The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times

Chapter 74

Lair Grand Temple.

The temple that worshipped the ancient god Lair and had produced the greatest high priests and holy knights in history.

A place even the most ambitious empire dared not touch—recognized as the temple of God.

Though called a temple, it was essentially considered a power faction holding a significant position in Abtartel.

True to its name, the interior was no joke.

– Wow… Master, what is all this? Why is it so vast?

– Lisa…

As soon as Jihad and Elisa stepped in, they were awestruck, their jaws nearly dropping in amazement.

The hallway was that overwhelming, leaving viewers stunned.

It looked as if an exceptional craftsman with steadfast faith had poured all his effort into creating it, one detail at a time.

Each decoration was akin to a piece of art.

The walls and ceilings alike radiated a sense of sanctity, leaving even Do-hyeon marveling.

‘It’s truly impressive.’

He had heard about it, but seeing it in person doubled the impact.

The higher up the cities he visited, the richer the sights seemed to become.

No wonder this went beyond a mere game and took over the world.

“This way. Please proceed with your conversation.”

“The High Priest is waiting for you inside.”

After a few minutes of walking while sightseeing, they arrived at an entrance.

The priests bowed their heads politely and stepped aside.

The door before them was distinctly more ornate than any others.

Creak.

As they entered without hesitation, all eyes turned to them.

The interior’s sacred decor was so holy it exuded divine energy that couldn’t even be felt outside.

Yet, before they could bask in the sanctity, a heavy and chilling killing intent filled the air.

“Are you the one who brought ‘that’?”

The cold voice belonged to a young knight.

Standing behind a wrinkled old man with a long white beard, who appeared to be the High Priest, was a blonde man whose presence was anything but ordinary.

His indifferent voice seemed mild, but his menacing expression left no doubt about his deadly aura.

However, what drew Do-hyeon’s attention more was something else.

[Sir Zerdic]

‘…Red?’

The nameplate floating above the blonde man’s head.

Its color was red.

‘An NPC with a colored name? Is it because he’s a knight?’

NPCs like merchants, alchemists, or regular residents usually didn’t have colored nameplates.

Nameplate colors could be considered a measure of combat strength.

Thinking this through, it occurred to Do-hyeon that this was his first proper encounter with a knight in *God of Savior*.

‘A red color, huh…’

The color indicated a large gap in level or combat power.

With a red this intense, it meant the knight’s level was far superior to Do-hyeon’s.

– …Master.

– Lisa…

Jihad, true to the Guardian’s nature of sensing strengths and weaknesses, quickly picked up on the intensity and subtly signaled Do-hyeon.

Recognizing the same reaction he had seen when encountering Gamillion, Do-hyeon nodded.

‘So knights really are that strong.’

When discussing the strongest in God of Savior, most would mention the top 10 guilds, including Myeolsal, or players of equivalent status.

But if asked who was truly the strongest?

The answer would be the NPCs.

Unlike the players, who had been in the game for only a year and a half, the residents of Abtartel had spent long years building their power and forces.

It was only natural they were strong—no, they had to be.

‘If NPCs were weaker than players, the balance would never hold.’

Players were immortal beings, after all.

If they decided to wreak havoc in a city, it would cause utter chaos.

Without a force to control that, the game wouldn’t be what it was today.

As such, NPCs like knights, mages, and private militia were relatively stronger than the players residing in the city.

Among them, those called the Seven Strongest were said to be at a level beyond what players could handle.

‘They say they can even take down dragons…’

The Seven Strongest were akin to Sword Masters in fantasy novels or top ten martial artists in wuxia stories.

Without even reaching the Seven Strongest, a mere ‘knight’ boasted incredible prowess.

The knights encountered in the tutorial were heavily downgraded by design.

But ordinarily, knights could slice through orcs as if they were nothing.

Renowned commanders of knight orders were said to be capable of slaughtering raid bosses single-handedly.

– Master…

‘I know.’

The smile on Do-hyeon’s face vanished.

It was a habit of his when he focused.

