Ranker’s Return

The players of Charlotte Dragons approached the city walls ahead of the NPC soldiers. They moved cautiously. The speed of the Charlotte Dragons was slow—too slow to some viewers. Their prudence was a poison to themselves. While they slowed down their pace, Sunny’s magic power was mostly restored.

She summoned more undead with magic power. These were additional undead she couldn’t summon previously due to a lack of magic power.

Clack clack clack!

There were only bones, and no flesh at all. The bones wore luxurious robes and held gorgeous staffs. They were skeleton mages. To be precise, they were skeleton wizards that had evolved from skeleton mages. The skeleton wizards weren’t just different in appearance from the skeleton mages, but the power of the magic they could use was different.

If the mage’s firepower was like a lighter, then the wizards’ firepower was at the level of a gas stove. The absolute power wasn’t great, but the difference between the two was enormous. Moreover...

Clack clack clack!

It wasn’t just one skeleton wizard. There were 10. Sunny had summoned a total of 10 skeleton wizards.

“Everyone apart from the wizards will attack!” Sunny’s thin high-pitched voice echoed in the field. The undead moved in unison according to her orders. The skeleton wizards flocked to Sunny’s side while the rest jumped off the wall.

Thump thump thump thump thump!

Close to 50 undead appeared at the bottom of the walls in an instant. The undead didn’t seem to be impacted in any way by their landing and rushed straight to the Charlotte Dragons.

“Fire magic at the four people in the back over there.”

At Sunny’s command, the skeleton wizards started casting magic. Five dark arrows appeared around each skeleton wizard. There were 10 skeleton wizards, so the total number of arrows was 50. The 50 arrows were fired at the players of Charlotte Dragons. These arrows didn’t fly in a curve like normal arrows. Instead of having a straight trajectory, they showed spectacular movements, going from side to side like a slithering snake.

Hundreds of NPC soldiers wavered in front of the arrows. It was only then that the arrows appeared in front of the Charlotte Dragons players. What was the difference between this and just firing the arrows directly at Charlotte Dragons? At first glance, it might seem like there was no difference, but a difference definitely existed.

It was unexpected. There was a big difference between being invisible and visible. Regardless of whether the trajectory was curved or straight, the arrows still couldn’t avoid being seen by the eyes of the Charlotte Dragons players, who had high stats. Avoiding being seen wasn’t something that could be achieved with the skeleton wizards’ magic. The arrows would have to be ones that the top players shot out using their skills.

However, the arrows that passed through the crowd of soldiers were different. Even the players of Charlotte Dragons weren’t capable of clairvoyance. The soldiers obscured their view. Furthermore, the arrows didn’t pierce the soldiers but weaved between them.

“Magic!”

“Block it!”

“Barrier!! Prepare the heals!!!”

Charlotte Dragons’ players reacted immediately. It was a reaction rate worthy of pro gamers. Orders emerged from the mouths of some of the players, and everyone acted accordingly. They based their skill usage on reasoning that was closer to instinct than logic. The magicians and priests deployed shields to block all sides. Meanwhile, even the melee class players didn’t stay still. They wielded their weapons and struck at the arrows.

“The magic power and control of the undead is greater than expected. Why is it so different from the last match?” The captain of Charlotte Dragons, Gang Seok, frowned as he moved his wrists.

The undead in this match were unlike the matches they’d analyzed. The quality of their magic was different. The increased power was a problem, but the trajectory was also too strange.

“Isn’t it too difficult to call it the magic of a normal undead? I think the skill proficiency of the skeleton mages has increased.”

“We can’t ignore the undead. Get it together.”

“Focus a bit more. This is tougher than I thought it would be.”

The facial expressions of the other players weren’t much different from Gang Seok’s reaction. Their expressions were distorted because the situation was worse than they’d expected.

“Still, shouldn’t we thank them for coming out like this?”

‘Thank them...?’ Gang Seok pondered on the words of his teammates. His thoughts were completely different as he watched the soldiers, who could be called their shields, get swept away by the undead in front of them.

‘We have to stop them.’ 

Gang Seok grasped the situation calmly. The situation wasn’t very good right now. They faced a problem right from the beginning.

‘It’s hard to break through even when blocked by a normal melee player who isn’t Alley Leader.’

This was the worst. The opponent’s combat power was unexpectedly great with their necromancer at the center. Her presence turned the Charlotte Dragons’ cautious slow movements into poison.

‘It gave the necromancer time to restore her magic power.’

It was a misjudgment. The Charlotte Dragons’ caution in acting together, because they didn’t know when Alley Leader would appear, produced such a result.

‘Still, we have to do our best.’

Gang Seok bit his lip several times before giving an order to his teammates: “Charge! Take the siege formation.”

The game was just the beginning. The situation was still reversible. Gang Seok firmly believed so.

***

“What? Aren’t you jumping? Should I push you?” Hyeonu waved a fist in front of Lee Hoon.

“Do you really want me to go down? Isn’t this too much?” Lee Hoon spread open both his hands aggrievedly.

It didn’t make sense. All the other team members were going to remain on the wall while Lee Hoon and Dwayne would have to go down the wall.

