WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Irevi

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 40: Ranker

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Tower of Trials Challengers broadly fell into three groups.

Ordinary people kidnapped and dragged in by a Tower Invitation, those climbing the Tower to become Hunters, and Rankers.

Since there was no separate ranking system, there was no clear way to determine who was or wasn't a Ranker.

Still, the people generally called Rankers in the community were Challengers who spent long periods on the Tower of Trials' higher floors.

And Bus Drivers stationed on the three Floors that divide the Tower of Trials.

Floor 25, Floor 50, and Floor 75.

Each floor of the Tower of Trials had its own distinct character, but these three were called Floors and received special treatment from the system.

They had no separate Labyrinth Area, only a Guardian Boss that disappeared once it was defeated.

Unlike other floors, they also couldn't be freely accessed through a Transfer Gate. You could only move between them through special methods.

That was why Bus Drivers didn't move beyond those Floors. Their role was to carry newbies up to the Floor where they were stationed.

"He's a Low-floor Ranker living on Floor 25. He's been really famous lately..."

According to Kim Jina, Choi Gilhyeon, the guy standing in front of me with a spear drawn, was a Low-floor Ranker among the weaker ones.

Still, he was called a Ranker for a reason. I couldn't look down on him just because he lived on a lower Floor.

If he worked as a Bus Driver carrying Challengers up to Floor 25, that meant he could easily take down the bosses below it.

He probably hadn't cleared every floor solo like I had, but he had the strength to lead unqualified Challengers all the way through Floor 24.

"J-Jinhyeok, what do we do?"

What did she think we were going to do? It wasn't like we had another option.

I moved Kim Jina and her party members behind me after they pushed through the crowd, then raised my shield and sword.

Because I played solo, I was far stronger than the average Challenger on Floor 6, even though I was still only on the sixth floor.

But the same probably applied to him. Even if he was stationed on Floor 25, a Ranker would have far better stats than an ordinary Challenger on that Floor.

His level was probably higher than mine, and his items were obviously better too.

Just looking at that little brother sprawled over there, he had armor and an axe far beyond what he deserved.

"Yeah, I did it."

I spoke to Choi Gilhyeon, the Ranker gripping his spear while he fumed.

"Your little brother was camping at the dungeon entrance, and when we said we were going in, he insulted my mother."

He didn't look like someone I could reason with, but I tried talking first anyway. As expected, his answer wasn't pleasant.

"So you soccer-kicked my little brother in the face? He insulted your mother? Did your mom teach you to act like that?"

"No, but it looks like your little brother learned it from you."

"Shut the fuck up, you bastard. Looking at you, you're just a little shit with a high level. You're not leaving here alive today."

I'd thought his little brother's upbringing was a disaster, but his older brother didn't seem much different. Talking this out was hopeless.

If I tried to avoid the fight and settle things peacefully, it didn't look completely impossible.

But I wasn't about to hear another insult about my mother and let it slide.

* * *

Since he carried a spear, the most likely class was the rare Spear Knight.

It was a popular rare warrior class because it had some of the most stable and powerful skills.

Because of that, the community had plenty of information on the Spear Knight's main skills.

He probably wouldn't use those skills straightforwardly and expose an opening, but there was no harm in keeping them in mind.

Still, a spear.

Reach made a huge difference in a fight between melee warriors.

Compared to my sword and shield, his spear had overwhelming reach, and I expected his physical stats to be stronger too.

He was even taller than me, and his arms looked longer. His little brother had been a little shorter than me. Did this guy eat all the nutrients by himself?

I could pull out my own spear since I'd learned spear techniques, but I doubted my half-baked spear work would help against a real Spear Knight.

For now, I was better off fighting up close with the sword and shield I was used to.

"Die!"

Choi Gilhyeon rushed at me, his face bright red as he thrust his spear.

Just as I'd expected, his stats were impressive. Both the speed and force behind that thrust were incredible.

But maybe he was too worked up, or maybe he was underestimating me, because his stance and movements were awkward when he thrust.

I held out my shield, deflecting the spearhead, then stepped inside his range.

It would've been hard to take the full force of that thrust head-on.

-Screech!

Sparks flew from my shield as the spearhead scraped across it at an angle. It had only grazed it, and it was still that strong. He really was a Ranker.

With one foot inside his spear's reach, I thrust my sword at his side.

Unlike his little brother, he wasn't wearing heavy armor. Maybe he'd come out under-equipped, or maybe he preferred lighter gear.

My thrust should've been enough to get through that.

-Tap!

But Choi Gilhyeon leaped far back and avoided it.

His Agility stat seemed just as high as his Strength. But why did he dodge by jumping backward?

Did he want to carefully create distance because he didn't know my class or skills, then fight from the outside?

