Only I’m the solo player

Chapter 40 – Ranker

—–CROW—– 

Trial Tower challengers are broadly divided into three categories.

Ordinary people kidnapped and dragged in by invitations, strategists climbing the tower to become Hunters, and Rankers.

Since there isn’t a separate ranking system, there’s no clear way to distinguish who is a Ranker and who isn’t.

However, generally, those called Rankers in the community are strategists who have been staying on the higher floors of the Trial Tower for a long time.

And the carry service providers who reside on the three floors that define the Trial Tower.

Floors 25, 50, and 75.

Each floor of the Trial Tower boasts unique characteristics, but among them, these three floors are called “Floors” and are treated specially by the system.

They are places with no separate labyrinth areas and only Guardian bosses that disappear once defeated.

And unlike other floors, they cannot be easily traversed using transfer gates and can only be accessed through special methods.

Therefore, carry service providers don’t go beyond those floors and take on the role of bringing newbies up to their respective floors.

“He’s a low-level Ranker residing on the 25th floor. He’s become very famous recently…”

According to Kim Jinah’s explanation, Choi Gilhyun, who had drawn his spear in front of me, is a low-level Ranker, among the weakest of the Rankers.

However, since he’s called a Ranker, he can’t be underestimated just because he resides on a lower floor.

The fact that he acts as a carry service provider, bringing challengers up to the 25th floor, means he can easily defeat the bosses of the lower floors.

He might not clear them through pure solo play like me, but he has the power to conquer up to the 24th floor while leading subpar challengers.

“J-Jinhyuk, w-what should we do?”

What should we do?  Is there any other way?

I pushed Kim Jinah and her party members, who had approached me through the crowd, back and raised my shield and sword.

Because I’m a solo player, I’m significantly stronger than ordinary 6th-floor challengers despite being on the 6th floor.

But the same applies to him.  As a Ranker, even if he’s staying on the 25th floor, his specs would be much higher than ordinary 25th-floor challengers.

His level would be higher, and his items would naturally be better.

Just look at his younger brother lying there; he had extravagant armor and an axe.

“Yes, I did it.”

I spoke to Ranker Choi Gilhyun, who was gripping his spear and fuming.

“Your little brother was hogging the dungeon entrance, and when we said we were going in, he started insulting my mother.”

He didn’t look like he was in the mood for conversation, but I tried talking anyway.  As expected, the response wasn’t good.

“So you soccer-kicked my brother in the face?  Insulting my mother? Did your mother teach you to do that?”

“Not really, but your brother seems to have learned it from you.”

“Shut up, you fucking bastard.  You just look like a high-level piece of shit.  You’re not leaving here alive today.”

I thought his brother’s character education was terrible, but it seems the older brother isn’t much different.  There’s no way to resolve this with words.

If I try to avoid a fight here and resolve this peacefully, it doesn’t seem entirely impossible, but…

I’m not going to let another insult to my mother slide.

**

Seeing him holding a spear, I can guess his class is the rare class, Spear Knight.

It’s a popular class, possessing the most stable and powerful skills among the Warrior-type rare classes.

Therefore, a lot of information about the Spear Knight class’s main skills has been released in the community.

He probably won’t use his skills predictably and show openings, but it won’t hurt to keep them in mind.

By the way, a spear, huh?

In a confrontation between melee warriors, the difference in reach has a significant impact.

Compared to my sword and shield, his spear boasts an overwhelming reach, and I expect his physical abilities to be superior as well.

He even looks taller and has longer arms than me.  His younger brother was a bit smaller than me; did he hog all the nutrients?

I could also draw my spear and respond since I’ve learned spear techniques, but I doubt my amateur spear skills would work against a real Spear Knight.

It would be better to engage in close combat with my familiar sword and shield.

“Die!”

Choi Gilhyun thrust his spear with a bright red face.

As I expected, his specs seem to be quite high; both the speed and power of his spear thrust are remarkable.

But perhaps because he’s too excited, or because he’s underestimating me, his posture and movements are awkward.

I blocked the spearhead with my shield and stepped forward.

It would be difficult to withstand the full force of his spear thrust head-on.

– *Screech!*

Sparks flew from the shield as the spearhead grazed it.  Just a graze, and it’s this powerful? As expected of a Ranker.

With my foot inside the spear’s range, I swung my sword, aiming for his side.

Unlike his younger brother, he wasn’t wearing heavy armor, perhaps because he didn’t fully equip himself, or perhaps he prefers lighter equipment.

If that’s the case, my thrust should be able to penetrate.

– *Dash!*

However, Choi Gilhyun leaped back, dodging the thrust.

It seems like his agility stat is quite high, as well as his strength.  But why did he jump back to dodge?

Is he trying to create distance cautiously and fight from a distance since he doesn’t know my class or skills?

