Ranker’s Return

Yuri lost the next game immediately after her first victory. Dwayne and Lee Hoon each won one game, so the three of them won a total of three. Hyeonu came out at the end and neatly finished the PvP match with one win.

“As expected of Alley Leader. Crescent Moon has won 4-3 with this and will also take home the PvP event.”

“This is their fourth consecutive victory. It is also the first time in a long while that we’ve seen four straight wins in the league. Of course, if UK Heights wins today, then they will also have four wins like Crescent Moon. However, it is impossible for them to be number one due to the difference in the raid time attack.”

“It’s a scheduled result. It is nearly impossible for Charlotte Dragons to beat Crescent Moon with their power. In the end, they couldn’t reverse the difference in power.”

The commentators expressed their thoughts, saying it was natural for Crescent Moon to win. The questions they had at the time of the opening match of the league had long been resolved. Now, no one questioned Crescent Moon’s power. Rather, Crescent Moon was said to be too overwhelming.

“Crescent Moon’s power is unique in South Korea. They won’t be pushed even against the best teams abroad.”

The commentators picked out Sunny as the biggest power of Crescent Moon. Of course, this was among the five players aside from Hyeonu, whom everyone already knew was the strongest player. The reason why they excluded him was that he moved separately from the rest of the team during the sieges, staying out of most of the battles. Thus, there was no need to talk about him. Instead, they talked about Sunny, who had the rare necromancer class, as the key player.

“Player Sunny is at the center of it all. I never dreamed that a necromancer would be so powerful in the siege. It came out for a moment last year before disappearing. I thought it was a pity.”

It wasn’t that there had been no necromancers before Sunny. The problem was that there had been no environment for necromancers to play a proper role at those times. The environment hadn’t been a big deal, but the skill ranking of the necromancers had been too low. Naturally, their undead had been very weak too. Necromancers weren’t used in the pro scene because their powers were often not strong enough to kill even one person.

“It’s different now. No, perhaps only Sunny is different. Still, it is certain that the choices for necromancers have increased. Each team will have to work on a new combination,” Chae Yunho raved about Sunny.

He thought that Sunny presented a new paradigm to the pro scene.

‘To be exact, it was presented by Alley Leader, the one who recruited Sunny.’

As Sunny had already done several interviews, the reason why she made her debut as a pro gamer was already well known. It was because Alley Leader had suggested it to her several times. Alley Leader’s eye was great.

“We will start the next match. The second match consists of UK Heights, who have won three consecutive...”

***

Crescent Moon’s waiting room was calm. Everyone looked at the television of the waiting room in comfortable positions. The fourth match was being shown on the television.

“Who is going to win?” Mason asked as he opened a box full of macarons. His gaze was directed at Lee Hoon, who was staring at the macarons.

“Maybe JT Telecom will win? It is because the other side isn’t their opponent,” Lee Hoon replied while gulping.

The macarons were shining brightly. In particular, a pink macaron with a flavor unknown to him attracted his attention.

“Right? What are they thinking if they lose like this? Won’t they be ashamed of themselves?” Mason said.

Lee Hoon shook his head. “Ashamed? Who knows... If they stop just because of this, they should give up on being a pro gamer. Pros need to overcome their shame.”

They were still amateurs if they stopped just because they were ashamed. Pros had to go beyond it.

“By the way, what is with your hand?” Mason caught Lee Hoon’s wrist. There were two macarons in Lee Hoon’s hand. 

“Why? Let’s eat together. There are a few more boxes. I’m so hungry.” Lee Hoon showed a pitiful expression. It was full of sincerity. Lee Hoon was very hungry right now.

“If this were something bought with money, I would give it to you. But this was a gift from a fan, so I just can’t. I’m sorry.” Mason struck Lee Hoon’s hand with his other hand that wasn’t holding onto Lee Hoon’s wrist.

Lee Hoon—who just got hit on the back of his hand—momentarily released his grip, and the macarons naturally fell back into the box.

“I don’t have any fans who gave it to me!” Lee Hoon shouted while rubbing the back of his reddened hand.

Mason had many fans who gave him things. In particular, female fans gave all types of gifts.

“Yes, just give it to him. I feel sorry for him just from seeing this,” Hyeonu muttered from where he lay on the sofa. Hyeonu was frowning. He couldn’t watch the game properly due to the argument between Mason and Lee Hoon.

“Hyung, you give it to him then. Hyung got a lot more than me after all,” Mason grumbled at Hyeonu.

Hyeonu was overwhelming when it came to the number of gifts he had received. Dwayne, Yuri, and Sunny had also received a lot of gifts. Mason had received quite a bit as well. Lee Hoon was the only one who hadn’t gotten any. Still, the combined number of gifts for the five people was still less than what Hyeonu had received.

Hyeonu got up and looked at Lee Hoon’s face while asking this question, “Mine? Hoon, do you want these? In any case, what’s important to me are their hearts.” 

“Yes, please.” Lee Hoon nodded quickly, so much so that he was worried about what would happen to his neck.

“Okay. These were given by fans, so you must never throw them away, understood?” Hyeonu wanted a promise from Lee Hoon.

