The Return of the Genius Ranker’s Myth Warehouse - Chapter 60

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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 60
Chapter 60
The first match of Second Crown.
The preliminary round of the Beginner League, “Monster Hunter.”
I’d already grasped that the map took the form of a jungle or forest, but I needed to understand its structure more precisely.
I also needed to identify what monsters existed in this place.
‘In terrain like this, moving through the trees is faster than moving across the ground.’
Had I encountered such terrain once or twice in First?
I was someone who’d even learned movement skills from the elves, who boasted the greatest mobility in forests.
Since First’s skill implementation felt awkward compared to Second, back then I’d been trained by the elves to move with my own body before the skills even came into play.
And as a result.
*Whoosh!*
– Truly magnificent, Master.
“It’s far slower than back then, though.”
I could leap freely through the jungle canopy like a monkey.
The trees were densely packed, and even where the distance between them was wide, vines hung in places I could grab onto, making movement smooth.
Compared to when I’d learned movement skills from the elves, it was far easier now.
Of course.
‘The Jungle Shadow set is quite good.’
The newly equipped unique-grade armor set’s effects were substantial as well.
The Jungle Shadow set granted bonuses to movement speed and stealth in forest terrain like jungles, after all.
As I traversed the treetops and surveyed my surroundings.
‘It seems monsters are distributed across a wide range, from level 1 to level 200.’
Fundamentally, insects, beasts, and plant-type monsters suited to the jungle occupied various locations.
From rabbits that even level 1 beginners could hunt, to the “Giant Anaconda” at level 200 that even skilled hunters would struggle to defeat.
I’d wondered if there might be an atmosphere of players fighting each other due to insufficient prey.
But with this many monsters around, there was no need for such concerns.
So then.
“Luke, let’s proceed as planned.”
– Yes, Master.
I finished my reconnaissance and decided to begin hunting immediately.
[ Dark Jaguar Bone Arrow ]
( Non-tradeable )
Type: Bow
Grade: Unique
Requirement: Level 160 or higher, Agility 400 or higher
Description: A jungle bow crafted from the refined bones of the Dark Jaguar, which once reigned as master of the Kishital Jungle, the largest jungle on the continent.
A bow created from the byproducts of the Dark Jaguar, the boss monster of the Kishital Jungle that I’d personally hunted during First.
After equipping the quiver I’d received as a reward along with the bow as a set.
I immediately drew the bowstring of the Bone Arrow.
Twang—
As I released the bowstring, the arrow pierced through the jungle’s trees and vines like a living creature, moving with predatory speed.
Thud!
It buried itself deep into the Jungle Wolf’s heart.
The set effect of the Shadow of the Jungle gear amplified the damage with an ambush bonus.
Combined with the attack power of the Dark Jaguar Bone Arrow—a unique-grade bow—and my own strength as an All Master.
“Krrgh!”
The Jungle Wolf fell in a single strike.
“Grrrowl!”
“Kraaagh!”
Wolves are fundamentally pack animals.
The moment one Jungle Wolf collapsed, the others immediately roared and began searching for me.
However, my stealth was enhanced by the Shadow of the Jungle effect, making me difficult to locate.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
“Whimper….”
In the meantime, my arrows flew with unerring precision, piercing the wolves’ vital points as if guided by eyes.
Still, they managed to track me down through their keen sense of smell and the direction from which the arrows came.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
But ultimately, they all fell before reaching me.
– I shall feast well, Master.
Chomp-chomp!
Luke’s feeding time followed.
It was gratifying to watch Luke’s stats increase as he consumed new monsters.
– I shall collect the Jungle Mana Stones for you, Master.
But what was even more convenient than that was Luke automatically gathering the Jungle Mana Stones—the core resource of this preliminary round.
Thanks to this, I could collect the stones effortlessly even when monsters fell at a distance.
Leveraging Luke’s convenience.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
I began leaping between the jungle trees, hunting monsters in earnest.
Beast-type monsters were mostly manageable—I could dispatch them without difficulty by focusing arrows on their vital points.
Insect-type monsters, however, were trickier to handle with a bow.
So I would approach them stealthily from above, moving across the branches.
Leap—
Then drop down onto the monster without hesitation.
[ Dark Jaguar Jungle Blade ]
I drove the Jungle Blade—forged from Dark Jaguar fangs—between the insect’s chitinous plates.
Or I would sever the thin joints between its segments.
Finally, the plant-type monsters, which appeared most troublesome to face.
– I shall employ a 2-Circle fire spell: Fire Ball.
I would either scorch them with fire, exploiting plants’ weakness to flame.
[ Jungle’s Roar ]
( Non-Tradeable )
Type: Axe
Grade: Heroic
A massive axe that looked perfectly suited to the jungle’s monsters—I cleaved through it in a single stroke.
Thus, Jungle Magic Stones began accumulating rapidly in Luke’s subspace.
* * *
Meanwhile, at that very moment.
The players who had begun the preliminary rounds alongside Mir found themselves in far more dire circumstances than anticipated.
“Why did it have to be the Jungle?!”
The Jungle.
This place was far from an ideal hunting ground for monsters.
Those wielding long weapons found their blades constantly snagging on tree trunks and vines with every strike.
Ranged attackers like the Archer suffered drastically reduced effective range due to the Jungle’s dense foliage obscuring their line of sight.
