The Return of the Genius Ranker’s Myth Warehouse - Chapter 55

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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 55
Chapter 55
How many duels had I fought using the method I taught him?
Kang Ju-hyuk had already adapted to the “Street Fighter” combat style, maximizing the characteristics of consumables and equipment without me needing to teach him further.
Once he easily surpassed ten consecutive victories.
He shouted at me with an excited face.
“This is insane, isn’t it amazing?”
“Right?”
“Nobody can counter it! It’s the best!”
Apparently, his previous record was only six consecutive victories.
But now, with a combat style he was experiencing for the first time, he had easily surpassed ten consecutive victories.
His excitement was only natural.
“Still, don’t get careless. Most people don’t know much about combat consumables yet, so they’re letting you win.”
“I know that, but won’t it work through this league?”
“It should work smoothly through the middle of the league. Once you reach the later stages, people will start analyzing your combat style.”
“Ugh, really?”
“It’s fine though. I’ll help you.”
“How will you help me?”
“Combat consumables aren’t limited to what you can buy at shops. I can make them for you using crafting and alchemy skills, so don’t worry.”
“Wow, you can use crafting and alchemy too?”
“To this extent, at least.”
“I’ll serve you as my mentor!!”
“Alright.”
With that said, Kang Ju-hyuk left to duel again.
If he dueled too much and information about combat consumables spread widely, it could become problematic.
But I didn’t bother stopping him.
‘I can’t prevent information from spreading. What’s more important is that he becomes accustomed to that combat style.’
There were plenty more combat consumables available.
Just crossing into another city, new types of combat consumables were sold.
And there were many combat consumables I could craft myself.
New types of poisons, traps, sticky bombs, spider web nets, and more.
Once he became familiar with such combat consumables, opponents would struggle to counter them even if they knew of their existence.
As I watched him continue fighting with enthusiasm, I felt oddly satisfied.
‘Actually, that was my combat style back then.’
During my time in First.
Though I wasn’t a martial artist, I maximized the use of combat consumables to defeat stronger monsters and clear quests.
As I grew stronger, the efficiency of combat consumables decreased and my combat style changed.
But until the midpoint, there was no combat style as powerful and efficient as that.
‘And efficiency can be overcome through class advancement.’
Since I grew as a Weapon Artisan in First, the efficiency of such items naturally diminished for me.
He’s different.
Having grown as a pure martial artist, he’ll have many related classes available for advancement.
With such a class change, he’ll become far more powerful and capable of performing well into the late game.
“Well, he seems to be in good hands now.”
There’s nothing more I can teach him.
From here on, it’s simply a matter of him accumulating combat experience and growing.
Once he becomes comfortable with that fighting style, he shouldn’t have trouble breaking into the top ten of the league.
If he performs well, he could even crack the top three.
While that combat style is efficient, the bigger factor is that Second’s users simply aren’t yet accustomed to combat consumables and similar items.
Regardless.
“Now it’s time I prepared for the league myself.”
I’ve given all my advice.
Now I need to seriously begin my preparations for the Second Crown.
In truth, I’ve already been preparing bit by bit.
[ A duel between player ‘Mir’ and ‘Bergia’ has been matched. ]
This is already my tenth duel.
Based on the summoned opponent’s appearance, she seemed to be a Sage.
Since she was matched against me after I’d already climbed through nine consecutive victories, she was a battle mage quite experienced in dueling.
An ordinary Sage would show vulnerability in a duel, but this battle mage clearly—
‘Wind Sage’s blessing, Cloak of Evasion, single-use teleportation artifact. She’s prepared well.’
Equipment for dueling.
She was a Sage who had mastered wind magic, the elemental magic best suited for dueling.
She was not an opponent to underestimate.
That’s why we were matched, then.
[ The duel between player ‘Mir’ and ‘Bergia’ is beginning. ]
The duel start message appeared.
“Good luck to—”
What was she doing with pleasantries in the middle of a duel?
