Ranker’s Return

The emperor handed him a small piece of paper. It wasn’t a map or a check to replace the gold coins. It wasn’t even a letter for someone.

“What is this, Your Majesty?” Hyeonu wondered, cocking his head.

“Can’t you tell by looking? It is my reward to you. It is an imperial decree giving Earl Gang Hyeonu a territory,” the emperor answered.

“!!!” Hyeonu was truly amazed.

A territory...

He didn’t know how many imperial contributions were needed to obtain one, but a territory was just given to him.

“You can give me a territory at will?” Hyeonu queried.

“On the contrary, people will like this. No one will have any complaints.” The emperor seemed to understand Hyeonu’s words.

Complaints? Who would be dissatisfied when a lord appeared to take charge of such a territory?

“Can I ask one more thing?” Hyeonu said.

The emperor nodded.

“I know that contributions to the imperial family are necessary to obtain a title or territory. I got a pretty big amount of contributions this time. Can you tell me why?” Hyeonu continued to ask questions.

57,439—it was a ridiculous amount of imperial contributions. He was wondering about the reason for it.

The emperor responded, “What is your contribution to the empire? This body is the empire. It is entirely up to me.”

‘In the end, it depends on satisfaction.’ Hyeonu thought it was very absurd.

The words were tremendous, but the underlying meaning was that the emperor gave a large amount of imperial contributions if he was well satisfied. The emperor continued to speak, “This time, I will ask you something. When can non-adventurer scouts go to the East Continent? I tried to send some, but they failed to cross the Balder Mountains...” 

Hyeonu shook his head and replied, “I don’t know the exact amount of time it will take. However, it is estimated that when the average level of adventurers rises higher and the number of adventurers who can cross the Balder Mountains increases, the barrier will completely disappear.”

Nevertheless, this was just speculation as Hyeonu actually didn’t know. When would the barrier disappear? He had never thought much about it before. It was a waste of time and energy to pay attention to such things when he could freely cross to the East Continent.

“I understand. Before moving to the East Continent, go to your territory. No, meet with Lebron first. He’ll take care of things and explain it.” The emperor waved his hand as if to send Hyeonu away.

Hyeonu quickly exited the imperial palace. Following the emperor’s words, he headed straight to Lebron’s mansion in Yusma. The guard gave Hyeonu a strong welcome today. He made a 90-degree bow and greeted Hyeonu, “Lord Viscount, you’ve come? The duke is in the training field as usual.”

“Thank you. By the way, I’m an earl now, not a viscount. Anyway, work hard.” 

After telling that guard that his rank had changed, Hyeonu entered the mansion. Lebron wasn’t meditating as usual. Instead, he was moving vigorously and wielding his sword, creating a sharp sword wind that swept through the area. Hyeonu was unconcerned with Lebron’s training and called out, “Master! Your disciple has come!”

“Rude guy!” Lebron spoke roughly, but his actions welcomed his disciple. He put away his sword and turned to Hyeonu before asking, “Why have you come here today? What do you need this time?"

“Master, do I only come when I need something? This time, I came for something else.” Hyeonu took out a book and handed it to Lebron.

As Lebron received the book, Hyeonu didn’t forget to take out a few bottles of alcohol from his inventory and placed them on the ground of the gym.

“What is this?” Lebron asked while looking through the book he received.

“It is a martial arts book from the East Continent. I brought it here because I thought it would help Master. In addition, this is alcohol from the East Continent.”

Lebron smiled cheerfully when he saw the bottles Hyeonu was pointing at.

“Now you’re sensible. Yes, you should give this to your master.” Lebron quickly hid the bottles behind him. “Did you come just to give me these?”

Lebron instinctively felt that a greater gift remained.

He didn’t know why, but an inexplicable pleasure covered his entire body.

“In fact, His Majesty told me to go to Master. He said to give me a territory...” Hyeonu explained.

‘Territory?’ Lebron cocked his head as he listened. Why send his disciple to him to get a territory?

‘Has Alexander finally gone crazy after being tortured by government affairs?’

“What did he ask me to tell you?” Lebron said.

Hyeonu handed the white paper to Lebron. It was written by the emperor himself. Lebron received the emperor’s instructions with a serious expression. Then he burst out laughing, “Puhahaha!”

Lebron was unable to resist letting out the laughter that erupted. No, he refused to hold it in. Alexander had given him a great gift.

‘Why is he reacting like that?’ Hyeonu wondered.

“What is it? Huh?” He grabbed Lebron’s arm and shook it, forgetting to speak with honorifics due to his sudden anxiety.

“The territory that has been given to you—it is under the direct command of the imperial family. It’s a very good place. It has a high population and a developed economy. It’s one of the top 10 territories in the empire. But...”

“But...?”

“There is a small problem. It was the place where the surviving forces of Alkyl tried to revolt. They were heavily beaten, but the damage was almost unrecoverable. There is a pile of accumulated work. As you know, it isn’t just one or two places that are like this. We took the minimal measures, but…” Lebron said and paused before continuing. “Regardless, this is the territory you’ve obtained. You’ll probably be stuck there for a few months. If you don’t manage it properly, it will immediately be recovered by the imperial family.”

