The Return Of The Genius Ranker Of All Times [EN]: Chapter 23

23.

[You have acquired ‘Charge Slash’.]

[Charge Slash]

-Grade: Common

-Restriction: Swordsman Class

-Description: Allows you to charge in a desired direction while swinging your sword.

-Effect: Deals 150% of attack power as damage, and the travel distance is proportional to movement speed.

Activation speed increases with attack speed.

-Cooldown: 10 seconds

‘Oh!’

Do Hyun exclaimed, checking the skill information.

His class allowed him to use skills from all jobs.

As such, he could have gotten magic or archery skills, but luckily, he got a sword-related skill.

‘Charge Slash isn’t bad.’

No, it was more than just not bad.

Aside from being a sword-related skill, it was a very versatile skill among the common ones.

Even if its power was lacking, its characteristic of striking while moving made it infinitely useful for combos or interrupting enemy skills.

Thanks to its short cooldown, there was almost no risk, and it could also be used as a movement skill in emergencies…….

‘I actually used it a lot when I was Demroq.’

For him, who had luck abandoned by the gods and had to make the most of low-grade skills, there was no skill like Charge Slash.

That skill had returned to Do Hyun’s possession once again.

‘Please take care of me this time too.’

Of course, he had less expectations than before.

Do Hyun chuckled and closed the system window. However, he didn’t close the inventory yet.

It was obvious.

[Random Skill Ticket]

‘There’s still one left.’

In God of Seoul, you get a random skill ticket every 10 levels.

A ticket that randomly gives you a skill from common to legendary grade.

Naturally, Do Hyun, who had cleared the dungeon and reached level 10, had received one, and he had saved it to use without interference in the village.

[Would you like to use the Random Skill Ticket?]

And now, the time had come to use that ticket.

“Yes.”

As soon as he used the ticket, ten cards appeared, and soon, the Eye of Truth [an ability that reveals hidden information] activated, and a dazzling light burst out.

Do Hyun squeezed his eyes shut at the light and desperately shouted inwardly.

‘Golden light, please be golden…….’

And when he opened his eyes, Do Hyun’s eyes widened at the sight of ‘it’ that greeted him.

[Your connection time has ended.]

[You will be forcibly terminated in 5 seconds.]

‘Wh, what the……!’

Connection time limit.

A system that exists to prevent ‘starvation’ or addiction by forgetting time in the overly realistic God of Seoul.

This was also present during his Demroq days, so there was nothing to be surprised about.

However…….

‘Has it already been 10 hours?’

He hadn’t been thinking about it because it was quite a generous time limit, but he couldn’t understand how he had used up all that time just graduating from Ardel.

Moreover, didn’t he clear the dungeon faster than any other party?

The goblin hunt was almost slaughter, not hunting…….

‘Ah.’

Then, a memory of the tutorial flashed through his mind.

The tutorial, which had taken more than 6 hours, came to mind.

And at the same time as it came to mind, his reason returned, and his judgment was quick.

[3…….]

[2…….]

2 seconds left.

‘Ca, cards! I have to pick a card quickly!’

Do Hyun’s eyes quickly scanned the cards.

Do Hyun’s eyes stopped at one card as he looked at the cards emitting various lights, befitting a random skill ticket.

‘This is it!’

The moment he picked the card,

Whoosh-!

A dazzling light burst out, and the skill card information appeared,

Ding-.

[Your connection time has ended and you will be forcibly terminated.]

At the same time, Do Hyun’s vision turned black.

That was Do Hyun’s last memory of his first day in God of Seoul.

And the ShieldGod party, who saw Do Hyun’s empty spot disappear with a sudden burst of light, paused simultaneously like machines with dead batteries.

“Ah……?”

“Huh?”

The reaction came a few seconds later.

“Wh, what? Did Kaiser log out?”

“No, he was in the middle of drawing a skill, but suddenly?”

“Wasn’t Kaiser drawing skills too?”

ShieldGod, startled by his friends’ reactions, checked the party list and shook his head.

The name ‘Kaiser’ had disappeared from the list.

