The Return Of The Genius Ranker Of All Times [EN]: Chapter 7

7.

Do-hyun closed his eyes for a moment.

Taking a slow, deep breath to focus, he opened his eyes, and the world looked different than before.

A clearer vision and fading noise. Even the figure of the monster appeared more distinctly.

The darkness covering its scales like fur flickered, and even the slightest movements, like the twitching of its fingers, were clear.

“…….”

It was as silent as if even breathing had stopped.

This was a phenomenon that occurred when Do-hyun was extremely focused. Feeling his head cool down, Do-hyun objectively assessed his condition.

‘My condition is good.’

Was it thanks to playing the game after a long time?

It felt like my head was emptied; it didn’t seem like this was usually the case, but today, I’m concentrating better.

Kuaaaaa!

Perhaps sensing an unusual aura from Do-hyun.

The monster began to roar more violently.

It reacted more sensitively because it was merely driven by instinct, having lost its reason to the point where it was hard to believe it was a Named Boss [a unique and powerful enemy with a specific title].

Suck!

Do-hyun moved first.

As soon as he dashed out, ignoring any probing, the monster reacted immediately. Of course, it was only fast in reaction; its actual speed was slow.

However…….

Kwaaaang!

Being so enormous, the area covered by its arms was unbelievably large.

It was just a simple motion of extending its arm, but even that was threatening enough to require throwing oneself with all one’s might.

[Using basic skill ‘Strike’.]

Tick!

As he threw himself and slashed at the arm, rolling away, a sound like striking metal echoed.

That series of actions flowed together as if it were one motion.

Kuaaa!

Then, the monster roared and swung both arms alternately.

Do-hyun, dodging the crude attack by rolling away with all his strength again, swung his sword once more.

Still hearing the sound of hitting a steel ball with a plastic sword, Do-hyun retreated from the monster’s range and checked his reduced health.

-HP: [999,880 / ???]

‘……120.’

HP reduced by two attacks.

Moreover, one of those attacks used Strike.

‘If I use Strike, it’s 80, and a normal attack is 40.’

Considering that Strike’s cooldown is 12 seconds, he would have to strike the monster approximately 20,000 times to defeat it.

Even if he tried to land consecutive hits, his speed was slowed by the debuff [a negative status effect], so the maximum would be two hits.

In contrast, Do-hyun would die if he got hit even once.

He hadn’t been hit yet, but he was certain.

-HP: [200 / 200]

Because he didn’t think his insignificant level 1 health could withstand that tremendous attack.

He had to dodge at least ten thousand attacks and land twenty thousand attacks.

Even in a state slowed by the debuff.

To do that, he had to roll away with all his might every moment.

While also forcing in attacks, and if he was careless even for a moment and failed to roll in time, it would be the end.

‘……It’s the worst difficulty, isn’t it.’

Did they really leave this as a hidden piece [a secret challenge or quest] to clear?

It was said that God of Creation Online was managed by artificial intelligence, but it seemed like the AI couldn’t consider human standards.

However, Do-hyun smiled in the face of such desperate difficulty.

‘This is fun.’

The reason Do-hyun didn’t let go of Demonic Realm Online even while experiencing all sorts of sorrows in the luck-based, trash game was one thing.

The insanely high difficulty.

The sense of accomplishment when he cleared that difficulty as if to show off.

That was too fun.

I wonder what that monster will drop when it dies?

It won’t drop bricks like Demonic Realm Online.

Even there, it gave something at least when clearing a hidden piece.

Kuaaaaa!

Looking ahead, the monster was still roaring and swinging its arms in the air.

A murderous aura that seemed ready to tear him apart and kill him was felt.

In a way, it was just like a child throwing a tantrum, flailing wildly, but when the size is that big, that alone was the best attack and defense.

Each of those seemingly random attacks was a hell where even a graze meant death.

“Dodge ten thousand times and hit twenty thousand times…… I’ll just give it a try.”

Do-hyun, having steeled his resolve, rushed toward the monster again.

* * *

Numerous posts are uploaded to the official God of Creation Online website.

From various information to events, and even the latest news from the top 10 guilds and veteran users, as well as other trivial talks.

Like other game communities, the official God of Creation Online website was no different.

The only differences were its large scale and the fact that new players continued to arrive even after 1 year and 6 months.

[God noob here, started God of Creation Online for the first time today, and it’s seriously amazing. Is the tutorial presentation for real?]

Therefore, it was common for posts related to the tutorial to be uploaded to the website.

Because the first thing new players encountered was the tutorial.

And such posts always received many comments.

-Seriously, it’s so fun. I see why they call it God of Creation Online.

-The part where the goddess appears right before dying at the end and seals the monster again is really amazing…….

-It’s really too fun ㅠㅠ At first, the feeling of killing monsters was a bit unsettling, but it really feels like being on a battlefield, so I get overly immersed.

-Isn’t Charlie also charming? He’s too prickly and annoying, but he still takes care of you in his own way. Like a tsundere [a character who is initially cold but gradually shows a warmer side] lol.

-Takes care of you my ass, he just clicks his tongue and makes me want to beat him up.

-That’s because you’re terrible at the game. He’s completely meritocratic, so if you fight well, he won’t click his tongue.

-He’s going to die at the end anyway, so be nice to him, guys.

-It’s so heartwarming to see the growing sprouts…… Those pure kids will soon be shouting luck-based, trash game too…….

Newbies who were in a similar situation sympathized, and users who had been playing for a while found the newbies excited about the tutorial cute.