That would certainly make the most of his weapon's advantage. Maybe he'd realized from that first exchange that I wasn't a pushover.

But what he did next was far outside my expectations.

"You fucking bastard!"

Instead of fighting from the outside, Choi Gilhyeon cursed and charged straight at me again, exactly like before.

What was with this guy?

I took a small step sideways and avoided the awkward thrust that came at me in the same stance as before.

Even though I moved to his side, Choi Gilhyeon didn't change the spear's trajectory or try to respond by swinging the shaft.

Instead, he just stumbled forward another two steps, like he couldn't control the momentum of his thrust.

I slammed my shield into Choi Gilhyeon's exposed temple as he overcommitted.

-Crack!

His Defense must've been high. It felt like I was hitting a rock.

Choi Gilhyeon swayed after taking the blow to the head, then twisted around and thrust his spear at me again.

The spearhead glowed blue. I knew that skill. Spear Buster, a three-hit consecutive thrust attack.

-Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

He openly used such a well-known skill right in front of me. There was no way I could get hit by it, even if I wanted to.

After dodging to the side again, I swung my sword instead of my shield and aimed for Choi Gilhyeon's neck.

Judging by his Defense, it didn't look like his neck would get cut off even if I hit him like this.

"Urk!"

Choi Gilhyeon fell backward after the blade struck his throat, but then sprang right back up and took his stance again.

It was exactly the same stance as before.

No way. Could this guy only thrust from that stance?

No, that couldn't be it. He was a Ranker.

"Hyaaah!"

Choi Gilhyeon shouted and thrust again, this time from a slightly different stance.

I casually stepped to the side, and this time he swung the spear wide, properly attacking my side.

But it felt like he was swinging a staff, not a spear. It wasn't bad enough to be unwatchable, but still.

Why was this guy so bad at fighting?

* * *

After exchanging blows for several minutes, I reached a conclusion.

This guy was a complete scrub.

I'd thought something was off from his first attack. At the time, I'd assumed he was just worked up.

But the more I watched, the more pathetic his skills looked. I'd fought enough skilled Lizardman spearmen to know that for sure.

The name Spear Knight didn't suit him.

Spear Technician was more like it.

His physical stats were powerful because he was a Ranker, but his skill with the spear was severely lacking.

If I had to compare him to a Lizardman, he was around the lowest level of an intermediate warrior.

His reaction speed was fast, probably because his Agility stat was high, so he occasionally threw out sharp strikes.

Even counting that, he only looked as good as a low-level intermediate warrior. This piece of shit was a Ranker, even if he was Low-floor?

He was worse than our party, which had a Holy Knight who swung a hammer around like a wand and a dual-sword idiot who used two swords instead of a shield.

I'd wondered why those two were so bad, but even that level of skill made them fairly capable among Challengers.

This guy's attitude toward combat was rotten from the start.

-Crack!

I kicked Choi Gilhyeon's ankle hard as he charged in like an idiot.

His steps got thrown off, then he lost his balance completely and fell flat.

"Are you stupid...? Who the hell wears lifts to a fight?"

I'd thought he was much taller than his little brother, but he had lifts in his shoes.

Really high ones too.

If I subtracted the height of those lifts, he was probably shorter than his little brother.

At this point, calling them a car or mount instead of shoes might be more accurate.

"Huff, huff... Fuck, you... bastard..."

Choi Gilhyeon had thrown himself at me with everything he had and gotten beaten up nonstop. He was on the verge of collapse.

He'd gotten beaten to a pulp and still hadn't come to his senses, continuing to spit out insults.

"Shut your mouth."

-Clang!

I smashed the top of Choi Gilhyeon's head as he panted.

Once I'd properly understood his level of skill, I'd put away my sword and started using something else as a weapon.

What I held now was the Mithril Wand I'd gotten on the first floor.

It was useless to a warrior like me, so I'd left it buried in my inventory for a long time.

But since it was made of mithril, it was very light and hard. It was perfect as a club for beating the shit out of a guy with high Defense.

-Clang! Clang! Clang!

Choi Gilhyeon kept offering up his head to the Mithril Wand like a xylophone getting struck with mallets.

The spectators had watched with serious expressions at first, but they gradually began to laugh as they saw the Ranker unable to do anything but take a beating.

They were probably afraid of retaliation, so they didn't laugh openly. Still, a few bold people were snickering as they used the system's screenshot feature.

By now, there was probably a joke post on the community titled something like [Live Floor 25 Ranker Humiliation.jpg].

Honestly, as another man, I felt a little sorry watching his pride shatter in real time.

"Y-You fucking, motherless, fucking bastard."

But when he kept insulting my mother out of habit while getting hit in the head, my hand moved on its own.

"Shut your mouth."

-Clang!

That day, Choi Gilhyeon's picture received 300 upvotes on the community.

Footnotes:

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