The Return of the Genius Ranker’s Myth Warehouse - Chapter 70
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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 70
Chapter 70
Second Crown.
The main round of the Beginner League.
The moment the battle royale began, most users could recognize it immediately.
‘Fighting now is pointless!’
It was a common misconception, but what mattered in the main round wasn’t racking up high kill counts by defeating numerous users.
The true essence of the battle royale main round was ‘survival’.
It meant staying alive until only sixty-four users remained.
Because of this, except for users like Unmemory Spirit who were championship favorites and seeking high rankings, most would ignore each other even if their eyes met on the road and avoid combat entirely.
And there was one more critical point.
‘I need to move toward the Center!’
Moving toward the Center was essential.
This was something I had learned after watching the first Second Crown held last year.
Back then, as the sand sank, participants naturally converged toward the Center of the field.
Users who had secured the Center in advance held defensive positions against those arriving late.
Consequently, users who arrived late had significantly lower pass rates.
For this reason alone, I had to reach the Center as quickly as possible.
In that sense.
“Found it!”
A main round participant.
Agab was a skilled participant.
Fortune had favored him considerably, and through experience, skills, and item assistance, he had discovered the Pyramid—the heart of the Desert—in remarkably quick time.
Excited by this, he was rushing toward the Pyramid when.
Light seemed to glimmer from the Pyramid’s peak.
Startled, Agab instinctively twisted his body.
Thunk!
“Argh!”
Something struck his shoulder.
An enormous impact.
Had it hit a vital spot, he might have died instantly—the attack was that powerful.
What on earth was happening?
Could it be that this battle royale had defense towers like cannons installed to prevent users from reaching the Desert’s center?
There was no time for doubt.
Following his accumulated experience and the danger signals screaming through his mind.
– Using skill ‘Emergency Concealment’.
He activated an evasion skill and buried himself beneath the sand.
Then another attack came flying!
Thunk.
‘Phew….’
Fortunately, it lodged itself right beside Agab.
My evasion and concealment skill, Emergency Cover, had barely managed to work.
As no further attacks came, I nervously scanned my surroundings.
Then another user appeared in my field of vision.
He too was approaching the Pyramid.
Just as with Agab, the moment light glimmered from the peak of the Pyramid.
Thunk!
“Gahhh!”
A hole was drilled through the approaching user’s head, and he collapsed on the spot.
Instant death.
A single attack had pierced a vital point, killing him outright.
‘What kind of accuracy is this….’
There should still be several thousand meters of distance remaining to the Pyramid.
To achieve such accuracy at this range?
This isn’t the skill of a user.
That’s impossible.
There’s definitely something like a defense tower installed at the peak of the Pyramid that’s operating.
While I was thinking this.
Unlike Agab, who had noticed this presence and hidden in the sand, increasingly more users approached the Pyramid.
And each time.
Bang!
Attacks from the Pyramid continued relentlessly.
But something was strange.
Thunk!
“Argh!”
A user who desperately twisted his body like Agab to evade the vital points of the incoming attack from the Pyramid.
But something bullet-like embedded itself in that user’s shoulder.
Boom!
The user’s shoulder and chest exploded together, and he fell with a single hit.
‘The power… has gotten stronger?’
Even for an ultra-long-range attack, the power was considerable, but it wasn’t strong enough to kill in one hit if you avoided the vital points.
The attack that just came looked noticeably stronger than the one Agab experienced initially.
If Agab had taken that attack, he would have fallen in one blow regardless of whether he dodged the vital points.
The problem was that the attack’s intensity was growing stronger with each successive shot.
Crack!
“Gahhh!”
A user who was clearly a warrior class.
Equipped with sturdy armor, appearing to have considerable health and defense, the user fell to the attack.
His body didn’t explode, but I could see the attack from the Pyramid’s peak pierce through the user’s armor and strike a vital point.
To fell a warrior class in a single blow.
Does this even make sense?
As doubt crept in.
An event unfolded that sent Agab into shock.
“Hey, are you alright? Damn it, what’s happening here?”
The fallen warrior’s teammate stepped forward in panic.
Though it was a battle royale, there were often groups that moved together like this.
It was a consequence of the battle royale having sixty-four winners instead of just one.
“Whatever it is, I’ve seen it once—let’s see if it works on this!”
The user advanced toward the Pyramid, wielding a shield as large as his own body.
With a proper defensive skill layered over the shield, it seemed nearly impossible for even the strongest attack to penetrate it.
But then.
Whoosh!
From the peak of the Pyramid, a brilliance far more dazzling than anything before flashed forth.
Boom!!
An attack that seemed less like a bullet and more like a cannonball collided with the warrior’s shield.
“Gahhh!”
The warrior flew backward into the distance, his shield crumpled and caved in.
In that moment.
Agab could be certain of one thing.
‘This can’t be from a user!’
An impossible accuracy targeting vital points from several thousand meters away.
An attack power that crushed the warrior’s massive shield in a single strike from thousands of meters away, sending him flying while coughing blood.