For various reasons, there were several common topics in the tutorial.

[Anyone raised Charlie’s favorability?]

[Does that guy even have favorability?]

[I heard you get a reward if you fill his favorability.]

[Is it even possible to fill it?]

One of them was the commander of the Knights, Charlie.

Unlike other games that act as programmed, God of Creation Online’s artificial intelligence was no different from humans.

As a result, his actions towards newbies varied depending on his favorability, and people began to pay attention to this favorability.

However, what was initially interest gradually changed into something more.

[This is the Red Fingers Guild. Please contact us if you have raised his favorability more than twice during the tutorial. We promise sufficient treatment.]

[Recruiting those with three or more favorability. We will treat you with the best conditions.]

[Simple test and tutorial video reference.]

How much Charlie praised you during the tutorial.

How much you raised that picky guy’s favorability.

That became proof of skill, and numerous medium and large guilds that wanted skilled players used it as a reference to treat users.

It became a kind of career.

Therefore, even among ordinary users, raising Charlie’s favorability was something to brag about to friends, and not only newbies but also veterans became so interested in the tutorial.

-Who are the ones who filled his favorability?

-Don’t you know? Probably all the top 10 guild masters filled it.

-The owner of the armory probably didn’t fill it.

-He’s a bit suspicious. He’s the type to push through with money.

-There’s no one who’s filled his favorability these days.

-The skilled players have already started a long time ago, so it can’t be helped.

However, compared to the early and mid-stages when many skilled players appeared, no one has filled his favorability in the current situation, 1 year and 6 months later.

Well, it was only natural.

Those who were pretty good at the game had already started God of Creation Online, and among them, the number of those who filled his favorability was only a handful.

At most, about ten thousand out of 1 billion users.

The ones who had already secured a spot all said the same thing.

“Can you catch the tutorial boss? Are you crazy?”

“You can’t catch it. It’s not made to be caught.”

“Don’t even mention the Iron-Blooded Demonic Dragon or whatever. It gives me chills.”

For some reason, they hated the tutorial boss even more fiercely than ordinary users.

Even when asked for a detailed reason, they didn’t answer, so users could only guess that it was related to filling his favorability.

“……The Iron-Blooded Demonic Dragon, you say? It doesn’t seem like a good memory.”

Even the famous Extinction was among them.

It was an ambiguous answer, but the fact that he, who was always confident, hesitated was a big shock, and users had no choice but to accept it.

[The tutorial boss is not a monster made to be caught.]

[It’s just a show-off event to show users that such monsters exist.]

The tutorial boss, the Iron-Blooded Demonic Dragon.

That it was not a boss monster made to be caught.

[Can’t you catch the tutorial boss? Damage does go in.]

-Yeah, you can’t catch it. Even Extinction couldn’t catch that guy.

-It seems like they just made the damage go in for the sake of realism.

-Wow, you even thought of hitting it. I just blanked out and died.

That was the reason why veterans unanimously gave the answer ‘impossible’ even when clueless newbies asked such questions after seeing that damage did go into the monster.

[Huh? What’s this? Its name changed?]

-??

-What are you talking about?

-No, it’s supposed to be the Iron-Blooded Demonic Dragon, but it’s changed to the Slothful Demonic Dragon.

-?? Huh? What, really?

-Does the name change too?

However, today, the consensus that had been established as common sense since its release was broken for the first time.

-Why did the name change on its own?

-Is it a bug?

-What bug in God of Creation Online, it’s managed by artificial intelligence that’s dozens of times better than AlXgo [likely a reference to AlphaGo, a famous AI].

-Then what is it? Did someone catch it?

-Huh…… Really?

That’s because the tutorial boss, which had not changed even once since its release, had undergone a change for the first time.

In response, some suggested that the boss had finally been caught after 1 year and 6 months.

However, that opinion was quickly buried.

-Nah…… No matter how you look at it, that’s not possible.

-How can a level 1 catch that?

-Someone caught what even Extinction couldn’t catch now? Who?

-If they caught it, they would have uploaded a video by now.

-First of all, there’s no proof that they caught it, right?

-If it was really caught and the name changed, it would be a Named Boss…… Doesn’t it look too much like usual except for the name?

No matter how you thought about it, it was an absurd thing.

In a situation where even if you showed direct evidence, they would say it was a composite, a guess without any evidence had no credibility.

“The tutorial boss’s name changed?”

“……An error.”

“They do regular updates…… Since they updated today, it might be the effect of that.”

“Someone caught it…… That doesn’t make sense. Well, it might be possible if they brought Kaiser’s party from back then.”

“Then is Kaiser okay? Didn’t you hear me? You have to bring his party. Kaiser or whatever, ‘that’ can never be caught alone.”

Even the high-rankers who had filled Charlie’s favorability said so, so people no longer offered rebuttals.

Extinction was the only one who remained silent, but he didn’t particularly deny it, and since so many rankers were saying that, ordinary users had no choice but to think, ‘I see.’

Of course, that was that, and honestly, they were curious.

-But if you really catch it, what would you get as a reward?

-This game is sometimes crazy with the difficulty…… But every time, they give generous rewards, right?

-True, I think it’s a luck-based, trash game, but then I shout it’s a god game.

If you really caught that bizarre boss that no one said could be caught…….

Then what would you get?

-Well. I don’t know, but wouldn’t you get the best reward in the history of God of Creation Online?

It was just a near-delusional story, and users quickly dismissed it as a joke and moved on.

Therefore, they couldn’t even imagine.

That what they dismissed as a preposterous story was really happening.