The Return of the Genius Ranker’s Myth Warehouse - Chapter 66

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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 66
Chapter 66
[ Wild Jungle ]
‘It’s the same map!’
The moment the Master League preliminaries began.
Kang Ju-hyuk climbed onto the tallest tree he could see, recalling Mir’s advice.
The dense branches, leaves, and vines made the ascent difficult, but he was a fighter, wasn’t he?
A fighter’s defining trait was having their physical abilities and senses maximized instead of relying on bare-knuckle combat.
With that advantage, he scaled the tree in an instant and leaped even higher.
‘West!’
He could immediately pinpoint the location of the Beehive.
Kang Ju-hyuk dashed toward it without hesitation.
He remembered Mir’s advice.
As he ran, he spotted various monsters and other users.
‘Trust Mir.’
Kang Ju-hyuk had decided to trust Mir.
He’d trusted Mir enough to change all his equipment—he couldn’t afford to act on his own now.
Shortly after arriving at the Beehive.
Kang Ju-hyuk slipped past the charging soldier bees and made his way inside.
“Now, shall we fight for real?”
Mir had said.
A fighter without a long-reach weapon was strongest in confined spaces where wielding weapons became difficult.
And the narrow corridors of the Beehive fit that description perfectly.
Moreover.
‘Even though it’s their home, they can’t fight properly in these tight passages either.’
Even bees couldn’t fight freely within the Beehive’s corridors.
In narrow passages, the bees’ characteristic speed and mobility vanished.
Kang Ju-hyuk faced the bee crawling toward him to attack in that confined space.
[ Incendiary Bottle ]
Clang—
Whoosh!
“Kiiieeeee—”
He hurled the special incendiary bottle Mir had crafted for him.
Just as Mir had confirmed, fire was this bee’s weakness.
Kang Ju-hyuk didn’t stop there—he rushed forward and slashed his claws at the suffering bee.
The soldier bee burned to death in the narrow space, unable to fly or expose its stinger.
More soldier bees attacked afterward.
– Skill ‘Burst Smash’ activated.
Crunch—
Kang Ju-hyuk made full use of the confined space as he fought the bees.
Of course, the bees were no fools.
To protect their home, to eliminate the intruder.
They gnawed through the narrow corridor, expanding the space to allow more soldier bees to swarm and overwhelm Kang Ju-hyuk.
Against such bees.
[ Steel Mesh Net ]
[ Incendiary Bomb ]
Whoosh!
I hurled the incendiary bomb along with the mesh net.
The bees’ greatest strength was undoubtedly their rapid mobility, but with their wings bound by the net, they couldn’t fly properly.
In that state, struck by the incendiary bomb, they couldn’t maintain their composure.
Normally, hitting a fast-moving bee with a mesh net was no easy feat.
But bees forced to squeeze through a narrow corridor were practically impossible to miss.
– Activating the skill ‘Blaze Kick’.
Crack!
After fighting for a while, I collected all the mana stones the bees had dropped.
As the bee numbers increased and the corridor was further gnawed away.
[ Smoke Bomb ]
Boom!
I detonated the smoke bomb.
[ Rafflesia Pollen ]
Scattering the pheromones the wasps relied upon, I moved to a new passage.
As I continued fighting like this.
[ Rank 22: Kang Ju-hyuk ]
[ Rank 17: Kang Ju-hyuk ]
[ Rank 11: Kang Ju-hyuk ]
[ Rank 8: Kang Ju-hyuk ]
….
Kang Ju-hyuk’s ranking began to steadily climb.
Confirming his rising rank, Kang Ju-hyuk’s trust in Mir grew even stronger.
‘Am I really going to place first?’
With each rank gained, his excitement mounting, Kang Ju-hyuk swung his fists with renewed vigor.
* * *
There were two ways to view the match from the spectator stands.
One was to simply watch the hologram that automatically switched according to the commentator’s narration.
Or one could switch to a personal screen to watch the footage of any participant they desired.
I naturally pulled up Kang Ju-hyuk’s footage first.
