The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times

Although this name sounded rather impressive, it wasn’t its official name.

It was simply called “Irard’s Back Alley” because of the nearby general store, Irard’s General Store, for convenience.

There was a particular story behind how this place became known as a popular spot.

‘They say the first legendary skill in Raven was revealed here.’

A user who first obtained a legendary-tier skill appeared in this very place.

Drawing a legendary skill from just the second random draw was such a ridiculously lucky event that it could have made history.

Naturally, people flocked here, hoping to catch even a bit of that luck.

As more people gathered to open card packs, the probability of success increased naturally.

Good news spread about people drawing excellent skills, and gradually, more people arrived, followed by even more successful card pack openings.

This cycle repeated, eventually turning the place into the famous location it was today.

‘It’s practically a superstition…’

But isn’t that how people are?

Even for lottery tickets, people tend to go to stores where there have been many winners, and for restaurants, they often prefer those with long waiting lines, assuming they must be good.

In reality, the increased probability was simply because more people visited these places.

Because of that, some users looked down on others who believed in these superstitions, but unfortunately, Do-hyeon wasn’t one of them.

‘Sometimes, there’s nothing more accurate than a good superstition.’

He was the type of guy who would always seek out lucky spots more than anyone else.

It wasn’t like this from the beginning.

After constantly drawing worthless items, he naturally became interested in these so-called lucky locations.

And on the first day he opened a card in one such location!

‘I’ll never forget that yellow glow until the day I die.’

He had pulled a hero-tier skill card for the first time.

It might have been a coincidence, but to Do-hyeon, it was an overwhelming moment of joy.

From then on, he searched every lucky spot he could find.

Thanks to that, he managed to snag a few hero-tier skills.

‘Believe, and you shall be rewarded…’

After offering a prayer to a god he didn’t even believe in, Do-hyeon stepped into Irard’s Back Alley.

The overwhelming smell of card pack openings hit his nose.

“Mmm~ This is it. It’s been a while since I felt this vibe.”

Having relied too much on the Eye of Truth recently, his mindset had become complacent.

That’s why, despite having a random draw ticket, he only ended up drawing rare-tier skills… He couldn’t let this continue.

He needed to regain his focus.

This was why, despite only having a low-tier skill draw ticket, he had come to the lucky spot.

“When did I ever discriminate between draw tickets? This is all because my spirit has grown weak.”

He used to pour his heart into every card pack opening, but after encountering the Eye of Truth, a cutting-edge artifact, he had turned into a feeble opportunist.

This card pack opening was a sacred ritual to regain the determination he once had.

-…Humans are truly strange.

“Tsk tsk. What would you know? Now be quiet. I need to concentrate.”

To the goblin Jihad Black, this was all nonsense, but Do-hyeon was dead serious.

And he had a good reason to be.

‘This is important for me right now…’

To others, he might draw just another common skill, but Do-hyeon was an All-Master.

It was impossible to predict which job’s skill he would pull.

Among the ten cards, there would be skills from various jobs mixed in, so he had to hope for the most useful one.

If his luck was bad and he drew an explorer’s skill, that would be the worst.

For someone like Do-hyeon, who possessed the Eye of Truth, nothing could be more useless.

‘I still don’t understand why explorers aren’t considered a production class.’

Was it because they had a few self-defense skills?

Or was it because their buffs were too vague to be classified as a production class?

Either way, it was a job Do-hyeon always had to be cautious of.

[Do you want to use the Low-Tier Skill Draw Ticket?]

Seeing the message window pop up, Do-hyeon rubbed his hands together, trying to calm his nerves.

‘Hoo.’

He did this all the time, yet it was always a nerve-wracking moment.

After steadying himself, Do-hyeon tore open the card pack, and soon, ten cards scattered into the air as if floating.

Despite the underwhelming bronze color of the cards, Do-hyeon carefully scanned them before reaching out.

‘This one!’

The third card from the left.

He remembered the unwritten rule—when in doubt, pick number 3.

Swoosh!

The dull bronze color filled his view, followed by the familiar sound of an alert.

[You have obtained …….]

“Huh? Is this…?”

Looking at the result, Do-hyeon’s eyes glinted with surprise.

The skill wasn’t on any of the lists of potential skills he had imagined.

Yet, it was the skill he had secretly wanted the most.

A mysterious smile spread across Do-hyeon’s face, and as he left the alley, Jihad trailed behind him, asking,

-Is it already over, master?

“Yes.”

-So, where are we headed now?

The answer to that question was simple.

There was only one thing to do in Raven at the moment.

“Grind.”

At level 24, all that was left until he reached the level required to receive his graduation quest was to grind (nonstop hunting).

* * *

Deep within the western forest of Raven.

A place full of uneven terrain and numerous obstacles, so much so that players avoided it as a hunting ground.

Thanks to that, the area was overflowing with monsters, and one player was busy hunting them down.

Swoosh- Thud!

Kiieek! Keck!

[You have slain a Forest Red Goblin.]

[You have slain a Giant Spider.]

But calling it “hunting” didn’t do it justice.

It was more like a massacre.

Even in an abnormal 1 vs. 10 situation, it was the group of ten monsters that was being slaughtered.

Crunch! Bam!

[You have slain a Giant Centipede.]

Thud!

Kueck!

[You have slain a Forest Blue Goblin.]

One by one, he calmly cut them down, and before long, the monsters were backing away.

They had instinctively realized they were no match for him.

[You are using Charge Slash.]

