The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times

Chapter 23

[You have acquired the skill ‘Rush Slash’.]

[Rush Slash]

– Rank: Common

– Restriction: Swordsman Class

– Description: Allows you to rush in a chosen direction while swinging your sword once.

– Effect: Deals 150% damage based on your attack power. The distance moved is proportional to your movement speed.

The faster the attack speed, the quicker it is activated.

– Cooldown: 10 seconds

“Wow!”

Do-hyeon exclaimed in admiration after checking the skill information.

His class allowed him to use any skill from any profession.

Given that, it was possible he could have received a magic or archery-related skill, but fortunately, he had lucked into a sword-related skill.

‘Rush Slash isn’t bad at all.’

No, it wasn’t just “not bad.”

Aside from it being a sword-related skill, its utility was quite remarkable for a common skill.

Even if the power itself was unimpressive, the skill’s trait of being able to slash while moving made it highly versatile. It could be used to link combos, interrupt enemies’ skills, and so much more.

The short cooldown meant there was almost no risk involved, and it could even be used as a movement skill in emergencies.

‘I used it a lot when I played DemRock.’

Thanks to his incredibly bad luck back then, he had been forced to maximize the use of low-tier skills, and none were as valuable as Rush Slash.

And now, that skill had returned to Do-hyeon’s hands.

‘Let’s work together well again.’

Of course, he wasn’t as reliant on it as he was before, but still.

With a faint smile, Do-hyeon closed the system window. But his inventory remained open.

Naturally.

[Random Skill Draw Ticket]

‘One more to go.’

In God of Savior, a random skill draw ticket was given every 10 levels.

This ticket could randomly generate a skill, ranging from Common to Legendary rank.

Naturally, Do-hyeon, who had reached level 10 after clearing the dungeon, had received one, and he had saved it to use it in peace after reaching the village.

[Would you like to use the Random Skill Draw Ticket?]

And now was the time to use it.

“Sure.”

When he used the ticket, ten cards floated into view, and the Eye of Truth activated, emitting a blinding light.

Squinting his eyes shut at the brilliance, Do-hyeon silently prayed.

‘Golden light, please, golden light…’

Then, when he opened his eyes, he was greeted by a sight that made them widen in astonishment.

[Your playtime limit has been reached.]

[You will be forcibly logged out in 5 seconds.]

“No, no way…!”

The playtime limit.

It was a system designed to prevent players from losing track of time and becoming addicted—or worse, dying from starvation—while playing the hyper-realistic God of Savior.

It was something he had also experienced back in DemRock, so there was no reason to be surprised.

However…

‘Has it really been 10 hours already?’

The time limit was quite generous, so he hadn’t expected it to run out so quickly.

It made no sense to him that he’d used up all his time just graduating from Arde.

Hadn’t he cleared the dungeon faster than any other party?

Even the Goblin hunting had been less of a hunt and more of a slaughter…

‘Ah.’

Suddenly, a memory of the tutorial flashed through his mind.

He remembered how he had spent more than 6 hours on it.

As the memory came back to him, his reasoning clicked into place, and he quickly assessed the situation.

[3…]

[2…]

There were only 2 seconds left.

‘The card! I need to pick a card quickly!’

Do-hyeon’s eyes darted over the variously glowing cards.

His gaze finally settled on one card.

‘This is it!’

The moment he picked the card—

Whoosh—!

A dazzling light erupted, revealing the skill card’s information.

Ding—.

[You have been forcibly logged out as your playtime limit has been reached.]

At the same time, Do-hyeon’s vision went black.

That was his last memory from the first day in God of Savior.

And as Do-hyeon suddenly disappeared, vanishing in a burst of light, his absence left the rest of the party—BestShield’s group—momentarily frozen, like machines that had just run out of battery.

“Uh…?”

“Huh?”

Their reactions came a few seconds later.

“Wh-what the heck? Did Kaiser just log out?”

