The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times

From the most common, standard dungeons, to labyrinth types that require explorer classes, and even single-boss dungeons.

There are also special and event dungeons, but those three are the most common.

Among them, the Mutant Goblin Warrior’s Lair is a single-boss type dungeon.

Grooooar!

“Wow…”

As the name suggests, this type of dungeon contains only one boss, usually of at least elite rank.

The sheer power these bosses exhibited was far beyond that of a typical dungeon boss.

“This is insane… what a presence…”

“Is this really an elite boss?”

“Are we sure this is just a game…?”

Upon facing the boss right at the entrance, BestShield’s party couldn’t help but marvel.

Although they were familiar with impressive bosses from other high-quality VR games, they had never experienced such an overwhelming sense of pressure before.

It felt as if they were facing a real monster in the flesh.

“Ugh…”

YubinKkyung shuddered and rubbed her arms as goosebumps spread across her skin.

Seeing their reactions, Do-hyeon also calmly examined the boss.

Grrr…

Standing over 2 meters tall, its massive, muscular frame made it look more like an orc than a goblin, and it let out beastly growls.

Could such a physical specimen, whose immense greatsword looked small in its hands, really be called a goblin?

Its menacing gaze gleamed fiercely from within the cave, as if it had been waiting for them to enter.

-HP: [20,000/20,000]

Even its HP, an overwhelming 20,000, set it apart from the goblins, whose HP didn’t even reach 1,000.

[Mutant Goblin Warrior]

-Title: Elite Boss

-Type: Goblin

-Traits: Warrior, Mutant, Physical Enhancement

-Description: This goblin, who once held the prestigious title of Warrior—a designation given only to the greatest warriors of the goblin tribe—was cursed, causing him to lose his reason and be exiled after his skin and mind were twisted. However, his body grew even stronger as a result of the curse.

‘Warrior, Mutant, Physical Enhancement.’

These were typical traits of close-combat bosses.

Each trait alone was already dangerous, but it had all three.

On top of that, its HP was monstrous, justifying its elite boss title. Yet, for some reason, Do-hyeon didn’t feel any tension.

‘I’ve killed bosses with millions of HP. What’s 20,000…?’

And back then, he had been solo.

Now, they were a party of four at level 9, so this seemed like a laughable challenge.

Of course, that didn’t mean he planned to let his guard down.

The danger of elite bosses was that having a group could sometimes be more of a disadvantage than a benefit.

“Phew!”

BestShield exhaled deeply and quietly drew his shield.

Naturally, everyone’s eyes focused on him. With their gazes upon him, he asked briefly.

“…Everyone memorized the patterns, right?”

“Yup. I’ve got it down.”

“Of course.”

At that moment, BestShield glanced at Do-hyeon, who met his gaze with a calm expression.

Taking his composure as a sign of confidence, BestShield nodded.

Honestly, if anyone was going to cause problems, it would be his friends, not Do-hyeon. His combat prowess had already been overwhelmingly demonstrated.

‘I’ve got to do my part.’

Here, his role was the most critical.

No one understood that better than BestShield, and with renewed focus, he spoke again.

“Alright, let’s begin the trial.”

As soon as they stepped into the cave where the boss awaited…

Groooaaaar!

The boss, who had been watching them from afar, let out a deafening roar and charged.

It was the first pattern: a charge.

There was no reconnaissance, just a raw, brutal rush—like facing a tank head-on.

If you weren’t prepared, you couldn’t help but panic, but BestShield shouted calmly.

“Scatter!”

As the party scattered, BestShield stood his ground alone.

‘Just a little more.’

Of course, he had no intention of blocking the charge directly.

That would be s*****e.

The boss’s charge wasn’t something a tank with no decent defensive skills could block with just a shield.

If he tried to meet it head-on, he’d be knocked into the wall, stunned, and the boss would aggro on the rest of the party, resulting in a wipe.

‘Now!’

Just as the boss closed in, BestShield rolled to the side, revealing the cave wall.

The boss crashed into the wall like an enraged bull, momentarily stunned after slamming its head into the stone.

[The Mutant Goblin Warrior is stunned for 2 seconds.]

“Now, attack!”

