Ranker’s Return

After defeating the legion soldier ant captain, Hyeonu relieved the burden of his heart and coolly broke through the dungeon. He had already provided viewers with a satisfactory sight, so he targeted the dungeon through the route he had viewed in advance.

-I will unconditionally pay for today’s streaming video.

-Of course. It is an insult to Tang-E to unlock such a famous scene for free!!

-Do you have any plans to edit it properly and make it part of the collection?

-I’m going to buy it for 500 gold coins—no, 1,000 gold coins! Please sell it...

Of course, it wasn’t because Hyeonu had killed the legion soldier ant captain. The viewers weren’t pure enough to cheer for such a thing. Well, no, there were some people like that—those who were watching Hyeonu’s stream for the first time and admired his every move.

However, the main reason that people bet gold coins like this was related to Tang-E. It was due to the appearance of Tang-E crying in Hyeonu’s arms immediately after the soldier ant captain was killed.

“Bah, isn’t it enough for me to see it alone? I won’t be posting today’s whole stream as a video. I will cut out that part and add it to my own collection.” Hyeonu smiled darkly behind his mask. His appearance was obviously mean.

-No!

-You need to share the good things!!!

-Let’s not forget the affectionate Korean spirit!

The viewers were divided over Hyeonu’s bombshell remarks. How could he watch such a treasured video alone? The viewers constantly shouted at Hyeonu to release the video of Tang-E.

-Tang-E is Cute has gifted you 345 gold coins.

-Tang-E is the Best Best has gifted you 888 gold coins.

-Tang-E Collector has gifted you 475 gold coins.

There were some viewers who tried to convince Hyeonu, and the means they chose to do it with was gold coins, not words. They wanted to persuade Hyeonu with a large quantity of gold coins.

“If it’s like this... I think I have to release the video... Yes, I will upload the full video without editing. It will never be edited, never. I can’t give the edited video. No, I won’t give it.”

Hyeonu surrendered to the gold coins pouring out. The audience cheered. Now they could see that cute look again. This alone was enough to make them cheer.

-It is half a success, but...

-It is still better than nothing.

-Yes. We can replay it repeatedly!

“It won’t have the essence of his cuteness though. Huhu...” Hyeonu said with a mean laugh.

*** 

“It has been a long time. It was very boring and terrible to wander around the ant cave, but I did it. I’ve finally arrived in front of the boss room.”

At the end of the legion ant cave, Hyeonu only had the boss room left. He spread open his arms at the space before him as he started his monologue. It was like a lecture that attracted a large audience and performed by a musical actor. Yet the viewers who saw it dismissed Hyeonu’s actions with short responses.

-He is peddling medicine.

-Stop selling it!

-Pretending that it is difficult after slaughtering the ants...

In the eyes of the viewers, Hyeonu was like a medicine peddler who was selling nasty medicine that didn’t act like medicine.

*** 

[The legion ant queen, Keriquin, has been defeated.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[You have leveled up.]

[All health and magic power have been restored.]

[Your fighting energy stat has increased by 3.]

[The skill proficiency of Pure Energy Manifestation has increased to C-.]

[The skill proficiency of Weapons Mastery has increased to A.]

The battle against the ant queen ended unexpectedly. The ant queen was a summoner, similar to a necromancer but with living ants. Her own armed force was low, and she instead summoned soldier ants. It was just that Hyeonu had circled the dungeon for too long killing ants. Due to that, the number of soldier ants summoned by the ant queen decreased. This allowed Hyeonu to finish the stream very neatly.

“I’ve finished clearing the legion ant cave. I applaud the viewers who have come here together with me.” Hyeonu clapped.

Naturally, he knew that the visuals of the ants were worse than imagined. He could tolerate it, but according to the standards of beauty, one legion ant alone was enough to cause goosebumps.

-You know it well. So instead of the scenario in the next stream, let’s go with the ‘Tang-E SHOW’. Give us some healing time.

-This person has learned the minimum. I like this idea.

-‘Tang-E SHOW’—just hearing the words makes me feel better.

Hyeonu ignored the viewers’ comments. He didn’t even consider the idea. This was something that could only be pulled out when he had nothing else to stream. It would be wasteful to use it now when he still had things to show.

“Yes, I hope you see it in your dreams. Today, I will give you a bit of a bait. From the next stream onward, I will start announcing the players on my team. Then I’ll see you in the next stream.”

Hyeonu disappeared with these words, but the viewers didn’t leave the stream after he was gone. They were busy chewing on the bait he left behind.

-Finally, the lineup is being released.

-Who will come out?

-Will he try to bring a player like Reina or Mascherano?

-They are too expensive... In addition, there is still a lot of time left on both of their contracts.

There were many candidates. Reina and Mascherano were active professional gamers, but they were soon excluded as it was too unrealistic. There was still a lot of time left on their contracts, and buying them out was expensive. Therefore, the probability of them going to Crescent Moon was close to zero.

