Ranker’s Return

“Are you Alley Leader?”

A man came forward from the group filling up Kunta Plateau. The man was dressed more prominently than the others. He was a white knight wearing white armor and holding a white sword. It was Marco, who was the guild master of the Mano Guild and ranked 22nd in the arena rankings.

“Who are you, speaking so informally as soon as we meet? It makes me feel quite bad?” Hyeonu said bluntly to Marco.

Marco shook his head at Hyeonu’s words and didn’t answer the question. ‘It doesn’t matter if it is right or not.’

“You aren’t Alley Leader? Are you a fake?”

“A fake... Go and check A-World. I’m the real one.”

“Really? Then it’s fine.” Marco gestured to the people around him. Then the Mano Guild members spread out and surrounded Marco and Hyeonu.

“What is this? Can you explain it?” Hyeonu questioned Marco like he knew nothing.

“A few days ago, you took care of a few of my kids. I’m their leader, so I have to pay you back. I can’t live while owing debts to people.” Marco aimed an ugly expression at Hyeonu. It was a powerful display of killing intent.

Hyeonu sighed and looked around. ‘There seems to be a few over 30 people... Did he drag everyone here?’

“Can you pour so many people into one spot? Aren’t you participating in the main scenario?”

“Huh, how do you know that? It doesn’t matter. If I kill you, I can get even more benefits. We also aren’t weak enough to be pushed before several people are logged out. This is Mano,” Marco declared with pride. Marco’s words were true. Mano wasn’t a guild that would be pushed by Red Bull America and JT Telecom due to a few departures. However, there was one thing he didn’t know.

“How many people will be logged out? Let’s see what will happen after you’ve all been swept away.” Hyeonu also showed a confident expression. In the first place, this big picture was drawn by Hyeonu himself. It was on the assumption that he could handle all of them.

“What? Let’s see?” Marco laughed with outrage. He didn’t know where this person’s confidence came from. 

Regardless of what Marco said, Hyeonu didn’t care. This was already going according to his plan. ‘I just didn’t expect it to happen in the middle of streaming.’

It wasn’t a bad thing though. Why?

“I’ll win.” 

Hyeonu glanced at the single-edged sword hanging from his waist. Marco and the other Mano Guild members pulled out their weapons. “Let’s compare it. Who will fall off Kunta Plateau?”

Hyeonu’s knees bent slightly as he finished speaking.

[Master of Combat is activated.]

[Your stats have increased.]

[The stat ‘fighting energy’ has caused your stats to rise.]

[The other party is stronger than you.]

[Your stats have increased.]

[Mindset of a Murderer has activated.]

[All stats have increased by 15%.]

Hyeonu’s body was reinforced with various buffs and shot forward like lightning. Simultaneously, Hyeonu’s sword shimmered. Two members of the Mano Guild were swept away by the sword energy that quickly emerged.

“Don’t panic and buff the tankers first!”

Following Marco’s order, the members of the Mano Guild acted in perfect unison. First, they healed the two warriors who were hit by Hyeonu’s sword energy and then placed buffs on the tankers. The magicians started casting attack magic and CC skills.

‘CC is partially defended against by Immovable Heart...’

[Immovable Heart]

[You possess an unwavering heart.

A disciplined mind rules the body.

Type: Continuous

Rating: Unique

Skill Proficiency: F

You will be immune to an opponent’s abnormal condition skill in a situation where the opponent’s magic power value is lower than yours.

There is a 5% chance of resisting an opponent’s abnormal condition skill in a situation where the opponent’s magic power value is higher than yours.]

If it was clear that their magic power value was higher than Hyeonu’s, they would definitely become the targets. Hyeonu had a skill for magicians. To be exact, it was Tang-E, not Hyeonu.

“Tang-E!! Roar!”

The moment Hyeonu yelled, a small bear appeared on one side of the forest. It was originally very small, but it soon became four meters tall. Then there was a huge roar that emerged from it.

[The roar of pet ‘Tang-E’ has been heard.]

[Magic casting is forcibly canceled.]

[Attack power and defense is reduced by 14%.]

“Cough.”

“Kek!”

The vast majority of the magicians’ spells were canceled. The magic power backlash was a bonus. Roar had the hidden effect of ‘fear.’ It was the ability to interfere with magic casting.

[You have received Bear’s Momentum.]

[Physique has increased.]

[Strength has increased.]

[You have received the Forest’s Blessing.]

[Defense has increased.]

[Health will continue to recover.]

Tang-E didn’t stop there. He buffed himself and pushed toward the opposing tanker line.

‘Good.’ Hyeonu smiled when he saw that the magicians’ skills were canceled. Tang-E was a really good pet. Hyeonu had this thought as he jumped into the air. Tang-E was attracting the aggro while Hyeonu’s work was behind.

***

[Giant’s Power has been used.]

[Your strength stat has increased.]

[Giant’s Nature has been used.]

[Your strength stat has increased.]

