Ranker’s Return

“Good morning, I’m Rudd Penn.”

Hyeonu didn’t pay attention to Rudd Penn, the man greeting him. He sat on the prepared wooden chair and said to Liu Shei, “You owe me one. My request probably won’t be light.”

After making a one-sided declaration to Liu Shei, Hyeonu shifted his attention to Rudd Penn. “You wanted to see me? You shouldn’t just want to say hello if you had the Third Dragon of Kowloon call me. What is your purpose? It isn’t a joke to have a busy person come here.”

Hyeonu knew the purpose of Rudd’s meeting, but he pretended not to know. It was because this was more helpful to Hyeonu.

‘He didn’t know anything and was just purely enjoying Arena’—this was the concept of the day, and its effect was amazing.

Feeling worn-out, Rudd was embarrassed.

‘What? Isn’t he different from the person I researched? Is this an act or is his usual behavior an act...?’

Rudd was perplexed. Hyeonu’s behavior was 180 degrees different from what was in the report Rudd received. The report said there was some pretension, but there was no problem with his personality. There wasn’t a cheap look like this. However, Rudd was a professional. He quickly hid his feelings and regained his usual form. “Well, it isn’t a big deal. I just want to get acquainted. This...”

From there, Hyeonu interrupted Rudd’s words. “Well, you saw my face, so I’ll be going. My time is a bit expensive. It was nice to meet you today. Let’s not see each other in the future.”

Hyeonu moved quickly, like it was an illusion that he had sat in the chair. By the time Rudd noticed Hyeonu’s movements, Hyeonu was already waving from a distance. The low-level Rudd couldn’t catch up with Hyeonu, who had exceptional movement speed even among the rankers.

Rudd didn’t know what to do and could only stomp his feet. How had he arranged this meeting? It was a meeting that used valuable and cherished information about Liu Shei. However, he couldn’t get the right words out properly.

“Why didn’t you grab him?” Rudd yelled at Liu Shei to express his absurd feelings.

Liu Shei shrugged at Rudd. “Me? Why should I? Didn’t I just have to call him here? I kept my promise. Now it is your turn.”

Like Hyeonu, Liu Shei quickly disappeared. Only Rudd’s sigh filled the space as he was left alone. “Hah...”

***

After finishing his meeting with Liu Shei, Hyeonu appeared in the arena. He had an appointment with someone. The person he made the appointment with soon appeared.

“Hello.” It was Choi Yoon—Choi Jisu’s father, the second student of Alley Leader Academy.

“You’re here. I don’t have much time, so let’s skip the greetings and show me your skills first. I’ve already seen the accompanying video, but it might be different from the real thing.” Hyeonu wanted to know about Choi Yoon’s skills as much as possible before they began streaming.

Choi Yoon understood Hyeonu’s intention and nodded silently. “Let’s start with a ranking battle.”

Choi Yoon silently followed Hyeonu’s instructions and opened a ranking battle. Shortly thereafter, Choi Yoon’s ranking battle ended. Fortunately, Choi Yoon won. However, Hyeonu’s expression wasn’t good.

“Is there a problem?” Choi Yoon was able to pick up on this.

He couldn’t see Alley Leader’s expression under the mask, but the overall atmosphere wasn’t very good.

‘Did I do something wrong?’

Choi Yoon had done his best. He didn’t want to make Alley Leader feel regretful about picking him. At this moment, Hyeonu opened his mouth. “Hmm... You did well. I’m glad you won. Can you please share your status window?”

“I understand.”

Choi Yoon shared his status window according to Hyeonu’s words.

[Status Window]

[Character Name: Choi Yoon

Level: 103

Class: Skilled Swordsman

Title: None

Stats: Strength: 210 (+70)  Agility: 150 (+50)  Physique: 140 (+65)  Magic Power: 50

Remaining stat points: 0]

Choi Yoon’s status window was shabbier than Hyeonu expected.

‘This is a bit serious... It was great that he reached here.’

Hyeonu stared at Choi Yoon’s status window for a long time and finally opened his mouth. “How many rare items are you wearing? What is the rating of your weapon?”

“I’m lucky enough to wear two rare items. The weapon has an uncommon rating.”

A sigh flowed from Hyeonu’s mouth. The item situation was also disastrous. It was lower than most players. Since Choi Yoon’s items were like this, his skills must only be those that were given when he changed classes. Hyeonu knew it without looking.

‘This is a bit...’

Perhaps, like how he told Yeongchan, Hyeonu might really have to give items to Choi Yoon. The question was if the viewers would understand it. It wasn’t a waste to give Choi Yoon the Black Jaguar set and the Dwarf’s Single-Edged Sword sleeping in his inventory. Those were items that he didn’t use anymore, and it wouldn’t make him much money if he sold them. In any case, he was wearing the Great Gorge set and Dark Star that had been transformed from Held’s Keen Sword.

[Dark Star]

[A single-edged sword filled with dark magic power. It is enclosed in a subtle black light.

Rating: Unique

Restrictions: 900 strength, 500 physique.

