Ranker’s Return

‘This... Isn’t it a minigame?’

The identity of the square window that appeared in front of Hyeonu was a minigame. There were 8-bit graphics that didn’t match the virtual reality of Arena. This was a popular arcade game that was enjoyed in the past era. It was a game where one flew a small plane to shoot down opponents.

‘I’ve only played it a few times on the computer.’

Hyeonu had some experience with it. It was a game after all. Hyeonu, who was a gamer, had been fascinated by the classic game. However, the game turned out to be easier than he had thought, so he quickly lost interest soon after. Now such a game had reappeared in front of Hyeonu.

He heard a high-pitched female voice in his ear. It was the voice of the system.

-Absorbing the magic power contained in Penn. Depending on the test results, the amount of magic power absorbed will vary.

Hyeonu cocked his head. A classic game and magic power absorption—he couldn’t find a connection between the two of them.

‘What? What are the criteria?’

Arcade games were usually played with a joystick to move the direction and buttons to use in-game functions. There was no correlation between playing the game and magic power.

-Stage 1 is Alive Fighter. Control a given fighter and kill the opponent fighter. Then it is over. Fighters can only move with magic power, and attacks must also utilize it. Shields can also be created using magic power. The strength of the shield and attacks is proportional to the magic power usage.

When Hyeonu heard the explanation, his mouth dropped open so wide that it was enough for a fly to go right in.

‘Isn’t this too much?’

He already found it confusing just from listening to the explanation. It was too unreasonable. This game had nothing to do with Arena.

‘Still, I can’t say anything...’

Hyeonu had no reason to complain to Quency. There were things like this in the previous era. This was from the end of it.

‘I have to start first.’

He could complain if he failed. Nevertheless, there would be no reason to complain if he succeeded. This was Hyeonu after all.

-There will be five minutes of practice time to learn the fighter operation method. The formal test will take place after that.

The voice disappeared, and the square window changed its content. A small plane now appeared on the screen.

-Inject magic power into the magic power stone in the direction where you want the plane to move.

Hyeonu injected magic power into the stone according to the instructions. He started off by going straight forward. Faint sparks erupted from the engine at the back of the plane, but the plane itself moved very slowly in comparison to the scale of the gorgeous flames.

Hyeonu started frowning. ‘The amount of magic power consumed by movement seems pretty big?’

It consumed a lot more magic power than he expected. There was a possibility that this test wouldn’t be easy. However, he had no problem with moving it. After injecting more magic power, the movement speed became faster. Hyeonu’s magic power control is also very good, so there was no problem with changing the direction.

Next was the attack method. 

-Attacking is simple. Inject magic power into the magic power stone as if you are releasing magic power.

Hyeonu tilted his head slightly at the unkind explanation and started injecting magic power into the magic power stone. He imagined the feeling of when he used Mysterious Sky Range.

‘Oh...’

This time, the effect was more dramatic than moving the plane. It didn’t use much magic power, but six missiles were fired and cut through the air.

‘This time, I will try Mysterious Sky Demonic Strength...’

Hyeonu injected magic power like he did when using Mysterious Sky Demonic Strength. As a result, a small bead appeared in front of the small plane just like when Mysterious Sky Demonic Strength was used. The bead immediately fired a beam of light out toward the front.

‘This level of attack is enough.’

These two attacks were sufficient. It was already at a luxurious level.

The voice seemed to know Hyeonu’s thoughts and continued with the next part.

-Finally, I will teach you how to create a shield. A shield is created by injecting magic power while imagining it covering the plane.

‘You should explain it all at once...’

“It is like a beggar...”

Eventually, complaints emerged from Hyeonu’s mouth. He didn’t want the type of kind guidance like what you’d get from a kindergarten teacher or primary school teacher, but a minimum level of explanation was still needed. Unlike his complaints, Hyeonu skillfully created the defense membrane. He made a clear shield easily as if he had done it several times before.

-There will be two minutes of free practice time from now. Two minutes later, the formal test will begin.

The moment the system said there were two minutes left, Hyeonu started using the three methods he had learned so far. He moved quickly and fired missiles. He also imagined the opponent’s attacks coming and showed evasive maneuvers. Sometimes, he created shields while attacking at the same time. Two minutes was a really short amount of time, so the practice time passed by in an instant.

-The energy consumed has been restored, and the test is starting now.

Once the practice time was over, the game started immediately. The other fighter appeared along with the background music. To be precise, it wasn’t a fighter plane but giant butterflies. The butterflies fired small and large kernels right from the beginning. There was no time for Hyeonu to adapt. It was tough from the very start.

‘Look at this...’

