The Return Of The Genius Ranker Of All Times [EN]: Chapter 6

Episode 6.

[Starting with Max Favorability?]

-Rank: Rare

-Description: Title given to those who have maximized the favorability of an NPC [Non-Player Character, a character controlled by the game] in the tutorial.

-Effect: Increases the rate at which NPC favorability rises.

All stats +2

This title was hard to obtain even in Demroq [previous game the protagonist played].

Of course.

Titles were only awarded when a player’s actions or achievements were deemed worthy of such recognition.

You had to work harder than others and achieve significant results.

‘A rare title is quite valuable.’

Among the titles, a rare rank was a satisfactory outcome.

Common, Rare, Heroic, Legendary.

The difference in power between each rank was substantial, and a rare rank could be effectively utilized in many situations.

Even in Demroq, Dohyun [protagonist] used the rare rank the most.

And this ranking system was the same in God of Creation.

The importance of the rare rank would likely be similar.

‘Good start.’

Obtaining a rare rank title from the tutorial was a promising beginning.

Moreover, it was an option that aided in favorability farming [increasing NPC favorability].

Although it didn’t directly help in combat, it might prove even more beneficial in the long run.

‘Fortunately, God of Creation doesn’t turn favorability rewards into a gacha [loot box/random reward system].’

They claimed to have incorporated feedback and reformed the system to some extent.

Well, that’s how God of Creation managed to dominate the market. If they had operated it like Demroq, there would have been a lot of controversy, no matter how revolutionary the virtual reality technology was.

Dohyun, having finished examining the rewards, looked up.

‘Hmm.’

He saw Charlie, who was now beaming with a friendly expression.

There was no trace of the frustration he had shown during their initial encounter, when he had dragged Dohyun along.

“Thanks to you, we reached this point faster than expected. It’s all thanks to you.”

His voice had also become noticeably gentler.

‘I just fought… Is it really this easy to gain his favor?’

Considering that I haven’t done anything particularly special, is this just pure… luck?

Well, given the current war situation, Dohyun’s quick monster clearing would be appreciated.

In the now somewhat friendly atmosphere, despite being on a battlefield, he pointed ahead.

“Now, all we have to do is go there.”

He pointed to the door at the end of the hallway.

Finally, this tutorial was coming to an end. Passing through that door would trigger the final event.

“If we can just eliminate the black magician inside, we can secure victory in this war…”

Charlie was running down the hallway, continuing to speak, when suddenly…

“…!”

When they were about 100 meters away.

Kugugugu-.

The hallway they had just traversed began to collapse.

That wasn’t the end of it.

An ominous black light emanated from beneath the collapsing floor.

Charlie was taken aback by the sudden change.

“Good heavens…! Has the summoning already begun?”

The summoning was proceeding faster than originally anticipated.

To make matters worse, bizarrely shaped monsters were emerging from the collapsed floor, including the ones they had fought before, and even bat-like creatures.

Someone had to stop them.

“Oh no…! I’ll handle this! You go on ahead! Just go inside! You must stop the summoner!”

“…?”

“Originally, the captain, me, should go… but I think I can trust you with it. No, rather, I want to ask you. Hero… can you please help?”

Dohyun, momentarily forgetting the situation, pointed at himself blankly.

He wondered if he had misheard.

But Charlie, misunderstanding his gesture, began to offer prayers of gratitude.

“May the blessing of Arren Castle be with the hero of war…”

It was a perplexing situation for Dohyun.

‘…I’m going in? Not you?’

This was supposed to be a standard event in the God of Creation tutorial.

‘That’ [the boss] gets summoned, and Charlie goes in first to confront the monster.

Then, after a scream, he dies, and ‘That’ bursts through the wall.

It was an event that happened to everyone, even Dohyun, who was playing God of Creation for the first time, knew this.

But the event had changed.

‘I heard it changes a bit depending on the user’s actions… but does it change this much?’

It was strange. Charlie barely intervened in the battle, and the clapping was a trivial gesture that shouldn’t have significantly altered the progress… but wasn’t this event supposed to be unavoidable?

As he approached the door, a message appeared.

[Only one person can enter at a time.]

[Upon death, the seal will collapse, and all of the boss’s status conditions will be removed.]

[Are you sure you want to enter?]

A message that was quite alarming.

It was unheard of for such a message to appear in the tutorial. Some people may know, but it means that it is not a typical route, at least.

In Demroq, this was called an…

Easter egg.

Or….

‘Hidden Piece.’

A device intentionally hidden within the game.

These devices usually presented a high level of difficulty, but the rewards were also significantly better than usual.

If God of Creation was similar to Demroq, this would be the same.

He didn’t know the exact mechanics of the hidden piece, but Charlie’s recognition and favorability likely played a significant role.

‘I’m lucky.’

That was the only way to describe it.

Who would have guessed that such a secret was hidden?

Now, he felt like he could tolerate Charlie’s cheesy reactions as much as he wanted.

[Are you sure you want to enter?]

“Yes.”

Because Dohyun wasn’t the type to refuse a hidden piece like this.

