Ranker’s Return

A bandit at the forefront of the group opened the door of the log cabin, which had an entrance wide enough for only two or three people to pass through. Beyond the entrance, a man with a silver dagger greeted them: “Come on, come here.” 

The man was relaxed. He had enough room to taunt the bandits with his fingers.

“Kill him!” This shout came from somewhere amidst the bandits.

Then the bandits at the front passed through the door and entered the house. The man was still twirling the dagger around in his hand. The doorway was narrow, but the interior of the house was quite spacious. There was nothing that would get in the way of swinging weapons. If anything were to said to be in the way, then that would be the bandits. The bandits rushed toward the man they judged as an easy target to some extent. 

This was the beginning of a full-fledged battle. The man, Hyeonu, lightly inserted the dagger into the shoulder of the bandit who ran in first. Then he twisted the blade, pushing it further inside the mountain bandit before pulling it out.

“Kuaack!” The bandit collapsed with a pained scream as blood poured like a fountain from his shoulders.

[The mountain bandit of Pahu has been afflicted with the ‘bleeding’ abnormal state.]

The bandits stopped running at Hyeonu and moved the fallen bandit to the rear. Seeing that, Hyeonu smiled and said, “If you don’t come, I’ll go.”

This time, he jumped among the bandits. Hyeonu was a wolf attacking sheep. He moved among the bandits and kept waving his knife. The bandits continued to fall without being able to deal with him properly.

-Why hold such long weapons in a narrow place?

-Swords, single-edged swords, axes...

-They’ve been hit by the complete design. Stupid guys, you should’ve destroyed the house first.

“Aaaaack!”

The reason why the bandits were helpless was that they couldn’t wield their weapons. When they swung their weapons, it was their companions who were hit, not Hyeonu. There was barely any room for them to swing their weapons. On the other hand, Hyeonu’s dagger was very short, and he could swing it a few times as long as there was room for his arm to move.

After all, Hyeonu hadn’t pulled out the dagger and entered the house for nothing. It was only after making detailed calculations that he moved.

“What is the situation inside?” The bandits outside were bewildered.

The doorway was narrow, so less than a tenth of them could get inside. This meant the people in the rear didn’t fully grasp the situation inside. They just heard screams and guessed that a battle was taking place. More bandits kept trying to enter, but it was to no avail.

Just then, the door burst open with a huge explosion. The wood fragments struck the bandits standing behind the door, and some of them even died with wood shards piercing them all over.

“Oh, my, there are still so many people?” Standing at the door was a blood-stained man. Behind him, dozens of bandits had collapsed onto the ground and were moaning. The floor was completely covered in blood as a sign of the fierce battle that took place.

‘The scene is beautiful.’ Hyeonu’s face was bright behind the mask.

There was no excuse if anyone were to call him crazy. After all, who could smile at such a cruel scene? Yet Hyeonu was smiling. In fact, he couldn’t help smiling.

‘This stream will work out well.’

Hyeonu’s quest might’ve become a bit twisted, but the stream was moving along smoother than ever. The battle progressed and the number of viewers increased in spite of the distorted quest, so it was natural for a smile to appear.

Hyeonu was happy.

‘I can kill them all anyway.’

It wasn’t too difficult for him. Despite that, he could still feel a tickle at the back of his neck.

“Will the boss appear after all the small fries are gone...?” Hyeonu murmured in a low voice, but his voice resonated through the mountain.

The bandits stood still and turned their heads to look around. They saw familiar faces—some standing next to them as well as others on the ground. The people they had been chatting and laughing with just an hour ago were now lying there.

“Everyone fought well. I’ll take over from here. Leave the mountain.” Jung Hoon, the leader of the Pahu Group, appeared.

Once Jung Hoon appeared, the bandits moved to the left and right to open a path for him.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going? Go make some money, you bastards!” Jung Hoon screamed again.

Then the mountain bandits finally started moving and quickly escaped the mountain, rushing away like waves of the sea. After a while, there were exactly four people left on the wide mountain.

Jung Hoon, who was the 8th group leader of the Secret Camp, the unknown man called Turan, and Bi Yoon from Five Stars—the three of them were standing on one side while Hyeonu was standing alone on the other side.

Hyeonu put away the silver dagger. Then he took the Mysterious Sky Sword out of his inventory and hung it from his waist.

‘Huh? Who is that...?’ 

Hyeonu saw a familiar face—one he had seen several times in the Balder Mountains. It was Bi Yoon, once of the five masters of Five Stars that Liu Shei had brought.

“Hey, who is this? Isn’t this face familiar? Did you come to the East Continent?” Hyeonu spoke in a sarcastic manner. He didn’t feel anything, but he squeezed the words out anyway. This was just a facade for the streaming content. It wasn’t Hyeonu’s true heart.

‘I’m a pro, a pro.’

However, no one knew Hyeonu’s real heart—neither the viewers nor Bi Yoon. They had no choice but to sincerely accept Hyeonu’s words.

-What happened between the two of them?

-He interrupted Alley Leader’s quest in the Balder Mountains in the past.

-Ah, I see. I thought it was handled at the time, but he’s here getting in the way again.

-In any case, I don’t like Five Stars. They are always like that.

-It has been many years since I’ve ended my subscription to Five Stars’ channel.