“No, he was drawing a skill card, and then suddenly…?”

“Wasn’t Kaiser drawing a skill card just now?”

Surprised, BestShield checked the party list, shaking his head after a moment.

Kaiser’s name had disappeared from the list.

Looking a bit flustered, AimForTheForehead and YubinKkyung mumbled in confusion.

“If he logged out while drawing a skill card… he probably got disconnected, right?”

“He hasn’t reconnected yet, so his playtime limit must’ve run out.”

“Oh, right. Wait, but how did he finish so early?”

“I don’t know…? Maybe he spent a long time on character creation?”

Having played with him since level 1, they knew that the only explanation could be the tutorial.

They couldn’t have imagined that he’d spent over 6 hours on it, so they just shrugged it off.

YubinKkyung and AimForTheForehead sighed softly as they finished grasping the situation.

“It’s a shame we couldn’t properly say goodbye.”

“Yeah. I really wanted to leave a strong impression on him.”

“Didn’t you already? Not everyone nearly wipes out on their first hunt.”

“You wanna fight?”

The two of them bickered as usual, but there was still a hint of regret in their expressions.

BestShield felt the same.

When he had thanked Do-hyeon earlier, he had hesitated to ask if he could send him a friend request.

But before he could make the request, the connection was severed, leaving him with lingering regret.

‘No, maybe it’s for the best.’

But BestShield steadied his thoughts.

He was only human, and the thought of becoming friends with the legendary Kaiser was certainly appealing.

More than that, however, it was because Kaiser as a person shone too brightly.

It was only natural for someone like that to inspire admiration.

Still…

‘Asking for anything more would be greedy.’

He had already received so much help; asking to be friends would feel shameless.

Friends were supposed to be mutually beneficial, after all.

And right now, he didn’t see any way he could possibly help Kaiser.

Even if that weren’t the case, it could lead to unnecessary greed.

He didn’t want to foster such feelings toward someone who had generously let their mistakes slide.

‘This is how it should be.’

With his mind made up, BestShield spoke up.

“How did today go for you guys?”

“Today? It was amazing! We met Kaiser, and we got first place in the rankings with him. It couldn’t have been better!”

“It was so much fun. I can see why people call this game God of Savior.”

The two who had been bickering earlier were now all smiles, their faces glowing with excitement.

It was clear that, like him, they had also become deeply invested in the game.

He had expected that from AimForTheForehead, but YubinKkyung falling for it like this was a surprise…

Nodding, BestShield suddenly spoke in a more serious tone.

“Let’s grow stronger, quickly.”

His words made YubinKkyung and AimForTheForehead freeze for a moment.

AimForTheForehead stared at him before letting out a small laugh.

Though no words were exchanged, it was clear what they were thinking. With a shrug, AimForTheForehead answered in a lighter tone.

“Yeah. Let’s grow stronger so we can carry Kaiser next time.”

“Right. I feel a bit guilty for only receiving help.”

“With that in mind, let’s hurry up and get to the mainland. Before I carry Kaiser, I’ll carry you two first.”

“No, thanks.”

The mood lightened again as BestShield exchanged looks with AimForTheForehead, a small smile forming on his lips.

And in that smile, there was a hint of anticipation.

‘Yeah, I’ll definitely meet him again.’

Perhaps in the next city, Raven.

Things would be different after the City of Promise, Brion, but as they progressed through the higher-tier content, there would inevitably be times when they crossed paths.

Some of the graduation quests and raids were like that.

So…

‘By then, things will be different.’

With that hope in mind, BestShield moved toward the warp gate.

“To the mainland, then.”

“Okay. No one can stop me until my playtime limit is up.”

“I’m coming too!”

With those words, BestShield and his companions disappeared in a flash of light as they warped to the mainland.

* * *

Meanwhile, at Do-hyeon’s house.

His little sister, Hyun-ah, was not in a good mood.

“Hyun-ah~ If your brother’s home, can you call him out for me?”