While he didn’t know how strong Brion’s knights were, Do-hyeon was confident in his specs and was prepared to fight if necessary.

As the tense atmosphere hung over them, a heavy voice broke the silence.

“Enough.”

It came from a middle-aged man leaning against the wall behind the blonde knight.

His nameplate read [Sir Taxinel], and it was also red.

“He’s a guest. Show some respect.”

“…Apologies.”

As if the murderous intent had been a lie, the blonde knight immediately withdrew it.

What replaced it was an expression of regret.

“…It wasn’t my intention. I ask for your forgiveness.”

Though his tone was a bit rough, his sincerity was evident.

As Do-hyeon frowned slightly, the old man sitting at the head of the room chuckled kindly and apologized in his stead.

“Haha, my apologies. Sir Zerdic surely didn’t mean any harm. It’s just that what you’ve brought is highly sensitive to him… I hope you understand.”

“Yes.”

While he didn’t know what it was, Do-hyeon accepted the apology, focusing instead on advancing the quest.

Fortunately, they seemed to share the same goal as him and swiftly moved on to the main topic.

“We do not know who you are or what you do, only that you are a stranger to these lands.”

“…”

“But that doesn’t matter. What’s important is that you’ve brought this.”

The old man pulled out a handkerchief and carefully picked up a small box containing ‘it.’

A substance resembling hardened black liquid.

Though seemingly harmless, it looked disturbingly ominous wrapped in the handkerchief.

“Do you know what this is?”

“…No.”

Do-hyeon answered honestly.

Pretending to know something about which he was clueless was a losing move in front of NPCs.

Fortunately, the High Priest didn’t seem to have expected an answer and continued without concern.

“Haha, I see. While I can’t disclose much due to confidentiality, removing this is one of our temple’s sacred duties.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Where did you find this, by any chance?”

Although it was a bit uncomfortable that they wouldn’t reveal its identity, Do-hyeon didn’t care much.

He was used to encountering such secretive quests in DemRock.

Considering there had been quest givers who didn’t even reveal their identities, this was relatively tame.

“I found it in the Salt-Rock Forest. It was buried in a rock.”

“…In a rock, you say?”

“Yes, it was buried with blood, so it was likely hard to spot with the naked eye.”

Even so, he didn’t forget to subtly boast.

A little emphasis that not just anyone could find it might make it more impactful.

However, the effect of his boast exceeded expectations.

“…You found this, buried in a rock with blood? Are you perhaps a priest?”

“No.”

“Then did you use some special equipment…”

“I just happened to spot it while passing by.”

“Huh.”

High Priest Gildetti chuckled in genuine amazement.

“Not a priest, nor using equipment, yet you found this… I sense no divine power from you, so you must be truthful.”

“Could it be some kind of demonic energy…”

“Stop it. You know better than anyone. If that were the case, wouldn’t the High Priest have noticed?”

Taxinel’s firm words made Zerdic step back.

He was right.

If Gildetti couldn’t detect demonic energy, no priest or saint in the world could.

After all, he had an unrivaled reputation for sensing demonic energy.

But this made it all the more unbelievable.

“Don’t be too harsh, Sir Taxinel. I understand the skepticism. In that case… Are you perhaps an explorer?”

“I’m not an explorer, but I do have some skills in that area.”

“Ah, as expected. Just a little, you say… So humble, haha.”

For some reason, Gildetti seemed convinced.

As he looked at Do-hyeon, his gaze changed, as though he were observing a master of a particular field, leaving Do-hyeon puzzled.

“High-ranking priests often have to team up with renowned explorers and put great effort into finding something like this. Yet you claim you found it so easily, calling it ‘just a little.’ Ha, such a jest.”
“…?”
“If our clerics heard this, they would feel utterly defeated.”

“…??”

Do-hyeon clutched his head, struggling to make sense of the increasingly incomprehensible conversation.

‘Wait, so…’

Let’s piece this together.

This “ominous energy” quest item is something that’s incredibly difficult to find, correct?

So difficult that it requires a combination of extraordinary divine power and search skills.

