Even Today, the Ranker Dreams of Retirement

“Shit.”

Hyun Habin clutched the ring with trembling hands.

Why on earth did he pass this on to me?

And he just up and left right after handing it over?

They say if you’re unlucky, you’ll break your nose even falling backwards. Well, I tried to give a foreign senior a cultural experience with spicy chicken stir-fry noodles, and ended up saddled with an unnecessarily amazing ring.

“This bastard, I won’t let him off easy if I catch him next time!”

Habin gritted her teeth, suppressing her deep anger.

“I’ve been living quietly all this time, and now this!”

‘Hyun Habin really seems to hate having her identity exposed.’

Hyun Siwoo, who had been watching, nodded with an understanding expression.

Given her good hearing, she must have heard everything the hunters were saying just now.

She must have realized that hunters were mixed in among the demons, and that they had witnessed this whole scene.

The hunters were already rushing to Hyun Siwoo with questions.

“Fides-nim, what’s going on?”

“What do you mean the conquest is complete?”

“Did you do something without us knowing?”

“Well……”

Hyun Siwoo glanced towards Hyun Habin.

“Next time I see him, I’ll kill him.”

“……”

Hyun Habin’s fierce expression as she continued to grind her teeth. Neaiba chimed in teasingly.

[Haha, looks like she’s quite flustered. Well, of course. It’s not easy hiding your power, is it? If she was going to react like this, why did she even come to Kill Screen in the first place?]

‘Indeed, I wonder why she came here this time?’

As expected, Hyun Habin seems to have a plan to secretly act while pretending to be carefree.

Hyun Siwoo leaned more towards this speculation.

[Hey, I’ve got a great idea! Why don’t you just pin this on her? Wouldn’t that end your figurehead act? Let’s hand over the burdensome and cringe-worthy World Rank 1 position to Hyun Habin, now that we’ve milked it for all it’s worth!]

‘If I did that, I don’t think it would just end my figurehead act; my life might end along with it.’

Hyun Siwoo was listening to Habin’s whispered words.

“Whoever… ruins my peaceful daily life won’t get away with it.”

Grind.

[…….]

“……”

[B-but she’d go easy on you since you’re family, right? Blood is thicker than water, after all.]

Neaiba attempted to rationalize in a cheerful voice. Hyun Siwoo nodded.

‘That’s right. Since we’re family, she might let it slide once, right?’

[Yeah, so……]

‘I’ll help her out once more, I suppose.’

Hyun Habin, you owe me one.

Hyun Siwoo turned to the hunters. He opened his mouth in a very solemn voice.

“Yes. The situation seemed quite unusual, so I hastily completed the 50th floor conquest. It wasn’t the standard route; I used an unorthodox method, so I couldn’t obtain the ring.”

“As expected of Fides-nim!”

“We believed in you!”

Fortunately, the hunters believed his words. Although it was the first time they’d heard that conquest was possible through unorthodox methods, their very presence on the 50th floor was already unorthodox to begin with.

Hyun Siwoo nodded.

‘With this, they shouldn’t be curious about Hyun Habin, the real conqueror.’

Even amidst this, the hunters’ admiration didn’t cease.

‘As expected of Fides-nim. He’s in a different class. How did he manage to conquer the 50th floor through unorthodox means?’

‘It was unbelievable that we could even come to the 50th floor, but to think he even conquered it.’

‘So that’s why he emphasized during the meeting that we could safely visit the 50th floor!’

‘To think he completed the conquest without any casualties!’

‘Oh, Fides-nim!’

The trust in Fides grew even higher due to the 50th floor conquest. It wasn’t just awe towards the World Rank 1, but a reverence as if looking up to something beyond human.

‘Ugh…….’

Hyun Siwoo averted his gaze, uncomfortable with those looks.

Because of this, he failed to read Chae Jise’s expression as she looked at him skeptically.

‘……What? He says he conquered it himself?’

Chae Jise, who had been watching from afar, tilted her head with a displeased expression.

‘But Hyun Habin was the one who conquered it?’

Chae Jise already knew from Jiseok that the current Demon God was Hyun Habin. She also knew that the 50th floor was conquered because Hyun Habin had just obtained the ring.

