The Return of the Genius Ranker’s Myth Warehouse - Chapter 435
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 435
Chapter 435
After that.
“Do I have something that needs fixing as well?”
“I’ll teach you additional ways to utilize Ego.”
I began training my team members according to plan.
None of them even realized they had problems to begin with.
Well, that was only natural.
It’s always difficult for people to recognize their own flaws on their own.
These things are always better understood when someone else observes them objectively.
Starting with Yul-ha first.
“Haha, free lectures from Mir? This is quite the honor.”
Million accepted my advice without hesitation.
“Are you serious? You’re going to teach me how to fight? Just because you won once, you’re getting all cocky! Teaching your enemy how to fight—does that even make sense?”
“Isn’t that the principle of a strong warrior?”
“No, I’ll follow what you say! But the moment this world tournament ends, I’m taking you down! Teaching your enemy how to fight—that’s ridiculous!”
“That’s a matter for later. Right now, the world tournament takes priority.”
“Sigh. Fine, whatever. What could you possibly teach me?”
“That gauntlet. How to properly use the Purple Mechanical God’s Wrath.”
“What are you talking about! I handle this perfectly, regardless of anything else!”
“You don’t.”
“Who do you think you are? Have you even used this before?”
“I’m the creator, am I not? From a creator’s perspective, your usage is still incomplete.”
“That can’t be right!”
“If you don’t believe me, I can demonstrate.”
“This is an exclusive item for the Heavenly Demon class, though?”
“I am All Master. Class restrictions mean nothing to me.”
“Fine, let’s see… Aaahhh!”
The Purple Mechanical God’s Wrath in my hand.
As it transformed freely between whip and gauntlet forms, Jeok-hwa, who had been pushed back, was finally ensnared and bound by the whip form.
As expected, Jeok-hwa was the type who understood things best through direct physical experience.
Actions suited her better than words.
“Mir! Thank you so much! I’ll definitely repay you! I’m so grateful I’m struggling to figure out how much of a reward I should give!”
“Tae-ryeon, you’ve arrived at the perfect time.”
“Yes?”
“I have something to say about the Taegeuk Formation you showed me last time. It seems…”
Tae-ryeon was no different.
I offered advice to all my team members as much as I could.
Though they were skeptical at first, once they felt their combat power increase after hearing my guidance, they obediently listened to me.
The moment when increased combat power becomes tangible is always during monster hunts.
Especially when the team worked together to tackle a boss monster.
Before, even when Jeok-hwa wasn’t acting alone, the coordination didn’t feel quite right.
“I’ll block it!”
“Haha, excellent!”
“I’ll disrupt the follow-up attack.”
“Going in.”
But that was no longer the case.
Everyone’s movements aligned perfectly.
Part of it came from improved teamwork through all the time we’d spent together, and part of it was thanks to Jeok-hwa following my directions.
But it also stemmed from resolving the minor issues each of us had carried.
And because I could now perfectly grasp the full extent of their power.
– Using the 7-Circle fire magic ‘Flare’.
Whoosh!
I could land attacks with perfect timing without my teammates even signaling when to strike.
While tightening our teamwork in that manner.
I was simultaneously focusing on another element.
– Using the skill ‘Crafting’.
Clang!
Item crafting, to be precise.
The reason was simple.
‘Jeok-hwa’s movements are straightforward. If I can’t change her combat style immediately, I need to increase her speed so the opponent can’t respond even to simple movements.’
[ Crafting successful. ]
[ Judgment: Transcendent Success ]
[ Demon’s Crimson Stride ]
Type: Footwear
Grade: Legendary
An item.
There was nothing better than items for quickly filling immediate power gaps.
After obtaining my teammates’ consent, I reconfigured their equipment.
Sometimes purchasing items from the market, sometimes crafting them myself.
It cost an enormous amount of money, but it was money the team would bear anyway.
Since all my teammates were rankers, they’d accumulated considerable funds, so we rarely faced shortages.
