Ranker’s Return

[A mountain harpy has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[You have leveled up.]

[All health and magic power have been restored.]

“It is a neat finish.”

Hyeonu smiled brightly at the message that appeared in front of him. He had spent two days constantly hunting in the Balder Mountains, aside for the time required to sleep and eat. During this time, he only hunted. As a result, he gained levels at a phenomenal speed. His level had already risen twice. He had never hunted this easily, apart from during his early days of returning to Arena. 

It was different from the tension of fighting opponents dozens of levels higher than him. This was stress relief, not hunting. Hyeonu beat the monsters in the Balder Mountains like hitting a sandbag in the gym.

‘Oh, this is very refreshing.’

Hyeonu didn’t show it, but he had been quite stressed by the reduced balance in his bank account after paying off the debts. His stress was mostly blown away by these two days of hunting. During the hunt, Hyeonu didn’t just relieve his stress. Many other things happened in addition to him relieving stress.

Hyeonu became well used to pure energy. Pure energy had a slightly different feeling from sword energy. It was stickier and heavier. This might be Hyeonu, but it was still impossible for him to use the strength of an F-rank skill freely. The second thing was that he had a lot of contact with Choi Yoon. Choi Yoon was so persistent to the extent where he felt Hyeonu would be sick of him. Contrary to what Choi Yoon thought, Hyeonu raised Choi Yoon’s enthusiasm and poured a lot of passion into him.

As a result, Choi Yoon made a lot of progress in these two days. He could now successfully counter an intermediate difficulty scarecrow without using any skill. There were very few cases where he suffered.

‘There is that too...’

In some ways, the biggest harvest was something separate. Hyeonu discovered a new side of himself that he hadn’t known about. He sensed it when he taught Dwayne and Choi Yoon. At first, it was just for the purpose of making content and it was just a short project he came up with on a whim to spend his time on. Now he understood the reason why he did it.

‘I’m this type of person.’

He couldn’t overlook it when he saw someone who was passionate. It was to the extent where he would give whatever help he could.

“It is good to have that type of passion,” Hyeonu murmured and tore the return book to Brigs that was in his inventory.

It was time for him to rest quietly in Brigs.

***

Besides Hyeonu, there were other players in Brigs. Although there weren’t many of them, there were some players. There were quite a few parties who were level 70 to 80, including priests.

“They aren’t going to help.”

They weren’t the only ones here. Hyeonu decided it was too much to guard Brigs alone and called a strong support group. Of course, he could stop a raid by himself since he was so powerful now. If he met Edward who was the scenario boss, Hyeonu was confident that he could use his giant skills and kill Edward in five minutes.

However, in this type of quest, the less damage the castle was dealt, the more rewards it received. That’s why he called the players. There were a total of three helpers. They were a magician, archer, and priest respectively.

“Hyung!”

“Oppa!”

“Brother!”

The three players rushed toward Hyeonu. They were all familiar faces. It was Mason, who had become a disciple of Suped, and Yeongchan’s younger siblings, Yuri and Yeongjun.

“Yes, you came? Everybody, it has been a while.” Hyeonu welcomed the three people. It was nice to see their faces after a long time. Hyeonu had briefly met Mason at Alkyl’s base, but they couldn’t talk properly at the time. “You’ve become a disciple of the empire’s great magician? And you’ve also done your third class advancement. Mason, haven’t you grown a lot?”

“Brother, I used to have a higher level than you. Now you’re caught up,” Mason responded humbly to Hyeonu.

“Hyeonu hyung, it’s been too long.”

“That’s right, Oppa. We haven’t met in a long time.”

Yuri and Yeongjun spoke to Hyeonu in an upset manner.

“I’m sorry, I’ve been a bit busy. I’ll see you more often in the future. Come to my home to play.” Hyeonu knew that his expression couldn’t be seen, but regret still filled his face. In fact, he was too focused on Arena and was careless toward these two whom he treated like his siblings. “No, actually, come tomorrow. Let’s have lunch together. I have to stream at night.”

“Really? Then I will come tomorrow,” Yeongjun immediately responded to Hyeonu’s words. He asked Hyeonu again and again, afraid that Hyeonu would regret it.

“By the way Oppa, why did you call us here?”

Hyeonu, who had been talking to them for a long time, finally realized he hadn’t explained the details to them. “Ah! That’s right. I haven’t told you yet. You know how I’m doing the main scenario quest?” 

All three people nodded at Hyeonu’s words. It wasn’t just them. All those playing Arena knew that Alley Leader was a pillar of the main scenario. Yeongjun didn’t know the details and asked, “It isn’t over yet?” 

Instead of Hyeonu responding, the answer spilled out from Mason’s mouth. “No, it isn’t over. The base was only half the combat power. The rest of the empire is preparing for the rebellion.”

Hyeonu added to Mason’s words, “Mason is right. That’s why I called you. The rebels will appear in Brigs today. I will take charge of it instead of the big guilds. You have come to help me.”