With a resolute answer, he opened the door, and a dazzling light enveloped him.

When he opened his eyes, a different landscape unfolded.

Kuaaaa!

“Kuaaak! Why, why are you doing this! I am the summoner who summoned you! Listen to me! No, no! Uwaaaak!”

A massive being shrouded in darkness was devouring someone who appeared to be a summoner.

No, it was hard to even call it a person.

Overall, it had a vaguely human silhouette, but the exposed parts of its body resembled that of a monster.

[Dark Summoner Contracted with the Abyss]

-Title: One Who Contracted with the Abyss

-Type: Hybrid

-Traits: Black Magic, Summoning, Curse

-Description: A black magician who has made a pact with the world of fear, the Abyss. He is attempting to capture Arren Castle by summoning ‘That’.

The information revealed that he was not human.

But Dohyun’s attention wasn’t on him.

The darkness, as black as lacquer, that was consuming him. Within that darkness, pupils glowed red like those of reptiles.

[Restrained Iron-Blooded Demon Dragon]

-Title: Legendary Named Boss

-Type: Dragon

-Traits: Sealed State

-Description: A demon dragon of the Abyss, known as Iron Blood. Almost no information about them has been revealed to humans yet, and it has been passed down as the source of fear. Currently, all abilities are sealed due to restraints, and physical movements are restricted.

“…Legendary?”

Dohyun, after checking its information, let out a hollow laugh, as if dumbfounded.

* * *

God of Creation borrowed many elements from Demroq.

One of them was the ranking system.

A system consisting of Common – Rare – Heroic – Legendary.

The titles Dohyun obtained, as well as items and skills, were all assigned a rank.

And the same applied to monsters.

Not all monsters were ranked. The rank was only given to monsters with the title ‘Boss’.

Among them, the special boss was the Named Boss.

‘The only boss that has a name.’

They were unique entities with a name that symbolized them.

Unlike regular bosses that respawn after death, death was permanent for them.

An irreplaceable, unique boss.

As such, they were given the setting of having lived for a long time, and therefore boasted a higher difficulty even if they were of the same rank.

‘Legendary Named…’

Such a being had a legendary title.

Along with a name that was so red it looked black.

‘So that’s why they say you can never catch it.’

I understand now.

This wasn’t a monster designed to be defeated.

A boss monster whose sole purpose was to kill the user unconditionally and ensure the progression of a set event.

That was the identity of the tutorial boss.

It wasn’t that strange.

It was common in games to include monsters that were impossible to defeat in the tutorial to advance the story.

However, there was one questionable point.

‘In the video, everything but the name appeared as a question mark……’

Because of that, even though I expected it to be strong, I didn’t realize it would be this formidable.

Maybe no one knows the true identity of this guy?

‘No, after about a year and a half, some people might know. After that much time, most hidden pieces would have been discovered.’

Of course, even if they did, no one would have dared to try and catch it.

Anyway, now that I’ve come this far, I had to make a choice.

Whether to try and defeat him.

Or just give up.

As if to help Dohyun make up his mind, the creature roared as soon as their eyes met.

The roar of a giant that was 10 meters tall was enough to make your skin crawl just by hearing it.

And the messages that appeared afterward were even more terrifying.

Kuaaaaa!

[You have heard the roar of the ‘Restrained Iron-Blooded Demon Dragon’.]

[Physical abilities are impaired by the roar of an overwhelming being.]

[Movement speed is reduced by 20%.]

[Attack speed is reduced by 20%.]

[Defense is reduced by 30%.]

[Magic resistance is reduced by 25%.]

“…You have no conscience.”

The already powerful creature was diligently adding debuffs.

It seemed as if it was telling me not to even think about fighting him. But it was also a fairly fair condition.

Clatter- Clunk.

Krrr…….

His hands, feet, torso, and even neck were bound.

The creature couldn’t break free from the wall because of the restraints that held him in place.

Like a dog guarding the house.

He was blocked by restraints if he tried to move beyond a certain range.

Fortunately, his arms had a bit more freedom, so he was swinging them even with the restraints on, but the speed was slow.

-HP : [1,000,000 / ???]

Even his whole body was covered in blood as if he had been injured, so he had a pathetic vitality for a legendary named boss.

As stated in the description, all abilities are sealed.

In short, it was a degraded version of a degraded version with all its limbs cut off and dying.

But even so, that enormous vitality and the ridiculously large arm that would surely kill you if you got hit by it…

It was not a boss that a level 1 user was supposed to defeat.

‘If I die, the seal and status conditions will be lifted, right?’

Perhaps in the original tutorial, Charlie died, and the seal was lifted, allowing the boss to regain its full power.

If so…….

‘…Isn’t it doable?’

Maybe now is the only chance?

The only chance to defeat an uncatchable boss.

This kind of situation often happened in Demroq.

I always had to stand at a crossroads of choice, facing hidden pieces that I had accidentally discovered but were incredibly difficult.

Dohyun’s choice was always the same.

“Okay, let’s do it.”

Kaiser [Dohyun’s in-game name], he was not a man to refuse such a challenge.