The Return of the Genius Ranker’s Myth Warehouse - Chapter 67

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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 67
Chapter 67
[A short while later, the fourth match of Second Crown.]
[The main round of the Beginner League is beginning.]
A notification message for the main round appeared.
I moved toward the magic circle that had been prepared, just as I had during the preliminaries, but the size of the magic circle and the number of users standing on it had noticeably decreased.
‘Well, the number of preliminary participants was enormous, but only a thousand passed.’
One thousand had qualified from the preliminaries.
In other words, this main round would be conducted with all one thousand participants at once.
If the preliminaries were a competition to defeat monsters, the main round was a competition to defeat other users.
Since the match would proceed in a battle royale format, it meant a battle royale with one thousand participants would unfold.
‘They said sixty-four would advance.’
Sixty-four out of one thousand.
Less than ten percent would pass.
Because of this, most of the main round participants—who could be called strong for having passed the preliminaries—were swallowing nervously, tension evident in their expressions.
As I waited for the match to begin.
“Is that person the first place finisher this time?”
“Yeah. They said his name was Mir, right?”
“Who is he anyway? How did he beat Unmemory Spirit and take first place?”
“More than that, didn’t something seem off at the end? He was clearly outside the top ten, but then suddenly jumped to first place at the last moment.”
“Honestly, does that even make sense? Did he use some kind of bug?”
“No way, Second wouldn’t have bugs….”
“But still. It’s really strange, isn’t it? A user nobody’s ever heard of suddenly has his score skyrocket at the end and takes first place. How does that make sense?”
I heard whispers directed at me from behind.
‘The match itself is fine. But this situation feels a bit awkward.’
Probably because the user population in First was so small that it was practically like playing solo.
I hadn’t grown accustomed to situations where I had to face other users.
So I let the gossip go in one ear and out the other, waiting eagerly for the match to start.
“Are you the one called Mir?”
One participant approached me.
No, it wasn’t just one.
Behind the participant who approached, five or six other users were snickering.
“I don’t know what underhanded method you used to take first place, but because of you, my ranking as ‘Defair’ has been pushed down to fourth.”
Defair.
A username I didn’t recognize.
Well, during the preliminaries, I had only checked my own ranking and hadn’t bothered to check other people’s rankings.
“And?”
“I’m the type who ignores favors but repays grudges properly. And since the next match happens to be a battle royale, I’ll definitely find you and kill you.”
Second.
It was entertaining in its own way, but just like during the preliminaries, arguing with users felt like the most tedious thing.
If he were charging in alone, there’d be some style to it.
But with people clinging to his back, spouting such nonsense—it just feels pathetic.
Still, I can’t just stand here and take it.
“Defair. Fine, I’ve memorized your face.”
“What’s some nobody like you going to do by remembering my face? Kneel before me if we meet in the Battle Royale? Hahahaha!”
“And I’ve memorized the faces of all those behind you too.”
“What?”
“If you’re bold enough to come at me, you’ll remember my attacks well enough.”
Flinch.
Defair’s body jerked involuntarily for a moment.
From what Kang Ju-hyuk told me, I know exactly how I appeared in the preliminary round footage.
And Defair would have seen it too.
The scene where my arrow pierced Owl Bearer in a single strike.
The scene where a single arrow I fired into the sky became a downpour, piercing through the participants surrounding me.
“I’ll be sniping, so watch your back.”
Saying that, I placed my hand on his shoulder.
“This bastard…!”
He tried to say something more in anger.
…
[ 2 ]
[ 1 ]
[ Moving to the main stage of the Beginner League – Battle Royale field. ]
A magic circle flashed brilliantly at the perfect moment, obscuring my vision.
A Battle Royale with a thousand participants, determining the sixty-four who would advance.
It had begun.
* * *
Soon my vision cleared, and the Battle Royale field was revealed.
I heard last year’s battle field took place on a massive uninhabited island.
