The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times

Chapter 101

Kkukkudakkukku.

Commonly known as Ssamdak.

At first glance, the reason he was called Ssamdak despite having a cute nickname was simple.

“…Ssamdak? If you’re talking about that crazy guy, don’t even mention it.”

“I’ve never seen someone so reckless in my life. I mean, there’s no psychological warfare or anything. He’s just a damn mad bull, you know?”

“That’s just ‘let’s die together’, what the hell?”

Extreme infighting.

With a small frame, he burrowed in and kept biting until he died. He was truly the embodiment of a berserker.

There was even a joke that if someone were to create the first berserker, they would have based it on Ssamdak.

There was no psychological warfare when fighting against Ssamdak.

“That crazy Ssamdak just charges in headfirst. No hesitation? None of that.”

“He throws every buff he’s got and rushes in for close combat. There’s no time for psychological warfare. It just turns into a dogfight.”

Pure rush.

Whether the enemy was one, ten, or a hundred, Kkukkudakkukku never retreated.

It was as if he would die if he ever backed down—he focused only on tearing the enemy apart.

Looking at it, “rabid dog” seemed like an appropriate term, but…

“Hey, why do you keep staring? You wanna die?”

“…Huh?”

“Huh? Why’s this guy surprised? Come here.”

Kkukkudakkukku’s fighting instinct was why he was called Ssamdak. He’d pick fights at the slightest provocation.

“Just by making eye contact, you’re as good as dead.”

That’s how famous it was.

On the surface, Kkukkudakkukku might seem like trash who picks fights with anyone, causing PKs everywhere, but half of that was true, and half of it wasn’t.

Although it seemed like he was picking fights with everyone, if you took a closer look, they were all either scheming individuals or villains.

Once, he had asked out of curiosity…

-How did you figure it out?

-It’s just a feeling, you know?

-You can tell by their eyes. Some eyes just have that look. Physiognomy is a science!

-…I see.

-Huh? Was your eye weird just now? Eyes back to normal.

In the end, he never got a straight answer.

Anyway, Kkukkudakkukku, who had established a unique combat style resembling a spear, had a must-use skill: “Frenzy.”

“A skill that gets stronger the more life you lose, but your HP drains every second.”

It was a double-edged sword.

If used wrong, it’s just a suicide move that only cuts your HP, but for someone like Kkukkudakkukku, a physical monster, there was no scarier buff than this.

Kkukkudakkukku didn’t stop there.

“I even added five or six more.”

He surrounded himself with bizarre skills, a mixture of various debuffs and buffs, with at least five in total.

This became known as the Ssamdak Mode.

That’s how the term “madman” came into play.

“No matter how much of a berserker concept it is, there’s a limit…”

Normally, it was only one or two skills, and beyond that, it was called a suicide move. But Kkukkudakkukku was a monster who fought for over an hour with more than five risks stacked on him.

That was the reason why Kkukkudakkukku never retreated, no matter how many enemies came.

Once he went into Ssamdak Mode, it was inevitable that he’d self-destruct if he retreated, so he might as well kill one more before going down.

And that’s how he ended up surviving through life steal.

-“When you wish to die, you live, and when you wish to live, you die. You know, like that one immortal lord…”

-“…Admiral Yi Sun-sin.”

-“Ah, yes. Admiral Yi Sun-sin.”

Kkukkudakkukku smiled as he thought to himself, and even Kaiser, his teammate, could see he wasn’t normal.

It was hard to call someone normal when more than half of their skill slots were filled with such absurd things.

“I wouldn’t take that kind of gamble myself…”

Kkukkudakkukku, who had been walking a thin tightrope for three years, was both crazy and amazing.

He was the kind of guy who pushed the berserker concept to the extreme.

Anyway, Kkukkudakkukku’s favorite skill among the berserker skills was Frenzy.

“I love getting stronger as my HP drops.”

It probably suited him well since he always kept his HP below 20%.

That’s why every time he entered a fight, Kkukkudakkukku would activate Frenzy first, and Do-hyeon would always watch coldly.

“That skill came to me?”

Do-hyeon, who never imagined that he would ever use that skill himself, smirked.

As an All-Master, he had expected that he would end up using the skills of his past teammates, but now that it was happening, the feeling was quite strange.

“I wonder what they’ll think when I meet them later, wearing all their signature skills…”

Would they start foaming at the mouth, trying to charge at him?

Do-hyeon chuckled, thinking of Kkukkudakkukku being laughed at by the Sword Emperor or Purple Taste after they both started fighting, and how it would unfold.

“They must have heard about me.”

With his achievement of being number one in Raven, the whole world was in an uproar, and if he was playing God of Savior, they must have heard about it.

Although he couldn’t meet them now due to city barriers, one day they would.

Do-hyeon chuckled again as he turned his steps.

“I’ll use Frenzy well.”

Do-hyeon had watched the crazy berserker, who was best at using Frenzy, for over two years.

He had already imagined how to use it and how to combine it with the skills he had.

Now, it was time to focus on something other than skills.

“Let’s go. We need to investigate.”

– “Eliza!”

“Didn’t I tell you? I have a good feeling about this.”

Jihad, who had been staring at Do-hyun, suddenly asked.

– “Is it card-gambling? Did you get something good? You look happy.”

“Mm?”

Do-hyun stopped and looked at Jihad.

The innocent look in Jihad’s eyes was so clear it couldn’t compare to when they first met. It was obvious that he was in a good mood.

“Well, yeah.”

