Ranker’s Return

The first monster that appeared in front of Hyeonu and the Pioneer Guild was a dark red cow. Its name was ‘dominated black cow’. From head to toe, it was around 2 meters and 30 centimeters tall. The length of its body, including the tail, was around five meters. In particular, the dark gray horns on its forehead were very intimidating.

“First of all, don’t face it head-on. Fight with light movements,” Hyeonu spoke while watching the black cow run over violently.

It was easy to see a lot of bloodshed when reacting ignorantly to such a monster. Nevertheless, Hyeonu thought, ‘It should be fine...’ 

It was impossible for Pioneer’s two melee players to do such a reckless thing, let alone Hyeonu.

“The priests and magicians should hit behind Ket, Jewel, and me.”

The chances of winning were slim in a collision of melee classes. No magician or priest would be able to hold on; they would die in one blow if caught. The black cow continued to charge violently, digging up the ground everywhere it passed. Finally, it approached at the same speed as a fairly fast car.

“We must hold on,” Jewel said to Asu, the magician standing behind him. At this speed, dodging it alone already seemed daunting, but he also had the baggage of a magician... 

He was nervous, but then he saw the black cow’s movements begin to slow down. The black cow got slower as it approached. Originally, the moment just before the collision should be when the black cow was charging at its highest possible speed.

‘It’s good.’

Jewel didn’t know what was going on, but he thought it was good and raised his shield and sword. However, the opportunity for Jewel to wield his sword and shield didn’t arrive. The black cow went down before it got to him. The lower part of the black cow’s knee, which could be called weak compared to its huge size, was cut. There was only one person who could do this. It was obvious even without looking.

“As expected, the knees seem to be the weakness,” Alley Leader said while shaking his weapon that was emitting a pale blue light.

The black cow fell to the ground and trembled. Red blood spurt out like a fountain from the wound.

“You finish it,” Hyeonu told the Pioneer Guild members who were staring blankly at the fallen cow.

“Huh...? Yes. Everyone, attack.” The first one to regain his senses was Asu. He used ice magic on the black cow that was lying down on the ground. With this, the other guild members also participated in the attack.

[The dominated black cow has been defeated.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

The black cow faced a futile end without even being able to resist.

“You have become even stronger…” Ket murmured with a baffled expression.

Hyeonu shook the Mysterious Sky Sword that was shining blue even without injecting magic power into it.

“It is the +12 that is strong. It cuts well even if I just hold it,” Hyeonu replied in an amused voice.

Ket couldn’t help laughing while thinking, ‘Nothing has changed.’

Hyeonu had also been like this when they met in the ice canyon and during the main scenario. He was simply such a person.

“Yes, it’s the +12 that is strong,” Ket agreed with a smile.

***

“It is nasty.”

“In any case, shit... Let’s just go to the East Continent.”

“It is a complete mess. Nothing is going right after listening to you.”

The Pioneer Guild members surrounded Ket and bombarded him. They couldn’t accept the current situation.

“I really can’t stand it anymore! We should go to a normal field!” Maha, the Pioneer Guild’s only priest, screamed.

He could no longer tolerate it. This was natural as the environment of the instance dungeon was very harsh. It seemed like time didn’t pass there. The sun didn’t rise, and only the moon floated in the sky. They had to rely on the slight moonlight to move. It was naturally a field that couldn’t be called normal.

“Why do we only go around places like this?!!”

Deserts, ice zones, volcanoes, swamps, jungles, wetlands, alpine areas, and so on—they suffered through all the worst fields.

“Everyone agrees, right? This is the last one. It will be fun to just go around the East Continent.” Ket thoroughly read the mentality of the guild members screaming at him.

“We came in already. Shouldn’t we clear it and go out? If you struggle, you should be rewarded for it,” Hyeonu added words of support for Ket.

Gaining some strength, Ket spoke again, “That’s right. Let’s get rewarded and go quickly. The reward must be worth going through all this trouble.”

After some twists and turns, they started walking again.

***

‘What castle is this?’

Now Hyeonu also had questions. The message he saw when they entered the dungeon had clearly stated that the dungeon’s name was ‘South Rock Castle’. However, the places they had gone through so far and the sight in front of him didn’t belong to the interior of a castle.

It was just a path where grass and trees grew endlessly and monsters kept popping up, much like a normal plains area or perhaps a mountain. This was absolutely not the inside of a castle. If Hyeonu and the Pioneer Guild members were at South Rock Castle, then something should’ve happened after traveling inside it for three or four hours.

It was at this moment that Hyeonu saw something huge and said, “I see something over there?”

The gray clouds were so dense that the exact shape wasn’t visible. Still, it was definitely a good thing to see something when there had previously been nothing.

“Really. What is over there?!”

“I wish that it’s a boss monster over there.”

Nix and Maha cheered. They felt strength rising in their body, and their energy soared like they had gotten buffs.

“Let’s go over there. I am going to level up again,” Nix urged. It was a situation where he had already gained one level. Their level was high, so it took a long time for them to gain just one level. Then Nix added, “It isn’t polite to let Alley Leader stay in a dungeon for a long time.”

