Ranker’s Return

The Corrupt Lycanthrope’s close to three meters of height and dense muscles covering his body were enough to make anyone feel overwhelmed.

“Human!!”

[You’ve heard the ‘Fear’ of the Corrupt Lycanthrope.]

The Corrupt Lycanthrope used Fear as a welcome.

“Bah.” However, for Hyeonu who had the fighting energy stat, it was just like a dog barking.

[The influence of fighting energy allows you to ignore the Fear of the Corrupt Lycanthrope.]

It was different for Mason though.

[Player ‘Mason’ has entered a ‘fear’ state.]

Mason had no means of resisting the Fear. It might be different later if he got special skills or items, but for now, he could only do nothing. He just had to hope the Corrupt Lycanthrope wouldn’t target him.

‘Please. Hyeonu hyung, please save me,’ Mason prayed desperately. At this moment, Hyeonu moved like he heard Mason’s wish. Hyeonu stood in front of the Corrupt Lycanthrope.

[You have received Bear’s Momentum.]

[Physique has increased.]

[Strength has increased.]

[You have received the Forest’s Blessing.]

[Defense has increased.]

[Health will continue to recover.]

Tang-E’s buffs filled Hyeonu’s body.

[Master of Combat is activated.]

[Your stats have increased.]

[The stat ‘fighting energy’ has caused your stats to rise.]

[The other party is stronger than you.]

[There will be an additional increase in stats.]

After that, the fighting energy and Master of Combat stats took effect. The moment the battle began, Hyeonu’s stats changed.

[Giant’s Power has been used.]

[Your strength stat has increased.]

[Giant’s Nature has been used.]

[Your strength stat has increased.]

During the five minutes when the giant skills were obtained, Hyeonu’s strength rose by approximately 1,000. After all the doping, Hyeonu felt the power boil over in his body.

‘It has been a while since I’ve felt like this.’ It was the first time since the desert dragon raid that he had used everything he could.

***

The Corrupt Lycanthrope decided to tear down the small human blocking his way. His actions were swift, and he swung his hands right away. Hyeonu decided to greet the person who was fearlessly wielding his fingernails. It was a brilliant first greeting. The combination of the sword energy and Heavy Blow wasn’t inferior. Rather, the two combined skills gave off a powerful energy. The sword energy and the lycanthrope’s gray nails hit each other.

“Kuah! Human!!” Screams erupted from the Corrupt Lycanthrope as his left fingernails were cut off and his skin burst open. In short, the left hand of the Corrupt Lycanthrope, the boss monster of the instance dungeon, was turned into rags.

Then Mason was released from the fear state. He immediately gathered his magic power and threw it. There was just one individual who was faster than Mason. To be exact, it was a bear. Tang-E struck the Corrupt Lycanthrope’s left hand with lightning. It was exactly three streams of lightning.

Then Mason’s ice pick flew over.

“Kuah! Die human!” A grayish fire appeared around the lycanthrope’s entire body. It was the beginning of the second phase, which was called ‘running wild’, ‘frenzy’, or ‘awakening.’ In Arena, bosses over level 100 had these phases. A phase referred to a change in the boss monster’s pattern when a certain amount of damage was done. These phases meant they could guess the health of the boss monster.

‘Based on the information from Nike and Yeongchan, the second phase of all boss monsters occurs when their health falls to 40%.’

“Mason, prepare a big one. Tang-E, release lightning freely. Just aim it everywhere,” Hyeonu issued an order.

Hopefully, he could hunt the enemy without seeing the next phase. In order for his plan to work, he needed Tang-E and Mason’s help. He needed magic. In particular, he needed magic that caused status abnormalities.

***

The Corrupt Lycanthrope gained some confidence. It would only be for a short while, but he gained the power to chew on these humans who caused him extreme pain. The wound on his left arm had already regenerated early on when he became frenzied. It went without saying that his physical abilities had risen. Compared to just a few minutes ago, the lycanthrope now rushed forth at unparalleled speed.

Hyeonu’s sword met the lycanthrope’s long nails. This was proof of the frenzy. Currently, they were well matched, instead of the lycanthrope being one-sidedly pushed back. The confident lycanthrope decided to ignore the stinging sensation tickling his back.

The first thing he was going to do was tear this human apart. Then he would eat them.

***

Hyeonu thought that the Corrupt Lycanthrope was stupid.

‘It can’t be helped because he is a dog.’

Hyeonu’s strength was reduced after the effects of the giant skills ended, but Hyeonu still had the effects of Tang-E’s buffs and his own skills.

‘He must be thinking he can win?’

However, the Corrupt Lycanthrope’s judgment was the worst. This was Hyeonu’s temptation. He threw forward a lure—a lure that could never be denied.

“Tang-E, keep using it even if there isn’t a response. Don’t spare your magic power.”

Hyeonu changed his physical strength little by little. He dealt out small wounds that the lycanthrope wouldn’t feel in the frenzied state. These small wounds would play an important role in the fight. Currently, Tang-E’s and Mason’s magic couldn’t deal any damage to the lycanthrope. This was because the lycanthrope had thick, tough skin. Additionally, he had increased magic power resistance caused by the frenzy. Then what would happen if the skin cracked and the gap widened?

