Chapter 250
Chapter 250
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 250
Chapter Title: 2024, World Ranker Announcement Ceremony (2)
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"Come on now."
Calipena walked lightly, murmuring in a soft, drawling tone.
"I have no intention of killing any of you."
She then approached the bound Kim Jin-ah and gently trailed her fingertip along the line of her jaw.
"Think about it."
Heh.
After a short breath.
"What's the point in me killing you all? It's not like money pours out or some divine opportunity drops from the sky. Right?"
"Urgh."
Kim Jin-ah strained to break free, but it was no use.
A non-ranker like her couldn't shake off the brute force of the world rank 12.
"I'm not stupid enough to slit open the belly of the goose that lays the golden eggs."
Kim Jin-ah blinked.
It was true, in fact.
There were only eleven people in the entire world stronger than Calipena.
They were all heavyweights who rarely stirred from their seats.
In truth, if Calipena truly committed to hiding, even the hyper rankers in the top 10 would struggle to track her down.
That's why she favored this method.
So-called guild colonization.
Crush them with force, then extort under the threat of death.
"So, just cut the crap—what do you want?"
When Kim Jin-ah asked, Calipena smiled softly.
As if they were finally speaking the same language.
Even after beating them half to death, she smiled with such warmth.
"It's not a difficult request. Hand over ten billion dollars legally."
Ten billion dollars was roughly one trillion won.
It was a proposal straight out of a gangster's playbook.
"And before the Skeleton Emperor returns, hand over yourself and one Byulcheonji ranker in a disarmed state. Do that, and I'll let everyone here live."
Her tone suggested it was no big deal, but Kim Jin-ah grasped Calipena's intent from that single statement.
"Ha, listen to you."
Kim Jin-ah's lips twisted.
"You're telling us to betray our guild master just to survive?"
His intentions were obvious.
He planned to stage a hostage crisis against the guild master upon return.
Kim Jin-ah would die before letting that happen.
To survive.
By offering up money and volunteering as a hostage?
Then whining to the guild master afterward to fix it?
If she had that mindset, she never would have helped establish the group in the first place.
"Oh come on, betrayal? Why use such extreme words? It's not betrayal—it's rational survival."
"Shut up! We... will never bow to evil!"
Grit.
As Kim Jin-ah ground her teeth, Calipena grinned.
"I hope you hold onto that spirit."
Ssssh!
In that instant, her arm lashed out.
Kwaduduk!
At the same time, seaweed sprouted from the floor and seized a fainted man against the wall, dragging him in.
The unconscious Guide, Kapu.
"Even as your precious comrades die one by one..."
Calipena raised her surging energy, lifting her flung arm and clenching her fist.
In sync.
"Kuh, kuhhek!"
A scream erupted from the fainted Kapu.
The tough seaweed morphed into razor-sharp blades, piercing his entire body.
Pububuk!
As it tore through skin and flesh, Kapu shuddered to a halt, then let out a deflating wheeze from punctured lungs.
"Ka, Kapu!"
Kim Jin-ah screamed.
"You bitch!"
Floa, slumped in the corner, charged in again.
Though ambushed, Calipena maintained her leisurely smile.
Floa knew the sneak attack wouldn't land.
'But I can't stop.'
With beloved comrades suffering, she couldn't just lie there.
The Byulcheonji rankers' faces darkened.
Despair.
And frustration.
Ah, were they still so far from the top?
It felt like just yesterday they were fired up to surpass the Big Three.
Reality proved far crueler than imagined.
Even with all rankers gathered, they couldn't handle a single foe.
'But.'
Floa focused.
She gathered all her energy to disrupt Calipena.
Because.
Gi So-yul's hidden position was now nearly upon Calipena.
"Haah, really... you're all so tenacious."
Calipena furrowed her brow, annoyance creeping in, as she prepared to counter the next assault.
'Hm?'
Suddenly, a new presence emerged from the rear.
'What is this?'
She had been tracking all the rankers' positions.
Yet a completely undetected energy had closed in behind her.
'Assassin...?'
It hit her then.
Byulcheonji's assassin, the Dark Emperor Gi So-yul.
She had registered her presence but assumed she was absent—on assignment elsewhere.
She had no choice but to think so.
No matter how skilled the Dark Emperor was at assassination.
She couldn't evade the senses of world rank 12.
"Hup!"
And now.
A breath escaped Calipena's lips for the first time.
The inky dagger closing from behind was too sharp.
Without focus, it could prove fatal.
Slash!
And just now.
The dagger grazed her skin.
Spurt!
Blood sprayed.
"..."
Not a critical wound, but the mighty Calipena had allowed a sneak attack.
Feeling the throbbing pain from her back, Calipena slowly nodded.
"Whew, really..."
In short, this was it.
The dragonfly she thought would be an easy catch.
Had slipped away cleverly and bitten her finger?
"You lot just won't do."
Calipena was angry.
Furious at herself for being wounded by the weak, irritated at their pointless thrashing.
"Mercy for you seems a luxury. The price for drawing my blood will be harsher than you imagine."
Kwagagag!
With the chilling aura rising from her body.
Kugugugu...!
The building began to shake.
