrection, and powerful monsters bearing the remnants of evil gods will emerge across all regions.”
“Yes. And as you’re aware, monsters bearing evil god remnants will be far too powerful for the current users to handle.”
Mir’s success in the main scenario Quest wasn’t just Mir’s problem.
As befits a main scenario Quest bearing Second’s greatest burden, the Quest’s success will impact all of Second.
The problem is that it’s still beyond what the current users can manage.
To reduce overtime hours even slightly, it’s better to prepare from now.
While the supercomputer autonomously regulates Second’s system and we can’t modify it freely, we must coordinate with the supercomputer to weaken the evil god remnants even somewhat.
However.
“No, that’s still impossible.”
Kang Team Leader denied it.
I had cleared every monster in the Altar except the boss, but I judged it impossible to defeat even that.
“Musca. That boss monster is at least level 200 at minimum.”
“But hasn’t the Mir user leveled up considerably?”
“Even so, I haven’t broken 150 yet. My leveling speed is insanely fast, but a gap that wide is difficult to overcome.”
That was true.
Musca, the Apostle of the Black Worm God.
It was no coincidence that he could shatter my shield.
Such a feat was possible precisely because of the vast level disparity between us.
“However, Team Leader Kang, you witnessed it yourself. How easily the Mir user defeated a high-level boss monster in the Ash Ossuary.”
“True. Perhaps victory is possible. But….”
I had already defeated a boss monster with a significant level advantage once before in the Ash Ossuary.
Yet the reason Team Leader Kang maintained such conviction was——
“If the situation becomes that dangerous, Musca’s second phase will activate.”
“A second phase… you say?”
“Yes. Once it activates, Musca’s full power surges dramatically. No matter how formidable the Mir user is, they cannot overcome a second phase.”
“What exactly is this second phase that makes you so certain?”
To Seo Deputy’s question,
Team Leader Kang spoke while watching the Mir user just entering the Boss Room.
“The resurrection of the Black Worm God. Or rather, its hatching.”
Immediately after, my battle with the Apostle of the Black Worm God began.
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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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