The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times

Chapter 27

Seeing through what is hidden.

That was the description written for the Eye of Truth.

At first, he wondered why it was written in such an ambiguous way.

Wouldn’t it be better if it just revealed the grade when drawing cards or something like that?

Still, since it was a unique trait, he thought it was just some kind of mysticism and didn’t think much of it.

But it wasn’t that at all.

‘It literally meant seeing through what is hidden.’

The grade of a card, hidden from the user by the drawing system, and now, like this, even stealth that blatantly concealed itself.

Do-hyeon seriously thought to himself.

‘This is a crazy trait.’

This wasn’t just a game-breaking trait; it was simply insane.

The reason why assassins were considered broken in one-on-one battles?

Sure, there were other skills, but aside from backstabs, the biggest one was stealth.

The ambush of an assassin, when they were determined to hide, could disregard both skill and gear differences, turning it into a one-shot kill.

That was why the rankers of DemRock feared the Assassin Guild.

But what if you could see through that stealth?

‘You could even use the moment they let their guard down to seize an opportunity.’

Considering the assassin’s characteristic of not having much HP, they could easily be finished off in a single opportunity.

Setting that aside, the mere fact that one didn’t have to be afraid of stealth anymore was already a huge advantage.

And more than anything, the most exciting part was…

‘There might be more hidden abilities beyond just seeing grades and penetrating stealth.’

There could be other abilities hidden within, aside from grade-checking and seeing through stealth.

He wanted to investigate this further, but now was not the right time.

In the brief moment Do-hyeon was lost in thought, AssassinBoy started struggling.

“Grr… what are you doing, you bastards! Kill him!”

“Huh…? Oh!”

At his near frantic shout, NotGonnaHitMe and TryItIfYouCan hurriedly began pouring out their skills.

Their classes were archer and axe warrior.

The typical strategy was that AssassinBoy would ambush, NotGonnaHitMe would harass from a distance, and if someone closed in, TryItIfYouCan would handle them in close combat.

This time was no different.

“Haah!”

Thwip!

An arrow shot from NotGonnaHitMe followed TryItIfYouCan, who charged like a tank.

Pababak!

Not just one arrow, but a barrage of arrows followed.

It was a rare-grade skill, Rapid Fire. Because of this, Do-hyeon had no choice but to release his grip on AssassinBoy.

As soon as he let go, AssassinBoy quickly withdrew, his face twisted into an ugly scowl.

“Grr… you’re dead now.”

It wasn’t just bluffing.

With the arrival of his allies, the situation had flipped in an instant.

NotGonnaHitMe was perfectly shooting from the rear, while TryItIfYouCan guarded the front securely.

And then there was AssassinBoy himself.

That bastard was now surrounded.

“…!?”

…at least, that’s what they thought.

Thump. Whoosh.

“Huh?”

Before TryItIfYouCan realized what was happening, Do-hyeon used the charging axe warrior’s momentum to flip him over.

Wait, could he even do that?

It was as if he was flowing like water, using the warrior’s strength against him—like a martial artist performing an elegant move out of a wuxia novel.

Pababak!

“Ugh! Damn it, where the hell are you shooting?”

“I-I didn’t mean to…”

The more surprising part was that it looked as if Do-hyeon had intentionally used TryItIfYouCan as a shield to block the arrows.

Because of that, TryItIfYouCan suddenly lost half his HP due to his unlucky ally’s arrows.

In the brief moment when NotGonnaHitMe hesitated out of shock, Do-hyeon seized the chance to strike.

Pook! Kwaa-jik!

First, he quickly stabbed his greatsword into the warrior’s heart, then struck his face with his knee as he collapsed.

Without stopping there, he grabbed his neck and snapped it, making TryItIfYouCan’s eyes lose focus.

At the same time, his body became semi-transparent, and only his trademark axe was left behind before he vanished.

“…He’s dead?”

“Wha… What the hell…”

What had they just witnessed?

The same bewildered expression was plastered on both of their faces.

God of Savior was, without a doubt, a game run by skills.

Victory in a skill matchup, or having stronger skills, was the unchanging law.

But what on earth was this guy?

‘I’ve never seen anything like that before.’

He had taken them down in an instant without using a single skill.

It was like something out of a movie.

They were beyond shocked; they were downright spooked.

Below level 16? A whale with gear?

‘Shut the hell up!’

This guy was just a monster.

Instinctive fear took over their bodies, and they moved fast.

Shhhhk!

In a panic, NotGonnaHitMe used a dash skill to retreat.

He tried to activate stealth, but the cooldown wasn’t up yet, so there was no way it would work.

Not that it mattered—stealth would only get seen through anyway.

He was just trying to gain a bit of extra movement speed from the stealth’s buff.

But at that moment…

“Wow, look at him just ditching his buddy and running off. What a trash.”

“…!?”

A voice spoke up.

But it was too close.

It sounded like it came from right behind him…

“Damn it! What… What the hell!”

It wasn’t his imagination. Do-hyeon was actually running side by side with him.

Do-hyeon reached out toward AssassinBoy, who screamed in shock.

Pababak!

In the blink of an eye, Do-hyeon struck AssassinBoy in the solar plexus, nose, chin, and behind the knees, causing him to fall on his backside.

His punches were so fast that they were nearly invisible.

[HP has dropped below 70%.]

[A mark is generated.]

AssassinBoy, who had just lost 30% of his health in an instant, sat in a daze, dumbfounded.

In his blurred vision, he could see NotGonnaHitMe.

NotGonnaHitMe, seeing his fallen comrade, panicked and began to flee without looking back.

It reminded AssassinBoy of his own behavior just moments ago.

Whoosh.

Even the way he was caught mirrored his own actions.

