The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times - Chapter 26

Chapter 26

In God of Savior, there is something called the Arena.

It’s a place commonly referred to as PVP, and while it doesn’t provide a perfect balance, it offers enough equalization for players to compete based on skill.

Although players could also engage in “duels” outside with mutual consent, there was no such equalization in those matches.

Despite this, dueling still had considerable popularity.

After working hard to equip themselves with items, who wouldn’t want to show them off?

And who would want to fight while being suppressed?

The convenience of being able to fight anytime also added to the appeal.

In this way, God of Savior was rather generous when it came to battles.

It allowed each player to engage in combat according to their preferences.

How benevolent.

However, wherever you go, there are always those who don’t follow the rules.

“A duel? What’s the fun in that? Life is all about real combat.”

“It’s way more fun to mess with weaker players~.”

Regardless of the existence of the legitimate duel system, there were always players who chose to indulge in unauthorized massacres, or PK (Player Killing).

These players existed in DemRock, other RPGs, and naturally, also in God of Savior.

Whether for fun.

Because they coveted someone else’s items.

Simply because they were annoyed.

Or just because they wanted to make someone quit the game…

For various reasons, quite a number of people engaged in PK, and as a result, PKing was a common experience or story among the player base.

If you asked them who the worst offenders were, nine out of ten would answer the same.

“Griefers.”

“People who PK just for fun? They should have their accounts permanently banned, seriously.”

“Damn, just thinking about the rare item I dropped because of those jerks still pisses me off.”

The ones who PK for fun are considered the worst.

Among them, the most notorious were those who deliberately targeted beginners—the griefers.

These players would form teams and systematically strip beginners of their items.

Even when they reached graduation level, they wouldn’t proceed with the graduation quests.

Instead, they would hunt newly arrived players who appeared to have decent gear.

They would gather items, have fun, and since high-level players couldn’t return to the area, as long as they didn’t mess with someone affiliated with a big guild, it was practically paradise.

“Hey, should we go for another round today?”

“I’m getting tired of this… Can’t we find someone more interesting? It’s no fun when they all react the same.”

“Keke, you’re one twisted guy, but that’s what I like about you.”

AssassinBoy, TryItIfYouCan, and NotGonnaHitMe were three such demons living in this paradise.

All of them had reached level 24, the graduation level, but none of them had bothered to complete the graduation quests.

Naturally.

“Why should I bother?”

“Why would I graduate? Once I move up, I’ll just be stuck under others, getting pushed around. What’s the point of suffering through that?”

In Raven, they could act like kings, so why leave?

It wasn’t as if they had any chance of becoming rankers anyway, and they were already having enough fun, while also making some pocket money.

It was quite enjoyable to pick up the items dropped by their victims due to the death penalty.

And then…

“I’m going to rot here forever.”

“There’s no place better than here for PKing~.”

Once they graduated, it would be hard to keep up their bullying ways.

In Arde, there was no death penalty, and since everyone formed parties without any skills, it became harder. And starting from the next city, everyone was part of guilds and carried at least three or four skills, making it even more difficult.

There were more opponents, it was harder to PK, and social connections played a bigger role.

In many ways, Raven was a paradise like no other.

So today as well, they were searching for a suitable prey.

There wasn’t anyone particularly noticeable.

Because they had been “working” so hard lately, word had spread, and players were more diligent about sticking to party play.

Occasionally, they’d spot someone soloing, but…

“Isn’t that guy the one?”

“Yeah, the one supposedly supported by the Hero Guild. Let’s pass on him.”

“Yeah, we don’t want to deal with the headache if we get caught.”

Some of them were players whose faces had become known.

Most of them were rookies marked by large guilds or players receiving support from mid to large-sized guilds.

Messing with those guys by mistake could be a real pain.

They were doing this for fun; no need to make it a hassle.

“What about that guy?”

“Hmm… I don’t recognize him, but his gear looks pretty lame.”

“This guy’s gotten picky with gear lately. He used to take anyone.”

