Ranker’s Return

A new video was posted on Alley Leader’s channel. The views of ‘A Day in Phinis’ soared faster than any other video. The reaction was also the most intense. After debuting as a pro gamer, Hyeonu’s popularity rose even more. He originally had a large number of subscribers, but the current number was far ahead of that time.

-Escape Ninja: This seems crazy. I’ve already watched it 10 times. I can’t stop playing it.

-Deadline Gyur: Cute, cute, cute, cute.

-Deep Sea Sunfish: Can I get a bear like that if I go to Phinis?

-Spanish Sawedged Perch: What are you guys doing? I’ve already bought a return scroll to Phinis. Hehe.

The viewers who watched the video felt there was no exit. They couldn’t get out. Tang-E was smiling happily all the time. Sometimes, he would even stick out his plump lips in a pout. There was nothing about him that wasn’t cute. Most of them immediately thought of a way to get to Phinis. Those who were nearby immediately turned and headed there, while those who were far away rushed to the auction house to buy a Phinis return scroll.

However, some people visited Alley Leader’s channel for reasons other than this video. They were mainly people who belonged somewhere else.

Power analysts—they were part of a professional team, and their business was to watch and analyze everything about players from other teams. Among them, power analysts from leading and prestigious teams devoted more than half their work hours to analyzing Alley Leader.

There were reasons why the top teams spent such a great deal of time analyzing him. It was that there was still time left. Due to the nature of PvP, skills didn’t increase in an instant. The top-class players were already at the peak, making it difficult for them to move forward from there. So the data they had from countless analyses was still valid.

Then what about Alley Leader? He had just made his debut, played two matches, and fought only nine times in PvP. It wasn’t a lot. This was why even the videos on Alley Leader’s channel were included in the analysis. Finding a small habit or pattern would be a success. It didn’t matter how much time they spent.

A young man with curly blond hair appeared behind someone who was staring at a monitor. The curly-haired young man’s name was Leo. He was a happy young man living as a professional gamer under the name ‘Aike’.

“Did you achieve anything, Alvin?”

Alvin was a power analyst the same age as Aike, and they had been good friends since childhood. He didn’t have the ability to move his body, but his eyes were excellent. He used that to come to PSG, which was also a means for him to help a friend.

“No, not at all. It is like looking at water.” Alvin shook his head violently. He looked at the monitor for a long time and closed his eyes with a frustrated expression.

“Water? What are you talking about?” Aike asked after hearing Alvin’s mysterious answer.

“Should I say he’s like a chameleon? Or he can’t be defined? There’s no such thing as a pattern with him. He just fights really well.”

“It’s to that extent? You can’t find anything at all?” There was a look of surprise on Aike’s face.

‘Even Alvin can’t find anything... ’ Aike had guessed it would be difficult to find in a short period of time. He hadn’t fought Alley Leader directly, but he had seen it. ‘He’s overwhelming.’

Alley Leader wasn’t pushed by anyone he fought. He was powerful even without a weapon. Once he held a weapon...

‘I have to learn. This way, there is a chance.’

“Just look for weaknesses. Are there any features to his fighting style? A highlight I can absorb...”

“Let’s see... I don’t know if I can say this is one. First, he uses magic power really quickly. He creates and gets rid of pure energy. This is the only thing that can be called a combat style,” Alvin said while pointing at the monitor.

The monitor showed the video of Gang Hyeonu participating in Masked Fighting King. Magic power that disappeared and reappeared momentarily.

“I’m practicing that too... Sometimes I will succeed in practice but not against pro gamers.” 

“I know that. However, that is the only thing you can imitate. It’s crazy psychological warfare. I don’t know how far ahead he can predict. He has combat senses that turns a variable into a non-variable. It isn’t something that can be followed.”

Aike listened to Alvin and agreed. That explanation wasn’t wrong. In the first place, talent was the most important thing in virtual reality. There were limits to what could be done with effort. Effort involved many things, but the easier yet most difficult aspect was money.

Money—it was used to buy items, good skills, and information, as well as level up. Fight using money as the basis.

However, it didn’t work for PvP on the professional stage. This was a competition that compared the talent of each individual and measured how honed their talent was.

“Still... I have to try. Haven’t I been trying hard? I wasn’t very good in the beginning. Let’s do it slowly.” Aike smiled brightly and tapped Alvin’s shoulder.

“Yes. We should try it.”

***

While others were busy, Hyeonu was also busy. At present, he was diligently moving through the Hejin Great Mountain Range. He was also searching through his memories.

“Shit... Don’t you know how to get home?” Hyeonu asked Tang-E, whose face was buried in Hyeonu’s neck.

He was in the Hejin Great Mountain Range in order to go to Bung Bung Island. As for the reason why he was going there, that was simple—Tang-E told him to go. It was meaningless, but it didn’t matter. The important thing was that Tang-E asked him to go.

That was it.

“I don’t remember. I don’t know. It seems to be a waterfall in a forest.” Tang-E constantly shook his head like he knew nothing.

“Aish... Why did I trust a fool who only knows meat?” Hyeonu sighed and exerted some strength in the arms holding Tang-E.