“He’s doing quite well.”
I could see Kang Ju-hyuk hunting diligently in the Beehive, following my advice.
Incendiary bombs, mesh nets, smoke bombs, pollen, and more.
Combat consumables and strategies I had actively recommended, analyzed from First’s knowledge and the patterns of the bees encountered in the preliminary rounds.
Well, many of those items I crafted myself.
As I continued hunting in that manner.
[ 3rd Place: Kang Ju-hyuk ]
Kang Ju-hyuk’s ranking climbed to third place.
I thought that if he simply followed my advice and moved correctly, he would easily secure a ranking position.
But I never expected him to keep up this well.
As Kang Ju-hyuk’s ranking rose so rapidly, the two commentators above also took notice of his existence.
“Oh! Right now! Kang Ju-hyuk has risen to third place!”
“Who is Kang Ju-hyuk? I don’t think I’ve seen him among the championship favorites!”
“Let me switch the screen right away!”
The two commentators switched the screen, and I found myself viewing the same footage.
What appeared on the screen was naturally Kang Ju-hyuk, fighting fiercely inside the Beehive.
The narrow corridors of the Beehive were dark, but because he continued throwing incendiary bottles, his figure was clearly visible—unlike when I had snuck into the Beehive.
Upon seeing this, the two commentators.
“Goodness! Kang Ju-hyuk has entered the Beehive!”
“Remarkable! All other participants are avoiding the Beehive and hunting monsters elsewhere! Yet he boldly enters and fights inside!”
“Such courage!”
There was no choice but to be thrilled.
A terrain essentially designed to be avoided.
He was openly entering the Beehive—the nest where the master of the Jungle resided—and hunting the bees.
This was a scene that had never been witnessed even once until now.
Moreover.
“Is he a Brawler? Is that correct?”
“Based on the skills he’s using, it seems so! But his combat style is quite unique!”
“The way he freely uses combat consumables is distinctive!”
“It’s a combat style we’ve never seen before!”
His unusual combat style, something not commonly seen, also captured attention.
Bees fundamentally dropped large magic stones among the Jungle’s monsters.
Without needing to search for monsters, the bees continuously flew at him, so the rate of magic stone acquisition was insanely fast.
Thanks to that, not long after.
[ 1st Place: Kang Ju-hyuk ]
“First place! Kang Ju-hyuk! He claims the top position!”
“There are many hidden talents this year! Like Mir from the Beginner League! Even in the Master League, a dormant supernova reveals itself!”
“That’s the charm of the Second Crown! This is so entertaining!”
Kang Ju-hyuk had secured first place.
As the two commentators grew excited and I observed the cheering crowd.
I found myself feeling oddly proud.
But then.
‘How far is that guy going to go?’
Unlike the audience mindlessly cheering.
I continued to observe Kang Ju-hyuk’s movements.
Kang Ju-hyuk, having confirmed he’d claimed first place, grew even more excited as he hunted the bees.
As a result.
Kang Ju-hyuk forgot one of my pieces of advice and ventured deeper into the Beehive.
And then.
Whiiiiiing—.
“Wait, that! That’s the master of the Jungle, isn’t it!”
“That’s right! Contestant Kang Ju-hyuk has encountered the master of the Jungle, the Queen Bee! Could this have been intentional? Like Yul-ha last year, is he trying to hunt the master of the Jungle!”
Kang Ju-hyuk had come face to face with the Queen Bee.
Intentional?
Nonsense.
The Queen Bee was a monster so formidable that even I would struggle against her without a Mythic-grade weapon.
How could he possibly hunt such a creature?
I’d even left him with the specific advice: ‘If you go too deep, the Queen Bee will emerge, so you need to hunt by staying around the outer areas as much as possible.’
Intoxicated by excitement, Kang Ju-hyuk had forgotten that warning and ventured inward, ultimately encountering the Queen Bee, and.
— Kyaaaaaaah!
He screamed so loudly it could be heard even outside the hologram, then began fleeing.
