The Return Of The Genius Ranker Of All Times [EN]: Chapter 172

172.

Never had I been this nervous before.

Even when I faced the first Legendary Named Dragon on the server, I didn’t feel this tense. My parched throat was barely moistened by dry saliva when Hyun-ah, who had been staring at me, finally spoke.

“Oppa, by any chance…”

“Are you a Kaiser fan?”

“No. Absolutely not… Huh?”

Do-hyun, who had vehemently denied it as a knee-jerk reaction, paused.

It wasn’t the question he had expected. On the other hand, Hyun-ah seemed taken aback by Do-hyun’s strong denial and continued.

“Oh, really? You were defending him like crazy, and the way you talk reminds me of Min-i, so I thought you were a fan… Never mind then. Why are you being so defensive?”

“Oh… well, I’m not exactly a fan. I just think of him favorably. I saw him often in Demonic Realm, after all.”

“Oh, right, you played Demonic Realm, Oppa. Didn’t you say you were friends with Kaiser?”

“Not really. Kaiser probably doesn’t know me.”

Do-hyun, having vaguely turned the conversation, seized the opportunity to leave.

“I should go to sleep. I’m too tired.”

“Already? You’re so good at keeping a regular schedule. Gamers usually have their days and nights mixed up, but why are you so diligent even though you only play games? You could have gone to Harvard if you studied like that.”

‘That’s why I became number one in the game.’

Do-hyun, who couldn’t bring himself to say those words out loud, answered vaguely and went into his room.

Then, he leaned against the door for a moment, listening, before finally exhaling.

“Hoo…”

‘Is this what it means to feel like you’ve aged ten years in one moment?’

That really startled me.

‘So she heard that.’

I thought I had gotten away with it because she didn’t seem to hear, but it turns out she heard it and couldn’t believe her ears.

Do-hyun decided to be more careful in the future and entered the group chat.

[Kim Hyun-soo: What would there be ㅋㅋㅋ He’s just jealous.]

[Kwak Jae-yeol: True. He played Demonic Realm like crazy. He might be a Kaiser fan.]

[Yoo Jong-hyun: Nah, I think Kaiser PKed [Player Killed] him in Demonic Realm. He grinds his teeth whenever Kaiser’s name comes up.]

[Kwak Jae-yeol: Oh, right ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ That must be it]

[Kim Doo-hyung: Seriously, how could he play that trash game for so long? Kaiser is something else, but he’s also amazing.]

[Yoo Jong-hyun: When are we meeting up, though? Do-hyun’s back from the military, we should all get together.]

[Kwak Jae-yeol: That’s right. Let’s set a date.]

Fortunately, the guys seemed to have moved on without much suspicion.

‘Well, they’ve never met him, so there’s no reason for them to be suspicious.’

‘I should see them sometime.’

I used to meet them often before I went to the military.

Considering it’s already been almost a month since I was discharged, it’s about time to see them.

Do-hyun, having decided to set a date sometime, scrolled through his phone screen.

[Kaiser TV]

[Subscribers: 6.987 million]

The number of subscribers is rapidly increasing, already approaching 7 million.

The views have all exceeded ten million and are heading towards twenty million.

The comments were also filled with praise.

Of course, as the number of fans increases, so do the haters. Some netizens, filled with jealousy, left malicious comments, but…

-Kaiserian believers, over here! This person has insulted our god!

-Blinded by jealousy, they did something they shouldn’t have. What a foolish person!

-The High Church will not forgive you.

-Beware of the night fields. -Kaiserian Church-

-Are these crazy bastards… Do you go crazy when you join the Kaiserian Church? Or do crazy people join the Kaiserian Church?

-I don’t know. Isn’t it like the chicken or the egg?

Our reliable Kaiserian Church members were taking care of those people.

‘One of Hyun-ah’s friends is among them, right?’

It was a little creepy to think about, but there was no reason to think negatively since they were on my side.

Some of it might be semi-serious since it has become a kind of meme [an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, especially imitation].

Anyway, the upward trend is extraordinary.

Considering that I haven’t achieved anything since coming to Frathel, winning first place in Sargis must have had a significant impact.

‘How much revenue is this generating?’

There would be variations, but I heard that a video of this length roughly generates 6 to 12 won [Korean currency, approximately $0.0047 to $0.0094 USD] per view.

Do-hyun clicked his tongue at the amount, which was roughly over a hundred million won [approximately $78,000 USD].