Durability: 2600/2600.

Attack Power: 1600

Effect: Defense penetration increased by 20%, 15% additional dark attribute damage.]

In many ways, Hyeonu’s troubles had deepened, but he didn’t show it. This was a problem he had to deal with. It wasn’t Choi Yoon’s problem.

“To what extent can you use sword energy?” Hyeonu continued to ask. In some ways, he was quite persistent.

“I can’t use it well, so the proficiency is now F+.”

“What is the skill with the highest proficiency?”

“Heavy Blow is B-.”

“Do you have any special skills? Apart from the basic ones.” 

“There is one skill that I was lucky enough to obtain. It is rated rare and is in the counter series.”

Hyeonu finally saw a bit of hope and stopped asking more questions. He had decided on a combat style to teach Choi Yoon. It involved fighting casually and using the instant counter-attack skill to end the opponent at once. The problem was that this combat style required minimal damage.

‘I need to give him the Dwarf’s Single-Edged Sword...’

“Then we will go in the direction of this skill. Is that okay?”

Choi Yoon nodded, willing to follow Hyeonu’s words unconditionally. He thought it would be right for himself. Hyeonu stated, “I don’t know the effectiveness of that skill, but all counter skills have the same triggering mechanism. It is to activate the skill when your opponent attacks. Like this.”

Suddenly, a scarecrow Hyeonu summoned appeared before him. The moment it was summoned, the scarecrow recognized Hyeonu and swung its sword. Hyeonu deflected the scarecrow’s sword and counterattacked. One time, two times...

He repeatedly deflected the scarecrow’s sword and attacked it. This was intended to show Choi Yoon how the counter skill should be used. Pure energy appeared around Hyeonu’s single-edged sword. It had a bright but subtle glow. The black pure energy cut at the scarecrow’s sword and body.

“Did you see? A counter skill is the basis of countering the opponent’s attack. It can also be used to take advantage of an opportunity. Deliberately show a gap and then attack. There is still a lot of time, so you can practice slowly.”

Choi Yoon didn’t hear Hyeonu’s words. Hyeonu’s demonstration was still passing by in his mind. With accurate timing and clean movements, everything was perfect. Alley Leader’s counter skill was perfect, making Choi Yoon wonder if he could use the skill with such ability even after learning it.

Choi Yoon managed to calm down and asked Hyeonu, “Do you have any counter skills?”

“No? Why?”

“Nothing. I was just wondering.”

“Practice with the scarecrow as your opponent. Since it is your first time, I’ll summon a scarecrow with intermediate difficulty.”

A scarecrow with a sword appeared after Hyeonu’s words ended.

The scarecrow’s attack was strangely slow. Choi Yoon subconsciously tried to swing his sword when Hyeonu let out a shout.

“Don’t attack first! Unconditionally counterattack! If your skill doesn’t work, then just hit! You have to fight back unconditionally!” Hyeonu shouted until his throat seemed to burst. Perhaps it worked. Choi Yoon flinched, but he didn’t aim his sword at the scarecrow first. His first use of the counter skill succeeded. It was a neat success without any superfluous movement.

“Nice counter!”

The problem was after that. Choi Yoon failed to calculate for after the skill and allowed the scarecrow with a specification of level 60 to attack.

“Stay calm! This isn’t reality. Never be afraid of the sword!”

Hyeonu couldn’t watch idly, so he gave out suggestions.

‘It won’t be easy...’

“I can’t,” Choi Yoon refuted Hyeonu’s words for the first time. Rather than fighting by blocking his opponent’s attack as usual, Choi Yoon had to move the sword just before his body was touched. It was hard. From the beginning, he was all thumbs when it came to the game.

Why? He hadn’t played it before. Choi Yoon didn’t enjoy the game like Dwayne did. He truly had a lousy life, being an orphan and having barely attended school. What could he do in a virtual reality game? He wouldn’t have even played Arena if it wasn’t for his daughter, Choi Jisu.

His first virtual reality game was too difficult. In particular, it wasn’t easy to adapt because he was somewhat older. As time passed, hunting was fine. The problem was PvP, which involved swinging a sword at a person. The instinctive reluctance dominated Choi Yoon’s body.

“That’s it for today.”

How much did he do against the scarecrow? Hyeonu eliminated the scarecrow. Choi Yoon saw the scarecrow disappear and sat down. Hyeonu asked him, “Was it hard? However, you have to make an effort to look great in front of your daughter. It isn’t something that someone can do for you. It is what you yourself have to do.”

Hyeonu didn’t stop and continued to move his mouth. It strangely touched on Choi Yoon’s nerves.

“I know that your daughter watches you play all day. This...” Hyeonu shook his head. This action was the final blow. It was an opportunity for Choi Yoon. He couldn’t show his daughter such an absurd sight.

“Let me try a bit more.”

Hyeonu smiled with satisfaction at Choi Yoon’s appearance. Once again, he gave a moderate whip and carrot.

“Then the stream will start in a moment.”