Ranker’s Return

Seven days—this was the amount of time allowed for the professional teams to practice the raid time attack. It hadn’t been until the day of the opening match that the snow mountain cyclops was selected as a raid monster. After the opening match was over, Quency allowed professional teams to practice in specific locations. The allowed practice time was set as a week to make it fair for everyone.

During that time, how well they prepared to attack the boss monster was the main issue of their performance on the day of the competition.

“JT Telecom is decreasing the health of the snow mountain cyclops at the fastest speed.”

“This is the speed of the team that was ranked first in the raid last season.”

“It is more than twice as fast as the other teams. It’s amazing.”

Unsurprisingly, JT Telecom was the fastest to kill the snow mountain cyclops. The combination of the front desk’s excellent analytical ability and the superior skills of the players meant they soon completed a strategy to attack the snow mountain cyclops.

“It is time for a pattern to come out. It is Ice Ray or Hitting the Ground!” Kim Jinyong shouted loudly.

The time had come for the snow mountain cyclops that held an ice club in its hand to use a skill. The first pattern appeared when its health was reduced by around one-third. It was either Hitting the Ground or Ice Ray.

Hitting the Ground was a CC device that made it impossible to move. The snow mountain cyclops would use the club in its hand to make the surrounding land shake. Ice Ray was where the snow mountain cyclops fired a beam of ice from its huge lone eye. The beam alone was naturally powerful, but once it hit, it would also create a frozen state, and those who were hit wouldn’t be able to move. If the players were hit by either of the two skills, they would be out—logged out. 

The melee classes, including Jung Hanbaek, quickly retreated to the place where Kim Jinyong, the priests, and the magicians were gathered. Just then, the snow mountain cyclops’ eye turned blue, and it fired a white ray. This was the first pattern of the raid boss monster, and it was extremely powerful—so powerful that even the air froze.

Nevertheless, JT Telecom had experienced dozens of ice rays previously, so they already knew how to cope. The priest’s shields and magician’s magic started to block the cyclops’ ray before the ice ray reached them.

“It will start from me in order!” Kim Jinyong yelled.

The white wall he’d created froze and broke. However, this was enough. The defensive wall played its part. Its purpose was to weaken the ray slightly. Another white wall was raised in the spot where Kim Jinyong’s wall disappeared. There were two priests in JT Telecom after all. Once again, the defense wall froze and burst. Still, the ice ray had thinned to the point where it had become noticeably thin.

“Run out!”

Apart from the magicians and priests, eight people charged toward the snow mountain cyclops. Naturally, the cyclops’ one eye turned toward them, but the ice ray collided with the magic that the magicians had prepared, then it disappeared. There were always gaps in powerful skills. The bigger the size, the bigger the gap would be.

The snow mountain cyclops couldn’t do anything for three seconds after Ice Ray ended. It was in a state of exhaustion. This was the best opportunity. There was no better time for the players to use a big skill. Three seconds was a long time for a melee class.

“Attack!! Use the powerful ones first!!!” Kim Jinyong knew this well and ordered them to use big skills. Acting accordingly with Kim Jinyong’s order, Jung Hanbaek’s and Yoo Bin’s swords simultaneously stabbed the snow mountain cyclops’ ankle. It was a simple stab, but it was a different story when a lot of pure energy was poured out. The two men pierced the skin of the snow mountain cyclops with their swords, and similar sounds were repeated over and over again. The other players wielded and stabbed with their swords from their respective positions.

Blood spilled from the cyclops’ body. It was red blood. None of the players pulled out the weapons they had inserted into the cyclops’ body. They used their skills in this state. Even a three-year-old child knew that hitting relatively soft inner flesh could deal more damage than thick skin.

Explosions occurred here and there as the three seconds passed by. The snow mountain cyclops’ stopped time started to flow again.

“Kuaaaaaah!!!” It screamed and started to swing the ice club in its hand. The cyclops raised its wounded leg and then lowered it.

Kim Jinyong saw it and shouted, “Get back!! Foot Stomping!”

Foot Stomping—it wasn’t a big pattern like Ice Ray or Hitting the Ground, but it was still a pattern that could log out a player if they were caught by it. Just like the previous two skills, it limited their movement, and they could be hit to death by a follow-up of the ice club.

The JT Telecom players followed Kim Jinyong’s order and widened their distance from the snow mountain cyclops. The moment the players retreated, the cyclops’ foot touched down hard against the ground. It was Foot Stomping. However, the burden of the fight was on everyone, and this burden caused someone to make an unexpected mistake.

“Yoo Bin!”

Unlike when they were practicing, Yoo Bin couldn’t get out of the effective range of Foot Stomping. During practice, he had never been caught by cyclops’ patterns. This was the case before the analysis on the cyclops was completed and even more so after there was a strategy. Yet the first time they met in an actual battle, Yoo Bin was hit.

‘Uh...’ His mind went blank. Among the items he wore, there were some that could clear status abnormalities. It wasn’t just one. There were at least two. However, Yoo Bin couldn’t use them now as he couldn’t even remember that he had such items. He just stood still and stared blankly at the cyclops’ knees.

