Ranker’s Return

After leaving Etono, Hyeonu was deep in thought. He reasoned out the general worldview of the demon world.

‘It is easy to think of the 72 demon cities as rough dungeons.’

In Hyeonu’s mind, the demon world was a huge field like the Balder Mountains or the Hejin Great Mountain Range. Meanwhile, the 72 cities in it were a type of instance dungeon. These were different from existing dungeons in that he could become the owner of these dungeons by clearing them.

‘So where is the main scenario hidden?’

This was what Hyeonu was worried about. The main scenario was hidden somewhere, and he had to find it. In Hyeonu’s experience, a new region always had a main scenario. There were some differences during the early days of Arena when he pioneered the deserts of the West Continent and when he cleared the Hejin Great Mountain Range, Balder Mountains, and East Continent, but most of them were similar. Thus, it was possible to make a reasonable inference that there was also a main scenario in the demon world.

Hyeonu fell into deep thought again. Then the thought of something that was different from the main scenario flashed through his mind.

‘That’s right!’ It was only now that Hyeonu remembered Viscount Garcia—the only demon who had given him a quest in the demon world. ‘I can get something from him.’

There was no guarantee that Viscount Garcia would give him a quest, but he would at least provide a minimum of information. Viscount Garcia was a noble. He was also from a family that ruled the city for generations. It was clear that he would know a lot and be aware of many things like rumors or legends. Even if it wasn’t a quest, he might give Hyeonu information about dungeons.

‘Let’s see how things go first.’

It wasn’t difficult for Hyeonu to go to Penn. He hadn’t given the return stone back to Garcia, so he just needed to hold the white coin.

“Return.”

[The Penn Return Stone has been used.]

[Moving to Penn.]

[Current number of uses remaining: 5/6]

[Remaining time to charge it once is 5 hours, 59 minutes, and 59 seconds.]

This message appeared in his vision, and a black light enveloped his body.

***

After leaving Penn previously, Hyeonu now returned to it a fortnight later. His feet were already heading toward the castle. This time, he didn’t meet Garcia on the way, but it didn’t matter much. In any case, he just needed to go to the lord’s castle, and Garcia would be there.

‘He can’t leave now.’

Garcia had been there every time Hyeonu came to Penn, so he would naturally be there again. There was another reason for it. Garcia hadn’t left Penn even when he was the acting lord. Now that Penn had become his own territory, he would never leave again.

‘Wait, no... He has the ring back, so shouldn’t he be able to wander around leisurely…?’

Hyeonu raised his hand and patted his cheek. He had an ominous feeling, but this was an unnecessary waste of his mental power. Thinking about a hopeful tomorrow was good enough.

“I am Viscount Argon, the master of Etono. I came to see Viscount Garcia.” Hyeonu now confidently revealed his identity. The title of ‘Master of Etono’ doubled Hyeonu’s confidence.

“I’m sorry, but Viscount Garcia isn’t at the castle at the moment,” the demon guard responded to Hyeonu with an apologetic expression. He didn’t do anything wrong, but he bowed and apologized first. It was a method he had learned in order to not offend other nobles, not Hyeonu specifically.

“He isn’t in the castle? Is he in the city?” Hyeonu asked.

“Viscount Garcia isn’t in Penn. He left to meet Duke John in his city.”

‘Duke John?’ An unfamiliar name had popped out of the demon’s mouth—Duke John. Based on his title, he was one of the most powerful nobles aside from the demon kings.

‘Viscount Garcia... He avoided using Rubolle’s name.’

Hyeonu recalled the name of one of the two demon kings he knew of.

‘This means that besides Rubolle, Duke John is the most powerful demon noble in this faction...’

“Is Viscount Garcia acquainted with Duke John? I didn’t know that.” Hyeonu asked the demon about it to resolve his doubts. His question seemed like a very natural response, and it was as if he didn’t realize the significance of this connection.

The demon didn’t know about such things and revealed what he knew: “I know it’s been a few years since he first met Duke John. Duke John doesn’t often come out of his territory, so Viscount Garcia goes to visit him.”

‘His attitude toward others is ordinary without any intimacy.’ Or perhaps, they might be quite close...

People of a closed-off nature usually had deep relationships instead of shallow ones. Duke John would be no different.

“How long has it been since Viscount Garcia left Penn? I have something urgent I need to discuss with him,” Hyeonu said.

It was a sensitive question, but there were no doubts on the demon’s face. This was because he was familiar with Hyeonu’s name and face. Viscount Garcia had visited the lord’s castle twice with Hyeonu. Anyone could infer that Hyeonu and Viscount Garcia were friendly with each other since it wasn’t often that nobles visited other cities. “He departed yesterday, so he will take around 20 days to return, Viscount Argon.”

“20 days?” Hyeonu wondered in a dumbfounded manner. A period of 20 days was too long.

‘Is the city far away, or is he staying there for a while?’

Either way, it was annoying for Hyeonu. Nothing was going right, starting with Viscount Garcia’s absence. Hyeonu tried to hide his annoyance and once again questioned the demon, “How do I get to Duke John’s city? I’ve never been to his territory.”