“Just adjusting the item setup slightly, yet the increase in combat power is so tangible.”
“Absolutely. I thought I’d researched items quite thoroughly myself. I was completely off the mark.”
“But how do you know so much about items? Are you becoming a Second developer or something?”
After completing our preparations methodically.
Finally.
“It’s tomorrow.”
“I hope everyone logs off early today and gets plenty of rest.”
“See you tomorrow.”
“Phew.”
The long-awaited first day of the Second World Championship had finally arrived.
* * *
The day of the competition.
Just as I finished my preparations and was about to call a taxi.
Honk—!
A car horn sounded from outside.
My house wasn’t even on a main road, so there was no reason for a horn to sound here.
Since I’d finished preparing anyway and needed to head out, I went outside to see what was going on.
“Hey, Mir!”
A familiar voice called out.
And naturally, its owner was.
“Kang Ju-hyuk?”
“Yeah, it’s me! You were about to call a taxi, right? Don’t tell me you already called one?”
“Not yet.”
“Phew, thank goodness. Hurry up and get in! Let’s go together!”
It was Kang Ju-hyuk.
But the car he was driving was no ordinary vehicle.
“What’s that car?”
A bright red sports car.
Unlike regular cars, it had butterfly doors that opened upward like wings, and Kang Ju-hyuk was leaning against one, striking a pose.
Even I, who knew little about cars, could tell.
This was an expensive car.
Extremely expensive.
“Hey, don’t tell me….”
He was the Vice Guild Master of the Heukryeom Guild, after all.
While he couldn’t compare to me, he was probably earning quite a bit of money through Second as well.
As Vice Guild Master, he received gold from the guild, and he had items obtained from clearing newly discovered dungeons.
But to spend that money on a sports car.
With that kind of money, he could have bought his mother a nice bag.
I thought I should say something to him as a friend.
“Wait! You’re always so impatient. You didn’t buy it! You rented it, right?”
“That’s even worse. How could you rent a sports car from someone without thinking….”
“That’s not it! I rented this from Toka. You’ve heard of Toka, right?”
“Toka?”
“You really don’t know? You’re hopeless when it comes to anything other than games. It’s like an app for renting cars, and they recently launched a promotional event with sports car rentals. I managed to snag one!”
Well, at least it wasn’t what I thought.
“It is a bit pricey, but it’s much safer, so don’t worry about it, okay?”
“Hmm, really?”
“Why would I lie to you? And besides, you’re not my mom, so why are you nagging me about this?”
“But why did you borrow this?”
“Come on, I knew you’d try to take a taxi again, wouldn’t you?”
“So what if I did?”
“You’re Korea’s representative player! You’re heading to the world championship as the nation’s delegate—a taxi doesn’t cut it! You need to ride in something like this!”
So that was it.
It seemed Kang Ju-hyuk had borrowed the car with me in mind, but….
“Besides, we’re all meeting at the designated spot and then taking a car The Number provided for us to travel together.”
“Wait, really?”
“I was informed beforehand. What about it? A sports car or whatever—the rental fee must be expensive.”
“Ugh, what a shame. Well, can’t help it. Oh, but that aside. What’s with your outfit?”
“My outfit?”
“Yeah, your outfit! Why are you wearing athletic clothes?”
“I’m going to compete, so I’m dressing comfortably.”
“You’ll change into the team uniform when you get there anyway! No, this won’t do. Let’s buy you some proper clothes first.”
“What are you talking about? We don’t have time.”
“We’ve got plenty of time! Come on, get in!”
“But what——”
“Let’s go!”
Vroooom!
The sports car roared to life with a powerful exhaust note and sped forward.
* * *
The Second World Championship.
Since Second was currently hailed as the most popular game in the world, the fervor surrounding it was immense.
In fact, the world championship was drawing even more enthusiasm than the Olympics.
And with that came participation from countless nations.
The venue for such a world championship was.
“Wow, game players from all over the country are flooding into Korea.”
“Now that’s some serious national pride, isn’t it?”
