Ranker’s Return

Hyeonu’s body floated in the air, weakly flying back along the path he had just walked.

-See, there was something behind you...

-Why didn’t you believe us?

-Well, we had a criminal record.

-You didn’t believe it, right...

The viewers spoke words of regret while watching Hyeonu who flew away.

‘Oh, I flew far away.’

Contrary to his appearance, Hyeonu didn’t suffer much. No, his health was barely decreased. It was because Hyeonu wasn’t struck directly. Instead, he used the opponent’s attack to widen the distance between them.

“What? That?”

There was a monster in front of him. Firstly, its overall appearance was that of a menon. The monster had a white serrated spear, but its skin was red.

‘I think I see something...?’

There was something else over the monster’s shoulder. It was something grey-white and translucent.

“Doesn’t this look very disgusting?”

The grey-white thing’s appearance was that of a common evil spirit. This one had a distorted look and a screaming face.

-Something scary.

-I’m afraid it’s a ghost or something worse than that.

-This isn’t a horror movie... I think we should start appraising the mental state of the people who planned Arena’s monsters.

The viewers made these remarks when they saw the evil spirit. Meanwhile, Hyeonu smiled bitterly upon seeing the chat window.

‘What about me? When I’m seeing them right in front of me now?’

“Actually seeing it was several times scarier than seeing it indirectly.”

‘I still have to fight.’

Hyeonu shook his head and became determined. As always, backing down wasn’t allowed. He had to unconditionally go forward. Hyeonu could go to the side, but there was no way to retreat. The only possible retreat was a strategic retreat such as taking one step back in order to take two steps forward.

“Kuaaaaaah!” A creepy screech filled the space.

It was an unpleasant sound similar to that of a chalkboard being scratched. Behind the mask, Hyeonu’s expression became distorted. This was the type of sound that Hyeonu hated.

‘They’ve gathered together all the things I hate.’

“Tang-E, give me buffs and use magic on it. Deal it a blow. Doesn’t matter if it’s with lightning or fire,” Hyeonu said while glancing at Tang-E behind him.

Tang-E was also frowning because of the sound. Nevertheless, he replied with a smile, “I understand, Master dude. I will deal one blow properly.”

Tang-E first reached out to Hyeonu and emitted lights of three colors. After giving Hyeonu the buffs, Tang-E reached toward the red-skinned menon in the distance. He gently waved his front paw, and a bolt of blue lightning struck the red menon. This was Tang-E’s ever-powerful Lightning. However, this time it didn’t show as much power as before.

“Kuaaaaaah!” The evil spirit behind the menon’s back screamed. Then a translucent film appeared around the evil spirit’s head. The film was now broken, but it had fulfilled its role faithfully and successfully stopped Tang-E’s lightning. Tang-E’s expression became sullen when he saw that. The proud bear disappeared, and the timid bear appeared.

“Tang-E, is it a bit disappointing? Let’s practice more later.” Hyeonu smiled at Tang-E and charged toward the red menon.

“Uhhhh! Uwah... Uwaaaaah!” Tang-E was left alone, so he sat down by himself and started to shudder with his feet placed together.

-The devil, the devil.

-He is bullying his pet as well.

-I can’t comfort him...

-Tang-E, don’t cry ㅠㅠㅠㅠ.

-I also get sad when Tang-E cries...

The hearts of the viewers were torn as they watched Tang-E cry. They tried hard to comfort him, but their words couldn’t reach him.

“I will get revenge for Tang-E. It is normal for the older brother to come out when the younger brother gets hit.” Hyeonu pulled out the Mysterious Sky Sword that shone with a sharp light. Perhaps it was due to Hyeonu’s mood, but the Mysterious Sky Sword looked sharper today.

-Shameless...

-As expected, it is the master who takes care of Tang-E.

‘I’ve removed one defensive pattern already.’

Tang-E’s attack wasn’t meaningless. It exhausted the utility of the translucent film that Hyeonu believed was the red menon’s defense skill. Hyenou also discovered the existence of such a defensive pattern, so there were two benefits in the end.

‘He’s done his part.’

In fact, Hyeonu hadn’t had any great expectations. At first glance, the red menon looked like a dungeon boss or a monster of an equivalent level. Hyeonu didn’t think anything major would happen with Tang-E’s lightning magic. This was just the start.

‘Right. Is it a ghost?’

Hyeonu was suddenly reminded of Guan, who was said to be good at lightning, curse, and ghost magic.

‘Yes, all the menons inside the dungeon were cursed by Guan.’

Now Hyeonu understood. Perhaps he noticed it too late. He had been too obsessed with Guan being a shaman. If Guan were a magician and not a shaman, then Hyeonu would’ve noticed it the first time he met the ‘strongly cursed’ menon.

‘I know now.’

Hyeonu should’ve realized it long before meeting Guan.

‘I don’t know when Guan will appear, so I have to kill this menon quickly.’

Consequently, Hyeonu decided to block the variables in advance. If Guan appeared and interfered in the battle against the red menon, it would be quite a headache.

‘Twilight Reproduction.’

The space was dyed with twilight. The ghost felt anxious and cried out in resistance, “Kuaaaaaah!”

However, it was useless—just a meaningless struggle.

[The menon, whose body was encroached by a ghost, has received the abnormal condition ‘weakening’.]

The twilight devoured the ghost and the menon at the same time.

‘Area Proclamation, Fighting Energy Emission.’

