Ranker’s Return

“Chen Tai!” Chen So, the man arguing with Chen Long, screamed and approached the fallen Chen Tai.

[Kill the remnants 327/666]

Hyeonu smiled at the message that appeared in front of him. Until a little while ago, that number was 326. It had gone up since firing the Mysterious Sky Demonic Strength.

“Chen Long, I’m here. Do you need my help?” Hyeonu spoke confidently.

“It’s fine. We can do this on our own. You should clear up that battlefield over there first,” Chen Long said, refusing Hyeonu’s help.

To be precise, he meant for Hyeonu to help the other areas because he still had some room to relax here.

“I understand. Then I’m going.” Hyeonu nodded and turned around coolly. There was no hesitation in his words. His objective was already achieved, so there was no need for him to fight here. However, it was just an act to make them relax their vigilance.

‘I used so many buffs, so how can I go back after killing only one person?’

Hyeonu couldn’t just leave because his buffs would be wasted. At the very least, he should kill three or four to make a profit.

“Still, it is a bit of a waste for me to just leave.” Hyeonu quickly turned back and swung the Mysterious Sky Sword. It happened in an instant. The air filled with an elongated crescent-shaped pure energy, and that pure energy created a violent storm. It flew with a creepy sound and struck the opponent.

“Block it!” Dozens of people waved their weapons and surrounded Chen So who was shaking Chen Tai’s body. Various types of pure energy stood off against Hyeonu’s Mysterious Sky Range. There were those that looked like blue dragons and red birds, but they only blocked one or two crescent moon blades.

Nevertheless, the number of opposing pure energies wasn’t small, and they succeeded in stopping most of Hyeonu’s pure energy blades.

“Leader! Avoid it!” The words burst out like a scream from the opposing party when the pure energy they weren’t able to block aimed for Chen So. A few people held up their swords to block Chen So from Hyeonu’s pure energy blade, and it fiercely collided with their swords.

Nevertheless, it was impossible to defend against a powerful technique simply by wrapping pure energy around their swords. Soon enough, the black pure energy cut through their swords. Since the swords didn’t work, they tried to block it with their bodies, but it was an impossible feat. Even a disciplined body couldn’t stop the pure energy blade. So their bodies burst like balloons.

[Kill the remnants 339/666]

The number was climbing quickly. The others were also continuing to fight, so it exceeded the number Hyeonu desired. Hyeonu smiled when he saw it.

‘Okay. I will leave the rest to Chen Long.’

He jumped back and headed for the other battlefield. For Hyeonu, it wasn’t worth considering if he should kill Chen So. He was just glad that the buffs weren’t wasted.

***

“Reina, how is it? Can you hold on?”

“Worry about yourself, Mascherano. I’m fine.”

Mascherano threw out his fists with a laugh. Despite his jokes, his fists were very busy, and he swung them without a break. His skill use was sophisticated enough to make this scene resemble the professional league. Additionally, the time during which he fought without available skills was minimized through accurate cooldown calculations.

“Indeed... It is stupid to worry about the Ice Princess,” Mascherano muttered to himself as he knocked down a man with a flashy fire fist. As he said, Mascherano wasn’t in a situation to worry about Reina. Reina had grown insanely strong since the league ended. In particular, the power of her skills had become greater, and she had become quite scary in spars recently.

‘Still, we can clear the quest,’ he thought.

Just then, Mascherano’s eyes fell on the masked man who started to run wild.

***

Hyeonu frowned. The battle situation wasn’t as good as expected. He didn’t know what had happened, but it wasn’t as one-sided as when he left. Instead, it was tense.

‘Why did this happen?’

Hyeonu couldn’t understand the current situation, but he moved anyway. There was a bit of time left on his buffs.

‘If I run wild during this period... will it change again?’

Hyeonu’s thought was so vain that someone might laugh if they heard it. Yet it was a different story when the party involved was Alley Leader. This was because he had the ability to say it.

Hyeonu gripped the Mysterious Sky Sword in his right hand even tighter and started cutting down the enemies in front of him one by one. He cut them down effortlessly like they were scarecrows in the arena.

‘Um...?’ Familiar faces filled Hyeonu’s eyes as he dominated the battlefield. One of the most familiar faces belonged to Reina, who boasted a gorgeous standard of beauty. She was fighting against several players at the same time.

‘Seems like Reina is being pushed a bit?’

In fact, it wasn’t just a bit. It was to the point where she was finding it hard to hold on. The opposing players weren’t easy to fight. They were hard for even Reina to withstand. Their cooperation was so in sync that they were like one body, and their specs also seemed quite high.

‘I have to help her.’

Hyeonu made up his mind and headed in Reina’s direction. No one could stop Hyeonu who was holding onto the Mysterious Sky Sword. He reached Reina peacefully like he wasn’t on the battlefield. Hyeonu told her, “It seemed like you were having a bit of a hard time, so I came to help.”

Reina was flustered by Hyeonu’s sudden appearance, but her body didn’t stop moving. No, she couldn’t stop. She couldn’t even open her mouth. She couldn’t afford to do so or she would be overwhelmed by the pure energies that filled her vision.

