The Return Of The Genius Ranker Of All Times [EN]: Chapter 104

Part 104.

Ast’s voice was full of anticipation, but Do-hyun didn’t respond.

More precisely, he couldn’t afford to.

From the moment he heard Ast’s explanation, his heart had been pounding.

‘Yeah. I’m dying of curiosity too, old man.’

What epithet would the Spirit Ink bestow upon him?

What did the system see in him?

He couldn’t help but be excited by the thought.

This kind of system didn’t exist in Demroach, which made it even more exciting.

‘The old man is the Armory Lord, Kkukku is the Empress. Sword Emperor is the Sword Saint… they all fit perfectly.’

Even compared to his days in Demroach, the matches were spot on.

Not just his companions, but many rankers from Demroach as well.

Except for cases like the Heavenly Demon, where the job style had completely changed, the user’s basic tendencies were the same, so it was only natural.

‘…Then what was I?’

The God of Demroach, the Troll Maker, the Symbol of Misfortune, the Unlucky Bastard Abandoned by God, the Brick Collector….

He had quite a variety of nicknames.

But unlike other rankers, there wasn’t one that really stood out.

“Unlike other rankers who have one outstanding trait, you were excellent in all aspects, so it can’t be helped. Ah, no one can beat you in that amazing luck of yours.”

-I’m also curious. What epithet would suit the master?

-Rizariza.

-Our lord is the most excellent lord of all, so wouldn’t our lord rise to the top?

-…That wasn’t a joke, was it, Charlie?

-I’m serious.

-No, please say it was a joke. Can’t you see Eliza is feeling distant?

Turning his head slightly away from Charlie, Ast, who had been lost in thought for a moment, suddenly interjected.

“You’re all the rage with the Kashin Church these days. Aren’t you going to get an epithet like God? Looking at how they praise you, I think it’s possible.”

“…I wouldn’t choose something like that even if it came up.”

“Hehe, why? I think it would be fun to imagine the reaction of the Kashin Church?”

“It’s easy for you to say since it’s not your problem. What did you get here, old man?”

“Me? Destroyer and One-Punch Man, and one other thing… I think it was something like Click, but it was so absurd that I didn’t even bother looking at it, so I don’t remember.”

“…One-Punch Man would have been a bit dangerous.”

-Huh? Why is it dangerous, Master?

“There’s a reason.”

-?

Fortunately, Ast seemed to have the same thought as Do-hyun’s worry(?), and he chose Destroyer.

He said he chose it because it had the most force.

In the end, it was a good choice.

Thanks to it, he was able to obtain the signature trait of Smash, which was a perfect fit.

Still, considering that he has the official epithet of Armory Lord fixed, it seems that Armory Lord was his favorite.

But unlike that old man, Do-hyun has no epithet to replace.

‘They said that when I activate Spirit Ink, several candidates will appear. Judging from the fact that Click and One-Punch Man appear, it seems that many strange epithets also appear… I have to choose carefully.’

He had to be more careful in this selection.

Having made up his mind, Do-hyun slowly drew the tip of the Spirit Ink brush in the air.

[You are using the hidden item of the Tower, ‘Spirit Ink’.]

[Spirit Ink writes an epithet based on what you have shown in the Tower.]

Swish- Swish.

Then, ink was sprayed into the air, and Spirit Ink began to draw letters on its own.

“What’s being drawn?”

“Wait. I haven’t seen it yet either.”

“Oh, I’m so nervous.”

The letters drawn by Spirit Ink were only visible to Do-hyun.

The Spirit Ink, which had been drawing slowly, gradually increased its speed and was scribbling at an invisible speed at some point.

Do-hyun captured every moment of that process. As if not to miss a single one.

In that anticipation and tension, several seconds, like an eternity, passed.

[Spirit Ink has written all the words that refer to you.]

[The words that refer to you are….]

Do-hyun’s eyes widened as he looked at the letters engraved in the air.

More precisely, they were growing in real time.

[Irregular]

[All-Master]

[Defying Heaven (逆天)] [Lit. Rebelling against the Heavens, i.e., fate or destiny]

[Fighting Demon (鬪鬼)] [Lit. Battling Fiend, i.e., a powerful demon]

[Successor of Fate]

[Last Descendant]

…….

