The Return Of The Genius Ranker Of All Times [EN]: Chapter 56

56.

As the rumors spread, she became the center of attention.

“A giant spider desperately calling out a woman’s name was discovered one day?”

It was impossible not to be intrigued.

“She must be possessed by a demon. I’ll go kill her.”

“She’s definitely worth a lot of money. Bring her here.”

“If I raise such a creature, everyone will look up to me, right?”

They tormented her for various reasons, and many seasons passed.

Enduring all those days, she became a field boss, followed by all sorts of ominous titles.

-Eliza… Eliza.

There were many difficult moments, but Eliza repeated her name each time.

Remembering the image of her master calling her name warmly.

And now, after another 50 years.

-Liza! Liza Liza!

-Elizaaaa!!

After a long period of anguish, she finally reached the moment she had longed for.

* * *

…That’s how it happened.

-Hwaaaah! Eliza!

-Liza Liza!!

So, that’s why those two are so desperate to be together.

Do-Hyun, after hearing the tear-jerking melodrama, didn’t feel sadness or anything similar.

Well, he was sad, but before that, he was dumbfounded.

“No, I mean, to put it simply, you abandoned Eliza and left, right?”

Flounder.

Jihad’s trembling stopped at the harsh fact bomb.

-Hwaaah, Eliza!

Then, pretending not to know, Jihad hugged Eliza again.

Do-Hyun, seeing that absurd sight, threw another harsh fact bomb.

“No, Eliza’s the one who was abandoned, so why are you sad? You abandoned her for 150 years, so you shouldn’t be sad, morally speaking.”

-Cough, cough! N-no! I couldn’t help it…

Jihad tried to retort, unable to ignore this, but Do-Hyun wasn’t one to accept it quietly.

“Couldn’t help it, my ass. You didn’t even recognize her until I beat you senseless. It seems like you just remembered her after hearing her name, right?”

-……

“What, is that right? Wow, what would have happened if Eliza hadn’t been shouting her name? You’re really something, you know.”

-……Yeah, it’s all my fault.

Perhaps feeling sorry for Eliza.

Jihad, crestfallen, couldn’t bear to look into Eliza’s sparkling eyes and turned his head.

-Liza…

Then, this time, Eliza became dejected.

Her appearance, utterly devoted to her master, was like watching a puppy. It made Jihad’s heart ache even more.

-Yes, you were always like that. You always waited for me.

-Liza!

-I’m sorry for making you wait so long, Eliza. I won’t leave you again now.

-Lizaaaa!

He was such a foolish fellow.

Rub rub-.

It had been a whopping 150 years.

Eliza, despite being abandoned and forgotten for such a long time, was rubbing her face as if she was happy.

She didn’t even get angry once, but was simply and purely happy to see him again.

She had waited for more than ten times the amount of time they had spent together.

-To think I forgot about you…

He hated himself so much.

At the same time, he was puzzled.

‘It’s strange. There’s no way I would forget Eliza.’

It wasn’t an excuse, it was truly strange.

At first, he was curious because she looked so peculiar.

But as they spent more time together, that feeling grew. At some point, Eliza had become Jihad’s irreplaceable friend.

Forget such a friend?

‘No way.’

When he was in the hideout, he kept feeling like he was forgetting something important.

And now he knew that it was Eliza.

The moment he recognized her, his memories with her flooded back as if a switch had been turned on.

What was strange was that this wasn’t the end.

-Why couldn’t I go back home? I definitely found a clue and discovered something, and then I was chased… Huh? A clue? What clue was it?

His head was complicated.

Confused would be a more accurate description.

Do-Hyun, staring intently at Jihad, who was mentally out of it in many ways, suddenly asked.

“But why were you hiding?”

-Huh?

“Why, you know. Is there a reason to hide in such a place for such a long time?”

-Ah…

Actually, he had always been curious.

He seemed like a guy with many secrets, but putting all that aside, why had he been hiding underground for hundreds of years?

His connection with that guy, and many other things, made him curious.

-That’s…

Jihad, who was about to answer the question, closed his mouth again.

Then he slowly shook his head.

-I can’t tell you that, Master. It’s beyond my current ability.

“…? What’s that supposed to mean.”

-I’m sorry, Master.

Do-Hyun didn’t ask any further, seeing Jihad’s unnecessarily serious face.

Instead, he just muttered to himself.

“It’s not like you’ll die if you tell me, what’s with the ‘beyond my ability’.”

-It’s similar.

“? Similar to what?”

Do-Hyun spat out in disbelief at Jihad’s answer to his mutterings.

“What is this, some kind of Vol[de]mort…”

-What’s that, Master?

“There’s something like that. I can’t tell you because of copyright issues.”

-……?

The conversation ended with each of them unable to understand the other’s words, but the next concern was the same.

“What do we do now?”

-……I don’t know, Master.

Although he didn’t explain it, Jihad understood.

What was the reason Do-Hyun came here in the first place?

‘It’s a graduation quest, so I can’t kill her…’

It was to clear the graduation quest.

To do that, he had to kill Eliza, but Do-Hyun wasn’t cold-blooded enough to kill her after hearing such a story.

Moreover, she was Jihad’s pet, whom he had grown fond of, even if she was a bit annoying(?)……

‘I can’t even take her with me according to the system.’

It didn’t seem like she would come out as a card like Jihad if he killed her.

