Ranker’s Return

“Liu Shei? It has been a long time. Have you been well?” Tian Hu spoke with ease like they weren’t standing in the center of the battlefield.

“Liu Shei? Aren’t your words too impolite? You still aren’t a proper person,” Liu Shei retorted after hearing Tian Hu’s greeting. If he were Liu Shei of the past, he would just endure it angrily, but that wasn’t necessary anymore now. He was no longer pushed by Tian Hu, be it in wealth, social status, or anything else in Arena. There was no competition between them.

“It would be even stranger if a person changes. In that respect, you are a very strange person, Liu Shei.” Tian Hu revealed slight anger toward Liu Shei, who didn’t bow like he would have done in the past. In his memories, Liu Shei always bowed his head first. Never once did he ever look straight at Tian Hu. 

“Tian Hu, do you mean that doesn’t apply to you? You sure are consistent... You are still trash. You can’t grasp your own identity and once again ignore others. Do you think I am still the Liu Shei who acts like a dog under you?” Liu Shei was so loud that his words rang through the battlefield. Simultaneously, he drew the sword hanging at his waist. “I will show you the point of being the leader of Kowloon. In any case, you are trash in reality.”

“‘Trash’? That is a name that suits you. I have already become a different person. Kowloon’s leader isn’t a big deal. You might have many things right now, but after a month, two months...? I will be above you at that time!” Tian Hu countered.

Hearing those words, Liu Shei felt the anger that soared to his head quickly subside.

‘I’ve been too attached to the useless past.’

He had been mistaken because he was one of those people moving forward. TIan Hu was absolutely not one of them; he was a person who was still struggling to hold onto the present. It wouldn’t be strange if he regressed at any time.

“This is a waste of time.” Liu Shei slowly approached Tian Hu. He couldn’t spend any more time on Tian Hu. It was merely a waste of time.

‘I will end it quickly,’ Liu Shei decided. No matter how rich Tian Hu was, there was a limit to his innate abilities and play time. It would be natural for him to be defeated by Liu Shei who was a top ranker.

Liu Shei’s sword started dancing. With each movement, Liu Shei’s strong pure energy was accompanied by an eerie momentum. Tian Hu didn't just stand still. He swung his sword at the waves of pure energy that were about to cover him. White pure energy emerged from Tian Hu’s sword, but it was very insignificant compared to Liu Shei’s pure energy.

The two men collided, and there was a deafening sound. It was a loud sound even on the battlefield where there were both small and large conflicts. However, such a sound wasn’t heard again. It was because Tian Hu suffered a one-sided loss from the conflict and retreated.

‘What will he do now?’ Liu Shei thought about the actions that Tian Hu would take. He predicted that Tian Hu would use something to raise his stats, either an item or a skill.

‘Only idiots would just suffer.’ 

Liu Shei wasn’t someone who would just let himself suffer, so he poured out more things than Tian Hu. He used all the buffs he had. He didn’t want to give Tian Hu any room to gain an advantage.

‘He won’t know what it’s like until he is stepped on. Where does his self-confidence come from?’ Liu Shei wondered.

Tian Hu, who stepped back the moment a smile appeared on Liu Shei’s face, moved forward again. He looked like an arrow that had been suddenly fired from a bow. However, in the eyes of Liu Shei who had predicted it, this was an obvious move.

Liu Shei’s response was simple. He waited for Tian Hu’s attack. Tian Hu first wielded his sword and poured out pure energy. Of course, even Liu Shei would be hit hard when hit by pure energy. So he also took a risk. It was only in this way that Tian Hu could be pulled down to the bottom even more. The man Tian Hu ignored would cause him to suffer, even with a light blow.

Tian Hu’s sword flew toward Liu Shei’s head, but Liu Shei just calmly swung his sword to hit Tian Hu’s sword. Just then, the trajectory of Tian Hu’s sword changed, suddenly curving toward Liu Shei’s chest instead. Liu Shei looked flustered. Tian Hu laughed when he saw that. It was an action that instinctively came from sensing victory.

Right at this moment, Liu Shei’s sword moved strangely and intercepted Tian Hu’s sword. Sparks of magic power flew out from the powerful collision. Tian Hu’s eyes widened at the unexpected sight in front of him. Without the slightest doubt, he had fully believed that his blow would pierce Liu Shei’s heart and bring him victory.

“Why? Are you a bit flustered? This is your limit.” Liu Shei laughed at Tian Hu. “Did you think that trick would work? If so, I want to say that you are taking rankers too lightly. You aren’t Alley Leader. Do you think that you can slash at rankers like they are scarecrows?!”

It was a cutting remark that hit home.

‘He still hasn’t grasped his abilities properly,’ Liu Shei thought.

Tian Hu’s abilities were the same before. He hadn’t developed them at all. Rather, he hadn’t experienced high-level PvP for a while, so his combat senses had fallen to the bottom.

