The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times

He had been the ruler of the western forest. To be more precise, he had once been its ruler.

All the monsters in the forest couldn’t withstand his overwhelming presence, and the city’s residents feared his existence.

It was a forest where none dared to even approach, a place of utmost horror and malevolence.

That was the state of the western forest under Jihad Black’s rule.

Until one monstrous man appeared.

‘To think I have been reduced to hiding in a place like this…’

Jihad could not accept this reality.

He, who once sat on a glorious throne, was now hiding in this shabby, decrepit underground.

But what could he do?

That monster was still alive, and when they met again, he wouldn’t even be able to stay in this underground lair.

Perhaps because he was born a goblin, Jihad quickly surrendered to reality and adapted, finding stability in no time.

Time passed, and just when he had gotten used to living in this place…

‘Hmm…’

Jihad began to feel bored.

Because he had hidden himself so well, there was no chance to encounter any new lifeforms.

Initially, he would occasionally go outside, but once his subordinates became competent, there was no need for him to venture out.

Besides, what if something troublesome happened while taking unnecessary risks?

As he continued living safely, he started to forget what it was he had originally intended to do.

He felt like he had forgotten something important, but…

‘Well, whatever.’

Jihad dismissed the thought casually.

100 years?

No, it had been at least 150 years since he had adapted to this lifestyle.

He had become a man who could let things slide easily.

But even that seemed to have its limits, as Jihad recently began feeling strange.

‘I feel stifled. Too stifled!’

While living here had given him a sense of security, he could do nothing about the deep boredom that had risen from within his chest.

Creating new undead as a hobby every now and then was quite fun, but that alone wasn’t enough to quench this terrible thirst.

‘Should I go outside once?’

It had been a long time, so it shouldn’t be a problem, right?

No, better not. It’s better not to take unnecessary risks, just in case.

But I’m so bored…

The boredom made his body lazy, while his mind became restless.

He spent years contemplating what to do when…

[Someone is entering the hideout.]

“Someone’s coming in?”

Jihad couldn’t believe his ears when he heard the voice while he was sitting idly as usual.

This was a hideout he had painstakingly concealed to hide from that monster.

For hundreds of years, no one had ever found it. So, hearing that someone had entered it for the first time made him tense.

‘Could it be that guy…?’

Although he believed it was impossible, he couldn’t shake off the anxiety.

Thus, he cast his spells and waited. Then, as soon as he saw the human man who had entered the hideout…

‘Ah.’

The anxiety vanished, as if it had been washed away.

It was someone he had never seen before.

Relief passed over him, followed by a surge of curiosity. At the same time, he felt an odd sense of excitement.

‘I have a new toy!’

Someone who could bring a fresh spark to this dull life had appeared!

And that toy was peculiar in some way.

[There’s no energy of an explorer… But the presence of multiple energies mixed together is rather unusual.]

He didn’t seem all that strong, but the strange, harmonious mix of different energies he’d never felt before was a refreshing shock.

‘He’d be perfect as a test subject to play with.’

It would be fun to kill him and experiment on the corpse, or to test his durability by casting all sorts of curses on him.

And when he grew tired of that, he could simply turn him into an undead.

No matter what, this toy would help him escape his monotonous life for a few years.

‘I need to subdue him without damaging him too much.’

That’s why Jihad decided to capture the toy by using monsters to ensure he didn’t get too hurt.

He didn’t expect any unforeseen events during the process.

After all, this was his nest, where he had lived for hundreds of years, and there was nothing here he didn’t know.

Yes, that’s what he thought.

Until the toy disappeared from his sight.

[A mark is being created.]

Swoosh—

[……?]

Jihad didn’t realize what was happening until he felt a cold sensation on his back.

He moved quickly once he understood the situation.

Whoosh—Boom!

[Corpse Manipulation has been activated.]

[The effect of the trait ‘Swift Hands’ greatly increases your speed.]

[Corpse Explosion has been activated.]

[The effect of the trait ‘Swift Hands’ greatly increases your speed.]