Hyeonu’s expression became distorted after hearing Lebron’s explanation. He looked like he was chewing on shit.

‘I spent gold coins to give him a gift, and he gave me this shit?’ Hyeonu grumbled inwardly. Then he asked, “How serious is it?”

“It’s probably a few months of work? That is when there are competent administrators. If you are alone... I think it’s doomed. The empire already lacks too much talent. Adventurers are filling the void, but there still aren’t that many.”

In fact, after the fifth main scenario, many players changed classes to imperial workers. They ranged from workers restoring broken walls and buildings to those who reviewed and executed budgets. There was a new wind in Arena. Of course, it was a secret that many of them were the miners of large guilds.

‘Still, it isn’t that bad? There are many people in New World who can do this. In addition, Nike...’

It was just Lebron’s smile that made Hyeonu feel bad. Lebron was smiling widely like his mouth was torn. Hyeonu frowned at the sight of it. “Why do you like it so much? Is it so good for me to go there?”

“Of course. I almost had to go there, but now you’re going instead of me. I can’t help feeling good.” Lebron patted Hyeonu’s shoulder. “Therefore, work hard. I think it will be very hard for you to replace your master.”

Hyeonu removed his hand from Lebron’s arm and smiled. It seemed he would sleep angrily at night if he didn’t deal at least one blow to Lebron. So he said, “Have you ever thought about it? If I don’t do it properly, Master will probably have to do it.”

The smile disappeared from Lebron’s face.

*** 

Hyeonu was sitting in one side of Lebron’s mansion, and in his hand was the piece of paper he got from Lebron.

[Phinis Movement Scroll]

[A scroll that takes you to Phinis, a city in the Yusma Empire.

Rating: Common

Restrictions: None

Effect: You will be moved to the city ‘Phinis’ when used.]

It was something that Lebron, not the emperor, had given to him.

‘I came all this way to get this...’

In Hyeonu’s mind, his resentment toward the emperor grew.

‘Why not give it to me himself? Why send me here?’

It was a waste of time. Of course, he would’ve scolded the emperor even if the emperor had given it to him. The emperor hadn’t told Hyeonu anything. He had deceived Hyeonu. However, this wasn’t it.

“You aren’t going yet?”

At this moment, a shadow covered Hyeonu.

“Master? Where are you going?”

The owner of the shadow was Lebron, who was standing in his uniform.

“My disciple is going to suffer. I can’t just stay still. I am going to see the emperor and get as much as I can for you.”

Hyeonu jumped up and grabbed Lebron’s hand, shaking it. “Thank you. Thank you, Master.” 

“Why are you acting so disgusting? Don’t worry about money. I'll get a full budget for you. Instead, you can’t receive manpower, so take care of it yourself as an adventurer. You’ll see it soon, but this is actually a very good thing.”

Hyeonu nodded at Lebron’s words.

“Also... come to me when the time comes. Don’t you still have things to learn? You should learn everything there is to learn. This is why you are a Knight of Keon,” Lebron added.

‘The fourth class transfer...’

Lebron’s words meant Hyeonu had more to learn for the fourth class transfer.

‘Is it a patch?’

It seemed to be a recent patch since Lebron hadn’t said this before.

‘It is probably at level 300.’

Looking at the pattern, it seemed right.

The first class advancement was at level 10. The second class advancement was at level 100. The third class advancement was at level 200. Then wouldn’t the fourth class advancement be at level 300?

“I will speak to you when the time comes. Then I will go to Phinis, Master.” Hyeonu tore the Phinis Movement Scroll he was holding in his hand.

“I’m not happy for nothing. The matter with Phinis isn’t just about money.” Lebron burst out laughing.

*** 

‘What is this?’

His first impression of Phinis was very distressing as what he saw were half-collapsed walls and buildings. In the city square itself, there were tents made of white cloth, and people were gathered amongst them.

“Is this a city...? No, it’s a ruin,” Hyeonu murmured with despair. Still, the consolation was that this was his territory.

‘It is my land, so I have to work hard.’

Hyeonu made up his mind. This city would be the cornerstone for his revenge.

‘Then I won’t have to receive it from my brothers.’

New World was a guild he entered with the condition of receiving a territory, but he had no intention of leaving. It was enough if he had no obligations and rights; he just had to be friendly with his brothers. Hyeonu walked diligently and headed to the castle near the square. It was the lord’s castle, and it was also damaged. He could see how relentless Alkyl had been.

“Who are you?” A guard blocked Hyeonu as he attempted to enter the castle. The guard was holding a spear but wasn’t even properly equipped in armor.

“I am Earl Gang Hyeonu, the new lord of Phinis. I want to meet the person who is temporarily ruling Phinis. Guide me to them.”

This was the prelude to Hyeonu’s suffering.

6th Anniversary Event Link (Submission Final Date: 15th November)