Ranker’s Return

The expression that Yeongchan made a few hours ago was now being replicated by the other players of Crescent Moon.

“The demon world? How did you get there?” Mason asked with wide eyes. The past week had been days of practice and more practice for them, so Mason had no time to hear about someone else’s Arena experience. There was raid practice and siege practice, and those who were participating in PvP also practiced PvP. Once all the exercises were over, everyone would be tired and would lie down somewhere or lean back to rest.

However, Hyeonu wasn’t in the dormitory, so they couldn’t talk to him while resting. Thus, the first time they heard about the demon world was when they came to Arena Stadium.

“It’s just, well— I originally knew how to go there. I just forgot about it. Then I was reminded about it, so I went there to hunt and get quests.” Hyeonu spoke about it in the same manner that he’d told Yeongchan.

He had no time to elaborate anyway. Once Hyeonu started explaining, other questions would certainly come up. The situation didn’t allow him to answer every single question.

Mason came to Hyeonu’s side and fired off some questions: “What? You already knew about it? When did you find out? How did you get there? Can we go?” 

It was only Mason who cried out, but everyone else was also staring at Hyeonu with the same feelings. Hyeonu cut off Mason’s words by saying, “The match is starting soon. We are the first match today, so we’ll up very soon. I’ll tell you in detail once the match is over.”

The match was about to begin soon. It wasn’t time to talk about this.

“It doesn’t matter if it is attacking or defending, just do what we have prepared. You have been preparing hard for a week,” Hyeonu thoroughly reassured his team’s players.

This wasn’t just a simple cheer. Rather, his intention was to use it to prevent the others from speaking about anything else. However, Mason was stubborn and said, “Then tell us once it is all over, okay?”

He didn’t let go of it even until the end.

***

“Hello to all the spectators who are visiting Arena Stadium and the viewers watching on TV. This is your announcer, Jang Junhyung. The turning point of the Winter League will start at 7 o’clock. We will start the fourth week of the competition!” Jang Junhyung’s shouts rang through Arena Stadium.

He was looking forward to today’s events. What performance would Alley Leader show? In particular, he was curious about the raid. This boss monster was a humanoid type and the most difficult one of its kind.

‘He will definitely come out one-on-one.’ Jang Junhyung predicted that Hyeonu would deal with the boss monster alone. He didn’t know why, but he thought this would be the case. ‘Alley Leader has enough skills to do so.’

After all, Hyeonu was the one who had killed a snow mountain cyclops alone. The boss monsters were on the same level as the snow mountain cyclops. However, the larger the size of the monster, the larger the hitting area. Stats correction was given to compensate for the heavy weight. In other words, a big monster could be hit easily in exchange for being tougher and stronger. Since Hyeonu successfully fended off the pattern of the snow mountain cyclops, it was obvious that he wouldn’t be pushed in the fight against a weaker humanoid monster.

“The highlight of today is the raid. Among them, how fast will Crescent Moon kill the boss monster? This will be something worth watching.” 

The expectations of the spectators gathered at Arena Stadium rose with Jang Junhyung’s voice that was full of anticipation.

“That’s right. I am really curious about what performance Gang Hyeonu—Alley Leader—will show in the fourth week of the Arena League,” the commentator Chae Yunho added to Jang Junhyung’s words.

He also had high hopes for Hyeonu. Splendid play styles were always a welcome sight. After all, Chae Yunho was first and foremost a player who liked Arena, before he was a commentator of the Arena Korean League.

Just then, one of the staff members waved to Jang Junhyung in the distance, indicating they were ready to start the match. Jang Junhyung picked up the microphone that had been sitting on the table for a while.

“Please greet all the players with loud shouts! For the first match of week four of the Winter League, Crescent Moon and Charlotte Dragons will enter!”

At Jang Junhyung’s shout, the players of both teams entered the stage. There were six Crescent Moon players and 12 Charlotte Dragons players, making a total of 18 people. They all waved and showed relaxed movements.

“Crescent Moon is currently 1st in the Winter League after three matches. They have beaten JT Telecom, Ellen Waze, and Emro Sparks, and they’ve also won first place with a dominant record in the second week’s raid,” the commentator Lee Wanghoon recited Crescent Moon’s achievements.

Crescent Moon was the current 1st place in the Arena Korean League with 3 victories and 0 losses, as well as 1st place in the raid time attack. It was an overwhelming score. The 2nd place team, UK Heights, also won 3-0 like Crescent Moon had done, but their slower record in the raid time attack meant they were ranked second.

“The opponent Charlotte Dragons is currently in 5th place. After winning against Emro Sparks in week one, they lost successively to Barrett Fighters and UK Heights. However, they have a good record of being 4th place in the first raid time attack. If they can beat Crescent Moon today, they can leap to the top.”

Conversely, the situation for Charlotte Dragons wasn’t very good. Their first match ended wonderfully with a victory, but they lost in the following matches. Fortunately, they were saved due to the raid time attack. Getting 5th place wasn’t a big deal for them considering they finished fourth in the last league. So it just wasn’t possible for them to be satisfied with this ranking.

A definite leap was needed this time, and Charlotte Dragons wanted to grab the opportunity with Crescent Moon. Crescent Moon was certainly a difficult opponent. Maybe it was impossible for Charlotte Dragons to win. Nevertheless, they couldn’t give up. They were pros after all.

