The Return of the Genius Ranker’s Myth Warehouse - Chapter 439
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 439
Chapter 439
Numerous countries participated in the Second World Tournament.
Among them, China was a legitimate gaming powerhouse, having achieved second place the previous year.
The reason was obvious, of course.
China had selected five representatives through competition far more fierce than any other nation, drawing from a population of 1.4 billion.
In fact, because of this, countries with large populations like China frequently lodged protests with The Number.
They requested that the number of participating teams be increased given their massive population.
Shanghai Team, Beijing Team, Guangzhou Team, and so forth.
They wanted teams divided by major cities in this manner.
Such were their demands.
“We apologize.”
The Number’s response remained consistent.
However, this could not diminish China’s strength.
Precisely because only one team could be selected, the members of that single team were chosen from China’s absolute elite—the strongest warriors available.
And so.
“Kill it!”
Boom, crash, bang!
They conquered the Dungeon faster than anyone else and defeated the Minotaur.
“Excellent!”
“Wang Pai, well done.”
“Kahahaha! This is child’s play!”
“Our victory is assured.”
“Perfect coordination.”
They were confident.
The clear time hadn’t appeared yet, and they didn’t know how quickly other nations had conquered this Dungeon.
But they were certain they had cleared it faster than any other team.
[ Preliminary Round – Dungeon Conquest Complete ]
[ Clear Time: 19 minutes 33 seconds ]
Looking at the clear time that appeared, it was the same.
Having conquered the Dungeon in the nineteen-minute range, victory was already in their grasp.
Passing the preliminary round was an obvious result; the real question was ranking.
To demonstrate China’s prestige, they wanted to seize first place in the preliminary rankings and showcase China’s power.
And so the preliminary round ended.
All teams that had completed the preliminary round gathered at the center of the Tournament Arena.
“Representatives of all nations who participated in the preliminary round! Thank you for your hard work! Now, we will reveal the rankings!”
“Wooooooah!”
The rankings revealed.
First, the eliminated teams were announced.
Nations with precarious clear times clasped their hands together, hoping to advance past the preliminary round.
Tension hung over the Tournament Arena, yet the nations confident in the preliminaries, including the Chinese Team, showed no reaction whatsoever.
Not long after, when all the eliminated teams had been determined.
What the Chinese Team thought was.
“The Korean Team didn’t get eliminated this time?”
“Kahahaha, so the so-called gaming powerhouse finally got its act together after bombing out in the preliminaries last year!”
“Stay focused. There’s no need to worry about Korea.”
That was all there was to it.
And finally, the truly important moment arrived.
The announcement of preliminary rankings.
In truth, even if a team secured a high ranking in the preliminaries, there was nothing tangible to gain.
First place didn’t grant an advantage, nor did it come with any benefits.
Yet everyone was aiming for first place.
Even in the preliminaries, claiming first among the countless nations gathered here was a path to national glory.
But then.
[ 2nd Place: China (19 minutes 33 seconds) ]
“Second place?”
“We’re in second place?”
“We cleared it in under ten minutes, and we’re second?”
The moment the rankings were revealed.
The Chinese Team’s expressions darkened.
Of course, even second place was a success, but the Chinese Team couldn’t make sense of it.
“Who on earth?”
Even the primary contender they’d been most wary of ranked below them.
Especially since the Chinese Team had a rogue-class player, they’d believed no other team could match them in Dungeon clearing.
So who exactly was standing above them?
The moment the revealed first place was confirmed.
[ 1st Place: Korea (5 minutes 59 seconds) ]
“Korea?”
The Chinese Team.
No, every team standing here could only be shocked.
For good reason.
The Chinese Team in second place cleared it in 19 minutes 33 seconds, yet the Korean Team cleared it in 5 minutes 59 seconds.
Even a difference of mere minutes would be remarkable, but 5 minutes 59 seconds!
This made no sense.
It was beyond comprehension.
Moreover, since the match had ended, the nations who heard from those around them that the Korean Team had cleared it as if they knew the layout perfectly—never getting lost, fully aware of trap and monster positions—were.
“This is cheating!”
“Korea must have leaked information about the preliminary match to the Korean Team!”
“This is unfair!”
“Investigate the Korean Team! Investigate The Number! Information definitely leaked!”
