Chapter 251
Chapter 251
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 251
Chapter Title: 2024, World Ranker Announcement (3)
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At that moment.
As I arrived on the first floor of the Demir Workshop, I felt my status window update.
[Rank 10, Skeleton Emperor Joo Dong-hoon]
"Whoa."
My jaw dropped open involuntarily.
World ranking 10th?
10th place?
For real?
After the battle with that 'Godslayer' (SSS Grade).
I'd gotten a bit stronger thanks to the treatment from 'Ancient Magic' (SSS Grade), but I never imagined it'd be to this extent.
I figured my rank would climb some, but 10th? No way in my wildest dreams.
'Crazy.'
This was the system's judgment.
Official recognition.
Even excluding special cases like Godslayer-grade weapons or the old man, I was still ranked 10th.
That meant only nine people in the world were stronger than me now.
"Keuugh."
It was a moment of deep emotion.
One year ago.
After hitting 78th, I'd climbed a whopping 68 spots.
How could I not feel proud?!
It was tremendous progress, a storm of growth.
I'd worked my ass off for it.
Except for unavoidable days, I hadn't skipped training once.
Every day had been a gauntlet of trials.
Of course, luck had played a part.
But I believed luck was the reward for effort.
If I hadn't set my sights on fighting the Godslayer, that stroke of fortune with Ancient Magic might never have come.
"Hmm."
But the感動 ended there.
I wanted to bask in it all day, grinning like an idiot, but the situation didn't allow for it.
"......"
I calmly settled my surging energy.
I'd been sensing an ominous aura descending from the second floor for a while now.
Along with intermittent groans of pain.
Sss!
I swiftly stepped onto the shadows and ascended to the second floor.
At the same time.
I took in the chaotic scene on the second floor—seaweed, shells, saltwater, total mayhem.
* * *
"Guild Master!"
Kim Jin-ah cried out, writhing as she dangled in the air.
Her face was a tangled mix of emotions as she struggled to break free.
Plop, plop!
So much force had been applied that her clothes and hair were soaked, sweat dripping down.
Overwhelmed with emotion, she started to say something, but then.
"Hoo."
She just let out a soft breath.
A sigh laced with relief.
"Krghaa!"
Beside her, Floa—impaled by seaweed—let out a groan mixed with laughter.
"You're late, you damn owner. Hurry up and deal with this bitch."
"This is..."
I furrowed my brow.
'What the hell's going on?'
Why were the Otherworld members sprawled across the floor?
Why was Black Sword Lee Seon-ah passed out in the corner?
Why were Kapu, Floa, and Gi So-yul hanging in midair, bleeding?
That's when.
My eyes landed on one figure.
The woman radiating an aura like crashing ocean waves...
'Calypena?'
I recognized her instantly.
She was a ranker shrouded in secrecy, so I'd never seen her face.
But the scent carried by her aura gave her away.
Among hunters with that level of power, who else would smell of the sea?
No matter how I thought about it, only one name came to mind.
'She took advantage of my absence to strike. Famous for raiding guilds, after all.'
That fucking bitch.
Hoo. I exhaled lightly and slowly rolled my neck.
Crack, craaack.
Nice and satisfying.
Otherwise, I wouldn't stay calm.
A scorching heat was rising from my chest to the top of my head.
"Dana."
"Yes, Master."
Rrrumble!
At my call, a skeleton materialized naturally in midair.
"Patch them up. No scars."
"As you command."
Honestly, I was pissed.
I'd planned to smash the bastard who shot me with a nuke the moment I got back, but this made me forget all that?
The people who trusted me.
Who joined my crew.
They had blood trickling from their mouths.
Grotesque things pierced their skin.
They were dying.
Ruuuumble...
With the building shaking behind me, I raised my fist.
"Calypena?"
Sure, she'd once been a ranker I admired.
Villain or not, world rank 12 was a hyper ranker.
'But whatever.'
She looked like nothing now.
Compared to the Godslayer I'd fought or its apostles, she seemed... utterly unimpressive.
So I didn't call for more subordinates.
I was just gearing up for a fight in the spirit of the Godslayer world.
Touching Otherworld was touching me.
No matter who she was.
She'd pay the price now.
* * *
"Huh."
At that moment.
Calypena couldn't hide her astonishment.
Her mouth hung open as she stared at the man before her.
Rank 10?
Not even 11th—straight-up 10th?
That was the realm beyond the heavens, the outer heavens!
'Really.'
Was the Hell Hound telling the truth?
The hunter who'd become a hyper ranker in record time.
The only one worldwide to jump straight from outside the rankings into the hyper ranks.
'Did he really have some insane stroke of fate?'
Slurp!
Calypena licked her lips.
Her expression one of rising hunger.
Not thinking she should flee from a rank 10.
If anything, she was more intrigued.
What was his secret?
How could he grow like that?
If she uncovered it, she might shatter the hyper ranker wall she'd hit for years.
She might even surpass Sophia, Hasera, and Jack Smith.
"Truly impressive. Amazing."
Clap, clap, clap!
Calypena beamed, applauding brightly.
