Even Today, the Ranker Dreams of Retirement

‘There’s definitely something going on here……. Let’s see how long she can keep hiding it.’

Chae Jiseok eyed Habin suspiciously.

“L-look, it really is tint. I just happen to like applying tint to my head.”

Habin avoided his gaze while making excuses.

After their long standoff, a frustrated Chae Jiseok turned to the silent Ahezar.

“Ahezar-nim, why have you been so quiet? Say something! Was Hyun Habin really just sitting here quietly?”

[Well, that’s…….]

As Ahezar hesitated, Habin kindly advised:

‘Jaljal, answer carefully. One wrong word and I’ll delete the KakaoPage app right away!’

[Ah, nothing happened at all! We truly just! Stayed here quietly! We didn’t see hide nor hair of any Demon King or monster!]

“Demon King? Did you know the boss here was a Demon King?”

‘Oh, for heaven’s sake, Kim Jaljal…….’

Habin quickly tried to smooth things over.

“Of course! We overheard the conquest team’s meeting too! Anyway, how long are we going to stay here? Let’s go up and talk.”

“That’s true……”

In any case, they climbed back up the cliff to the Kill Screen entrance.

“Vice Guild Master! You’re back!”

“Are you alright?”

“What about the rookie next to you?”

Chae Jiseok glanced at Habin.

Hyun Habin was probably the healthiest and sturdiest human being in this world.

Chae Jiseok let out a sigh tinged with relief.

“As you can see, she’s safe…….”

Just as he was answering quietly, Habin interrupted in a louder voice.

“Oh my. I fell from such a high place, my whole body aches and hurts, ow ow ow.”

“……?”

Chae Jiseok stared at Habin with a dumbfounded expression.

‘What? You were perfectly fine just now? Why are you suddenly feigning illness?’

Chae Jiseok knew Habin’s condition. He had already checked when they were at the bottom of the cliff.

Apart from the tint(?) on her head, there was nothing particularly wrong with her.

Chae Jiseok, who was close by, hastily checked her condition again, but she still seemed perfectly fine.

However, the other guild members fell for Habin’s act.

“Oh dear, how scared you must have been, all alone in that dark place!”

“Are you hurt anywhere else?”

Habin responded with a pitiable expression, lowering her eyebrows.

“Thank you for your concern. I was lucky. Fortunately, I had a potion in my inventory when I fell. If I didn’t have that…… I might have died……!”

“Oh my, that must have been terrifying!”

“Tsk, this is why we shouldn’t carelessly bring young rookies along!”

“Ugh, I don’t know if it’s just my imagination, but I still ache all over. Even though I used a potion, my body must still be in shock.”

From her pale expression to the natural gesture of pretending to stagger and holding onto Chae Jiseok for support.

It was an acting performance worthy of walking the red carpet right then and there.

‘Why are you doing this! You’re perfectly fine!’

Only Chae Jiseok, who knew the truth, was dying trying to manage his expression.

Amidst gazes of doubt and sympathy, Habin, who had diligently spread word of her feigned illness, finally added her last words.

“So…… since I’m not feeling well, I’ll head home first!”

That was it.

The reason behind Habin’s sudden act of feigning illness. The true purpose of this pretense was singular.

A quick return home!

‘……No way!’

Chae Jiseok, the most perceptive person present.

At that moment, he realized why Habin had suddenly started feigning illness.

“……Hey, Hyun Habin! You’re trying to go home without giving a proper explanation, aren’t you!”

“……”

Habin didn’t answer and slightly avoided Chae Jiseok’s gaze. That was enough for Chae Jiseok to be certain.

“I’m right, aren’t I……!”

“No, I’m not.”

“You are! You just avoided my eyes!”

“……Ow, I think I sprained my ankle, now that I think about it, it hurts here too…….”

Chae Jiseok’s intuition was spot on.

If they had been alone as usual, Habin might have admitted defeat.

However.

There were many eyes watching now. Seeing Chae Jiseok press Habin, others spoke up.

“Hey, Vice Guild Master, why are you pestering someone who’s saying they’re in pain?”

“We didn’t expect this from you, Vice Guild Master!”

“……I’m just!”

“Now, now, everyone calm down. Let’s go celebrate the successful conquest with a team dinner? Let’s have a drink!”

“Miss, you should go home since you’re not feeling well. We need to have a celebratory dinner.”

“Vice Guild Master, come over here!”

“W-wait a moment!”

Once again, Chae Jiseok was caught by the other guild members and dragged away. The increasingly distant Chae Jiseok shouted with his eyes.

‘You…… did this…… to fake illness……!’

‘Well then, Chae-ssi, enjoy your team dinner.’

Habin waved her hand cheerfully, bidding farewell to Chae Jiseok.

While waving, Habin slowly backed away.

She quickly slipped out of Kill Screen and smiled from a distance. It was only after confirming that neither Chae Jiseok nor the guild members were in sight.

“……Good, it worked! Now if I go home, I’ll be just in time for the live broadcast of my drama.”

[Tsk tsk. That was your only goal? How long will you keep hiding your power for such trivial things!]

Seemingly troubled by the lie he told to Chae Jiseok earlier, Ahezar belatedly poured out his words.

[If we had proudly spoken of our achievements, everyone would have looked up to us! We defeated a Demon King, after all! That was the true extent of our power……!]

“Jaljal should hurry and read his web novel too. A bunch of notifications piled up. It says ‘Read the next chapter right now.'”

[What?! Q-quickly, turn on the phone!]

Tap tap. Habin turned on the web novel app with nimble movements. The street had already grown dark as night fell. The bright light from the phone illuminated Habin’s face and Ahezar.

