Chapter 124
The Birth of the 19th Over-Ranker!
The surprising news was immediately caught by the eyes of the hyenas scouring the Combat Information Archive site, not long after Drakan synchronized his user information.
[SSS Rank right after hitting max level? For real?]
[Crazy lol]
[As expected of Drakan;]
[Isn’t this almost unprecedented?]
[Not unprecedented. Eugene-nim got EX Rank on the Archive right after hitting max level;]
[Honestly, Eugene should be embarrassed if he couldn’t even do that with a Mythical grade Legacy lol]
[Seriously, even I could easily exploit a Mythical grade Legacy lol]
[Don’t speak carelessly; by that logic, isn’t your Drakan also relying on a Legendary grade Legacy?]
[Eu]
[Among the users with Legendary grade Legacies, Drakan is the first to become an Over-Ranker right after hitting max level, isn’t he?]
[Are the Eugene fanboys again working as free comment shills to defend Eugene and having a s*roke? lol]
Level 380!
He was the first to reach SSS Rank and become an Over-Ranker immediately after hitting max level.
Strictly speaking, he was the second, including Eugene, but Eugene was excluded from the comparison because he went beyond Over-Ranker and straight to Top Ranker as soon as he hit max level.
However, among the users with “Legendary grade Legacies,” he was the first to become an Over-Ranker right after hitting max level, without even completing the Legacy Quest.
Even the executives of the Revolutionary Army, the leaders of the Five Eyes, and even Eugene’s companions who were top players in the previous game, couldn’t achieve Over-Ranker status immediately after hitting max level.
They only became Over-Rankers after completing the Legacy Quest.
[Hello. Today, your Analysis King is back to quickly and accurately summarize and analyze the hottest topics in Ard World.]
[Today’s issue is this. Look, Combat Information Archive. See the SSS Rank here? Drakan has finally become an Over-Ranker.]
[Of course, it’s not surprising news that Drakan has become a new Over-Ranker. Like me, many issue creators were taking Drakan’s ascension to Over-Ranker as a given.]
[But the important thing is that he achieved Over-Ranker status without even completing the Legacy Quest. As you know, no one except Eugene has accomplished this feat.]
[I wonder how far Drakan will go once he completes the Legacy Quest. Perhaps, he might even be able to step on that position occupied by only one person.]
[Can the returned Overlord Drakan stand at the summit of Ard World once again! Wouldn’t it be worth watching? This has been issue creator Analysis King. If you enjoyed the video, please subscribe and like!]
Analysis King. An issue creator on Ard Live with 1 million subscribers!
And as soon as he, the streamer famous for being the first to grab onto in-game hot topics that are likely to explode in views, uploaded his video after biting the first bait, countless people started clicking on his video.
Analysis King’s analysis itself was nothing special, something anyone could guess with a little thought, but people paid attention to his last comment.
The returned Overlord.
The moment that nickname, ‘Overlord,’ one of the many nicknames Drakan was called in the previous game, came out of the mouth of Analysis King with 1 million subscribers, Drakan’s nickname after achieving Over-Ranker was practically decided.
Overlord Drakan!
That was the nickname Drakan received from the users of Ard World as the nineteenth Over-Ranker.
And naturally, this flow of the story reached Drakan’s ears.
▄ ▄ ▄
“With Drakan-nim becoming an Over-Ranker this time, the overall power of Jeil E&M, including JDG, is now comparable to one of the Five Eyes.”
The top floor conference room of the Jeil Content Hub building.
As always, Team Leader Lee began the briefing in the presence of me, Shin Ha-yeon, and Ignis.
“Five Eyes……”
I muttered with narrowed eyes.
Five Eyes!
It was a term referring to the top five guilds, including Eugene’s Lightwing Guild, connected through mutual alliances.
Just as the real-life Five Eyes, comprising the superpowers of the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada, and Australia, hold hegemony in the real world, the Five Eyes of Ard World practically ruled another world called Ard Saga Second.
In the first place, the name Five Eyes was also derived from there.
“Each guild included in the Five Eyes has at least two Over-Rankers.”
This was the biggest criterion that separated the top five guilds from the bottom four, now nine guilds instead of ten.
The guilds belonging to the Five Eyes all possessed at least two Over-Rankers.
Of course, even with the term “at least,” only Eugene’s Lightwing Guild possessed more than three Over-Rankers.
On the other hand, the bottom four guilds only had one Over-Ranker each.
Over-Ranker!
In Ard Saga Second, their presence, occupying the position of those beyond the heavens, rankers above rankers, was so significant that each one was treated as a strategic weapon.
Therefore, it was natural that the power of a guild would differ depending on the number of Over-Rankers.
If the number of Over-Rankers increased by one, the number of strategies a guild could employ would also increase.
And now, with me becoming an Over-Ranker, Jeil E&M had risen to a power comparable to one of the guilds belonging to the Five Eyes.
Of course, since JDG had absorbed the northern cooperative guilds that had broken away from the defeated Simseong Milky Way Guild after the victory in the war with the North, the size itself had been comparable to the Five Eyes for a long time, but now, with the addition of high-level power in the form of an Over-Ranker, they were finally completely equal to one of them.
“The public is calling Drakan-nim, who has become an Over-Ranker, the Overlord.”
“Overlord, that’s a nickname I haven’t heard in a long time.”
I responded with a smile to Ignis’s words from beside me.
