The Return Of The Genius Ranker Of All Times [EN]: Chapter 265

265.

Deep in the Southern Forest.

Had it been about five minutes since the skirmish with Shina?

-Master…….

-……Liza.

Stopping abruptly, Jihad and Eliza frowned, looking displeased.

Their eyes, narrowed like twins, were fixed on one spot.

A tree located in a corner of what seemed like an ordinary, overgrown forest.

A very unsettling aura was emanating from that tree.

“Hmm. Really? I don’t really feel it.”

-……I am sorry, my lord, but neither do I.

Of course, it was only Jihad and Eliza who were sensitive to mana; to Charlie and Do-hyun, it just seemed like an ordinary tree.

They could only guess that there was something there based on the two’s reactions and the fact that it was marked on the map.

-You can’t feel this? Really? This unpleasant, rotten smell is vibrating so strongly?

-Liza Liza!

Jihad, as if not understanding, raised his voice, and Eliza chimed in from the side.

Looking at the two of them, it seemed they could have found it even without the map.

‘They’re definitely extraordinary.’

From their unusually high mana consumption and high caliber to their mana-sensing ability that transcended the guardian’s scope.

In many ways, they were unusual guys.

“Okay, be quiet.”

-……You always pick on me.

Leaving Jihad, who was pouting and grumbling, behind, Do-hyun took a step forward, and a cheerful notification rang out.

[You have discovered the Labyrinth of Rejection.]

[Labyrinth of Rejection]

-Rank: ?

-Type: ?

-Characteristic: ?

-Description: Originally, this was an ordinary labyrinth. Until something took root.

It prohibits the entry of all nationals and only allows apostles to enter.

[Entry Limit: None]

[The labyrinth will disappear upon successful completion.]

‘I can’t get any information from this.’

Rank, type, characteristic—everything was blank.

Even the description was just a few lines.

The only thing he could tell was that it would be cleared by conquering the labyrinth?

What was unusual was that there was no limit to the number of entrants.

‘Does that mean a hundred or a thousand people can enter?’

One of the reasons why dungeons are usually difficult is this entry limit.

What would be easy with ten people is made difficult by limiting it to four or fewer, which is how dungeons work.

The absence of such a restriction meant one of two things.

‘Either it’s that difficult, or it’s a dungeon with a special method… I’ll know when I go in.’

As the saying goes, seeing is believing, so Do-hyun stopped pondering and confidently walked forward.

The moment his foot touched the base of the tree.

[You have entered the Labyrinth of Rejection.]

Something rippled, and soon Do-hyun’s vision reversed.

And when he opened his eyes, a completely different landscape greeted him.

‘Indeed…….’

Do-hyun, looking around, nodded.

As the name labyrinth suggested, there was a huge maze that obscured the structure.

Just looking at the size of the entrance, dozens of people could move together.

-It’s quite large.

-I wouldn’t be able to find you if I got lost here, you know?

-Liza Liza.

It certainly seemed difficult to find the group if they were lost even once.

It was Do-hyun’s first time in this type of dungeon in God of Seoul, so he became interested and slowly entered.

Step, step.

How long had he been walking?

-Oh, it’s a fork in the road!

As he progressed through the vast maze, a fork in the road quickly appeared.

A situation where he had to choose without a map.

It would be troublesome if he took the wrong path, so he had to think carefully, but Do-hyun chose the left without hesitation.

[The Eye of Truth is activated.]

‘Hundreds of arrows and monsters? What is that, a poisoned bamboo spear?’

His eyes could clearly see what traps were lurking on the right path.

If he had passed by without knowing, he would have instantly become a skewer.

On the other hand, there were no traps on the left. At least, that’s what the Eye of Truth showed.

‘And the Eye of God has never been wrong.’

Smiling, Do-hyun entered the left path, and how long had it been?

This time, the fork in the road came quickly.

However, this time there were three forks, and two of them had traps.

‘The middle one.’

This time, he easily headed to the right path with the Eye of Truth, and again, a fork in the road greeted him.