"Congratulations. Wow, surviving was surprising enough, but rank 10? The Spear King must be weeping."
Controlling the seaweed sloshing around her, she stepped toward Joo Dong-hoon.
He was a proper rank 10 now.
Even as she spoke, she stayed vigilant.
'Normally.'
She'd have bolted.
Safety was her top priority.
But this was too tantalizing.
Of course, a corner of her mind wondered.
Could a fresh rank 10 really beat her?
Experience mattered in fights, even with rank gaps.
Had a newbie hyper ranker ever battled someone at her level?
'Plus.'
If she could kill Joo Dong-hoon right now?
Wouldn't she vault into the hyper ranks herself?
"Hee-hee, nice to meet you. Never thought I'd see a celebrity in the flesh."
"......"
"Why so quiet? Upset about this mess I made? Come on, I didn't kill them. Right?"
"Not upset."
"......Then what?"
"I'm fucking pissed, bitch."
"Excuse me...?"
As Calypena frowned at the sudden curse.
Screeeeech!
The roar of a jet slicing the air rang out.
'What? What sound is th—'
She didn't even finish the thought.
Baaam!
Joo Dong-hoon's fist slammed into her jaw.
She instinctively blocked with seaweed stems, but it was useless.
The left jab hit her chin, and simultaneously.
Smaaack!
His right foot grazed her cheek.
Then his right hand plunged into her falling midsection.
"Gahk!"
Calypena screamed from the raw pain she'd never felt before.
Her head spun.
'Crazy.'
His movements weren't those of an ordinary hunter.
Way too fast—too fast to react properly.
Baaam!
This time, she was launched skyward.
Why am I in the air? she thought, just before.
Joo Dong-hoon, floating even higher.
"Wha—what...!"
Before she could retort.
His foot stomped down toward her.
A bone-crushing, formless essence heel drop.
KABOOOM!
"Kuh, huuugh!"
Slammed into the marble floor, she felt her spine snap.
The delayed shock numbed her entire body.
'Me? How am I...?'
She panicked.
She'd expected a tough fight, but not this fast.
This wasn't a skill.
It was pristine combos honed through thousands, millions of reps.
Pinned to the floor, Calypena dazedly looked up.
In the air, Joo Dong-hoon finished his stomp and reared back for a punch.
"Demir, sorry. Let's rebuild this place fancy?"
Unintelligible words filled her with infinite dread. Calypena hastily gathered her energy.
'Abyss, erect your barrier!'
Whatever he threw, it'd struggle against abyssal pressure.
That ocean-spanning hydrostatic force could crumple high-strength alloy subs.
She swiftly wrapped herself in abyssal pressure, then.
Myriad Arts.
Secret Technique.
Martial Advance.
KABABABOOM!
Joo Dong-hoon's fists carpet-bombed relentlessly.
The power that subdued even the Godslayer Fragment (SS Grade)—the 'Apostle'—unleashed in full.
Kaboom!
Head, heart, gut, thigh, shin.
He mercilessly pummeled her abyssal-barriered body.
"......"
A gale of blood whipped up.
Crack, craaack!
Calypena's precious nose collapsed, her eye socket fractured.
Her skin bruised purple as the marble floor caved completely, dropping to the first floor.
Her abyssal barrier offered no defense.
"Kuh, kheuk!"
Blood poured from Calypena's mouth on the floor below.
Dust billowed around her.
'This insane power...!'
She felt the rank disparity.
No solutions came to mind.
'Is this... a hyper ranker?'
Regret hit hard.
She should've fled when his rank 10 leaked.
No escaping now.
Bones shattered, muscles torn.
All she could do was groan.
Thud!
Joo Dong-hoon leaped through the massive hole in the second floor and landed.
He approached.
"Krghhh... D-don't come closer."
She forced the words out, but he wouldn't listen.
Approaching impassively, he stomped her gut hard.
"St-stop! I'll give you anything... Killing me's worse for you than sparing me, right? Or... something else...?"
She tugged her collar to reveal her cleavage.
But no charm there.
Just swollen, purple flesh.
It only made him grimace.
'Damn it.'
Calypena gritted her teeth.
Gazing at him pitifully.
But.
Fwoosh!
A spear formed in Joo Dong-hoon's hand and plunged toward her heart.
Spuuurt!
"Kyaaaaak!"
The Godslayer-grade weapon ignored her barriers and pierced her heart.
In her ear, his whisper slithered.
"Calypena. The pinnacle of villains disrupting world order."
"Kkh, kkheuk...!"
"Sparing you won't help Earth at all."
"N-no... I... "
She meant to beg forgiveness.
To plead for life.
But words failed.
Twiiiist!
His spear twisted inside her.
"Khaaaak! Kheuk! Mercy... Gulk!"
Blood flooded her throat from her esophagus.
Tears streaming, Calypena weakly clutched the spear shaft with both hands.
Stuck firm, unyielding.
She sensed it.
Her approaching death, felt through her entire body.
And then.
To her trembling ears came Joo Dong-hoon's final verdict.
"Calypena, your biggest mistake was touching me. That is, harming my people. Farewell."
A clean death sentence.