The Return Of The Genius Ranker Of All Times [EN]: Chapter 171

171.

The Troll Lair in the Blue Forest.

Having reached a relatively secluded spot among the numerous troll lairs, Do-hyun wore a satisfied expression.

“This place should do.”

-Indeed, there’s no one around. Seems like we’ve found a good spot, Master.

-Huff, huff… Too fast. Slo, slow down…

Charlie, standing side by side and wiping away sweat, and Jihad, struggling for breath a little further away.

Do-hyun, excited, hadn’t bothered to control his speed and just dashed ahead, making it hard for them to keep up.

At least Charlie, being a knight, had the stamina to endure, but Jihad, as a necromancer, was having a terrible time.

-Lizariza!

-……Lucky. I wish I could ride in your pocket too.

-Liza? Liza!

-You obviously wouldn’t fit in my pocket with your size, you idiot.

Jihad grumbled, watching Eliza smile innocently, oblivious to their struggles.

Do-hyun chuckled and took a step forward, and a message immediately popped up.

[You have entered the Troll Lair.]

A message appears, but this isn’t a dungeon.

Nor is it a hidden field. It’s just an ancillary area within the field.

Therefore, no additional benefits or surprise quests appear.

You might ask what the point of the lair is, but for those confident in their skills, it was a honey hunting ground [a place to easily gain experience and loot].

[The trolls have detected intruders. Prepare for battle.]

No need to lure monsters; they rush in to eliminate the intruders on their own.

The difficulty increases, but in other words, you can gain a lot of experience in a short amount of time.

‘This is the perfect place to experiment.’

That was why Do-hyun had come here.

There was no place as suitable as this to test the performance of Fierce Strike.

Moreover, most of Luliel’s quest materials were in the lair, making it a win-win situation.

Speak of the devil.

Kua? Kuaaa!

Kuaaaa!

Just in time, a horde of trolls spotted Do-hyun and charged at him.

Their numbers exceeded ten.

More than the lair he had visited before while doing quests.

It seemed to be a place where many trolls gathered, even among the lairs.

-Shall I summon the undead?

“No.”

-Okay.

Jihad awkwardly stepped back.

On the other hand, Do-hyun took a step forward.

Kuaaa!

That alone significantly narrowed the distance between him and the trolls.

Do-hyun took a wide step, but it was also because the trolls were so excited that they charged recklessly.

Soon, the distance narrowed to about 4 meters.

[Activating Fierce Strike.]

[The energy of Fierce Strike is imbued in the sword.]

Do-hyun’s figure moved like a blur.

Was this what it meant to fly like a butterfly and sting like a bee? The faintly scattered figure soon shot out at tremendous speed, wielding the sword.

The sword was imbued with a faint green energy.

Swish-!

One strike.

Kuaaaa-

The troll that had been cut by the sword was pushed back several steps by the pale green shockwave that erupted from the blade.

Do-hyun took another step forward.

Then, the sword was swung again.

Two strikes.

[You have defeated a troll from the lair.]

He cut down the troll with two slashes.

Then, he cut down the troll that popped out behind it again.

This time, it took two slashes as well.

But then.

[Four strikes are stacked.]

[Damage is stacked.]

[The Fierce Strike’s movement distance increases according to the stack.]

[You can continue the Fierce Strike if used within 1 second.]

Swish- Kuaaa!

Five strikes.

[You have defeated a troll from the lair.]

The troll died with a single slash.

The sword, now turned yellow, possessed a different aura than before.

From then on, a rampage began.

Swish! Swish-

Seven strikes, nine strikes, twelve strikes…

Trolls died each time the sword was swung and advanced.

That was all there was to it.

Even if a few trolls, enraged by the death of their comrades, charged at him, they simply became cold corpses as he slashed past them.

[You have defeated a troll from the lair.]

[The trolls have detected intruders. Prepare for battle.]

Before he knew it, the trolls that numbered over ten were all dead, and new trolls rushed in instantly.

Nothing changed.

No, it got even worse.

