Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: I Raise Skeletons
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Seoul Five Stars. At that moment.
"Kuhuhu."
Dark Shadow Leader Nick Zakan let out a low growl.
"As expected of the Master Archer. Not easy."
Dozens of bluish hellfire orbs swirled around him.
Each one packed firepower rivaling the S-rank skill 'Hell Fire'.
"You're at the monster level too, huh?"
Not all rankers are created equal.
If everyone in the top 1,000 is a ranker...
From the top 100 onward, they're called 'monsters' instead of 'humans'.
True one-man natural disasters.
"......"
Master Archer Ki Pa-rang silently stared at Nick Zakan.
His expression barely changed as he drew back the bowstring.
Then, Ki Pa-rang's lips parted.
"Hellhound."
"Yeah?"
"You thought you could take on Blue just by bringing one Diamond?"
The Diamond, Fabio.
A Canadian ranker.
S-rank mercenary at overall rank 301.
"Kuhuhu, yeah, right. What an idiot. Called him a rank 301 tank, and he couldn't even handle one Dark Agent. Tsk."
Zakan shot an irritated glance to the side.
Sss! Sshuk!
There, 'Gi So-yul' moved at invisible speeds, clashing against the sturdy 'Fabio'.
Dark Agent Gi So-yul's current rank was 380.
Despite her lower ranking, she showed no signs of being overwhelmed.
Zakan turned his gaze back to Ki Pa-rang.
"Kuh, but Master Archer."
"......"
"You only know one side of the story, not the whole thing. Do you really think my goal is the downfall of your Blue? Why would a shadowy group like mine bother toppling you upstanding folks?"
"No need to answer that."
Peeing!
The bowstring snapped from the Master Archer's hand.
Instant Death Arrow.
A skill named for always hitting its mark...
And killing on impact.
'Damn it.'
Zakan's face twisted.
It was an absurdly arrogant skill name, but he had to admit it.
Even dodging with all his might and layering barriers...
Puk!
The shot arrow still embedded in his calf.
He couldn't even track it with his eyes.
No time to calculate any countermeasures.
"Kuuh, impressive... What a skill."
If his rank were just a bit lower...
He might've died instantly, just like the name implied.
His calf throbbed.
But it was bearable.
That skill consumed a massive amount of energy anyway.
"I'll show you too. Why they call me Hellhound."
Wooong!
A stream of fire shot from his hand.
Roarrr!
It surged forward like a fiery dragon.
"......"
The Master Archer twitched his brow and leaped into the air.
Ping! Ping! Peeing!
He loosed three arrows in rapid succession.
Fwoosh!
But the unfolding dragon's maw swallowed them all.
Hellhound, rank 92.
A hunter worthy of the monster title.
He dodged.
They clashed.
Exchanging skills.
Kwarung!
In one of Seoul's dungeons, the two monsters collided at full power.
On Earth, it could've leveled a city—an intense barrage of skills.
How many minutes passed like that?
"......"
Ki Pa-rang's expression changed as he dodged Zakan's skills.
He sensed something off.
'That's not his usual style.'
Hellhound.
The Berserker called him 'Fire Dog' for a reason—the criminal never fought head-on.
That's how he'd run the shadowy 'Dark Shadow Unit' for so long.
His cunning, underhanded nature.
"No way."
"Kekeke, Master Archer. That was fun."
"Trying to escape?"
"As expected, sharp eyes. See ya. Thanks to you keeping me busy for 30 minutes, looks like the goal's achieved."
"Goal?"
Ki Pa-rang wore a puzzled look.
'This guy.'
He seemed to be under some misunderstanding.
He had no idea about the rankers Gi So-yul sent to Seonyu Island.
Fwoosh!
Flames erupted all around.
Behind Zakan, a crimson portal appeared.
His escape tool.
He was about to teleport.
"Hmm."
Ki Pa-rang let out a groan.
He wanted to catch Zakan.
But that meant leaving the fire streams unchecked.
His only sister, Gi So-yul, could get caught in it.
It was that devastating an AoE.
'He probably calculated this far too.'
From the direction Zakan was vanishing.
"Kyahahaha! Do some neck stretches so you don't pass out later. Oh, and that idiot Diamond's a gift for you—roast him, boil him, whatever!"
Hellhound's confident laughter echoed like a mad cackle.
"......"
The idiot's you.
Ki Pa-rang let out a faint sigh.
He could already picture Zakan clutching his neck and collapsing later.
With his friend the Berserker there...
The guy's chances of success were near zero.
Swish.
Ki Pa-rang raised his bow again.
Time to wrap it up.
Whoooosh!
Winds howled fiercely around the bow.
"......"
Gi So-yul, spotting Hellhound's escape, quickly pulled back.
"Eek?"
The flustered tank Diamond took an arrow straight to the forehead.
Thung!
Ki Pa-rang's shot pierced cleanly.
"......Gahk!"
Fabio toppled backward before he could even scream.
Gi So-yul had already whittled down his defenses, so he couldn't withstand the attack.
A pathetic end for rank 301.
"Hoo."
Ki Pa-rang exhaled the breath he'd held.
Thud!
Gi So-yul landed beside him.
"Oppa."
"You okay?"
"Yeah, no issues. Just a bit stiff from all the movement."
"Hmm. Why the hell is Hellhound going this far?"
Ki Pa-rang couldn't understand.
Hellhound, and his sister too.
'Especially my sister.'
Gi So-yul normally cared about nothing but hunting.
But lately, he'd heard rumors.
Some Joo Dong-hoon guy sticking around her.
And this incident was because of that man?
"No big deal."
