The Return Of The Genius Ranker Of All Times [EN]: Chapter 53

53.

Looking at the character customization mirror, Do-hyun smirked, stroking his chin.

“Looking good.”

It wasn’t just a casual remark.

The ambiguously red top, blue pants, and the black and green mixed in here and there—his previous appearance was the epitome of a hiker or a beginner’s fashion.

But what about now?

“It’s two-tone, but it feels even better this way. Don’t you think?”

-Well… it doesn’t look bad, Master.

Jihad reluctantly nodded, but even he thought it wasn’t too bad.

The quality of the leather itself was good, and the overall red color with blue smudges painted on it made it look even more threatening.

It was like a primitive tribe deliberately painting themselves to look fierce.

The training sword he held instead of the greatsword suited his sleek impression.

‘I’ll sell the rest.’

Besides these, there were also miscellaneous items and rewards from defeating the Warriors, but those were just items to stash in the inventory or put up for auction.

So, Do-hyun actually put them up for auction.

[Auction registered with default settings.]

[Minimum auction price set according to average market price.]

[Auction item registered.]

……

[Auction ends in 12 hours.]

The registered item was the Warrior set obtained from defeating the Warriors.

‘I need it the least.’

It might be a near-endgame item for some, but for Do-hyun now, it was more useless than junk items.

It overlapped exactly with the Great Warrior set.

He kept the weapons and other equipment he had obtained earlier, thinking he might use them later, but the Warrior set was different, so he decided to sell it coolly at the auction house.

‘One set was about 2 to 3 million won, right?’

It was a shame that the top, bottom, and belt parts weren’t super expensive, but Do-hyun had six sets, so this was more than enough.

That meant he would earn about 15 million won [approximately $12,000 USD].

‘This is the first money I’ve ever earned in God of Second Earth.’

Not 1.5 million won, but 15 million won.

He used to have to reach rank 1 in Demonic Land to earn that much, but now he was earning it in the first city on the main continent.

He felt strange, but the emotion tickling his chest was definitely a sense of accomplishment.

Filled with pride, regret, anticipation, and an unknown sense of fullness, Do-hyun took a deep breath.

‘Let’s just keep going like this.’

Rank 1? He could just take it again.

He was just so happy that he could now properly earn money again through the game. He even felt a sense of elation.

“Kuh…”

Feeling his chest heat up, Do-hyun rubbed his hands together and tried to shake off the emotion.

It wasn’t too late to feel this emotion when the money actually came in.

That’s when it would be real.

‘This is what matters now.’

When is the happiest moment when you get a skill or equipment item?

Most users would answer the same question.

It’s when you’re about to go test its performance, filled with anticipation and excitement.

Isn’t the day you wait for the delivery of a car and drive it for the first time the happiest?

This was the same principle.

“Let’s go.”

-Where are you going this time, Master? Aren’t you moving around too much?

“I have to live busily. This is not the time to play around.”

Therefore, Do-hyun turned his steps without a moment’s hesitation.

“There’s a suitable opponent.”

-A person who devoured even the Great Warrior, where would there be a suitable opponent… Ah?

Jihad, who was following behind and questioning, seemed to realize something and opened his mouth wide.

Come to think of it, he hadn’t seen it directly, but he seemed to have heard rumors that a new ruler had appeared in the forest after he disappeared.

Do-hyun turned his head and cast his gaze into the air.

To be exact, at the quest window floating in the air.

[To go to the next city, you must pass the Trial of the Continent.]

[Field Boss Hunt]

-Rank: 1st Trial

-Description: Those who wish to graduate from Raven, the first city of the main continent, must pass the Trial of the Continent.

The achievement value is updated in proportion to the hunting performance of the field boss, and the rank of the reward is determined. It is cleared by defeating ‘Eliza, the Spider Queen,’ the official ruler of Raven.

-Clear Condition: Reach level 24, Defeat Spider Queen Eliza (0 / 1) -Reward upon completion: Differential payment by rank (D~S rank).

-Time Limit: None.