‘Is it okay to make money this easily?’

I still have 30 million won [approximately $23,500 USD] stacked up in my bank account from selling items appropriately.

I’ve achieved a lot, but compared to my Demonic Realm days, it’s a drop in the bucket, yet the revenue is dozens of times higher.

‘What should I do with the money I earn? A gift for Mom and… Dad said he’s coming back soon, so I should get him a gift too.’

And there’s still money left over.

It’s not enough to buy a house… should I buy a car?

Do-hyun, smiling at the mere thought, turned off his phone screen.

‘I need to work on the video.’

What other job is this rewarding?

Reflecting on his past self who hated editing, he energetically began editing the field boss hunting video.

He’s somewhat adapted now, so it didn’t take as long as before.

It also helps that there’s less to edit.

Do-hyun, who finished it in less than two hours, uploaded it and flopped onto the bed.

“Wow! The video’s already up! I wonder if I’m in it? Oh, but I’d be blurred out anyway.”

Then, Hyun-ah’s voice came from outside the door.

‘Is this what they call uncomfortable cohabitation?’

I can’t let my identity be revealed.

The one hiding his identity and the one who knows nothing.

The uncomfortable cohabitation of two people begins!

Do-hyun, who had quickly come up with a movie poster tagline, glanced at his phone screen, which was vibrating incessantly.

[Kwak Jae-yeol: The video’s up!! Everyone check it out quickly!]

[Kim Doo-hyung: Wow… It’s amazing even in the video. We witnessed that in person?]

[Yoo Jong-hyun: Kaiser Punch! Kaiser Punch! Kaiser Punch!]

Do-hyun, watching his friends’ non-stop chatter in the preview, threw his phone behind him.

‘We’re supposed to see each other soon, but I don’t have the confidence.’

‘I don’t know.’

Do-hyun, whose head was hurting from thinking more, entrusted himself to the blanket with a ‘whatever will be, will be’ attitude.

That’s how a week passed.

* * *

Various topics were being discussed in the God of War Online community, and among them, there was always talk about Kaiser.

From the Kaiserian Church to Kaiser anti-fans, to people who weren’t interested at all.

Since he always brought up topics of conversation, many different kinds of people ended up talking together.

-Isn’t Kaiser doing the main quest by any chance?

The recent hot topic was none other than the main quest.

Since Kaiser was playing a different game by himself, it was a topic that was bound to come up at some point.

-Huh? What main quest? Barion said there’s no such thing.

-What’s with the main quest drivel ㅋㅋㅋㅋ If there was such a thing, it would have been solved by now. Do the top 10 guilds and the Adventure King title look like jokes to you?

It had been 1 year and 6 months since the game was released.

In a game played by 1 billion people, no one had even found a clue to the main quest.

How could Kaiser, who had just started, be clearing it?

That’s why everyone thought it was strange, but they thought, ‘No way~’ But recently, the atmosphere had changed a little.

-It’s generally accepted that the main quest hasn’t been solved yet… But to be honest, it’s suspicious.

└True, the Contractor video and the fact that he’s playing a different game by himself, does that make sense?

└The production in the Brion section can’t be explained by anything other than the main quest.

└What, so Kaiser is the first to be doing the main quest?

└I’m not saying it’s definitely the case, but it’s suspicious.

The shapes of the last monsters shown in the Contractor video.

The battle with the bizarre humanoid boss that no one had ever seen before.

All the other things, like playing a different game by himself and his abnormal stats, added credibility to the theory that it was all due to the main quest.

-I heard that the top 100 guilds are assuming that Kaiser is doing the main quest and are investigating everything from Raven to Brion.

└The Phoenix Guild and the Baekdu Mountain Guild have also moved.

└I heard that some explorers from the top 10 guilds were seen staying near there?

└Wow… Are the top 10 guilds also getting involved?

└To be honest, they’re focusing on the New Continent, but it’s still concerning. The guild among the top 10 that gets the main quest will rise to a unique position.

└True, they can’t do anything to Kaiser right now, and it wouldn’t save face, so they’re just watching. They’ll probably approach him as soon as he comes to the Empire ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└It’s fortunate that Kaiser has taken a position of not joining a guild. Otherwise, there could have been a real war.

And the guilds felt the same way.

No, rather, because they were guilds, they couldn’t help but be more sensitive to this.

The result was that they were finding and investigating the paths that Kaiser had taken as much as possible.