[Oath-breaker Against God (反神誓約者)] [Lit. One who Vows to Oppose Gods]

…….

“…Crazy!”

“Why! How many are written?”

“Six… no, seven… eight, it keeps increasing.”

“What?”

Ast’s shocked words were heard, but he couldn’t concentrate.

A warning sound that stimulated the eardrums like a siren was blocking him from listening to Ast’s words.

It wasn’t just the sound.

[An error has occurred!]

[The number of epithets that can be given to you has exceeded the maximum value of the Tower.]

[A critical error has occurred, causing a temporary rift in the Tower.]

[Warning! The Tower detects danger.]

[Unknown beings are watching you.]

The messages that popped out frantically, as if keeping pace with the siren, were blurring his vision.

Unlike usual, the messages were not neatly arranged, but scattered messily, creating a greater sense of crisis.

At that moment, he swallowed hard.

Saa-

The sound stopped.

He couldn’t tell if the dry saliva was swallowed or remained in his mouth.

It wasn’t just the sound that disappeared.

As if he had fallen into the abyss, his vision was dark, and he couldn’t feel any sensation of whether he was moving his arms or walking with his feet.

His five senses were cut off.

‘What the hell….’

At that moment, he felt a chill as he felt alone in a space completely disconnected from the world.

‘…!’

He felt a gaze.

Clearly, he couldn’t feel any sensation, but he was clearly feeling that gaze as if every cell in his body was reacting.

The gaze was not singular.

Numerous gazes were directed at Do-hyun from above.

He could instinctively tell.

‘…Those guys. They’re all gods.’

The God of Death, Demissus.

The strange sense of incongruity he felt from that guy was felt the same from those gazes.

However, not all gazes felt the same incongruity as the God of Death.

Most of them were of significantly lower quality. A somewhat creepy gaze accounted for the majority.

‘The particularly strong sense of incongruity is eleven… no, is it twelve?’

It wasn’t like Demissus who had descended, but just looking at him.

The felt incongruity was more than that.

And Do-hyun was soon able to know the reason.

[The great being ‘!%$%#!’ above the sky is hostile to you.]

[The great being ‘@!#!@$’ above the sky expresses anger towards you.]

[The great being ‘!@$%#’ above the sky shows curiosity towards you.]

…….

[The great being ‘!^&%#!’ above the sky is hostile to you.]

[The great being ‘@&%@$’ above the sky shows deep hostility towards you.]

…….

Unlike Demissus, who only showed a hint of interest and boredom, those guys were revealing murderous intent as if Do-hyun was their mortal enemy who killed their parents.

Just by receiving their gaze, he felt like his whole body was being torn apart and his breath was being squeezed.

‘…Even if I don’t know anything else, I know one thing for sure.’

In the swamp of murderous intent, Do-hyun felt his head clearing.

He was convinced.

‘All gods are my enemies.’

None of them are sending friendly gazes.

All he felt was a terrible murderous intent and hostility that made even his shadow tremble and run away, and a fiercely raging anger.

But even in that pressure, Do-hyun took a step forward.

Even though it was a pit where he couldn’t feel any sensation other than the gaze, he clearly walked.

[Using the 1st Form of Defying Heaven (逆天期), Beginning (始).] [Lit. Rebellion Against Heaven Stage, Beginning]

The energy like a mountain circulating inside was telling him so.

A ship that has lost its sails can only drift aimlessly in the sea, but in other words, it can find its direction and move forward with just one small sail.

The gazes that were getting closer were raging as if to push him away, but Do-hyun went on without paying attention.

‘Since they’re all guys I have to defeat anyway. Let’s see those smug faces of yours.’

Then, a different kind of incongruity plunged down like a dagger.

[Great beings are watching you.]

[The abyss is trying to swallow you.]

[The great king is looking at you with suspicious eyes.]

[The strongman of the abyss is watching you.]

He can’t see it, but he can feel it. Their great presence.