‘And I just breezed through it with the Eye of Truth.’

Now it all made sense.

In short, the Eye of Truth was performing as absurdly as ever—a crazy overpowered feature once again proving its broken nature.

‘I thought it was nothing special because it was marked as rare…’

Turns out, it was a major find.

In cases like these, an item might start as rare-grade but eventually escalate in value as the quest chain unfolds.

‘At the very least, this should be Rare+… Maybe even Hero-grade?’

By the time the final quest in the chain rolled around, it would likely reach Hero-grade with high probability.

He never expected a quest item he had no real hopes for to turn into such a jackpot.

Do-hyeon’s eyes glimmered with newfound excitement. He was eager to hear what came next, and Gildetti quickly delivered.

“How fortunate this is. We were running low on the materials needed to process this… May I ask you for a small favor?”

Before he could finish speaking, a cheerful notification chimed.

[You have cleared the quest ‘Ominous Energy.’]

[Gildetti’s favorability has increased.]

[Due to the title ‘Max Favorability from the Start,’ favorability increases even more.]

[A linked quest, ‘Material Search,’ has been generated.]

—

[Material Search]

Grade: Rare

Description: The Lair Grand Temple is short on materials to process the ominous energy. Help Gildetti by gathering the required materials.

Concentrated Orc Blood (0/5)

10-Year-Old Trafilka Root (0/1)

Red Holy Herbs (0/3)

Quest Success Reward: Increase in Gildetti’s favorability, Advanced Skill Draw Ticket, and the generation of the linked quest ‘Processing Phase.’

Quest Failure Penalty: Linked quests become unavailable.

—

‘Great, as expected, there’s another linked quest.’

And this time, the reward was none other than an Advanced Skill Draw Ticket.

Considering he got the quest for free, the reward was a godsend.

Though it was a typical grindy fetch quest, which could be a downside.

Normally, he might have grumbled about the tedious nature of it, but Do-hyeon was too excited to care.

‘This is the perfect chance to see if I can finally find those herbs.’

It was a great opportunity to confirm the full extent of the Eye of Truth’s abilities.
Even if not, it aligned perfectly with his main quest, which required hunting Orcs anyway—a win-win situation.

“Sure, I’ll get the materials right away…”

“…Hold on.”

Just as Do-hyeon was about to leave, eager to dive into the field, Gildetti’s face shifted.

Gone was the kind smile; his expression had grown serious.

He seemed to have noticed something unusual, locking eyes with Do-hyeon with an intense gaze that grew sharper by the moment.

It felt as if he was peering into his very soul.

“Why are you suddenly…”

“You’re not an ordinary person, are you? Even your search skills alone aren’t normal… To think such a remarkable individual would appear.”

“…What?”

Gildetti straightened his back and spoke with a more solemn tone.

“And to think, you’re a top graduate.”

“…Huh?”

“They say the trials given by the gods to their apostles are challenging. If you were the one who passed the Raven Trial in the first city with top honors… You can be trusted.”

[The title ‘Top Graduate’ responds.]

[You meet the hidden conditions.]

[The linked quest ‘Material Search’ has transformed into ‘…….’]

‘…What?’

Do-hyeon was stunned.

Before he could process the situation, Gildetti continued.

“To understand, I must tell you this first. Aren’t you curious about the true nature of the item you brought?”

“Ah…”

Caught off guard, Do-hyeon couldn’t answer properly.

Not that it mattered—Gildetti seemed intent on delivering a predetermined speech.

“The most ominous energy in Abtartel, the trace of terror, the worst and most fearsome entity, the dread of the underground…”

“…”

“We call it many names, but this is a remnant of it. We refer to it as…”

Gildetti paused, not immediately continuing.

Behind him, Zerdic clenched his fists tightly. After taking a deep breath, Gildetti finally spoke in a low voice.

“The Abyss.”

“…!”

At the familiar term, Do-hyeon’s eyes widened.

It was the moment when the Abyss, a fearsome entity that had nearly brought destruction to Abtartel, was brought into the conversation.