Whoosh-

Kua?

Now, Do-hyun’s Fierce Strike had reached the point where it could instantly slash through a distance of over 4 meters.

The one step that was only a foot away had now become a charging slash.

[Maximum stack reached.]

[Movement distance is at maximum. It will not increase further.]

[It will be reset if the attack is blocked or fails.]

[The fierce energy of the sword reaches its maximum and turns red.]

One shot, one kill!

No, beyond one kill, he was cutting down two trolls with one strike, and before he knew it, Do-hyun had become an unstoppable destruction tank.

Was this what a runaway 8-ton truck would be like?

Bang! Crash! Swish- Thud!

Originally, it was a skill that knocked back the target and continued fierce strikes, but now it was just a mob-slaughtering technique.

Charlie clicked his tongue as he watched Do-hyun madly sweep through the trolls in the lair.

-That fierce momentum… It’s definitely the swordsmanship used by the commander of the enemy’s knight order in the past.

-What, you know about that?

-It’s from a kingdom that has now perished and disappeared. Although he was a general who ultimately lost the war, no one could stop that man’s momentum.

-Oh…?

-Many tried to imitate him, but no one has ever used his swordsmanship so wonderfully. Just how far does the Master’s potential reach? The speed at which he grows is simply astonishing.

Blood splattered and trolls died each time the red energy was scattered.

Enemies blocking the way were all cut down and he continued to advance endlessly.

Looking at that figure, it felt like facing the slaughter demon he had seen on the battlefield in the past once again.

He had heard that some of his forgotten swordsmanship had been spread to the apostles, but facing it like this felt strange.

‘Hmm.’

Do-hyun, hearing the story as he slashed through the trolls, showed interest.

The slaughter demon of the battlefield.

The swordsmanship of the knight commander of a destroyed kingdom…

‘The secret swordsmanship of the current NPCs can’t be learned through skill draws.’

If that were possible, why would users bother becoming disciples of NPCs [Non-player characters]?

Is the skill of a dead NPC an exception?

Heroic-grade skills often displayed considerable power, and perhaps their origin was the skills of past heroes who had died or been forgotten.

It wasn’t just Do-hyun’s speculation.

There had been a discussion on this topic in the community, which liked to talk about such useless subjects.

One of the arguments that came up at that time was the theory that the user’s skills were the skills of past heroes.

‘I ended up proving that argument.’

It was interesting, but that was it.

Do-hyun chuckled and took another step forward, swinging his sword again.

Whoosh-

“Ah.”

Do-hyun paused as he watched the sword swing through the air without hitting anything.

Before he knew it, all the enemies had disappeared.

[Fierce Strike could not be activated within 1 second.]

[Fierce Strike is stopped.]

[Most of the trolls in the lair have been eliminated.]

‘To almost wipe out the lair with just one skill. It’s really broken [overpowered].’

Seeing that there were no more trolls, they must be hiding or not coming out due to terrain issues.

If all the trolls had come out, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he could wipe out an entire lair with just one skill.

‘Bora would have been so greedy for it.’

It was a perfect skill for Bora.

Bora was the most powerful in Dem Locke in terms of burst damage and raw stats.

If Bora had used Fierce Strike…

‘Ugh, that’s terrible.’

All those trolls would have become users.

Anyway, he had properly enjoyed the effects of Fierce Strike.

Now, all that was left was to clear the troll lair in earnest and collect materials.

At this rate, he could finish all the grind quests in an even shorter time than two weeks.

‘Alright, let’s go.’

It was when Do-hyun, with his momentum, was striding forward.

Ding-

[10 seconds of connection time remaining.]

[The connection will be terminated shortly. Please take refuge in a safe place.]

“……”

Do-hyun, pausing at the message that popped up without a sense of timing, scratched his head.

He felt the enthusiasm that had surged up a moment ago quickly fading away. Well, considering he had been playing for an hour, he had more than gotten his money’s worth.

[Ending RCD video recording.]

“My time’s up. I’m going to lo…”

-Okay. Go safely, Master.

