The Return Of The Genius Ranker Of All Times [EN]: Chapter 35

35.

Even after frantically looking around, Kaiser was nowhere to be found.

I went further inside, thinking he might have entered first, but he wasn’t there either.

“What the hell…? What is this!?”

He was definitely there right before entering the boss room, so how could he suddenly disappear?

It was ghostly.

I couldn’t help but swear, forgetting about my image.

Clink- Clack.

Creak-.

To make matters worse, elite soldiers approached with metallic sounds.

At this rate, I would inevitably draw their aggro [attention and hostility].

“Where did that bastard go! Did he disconnect or what!?”

“No, it says he’s still connected.”

“Then what is it? Did he use the emergency dungeon escape?”

Emergency escape.

A convenient feature that could only be used before entering the boss room, forcibly escaping the dungeon.

There was a penalty of reducing health by 30% for 2 hours, but it wasn’t a bad penalty, so quite a few people used it.

The penalty could also be removed by going to an NPC [Non-Player Character, a character controlled by the game] and taking a special potion.

However, this feature could not be used once the boss raid started.

If someone suddenly disappeared during a boss try, most parties would face a wipe [complete failure], so it was to prevent trolling [intentionally disrupting the game].

Which meant…

“That bastard… he knew.”

“Ugh, no wonder he dodged all the attacks.”

“It’s because you were shooting too obviously! Ah, damn it…”

“What are you talking about! You told me to shoot!”

“Is this the time to be fighting amongst ourselves? Get a grip, you guys.”

It meant that guy had noticed their plan.

Since it had come to this, there was no choice.

If they didn’t want to receive a death penalty, they had to grit their teeth and clear the dungeon.

“Let’s take care of the elite soldiers first. I’ll mark the boss, so the rest of you take care of the rest.”

“Damn it… alright.”

Fortunately, they were all skilled players who had reached the graduation level [high level of skill and experience].

With a mage, they could clear it if they didn’t make any mistakes.

Thump!

Bastard Sword stepped forward first.

It was to draw the aggro of the elite soldiers.

[Unique ability ‘Showdown’ is activated.]

[Defense and health are increased by 50% until a showdown with the designated target.]

‘Tch. This is going to be annoying.’

Unique ability Showdown.

A unique ability of a hero god, demonstrating considerable power in turtling [defensive strategy].

Thanks to this ability, Bastard Sword could confidently take on the role of a sub-tanker [character focused on defense] despite being a swordsman.

Clink…

The goblin elite soldier, seeing the suddenly appearing Bastard Sword, paused for a moment. Bastard Sword launched the first attack.

[Bastard Sword used ‘Triple Slash’.]

A normal skill that quickly slashes the upper, middle, and lower areas three times.

It was a decent normal skill, but Bastard Sword’s Triple Slash was different from others.

[Trait ‘One More Hit’ is triggered.]

[The number of attacks is increased, adding an additional hit.]

A trait that increased the number of hits for any skill by one.

Because of that, he could unleash a Quadruple Slash instead of a Triple Slash. The elite soldier’s eyes turned bloodshot after unexpectedly taking an extra hit to a vital spot.

Clink! Keeek!!

[Red Goblin Elite Soldier recognizes ‘Bastard Sword’ as an enemy.]

[Trait Tenacity is activated.]

[Aggro will not be released.]

Bastard Sword, not to be outdone, attacked the elite soldier next to him.

Then that one also got aggroed onto Bastard Sword.

Like a bull going wild at a red cloth, a scene unfolded where they only chased after Bastard Sword.

“Aggro is handled here!”

“Okay. I’ll start marking now.”

Only then did the paladin move.

Leaving Bastard Sword and That Grab-Jae behind, they went deeper, and a goblin appeared that was so large that the elite soldiers looked cute in comparison.

Kieeee…

Similar in height and build to the 180cm+ paladin.

However, the sight of a body full of fat rather than muscles and the goblin’s unique despicable impression made one frown.

Nevertheless, the two eyes that shone brightly were chilling.

[Goblin Chieftain]

-Title: Rare Dungeon Boss

-Type: Goblin

-Trait: Cowardly, Selfish Defense, Revenge

-Description: The chieftain of the great goblin tribe.