MiganDDakDae and YoobinKkyung, who finished checking a beat later, muttered in confusion.

“If he left while drawing a skill…… I guess he got disconnected?”

“Since he hasn’t reconnected yet, I think his connection time limit is up.”

“Ah, that’s right. Huh? But why is it already over?”

“I don’t know……? Did he spend a long time with the new draw?”

Since they had been together since level 1, the only answer was the tutorial.

They had no idea that he had spent more than 6 hours in the tutorial, so they just shrugged it off.

Anyway, YoobinKkyung and MiganDDakDae, having grasped the situation, sighed softly.

“It’s a shame we couldn’t properly say goodbye.”

“Yeah. I wanted to leave a deep impression on him.”

“I think you already did? It’s not common for someone to cause a near-wipe from the first hunt.”

“Are you picking a fight?”

The two were bickering as usual, but there was a clear sense of regret.

And that was the same for ShieldGod.

The words he hesitated to say when he thanked Do Hyun at the end were ‘whether he could send a friend request.’

He couldn’t even bring it up while hesitating, so he couldn’t help but feel regret.

‘No, it’s better this way.’

But ShieldGod steeled his heart.

Honestly, he was only human, so it was true that he wanted to be friends with the famous Kaiser.

No, beyond that, Kaiser was just too radiant.

It was only natural to have human feelings for such a person, but…….

‘It’s greedy to want more than this.’

He had been helped all along, and it was shameless to even want to ask for a friend request.

Friends should be helpful to each other.

He couldn’t see any element that could help him at all.

Even if that wasn’t the case, greed could arise.

He didn’t want to have such feelings for someone who had coolly overlooked his mistakes without any restrictions or rewards.

‘This is right for now.’

ShieldGod, having steeled his heart, opened his mouth.

“How was it for you guys today?”

“Today? It was the best. We met Kaiser and ranked 1st with him, how could it be better than this?”

“It was so much fun. I can see why everyone says God of Seoul is the best.”

The faces of the two, who were perfectly in sync as if they hadn’t been fighting, were flushed.

His friends were as serious about the game as he was.

He didn’t expect YoobinKkyung to get so into it, let alone MiganDDakDae…….

ShieldGod nodded and blurted out.

“Good. Then you can log in every day, right?”

“Of course. Did you think I wouldn’t do it every day? I’m unemployed, so I can do it 24 hours a day.”

“You idiot, there’s a maximum limit of 10 hours.”

“Ah, that’s right. Anyway, totally possible.”

“I’m on leave, so I have a lot of time for a few months.”

ShieldGod, hearing the two’s answers, made a satisfied expression and suddenly said in a serious voice.

“Let’s grow quickly.”

YoobinKkyung and MiganDDakDae paused at those words.

MiganDDakDae, staring intently at ShieldGod’s serious eyes, chuckled.

There was no special conversation, but he could see what he was thinking. MiganDDakDae shrugged and answered in an even lighter tone.

“Okay. Let’s grow up quickly and give Kaiser a ride this time.”

“That’s right. I feel a little sorry for only receiving.”

“In that sense, let’s move on to the mainland quickly. I’ll give you a ride before I give Kaiser a ride.”

“Yeah, that’s not happening.”

ShieldGod, meeting MiganDDakDae’s eyes in the renewed light atmosphere, smiled slightly.

And a slight expectation spread in that smile.

‘Yeah, the day will come when we meet again someday.’

They might meet in the next city, Raven.

Things will be a little different after the city of promise, Brion, but as they go up to higher content, there will inevitably be moments when they overlap.

Some graduation quests and raids were like that.

So…….

‘It will be different then.’

ShieldGod moved on, anticipating that moment.

“Then let’s move on to the mainland.”

“Okay. No one can stop me until the connection limit ends.”

“Let’s go together~!”

With that, the ShieldGod party on the warp was teleported away with a dazzling light.

* * *

Meanwhile, at Do Hyun’s house.

His younger sister, Hyun-ah, was in a very bad mood right now.

“Hyun-ah~ If your brother’s there, can you ask him to come out for a second?”

