The Return Of The Genius Ranker Of All Times [EN]: Chapter 182

182.

I moved on coolly, but Do-hyun wasn’t acting without a plan.

The message that popped up when he encountered Ruideura mentioned achieving a hidden condition.

It clearly displayed the titles ‘Savior of the Forgotten Specter’ and ‘Apostle of Prophecy.’

Since Do-hyun is the Apostle of Prophecy, the Savior of the Forgotten Specter must be those guys from the Hero Guild.

‘Forgotten Specter, huh… Considering their reaction when they took the Ember, were they also aiming for the Ember instead of the conquest? But the route is different, so that can’t be.’

Rather, it’s the opposite role.

In other words, it was more reasonable to assume they were either focusing on the conquest or trying to eliminate the Ember.

Whatever it was, there was no way to know for sure right now.

[How is it, my paradise? It is a swamp of nightmares just for you.]

Instead of wasting time on things he didn’t know the answer to, it would be far more productive to pay attention to Ruideura, who was smiling leisurely in front of him.

It was then.

Ruideura, who was slowly approaching, tilted his head slightly as if something was strange.

[Hmm…? You’re a peculiar one. It’s strange that you’re resisting the Nightmare’s Mark, but you’re not taking any damage.]

Originally, those who entered the Swamp of Nightmares should slowly wither away.

The countless energies of death sleeping in the Swamp of Nightmares should slowly erode the body, causing it to rot and decay.

Being unable to inflict any fatal wounds on oneself, and self-destructing.

That was the Dream Witch’s gift to those who entered the Swamp of Nightmares.

But this human was not only nullifying mental manipulation but also taking no damage from the energy of death.

There was only one reason.

[The Venom King’s constitution is activated due to continuous damage from a single attack.]

[Saturation considers continuous damage as poison.]

[You are immune to poison due to the effect of Impregnable.]

The Venom King’s constitution, received from the Dark King Haar, was blocking the damage.

‘It’s really useful.’

It was truly an option worthy of being called legendary.

At the same time, it was also absurd.

‘But with invulnerability to fatal wounds and continuous damage, isn’t this basically a guaranteed win if you bring it along?’

There was no such thing as a free ride with a cheat-like trait like this.

If he didn’t have the Hero Trait and the Venom King’s constitution, he would have been helpless and met his death.

It was essentially a boss designed to prevent solo raids.

A boss designed to be raided by multiple people, but now it was a meaningless design.

‘But it’s all gone now?’

All those amazing cheat abilities had been nullified.

[Thousand Transformations is transforming into the ‘Azure Sword of Radiant Taxinel’.]

‘Ah, I really have no choice.’

I was hesitant because boss stealing didn’t seem right.

But since they said no one could escape unless someone died, I had no choice.

I couldn’t just die quietly.

Do-hyun raised the Thousand Transformations, which was transforming into a blue sword, and smirked.

“Ah, I really didn’t want to catch it. I really have no choice but to catch it.”

-……Master, you’re drooling. Shouldn’t you lower your lips a bit when you talk?

-Lizariza…….

-……I didn’t see anything, my lord.

This is an act of God.

Do-hyun squeezed his eyes shut at the unfortunate situation.

‘The boss’s first kill benefit was definitely a guaranteed equipment item, right? If it’s an 18-person raid boss, how many pieces of equipment will there be?’

While imagining the splendor of the radiant equipment.

* * *

Meanwhile, while Do-hyun was busy drooling for an unavoidable reason.

The Hero Guild’s broadcast, which was taking place in Ruideura’s habitat, was in chaos.

-No, are you guys really crazy? LOLOLOLOL

-Boss kidnapping, is this real? LOLOLOL

-What’s going on? I just came in, what’s the situation? I heard Kaiser appeared, but why can’t I see anything?

-There is such a thing LOLOLOL Wow, I didn’t see that. What were you doing until now, tsk tsk, you missed out on life.

-I agree. Not seeing this is a huge loss.

-No, what is it? What’s so great about it? Someone summarize it.

-To summarize, as soon as the Hero Guild started the raid, Kaiser appeared while Hero Landing. Then, suddenly, a hidden phase was activated, and the boss kidnapped Kaiser.

-……? What the hell does that even mean?

-LOLOLOL It sounds like nonsense when you hear it like that, but the fact that it’s true is hilarious.