That would definitely be better to utilize his weapon’s advantage.  He might have realized from that single exchange that I’m not an easy opponent.

But the next move he made was far from what I expected.

“You fucking bastard!”

Far from fighting from a distance, Choi Gilhyun charged straight at me again, spewing curses just like before.

What’s with this guy?

I sidestepped to dodge the thrust, which came with the same awkward posture as before.

Even though I moved to the side, Choi Gilhyun didn’t change his trajectory or swing the spear shaft to respond.

Instead, he just took two more steps forward as if he couldn’t control the momentum of his thrust.

I smacked Choi Gilhyun’s exposed temple with my shield.

– *Whack!*

It felt like hitting a rock, perhaps because of his high defense.

Choi Gilhyun staggered after being hit in the head, then turned and thrust his spear towards me again.

The spearhead glowed with a bluish light. I know what skill that is.  Spear Buster, a three-hit thrust attack.

– *Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!*

Since he was openly using a well-known skill right in front of me, I couldn’t just take the hit.

I dodged to the side again, and this time, instead of my shield, I swung my sword, aiming for Choi Gilhyun’s neck.

Judging by his defense, it didn’t seem like his neck would be severed even if I hit it.

“Gah!”

Choi Gilhyun, hit in the Adam’s apple by the blade, stumbled back, then immediately got up and regained his posture.

It was the exact same posture as before.

Don’t tell me this guy can only thrust in this posture?

No way, that can’t be. He’s a Ranker.

“Haaaaah!”

Choi Gilhyun shouted and thrust his spear with a slightly different posture this time.

I dodged to the side, and this time, he swung his spear widely, properly attacking my side.

But the way he swung it felt like he was using a staff, not a spear.  It wasn’t unbearable, but still.

Why is this guy so bad at fighting?

**

After exchanging blows for a few minutes, I came to a conclusion.

This guy is a pushover.

Actually, I thought something was strange from his first attack. But I thought it was just because he was excited.

But the more I watched, the more pathetic his skills were.  Having fought against many skilled Lizardmen spearmen, I can say this with certainty.

The class name Spear Knight doesn’t suit this guy.  Spear Technician would be more fitting.

As a Ranker, his physical abilities are strong, but his spear skills are severely lacking.

Compared to Lizardmen, he would be about the level of a low-ranking intermediate warrior?

Perhaps because of his high agility stat, his reaction speed is fast, and he occasionally lands sharp blows.

But even including that, he only looks like a low-ranking intermediate warrior.  Even for a low-level Ranker, this is pathetic.

He’s worse than our party, which has a Paladin who carries a hammer like a wand and a dual sword enthusiast who uses dual swords instead of a shield.

I was wondering why their skills were so lacking, but even that level is considered quite good among challengers.

Moreover, this guy’s fighting stance itself is wrong.

– *Whack!*

I powerfully kicked Choi Gilhyun’s ankle as he charged mindlessly.

His steps faltered, and he lost his balance and fell down.

“Are you an idiot… who wears shoe lifts to a fight?”

I thought he was quite tall compared to his younger brother, but it turned out he had shoe lifts in his shoes.  And quite high ones at that.

If I subtract the estimated height of the shoe lifts, he’s probably shorter than his younger brother.

At this point, it might be more accurate to call them not shoes, but a personal vehicle or a mount.

“Gasp, gasp… you, fucking, bastard…”

Choi Gilhyun, who had been attacking with all his might and getting beaten up by me, was on the verge of exhaustion.

He’s still cursing even after getting beaten to a pulp.

“Shut up.”

– *Clang!*

I smacked the top of Choi Gilhyun’s head hard.

After properly recognizing Choi Gilhyun’s skills, I put away my sword and was using something else as a weapon.

What I’m holding in my hand now is the Mithril Wand I obtained on the 1st floor.

It was a useless item for me, a Warrior, so I just kept it in my inventory for a while.

But since it’s made of Mithril, it’s very light and sturdy, perfect for beating this guy with high defense.

– *Clang! Clang! Clang!*

Choi Gilhyun offered his head to the Mithril Wand like a xylophone being struck by mallets.

At first, the onlookers were watching with serious expressions, but seeing the Ranker getting beaten up without being able to do anything, they started to laugh.

Perhaps fearing repercussions, they weren’t laughing openly, but a few bold ones were chuckling and using the system’s capture function.

There’s probably a humor post on the community right now with a title like “[Live: 25th Floor Ranker Humiliated.jpg]”.

Honestly, as a fellow man, I feel a bit sorry for him, seeing his pride crumble in real-time, but…

“You, fucking, motherfucking, bastard.”

Seeing him instinctively curse while getting hit in the head makes my hand move on its own.

“Shut up.”

– *Clang!*

That day, Choi Gilhyun’s photo received 300 upvotes in the community.

—–CROW—–