Ranker’s Return

After glancing at Tresha and Edchan who were still fighting, Hyeonu exited the smithy.

 ‘I don’t think it will end soon.’

He was glad. In such an atmosphere, they wouldn’t notice if he slipped away. Hyeonu exited the workshop and ran quickly. He was in a hurry.

‘Some jerks in Phinis...’

The whisper Hyeonu received had come from Kale. However, unlike their usual conversations, the content of this one was bad.

-From Kale: There seems to be a serious problem. Players are fighting in the shopping area in the west.

Hyeonu wasn’t taking it very seriously at this point. He thought it was a possible scenario. Fighting inside a city wasn’t very common, but it wasn’t something to worry about. It could happen anywhere. The problem was Kale’s words after that.

-From Kale: The size of the battle is quite large. In the aftermath, buildings are being damaged.

From here, Hyeonu couldn’t maintain his expression properly. His lips became dry like a parched paddy field under the summer sun while his eyes shook like there was an earthquake, and his two fists clenched and opened repeatedly.

‘If I find any guilds there, I will kill them all.’

If they fought without hesitation in the city, they were likely to be murderers. In that case, they would definitely drop items.

‘I will sell their items to replenish the gold.’

It seemed Hyeonu would have to use this gold to do the recovery work. Of course, he had no intention of ending it there. Actual compensation had to be received separately for both the mental and physical damage. Hyeonu gritted his teeth and ran toward the unknown guilds.

***

There were occasionally people like this. They became calmer when they were angry. Hyeonu was different. If his anger exceeded a certain level, he had to resolve the issue. He couldn’t stay calm and put up with it.

‘These guys?’

Hundreds of people entered Hyeonu’s sights as he arrived at the west shopping district Kale had mentioned.

‘Why are there so many of them?’

The number was greater than he had expected. Around the time Hyeonu started playing Arena again, most players began to play PK actively. Thinking bout it, Hyeonu felt it wasn’t surprising. After all, there were more people enjoying Arena now, and they would definitely belong to a large guild. It should come as no surprise that people did PK in a game played by hundreds of millions of people.

However, Hyeonu didn’t see too many players fighting each other because he was too far ahead of everyone else. At a certain point, he met only large guilds where the best appeared. So it was natural that the number wasn’t high since he only played with those who could be called aces, not just elites.

‘First, let’s try and figure out the identity of the guild.’

Hyeonu had no intention of jumping in just yet. Even if he were to fight, he should know the opponent first. In this way, he could receive the compensation, including repair costs, later.

Hyeonu moved like a thief into a surrounding building. He held his breath and started listening to their battle.

***

The battlefield was in a lull. It was because the executives of the two guilds in the fight, the Mano and Dujieng Guilds, had appeared.

“What is with this behavior? Acting like this won’t help Dujieng, right?” Mano’s executive, Patrick, asked with a blank expression.

The executive of Dujieng, Lao Huang, smiled at him and responded, “I don’t think going against the dirt-like Mano will harm our Dujieng.”

Lao Huang was full of confidence. To him, Mano had already fallen. In fact, it was safe to say they were almost gone. They were no longer worthy of having the name of a large guild.

“So you attacked our guild members hunting on Mount Canary? As if that wasn’t enough, you also decided to hit us in Phinis? Is that what you’re saying?” Patrick continued to be calm despite Lao Huang’s words that were close to insulting.

He carefully grasped the situation and didn’t vent his anger.

‘Before as well... He is definitely a great person,’ Hyeonu praised Patrick inwardly upon seeing this scene. He felt Patrick had a very special type of temperament. Someone who hid things deeply—this was a very suitable way to describe people like this.

‘Of course, they can be sneaky, but...’

In the case of such people, it was hard to know. It was hard to tell even if they had an ulterior motive. Thus, they weren’t the type of people that Hyeonu liked. On the other hand, Lao Huang was quite tenacious. He stated, “It isn’t an attack. It is a small conflict. Aren’t conflicts common among players when you’re hunting?”

Seeing this, Hyeonu could figure out what had happened.

‘They killed Mano at the hunting ground and stirred up a dispute here as well...?’

Hyeonu didn’t know the Dujieng Guild. There was no way for him to know it. Dujieng wasn’t a guild on the level where he would encounter them.

“So... they destroyed these buildings. These guys...” Hyeonu murmured. There was just one thing Hyeonu definitely knew, and it was that he needed to get compensation from them.

Hyeonu no longer hid in the building. Instead, he stepped out in a proud manner. There was nothing to worry about now. His opponent had been set.

“Stop moving!!” Hyeonu intervened between the two guilds that seemed ready to explode at any time. Hundreds of players stopped upon seeing Hyeonu’s sudden appearance. He appeared as a man wearing a child’s mask, but everyone knew the face hidden behind it.

This man was the owner of this place—Alley Leader. He showed up in this space that was on the verge of breaking out into a battle.