-Let’s rest now too.

-Lizariza!

Do-hyun was logged out as his words were cut off, but Charlie, Jihad, and Eliza, who were used to it, coolly accepted his farewell and entered the Guardian Room.

Poosh-

“Today was another fulfilling day.”

Do-hyun, stretching as the capsule opened, wore a satisfied smile.

He always felt good on days when he drew good skills.

After stretching his body a bit and coming out to the living room, he saw Hyun-ah leaning against the sofa and squatting down, watching TV.

Do-hyun frowned at that.

‘I suddenly feel terrible.’

Hyun-ah’s shy face as she asked for his autograph popped into his head.

Do-hyun, recalling something terrible, scrunched up his face, and Hyun-ah, who met his eyes, made a similar expression.

“What are you doing? Why are you making your ugly face even uglier?”

“I saw something too terrible today.”

“A mirror?”

“I’m going to kill you.”

Do-hyun, exchanging pleasantries (?) as usual, quenched his parched throat with water.

As expected, a cool glass of water after playing a game was the best.

It was then.

“When will Kaiser’s video be uploaded?”

“Pfft!”

“Hey, what are you doing! Why are you spitting water so disgustingly!?”

“No, I, I choked. More importantly, why Kaiser’s video?”

Do-hyun, spitting out water at the sudden remark, asked in a flustered manner.

Then, Hyun-ah flipped her hair back and answered confidently.

“Ah~ I saw Kaiser today. I watched him take down a field boss live? Aren’t you jealous? His control was insane.”

“……Re, really? Didn’t you not like Kaiser very much? You preferred Vergera.”

“Well… It’s not that I didn’t like him, but I wasn’t very interested.”

“Then why suddenly?”

“Seeing him in person, I understood why Min and Soo-yeon were always singing Kaiser, Kaiser.”

Hyun-ah, with eyes filled with emotion as if reminiscing about what had just happened, continued excitedly.

“And Vergera’s image has been a bit tarnished lately, so he’s been losing popularity? Well, there are still a lot of kids who like him because of his face, but I’m not really into him anymore? Kaiser is more manly and cool.”

“You crazy…”

“What? Why are you suddenly swearing?”

“No, it’s nothing. Kaiser is cool. Manly.”

“Right?”

Did Hyun-ah know?

That she was praising her brother as cool with her own mouth. It was when he was once again vowing to never get caught.

“Ah!”

Hyun-ah, as if suddenly remembering something, changed her attitude.

She had been praising Kaiser just a moment ago, but suddenly she was frowning.

“But I think Kaiser has a bad personality.”

“……? There’s no way?”

“No. I definitely heard it. When I asked for his autograph, he swore at me? I guess the rumor that he crushes anyone who gets on his nerves is true.”

“E, eh. You must have misheard. Or maybe he swore because of something else and the timing was just right? Maybe you’re being too sensitive.”

“Really? No… But why are you defending him? You’re not one to defend anyone. Unless it’s with a shield.”

Then, Hyun-ah stared at him suspiciously.

Do-hyun, realizing he had slipped up, shut his mouth.

Vibration-

At that moment, his phone vibrated.

[Kwak Jae-yeol: Wow! I saw Kaiser!]

[Kim Doo-hyung: It was insane. I really want the video to be uploaded soon. Wow……]

[Kim Hyun-soo: Guys, congratulate me. From today, Jong-hyun will also be joining our King God General Kaiser Punch guild.

[Yoo Jong-hyun: I couldn’t help it. Kaiser seduced me too much. That charming man……]

[Kim Doo-hyung: Crazy lol]

[Kwak Jae-yeol: But what’s Do-hyun doing? Isn’t he acting suspicious these days? He doesn’t talk much.]

[Kim Doo-hyung: True. He gets quiet especially when Kaiser is mentioned. Is there something going on between him and Kaiser?]

Do-hyun swallowed hard as he looked at Hyun-ah, who was tightening the noose around him, and his friends.

‘……Am I screwed?’