As the commentators explained the situations of both teams, the rest of the players apart from the team captains entered the cube.

“The captains of each team will determine the attackers or defenders of the siege.”

The captain of Charlotte Dragons, Gang Seok, walked to the center of the stage along with Hyeonu. Hyeonu glanced at Gang Seok’s face before turning to the screen and saying, “Choose first. I will pick what is left.”

Gang Seok readily accepted Hyeonu’s concession. He might want to maintain his pride, but the opponent was still the opponent.

“Thank you. I will choose the front side.”

‘I have to take what is given,’ Gang Seok thought.

Currently, it was acknowledged that Crescent Moon was the strongest team in South Korea. There were only six players in the team, but they were more powerful than any other team. Even those who were considered holes in the team had a strength close to that of the league’s average. It was insane to reject this favor against Crescent Moon due to pride.

“The back of the coin is Crescent Moon. The image that appears on the hologram will be the attacker,” the staff member said with a smile. After the staff member’s words, a giant holographic coin rose into the air. The quickly spinning coin slowed down, and before long, it stopped completely on the front face of the coin.

“The coin face chosen by Charlotte Dragons has appeared. Charlotte Dragons will attack, and Crescent Moon will defend,” Jang Junhyung announced the result.

“Isn’t this a bit unfortunate for Charlotte Dragons?”

“It isn’t just a bit unfortunate; it is extremely unfortunate. The winning rate for the defenders is higher by 10-15%. They have to win the siege to have some hope for PvP...”

Chae Yunho and Lee Wanghoon weren’t optimistic about the Charlotte Dragons’ chances of winning. It was inevitable for them to feel this way as there was a lot of data to prove it.

“Sigh...” A sigh flowed out of Gang Seok’s mouth while he and Hyeonu entered the cube. It was very regrettable that the front of the coin had emerged.

‘It is useless to feel resentment since I was the one who picked it,’ Gang Seok thought. Obviously, Hyeonu had given him a choice, so there was no one he could blame. He was the one who picked the front of the coin, so he couldn’t resent anyone for that.

“Hah...” Even so, he couldn’t help letting a deep sigh flow out.

***

“Did you hear? I won. We’re the defenders.” Hyeonu appeared in an elated mood.

Crescent Moon had spent this week practicing only defense-based strategies. They had no attack-based siege strategy. In their opinion, the attack-based siege strategy was no longer necessary as what they had been doing so far was the most complete strategy so far.

Hyeonu and Tang-E would separate from the other five—this was the best strategy. It was also a trap that had to be entered. The opponents couldn’t pass forward without stepping into it. If they didn’t defeat the five people without Hyeonu, it would be impossible for the opposing team to defend their castle.

Just blocking one Hyeonu was nearly impossible, so it was naturally absolutely impossible if the other five players of Crescent Moon were added. They needed to at least show the minimum of struggle, rather than a helpless defeat. However, the struggle was meaningless. Why? It was a prepared trap.

“Good job, Oppa.”

“I believe that Hyung would definitely bring back the defending side.” 

Yuri and Lee Hoon greeted Hyeonu with bright smiles. It was good news that they were the defenders this time as it was a position where they could show the results of all their efforts in training.

“Good, good. Now let’s take a seat and do one last simulation,” Hyeonu said and pointed to the walls. The basis of defending stemmed from the field of view. It was to know where and how the opponents arranged their formations. This was the most important thing.

“Let’s go out quickly.”

“There are only 10 minutes left. It will be five minutes by the time we arrive at the walls.”

Mason and Sunny urged their team members. Time was running out before the siege would begin. Five minutes was short. It was time to end the conversation.

‘Now everyone looks good.’

Hyeonu was happy to see that they were all in such a good state. This was what parents felt while raising their children.

‘How hard did they train to become like this?’

Crescent Moon’s players had changed into their current states in just three weeks. They were no longer the nervously shaking newcomers from before. Only well-prepared veterans stood here now. All of this was thanks to Hyeonu’s mental care. He would praise them from time to time. Although he criticized their skills, he didn’t kill them. Rather, he pushed them thoroughly and didn’t let their tension drop.

The result was the current Crescent Moon. They weren’t complacent but were confident. This was one of the typical examples of a strong team.

***

The siege began.

At the beginning of the siege, Sunny summoned the death knights and other undead. Her performance was of a different level from last week. Due to hunting all week long, the skill level of her death knights and dullahan summoning had increased, which resulted in slight changes.

“Sunny has started summoning the undead at the beginning of the siege. However, it looks slightly different from last week. The death knights’ armor is a bit darker. Is it the mood?” Jang Junhyung accurately grasped the point, having caught the subtle changes in the undead.

“I think the skill proficiency has increased. Usually, the changes occur every time the alphabet letter changes. It probably rose from the E+ rank to the D rank.”

“The players of Charlotte Dragons will have a hard time today. The power of the death knights has already been verified. It definitely isn’t easy. Three of them are equivalent to one melee player.”

The attention of the commentators focused on the death knights. However, the death knights weren’t the only ones with a significant change. There was something else. It would appear a while later in the battle against Charlotte Dragons.