-I wonder what will happen.

-What if we find out about the main quest first?

-Then you’ll either get killed or scouted. And realistically, how can you find it before them ㅋㅋㅋ It’s best to just watch while eating popcorn.

For ordinary users who thought that the main quest was someone else’s business anyway, it couldn’t be more exciting.

Naturally, attention was bound to be focused on Kaiser’s actions.

-So what is Kaiser doing now?

-I heard he was being scolded by Ruriel?

-Wow, that old hag is giving advice to a god. That’s too much.

-Ruriel? Who’s that?

-There’s a wandering NPC [Non-Player Character] in Frathel.

-But I heard there’s a rumor that he got a quest from her. He’s been hunting all week, meeting Ruriel, and repeating the process.

└Ruriel gave a quest? She’s never given a quest, even though she curses a lot, right?

└Huh? Could it be… Is this also a main quest?

└Huh??

And at the moment when that interest was reaching its peak.

-Hey, crazy!! This isn’t the time to worry about that!

-Wow, crazy! The Hero Guild did something big!

A bombshell exploded from an unexpected place.

-Hero Guild, why, what is it? Did another meme explode?

└ㅋㅋㅋㅋ I knew they’d get reported someday.

-No, it’s not that. Quickly go look at the Hero Guild’s announcement. I warned you. I’m going first!

-What could it be that’s making him like this… Huh? Huh?

-헐…? Is this real?

One announcement officially posted by the Hero Guild.

[Our Hero Guild has spent over 6 months…(omitted) …discovered the hidden piece called Luidra Raid for the first time in the world…(omitted) …and is recruiting an attack force for anyone who wants to atone for past mistakes.]

The contents of the announcement, which had a very long introduction, were each a nuclear missile in themselves.

-A hidden raid boss…?

-Only 15 people can participate in the boss raid, and 100 people can participate in the attack force? Crazy… Isn’t that the largest scale in Frathel?

-Wow, I wondered why they were so desperate for field bosses, but it was because of this.

The world’s first discovery of Frathel’s hidden raid boss.

A large-scale event with only 15 people participating in the boss raid and 100 people participating in the attack force.

That alone was shocking, but what was even more surprising was the last phrase.

-What? Anyone can participate?

-They say it’s to compensate for the unintentional damage they’ve caused?

-Wow… I see Verze in a different light. He looks even more radiant today.

-Is this the master of dating sims…? He’s stealing my heart like this.

-I guess I’m the one who’s gay for Verze…?

-Crazy… The rewards for participating in the attack force in the Adventure Book alone are amazing! I have to participate in this no matter what!

They had made a declaration to form an attack force not only with guild members but also with ordinary users.

Moreover, the conditions were broad, allowing anyone to participate as long as they exceeded the level limit!

-Shout it out! God Verze!

-I’m a Verze fan from today!

-So what if he’s a dating sim guy! I, Gil Bok-dong, acknowledge him!

It was enough to drive the users crazy, and it was more than enough to turn public sentiment around.

-So when are they recruiting? In 2 hours?

-I’m screwed. I’m going to get in line right away.

-They say lining up is prohibited. They’re going to open it in the center of the city at the exact time to give everyone a fair chance.

-Wow, I have a chance to participate in a raid? I’m so excited.

-Ah… When will the time come? 1 minute feels like 1 hour.

As if they had ever talked about Kaiser, everyone was focused on the Luidra attack force, the first raid boss in Frathel.

Right now, all they had in their heads was Luidra.

While everyone’s attention was focused elsewhere.

“What, you’re already back? You brought everything I told you to bring. Good job.”

“…Is that all? You don’t have anything else to order?”

Do-hyun was handing over the material items to the wandering NPC, Ruriel, and getting his quest checked.

Waiting for the answer with nervous eyes for a few seconds.

Ruriel nodded with a satisfied face.

“Good, that’s enough. I thought two weeks was fast, but you brought it all in a week… Were you that desperate?”

[You have cleared the quest ‘Ruriel’s Condition (7)’.]

[You have completed all of Ruriel’s conditions and satisfied her.]

[The linked quest ‘Angela’s Secret’ has been generated.]

‘Finally!’

At the same time, Do-hyun clenched his fist at the phrase that appeared, and Ruriel, grinning, turned around.

“Follow me. I have something to show you.”

After enduring for a week.

The time had come to hear about Angela.