Ranker’s Return

-Go to A-World’s search box and search for the terms ‘Mano’ and ‘raid’ together.

-Or you can filter it based on the number of viewers.

-Now 10 million people are watching Mano’s stream, so it should come out right away.

“Thank you, everyone. I’ll be sure to repay you later.” Hyeonu acted as the viewers taught him. He opened A-World and found Mano’s stream. “Yes, I found it. Let’s see. I’ll give commentary while watching. I’m going to stream an interlude.”

The battle was already at its peak when Hyeonu entered the Mano Guild’s stream. However, it took less than 30 seconds for Hyeonu to realize this was his imagination.

“I think Mano has done a great job. The boss monster’s body looks very wounded.”

As Hyeonu said, the body of Alkyl’s leader, Edward, was wounded. Edward’s armor showed no signs of being broken, but there was blood flowing all over his body.

-No. That is just bait. There is constant recovery.

-ㅇㅇ. Just a bit more. It’ll come out soon.

-They can’t hunt him because of this.

Hyeonu shook his head at the audience’s unexpected words. Recovery...

What did this mean?

“Does he have a skill to restore his health? Is there a pattern?” 

-No. It isn’t a pattern. It is just recovery from time to time.

-If you spill his blood, it will recover. If you cut him again, it will recover.

-Uh, he is doing it now.

At this moment, a black-red air current appeared around Edward’s body.

“How can this be? What are the magicians doing?” Marco shouted. It was a voice full of frustration.

Marco’s heart felt like he had swallowed an entire sweet potato.

‘Is this the third time?’

It was already the third recovery pattern. CC didn’t work against the scenario boss monster because his level was too high and he had good magic resistance. Additionally, it wasn’t a monster with poor intelligence as Edward was a humanoid monster. The current situation was the worst. Approximately a third of the guild members were already killed. There was no hope if Edward recovered once again.

“Use magic!!” Patrick shouted while casting his magic. Talking while casting magic—it was an amazing technique. 

Hyeonu saw it and marveled. ‘I’ve felt this way before, but this magician is very good.’

“Um... They’re not doing well. My experience is from playing other games, but when hunting a boss who uses a recovery skill, you need to use skills that don’t give him time to recover or make recovery impossible. It seems impossible for the Mano side. It will probably be over soon,” Hyeonu evaluated soberly.

Mano’s situation was frustrating. It was a situation where they were anxious and couldn’t find a solution. The Mano Guild’s magic struck Edward who was surrounded by the black-red air currents. Even so, the black-red air currents didn’t stop. There was no change. It was like nothing had happened.

“Just die, Alexander’s wastes.” Edward swung his sword quickly. The black-red force concentrated around Edward’s sword shot out in the form of a crescent moon. Then the pure energy flew quickly toward the place where the magicians were gathered.

“Use defensive magic!” Patrick immediately gave the order. Simultaneously, he deployed a shield. The shields of the magicians were overlapped over Patrick’s shields. However, the shields which looked very hard were torn apart. Edward’s pure energy tore them apart like tearing a sheet of paper.

“Ack!”

It was an annihilation. The Mano Guild was signed out with a short scream.

“Aren’t I right? You have to be careful when hunting humanoid boss monsters. They have very powerful skills and intelligence. It isn’t hard for nothing. That’s why I beat the executives the way I did. It is impossible for someone else.” Hyeonu gave commentary that showed his signature great sense of pride.

-Ah, it is here again.

-Why can he never stop bluffing?

-This is his nature. It can’t be helped. It is easier if you give up.

-However, it is impossible to refute the facts.

Now the viewers gave up. It was just like this. After all, it didn’t matter if he boasted or not. Even Marco knelt under Edward’s sword.

“Alexander... It won’t be long before I cut your neck.”

This was the end of the stream. Once the raid came to an end, the Mano Guild’s stream ended. Hyeonu turned off A-World and returned to the screen.

“I’m sorry, but I’ll see you in five minutes. In the meantime, ads will be playing. I will be preparing for the Edward raid. Then I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

Hyeonu played an advertisement during the stream and sent a whisper to Gang Junggu.

‘I don’t know where Edward is.’

Hyeonu heard that the Mano Guild had raided Edward, but he had no information on Edward’s location.

-To Gang Junggu: Hyung-nim?

