Even Today, the Ranker Dreams of Retirement

‘Aaaaargh!’

‘Urgh! I’m sorry!’

‘P-please… spare me……!’

‘How much HP do you have left?’

’10! Only 10 left! If I take any more hits, I’ll really die! Please……!’

‘Don’t worry. Here’s a potion, drink up!’

‘Eeeek!’

‘Just kill me already!’

Habin made sure to ask how much HP they had left as she beat them, to ensure they wouldn’t die.

“Are you really not going to kill them?”

Kriksha asked with a puzzled voice. Habin wore a regretful expression.

“Well, I do care a lot about Taeseo, but not enough to commit murder for him. It’s also too different from my principles.”

[Did you… even have principles?]

“My goal is to be a benevolent power-concealer! Murder isn’t benevolent.”

Habin, who had just committed assault, emphasized that her goal was to be a ‘benevolent’ power-concealer. Kriksha stepped forward.

“If you can’t do it yourself, I’ll take care of them for you!”

‘Please just kill them quickly and go home!’

Kriksha took a stance as if he was about to slit the gang’s throats. Habin shook her head.

“Nope. That would be solicitation of murder.”

“……”

[How do you know so much about crimes?]

“It’s common sense if you want to live a benevolent life in this harsh world.”

Habin looked down at the unconscious Hwang Maru again. Tapping Hwang Maru’s instep with her foot, Habin muttered.

“Still…… this is actually a big problem.”

Habin put on a serious expression. She cupped her chin as if conflicted.

“I stepped in because it was about Taeseo, but it’ll be troublesome if these guys go around blabbing about what I did.”

That’s right.

When she heard that her dear friend Kang Taeseo had been targeted, she had acted boldly without thinking.

But now that she’d calmed down and thought about it, letting these guys live could be dangerous.

What if Hwang Maru and his gang, once freed, went around talking about Habin’s true abilities?

“Someone might suspect I’m a ranker. Then the quiet and cozy life I’ve worked so hard to maintain would go down the drain.”

Habin turned to look at Kriksha.

“Kriksha, you’re a Demon King after all, don’t you have any useful skills? A memory erasing skill, or maybe a silencing skill. Even a curse-type skill that prevents disclosure or speech.”

Demon King Kriksha.

Though he had been intimidated by Habin until now, a Demon King is still a Demon King.

A master at the pinnacle of all sorts of sorcery, black magic, and secret techniques.

The strongest being in charge of a floor’s boss in Kill Screen. He lifted his chin proudly.

Finally, the time had come to show his greatness.

“Hmm, to be honest, removing memories is difficult. But a curse that prevents information disclosure…… hehe, of course I have something like that.”

Kriksha grinned crookedly as he waved his hand. Black smoke coiled around his fingers at his gesture.

“This is a curse that inflicts terrible pain if one tries to speak, write, or even think about something specified.”

Once afflicted by this curse, even if one knows something, they absolutely cannot disclose it to anyone.

“They’ll foam at the mouth and faint before they can properly tell anyone. It’s the same whether they try to write it down or convey it through gestures!”

“Oh, that sounds quite useful?”

“More than just useful! This is a great Demon King’s curse, after all!”

“Couldn’t it be removed with a status ailment removal skill?”

Habin pointed out sharply. Kriksha shook his head.

“Ancient curses could originally only be lifted by a sorcerer of the same level as the caster. In other words, someone weaker than me can’t remove it!”

It’s not called a Demon King’s curse for nothing.

Since ancient times, curses cast directly by a Demon King could only be lifted by the Demon King themselves or by requesting help from someone of Demon King-level ability.

Kriksha shrugged his shoulders with a satisfied look, but Habin still frowned.

“Hmm. But doesn’t that mean someone stronger than Kriksha could remove it? There’s a loophole.”

“What’s the problem with that! There’s no one stronger than me, a Demon King……!”

Kriksha, who was about to angrily say there was no one stronger, met Habin’s eyes and closed his mouth.

‘Damn. There’s one right in front of me.’

