The Return Of The Genius Ranker Of All Times [EN]: Chapter 26

26.

In God of Seoul, there’s a place called the Arena.

Commonly known as PVP [Player versus Player], it offers corrections—though not perfect—allowing you to compete based on skill. Think of it as a regulated sparring ground.

You can also engage in ‘duels’ outside the Arena with mutual consent, but these don’t involve any corrections or stat adjustments.

Despite this, duels are quite popular.

After all, who wouldn’t want to show off the gear they worked hard to acquire, instead of fighting with restrictions?

The fact that you can fight comfortably at any time also plays a role.

God of Seoul was quite generous when it came to duels.

How benevolent, allowing you to engage in battles according to your preferences.

However, there are always those who don’t listen, no matter where you go.

“Duels? What’s the fun in that? Life is a real battleground.”

“It’s so much fun bullying those weaker than me~.”

Instead of using the legitimate duel system, there were always users who engaged in indiscriminate slaughter, or PK [Player Killing], everywhere.

They were in Dem Locke, in other RPG games, and in God of Seoul as well.

Because it’s fun.

Because they coveted items.

Just because they were annoyed.

Because they wanted to make people quit the game…….

For various reasons, quite a few people PKed, and for that reason, PK was something that users could commonly experience or hear about.

If you were to ask them who was the worst, nine out of ten would say.

“Those newbie killers.”

“Those who PK just for fun should really have their ID cards suspended by the game company, don’t you think?”

“Damn it, I still get pissed off thinking about the rare item I dropped because of those bastards.”

Those who commit PK for fun are the worst.

And among them, the most malicious are the newbie killers who deliberately PK against beginners.

They form teams and systematically prey on beginners.

Even after reaching the graduation level, they don’t graduate, and they hunt users who have just entered the city and have decent gear.

They get items and have fun.

Since high-level players can’t come back to the starting areas, as long as they don’t mess with those affiliated with large guilds, it’s truly paradise for them.

“Hey, let’s make a killing today.”

“I’m getting tired of this… Can’t we find someone decent? Everyone reacts the same, so it’s not fun.”

“Hehe, you’re a tough one, my friend.”

AssassinBoy, IfUmadDoIt, and UcantHitMe.

These three were also demons living in that paradise.

All of them were level 24, having reached the graduation level, but they didn’t bother to complete the graduation quest.

It was a matter of course.

“Why would I?”

“Graduation? What’s the point? I’ll just end up getting pushed around by others. Why go through the trouble?”

Why bother when they can be kings in Raven [the starting city]?

After all, they can’t become top-ranked players even if they level up, and they’re already having fun and making some pocket money.

The fun of picking up and selling items dropped due to death penalties was quite쏠쏠 [Korean slang for ‘쏠쏠하다’ which means ‘pretty good’ or ‘profitable’].

And.

“I’m going to rot here forever.”

“There’s no better place to PK than here~.”

The moment they graduate from this place, it becomes difficult to do such newbie killing.

Arde [the tutorial zone] has no death penalty, and everyone is on equal footing without skills, so it’s difficult because everyone forms parties. From the next city onwards, everyone joins guilds and carries three or four skills.

There are many rivals, PK is difficult, and connections become important.

In many ways, there was no paradise like Raven.

So, they were searching for suitable prey today as well.

But there wasn’t anyone who really caught their eye.

The rumor had spread that they were working too hard lately, so users were playing in parties more thoroughly.

Occasionally, there were solo players, but…….

“That guy, isn’t that him?”

“Oh, the guy Hero Guild is supporting. Let’s pass on him.”

“Yeah, we just got a good god [referring to a beneficial in-game buff or item], so it’ll be a headache if we get targeted.”

Some of them were known faces.

They were often rookies who had been marked by large guilds or those who received support from solid mid-sized guilds.

It becomes troublesome in many ways if you mess with them.

They didn’t want their fun to become a nuisance.

“Then what about that guy?”