-From Gang Junggu: Are you going to ask Edward’s location? I was going to tell you, but you just left?

Gang Junggu had already grasped Hyeonu’s intentions.

He had predicted this behavior when he saw Hyeonu leave the meeting room without looking back.

 -From Gang Junggu: There is a building similar to the imperial palace of the empire. Edward is there.

-To Gang Junggu: Thank you, Hyung-nim.

‘Time... There is a lot left.’

There were still four minutes left before the advertisements were over. Hyeonu was now going to check the rewards of the quest.

[Successor of the Mysterious Sky Demonic Art]

[Find the traces of the master of the Mysterious Sky Demonic Art who crossed the Balder Mountains in the past.

Rating: A+

Condition: xxxx’s Journal 1/1

Rewards: Experience, xxxx’s keepsake.]

Fortunately, Held had xxxx’s journal and dropped it.

[Successor of the Mysterious Sky Demonic Art has been cleared.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[xxxx’s keepsake has been acquired.]

[A quest has been created.]

[Trail of the Previous Generation]

[Discovered the diary of the former master of the Mysterious Sky Demonic Art.

Read the journal and chase his trail.

Rating: A+

Condition: xxxx’s trail 0/1

Rewards: Experience, xxxx’s keepsake.]

Numerous messages appeared. Hyeonu removed the new quest window and checked the keepsake straight away. The keepsake was a small ring. The name of the ring was Master of the Mysterious Sky.

[Master of the Mysterious Sky]

[A ring used by the masters of the Mysterious Sky Demonic Art for generations.

It has been exposed for a long time to the mysterious demonic power energy and has been stained.

The more you achieve in the Mysterious Sky Demonic Art, the more effective the ring will be.

Rating: Epic

Restrictions: One who has learned the Mysterious Sky Demonic Art.

Effect: All stats +150, the strength of magic power increased by 15%, skill cooldown reduced by 9%.]

“Groan... It has an epic rating.”

Hyeonu acquired his first epic item. It wasn’t just Hyeonu alone. As far as he knew, no one else had acquired an epic item, so he was the first. Hyeonu wore the ring without hesitation and placed Goryeon’s Ring in his inventory. Goryeon’s Ring was the ring with the lowest specs. It added experience and skill proficiency and 100 points in magic power. In Hyeonu’s current state, the Laek Completion Proof Ring that gave +100 to all stats was better than just magic power +100. 

However, that wasn’t all. The moment he put on the new ring, another message appeared.

[The skill Mysterious Sky Demonic Art’s rank has risen to 3 stars.]

[The skill ‘Mysterious Sky Range’ will be created.]

[Mysterious Sky Range]

[Use magic power to create a blade storm.

Cooldown Time: 5 minutes.]

Once the Mysterious Demonic Martial Art reached three stars, a new skill was created that seemed to be quite powerful.

“Sigh. Let’s relax, Hyeonu.” 

Hyeonu struggled to clear his mind as much as possible as he thought about the upcoming stream. Still, he couldn’t stop himself from smiling.

***

“Is that man Edward?”

Hyeonu moved to the place that Gang Junggu told him about. It was reminiscent of the emperor’s palace. Just like the emperor, Edward sat on the throne.

“Are you Edward, the leader of Alkyl?!” Hyeonu exclaimed.

He had an ulterior motive behind doing this. It was the result of analyzing the Mano Guild’s raid video. He came to the conclusion that no one could independently hunt Edward. So, Hyeonu planned to extract as much information as possible in case of the worst situation.

“Who are you? You dare to come here and say my name in that manner?!” Edward descended from the throne and slowly walked forward toward Hyeonu.

He had an overwhelming presence. Every time he took a step, the space became breathless.

‘I need to look for an opportunity to summon Tang-E.’

“I am the disciple of the empire’s number one knight, Duke Lebron. Leader of the rebels, I have come to take your head.”

It was cheesy, but it couldn’t be helped. This was the only way he could get better information.

‘I don’t know who developed this part, but they have bad taste.’

Regardless of Hyeonu’s dissatisfaction, Edward started to do what he had to do.

“Lebron? That person has a disciple? Moreover, it’s an adventurer? Hahaha!” Edward burst out laughing. “Sure, if you can take it, then take it. However, the price of the opportunity will be your life.”