“You can’t do it? How many times have I asked you? I asked you all week. Every time, you said you could do it.” 

“I thought it was a joke...”

Hyeonu cut off Lee Hoon’s words and said, “How is it a joke? Do you see the pro league as a joke?”

Lee Hoon’s expression became sad. He glanced at Dwayne like he was looking for help, but Dwayne was already on the verge of jumping down. Placing one hand on the walls, Lee Hoon watched with both eyes as the Charlotte Dragons players ran.

“Don’t worry too much. It isn’t just you. Dwayne is going, and so are the knights. There are also many undead down there immediately.” Hyeonu struck Lee Hoon on the back.

Yet there was a gloomy smile on Hyeonu’s face.

‘Of course, I’m not going with them.’

Hyeonu would stand still in today’s siege battle. He had no intention of attacking. To be precise, he wouldn’t draw the Mysterious Sky Sword.

‘I will be a totem.’

A totem that called victory to his allies and a catastrophe that gave the enemy the worst debuff—he was thinking of taking on such a role.

“Knights, descend the wall after these two men,” Hyeonu ordered before grabbing Lee Hoon’s shoulder and pushing him to the end of the wall. “Jump on the count of three. One, two, three!”

The moment Hyeonu’s count was over, Dwayne, Lee Hoon, and the knights of Phinis threw themselves off the wall. Even so, Hyeonu didn’t jump. He just watched the others descend.

“Oppa, aren’t you going?” Yuri asked him with a confused face. If Hyeonu wasn’t present, those would never survive in the hands of the Charlotte Dragons. It was just a vain death.

“Me? I’m not going down. Today, I will take part in the siege as a debuffer. We should let Dwayne and Lee Hoon receive praise instead.”

Yuri still looked confused after hearing Hyeonu’s explanation. She couldn’t figure it out yet. It wasn’t just Yuri who made such an expression. Mason and Sunny had similar expressions, with Sunny in particular looking at Hyeonu like he was a madman.

“Focus on support. Then you’ll see something amazing,” Hyeonu reassured them and inwardly laughed. He thought of the expressions they would make after a while and had the desire to laugh.

***

“What? Hyeonu hyung didn’t come down?”

“It seems so...?”

Lee Hoon and Dwayne exchanged looks. There was no Hyeonu. They definitely fell together though…?

‘No, he pushed us down first,’ Lee Hoon thought. If this were a joke, it would be a bit too much. Lee Hoon couldn’t express his dissatisfaction. He had no time for it. The players of Charlotte Dragons were approaching him now.

“Sigh... I don’t know what he is thinking, but we have to fight. The opponents have shown up in front of us,” Lee Hoon tried to speak to Dwayne in a calm voice. He believed that if in a moment of crisis, Hyeonu would come to save him. When he thought about it this way, he felt at ease and thought that this was just a place for them to show off a little bit.

‘I have to do it properly.’

There was only one place where the battle was occurring, so only he and Dwayne would be on screen. Just then, the knights of Phinis in black armor lined up next to Lee Hoon. On the right side, Sunny’s undead appeared again. The existing undead had been completely destroyed by the Charlotte Dragons. However, the magic power that quickly recovered due to Yuri’s buffs made it possible for Sunny to summon the undead again.

At this point, Lee Hoon started to think it was worth trying. He was having this thought when he saw the dark-red magic power that spread in front of him.

‘This...!’ Lee Hoon turned his head back toward the wall. The black-red magic power came from there. Standing on the wall, Hyeonu waved to him.

Lee Hoon smiled wryly and turned back to the front. ‘They were caught.’

The faces of the Charlotte Dragons players had flustered expressions as they were caught by the dark-red magic power. Lee Hoon knew precisely the reason for this expression. He’d made it himself countless times in the arena.

“Charge! Dwayne, use your skills right away! If we fight, we will win unconditionally!” Lee Hoon shouted with a confident expression. He now understood... 

This moment was definitely an opportunity to raise his value.

***

“What is this?” The complaint came from the mouth of a Charlotte Dragons player. Various messages were floating in front of him.

[The player is weaker than the opponent.]

[The player’s stats will drop by a certain percentage while the battle lasts.]

[You are crushed by the energy of the other person.]

[The player’s stats will drop by a certain percentage while the battle lasts.]

[You have been exposed to killing intent.]

[The player’s stats will drop by a certain percentage while the battle lasts.]

[You have received the ‘slowed down’ abnormal status.]

[Movement speed is reduced.]

It was a message that was common to them.

“This is the first time receiving a debuff like this...”

It was his first time knowing that Alley Leader had such debuffs. No one had ever told him about this before. Everyone just said that Alley Leader had a few trivial debuff skills.

‘This is considered as a few small ones?’

They weren’t ‘trivial’ but ‘terrible’. Charlotte Dragons’ movements were completely restricted, and their stats had dropped at least 30% compared to usual. The player didn’t know the precise number, but he felt it was around this much.

“Even if we use buffs, our stats will just be at our usual level... This is ridiculous,” Gang Seok sighed with a weak voice. It was really absurd. This was a situation he had never even imagined.