The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times

The weak sound was so feeble that anyone hearing it would feel drained.

Do-hyeon slowly lifted his head, listening to that familiar sound, which he had heard countless times by now.

Kraaaaaah!!

The Ironblood Dragon-type Monster roared with impressive force.

But the predator’s initial overwhelming presence was no longer felt from the blood-covered creature.

Its roar now seemed more like the desperate cry of a frightened beast, crying out louder as it sensed its imminent end.

Its once decisive, bold gestures, which had swatted away threats like a person brushing off a mosquito, now seemed more like a desperate plea for him to stay away.

-HP [80 : ???]

A mere 80 health points left.

[You can now use the basic skill ‘Strike.’]

And at the perfect moment, the cooldown for Strike had returned.

After more than five hours of relentless fighting, the end of the battle was finally in sight.

Did the monster sense it too?

Boom! Crash!

Though it should have been ready to accept death, it continued swinging its fists at Do-hyeon as he approached.

The closer Do-hyeon got, the more wildly it thrashed in its final struggle.

Being bitten by a mosquito once is nothing more than a nuisance, something that only itches for a while. But when a mosquito that refuses to die bites you thousands of times, it becomes a nightmare.

Clang! Clatter!

Even though it had nowhere left to retreat, the monster kept stepping backward, causing the restraints binding it to rattle loudly.

Do-hyeon watched the pitiful creature with cold eyes.

“You’ve held out long enough. Now, it’s time to go.”

Boom!

Calmly avoiding the final desperate attack, Do-hyeon’s sword struck the monster’s foot.

Krrrr…

With a pitiful death cry, the massive body collapsed.

The once mighty monster fell noisily, raising a cloud of dust as it left this world, and several messages appeared above its fallen form.

[You have defeated the Bound Ironblood Dragon-type Monster.]

[You are the first to defeat a legendary named boss during the tutorial.]

[You have defeated a legendary named boss single-handedly.]

[You have achieved an unbelievable accomplishment.]

[This will be recorded in the Book of Adventures.]

[As a reward, you will receive…]

……

Seeing all the messages appear, Do-hyeon collapsed to the ground.

He didn’t even care about checking the rewards; he just wanted to lie down.

The excitement that had carried him at the beginning of the fight had long since faded, leaving him so focused that he hadn’t had time to think about anything else.

“That was one hell of a tough fight.”

Five hours and thirty minutes.

That’s how long it had taken him to slay the monster.

He had expected it to take a while, but it had taken even longer than he anticipated.

The difficulty level had been higher than he imagined.

‘Not even ten thousand strikes…’

As soon as its HP had dropped below 30%, the monster’s pattern changed.

It stopped wildly swinging its arms and started stomping its feet furiously, almost as if throwing a tantrum because Do-hyeon kept hiding beneath it to attack.

Eventually, it even slammed its entire body down in frustration.

Luckily, its arms, which had some freedom within the restraints, were bound tightly enough.

Otherwise, no matter how skilled Do-hyeon was, he wouldn’t have been able to defeat it.

He was certain.

‘No one could have killed this.’

Even his old comrades wouldn’t have been able to defeat this thing.

He had barely managed it, only because he was in unusually good condition today.

And that prediction was spot on.

[You are the first to defeat a legendary named boss during the tutorial.]

The system had confirmed it.

This meant that all his comrades had encountered the monster and failed to defeat it.

‘They must’ve cursed it out.’

Do-hyeon laughed as he imagined the things his comrades would’ve said when they faced the monster.

The Sword Emperor probably would’ve grimaced and stayed silent, pretending to be stoic, while Kkukkudakkkukku would’ve spewed a stream of foul curses.

Old Man Purple would likely have laughed, saying, “Well, of course. That’s how a good old luck-based game sequel should be.”

‘Or maybe they didn’t even get this far?’

Old Man Purple, in particular, was a master of hard work and wealth.

Given that the tutorial required players to perform in a new environment, it would’ve been a disadvantage for him.

In any case, Do-hyeon had done it.

What would their reactions be when he revealed this later?

‘They’ll be rolling in envy for days.’

Just like he had reacted when they pulled rare items or skill cards, they would likely show a similar reaction.

‘Wherever they are, that is.’

He hadn’t seen any signs of them among the top-ranked players, even though they should’ve been there.

They could have set their profiles to private, but it still seemed strange.

To be honest, it was hard to believe those attention-seekers would go out of their way to keep things private.

Or maybe they hadn’t started playing God of Savior yet?

That thought crossed his mind for a moment, but he quickly dismissed it.

These were people who had sunk endless hours into a terrible game like DemRock.

Unless something unusual, like military service in his case, had come up, there was no way they wouldn’t have started God of Savior.

‘Knowing them, they’re probably off playing some weird role like hidden martial arts masters or something.’

Do-hyeon chuckled to himself and opened the rewards he had left unopened.

After recovering some of his energy, he became curious about what kind of rewards he had earned.

‘Judging by how flashy the messages were, it won’t be something worthless.’

It was safe to assume he would get some pretty good rewards.

At least a reward of heroic rank or higher. With growing anticipation, he finally checked the rewards.

[You have obtained the title ‘The First Slayer.’]

