The Return Of The Genius Ranker Of All Times [EN]: Chapter 85

Episode 85.

“Ugh!”

“S, Save me!”

“This monster-like… Ugh!”

As soon as a hunting team arrives, they are quickly slaughtered. Just as he’s about to catch them all, new hyenas swarm in again, and Eliza steps up to draw aggro [aggression, or the attention of the enemies].

And then slaughters them again.

This simple and straightforward strategy continued to work.

Of course, midway through, some people seemed to have heard rumors and absolutely refused to attack the Orcs, but it wasn’t up to them.

Even if they gritted their teeth and tried to ignore the Orcs, the Orcs somehow interfered and provoked them into attacking.

They even tapped users hiding on the shoulder to startle them and goad them into attacking.

“Seriously, what’s with these Orcs?”

“Are Orcs even allowed to do this!?”

“Wow, this is unfair. What’s the connection between hitting an Orc and a preemptive strike?”

How many times did Do-hyun appear and slaughter them after Eliza successfully secured justifiable self-defense?

At some point, everyone who came to catch Do-hyun had disappeared.

Rather, for dozens of minutes, Do-hyun threw Eliza as bait to hunt them down.

“Hey, are you going to the Fishy Rock Forest now?”

In the Fishy Rock Forest, not only hyenas targeting Do-hyun but even users trying to hunt Orcs were nowhere to be seen.

It was because of a rumor that had spread in Brion.

“Be careful of the Orcs. If you attack an Orc, ‘he’ will appear.”

“He appears anytime, anywhere. Remember, never attack an Orc.”

A bizarre rumor that you die if you attack an Orc.

“Hey, are you going hunting? You can’t go now.”

“Why?”

“Don’t you know? They say you die instantly if you catch an Orc now? They say the corpses are piled up like mountains.”

“A mutant Orc appeared, and if you attack it, a monster flies in. They say you can never catch it.”

“No, what I heard is that Orcs explode when they die. They’re suicide bombers themselves?”

As rumors usually do, the rumor became more and more distorted, and when it finally reached ordinary users, it was completely different from the truth.

All the strange rumors that everyone said differently had one thing in common.

-Beware of Orcs.

The same advice always given to newbies who come to Brion for the first time.

The moment that advice was perverted into a different meaning.

* * *

[Your level has increased.]

[You have acquired the quest material ‘Orc’s Concentrated Blood’.]

“Kuh~.”

Do-hyun couldn’t help but exclaim at the message that his level had increased.

This wasn’t the first time he’d leveled up; it was already the second time.

With this, level 29.

[Orc’s Concentrated Blood (50 / 50)]

[You have collected all of the Orc’s Concentrated Blood.]

Even the Orc’s Concentrated Blood was collected at just the right timing.

He was so busy catching them that he had almost cleared the main quest.

-Defeat monsters near Brion (776 / 1,000)

At this rate, he should be able to clear it by tomorrow.

[Explore the Fishy Rock Forest (0 / 1)]

Now all that’s left is exploration.

If he had hunted while being conscious of the gazes, it would have taken twice as long, but thanks to the disappearance of the interrupters, he could hunt in peace.

“Yeah, hunting should be like this. How comfortable.”

What a peaceful hunt this is.

Even now, there were still users who occasionally glanced at him, but there were no longer any who interfered like before.

Not only that, but he also obtained a lot of items while dealing with the attacking (?) guys.

‘One shield and ten pieces of armor.’

A total of 11 pieces of equipment.

All of them were parts that overlapped with Do-hyun’s equipment, but they were lower-grade versions, so he had to put them up for auction, but that wasn’t the case for all of them.

[Special Silver Shield Made in a Special Workshop]

[Grade: Rare]

[Description: A special shield made of silver iron, one of the rare ores.

Silver, known as a noble and sacred ore since ancient times, is said to contain divine power.]

[Level Restriction: 30]

[Equipping Restriction: Shield Warrior Class]

[Defense Power: 110]

[Damage Reduction: 124~143]

[Durability: 90 / 100]

[Special Option: If you successfully guard three times in a row, your defense power increases by +30 for 90 seconds.]

The silver shield came out after catching the guys who rushed in first.

Perhaps because the level restriction was 10 levels higher than the existing silver iron shield, its stats were higher.

Moreover, unlike the silver iron shield, which required handling divine power to fully utilize its potential, the silver shield had an option that anyone could benefit from.

[Cheonbyeon (Thousand Transformations) devours ‘Special Silver Shield Made in a Special Workshop’.]

[There is already an artifact devoured.]

[Would you like to spit out the ‘Silver Iron Shield’ and devour the ‘Special Silver Shield Made in a Special Workshop’?]

“Uh.”

[You have devoured ‘Special Silver Shield Made in a Special Workshop’.]

Accordingly, Do-hyun replaced the shield without any hesitation.

This is another advantage of Cheonbyeon (Thousand Transformations).

When it devours another weapon, it spits out the equipment that was previously devoured. It can be recycled as much as possible.

[‘Silver Iron Shield’ is registered in the auction house.]

[Set to 24 hours.]

Do-hyun’s face was full of smiles as he finished registering the last piece of equipment.

‘I should tell them to go eat beef again today.’

If all of this sells, wouldn’t it be around ten million won [approximately $7,500 USD]?

