REAPER SCANS
How to Raise Your Skeletons
[Translator – Dawn]
[Proofreader – BringTheRayn]
Chapter 166: The World Ranker Announcement Ceremony (2)
About two minutes ago…
On our way to Demir’s workshop, after briefly catching up with the Five Stars of Seoul, Gi Soyul and I confirmed that the three letters of my name were broadcast on a building’s electronic billboard.
[Rank 78 - Joo Donghoon, the Skeleton King]
“Wow.”
“Huh?”
We both gasped at the same time.
Then Gi Soyul muttered as if she couldn’t believe it, “Is this real, Donghoon? Really, 78th place?”
“Haha. Looks like it?” I scratched my head.
78th place in the rankings?
Honestly, I was surprised, too. I knew I would become a ranker, but I didn’t expect to climb so high…
“Ahahaha! As expected of my disciple! Congratulations, lad!”
To commemorate the occasion, I had already summoned the Elder of All Techniques.
Even Gi Soyul, who usually kept her composure, seemed excited. She was so shocked.
“But how in the world…? I always knew the aura you gave off was unusual, but…”
“I told you. I broke every record in Delilah’s trial.”
I had only given the Five Stars of Seoul a rough explanation of the trial. Of course, telling them about it wasn’t a violation of confidentiality.
“But still…! Even the Berserker set overwhelming records in that trial, but he was ranked in the 500s. No matter how amazing you might be, 78th place is… This is something else entirely!”
“To be honest, I’m pretty surprised too.”
“Is it… thanks to that elder floating next to you?” Gi Soyul asked cautiously.
Ah, right. The reason she had been sticking close to me was also because of the Elder, wasn’t it?
“Hahaha! The assassin woman recognizes this teacher’s contributions! Ahaha, yes, yes! Your remarkable growth is all thanks to me, of course!” the old man beamed with joy.
Well, that wasn’t exactly wrong, but hearing him praise himself so much was kind of irritating.
“That might be part of it. But mostly, it’s the result of my efforts.”
“What?”
“No matter how great a teacher is, if the student doesn’t put in the effort, it’ll all be meaningless, right?”
“…That’s true. You’re right.”
As Gi Soyul innocently nodded in agreement…
“What?! You little…!” the old man roared.
Oh, come on, it’s just a joke. Of course, I owe a lot to you, Elder.
“Right? I almost thought my disciple was such an ungrateful brat that his brain had turned into boiled soup.”
Hahaha. No way.
I tried my best to ignore him and turned back to Gi Soyul. Actually, I’d noticed this for a while now, but the energy within her heart was no ordinary energy.
“By the way, Dark Empress, your aura has become much more refined compared to before.”
“Ah,” she nodded. “That’s right. Since your ranking is higher than mine now, I guess you can see it all.”
“Well, it’s not just that…”
Perhaps because I had fought the shadow dogs and learned their shadow techniques, I could tell that the Dark Empress had achieved significant growth compared to before.
“After you left, I worked really hard. My brother too. Of course, we didn’t grow as much as you did.”
“I see.”
Honestly, I had gained things even more valuable than rank 78, like the poison mist and the godslayer-rank weapon. To be honest, I even thought that if those had been included in the rankings, my ranking might’ve been higher.
However…
As I said before, including items in the ranking system wouldn’t make sense. If that were the case, White Swine’s ranking wouldn’t have been stuck in the 800s.
Moreover…
I still couldn’t completely control the Elements. Claiming it as my power when I couldn’t even handle them properly would be ridiculous.
To be honest, even though I finally became the ranker I had dreamed of all my life, I felt surprisingly indifferent. Probably because I already knew this would happen and had set a new goal.
My new goal is to reach rank 1.
Of course, it would be a lie to say I wasn’t happy. Today, I was thrilled more than anyone else.
“Anyway, we’re here. Shall we go up?”
{Demir’s Workshop}
I smiled as I looked at the terrace above the building. Now I could leap up there in a single bound. No matter what anyone said, I was now an S-rank hunter and a ranker.
* * *
Reaper Scans
Translator - Dawn
Proofreader - BringTheRayn
Join our discord for updates on releases! https://discord.gg/reapercomics
* * *
"So what in the world happened, shop master? You just disappeared without a proper explanation, completely messing with me! Huh? Hic! This is just too much!” Kim Jinah fumed, her face flushed red, even hiccupping as she did so.
"First, please calm down," I smiled awkwardly.
"How can I calm down? You dumped all the work on me, vanished like dust, and then suddenly reappeared as a ranker…! Hic! I mean, well. If you think about it, I guess that kind of fixes everything, but still…! Do you have any clue how hard it was for me? No breaks, cleaning up after accidents, selling items, handling advertising!"
I completely understood Kim Jina—I would have reacted the same way. It was true that I had left without a proper explanation.
"I can't tell you the details right now," I said sincerely. "But when the time comes, I promise I will explain everything. I'm sorry."
"Haah…" She sat down and took a deep breath. Still trembling, she pointed at the TV. "So. The damn news is real, huh?"
"Yes, it's real."
"…Alright!"
"Excuse me?"
"I said it's great! Damn great! My goodness. The person I decided to serve became a ranker! And not just any ranker, but 78th place! And also—huh?" Kim Jinah had been excitedly pointing at the TV when her eyes suddenly widened. "What? Huh?! Wait a minute! Look at that! Dark Empress too? No way!"
"Hm?" I also turned my gaze to the screen, and there, I saw the Dark Empress’s ranking.
[Rank 151 - Gi Soyul, the Dark Empress]
"Wow," I marveled.
Gi Soyul also looked at the screen with a slightly flushed expression.