[The menon, whose body was encroached by a ghost, has received the abnormal condition ‘slowed down’.]

Hyeonu restricted the opponent’s movements by using Area Proclamation and Fighting Energy Emission. Now it was as natural as breathing. He made the most of his skills.

‘Giant’s Power.’

[Giant’s Power has been used.]

[Your strength stat has increased.]

Hyeonu even used the giant skills. He wanted to decide the winner as soon as possible. The Mysterious Sky Sword emitted a powerful pure energy. At first glance, it was a pure energy blade that was several meters long. This was Crescent Moon Cut. It wasn’t that large, but it contained great power due to all the compressed magic power.

A grey-white pure energy also flowed from the menon’s white saw-blade spear as it pierced through the air. The black and white pure energies collided, and the result was even. Well, to be precise, Hyeonu showed some dominance. The collision of pure energies burst near the menon.

‘Pretty strong?’

It was just that the menon whose body was encroached by a ghost was stronger than Hyeonu thought. The menon’s stats might be reduced by 20%, but it wasn’t being pushed very much by Hyeonu.

‘Well, the fight is good if it continues like this.’

It was better than an easy fight. Hyeonu could actually enjoy it.

“Kyaaaak!” The ghost cried out. This time it wasn’t a shield that got hit. The ghost shot gray energy at Hyeonu. The gray energy seemed to have no power, but Hyeonu was never careless and swung the Mysterious Sky Sword to cut at the energy anyway.

“Huh?” The flustered Hyeonu couldn’t help letting out a confused sound. The gray-white energy didn’t disappear; it wasn’t stopped by Hyeonu’s attack. It was separated, but that was it. The energy didn’t disappear or fade. There was just a change in appearance as it struck at Hyeonu.

[You have been hit by the curse magic, ‘Ghost’s Curse’.]

[You have ignored Ghost’s Curse due to the influence of Immovable Heart.]

Hyeonu smiled at the message that appeared in front of him.

‘So there’s nothing?’

The gray-white aura had no effect. It was harmless. Hyeonu’s ability to resist debuffs was close to fraudulent.

He had two skills to resist debuffs. One was Immovable Heart, which had the effect of allowing Hyeonu to ignore the debuffs of an opponent with lower magic power than him, while the other was the fighting energy stat, which was comparable to a debuff.

“It is just empty energy, merely gaudy on the outside. As expected, Tang-E is still weak. I think you need special training,” Hyeonu murmured to the audience and Tang-E before moving again.

Hyeonu’s feet moved energetically across the ground. With each step, the surrounding landscape became increasingly visibly blurred. It only took a short period of time until he reached the menon whose body was encroached by the ghost. Upon reaching the menon, Hyeonu immediately swung the Mysterious Sky Sword from left to right in a neat slash.

The Mysterious Sky Sword stopped at the menon’s shoulder as it was blocked by a white saw-blade spear. The gray-white and black energies growled like they were devouring each other. Then the gray-white aura gradually became closer to gray, showing that the menon’s magic power was being pushed by Hyeonu’s magic power. In the end, the menon’s saw-blade spear shook roughly, and an explosion occurred.

The menon and Hyeonu each stepped back right before rushing toward each other at the same time like they had made a promise to do so. There was an explosion every time the Mysterious Sky Sword and saw-blade spear collided. Based on the sound, it was more like a fight between firearms and cannons, rather than a sword and a spear.

The battle between the menon and Hyeonu was full of excitement. It had been hard to see such a fierce battle in Alley Leader’s recent streams as Hyeonu’s specs went up.

-It tastes good, really.

-If I were able to fight like this, Arena would be more interesting...

-I hope he makes his professional debut soon. I want to see PvP quickly.

-It would be more fun since both people will be using the same character.

The viewers were looking forward to the PvP of the professional league. The PvP stage was expected to have fierce fights since it would take place between characters with the same specs. Therefore, expectations were higher. 

The battle between Hyeonu and the menon gradually reached its climax, and their movements became faster and more intense. No big attacks were needed; there were only sharp attacks aimed at the opponent’s vital spots. The menon’s spear had gray-white energy gathered at its sharp end as it stabbed at Hyeonu’s heart. Meanwhile, Hyeonu surrounded the Mysterious Sky Sword with magic power and directly struck the spear. After that, he naturally strengthened the Mysterious Sky Sword and pushed the saw-blade spear away.

“Kuaaaaaah!” The ghost cried out.

“Kuaaah!” The menon cried out along with it. The menon’s arms were shaking as he grasped the spear. This was evidence that it was using a lot of strength.

“Haaap!”

However, Hyeonu wasn’t pushed back by the menon’s strength. He had used the giant skills to raise his strength stat, so the winner of the strength battle was Hyeonu. The saw-blade spear pointed to the sky without force while the Mysterious Sky Sword swung rapidly. A thin but firm cut appeared on the menon’s chest, and blood poured down from it.

Hyeonu didn’t miss this great opportunity, and he persistently bit at the menon like a hyena. The pure energy fired from the Mysterious Sky Sword struck the menon’s chest.

“Kuaaah!” The menon cried out with pain as a small hole formed in its pierced chest. As the menon’s knee struck the ground, a red neck filled Hyeonu’s vision. Hyeonu raised the Mysterious Sky Sword without delay.

Then it happened just before the Mysterious Sky Sword struck the menon’s neck...

Flash!

The world turned white.