Ranker’s Return

“Master!” Hyeonu called out when he saw Lebron appear. Then he quickly ran to Lebron.

‘I was going to call him when the magic power injection was over... How did he know to come already?’

Hyeonu hadn’t wanted to invite Lebron over now but rather when all the preparations were done.

‘I didn’t mean for him to inject the magic power...’

It was fortunate to have Lebron take care of it. However, Hyeonu had a sense of shame, so he hadn’t requested it.

“What’s the fuss... Save some face as an earl of the empire and my disciple, please,” Lebron whispered to Hyeonu without moving his lips.

‘If you are an earl...’ he remarked inwardly. In Lebron’s eyes, Hyeonu’s actions seemed very frivolous. He was like a three-year-old running around.

“Master, do you really intend to inject magic power into the magic circle?”

Nevertheless, Hyeonu didn’t care about Lebron’s words and just did what he wanted.

“Yes, I will do it myself. I don’t know when we can get there if I leave it to you. Time is always limited.”

“Yes, we should save it when we can.” Hyeonu agreed with Lebron’s words. Now whatever Lebron said sounded right.

“Is this Duke Lebron? He seems much more powerful than in the videos?”

“The strongest NPC in the empire... Of course, he will look strong.”

The players in the area expressed their feelings about seeing Lebron. Their words were generally similar. They got a much more intense impression of him than what they usually saw in Hyeonu’s videos. Additionally, he was shorter than they thought. The surrounding people said all types of things, but the people gathered in the square didn’t listen to them and instead focused all their attention on the sight unfolding in front of them.

Lebron extended his hand, and black magic power appeared around him like a fog. The fog gradually cleared, and the magic circle started to shine while sucking in the fog like a vacuum cleaner. At a certain point, the magic circle, which seemed to absorb magic power endlessly, failed to continue absorbing magic power. It was now just a brilliant light.

“It’s done,” Lebron said when saw that and then took back his arm. At the same time, the surrounding black fog quickly disappeared. In an instant, the magic circle magic power infusion was over. However, no one could open their mouths to respond. It had ended so quickly.

Hyeonu came to his senses first and spoke to Lebron: “Thank you. We are comfortable thanks to you.” 

“What thanks? Then are we going now?” Lebron changed the subject like Hyeonu’s flattery was embarrassing.

“We will leave in a bit. Master, are you ready? For example, preparing your heart... It’s your first time visiting the demon world.” 

Lebron snorted at the words.

‘Nervousness… I can’t remember the last time I felt this.’

He couldn’t recall ever feeling nervous since his last showdown with his teacher, John Blake.

“In the first place, I am past the age to feel that, Disciple.”

***

Hyeonu turned on the stream as promised to the viewers.

[Released for the first time in Arena, streaming in the Demon World.]

The moment the streaming turned on, hundreds of thousands of viewers entered.

-You kept your promise.

-I’ve been waiting.

-I honestly thought you forgot to turn it on ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

The viewers had expected Hyeonu to be streaming today. Hyeonu’s actions had been strange. However, the other large guilds streamed every move, so the viewers noticed that the large guilds were flocking to Phinis one after another and found that they were about to move to the demon world.

-The other guilds are streaming, but you didn’t turn it on.

-Thus, I went to watch other places ㅋㅋㅋ

“Did you do that? I turned it on a bit late, but all of this was in consideration of the viewers. It was my consideration to not waste your time looking at useless things,” Hyeonu said in a sly tone. It was packaged nicely, but the essence of it was that he had forgotten and only just remembered it.

‘I’m glad I thought about it now.’

He continued, “I will soon use the magic circle to move to the demon world. I’m not going alone. I will be with four groups—New World, the New York Warriors, Red Bull America, and Crescent Moon.”

Now they were really on the verge of going to the demon world. The guild members of the New York Warriors and Red Bull America returned after buying potions, and everyone had enough potions to restore their magic power. Thanks to the appearance of the variable called Lebron, they saved all of the magic power they would have had to consume to go to the demon world.

‘It won’t make a big difference.’

They wouldn’t be able to easily move out of the city even if they had gone after consuming their magic power.

‘They have to set up a base in Etono.’

It was like being hit in the back of the head. The allied guilds were reliable, but to put it bluntly, they were still another group. If they died in the demon world for any reason, they would revive in the middle world where it was very cumbersome to return to the demon world.

To get to the demon world, they had to use the magic circle. To use the magic circle, they needed the huge figure of 250,000 magic power. This was a burden on large guilds as well. Thus, it was clear that everyone would act very cautiously until they found a resurrection point.

Just then, Johnny came to Hyeonu and informed him that all the preparations were finished: “My Lord, we are ready. All you need to do is come.”

“Let’s go together,” Hyeonu answered. 

Johnny turned around again and walked toward the magic circle that was surrounded by countless onlookers.