-Then Jin Sijong? Gang Junggu? They are also possibilities.

-There is no chance for them as well.

The next mentioned were Kim Seokjung and Gang Junggu. Their attendance of Nike’s party and Alley Leader joining New World proved their friendship with Alley Leader. From this point of view, there was a high possibility of them joining Hyeonu’s team. It was just unlikely when considering their usual actions.

-So who is it?

-It will take a least a month if he releases two people a week.

-Wouldn’t Alley Leader have a team of at least 10 people? Alley Leader can act as three people.

-It can be cut down even further. It can be reduced to eight.

-Eight? Isn’t that a bit severe?

The viewers had a long and heated discussion. They didn’t know that there were already six people confirmed.

*** 

Lee Hoon was having more and more fun with his streams.

He even thought, ‘Why didn’t I start streaming earlier?’

Of course, there were many viewers who swore at him. He just accepted them humbly since the negative comments were only about him. Lee Hoon thought it was a process he had to go through to get rid of the shackles of a ‘proxy knight.’ Separately, the number of viewers had increased steadily.

Most of them came to see Lee Hoon’s stream after Alley Leader’s stream. The rest were people who came after hearing that ‘Proxy Knight Heder’ was streaming.

‘Today there are over 10,000 people!’

Lee Hoon was thrilled when the number of viewers finally surpassed 10,000. 10,000 was a very special indicator for personal streamers on A-World. An average of 10,000 viewers meant the streamer had successfully settled in A-World. Lee Hoon was now a streamer and not Proxy Knight Heder.

‘It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be able to apologize in Alley Leader’s stream.’

He had been criticized a lot since he made the public apology. Nevertheless, there were also those who raised a shield for him, and the swearing gradually diminished. This was why he felt even more thankful. In some ways, it was largely due to Alley Leader that he could quit the job of a proxy knight.

‘How can I repay this grace?’

In Lee Hoon’s mind, the better things worked out, the higher sense of obligation he had toward Alley Leader. He thought that Alley Leader played a considerable role in his achievements.

“Viewers, I will end my stream here today. Then I will see you again tomorrow. Thank you again for today.”

By the end of the stream, there were around 12,000 viewers—a few thousand more people than usual. After streaming, Lee Hoon searched around the Arena community as usual to collect and analyze the latest information.

‘Is he still here today?’

God God God—this person appeared a few days ago in the Arena community. He wrote the same thing every day and attracted people’s attention.

-Can Heder make his debut in the pro scene?

-Which team will he join if he makes his pro debut?

Lee Hoon was curious about the person who wrote it, and it was also amazing to see that people cared about it every time. Simultaneously, the cursor naturally moved toward it.

-Chestnut Field: I repeatedly said that someone of Heder’s level should be picked by the country. How many diamonds are there among the domestic professional players now?

-Finishing Blow: I admit it. If Heder wasn’t a proxy knight, then he might’ve been higher ranked than Marco. I wish he had hunted, gone to the arena, and gained items during that time.

-European Seagull: No, don’t talk nonsense. How can a former proxy knight become a pro gamer? Since when have people been so generous?

-God God God: He is sorry. He knows that he did something wrong. There is even evidence that he donated the money he earned from being a proxy knight. Did he manipulate things to get the victory? Why was he trembling?

‘Today, there are more people acting as shields.’

The curious thing was that every time the articles appeared, the number of people protecting Lee Hoon increased exponentially. After that, Lee Hoon started to read other articles. He read the articles without any distinction so that he could meet the needs of the viewers step by step.

A while later, Lee Hoon finished checking more than five arena communities and finally checked his email inbox. There was an email that was different from his usual emails.

‘Huh?’

[To Lee Hoon-nim:]

[Hello. I am Alley Leader. I have something to discuss with you. It is related to you making your professional debut, so I would appreciate it if you could send a few dates of when you are available to meet.]

It was an email from Hyeonu. When Hyeonu sent emails to Dwayne and Sunny, he hadn’t sent an email to Lee Hoon as well. It was because he hadn’t made an accurate judgment if Lee Hoon could join or not. Hyeonu hadn’t wanted to give Lee Hoon false hope.

However, he now thought it was possible, so he sent it.

“What does this mean...?” Lee Hoon glanced at the email that contained an unbelievable content. Yet the sight in front of him hadn’t changed.

‘Is someone playing a joke on me? No, it is the right email.’

More important than his doubts, the desire in Lee Hoon’s heart was revealed.

‘I don’t care if I’m being cheated. Let’s try it once.’

Lee Hoon started to tap the keyboard quickly like he was chasing something. Three consecutive dates were sent—tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and the day after that. He didn’t feel troubled at all; he only had a desire to seize the opportunity.