Only goblins who inherited the bloodline of the greatest goblin warrior of ancient times could become chieftains.

However, the current chieftain’s bloodline had thinned out, and he couldn’t hide his innate cowardly nature, and he didn’t even manage his weight because he didn’t recklessly step forward.

But even he was the chieftain of a tribe. He was an Iri who knew how to be angry for his comrades.

It was the goblin chieftain.

Kieeeeeee!

He was furious as written in the description.

[All goblin scouts have died.]

[All goblin soldiers have died.]

At the deaths of his comrades.

At his own weakness that pushed his comrades to their deaths.

[Trait Revenge is activated.]

[Until all ‘human’ races in the dungeon are destroyed, all of the goblin chieftain’s stats increase, and his battle instincts surge.]

And to the humans who were the cause of all this.

“Look at his eyes.”

Originally, the cowardly trait was a trait close to a penalty.

Literally, cowardice meant being too afraid to even fight properly because of a weak mind.

It was an unbelievable trash trait for a rare boss to have, but when combined with the revenge trait, it created tremendous synergy.

A trait that grew stronger while taking revenge in proportion to the number of dead comrades and the target’s enraged emotions.

The constant self-deprecation for having driven his comrades to their deaths because he was a coward soon turned into anger, and that returned as tremendous power.

Thwack! Bang!

“Ugh…!

The power hitting the shield was extraordinary.

Without any special skills, he was just throwing punches at random, but even that was difficult to block.

Still, I was confident in enduring.

Compared to Arde’s goblin warrior, the combat pattern was simple and there wasn’t much to it.

There was no need to interrupt the pattern, I just had to endure, so it was a bit overwhelming, but not difficult.

[Unique ability ‘Endurance’ is activated.]

[Damage taken is reduced while maintaining the same posture.]

[Trait ‘Unwavering Body’ is triggered.]

[The body becomes heavier, significantly reducing the chance of being knocked back.]

And that was his specialty.

Although he was a Uwha God, he had drawn the Immovable God of the Old Village, who was highly regarded in the tanker world, and his traits were specialized in endurance.

“I’m holding on, so take him down quickly!”

“Got it…!”

That Grab-Jae was about to start casting with a powerful answer.

He stared blankly at the air and shouted in disbelief.

“You, you son of a b*tch, why are you here…!”

The sound was so loud that it was enough to draw the attention of the two who were focused on marking.

“What is it that… huh?”

“What, why is he…?”

The moment they turned their heads, the two had no choice but to freeze.

Because it really didn’t make sense.

Thud, thud.

The sound of footsteps coming from beyond the boss room door.

The identity of the person who walked in leisurely as if he had come out for a stroll was none other than Kaiser, Do-hyun, whom they were desperately looking for.

“Dodging all the attacks my ass… you couldn’t even hit me if I stood still.”

They snapped out of it at the words grumbling with a sulky face and shouted.

“You, how!”

“You definitely weren’t visible, so why are you coming in from there!?”

“Is this bastard really using hacks [illegitimate modifications to the game]?”

Do-hyun smirked at their shouts.

He had already confirmed their true colors, but it was funny how they didn’t even bother to wear a mask anymore because of the situation.

‘In the end, my prediction was right.’

Why is it that this hunch never fails…

That’s why Do-hyun couldn’t help but fully trust his sense of detecting such hostility.

The hit rate was over 90 percent so far.

‘I’m glad I hid by using Backstab.’

Backstab is a skill that moves behind the target.

Objects are not included in that target.

Then what about corpses?

It was no longer a living thing, but it wasn’t exactly an object, so wouldn’t it be possible?

With that thought, Do-hyun used Backstab on the goblin soldier’s corpse the moment he was about to enter the boss room.

‘I can’t believe it actually worked on a corpse.’

The result was a success.

Thanks to that, Do-hyun quickly disappeared from their sight and hid in the corner of the hallway, and he thought it was about time, so he returned to the boss room.

Looking at the situation from behind, it was quite a sight.

As soon as he hid his appearance, they were spewing out all sorts of curses and telling him all about their plans.

“Really a hack… it’s like I’ve heard it from someone before.”

“Ah, no…”

And even that reaction.

It was certain. That guy was related to the guy who had hostility towards him.

And there was only one guy like that.