The monsters nearby—the toys—were sent flying towards the insolent human and exploded at the same time.

It happened in the blink of an eye.

It was a speed difficult to react to unless one knew in advance, but the human wasn’t hit.

Before Jihad realized it, the human had moved far away.

[……What a rat.]

Jihad spoke nonchalantly, but inwardly, he was shocked.

[A vital point has been struck. The status ailment ‘Bleeding’ has been triggered.]

‘When did he stab me?’

In that brief moment, not only had the human managed to create distance, but he had also stabbed him in a vital spot without him noticing.

It was a speed that made it hard to believe this was a mere swordsman.

And what he showed afterward was even more astonishing.

Tap. Swoosh—

Boom!

The human’s steps as he swiftly closed the distance were peculiar.

He appeared to be moving fast, yet when Jihad threw the corpses at him, he was farther behind than expected.

Thinking he was moving slowly, Jihad would throw late, but then the human would suddenly be in close again.

‘Why can’t I hit him?!’

It was a strange phenomenon where perception and reality didn’t match.

‘Has there ever been a human with such abilities?’

Even though Jihad had lived for hundreds of years, he had never heard of a human like this.

He had thought the energies felt mixed, but now he wondered if it was actually because the human was of mixed races.

Boom! Boom!

[I-Irritating…!]

Watching Jihad grow frustrated as he flung corpses left and right, Do-hyeon smirked.

Jihad had the ability to manipulate corpses freely as if he were controlling them with telekinesis, and his explosion power rivaled that of fire mages.

It was an annoying ability in close combat, but if none of it hit, it was meaningless.

Stab—

[A vital point has been struck. The status ailment ‘Bleeding’ has been triggered.]

[The attack has landed. The target is now in the ‘Bleeding’ state.]

Do-hyeon closed the distance and stabbed, and when a corpse flew toward him, he created space again.

Then, he would move in and out as if he would close the distance but didn’t quite do so, and when he finally did, his sword would stab again. When the cooldown for Bleeding was up, he stabbed with the Assassin’s Dagger.

If he was lucky, the Bleeding effect from the Assassin’s Dagger would activate, causing the damage to stack.

More impressively, even when Jihad detonated the undead surrounding Do-hyeon to encircle him, he would evade with uncanny movements, taking control of the space.

His multi-tasking ability was overwhelming, and Jihad grew increasingly irritated by his hit-and-run tactics.

[Such insolent…!]

The reason ranged dealers despised assassins so much lay in these very tactics.

Assassins never fought head-on.

They would strike, retreat, and inflict all kinds of status ailments, all while slowly driving people mad.

Although Do-hyeon didn’t have a complete skill set for this style of play just yet…

[What’s with that movement? Why can’t I land a hit?!]

Do-hyeon’s unique movement and evasiveness allowed him to pull it off.

But that wasn’t all.

[The trait ‘Hero’ blocks mental contamination.]

[The effect of the cursed sphere is nullified.]

No matter how many times Jihad used Dark Sight, Do-hyeon’s peculiar abilities blocked it every time.

Watching the frustrated Jihad, Do-hyeon smiled slyly.

‘It’s working as expected.’

When players who had fought against Kaiser were asked what the most difficult aspect was, many reasons came up, but seven out of ten gave the same answer.

—Movement.

Unlike in PC games where you simply clicked with the mouse, virtual reality required a whole different level of psychological warfare and skill. It was this higher difficulty of movement in VR that made it unique.

With the help of high agility and sense stats, plus the characteristics of virtual reality that allowed movements beyond the limits of the human body, there was nothing one couldn’t do once they adapted.

And those who mastered this were the so-called seasoned veterans.

Finding a high-ranking player with bad movement was almost impossible.

So why was Kaiser’s movement considered legendary?

The reason was simple.

—Wow, that’s so annoying. There’s no one else who moves like you. You really piss me off.

—Why are you mad?

—You think I wouldn’t be? My current state represents the frustration of ten million DemRock players!

