The Return Of The Genius Ranker Of All Times [EN]: Chapter 185

185.

‘A Main Quest?’

Dohyun’s eyes widened at the unexpected phrase.

He never imagined he would see the words ‘Main Quest’ here.

Though taken aback, Dohyun quickly accepted it.

Considering what happened at the King’s Tomb, he had suspected there might be more paths leading to the Main Quest.

‘…Wait a minute. Does that mean if I had been just a little late, the Hero Guild would have found out about the Main Quest?’

Whether it was because a hidden phase was triggered, revealing information related to the Main Quest, or not, there was no way to know.

What was certain was that Ruidra was a hidden piece connected to the Main Quest.

If that was the case, the Hero Guild would have eventually obtained information about the Main Quest anyway.

‘It might be a relief that I unintentionally preempted them.’

Thinking that, he felt a sense of relief.

It wasn’t just about the information on the Main Quest being revealed; his progress on the Main Quest would have been disrupted.

The thought that everything would have been ruined if he had started the quest just a little later sent shivers down his spine.

‘…I shouldn’t get too complacent just because I’m the only one progressing.’

He doubted how often such coincidental situations would occur, but reality was stranger than fiction.

There was no telling when things might go wrong again.

It seemed he should keep up the pace as he had been doing.

Anyway, that was that.

‘Is that all the explanation?’

What was disappointing was that, apart from being related to the Main Quest, their identities were not revealed.

If there was a hint, it was in Ruidra’s last words…

But they were all bizarre ramblings of a madman obsessed with a cult, so there was no useful information.

‘Five suns and moons.’

The only useful thing was that modifier, which probably meant five great beings.

A group of five related to the Main Quest?

‘…The ancient human kings?’

The kings who left behind the Fragments of Destiny immediately came to mind, but it was a bit ambiguous.

If they had really saved Ruidra and made a request, it was strange that Ruidra didn’t recognize them.

Well, if the Saint King’s Mark was a mark that only the kings could recognize, it would be a different story…

‘It’s more likely that they are the ones depicted in the murals.’

The unidentified five beings he saw in the King’s Tomb before encountering the Will of the Dark King.

It was more likely that they were related.

But this was just speculation.

There was no way to know their exact identities for now.

In the first place, nothing had been revealed about the five beings depicted in the murals.

Dohyun shrugged his shoulders after thinking for a moment.

‘Well, I’ll find out someday.’

Since they were definitely related to the Main Quest, he would find out someday while progressing through the Main Quest.

There was no point in worrying about it now.

It was right to be satisfied that this information hadn’t fallen into the wrong hands and to move on.

Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!

The sound of applause from behind.

-As expected of our lord! This humble sword was certain that you would accomplish it.

-Oi oi, I believed in you, Master! I really came back from the brink of death.

-Lizariza!

Dohyun chuckled at the usual bunch and nodded appropriately. Jihad was making his usual deathly noises, but this time, he really had come back from the brink of death.

[Jihad’s mana is below 10%.]

He was also at his limit.

It seemed that dealing with Pain, a high-ranking legion commander, consumed mana quickly.

If he had been just a little later, he didn’t know what the result would have been.

To think that he could have lost even after doing this was an absurd level of difficulty, but as always, Dohyun had won.

So now was the time to enjoy the sweetness of victory.

[Successfully defeated on the first encounter.]

[Due to the effect of Gluttony, all stats increase by +5.]

…

[Defeated Ruidra for the first time, guaranteeing a boss-related equipment item drop.]

[Harvesting the Essence Orb of the Hidden Raid Boss, ‘Ruidra, the Ruler of Nightmares,’ guarantees an equipment item harvest.]

[Would you like to harvest the rewards?]

Dohyun’s eyes gleamed at the fruit that would be responsible for that sweetness.

His level had increased by two, and he had gained a total of 10 to all stats with the titles ‘First Slayer’ and ‘Unbelievable Achievement,’ but those didn’t even catch his eye.

