The Return of the Genius Ranker’s Myth Warehouse - Chapter 59

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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 59
Chapter 59
Popping balloons was simple enough.
Pop!
Burst!
Pop!
With each dart I threw, another balloon exploded.
The absence of stats?
Skills not applying?
What difference did that make?
I’d thrown countless weapons back in First.
‘Whether skills apply or not doesn’t matter. Playing First, this is child’s play.’
After all, why had First been so despised in the first place?
The skill implementation was so ambiguous that I had to manually control roughly half of the throwing motion myself.
On top of that, lag would cause stuttering, movements would cut off—
Compared to fighting through all those situations, simply hitting stationary balloons without stats or skills felt infinitely easier.
As I continued throwing darts.
Pop!
“You popped them all, didn’t you?”
“Yes…”
I managed to burst every single colorful balloon.
The street vendor’s expression went pale, and with trembling hands, he handed me the first-place prize.
[ Ignis Ruby ]
An Ignis Ruby.
It was a gemstone primarily used for fire-attribute enchantments and similar applications—a fairly valuable item among gems.
For a reward from just a few dart throws, it was incredibly lucrative.
I caught a glimpse of the second-place prize, which also looked quite appealing, so I was about to try again.
“Oh, I’m afraid not!”
“Why not?”
“Anyone who’s already won a prize cannot participate again! That’s the rule!”
“But that person over there won a prize and kept trying again, didn’t they?”
“That’s because they won a seventh-place prize! For third place and above, the rule is different!”
I was turned away.
I wasn’t sure if such a rule actually existed, but if the vendor said so, what could I do?
I smacked my lips in disappointment and had no choice but to step back.
As I looked around.
“That one looks fun too.”
I noticed quite a few game stalls that felt similar to the balloon-popping game.
Since I’d finished the balloon game in a flash, I had plenty of time left.
With that in mind, I immediately moved toward the next game stall.
* * *
Not long after the Second Crown Server had opened.
A peculiar rumor was spreading among the game stall owners who had painstakingly set up their booths.
“A Game Master is going around the game stalls and sweeping up all the prizes? What kind of nonsense is that?”
A Game Master, no less.
Where could such a thing exist?
In Second Crown, stats and skills don’t apply, so everyone is essentially no different from ordinary people.
“And not only is he good at one game, but he’s supposedly conquering every type of game? Ha, what a bluff.”
It was possible for someone to excel at a single game.
Even if users in the Crown Server were reduced to the level of ordinary people, someone who had been an archery athlete in reality could come here and draw a bow well.
But for one person to be sweeping up prizes across every single game?
That made no sense.
It had to be someone’s exaggeration.
Or so I thought.
“Wow, is he going to try that one next?”
“Let’s follow him too.”
“Why is everyone following this person?”
“He’s the Game Master.”
“The Game Master?”
“He’s sweeping through every game stall on the Crown Server right now. He’s taken first place prizes from every single stall he’s visited so far.”
“No way.”
“I haven’t seen all of them, but I’ve witnessed it three times myself.”
“Really?”
In the distance.
I could see people following someone.
He wasn’t a pied piper, so I wondered why everyone was trailing after that man.
The word “Game Master” drifted from the crowd’s conversation.
At this, the game stall owner, who had been skeptical of the Game Master’s existence, found himself swallowing hard without realizing it.
Regardless, the man called the Game Master approached his stall.
“What’s the first place prize here?”
“I-It’s a Prismatic Sapphire.”
“Interesting. I’ll play once.”
“Y-Yes, of course.”
I was worried, but I couldn’t turn away a customer.
Shortly after the game began.
“Waaaaaahhhhh!”
Cheers erupted from the users following the man.
And then.
“Ughhhh….”
The stall owner’s mournful sob echoed out as his first place prize—the capital he’d relied on since the Crown Server opened—vanished.
* * *
‘Why are these people following me?’
As I made my rounds through the game stalls, players began trailing behind me.
It seemed they were following to watch me play.
It felt awkward to tell them not to follow, so I left them be—and that’s when I heard them calling me the “Game Master” from behind.
‘Game Master? Seriously?’
The more stalls I visited, the larger my entourage grew.
I was starting to feel burdened and considered escaping or shooing them away.
“Game Master! A new game stall has opened deeper inside—would you mind if we showed you the way?”
“A new game stall?”
“Yes! It’s called Goblin Slayer!”
“I’d appreciate the guidance…?”
“We’ll show you the way!”
Someone guided me to the game stall.
Thanks to them, instead of searching everywhere for scattered stalls, I could comfortably discover new ones by following their lead.
With people voluntarily gathering to guide me, it couldn’t have been more convenient.
Though I’d become known as the Game Master and attracted a massive following, it allowed me to collect numerous first-place prizes while touring the stalls.
Just selling these at the Auction House could net me hundreds.
However, word must have spread.
“We’re… closing down!”
“Already?”
The game stalls began shutting their doors.
Now that the Second Crown Server had just opened, this should be the prime time for business.
I couldn’t understand why they were closing so soon.
Regrettably, it seemed my stall-hopping days were over.
– Kang Ju-hyuk: Hey, where are you?
Just then, I received a whisper from Kang Ju-hyuk.
“Thank you for guiding me.”
“Wait! Just a bit more! We’ll find more!”
“Game Master!”
I left my followers behind and stepped away.
It wasn’t long before I spotted Kang Ju-hyuk.
“You made it, Game Master?”
“How did you hear about that?”
“There’s a rumor spreading that the Game Master is sweeping up all the first-place prizes. The moment I heard it, I knew it had to be you.”
“I was just killing time and making the rounds.”
