Ranker’s Return

[The Senu Completion Proof Ring has absorbed the Laek Completion Proof Ring.]

[The Laek Completion Proof Ring has disappeared.]

[The effects of the Senu Completion Proof Ring have changed.]

There was only one ring after the light disappeared. The two rings had become one.

‘The ring’s gone?’ Hyeonu hadn’t seen the message windows yet and questioned the missing ring. When he turned to the message windows to figure out the situation, he screamed, “Item absorption?!!”

Hyeonu immediately checked the information of the ring.

[Senu Completion Proof Ring]

[A certificate given to those who have completed the Luos Empire’s intermediate academy, Senu.

It also gives you the right to enter the advanced academy, Rondal.

Rating: Unique

Restrictions: Senu graduate.

Effect: All stats +200, magic power consumption is reduced by 15%.]

The Senu Completion Proof Ring had absorbed the effect of the Laek Completion Proof Ring, raising the effect of increasing all stats from 100 to 200.

‘Isn’t this good?’

Hyeonu smiled widely after he finished grasping the situation. This was unconditionally a profit. After all, all items were worn fairly. He couldn’t wear two or three items in the same slot. Now that the effect was absorbed, it was like wearing two different items in the same slot.

However, this wasn’t the end. There was one more profit—the advanced academy, Rondal. Hyeonu had another chance for a spec-up. Just then, another group of messages appeared in front of him.

[The quest has been updated.]

[Find ????] → [Find Rondal]

[Location of ????] → [Location of Rondal]

[Share the Location of ????] → [Share the Location of Rondal]

The quest he’d received from Suped was updated. Hyeonu hadn’t even thought about it at all. There were too many things to think about such as Senu, the East Continent quests, Phinis, and being a professional gamer.

‘That’s right!’

Nonetheless, it wasn’t just this. There was still something else he’d forgotten. Hyeonu quickly searched his inventory. After a while, he held a small book in his hand. The identity of the book was the skill book he’d received from Suped after telling him about Senu’s location.

Hyeonu had forgotten about this. What could be more important than this?

‘I actually forgot about this...’ Hyeonu stroked the skill book carefully with a delicate touch like it was a cherished bag or treasure. Then he opened the skill book. The name of the skill was written inside the skill book.

[Summon a Giant Sword]

Hyeonu had a rough idea of what the skill would be after seeing its name. It was likely an instant-type attack skill that he desired and needed.

‘Suped is very sensible.’

Hyeonu had received exactly what he wanted. Indeed, Suped had a discerning eye that really matched his identity as a Great Magician. Hyeonu immediately learned the skill.

[You have used Suped’s reward (skill book).]

[A skill has been created.]

[Summon a Giant Sword]

[Use a massive amount of magic power to summon a giant sword in the air and make it fall.

Type: Immediately Activated

Rating: Rare

Skill Proficiency: F

Summon a giant sword up to 15 meters in size depending on the magic power used.

Skill Cooldown Time: 5 minutes.]

‘I should try it once.’

The explanation was enough. This was unconditionally a jackpot. Needless to say, it was a heavy blow.

‘Today is chicken.’

Fried chicken matched days like this more than any other food.

***

Ding dong. A loud ringing sound echoed through the house where only the sound of a clicking mouse was heard.

“It’s here, it’s here!” Hyeonu made a fuss as he ran to the door.

“Thank you.” He’d already paid when he made the order, so Hyeonu just bowed at a 90-degree angle and took the chicken from the delivery man.

“Yes, please enjoy. Thank you for the continued use of our store. We added some freebies.” The delivery man smiled and handed over the chicken like he was already familiar with Hyeonu’s behavior.

“Oh, my, thank you so much. I’ll order again next time. I really appreciate it.” Hyeonu once again bowed when he heard the word ‘freebies’.

Putting aside the money in his bankbook, something free was always welcome. Hyeonu returned to the living room triumphantly like a general who had won a war and yelled, “Hey! What are you doing? Aren’t you going to set it up quickly?”

Yeongchan didn’t say anything about Hyeonu’s loud voice. He just went into the kitchen, took out the cups, and added ice from the freezer. It didn’t end there. After that, he opened the cupboard and took out two small plates. Then he returned to the table in front of the sofa in the living room.

“This is yours.” Yeongchan placed a cup and a plate in front of Hyeonu with a thumping sound. The chicken and side dishes such as french fries and cheese balls had already been opened.

“Thank you,” Hyeonu said. The sound of coke being poured into the glass full of ice was like art.

Yeongchan took a big bite from a chicken drumstick and asked Hyeonu, “Right, the Arena League is on today. Do you want to watch it?” 

So far, the two of them had always watched Arena’s informational programs instead of the league. However, Hyeonu was going to make his professional gamer debut, so he needed to watch the league.

“Really? Is it today? That’s good. Let’s watch it.” Hyeonu nodded with a chicken wing in his mouth.

The program would feature a game that had to be analyzed and observed anyway, so it wasn’t bad to watch while eating fried chicken. Rather, it was okay because it could save time.

“Hey, isn’t this great? Today’s match is a telecommunications game.”

