Chapter 82
Chapter 82
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 82
>Chapter Title: Hunting Kaiser
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Even after pouring his entire fortune into it—hundreds of millions at a time—no Mythic grade ever showed up.
In the end, he had to grit his teeth and pull a Heroic grade. But it wasn't the worst outcome.
‘The trait is way better too, and I drew one of those Heroics they call Transcendent Heroics.’
On top of that, it was the spear arts trait and Unique Ability he'd wanted.
Compared to before, the conditions were overwhelmingly superior.
And if he added his know-how and connections on top of that?
‘I already know over ten Hidden Pieces.’
He figured that if he just put in the time, he could reach his old position—or even surpass it.
It didn't take long to realize that was a delusion.
‘Life sure is something.’
While he'd been diligently grinding away, they had been growing too.
He hadn't really expected them to stay put, but he'd ignored it anyway.
And the connections he'd bragged about? Once he deleted and remade them, most people bailed.
Now only the ones he'd actually been close to remained.
‘I must've been totally insane. Duke, what the hell gave you that confidence?’
Life is a series of choices, or so they say.
Whatever madness had possessed him, Duke had made the wrong ones, and now he was paying the price—harshly.
No, think positive.
He was building a solid foundation compared to before, and he'd cleared Hidden Pieces he hadn't even discovered last time.
Plus, his trait and Unique Ability were better now, weren't they?
Surely if he just had the time... just the time....
“Sigh. What a joke.”
Time flows equally for everyone, so what the hell was this 'time' he kept talking about?
Sure, those guys were nearing their limits, so he'd need relatively more time to boost his specs, but they were still getting stronger either way.
To outpace them efficiently, he'd need absurd growth rates—something that just wasn't realistic.
He'd breathed the rarefied air at the top for so long that he'd forgotten what the world below was like.
Now, just reaching ranker status would feel like a win.
It was around that time, as he reached Brion in a state of semi-enlightened resignation—nearing the level for his graduation quest—that it happened.
[The Kaiser has returned!]
[God's Return! Reclaims Raven's Throne the Moment He Arrives!]
[Kaiser—who the hell is he?]
The sudden community uproar caught Duke's eye.
‘Kaiser? No way, the Kaiser I know?’
It was a name that felt awfully familiar.
Of course it did.
He'd only dipped his toes into Delrock briefly, but even then, Kaiser's reputation had been massive.
He didn't know the exact feats, but he knew the guy was a big deal.
And yet he'd heard Kaiser vanished when Delrock shut down?
‘He just comes back out of nowhere like this? Holy shit, for real?’
At first, Duke didn't believe it.
But it didn't take long to confirm it was true.
-Kaiser is insane lololol
-Oi oi, I believed in you!
-Taking out the annihilation spot right away, is this for real lololol Can't wait for the annihilation party's reaction.
-Oppa you're so cool, take me away (jiggles)
-Wow, every move he makes is pure style...... Think he'll stir something up in Brion too?
-Gonna be a massive incident.
Not just on the God Ose homepage or stat windows—every community was buzzing about Kaiser.
-But doesn't this put everyone in a position where they have to go after Kaiser?
-Ditch all the guilds? Nah, they have some conscience. No way they'll dogpile him, right? Probably just subtle pressure.
-Frankly, him declaring he'll go solo is better for them than joining another guild.
-No no, that's not it. Without a guild, he has no shield to protect him.
Was it coincidence that Duke's eyes landed on that exact comment right then?
-Everyone knows who Kaiser is now. He's super famous, no guild, no party—prime prey, right?
-Dude, Kaiser's got feats you couldn't stomp on with your feet. Who's crazy enough to try?
-Kaiser's human too, isn't he? Sure, back in the day, but now he's just a fresh Raven grad noob, right? Am I wrong?
-True, but...... so what, we do nothing?
Duke had already sat up straight, zeroed in on the conversation.
As a former ranker himself, Duke knew exactly what kind of world God Ose was.
There was no way he couldn't grasp what that guy was getting at.
-This is our chance.
-Chance for what?
-Chance to skyrocket, kid. Catch Kaiser, and you're an instant star. Straight free pass to a top 100 guild. Top 100? Play it right, and top 10 is easy.
-......Hearing it laid out like that, yeah?
-I heard the guys in Brion are already forming teams. Ready to strike if the chance comes.
Gulp.
Duke looked up after reading that far.
There was more chatter after, but it didn't register.
-Chance to skyrocket, kid.
-Play it right, and top 10 is easy?
Those lines alone rattled around in his head.
‘......This is it.’
Top 0.01% ranker.
The man who reset and caught Kaiser.
He could already hear the clicks of mouses everywhere. Everyone would focus on him—it'd be his free pass to a guild.
To them, star power was just as important as talent.
‘Something I never had......’
He'd had zero star power—not even a speck—stuck as an obscure ranker.
That was Duke before.
But snag the title of Kaiser slayer, and everything changed.
Everyone would call him the Kaiser Hunter, the God Killer.
Whoosh—
Duke dove straight back into the capsule he'd just exited.
He logged into God Ose and searched for Kaiser like he was possessed. It wasn't hard to find him.
Screeech—
Step, step.
Right in the middle of the city.
A man walking through the crowd that parted before him like the Red Sea at Moses's miracle.
Only one person came to mind when you saw him.
‘Kaiser......’
He strode into the Grand Temple without a hint of intimidation from all the stares—cool as hell.
