Even Today, the Ranker Dreams of Retirement

Meanwhile, the conquest team.

“As promised, Solaris must part ways here.”

They arrived at a fork in the dungeon.

Hwang Maru was the first to speak, feigning regret.

The 26th floor split into two paths: one leading to the boss room and another to a room called the ‘Demon King’s Secret Vault’.

If they all went to the boss room together, they’d miss out on the items in the 26th floor’s secret vault.

But visiting the secret vault first and then going to the boss room would be too draining in terms of stamina and time.

So the two guilds decided to form separate teams and conquer both routes simultaneously.

Chae Jiseok, with his exceptional talent for information gathering and detection, would lead the Solaris team to conquer the secret vault.

Meanwhile, the Caligo team, deliberately composed of combat-oriented party members, would tackle the boss room.

“Remember the agreed-upon time. It would be troublesome if you defeat the boss before we even reach the secret vault, as the dungeon would disappear.”

“Don’t worry about us.”

“If we finish raiding the secret vault and the boss conquest is still delayed, we’ll join you for the boss fight.”

As soon as the Solaris members disappeared into the distance, Hwang Maru couldn’t hide his smile.

‘Good, everything’s going according to plan!’

Now, only Caligo members remained on this side.

More precisely, Kang Taeseo and those who intended to deal with him.

They couldn’t show their true colors earlier due to Chae Jiseok and the Solaris members, but now they could freely execute their perfect crime to eliminate Kang Taeseo.

Hwang Maru signaled to those around him with his eyes.

“You know the plan, right? When we reach the boss room, we’ll lock Kang Taeseo in there alone!”

A nearby guild member cautiously asked:

“…But Hwang Maru-nim, what if Kang Taeseo is… more of a monster than we thought?”

“More of a monster?”

“What if we lock him in the boss room alone, but he defeats the boss by himself and comes out……”

The guild member trailed off, worried. They had all heard of Kang Taeseo’s reputation as the country’s top-ranked hunter. His prowess in battle was not to be underestimated.

“If he really wins against the boss in a one-on-one fight, aren’t we finished?”

Hwang Maru patted the questioning guild member’s shoulder reassuringly.

“Don’t worry. Defeating the boss alone? No matter how great Kang Taeseo is, that’s impossible!”

Hwang Maru shook his head with confidence. No hunter had ever defeated a Kill Screen boss alone.

Even Fides, the world’s top-ranked hunter, was known to conquer Kill Screen with fellow hunters.

“Think about it. If he could clear it alone from the start, why bring all of us along? He could solo it and keep all the rewards for himself.”

He brought us because he’s not confident he can do it alone.

Hwang Maru was certain of this.

“Still……”

“Come on, stop worrying. I have it all planned out. Even if Kang Taeseo somehow defeats the boss alone, it’s fine. He’ll be exhausted after fighting solo, so we can overpower him together then!”

“…I see, that makes sense!”

As they whispered amongst themselves, Kang Taeseo paid no attention to Hwang Maru. He didn’t even glance back, silently walking at the front. Watching his back, Hwang Maru sneered.

‘Look at him, walking ahead so carelessly, not knowing what’s about to happen.’

As they approached the boss room entrance, Hwang Maru checked his skill.

A defensive skill that quickly repels opponents. Has a very low chance of paralyzing the target.

The other guild members beside him had also prepared skills for pushing, repelling, and inflicting paralysis or debuffs.

They were fully prepared to force Kang Taeseo into the boss room.

Just then, Kang Taeseo’s footsteps came to a halt. They had reached the boss room entrance.

“Everyone, prepare yourselves. We’re going in now.”

Kang Taeseo at the front raised his hand to the door.

Creeeeak-

As the door slowly opened, Hwang Maru and the other guild members secretly moved behind Kang Taeseo.

‘Now!’

‘Flick!’

‘Paralysis Poison!’

‘Back Attack!’

A barrage of techniques rained down on Kang Taeseo.

‘This is the end for you, Kang Taeseo!’

Hwang Maru grinned as he struck at Kang Taeseo’s back.