“The way to get there isn’t complicated. Just go west. If you pass through the middle of Earl Kalea’s territory and continue to go west, you will see Duke John’s city of Quere.”

“Do I have to pass through Earl Kalea’s territory?” Hyeonu felt troubled. Based on the demon’s lack of honorific when mentioning Kalea, Hyeonu noticed that Kalea wasn’t a demon noble under Rubolle. It was really like a ghost.

“You can go by another way, but the time it takes to travel there is too long. In particular, you have to go through the Forest of Death... There are rumors that there are more than just one or two demonic creatures of the highest grade living there.”

Hyeonu couldn’t help frowning at the demon’s answer. Then he asked the demon again, “Does Earl Kalea serve Damanos, the demon king of iron blood?”

The demon bowed his head silently. Hyeonu held back his sigh that wanted to burst out. ‘Fuck! I’ll just have to go by the other way.’

Entering Earl Kalea’s city right now was like putting his head in a tiger’s mouth. Hyeonu couldn’t do such a crazy thing. It was simply a suicidal act.

“Thank you for the explanation. I will definitely tell Viscount Garcia about your kindness when I see him.” Hyeonu patted the demon on the shoulder a few times and quickly left.

The hard times had returned.

***

Hyeonu could see a forest with dark trees. Shrouded in thick fog, it gave him an ominous feeling just from looking at it. Even if no one had told him, he could tell this was obviously the Forest of Death.

“If this becomes public, it will be the worst hunting ground,” Hyeonu muttered to himself as he gazed at the panoramic view of the forest. The energy alone was ominous, even frightening.

“Tang-E, come out.”

Hyeonu was rather fearless, but he was still reluctant to enter the Forest of Death alone. Thus, he summoned Tang-E.

‘I can’t experience this alone.’

He couldn’t always share the good things, but it was unconditionally better to share the bad.

“Ohhhh!! Master dude!!!” Tang-E jumped into Hyeonu’s arms the moment he was summoned. This was due to his joy at seeing Hyeonu. It was only after putting his butt into Hyeonu’s arms that Tang-E saw the Forest of Death.

“What is this? It is very gloomy,” he remarked. Gloomy—this was Tang-E’s first impression of it. He continued, “This is the first forest I’ve been to that feels so dirty.”

It wasn’t the first time Hyeonu had seen Tang-E act like this. In the dungeons where the undead appeared, Tang-E just said that the feeling was dirty.

‘So it isn’t just me who feels it,’ Hyeonu thought. This made it even more likely that the Forest of Death would become Arena’s worst hunting area.

“We have to go through there to reach another city,” Hyeonu said.

The moment Hyeonu’s words were over, Tang-E jumped out of his arms and waved a paw at him. “I just remembered that I have an errand to run. I’m sorry, Master dude. It seems like you need to go alone today.”

Tang-E showed a very unnatural appearance. Even people seeing Tang-E for the first time could tell this was strange. Hyeonu and Tang-E had met hundreds or thousands of times before, so Hyeonu naturally noticed that Tang-E was behaving differently from usual.

“Where are you running to? If you’re playing a trick on me, be careful you don’t have to spend longer in this forest.” Hyeonu quickly grabbed Tang-E and hugged him again. It contained the willpower to never let go.

“Uh... It was a joke, Master dude,” Tang-E said as he looked at Hyeonu with eyes full of water.

‘I don’t think it is a joke...’ Hyeonu didn’t feel any sincerity from Tang-E’s words.

Therefore, Hyeonu also responded with words that didn’t contain any sincerity: “Yes, I understand. I believe you.”

Tang-E knew this too, from their hundreds or thousands of meetings. “Don’t lie, Master dude. I know you don’t believe it. Cowardly Master dude,” Tang-E immediately refuted it and threw an accusation at Hyeonu. There was no need for anything else. Tang-E immediately launched a personal attack. They were familiar with each other, so the degree of attack was different.

“Cowardly? Who are you calling the coward? Where else is there a cowardly bear like you?” Hyeonu returned everything he received. He was showing the maximum restraint with his words. If his opponent were someone other than Tang-E, he would’ve returned with an attack that was several times stronger.

“I am still much braver than Master dude. You summoned me because you are afraid to go into that forest alone.” Tang-E didn’t lose either. He just ran forward with his words like a runaway locomotive.

“What? I called because I was worried about you being alone,” Hyeonu answered with a jerk of his head.

“Bah, cowardly Master dude.”

“Bah, cowardly bear.”

“Then go in first. Prove you’re not a coward, Master dude.” Tang-E raised his paw and pointed. “Master dude, aren’t you going to send me first because you’re afraid? I know everything.” 

It was a seemingly endless fight. Eventually, Hyeonu suggested a compromise: “Then let’s enter hand in hand at the same time.” 

Hyeonu reached out to Tang-E, and Tang-E placed his paw in Hyeonu’s hand. They held each other’s hand tightly and walked slowly into the Forest of Death.

“Cowardly Master dude, aren’t you going to walk quickly?”

“Why don’t you walk quickly? Can’t the soles of your feet leave the ground now?”

It was their mouths that were moving quickly, not their legs.