The chats were going up like crazy.

[Number of viewers: 71.83 million]

And the number of viewers was rising like crazy.

At this rate, achieving the target of 100 million viewers was a foregone conclusion, but Jerpak was not happy at all.

Far from being happy, he was very uneasy.

Jerpak swallowed hard as he looked at Verze in his friend list, whose whisper mute was on.

‘……Should I not unmute it?’

He didn’t have the confidence to unmute it.

He knew without looking what kind of noise he would hear. It would be a huge mess.

But he was Verze’s subordinate.

As someone who aspired to be a top executive, he couldn’t just ignore it.

Otherwise, he might bear the brunt of his anger.

‘Oh well, I don’t know.’

It’s better to get scolded sooner rather than later.

After much deliberation, when he released the mute button, he immediately heard a scream that struck his eardrums.

[Verze: Aaaaaaa!!!! Kaiser, that son of a bitch!!!]

[Verze: What? Kidnapping? Did he have a grudge against me in his past life or something, Kaiser! How many people are there, and no one could stop that!]

‘…….’

……I think I shouldn’t have unmuted it.

Jerpak, who swallowed dryly, was about to put his hand on the mute button when.

[Verze: Hooo……. Jerpak.]

“Ah, no!”

[Verze: ? What’s not?]

“……It’s nothing. What’s wrong, Master?”

Jerpak, who was startled by Verze’s cold voice, quickly changed the subject.

Fortunately, Verze didn’t ask any further questions and continued to speak.

[Verze: I unintentionally showed a disgraceful side.]

“No. What should we do now? Should we summon the guild members?”

[Verze: I was a little excited, but the situation is not all that bad.]

“Yes?”

Jerpak tilted his head as if he didn’t understand.

The raid strategy that he had prepared for six months was being ridiculed as a boss kidnapping, so how could this not be bad?

It didn’t make sense from a common-sense perspective, but Verze’s way of thinking, which was specialized in this field, was different from others.

[Verze: Think about it, Jerpak. Being kidnapped means he inevitably has to go one-on-one with Ruideura.]

“……Yes.”

[Verze: Realistically, what are the chances that Kaiser, that son of a……. ahem. That man will catch Ruideura in a one-on-one fight?]

“Ah.”

Come to think of it, that was true.

Raid bosses are on a different level from other bosses.

As many people can be mobilized, they are at least several times stronger and tougher than ordinary dungeon bosses.

Furthermore, Ruideura is a raid boss with the modifiers ‘Named’ and ‘Hidden’.

[Verze: Such a boss has even activated a hidden phase. Our proud executives were barely able to hold on, but you’re saying he’s going to catch such a guy in a one-on-one fight? Ha, that’s impossible even if Kaiser’s grandfather came, not just Kaiser.]

“Indeed……. That’s right.”

[Verze: Besides, the pattern that Ruideura activated is clearly the enhanced characteristic of the Nightmare Room. It was a skill that was almost invincible with regard to the designated target, so the enhanced characteristic will definitely show an effect specialized for one-on-one combat.]

Everything Verze said was correct.

There was no room for rebuttal.

-So, it’s a one-on-one match between Kaiser and Ruideura?

-Yeah, that’s right.

-Hmm. But can Kaiser really win in a one-on-one fight? He’s already a hidden named, and I heard he’s gotten stronger because he activated a hidden phase.

-Hey, it’s Kaiser, will he lose? He’s the one who beat the Outlaw King.

-That’s different. Strictly speaking, he was a field boss, not a raid boss.

-I agree. It’s an 18-person raid, how can he catch that? Moreover, if he created a unique space, he must have created an environment that is favorable to him.

-Still, if you look at Kaiser’s form these days, you never know.

-You never know LOLOLOL What do you mean you don’t know? It seems like you’re the only one here who doesn’t know.

-Anyway, those Kaiser believers think Kaiser is a god. Argue with something that makes sense.

The majority of viewers, who could grasp the situation relatively calmly, expressed the same opinion as Verze.

[Verze: Do you understand? We just need to use Kaiser. He’ll buy us time to recover our stamina and fill in the missing personnel.]

Since he would shave off even a little more of the boss’s health, it would be easier to catch him.

Not only that.

The Hero Guild caught the boss that Kaiser tried to steal and failed!

