The Return Of The Genius Ranker Of All Times [EN]: Chapter 13

13.

I expected to receive the quests soon, but I never imagined it would happen like this.

In Demroak, you had to talk to someone one-on-one to get a quest, but…

‘Is this the power of artificial intelligence?’

These NPCs [Non-Player Characters, computer-controlled characters] have intelligence no different from the users themselves.

Since they’re going to give quests to users anyway, they must find it annoying to give them out one by one.

It was a truly innovative method that left me speechless for a moment, but I didn’t dislike it.

There’s no reason to dislike it if it saves time.

“Huh? Jackpot, I got a quest.”

“Wow, that was easy. No need to wait in line.”

“Dante is a real man, I admit it. This is what a game should be!”

“Let’s quickly grab all the quests and go hunting!”

The users seemed to think the same way, as they were quickly leaving the cabin.

Do-hyun was among them.

After quickly accepting the essential quests, he obtained a total of 3 quests.

[Collect Goblin Hides]

[Collect Variant Goblin Blood]

All of them were quests that could be done in parallel with goblin extermination.

Now, the preparation is complete.

As he exited the city’s outer gate into the field, a lush forest unfolded.

And above it, numerous goblins and users were gathered.

“Looking for party members!”

“Anyone want to collect hides together!”

“Looking for people to stick together until level 12. Two spots left.”

Some users were attempting solo play, but most were looking for parties.

Since it was faster and safer to party up if you were going to follow the walkthrough up to level 12 anyway.

Do-hyun, who was looking around, took out his sword from his inventory.

[Old Iron Sword]

[Grade: Common]

[Description: An old iron sword given to users who have completed the tutorial.]

[Level Restriction: 1]

[Equip Restriction: Swordsman Class]

[Physical Attack Power: 40~60]

[Durability: 50 / 50]

An iron sword given as a tutorial reward instead of a crude sword.

It was a paltry stat, but it was enough at level 1. It was much better than a crude sword.

‘I want to test things out too.’

Since he had gained a lot.

Just as he was about to search for a goblin to hunt.

“Excuse me.”

A man spoke to him.

He was quite large but had a naive impression and was a user holding a thick wooden shield.

He made eye contact and gave an awkward smile before quickly speaking.

“I saw you just arrived, and we have one spot left. Would you like to join us? The quests are the same anyway. Oh, you got all three essential quests, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s party up. We’re going to level to 12, and a 4-person party is the standard for that.”

Behind him, two more users approached.

A relatively small young man and a cute-looking young woman with bobbed hair.

“That’s right! There’s also a party bonus to experience until level 12.”

“Let’s hunt together.”

The party members each added a word to persuade him, and Do-hyun had no choice but to nod.

‘That’s right.’

Beginner City Arde.

As its name suggests, this place has generous support for beginners.

From the ease of acquiring quests to the number and respawn rate of monsters, everything was convenient, but the best benefit was the party bonus experience.

A system that supports users level 12 and below, up to a 4-person party.

With this benefit, the experience gained from hunting becomes no different from solo play.

If the contribution of hunting together is recognized, experience is calculated even for monsters hunted by party members.

‘There are plenty of monsters too.’

That was why there were so many users forming parties here.

You’d be a fool not to party up here.

Beginner City Arde was truly an extension of the tutorial, as written in the walkthrough.

Seeing this, it was a different game from Demroak.

Benefits? Adaptation?

Demroak didn’t have any of that.

Demroak was a game that threw you into enemy territory from the start and told you to find the village on your own.

‘Well, that’s why all the users from Demroak are doing combat jobs in God of Creation Online.’

Do-hyun smiled and replied.

“Okay. Let’s party.”

“Nice! You made a good choice!”

“Phew… I needed a melee dealer, so that’s a relief.”

“Why did you all have to choose ranged classes?”

“Men are archers, duh.”

“Where else can you feel so excited about using magic in virtual reality? I really wanted to use magic.”

They smiled brightly and welcomed him upon his acceptance.

They seemed to be in their early 20s and were friendly with each other, as if they were friends.

Do-hyun glanced at their weapons as they talked.

‘An archer, a mage, and a tank…’

It seemed they had quickly approached Do-hyun, who was holding a sword, because they lacked a melee damage dealer after forming their party.

Their excitement over barely completing the party exuded the innocence of newbies.

“Then, I’ll send the party invite.”

“Yes.”