How many times had he repeated the process of checking with the Eye of Truth and moving on?

[The Eye of Truth is activated.]

‘The third one.’

As he passed through the fork in the road, which had increased to five branches, a cheerful notification rang out.

[You have escaped the maze.]

[Entering the labyrinth.]

-What, this isn’t the end?

-It is a place that could not have been easily traversed without the insight of the Lord. It seems that it would take quite a long time for others to move.

-Liza!

“I guess so.”

Still, the labyrinth was the better of the two.

He just had to go straight through without the Eye of Truth being activated.

Kugugugugu-

“……Run.”

-……Yes!

-Heomi, what are all those things!

-Li, Liza!

The problem was the various obstacles that followed behind him the moment he entered the labyrinth.

Starting with a giant sphere made of iron,

Kieeeeee-

Sisisisi-

-Kehek! Gh, ghost! No, why are there ghosts here!

-Liza Liza!

-Attacks don’t work. I don’t think they’re meant to be defeated.

“Run.”

-Yes!

After breaking through all sorts of obstacles and twisting and turning paths for about several minutes.

[You have escaped the labyrinth.]

-Heueo, I finally escaped.

-Liza Liza.

“You were carried by Charlie, so why are you panting so much?”

-……I have short legs. I can’t help but have less stamina.

Charlie, who had been carrying Jihad, who had relatively less stamina, put him down, and Jihad awkwardly wiped his nose.

Do-hyun smiled at that and raised his head.

[You have broken through all the Maze and Labyrinth of Rejection.]

[You can enter the Nest.]

‘Is this the real thing?’

A form closer to a cave than a nest.

It was as huge as a dragon’s lair would be, and he could feel the traces of a long time.

After watching carefully, he entered, and it was a different sight from the outside.

The candles attached to the walls were dimly lighting up the darkness, and for some reason, it was an atmosphere reminiscent of a king’s tomb.

Thump.

-Uh?

-Hmm. This is…….

The moment he took the next step.

A huge cavity with a height of 20M and a diameter of 200M greeted him, and Do-hyun couldn’t help but be surprised as he entered.

-Statues.

Even in this vast space, huge statues were lined up on both sides.

The number was estimated to be over 10.

-……Master. Something feels ominous. Be careful.

-Liza…….

The two, who were sensitive to mana, frowned, but this time Do-hyun was one step faster.

[The Eye of Truth is activated.]

‘……Those statues. They’re all red.’

Like the Emperor or the Second Prince, their entire bodies were dyed red.

Also, the shapes of the statues were unusual.

An unpleasant appearance that stimulated instinctive fear, different from ordinary monsters.

There were only differences in the characteristics of having four legs, scales on the body, or wings, but they all had a similar atmosphere.

This was quite a familiar atmosphere to Do-hyun.

‘……The Abyss.’

The monsters and the one who devours existence seen through the Eyes of the Abyss.

It was the same unpleasantness he felt from them.

In other words, all those statues were made in the image of the beings of the Abyss.

And the fact that the Eye of Truth was activated on all of those statues meant…….

‘……They’re not going to move, are they?’

Do-hyun swallowed and shook his head.

At least for now, there were no special abnormal symptoms.

[Investigating the Labyrinth of Rejection (0 / 1)]

‘……Let’s go a little further.’

Confirming that the quest was not yet completed, Do-hyun went further inside.

In that tense atmosphere, he passed through the statues and reached the end.

[The Eye of Truth is activated.]

[You have completed the investigation of the Labyrinth of Rejection.]

[Return to the Emperor and report what you have witnessed.]

“You’ve got to be kidding me…….”

Do-hyun’s eyes widened at something reflected in his pupils, and at the same time, profanity burst out.

Do-hyun, distorting his face, muttered as if he was dumbfounded.

“You want me to clear this?”

Without a doubt, it was the most difficult ever.

* * *

[Exiting the Labyrinth of Rejection.]

[It has been confirmed that all personnel have left the Labyrinth of Rejection. The structure of the labyrinth changes.]