“I’m passing by. Get out of the way!” Johnny made his way through the crowd, creating a path for Hyeonu to pass through. Yet there was just no way that Johnny, an administrator, could make a path through the players.

“What? Who is this pig?”

“Get lost right now!”

“Keep the line, the line!”

The players, apart from some of those with normal thoughts, frowned and got angry at Johnny’s behavior. Eventually, Johnny failed to overcome the power of one player and fell to the ground. “Ack!!”

‘These jerks?’ Hyeonu’s eyes narrowed when he saw Johnny like this. Johnny wasn’t an NPC these guys could ignore. Hyeonu was the only one who could treat him badly. If there had to be one or two more people who could do that, it was Lebron and the emperor.

“The one who shoved him, come out now!” Hyeonu showed off his strong pressure. He looked like he could create ruins if he caught the person. Hyeonu’s shout turned the place that was like a noisy marketplace into a quiet funeral home. Silence fell.

“Come out quickly! Which bastard did it?” Hyeonu pulled out the Mysterious Sky Sword and released a thick black-red pure energy.

Johnny approached Hyeonu with a limp and grabbed him by the arm while begging, “My Lord, no. My feet twisted, and I fell over. Duke Lebron is waiting for you.”

“Master will understand this. You are the administrator of Phinis, and I am the lord of Phinis. It is natural for the master to get revenge for the subordinate who suffers.” Hyeonu added more magic power to the Mysterious Sky Sword. The pure energy created around the Mysterious Sky Sword quickly increased in size, growing to be as long as a building’s height.

“I understand, My Lord... This is enough, so please go...” Johnny continued pleading with a nervous look on his face.

Hyeonu swung the Mysterious Sky Sword into the air. The pure energy that was over a dozen meters long burst randomly in the air. It was like watching a fireworks display.

Hyeonu put away the Mysterious Sky Sword and assisted Johnny to the place where Duke Lebron and his party were waiting.

***

“Well done.” Lebron patted Hyeonu on the shoulder.

“No, I just did what I had to,” Hyeonu replied.

“Still, you did well.”

“I wasted too much time. Let’s go to the demon world.”

“Yes, let’s go.”

After talking to Lebron, Hyeonu glanced at the people standing on the magic circle to check if anyone was missing.

‘New World, the New York Warriors, Red Bull America, and Crescent Moon... They are all here.’

All the familiar faces were present. The administrators working in Phinis were also seen standing in one corner.

“I will start it straight away,” Hyeonu said and injected magic power into the magic circle. Then a different message appeared in front of Hyeonu’s eyes.

[The magic circle is full of magic power. Do you want to activate the magic circle?]

Hyeonu’s answer was set, so he naturally said what he had to say: “Activate.”

[The magic circle will be activated.]

[Movement Magic Circle]

[A magic circle that moves to Etono, a city in the demon world.

Effect: Shout ‘move’ and you will be moved to Etono, a city in the demon world.

Maximum number of people: 148/150 people.]

The detailed information of the magic circle appeared.

‘It is just enough.’

That was lucky.

He barely managed to squeeze in the number of people to the limit.

“Then I will start. Move.” Hyeonu spoke a word that was no different from the instructions and immediately used the magic circle. The powerful light from the magic circle swallowed exactly 148 people.

***

-Wow, this is the demon world?

-The demon world is okay.

-It looks like Quency has worked hard to make it.

-The developers have to hone it!

The viewers admired the scenery in front of them. The dark sky reminded them of the universe, and it soon created a strange atmosphere.

“So the demon world is like this.”

“It is a lot better than I thought it would be?”

“It shouldn’t be too hard to adapt.”

The response of the rankers wasn’t much different from that of the viewers. In any case, it was their first time in the demon world. They showed the same reaction as the viewers because, at the core, they were all players enjoying Arena.

-By the way, isn’t the city a bit strange?

-Don’t you think it is empty?

-It feels very empty. What a ruin.

Their gazes naturally came down from the sky to the earth, and they saw the completely empty Etono. Hyeonu saw the chat window and spoke quietly so that only the viewers could hear him: “Of course, there is no one in this city. What would happen if you take a magic circle to a place full of demonic creatures and demons?”

-Won’t you die?

-Depending on the level of the demonic creatures... if you think of a typical city...

-It would be terrible if there were two million demonic creatures.

The viewers immediately realized why Etono was empty after Hyeonu’s non-explanation. No matter how many rankers there were, the limits of players didn’t change. If they were surrounded by hundreds of thousands of monsters… it would be a tragedy. There might be a time difference, but the result would be the same.

“That is why the empire emptied this city. You don’t know, but they put a lot of effort into it,” Hyeonu said, speaking the lie easily. He never said that it wasn’t the emperor who made Etono like this but a demon king.

“What is this?”

“You’re well? Me too.”

“There is a problem.”

Just then, flustered cries from the players erupted here and there.