Ranker’s Return

‘We lost earlier, but this time it will be different,’ Choi Wonseok thought as he looked at the quick moving Alley Leader.

There was no chance of winning the siege in the first place. Choi Wonseok made this judgment and moved. The two players ran forward, and the distance of 20 meters was quickly narrowed. The time it took was less than a few seconds. They swung their weapons at each other simultaneously, colliding like they had planned it.

Hyeonu struck downward, and Choi Wonseok raised his weapon. There was a sharp metallic sound, and silver sparks erupted everywhere. Both weapons were pushed back at the same time.

‘I have an advantage.’ Choi Wonseok thought he had the advantage. His sword was shorter than Hyeonu’s, so it meant the time it needed to swing it again was short.

‘If I cut here... I can win!’

In PvP, there were many cases when victory or defeat was decided with just one small wound. It was such a fierce and delicate event. They had no potions, and their skills were limited. There was nothing they could use for support. Wounds were weaknesses, and revealing weaknesses was the shortcut to defeat.

The sword that moved at the shortest distance between Choi Wonseok and Hyeonu was very fast, and it seemed to pass through Hyeonu’s shoulder. However, a mass of iron fell to the ground and made a sharp sound. The identity of the mass of iron was a sword. In addition, there was an arm holding onto the sword.

“Groan...” Choi Wonseok saw it and started to groan.

Simultaneously, the host’s voice rang through the stadium.

-The winner of the first game is Alley Leader of Crescent Moon! After a while, we will start the second game.

Choi Wonseok disappeared from the stadium with his severed arm.

***

During the short time before the start of the second game, the commentary looked back on the scene that had taken place.

“I think there are many people who couldn’t see it because it happened in an instant. That’s why we’ve prepared a slow replay. Let’s take a look.”

Accompanying the host’s words, the video was played on the screen. It was played at a very slow speed. Rather than playing at 0.5 times the normal speed, it was playing at around 0.25 times, which would normally be a frustrating speed to watch a video.

“The video we’re seeing shows the battle at around half of the speed of the actual movements. It was slowed down by half again for you to see the moves.”

Despite that, the movements of the two people were so fast that the video speed had to be this slow for the public to be able to observe them. The commentator sitting to the left of the host started talking: “Here, we have the two people colliding for the first time. It’s the moment when Choi Wonseok raised his sword while Alley Leader lowered his.” 

The commentator sitting on the right of the host broke his silence and joined in. He said, “Here, the two of them are thrown back by the recoil from the collision. Choi Wonseok had the advantage of his relatively shorter weapon to quickly strike again.” 

“Then here, Choi Wonseok’s attack missed, and Alley Leader’s attack sliced off Choi Wonseok’s arm. I don’t think it was an act. Or... Alley Leader’s stats must be skewed toward agility. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to show such movements.” 

it was only then that they understood the mystery result. The moment when Choi Wonseok’s sword headed toward Hyeonu, Hyeonu turned around like a spin top and stretched out his sword with an explosive speed. It was a strike that went beyond Choi Wonseok’s perception range.

“In my opinion, it was thoroughly calculated behavior. It wasn’t targeted at Choi Wonseok’s style of play but at the eyes of pro gamers. Of course, only Alley Leader knows the correct answer.”

“If you don’t know why Choi Wonseok’s defeat was declared, let me tell you... It is because Choi Wonseok had already lost his willpower. If there was a willingness to fight, the referee wouldn’t have judged it as a defeat.”

The two commentators gave their opinions while JT Telecom’s second player entered the cube. Another ace appeared.

***

-The first game between Yoo Bin and Alley Leader is starting.

Yoo Bin was particularly disturbed by the host’s words today. Alley Leader—it was a heavy name, a scary name.

‘I can’t be afraid.’

Still, he didn’t intend to be defeated quietly. Yoo Bin firmly grasped the sword in his hand and moved slowly toward Alley Leader.

‘It is a fierce battle. I can’t lose strength from now on.’

Yoo Bin was definitely composed. At this moment, he was calmer than ever. The standoff between the two men didn’t last long. Once they were at the right distance to attack each other, they both moved at the same time.

The two blades collided repeatedly, causing sparks to burst out. The sword and single-edged sword struck each other with successive blows. The attacks were focused on speed rather than strength, and the clash between the two men continued seemingly endlessly.

Just then, blood burst from Yoo Bin’s body. Hyeonu’s single-edged sword had appeared in an instant and left a short cut on his forearm. After that, it was a repeat of the same thing—a fierce battle that was too fast to follow with the naked eye and blood that flowed out. Less than three minutes passed by, and Yoo Bin’s entire body was covered with red blood. All of the blood was his own.

Nevertheless, Yoo Bin didn’t stop. He kept swinging his sword while continuing to rush at Hyeonu. Yoo Bin behaved like a mad dog. It was a viciousness that was different from his usual youthful appearance. This was a style of play that earned Yoo Bin the nickname of ‘Mad Dog’. 

‘His fighting spirit is good.’ Hyeonu greatly appreciated Yoo Bin’s attitude.

Nevertheless, this was separate from the battle, and Hyeonu’s sword contained no emotions. Just then, Hyeonu’s single-edged sword pierced Yoo Bin’s neck.

-The winner of the second game is Alley Leader of Crescent Moon! After a while, we will start the third game.

The second game was unconditionally Hyeonu’s victory. Crescent Moon’s victory was becoming increasingly likely in front of its eyes.

***

“Who can stop Alley Leader?! Five victories!!! He came out as the vanguard and has the all-kill in front of him,” the host spoke while suppressing his excitement as much as possible.