* * *
Dark Emperor and Thunderclap.
vs.
Calipena.
Their true battle began.
Well, calling it a battle was a stretch.
Gi So-yul and Floa were barely holding on, that was more accurate.
"Kyaaah!"
Floa bellowed a scream-laced shout.
"Even in the best light, you thieving bitch—why do you talk so damn much? Mercy? Bullshit. What mercy from a hostage-taking blackmailer!"
She strode forward and threw a punch.
They were fighting anyway—did strength demand respect?
Dying without a word felt unjust.
"Gi So-yul! Cut the bitch's throat!"
Pazik, pazuzik!
Floa unleashed electricity in all directions.
It was just a ranking gap, after all.
Electricity overwhelmed water.
Even Calipena couldn't ignore high-voltage currents!
The intent was to distract her for Gi So-yul's ambush.
'Hold out... hold out as long as we can.'
Ssssh!
Gi So-yul's eyes trembled as she melted back into the shadows.
Indeed, Calipena.
No openings in her form.
Especially since detecting the hiding spot, she shrouded herself in an ironclad aura.
'Assassination won't work anymore anyway.'
Ssssh!
Traversing shadows in a breath, Gi So-yul repositioned behind Calipena and thrust her dagger.
A stab practiced tens of thousands of times in training.
But.
"Kuhhek!"
She had no choice but to drop the dagger.
An unseen sharp seaweed had pierced her abdomen.
'Damn it.'
Gi So-yul realized.
From the moment the first ambush failed.
Every position was exposed to Calipena.
"Huek!"
Seaweed sprouted thickly from the pierced gut.
Gi So-yul's body floated limply.
Dangling like Kim Jin-ah.
"You bitch."
Floa fared no better.
Even giving her all, she couldn't last...
Puk! Puk!
Like the others, she yielded her body to the seaweed.
Spurt!
Blood welled from the punctures.
A nauseating metallic stench assaulted the nose.
"...Dogshit."
Floa muttered blankly, staring at her body.
'Forty minutes?'
About forty minutes since her arrival.
The group was annihilated.
All reduced to combat incapacity, unable to do a thing.
Pfft.
A hollow chuckle escaped.
'If.'
Joo Dong-hoon.
What if he had been here?
Would it have ended so powerlessly?
Circumstances suggested yes.
Hyper rankers grew worlds apart with each rank...
But why?
It felt like it would have gone differently with Joo Dong-hoon.
He was that kind of person.
The type who shattered unconscious limits set by others.
"Heh."
Laughing madly, she tilted her head while dangling.
Funny thing.
Even now, the TV was on.
Given the time, the "World Ranker Announcement Ceremony" was underway.
- Ten seconds to announcement! Ten seconds remaining!
- Shall we count together? 10! 9! 8! 7!
Truth be told, Floa was curious too.
Separate from this fight.
What Joo Dong-hoon's rank would be.
"What the hell are you doing, you damn master...?"
Seriously.
Had he died?
- 6! 5! 4!
The countdown continued.
- 3! 2! 1!
Perhaps knowing his name would echo worldwide?
Calipena gazed leisurely at the screen.
- 0!
Thus dawned the official 2024 New Year!
As if heralding a new start, an update message appeared in every human's view worldwide.
[Rankings have been updated.]
[Refer to the World Ranking Board.]
And slowly, the rankings rose.
[Rank 1, ???]
[Rank 2, Demon King Jack Smith]
[Rank 3, Heavenly Demon Hasera]
[Rank 4, Oxford's Sage Sophia Silverstone]
[Rank 5, Dungeon Maker Delaila]
.....
One every two seconds or so.
The screen updated with rankings.
As always.
The MCs on TV broadcasted excitedly.
[Rank 6, Paladin Aria Uel]
[Rank 7, Grace of Yggdrasil Nina Christine]
[Rank 8, Spirit Emperor Ichikawa Takeru]
[Rank 9, Roider Roni Williams]
The top 10 hyper rankers appeared in order.
Like concrete.
Unchanging living legends.
And now.
Everyone awaited China's ranker, Spear King Chen Zi-yi.
But.
.....
[Rank 10, Skeleton Emperor Joo Dong-hoon]
'Huh?'
Floa blinked.
"......?"
Gi So-yul, groaning in pain, widened her eyes.
Calipena, maintaining composure.
Byulcheonji rankers still conscious despite fainting.
No, beyond them.
Even ordinary folk holding beers by the roadside.
Chinese awaiting Chen Zi-yi.
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
"Eh?"
Everyone panicked.
Because the ranker in their view.
Wasn't the former rank 10, Chen Zi-yi.
Thereafter.
[Rank 11, Spear King Chen Zi-yi]
[Rank 12, Ice Emperor Laritsa]
[Rank 13, Sea Goddess (Doris) Calipena]
.....
On and on.
Rankings updated rapidly.
But people couldn't shake the shock.
And at that moment.
Clunk!
The door to the first floor of the Demir Workshop opened.
"Hm, everyone's here? The chat was closed."
The man unable to communicate with guild members due to the Guide's fainting.
The man now proudly claiming world rank 10.
It was Joo Dong-hoon's entrance.