[‘ShieldSupreme’ has requested to join the party.]

[Accept?]

Do-hyun pressed ‘Confirm,’ and a translucent hologram window appeared at the bottom left.

[‘ShieldSupreme’’s party is formed.]

[Party Leader]

-ShieldSupreme [LV 1]

[Party Members]

-EyebrowSnipe [Lv 1]

-YubeenKkyu [Lv 1]

-Kaiser [Lv 1]

Their game nicknames were quite unique, befitting their desired roles. It wasn’t just Do-hyun who reacted to the nicknames.

“Oh? Kaiser?”

ShieldSupreme reacted upon seeing Do-hyun’s name.

‘Ah, I heard many users from Demroak were ranked high.’

Most of them kept their names from their Demroak days.

Even though it’s forgotten now, it was natural for people to react to the name Kaiser.

However, the reaction was slightly different from what Do-hyun expected.

“Oh, Kaiser-nim [term of respect]. Are you a Kaiser fan?”

“Kaiser? Who’s that? Are they famous?”

“Ah, there was someone. The rank 1 player back in Demroak. You know God of Creation Online took a lot from Demroak, right? So, there’s a pretty big fanbase.”

“Still, Kaiser fans are rare these days. You must be a true fan to name yourself Kaiser.”

“…….”

The party members chatted comfortably, not even considering that Do-hyun might be the real Kaiser.

They treated Kaiser as if he were some relic from the past that had disappeared into history.

Do-hyun scratched his head at their reactions.

‘Well… that’s probably right.’

He would be lying if he said he wasn’t expecting anything, but this was Kaiser’s current position.

Still, it was a small comfort that he had a dedicated fanbase.

‘But if what they’re saying is true, there might be many people with the same nickname as me.’

Maybe there could be a situation where he parties up with someone who is also named Kaiser.

Do-hyun chuckled, wondering what it would feel like to meet a fake Kaiser. Meanwhile, ShieldSupreme, who seemed to have finished preparing, shouted.

“Alright, shall we go hunting?”

“Let’s quickly level up to 12.”

“Let’s go!”

The real hunt was about to begin.

* * *

Hunting targets were easy to find.

The place was full of goblins, so there was no need to go far.

The group positioned themselves in front of a group of about five goblins.

“I’ll be in the front first. Kaiser-nim, please stand next to me and act as a sub-tank and damage dealer. EyebrowSnipe and Yubeen, please deal damage from behind.”

“Okay~ I’ll snipe right at their eyebrows.”

“Okay, leave it to me!”

ShieldSupreme, who seemed to have studied hard, commanded well despite it being their first hunt.

It was a textbook hunting position. Nothing special, but it was the most basic and flawless positioning.

‘Not bad.’

Therefore, Do-hyun followed without complaint.

ShieldSupreme nodded contentedly and proudly, then slowly moved forward with his shield.

When the distance to the goblins was about 4m.

Kikik? Kik!

The goblins, who had been standing peacefully, reacted and swung the daggers in their hands.

They were typical aggro-type monsters that attacked when someone entered their range.

It would be understandable to be flustered if it were the first time, but ShieldSupreme calmly raised his shield to block.

Without stopping there, he pushed upwards and swung his shield.

Clang!

[‘ShieldSupreme’ has inflicted a status ailment on the Green Goblin.]

[The Green Goblin is stunned for 1 second.]

“I used Bash! Everyone, attack!”

It was Bash, the basic skill of shield weapons.

It was only a 1-second stun, but in a combat situation, 1 second was more than enough time.

It was difficult to hit a moving enemy, but a stationary enemy was no different from a sandbag.

“EyebrowSnipe!”

“Here I go!”

EyebrowSnipe shot an arrow as if he had been waiting, and YubeenKkyu fired a Mana Bolt.

The Green Goblin, who was focused fired upon in an instant, fell, and the goblins next to him were startled and rushed in.

Kireek! Kiek!

Kieeeek!

The target was none other than ShieldSupreme.

They were expressing their anger at losing their comrade to ShieldSupreme, who was closest to them.

He desperately raised his shield and tried to block as much as possible, but after all, he was just a level 1 user who had just changed jobs.

It couldn’t be helped that he was starting to get pushed back.

“Ugh… This is tough, hurry and catch them!”

However, in YubeenKkyu’s case, his only means of attack was Mana Bolt.