The chilling aura of the abyss that would instinctively make people feel fear and the aura of the king that overwhelms him as if facing a huge mountain.

They were tightening his body like countless threads trying to control a puppet.

“Get out of the way.”

Even so, he shook it off and took a step.

The moment the great presence, which had felt so far away, felt so close that it seemed to occupy the entire space.

[You have overcome the gazes of beings with overwhelming status.]

[You have shown the will to overcome any adversity.]

[This is the future you will face and the path you must overcome.]

[You have proven your worth to have an epithet.]

[You are given an epithet that penetrates the epithets and origins given to you.]

[The epithet …… is given to player ‘Kaiser’.]

[All the intelligences of Abtartel will recognize that you are ‘……’.]

The vision that had been submerged in the swamp returned, and a cheerful notification stimulated his ears.

“Kaiser, hey. Hey, you! What are you doing suddenly spacing out… Oh my, I was surprised. Why are you suddenly glaring at me? I guess you’ve come to your senses since your eyes are back to normal?”

-Rizariza!!

-Master!! Are you okay!?

-Lord, what’s wrong!

And the voices mixed in between.

When he blinked, the scenery of the 15th floor, which had returned to normal, and the old man with a surprised face and the guardians welcomed Do-hyun.

Do-hyun, who clenched and unclenched his hands several times, let out a small sigh.

‘Was it an illusion? It was too real to be an illusion… Well, it’s unlikely that the gods would suddenly come out like that, so it’s plausible that it was an illusion.’

Whatever it was, it was an unusual phenomenon, so when he asked, the old man also seemed puzzled.

“…As I said before, sometimes there are cases where they test your qualifications. Hmm, but it’s strange. This usually happens when there’s not enough to judge what you’ve shown….”

There was no way that what Do-hyun had shown was ambiguous. Rather, it would be strange if he had shown too much.

That wasn’t the only strange thing.

“Besides, you said that a guy presumed to be a god and the abyss and everything else came out?”

“It did. Although I couldn’t see it.”

“That’s also strange. I’ve never heard of a qualification test on such an absurd scale. Usually, what you see in the qualification test is something related to the epithets that appear in the options. Because it’s to see if you have the qualifications to have this epithet.”

“Ah, right, the epithet.”

Do-hyun, who belatedly recalled his original purpose, hurriedly opened the status window.

[Player: Kaiser ] New!

[Level: 100]

[HP: 5,654 / 22,910]

[MP: 2,350 / 18,860]

[Stamina: 1,330 / 4,670]

[Nature Affinity: 2,500] New!

[Class: The Last Adventurer ]

[Epithet (1)] New!

-Defier

[Title (31)]

-Maximum Favorability from the Start?

-First Slayer

…….(Expand)

[Stats]

Remaining Points: 0

‘I really got an epithet.’

As the message window he saw at the end said, the epithet ‘Defier’ was attached next to his nickname.

Was it because it was the first epithet he had obtained?

‘Something… feels strange.’

Like many famous users, he now had a cool official nickname instead of something weird like ‘Brick Collector’, ‘Weapon Destroyer’, or ‘God’.

Now, even the NPCs will recognize Do-hyun as ‘Defier’.

However, one thing is questionable….

‘Defier… was something like that in the options?’

He didn’t even see the ‘De’ of Defier in the many options that were listed.

He wasn’t even directly selected by Do-hyun like the old man.

On the contrary, he was selected.

Should he be happy that he was deprived of the right to choose, or should he look forward to the fact that he was given a new epithet that wasn’t even in the options because it’s unusual….

‘It’s said that it’s an epithet that penetrates the epithets in the options and my origins, so it doesn’t seem bad….’

Do-hyun, who had been thinking for a while, shook his head.

There were things that would only make his head hurt if he thought about them more, but it was because there was no need to think about them.

[You have proven your qualifications and have been granted the epithet ‘Defier’.]

[You have met the qualifications.]

[A signature trait related to the epithet obtained from the Tower is given.]

[Would you like to check the signature trait?]

The system window that appeared at the end when he was given the epithet.

‘Let’s see.’

Whether he should be happy or not about getting the Defier will be known when he checks the signature trait.