Nevertheless, he had no way to hide his excitement. Alley Leader was on the verge of beating the champions of the last league. If the host stayed calm in this situation, he wouldn’t be able to heat up the atmosphere. It was this ability to adapt in real-time that proved he was truly a first-rate host.

“The last player is JT’s only hope and their last bastion, Locke.”

Just then, the two people ready for the fight were shown on the screen.

“The sixth game between Locke and Alley Leader is starting.”

At the host’s words, the game that could be the last of this PvP match began.

‘His skills are tremendous, but it isn’t easy to play five games,’ Jung Hanbaek thought. 

Hyeonu had played five games in a row. Moreover, he didn't do it with the original character but with one that had the same amount of stat points. It was a hard thing to do. Health and magic power were restored after each game, but mental fatigue would’ve built up.

‘The extended game times prove it,’ Jung Hanbaek analyzed.

The 3rd, 4th, and 5th games weren’t short like the 1st and 2nd games. They had gotten increasingly longer. This was evidence that Alley Leader was also having problems.

‘Aim for a drawn-out fight,’ Jung Hanbaek planned.

If there were a change, he would attack, but he wouldn’t attack in an unreasonable manner. He would be in danger if he acted rashly. In such a situation, he couldn’t be careless or too excited.

‘Is he going to attack first? He must be quite tired now,’ Jung Hanbaek wondered. 

Alley Leader moved first right at this moment. It clearly showed he was in a hurry to end this game. Jung Hanbaek carefully held his sword and added a bit of tension to his body so he could cope with any attack. He lightly struck the single-edged sword aiming for him. It was fast, but it wasn’t faster than he expected. The peculiar thing was that there was totally no strength in the blow. He couldn’t understand it. 

‘Didn’t he restore his physical strength at all? How can an attack be so light?’

There was no force behind the attack. However, his question only lasted briefly. His body reacted first. Jung Hanbaek’s sword stabbed toward Alley Leader’s chest. It was a neat stab.

“Eh?” Jung Hanbaek’s eyes widened.

He looked very surprised. This was natural as his sword was stopped, and the reason for that occurring was simple. The end of Alley Leader’s sword was blocking the tip of his sword exquisitely. It was a flawless block. The strength of the two men was balanced, and they didn’t move from the center. Then Jung Hanbaek gripped his sword tighter and inserted magic power into it. Yet his sword didn’t budge; it stayed the same.

Therefore, Jung Hanbaek decided to pull the sword toward his body. Alley Leader’s sword came along with it like a magnet.

This scene continued for one minute, two minutes...

It wasn’t known when the weapons would fall. They were stuck together like lovers. No matter what Jung Hanbaek did, they just wouldn’t separate. Then right when Jung Hanbaek’s face was turning red with embarrassment, the two swords finally separated.

Jung Hanbaek forgot his original plan and ran angrily toward Alley Leader like a madman. With his rising red pure energy, Jung Hanbaek gave up on a long fight and chose to strike. The unpleasant experience he suffered just earlier limited his choices.

However, such a choice was meaningless; the result was the same. Alley Leader’s black pure energy exquisitely blocked Jung Hanbaek’s red pure energy. Then it stuck like a leech and wouldn’t separate.

‘This is ridiculous!!!’ Jung Hanbaek felt like he was going crazy.

He barely suppressed the expletives that rose in his throat. He seemed to be having a nightmare. This wasn’t reality.

Jung Hanbaek’s mental state gradually collapsed. Everything was damaged by Alley Leader’s repeated actions. It was bad enough to make those watching feel worried for Jung Hanbaek. The whole scene was pitiful.

Locke—Jung Hanbaek—was one of the top PvP players in the Korean League, yet such a person was unable to do a single thing. His sword was never swung properly during the fight. All he could do was breathe. Nothing else was allowed. It was impossible for him to even swing the sword. No, he could swing it, but there would be something else that followed it.

While the spectators and viewers were feeling sorry for him, Jung Hanbaek’s end finally arrived. Even his defeat was humiliating. Jung Hanbaek’s sword flew high into the sky and fell powerlessly in the distance. Shortly thereafter, Jung Hanbaek was hit by Alley Leader’s surprise kick and naturally fell to his knees. Alley Leader’s sword descended toward the neck of Jung Hanbaek, whose shoulders were slumped helplessly.

This was the finale of the six games.

-The winner of the sixth game is Alley Leader of Crescent Moon! With this, today’s PvP has been won by Crescent Moon. The opening matches are over.

The opening matches that produced four winners and four losers had come to an end. Hyeonu was sweaty all over as he came out of the cube.

‘Sigh, it was hard.’

Playing six games was tough even for Hyeonu. It wasn’t easy to fight an opponent with the same specs for over 10 minutes. Still, he had done it. He had gritted his teeth and gotten through it. This had been an opportunity that would come only once, after all.

‘It’s perfect.’

Hyeonu was tired and sweaty. Jung Hanbaek, on the other hand, was completely covered with sweat and had a foolish expression on his face. He couldn’t even walk properly, and his teammates had to help him.

‘Yes, this look is what I wanted.’ A smile appeared on Hyeonu’s face as he watched Jung Hanbaek. Just then, a video started playing on the screen at the center of the stage.

-I was really lucky to see that video. He was my favorite player. A pioneer. He is the one who suits this word the best, a familiar voice flowed out from the direction of the black screen.

It was Kale’s voice. The 20,000 spectators and the eyes and ears of the tens of millions of people watching the Korean League through A-World were focused on the screen.