YubinKkyung and AimForTheForehead quickly fired arrows and cast magic from the rear.

Thwack! Boom!

It was a brief but precise volley.

Grrr…

As soon as the stun wore off, the Mutant Goblin Warrior turned its head, scanning for its next target.

It was searching for who to attack next.

The moment its gaze locked onto BestShield, who stood ready with his shield raised at the front…

Groooar!

Without hesitation, it rushed forward, swinging its greatsword.

Clang!

The sound of shield and sword clashing echoed loudly as the force of the blow pressed BestShield down.

Gritting his teeth, he deflected the sword’s weight with his shoulder, pushing the boss back slightly.

But the Mutant Goblin Warrior quickly closed the gap again.

[The unique ability Unyielding Taunt has been activated.]

[Aggro on the target with eye contact is increased, with a reduced chance of losing aggro.]

[The trait Guardian has been activated.]

[When party members are behind you, defense, HP, and stamina are increased.]

It was a moment when BestShield’s unique ability and trait shone brightly.

Confirming the boss’s aggro was firmly locked onto him, he shouted.

“It’s working!”

At his signal, Do-hyeon finally moved out of hiding.

To avoid drawing aggro, he had stayed hidden during the initial stages of the fight.

Clang! Boom!

While BestShield continuously blocked with his shield, arrows and magic flew from the back, and Do-hyeon occasionally swung his sword, careful not to draw too much aggro.

[‘BestShield’ has stunned the Mutant Goblin Warrior for 1 second.]

Whenever the aggro seemed unstable, BestShield expertly interrupted with a well-timed bash.

For a first attempt, the boss trial was going surprisingly smoothly.

Everyone was fulfilling their roles, but the most critical element was BestShield.

‘I noticed this when we were hunting goblins—he’s solid.’

In boss trials, many mistakenly thought healers or damage dealers were the most important, but that was a misconception.

Veteran players knew that the tank was the most crucial role.

How well the tank managed aggro and disrupted the boss’s patterns determined the party’s success or failure.

The higher the difficulty of the boss, the more devastating a single pattern could be.

Thus, the tank always bore the heaviest responsibility.

It was a one-on-one duel between the boss and the tank, with no one else’s help.

‘The boss duel.’

Veteran players called this duel a “boss duel,” and the best tanks were those who excelled at it.

In this regard, BestShield was performing admirably.

If he continued to grow, he could be highly valued in any guild.

After all, YubinKkyung and AimForTheForehead were dealing damage comfortably with no risk.

‘A tank like this becomes rarer over time.’

From a ranged DPS’s perspective, having a tank that allowed you to deal damage without worry was invaluable.

With the scarcity of tanks compared to damage dealers, a competent tank was always in high demand.

‘Good. Keep it up.’

BestShield himself could feel this as his adrenaline surged.

His body, slightly tense, felt like it was heating up with excitement.

As the excitement threatened to overwhelm him, his cool mind suppressed it, and sweat dripped down as his senses sharpened more than ever.

There was only one pattern left in phase 1.

‘Once we get past the wide slash, we’ll be fine.’

The wide slash.

Nicknamed the “mixer,” this pattern only appeared once in phase 1, and if they could interrupt it, there would be no more dangerous moments in the phase.

The mixer was a pattern that only appeared once in phase 1 for a reason—it was that threatening.

But BestShield was confident.

‘I read up on it before we entered.’

He had read and reviewed the guide more than ten times, as YubinKkyung had said.

He had simulated the timing and the boss’s motions in his head over and over.

Thanks to that, he had been marking the boss’s movements perfectly so far.

As long as he didn’t get too nervous, he believed he could interrupt the mixer pattern as well.

‘Fortunately, I have plenty of stamina.’

To ensure a stable pace, he had invested all of his level-up points into stamina.

As a result, his HP was still high, and his stamina was at 100.

He was in a very comfortable situation.

But there was one thing BestShield hadn’t accounted for.

“Huh, what the…?”

“BestShield, shouldn’t we be preparing for the next pattern?”

“What? Why?”

Hearing the urgency in the voices behind him, BestShield shouted back in confusion.