“Was it Assassin Boy? Are you his friends?”

“…”

Those were the only guys who had hostility towards Do-hyun right now.

Seeing that they couldn’t answer, it seemed like he was right.

I heard he was being targeted for assassination, but he was still commissioning revenge in the midst of all this, so he was definitely not a normal guy.

‘Well, that’s why he posted such a thing on the bulletin board.’

Should I call this stupid, or should I say that his venom was extraordinary…

Still, it seemed like those guys weren’t stupid either.

“W-wait a minute. I don’t deny that we’re your enemies. But you have to help us to clear the dungeon.”

“…”

The elite soldiers had Bastard Sword’s feet tied, and the Goblin Chieftain had the paladin tied up.

All that was left was That Grab-Jae alone, but mages were weak in one-on-one combat.

On the other hand, the opponent was not just any scrub, but a swordsman with tremendous damage.

Realizing that they were at a disadvantage, they immediately started negotiating.

‘Unexpected.’

Did they misunderstand that he was looking at them because he was curious?

Clang!

Kieeee!

“Keuk…”

That Grab-Jae, who had been gulping while looking at the paladin who was holding up his shield high and Bastard Sword who was working hard to block the attacks of the two elite soldiers, calmly continued to speak.

“As you know, a mage is essential here. And so is a tanker who can take on the aggro.”

“Hmm.”

“So let’s join hands for now. Since we’re taking on all the aggro anyway, there’s no way you can harm us during the raid even if you wanted to. And there’s no reason to.”

That was true.

Unless they were crazy, there was no way they would attack Do-hyun in a situation where aggro was piled up.

It was also true that a mage was needed to clear it because of the trait ‘Selfish Defense’.

It would be a wise decision to join hands now.

“I don’t want to.”

That would be the case in a normal situation.

“What… Keheok!?”

Thwack-!

That Grab-Jae raised his trembling hand to the warm sensation he felt in his chest.

A huge greatsword was embedded in it.

He raised his head and saw Do-hyun holding the greatsword right in front of him, and his lips twitched as if he couldn’t believe it.

Crack-!

[Player ‘Strongest10ClassGreatMageThatGrabJae’ has been killed.]

[Player ‘Strongest10ClassGreatMageThatGrabJae’ has been identified as an ‘Evil Person’. It is recognized as self-defense, and the karma stat does not increase.]

‘He’s an evil person after all.’

I was wondering if he was, since he was reacting quite sensitively to the death penalty, but thankfully I was right.

I was going to consider raising the karma stat a little if necessary, but there was no need to do that.

Thanks to that, Do-hyun was calm, but the two were not.

“Grab-Jae!? Crazy… you killed the mage?”

“That crazy bastard! Are you saying we should all die together!?”

The paladin and Bastard Sword were horrified and screamed.

Seeing them expressing their anger even while struggling to draw aggro, it seemed like they were quite angry.

Do-hyun smiled slightly as he looked at the two.

“Do you know what my motto is?”

“What are you talking about? Why is that important right now!?”

Do-hyun didn’t care about the angry reaction.

“It’s that I never join hands with anyone who tries to stab me in the back. Whether I live or die, if I join hands with those guys, the ending will always be terrible.”

I experienced it painfully during the Demroq days.

I was living peacefully in modern times when I first played the game Demroq.

I had talent and reached first place, but does that mean the process was just smooth?

There were countless guys who tried to rip off Do-hyun, who was pure because he didn’t know the world of games.

In the early days, I was scammed a few times.

From merchants who scammed in unimaginable ways to guys who put poison in buff dishes or guys who pretended to be a party and tried to commit assassinations.

‘I was sick of it.’

Among them were guys who said, ‘Let’s form an alliance for a while because it’s an emergency situation.’

At that time, it was rational in the situation, so I accepted.

And on the day we drove out the enemy, a large army came right away.

It was an army formed by the guy who had formed an alliance.

From the beginning, that guy was planning to take care of both the enemy and Do-hyun.

After navigating such a rough world for several years, Do-hyun realized.

‘Yesterday’s enemy is also today’s enemy.’

Yesterday’s enemy is today’s ally?

There was no such thing. That’s just something that exists in proverbs.

Once an enemy, always an enemy, and they were beings who could not coexist under the same sun.