Second’s production company.
began formally lodging protests against The Number.
Not only did each nation’s representative team voice their doubts, but countless spectators as well.
“Now, everyone. Please calm down first….”
“This is absurd!”
“First place belongs to our China!”
“Cowardly Koreans, step aside!”
The situation began deteriorating rapidly.
And, naturally enough.
The Number was not simply watching this unfold passively.
After all, The Number was the entity responding most sensitively to this crisis from the start.
Given that, now as the situation was spreading most intensely.
“Good evening.”
“What, who is this?”
A new figure walked out onto the Tournament Arena.
His identity was none other than.
“Park Do-hyun, representative of The Number.”
“Representative?”
“The representative of The Number?”
“Park Do-hyun, I think I’ve heard that name. Yes, he’s the representative.”
The representative of The Number.
The moment he appeared, the uproar had no choice but to cease.
And for good reason—Park Do-hyun, representative of The Number, was a prominent figure actively engaged in external affairs.
His appearance signified that The Number would formally clarify this matter.
People promptly fell silent and began listening intently to his words.
“It appears a misunderstanding has arisen regarding the Korean Team’s Dungeon conquest, and I wish to provide an explanation.”
However, to the representative’s words, which from the very start drove home the point that this incident was merely a “misunderstanding”.
“What, trying to gloss over this?”
“Who would believe that!”
“Disqualify the Korean Team!”
“This is an unfair pass!”
The teams from each nation continued their heated resistance.
At this.
“The structure of the competition is such that we cannot disclose details.”
A new figure appeared—not Park Do-hyun.
He was not Korean.
This was evident from the fact that the language coming from his mouth was Chinese, not Korean.
“Before the preliminary rounds began, there were ten reserve Dungeons. For fairness, our investors randomly selected one immediately before the competition—the one chosen was the Labyrinth of Labyrinthus.”
But that was not all.
The investors from each nation who had funded this tournament revealed themselves.
Why would they reveal themselves without reason?
They were all investors in this tournament and had direct involvement in map selection, so they revealed themselves because they didn’t want to cause further disruption and ruin the event.
As the situation unfolded this way, the teams that had been voicing complaints began to fall silent one by one.
But some of them were still raising their voices.
“They could have been told about those ten maps in advance and memorized all ten of them!”
“Or maybe they memorized just one and happened to get it!”
Nevertheless, Park Do-hyun shook his head and responded to that voice.
“I have much to refute, but if you’re going to set your answers like that and speak, no amount of explanation will get through to you.”
That was true.
The teams raising objections now were already convinced that the Korean Team had received information from The Number.
No matter how much truth The Number told them, they would surely just keep shouting the same thing: “Didn’t you secretly leak the information through some other method?”
“It seems the people objecting now are raising the issue not so much with us, but because they think ‘There’s no way the Korean Team could have cleared the Dungeon this quickly.'”
“Of course! How does it make sense for Korea, which failed the preliminaries last year, to pass the preliminaries this quickly?”
“Even if they passed, that record doesn’t make sense! A record in the five-minute range!”
“They definitely leaked information to let Korea through!”
“In that case, rather than explaining further, it would be better to show you the Korean Team’s actual abilities.”
Park Do-hyun said this and projected a hologram above the Tournament Arena.
On that first screen stood the Korean Team players, with familiar walls and ceilings spreading out around them.
It was the scene from when the Korean Team entered the Dungeon.
“First, I would like to ask for the Korean Team’s permission. From now on, I intend to analyze the Korean Team’s Dungeon strategy. Would that be acceptable?”
“Analyze the Dungeon strategy?”
“The representative himself?”
The representative of The Number would personally analyze the Dungeon strategy.
This was no trivial matter.
Since this was merely the preliminaries, the team’s information and abilities should be kept as hidden as possible.
If the representative analyzed the Dungeon strategy, wouldn’t the team’s information be exposed to the entire world?
“If you grant permission, in exchange I intend to provide the Korean Team with an advantage.”
The Korean Team gathered and discussed among themselves.
Contrary to what some teams had predicted they would refuse.
“Understood.”
The Korean Team accepted the representative’s proposal.
It was actually a wise choice.