But this year’s field was.
[ Sinking Great Desert ]
A desert.
All I could see was sand and cacti.
Despite being a game, Second’s characteristic realism made the scorching sunlight feel vivid, and the gritty sand dust seemed to touch my lips.
Confirming this.
“Luke, switch to the Mirage set.”
– Yes, Master.
First, I changed my equipment.
Just as in the Jungle, desert terrain was especially affected by armor, so I needed to adapt accordingly.
The ‘Mirage Set’ I chose was.
[ Shimmering Mirage Cloak ]
( Cannot be traded )
Type: Cloak
Grade: Heroic
Restriction: Level 150 or higher
Description: A Mirage Cloak said to be given only to the exceptionally strong among the various tribes scattered across the desert.
That was it.
A hood to shield against the scorching sunlight, a cloak to block sand and dust, boots that allow stable movement even on sand that sinks underfoot—
Rather than making movement difficult in the desert, this equipment accelerates movement across the sands.
Even befitting its name of Mirage, it includes concealment abilities.
To compare, it’s the desert version of the ‘Jungle’s Shadow’ set I wore during the preliminary round.
I changed into that equipment.
Swishhhhh—.
I heard the sound of sand scattering from behind.
Turning my head to look.
“Of all places, I was summoned on the outer edge.”
I could see sand flowing down.
No, I could see sand collapsing inward.
Last year’s field, the deserted island, had its outer land crumble and fall into the sea as time passed, or so I’d heard.
And this field, the Sinking Great Desert, was literally ‘sinking’ gradually from the outer edges.
If I fell there, there would be no way for me to survive.
‘So that’s what they mean by battle royale.’
As the outer land sinks, players have no choice but to gather toward the center.
The desert will continue to collapse until only 64 players remain alive, and to survive, players have no choice but to fight each other.
That was the main tournament of Second Crown.
The true nature of the competition called battle royale.
“So then. Where was he summoned?”
Originally, I planned to maximize concealment, ambush visible players, and smoothly advance toward the center.
But just before the match started, my thoughts changed.
Defair.
Regardless of others, I needed to settle things with him.
And I had prepared for this moment.
[ Tracker’s Mark ]
I had branded Defair’s shoulder with the mark.
He wouldn’t know it, but with the Tracker’s Mark in my possession, I could clearly see his direction and distance.
And fortunately.
“He’s close.”
Defair seemed to have been transported not far from me.
I pulled the Mirage hood deep over my head and blended into the desert.
“I can’t miss the first-place Achievement in the main tournament either, so let me hurry and settle this.”
Following where the Tracker’s Mark pointed.
I began moving toward Defair.
* * *
“Damn it, that bastard. How dare he warn me to watch my back? To me, Defair?”
A skilled fighter who placed fourth in the Beginner League preliminary round—Defair.
He was seething with rage.
Had anyone ever made him this angry before?
No.
And for good reason.
“To a promising member of Red Skull, Second’s greatest dark guild, he dares warn me to watch my back? Ha!”
He was a promising member of Red Skull, having recently joined the guild.
Wasn’t he the one whom Moonlight Wolf, the guild master of Red Skull, treated even better than his own brother, Bloody Wolf?
Had this been the main server rather than Second Crown, he would have slit that fool’s throat without a second thought about chaos points.
As Defair kicked at the sand, unable to contain his fury.
“No matter how much I think about it, that face seems familiar….”
A voice came from behind him.
The guild master’s younger brother.
It was Bloody Wolf.
In truth, he hadn’t even reached level 200 yet, making it difficult for him to participate in Second Crown.
But at the guild master’s request, he had no choice but to come along.
“Do you know them?”
“No, not exactly. But something about them feels familiar….”
In Defair’s mind, Bloody Wolf was nothing but a parachute appointment.
He didn’t like it.
But he couldn’t abandon him here, not with the guild master’s request in mind.