“Sigh, I guess there’s no choice.”

Habin moved her hand to take out an item from her inventory.

[Demon King’s Secret Tome]

Grade: Unclassifiable

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

“I’ll have to do it myself. Kriksha, tell me the skill name.”

A curse cast by Kriksha might be lifted by another Demon King of equal rank, or another powerful individual.

But if Habin, with her negative ranking, casts it.

At least among the rankers on Earth, there would be no one who could remove it.

‘That should do it.’

Habin used the [Demon King’s Secret Tome] she had obtained from Kriksha earlier to add Kriksha’s unique skill ‘Curse of Silence’ to her repertoire.

One of the ancient curses used by Demon Kings since olden times.

The target afflicted by this curse cannot reveal the secret you specify anywhere. If they attempt to reveal it, they will suffer terrible pain.

*This is a special debuff skill. It cannot be removed by ordinary status ailment removal effects.

Habin clapped her hands with a bored expression.

“Alright, let’s quickly cast the curse and go home. It’s almost time for my drama to start live. I need to watch that.”

‘Yes! Please go, go. Please!’

Habin and Kriksha, unintentionally united in purpose.

Perhaps she had grown somewhat fond of him, as Habin turned to Kriksha with a grin after casting the curse on Hwang Maru’s gang.

‘Why, why are you doing that again!’

“Kriksha, you know, you turned out to be quite a kind Demon King? You helped out first with this situation too.”

“……?!”

“Next time I visit another floor, let’s meet again then. It was nice to meet you.”

“Eeeek!”

Kriksha, who had been excitedly preparing to retreat to the 50th floor, almost slipped his hand.

◆◇◆◇◆

[An exceptional situation has occurred!]

[The boss of Floor 26 has moved to Floor 50.]

[Floor 26 conquest is judged complete!]

[Congratulations! You are the first humans to complete the conquest of Floor 26!]

Pop pop pop!

A notification window surrounded by flower petals and dazzling light effects.

Kang Taeseo, who had been waiting outside the boss room, was slightly surprised to see this, his eyes widening a bit.

“……Conquest complete?”

‘This quickly?’

How could the conquest be completed so soon after they entered?

To begin with, Hwang Maru and his gang weren’t strong enough to defeat the boss.

‘The conquest method is strange too.’

[The boss of Floor 26 has moved to Floor 50.]

[Floor 26 conquest is judged complete.]

“The boss moving to another floor, why so suddenly……”

Slam!

Taeseo hastily opened the boss room door.

Inside.

Hwang Maru and his gang were tied up in a row, unconscious.

Their neat and tidy arrangement was reminiscent of Vienna sausages.

“……?”

What on earth happened here?

Kang Taeseo’s face, which always maintained a poker expression, wavered with confusion.

◆◇◆◇◆

“Kang Taeseo-ssi! Are you alright?”

“Kang Taeseo!”

The Caligo and Solaris conquest teams reunited.

The Solaris members who came running from afar bombarded Kang Taeseo with questions as soon as they saw him.

“What happened? The boss went to Floor 50?”

“How did you complete the conquest?”

“Why was it completed so quickly? We haven’t even raided the secret vault yet……”

The Solaris members pressed Kang Taeseo with troubled expressions. Due to the sudden conquest completion notification, they hadn’t been able to properly carry out the secret vault raid either.

Moreover, the conquest method was ‘the boss moving to Floor 50’.

“What exactly happened?”

“……”

Taeseo silently looked down to the side. Hwang Maru’s gang was still unconscious.

Seeing Hwang Maru’s gang sprawled out in a row like tied-up dried pollack, a Solaris guild member clicked their tongue.

“Goodness, and how did these people end up like this?”

“……The boss was stronger than expected.”

Taeseo gave a vague answer and took care of Hwang Maru’s gang. He planned to interrogate them in detail once Hwang Maru woke up.

Chae Jiseok chimed in.

“Are you going to leave them like that? At least use a potion.”