I charged toward the Sage who was trying to greet me.
– Skill ‘Black Serpent Shadow Swim’ is activated.
The skill I learned from the Hunter Master—Black Serpent Shadow Swim.
Like a black serpent swimming through the shadows, my body rushed toward the Sage at incredible speed.
Being a skill taught by the Hunter Master himself, it was incomparably faster than the movement skills of ordinary classes.
“How cowardly—!”
The Sage reacted immediately and tried to prepare something.
But the spear in my hand was thrust forward even faster.
– Skill ‘Black Insect Flash’ is activated.
Thud!
“Ugh!”
The spear I was currently using was none other than a unique-grade weapon—’Dark Tyrant Spine’.
Combined with my elevated stats and the synergy of my Mythic-grade skill, Black Insect Flash, along with the critical damage that erupted from precisely targeting a vital point.
[ The duel between player ‘Mir’ and ‘Bergia’ has ended. ]
[ Winner: ‘Mir’ ]
The match ended in a single strike.
The subsequent duels were no different.
The moment each duel began, I dashed forward with such speed that my opponent had no chance to react.
– Using skill ‘Black Snake Shadow Dance’.
– Using skill ‘Black Insect Flash’.
I finished the battle by piercing a vital point.
What if my opponent was the high-HP type?
– Using 1st Circle lightning magic ‘Lightning’.
Crackle!
“Gahhh!”
With my spear tip embedded in the enemy’s vital point, I cast magic from the weapon itself.
Magic erupting from a vital point.
With this combination, most opponents were instantly killed in a single blow.
Of course, as opponents grew stronger, even this stopped working.
The prime example was when an opponent wore full plate armor, making vital points impossible to target.
In those cases.
Thrust, thrust, thrust!
“How… how is this possible…?”
I systematically pierced the gaps between armor plates to overcome my opponent.
No matter how complete full plate armor was, gaps always existed between the segments.
And I was confident I could pierce those gaps perfectly.
As I continued my winning streak.
I began to understand the diverse applications of the skills ‘Black Insect Flash’ and ‘Black Snake Shadow Dance’, which I had only recently learned.
‘Black Insect Flash. It’s a simple thrust, but it can be used in far more varied forms than I initially thought.’
I first used Black Insect Flash during my sparring match with the Hunter Master.
The moment I used Black Insect Flash then, a black centipede-shaped effect appeared on my spear, and it bent to follow the Guild Master’s movement as it attacked.
However, that was merely one application of Black Insect Flash.
Thrust!
Depending on the image I held, Black Insect Flash became the form of a sharp wasp stinger, shooting at my enemy.
Piercing—
Sometimes it became a scorpion’s venomous tail, penetrating deeply into my opponent.
Beyond that, depending on the image I envisioned.
Depending on which aspect I focused on—attack power, penetration, speed, or homing capability.
The skill’s effect changed, and a ‘thrust’ in a form befitting that effect was executed.
‘As expected, this was no ordinary skill.’
Even for a Mythic-grade skill, I had wondered if it was simply because it could only thrust that its attack power was so overwhelming.
But that wasn’t it.
Black Sting Needle was a skill created by mimicking the piercing attacks of insects, true to its name.
Despite being called a piercing attack, it was a highly versatile skill that could be deployed in various ways depending on the situation.
‘Black Snake Swimming was no different.’
A movement skill imbued with the meaning of a black serpent gliding through shadows—Black Snake Swimming.
This skill’s utility was extraordinary.
Not only could it be used to rush at enemies like now, but also to retreat or evade attacks.
True to the Hunter Master’s movement-focused skills, its versatility was remarkable.
‘Movement speed faster than most advanced-tier job skills. And most importantly….’
Whoosh.
As I charged toward my new opponent.
I saw the enemy hastily raising their shield and sharply altered my trajectory.
A movement so fluid and natural it seemed effortless.
In an instant, I seized the space behind my opponent, and my attack pierced through the back of their neck.