Still, once they reached the tournament proper, he’d crush him immediately and claim victory for himself.
“Phew… Anyway, it seems we’ve landed on the outskirts, so let’s move inward. Kill anyone we see.”
Where you landed in the desert during the main round was random.
But Red Skull could gather quickly.
Thanks to a certain item the guild master had personally obtained for the main round.
With that, they’d gathered like this, and he thought the main round wouldn’t be difficult as they advanced steadily toward the center.
Thunk!
“Ugh!”
An arrow that came from nowhere pierced through one of Red Skull’s members.
Right at a vital point.
Seeing how powerful the attack was, the member collapsed in a single hit with a critical judgment.
“Damn it, who is it!”
“Everyone search! If they hit a vital point with this much accuracy, they must be nearby!”
Red Skull, centered around Defair, immediately took a defensive stance.
They thought they’d been caught off guard by the first arrow, but they wouldn’t fall for a second attack as they drew their weapons.
Thunk!
“Gack!”
“What?! Which direction?!”
“Over there!”
Another member of the group took an arrow to a vital point and collapsed.
But thanks to that, they could pinpoint exactly where the arrow had come from.
Turning their heads toward the direction the arrow had flown.
“There’s nothing there?”
The Archer was nowhere to be seen.
Thunk!
When another arrow was allowed through.
Defair could confirm it.
Far in the distance.
A faint silhouette moving at the edge of their blurred vision, obscured by sand dust.
“Damn it, she was shooting arrows from that distance?”
The precision of hitting vital points so accurately made him certain it had to be close range.
But it wasn’t.
An impossibly vast distance.
At this rate, there seemed to be no solution.
“Protect your vitals and retreat!”
“You’re not going to kill her? She’s already sent three of us down!”
“She’s too far! If we charge recklessly, we could be wiped out!”
“Damn it….”
Red Skull, including Defair, began to flee.
The desert terrain made movement difficult, but Red Skull was mostly composed of agile classes like thieves and assassins with high dexterity stats.
He thought that if they committed to escaping, even an Archer couldn’t possibly catch up.
Thunk!
“Ugh!”
Thunk!
“Argh!”
“Damn it, what?! How is she following us, and how is she hitting us?!”
But it wasn’t stopping.
As time passed, the arrows continued without pause, relentlessly raining down.
Of course, they managed to shield their vital points somehow.
But the arrows, even if not aimed at vitals, struck Red Skull with a 100% hit rate, attacking them relentlessly.
“Gasp!”
“Ugh.”
Red Skull’s members continued to fall one after another.
When roughly half of the members had collapsed.
Defair changed his mind.
“Damn it! There’s no choice! We attack that bastard!”
“It’s dangerous!”
“There’s no point in running away like this anyway! Attack!”
With Defair at the vanguard, Red Skull charged toward the Archer.
Thud thud thud!
“Ugh! Damn it! What the hell is this guy doing!”
Just as I expected.
The moment I tried to chase after them, the damage became even more severe.
I managed to block the vital points and avoid instant death, but the Archer was striking precisely at the areas I couldn’t defend in time.
Moreover, most of Red Skull’s members possessed high agility and correspondingly swift movement speeds.
Yet somehow, not a single arrow missed.
“Argh!”
Another member fell.
Now only three remained.
I was running desperately, yet the enemy seemed just out of reach, always slipping away.
It felt like chasing a mirage in the desert.
But then.
Thunk!
The pain of an arrow embedding itself in my body proved unmistakably that the Archer was no mirage.
Realizing this wouldn’t work, Defair pushed his movement speed to the maximum using a skill and finally caught up to the Archer.
Fortunately, the Archer who had seemed like a mirage began drawing closer.
And then, moments later.
Upon catching up to the Archer, Defair could only grimace.
“You are…!”
“I told you, didn’t I? Watch your back.”
The identity of the mirage-like Archer was none other than the rising star who had claimed first place in the preliminary round.
Mir.

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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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