Everyone was impressed by Hyeonu’s words. In particular, Yeongjun had the largest reaction. There were already tears in his eyes. “Hyung, I’m going to participate in the main scenario quest? It is a real dream...”

“Yes, you have put a hand into the main scenario.”

The moment Hyeonu stroked Yeongjun’s head, a voice rang out in the castle. “The enemy has emerged! All those who can fight, gather at the wall!”

“We should go quickly. A protagonist can’t be late.”

At Hyeonu’s words, they quickly moved toward the walls.

***

“I’m relieved that you’re here in time.” Earl Gennon, Brigs’ lord, stared at Hyeonu with trusting eyes.

Hyeonu felt a sense of pressure at this look. ‘Why is he staring at me like this? It is a burden.’

The reason for Earl Gennon’s trusting gaze was that Hyeonu was Lebron’s disciple. The disciple of the empire’s best knight—this title alone was reassuring. The rebels were targeting Brigs’ territory, but Brigs’ knights would be able to block them if they had Hyeonu. Lebron was a man who could cause stability with just his name.

Hyeonu muttered, “First of all, are you planning for those capable of long-range attacks to hit the rebels first? Then the knights should fight in front of the gate. Thinking about Lipa Castle, the orthodox siege method isn’t the answer.”

This wasn’t a battle between common people. As long as the high-ranking black magicians were the main pillars, it was likely that chimeras and undead monsters would be present. For non-standard entities, it was more realistic to deal with them outside the common methods—an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

“Our Brigs knights aren’t as strong as the Knights of Keon, but they are strong enough. We won’t hold you back. Additionally, Brigs has backup. If they know that there are black magicians present, the Temple of the Moon will surely help.”

‘That’s right. Wasn’t there a temple?’

Earl Gennon’s words were quite interesting. Receiving help from the temple—Hyeonu wondered why he had never thought about this before.

“One of the adventurers I know is from the Temple of the Moon. I will contact the temple.”

‘I’ll send Yuri to the temple.’

Yuri’s profession was a Moon Temple Priest. She hadn’t reached her third class advancement because of her low level, but a second advancement priest was enough to qualify for a meeting with the temple’s high priest. It was clear that Hyeonu would get results much faster from her than going directly to the temple. Hyeonu immediately sent a whisper to Yuri as it was unknown when the army outside the castle would attack Brigs.

-To Yuri: Yuri, go to the temple and ask for help. They won’t ignore it if they hear there are black magicians.

Yuri’s thinking was the same as Earl Gennon as she was already in front of the temple. 

-From Yuri: I’m already in front of the temple.

-To Yuri: Really? Ask them to come as soon as possible. I don’t know when the battle will take place.

-From Yuri: I understand, Oppa.

“Earl, my colleague has already arrived at the temple. I think the temple’s forces will arrive earlier than expected.”

Earl Gennon’s expression was noticeably brighter at Hyeonu’s words. Divine power was the antithesis of the monsters. With it, the knights and magicians were no longer important. Earl Gennon’s eyes were only on the army of monsters. The monster army was majestic. There were large monsters, chimera, and undead. It was normal for anyone who saw it to flinch. Yet for players, they were just delicious prey—a nutritious side dish that gave a great deal of experience and rewards. As if to prove it, an opaque message window appeared in front of Hyeonu’s eyes.

[Defend Brigs]

[Defend Brigs from the rebels.

Rating: MS

Conditions: Eliminate the rebels 0/1, defend Brigs 0/1

Rewards: Experience, imperial contributions and the emperor’s gift (the more Brigs’ power is maintained, the better the rewards).]

Hyeonu smiled at the sight of the rising information window and watched the monster army approaching the city walls.

‘Should I turn on the streaming mode?’

No tension could be found in Hyeonu. At this moment, Brigs’ knight commander Brown shouted, “Magicians, use your most powerful magic! Archers, fire your arrows without hesitation!”

The monster army had entered their range. A single arrow couldn’t exert great power, but it would hurt if small needles kept on poking. The arrows fired by nearly a thousand soldiers covered the sky. Just then, something amazing happened. A huge shield was created to cover the monster army.

‘The monsters won’t receive any damage. Is this it?’

Hyeonu muttered to himself at the sight, “Then shall I see if this can hit them?”

Black pure energy that was like ink was emitted from Hyeonu. The power seemed to grow endlessly as the pure energy turned into a huge crescent and flew toward the monster army. The dark crescent moon made a terrifying noise and struck the monster army.

“Kuah!”

“Kuooh!”

The black crescent swept through the vanguard of the monster army. A monster of a huge size, a chimera fortified by black magic, and the undead created through black magic—their bodies were all split apart by Hyeonu’s pure energy. The magicians’ magic fell toward the army that was first attacked by Hyeonu. A huge ball of flames and storms struck. Tang-E also appeared and fired lightning from one hand.

“Assault!” Brown saw this and pulled out his sword. Hyeonu also pulled out his sword.