[You have slain a Forest Red Goblin.]

But the approaching death was inevitable.

They had no choice but to either flee and die or rush forward and get their heads smashed in.

The only choice left was how they wanted to die.

It was a ruthlessness that could almost make one feel pity for these monsters.

-Tsk, how pitiful…

Even Jihad Black, who was watching this in real time, couldn’t help but feel some sympathy.

Though Jihad had once roamed around reanimating monsters into undead minions, he had never been this violent.

-How can anyone look at him and think he’s human? I swear he’s Satan!

First, he was opening card packs, then suddenly ran excitedly into the hunting ground, and had now been slaughtering monsters for an hour straight.

He called it some sacred ritual or something…

It was starting to feel like that ritual might have been a prelude to the monster massacre.

-If it’s him, it’s totally possible… Gasp!

Muttering to himself, Jihad’s eyes met Do-hyeon’s, and he quickly clamped his mouth shut.

Only after Do-hyeon nonchalantly turned his gaze back to hunting did Jihad release the breath he had been holding.

-…He didn’t hear me, right?

His heart was still pounding.

Given the distance, it seemed unlikely he had heard, but with this demonic master, anything was possible.

Though Do-hyeon thought he was being kind to others, Jihad, who had been thoroughly beaten, viewed him as none other than Satan.

… Maybe I should step back a little more?

Swish.

As he cautiously started putting more distance between them, Do-hyeon called out,

“Jihad. Come here for a moment.”

-Uh, y-yes? Why…?

Could he have heard?

Sweating profusely, Jihad tried to hide his reluctance, but seeing Do-hyeon’s frowning expression, he quickly hurried over.

Do-hyeon, now somewhat relaxed, gestured toward the corpses.

“Make them into undead.”

-Ah, yes.

Quick to catch on, Jihad raised his hands.

Dark energy began to flow out and seep into the bodies.

One by one, starting from the left… two, three… up to three in total.

Ssshhhh.

Their eyes turned black, and then suddenly, they opened their now-dead eyes.

Snap- crack-.

The corpses twisted unnaturally as they rose, and anyone could tell they had become undead.

With their grotesque expressions, the newly reanimated monsters knelt before Jihad Black.

[Guardian Jihad Black has successfully reanimated the Forest Red Goblin as undead.]

[Guardian Jihad Black has successfully reanimated the Forest Red Goblin as undead.]

[Guardian Jihad Black has successfully reanimated the Forest Blue Goblin as undead.]

[Guardian Jihad Black failed to reanimate the Giant Spider as undead.]

[Jihad Black’s level is insufficient.]

“Only three, huh.”

-Well, I’m supposed to be able to lead an entire army, but I’ve lost most of my original power, master.

“So, for now, three is the limit, right?”

-…Yes.

Feeling ashamed for barely managing to reanimate three, Jihad lowered his head deeply.

He couldn’t bear to raise his head, but in truth, Do-hyeon was relatively satisfied.

‘He might become quite useful later on.’

Typically, necromancers unlock more potential every 10 levels.

While skills or items can help, in general, they can control three undead at level 10, five at level 20, ten at level 30, and so on.

In that sense, being able to reanimate three undead at level 1 wasn’t a small feat at all.

‘He can only reanimate monsters he killed himself… I guess since he’s a guardian, my kills count as well.’

Was this the power of a hero-tier named guardian?

Despite his appearance, Jihad was quite capable.

And that wasn’t the only unusual thing.

Normally, when a necromancer reanimated monsters, they would become skeletal soldiers. However, Jihad’s undead maintained their relatively intact forms.

‘Does that make a difference in combat power?’

Since he hadn’t used them in combat yet, that remained to be seen.

As Do-hyeon pondered over Jihad’s unexpected abilities, a message appeared.

[Jihad Black’s mana has been completely drained.]

[Undead summoning is canceled.]

…

[Undead summoning is canceled.]

[Undead List]

– Forest Red Goblin Undead × 2

– Forest Blue Goblin Undead × 1

“Huh?”

As the message popped up along with a cheerful sound, the undead vanished into thin air like smoke.

– Ahem, ahem…

“…”

Jihad cleared his throat and avoided Do-hyeon’s gaze.

Do-hyeon sighed deeply as he watched Jihad pretend not to know anything.

It seemed managing the undead properly was too difficult for him at the moment.

He understood.

After all, Jihad was only level 1, and those undead had been of a higher level than him.

But if his only skill was creating undead, and he couldn’t even do that properly, wasn’t he basically just a parasite?

‘Well… Raising a mythical creature requires a lot of investment anyway.’

Jihad was pretty close to being a mythical creature himself, so surely he would prove useful later on.

For now, Do-hyeon figured he’d just have to treat it as an investment and carry him along.

Of course, he wasn’t planning on letting Jihad laze around completely.

“Hey.”

-Huh?

Meeting Do-hyeon’s gaze, Jihad tilted his head.

“Pick up the loot.”

-…Me?

“Who else? Should I pick it up myself?”

-You always picked it up until now… N-never mind. I’ll pick it up, master. I love picking up items.

Jihad, though clearly bothered by the idea, clenched his fists and quickly changed his tone, pretending to enjoy it.

[Your loyalty has increased by 1.]

Even his loyalty increased. It had now reached 21.

Once again reminded that might always comes before right, Do-hyeon lowered his fist, satisfied with the eternal law of strength.

Swish.

[Your loyalty has decreased by 1.]

“…?”

Do-hyeon blinked in disbelief.