It was a bit concerning that the team’s information would be revealed, but the Dungeon strategy video had already been made public.
Even if the representative didn’t analyze it here, each team’s analysts would separately analyze it anyway.
Since the information would be revealed anyway, there was no loss in receiving an advantage and clearing up the misunderstanding.
“Thank you.”
Park Do-hyun, expressing his gratitude, began playing the video in earnest.
The moment the video started playing.
Whoosh!
“Look at that! They start running the moment the strategy begins—does that even make sense!”
The Korean Team began to run.
Just before the Korean Team reached the fork in the path.
When the representative paused the screen, everyone could see an effect burst forth in front of Mir.
“What is that?”
Many users recognized what it was.
After all, everyone gathered here was among the absolute elite of Second from their respective nations.
Especially those with rogue-class jobs knew this skill well.
Its true identity was.
“Pathfinding?”
“The Sixth Sense skill is being used too.”
“Looking at the effect, the skill level seems incredibly high?”
“Didn’t they say the Korean Team doesn’t have a Finder?”
It was the Pathfinding skill.
To confirm this.
Park Do-hyun, the representative, asked the Korean Team directly.
“Player Mir. Could you explain this skill to us? Of course, if you’d prefer not to disclose it, we can move on.”
However, given that the effect was already revealed.
Mir explained the skill he used without much hesitation.
“I found the path by using the Pathfinding skill and the Sixth Sense skill simultaneously.”
“He really used the Pathfinding skill?”
“Is that player Mir a rogue class?”
“He doesn’t seem to be though….”
“I knew it right away. Look at his clothes—they’re pitch black, that’s totally rogue.”
“But with an effect like that, the skill level seems extraordinarily high? At least it’s clear the skill level is higher than mine.”
“What? You, your Pathfinding skill level hasn’t exceeded 90?”
“That’s why. At minimum level 94 or higher. Actually, judging by the clarity, there’s a high probability the skill level has reached 100.”
“The skill reached max level?”
“But no matter what, finding the path that quickly is….”
As people murmured among themselves.
“Next, please observe this.”
Park Do-hyun, the representative, showed a new scene.
It was Mir pulling out a golden compass.
Since no one knew the identity of this item, everyone was tilting their heads in confusion when.
“Player Mir, may we know what this is?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you. For those unfamiliar with it, this item is called the ‘Golden Compass.'”
“The Golden Compass?”
“Yes. It’s a Mythic-grade tool exclusively for Pathfinding.”
“M, Mythic-grade?”
“A Mythic-grade Pathfinding tool?”
“Certainly. If you max out path-finding type skills and borrow the power of mythic-grade tools, that speed makes sense.”
“Well, the path itself is one thing, but the traps and monsters…!”
“Now, allow me to show you what comes next.”
Just as the commotion among the players was growing louder.
Park Do-hyun displayed the next sequence.
Right before trap detection.
Once again, Mir employed trap detection and intuition skills, along with high-grade detection abilities.
Then came the moments of disarming traps and discovering monsters.
In every single situation, Mir wielded his level 100 detection skill in perfect harmony with high-grade items, flawlessly countering both traps and monsters.
Watching this unfold.
Before the Korean Team in the footage even reached the Boss Room.
“Uh…”
“No, that’s insane…”
“How is this even possible?”
“He maxed out all path-finding type skills and equipped only the highest-grade items related to them?”
“I mean, logically speaking, does it even make sense to invest that heavily in path-finding?”
Even without Park Do-hyun offering further explanation.
The spectators had no choice but to acknowledge the Korean Team’s prowess.
Even the Chinese Team, who had been loudest in their criticism and rebuttal, could no longer mount a counter-argument.
Then, when Mir brought down the boss monster.
“It seems like a rogue-type class that invested everything into path-finding.”
“That can’t be right. If that were the case, how did they pass the preliminaries? Both our country and Korea selected players based on their contributions in boss raids.”
“Look at that! He defeated the boss monster in a single strike! How does a character devoted entirely to path-finding one-shot a boss monster?”
“Could it be an assassin-type class? Perhaps they honed instant-death related skills to an extreme degree…”
Rather than spreading negative rumors about the Korean Team.
The Tournament Arena filled with players analyzing the Korean Team as a formidable championship contender.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————