Spider Queen Eliza, the field boss of the western forest and the core boss of the graduation quest.

It was finally time to catch her.

* * *

Spider Queen Eliza.

At first glance, it felt like a named boss, but it wasn’t.

Unlike named bosses, whose data disappears forever once they die, Eliza constantly respawned and appeared in the forest.

But why was she named Eliza?

-Eliza, Eliza, Eliza, Eliza, Eliza…

“Ugh, I really hate hearing it.”

“Someone shut that spider up and put a fireball in its mouth!”

“That thing is so persistent that it even screams Eliza when it’s dying. It’s relentless.”

“It’s tough, so tough!”

Because she only uttered the word ‘Eliza’ with all her might.

A monster with a tremendous size that makes giant spiders look cute speaks human words?

While only uttering the word ‘Eliza’?

It was so creepy that goosebumps rose on his arms, and most users said that enduring that was harder than catching her.

But God of Second Earth is a game enjoyed by 1 billion people.

There were also people who didn’t simply dismiss this as creepy and thought about the root cause.

“Why does she say Eliza?”

“Is there an NPC named Eliza? Is there a hidden piece? Like a hidden quest or something.”

“There’s a possibility?”

Why would a non-named boss repeat the word ‘Eliza’?

It was a rare case even in the vast continent of God of Second Earth, and it was a sight that could not be seen outside of Raven for users taking the normal route.

Something must be hidden. Quick-witted users concluded.

But……

“Hidden my ass.”

“Damn it, I wasted money for nothing. How much did I spend on the explorers I sent out?”

“Is it possible that they searched all the way from Raven to Fratel [a distant city] and found nothing?”

“Hey, the Adventure King investigated the entire main continent and gave up because he couldn’t find anything. It seems like he’s ruled it out.”

“If the Adventure King is like that, then… it’s over.”

The hidden piece about Eliza could never be found.

“Huh? I saw Eliza?”

“? Stop trolling.”

“I’m serious. There’s a general store called Eliza in the fourth city…”

“Is she pretty?”

“Yeah, she’s pretty. Pure itself.”

They even went to this general store with the feeling of grasping at straws, but she didn’t seem to know anything about the Spider Queen.

Thus, users came to a conclusion.

God of Second Earth, who likes to create unique bosses, put in such a setting to torment users in a new way.

It couldn’t be a more frustrating setting, but what could they do? To graduate from Raven, they had to catch that monster.

Still, there was one good thing.

“But they made it catchable.”

“It’s a relief they didn’t put in some weird trait like the Mutant Goblin Warrior.”

“If they put that in here, all the users would have quit. Breaking through mutant traits while listening to noise pollution? Ugh, creepy.”

“I agree.”

It had relatively tame characteristics compared to the bosses that had come out so far.

And the respawn rate was relatively fast.

Since it was a graduation quest, all users were looking for it, so the respawn was faster for convenience.

“No, they said it respawns quickly?”

Of course, it was faster than other field bosses, but it didn’t mean it respawned every few minutes.

It didn’t even always respawn in the same location.

About once an hour, it respawned in one of the four spider nests located in the north, south, east, and west directions, and the first person to find it was the owner.

It doesn’t mean they line up politely.

“Spider nests are so annoying, really.”

“No, isn’t it too much that spider webs are laid after one party takes it? What kind of field boss is this?”

“It’s okay. The spider web effect wears off after 90 minutes.”

“If you can’t catch it in 1 hour and 30 minutes, isn’t that weird? It’s basically telling you to wait.”

The moment it finds prey, Spider Queen Eliza lays spider webs to block the entrance.

From the boss’s point of view, it’s to prevent the prey from escaping, but because the entrance is connected, it also prevents anyone from entering from the outside.

You can lure it out of the spider nest and catch it before it lays the spider web, but…

“Why bother?”

“Why go through the trouble when they let you catch it safely?”

“Anti-steal is great!”

Normally, that would be the case, but Raven’s field boss was a little different.

This was because the graduation quest reward varied depending on the hunting performance of the field boss.