◆◇◆◇◆

Hwang Maru’s betrayal.

About 10 minutes before that incident occurred.

Habin, still in the boss room, was glancing at the item Kriksha had handed her.

[Demon King’s Secret Tome]

Grade: Unclassifiable

Effect: Allows you to acquire one of the Demon King’s skills of your choice.

“This is supposed to be better?”

“Of course-! I mean, of course it is. You can obtain one of my skills, you know. Originally, Demon King skills could only be acquired by those who ascended to the Demon King’s throne through generations……”

“But do you even have any good skills?”

“……Pardon?”

Habin looked at Kriksha with a thoroughly skeptical expression.

“…I’ve never seen you use any skills.”

‘You didn’t give me a chance to!’

Kriksha, who had been knocked out before he could use any techniques. He hadn’t even managed a decent punch in front of Habin, let alone use a skill.

‘What if she doesn’t like it…….’

Kriksha surreptitiously checked his skills. There were about 7 minutes left until the portal to escape to the 50th floor would open.

‘Please, please, just a little more time to stall!’

While he worried, Habin responded:

“Fine. Let’s say that’s true for now. I’m a bit busy at the moment anyway.”

Habin quickly stuffed the items Kriksha had presented into her inventory.

‘If the conquest team comes to the boss room, it’ll be troublesome, so I should hurry back!’

It would be problematic if she encountered Caligo or Solaris guild members and had to explain ‘how she ended up in the boss room after falling off a cliff’ or ‘what she was doing with the boss’.

‘I absolutely hate interviews or interrogations. Being the center of attention is even worse!’

She wasn’t particularly interested in defeating Kriksha anyway.

She had just happened to fall into the boss room and only knocked him out because he attacked first.

Creeeeak-

The three-headed dog that had been knocked out nearby was starting to stir, it seemed it would wake up soon.

“Hmm, should I go back and finish watching my drama?”

[Again, again with the dramas!]

‘Come on, I worked hard today. One episode of drama should be fine, right?’

[……Argh!]

Ignoring Ahezar’s protests, Habin habitually turned on her phone. Sitting on the sofa where the Demon King had been, she swiped at the screen, then suddenly frowned.

[You are in an area where communication is not possible.]

“Damn, this is inside a dungeon! No data connection!”

I wonder if it’ll work at the cliff? It better work!

The Kill Screen entrance where Habin had initially been waiting was close to the outside world. So there was a weak data connection.

But now, she had to return to the bottom of the cliff. It seemed unlikely that data would reach that deep ravine.

‘Then, even if I go back, I won’t be able to watch my drama?’

Habin tilted her head with a serious expression.

“Hey Kriksha, don’t you have any items that make WiFi and data work in dungeons? That would be pretty useful.”

Habin asked with sincere interest. Kriksha muttered in bewilderment:

“Data…?”

What’s that?

Having lived his entire life in the demon realm and the tower, Kriksha had no idea what data was.

‘Seeing how desperately this human is looking for it, is it something even more amazing than the treasures in my secret vault?’

Ahezar chimed in:

[Tsk tsk. Why are you looking for that measly data even here?]

‘Jaljal, you shouldn’t talk. Don’t you have to complete your web novel reading mission today?’

[……!]

Habin asked pointedly while tapping on the web novel app. The app, of course, failed to connect due to the lack of internet.

[Failed to load data. Please check your connection status.]

Ahezar gulped.

[S-so, you need this ‘data’ thing even for that?]

‘That’s right. Jaljal, you still don’t know much about the world.’

The dramas we enjoy watching, movies, KakaoTalk, novels, webtoons. We can’t access any of them without data.

‘That’s why data is so precious. There’s a reason people immediately ask for the WiFi password when they go to a cafe!’

[Oh ho, is that so……! Come to think of it, I have seen humans asking for WiFi passwords in cafes! So that’s why it was so important!]

‘Exactly. By the way, who’s bringing WiFi into dungeons? It’s been so long since times changed, what have the science majors been doing?’

