The Return Of The Genius Ranker Of All Times [EN]: Chapter 72

Part 406

Part 72.

Astra confirms its authenticity.

Moreover, this reward hidden within the Tower of Disaster, known only to a select few in God’s World…

It is none other than…

“A Signature Skill.”

“?”

Dohyun tilted his head, surprised by the unexpected words.

“A Signature Skill? Like the kind you get from the Empire?”

“That’s right.”

“No, why would I get a Signature Skill here? Can you even get one as a reward?”

Signature Skills were special abilities that symbolized a user or a clan, not the general skills used by everyone.

As such, there was a prerequisite for obtaining a Signature Skill.

‘Receiving a Signature Quest.’

For swordsmanship, one had to be recognized by the clan or gain some kind of enlightenment; for magic, one had to receive teachings from the Magic Tower.

Paladins sometimes received divine revelations, and warriors had to pass the tests of great warrior NPCs [Non-Player Characters] to be directly taught.

‘Or obtain it through some special opportunity…’

Dohyun, reaching that thought, exclaimed, “Ah!”

Come to think of it, being directly taught wasn’t the only way to obtain a Signature Skill.

‘…Ah, so there might be such an opportunity here?’

Like a secret manual left behind by a legendary NPC from the past.

Just like in martial arts novels.

‘It doesn’t necessarily have to be a secret manual; any indirect route is possible.’

Thinking that way made him even more excited.

In the Empire, Signature Skills were ultimately taught by humans, but this place was the land of other races.

What if he could obtain the Signature Skills of other races?

How unique would those skills be!

‘A Signature Skill is a kind of secret technique. If I could get a secret technique from a monster like Lucia… or even Astra’s unique swordsmanship!’

The thought alone made his heart race, but unfortunately, that couldn’t happen.

Dohyun’s guess was completely wrong.

“What are you talking about? Why would other races teach us their secret techniques?”

“Ah… is that not it?”

“Seriously, would that make sense?”

Astra scoffed as if he found it absurd, crushing Dohyun’s hopes.

His inflated expectations deflated like a punctured balloon.

At the same time, he felt wronged.

“You said it was a Signature Skill!”

“No, you have to listen to the end. I just said it that way to make it easier to understand… it’s a bit different from that.”

Was it just his imagination, or was it becoming more confusing the more he listened?

It was either yes or no; what did he mean by ‘a bit different?’

Perhaps Dohyun’s thoughts were evident on his face.

Before he could ask, Astra continued his explanation.

“It’s not a concept like a single skill. How should I put it… it’s like enchanting a skill? In terms of being passive, you could see it as a Signature Trait.”

“……?”

“For example, it gives an effect that applies an additional hit when a skill is activated, or it creates flames when a skill is activated. If you turn on the on/off switch, this effect applies whenever you activate any skill.”

“This is insane. Isn’t that too overpowered?”

Dohyun couldn’t help but curse.

An always-on, on/off application effect?

The fact that it was a passive effect that applied when activating all skills made it comparable to a Trait.

And there was another reason why Astra considered this close to a Signature Trait.

“The most interesting thing is that the effect you get is different for each user. The ability is granted based on the user’s achievements and characteristics in the Tower of Disaster. That Pikkachu guy got something called the Path of the Overlord [覇道 – Hadou in Japanese], because he’s a Heavenly Demon.”

An ability that grants the user overwhelming momentum and strengthens their power as they overwhelm enemies.

It was truly an ability befitting the job of a Heavenly Demon.

And it wasn’t just the Heavenly Demon who obtained such an ability.

Arthur, in his case, obtained ‘Divine Light,’ which causes a burst of holy light to inflict additional holy damage whenever he activates a skill.

And that’s not all.

“Aside from the emerging top 10 guilds, most of the top 10 guild masters and executives within the top 20 of the lawless zone have one each.”

“Not as many as I thought?”

“Well, it’s confidential information, and the acquisition conditions are 까다롭다 [kkadaropda – 까다롭다 means ‘picky’ or ‘fussy’ in Korean, implying the conditions are difficult to meet]. You have to achieve overwhelming results and even complete the hidden pieces, so it’s virtually impossible to obtain it by chance.”

“Hmm. I guess so.”

“There might be users who are hiding that they obtained it? And above all…”

Astra shrugged and added.

“You could only climb the Tower of Disaster after the New Continent update.”

“Ah.”

That made more sense.

It had only been a little over three months since the New Continent was updated.

Most people were focused on攻略ing [kong략 – a Korean term for ‘strategically conquering’ or ‘completing’] the graduation quests, and since the Tower of Disaster already had tremendous rewards, there was no way many users would know about this hidden reward.

If it was confidential information, there was no need to say more.

‘They must have hidden the information to maintain a monopoly since it’s only been about three months.’

Considering the significant changes in the rankings after the New Continent update, it was a wise decision.

Seeing them still reigning at the top even during such a cataclysmic period, the top 10 guilds might have a few more pieces of information like this.

Astra coolly agreed to Dohyun’s probing question.

“Of course, there are more. But there’s no information as significant as this. The difference between getting this and not getting it is huge. That’s why they’re all keeping it quiet even from their guild members. They’re blocking all possible routes for the information to leak.”

“I see… this is exciting.”

Dohyun’s eyes gleamed sharply like a beast eyeing its prey.

He understood their monopolistic desires now more than ever.

It wasn’t just randomly giving a Trait; it was like obtaining a unique Trait optimized for oneself.