Steel Monarch, Overlord, Top Ranker, Tyrant!
I recalled the various nicknames that referred to me in the previous game.
It felt new to receive one of my old nicknames again.
“So, Ignis. How are the plans for the Eastern Colony attack going?”
After briefly reminiscing about the past, I eventually snapped out of my memories and asked Ignis a question.
The East.
Unlike the Central region where the Five Eyes were located, the West dominated by Xiongmao eSports, and the South where Shooting Star Guild and Blood Axe Guild were competing for supremacy, the East was currently a no man’s land.
Of course, there was the Gasan Kingdom in the East, and there was JDG, but since the Colony happened to descend upon the Gasan Kingdom’s royal castle, the Gasan Kingdom was practically in a state of ruin, and JDG had already mostly relocated its base to the North.
The East, a chaotic mess where the royal castle had suddenly vanished, causing the administrative system to collapse, and only the local NPC lords were struggling!
It was time to conquer the Eastern Colony and expand the territory of the Iron Blood Kingdom and the Dark Alliance from the North and the Lawless Port to the entire Eastern region.
After all, my roots were in the East, and the support of the Eastern users had made me who I am today, so it was time for me to swallow up the East in return.
Only then could I continue to hold the hearts of the Eastern users.
“The plan itself is progressing smoothly. If we apply the data obtained from this attack directly to the Eastern Colony, we should be able to completely conquer it within a week.”
“The Five Eyes said they would attack three Colonies simultaneously in a week, right?”
“That’s correct.”
Ignis nodded and replied to my words.
With public opinion in an uproar due to my first attack, Eugene had just declared the simultaneous attack on three Colonies in a week as a way to appease the public.
Moreover, it wasn’t just Eugene who was stimulated by my first attack.
Xiongmao eSports in the West, and Shooting Star and Blood Axe in the South!
The remaining nine major guilds, excluding the Five Eyes, who had not yet participated in the attack, were also stimulated by my first Colony attack, and it was clear that they would try to attack the Colonies rooted in their respective regions within a week.
“We must start the attack before then.”
“Understood.”
Furthermore, the attack on the Eastern Colony had to begin quickly.
If we missed the right timing, Eugene and the Five Eyes could advance into the East.
Since the now-destroyed Gasan Kingdom had also expressed its intention to join the Alliance, they could use that as an excuse to march into the East.
In order to avoid the horrifying situation of the entire East, excluding the Lawless Port, falling into the hands of the Alliance, the Five Eyes, we had to quickly advance and devour the East while all the forces in Ard World were on edge.
In any case, my foundation was in the East, and the support of the Eastern users had made me who I am today, so it was time for me to swallow up the East in return.
Only then could I continue to hold the hearts of the Eastern users.
“And let’s say I’ll be participating in this Eastern Colony attack.”
Originally, since the Legacy Quest had appeared, I should have gone to do the Legacy Quest, but with things like this, it would be strange if I didn’t participate in the Eastern Colony attack.
Where did Drakan, the representative user of the Alliance, go while Eugene, the representative user of the Alliance, is attacking Colonies, and three of them simultaneously?
If public opinion formed in this way, I would be the one in trouble.
Therefore, in order to solidify the support of the Eastern users, and further solidify the support of the Alliance users, the Eastern Colony attack was necessary.
“Then what are you planning to do about the Legacy Quest?”
Shin Ha-yeon’s question reached my ears.
Legacy Quest!
That’s right.
I had a personal task called the Legacy Quest.
“I’ll have to deal with that after taking the East.”
I told Shin Ha-yeon that, but I couldn’t be sure that I would be able to fully focus on the Legacy Quest after conquering the East.
If we simply drove all the Colonies out of Ard World, would this current situation be resolved?
Without me needing to bring up my veteran experience, anyone could see that it wouldn’t be.
Hive Mind. The culprit behind this invasion, the master of the Broken World, and one of the four lords that make up Gehenna!
If we didn’t catch him, Phase 2 wouldn’t end.
Therefore, we would have to attack the Hive Mind someday, and that process would be a long chain quest.
And since I didn’t have two bodies, there was a high probability that I wouldn’t be able to do the Legacy Quest while carrying out the main quest in the Broken World.
The only fortunate thing was that I had achieved Over-Ranker status before starting the Legacy Quest.
‘There’s a good chance it’ll be a fruit too high to reach, but I still have to give it a shot.’
However, I couldn’t just sit back and do nothing, so I was thinking of immediately ordering the Dark Elf Queen to gather information about the legend of the Great Forest and find the location of the witch as soon as I logged into the game after the meeting.
The Dark Elves, who had lived in the Great Forest for a long time, might know something about the ‘witch’ mentioned in my quest.
Just as I was organizing my thoughts like that.
Ring ring ring ring.
A smartphone ringtone rang in the quiet conference room.
It was the ringtone of Secretary Kim, Shin Ha-yeon’s secretary, who was standing behind her.
“I apologize.”
Secretary Kim apologized and answered the phone, and soon after, spoke in a serious voice, exchanging words, and then hung up and said in a grave tone.
“Executive Director Shin. Drakan-nim. Urgent news.”
“What is it?”
In response to Shin Ha-yeon’s question, Secretary Kim answered in a subdued voice.
“Vice Chairman Shin Jeong-hyeok has simultaneously acquired Shooting Star and Blood Axe Guilds.”
The moment Secretary Kim spoke, a chilling silence fell over the conference room.
