Ranker’s Return

“Don’t blame yourself too much. You didn’t do anything wrong, Lao.” Sun Lin, the master of the Dujieng Guild, patted Lao Huang, who had his head lowered.

It really wasn’t Lao Huang’s fault; he hadn’t made the situation like that. He had just gone there to wrap things up in his own way. Sun Lin continued, “Don’t take the responsibility for it alone. It’s okay to give him 100,000 gold. No, maybe even 200,000 gold would be fine? It isn’t a big sum.”

An amount of 100,000 or 200,000 gold wasn’t a big deal for Dujieng. The money earned in Dujieng’s name was several times more than that daily.

“You did nothing wrong. The guild members were just acting according to our instructions. The only problem is that the location was Phinis, Alley Leader’s territory. He was also present at the time,” Sun Lin said.

Then he raised Lao Huang’s head, revealing the latter’s gloomy and stiff face.

“Let me ask you one thing, Lao Huang.” Sun Lin wanted to ask Lao Huang a question.

It was only that Lao Huang opened his mouth: “What is it?”

“Alley Leader. How strong is he? Is he as strong as he seems in the videos and rumors?”

Lao Huang thought back to a few hours ago, recalling the shameful moment when he ran away after being robbed of 100,000 gold. 

“There is more to him than what is known. He is actually much stronger than what we see in the footage. It might be more appropriate to think of him as a human-type boss monster.” Lao Huang bit his lips. Even now, Alley Leader’s presence was clear in Lao Huang’s mind. Alley Leader was a monster hidden behind a mischievous mask.

‘It is the first time I’ve ever felt like this.’

Alley Leader was a person who should never be touched—absolutely never.

*** 

Hyeonu returned to the workshop with a reassured heart after receiving 100,000 gold. Yet he soon sighed.

‘How am I supposed to repair those buildings...?’

He didn’t know when Lebron was coming, so Hyeonu had to deal with the repairs as quickly as possible. However, there were too many broken buildings for Hyeonu to fix in the near future.

‘It might be different if only one or two were broken...’

If one or two buildings were damaged, he could just destroy and rebuild them. The problem was that only one or two buildings in the western shopping district were mostly destroyed. The rest just had small breaks, but there were too many affected buildings.

‘I can’t let him go to the western district.’

It couldn’t be helped. There was only one solution—prevent Lebron from going to the western shopping district.

“Have the two of you resolved it?”

It was very quiet when Hyeonu entered the workshop. Edchan was drinking beer silently while Tresha was massaging his eyelids that currently had large egg-like bumps. It wasn’t known where the NPC who was hammering previously had gone. Edchan drank the beer in one gulp before putting down the glass and responding, “Yes! We dwarves don’t drag things out long! It has already been resolved.”

Seeing that, Hyeonu clicked his tongue. Anyone who saw this scene would think that only Edchan resolved it.

“Then I’m glad.”

Nevertheless, Hyeonu didn’t show it on the surface. He just nodded knowingly.

“Did your matter go well? It looked pretty urgent.”

“You knew?”

“Anyone would know when you went out in such a hurry. Don’t you think so, Tresha?” Edchan turned to look at Tresha. Tresha just silently lowered his head.

“If there is anything I can do, I will help. After all, you will be taking care of this guy for a year,” Edchan said.

Hearing that, Hyeonu felt an illusion of light was floating in front of him.

‘If it is a dwarf... it might be possible.’

Moreover, there wasn’t just one but two dwarves. They should be enough to restore the buildings.

“Can you perhaps repair buildings? It isn’t a big construction...” Hyeonu’s words trailed off. In other games, dwarves were all-rounders, but there was no guarantee it would be the same in Arena. However, Hyeonu’s worry was groundless.

“Repair buildings? That is very easy. Do you have any building materials left?” Edchan responded like it was simple.

Hyeonu was very happy about this. “Yes, there should be some materials left.”

‘Surely there wouldn’t be none?’ The construction was just completed, so he naturally thought materials would still remain. He didn’t think that he had only bought just enough.

“Really? Then do you have gold?”

“Huh? Gold? Of course, I have it...”

“The dwarves’ special repair solution contains gold. Moreover, it requires quite a lot. Instead, the effect is excellent, so you don’t have to worry.”

*** 

‘What a terrible thing...’

Hyeonu was frightened by Edchan’s bizarre behavior. It was definitely the dwarves’ special repair solution, but then what was this sight? Hyeonu called Johnny and asked him to deliver the building materials Edchan requested to the workshop. In the first place, the warehouse was close to the workshop, which was because the most commonly used materials were needed by the workshop. As the building materials were gathered, Edchan started to melt different materials in each of the three furnaces. Then he generously poured the gold that Hyeonu handed him into the furnaces.

Edchan puffed up his chest and declared with pride, “This is the special repair solution of our tribe. Just apply it well to the broken area, and the building will be repaired automatically.” 

Seeing this scene, Hyeonu felt a rush of stress and was on the verge of holding the back of his neck. ‘How much gold is that...?’ 

The amount of gold that Edchan poured into the furnace was close to 30,000 gold.

‘I didn’t expect it to use so much...’ Hyeonu never imagined that Edchan would pour in so much gold. 30,000 gold was used to repair the buildings. Of course, it would save time, unless Edchan’s description was false.