What excited Dohyun now was only one thing.

‘Guaranteed equipment!’

What would drop?

It was equipment related to a Hidden Named Raid Boss.

At the very least, it would be a Hero-grade item.

As the only boss, he was looking forward to what kind of item would drop. If it were the Demonic Era, he would have prayed for equipment that matched his class, but now Dohyun was an All-Master!

‘Anything that drops is a win.’

Even if a staff dropped, he could absorb it into the Thousand Transformations and find a use for it.

It was at that moment, unable to contain his excitement from the trembling.

Kugugugu-

[The unique space disappears as the Hidden Raid Boss, Ruidra, dies.]

[The special field ‘Nightmare Swamp’ collapses.]

“What?”

A strange sound suddenly rang out, and a message appeared before his eyes.

Looking around, he saw that everything was distorting and collapsing. The speed was so fast that before he knew it, only 10 meters were left before everything collapsed.

[You cannot harvest the Essence Orb if you leave the special field.]

‘Ah, no!’

Dohyun hurriedly reached out at the urging notification.

Then, a line of messages appeared above it.

[Harvesting the Essence Orb.]

[As a reward…….]

Before he could even finish reading the phrase, the space collapsed, and Dohyun’s vision was reversed.

And when his vision returned, he was in Ruidra’s habitat.

In the same location as before he was dragged away by Ruidra.

“Ugh, that was dizzying. I didn’t even see what I got… Hmm?”

…But many things were different from before.

Buzzing-

Numerous people.

The 100 members of the raid party were the same as before, but there were more than 30 additional people.

They wore the Hero Guild’s mark on their chests.

It was then that someone among them, who made eye contact, shouted.

“Oh? It’s Kaiser.”

“Seriously? When did he come out?”

“Wow, I just arrived. Perfect timing.”

At someone’s voice, everyone looked at Kaiser without exception.

-It’s Kaiser!

-Huh.

-Did he appear? Did he appear?

Not only the Hero Guild members but also the raid members and those watching the broadcast were the same.

Dohyun’s party became zoo animals in an instant.

It was when Dohyun was trying to figure out the situation while being stared at by countless eyes.

“Wait, why is Kaiser coming out now?”

“That’s right? Kaiser appeared, which means… Huh, does that mean Kaiser took down Ruidra?”

“Uh……?”

The Hero Guild members questioned the appearance of Kaiser, not their target, Ruidra.

It didn’t take long for that question to turn into an ominous feeling.

And the notification rang even faster.

Ding-

The same message appeared to everyone in this place.

[Hidden Raid Boss, ‘Ruidra, the Ruler of Nightmares,’ has been defeated.]

[As Ruidra disappears, all the remaining energy of the habitat disappears.]

[The monument collapses.]

Kugugugu-

“Uh-oh……?”

At the same time, the monument collapsed, and a special message appeared above the heads of Zerpak and the Hero Guild members.

[The monument where the Forgotten King’s spirit resided has collapsed.]

[The quest ‘Savior of the Forgotten Spirit,’ as well as all quests related to the ‘Forgotten King’s Spirit,’ are deleted.]

[The linked quests also disappear.]

“……?”

“What?”

It was a message announcing that they were screwed.

* * *

-Crazy LOLOLOLOL

-Quest LOLOLOLOL Delete

-What’s Verze going to do, seriously LOL

-Fucking LOLOLOLOL That’s so funny, seriously

-LOLOLOLOLOL

-Boss? It was there, but now it’s gone.

-Ah, of all people to kidnap, it had to be Kaiser~

‘Ah.’

Zerpak, barely regaining his senses amidst the exploding chat window, shook his head.

‘Defeated? He defeated it? Alone?’

But even though he regained his senses, the dizziness didn’t go away.

He couldn’t understand it at all.

The time it took for Kaiser to be dragged into the unique space and for the new Trio to be deployed was only about 30 minutes.