– “Ah, too bad. It would have been more fun if it was something bad.”

“…You haven’t been doing well lately, have you?”

– “Ah, no. Eliza, help me out.”

– “Li, Liza?”

Do-hyun shook his head as Jihad grabbed Eliza, who was in his robe pocket, and backed away.

He seemed to have changed a bit, but still, he was the same as always.

How long had they been walking like this?

Do-hyun soon found a suitable temple after exiting a narrow alley and stretched his body.

‘Gamilion is waiting, so should I finish this quickly?’

It was time to focus on the main quest now.

* * *

To get straight to the point, no useful information was obtained.

“Who… Ah, this… No, it’s the Apostle, isn’t it? I’m sorry earlier. Given the circumstances, ahem.”

“Are you talking about the Abyss? I’m looking into it too, but nothing’s turning up. It’s such a slippery bastard…”

“Are you referring to Destroyer Gaimon? He’s dangerous. We need to make sure citizens can evacuate immediately during a crisis. Ah, if you happen to run into the Apostle, avoid him first and then tell us. It’s too dangerous.”

The only advice was about the danger,

“Lord Lebed’s absence… we were hoping to resolve this, but… I’m worried. We need Lord Lebed here.”

“At least we have Sir Taxinel.”

“Well, if it’s Sir Taxinel, we can trust him. It’s a relief he didn’t participate in this mission. I didn’t expect that loyal man to stay out of it…”

“They said he had personal issues. I remember him being upset… but right now, it might be for the best.”

“High Priest Gildetti must be preparing something. For now, let’s wait and see.”

All Do-hyun could do was overhear the anxious conversation of the priests.

Though they seemed to believe in someone, it was clear that getting useful information from them would be difficult.

Leaving their chatter behind, Do-hyun scratched his head as he left the temple.

A message appeared before him.

– Brión Temple Investigation (2 / 3)

Berdic Temple and Zerdia Temple.

These were the quest items filled after visiting two temples.

‘No one knows anything, huh.’

Though not as grand as the Lair Temple, these were still large temples, yet he hadn’t gained any valuable information.

They just seemed to be terrified, and no one was offering anything useful.

‘Gamilion is more informed.’

Is this really the Abyss-specialized city that produced three Abyss contractors?

No one said that outright, but that was how Do-hyun interpreted it.

He was nearing the center when he ran into Gamilion.

“Successor, you’ve arrived.”

“Ah, Gamilion.”

They met near the central fountain, and it seemed Gamilion had just finished his investigation as well.

“Have you completed the investigation?”

“…Gamilion, do we really need to go to the Grist Temple?”

“It doesn’t matter, but… why do you ask?”

It was inevitable.

[The Eye of Truth is activating.]

Beyond that temple, a red dot was visible.

It wasn’t the ghostly shape that usually appears when someone is hiding.

It was closer to something small and object-like… almost exactly like when he saw pieces of destiny.

Do-hyun’s instincts were telling him strongly.

‘There’s something there.’

There was something over there.

In the end, Do-hyun turned around.

“Then let’s go there. I have a feeling about it.”

“…A feeling? What’s that?”

“It’s something like that. I have a good feeling.”

It was an incomprehensible statement, but Gamilion decided to follow along.

Since the purpose was investigation, it didn’t matter where they went, and if they felt disappointed, they could always visit the Grist Temple afterward.

When Do-hyun and Gamilion arrived in front of the Lyr Temple, they saw something unusual.

“…No guards?”

“Indeed.”

A temple should always have guards stationed, but there were none.

With a confused look, they opened the door and entered.

The silence inside was even more pronounced.

There were no users, and even the priests were absent.

Something felt off, and the two of them quickened their steps.

Tap. Tap.

Finally, as he passed through the hallway and arrived at a door,

‘Here.’

With a faint red light leaking from beyond the door, Do-hyeon opened it without hesitation.

And then, he saw it.

“Ughhh… Ugh…”

The high priest was suspended in the air, his neck caught in the suffocating darkness, while something was lifting him.

[….]

Overall, it had the silhouette of a human, but with horns on its head and an ominous darkness engulfing its entire body.

Its red eyes gleamed in the darkness.

The massive figure, over 2 meters tall, proved that it was not human.

“What is this…”

Taken by surprise, Do-hyeon muttered without realizing it, and the creature quickly turned its head to look at him.

At that moment, he was face to face with its terrifyingly unnatural face.

A mask of the abyss that would make any human instinctively feel fear.

Ding-.

[You have encountered the Abyssal Contractor, ‘Destroyer Gamon,’ who broke the taboo.]

[Warning! You may lose your life.]

[A sudden quest ‘Rescue Rondrick’ has been triggered.]

[Rescue Rondrick]

– Level: Sudden Quest

– Description: The Lyr Temple has been attacked by Destroyer Gamon. Rescue the high priest of Lyr Temple, ‘Rondrick,’ and hear his story.

If you fail to rescue him within the time limit, ‘Rondrick’ will die, and the quest will fail.

– Clear reward: A large amount of experience, Rondrick’s favorability, traces of the Destroyer.

– Failure risk: If you fail to capture Destroyer Gamon, you may be framed for the crime.

– Time limit: 20 seconds

Countless messages obscured his vision at their peak.

With that maddening triple combination, Do-hyeon rubbed his forehead.

‘…What the hell? Why does trouble follow me wherever I go?’

In the blink of an eye, Do-hyeon found himself face-to-face with the Destroyer Gamon.