Frantically hurling smoke grenades and pollen everywhere.
The two commentators and audience, who had been marveling at Kang Ju-hyuk’s impressive display, suddenly felt awkward and let out embarrassed coughs.
“Ahem, let’s take a look at the next contestant!”
I’d given him all sorts of combat consumables and even tailored a strategy for him, and this is what I get.
A sigh escaped me, but somehow he managed to shake off the Queen Bee and survive.
However, he’d lost far too much time because of it.
Yet thanks to hunting as hard as he could afterward to recover his score.
[ 2nd Place: Kang Ju-hyuk ]
Kang Ju-hyuk was able to achieve second place in the Master League preliminaries.
* * *
“Kyaaaah! Why did I do that? I could’ve gotten first!”
“That’s why I told you not to go too deep.”
“Ugh, the moment I got first place, I got so excited… I’m sorry. If I’d just followed your advice, I really would’ve taken first!”
“You don’t owe me an apology.”
“Still, I managed to climb to second place because of you! I even got an Achievement!”
“What’s the Achievement effect?”
“5% increase in attack power against all monsters! Pretty amazing, right?”
“That’s only half of mine.”
“Well, there’s nothing I can do about that! But even this is plenty impressive!”
Kang Ju-hyuk sat down beside me.
Though he hadn’t taken first place, he was delighted as if he’d won the world simply by achieving second.
Watching his pleased expression, I then observed the third match.
The Challenger League preliminaries.
“Hey, look, look. That’s Yul-ha.”
“I know.”
“Right, you said you knew before? So tell me—what’s your relationship with her?”
“I’m just familiar with her face. She probably doesn’t know me.”
“Ugh, seriously? No fun.”
The Challenger League, where only users level 401 and above could participate.
As such, it had the fewest number of participants.
“Magnificent! The effects are incomparable to the Beginner League or Master League!”
“The monsters are enormous too!”
“Truly, this is the Challenger League!”
This was what made watching so enjoyable.
The Jungle was filled with monsters level 401 and above, befitting the Challenger League.
And the users attacking those monsters wielded powerful and spectacular skills worthy of level 401 and beyond.
“How about it? Impressive, right? This is what Challenger means!”
Kang Ju-hyuk beside me gazed at the participants in the hologram with excitement and admiration.
‘It’s less impressive than I expected.’
To be honest, I found it rather underwhelming.
A sense of dissatisfaction, perhaps?
When I was at that level, I think I fought better than this.
That thought came naturally to me.
It wasn’t arrogance or nostalgia bias—analyzing how the participants fought, I couldn’t help but conclude they fell short of my expectations.
Still, well.
“Yul-ha is advancing toward the Beehive! Is she trying to defeat the master of the Jungle again!”
“Unfortunately, it seems difficult to secure cooperation from other users this time.”
“Last year, there was the romance of everyone working together to conquer the master of the Mountain! What a shame!”
The combat footage of Yul-ha, known as rank 1, and other users called championship favorites was quite impressive.
They truly deserved to be called rankers and championship contenders.
Their skill utilization was excellent, and their control itself was solid.
However.
‘Why is she wearing that armor in the Jungle?’
‘Even with a weapon a couple of tiers lower, it would be better to use something else there.’
‘Is she really avoiding all flying-type monsters because she’s a melee-class user right now?’
Her item utilization was pathetic.
It was like a skilled chef creating every dish using only a paring knife.
Creating that level of cuisine with a paring knife was certainly impressive, but it would have been better if she wielded a proper kitchen knife suited to the situation.
That was the feeling.
And the same applied to Yul-ha, who stubbornly wielded only a single sword.
Shortly after.
[ 1st Place: Yul-ha ]
“Yul-ha! As everyone predicted, Yul-ha has secured first place in the Challenger League preliminaries!”
The Challenger League preliminaries had concluded.
And the next day.
“Mir, you’ve got this! Fighting spirit!”
“I’m heading out.”
The Beginner League main tournament.
It was time to depart for the Battle Royale.

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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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