Ranker’s Return

The assets of Etono were a negative number. This meant Hyeonu was now indebted to someone. Moreover, it wasn’t a small amount.

‘3,200,000 gold.’

It was a ridiculous sum, but Hyeonu instinctively knew the reason for the money.

‘It came back to me like this...’

In the past, Hyeonu had earned 4.5 million gold by betting on Tang-E at the Colosseum. It was clear what had happened. Otherwise, a normal city wouldn’t owe so much.

‘3.2 million gold isn’t as easy as naming a dog...’

Of course, a city in the demon world was quite valuable. The value of the magic power stone wasn’t something that could be converted into money. It literally had infinite value. There was room for continued growth for as long as time permitted. If it could be bought with money, there would be a few demons who would spend billions on it.

‘It can’t be helped...’

Hyeonu sighed deeply and pulled out the gold in his inventory. The amount was exactly 3.3 million gold. Even if Etono’s debt was repaid, he still had 100,000 gold in the territory’s warehouse. He put out the urgent fire and still had funds for temporary repairs. This was sufficient to operate the territory for a period of time, including the construction of the Colosseum.

‘Money should go toward developing the Colosseum to make more money...’

Hyeonu was thinking about getting the help of Nike Management with further details. Before he became a professional gamer, he would’ve sat on his own and thought about it for a few hours. Now he had no time for that.

“Sigh...”

Hyeonu couldn’t prevent the urge to sigh, so he directly did so. It was hard to watch the gold disappear. This was something he’d earned for free, but he still couldn’t stand losing what he’d had in his hand.

‘How can I use it well...?’

Hyeonu thought about how to use his remaining money before it was wasted on a place like this.

‘Next time I go back to the middle world, I have to enhance it first.’

He came up with a way to get rid of the large amount of gold left in his inventory—enhancement. After spending 3.3 million gold, he could burn the remaining money, which was over 1.2 million gold.

‘I just have to get to +5...’

Hyeonu wasn’t aiming for +12 like with the Mysterious Sky Sword. That had been the result of an overlapping of his good luck. Compared to the time when Hyeonu enhanced the Mysterious Sky Sword, there was now a lot of data. Ranging from common to unique, there was nothing missing. According to data from the Arena community, the average number of enhancements for a unique-rated item to reach +5 was 50 times. It was a really poor probability.

‘Still, 200,000 gold should be enough.’

No matter how unlucky he was, Hyeonu believed it wouldn’t take more than 200,000 gold. Still, he had eight items to enhance...

“Hah...” A sigh flowed from Hyeonu’s mouth. For Hyeonu, enhancement was accompanied by tremendous stress. It was horrible to think about repeating it eight times.

‘Fortunately, the cost of the enhancement is less this time.’

For the Mysterious Sky Sword, the cost of enhancing it from +0 to +1 was 800 gold. After that, the cost rose by 200 gold. It was a huge rise, but it was because the Mysterious Sky Sword was an epic item. Meanwhile, his eight items were unique-rated. The enhancement for them wouldn’t be priced at that level.

“Sigh...” Hyeonu sighed again and opened his status window.

‘I will start with my stat points first.’

His level had risen after killing Viscount Ergal, but he hadn’t been able to see his status window due to being breathless from the hectic move.

‘Status Window.’

[Status Window]

[Character Name: Gang Hyeonu

Level: 311

Class: Preliminary Commander of the Knights of Keon

Title: First to Become a Lord of the Demon World and 36 others.

Stats: Strength: 839 (+3,550)  Agility: 1,315 (+3,500)  Physique: 613 (+3,600)  Magic Power: 1,046 (+3,600)  Fighting Energy: 972 (+3,300)  Dignity: 454 (+3,300)  Killing Intent: 224 (+3,300)

Remaining stat points: 15

Retained Attributes: Dark, fire.]

His status window hadn’t changed much. It was just a satisfying feast of high numbers.

‘I should place five points in strength, agility, and physique each...’

Hyeonu invested the stat points at will. In fact, there wasn’t much change when he invested the five stat points as his stats were too high. For Hyeonu, it was better to get a better item or new skill in order to make a difference. Usually, at this point, some players would fall into inertia—a type of dilemma. They wouldn’t feel stronger even when they were hunting and leveling up. In other words, it felt like there wasn’t much reward compared with the effort invested.

‘I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, but...’

However, this wasn’t true for Hyeonu. He was now more spectacular than anyone, and he had no time to feel bored. Hyeonu had become the lord of Etono, so Etono was separated from the original circle of influence. It was obvious that some of the demon kings who wanted to expand their power would aim at Hyeonu’s territory.

‘I’ve obtained it, so now I have to keep it.’

Even if Etono were taken by another demon, he wouldn’t feel it was unfair if he could absorb the magic power at least once.

‘I just have to hold on until the repair of the Colosseum is over.’

Hyeonu clenched his fists.