Do-hyeon, who wasn’t far behind, quickly closed the distance with a Charge Slash and swung his greatsword.

The speed of his swing was so fast that it was hard to believe it was a greatsword.

“Ugh, argh!”

At a speed too fast for him to live up to his name, NotGonnaHitMe’s waist was slashed, and he collapsed with a thud.

His end was the same as his friend’s.

Like a slaughtered animal, he was stabbed in all vital spots, including his heart, while lying on the ground.

‘What… What kind of freak is that… I have to escape…’

Luckily, NotGonnaHitMe had drawn enough aggro that AssassinBoy had created some distance between himself and Do-hyeon.

All of that guy’s skills were on cooldown now, so he might just be able to escape. With that hope in mind, he cautiously started to back away.

[The mark disappears.]

“Huh…?”

The moment he saw the message pop up, AssassinBoy realized.

There was no way he could escape.

It wasn’t just a hunch.

As soon as the message appeared, he felt a presence behind him.

And a dark shadow loomed into his peripheral vision.

It was something AssassinBoy, a seasoned assassin himself, knew well.

“…Backstab?”

If stealth was the signature skill of the Assassin class, then Backstab was its main skill.

It was the skill that made assassins so overpowered in duels.

Yes, for assassins, that is.

“Why the hell is a swordsman using Backstab…?”

Those were AssassinBoy’s last words.

Pook!

[You have taken a critical hit proportional to the damage accumulated by the mark.]

[Critical Hit!]

[You have been killed by the player ‘Kaiser.’]

[Your Karma level is classified as ‘Evil.’]

[Due to your high Karma, the probability of dropping an item has increased.]

……

Before he could even finish speaking, his screen turned gray.

He had died instantly from a single strike.

‘Damn it, this is impossible!! That guy must be hacking. What kind of swordsman uses Backstab? Kaiser, was it? You’re dead meat.’

Enraged, AssassinBoy immediately logged onto the community forums to report this incident.

[Everyone, be careful of a player named Kaiser. He’s lurking around Raven and is using hacks.]

[Posted by: AssassinJoah]

– A swordsman is using assassin skills, and his gameplay is totally off. I think he’s using some kind of auto-reaction hack or a class hack.

There are no hacks in God of Savior, my ass. Scum like this need to be banned forever.

…… (post continues).

Though his furious typing was full of anger, surprisingly, no one believed him.

– What hack? Quit dragging attention to yourself.

– Guys, you know how to handle this kind of post. Just ignore it.

– Class hack? Auto-reaction hack? Man, the attention-seeking is real.

– By the way, his name is Kaiser? There’s even a newbie out there calling themselves Kaiser. Cute.

AssassinBoy was merely ridiculed for his post.

But that wasn’t the end of it. Perhaps due to the long list of things he had done in the past…

– Hold on, Raven? Assassin? PK?

– Huh?

– Isn’t this that guy who’s been griefing low-level players lately?

– Oh, damn, it is. He’s the one with the archer and axe warrior who took my weapon.

– You’re done for, buddy.

A sharp-eyed user deduced AssassinBoy’s identity from his post and, using this opportunity, gathered other enraged players to report him, forming an assassination squad.

In the end, AssassinBoy couldn’t even find any consolation.

Every time he logged in, he was hunted down by an army of players.

With their superior numbers and levels nearly at max, they were relentless in their pursuit, and within less than a month, neither AssassinBoy nor his friends were seen again.

***

[You have killed the player ‘AssassinBoy.’]

[The player AssassinBoy is confirmed to be an ‘Evil’ character. Since it was self-defense, your Karma level does not increase.]

[Swordsmanship proficiency has increased.]

[Swordsmanship proficiency has reached LV9.]

[Your level has increased.]

“Oh?”

His level increased after only taking down three enemies.

Well, all three of them had reached level 24, so it made sense that they gave a lot of experience.

Not to mention, additional experience is granted for defeating an ‘Evil’ player.

And that wasn’t all.

[The player AssassinBoy has dropped an item.]

When defeating an ‘Evil’ player, the chances of them dropping equipment items significantly increase.

They were truly like walking golden goblins!

‘If you’re going to be a villain, at least be competent.’

In lawless cities, maybe it was different, but generally, villains were public enemies.

Not only did defeating them grant experience, but it also rewarded great items, so not hunting them would be a waste.

From a moral standpoint, there was no guilt in hunting ‘Evil’ players either.

That was why those guys had been camping in Raven.

The moment they moved on to the next city, they would be treated like golden goblins and hunted down, far from being able to rule as kings.

In other words, they were staying there, paying high fees, just to keep PK-ing.

“Ha.”

Do-hyeon laughed at their pettiness.

“Now this is starting to feel like the game I knew.”

He welcomed this situation.

He was more familiar with this kind of environment.

In DemRock, things like this happened as naturally as breathing.

That trash game was full of lawless areas, so he always had to stay on guard.

In any RPG, be it a good game or a bad one, there were always people like that.

While God of Savior wasn’t as extreme, there were still plenty of villains.

It was that kind of game where people would kill newbies out of sheer envy for their top-tier traits.

‘Yeah, that’s normal.’

The beginner-friendly city of Arde was the exception, and the peaceful attitudes of players like BestShield and his group were especially rare.

He wouldn’t keep encountering peaceful players from now on.

In fact, it would probably be the opposite.

‘With the Eye of Truth, I won’t have to worry.’

In a world like that, the Eye of Truth would be a huge asset.

Stealth was a skill even Do-hyeon had to be cautious about, but now he could block it in advance.

Anyway, that was for later…

‘Now, let’s see what I got.’

As the victor, it was time to collect the spoils left behind by the defeated.

Do-hyeon approached and collected all the items, marveling at his loot.