The Return Of The Genius Ranker Of All Times [EN]: Chapter 170

170.

The Ten Cards shimmered into existence amidst the dazzling light.

“Ah……”

Do-hyun sighed as he looked them over.

The brilliant gold he had hoped for was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, there were three dung-colored cards, four silver ones, and three yellow ones.

Before, he would have been happy to see three yellow cards, but the human mind is a funny thing.

Once you’ve pulled a Legend, yellow just doesn’t cut it anymore.

‘They say the probability increases as you level up.’

Not all Random Skill Tickets are created equal.

The grade probabilities of a Random Skill Ticket given at level 10 and one given at level 50 are clearly different.

It was designed so that higher-grade skills would appear as you reached higher levels.

That was why there were hardly any low-level users with Legend-grade skills.

‘The real jackpot is the Random Skill Tickets you get from achieving Hidden Pieces or quests… but there’s no way those would be available at low levels.’

That’s what made it even more disappointing.

The probability would have been even higher than at level 50.

And with the Eye of Truth, he had reason to have realistic expectations.

‘Oh well.’

He was a little annoyed at the Legend card for being so elusive, but what could he do?

Still, it was fortunate that at least two Hero-grade cards had appeared. It made choosing which card to pick a little easier this time.

The two cards were right next to each other on the left.

When he chose the one on the far left, a yellow light burst out.

Ting-

[You have acquired the Hero skill ‘Fierce Strike’.]

‘Huh? A Swordsman skill?’

What do you know?

He hadn’t expected much from a yellow card, but a Swordsman skill had appeared.

Sword Aura was Do-hyun’s bread-and-butter skill, but Fierce Strike was also one of his favorite skills.

In fact, in terms of frequency of use, Fierce Strike was even higher.

That was only natural.

[Fierce Strike]

-Grade: Hero

-Restriction: Swordsman Class

-Description: A swordsman’s technique to break through thousands of troops to save allies on a blood-soaked battlefield.

The fierce attack of a swordsman who has unleashed a terrible fighting spirit cannot be stopped by anyone.

-Effect: Slices while sliding forward.

The power and moving distance increase as the slash continues, and it continues unless the attack is interrupted or all mana is exhausted.

-Cooldown: 40 seconds

Fierce Strike.

A skill that allows you to fiercely advance and cut down enemies, just as the name suggests.

This skill, like a destructive tank, had many uses as both a movement skill and an attack skill.

It was especially useful when dealing with multiple enemies, and there was nothing more terrifying than a swordsman who had maxed out their stats with in-game purchases running with Fierce Strike.

‘There’s a reason they called it the siege warfare’s destructive tank.’

There were even tank-like swordsmen who focused their skill tree entirely on this.

In the case of Do-hyun and Sword Emperor, they focused more on the utility, and whenever they did, Uncle Bora would always smack his lips.

-If I were a swordsman, I wouldn’t use it like that… Why did that precious skill go to a swordsman like you?

-If Uncle had it, wouldn’t it be too unbalanced? It seems like you wouldn’t need any control.

-I know, you gotta draw the line at being a free rider [someone who benefits without contributing]. Commoners like me have to push through with raw stats, you know? Ah, that’s perfect…….

A skill with reliable performance that Uncle Bora coveted.

It was a welcome thing that it had appeared.

But in life, if there are good things, bad things are bound to happen.

[Skill slots are full and cannot be equipped.]

[Please unequip a skill.]

‘Ah, is it already full?’

As with all RPGs [Role Playing Games], there are skill slots, and God of Se’s skill slots are limited to 13.

Usually, you barely fill them all after graduating from Fratell… Do-hyun was only level 60, but his skill slots were already screaming.

Well, how many skill cards had Do-hyun obtained?

It was only natural, since he had a plethora of skill cards from monopolizing Hidden Pieces.

‘Oh well. It’ll be a little easier later on…….’

Do-hyun clicked his tongue and unequipped a skill.

There happened to be a suitable skill.

[Unequip the Normal skill ‘Dash Slash’.]

[Equip [Fierce Strike] to the skill slot.]

Because there was Dash Slash, the perfect lower-grade version of Fierce Strike.

Even back in his Demonic Knight days, Dash Slash was a skill that he would use briefly before discarding it once he obtained Fierce Strike.

In fact, most Normal skills were like that.

Later on, it was common to have at least Rare-grade skills, and even Hero and Legend-grade skills.

Normal skills were a grade created for beginners to use briefly and then discard.

‘Okay, then…….’

He had received the quest and solved the skill slot issue.

‘Shall we test out Fierce Strike after a long time?’

It was only right to use a skill once you’ve acquired it.

Do-hyun, who happened to glance up at the Lantern Festival ending, quickly ran out into the field before more people left.

* * *

Meanwhile, at that moment, in the Hero Guild’s office.

Thump!

As Verze slammed his desk again today without fail, people hurriedly moved out of the way.

Even the chief, who was working, cautiously glanced around and left.

Before he knew it, Verze was left alone.

The atmosphere was very different from before.