A reward worthy of being called a Signature Trait.

Even during his Demonic World days, he could count on one hand the number of rewards that were as tempting as this just by hearing about it.

“…Wait, if you know about this, does that mean you too?”

“You rascal, I was wondering when you’d ask.”

Dohyun, pausing at the sudden thought, asked, and Astra smirked, pointing to his chest with his thumb.

“I said I had something to show you recently, didn’t I? That’s this, you idiot.”

“Wow, you got this? No, but why didn’t you show…”

Dohyun trailed off, surprised.

Come to think of it, he seemed to have shown it.

A new ability that he hadn’t seen before, and even Dohyun was impressed the moment he saw it.

“…Smash?”

“That’s right. I can create explosions by striking the air. The range is determined in proportion to the size of the weapon, and the power of the explosion and the degree of knockback also vary in proportion to the damage.”

“Oh?”

It was indeed a perfect ability for Astra.

Considering Astra’s combat style of wielding that massive 철퇴 [cheoltoe – a Korean 철퇴 is a type of 철퇴, a metal club or mace], the power was guaranteed, but it was also prone to openings, which could be compensated for with explosions and knockback.

‘It looked powerful before, too.’

Even though they were just ordinary combatants, they were combatants belonging to the Lawless Zone 2.

Not just any nobodies, but criminals who were known to some extent.

Considering how they were blown away like leaves whenever they were caught in the explosion, the power of the explosion didn’t seem small at all.

‘Hmm…’

Dohyun thought for a moment before opening his mouth.

“How powerful is it?”

He could just ask since he was right in front of him; there was no need to wonder alone.

Astra replied casually.

“Excluding legendary skills, the Smash damage is actually higher than skill damage. I guess it’s because it’s proportional to strength and weapon attack power.”

“Really? It’s more powerful than I thought… wait a minute, proportional to weapon attack power?”

…Then what would happen if Astra used his transcendent unique ability, ‘Weapon Upgrade’?

What if he added the modifier effect of the Divine Beast that devours weapons?

If a +15 강화 [ganghwa – a Korean term for ‘enhancement’ or ‘reinforcement’] weapon could unleash power stronger than a legendary-tier skill, what if he unleashed a +20 강화 weapon with a 찬란한 [chanranhan – a Korean term for ‘brilliant’ or ‘radiant’] modifier…

Perhaps reading Dohyun’s thoughts.

Smirk.

Astra, meeting Dohyun’s eyes, roughly raised the corners of his lips.

“There won’t be a user with stronger burst damage than me now.”

A short answer.

There were no flowery words or precise explanations, but none of that was necessary.

Astra’s confident face said it all.

Dohyun, looking at Astra, also smiled back.

There was admiration in it, but the strongest emotions were deep curiosity and interest.

‘I’m curious.’

The Path of the Overlord for the Heavenly Demon, Divine Light for Arthur.

And Smash, an ability that suited him better than anyone else, was given to Astra.

Then… what ability would be given to him?

As soon as that thought reached him, his heart raced uncontrollably.

“…Astra.”

“Yeah.”

“You said I just need to achieve overwhelming results, right?”

Without answering immediately, Astra stared down at Dohyun before smirking.

“…You little punk, look at the fire in your eyes.”

“……”

“Well, I’m curious too.”

In fact, when Astra obtained Smash, he had that thought for a moment.

If Kaiser were here, what ability would he have obtained?

The high rankers from the Demonic World each had their own unique talents that could be called their signature.

Even if it wasn’t back then, it was easy to guess when seeing them active here…

“I can’t imagine what ability would suit you.”

Dohyun was an exception.

Physical ability, combat sense, variable creation, footwork, distance control, skill utilization…

All elements were so outstanding that it was almost impossible to find a distinguishing feature.

The fact that he was good at timing was just because he was looking for something that others didn’t have.

[10,000 people have gathered on the 1st floor.]

[All personnel requirements have been met.]

[The dice created above your head are rolling.]

“Oh? It’s starting.”

“Ah, I almost broke my neck waiting.”

“What’s going to come out?”

Along with the message that appeared just in time, the shape of a dice the size of a person’s head floated above the heads of all users, including Dohyun and Astra.

Soon, the dice rolled,

[Kaiser’s dice number is 6.]

[Calculating the most frequently rolled dice number.]

[The most frequently rolled dice number is 4.]

[The concept for the 1st floor has been determined.]

“So, go wild.”

Astra smirked and offered Dohyun a fist bump.

“So the system can properly understand you.”

“Alright.”

The moment Dohyun bumped fists back,

[This concept is ‘Blue vs. White Scramble.’]

[Exactly half of the personnel will be divided into Blue and White teams, and a ‘Flag’ will be created for each team.]

[One member of each team will be randomly selected as the ‘King,’ and when the King dies, the time limit will decrease, and a new ‘King’ will be born.]

[Defend and capture the flag until the time limit expires.]

Kugugugu-

With a cheerful notification, the ground and walls of the 1st floor moved, changing the terrain, and soon a huge flag was created behind Dohyun.

Tting-

[Player ‘Kaiser’ has become a member of the Blue Team.]

[You have become the ‘King’ of the Blue Team.]

[Good luck.]

‘Where shall I go wild?’

Dohyun, wearing a blue crown, took out the Sky Breaker as if he had been waiting for this moment.

Dohyun’s eyes shone fiercely like a beast.