Still, it was unreasonable to expect he would be able to deal great damage. However, being able to take on the role of CC (crowd controller) was sufficient. Tang-E’s lightning hit the wounds of the Corrupt Lycanthrope. The response this time was quite different from the previous ones.

‘It’s working.’

Hyeonu’s plan now revealed its true worth.

[The Corrupt Lycanthrope has been inflicted with the ‘electric shock’ abnormal state.]

For a moment, the lycanthrope stopped moving. This wasn’t at a level to flinch at. He only stopped for a short time that was less than a second, but he definitely stopped.

‘I’m going to have to use a bit more magic power.’

Hyeonu felt the need to go out a bit stronger. It was possible that the aggro would shift from him. Arena’s monsters were never stupid. If they were stupid, there was no reason for rankers to go hunting. This was Hyeonu’s crazy aggro management. He wouldn’t let the monster’s eyes move from him for even a moment.

“Hyung, I’m ready.” Just in time, Mason’s preparations were complete.

“Okay, I’ll hold it, and you blow him away.” Hyeonu abandoned the combat style he had maintained so far. He ditched the defensive and took on the offensive, wielding his sword which was filled with plenty of magic power for the first time. Maybe it was due to the lack of giant skills or the frenzy of the Corrupt Lycanthrope, but Hyeonu couldn’t destroy the lycanthrope’s nails as he had done earlier. Nevertheless, the effect was certain. The enemy started to focus entirely on Hyeonu.

Then Tang-E’s lightning once again struck the lycanthrope’s body. This time, his movements stopped for a while.

[The Corrupt Lycanthrope has been inflicted with the ‘electric shock’ abnormal state.]

Hyeonu aimed for this time and quickly appeared in front of the lycanthrope using Bash. Then he stabbed the lycanthrope’s belly several times.

“Kuah!”

Hyeonu stepped back like a ghost after wielding the single-edged sword. It was as if he had predicted the lycanthrope’s movements.

“Throw it!”

At Hyeonu’s cry, Mason used his magic. It was magic that he had painstakingly developed for around 10 minutes. A huge ice spear quickly flew toward the abdomen of the lycanthrope. There was a heavy sound. It was different from the sound of Hyeonu’s single-edged sword cutting into the lycanthrope’s belly. The result was also different.

[The Corrupt Lycanthrope has been inflicted with the ‘frozen’ abnormal state.]

White snow started to appear on the lycanthrope’s abdomen where the ice spear had pierced into.

“Okay, this is the end.”

An intense sword energy was released from Hyeonu’s sword. This time, it was a combination of Heavy Blow and Crescent Moon Cut. Then a large sword energy appeared. It was greater than the usual Crescent Moon Cut. The huge crescent moon shaped sword energy smoothly slit the neck of the Corrupt Lycanthrope. After that, the sword energy kept flying and eventually left a huge mark on the wall.

[The Corrupt Lycanthrope has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[You have leveled up.]

[All health and magic power have been restored.]

The long hunt was over.

***

“Hyung, I’m going to stop because I have a quest.” Mason’s face was full of disappointment. He wanted to hunt more with Hyeonu, whom he met again after a long time, and play with the cute bear. However, he had to give up because he had a goal.

“Please call me next time, Hyung. Through any means.”

“Yes, I’ll call you next time.”

Once Mason left, Tang-E seemed unhappy. “Is that human going? It is too bad. He was a human who was weaker than me...”

“Let’s stop here. We have another place to hunt.”

Hyeonu went on the road with Tang-E.

***

Masked Fighting King had become a hot topic not only among named players but also among professional gamers. This was a program organized by Nike, which had a huge capital behind it. They simply couldn’t avoid going if they were at all interested. 

JT Telecom’s coaches, Kang Ujong and Jeong Byeongjin, were also struggling. In front of them, there was a request from Nike.

“Should we send the players or should we stop it?” Kang Ujong kept touching the paper. He was worried. A professional gamer had a lot to lose. Streamers didn’t have a problem if they lost once. However, the front desk was sensitive to everything about professional gamers. Management was management after all...

“It’s useless.”

Gaining experience was also important for professional gamers. They needed experience with fresh faces, not the people they always competed against. It went without saying that a confrontation with the names dominating Arena would be good.

“It is better to appear.”

“However, I won’t give you permission,” Jeong Byeongjin said it neatly.

The club couldn’t permit this.

“It is Nike. You really can’t give me the permission?” Kang Ujong felt a lingering regret. He wanted to send out one or two aces of the team as this was a good opportunity.

Jeong Byeongjin told him, “Then you should appeal to the supervisor. Shouldn’t one coach talk to the front desk?”

Then Jeong Byeongjin cleaned up the papers and stood up from his seat.

“I will go to see the kids, so work hard. Fighting!” He held up a fist at Kang Ujong in encouragement and quickly disappeared.

“Oh, this...! You misled me.” Kang Ujong’s troubles only deepened.