‘Maneuverability.’
This movement.
It wasn’t merely fast—it was a smooth directional change, like a serpent in motion.
That was Black Snake Swimming’s greatest advantage, and the reason I had chosen this skill among the Hunter Master’s arsenal.
Then, in the next duel that began.
Thud!
“Ugh, charging in right from the start! You coward!”
“What’s cowardly about that?”
For the first time, a player who could withstand my attack had appeared.
Seeing them endure even with electricity magic woven into my strike, their health seemed far higher than I’d anticipated.
Observing such an opponent.
“Then, shall I practice a new spell?”
“What?”
I began preparing a new spell.
[ Fire Ball ]
( Non-Tradeable )
Type : Spellbook
Grade : Advanced
Requirement : Level 100 or higher, Sage-class job
Description : A basic spellbook for learning ‘Fire Ball’, a fundamental attack spell of the 2nd Circle fire attribute.
My current level was 150.
I had met the conditions to use 2nd Circle spellbooks.
Learning magic through skill books was slower than for true Sages, but this was sufficient for me.
Thus, surpassing the 1st Circle basic spell Fire and the fundamental attack spell Fire Arrow, the 2nd Circle fire magic Fire Ball was cast.
– Using 2nd Circle fire magic ‘Fire Ball’.
Boom!
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
[ The duel between player Mir and Banban has concluded. ]
[ Victor: Mir ]
This match, too, had ended without much difficulty.
* * *
“Wow, there are seriously so many people here.”
“The Second Crown is right around the corner. Everyone’s just getting in some duel practice before the league starts, you know.”
“But still, can there really be this many? Doesn’t it seem like more than last year?”
“Of course there’s more than last year. Second’s gotten pretty popular, hasn’t it? The number of players has grown so much in the meantime.”
The great city of Labelt.
The Duel Arena located there was renowned across the continent for its sheer size.
Because of this, the Duel Arena accommodated an enormous number of users through magical spaces created by magic itself.
So many, in fact, that mages from the Magic Tower had come to assist in maintaining the arena’s facilities.
“But anyway, who do you think will win this time?”
“The Challenger League will probably be Yul-ha, right?”
“That’s likely. Looking at levels, skill, and just remembering the last league—Yul-ha’s abilities are overwhelming.”
“Then what about the Master League and Challenger League…?”
“I’d say the champion will probably come from the Five Great Guilds, right? I heard they’re heavily backing participants and nurturing them with guild-level support for the league.”
“Is that so?”
All the users gathered at the Duel Arena held great interest in the Second Crown.
A regular league held once a year.
Victory here would allow one to advance and participate in the Global Second Crown.
Though the last league hadn’t yielded particularly impressive results, might this one be different?
With such expectations, various championship contenders’ names were mentioned.
“But the most credible indicator is definitely the Duel Arena rankings!”
“The Duel Arena rankings?”
“You don’t know about the Duel Arena rankings? It’s the ranking system the arena itself maintains.”
“Oh, there’s something like that?”
“They score based on win counts, win rates, and such to determine rankings. Ah, there it is.”
People gathered in front of the Duel Arena’s ranking board.
A ranking display magnified like a hologram through magic.
The first thing visible was the weekly rankings.
“Lee Hwa-jin! Isn’t that the Hwarang Guild Master’s younger sibling!”
“Oh, I’ve heard of them. Wow, they stopped at exactly level 400 and are preparing for the league, huh.”
“Look at the battle count. Insane. Did they just duel all week long?”
The weekly rankings displayed the names of various users.
From formidable championship contenders to names of users seeing their first appearance.
But what mattered more was the daily rankings.
Now that the Second Crown had drawn so near.
Who exactly held first place on the daily rankings?
The eyes of people caught in anticipation
[ 1st Place: Mir ]
“Mir?”
“Who is Mir?”
“Does anyone know him?”
Mir’s name began to circulate through the crowd.

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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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