“I am grateful to you for visiting Phinis, my home. But—!!! Now that you are here, you should hunt, buy potions, and leave quietly. Isn’t that right? If you cause trouble like this... Don’t you think that I, as the territory’s owner, will feel very defiled?” Hyeonu spoke continuously without stopping to breathe.

It was a long speech, but it was stuck in everyone’s ears. They felt Hyeonu’s feelings deeply. Alley Leader was angry.

“Look here. This is new construction that has just been completed. Yet it’s now cracked and broken like this? This is all my money. Buildings that I built with my own gold!!!” Hyeonu shouted at them.

To be exact, he was looking at the Dujieng Guild. Lao Huang couldn’t say anything to such a Hyeonu and was completely mute. He was suppressed by Hyeonu’s pressure.

‘This is pressure from a player...’ Lao Huang commented inwardly.

The pressure he felt from Hyeonu was greater than he ever imagined. It was like he was standing in front of a powerful boss monster.

“So... you should pay compensation. I will receive just 100,000 gold for building repairs and reconstruction. Isn’t it cheap?” Hyeonu seemed very kind-hearted, but the weight of his words was never light.

It was a scam, not kindness. 100,000 gold—this was 100 million won in cash. It was not the price for repairs and reconstruction for the damages. 100,000 gold was actually the cost of destroying and repairing the entire western shopping district, including the currently broken buildings.

However, this was a story that only Hyeonu knew. There was no way for Lao Huang to know it. Aside from Hyeonu, this was something only the administrators knew about.

“100,000 gold is a bit...” This was the only thing Lao Huang could say.

Too much...

100,000 gold was simply too much.

“Okay. Then stick out your head and go. I will directly receive the compensation from your guild master later. Don’t ask for the reason why. You are the ones who touched me first. For reference, don’t try to deny it. I recorded the conversation you had with Patrick.” Hyeonu pushed Lao Huang ruthlessly.

He would never let this person go. He stepped on Lao Huang’s hand that was clinging to a 100-meter-high cliff with difficulty.

“...Can you wait a minute? I’ll contact Master.”

“Yes, do so. Instead, the compensation I get from Dujieng will be separate from the compensation of those gathered here. Please tell him. It is more profitable to pick up and sell the items you drop.”

Hyeonu never backed down. He thought he was being tolerant enough by engaging in negotiations without killing anyone.

‘I’ve matured after becoming rich,’ Hyeonu evaluated himself this way. Or perhaps he looked at the situation from a wider perspective... 

He wasn’t looking at the small thing in front of him but the big thing in the distance.

“Say it quickly. My time is very expensive. From now on, I’ll increase the compensation by 10,000 gold every minute. I left an important meeting for this,” Hyeonu continued to urge Lao Huang.

He couldn’t let Lao Huang come to his senses, so he pressed Lao Huang to induce a mistake. That way, he would get a greater compensation.

“It’s been a while, Patrick. I don’t remember the last time I saw you, but... In any case, it’s been a fairly long time.” Hyeonu spoke to Patrick, who looked surprised, in the meantime. 

However, it was only for a moment.

“Yes, it’s been a while, Alley Leader.” Patrick soon regained his usual expression.

Hyeonu approached and held out his hand, on which there was a small earring.

“This... It might be useless now, but I’ll give it back,” he said.

The earring that Hyeonu returned was the earring he received from Patrick in the past. It was a similar situation to now. At that time, Patrick had offered the earring and asked Hyeonu to step down.

“I really appreciate it.” Patrick carefully picked up the earring from Hyeonu’s hand. Then he inserted it into his empty earlobe.

“I am well aware that this isn’t Mano’s will... And... Thank you for using Phinis. I hope you use it more in the future.”

It was different from what Hyeonu said to Lao Huang. He just exchanged words of thanks with Patrick. There wasn’t a single sharp word.

“You still haven’t decided? If you cause an incident, you should pay the compensation. Or do you want to challenge me with that trivial name?” Hyeonu once again turned his head to look at Lao Huang and naturally threw sharp words. The pressure was relentless.

This time, Lao Huan gave a reply: “100,000 gold... I will give it. In addition, the guild-level compensation will be given as soon as it is determined later.”

“Really? Great. I was worried I would have to act every time I encountered Dujieng in the field. This is less of a bother. In return, I won’t ask for the 20,000 gold coins for two minutes passing by.”

Hyeonu once again pretended to be kind, and Lao Huang once again couldn’t respond properly. He was busy sweating. Lao Huang turned around and approached the Dujieng guild members to collect the gold. After all, it was impossible for him alone to have 100,000 in his inventory.

It wasn't until a long time later that he approached Hyeonu and put forth a pouch full of gold. Lao Huang said, “Here you are. 100,000 gold.”

Hyeonu snatched the pouch like a hawk snatching prey.

“So... don’t fight in front of me next time. If you don’t fight, there is no reason to give me 100,000 gold, right? Despite how I look, I love peace. It’s very good.” Hyeonu added such disgusting words that people wanted to hit him.