Ranker’s Return

The blood-stained battlefield entered a lull for a moment.

“In the end, no one’s coming?”

“Fool. This isn’t reality. 911 and location tracking are only in reality.”

“Yes, I’m a fool. If you have a brain, then why don’t you try coming up with an idea? I am carrying this heavy thing on my neck.”

“I think you were wrong this time, Thompson.”

It was too harsh to say he was wrong. When the male magician called Thompson heard those words, he forgot that he was in battle and covered his face with both hands. He murmured, “You don’t have to say it so badly.”

At first glance, it sounded like he was going to cry.

“Don’t play around, Thompson. You’ve only improved your acting in the last two years,” Reina spoke in a cold manner to Thompson.

It was an accurate point. At Reina’s words, Thompson looked up. There were no tears on his face. In fact, he was smiling brightly. Thompson said, “Reina is so cold. Even if it is a joke, you can still comfort me. This is why you’re not popular with men.”

Another of the players hit Thompson in the back of the head and chided, “Don’t talk nonsense, Thompson. Shut up and use magic. There are still many enemies left.”

Contrary to their joking behavior, the situation was very serious. It wouldn’t be strange if they were logged out right then. Even holding on had its limits. Their potions were running low, and they didn’t have many skills left.

“There are only a few small skills left. I’ve already used up the big ones,” Thompson replied.

As the briefing continued, the darker the situation became.

“We just have to give up. Just think of it as a day off. The league is over anyway. It’s time to rest,” Reina stated with a casual expression. In the first place, she held no hope for it; the rescue request was just a formality. She knew it was almost impossible for Hyeonu to come to this destination, not to mention the fact that she hadn’t actually mentioned the location.

‘How many more people can I take with me?’ Reina was filled with thoughts of how to deal a big blow to the enemies.

Just then, an eerie sensation crept over Reina’s body. It was a feeling of great evil. However, Reina wasn’t the only one who felt it. The battlefield, which felt like it was going to burst, soon quickly cooled down again. Everyone looked up and saw a black dot moving in the sky. It seemed to be moving slowly, but considering the real distance, it was actually moving at a crazy speed.

‘Is there a plane in Arena?’

The question was soon resolved. The black dot quickly became larger, and its appearance was now more visible. It was a black-red dragon with two huge wings.

“A drake?”

“Yes, it is a drake. Why is a drake here?”

The players of the New York Warriors were bewildered. They had never heard of a drake being in the East Continent yet one had just appeared before them. Meanwhile, the NPCs were terribly frightened and froze like they had seen something that shouldn’t be seen. So the only ones moving were the players.

Just then, the drake’s mouth opened, and it started to ravenously swallow the surrounding air. It was the precursor to Breath. The drake wasn’t a dragon, but it could still use Breath. This was known to all the players gathered here because they had to defeat a drake to get to the East Continent.

“Avoid it!”

“Get away from this place!”

It was pandemonium. Everyone shouted in the vain hope they could survive the Breath. After all, it had already been proven on Cruise Mountain that this was the only possible escape.

“Reina, run.”

“What? Aren’t you moving?”

The players urged Reina who was standing there while staring at the sky. It was clear that Reina would be logged out immediately if this continued. Thompson grabbed Reina’s arm. However, this was the world of Arena, not reality, and Thompson—a magician—was unable to move Reina no matter how much strength he used.

“That drake. It’s the same one Alley Leader summoned.”

“What?”

“Alley Leader has come. He came,” Reina murmured.

Meanwhile, the drake’s Breath was indiscriminately destroying the ground of the area that was exactly opposite where the New York Warriors stood. Then the red drake descended to the ground. Now it was very clear that there was a man riding on the drake’s back.

“Good work. You have done enough. Stop here,” the man said to the drake.

He then descended from the drake and glanced around at the battlefield, turning until he seemed to have found what he wanted.

“Crazy humans. You people have no fear. There aren’t many novel ways to commit suicide. I applaud your efforts.” A small cute golden bear appeared behind the man’s back and clapped.

“Alley Leader!!!” Some of the hundreds of people present revealed the man’s identity.

The identity of the man was Alley Leader—in other words, Hyeonu. He declared, “You will die today.”

***

A slaughter unfolded.

Hyeonu showed an overwhelming force to the point where he couldn’t be thought of as a ranker. This was different from when he was streaming. He was currently showing movements that he made as efficiently and practically as possible without any mercy. A limb flew every time the Mysterious Sky Sword moved, and there were at least 10 people killed when pure energy was released from the Mysterious Sky Sword.

It didn’t take long for the over 100 people to be halved.

“What? Are you going to just watch?” Reina said as she pulled out a blue sword and plunged into the battlefield. “Do I have to say it separately? Just do it as usual.”

The surviving New York Warriors joined the fray. As they were professional gamers, they properly matched with Hyeonu’s movements and fought on the outskirts of the battlefield in order to not bother him.

‘Are there only NPCs left now?’ Hyeonu wondered.

The really fortunate thing was that the players, including Bi Yoon, had gotten caught up in Caruso’s Breath and killed. Since then, Hyeonu appeared to fight randomly, but he was actually subtly aiming at the players first to reduce the quest information exposure to a minimum.