“Ah…… I’m at an important scene?”

“Quickly~.”

“Ugh, okay.”

It was because she had to go call her brother at the request of her mother, Chae Mi-sook, when it was an important scene towards the end of the drama she had been waiting 10 minutes to watch live.

It was also happening because the kitchen and her brother’s room were the furthest apart.

She wanted to just watch the drama, but if she did, she would be subjected to a back smash from Chae Mi-sook, as well as the punishment of having her allowance cut off, so Hyun-ah chose the wisdom of listening when she was told nicely.

“Ugh, he’s not answering his KakaoTalk either, what is he doing? Is he still playing games?”

It was already 10 PM, so she wondered if he was still playing games, but her brother was more than capable of doing that.

His game addictiveness was not normal.

Her brother was someone who didn’t meet friends often and only did health and games.

As she entered the room, the capsule [a device used for immersive gaming] that was placed alone greeted Hyun-ah.

“Ugh, of course.”

Hyun-ah clicked her tongue and shook her head.

‘I should tell him to do it tomorrow.’

If it was an urgent matter, Chae Mi-sook would have told him to come out right away.

If she forcibly terminated it now, he would foam at the mouth and rush at her.

She could send a message with the God of Seoul app, but…… there was no way her friendless brother would have installed such a thing from the first day.

Anyway, Hyun-ah judged that she had done enough, so Chae Mi-sook wouldn’t say anything.

Whoosh-.

It was then that Hyun-ah was about to turn around to leave the room.

Fsh-.

“Aaaah!!”

“Kyaaak!”

Hyun-ah screamed in a shrill voice at the sudden sound of air escaping and the scream that followed.

Whether that was not enough to express her surprised feelings, she jumped like a spring and looked around in horror at the source of the sound.

The source of the sound was the capsule, or rather, Do Hyun sitting inside the capsule.

“You surprised me, you crazy bastard. Why are you screaming all of a sudden!? I almost had a heart attack!”

Hyun-ah was screaming, but Do Hyun didn’t even pretend to hear her.

He was just staring blankly into the air and muttering.

“Wow, f***…… wow…….”

“Wow…… that’s what I feel. Stop doing weird things and come out quickly. Mom’s calling you.”

Hyun-ah’s voice was heard, but Do Hyun couldn’t hear it.

It couldn’t be helped.

The color of the skill that had appeared a little while ago was still lingering in his head.

“Hey, can’t you hear me? Hello?”

“…….”

Do Hyun didn’t have the mind to care whether Hyun-ah was waving her hand in front of him or not.

Suddenly coming out of the capsule, screaming, cursing, and then losing his mind?

It didn’t look normal at all, and Hyun-ah was a woman who prided herself on her honesty.

“Mom, Mom! My brother’s weird! I think he finally went crazy from playing games!”

“Hey, what’s with your manners towards your brother!”

“No, he’s really weird! Shouldn’t we take him to the hospital?”

Leaving behind Hyun-ah’s fading voice and Chae Mi-sook’s voice, Do Hyun was lost in thought with the most serious face in the world.

If Rodin [Auguste Rodin, a famous sculptor] had seen this, the motif of The Thinker would have changed.

‘That dazzling color…… if I didn’t see it wrong, it was gold.’

What made Do Hyun so troubled was none other than that.

‘Or is it? It’s a bit pale for gold, and the glare is less, so I think it was yellow…… hmm, no. Isn’t that bright enough?’

Yellow or gold.

The once-in-a-lifetime problem that separates hero and legend was filling his head.

Whatever it was, it was a happy worry, but it was as much of a difference as winning the lottery 1st or 2nd place, so he couldn’t help but think about it.

Especially since he didn’t have a single legendary skill in Demroq.

As it was a situation where he might have his first legendary skill in his life, he couldn’t stop thinking.

‘Ah, if I had seen it for 1 second, no, 0.5 seconds more…… why did it turn off just when the light was bursting out.’

The worries that continued one after another could only be stopped after hearing Chae Mi-sook’s nagging, who had been dragged into the room by Hyun-ah’s nagging.