“Ugh… It’s a crucial scene right now.”

“Quickly~.”

“Sigh, fine.”

She had been waiting for her drama to start ten minutes early, and now, during the climax of the episode, her mother Chae Mi-sook had asked her to call her annoying brother.

It was all because the kitchen and his room were the farthest apart.

As much as she wanted to keep watching, she knew that if she didn’t listen, she’d be subjected to a smack on the back and a reduction in her allowance, so she wisely chose to comply.

“What the heck is he doing, not even responding to messages? Is he still playing that game?”

It was already 10 PM.

Surely, he wasn’t still playing, but knowing her brother, it was definitely possible.

He was an absolute gaming addict.

He rarely hung out with friends, and the only things he ever did were working out and playing games.

As soon as she opened the door to his room, her suspicions were confirmed.

Sure enough, the capsule sat there, greeting her.

“Tch, of course.”

Clicking her tongue, Hyun-ah shook her head.

‘I’ll just tell him to do it tomorrow.’

If their mother’s request had been urgent, she would’ve told her to bring him out immediately.

Besides, if she forcibly interrupted him now, he’d probably throw a fit.

She could message him through the God of Savior app, but there was no way her friendless brother would’ve installed something like that on the first day.

Hyun-ah figured she had done enough, and that her mother wouldn’t be upset with her.

Whoosh—

She turned to leave the room when suddenly—

Fwoosh—!

“Ahh!!”

“Kyaaah!”

The sudden hissing sound and her brother’s scream made her shriek, startled.

Her reaction wasn’t enough to express how shocked she was, as she jumped like a spring and stepped back to figure out where the noise had come from.

It came from the capsule—more specifically, from her brother inside it.

“You crazy idiot! Why the hell are you screaming? You almost gave me a heart attack!”

She yelled at him, but Do-hyeon didn’t seem to hear her.

He just sat there, staring blankly into space, muttering to himself.

“Wow, f… Wow…”

“Wow, that’s exactly how I feel. Stop acting weird and get out. Mom’s calling you.”

Hyun-ah’s voice reached him, but it didn’t register in Do-hyeon’s mind.

It was impossible for him to pay attention.

Because the brilliant color of the skill card he had seen earlier was still vivid in his mind.

“What’s wrong with you? Can’t you hear me? Hello?”

“…”

No matter how much she waved her hand in front of him, Do-hyeon was completely oblivious.

Suddenly jumping out of the capsule, screaming, cursing, and then zoning out?

This was far from normal behavior, and Hyun-ah, ever the straightforward person, expressed her thoughts out loud.

“Mom! Mom! Something’s wrong with my brother! I think he’s finally lost it from gaming!”

“Hey! Don’t talk about your brother like that!”

“No, seriously! He’s acting really weird! Should we take him to the hospital?”

Leaving behind the voices of Hyun-ah and their mother, Chae Mi-sook, Do-hyeon sat there with the most serious look on his face, lost deep in thought.

If Rodin had seen him, the inspiration for The Thinker would have surely changed.

‘That brilliant color… If I didn’t see wrong, it was gold.’

What was driving Do-hyeon into such contemplation was none other than this.

‘Or was it? It seemed a little pale, not quite as dazzling as gold, maybe it was just yellow… Hmm, no, but it was bright enough, wasn’t it?’

Whether it was yellow or gold.

That was the deciding factor between an Epic and a Legendary skill—a crucial question.

Either way, it was a happy problem to have, but the difference between winning first or second place in the lottery was enough to keep him preoccupied.

Especially since he had never gotten a Legendary skill in DemRock.

The thought of potentially obtaining his first-ever Legendary skill kept him in endless contemplation.

‘Ah, if only I had one more second… no, just half a second longer… Why did it have to log me out right when the light was flashing?’

His chain of thoughts was finally broken only after his mother’s scolding, dragged into his room by Hyun-ah’s persistent nagging.