So clearly, Hyun Habin was the one who conquered the 50th floor. Chae Jise had seen it with her own eyes.

‘Why is Fides lying, saying he did it himself?’

“Hmm…….”

‘Something doesn’t add up here.’

Chae Jise narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

‘Is he trying to steal all the credit from Hyun Habin?’

Of course, he might not have known it was ‘Hyun Habin’ who achieved this. But to speak so boldly about ‘conquering it myself’ in an unconfirmed situation.

‘It’s strange.’

Chae Jise had prided herself on knowing quite a bit about Fides. Fides, who had been active in leading hunters since the Gate Crisis.

In that process, Chae Jise, as the top-ranked hunter and Solaris Guild Master, had collaborated with him several times.

‘He didn’t seem like the type of person who would stoop so low as to steal someone else’s credit.’

If anything, he seemed almost disinterested in fame and honor. His style was to step in decisively only when necessary, and not interfere in trivial matters.

Even when all sorts of political and business figures tried to get close to him, he maintained boundaries and remained neutral, not swayed by any faction. He even maintained a clean and incorruptible image, never committing any wrongdoings no matter what.

Chae Jise liked these aspects of him, so she knew them well.

‘Why is someone like that suddenly acting this way? Did he really mistakenly believe he succeeded in the conquest himself?’

He couldn’t be that stupid.

Fides was famous for always thinking several steps ahead and making cold and wise judgments. Sometimes to the point where Chae Jise felt threatened.

‘Sometimes I got chills thinking he might even know some of Solaris’s secrets.’

It would be good to look into this matter a bit more. Just as Chae Jise was nodding to herself-

“Chae Jise-nim! Now that the conquest is over, we should return together.”

Just then, another hunter approached Jise and whispered. Jise smiled a businesslike smile, as if snapping out of her thoughts.

“Ah, thank you. I was a bit distracted.”

“Now that the conquest is over, we can freely leave the tower, but it’s still better to move together, haha!”

At the hunter’s hearty laugh, Jise nodded in response and followed along. Before completely stepping away, she looked back at Habin in the distance.

Having vented all her anger and seemingly tired out, Hyun Habin was standing with her arms crossed, looking indifferent.

“Tch, I don’t care anymore. Did they think I’d just take over the demon realm like that? If that’s what they think, they’re in for a surprise! I’m going home. I’m just going to a strawberry buffet.”

“……”

I should remember to make a reservation at a good strawberry buffet when I get back.

Jise hid her smirk and moved along.

◆◇◆◇◆

“Is everyone gone?”

After Fides had led all the hunters away, Habin asked Jiseok.

“I think they’re all gone…….”

Jiseok answered while looking around. He could confirm the current situation because he remembered the number of hunters and their appearances that Chae Jise had told him about. It was the same when he used his skill, ‘Penetrating Eyes’.

“They’ve all left Kill Screen.”

“Ah, I thought we were going to be found out.”

Hyun Habin sighed. Actually, she had known that hunters had entered here since about midway through the banquet.

Because-

[The constellation ‘Nearest Light’ waves happily!]

[The constellation ‘Nearest Light’ asks how you got in here, eyes shining as it requests you to tell only them!]

[The constellation ‘Nearest Light’ moves closer! It cups its hand to its ear and stares at you!]

These messages had been ringing continuously for a while.

This had been happening ever since Chae Jiseok blurted out the fact that ‘Hyun Habin = Demon God’. It was quite a curious constellation.

Not missing this, Hyun Habin had asked ‘Nearest Light’ a few things at that time.

‘You came because Jise-unni is here, right? Then did other hunters come too?’

[The constellation ‘Nearest Light’ says other hunters are also in the banquet hall, and demands that Hyun Habin should reveal a secret since it revealed one!]

Of course, Hyun Habin kept her mouth shut.

[The constellation ‘Nearest Light’ threatens to tell all the surrounding hunters if you don’t reveal-.]

‘!’

[The constellation ‘Nearest Light’ loses its light and fades away!]

‘This is quite effective, isn’t it?’

A trait that neutralizes constellations of a lower rank than Ahezar.

After using that, even ‘Nearest Light’ apologized and begged her not to use it again, promising not to ask anymore.