It was a headache in many ways.

-Liza! Liza Liza!

-Huh? What is it?

-Lizaaaa!

-What? No! What are you talking about!?

Eliza was expressing herself by waving her hands wildly with her huge body.

And Jihad, as if he understood her words, was constantly arguing with her.

“What’s going on?”

-No… It’s nothing, Master.

-Liza Liza!

Leaving Jihad, who was trying to avoid answering, Eliza came forward.

Then, she suddenly bit her own leg with her poisonous fangs.

[The field boss of the West Forest, ‘Spider Queen Eliza,’ is inflicted with a venomous state.]

[HP is less than 10%.]

“What is this…?”

Before Do-Hyun could be taken aback, Jihad’s shout burst out.

-Eliza, what are you doing!

-Liza Liza!

-Huh? What? ……Really?

Then, after hearing something, he understood.

It was something that would make Do-Hyun jump up and down with curiosity.

“No, what are you saying? Don’t just keep it to yourself, let me know too.”

-Ah… She said to stab her, Master. She’s okay with it.

“……She’s okay with it?”

-Yes. There’s no time to explain, but it’s okay for now. So, I’d like you to do as Eliza wishes, Master.

“Well… If you say so.”

It was a bit찝찝 [a feeling of unease or reluctance], but there was no reason to refuse if they were okay with it.

“Stab her?”

-Liza!

Eliza nodded as if she understood.

He stabbed the training sword deeply, feeling 찝찝 [uneasy], and HP drained quickly. It was thanks to using Striking to finish it quickly.

How many times did he repeat that?

[You have defeated the field boss of the West Forest, ‘Spider Queen Eliza’.]

[The essence orb is enhanced due to the first-time benefit.]

[Would you like to harvest the enhanced essence orb of the Spider Queen Eliza?]

[Recorded in the Book of Adventures.]

[You have defeated a new type of boss in your first encounter.]

[All stats increase by +6 due to the Devour effect.]

Eventually, Eliza’s eyes went out as her life force ran out, and she collapsed.

“……Is this right?”

-Yes.

Unlike the bewildered Do-Hyun, Jihad seemed calm.

It was only a few seconds later that he could understand Jihad’s appearance.

Popping-!

-Liza!

“Huh?”

Something popped out of the huge corpse and revealed itself.

A small size of about 5cm.

The identity of the small tuft of fur that looked like white cotton candy at first glance was Eliza.

-Eliza! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you in that form.

-Liza Liza!

It was then that a cheerful notification rang out, leaving behind Jihad’s welcoming voice.

Ting-.

[You have discovered the hidden named boss ‘Eliza’ parasitizing the field boss of the West Forest, ‘Spider Queen Eliza’.]

[Eliza’s loyalty and intimacy towards the Guardian ‘Jihad Black’ are MAX.]

[You have met the conditions.]

[Would you like to accept her under the Guardian ‘Jihad Black’?]

“……Wow.”

……This is possible?

* * *

There were sometimes such bosses in Demlock [likely a game or world within the story].

A special type of boss that parasitizes monsters.

Such guys usually didn’t die at once, and they bothered users by moving around the hosts that would become their vessels.

They had to kill the already tricky boss several times to clear it.

‘I had a hard time too.’

The worst of them was Finalea, who parasitized the zombie dragon.

In the end, even though it was a pseudo-dragon, it was difficult to catch one, and they had to catch it several times.

The reward was better, but honestly, it was annoying.

That memory was so clear that he went around confirming kills even during the tutorial of God of Creation.

-Liza!

The reason he was bringing up that story again now was simple.

“To think the field boss was a host…”

Eliza was that type.

Who would have imagined it?

That a being who was a boss of a field was actually just a shell.

‘I knew something was strange.’

All bosses who are not named bosses do respawn.

Due to the settings attached to the boss, there are residual memories or behavioral principles that are determined, but that’s it.

There are no deep stories or memories to the extent that they would film such a melodrama.

‘And if it’s a 150-year-old story… I’ve said it all.’

But it was different for named bosses.

They were truly residents of God of Creation.

[List under the Guardian ‘Jihad Black’]

-Eliza

Now she has become his guardian…

No, to be exact, when he opened the information of Eliza, who had become Jihad’s subordinate, a splendid information window appeared.

[View Eliza’s information.]

[Eliza]

[Title: Named Guardian]

[Type: Spider]

[Loyalty: MAX]

[Traits: Sky Cobweb, Parasitism]

[Guardian Traits: Sunflower, Patience, Gluttony, Sleepiness]

[Description: A mysterious white spider presumed to be a rare species.

Despite living for a long time, she has not yet become an adult. She is a devoted master 바라기 [baragi: 바라기 is someone who is devoted to someone else], and the thread she spins is very strong.]

[Most of the abilities are sealed due to the low level of ‘Jihad Black’.]

[Stats will be adjusted in proportion to the growth of ‘Jihad Black’.]

[Available Skills: 1]

-Thread Spinning

‘Is this what they call a windfall?’

He just had Jihad as a guardian, but somehow he broke a hidden piece and welcomed a new guardian.

She picks up items well, listens well even if it’s conditional, and finds hidden fields…

Now she even breaks hidden pieces?

‘Maybe Jihad is a blessing in disguise?’

Do-Hyun was seeing the ugly goblin as lovely for some reason.