The viewers worked hard to denounce Bi Yoon and the others in Five Stars. In the viewers’ eyes, they were already villains.

‘They will come soon.’ Bi Yoon, on the other hand, was calm. He wasn’t agitated at all as he waited for Preby and the reinforcements that would come with him.

‘He can’t beat us three.’ Bi Yoon was very calm now that he was directly facing Alley Leader, and the excitement he felt a few days ago had disappeared like it was an illusion. Regardless, the pressure coming from Alley Leader was distracting.

‘Both of them don’t know yet what a monster he is,’ Bi Yoon remarked inwardly. The man named Jung Hoon seemed confident despite seven of his colleagues dying. There was also the person called Turan. Bi Yoon didn’t know Turan’s identity, but he didn’t like the man’s attitude. Therefore, Bi Yoon didn’t say anything to him on purpose. 

‘NPCs can die anyway. We are the only real things.’

“How did the quest become like this? Let’s not have bad feelings with each other. What can be done if our quests are mixed?” Bi Yoon acted calmly like nothing was wrong.

Actually, he was just buying time. There was a limit to throwing NPCs as prey after all. Nevertheless, Jung Hoon and Turan were unaware of Bi Yoon’s inner thoughts and stepped forward.

“I don’t know how you knew to come here, but today is the last time. All the instructions have been passed out elsewhere.” Jung Hoon laughed at Hyeonu.

“It’s fine. It is better if you gather. They are people I have to kill anyway,” Hyeonu responded casually.

It really didn’t matter to him. The people who were going to die were those from the Gucheon Secret Department, and they had no relationship with Hyeonu. Rather, the important thing to Hyeonu was his communication with Chen Long. He had to tell Chen Long that the Gucheon Secret Department had discovered him.

‘I have to stop by Chen Long when I’m done today,’ Hyeonu thought. Seeing that Bi Yoon was on that side, the content Hyeonu revealed in his stream could be leaked to the enemy.

“Don’t talk nonsense, and how about coming straight to me? Or do you want to enjoy more fresh air? Then I can wait another five seconds,” Hyeonu spoke confidently. The viewers watching the stream were also amazed.

-No real swear words are being used.

-It is an amazing talent.

-How bad would it feel to hear such words?

-I would definitely pull out my weapon and rush over...

It was as the viewers said. Enraged by Hyeonu’s words, Jung Hoon became furious and rushed over while dragging a sword the size of his body.

“Huaaaah!” Jung Hoon swung his broadsword, which crushed the air with a heavy weight. The broadsword fell toward Hyeonu’s head, but Hyeonu quickly raised the Mysterious Sky Sword and blocked the broadsword. Jung Hoon didn’t bother entering into a battle of strength when the attack was blocked. Instead, he used the rebound to prepare for the next attack.

Jung Hoon naturally turned around. Simultaneously, he swung the broadsword at Hyeonu’s waist. It was a neat blow. Yet there was no sound even when Hyeonu blocked Jung Hoon’s strike. He completely stopped Jung Hoon’s attack. It was an exquisite technique that brought about exclamations of admiration.

Hyeonu inserted a bit of strength into the Mysterious Sky Sword and pushed Jung Hoon’s broadsword away, making Jung Hoon lose his balance. The broadsword headed toward the sky, and his body was completely defenseless. Right after, Hyeonu stretched out his left fist to Jung Hoon whose balance was disturbed. It was a light punch, but the results weren’t so light.

There was a popping sound, and Jung Hoon’s body went flying through the sky. Jung Hoon fell to the ground before quickly standing up while using the broadsword as a cane. 

At this moment, blood was already flowing from the corners of his mouth. Hyeonu silently raised the Mysterious Sky Sword to his shoulder. Then he reached out his left hand and beckoned toward Jung Hoon and Turan.

“He is strong.”

“I saw. I have to do my best. Now might be the last time.”

Jung Hoon and Turan spoke to each other while exchanging glances and nodded before rushing toward Hyeonu.

“I think it has been a while. Don’t be scared to see two people running like this. You have to think calmly and move,” Hyeonu spoke to the viewers in the meantime. He was very relaxed.

It was at this moment that Jung Hoon and Turan struck Hyeonu. Their weapons were emitting blue and green pure energies respectively.

“Now, calmly block if you are attacked. Like this.” Hyeonu kept explaining to the audience while moving the Mysterious Sky Sword.

Turan’s sword was swung first, followed by Jung Hoon’s broadsword. So the Mysterious Sky Sword naturally countered Turan’s sword and then deflected Jung Hoon’s sword.

“Isn’t it simple? So what to do next? This time, block and hit back. It is a bit more advanced,” Hyeonu said.

Meanwhile, Jung Hoon and Turan charged at Hyeonu again. On the left, Turan aimed at Hyeonu’s head while on the right, Jung Hoon aimed at Hyeonu’s waist. Their attacks were done simultaneously. This time, it seemed impossible to stop them.

However, Hyeonu suddenly moved his hand, and the Mysterious Sky Sword seemed to divide into two, deflecting the sword and broadsword respectively. Then the two parts moved toward the owners of the sword and broadsword like black snakes. They crawled through the air and managed to bite the necks of the two men, causing blood to spurt from their throats.

Hyeonu commented, “Isn’t it simple? Just do it like this. It isn’t hard to fight at a high level.”