***

Grabbing Hyeonu’s wrist as he was drinking water, Yeongchan questioned him, “Tell me again, what did you get?”

Yeongchan had a shocked expression like he had just seen a ghost.

“I got a territory?” Hyeonu replied nonchalantly like it wasn’t a big deal. It was the opposite of Yeongchan’s expression.

“So what have you done in the demon world that you already have a territory now?”

“I just killed a boss monster. The cities are limited, but you can get a territory if you kill its lord,” Hyeonu said.

As always, he simply gave Yeongchan a rough explanation. There was no kindness at all. It was an explanation that was impossible to understand fully.

“What does that mean? You can get a territory by killing a boss? What type of windfall is over there?” Yeongchan naturally couldn’t understand the context of Hyeonu’s words. Just like in any game, the ruler of a kingdom or empire in Arena needed to grant a territory in order to obtain one. The demon world should be no different. It was only when the demon king allowed it that a territory could be obtained. Moreover, it would be a very small piece of land.

“Um... I’ll explain it again.” Hyeonu started to talk in a frustrated manner when he saw that Yeongchan didn’t understand.

He didn’t know why Yeongchan couldn’t understand such an easy thing.

“The demon world has only 72 cities, and the demon nobles are the ones who rule them. Do you understand up to here?” Hyeonu asked.

Yeongchan nodded. Now he was starting to comprehend the explanation.

‘Jerk, you should’ve explained it like this in the first place,’ Yeongchan thought, but he looked like he was listening with a smile. Otherwise, Hyeonu wouldn’t speak clearly. He had known Hyeonu for over a decade, and Hyeonu had always been such a bastard.

Hyeonu continued, “If they fight a duel and lose, their city is taken away, regardless of whether it is by a player or a demon. If you take the ring that symbolizes the lord and put it on, you will become a lord." 

However, this following explanation once again put Yeongchan in a labyrinth. It was definitely true. He understood that Hyeonu had become a lord through such a process. The question was how the process had been carried out.

‘What is the way it is done?’

“How did you duel? They aren’t stupid. They won’t just do it if you come up to them and demand a fight. In addition, the demon world is full of demons and demonic creatures. How can you stay there?” Yeongchan questioned it in a suspicious manner.

Hyeonu’s plan had been perfect, but there were too many obstacles. Usually, in other games, the demon world itself was infested with monsters. There was no safe zone and no friendly NPCs. It didn’t make sense that he could succeed in such a place.

“Me? I just did it? Those kids regarded me as a demon, so I just walked in and out of the city. Besides, when did I always play by the standard rules? I mixed in with them and did it.” Hyeonu looked at Yeongchan with a bright smile.

‘Merciless jerk,’ Yeongchan remarked inwardly. In Yeongchan’s eyes, Hyeonu’s smile was just fishy. This smile was a look he had shown countless times in the past.

***

Hyeonu entered his room, grabbed his phone, and immediately called someone. The phone rang for a long time without the other person picking up the call. Eventually, it stopped ringing, and a low voice was heard.

-This is Kale of Nike Management.

The person Hyeonu called was Kale. Recently, he hadn’t contacted Kale much due to concentrating on the Winter League. However, e-mails were sent periodically, and there were various sponsorship agreements and consultations.

“Kale, it’s me. It seems you’re busy?” Hyeonu expressed his apologies. Based on the way Kale didn’t check the caller’s name, it seemed that he was busy.

‘Should I have called at this time?’ Hyeonu’s gaze turned to the clock hanging on the wall. It was 11:32 am. Thinking about the time difference between South Korea and the United States, this was the time when the United States was in full swing.

-No, Mister Gang. My desk is just a mess from preparing for meetings in the afternoon. I only receive calls with my Bluetooth earphones.

Nevertheless, Kale answered like he wasn’t too busy. Of course, he was actually busy. He just had enough social experience not to say it. In fact, it was because he was well aware that Hyeonu was feeling uncomfortable.

“Then I’m glad.” Hyeonu didn’t know about it and nodded with a relieved expression.

-I enjoyed watching the video you sent me. The demon world is a really exciting place. How do you feel about being the lord? Kale skillfully led the conversation to the reason why Hyeonu called. It was because Kale already roughly knew the reason for the call. The e-mail and video that had suddenly arrived on a day different from the scheduled date contained some of Hyeonu’s intentions.

“First of all, it is good that I have increased my territory. But as you can see... the problem is keeping it. I poured 3.2 million gold into it. I will be unhappy to lose it.”

-3.2 million gold... It is an amount that a workshop in China can have. Mister Gang, you don’t have to worry too much. The afternoon meeting is to discuss ways to protect Etono, Alley Leader’s territory.

Hyeonu was deeply relieved by Kale’s words. Nike could find ways to protect Etono. No, they would definitely find a way as they were really competent.

“I understand, Kale. I will also think of methods on my own.”

-It is the natural thing to do. Mister Gang is the most precious star of Nike Management for a reason.

Kale and Hyeonu laughed at the same time.