“Hmm…… I don’t know his face, but his items are a bit lacking, aren’t they?”

“This guy’s been picky about items lately. He used to pick up anyone.”

“You can’t just eat kimchi stew and soybean paste soup all the time. You have to cut a steak once in a while, right?”

The kimchi stew that AssassinBoy was talking about referred to ordinary people who had just shed their newbie status without any backing.

Then what about steak?

“Isn’t there someone with money but no backing, someone easy to eat~?”

Seeing AssassinBoy licking his blade and humming, IfUmadDoIt and UcantHitMe shook their heads.

He’s a pretty normal friend in reality, but he goes crazy when he plays games.

‘Well, it’s fun for us anyway.’

Who cares, it’s just a game.

It was fun to follow him, who was skilled at tormenting others with all sorts of creative ideas.

The last guy gathered a bunch of monsters, saying he would carry them through a dungeon, and then stealthily slipped away, right?

Just thinking about the faces of those who were betrayed made them chuckle.

“Let’s see~ Steak~ Oh!?”

It was then.

A user caught the eye of AssassinBoy, who was humming about steak like a madman.

It was a man who was generally red and black, and wore a huge greatsword.

“Holy shit…… jackpot. Isn’t that a Warrior set?”

“What? Where…… Wow, it’s real? He must have a lot of money.”

“Is someone like that in a guild?”

AssassinBoy pondered at UcantHitMe’s words and shook his head.

“Nope. My acquaintance is a scout in charge of Arde, and there’s no one like that in the recent information. I heard it today, so I’m sure.”

If they had scouted someone wearing a Warrior set, the news would have spread among the scouts.

The fact that it wasn’t meant…….

“Oh?”

“Then…….”

AssassinBoy smiled, making eye contact with the two.

“He’s a rich noob. And he’s soloing without fear.”

The two also smiled like AssassinBoy at the uttered words.

A smile that was so vulgar, so despicable, and so greedy.

“Hehe…… The design looks just like a delicious steak. I’m going to have some whiskey for once?”

“What luck on a Friday night. I’m booking a room right away.”

“Hey, how much would that sell for? More than 500?”

“I don’t know, you idiot, it’s just damn꿀 [Korean slang for ‘honey,’ meaning something very good or valuable].”

They were chattering as if it were already their money, but they stopped then.

The man who had been resting for a while suddenly started hunting goblins.

But its power was unusual.

He dodged and stabbed, and the goblin died.

Whoosh- Slice!

Then, the man instantly slipped and one-shot the goblin on the other side.

No matter how you looked at it, it wasn’t the appearance of an ordinary beginner.

“……Is that the power of someone who just graduated?”

“He’s a bit strong, but…… He’s probably level 16 or below, so what’s so difficult about it?”

“That’s just item빨 [Korean slang referring to being carried by good items]. If we sell that, we’ll make a fortune.”

“Hehe, I guess so.”

Of course, that was the end of their impressions.

After all, a rich noob who has surpassed the beginner level with item빨 can’t beat them.

Because there’s only one of him.

On the other hand, there are three of them at the graduation level.

Even if they have characteristics or unique abilities, level is still king in the low-level section.

“But just in case, let’s start with a safe shot.”

“Hehe, are you going to apply paralysis poison?”

“This time, money is more important than fun. Go ahead.”

AssassinBoy, who made an okay sign and waved his hand as he walked away, used stealth.

The skills he had were stealth, paralysis poison, moving slash, and ankle kick.

As his nickname suggests, he had the best skill tree for PvP in this level section, having properly taken the assassin tree.

He even had two rare-grade skills.

[Unique ability ‘Ambush’ is activated.]

[Inflicts a critical blow when successfully attacking while avoiding the enemy’s eyes.]

[Characteristic ‘Quite Sharp Dagger Skill’ is applied.]

Even the god he drew was a hero god.

It was the eerie Shadow Dagger God, one of the assassin-type gods.

It wasn’t highly rated among assassin-type hero gods, but the hero god class was still something.