Even if he thought of it as catching a field boss, what? He defeated it in such a short time?

‘Does that make sense?’

No matter how good Kaiser was and how many unique Guardians he had, he was still a solo player.

Was it even possible for him to catch a raid boss alone just because he had some Guardians and high stats?

‘Is he playing the game alone? What the hell is going on?’

There was supposed to be balance, but this was like he was using a hack.

-But isn’t this seriously unlucky LOLOLOL Kaiser barges in as soon as the raid starts, and then the boss kidnaps Kaiser out of the blue. And now he’s defeated it, deleting the quest LOLOLOL

-I think this is fate.

-Wow, but he actually caught it. Kaiser is really amazing.

-Where are the guys who said even Kaiser couldn’t catch it?

-Is this still Kaiser-worship? Is this still Kaiser-worship? Is this still Kaiser-worship? Is this still Kaiser-worship? Is this still Kaiser-worship?

-The guys who were saying they’d be Kaiser’s meat shield and die are all silent now LOLOLOL

-No, but you have to admit this LOLOL It’s common sense that he can’t catch it. How did he really catch it?

-Will he upload a NewTube [A fictional video platform similar to YouTube] video? I hope he uploads it soon.

-Look at the speed at which viewers are increasing LOLOLOL Did the rumors spread somewhere?

-The rumors have spread all over the community. My overseas friends are waking up from sleep and logging in.

-It’s a real legend broadcast today.

Even the viewers were acknowledging it as bad luck.

It was only natural that Zerpak, who was watching it in real-time, was losing his mind.

The problem was that Zerpak wasn’t the only one.

[Verze: …Deleted? Deleted, you say? It all evaporated?]

[Verze: Zerpak, am I seeing this correctly? My perfect plan… A plan that would have made me leap one, no, two steps ahead has evaporated so futilely?]

[Verze: Aaaaaargh!! Kaiser!!!]

‘I’m screwed.’

Zerpak sighed, unable to mute the whispers coming madly from Verze, but turning down the whisper volume as much as possible.

[Number of viewers: 113,240,000]

Perhaps the rumors had spread due to the unprecedented situation.

The number of viewers had exploded.

Considering that it had reached 90 million while waiting, 20 million people had flowed in in a short time.

Thanks to that, he had reached the target of 100 million.

The problem was that it had become a live broadcast showing the terrible situation of the boss disappearing, not the first Hidden Raid Boss kill.

‘Ah. So it’s all gone.’

He felt empty.

The moments he had been full of dreams until just now all felt like lies. It felt like he had briefly had an unattainable dream and then woken up.

‘Top executive, my ass…….’

He was more worried about whether he would be stripped of his executive position.

Zerpak knew better than anyone how much effort the Master had put into preparing this hidden quest.

With all of that gone in an instant, there was no telling what kind of punishment would be handed down.

‘Kaiser……. If it weren’t for that bastard……!’

And just as Verze would, Zerpak also needed a place to direct his anger, and the target was clear.

Kaiser. The cause of all this.

And the first direction of that anger was exactly the same as the Master’s.

[Verze: Hooo…… Hoo……. Zerpak.]

“……Yes.”

[Verze: This has crossed the line way too much. If we stay still after being treated like this, we’ll be severely underestimated. No, beyond that, I can’t stand it.]

“…….”

[Verze: I, as the Master of the Hero Guild, order you.]

Verze, still unable to quell his anger, gnashed his teeth and spat out the words.

It was a declaration.

[Verze: As of today, the Hero Guild declares war on Kaiser.]

A declaration announcing the war with Kaiser.

[Verze: Kill Kaiser, that son of a bitch I want to chew up and swallow, immediately.]

And a declaration announcing the kill order that had fallen on Kaiser.

At the order delivered to everyone, the eyes of the Hero Guild members, including Zerpak, gleamed fiercely.