"Wait, Dark Empress! Weren't you ranked 379th? When did you rise to 151st?!" Kim Jinah shouted. "Oh my gosh! This is a full-on festival for Demir’s Workshop! Ahh, this feels like all the hardships are finally paying off…!"
Gi Soyul said she worked hard, and that was no exaggeration. Knowing her personality, she wouldn’t say she worked hard unless real blood had been shed and real bones had been worn down.
“Ahh! Another piece of good news! The Dark Empress! Her ranking has skyrocketed!”
“That’s right! Who would have expected the Dark Empress to break into the 100s?”
“Agreed! Truly the younger sister of the Fine Bow! What a pair of siblings to be proud of!” the TV host said.
"I can’t hold back anymore." I picked up a beer can from the table. "I don’t usually drink, but today calls for a celebration."
—Pssht!
I casually popped open the can and handed it to the Dark Empress.
"…Thank you." She accepted it.
"Great, great! Let’s drink! Let’s go all out with the company card tonight!"
Since it was a night the whole world was celebrating, Demir’s Workshop would have a feast too.
At that moment…
"Master! Master! You’re finally back?!"
Demir, who had been upstairs, ran down upon sensing my presence.
"Oh, Demir," I greeted him warmly.
Now that I thought about it, I had completely forgotten about him.
"Gahaha, Master! You’ve gotten even stronger!" the cheerful skeleton laughed heartily.
For his sake, I summoned more of my absolute beings.
[Using skill ‘Summon Skeleton Lord’ (S-rank).]
[Consuming 20 energy.]
[Summoning ‘Sun Spear.’]
[Using skill ‘Summon Skeleton Lord’ (S-rank).]
[Consuming 20 energy.]
[Summoning ‘Eldrin.’]
[Using skill ‘Summon Skeleton Lord’ (S-rank).]
[Consuming 20 energy.]
[Summoning ‘Kaden.’]
[Using skill ‘Summon Skeleton Lord’ (S-rank).]
[Consuming 20 energy.]
[Summoning ‘Dana.’]
"Whoa?" Demir flinched in surprise. "Wait, are these… Boney 4 and Boney 7? Have they awakened?"
"They’re new friends. Greet each other properly."
For the newly awakened Kaden and Dana, I even hosted a skeleton gathering.
"Is this the Benefactor’s world?"
"…So we must be the subordinates of the Benefactor!"
Kaden and Dana looked around the workshop with fascinated eyes.
"Gahaha! So we have juniors now! Come here! If you listen to me, I’ll teach you how to please our master!" Watching them, Demir let out a hearty laugh.
"…Really? If I can make our Benefactor happy, I would be more than willing."
"I, too, will engrave any method to bring happiness to our Benefactor into my heart."
Kaden and Dana stuck close to Demir.
"Congratulations, my lord."
"You seem pleased, Master."
Sunny and Eldrin greeted me. This wasn’t chaos—it was a bone-filled celebration.
Not bad.
This was a Demir’s Workshop party.
The TV hosts continued, “Moving on with the rankings!”
“Ah, Black Sword Lee Sunah, is ranked 410! She climbed nearly 100 spots! That’s an incredible achievement!”
“Indeed, this explains why they are called the Five Stars of Seoul!”
“…”
The rankings continued to be announced as we drank beer and enjoyed the moment.
“White Swine is ranked 840!”
“He used to be 828, so dropping 12 ranks isn’t too bad!”
“That’s right! And White Swine is a merchant! The fact that a merchant is even in the rankings is impressive!”
“Exactly! And not just any merchant! He’s a billionaire ranker and the vice leader of the Merchants Union!”
Yoo Sangdon the White Swine’s ranking had dropped, but no one criticized him for it. Because what made him terrifying wasn’t his ranking—it was his wealth.
“Oh, and we’ve received new information regarding Rank 78!”
Huh? 78? That’s me.
We all naturally focused on the screen.
“Yes! According to the association, Joo Donghoon is indeed a proud hunter of South Korea!”
“Honestly, we suspected it as soon as we heard! The recently famous master of Demir’s Workshop!”
“That’s right! And there’s more!”
“More news?”
“Yes! The ranker who was previously 84th and now 80th, Floa the Thundercry, has posted something on social media, and it’s trending!”
Floa the Thundercry? Oh, was she below my ranking now?
“…”
I once again realized just how fast I had grown in that short of time. She was a bit below me, but overall, we were on a similar level.
Anyway.
What did she post to cause such a stir?
“On her SNS, she wrote: ‘Skeleton King is a ranker I acknowledge! He will soon become a world legend! I, Floa, support him!’”
“What in the world…? Isn’t Floa the hero of Germany?”
“We don’t know what happened between them, but this is amazing! A top 100 ranker is publicly recognizing someone before controversy can even arise, completely shutting down any doubts!”
Oh. Did I leave that much of an impression on her? The bet I had with her… I was just planning to treat it like a simple favor to be called upon in the future.
At that moment…
"Uh, shop master?" Kim Jinah called me with a baffled expression.
"Yes?"
"Just what did you do to cause all this…?" She held up her phone with a disbelieving look. "Look at this. This doesn’t make sense…"
"What now?" I took it from her curiously.
The screen was filled with breaking news headlines.
“Breaking News! World Rank 90, Masked Rider: ‘Joo Donghoon is a great ranker who will rewrite history.’”
“World Rank 39, Mudskippers, posts on SNS! ‘Joo Donghoon is the all-time genius of humanity!’”
“World Rank 50, Raon the Golden Lion: ‘Joo Donghoon? He’ll easily surpass me soon.’”
“World Rank 68, Grim Reaper: ‘Joo Donghoon’s great challenge has only just begun.’”
“Sudden wave of high-rankers praising Joo Donghoon?! What’s going on?”
…
Just endless streams of praise for me.
What was going on? And what was up with these people?
____
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