“It’s better to take them back immediately than to apply makeshift treatment. I checked, and they have enough HP left, with no apparent problems.”

Taeseo answered curtly and swiftly used a skill to put the gang into his shadow.

Skill, . It was a skill that could perfectly preserve living and non-living things within a limited space.

“There’s no problem here. More importantly, shouldn’t we prioritize rescuing the straggler?”

“Right, Hyun Habin!”

At those words, Chae Jiseok remembered Habin and lifted his head. He carefully addressed those around him.

“Um, sorry, but the kid who fell off the cliff earlier is someone I know. I’ll go check if she’s okay first.”

“Let’s go together!”

“Right. Come to think of it, there was a straggler!”

Perhaps because they had completed the conquest, everyone seemed to be in a more relaxed mood. They now had enough composure to worry about someone else’s safety.

“She seemed like a young rookie. She must have been scared, isolated on that cliff alone.”

“It’s fortunate the conquest ended quickly. Let’s go together.”

As soon as they heard this, the Solaris guild members all rushed towards the entrance, saying they should help too.

“……”

Thanks to this, Kang Taeseo was able to avoid immediately difficult questions.

Left alone, he looked around the boss room once more with a complex expression.

◆◇◆◇◆

Kill Screen entrance, below the cliff.

Habin had already returned here using ‘Interdimensional Entry’. She made herself comfortable on a cozy rock and leisurely turned on her phone.

‘Good. That was a perfect wrap-up. Now I just have to wait for everyone to come rescue me!’

Although data wasn’t working, fortunately, there were still a few mini-games that could be played offline.

Habin excitedly started a game.

Tap tap! Tap tap tap!

As Habin tapped the phone screen with lively movements, she heard the sound of someone’s footsteps approaching her.

“Hyun Habin!”

The one who came to get her was Chae Jiseok.

Other Solaris guild members had said they would come down too, but after pointing out that it was excessive to move so many people just to retrieve one person, only Chae Jiseok came down.

“Oh, Chae-ssi! Congratulations on completing the conquest!”

Habin waved her hand nonchalantly, pretending not to know anything. Chae Jiseok continued to ask.

“Why did you fall down here anyway? Did something happen up there……”

Chae Jiseok, who was about to ask if something had happened, froze when he saw Habin’s appearance.

“You…… are you hurt?”

“What?”

“There’s blood on your head……!”

Chae Jiseok approached Habin with a serious expression. There was a small bloodstain near Habin’s temple.

‘Ah. Did I miss cleaning that part?’

Habin rolled her eyes with a caught expression. Some blood had splattered when she dealt with Kriksha and the magical beasts, and she had quickly wiped it off. But it seems a little had remained.

Habin tried to back away while making excuses.

“……I got a little scratched when I fell off the cliff.”

“No, wait. Stay still for a moment.”

Chae Jiseok’s gaze sharpened as he carefully examined the bloodstain.

“This…… but looking closely, it’s not your blood, is it?”

“W-what do you mean?”

“No matter how I look at it, it seems like monster blood? There shouldn’t be any monsters here though……”

The bloodstain Chae Jiseok pointed to was closer to a bright pink than dark red.

Monster fluids often differed in color from human blood like this. Pink, purple, green, blue and green.

“What happened? Did you fight a monster? Come to think of it, there were many strange things about this conquest……. like the boss suddenly going to Floor 50.”

Just as Chae Jiseok was about to sink deep into thought.

‘D-damn it. This guy is unnecessarily quick-witted!’

Habin hurriedly wiped off the remaining bloodstain on her head.

“W-what are you talking about. This is just my tint.”

“Tint? Why would you apply tint there!”

Chae Jiseok knows what tint is. It’s a cosmetic applied to the lips. Not the head!

But Habin continued nonchalantly.

“You might not know, Chae-ssi, but there’s a product called ‘Rad Heading Color Tint’ that you apply here. Are you interested? Want me to recommend one?”

“Recommend what! You’re even more suspicious because you’re saying that! You don’t usually wear makeup!”