The guild members who glanced at Verze through the window whispered.

“……Doesn’t it seem like the guild leader has been getting angrier lately?”

“Yeah……. He used to be so composed.”

“He’s been a bit sensitive since Brion lost first place. He foams at the mouth whenever Kaiser’s name comes up.”

“Well, if you look at the community forums, they compare him every time. Visual novel this and that……. *cough*.”

“Hey, hey, don’t laugh. Be careful, you’ll get fired if he hears you.”

The guild members hurriedly looked around and cautiously left.

As they said, the Hero Guild’s status was not the same as before.

Once the only guild to have achieved first place, surpassing the top ranks of the 100 Great Guilds.

A hero who saves those suffering from villains.

One of the Five Great Handsome Men of God of Se.

One of the few guilds to challenge the Ten Great Guilds.

“……Damn it.”

Those splendid titles were being tarnished by Kaiser alone.

Now, he was more often called the ‘visual novel guy’, which had become a meme [an image, video, piece of text, etc., typically humorous in nature, that is copied and spread rapidly by Internet users].

This wouldn’t do.

How could the leader of the Hero Guild, who made a living off the image of a hero, win people’s hearts if he was called a ‘visual novel guy’?

“Again, is it you, Kaiser?”

Gritting his teeth.

That’s why he had been working day and night to restore his image.

No matter what Verze did, he couldn’t shake off the tags ‘Kaiser does it too?’ ‘Verze is just under Kaiser, isn’t he?’ ‘Verze? Visual novel guy?’

The speed at which he became a meme was faster than the speed at which he recovered his image.

It took more than a year to build a solid castle, but it collapsed in an instant.

“Hoo……. Damn community.”

It was an unfair situation for Verze.

He had just been standing still, so why should he be ridiculed out of the blue?

It was all because of the development of damn social media.

But in fact, that wasn’t the only reason.

-Ah, honestly, I didn’t like the Hero Guild acting all high and mighty, so it’s good to see them get what they deserve.

-LOL [laughing out loud], seriously. I was dumbfounded every time they controlled the boss and killed them all while manipulating public opinion so well that people sucked up to them.

└Only those who have experienced it know. How much of a thug the Hero Guild is. They’re really low-class guys.

-Still, it’s refreshing to see them defeat villains. And above all, they’re handsome.

-Yeah, but they’re still visual novel gay guys~

-No, LOL, the visual novel meme just doesn’t stop. There’s even a Verze visual novel comic in the community.

└I saw it, LOL. It’s really crazy, aren’t they going to get sued?

└Yeah, Verze has every right to report them.

People who had always disliked the Hero Guild took this opportunity to pounce on them.

They just hadn’t dared to touch them individually because of their status.

Now that they were being publicly criticized, they had reached the stage of sublimating their courage into fun.

It could be seen as Verze’s karma for not hesitating to commit evil deeds to create his current position.

“Was he just lucky? How could he find it first?”

In that situation, Kaiser was blocking his path again, so Verze was furious.

He didn’t even have the Slayer trait, so how could he take over the field boss?

This field boss control was a control that Verze had taken a lot of risks for.

Even though he knew that controlling it recklessly in the current situation would damage his image, he had to catch the field boss, Troll King 200, no matter what.

‘It’s going to be delayed by another day.’

What would have been over in about a week was going to be delayed further.

The reason why Verze was so attached to this.

There was only one reason.

“……It’s me. How is the Luidra Raid Team quest going?”

-Yes, Guild Leader. As you said, we are proceeding secretly with only the elite members, without the help of sub-guilds or guild members. We should be able to finish it in about a week and start recruiting members for the raid team.

The Luidra Raid Team quest.

A Hidden Piece that he had accidentally obtained, as if it were a stroke of luck.

Based on that, Verze had invested six months of his time and finally obtained the first Hidden Quest.

One of the many conditions for proceeding with it was the title ‘One Who Has Earned the King’s Grudge,’ which could only be obtained by killing the same field boss 200 times.

That’s why he had been controlling the boss and information while being cursed so much.

And now it was time to reap the rewards.

“Good. Make sure there are no mistakes. There’s a lot at stake in this raid.”

-Yes. But…… Is it really okay to make the recruitment target ‘anyone’?

“It doesn’t matter. After all, only our Hero Guild raid team will enter the Luidra raid. They are just there to fill the required number of raid team members.”

-Ah…….

Not only that.

They will also act as messengers.

They will spread the news that the Hero Guild has raided Luidra.

‘Cover up the controversy with controversy. Cover up sensational articles with more sensational articles.’

That was the most basic principle when dealing with public opinion.

The reason why Verze was being memed like that right now was simply because there was no sensational source to divert attention.

The Luidra Raid Team was perfect as that source.

Moreover.

He could also gain a good image by being thanked for allowing them to participate in such an important quest.

Originally, people think that even if someone who has done bad things a hundred times does one or two good things, they are ‘not really that bad’.

‘If we detonate Fratell’s Luidra Raid Team and ‘that’ which is in progress in the Empire…….’