Do-hyun’s expression was not good as he left the labyrinth.

That was only natural.

“Thinking about it objectively, this dungeon is crazy.”

-……That’s a perfectly objective judgment, Master.

-Liza.

The difficulty was truly insane.

Even Do-hyun, who never shied away from challenges in the face of all sorts of adversities and hardships, was convinced that it was impossible to clear alone.

-……It seems close to impossible at the moment, my lord.

In a situation where opinions were united for once, Do-hyun sighed.

‘This seems like something that needs to be entered on a guild level at least…… Should I talk to Uncle and try to clear it together?’

But even then, he wasn’t sure if he could clear it.

Just in case, he checked his friend list, but the Sword Saint was still in training and couldn’t be reached, and the Empress was in dreamland, so it was blacked out [unavailable].

‘Sigh, seeing this, it seems like I need a guild.’

Until now, he had been able to solve things on his own, but this time, a large number of people were essential, so he felt a little regretful.

Of course, he had no intention of joining a guild made by other guys.

He didn’t like being under someone else, and perhaps because of what he had suffered in Demlock, he didn’t feel attached to the guild.

‘The ‘that’ I saw at the end. Something was definitely shining red behind it.’

A small red light hidden behind ‘that’ which had shocked Do-hyun.

In the circumstances, it was definitely related to the main quest. ‘That’ was expressing with its whole body that it was related to the main quest.

If so, the hidden something was likely to be a fragment of fate.

‘I have to clear it no matter what.’

To get it, clearing this labyrinth was essential.

He had to use any means, whether it was asking Astra for help or, though he didn’t want to, creating a raid team.

Swish.

Do-hyun turned his head and looked beyond the forest, in the direction of the Imperial City, his eyes shining sharply.

[You have completed the investigation of the Labyrinth of Rejection.]

[Return to the Emperor and report what you have witnessed.]

‘A labyrinth related to the main quest…… The Emperor might know something.’

Reporting to the Emperor was the first thing to do.

* * *

And at that moment.

[Guys, a big one is coming to Kaiser TV soon.]

A somewhat unexpected post was uploaded to the homepage bulletin board.

└? A lot of big things have already happened, what are you talking about.

└Writer: Who doesn’t know that? Anyway, something’s going to happen, so just know that.

└Another big one is happening here? Is that possible?

Because it was Kaiser, who was a topic cheat key [someone who always generates buzz], attention was focused in an instant.

However, it was only attention, not in a positive direction.

└Ugh, another aggro [attention-seeking]. Let’s ignore it.

└Real, there are too many attention seekers after this incident.

└Is he Kaiser’s cousin or something? What does he know to say something big is happening lololol

└If he’s Kaiser’s cousin, I’m Kaiser’s grandfather tsk tsk

As usual, people thought that a malicious user who was hungry for attention was spouting nonsense.

Therefore, people’s reactions were ridicule, nothing more and nothing less.

└Suddenly thinking about that bastard who used parrying makes me feel bad.

└ Bastard? What is that

└I don’t know, C, whether it’s a bastard sword or mustard, he pretended to have talked to Kaiser and fought him, but he tried to parry the boss and died in one hit.

└lololol There are so many kids like that right now.

└Isn’t it all because of those attention seekers ugh;;

└Seeing the comments that get angry at even minor aggro, Kaiser, who has defeated so many rankers and become the troll maker on the throne who has regained the 1st place in all city rankings, seems amazing.

└? What’s with the surprise worship?

└Don’t you know this? It’s a meme these days. They’re following the worship of the Kaiser Church.

└The Kaiser Church is tearing their mouths these days [zealously recruiting]. They used to move a little secretly, but now they’re determined to proselytize.

As with other posts, just as a playground-like atmosphere was about to form.

-Writer: I understand that there seem to be many comments that don’t believe me. The topic is the topic after all. Hyung [older brother/male friend] won’t say much. (……jpg) You guys make the judgment.

Until one comment came up between anger and worship with resentment.

Oh