“Well, you can’t eat only kimchi stew and soybean paste soup all the time, right? Every once in a while, you need to cut into a steak, don’t you?”

The kimchi stew that AssassinBoy mentioned referred to ordinary players, those who had just shed their beginner status and had no connections.

And what about the steak?

“Isn’t there some perfect guy who’s rich but lacks backing, just ripe for the taking~?”

AssassinBoy licked his blade and hummed a tune, and seeing this, TryItIfYouCan and NotGonnaHitMe shook their heads.

In reality, he was a pretty normal guy, but whenever he played the game, his eyes would practically roll back in his head.

‘Well, as long as it’s fun for us.’

It’s just a game, so what did it matter?

He was an expert at tormenting others, always coming up with creative ways to mess with them, which made following him a lot of fun.

That last guy? He’d tricked him into gathering a horde of monsters, only to vanish using stealth.

Just thinking about the betrayed faces of those victims still made them laugh.

“Let’s seeee~ Where’s that steakkk~ Ohhh!?”

It was then.

While humming about steak like a lunatic, AssassinBoy spotted a player.

A man clad in mostly red and black, with a giant greatsword at his side.

“Whoa… isn’t that the Warrior Set?”

“What? Where… Whoa, seriously? He must have a ton of money.”

“Does he belong to any guild?”

At NotGonnaHitMe’s question, AssassinBoy thought for a moment, then shook his head.

“Nope. My buddy is a scout for Arde, and he didn’t mention anything about someone like that. I’m sure, I heard from him today.”

If someone wearing the Warrior Set had been scouted, the news would have spread among the scouts.

The fact that it hadn’t…

“Hooh?”

“Then…”

AssassinBoy locked eyes with the other two, flashing a wicked grin.

“It means he’s just some rich guy. And one with the guts to solo.”

At that one statement, TryItIfYouCan and NotGonnaHitMe smiled the same sinister smile.

A lowly, despicable, and greedy grin.

“Hehe… that design looks delicious, just like a steak. We’re gonna be drinking good whiskey tonight.”

“Wow, getting lucky like this on a Friday night. Time to book a room!”

“How much do you think we’ll get if we sell that gear? More than 500, right?”

“I don’t know, man, but it’s seriously gonna be a jackpot.”

Already acting like the items were theirs, they were laughing and chatting when they suddenly stopped.

The man, who had been resting for a moment, suddenly started hunting goblins.

However, his strength was anything but ordinary.

He dodged with ease, stabbed once, and the goblin was dead.

Whoosh- Slash!

Then, in an instant, he slid across the ground, delivering a one-hit kill to another goblin.

No matter how you looked at it, this wasn’t the strength of a recently graduated player.

“It’s a bit strong, but… no matter how high, it’s probably under level 16. What’s there to be worried about?”

“That’s what it means to have overpowered items. If we sell those, we’ll make a fortune.”

“Heh, yeah, you’ve got a point.”

Of course, that was the end of their assessment.

At best, they thought he was just a rich amateur who had surpassed beginner level due to his gear, and he couldn’t possibly beat them.

It made sense. There was only one of him.

On the other hand, they were three, all at the graduation level.

Even if he had special traits or unique abilities, in the lower-level range, level was everything.

“Still, let’s play it safe and give him an injection before we start.”

“Kekeke, are you going to use the paralysis poison?”

“This time, it’s not about fun; it’s about the money. Go on.”

The assassin boy made an “OK” gesture with his hand as he walked, waving it around, before using his stealth skill.

His skills were stealth, paralysis poison, swift strike, and ankle hook.

True to his nickname, the assassin boy had fully specialized in the assassin tree, and at this level range, he was confident that he had the best PvP skillset.

He even had two rare-grade skills.

[Unique ability ‘Surprise Attack’ is active.]

[If you succeed in attacking while avoiding the enemy’s gaze, you will deliver a critical strike.]

[The trait ‘Rather Sharp Dagger Technique’ is applied.]