“Yoo Bin! Wake up!” Do Jeonghyun shouted when he saw that. Nonetheless, Yoo Bin was already in a state of panic. Then the cyclops’ ice club fell.

“What? Can’t you wake up?”

Slap! 

Choi Wonseok, the best warrior on the team, slapped Yoo Bin on the cheeks. He even used his buff to save Yoo Bin before the ice club fell on him. They were usually good brothers, but Choi Wonseo was merciless at this time.

“Uh...? Uh...! I’m sorry, Hyung. I’ll do it again properly.” Yoo Bin shook his head from side to side as if he had come to his senses.

“Sigh... I’m glad that you’re not dead,” Kim Jinyong sighed.

They had passed a big crisis. If Yoo Bin died here, their clearance time would’ve been delayed by at least 10 minutes.

‘We might not be able to kill it.’

No, they would be unable to kill it at all. The raid might’ve been increased to three events, but it was a massive loss to miss out on one chance. For JT Telecom, this was the first and last crisis. There were no more crises after that. Since then, they succeeded in the snow mountain cyclops raid. The experience of killing it more than a dozen times before was shining through.

***

“Let me announce the records of the teams. 1st place is the only team who cleared it in less than an hour. JT Telecom’s time is 58 minutes and 47 seconds!”

JT Telecom was in first place. They had a crisis, but they overcame it and showed why they were the winners of the last league.

Jang Junhyung then announced the records of the other teams in turn according to their rankings: “Second place was won by UK Heights by a small difference. Their time is 1 hour, 4 minutes, and 7 seconds. Third place is Barrett Fighters. Their record is 1 hour, 13 minutes, and 25 seconds. Fourth place is Mino Dyrus. At 1 hour, 39 minutes, and 34 seconds, they defeated the snow mountain cyclops the latest.” 

There wasn’t a single team that failed in the raid. Such cases were rare. In fact, they were wondering if there would even be one this season.

“Then we will soon start the raids of the second group, which will be played by the teams who participated in the third and fourth matches!” Jang Junhyung stated.

“Wow!” The crowd shouted the moment Jang Junhyung’s words were over.

Crescent Moon was among the four teams challenging the next raid time attack. The presence of Crescent Moon meant that Alley Leader would appear, and the audience was looking forward to it. They would actually be able to see the raid of Alley Leader here. This was the opportunity for them to see what was previously only shown in the streams on the screen in front of them.

***

“Hyung, will you do the raid yourself? It isn’t something we have to do, right?” Mason clung to Hyeonu with a mischievous expression.

“How can I do it alone? We will do it all together.” Hyeonu placed his arm around Mason’s neck with some strength.

“Honestly, it’s faster if Hyung kills him alone. It will disturb you if Dwayne Ahjussi or Hoon gets in your way.” Mason didn’t stop joking even when his neck was squeezed by Hyeonu’s arm. Lee Hoon and Dwayne might’ve felt bad upon hearing his words, but they didn’t look like it at all. Mason’s words were true, and they knew it well.

“That’s correct. Honestly, how do we follow Hyung’s battle style? You just need to use a few skills, and there will be a pattern. Hit one more time, and there will be another pattern.” Lee Hoon sighed.

They had practiced for a week, but the first few days had been just to let them adjust to it. It was time to adjust to Hyeonu’s fighting power, not the pattern of the snow mountain cyclops. They had watched many videos, hunted the drake together, and done other hunts. 

However, it was all unlike the first time they did a formal raid together. Usually, they would fight first. If it didn’t work, Hyeonu would come out. He was like an older brother who appeared after his younger siblings were beaten.

“Don’t let go of your tension. Why are you absent-minded? This is why you are beaten all the time,” Hyeonu said, turning his head to look at Lee Hoon with intense eyes.

Then Hyeonu loosened his arms and turned his head left and right to make eye contact with each team member as he spoke: “In any case, there is a lot of time. We just need to kill it in 58 minutes. So do it slowly all together. Don’t feel too burdened.” 

-In one minute, the raid time attack will begin.

Just then, the commentator’s voice was heard.

“Let’s just work hard.” Hyeonu smiled.

***

The huge screen in Arena Stadium was broadcasting the raids of the four teams. Sometimes it was divided into four and showed each team’s battles simultaneously. If an important skill or fight took place, the team’s battle would be shown alone.

“It’s different from what I thought?”

“Isn’t it a bit slow?”

“It has been 10 minutes already, but none of the patterns have come out.”

The crowd expressed their feelings while watching a certain team fight. It was Crescent Moon—Alley Leader’s team. Most of the expressed feelings were disappointment. Crescent Moon’s raid was going slower than expected. There was only one reason—Hyeonu wasn’t exerting his power. It was to give his team members a chance. He provided enough time for them to use their skills at least once so that they didn’t feel disappointed. 10 minutes was the time given to soothe that regret.

Just then, the crowd shouted, “Alley Leader!”

All of Crescent Moon’s players stepped back except for Hyeonu. The crowd’s shouts quickly became cheers. It was due to the series of actions Hyeonu showed.

“Climbing!”

Hyeonu was climbing the mountain—a mountain called the snow mountain cyclops.