They had only been fighting for 15 minutes. Why would they need to prepare for a pattern already?

The wide slash usually didn’t appear until at least 30 minutes into the fight.

It was triggered only when the boss’s HP dropped below 50%. There was no way it should be happening now.

…At least, that was how it was supposed to be.

“His HP is already at 10,000!”

“…What?”

BestShield, who had paused with his shield up, opened the boss’s status window.

And there it was.

-HP: [10,031/20,000]

“…Holy crap.”

The boss’s HP had indeed dropped to around 10,000.

As soon as he realized this, his mind raced through the current situation like a panorama.

YubinKkyung and AimForTheForehead were standing 10 meters away, attacking from a safe distance.

He and Kaiser were standing right next to the boss.

Once the mixer pattern triggered, both he and Kaiser would be launched first, and then YubinKkyung and AimForTheForehead would be caught in the whirlwind.

‘Why already?’

How had the boss’s HP dropped so quickly?

It was his mistake not to check the status window earlier, but the situation still didn’t make sense.

Then, a memory of their first goblin hunt flashed through his mind.

‘…Could it be?’

At that moment, the name Kaiser crossed BestShield’s mind.

Back then, they had also experienced abnormal aggro and unusually fast hunting.

Though it had seemed fast, he had assumed it was just the result of max damage combined with traits and unique abilities.

After all, they were four players fighting together, so it wasn’t unbelievable that they could finish that quickly.

‘…But is his damage really that high?’

However, this wasn’t normal.

To trigger a pattern that typically took 30 minutes in just 15 minutes? That meant Kaiser’s damage contribution must be overwhelming.

This wasn’t something even a player who summoned a Heroic God at level 9 could achieve.

‘Could even a Mythical God make this happen?’

Honestly, BestShield didn’t know.

Everything was full of uncertainties, but he had no time to ponder further.

Whoosh.

As he stood there in shock, the boss swung its greatsword, and BestShield hastily raised his shield to block.

Through the chaos, he saw the boss’s next move.

Clang!

The Mutant Goblin Warrior, with eyes glowing red, slashed at BestShield’s shield, then grabbed the hilt of its greatsword with both hands.

It was the characteristic stance that signaled the activation of the mixer pattern.

‘Bash, bash!’

Panicking, BestShield tried to bash the boss, but it was too late.

His shield had already been knocked away by the boss’s previous attack.

By the time he regained his stance and attempted to bash, the mixer had already been triggered, and his shield would be torn apart.

‘No, this can’t be happening…’

An alarm went off in his head.

His vision filled with the boss’s glowing red eyes, and he felt cold sweat running down his back as his mind started to blank out.

At that moment…

Tap!

“…Huh?”

Something swiftly dashed past him with light, nimble steps.

Whoosh—Thrust.

Grrrk!?

In a fluid, almost artistic motion, Kaiser’s sword pierced the boss’s hand, which had been gripping the hilt.

Like a magnet finding its target, the sword effortlessly pierced through.

No matter how muscular the boss was, even it couldn’t bulk up its fingers, and being stabbed through the hand, it reflexively dropped the greatsword.

Clatter.

Groooooaaar!!

The sound of the greatsword falling was drowned out by the boss’s howl of pain.

In an instant, the deadly phase 1 pattern, which should have been an unavoidable attack, was nullified.

All because of one simple thrust.

“…Oh my god.”

In disbelief, BestShield muttered to himself as he watched the scene.

His eyes naturally shifted toward Do-hyeon.

And as expected, Do-hyeon’s expression remained calm.

He had always been like this.

He was calm when they first met, calm when he slaughtered goblins, and calm when they entered the dungeon.

‘…How does he do that?’

No matter how skilled a gamer was, everyone had their role.

Even the best damage dealers weren’t always good tanks or healers, and vice versa.

Take BestShield himself—he had no talent for dealing damage.

But this man excelled in every aspect, regardless of role.

And on top of that, he acted like it was all perfectly normal.

BestShield couldn’t understand it, but for Do-hyeon, this was nothing out of the ordinary.

A one-on-one duel?

‘I’ve done that plenty of times.’

Ironically, back in DemRock, Kaiser’s role in his party had been that of a tank.