Science majors would be devastated to hear this. Half of them lost their jobs due to all the items and skills that emerged after the Gate Crisis.

Besides, who would come into a dungeon just to sit around using data?

But current Habin didn’t care about any of that.

‘It’s already the 21st century! Even if I concede that there might not be Bluetooth earphones that don’t need charging, at least WiFi that works in dungeons should have been developed by now!’

Looking glum, she stood up, dusting off her seat.

“…Sigh, it’s okay. Can’t be helped. Whether the data really works or not, I’ll find out when I get back. If I’m bored because I can’t watch my drama, I could always go explore the upper floors of this tower.”

“W-wait, the upper floors of the tower?”

Sensing something was amiss, Kriksha interjected.

“Does that mean you’re going to… kill me…?”

“Kill you? Why would I?”

“Weren’t you humans supposed to only be able to go to the next floor after conquering the current one… weren’t you?”

“Nope, that’s not the case for me.”

Habin turned to look at Kriksha. She had collected some items, and since he wasn’t human, she was inclined to explain a bit.

“I can go to other floors too, you know? That’s how I came here in one go.”

“H-how many floors can you reach?”

“Hmm, I think I could go up to the mid-fifties or so.”

“L-liar!”

Kriksha, who had just completed his escape portal skill—for moving to the 50th floor—felt his legs give out and he collapsed.

‘Even I can only move between the 50th and 26th floors!’

At this rate, there’s no point in escaping to the 50th floor.

According to his original plan, he was going to make a grand exit to the 50th floor, saying, “Hahaha, I’m leaving, you foolish human! I’ll kill you next time we meet!”

The Demon King of Pride (驕慢).

As a symbol of pride, he had some semblance of final dignity left.

‘But if I had done that…… this human would have immediately chased me to the 50th floor for revenge, wouldn’t she?’

It was a chilling realization. Kriksha once again felt relieved that he hadn’t hastily attempted his escape plan.

And now she’s even saying she’ll leave quietly?

[Oh ho, so without this data thing, you can’t do gacha pulls, can’t make payments……! Such terrible things happen!]

“That’s right. Now do you understand? The greatness of data?”

[Truly marvelous…….]

Kriksha could only watch their conversation in the boss room with a bewildered feeling.

After some time had passed.

“Well, shall we get going?”

Habin rose from the sofa.

It seems she’s finally leaving. Kriksha smiled, a mix of relief and joy.

“May your journey be peaceful. I’ll try to procure this ‘data’ thing for next time.”

Of course, he never, ever! wanted to meet her again, but this was just a vile demon’s lie.

‘It was horrific being with you and let’s never meet again. Terrifying human.’

“…You seem really happy that I’m leaving?”

“No? No? When did I ever do that?”

“Hmm, this guy looks pleased. Anyway, I’m off?”

Habin was about to open a space to enter the interdimensional realm when-

BOOM!

A loud explosion rang out, and thick smoke billowed from the boss room entrance.

“C-cough, cough!”

“What’s going on!”

“B-boss room! It seems we’ve entered the boss room!”

“Kang Taeseo, where’s that bastard?”

A group of hunters in disarray.

Habin recognized them. They were from the Caligo side of the conquest team.

‘Ah, they’re here already!’

She needed to escape quickly before being discovered.

Habin hurriedly moved her hand to use interdimensional entry.

Just then, she overheard their conversation.

“That Kang Taeseo bastard, seems he figured out we were trying to get rid of him and pulled something.”

“What should we do, Hwang Maru-nim?”

“We were supposed to trap that bastard in here alone, but it’s the opposite! Looks like we’re in here and Kang Taeseo is outside!”

‘……What?’

Habin’s hand froze. The content of the conversation was unsettling.

‘Knowing we were trying to get rid of Kang Taeseo……’

‘We were supposed to trap that bastard in here alone’

“……”

Habin slowly closed the interdimensional entrance she had opened. Then she turned to face the chaotic group of hunters.

“Say that again. Who’s trying to get rid of who?”

“……?”

“Well, well. Looks like we’ve got some bastards here worse than the Demon King?”