“So what were the first-place prizes?”
“Something like this.”
“Wow, insane. Seriously? Wouldn’t you make more profit just hitting the game stalls instead of playing in the league?”
“The word’s already spread, so the stalls are closing down.”
“Well, they need to make a living too.”
Checking the time, I realized the league would begin soon.
Since Kang Ju-hyuk knew the way, we arrived at the league venue without any trouble.
“See that Colosseum-like structure over there?”
“It’s really massive.”
“That’s the spectator hall. They project massive holograms to show the league’s progress, and they bring in professional commentators to provide live commentary.”
An enormously vast stadium-like structure came into view.
Since this was my first time at Second Crown, I wanted to explore the interior of the stadium.
“Participants go this way.”
But with the league about to start, that wasn’t possible.
Following Kang Ju-hyuk, I soon discovered what looked like an enormous magical circle.
“There it is.”
“A magical circle?”
“It’s a teleportation magic circle. When the league starts, all the users standing on the circle will be transported to the arena.”
“Very fantasy game-like.”
“Pretty cool, right?”
A teleportation magic circle of such enormous scale.
In an actual game, implementing a magic circle of this magnitude would be nearly impossible.
But this was the Second Crown Server—befitting an event server with such magnificent magic circles.
Before entering the magic circle, I continued talking with Kang Ju-hyuk for a bit longer.
[ Shortly after, the first match of Second Crown begins. ]
[ The Beginner League preliminary round is now commencing. ]
[ Participants, please step onto the teleportation magic circle of Second Crown. ]
“I’m going.”
“Do your best! Don’t get eliminated in the preliminaries!”
“What about you?”
“Ugh!”
A system message appeared calling me forward.
Second Crown proceeds in order through the Beginner League, Master League, and Challenger League.
Since I had to participate in the Beginner League, I parted ways with Kang Ju-hyuk here.
“Wow, I’m nervous.”
“What kind of map will it be this time?”
“Isn’t the preliminary round fixed as monster hunting?”
“They said that officially, but apparently the map changes?”
“Oh really? I specifically prepared items for mountainous terrain.”
“I don’t know—it could be the same map or a different one. We’ll find out once we enter.”
“It’s not like users are fighting each other; we’re just hunting monsters, so it shouldn’t be that difficult, right?”
“You don’t know because you haven’t seen it. The pass rate for preliminaries is incredibly low.”
“Is that so?”
As I stepped into the magic circle, I could hear users murmuring around me.
I had already heard about last year’s Beginner League preliminaries from Kang Ju-hyuk and researched the details myself.
Monsters were scattered throughout mountainous terrain, and the main mission was to hunt them, or so I’d been told.
I strained to listen for any information that might prove useful, but nothing worthwhile reached my ears.
And then.
[ The Beginner League preliminaries will begin shortly. ]
[ 10 ]
[ 9 ]
[ 8 ]
….
A countdown appeared before me.
Simultaneously, a magic circle began to glow.
With each descending number, the magic circle shone brighter, and when the number reached zero.
Whoosh!
A blinding light erupted from the magic circle, completely obscuring my vision.
And moments later.
What entered my sight as the light faded was.
“…A jungle?”
Trees crowded my entire field of vision.
Snake-like vines hung thickly across every tree, while beneath my feet lay damp moss and rotting leaves.
The air was humid, and monster cries echoed from all directions.
That’s right.
The map selected for this Beginner League preliminary was.
[ Wild Jungle ]
A jungle.
And just as I had investigated beforehand, the objective of the preliminary was.
[ The Beginner League Preliminary – Monster Hunter has begun. ]
[ Defeating monsters in the Wild Jungle grants you ‘Jungle Mana Stones’. ]
[ Time limit: three hours. ]
[ Participants are ranked by the number of ‘Jungle Mana Stones’ collected, with the top 1,000 advancing past the preliminary. ]
[ Hunters, begin your hunt. ]
Defeating monsters.
That was all.
Seeing the competition details matched my prior research perfectly, save for the map itself, I couldn’t help but smile.
And for good reason.
‘Monster hunting. This is my specialty.’
Hadn’t I defeated every monster that existed in First?
While I was confident in combat against other users thanks to my monster-hunting experience, truth be told, this was where my real strength lay.
First, I examined the surrounding terrain of the ‘jungle’.
“Luke, let’s change clothes first.”
– What equipment would you recommend?
“The ‘Shadow of the Jungle’ set.”
– Yes, master.
Luke swapped my equipment to match the surrounding terrain.
As Luke descended over my entire body, my gear transformed in an instant.
This Shadow of the Jungle set, as it’s called.
[ Shadow of the Jungle Armor ]
( Non-tradeable )
Type: Armor
Grade: Unique
Requirements: Level 160+, Agility 400+
Description: Leather armor crafted from the hide of the Dark Jaguar, the apex predator that once ruled the Kishital Jungle, the continent’s largest jungle.
I had received a hidden quest in First, personally defeated the Dark Jaguar, the boss monster of the Kishital Jungle, and obtained this defensive gear as my reward.
A complete Unique-grade armor set, no less.
True to its name, Shadow of the Jungle, nearly all of its effects were perfectly suited for jungle combat.
Increased stealth in jungles, amplified damage when ambushing enemies, enhanced movement speed through dense forests—all of it.
Thanks to the All Master’s class ability, Panacea, I could ignore level restrictions to some degree, making this equipment perfectly suited for my current level.
“Well then, shall we head out?”
Dark armor forged from the hide of the Dark Jaguar.
Clad in this armor, I stepped into the jungle and was swiftly absorbed into the dense shadows of the wilderness.

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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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