Hyeonu moved the small plane back and forth, bypassing the kernels coming at him from all directions. It wasn’t just about evasion. He also tried to attack. Six black-red lights appeared on both wings of the plane. Ignoring the flying kernels, the lights flew toward the butterflies, accurately hitting their bodies. It wasn’t known if it was because Hyeonu’s attack power was strong or if the butterflies originally had low health, but the main point was that the butterflies disappeared due to the lights.

‘Okay, I’ve done half!’

Half of the butterflies were killed with one attack. There were now only six remaining. It wasn’t a small number, but once an attack was successful, they could be wiped out completely. Hyeonu focused on injecting more magic power and moved quickly while looking for a time to attack. It wasn’t long until the right timing came. The number of attacking butterflies was decreased by half, so the number of kernels was also reduced by half. It was a lot easier to find a gap now.

Six lights appeared again and once more aimed at the flying butterflies. This time, the butterflies stopped attacking like they wanted to evade. The still butterflies weren’t a match for the speed of the light attacks. The beams of light once again pierced the bodies of the butterflies. There was a loud sound, and the butterflies disappeared from the screen.

‘Is it over?’

Hyeonu sighed with relief that the test ended more easily than he thought it would. Then the system voice was heard.

-You have passed the test. I will now proceed with the next test. 

This time, enemies of a different type appeared. Hyeonu’s expression became somewhat stiffened. The test wasn’t over yet.

‘Of course. It won’t end so easily.’

Hyeonu pulled back his scattered focus. Butterflies appeared again in the square window, but they looked different from before. These ones had a more colorful and agile appearance.

‘They move differently now?’

It wasn’t just the appearance that had changed but also their movements. They didn’t just stay still and shoot kernels. These butterflies moved quickly to the left and right without forgetting to fire the kernels. This time, Hyeonu focused on evasion. He didn’t try any rash attacks.

His eyes shone as he observed the movements of the butterflies. There were two butterflies in a row, four rows in total. Moreover, each row moved at a different speed. Those closest to Hyeonu moved slowly while the distant butterflies moved faster.

‘Now!’

Hyeonu, who had been moving the plane for a long time, poured out his magic power. A small bead appeared in front of the plane and soon emitted an instant ray of light. The butterflies, which were moving at different speeds, overlapped momentarily. At that moment, the light from the plane pierced through all the butterflies.

Hyeonu ended this test with just one blow.

“Is there anything else?” Hyeonu already knew the answer, but he still expressed his thoughts.

-You have passed the test. I will proceed with the next test. 

Once again, enemies of a different type appeared. Hyeonu’s expectations weren’t wrong. There was still a next test.

Hyeonu now stared at the square window with a blank expression. He just wanted to finish it quickly and raise his stats.

‘What is it this time?’

A new butterfly appeared in the square window. This time, there was only one. However, this single butterfly gave off a very strong presence. It was as big as the combined size of all of the butterflies that had come out so far and was enough to fill one half of the square window.

‘A boss?’

It was obvious that the new butterfly was a boss monster. The huge butterfly fired large kernels. Furthermore, it fired so many kernels that there was enough to cover the square window.

Hyeonu showed the highest level of concentration since the test started. Through the delicate use of magic power, he accelerated, decelerated, and changed the direction of the plane. It was done with perfect control like he was using a joystick. He couldn’t even dream of attacking at first as he was concentrating on avoiding the numerous kernels. Nevertheless, this didn’t last very long.

Hyeonu soon launched a counterattack using his strong concentration and control of magic power. He evaded and attacked at the same time, so much so that it was hard to tell if he was evading while attacking or the other way round. It was a complete attack and defense—these words suited what he was doing very well.

However, the giant butterfly didn’t waver after taking a few of Hyeonu’s attacks. Perhaps it was due to having high health or good defense, but the other party didn’t die. Hyeonu didn’t feel like it was going smoothly either. He was always in a crisis. It was obvious he would be attacked the moment if he showed even a bit of hesitation.

“Whoo!” Hyeonu sighed as the attack of the butterfly almost touched the plane. This was clearly a dangerous moment, but it was thrilling. A light smile appeared on Hyeonu’s face. Then another butterfly attack swept near the plane. Every place was filled with kernels apart from where Hyeonu’s plane moved.

‘That’s right. There is a shield!’

After several crises, the existence of the shield emerged in Hyeonu’s mind. He had forgotten about it because he was too focused on evading. From that moment on, Hyeonu made full use of the shield. There would be no solution to this problem if he simply dodged. He had to increase the frequency of his attacks, which was possible to do while a shield was deployed. It hadn’t been possible when he was just dodging, but now that he had created a shield, he fired attacks at the huge butterfly. As a result, a small wound appeared on the giant butterfly’s body and ushered in its last moment due to the plane’s laser attack.

-You have passed the test. I will proceed with the next test. 

This time, enemies of a different type appeared. Hyeonu’s hand slammed strongly against the magic power stone.

“This shit!!!”

It wasn’t the end. There were still more tests after this.