It couldn’t be taken back. If Lee Hoon chose to take some, he had to promise to eat them all unconditionally. If they had been bought for Lee Hoon, it wouldn’t matter if he threw them away, but these were the fans’ gifts to Hyeonu. So they should not be thrown away.

“I understand, Hyung.” Lee Hoon nodded vigorously.

It naturally wouldn’t happen. To be precise, the gifts were food, so he would never throw them away. Such words weren’t in Lee Hoon’s dictionary.

“Then take anything from the boxes on the left over there. It doesn’t matter how many you take.”

The moment Hyeonu gave permission, Lee Hoon headed to the gift boxes that filled one side of the waiting room.

‘How many should I take? One? Two? Um...’

It was a happy worry. He couldn’t take too many because these gifts had been given to Hyeonu.

‘Three. I’ll only take three.’

Lee Hoon’s conscience called out precisely three. More than that was impossible.

‘Then three of the heaviest ones...’

He just had to pick the ones that seemed the best. Lee Hoon continued to lift and lower each box to test its weight. Sometimes he shook the box to listen to the sound of the moving contents. A long time passed before Lee Hoon finally picked out three boxes and said, “Hyung, I want these three.”

Hyeonu didn’t even check what Lee Hoon had picked. His gaze never left the television on the wall.

“Sure, take them. Instead, don’t forget your promise. If you don’t keep them, there will be no privilege for you next time.”

“I know. Don’t worry.”

Lee Hoon was fed up with Hyeonu’s repeated words. He took the boxes to one corner and started opening them.

“Huuung!” Lee Hoon hummed as he tore off the packaging of a box. His expression was very bright. He thought that he could now satiate his hunger. Upon opening the first box, he found a carefully packaged silver item inside it.

‘What?’

The item was a silver square that Lee Hoon knew well. It mainly contained liquid—red ginseng extract.

“Eek! What is this?” Lee Hoon’s expression distorted after he confirmed what was in the box. This wasn’t what he wanted. He wanted something containing a lot of sugar like the macarons.

“Hoon, have you forgotten your promise? Most of what I received today are health products. I’ve already removed everything that isn’t,” Hyeonu called out from where he was watching the television.

“That’s right. I saw Hyung take out a few. I guess that’s what they were.”

“I saw it too. I didn’t think that all that was left were health products.”

“Me too, me too.”

Words burst out from here and there from the other team members. Lee Hoon felt resentful. Why hadn’t they dissuaded him?

“Please make sure to drink it. It’s good for your body.”

“I know everything about Korean red ginseng. The rest should be similar.”

The team patted Lee Hoon’s shoulder and exited the waiting room. Hyeonu was the last to hit Lee Hoon’s shoulder. “From tomorrow, take a verification photo after consuming it or drink it in front of me. This is enough to last a month. Drink it until the end of the league, Hoon.” 

Everyone left the waiting room, leaving Lee Hoon alone in the waiting room. The only sounds came from the television.

-The raid time attack will start soon. The participating teams playing the first and second games are Crescent Moon, Charlotte Dragons...

***

Crescent Moon’s six players stood on a wide plain. This plain was a special field for the raid time attacks.

“Hyung, I think he is completely out of his mind.”

“Yes, Oppa. Hoon didn’t get to eat anything at all. How can he drink all of that...?”

Mason and Yuri whispered to Hyeonu. They both pointed at Lee Hoon, who was currently staring up at the sky with a blank face.

“He is just going to watch the fun today anyway. Why does it matter? Leave him be. It is his own fault. This wouldn’t have happened if he wasn’t greedy,” Hyeonu answered with a calm expression like a virtuous monk. This expression didn’t last long though.

It was because Yuri launched a piercing attack: “Oppa, even you don’t like drinking it. Isn’t that why you gave it away?”

Hyeonu shook his arms wildly and denied it. “I gave it away? Hoon took it. You are being unfair, Yuri. It is a gift from the fans, but I will have to throw it away if I can’t eat it all. That’s why I shared it with a good heart.”

His words weren’t wrong. He received many gifts and couldn’t eat them all within a certain period of time.

“Then why did you share it with Yeongchan oppa? You gave some to Dwayne as well. And there are a bunch of them at my house...”

It was just that he had given too many away too, so Yuri wondered if he had an ulterior motive.

“The reason is more or less the same. Ah, it’s starting.”

Just in time to save Hyeonu, the commentator Jang Junhyung’s voice began to echo through the stadium. Hyeonu wiped off the cold sweat on this forehead while listening to the announcement.

-The main character of today’s raid time attack is Jeblin, the demon of flame. It is a humanoid-type boss monster that has 50% of its actual health. Just like in the last raid, the time given today is two hours. You will be disqualified if you go beyond that. Please keep this in mind.

The moment Jang Junhyung’s words finished, intensely burning flames appeared on the plains area. The flames that burned randomly soon started to take a shape, taking on a height that was close to 2 meters, a skin color that was red like fire, and developing muscles that covered the body. He was holding a huge long spear in one hand. This was the appearance of the demon of fire, Jeblin.