"Blue gets attacked because of that guy, and it's no big deal?"
Ki Pa-rang furrowed his brow.
"It's not because of him. If anything, it's my fault."
"So why..."
"I'll explain slowly later."
Ki Pa-rang stared at Gi So-yul.
She looked so certain.
How long had it been since he'd seen her like this?
So.
He just smiled.
Whatever it was.
A lively sister beat a blank-faced one any day.
"Yeah, sure. You'll handle it fine."
* * *[Ding!]
[Rankings have been updated.]
[Check the World Ranking Board.]
"Hoo."
Berserker Jang Dae-woong's eyes curved up.
"One of the rankers must've..."
"Died!"
Black Sword Lee Seon-ah reacted to the new message too.
"Kuh, I hit 829, so the guy ahead of me bit it? Wonder who."
Crunch, crunch.
White Pig Yoo Sang-don, finishing up, pulled an instant burger from his bag and chomped.
"Hey! White Pig! Impressive! Eating right after battle!"
"Shut up. You get this pain? I gotta eat to recover my energy."
Skill, 'Gluttony'.
The cheat passive that made him a ranker.
The more he ate, the more energy he got?
"Got it! Eating's the painful part! Anyway, I climbed to 509! What about you, Berserker?"
"Me? Still 20, haha."
"......"
I stared blankly at their conversation.
Seemed like the 「World Ranking Board」 updated.
But nothing showed in my vision.
Early each month.
The update notice was visible to all hunters.
But ranker deaths?
That privilege seemed reserved for rankers only.
Swish.
I habitually pulled out my smartphone.
Curious about the situation.
[Breaking News! Ranker System Update!]
[Who died? World Association reactions point to the current rank 301!]
[Rank 301, The Diamond from Canada—unresponsive! World Association investigation team launched...]
[Breaking News! New ranker on the board! Uzbekistan's Tyrant Abdulaziz! Who is this newcomer slipping into 1,000...?]
As expected.
Info age—articles flooded in at breakneck speed.
"......"
And beside me.
Kim Jun-seo gaped, still clueless.
'Yeah, understandable.'
He wakes up kidnapped by the global crime group Dark Shadow Unit.
Then rescued in a day by Seoul's Five Stars rankers.
"No way..."
"Hyung, you okay?"
"What the hell am I seeing? What is all this?"
"Uh... I'm confused too. Just rest for now."
I patted Kim Jun-seo.
He'd done nothing wrong in this kidnapping.
If anything, meeting me?
Getting dragged into my mess.
I felt sorry.
But now wasn't the time for chit-chat.
"Uhaha, you Joo Dong-hoon? Look pretty weak."
"Hey, Berserker! I told you a million times—hunters are about potential. You're a monster now, but someday I might catch up?"
"Hmm, pretty unrealistic. White Pig."
All the rankers' eyes turned to me.
The now-vanished Dark Shadow Unit? Beneath their notice.
"Um! Still!"
Shing!
Lee Seon-ah flicked the blood off her rapier and sheathed it.
"Dark Agent wanted to introduce you, so there must be something special!"
"Right! I agree with Black Sword. Saw you using some special skeleton earlier."
Yoo Sang-don grinned.
"Necromancer's already a rare unique class, but you twisted it even further! No wonder Dark Agent's interested!"
Lee Seon-ah's eyes sparkled too.
"......"
I flinched under their gazes.
Yeah.
Truth was, my whole body was stiff.
My idols talking to me en masse?
With that much interest.
"Hoo."
I exhaled shortly.
No backing down.
Stay flexible, relaxed.
'This is the chance Gi So-yul made.'
Birds of a feather, right?
Stick to them like a leech, get closer to ranker level?
'Plus.'
Those three combined couldn't touch Old Man or Solar Blade's true forms.
Surprisingly, that calmed me.
"Hmm."
First, Lee Seon-ah stepped forward.
"Joo Dong-hoon, right? Nice to meet you! I'm Lee Seon-ah, Dark Agent's friend! Leader of Black Sword Squad!"
Black Sword Squad.
Impossible to miss.
One of the world's top guilds, Heavenly Demon Cult's first assault team.
For reference, Heavenly Demon Cult was led by Heavenly Demon Hasera—world rank 3, Korea rank 1.
Weirdly.
Join that guild, and your moniker turns wuxia-style?
"Hey, Black Sword. Don't cut in line with your black heart. Monikers need a clean 'White' like mine for the real deal, right? I'm White Pig, Yoo Sang-don."
Nicknamed White Pig.
Who didn't know him?
Sure, rank 800s.
But no ranker dared ignore him.
He was one of the three vice chairs of the Global Hunter Merchant Confederation.
Nicknamed 'GMC'.
His new company 'White Pig' dominated Korea's hunter item market.
A living chaebol ranker.
"Hah, ridiculous! How greedy do you have to be for 'Pig' in your moniker?"
Lee Seon-ah fired back at Yoo Sang-don's jab.
"Hey... Black Sword. Insult with facts. It's not the currency 'don'—it's pig 'don'..."
"Oh, pig! Oink oink! Greedy pig!"
"What? Greedy? Ha, still buying this nonsense? You know how clean and greed-free pigs are?"
"And your skill's called 'Gluttony'? Oh, got it!"
"You son of a—?"
"......"
The two rankers bickered nonstop.
True friends fight the most, huh?
Even the Berserker watching nonchalantly showed their usual dynamic.
And then.
The 'real deal' stepped forward.
World rank 20.
In Korea, no one but Heavenly Demon Hasera could match him—this madman.
"Hahaha, ignore those idiots. How about a handshake?"
He extended his hand.