Ranker’s Return

“What? Something like that happened? Why didn’t I know about it?” Leon Meyer frowned when he heard Hyeonu’s explanation. It was the first time he had heard about getting rid of the barrier in the Balder Mountains. Why did it suddenly have to be removed?

‘Why? Does Johannes have such authority? He is just a dragon from the gold tribe.’

Leon Meyer couldn’t picture the exact situation no matter how he thought about it. He felt that he needed to find out what had been going on while he was here trying to block the crack to the Demon World.

“Really? So this is what happened... I understand. Thank you for telling me this information. I’ll be sure to repay you later.” Sincerity could be felt from Leon Meyer’s expression. He truly seemed thankful to Hyeonu. However, the quest window didn’t open, and Leon Meyer wasn’t important to Hyeonu. So the main thing that mattered to Hyeonu now was to proceed with the main scenario.

“Thank you for your words. Then I’ll be going,” Hyeonu said.

“Wait. Wait a minute,” Leon Meyer called out to Hyeonu who was turning around to leave the cave. Reaching into his pocket, Leon Meyer pulled something out. It was a white sheet of parchment.

Hyeonu took the parchment and then glanced at Leon Meyer’s face. He repeated this gesture a few times, but Leon Meyer failed to grasp its meaning. In the end, Hyeonu couldn’t overcome his frustration and asked, “What is this?”

“As you can see, it is a scroll. It is made with great care. The parchment will turn black if I call you later. At that time, tear it. Then you’ll be able to come to me.”

‘What is this gain?’

From Hyeonu’s perspective, it was a pumpkin that was growing on a vine. He had received an unexpected big gain by coming to Bung Bung Island to proceed with the main scenario. It wasn’t a reward he could get right now, but he didn’t know how big it would be in the future.

‘It might just be a quest, but it is a quest given by a dragon.’

Hyeonu was already on a quest given by a dragon. This was it—the main scenario. Of course, there was no guarantee that Leon Meyer’s quest would be the main scenario. Still, it was clear that a quest needed proper compensation.

“Thank you very much.”

*** 

“I, Hugo, the leader of the Marionette Bears, agree to remove the barrier separating the West Continent and East Continent.”

[Consent of other species 3/3]

Hyeonu captured Hugo’s image in the glass crystal, and a deep smile appeared on his face.

‘I finished it before the stream.’

It was proceeding in an orderly manner according to Hyeonu’s plan.

‘All that is left is to receive the reward and start the stream...’

Hyeonu wanted to visit Johannes quickly. The reward he would receive was compensation, but he had also asked Nike for a general script for the major announcement on tomorrow’s stream. He had to confirm it.

“Thank you, Hugo. I won’t forget your help.”

“No, I didn’t help you out with pure intentions. You don’t have to thank me.”

“Then I’ll be going. I’m too busy... I will come back to Bung Bung Island next time.”

“We will always be waiting for you.”

Hyeonu said goodbye to Hygo and tore the return book to Derek Castle.

*** 

Upon entering the Balder Mountains, Hyeonu sensed a strange atmosphere. It was an atmosphere he had never felt before.

‘Why does it feel so bustling?’

There were no players visible to Hyeonu. Even so, he had a strange feeling that there were players everywhere.

‘Still, it has nothing to do with me.’

“I’m not hunting here.”

There was no time for Hyeonu to hunt. He would receive Johannes’ reward and complete the next quest. Then he would log out and deal with things in reality. Hyeonu had no time to hunt with Tang-E.

‘Go quickly.’

Hyeonu picked up the pace. He consumed magic power to use Mysterious Sky Steps and moved through the Balder Mountains like a dog whose tail was on fire. The distance from the entrance of the Balder Mountains to Johannes’ cave was quite long. It would take him two or three hours to get there at this speed. Then this happened while he was running for a long time without a break.

“Stop! This place...” A group of players appeared and blocked Hyeonu’s way. Hyeonu naturally tried to avoid them. He didn’t intend to fight. Why? It was a waste of time to play with them. He wanted to clear the quest and confirm the script that he should’ve already received from Nike. The difference between him and these players was so great that it was embarrassing to compare.

‘What? Why are they following me?’

However, they didn’t let Hyeonu go. They moved in the direction that Hyeonu jumped to and blocked his way again. Seeing this, Hyeonu frowned and used Mysterious Sky Steps. In an instant, he quickly split into several afterimages and leisurely crossed the wall of players.

‘I’ve memorized all their faces. These sons of a bitches.’

Hyeonu was a man who held grudges; he wasn’t cool at all. He ran so fast that he could only see the faces of the group for a moment. Yet even in that moment, Hyeonu managed to see and remember their faces. He planned to get revenge on them as he exploded his magic power to use Mysterious Sky Steps.

*** 

“This is really...”

Johannes was informed that an intruder had appeared in his home and was surprised to see the human in front of him. This person had truly appeared before him. Moreover, the person was here with the crystal balls containing the consent of different tribes. Johannes already knew that the human had actually searched for other species thanks to Leon Meyer who had suddenly appeared in the lord’s lair, but seeing it with his own eyes was different.