Moreover, the god he had chosen was a heroic god, one of the assassination gods—the Grim Shadow Dagger God.

Although not highly regarded among assassination gods, a heroic god was still a heroic god.

It was more than enough to compensate for his somewhat lacking traits.

‘There’s no better setup for slaughtering the weak.’

Especially for an assassin who enjoyed surprise player killing (PK) through stealth, like the assassin boy, there was nothing better than this.

If the surprise attack failed, his unique ability would become useless, but if it succeeded, it had explosive potential that made up for it.

But as for that guy?

‘He’s a one-trick pony with a charge strike.’

He must have gotten another skill from Arde, since you acquire two skills there, but if he wasn’t using it, it probably wasn’t a good one.

Maybe he was using a buff-type skill to get that kind of damage.

It didn’t matter.

‘Just use stealth, get close, stab him with the poison, let him bleed a bit, then gang up on him. Easy.’

This wasn’t a fight—it was a hunt.

If they could get even one item from that gear, they’d rent a room and throw a whiskey party tonight. He was already happily worrying about what to do for fun later that evening.

Suddenly.

‘…What was that?’

The assassin boy stopped in his tracks.

A chill ran down his spine.

‘Did we… just make eye contact?’

Was it just his imagination?

He could’ve sworn their eyes met just now…

The assassin boy, feeling uneasy, tilted his head but then shook it.

‘That’s impossible.’

The guy had just graduated from Arde and was hunting in Raven Plains.

Plus, his class was a swordsman.

There was no way he had a skill that could detect stealth, especially a rare-grade stealth like his.

He’d never even heard of such a trait.

Later on, you might be able to detect stealth through items or skills, but that’s a long way down the line. It made no sense to detect stealth now.

‘It was just my imagination.’

See?

He had gotten so close, yet the guy was still walking casually.

The assassin boy gripped his dagger.

A green liquid dripped from the blade.

It was the rare skill, paralysis poison.

‘Still, just to be safe, I’ll take him out quickly.’

He crept closer, about to stab the guy in the side from behind when—

Whoosh.

“…!”

Suddenly, the guy moved.

In an instant, he turned around, struck the assassin’s wrist, and knocked the dagger from his hand. Before the assassin boy could even process his shock, a powerful hand clamped around his throat.

“Keuhk! Keuk!”

At the same time, his stealth broke, and the assassin boy’s body, now held up in the air by his neck, was fully revealed.

The one weakness of stealth is that it’s vulnerable to area-of-effect (AoE) attacks.

If you get hit, stealth breaks.

‘What is this…?’

But he hadn’t been hit by any AoE.

Not only was it a mystery how the guy had seen through his stealth, but what baffled him even more was the absurd strength this guy had.

‘…I can’t move!’

No matter how much he struggled, trying to pry the man’s hand off, it wouldn’t budge.

It felt like an immovable boulder.

Even though he was an assassin, he was still level 24.

How could someone who was probably below level 16 overpower him like this?

It made no sense.

“Who are you?”

The guy spoke then.

“Wow… I had a feeling, but you really are a player killer.”

His tone was casual, as if it were no big deal.

Despite almost being ambushed, he showed no signs of agitation.

In fact, he seemed more curious, but his expression was so eerie that it sent a wave of fear through the assassin boy.

“You, you bastard… Who the hell are you?!”

Instinctively, the assassin boy shouted, and his comrades raised their heads from the bushes.

“Whoa!?”

“What the hell is happening?”

They yelled in panic.

The man slowly took in the scene before letting out a small chuckle.

“Look at this. You guys are pros. Repeat offenders, huh?”

His cold voice sent a violent shiver through the assassin boy’s body.

For some reason, this guy now looked gigantic.

As if he could crush the assassin boy with ease at any moment.

But Kang Do-hyeon, the man, wasn’t even looking at him.

His gaze was focused slightly higher.

[Eye of Truth is activating.]

‘I didn’t know it could even detect stealth.’

It was a discovery about the Eye of Truth he hadn’t anticipated.