He hunted, cleared quests, made money, and even got a great video to upload to NewTube [a fictional version of YouTube].

It was truly a win-win situation.

Do-hyun looked at Eliza, who was in the form of an Orc, with satisfaction.

“Eliza, you’re a lucky charm.”

-Lizariza!

It’s all thanks to Eliza’s parasitism ability.

When he first saw the parasitism trait, he was just impressed, but when he actually used it, its utility was enormous.

Especially for someone with many enemies like Do-hyun.

Just look at this time, thanks to Eliza’s performance parasitizing as an Orc, all those annoying small fries disappeared.

‘Well, I’d be scared too if a crazy Orc ran at me, and if I hit it, it would be considered a preemptive strike.’

It’s a problem if you don’t catch it because it interferes, and it’s a problem if you catch it.

Even Do-hyun would be fed up and wouldn’t approach.

‘But even considering that, aren’t they disappearing too much? It’s like the number of users has been cut in half.’

It was a bit more excessive than expected, but it was good.

As Do-hyun, who was receiving a lot of attention from the world, this was more comfortable.

“Eliza, how long are you going to stay transformed?”

-Liza? Liza!

-She says she’ll keep patrolling because she doesn’t know when bad guys will appear again.

“Hmm… Okay. Thank you.”

Do-hyun, answering that, was somehow indifferent.

His heart was grateful, but he couldn’t get used to the cute voice coming from that fierce face every time he heard it.

No, it would have been fortunate if it was just the voice.

Due to Eliza’s affectionate personality, she would jump around and rub her head when she was in a good mood… He was sorry for Eliza, but he got goosebumps every time.

‘No. I have to endure this much. She’s such a pretty lucky charm.’

Do-hyun stroked his arm and shook his head, resolving himself.

It would be a loss for Do-hyun if she got hurt and refused to parasitize from then on.

-Liza!

“Okay, okay…”

Do-hyun, who was stroking the Orc’s large chin beard as it rubbed against him, turned his gaze.

It wasn’t because it was hard to look at. There was another important reason.

“I feel like I’ve searched everywhere, but it’s not clearing.”

Even though the Fishy Rock Forest is wide, it should be enough to meet the conditions by now.

Even though he came to a place where the fog was quite thick, there was no sign of it being cleared.

-There’s still a place you haven’t checked, Master.

-Liza!

Eliza chimed in at Jihad’s words.

Yes, those guys were right.

‘There is a place I haven’t done.’

To be exact, he couldn’t do it.

[The aura of death is very strong.]

[A field boss will regenerate in the Fishy Rock Forest shortly.]

[Time remaining 00:03:01]

Because the field boss hasn’t regenerated yet.

Still, he was just told to explore, so he thought it would end under similar conditions to the Raven Western Forest.

It seems that’s not the case.

Do-hyun grinned at the message that popped up at the right time.

“Good timing.”

-Lizariza.

The field boss of the Fishy Rock Forest appears in the thick fog.

It wasn’t a metaphorical expression; it was literally true.

The aura of death is a system to prevent excessive mob hunting [killing large groups of weaker enemies for experience]. When it becomes very strong, a particularly thick fog is created.

And the field boss is the one that appears in a random location within it.

‘Well, that’s how it is in the setting.’

Even if you try to cheat by mob hunting to increase the aura of death, the field boss will not regenerate unless it is the scheduled time.

However, it wasn’t just a simple setting play.

If a sufficient amount of the aura of death was not accumulated, it would not appear even when the time came.

Anyway, regarding Brion’s field boss, people said this.

-This is a luck-based game!

Also known as field boss gacha [a system similar to loot boxes or random chance rewards].

It would be more miserable for people like Do-hyun, who hate gacha, but Do-hyun was different now.

“Hoo… Hehe… Hehehe…”

-…Eliza, it’s dangerous, so don’t look at this.

-Liza….

Even Jihad was reluctant to see it, and even Eliza agreed with the vile smile.

The master did what the master always does, but Do-hyun couldn’t help it.

[Time remaining 00:01:58]

The moment the remaining time entered the 1-minute range.

[Trait ‘Slayer’ is activated.]

[It has been confirmed that the corresponding boss is nearby.]

[The location of the field boss ‘Orc Warrior of Death’ is revealed.]

The moment the Slayer trait was activated, the location of the field boss was displayed on the mini-map.

The field boss, which was originally a gacha, became a certainty for Do-hyun.

‘Is this what it’s like to use a map hack?’

In the past, he didn’t understand the guys who used map hacks when playing Craft Star [a fictional game], but after experiencing it himself, he knew why they used it.

Why wouldn’t you use this honey?

‘The location isn’t close, but…’

At this rate, he should be able to arrive in time if he runs at full speed.

Do-hyun smiled and immediately turned his steps.

He ran at full speed, even using backsteps from time to time, for dozens of seconds.

[Time remaining 00:00:05]

Whether it was worth using backsteps at a speed that was hard to believe for a level 29, he was able to arrive at the destination just in time.

-Hec, hee… M, Master. Too fast.

-Lizariza….

Because of that, only Jihad, who was following behind, was dying.

Thanks to releasing the parasitism before moving, Eliza, who moved comfortably on Do-hyun’s shoulder, patted Jihad’s head.

Whether they did or not, Do-hyun was only looking at the empty ground.