“Good work. As promised, this condition was the last one.”

A promise was a promise. Johannes decided to reward the human. “What do you want?”

[Consent of Other Species has been cleared.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

Hyeonu heard Johannes’ words and pondered on what he needed. ‘I don’t need a weapon. My necklace is also fine. One ring is missing... I also have to change my armor. The more continuous skills I have, the better. Immediate-type skills are also good.’

He looked at everything and found there were many things he needed. Six was the current number of rings he could wear after the third class advancement. However, there were already five rings on Hyeonu’s fingers. Only one spot remained. The Wind Gorge set he wore was a unique set of armor, but it had started to fall in utility. In addition, the more skills he had, the better it would be. As such, it was difficult to pinpoint one thing.

Nevertheless, Hyeonu soon made a decision. It was the most difficult to obtain, but the change that would occur upon obtaining it was dramatic. ‘If I have to change one of the three, it unconditionally has to be...’

“Do you have any armor? A set of armor would be good. Helmet, top, bottoms, belt and shoes—I’d like it to have five parts like this.” Hyeonu’s choice was a set of armor.

“Armor? Moreover, a five-part set? Wait a minute. Let me think.” Johannes was stunned by Hyeonu’s bold demand. However, he couldn’t refuse because he had told Hyeonu to say what he wanted. Johannes’ pride couldn’t accept going back on his own words.

‘I don’t think there is anything?’

Despite that, there was a problem. None of the things he owned met the requirements of the human. Johannes didn’t have a piece of armor or an armor set. He stated, “There are no such items. Tell me something else.”

“Then give me precious metal, monster leather, or an essence. Ah, even a recipe is fine. I can make it myself,” Hyeonu said, having glimpsed it from Johannes’ hesitation. He could tell Johannes didn’t have the item he wanted, so he urgently thought of an alternative.

‘Yes, if he doesn’t have it, I can make it.’ Hyeonu thought he could get some materials and a recipe and put it into the production capsule, or he could entrust it to Edchan.

In addition, there were materials he picked up himself, so something useful might appear if he poured in all the materials. However, his rosy imagination lasted only a moment. Johannes’ words shattered Hyeonu’s plans. “I’m sorry, but I don’t have anything right now. I just have gold. I don’t need leather in the first place.”

‘Precious metal and monster leather? There can be no such thing,’ Johannes remarked inwardly. Leather and metal didn’t mean anything to a dragon. The only thing that had meaning was gold...

However, he couldn’t give gold to this human. It was because the things the human demanded couldn’t be bought using money. Hearing Johannes’ words, Hyeonu momentarily stopped moving. ‘Nothing?’

Hyeonu soon started to argue with Johannes. “A dragon doesn’t have something like that? Does this make sense? Is it because you don’t want to give it?” 

It seemed this dragon didn’t want to give him compensation. Hyeonu wasn’t asking for a complete artifact, just materials. He didn’t think it was too much. Consequently, his words poured out like a storm in an instant. When Johannes heard Hyeonu’s harsh words, he made a tired expression. “I don’t have the time now, but I will kill any monster in the Balder Mountains for you. Then you can get its essence.”

An essence—this meant a boss monster. An essence was an item that only boss monsters dropped.

“Can you give me some time to think about it?” Hyeonu asked.

“Take it, take the time to your heart’s content.” Johannes had given up. He just waved his hand at Hyeonu’s words.

‘What should I ask for? The black-maned lion? Or the harpy?’ Hyeonu thought.

The criteria for the monster to be selected was clear. It should be a monster with hard leather. Hyeonu preferred leather armor. No matter how light sheet armor or heavy armor was, they had a basic weight and were bound to be inconvenient to move.

Second, it unconditionally had to be of a high level. A boss monster in the Balder Mountains would naturally have a high level. It just needed to have more merit than Blink to replace the Wind Gorge Set.

‘It’s just that... I only know a few monsters?’

The problem was that the Balder Mountains were too wide, and Hyeonu’s knowledge of the location was extremely limited. In other words, there were too many monsters for him to know all of them. If it were the Hejin Great Mountain Range, then he could’ve scoured the communities or asked someone for the information.

On the other hand, the Balder Mountains weren’t a development field for large guilds yet. So there was naturally no information. Even if there was information, they would definitely be keeping it a secret.

‘The Balder Mountains, Ket...’

Just then, something passed through Hyeonu’s mind. It was around the time Hyeonu was searching for information on the Balder Mountains.

He remembered the words he had heard from Pioneer’s leader, Ket. “There are two types of monsters at the beginning. There are the black-maned lions, which have the form of giant lions, and the harpies. I also only saw it from a distance, but there was a drake.”

Drakes—this was it. They were a species of sub-dragon that boasted overwhelming physical ability. Armor made from a drake’s leather would definitely be much better than the Wind Gorge leather set.

“Drake. Go and kill a drake, Johannes.”