To the outside world, Hyeonu had never stayed in a dungeon for more than a day. No matter how it was dragged out, he had always completed the dungeon within a day. It was ridiculous by general standards. Most people usually took a few days. In particular, it was natural to take a long time when it was their first time clearing the instance dungeon.

“By the way, I don’t have a sense for where the boss monster is.”

“It is South Rock’s castle, so South Rock should be the boss monster.”

“So what is South Rock? Is it a person or a monster? If it is a monster, what race is it? If it is a person, what class does it have? Is it a knight or a magician?” Asu let out a storm of words to Jewel.

Jewel had spoken the wrong words and suddenly received a scolding. Asu’s nerves were that on edge, but the struck Jewel wouldn’t put up with it and also tried to retort. However, Hyeonu interrupted him, “I see the destination, so let’s go.”

Hyeonu intentionally intervened just before the atmosphere became even more heated up.

“Yes, surely you don’t mean to fight in front of Alley Leader, right?” Ket stepped in between Jewel and Asu and placed his arms around their shoulders.

Jewel’s personality wasn’t so extreme that he would continue to be angry after such a dissuasion. It was the same for Asu.

“Sorry, I was a bit too much,” Asu apologized, acknowledging that his words were too sharp.

This time, Jewel tried to speak again. He was just opening his mouth when the ground shook and something appeared. It wasn’t a black cow but an enemy that was even more demanding. The wolves were the size of the black cow but twice as agile. This was the emergence of the blood wolves.

There were also monsters with dark red wings in the air. It was a giant bat called the black bat. These were monsters with sharp claws and black magic fire. It was also the third kind of monster they encountered here in South Rock Castle.

“A black bat and blood wolf. Please be careful,” Hyeonu warned the others before summoning Tang-E.

Perhaps it was different if Hyeonu were alone, but now he had to care for the five other people.

‘A magician or priest will die in one blow.’

A brilliantly bright light descended in this dark world as Tang-E appeared in a golden magic circle.

“Hey, shit... I was blinded.” Hyeonu raised his left arm to block his eyes. He had adapted to the dark vision, so his eyes were affected by the sudden burst of bright light.

“Master dude, where is this? It feels like a bad place,” Tang-E spoke while clinging to Hyeonu’s leg.

“I’m not sure either. Let’s kill them first. Use magic as usual,” Hyeonu said with an urgent expression while removing Tang-E from his leg. The blood wolves and black bats were rushing over quickly.

“Understood, Master dude.” Tang-E saw the terrible monsters charging over and formed gorgeous colored beads with his paws.

“Get the buffs and go, Master dude.” Tang-E fired a three-colored light at the running Hyeonu.

The identity of the light was Tang-E’s three buffs. Seeing Hyeonu leave, Tang-E looked around before moving quietly.

He approached and whispered to Maha, who had a relatively calm expression, “Hey, human. Your shoulders look pretty wide?” 

“W...What?” Maha was casting a buff on Ket and looked around at the sudden voice.

‘A monster?’ Maha wondered. It was his first time hearing this voice, and he couldn’t see the owner of the voice either.

“Hey, human. Over here, here.” 

Then the suspicious voice came back, and Maha found its source.It was a small bear with golden fur—Alley Leader’s pet. It was Tang-E.

“Human, come on. Place me on your shoulders.”

Maha lifted Tang-E like he was bewitched by Tang-E’s words.

“You aren’t Master dude, but I’m satisfied.”

***

Hyeonu gave an order to Ket and Jewel: “I will fight in the front, so take care of anything that escapes in the rear.”

Then without hearing an answer from the two people, Hyeonu pulled out the Mysterious Sky Sword and swung it at a blood wolf. Black pure energy was fired. Hyeonu’s pure energy had a fainter presence than usual, perhaps because it assimilated into the black landscape of the dungeon.

The invisibility effect was too great. It was the same for the black bats. The black bats didn’t properly recognize Hyeonu’s pure energy, which had a similar color to that of this world. The result was disastrous.

“Kyaaaaak!” The black bat’s shrill scream echoed.

A few black bats fell to the ground after being smashed by Hyeonu’s pure energy. Rather than handling those bats that had just fallen to the ground, Hyeonu focused on the blood wolves rushing at him. Each wolf was like a medium-sized SUV pouncing at him and not something to be taken lightly. The blood wolves showed fairly three-dimensional movements.

In particular, it was difficult to cope when there were several of them attacking at the same time. Just then, the Mysterious Sky Sword was inserted between the white teeth of a blood wolf. As yellowish saliva flowed from the mouth of the blood wolf, Hyeonu quickly filled the Mysterious Sky Sword with energy.

Then he pushed hard against the ground with the soles of his feet. The Mysterious Sky Sword moved vigorously, slashing the blood wolf through its mouth to across its upper body.

[The blood wolf has been defeated.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

Right at this moment, another drooling blood wolf aimed for Hyeonu’s back with an open mouth.