‘That guy is Nam Jun.’

There was only one person holding a spear among those still standing. He had to be Nam Jun.

“Are you Nam Jun? If you give me your head, I’ll spare the other people,” Hyeonu casually spoke words that he had no intention of keeping.

In such a large battle, he really didn’t have the heart to spare the NPCs who were like ants.

‘There is no need to feel uncomfortable.’

He didn’t want to leave trouble behind. Perhaps there would be NPCs rushing to get revenge on him.

“Nonsense! Stop saying useless things and come on.” Nam Jun raised his spear and pointed it at Hyeonu like he knew Hyeonu’s intentions. It seemed like he could stab forward at any moment.

‘He is quick to notice.’ Hyeonu smiled bitterly while stretching out the Mysterious Sky Sword toward Nam Jun. ‘Should I use it after a long time?’

He decided to use a technique that he had unconsciously refrained from using until after his debut as a pro gamer.

‘Will it be over soon?’

The biggest advantage of this technique was its unexpectedness. It inflicted a strange and serious wound on opponents and instilled pressure on them since they didn’t know how or when the wound occurred. Of course, Nam Jun knew nothing about Hyeonu’s technique. This was why it had a high possibility of working.

Hyeonu lightly kicked off from the ground and approached Nam Jun. While doing so, Hyeonu’s shoulders shook momentarily. It was an intended shake.

Nam Jun’s eyes wavered when they saw that. He didn’t know which direction Hyeonu would come from. Nevertheless, Nam Jun soon responded by taking light steps. He tensed his body so that he could react regardless of which direction Hyeonu came from.

The shaking Hyeonu chose the right side. Aiming at Nam Jun’s right shoulder, Hyeonu swung the Mysterious Sky Sword, and a blue-black flame erupted. The sword and spear of the two people who collided were surrounded by a black and blue energy respectively.

Nam Jun frowned like he saw something he didn’t like. Then with a casual expression, he thrust the spear forward, and a sharp blue light was shot out from Nam Jun’s spear. Hyeonu also released a strong pure energy to block Nam Jun’s attack from a distance.

An explosion occurred, and there were successive bursts. The second sound was sharper and higher in pitch than the first. It was the result of Hyeonu and Nam Jun exchanging a few blows in an instant.

Nam Jun realized that Hyeonu’s skill was even higher than he’d guessed and raised his strength even further. Thereafter, blue flames started to form at the tip of Nam Jun’s spear, and something solid came out from the speartip. It looked like a sword was attached. On the contrary, the pure energy around the Mysterious Sky Sword disappeared without a trace. Nam Jun smiled and moved boldly after seeing Hyeonu’s pure energy disappear.

His body dashed forth explosively, and he appeared in front of Hyeonu, moving the spear several times. It was so fast that it seemed like he swung it only once. Even so, it made no difference to Hyeonu who just blocked the attacks in turn. He did this tedious thing for five minutes.

Then Hyeonu’s movements started to change. To be exact, it was the pure energy stretching out from the Mysterious Sky Sword that changed. Hyeonu stepped back and swung the Mysterious Sky Sword. The black pure energy increased momentarily, extending to as long as the distance that Hyeonu retreated.

Nam Jun miraculously stretched out his spear and blocked the Mysterious Sky Sword. Sweat dripped down his face. If he had been one second later, the pure energy would’ve hit his body.

Hyeonu used this chance to approach Nam Jun and wielded the Mysterious Sky Sword, making the pure energy once again invisible. The blue spear blocked the Mysterious Sky Sword, but this was just the prelude to an incessant string of attacks.

Hyeonu continued to swing the Mysterious Sky Sword using the recoil from the collision. Normally, a spear had a longer attack range than a sword. For this reason, it was traditionally those holding the sword who were at a disadvantage. Yet Hyeonu was different. He freely adjusted the length of the pure energy and grasped the advantage.

Nam Jun had no choice but to limit his movements to blocking the Mysterious Sky Sword, which he didn’t know when or how it would come at him. There was no way for him to escape from being on the defensive. He was pushed endlessly and eventually exposed his neck to the pure energy that came from the Mysterious Sky Sword.

Then Nam Jun’s head soared into the air.

[Leaders of the Secret Camp Killed 45/50]

***

“Everyone worked hard today. I apologize for causing this problem by doing the quest on my streams,” Hyeonu apologized to the New York Warriors after the battle was over. 

In a way, Hyeonu had done them a favor by allowing them to participate in the quest, but it became bad for them due to Hyeonu’s stream that overlapped with personal grudges. It had been unintentional, but Hyeonu apologized anyway as it was his fault.

‘It isn’t difficult to apologize like this,’ he thought.

However, the players of the New York Warriors found Hyeonu’s apology burdensome.

“No, it is a common occurrence.”

“That’s right. Who hasn’t been hit once or twice in the back as a pro gamer?”

It was the same for Reina. She was very grateful that Hyeonu had allowed them to participate in the quest. Reina told Hyeonu, “You don’t have to apologize. It isn’t your fault.”

Hyeonu nodded before opening his palm and extending it to her. He said, “This is a gift. I picked it up.”

There was a small white ring on Hyeonu’s palm.