The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times

“Looking sharp.”

It wasn’t just an offhand remark.

Previously, his appearance in a mismatched red top, blue pants, and random patches of black and green screamed either a hiker or a complete newbie.

But now?

“It’s two-toned, but that makes it even better, don’t you think?”

– Well… It’s not bad, Master.

Jihad reluctantly nodded, but even he thought it wasn’t half bad.

The quality of the leather itself was excellent, and the red base with blue streaks gave off a fierce, almost tribal vibe.

It looked like the intentional war paint of a primitive tribe trying to intimidate their enemies.

The training sword he carried instead of a greatsword added a sharp and agile impression.

‘I’ll sell everything else.’

Aside from his new equipment, there were miscellaneous items and rewards obtained from hunting warriors, but those were either stuffed in his inventory or destined for the auction house.

True to his thoughts, Do-hyeon immediately put the items up for auction.

[You have registered an item for auction using default settings.]

[The starting bid has been set based on the average market price.]

[Your auction item has been successfully registered.]

…

[The auction will end in 12 hours.]

The items he listed were Warrior Sets obtained from hunting.

‘Totally unnecessary for me.’

For someone else, they might serve as Raven’s semi-graduation equipment, but for Do-hyeon, they were even less useful than junk items.

They directly overlapped with the Great Warrior Set he already owned.

Weapons or gear with potential future utility were kept, but the Warrior Set had no such value, so he sold them off without hesitation.

‘They’re worth around 2 to 3 million won per set, right?’

Although the price for tops, pants, and belts wasn’t too high, he listed six sets, which added up to a significant amount.

That meant he would earn roughly 15 million won.

‘This is my first real profit from God of Savior.’

Not 1.5 million won, but 15 million won.

In DemRock, he had to achieve the rank of number one to earn this kind of money, but now he was making it in the very first city on the mainland.

It felt strange, but the emotions stirring in his chest were clearly pride.

Do-hyeon took a deep breath, filled with pride, a hint of regret, anticipation, and an inexplicable thrill.

‘Let’s keep this momentum.’

Rank 1?

He could reclaim that anytime.

What mattered now was that he was once again earning real money through the game. It was exhilarating.

“Phew…”

Feeling his heart swell, Do-hyeon rubbed his hands together and forced himself to calm down.

This feeling could wait until the money was actually in his hands.

That would be the true moment of joy.

‘For now, this takes priority.’

When is the happiest moment after obtaining a new skill or equipment?

Most players would answer the same way.

It’s right before testing its performance—when anticipation and excitement build up.

It’s like buying a car, waiting for it during the delivery period, and then driving it for the first time on the day it arrives.

This was no different.

“Let’s go.”

– Where are we off to this time, Master? Aren’t you rushing around too much?

“We have to stay busy. There’s no time to rest now.”

With that, Do-hyeon moved without a hint of hesitation.

“There’s a perfect opponent waiting.”

– Someone perfect? After you’ve already taken down the Great Warrior? Who could possibly… Ah?

Trailing behind, Jihad, who had been questioning, suddenly seemed to realize something and opened his mouth wide.

Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen it himself, but he vaguely recalled hearing rumors.

After his disappearance, a new ruler had emerged in the forest.

Do-hyeon turned his head, his gaze fixed on the air.

More precisely, on the quest window floating in the air.

[To reach the next city, you must pass the Trial of the Continent.]

[Field Boss Hunt]

– Grade: First Trial

– Description: Those who wish to graduate from Raven, the first city of the mainland, must pass the Trial of the Continent.

The rewards’ rank will be determined based on achievements proportional to the results of the Field Boss hunt. To clear the trial, the official ruler of Raven, the “Spider Queen Elisa,” must be defeated.

-Clear Condition: Reach level 24, eliminate Spider Queen Elisa (0/1).

-Clear Rewards: Differentiated rewards by rank (D~S Rank).

-Time Limit: None.

The Spider Queen Elisa, the field boss in the western forest and the key to the Graduation Quest.

It was finally time to take her down.

* * *

Spider Queen Elisa.

At first glance, she might seem like a named boss, but that wasn’t the case.

Unlike named bosses whose data vanished permanently after being killed, Elisa consistently respawned and appeared in the forest.

Then why was she called Elisa?

-Elisa, Elisa, Elisa, Elisa, Elisa…

“Ugh, I’m sick of hearing it!”

“Somebody shut that spider up! Throw a Fireball into its mouth!”

“That thing’s so nasty it screams ‘Elisa’ even when it’s dying. Truly a freak.”

“It’s relentless!”

This was because she would utter nothing but the word “Elisa” with all her might.

A massive spider speaking human words?

And only repeating the word “Elisa”?

It was creepy enough to make one’s skin crawl, and most players found enduring her screams harder than actually defeating her.

However, God of Savior was a game enjoyed by a billion players.

Some players didn’t dismiss this as mere creepiness but sought to uncover its origins.

“Why does she keep saying Elisa?”

“Is there an NPC named Elisa? Could it be a hidden piece or something? Like a secret quest?”

“Sounds plausible.”

A non-named boss repeatedly muttering “Elisa”?

It was a rare phenomenon in the vast God of Savior world, something players wouldn’t see outside of the Raven continent through normal gameplay.

Clearly, there was something hidden. Sharp-eyed players concluded as much.

However…

“Hidden piece, my ass.”

“Ugh, I wasted so much money. Do you know how much I spent on explorers for this?”

“We scoured Raven and Fratel, and there’s nothing. How does that make sense?”

“Hey, even the Adventure King searched the main continent and gave up. He basically declared there’s nothing there.”

“If the Adventure King gave up, well… that’s the end of it.”

No one could ever find a hidden piece related to Elisa.