The day of the successful conquest of Kill Screen’s 26th floor. This day, which would remain a monumental moment in human history, was drawing to a close.

◆◇◆◇◆

The next day.

[Kill Screen 26th floor conquest successful! Humanity has finally achieved this feat!]

[Yes, this conquest was accomplished through the collaboration of Caligo and Solaris. They’ve long been considered the two wings of Korea, the country’s giant guilds. Perhaps that’s why it feels even more meaningful.]

[It was the fastest conquest of any floor, wasn’t it?]

[That’s right. I heard that Kill Screen conquests usually take at least three days to a month, but this time they succeeded in less than a few hours.]

[……Could it be because they didn’t kill the boss?]

[Ah, now that you mention it, that was the most unusual aspect.]

[I heard it’s the first case where the boss moved to the 50th floor?]

[Haha, maybe the boss ran away because it was scared of the hunters?]

Tap-

Kang Taeseo put down the phone that had been broadcasting the news, almost throwing it.

In the guild master’s office at Caligo headquarters.

After checking that all the artifacts for soundproofing, anti-eavesdropping, and various other secret protection measures were working properly, Taeseo looked up.

“No matter how much I investigate, it’s strange.”

Hwang Maru and his gang.

They all seemed to have something to hide, as they immediately wrote resignation letters and tearfully apologized to Kang Taeseo as soon as they regained consciousness, saying they were sincerely sorry.

But what Kang Taeseo was curious about wasn’t that.

‘What exactly happened in the boss room?’

What actually occurred in the boss room. What on earth happened that day to leave them all tied up and beaten, and why did the boss go to the 50th floor?

But he couldn’t get any answers.

‘That’s……urgh!’

‘I can’t speak about it……!’

‘Gack!’

Thud.

They remained tight-lipped about what happened that day until the end. When forced to say something, they foamed at the mouth and collapsed.

It was the same no matter what method he tried, whether asking them to write it down or use gestures. Kang Taeseo couldn’t obtain any information.

‘What on earth happened to them?’

He even brought in experts from within the guild who specialized in debuffs and recovery to ask.

‘After thorough analysis, it seems to be a Demon King’s curse. The boss was a Demon King, right? It looks like the Demon King cast it, but we can’t remove it either.’

“So the Demon King deliberately cast a curse.”

But why?

Not killing them, casting a curse, and even tying them up neatly like Vienna sausages.

Taeseo, wearing a dark expression, waved his hand in the air.

Bestows life to a specific shadow and summons it.

Whoosh!

Following his gesture, a small, round monster appeared before him.

When Kang Taeseo arrived at the boss room yesterday, he had summoned one of the shadows present there as a monster.

-Keee!

It was made from the round shadow cast by the lamp in the Demon King’s office.

Perhaps because it wasn’t the shadow of a great being, it was a very small and black monster.

“But it should be suitable as a witness.”

-Kee?

The round shadow monster tilted its head.

“That’s right. You were a shadow in the Demon King’s office. So you must have seen what happened there.”

-Kiee!

The monster nodded its head vigorously.

“Good, then explain what happened there yesterday.”

-Kiki!

The small monster slyly picked up an A4 paper and a Monami ballpoint pen from Taeseo’s desk.

-Kiki…keke…….

-Kikiki…koikoi…….

Scribble scribble.

The monster awkwardly drew something. It was a small drawing that seemed quite effortful for a monster.

After confirming that it was drawn somewhat specifically, Taeseo asked.

“……So, what is this? A drawing of a woman?”

-Kikike!

The monster rolled around excitedly, as if to say he was correct.

“What’s she holding in her hand…… A sword?”

-Kieeke!

The monster nodded its head vigorously and jumped up and down.

It seemed he had guessed correctly. Kang Taeseo nodded.

“Is this what the Demon King looked like?”

-Kieeeeek! (No!)

The monster pounded its small chest, seemingly frustrated.

-Kiiii! (Look closely, human!)

The highly excited monster scribbled another drawing. This time, it tried to depict the sword-wielding woman thoroughly beating up the monster and the gang……

The result was disastrous.

Faced with a chaotic mess of a drawing covered in confusion, destruction, and oblivion, Kang Taeseo frowned.

“What is this…… drawing? Is it depicting the moment the Demon King cast the curse?”

-Kieeeeee! (You stupid butthole! Idiot!)

“I can’t understand a word you’re saying.”

-Kie! Kie! (Why are you asking if you can’t understand in the first place!)

The monster panted, jumping up and down on the desk.

-Kieng! Kieng! (Idiot! Stupid butthole!)

“……”

Kang Taeseo lowered his head, seemingly lost in thought.

An indecipherable, grotesque drawing.

A furious shadow monster.

‘It seems my guess was wrong.’

If he thought about it differently…….

“A woman with a sword?”

-Kieng! (That’s it!)

Leaving behind the shadow monster dancing excitedly, Kang Taeseo furrowed his brow.

A woman with a sword.

There were some people among the hunters that fit that description. Skilled individuals in the swordsman or magic swordsman position. There were a few in this conquest team, but.

‘They all have perfect alibis.’

Everyone had moved around in a large group. If even one person had been missing, they would have immediately been suspected.

‘Then an outsider?’

An outsider entering Kill Screen would be too conspicuous. The standby team guarding the entrance would have noticed first.

“Or was it an unexpected variable that originally existed in the tower…….”

Taeseo, deep in thought.

Just then, his phone rang with a zing-. Kang Taeseo looked down at the phone screen.

It was a KakaoTalk message from Hyun Habin.