Hyeonu used the giant skills and moved. He blinked twice in a row. No one noticed that Hyeonu had moved even by the time he already swung his single-edged sword. Hyeonu’s chosen prey was a magician. No opponent was as easy to hunt as an immobile opponent.

A giant black sword energy struck the magicians who couldn’t move due to the magic power backlash. The magicians of the Mano Guild used the skills attached to their items as soon as possible. However, it wasn’t possible for Marco or the magicians to have items with skills that could prevent Hyeonu’s attack.

“Kuaack!”

“Help me!”

The magicians hit by Hyeonu’s sword energy screamed. Others were in terrible pain.

“Huup!” Hyeonu took a deep breath before moving once again. This time, it was Mysterious Sky Steps instead of Blink. The goal was some magicians who were still unable to move. However, this time Hyeonu failed to achieve his goal. Just as two magicians were logged out by Hyeonu’s sword energy, a man in white armor blocked Hyeonu’s way.

“You are rampaging very well.” Marco stepped forth.

This might be Alley Leader, but Marco had briefly observed the situation because he believed in his Mano Guild. The result was disastrous. The unexpected appearance of the bear ruined everything. The magicians momentarily lost power and became garbage. The stupid melee classes were distracted by the bear, and in the meantime, the magicians were hit by Alley Leader.

‘It is a great strategy.’ Marco smiled bitterly. “However, I can’t just watch anymore. It is up to here, Alley Leader.”

Hearing Marco’s words, Hyeonu snorted. “What are you saying? This will be your grave. How many items will you leave behind? You should be glad this isn’t a character deletion bet.”

Hyeonu hit back even harder instead. Marco heard this and kicked off from the ground. He decided it was no longer worth listening to Hyeonu. Marco’s movements were agile and unexpected for a knight in heavy armor. He truly was a top ranker of the arena. With his ranking as 22nd in the arena rankings, Marco had the items and skills to match it.

His class was a paladin. If Kim Seokjung was a famous monk player, then Marco was definitely a famous paladin player. He was called a berserker, a phoenix, a cockroach, and the like. It was evaluated that he fought really well according to his class characteristics. Unlike other paladins, he had the advantage of being fast.

‘However, that is according to other people’s standards.’

In Hyeonu’s eyes, Marco’s movements were really visible. There weren’t many monsters in the Hejin Great Mountain Range who moved at slower speeds than Marco. The tattooed golems and enhanced stone golems were both faster than Marco. A paladin had high physical strength and defense, but it was useless in front of Hyeonu. With extreme attack power, overwhelming defense penetration, and faster movement speed, Hyeonu had better specs than any other ranked player in PvP.

Of course, he was better than Marco, both in skills and items. There was nothing to see here. It was unconditionally Hyeonu’s victory. A huge explosion occurred as Hyeonu’s sword energy slammed into Marco’s sword.

“Who is moving like a slug?” Hyeonu sneered at Marco who was thrown away. It was Hyeonu who struck like a lightning bolt before Marco could move his sword.

‘Damn, I might be a paladin, but why is the movement speed so different? Isn’t his class a knight?’ Marco couldn’t understand.

Alley Leader had a knight-type class. Even if he was in leather armor, it didn’t make sense that his movement speed would be so high. It was impossible for Hyeonu to have class skills that increased his movement speed like archer or assassin classes.

In the end, Marco couldn’t come to a conclusion and decided to hit with his body. ‘It can’t be helped. It has to be the normal method.’

“Buff!” Marco shouted, and buffs flew in from all over the place.

This was the method the Mano Guild frequently used in raids. The completely buffed Marco would take on tanking and aggro while hunting the boss monster. His opponent had changed from a boss monster to Alley Leader, but Marco thought it wouldn’t make much of a difference. Rather, he thought it was a good thing.

‘His defense won’t be as high as a boss monster’s.’

He thought his offensive power would be enough to knock Hyeonu down. This was all because Marco didn’t know much about Hyeonu. If he had frequently watched Hyeonu’s videos and analyzed them even once, then he wouldn’t be making this judgment. It happened because Hyeonu’s videos always seemed like they would enter one of Marco’s ears and exit from the other.

So far, Hyeonu had caught boss monsters well even by himself. This meant that Marco, who wasn’t a boss monster, could be defeated more easily. It didn’t take long for Marco to realize this. Marco fell to just three attacks. The first blow was a collision. Marco’s main skill, Saint Cross encountered Hyeonu’s Magic Power Explosion.

In the aftermath, Marco’s guard was released. The next attack didn’t come from a single-edged sword but a fist. Hyeonu pretended to swing his sword while stretching out his left fist. Marco’s armor was struck by Hyeonu’s fist and got crushed.

Hyeonu’s gauntlets, Memories of a Murderer, held tremendous power. Since teaching Dwayne, Hyeonu’s combat style had changed a bit. It didn’t just involve the use of his single-edged sword but also his fists, feet, and shoulders. He wielded them randomly.

Then the third blow...

It was Crescent Moon Cut. The dark sword energy flew toward Marco who made a bloody sound.