Korea.
The company that created Second.
The Number had chosen Korea as the host nation for the world championship.
The reason was simple enough—since The Number’s headquarters was in Korea, hosting it there was most convenient.
But that alone was enough to fill people with what they called national pride.
However.
“So what? We didn’t even make it past the preliminaries last time.”
“Come on, this time will be different. This year’s lineup is insane!”
“You mean Mir, right? But even with Mir, isn’t his level still lacking? It’s impressive he leveled up so quickly, but he was ranked 100th.”
“Hmm, I suppose so?”
“I’m trying to be optimistic too, but the other countries have absurdly high levels. Maybe it’d be better to just get through this year without incident and set our hopes on next year.”
“Yeah, maybe you’re right….”
While the World Championship was being held in Korea, the nation’s performance had been disappointing.
Eliminated in the preliminaries.
For Korea, which had taken pride in being a gaming powerhouse, it was a shocking result.
At least this year, guild masters from various guilds, including Mir, had been selected as Korea’s representatives, which sparked some hope.
But remembering the strength other nations had displayed last year, one couldn’t help but feel intimidated.
And then.
“Oh, they’re here!”
“Is the first team from Japan?”
“They arrived much earlier than expected.”
“They did that last year too.”
The participating teams for the World Championship began appearing one by one.
Some players I had seen last year, and some I was seeing for the first time.
Other nations were also sending their strongest representatives through fierce qualifying rounds.
“Wow, that player came too.”
“That one’s definitely a must-see.”
“Right.”
Among them was last year’s champion.
There were also formidable contenders for the title.
And there were promising newcomers who had recently become hot topics across all borders.
As numerous players continued to appear.
What Korean journalists were most anticipating was, of course.
“Shouldn’t they be coming soon?”
“Yul-ha, Jeok-hwa, and Tae-ryeon participated last year too. Million and Mir are making their first appearance this time, right?”
“I wonder what they look like.”
“There’s a lot of talk that Million is the chairman or son of some major corporation. But since nothing’s been revealed, well.”
“Mir’s the same. Absolutely nothing has been revealed about his real-world identity.”
“Hmm.”
The Korean team.
Yul-ha, Jeok-hwa, and Tae-ryeon were all beauties and were receiving attention.
But inevitably, expectations were concentrated on the newly appearing figures.
Especially since Million and Mir, unlike their prominence in the game, had absolutely no information revealed about their real-world identities.
And not long after.
“They’re here!”
The vehicle carrying the Korean team’s players appeared.
Korean journalists’ attention focused, and cameras were raised in an instant.
The door opened.
“Yul-ha!”
Yul-ha’s figure appeared first.
Neat and dignified, just as she appeared in the game.
The very embodiment of a beauty that transcended personal preference.
What came next.
“Why are there so many people? How annoying.”
“It’s Jeok-hwa!”
“This is serious business again?”
“Ohhh!”
It was Jeok-hwa.
Her long hair was tied back in a ponytail to keep it from interfering with her movements, and she wore an oversized casual outfit.
Though unremarkable in itself, the vibrant red hue seemed impossibly striking when she wore it.
Next, of course.
“Hello~”
“It’s Tae-ryeon!”
It was Tae-ryeon.
With her shoulder-length bob cut, she wore a refined modernized traditional Korean dress that exuded elegance.
The appearance perfectly suited her role as a Seer and the Guild Master of Taegeuk Guild.
Thanks to this, Tae-ryeon was frequently chosen as a model for advertisements with distinctly Korean aesthetics.
And finally.
“Now it’s Mir’s turn!”
“Who could Million be? Could he really be a major conglomerate chairman?”
“If he were chairman, he’d be too busy to play games. Wouldn’t he be more like a major conglomerate heir?”
“If Million is at that level, what about Mir? Just from watching his movements, I’d believe it if someone said he was an Olympic national team athlete.”
Mir and Million.
The two descended from the vehicle, revealing their forms wrapped in veils.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————