—…For once, I agree with him.

Kaiser’s movement was unlike the norm.

The essence of movement lay in psychological warfare.

Though rankers could react with their dynamic vision, it had its limits, leading to a reliance on prediction.

Kaiser—Do-hyeon—focused precisely on that.

—It looks like he’s going to stop, but then he suddenly rushes in. Or, he pretends to attack, but then comes half a beat late. I’m going insane. How does he even do that? Is that even physically possible?

—It’s odd to talk about physical limits in VR, but I’m curious. How does he do it?

There were times when only his upper body stopped, or only his lower body, or he would pretend to stop but rush in explosively, or fake a fast entry only to release his strength and come half a beat late.

In the real world, where physical laws and human limitations were at play, such movements would be impossible.

But in DemRock and God of Savior, where those limits were more flexible, it was doable if you knew how.

—So, you need to control your entire body independently while engaging in psychological warfare and multitasking? I’m out. I give up.

—Who the hell does that?

—Can we even call that movement anymore? It’s like it’s beyond that already.

It was simply extremely difficult to pull off.

Even something as simple as moving your left hand up and down while moving your right hand left and right at the same time is hard for most people.

If you add a stopping pattern in between, it becomes nearly impossible.

That was just with two hands. Now imagine controlling your whole body freely, stopping and moving each part at will.

It was, quite literally, something only Do-hyeon could do.

‘Even Kkukkudakkkukku said he couldn’t do it.’

Even Kkukkudakkkukku, who had one of the strongest physical abilities Do-hyeon had ever seen, had given up on it.

That was why Kaiser was considered an unprecedented genius.

In psychological warfare, he had several times more options than others, allowing him to gain the upper hand.

Unlike the previous monsters who relied purely on instinct, this boss was capable of engaging in psychological warfare, so Do-hyeon thought it would be useful to try this tactic. His prediction had been spot on.

‘I can see it.’

What Jihad was planning, where he intended to strike.

How the surrounding undead were trying to surround him.

Do-hyeon could see everything.

By delaying his movements by half a beat, Jihad could never touch him. It was like chasing a mirage.

Boom! Boom!

Grrrr… Grrr…

[Ugh… this little pest!]

And in situations like this, the opponent’s response was always the same.

Thud.

[Kukuk… Foolish creature. You think you’re clever, but you’re just walking into a trap like a fly.]

They would go for a big, decisive move.

A final blow to turn the tide.

Jihad sneered as he watched Do-hyeon, now backed into a wall with no room to retreat.

Though his face was hidden under his robe, Jihad was sure his expression bore the classic goblin sneer of wickedness.

[The secret dungeon boss ‘Jihad Black’ uses Corpse Explosion Overload.]

[The effect of the trait ‘Swift Hands’ increases casting speed.]

Corpse Explosion Overload, also known as “Overload.”

It was the pinnacle of a bomb necromancer’s skill—a brilliant technique that detonated all undead at once.

Since the damage stacked, it could deal an overwhelming amount of burst damage, enough to devastate a wide area.

BOOOOOM!!

The undead exploded in unison, and the cave shook violently.

The force engulfed the entire wall, and Jihad clicked his tongue as a sharp ringing echoed in his ears.

Dozens of undead had been detonated in that blast, including some he had painstakingly crafted.

There was no way even a troll could survive that.

[I was going to go easy on you since you were a rare test subject… but you’ve hastened your own death.]

Thus, Jihad didn’t doubt Do-hyeon’s death.

It had been his most powerful attack. It was only natural.

He felt a slight regret for losing his toy and his many resources, but that was it. The pest who had irritated him had been dealt with, and that was enough to feel satisfied.

[The mark disappears.]

“…?”

Jihad noticed a strange message just before he felt a presence behind him.

He instinctively turned around, and there he saw it.

Do-hyeon, holding a sword and curling his lips into a sly grin.

“You dodged the overload, huh? If you dodge it, you should get hit.”

[……Ah.]

Checkmate.