Chapter 313
Chapter 313
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 313
Chapter Title: 2025, World Ranker Ceremony (2)
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Just before world time hit 00:00.
Inside the Murung Do-won auditorium.
“Gahaha! Drink up, drink up!”
“That’s right! It’s only been 12 hours since we started drinking. No way one of the rankers is already wasted, right?”
“No way!”
Surprisingly, Byulcheonji’s rankers had been partying with booze this whole time.
Rankers don’t get drunk easily.
No scientific explanation for it, but most experts chalk it up to the presence of ki energy.
The purer the energy, the better it breaks down toxins or alcohol inside the body, or so they say.
“You all worked hard, right?!”
Zzzap!
Thunderclap Phloa shouted, sparks flying from him.
“Anyone who drops in the rankings this time is in for hell training!”
“Ooooo! You got it!”
World Ranking 201, Fighting Tiger Adrian Frankl—now Phloa’s loyal sidekick—reacted with wild enthusiasm.
“Of course! Those guys don’t deserve to be in Byulcheonji!”
World Ranking 231, Twin Blades Loren shot back.
Iron Fist, Fighting Tiger, Twin Blades, Gladiator, Absolute Unmatched.
All five rankers were in Phloa’s camp.
And above Phloa was the Berserker.
‘Nice.’
The corner of my mouth twitched up.
Seeing them all cheering each other on right before the ranker ceremony warmed my heart somehow.
To think Kim Jin-ah’s Byulcheonji had already grown into a group with dozens of rankers...
And that wasn’t all.
Not to brag, but these weren’t just any rankers.
Ever since the Star Demon War, the public had started seeing Byulcheonji’s rankers as something special—and they really were.
Solar Spear, Eldrin, Arin, Wu-gak.
They’d trained and tempered themselves alongside absolute powerhouses from an entire world, so it was only natural.
Anyway.
It was about to start.
I sat with Kim Jin-ah in a prime spot in the corner, cracking open a can of beer as we stared at the massive screen up front.
- Alright! It’s 2025 now! The Year of the Blue Snake is almost here! What fresh news will get our hearts racing this time?!
The usual duo of male and female MCs were dressed cute and chattering away energetically.
I’d always been too busy on announcement days to watch from the start like this.
- As you know, South Korea is the world’s second-strongest hunter nation! All thanks to Haseola! But now there’s some buzz. Some are saying we should rank Korea number one.
- Yep! Our pride and joy, Hyper Ranker Joo Dong-hoon, just overtook the Magic Tower Lord for 4th place, making things a bit iffy.
“Ooooo!”
“Woooo! Our pride, the Hyper Ranker!”
The members erupted in cheers as the broadcast mentioned me.
Aigoo.
What’s with them?
I’d spent all my time training and sleeping, so this felt awkward as hell.
- Plus, we’ve got Berserker Jang Dae-woong at 14th now, right?
- Man, he’s incredible. Berserker’s got the fastest growth rate after Skeleton Emperor, they say.
- Totally! He shot up like a rocket.
“Woooo!”
“Berserker! Berserker! Berserker!”
Phew.
Luckily, the attention shifted from me to Dae-woong hyung.
Aigoo, hyung.
This is more embarrassing than I thought...
“Gahahahaha! That’s me, you bastards! Gahahaha!”
...
I blinked in disbelief at Dae-woong hyung, who’d stripped off his shirt, climbed on the table, and was swinging it around.
‘Heh.’
Maybe.
I might be the one who fits in least here in Byulcheonji...?
‘Well.’
Unlike me training solo, they always sweated and shared the pain together.
Of course their bonds would be tighter.
Anyway, as the two MCs kept yapping, time flew by.
- New Year in exactly 10 seconds! Let’s count down! 10! 9! 8!
The giant digital countdown appeared on screen, just like always!
“Seven!”
“Seeeeven!”
“Niiiine!”
“Ooooo!”
The rankers shouted along in high spirits.
Kim Jin-ah and I watched the screen with eager eyes too.
For any hunter, anyone living in this world.
This was the moment you couldn’t help but anticipate.
Everyone’s hearts pounded with excitement.
- 1!
- 0!!!
The New Year’s bell tolled for 2025.
And in our vision.
[Rankings have been updated.]
[Refer to the World Ranking Board.]
The update message appeared.
Not the quick monthly refresh or the one after someone dies.
This was the real deal—the system fully reassessing and re-ranking all 1,000 rankers.
And then.
The rankings popped up one by one every two seconds.
[Ranking 1, ???]
First place was a question mark, as always.
The unknown entity no one had ever identified.
And.
[Ranking 2, ???]
“...?”
Huh?
Another question mark?
My eyes went wide.
“Huh?”
“What?”
“What’s going on?”
The focused members shot to their feet, eyes bulging.
Silence fell over the noisy space.
Everyone rubbed their eyes like they’d seen wrong and checked the board again.
- Uh, what?
- Hold on? What’s this? Question marks?
Even the MCs panicked, glancing away.
They shot urgent looks at the experts up front, demanding quick analysis.
“...!”
Bu-gilma Kim Jin-ah stared fixedly, lips sealed.
No, seriously, what the hell?
[Ranking 3, Demon King Jack Smith]
And what’s this?
“Huh?”
“Wait!”
“Why’s Demon King 3rd? He got pushed down?”
“Then where’s Heavenly Demon?”