That was exactly the kind of material to create rumors.

[Verze: The process doesn’t matter. The world only recognizes those who produce results. There’s a reason why history only remembers the winners.]

Thanks to this, Jerpak, who had regained some reason, exclaimed in admiration.

He knew it, but his master had lost a lot of his composure lately.

He had unknowingly stopped thinking the same way as before, but it was a moment when he felt his master’s greatness again.

“……I was lacking. Thank you for broadening my horizons, Master.”

[Verze: I’ve summoned personnel to that side. You can do well, right?]

“Yes, of course!”

[Verze: Good. I’ll trust you. You have to become a top executive.]

“Yes!”

Jerpak, who finished whispering with determined eyes, clenched his fist.

He felt like he could catch Ruideura right away.

-What’s wrong with Jerpak? Suddenly his eyes are sparkling.

-He must have gotten some advice from Verze.

-Our BL obsessed gay is going to be nervous LOLOLOLOL

-Why is he nervous? He must be laughing happily. Kaiser is taking care of the meat shield and buying time. How grateful he must be.

-LOL He was a Kaiser who gave generously.

The viewers made fun of him for his enthusiastic appearance, as if he had been foolish, but he didn’t care.

As Verze said, people only look at the results.

He just needed to relax, wait for Kaiser to die, and focus on recovering his stamina.

That’s what he thought.

[The energy of the Ember has disappeared, and the monument is losing its power.]

[Hurry and offer the Ember of Purification as a sacrifice.]

[If Ruideura dies before the sacrifice is offered, all the remaining energy of the habitat will disappear.]

[If all the energy disappears, the monument will collapse, and the Forgotten King’s Specter will never be able to awaken.]

[If the monument collapses, the ‘Savior of the Forgotten Specter’ quest, as well as all quests related to the ‘Forgotten King’s Specter’, will be deleted.]

“……Hmm?”

Until the message suddenly appeared in front of his eyes.

Instinctively turning his head, he saw a monument that was really dim.

-What was that message just now?

-It says the quest will be deleted?

-Wait, so if Kaiser catches the raid boss, will the Hero Guild’s quests all be gone?

-Wow, is this real?

-Aren’t the raid members the only winners? They’ve already cleared the quest, so they can just eat popcorn and watch.

-Wow, this is so exciting. This is a deathmatch.

-I’m betting on Kaiser as an underdog!

“……Master.”

[Verze: ……I saw it without you saying it.]

The voices of the two became serious.

It couldn’t be helped.

Those words meant that not only the hidden quest that was currently in progress but also ‘that’, which was scheduled to be carried out in the Empire, would disappear completely.

Tuk. Tuk. Tuk.

Verze, who was watching this situation live through the broadcast, was tapping the desk with his finger faster and faster.

‘It’s unlikely, but.’

What if Kaiser really catches the boss, even by any chance?

Since there was a lot at stake, he felt uneasy even with a slim chance.

‘No, no matter how I think about it, it’s impossible.’

Frankly, even if Verze himself was in that situation right now, he couldn’t be sure of the situation Kaiser was in.

Only 30% of his health left? So what?

Logically speaking, it doesn’t make sense in terms of balance to catch an 18-person raid boss in a one-on-one fight.

‘Even if the boss’s raw stats are somehow overcome, Ruideura is a boss designed to never be caught in a one-on-one fight.’

That was the original design.

It was originally like that, but what if Ruideura is exhibiting even enhanced characteristics?

It’s pointless to even talk about it.

‘Yeah, it’s a useless worry.’

It’s impossible. That was the right answer.

Even if Kaiser really had a Hero Trait like he showed in the video, it was the same.

That alone was not enough.

‘There are no variables.’

That’s right.

Tuk. Tuk. Tuk. Tuk.

But why?

Reason says so, but the lingering feeling left in one side of his chest doesn’t leave.

Verze shook his head to shake off his thoughts and focused on the broadcast again.

-No, he can’t catch it. It’s an 18-person raid?

-The Outlaw King was a hidden field boss. And Ruideura is a hidden ‘raid’ boss. Even if they are the same named, the level is different.

-LOL Betting on this as an underdog is thoughtless.

‘Yeah, that’s the right decision.’

Calming his mind with the chats that expressed the same opinion as him.

Verze carefully placed his vote on the favorite.