“It will be a bit hard for you to play Arena after today. I will take your money. Do you know the ‘chase to death’ order that you used to release? You used it a lot in the past. I will let you experience it yourself,” Liu Shei said, slowly moving his sword.

Tian Hu wielded his sword to stop the attack. It was just like what Liu Shei did a while ago. In fact, it was exactly the same. Then Liu Shei’s sword made a rapid change in the trajectory, just like how Tian Hu’s sword did earlier. The sword aiming at Tian Hu’s neck moved toward his lower abdomen.

Tian Hu, like Liu Shei earlier, moved his sword to block Liu Shei’s attack. No, he couldn’t block it. Liu Shei’s sword leisurely bypassed Tian Hu’s sword, and a line appeared on Tian Hu’s abdomen. Blood dripped from the wound, yet Tian Hu didn’t look like he was in pain. Instead, intense questions filled his eyes.

“Why...?” Why didn’t he block the attack? Liu Shei managed to block it, so why couldn’t Tian Hu?

“Why? Naturally… it’s because of the difference in strength. It is a difference that you probably won’t understand in your entire lifetime” Liu Shei said. When he finished speaking, he wielded his sword again. There were many enemies apart from Tian Hu. Tian Hu was a very emotionally important opponent for Liu Shei, but he actually wasn’t a great threat.

‘Where can I help?’ Liu Shei turned and quickly looked around.

“This is really...” Liu Shei sighed at the situation.

The battle was already reaching the end. The eight dragons, apart from Liu Shei, had started to clean up their opponents one by one. It was the same with New World. Liu Shei finished clearing up his situation and headed to the center of the battlefield before the other dragons noticed his absence.

***

Yeongchan grabbed his aching head and went to the living room. There was already someone in there. Hyeonu looked relatively fine and was eating burgers in a relaxed manner.

“You woke up? Do you want to eat one?” Hyeonu picked up a hamburger on the table and handed it to Yeongchan.

“Why are you eating hamburgers in the morning?” Yeongchan asked, shaking his head. He even waved his hands, showing how much he didn’t want to eat.

“Morning? It’s 2 p.m. now, you jerk.”

“2 o’clock? Already?”

“Yes, you jerk. Lunchtime has been over for a while.”

Yeongchan looked at the clock on the wall with a disbelieving expression. The short clock hand was slightly past the 2, and the long hand was pointed exactly to 4. It was 2:20 p.m. Hyeonu’s words weren’t wrong.

Yeongchan secretly picked up a hamburger and spoke to Hyeonu to distract him: “Hey, what did you talk about yesterday?” 

“Yesterday? We didn’t talk about anything? You heard it.”

“No... I woke up yesterday for a moment and saw that you looked a bit surprised.”

Hyeonu understood what Yeongchan was talking about and shook his head. “Ah! That? It wasn’t a big deal. Hyung-nim just guessed incorrectly.”

“That person? What did he say?”

“No, he asked me if I like Reina. He will help solve it if I have any problems. What is he? A matchmaker? He wants to do matchmaking.”

The unexpected mention of Reina’s name was the reason why Hyeonu was surprised at last night’s drinking party. Hyeonu didn’t like Reina in that way. There was no communication between them that produced that feeling. They had only met each other a few times in reality. They also hadn’t met that much in Arena. On the contrary, he had met Kim Seokjung more often.

“It’s surprising. I would’ve been surprised as well.” Yeongchan nodded.

He was well aware of Hyeonu’s love history, style of love, and ideal type. There was nothing Yeongchan didn’t know. Hyeonu’s relationships had always been similar, starting out as friends to becoming lovers. He’d never gone on a blind date. People who went on blind dates would meet, become close, and then turn into lovers. They fell in love easily. Hyeonu was the exact opposite of that.

“By the way, what do you think Hyung-nim saw that made him say that?” It was a question that popped up after Hyeonu became sober.

Precisely what on earth had Kim Seokjung seen?

“Who knows? Based on what I’ve seen, you don’t seem to like Reina.” Yeongchan wondered about it too. The Hyeonu that he saw didn’t consider Reina at all. She was not even in his thoughts.

“Well... Forget it. I’m going to Arena. You ate a hamburger, so put it all away, okay?” Hyeonu patted Yeongchan on the shoulder several times before entering his room.

***

During the time when Hyeonu was away, his quest came to an end. New World had cleaned it up, and Kowloon ended it.

[Attackers killed 300/300]

‘Isn’t this a profit?’

Hyeonu’s smile was so wide that it couldn’t become any wider. Catching the attackers had been all about waiting and waiting. He hadn’t known when they would target the merchant groups and emerge, so he kept waiting. Now he no longer had to do that.

‘I just have to go report, then I can return to the demon world.’

He didn’t mind meeting the emperor now. Why? It was because there was a definite reward. He was on his way to get an item that would clear a quest, which would help with the exploration of the demon world. It didn’t matter if there was no other compensation.

Hyeonu tore the scroll to return to the capital, Yusma, with a joyful expression. ‘Let’s go to the demon world.’