Ranker’s Return

Hyeonu’s first live stream in reality ended with a big ripple. Overwhelmed by Hyeonu’s great singing skills, the viewers had shouted for an encore, but Hyeonu no longer took the microphone. He thought that one song was enough to prove his skills.

‘I wasn’t the only one there.’

After all, the microphone was shared with five other people. With a limited karaoke time of two hours, it was only fair to take turns singing. It would obviously have been a nuisance if he had just continued singing all by himself.

“Master dude, where do we go now? We were kicked out so we can’t even go around near that area,” the golden bear asked while pressing down firmly on Hyeonu’s head.

The tingling pain that Hyeonu felt wasn’t from Tang-E’s soft paw pads but from his hard claws. Frowning at Tang-E’s powerful massage, Hyeonu answered calmly, “Anywhere. My feet are fine. Can’t I go anywhere?”

There was no need to rush. With no other players in the demon world, it was just a leisurely time like in a single-player game.

“What if they follow us? Master dude seems too laid back. How about being a bit more aware when things aren’t good?” Tang-E placed his chin on Hyeonu’s head. 

Placing his hands under Tang-E’s armpits, Hyeonu pulled Tang-E into his arms. “You are worrying too much, Tang-E. They can’t follow us.”

Hyeonu talked big, stating the demons would never find them.

‘It doesn’t make sense to chase us all the way here.’

However, there was a reason for him to assert this. Hyeonu had something to believe in. In virtual reality games, the NPCs and monsters couldn’t leave the designated area, with the exception of some special NPCs or monsters. This truth was naturally the same in Arena.

Arena couldn’t be any different. Until now, Hyeonu had faithfully benefited from this framework.

“Now I should think about where we will go.” Hyeonu lightly touched Tang-E’s head. Tang-E’s face creased into a scowl. He didn’t know the circumstances, so he felt that Hyeonu’s words were too careless.

“Don’t be complacent, Master dude. You are going to pay dearly for it,” Tang-E complained when he saw Hyeonu’s face.

“Smile, just smile. Those who smile are blessed.” Hyeonu pulled Tang-E’s cheeks to make him smile.

“I understand, Master dude. Let me go first!!” Tang-E struggled hard from where he was dangling in the air.

Still, Hyeonu didn’t let him go, so he struck Hyeonu’s chest with his feet. Hyeonu just endured the subtle pain and bent down to place Tang-E on the ground. Then he straightened his bowed waist and looked closely at the surroundings.

‘Where should I go...?’

There was nowhere to go. He didn’t have a map or a destination.

‘I have to find another city...’

It was okay to simply go around hunting. This was also a way to enjoy the new area called the demon world.

‘I am too aimless.’

Hyeonu didn’t want this. He always had quests. There were times when he concentrated on hunting in the short term, but he spent a lot more time clearing quests.

‘The probability of getting a quest is higher in a city than in a field like this.’

Quests—he needed one.

‘What is that?’

At this moment, something caught Hyeonu’s eyes, and they narrowed like those of a snake.

“Master dude, it’s those guys.” Tang-E pointed to something—demons. Over 100 demons appeared in front of the two of them.

“Hide, hide.” Hyeonu hugged Tang-E and kicked off from the ground without making the slightest bit of noise. He even used the Mysterious Sky Steps for simple running. 

‘How did they follow us here?’ Hyeonu’s eyes narrowed at the unexpected sight before him. These demons shouldn’t be here.

‘No, what guarantee is there that they followed me?’ Hyeonu shook his head vigorously.

There was no rule stating such a thing. This was how he rationalized it. Hyeonu stopped running and hid in the crack of a huge rock. Sometime later, hundreds of demons passed by the place where Hyeonu was hiding. The demons chatted as they walked past. They weren’t running, and they didn’t even look around at the surroundings properly. No motivation was felt from them.

“By the way, will that baron really be here? He ran away and should’ve left already...”

“We have to do it since it’s an order. What should we do when our viscount asks us to look for him?”

“That damn Ergal missed him. Why make us do this...”

The demons were busy complaining.

They mercilessly belittled their lord, Viscount Ergal, when he wasn’t present. Even the manner of address had changed; they got rid of the honorific and just called out his name.

‘The master and subordinates...’ Hyeonu smiled bitterly.

Every demon passing by Hyeonu had a similar conversation. He seemed to have heard all sorts of swear words. Although Hyeonu wasn’t the target of the curses, just listening to them made him frown.

‘Fortunately, there is a profit.’

He gained two pieces of information from listening to the demons’ words. One was that, aside from Ergal’s city, there were two more cities nearby. The other one...

“It means they will scatter soon,” Hyeonu murmured in a small voice. His mouth curved up in a wide smile.

***

Jakov and Renamo, two demons under Ergal, stood at the entrance of the red desert. They had no intention of entering it.