‘It can’t be a lie. In any case, I’ll find out soon,’ Hyeonu thought.

Still, a waste was a waste. So what about the 100,000 gold he had just earned?

‘I just have to try it.’

Hyeonu placed the completed repair solution in his inventory and headed to the western shopping district where the broken buildings were located.

*** 

“Wow…!!” Hyeonu could only exclaim. It was because the sight in front of him was so amazing. After applying the dwarves’ special repair solution—which was made of building materials—to the broken buildings, the buildings really were restored to their original form.

‘Reconstruction of the completely broken buildings will start tomorrow...’

Now he just had to apply this solution diligently. There were many broken places, so there were naturally many places where the repair solution had to be applied.

“Excuse me... Can you both help me?” Hyeonu asked for help from the two dwarves watching from a distance.

*** 

Fortunately, Lebron’s visit was pretty slow approaching. Through the Knights of Keon, Hyeonu received a message that Lebron could only come in two weeks. The reason was that there was a sudden situation.

‘I’m glad.’

Hyeonu was relieved. Of course, showing a slightly broken look wouldn’t cause much trouble. It was just that… this felt like he was showing his room to his parents. He wanted it to be as clean and normal as possible.

‘I can’t help remembering that time...’

It reminded him of his past life of living alone that ended six months ago after Yeongchan found him. Hyeonu’s room had been reminiscent of a beggar’s den. After being caught by his parents in the past, a return order was given immediately, and Hyeonu had no choice but to return home in tears.

‘Then I should go hunting.’

In any case, two weeks was enough. Johnny would take care of things and finish the construction. Hyeonu put the remaining 70,000 gold in the warehouse. Then the system would handle the rest and take the gold away.

“Tang-E, let’s eat.” Hyeonu decided to eat first. Hunting could be left until after he got a full stomach.

“Yes, Master dude. Let’s eat meat.” Tang-E appeared in front of Hyeonu’s knees and hummed happily.

“Yes, let’s go to eat meat. I made a lot of money today. You can eat to your heart’s content. I will happily treat you!” Hyeonu exclaimed as he carried Tang-E. Currently, he had 70,000 gold in hand. It was a huge amount for Tang-E’s meal money.

“Good, Master dude! Tang-E will eat whatever Tang-E likes!”

*** 

‘I have to film a promotional video now.’

The number of NPCs coming to Phinis had naturally increased, but the players were still lacking. Although the number of players had increased compared to before, it was still a lot smaller than the number of NPCs.

‘They don’t need anything.’

The concept of Phinis as the East Continent didn’t appeal greatly to the players. After all, they could just go to the East Continent if they wanted to see it. Return amulets were a bit expensive, but it wasn’t a large burden.

‘There’s a reduction of around 250 people?’

It was because the construction had taken a long time, and the East Continent had opened up too quickly. However, it was Hyeonu himself who had done it, so he couldn’t blame anyone. Thus, he thought about making a promotional video to attract more players to Phinis.

The concept was decided on the fly, but there was nothing that worked better. It was a daily date with Tang-E. Hyeonu spent his time exploring and wandering around Phinis with Tang-E. He was going to edit the footage and use it as a promotional video. It would be very popular amongst the viewers to see Tang-E from Hyeonu’s point of view.

So Hyeonu thought about how to go around. Then a clear plan emerged in his head. The beginning was the shopping streets. Originally, all the shops, except for those in the west, had merchants. Everything was different from the western district, which had just been completed and was still empty.

“Tang-E, shall we eat skewers first?” Hyeonu started filming with Tang-E in his arms. Nothing was different from the usual. The two of them normally went around like this.

“I want to start with chicken skewers, Master. Two’s better.” Tang-E’s eyes were wide as he held out both paws.

Hyeonu gently pressed against Tang-E’s forehead. “No, just eat one. Are you only going to eat chicken skewers? There is a lot of food here. You should try them all at least once.”

Tang-E pouted at Hyeonu’s scolding that wasn’t really a scolding. However, it was only for a moment. Hyeonu bought the chicken skewers, and Tang-E started smiling again like he had always done.

“Is it good?”

“It’s good, Master dude,” Tang-E replied while biting into one of the big chicken skewers. After seeing that, Hyeonu also started to eat the chicken skewer.

*** 

“Are you full now?”

“My stomach is about to burst, Master dude,” Tang-E answered while tapping his stomach that was just as chubby as before he ate.

“Wasn’t it originally like this? Did I get it wrong?”

“No, Master dude! I was originally slim. I could see all my ribs!”

Hyeonu’s words made Tang-E angry. His voice became really loud as if he was genuinely agitated.

“Really? Well, if you say so,” Hyeonu pretended to answer reluctantly.

Tang-E rolled his eyes at Hyeonu’s attitude and corrected Hyeonu, “I’m not just saying it. It’s true.” 

“Yes, you were originally slim. Right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Hyeonu walked with Tang-E to the place where there was the giant statue of Tang-E.

“I really like that statue,” Hyeonu said while pointing to the Tang-E statue.

After seeing the statue, Tang-E smiled and came down from Hyeonu’s arms. Then he posed like the statue. “Don’t you like me better, Master dude?”

Hyeonu burst out laughing. “Yes, you are better.”

This short video was edited by Ellis and posted on Alley Leader’s channel.

[A Day in Phinis—feat. Tang-E]