“Idiot Master dude, it hurts!!!” Tang-E screamed at the pressure on his body. Hyeonu used the scream as meditation music and fell deep into his thoughts.

‘The forest? Waterfall?’

Since starting Arena, Hyeonu had been to many forests. Most of the fields were mountains, forests, and plains. There just weren’t many waterfalls.

‘Remember. Remember, waterfall!’

Hyeonu continued to squeeze his memories as he walked endlessly. Then he started to remember bit by bit.

‘Before I went to Bung Bung Island... I met Reina. Why did we meet?’

He remembered meeting Reina before going to Bung Bung Island, but he just couldn’t think of the reason why he’d done that. Why exactly had he met her? They wouldn’t have met for no reason.

‘There was definitely a reason to meet... Ah!’

Just then, the memory of that day flowed through Hyeonu’s brain like a presentation. He’d asked Ket about the widest forest in the Hejin Great Mountain Range. After hearing the answer, he went to visit Reina—or to be precise, the New York Warriors.

‘The central waterfall in the High Elf Forest!’

It was there—the place where he could go to Bung Bung Island. A smile appeared on Hyeonu’s face as he remembered the exact location.

“Come up with it quickly, Tang-E. Are you sleeping?” He pretended not to know anything and nudged Tang-E.

“Uhh... I can’t remember, Master dude.”

It was because Tang-E’s reaction was so funny. This was a bit of fun for Hyeonu to overcome the boring mountain hike.

***

“Tang-E, why do you want me to go to Bung Bung Island? Aren’t you there all the time?”Hyeonu asked the question that came to him while walking diligently.

“Is it the same being on Bung Bung Island alone compared to being there with Master?” Tang-E replied with an expression that wondered why Hyeonu was asking.

“Really? There isn’t anything else?”

“Yes, I just thought it has been a long time since you went to Bung Bung Island, so I asked you to go.” Tang-E buried himself in Hyeonu’s arms again.

Hyeonu smiled when he saw such a Tang-E. Some time later, he heard the sound of water falling and found he had arrived at his destination. In front of Hyeonu was a familiar waterfall.

[Are you sure you want to enter Bung Bung Island?]

“I will enter.”

***

When Hyeonu appeared on Bung Bung Island, he admired the surrounding scenery. The deep green forest, as well as the white rapids flowing through it, was truly beautiful. Hyeonu sighed at the scenery he hadn’t seen in a long time.

‘It is still the same.’

Bung Bung Island remained the same; it was unchanged. Rather, it seemed to emit a more brilliant life force than before.

“Tang-E, shall we go see your parents?”

Hyeonu’s mood improved. He was influenced by the energy that the island was giving off.

“Yes, Master dude. Let’s go see Mom and Dad.”

Hyeonu felt better, so Tang-E’s mood rose as well. One human and one bear moved toward the same place with light footsteps.

***

“It has been a while, Hugo and Manong,” Hyeonu greeted the handsome blond man and beautiful woman in front of him.

“It would be nice if you came to visit a bit more often... It’s been a while since I’ve seen Tang-E like that.” Hugo glanced at Tang-E in Manong’s arms.

Tang-E’s smile was brighter than usual, and the reason for that was obviously the person in front of him. Other than that, there was nothing different from usual.

“Yes. If I knew he would like it so much, I would’ve taken the time to come more often.” It was the same for Hyeonu, who smiled when he saw that Tang-E was happier than usual.

Yet contrary to their feelings, their conversation ended here. There was no conversation between Hugo and Hyeonu unless it was about Tang-E. Hyeonu started to feel uncomfortable in the awkward atmosphere. It was like this before, but he was still uncomfortable with it now.

So he struggled to find something to talk about. His troubles didn’t last long though as he had experienced something recently.

‘Ah! Yes, there is that.’

“Perhaps... Do you know the Luos Empire? As I was wandering the continent, I visited ruins associated with the Luos Empire. There, a Marionette Bear like Tang-E came out. Of course, it was a fake embodied by magic.”

Hyeonu had learned from Rondal that the Luos Empire and the Marionette Bears had some type of relationship. So he asked Hugo about it. Hugo was the leader of the Marionette Bears after all. If he didn’t know about it, no one else would.

“Yes, I saw him as well. He was like a warm uncle... He felt like Uncle Tommy from next door,” Tang-E added to Hyeonu’s words. He remembered the encounter very well. It was the first kin member he’d met outside, so it was impossible for him to not remember the meeting.

“The Luos Empire... I’ve definitely heard there was such an empire.”

“You know it? The Luos Empire? Tang-E didn’t know at all.”

“It is natural that Tang-E doesn’t know. It’s a story he’ll only know after his second awakening. Of course, it also depends on whether he has the will to know. It doesn’t really matter if he doesn’t know this history.”

Hyeonu stared at Tang-E. These words were clearly referring to Tang-E’s usual life. It must be routine for Tang-E to not read or study.

“It is true that there was such an empire in the past, and our clan did have a relationship with them. However, it is written that the exchange ended at one point.”

“At one point...?” Hyeonu questioned it.

“It was the moment when the lineage of the first emperor was ended by the black magicians who were deceived by demonkin.”