It was the ideal image Duke had always craved. That only fueled his fighting spirit more.
‘I can have that.’
Hope bloomed that he could claim that position.
That was the reason.
“Argh, they say he logged out.”
“What the—how's he so unpredictable? Not a single move we can predict.”
“Agh. Well...... yeah, I'd log out too in this mess. Look at how many are after him.”
“Tch. Let's go hunt. We'll hear if he shows up again.”
When word spread that Kaiser had logged out and everyone else gave up to do their own thing, Duke didn't.
That was also why he kept tailing when they spotted Kaiser's porter.
“Hey, isn't that Kaiser's porter?”
“Yeah? What's he doing solo? Wanna follow?”
“Nah, bad idea. If we get caught, we're screwed. Besides, Kaiser's not even with him.”
“True...... He's a swordsman—no stealth or teleport for him.”
Even when they saw Kaiser's robed companion in the field and just glanced out of curiosity before moving on, Duke stuck with it.
And that persistence was paying off now.
“Damn, this is actually working.”
A few minutes of stubbornly tailing the robed figure.
Then a man suddenly appeared beside the now-stopped porter.
Kaiser himself.
Duke didn't know how he pulled off stealth, but it was definitely him.
Thump-thump, thump-thump.
‘Oh my god......’
His heart pounded like it would burst.
To actually see the Kaiser he'd only heard about, glimpsed faintly in videos or pics!
It felt surreal, like meeting a legendary figure from a history book—exciting and weird.
But that feeling quickly settled, twisting into fighting spirit and greed.
‘This is my chance. I found him first. Take him out now, and the Kaiser Hunter title is mine.’
Meeting a star was thrilling, but he wasn't tense.
The guy was maybe level 24-27 at best. Duke was a solid level 34, built steadily.
Nearly a 10-level gap—no way he'd lose one-on-one.
He was confident in his skills too.
......Or so he thought.
Slash—!
“Nice feedback.”
‘......?’
Up until he saw Kaiser one-shot the charging orc.
Not dodge and counter, block and strike—no.
He just sliced clean through the orc's neck as it charged. So natural it made the orc look like a suicidal kamikaze.
‘No way, is that even possible?’
People didn't dodge orc charges for nothing.
First reason: blocking often got you bounced back if your specs were lacking.
Second: even if you matched strength, attacking a charging enemy straight-on didn't make sense—you just dodged.
It wasn't the standard tactic for no reason. Yet this guy did it like breathing. Duke almost thought that was the real standard.
But that wasn't the weirdest part.
‘No, more than that—what the hell's his damage? One-shot? Isn't he low 20s?’
Even Duke, proud of his beefy specs, needed at least three hits.
And that was on good hits—usually more.
‘......All-in on attack power. Gotta be fragile.’
Yeah, that made sense.
Rankers confident in control often prioritized attack over health.
A guy like Kaiser might take it to extremes.
A good ambush could work. The only one with him was that porter anyway.
‘Guardian confirmed. Probably leveled for loot pickup.’
That checked out.
Duke's face brightened again.
‘Right. Deal with the porter later, no big......?’
Groooar— groooar—.
Up until he saw the orcs and goblins making those eerie noises.
Orcs, fine—but goblins here? Looking closer, they were off.
Too decayed for living things, dead eyes, oozing some ominous black aura.
They looked just like......
‘......Undead?’
And then they dragged back one orc.
The horde swarmed it, hoisted it up, and pummeled it mercilessly.
The orc died.
“......”
Watching that, Duke made up his mind.
‘Run.’
No winning this.
Kaiser's freakish damage was bad enough—now undead too?
Challenging them was straight-up suicide.
Who the hell called that guy a porter? He was a full-on noble Necromancer walking the king's road!
Were there Guardians with skills like that?
‘Guardian or companion, who cares.’
As far as he knew, no—but that wasn't the point now.
The point was that unassuming guy was a straight-up Necromancer commander.
‘Should've grabbed a team......’
Even now, if he messaged his contacts...... Too late, obviously.
Damn, he'd rushed in.
Or maybe he'd half-thought he could solo it. Taking him down alone would boost his rep more.
‘Whatever—fall back first. Smart move.’
Duke wasn't dumb enough to repeat his stupid choices twice.
One character wipe in God Ose was enough for that lesson.
At least hiding behind this rock kept him undetected—for now.
That was something.
As Duke gauged a good moment to slip away—
Swish—.
A sudden shadow fell over him.
He looked up on instinct to see a hideous orc face staring down.
“Ugh!?”
People move their hands first when startled.
Not everyone, but Duke did. His spear was in hand, and he stabbed the orc's leg without thinking.
-Liza!!
“......Liza?”
Way too cute a voice for an orc.
As he wondered about that, a ding rang over his head with a message window.
[You have initiated a preemptive strike on Player 'Kaiser'.]
[If killed by the opponent, your item drop rate will increase significantly.]
“? What the......”
He couldn't process it.
He'd just hit an orc—why a preemptive strike?
Staring at the orc in confusion, Duke noticed its white hand.
‘Was it always that color......?’
No time to ponder before a deep voice rang out.
“What is it? A person?”
“Eek!?”
“Ow, you scared me. Why are you yelling?”
It was Kaiser.
Kaiser and the porter—no, the Necromancer—had closed in, boxing him in.
Duke muttered to himself without thinking.
‘......I'm screwed.’