Edward slowly pulled out his sword. Hyeonu summoned Tang-E without missing a beat. Tang-E appeared with a brilliant magic circle and noticed it easily. “Master, I feel a very strong magic power over there. You must avoid it.”

“It is too late. Tang-E, hide in the back. Don’t forget to use your buffs and magic.”

Tang-E nodded at Hyeonu’s words. He buffed Hyeonu and hid in an inconspicuous space.

[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.]

[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 felt his entire body heat up even more. Due to his many buffs and skills, his stats had risen in a ridiculous way. This wasn’t the end. Edward was a boss monster, and he was also a humanoid one. Hyeonu’s stats were raised once again due to the Solo Raider and Achieved 100 Consecutive Wins titles.

‘In the end, I didn’t gain any information.’

Sigh. Hyeonu let out a small sigh. He hadn’t received any information. Now he had to risk his own life to kill Edward.

‘If I can’t kill him, I will be giving away this scenario to others.’

Hyeonu was desperate. It would be the end if he didn’t kill Edward. Such a mindset provided appropriate tension for Hyeonu. Hyeonu also pulled out his sword. There was no time to convert the shape of the new sword, but this didn’t mean Hyeonu couldn’t use it.

Hyeonu lightly released sword energy. Hyeonu’s strategy against Edward was simple. He was going to use out-boxing. He would open the distance and jab thoroughly at the opponent. This was a strategy that was possible thanks to one of Hyeonu’s items—the reward from Dwarf Edchan, Memories of Murder. To be precise, it was this effect: 

[Health and magic power will recover by 5% of the damage dealt to monsters (includes players and NPCs).]

The health and magic power recovery options were Hyeonu’s weapons against Edward, who had an unlimited recovery pattern.

‘Let’s see whose magic power runs out first.’

Edward broke apart Hyeonu’s sword energy easily. He swung his sword toward the sword energy, and it exploded.

“Is it only this much? Are you truly Lebron’s disciple?” Edward moved. He was so fast that afterimages were visible. Edward’s sword was narrowly blocked by Hyeonu, but he wasn’t pushed too much.

‘Edward isn’t very strong without pure energy.’

This was the disadvantage of humanoid monsters. They lacked physical ability compared to other boss monsters. Of course, this was also a disadvantage due to Hyeonu’s ridiculous stats supporting his offensive. Thus, it was a disadvantage, but it could also not be a disadvantage.

‘I will go forward step by step.’

Hyeonu planned for this raid to last a long time. In any case, there was no information. The best way to do this was to push straight forward. Hyeonu’s body grew. His movements were so fast that it looked like his body stretched. Hyeonu showed a sudden movement and swung his sword several times. 

Edward didn’t care about being cut with Hyeonu’s sword because he believed in his recovery skill. Rather, he wielded his sword to counterattack.

[Edward, the leader of Alkyl, has received the abnormal condition ‘bleeding.’]

‘Uwah, crazy guy.’

Hyeonu prayed. This was a complete lunatic. The name ‘berserker’ couldn’t be better suited. Hyeonu wasn’t afraid of being beaten, but he was tired of Edward’s attitude of only attacking. Edward wielded the long sword with black-red energy around it. Hyeonu lightly avoided Edward’s attacks.

There was a paper-thin gap between Edward’s sword and Hyeonu’s sword. Hyeonu immediately fought back with fresh movements.

‘Heavy Blow.’

It started with Heavy Blow.

‘Magic Power Explosion.’

Then there was an explosion of magic power.

‘Crescent Moon Cut.’

The finish was Crescent Moon Cut. A huge black crescent moon energy emerged from Hyeonu’s sword and aimed at Edward.

[Edward, the leader of Alkyl, has received the abnormal condition ‘bleeding.’]

The black sword energy that appeared in front of Edward’s eyes cut off his right hand. Blood spurted from the place where the right hand was cut off.

“Kuhahaha! After all, you’re worthy of being Lebron’s disciple. Then let’s have a proper fight from now on.”

Edward laughed crazily, and he didn’t seem aware that his hand had been cut off. A black-red air current soon wrapped around his body.

‘It is the recovery pattern.’

Hyeonu was watching Edward show the pattern of recovery when he realized he had forgotten something.

‘Damn...’

“...Uh!!”