Unless they were willing to give up some of the graduation quest rewards and have multiple parties join forces to catch it, there was no reason to increase the risk of being stolen.

That’s why the first person to find it was the owner, and that’s why Do-hyun was wandering through the forest.

“I’m asking just in case, but do you even know the location of the field boss?”

-No. I was buried for 150 years, Master. She’s my next-generation ruler, so I don’t know her well…

“You said there was nothing you didn’t know in the forest.”

-Ahem.

Jihad avoids his gaze, perhaps embarrassed.

Do-hyun shook his head at Jihad’s feigned ignorance, but it wasn’t Jihad’s fault.

He had done his part well enough so far.

He had given him a Heroic-grade equipment set and two mid-level skill 뽑기 [Gacha] tickets!

‘Yeah, it’s too much to ask for this too.’

It was time to do it with Do-hyun’s strength.

[Time remaining until field boss respawn 00:04:49]

[The field boss will respawn shortly.]

‘About 5 minutes.’

The system must have popped up for all users in the western forest.

That’s probably why there were so many people gathering in the forest.

Among them, there were especially many people where Do-hyun was, because standing in the center allowed them to check all four spider nests located in the north, south, east, and west directions.

“Hurry up and respawn.”

“I’m fast, so I’ll go grab the aggro first [draw the boss’s attention].”

“You didn’t forget to spread people around, did you? We have to secure it no matter what.”

From users who quickly preempt and monopolize, to

“Hey, we’re just aiming to graduate anyway, so why don’t we all join forces?”

“Honestly, we’re not item-빨 [item-dependent] users, and even if we monopolize it, we’ll only get a C rank at best, so wouldn’t it be better to save time?”

To users who choose to join forces with multiple parties for the purpose of graduating.

It was truly diverse.

The former looked flashy at first glance and seemed confident that they would definitely catch it, and the latter mostly wore the Warrior set obtained from the Warriors or didn’t even wear that.

Whatever the case, it would be a fierce competition.

The moment the boss respawned, they would rush out as if possessed, making the current situation of waiting relatively quietly pale in comparison.

“If we’re late and they find it first, just spam skills from a distance.”

“If we can somehow pull it out of the spider nest, they have no choice. They have no choice but to catch it together.”

“Won’t they target us?”

“We attacked first, so what does it matter? If we’re going by the first attack, we started the try first?”

In fact, there were many who tried to obtain it even by using somewhat 편법 [underhanded methods].

This was just what he heard from Do-hyun’s vicinity, but the users outside would probably be no different.

‘It was like this in Demonic Land too.’

Back then, there were many who couldn’t stand it and got into fights.

Because it was such a violent game with so many combat fanatics.

As Do-hyun, who achieved rank 1 in that chaos, had no intention of doing it moderately.

His plan was to use 뒤잡기 [backstab] faster than anyone else the moment he saw the boss.

He was confident in his reflexes.

Of course, he was likely to be late compared to the people standing in front of the spider nest entrance… but Do-hyun had no choice.

‘I’m not confident in 뽑기 [Gacha] luck, so what can I do?’

Do-hyun has never correctly guessed the respawn location, which is called 복불복 [random chance].

It would be foolish to expect luck to follow him this time.

It would be more likely to aim for 뒤잡기 [backstab].

‘It would be nice if the Eye of Truth could see this too.’

He was thinking such 양심 터진 [shameless] thoughts when.

“Hoo…”

“I’m nervous.”

The faint voices gradually faded.

[Time remaining until field boss respawn 00:01:01]

Everyone had confirmed that the respawn time was approaching.

Like the silence before the starting gun goes off just before a race, when no sound is heard except for breathing.

Dding-.

A cheerful notification rang like a whistle, and a message popped up.

[Conditions are met.]

[Trait ‘Slayer’ is activated.]

[The presence of the boss is detected nearby.]

[The hidden location of the field boss ‘Spider Queen Eliza’ is revealed.]

‘Huh?’

A message that only Do-hyun can see.