[You have finished the tutorial with an unbelievable accomplishment. A trait befitting your gameplay and achievements has manifested.]

[The trait ‘Weapon Master’ has manifested.]

[The trait ‘Hidden Dragon’ has manifested.]

[The trait ‘Slayer’ has manifested.]

[The trait ‘Hero’ has manifested.]

[The trait ‘Overcome’ has manifested.]

[You have met the conditions.]

[The unique trait ‘Eye of Truth’ has manifested.]

“…?”

Do-hyeon blinked, feeling as though reality itself had faded away.

* * *

Unlike DemRock, God of Savior had several special systems beyond just skills.

One of those systems was traits.

Traits were abilities given separately from the 13 skill slots.

Unlike active skills, traits were passive abilities that supported a player’s gameplay and combat.

Although there had been concerns that this odd system would complicate the game, players who had actually started playing praised it for increasing the game’s diversity.

In any game that ages over time, there inevitably emerges a standard build for each class.

The most efficient and powerful skill tree.

Of course, due to the nature of God of Savior, achieving the perfect skill tree wasn’t easy, but for rankers, it all boiled down to the same thing.

That’s where traits came in to make things special.

Even for players with the same class, their skill tree would change depending on which traits they possessed. And even with identical skill trees, traits introduced variables.

This led to more strategic gameplay and allowed for more diversity in the game.

However, not everyone could obtain the traits they desired.

There was only one known way to obtain traits.

They manifested based on achievements during the tutorial.

“Damn…”

And that’s exactly what had happened in Do-hyeon’s case.

Every player who finished the tutorial received a trait.

But what shocked Do-hyeon was simple.

“…Why do I have so many traits?”

Only one trait ever manifested during the tutorial.

There were no exceptions.

Whether you raised Charlie’s affinity to the max or dropped it to the lowest, only one trait would manifest.

However, the quality and type of the trait varied depending on the player’s achievements.

Traits ranged from exploration types like Pathfinder to combat types like Sword Master.

A trait befitting the player’s performance during the tutorial would manifest, and depending on the extent of the player’s achievements, higher-grade traits would be awarded.

This was why major guilds were so keen to scout players who had maxed out Charlie’s affinity.

It was proof of superior potential based on an objective measure.

Naturally, a player with a high-grade trait would have an advantage at max level over others with the same conditions.

In that regard, Do-hyeon’s situation was unprecedented.

[Weapon Master]

-Rank: Trait

-Effect: Ignores weapon type restrictions.

Increases mastery for all weapons and grows quickly.

[Hidden Dragon]

-Rank: Trait

-Effect: Increases stat points gained per level up by 2.

[Slayer]

-Rank: Trait

-Effect: Allows you to locate and identify hidden information about monsters for which you’ve earned the ‘Slayer’ title.

[Hero]

-Rank: Trait

-Effect: The hero’s spirit protects against mental corruption.

[Overcome]

-Rank: Trait

-Effect: Overcome limits with indomitable willpower.

“…Each trait is incredibly high-level.”

Traits didn’t have ranks like skills, but they had characteristics that allowed players to guess their quality.

First, Weapon Master.

Even just having Sword Master was enough to make a guild want to recruit you.

A swordsman with the Sword Master trait would gain mastery faster and have stronger attacks than

other swordsmen.

It essentially allowed the player to become a master of that weapon type.

What about Weapon Master?

‘It allows me to apply the Sword Master effect to any weapon.’

It was a trait that allowed the player to wield any weapon and respond to any situation.

While it wouldn’t cover job-specific skills, it would certainly allow for exceptional versatility.

And what about Hidden Dragon?

‘Its potential is insane.’

Reaching max level of 100 with this trait would give the player the stats of a level 140 character.

Just through raw numbers, it was like gaining the benefits of several extra items.

Given that players valued each stat point more as they progressed, it was an incredible trait.

It was a broken trait in terms of raw power, but in comparison to others, it wasn’t quite as remarkable.

‘It’s a bit lacking in terms of versatility.’

While other players would make use of traits that offered active benefits, the Hidden Dragon trait merely provided a flat stat boost.

It was simple but effective.

However, in the late game, traits that offered active benefits based on strategy would become more important.

This gap would become even more apparent after reaching max level.

Because of this, Hidden Dragon wasn’t rated very highly.

‘But that doesn’t apply to me.’

Do-hyeon didn’t just manifest one trait.

He had manifested six traits.

And each of them had powerful abilities.

For instance, Hero and Slayer both directly impacted combat.

‘Status effect immunity.’

Thinking back to how troublesome curses from black mages were in DemRock, the Hero trait was something Do-hyeon liked.

In guild wars, black mages were one of the biggest threats.

The Slayer trait, on the other hand, had a condition. It only worked after earning a Slayer title for a particular type of monster. But once that condition was met, it was incredibly effective.

‘It gives me an informational advantage right from the start.’

The higher up you went, the more important information became when fighting bosses, so it would be invaluable.

Each of these traits was something any player would be valued for, even if they only had one.

The effect of the trait Overcome was a bit vague, but with all the other traits being so good, Do-hyeon wasn’t too bothered by it.

And then there was the one trait that stood out above all the others.

‘Eye of Truth…’

Do-hyeon swallowed hard and slowly began to read the description.