There was no way this was an attack from a fellow Beginner League participant.
If this were a user’s attack, they’d have to be at least Master League level.
No—only someone capable of competing in the Challenger League could pull off something like this.
In other words, this wasn’t a user’s attack—it was the main round’s system itself!
‘Then the answer is right here!’
At that moment, Agab made a decision.
He would hide in this spot until the match ended.
* * *
Boom!
The first shot found its mark.
My aim was precise, but the users who’d made it to the main round proved their advancement was no mere luck—they twisted their bodies to evade the vital points.
“Luke, switch to lower-grade.”
– Yes, Master.
From then on, I switched the ammunition to lower-grade magic stones.
Normally, I’d have to manually load a magic stone each time I pulled the trigger, which made the preparation time quite lengthy.
With Luke handling the loading, I only needed to maintain my aim and find new targets.
– Loading complete.
“Good.”
Bang!
A gunshot loud enough to make my ears ring.
With it, all the mana contained in the magic stone drained away, and a mana bullet flew toward its target.
[ ‘Mir’ player has defeated ‘Loony’ player. ]
I pierced the enemy’s vital point with perfect accuracy.
As I regained the feel of the sniper rifle I’d used back in First, my hit rate increased even further.
Moreover, by switching the bullets from the lowest-grade magic stones to low-grade ones, even shots that missed the vital point by a little could take down an opponent in a single strike.
Then.
‘That won’t work.’
When an enemy appeared with seemingly high vitality.
“Luke, switch to mid-grade magic stones.”
– Yes, Master.
I loaded the rifle with bullets made from higher-tier magic stones.
With mid-grade magic stones loaded, I pulled the trigger.
Bang!
With a slightly louder gunshot.
[ ‘Mir’ player has defeated ‘Raho’ player. ]
I watched as a user who appeared to be a warrior-class job was pierced by my bullet and sent flying.
Then, facing the user who appeared next with a tower shield.
“Luke, highest-grade.”
– Yes, Master.
I loaded the highest-grade magic stones, which were treated as the finest quality among commonly obtainable ones.
The moment I pulled the trigger.
Bang!!
With a gunshot loud enough to make my ears ring.
Boom!
I could see the user flying backward, coughing blood, their shield completely crumpled from the impact of the mana bullet that resembled a cannonball.
Unfortunately, I didn’t defeat them in a single shot.
Bang!
[ ‘Mir’ player has defeated ‘Warrior in Sleeping Forest’ player. ]
I finished off the user who flew away with their crumpled shield by firing a low-grade magic stone bullet through the opening.
I continued pulling the trigger in this manner.
Each time I pulled the trigger, those expensive magic stones were consumed one by one, but they were stones marked as non-tradeable anyway, weren’t they?
Since I had an abundance of them, I felt no regret.
Bang, bang, bang!
As I continued pulling the trigger and gradually saw fewer users around.
“Luke, could you change my position?”
– Yes, Master.
I turned the sniper rifle’s muzzle around.
Given the size of the sniper rifle, changing the muzzle direction would normally be quite difficult.
Thanks to Luke’s help, I was able to turn the sniper rifle without much difficulty.
And when I activated the Hawk’s Eye skill, I could spot quite a number of users.
Bang!
[ Player Mir has defeated player Pasta Star. ]
Bang!
[ Player Mir has defeated player Royel. ]
Crack!
[ Player Mir has defeated player Na Dong-seok. ]
With each trigger pull, my kill count climbed rapidly.
Of course, I couldn’t eliminate every user this way.
Despite my high accuracy and the sniper rifle’s powerful attack, there were scattered users who managed to dodge or block the mana bullets.
Still, thanks to my rapidly rising kill count.
[ 1st Place: Mir ]
I reclaimed the top position before long.
The gap between me and Unmemory Spirit in second place wasn’t huge, but there was still plenty of time remaining in the match.
As time passed, my kill count would only accelerate, and the gap would widen even further.
But then.
“Why aren’t they coming closer?”
– Perhaps they’ve become frightened of you, Master?
After eliminating several more users.
The remaining players stopped approaching the Pyramid.
It seemed they’d realized my attacks were a threat and refused to enter my effective range.
I could have extended my range further by using high-grade mana stones or equipping modifier items.
But I chose not to.
– Are you satisfied, then?
“No.”
– Then why do you merely observe?
“Because they’ll have no choice but to come in on their own, regardless of what I do.”
The reason was simple.
My vision enhanced by the Hawk’s Eye skill and Sand Goggles.
At the edge of my sight, I could see the collapsing horizon of the Desert beginning to crumble.
That’s right.
This main round’s theme was battle royale.
Until the number of surviving users reached sixty-four, sand continued to sink from the Desert’s outer edges.
So those waiting outside my range had no choice but to rush toward the Pyramid to avoid being swallowed by the sand.
Crack!
I simply held my breath, focused, and pulled the trigger toward them.
[ Player Mir has defeated player Bolo. ]
I continued to accumulate kills and maintained an overwhelming first place.
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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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