Even though its cooldown was short at 8 seconds and it was powerful, it was currently on cooldown, so it was of no help. EyebrowSnipe’s arrows alone were not enough.

What they needed now was a close-range damage dealer.

Thud! Slash-!

Kieeeek!

As Do-hyun quickly approached and slashed a goblin that was distracted, the creature foamed at the mouth and charged at him.

It seemed that it judged the situation as threatening after receiving significant damage due to the unguarded moment.

However, Do-hyun ignored it and beat up another one.

Thwack!

Kiek!! Keek!!

Then, the enraged goblins rushed at Do-hyun, but ShieldSupreme timely used ‘Bash’ [a basic shield skill that can stun enemies].

[‘ShieldSupreme’ has inflicted a status ailment on the Green Goblin.]

[The Green Goblin is stunned for 1 second.]

The goblin who was suddenly hit in the back of the head paused, and arrows were fired.

Even if they didn’t all hit, arrows were piercing its arms and legs.

With aggro [enemy focus] being divided and disrupted from both sides and arrows flying from behind, the goblins were in utter chaos.

“Kaiser, nice!”

It was only natural for ShieldSupreme, who had become more comfortable thanks to this, to give a thumbs up.

If things continued like this, they would be able to catch them without difficulty…….

[The Green Goblin has been defeated.]

[The Green Goblin has been defeated.]

[Due to contribution distribution, ‘ShieldSupreme’ acquires the Green Goblin’s hide.]

“……Huh?”

ShieldSupreme momentarily paused at the two goblins that died much faster than expected.

Come to think of it, attacks suddenly stopped coming.

‘What is it?’

Feeling something was off, he lowered his shield and saw it.

Do-hyun standing on top of the two fallen goblins, and the goblins’ aggro was entirely focused on Do-hyun.

“……What is this.”

Why was the aggro on that man who hit them once each, instead of himself, the tanker [character designed to absorb damage], or the ranged dealers?

There were only two possible scenarios for this situation.

Either he had an aggro skill or he had instantly dealt a burst of damage that threw off the balance.

Right now, not even having reached level 10, it didn’t make sense that he would have an aggro skill.

‘……Then does that mean that the damage that person dealt with each hit is stronger than all the damage we’ve dealt combined?’

To the point where all the aggro is focused on him?

……Does that even make sense?

He was momentarily stunned by the incomprehensible situation.

“Behind, behind you!”

“……Uh oh?”

ShieldSupreme, startled by EyebrowSnipe and YubeenKkyu’s shouts, turned around. At the same time, his eyes widened.

Green skin reflected in his pupils.

Kireuk, Kereuk!

Kekeke!

It was a group of as many as ten Green Goblins.

“……Crazy.”

There were still three left, and now ten more were coming?

No, why were the goblins suddenly swarming over without even encroaching on the range?

The question was resolved the moment he saw their appearance.

“……Arrows.”

A familiar arrow was stuck in the goblin’s arm.

It seemed that some of the stray arrows that EyebrowSnipe had shot in excitement had headed towards them.

It was a happening that occurred because there were so many goblins around.

‘……I was trying to hunt safely while holding onto the aggro as much as possible because of this, damn it!’

The goblins had a habit of not attacking unless they came within 5m.

That’s why it was possible to hunt safely even if there were many goblin groups around, but there was one more special situation in which those guys reacted.

That was when they received a ranged attack.

At that time, no matter how far away they were, they would run to find the user who attacked them.

“S, sorry…… I think I shot wrong. I’m really sorry. I’m sorry, Kaiser. Ah…… Why am I like this?”

“Oh no, what do we do? Shouldn’t we run away?”

EyebrowSnipe, the cause of the situation, was pale and rambling, and YubeenKkyu was pacing back and forth.

It was a situation where ShieldSupreme, the party leader, had to give some kind of instruction.

However, even though he had theoretically mastered it, this was his first time in actual combat.

Moreover, he never imagined that such a disaster would occur from the first actual battle, so he couldn’t quickly assess the situation.

“Uh…….”

Kireuk! Kereureuk!

The goblin groups were already close at hand while he was standing there blankly for a moment.

Only then did ShieldSupreme come to his senses and urgently shout.

“We can’t catch them. I’ll stun them first, so run away……!”

However, even before his orders were fully given.

Thud!

“Uh oh?”

“Wh, what……!”

Something quickly brushed past him along with the sound of kicking off the ground.

A swordsman with black hair fluttering.

It was Kaiser.