Even the Sage found trees and vines obstructing their spellcasting.
What about nimble classes like rogues—surely they fared better?
Squelch.
“Ugh, why is the ground so muddy?!”
No such luck.
The Jungle’s characteristic boggy terrain ensnared their feet at every step.
Fallen leaves and branches scattered everywhere created noise with each footfall, making stealth nearly impossible to maintain.
A complete and utter disaster.
In such circumstances.
“Graaaagh!”
“Argh!”
“Ssshhhhh—”
“Help me!”
Colossal anacondas.
Mysterious tangles of vines that attacked as though wielding hundreds of whips simultaneously.
Bomb beetles that detonated indiscriminately upon close approach.
This Jungle teemed with nothing short of demonic monsters.
Defeating monsters and collecting Jungle Magic Stones was the least of their concerns.
Most players were simply fleeing desperately through this brutal jungle where only the strong survived.
This particular player currently in retreat—
Padadalak—was no exception.
Thud, thump!
Thump-thump!
“Kieeeek—”
“Huh?”
Suddenly, a sound like something piercing through from behind was followed by the monster’s agonized shriek.
As Padadalak turned to see what was happening, his eyes fell upon something.
“What… what is this?”
The heart, lungs, back of the head—
Monsters lay collapsed with arrows buried deep in what were called vital points.
Who on earth could have done this?
What kind of exceptional archer could strike vital points with such precision?
Curiosity stirred, and I glanced around nervously.
“Kiiiiiii—”
“Aaaahhh!”
A praying mantis camouflaged to look identical to a tree raised its massive, sickle-like front legs.
Those razor-sharp limbs swung toward Padadalak’s neck.
Startled, I stumbled backward.
Thwack!
Something dark and shadowy fell from above my head.
Slice!
“Huh?”
The mantis’s head separated from its body.
The severed head rolling across the ground still blinked, as if it hadn’t yet comprehended death.
Beside it stood a man gripping a jungle blade as sharp as a predator’s fangs.
“Th-thank you…”
Just as Padadalak began to offer his gratitude—
Thud!
Another monster appeared.
This time, a massive tree-form monster emerged.
Thinking this was hopeless, I retreated backward.
The man drew a new weapon.
“An… an axe?”
The man with the axe charged straight at the tree-form monster.
Crack!
The scratches and cracks covering the monster’s body—
He drove the axe with perfect precision into the weakest-looking spots.
Of course, the massive monster didn’t fall with a single blow.
Thud, thud, crack!
The man drew fresh axes in succession, swinging them against the monster’s body.
With roughly ten axes embedded in its frame, the monster groaned in agony and ceased moving—until the man raised an enormous double-bladed axe above its head.
Splinter—
The massive monster’s body split cleanly in two.
Witnessing this unbelievable scene, Padadalak, having unexpectedly been saved, collapsed to the ground without thinking.
Finally, black flames erupted from beneath the man, spreading in all directions.
Whoosh!
It began devouring the fallen monsters.
By the time that shocking scene concluded, the man’s form had already vanished.
“What… what is this…?”
After that shocking spectacle.
Padadalak came to a realization.
He was not yet at a level to participate in the Second Crown.
Once he exited, he decided he would first discover who the user was that had saved him, watch their matches, and then withdrew from the preliminaries.
* * *
“It’s easier than I thought?”
Kang Ju-hyuk had been so insistent about staying vigilant just in case that I’d wondered if there was something more dangerous lurking here.
Dangerous, my foot.
From my perspective, this couldn’t be more convenient.
“Where else is there a hunting ground as comfortable as the Jungle?”
Monsters that can’t climb trees can all be dealt with using a bow and arrows.
Plant-type monsters have a clear weakness to fire, and insect-type monsters? I’d hunted them to exhaustion at the Black Worm God’s Altar, hadn’t I?
The only truly annoying part is collecting the magic stones from the defeated monsters.
Crunch, crunch—
[ Luke has consumed an ‘Iron-Clad Wild Boar’. ]
[ Luke’s stats have increased by 2. ]
Since Luke was swiftly collecting the magic stones for me instead.
I could simply hunt monsters without worrying about the stones.
– The magic stone obtained this time appears to be quite large, Master.
“It seems the higher the monster’s level, the larger the magic stone becomes.”
– After calculating efficiency, it appears that hunting stronger monsters would actually be more profitable than hunting numerous weaker ones.
“Really? I didn’t know that. Thanks. From now on, I’ll only hunt monsters level 100 and above.”
Meanwhile, Luke was also analyzing efficiency based on the size of the magic stones.
I’d been thoughtlessly hunting every monster I saw, regardless of level, believing that hunting more monsters in general was more profitable.
Apparently, that wasn’t the case.
It meant I should stop chasing weak monsters and instead challenge the strong ones.
“If that’s the case, there should be named monsters or boss-type creatures in this place as well.”
My eyes gleamed with excitement.
Honestly, just the magic stones I’d collected from the Jungle so far seemed sufficient to pass the preliminaries.
But wouldn’t it be better to pass the preliminaries in first place?
With that thought.
– Activating the skill ‘Tracking’.
I activated the Tracking skill and began searching for powerful monsters.
Not long after.
“A footprint this size would have to be at least a named monster or higher?”
I discovered an enormous footprint that I judged to belong to at least a named monster or above.

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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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