“Shall we go back now?” Jakov asked as he looked at the red desert.

Hearing Jakov say stupid words, Renamo clicked his tongue and replied, “Of course, we have to go back. Do you want to die? Ordinary demons might be different, but...” 

The red desert wasn’t Viscount Ergal’s realm. It was the realm of a demon under the control of another demon king. They didn’t know what would happen if they went in. Of course, it wouldn’t matter for general demons because they had the freedom to migrate and travel. However, soldiers like Jakov and Renamo were different. If they crossed the border, it could be a pretext for a fight. It was because soldiers completely obeyed the orders of the nobles they belonged to.

“The owner of the red desert is Earl Carpe. If word reaches him about how we entered the red desert...” Jakov trembled.

It was terrible just imagining it. The power of the nobles was enormous. It was difficult to inflict a wound on the lowest-ranked baron even when hundreds of ordinary demons and demonic creatures rushed in. Starting from viscounts who were classified as high-ranking nobles, it became especially ridiculous. They showed such an incredible force it was hard to believe they were also demons just like the rest of them.

“It is a good pretext for aggression. No other nobles can intervene because it is obviously our fault.” 

With that, Jakov and Renamo turned their backs to the red desert. A black shadow sprang out behind them right at this moment. It instantly took on the shape of a long stick and moved, swinging at Jakov’s and Renamo’s backs. With a creepy sound, it sliced Jakov in two. His body split apart, and blood sprayed in all directions like a fountain.

“Jakov!!!” Renamo turned his head toward Jakov in time for hot drops of blood to hit his face. Nevertheless, Renamo had no time to feel surprised or sad by the sudden death of his close friend. The shadow that devoured his friend was now right in front of him.

“Die!” Renamo instinctively waved his hand.

This was the method he often used to express magic power. Black magic power covered Renamo’s hand as a long blade cut through the air. Blood splattered again. This time, it scattered even more violently than before. It was like a grenade had been thrown into a lake.

‘Jakov, this is for you.’ Renamo laughed when he saw the blood in front of him. He had gotten revenge for his friend. He definitely thought so. That was… until his world tilted. A question appeared in Renamo’s head. ‘Uh...?’

The world started to turn upside down. The sky came to the bottom, and the earth soared up high.

“What...?” This was the last word Renamo spoke in his life.

Thump. Renamo’s head fell to the ground. The shadow—Hyeonu—soon approached and collected the dropped items. He didn’t even check their item information and just shoved them in his inventory. It was a very mechanical process. Hyeonu didn’t feel any joy from picking up these dropped items.

“Are they around the 100th time, Tang-E?” Hyeonu’s gaze was on Tang-E, who was sitting on his shoulder.

“Um... I think that’s about it.” Tang-E nodded while repeatedly folding and straightening his front paws.

‘Aigoo, he is so cute,’ Hyeonu thought. No matter how much Hyeonu looked, it didn’t seem like Tang-E was actually counting.

“Yes, then let’s go into the desert. I think I’ve killed almost all the pursuers.” Hyeonu stroked Tang-E’s head. His touch was full of affection. Tang-E knew this and fully enjoyed Hyeonu’s pats. Every time Hyeonu stroked his head, it felt like the warm touch of his parents, Hugo and Manong.

‘I must’ve got at least 200,’ Hyeonu remarked inwardly. He had found and killed most of the demons that he’d seen earlier. Although he didn’t know if he got them all, he was certain that he’d killed a lot of them.

‘I also obtained good information.’

Hyeonu settled on a destination based on the information he picked up from the conversation between Jakov and Renamo. The red desert—he was thinking of going there. It definitely felt like a place where he would have good results. This wasn’t a vague and baseless sense of expectation. Rather, it was reasoned confidence.

‘That desert is without an owner.’

The owner of the red desert was Earl Carpe, who had died at the hands of the emperor. There was no safer place than a city without a noble governing it.

‘The nobles are the only ones I need to be careful about.’

Hyeonu didn’t need to be afraid of the ordinary demons, who weren’t nobles, and the demonic creatures. He knew this because he had already fought them.

‘I don’t know about advanced demonic creatures or demons above an earl though...’

He hadn’t experienced the advanced demonic creatures or demons above the rank of an earl, so that might be another matter. It was impossible for there to be someone above an earl in a city owned by an earl. This was a sure thing. If even this were wrong...

‘The developers are really... I have to doubt them.’

Hyeonu clenched his fists. He wouldn’t be able to stand it if that happened.

“Master dude, what are you doing? Aren’t we going?” Tang-E spoke at this moment, and his words calmed Hyeonu’s anger.

Then Hyeonu smiled at Tang-E. “Let’s go.”

Hyeonu crossed the boundary where Jakov and Renamo had stopped at and entered the red desert.