Just then, half a dozen pure energies were fired at Reina. They flew in a spectacular trajectory but were intercepted in the air by black pure energies before they could reach her.

“I will help you.” Hyeonu understood the situation and found that Reina wasn’t in a position to speak.

With Hyeonu standing by her, Reina could finally open her mouth and say, “Thank you.”

“It is nothing...” Hyeonu said as he stepped out in front of Reina. Before swinging his sword, he moved his mouth: “We meet each other really often. Isn’t that right, Bi Yoon? At this point, it is better to give up and take care of yourself. Seriously... People are so stupid.”

It was a cutting remark that hit home and brought up sad memories for the opposing party. Hyeonu shredded them with words first.

Bi Yoon and the other masters of Five Stars each bit their lip roughly. They knew Alley Leader would appear, but they didn’t know it would happen when they were scattered like this.

“The timing sucks.”

“I agree. How can he be so lucky?”

“Are we going to fail today?”

“We should hope that his skills were used up while he was fighting on the other side.”

“I hope so.”

The five people each spoke with grim expressions. This was natural as they were on the brink of being logged out. Rather, it would be strange if they were smiling.

“Do you think you can win if I don’t use my skills?” Hyeonu said to them in a tone that suggested something.

Bi Yoon’s expression crumbled like his pride was hurt. Still, he replied, “Of course. You might be Alley Leader, but we aren’t easy to defeat.”

It was true. They had always been defeated and killed by Hyeonu, but that was because Hyeonu was too strong. Based on general standards, they were great talents ranked in the top 100 among hundreds of millions of people.

“In that case, I will fight without using any instant-type skills. Can I upload this battle video?” Hyeonu asked.

It was the temptation of the devil. At first, it seemed sweet, but it was actually dirtier than anything else in the world. However, they had no choice.

“He won’t distribute it if he loses, right?”

“Of course not. He has his image to protect.”

The five people whispered amongst each other. It was a brief moment, but they talked more intensively than ever and came up with an opinion that was more unified than ever.

“Instead, let us shoot a video too,” Bi Yoon said to Hyeonu.

“Of course, the five of you can each shoot one,” Hyeonu replied. He had actually already started shooting from the moment he made the suggestion.

‘I have an eye for people like that...’

Under the mask, one corner of Hyeonu’s mouth was curled up. Then he asked Reina, “Reina, what will you do? You can fill up your magic power while watching or you can help fight in other places. Just do what you want to do.”

She answered, “If it isn’t rude, I’ll watch a bit.”

“Enjoy it to your heart’s content.”

Hyeonu took one more step forward. He placed the Mysterious Sky Sword on his shoulder and opened his mouth to say, “It is time to start the real teaching session. Come on.”

The five players rushed forward the moment Hyeonu’s words were over. It was an action they could do because they knew Hyeonu wouldn’t use any instant-type skills. Light shone from Preby’s sword. The light then took on the appearance of a crescent moon, and the completed crescent moon was fired at Hyeonu. It wasn’t just one. There might be differences in size and color, but multiple crescent moons with the same essence were aimed at Hyeonu.

When he saw the five pure energies flying through the air, Hyeonu’s answer for dealing with them was simple. He avoided them, instead of standing still like a fool.

‘It’s going to close combat.’

If he participated in the battle using big skills, then the picture Hyeonu wanted wouldn’t emerge. Why did Hyeonu suffer like this? It was naturally due to his desire for pleasure. He gave himself a penalty and gave hope to the opponents in order to show his best performance.

This made the duel a bit more enjoyable. It was a 5:1 showdown with arena masters. He met them often these days, but fighting against them wasn’t actually an easy experience. Hyeonu showed off playful movements with the Mysterious Sky Steps, moving exquisitely among the pure energies. As a result, the five pure energies flew into the middle of the battlefield without touching a single one of Hyeonu’s hairs.

“You left some skills and magic power behind,” Hyeonu spoke in an exaggerated tone like he was trying to feed them medicine. This effect was further increased by the child’s mask.

However, none of the five were agitated. They had already been through several experiences with him, so their minds were closed.

“Hey, you’re no fun.” Hyeonu rushed in with light movements. Pure energy that was one meter long rose from the Mysterious Sky Sword. The first one Hyeonu aimed for was Bi Yoon. He did so because he knew Bi Yoon was the center of the formation and the leader of the five people.

Two pure energies clashed, and a huge explosion occurred. It was loud enough to create a presence even on the noisy battlefield. Feeling the attack had been blocked, Hyeonu stepped back and swung the Mysterious Sky Sword again. Just then, the pure energy rising from the Mysterious Sky Sword lengthened like a whip, and there was the sound of something cutting through the air.

When the Five Stars’ masters saw this scene, their eyes widened, and they hurriedly lifted their swords to prepare for Hyeonu’s attack. Suddenly, there was a popping sound and then a fountain of blood.

“Bachu!!”

Hyeonu’s attack wasn’t aimed at Bi Yoon but Bachu, who was forced to give his head helplessly.

“Four people remain,” this sentence flowed from Hyeonu’s mouth.