Ranker’s Return

It wasn’t as difficult as Hyeonu had expected to find the habitat of the legion worker ants that he called the ‘ant dungeon.’ In fact, he found it quickly. He managed to find it just by climbing up a tree and looking at the forest.

‘The first ones came.’

The ants were huge, and there was a high number of them. Therefore, finding the ants was easy. Hyeonu followed the ants who were returning somewhere with things on their backs. He chased the ants for 30 minutes before arriving in front of a huge ant cave, where the ants were lined up to enter.

‘I see the entrance.’

Hyeonu waited until the procession of ants was over. Once the legion worker ants were no longer visible, he stood in front of the ant cave. Just then, a message window appeared in front of Hyeonu.

[Are you sure you want to enter Legion Worker Ants Cave?]

Hyeonu saw the message window before him and cheered under his breath. Forgetting to hold onto Tang-E, Hyeonu stretched his fists out toward the sky.

‘This is it!!’

The best situation that he wanted had occurred. The ant cave was an instance dungeon, not a field. It was a place where he could expect to get experience and rewards. This made it much less burdensome to break away from the main scenario. Hyeonu said in a joyful voice, “I will enter.”

Then he and Tang-E disappeared from the Balder Mountains.

*** 

[You have entered the Legion Worker Ants Cave.]

As he dropped Tang-E onto the ground, Hyeonu turned his head from side to side to observe the surroundings.

‘It is complicated.’

The interior of the instance dungeon looked like several chemical molecular models attached together.

“Master dude, there are so many paths.”

The problem was that the paths were so complicated. Unlike ordinary dungeons, there were so many ant holes that Hyeonu couldn’t distinguish which ones were actually passages.

“So it won’t be easy to find the way?”

Unlike his words, Hyeonu wasn’t too worried. So what if he got a bit lost? In any case, today’s stream would start and end in here.

“I don’t think there will be anything uncomfortable...?” Hyeonu said. The size of the legion worker ants was so large that the holes in the cave were also very large. It meant there wouldn’t be any problems with wielding the sword or jumping around.

“I think I can move even if my size grows,” Tang-E stated. Then he lightly tapped the dirt in the form of a chemical molecular model in front of him, and it crumbled. This showed the strength of the dirt model wasn’t that strong and that Tang-E would have no problems using Giant Transformation.

‘There is no power limitation at all.’

One of the reasons why the clear rate of those who first discovered the instance dungeon wasn’t high was due to an absence of information. There were many cases where the players were unaware that their power was reduced due to being in a limited environment. Nonetheless, there was no such thing in the legion ant cave. It was unknown where the light came from, but it was bright enough to secure high visibility and prevent it from being a limited environment.

“Tang-E, we will be in here today,” Hyeonu said while pointing to the dirt model in front of him.

“Today is here!” Tang-E took the same posture as Hyeonu and shouted in the same way.

*** 

Hyeonu moved to the far right passage without worrying as he didn’t think he would find the right path immediately. He had no expectations, no worries, and no disappointment.

‘I have to go around to as many places as possible due to the stream.’

He couldn’t clear the dungeon even if he knew the location of the boss monster. Why? That was because time was running out. His stream would begin in approximately one hour and 30 minutes. He just wanted to learn the geography of the dungeon properly and know the types of monsters that would appear. It was like an old dungeon where desert goblins came out.

‘I can’t think of any other materials that I’ll need once the stream starts.’

There was a smile on Hyeonu’s face.

*** 

[The first release of an instance dungeon in the Balder Mountains, the dungeon attack stream!]

As usual, Hyeonu put up a title that grabbed people’s attention. In this regard, Hyeonu didn’t lose his original intentions. Despite the growing number of viewers, the title was always provocative and stimulating.

-Today will be a long day of streaming. 

-If it is a dungeon attack, it will be at least 8 hours.

-8 hours? The Balder Mountains is a difficult place. We will be watching for at least 12 hours, even if it is Alley Leader...

-Isn’t it usually 12 minutes?

-Since it is Alley Leader, it should be shorter.

The audience was consistent as they talked about how many hours today’s stream would be. Like an appetizer before the main course, the chat always started like this.

-By the way, what dungeon is it?

-I want humanoid monsters to come out.

-Me too. This way, the battle will be more interesting.

-What if there are ants like the other day?

-I hate ants. I hate insects. I love elves.

The appetizer passed and then it was the main dish. From Hyeonu’s title, the viewers speculated on the content of today’s stream. However, it didn’t last long. Hyeonu showed up. If it was just him, they would’ve made noise according to their own thoughts, but there was a golden bear sitting on Hyeonu’s shoulder. Tang-E appeared and stole the attention of the viewers.

-Tang-E!!

-Lick lick, it is Tang-E!

-Tang-E is so good...

-Give Tang-E to me!

Despite that, Tang-E couldn’t see the chat window. He was staring ahead with a cold expression. There were only a few times when Tang-E relaxed his expression. It was when his master, Alley Leader, called for him.