A unique ability that sufficiently compensates for somewhat lacking characteristics.

‘There’s nothing more optimized for newbie killing than this.’

Especially for assassins like AssassinBoy who enjoy stealth PK, there was nothing like this.

If the ambush fails, it becomes a useless unique ability, but the potential that explodes the moment the ambush succeeds is high enough to compensate for it.

On the other hand, what about that guy?

‘Charge slash one-trick.’

He got two skills in Arde, so he must have one more, but it didn’t seem like a very good skill since he wasn’t using it.

Maybe he’s using a buff skill to get that kind of damage.

Whatever it was, it didn’t matter.

‘Stealth, approach, stab with poison, and then gang up on him for some bleed damage, and it’s clean.’

This is a fight that can’t be won.

No, it wasn’t a fight, it was a hunt.

If even one of those items drops, they’re going to book a room and have a whiskey party tonight. He was already happily 고민 [Korean for ‘worrying’ or ‘thinking’] about what to do at night.

He flinched.

‘……What?’

AssassinBoy stopped as he approached.

He felt a chill for a moment.

‘Did I just make eye contact?’

Was it a mistake?

He definitely felt like he had made eye contact with the guy…….

AssassinBoy tilted his head at the 찝찝함 [Korean for ‘unpleasant feeling’ or ‘unease’] and shook his head.

‘That’s ridiculous.’

He just graduated from Arde and is hunting in the Raven Plains.

Even his job is a swordsman.

He didn’t have any skills to detect stealth, even rare ones.

He hadn’t even heard of such a characteristic.

Later on, you can figure it out to some extent with items or skills, but that’s a story for the distant future. It doesn’t make sense to get caught in stealth now.

‘I was wrong after all.’

Look.

He’s already approached within striking distance, but the guy is walking casually.

AssassinBoy took out a dagger.

A green liquid flowed down the blade of the dagger.

It was the rare skill paralysis poison.

‘Let’s deal with it quickly since I’m still 찝찝 [feeling uneasy].’

He slowly approached and was about to stab him in the side from behind when…….

Whirr-.

“……!”

The guy suddenly moved.

The man instantly turned around, knocked his wrist, and dropped the dagger. Before he could panic, a rough hand grabbed his neck.

“Cough! Cough!”

At the same time, AssassinBoy’s stealth was released, and he was lifted into the air with his neck grabbed.

The only disadvantage of stealth is that it’s weak against AoE [Area of Effect] skills.

Stealth is released when attacked.

‘What is this…….’

But he wasn’t hit by an AoE skill right now.

He didn’t even know what trick he used to see through his stealth, but what was even more incomprehensible was the guy’s ridiculous strength.

‘……I can’t move at all!’

No matter how much he struggled and tried to tear his hand away, he wouldn’t budge.

It was like a solid rock.

Even though he’s an assassin, he’s level 24.

To be pushed back this much in strength by a guy who’s only level 16 or below?

This doesn’t make any sense…….

“What are you?”

It was then that the man opened his mouth.

“Wow…… I didn’t expect it, but you’re really a PKer.”

A tone as if it wasn’t a big deal.

He didn’t have the slightest agitation, even though he was almost ambushed.

Rather, he looked very curious, but his expression was terrifying. That gap came as fear to AssassinBoy.

“Y-you bastard…… What are you!”

He instinctively shouted, and his colleagues raised their heads above the bushes.

“Huh!?”

“What’s going on?”

Then they shouted in panic.

The man slowly took in the sight and chuckled.

“Look at this? You’re professional. You’re a repeat offender?”

AssassinBoy’s pupils shook violently at the cold voice.

For some reason, this man seemed huge.

As if he could easily crush him at any time.

But the man, Do Hyun’s, eyes weren’t looking at him.

Slightly above him.

[Eye of Truth is activated.]

‘I didn’t know it could even see through stealth.’

It was a new discovery of the Eye of Truth that he hadn’t even imagined.