Was I too harsh?

Habin added words as if trying to belatedly soothe its feelings.

‘Sorry, I’m not really sure how I got here either. I’ll let you know when I understand better.’

[The constellation ‘Nearest Light’ turns its head away, saying it’ll let it slide just this once, seemingly sulking.]

Anyway, that’s how she learned the fact that ‘there were hunters in the banquet hall’.

“Ah, come to think of it, I should have used this on Glitch! I didn’t even think of it!”

Hyun Habin made an ‘oops’ expression belatedly.

The fact that could neutralize constellations.

Seeing him moving around so openly, she forgot that Glitch was a constellation and didn’t use it.

“Well, the main goal was to make him experience the Nuclear Spicy Chicken Stir-fry Noodle sauce anyway, so the result would have been the same.”

“Ahem, Demon God-nim.”

Just then, Kriksha, who was nearby, rubbed his hands together and spoke up.

“Hm? Kriksha?”

“Um…… Where and how can one obtain that red poison you were spraying earlier?”

“Red poison?”

“You know! The dangerous liquid you mercilessly sprayed on the intruder just now!”

Intrigued by Kriksha’s words, Jiseok chimed in.

“Oh, now that you mention it, what was that stuff you were spraying earlier? He seemed to be in a lot of pain when hit by it. What exactly is it?”

At this remark, Kriksha glared at Jiseok.

“How dare you speak so casually to this person! Even I can’t do that!”

“……”

“Anyway, that bottle you were shaking! What’s in it?”

“This?”

Habin held up the Nuclear Spicy Chicken Stir-fry Noodle sauce.

“……Nuclear Spicy Chicken Stir-fry Noodle?”

Chae Jiseok wore an incredulous expression upon seeing it.

“You fed him that? You retired the boss with that?!”

Perhaps due to Glitch’s performance, Chae Jiseok seemed to have judged Glitch as the boss of the 50th floor.

Chae Jiseok brought his face closer to the bottle, as if he couldn’t believe it.

“This, this isn’t just labeled like this but actually contains poison or something inside, right?”

“Smell it. It’s the real deal, you know?”

“It really is! Even when I use my skill to check, it’s just Nuclear Spicy Chicken Stir-fry Noodle sauce?”

“What did I tell you? It’s the real thing!”

As the two were arguing, Kriksha cut in with an exasperated expression.

“Don’t just keep it between yourselves, tell me too! Is this a secret technique passed down somewhere? What about the ingredients and the mixing method……!”

Kriksha spoke rapidly, seemingly excited.

“What? Ingredients? Mixing method? That’s what you’re curious about?”

“Yes!”

“Hmm, considering how kind Kriksha has been so far, I do want to teach him……”

As Habin wore a contemplative expression, Kriksha became anxious.

“I’ll be even kinder in the future, so don’t worry! Can’t you at least tell me this much?”

Habin wore a very serious expression.

“Ugh, but I think it might be difficult.”

“……Why?”

Kriksha’s expression also turned serious.

‘Could it be a legendary secret technique that the Demon God wants to keep tightly under wraps?’

Had he become curious about a forbidden realm that shouldn’t be touched?

‘As expected, my insight wasn’t wrong!’

He had set his sights on something extraordinary.

Kriksha, now extremely tense, waited for the next words. Habin finally opened her mouth.

“The manufacturer is Samyang Foods.”

“Pardon?”

Habin pointed to the text on the back that read ‘Samyang Foods Co., Ltd.’

“And it’s a big corporation.”

“So you know the maker! Then we just need to torture the maker! Ah, perhaps the maker won’t open their mouth? How dare they! In that case, I’ll personally pull out their fingernails!”

Habin shook her head blankly.

“No. Kriksha, you don’t understand yet, but you should never mess with big corporations. Of course, I have no intention of messing with small businesses either! But big corporations are especially dangerous places.”

“Dangerous? Are you saying there are places that pose a threat even to you, Demon God-nim?”

“Of course! Finding out others’ trade secrets is called industrial espionage. And industrial espionage is illegal! Clank clank.”

Habin shrugged her shoulders.

“Let me say it again, crossing the red line is absolutely forbidden.”