“Tang-E, shouldn’t you say hello?”

At Hyeonu’s words, Tang-E came down from Hyeonu’s shoulder, placed a paw on his stomach and greeted his belly button. A word that contradicted his polite attitude came out of his mouth, “Hey.” 

Nevertheless, the viewers became more enthusiastic because of this. The gap between his cute appearance and his rough speech made them happy.

-Tang-E is the Best Best has gifted you 98 gold coins.

-Tang-E is Cute has gifted you 72 gold coins.

-Buy Tang-E has gifted you 86 gold coins.

Naturally, gold coins followed. The viewers didn’t feel upset at all. On the contrary, they thought that they would be able to see Tang-E for longer if they gave more gifts.

‘Now I can proceed.’

Hyeonu noticed from the rising gold coins and fast chat window that the audience’s concentration had reached the peak. It was the know-how he had developed from months of live streaming experience.

“So let’s talk about today’s stream. As you can see, this isn’t a very familiar background.”

The place where Hyeonu was currently standing was where he appeared a few hours ago when he entered the ant cave. There were many piles of dirt in the shape of a chemical molecular model.

-What is that? It is familiar?

-Hey, shit. This is an ant cave.

-An ant cave looks like this.

-Oh, he found the home of the ants that he killed last time.

The audience’s expressions could be inferred just from the chat window. It was obvious that they were frowning.

-Uh, crazy. Seriously. Why did he have to look for it...?

-Did he come to get revenge for the other day?

-Thinking back, it is possible. I admit it.

-It is common sense reasoning. He came to get revenge. 

“It isn’t like that. I really just stumbled upon it. They came as a group and gave experience, gold, and skill proficiency. Why should I take revenge?”

Hyeonu was stunned by the messages the viewers’ messages. He had never thought of it. Why take revenge on a monster that gave so generously? ‘The ants even paid for the streaming content today.’

“So I will clear this dungeon before the stream ends today. I will neatly kill the boss monster. Of course, I won’t have to search through the entire dungeon... Probably,” Hyeonu said in a subtle manner.

Then the viewers started going wild. They were mainly viewers who had been watching Alley Leader since his very first stream.

-It seems he wants to clear it quickly and get off work quickly.

-Rather, let’s take some time. It has to be prevented from ending quickly.

-You can’t get off work!!

-Guarantee that the stream will be at least 8 hours long!

It was obvious without seeing it that he was planning for a quick end to the stream. The viewers judged it this way.

“No, it won’t be done quickly. I’ve been going around here for around 30 minutes, and it is a maze. I can’t find my way.”

-So you’ll do it for longer?

-Okay, okay. I believe you.

-Then it will be at least 10 hours. Good.

-Start quickly. The introduction is too long.

“Then I will start smashing the ant cave.”

The stream started in earnest.

*** 

-It looks like the place where he just came from?

-Is this him being unable to find the destination? What is he doing? How many times has it been?

-So let’s go to one side only. Oh, my.

The viewers were frustrated. They had already given up counting the number of times. It was clear that Alley Leader was getting lost. Otherwise, it was impossible for him to keep wandering around like this. Yet the viewers were mistaken. This was all according to Hyeonu’s plan and design. Getting lost was just a concept. Hyeonu had spent more than two hours before the stream looking around the legion worker ants’ cave.

‘The dungeon is narrow.’

It had a complicated layout, but if he took the proper route, he could reach the boss room in three or four hours based on Hyeonu’s hunting speed.

‘Of course, this is because it is me.’

In a way, it was a penalty for Hyeonu himself. His hunting speed was too fast, and his attack power was too strong. Additionally, his synergy with his pet, Tang-E, was too high. This was the result of everything being put together.

“Ah, it’s not this way. There is no luck. How angry should I be?” Hyeonu told the lie fluently.

Tang-E let out a small groan at Hyeonu’s appearance, “Wicked, insidious, ragpicker, demon.”

Clearly, Master dude had searched the dungeon with him, so it was almost impossible for them to get lost.

Then like he didn’t hear Tang-E, Hyeonu continued to talk blatantly, “Then I will go to the next room. This time, I hope it is the right path.”

Hyeonu went into the passage for the next room. The ant waiting for him in the room wasn’t a green-shelled ant. Instead, a red-shelled ant that was twice as large as the green-shelled ant moved its antennae in Hyeonu’s direction. Hyeonu already knew the identity of the giant red ants.

They were the legion soldier ants. Unlike the legion worker ants, they had considerable combat capability. They had fast movements, a hard chin, and sharp forefeet. Among them, their red eyes that had a laser of the fire attribute were quite intimidating. Of course, the ants could grow larger and look even more awful.

“A new type has appeared. They look pretty powerful,” Hyeonu commented like he didn’t know anything.

-Sigh, it’s so ugly.

-Yes. I really hate it, hate it.

The viewers frowned at the legion soldier ants who boasted an even more powerful appearance. At this moment, the legion soldier ants’ eyes turned red, and they fired lasers at Hyeonu’s head.