It was a game between two telecommunication teams, JT Telecom and UK Heights. They were both among Korean’s leading e-sports teams. They had been rivals in virtual reality games even before Arena as well as in PC games like ‘Legend of League’ and Galaxy War. This meant it was an anticipated matchup for Korean e-sports fans.

“By the way, what is this ranking? Isn’t JT Telecom last season’s winner? Fourth place? Is that a subtitle error?” Hyeonu dropped the chicken he was eating and cocked his head.

It was weird. JT Telecom was ranked fourth. It was rare for a winning team to fall to fourth place when there hadn’t been a change in members. It was even rarer in the Korean League where there was a very great difference in power between the leading teams.

“Yeah, why is it like this? Let’s just wait and see.” Yeongchan too felt it was strange as he watched the Arena League. Last season, JT Telecom ascended to the throne without much difficulty. It wasn’t a team that would fall to the middle like this.

“Ah, I found it,” were the words that emerged from Yeongchan’s mouth less than one minute after he started searching on his smartphone. “Look at this. The players are the same, but the coach and manager left.”

Hyeonu looked at Yeongchan’s smartphone. On the LCD screen, the headline of the article was written in very large letters.

[JT Telecom’s manager, Kang Ujong, and coach, Jeong Byeongjin, have resigned. A new command tower has to be built.]

“The team is like this just because the manager and coach changed?” Hyeonu didn’t understand it.

If the team crashed in a moment just because the coach and manager changed, it meant there wasn’t much to see from their skills.

“They’re totally just empty bubbles,” Hyeonu ridiculed them.

Then Yeongchan showed him a different screen and said, “The difference between first and fourth is actually very small. You won’t know until it’s over. It’s why today’s game is even more important.”

UK Heights was currently ranked first while JT Telecom was in fourth place. However, if JT Telecom beat UK Heights today, the ranking of the two teams could change instantly. The difference between the two teams was that narrow.

“Really? It isn’t as low as I thought then.” Hyeonu continued to eat the chicken with a cold smile. The two men ate chicken and watched the match between the two teams.

The commentator exclaimed in an urgent voice, -Ah!! He’s going to be caught! The gamble has failed! If he’s caught, the game is over!

The ace of UK Heights was on the verge of being killed. His operation of aiming at JT Telecom alone to overcome the situation had failed. This was a fatal mistake.

“It is the end.”

“Yes.”

Yeongchan and Hyeonu shook their heads as they looked at each other.

“Can he beat 12 people? He will be able to win then.”

It was as Yeongchan said. If the ace of UK Heights could kill the 12 members of JT Telecom, it would be a victory. There were several conditions for winning in a siege. The successful team naturally occupied the opponent’s castle or killed all the players on the other side, or it would end as long as one side surrendered. UK Heights was on the defensive. Naturally, if he could kill the JT Telecom players, it would mean the siege was over.

“If it were me, it would still be unknown. However, I think he has lost,” Hyeonu said as he picked up a new piece of chicken. It might be possible if the player had the same specs and skills as him, but it was impossible otherwise.

“I guess? Then the siege is over. All that’s left is PvP.”

The siege wasn’t the kind of match where both sides alternated positions. It was a single round where attacking or defense positions were decided at random.

“Isn’t UK strong in PvP?”

“JT can also be considered strong. They’ve won against UK Heights three times, I think?” Yeongchan answered Hyeonu’s question.

“Then JT might rise to number one?”

“It can happen.”

“By the way, what is this?”

Yeongchan was staring at Hyeonu but turned his attention to where Hyeonu gestured. “Eh?”

It was a situation that made no sense. During the time when six JT Telecom players were away to kill the UK Heights’ ace, the remaining 11 UK Heights players led the soldiers to attack six JT Telecom players.

-Ah!! It was fishing! They are paying the price for eating the bait thrown by UK Heights! JT Telecom! The commentator cried out so passionately when he saw this scene that it was like he was coughing up blood.

“It was bait. It’s a classic method, but they were caught.”

“The bait is a bit too big. Throwing out an ace as bait...” 

The six members of JT Telecom were unable to beat the difference in numbers and were quickly logged out.

“It’s really stupid though. Isn’t it a basic strategy to divide people in a siege? Are they crucian carps?” Hyeonu criticized JT Telecom harshly. In Hyeonu’s mind, they were no different from fools. They were just idiots.

“But isn’t the other side even more stupid?”

The problem was that UK Heights showed similar foolish behavior. Since they had swapped the ace for killing half the opponents, the game would’ve ended neatly if the rest of their team just entered the castle. Yet they didn’t do so.

-Ah!! The defensive side is trying to attack!

It was as the commentator said. UK Heights attacked JT Telecom, but the remaining six members of JT Telecom weren’t easy to defeat. All six remaining players were virtually the centers of their team.

-Was the presence of the ace of UK Heights, Jung Jinnam, so great? 

They were being pushed perfectly. Six were fighting against eleven, yet the six people had an overwhelming advantage.

“JT has won,” Hyeonu declared. It was as he said. The game was won by JT Telecom.

-Let’s meet today’s MVP, Locke who is also known as Jung Hanbaek.

On the screen, the beautiful interviewer started the interview with Jung Hanbaek.

Hyeonu smiled as he watched it. ‘Just wait a bit longer. You only have a bit of time left.’

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