“What? I saw an Elisa though.”

“? Stop trolling.”

“No, seriously. There’s a general goods vendor named Elisa in the fourth city…”

“Is she pretty?”

“Uh, yeah. She’s really pretty. Pure and elegant.”

Grasping at straws, players even sought out this general goods vendor, but she seemed completely clueless about the Spider Queen.

Eventually, players reached a conclusion.

God of Savior loved creating unique bosses and had implemented this creepy design just to torment players in a new way.

It was an infuriating setup, but what could they do? To graduate from Raven, they had to defeat this monster.

Still, there was one redeeming aspect.

“At least she’s manageable.”

“Yeah, thank goodness they didn’t add some crazy traits like the Mutant Goblin Warrior.”

“If they added that kind of nonsense here, people would’ve quit. Dealing with a mutant trait while enduring her noise pollution? Ew, disgusting.”

“Agreed.”

Compared to previous bosses, Elisa’s traits were relatively tame.

And her respawn rate was on the quicker side.

Since every player needed her for the Graduation Quest, her respawn time was made faster for convenience.

“But wasn’t she supposed to respawn quickly?”

Of course, quicker than other field bosses didn’t mean every few minutes.

And she didn’t always respawn in the same spot.

Roughly once an hour, she would appear at one of four spider nests spread across the north, south, east, or west.

The first to find her claimed her.

No one politely lined up for their turn.

“These spider nests are infuriating, for real.”

“Does it even make sense that the entrance gets sealed off with webbing after one party enters? What kind of field boss is this?”

“It’s fine. The web’s effect wears off after 90 minutes.”

“If you can’t beat her in an hour and a half, isn’t that your fault? It’s basically just a waiting game.”

Upon spotting prey, Spider Queen Elisa would block the entrance with webs.

From her perspective, it was to trap her prey, but since the entrance was blocked, outsiders couldn’t enter either.

It was possible to lure her out of the nest before the webbing started…

“But why bother?”

“She’s practically ensuring a safe hunt for us. Why go out of your way to make it harder?”

“Preventing steals is the real perk!”

Normally, that would be the case, but field bosses in Raven were a bit different.

The Graduation Quest rewards varied depending on how the boss was hunted.

Unless several parties worked together to take her down and forwent some rewards, there was no reason to risk being stolen from.

Thus, the first to find her owned the kill, and this was why Kang Do-hyeon was wandering the forest.

“Do you even know where the field boss is?”

-No. I’ve been buried for 150 years, master. That boss came after my time…

“Didn’t you say you know everything about the forest?”

-Ahem.

Jihad awkwardly avoided Do-hyeon’s gaze.

While Jihad’s ignorance was disappointing, Do-hyeon didn’t blame him.

Jihad had already done plenty.

After all, he’d helped Do-hyeon acquire an entire hero-grade equipment set and two Advanced Skill Draw Tickets!

‘Yeah, asking for more would’ve been too greedy.’

This time, Do-hyeon needed to rely on his own abilities.

[Time Remaining Until Field Boss Respawns: 00:04:49]

[Field Boss will respawn shortly.]

‘About five minutes left.’

The system message must have popped up for every player in the western forest.

Because of that, the forest was bustling with people everywhere.

Particularly around Do-hyeon, as standing in the center offered the best vantage point to check all four spider nests.

“Hurry up and spawn, field boss.”

“I’ll pull aggro first since I’m the fastest.”

“You remembered to spread people around, right? We need to secure it no matter what.”

Some players were ready to monopolize the boss with speed and tactics.

“Hey, since we’re just here for the quest, how about we team up?”

“Honestly, we’re not even geared enough to get more than a C rank. Saving time is the better option.”

Others opted to join forces with multiple parties to achieve their graduation goal.

There was a diverse mix of strategies.

The former were often well-equipped and confident, while the latter mostly wore basic warrior sets or less.

Either way, competition would be fierce.

Once the boss spawned, the quiet waiting would vanish, and chaos would erupt as players raced to claim her.

“If we’re late and they spot her first, just spam ranged skills.”

“If we lure her out of the nest, they’ll have no choice but to cooperate.”

“Won’t we get flagged for that?”

“Who cares? If we attacked first, it counts as our attempt.”

Some were prepared to use underhanded tactics to secure the boss.

The chatter around Do-hyeon was just a glimpse; other players were likely the same elsewhere.

‘It was like this back in DemRock, too.’

Back then, many couldn’t hold back and got into fights.

God of Savior was a violent game full of battle-hardened players.

As someone who had reached rank 1 in that chaos, Do-hyeon had no intention of going easy.

The moment the boss appeared, he planned to use Backstab to claim her first.

He trusted his reflexes.

While those standing directly in front of the spider nests might have an advantage, Do-hyeon had no choice but to take his chances.

‘I don’t trust my luck with gacha, so there’s no helping it.’

Do-hyeon had never guessed a respawn location correctly before.

Hoping for luck this time would be foolish.

Betting on Backstab had a higher chance of success.

‘If only the Eye of Truth could reveal this kind of thing too.’

It was a wishful thought as the tension in the air grew.

“Phew…”

“So tense.”

The murmur of voices gradually faded.

[Time Remaining Until Field Boss Respawns: 00:01:01]

Everyone was aware the respawn time was nearly up.

It was as if the forest held its breath, silent except for faint breathing, like the calm before a starting pistol fired.

*Ding.*

A cheerful notification sound rang, followed by a message.

[Conditions fulfilled.]

[The Slayer trait activates.]

[Nearby boss detected.]

[Field Boss ‘Spider Queen Elisa’ location revealed.]

‘Huh?’

A message appeared—visible only to Do-hyeon.