Before we could process, the rankings kept scrolling.
[Ranking 4, Skeleton Emperor Joo Dong-hoon]
Tch.
I stayed at 4th, at least.
I thought I’d made solid progress, but I hadn’t broken past Demon King yet.
‘Well.’
I’d just solidified my foundations.
Those guys had already built their own towers atop theirs.
There was still a gap.
For now.
[Ranking 5, Oxford's Sage Sophia Silverstone]
Magic Tower Lord unchanged.
Hold up.
Then Heavenly Demon really got knocked off?
[Ranking 6, Dungeon Maker Delaila]
[Ranking 7, Paladin Aria Uel]
[Ranking 8, Roider Rony Williams]
[Ranking 9, Bomb Maniac Belkises]
[Ranking 10, White Dragon Soul Murad]
...
The list kept going.
One standout: Berserker Jang Dae-woong overtook Great Elder Kenaid for 13th.
But no one’s mind was there.
“What the hell happened?”
Kim Jin-ah muttered.
“Heavenly Demon dropped from rankings, and 2nd is a question mark. So that means...”
“Heavenly Demon’s 2nd?”
I replied.
Most likely.
No way someone like Heavenly Demon would plummet that far.
So why’d the system slap ‘???’ on Heavenly Demon?
- Ah...! Hold on! Our ranker Haseola’s missing! We just got word from Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. Thanks for the quick response!
- What’d they say?
- Their leader confirms it’s 2nd place! They... don’t know why it’s question marks either. They’re guessing it’s because Heavenly Demon Haseola emerged from seclusion and reached the ‘Demonic Entry’ realm.
- Wha... Demonic Entry? What’s that?
- She was SS-grade after the Jisu-ryong incident, so maybe it means SSS-grade now?
- Oh, so that means...?!
“...!”
Kim Jin-ah and I jumped up too.
The rankers set down their drinks, staring at the screen in shock.
SSS-grade was Constellation-level.
If Haseola really hit Constellation realm...
And that’s why the ranking showed ‘???’...
“Then Ranking 1’s... Constellation-level or higher.”
Kim Jin-ah murmured, dazed.
The mystery of 1st place.
Finally, a clue.
“Crazy, SSS-grade. Guess they grinded as hard as we did.”
“Grinded? They must’ve gone insane.”
“Still, SSS is nuts. Impressive.”
“Heh, Heavenly Demon Divine Cult lives up to the name, huh? Loyal to the end.”
Byulcheonji members nodded.
Jealousy?
Nah.
More like awe and respect.
For years now.
Except for the Jisu-ryong mess, Haseola had holed up in seclusion, training nonstop day and night.
If anyone was stronger than them, it had to be someone like that.
Someone who grinded.
“Anyway, Haseola’s 2nd, right?”
“Dunno. Could be 1st.”
“Oh yeah? Wait, no. They said 2nd. Almost got clickbaited.”
“Right. Heh, what a ceremony.”
“Fires me up instead? I want a question mark too! Let’s goooo!”
The members took it positively.
Haseola’s growth proved dungeons weren’t the only path.
Pushing training like this could make them stronger too—and that lit a fire in their hearts.
The rankings kept rolling.
Lots entered, lots dropped out.
But Byulcheonji’s changes were all upward wins.
[Berserker Jang Dae-woong, 14th→13th]
[Thunderclap Phloa, 60th→41st]
[Dragon Knight Matt Gerald, 72nd→67th]
[Dark Emperor Gi So-yul, 86th→61st]
[Medicine Lord Ji Do-ik, 101st→101st]
[White Magician Do Ha-rang, 74th→70th]
[Earth Witch Emily Strip, 91st→79th]
[Iron Fist Bong Jae-young, 161st→159th]
[Fighting Tiger Adrian Frankl, 201st→180th]
[Spring Apostle Myoi Hana, 221st→200th]
[Twin Blades Loren, 231st→210th]
[Guider Kapu, 271st→258th]
[Gladiator Christian Guilliam, 281st→267th]
[Absolute Unmatched Maximilian, 282nd→271st]
[Shadow Secret Ninomae Noa, 291st→283rd]
[Druid Kwon So-ye, 345th→321st]
[Asura Im Su-jin, 356th→333rd]
[Poet of Praha Agnes, 397th→380th]
[Mother Yang Jung-ae, 940th→930th]
That was the tally.
Incredible results.
Normally.
Once you’re inside 500, changes are minimal except for standouts.
Every ranker pushes hard, risks life for growth.
“No smoke without fire,” as they say.
No unearned results in this world.
They’d sweated for every spot.
* * *
Anyway.
This World Ranker Ceremony rocked the globe.
Hottest topic: Haseola at 2nd.
And the ‘???’ reason.
Scholars dove into research and analysis.
Kim Jin-ah and I dug around too, curious.
Even asked Arin.
- Hmm, nothing in the library on the boards.
Answer: “Dunno.”
‘Well.’
If they knew, they’d have spilled on 1st already.
Haseola’s side told the press they didn’t know either—no progress there.
But.
The one to provide answers was surprisingly close.
A message popped up in my vision one day.
[Ding!]
[Dungeon Maker Delaila invites you.]
[Accept to have ‘World Link’ (SSS Grade) used remotely on you.]
[Accept?]
It was the mirage making a comeback.
World Ranking 6, Delaila.