Ranker’s Return

Upon seeing Hyeonu’s expression, Suped sighed. “What is it? Is there anything else written on it? I hope it isn’t more shocking than what I’ve already heard.”

Hyeonu’s expression hadn’t been so dark when he said he had been summoned to the imperial palace. This meant the emperor’s order wasn’t a burden on Hyeonu.

‘It didn’t cross the line,’ Suped remarked inwardly. 

Hyeonu's current expression though...

‘It is a deathly pale look.’

The white stricken face made it seem like he was about to die.

“How serious is it that you can’t even speak?” Suped asked Hyeonu, who was staring blankly at the imperial message. Hyeonu didn’t give an answer. He just handed the imperial message to Suped.

“Should I look at it myself?” Suped accepted the imperial message from Hyeonu’s hands.

‘What does it say...’

-I will visit the city in a month. Did you say it was called Etono? I hope you come back after a week of preparation.

The moment he read the end of the message, Suped’s expression changed to look exactly like Hyeonu's. Suped’s red face turned white, and both his hands trembled.

“What is this...?! Why is His Majesty coming here?”

Suped’s reaction was several times more dramatic than Hyeonu’s. The reason was the difference in Hyeonu’s and Suped’s thoughts. Hyeonu made this expression because the emperor, a living bomb, was coming to Etono. He was concerned about his city being destroyed, not about the emperor.

On the contrary, Suped was only concerned about the emperor’s wellbeing. It was shocking that the emperor was coming to the demon world where it was unknown what would happen.

Hyeonu said, “We need to kill the surrounding demonic creatures faster. Suped, please push back the things you have to do, or at least meet with the adventurers. If the demonic creatures aren’t dead when His Majesty comes...”

Suped quickly nodded. This much effort could be done since it was for the emperor. “I understand. It isn’t hard to meet adventurers.”

After receiving an answer from Suped, Hyeonu left quickly. He also needed to make his own preparations.

“Then I’ll handle my own things.”

***

“Return.”

[The Blanc Return Stone has been used.]

[Moving to Blanc.]

[Current number of uses remaining: 5/6]

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

After leaving the castle, Hyeonu immediately used the Blanc Return Stone to move to Blanc. Hyeonu’s current job wasn’t to go outside Etono and hunt. It was enough to leave that for other players. The demonic creatures were rushing in like crazy, but the numbers were similar to at the beginning. In comparison, the number of players hunting had increased significantly, so the situation was now relatively relaxed.

‘I don’t have to worry about Etono right now. There is some leeway.’

In any case, Hyeonu had enough room to breathe easily and could leave his position. He quickened his pace. Hyeonu only had one week left. After that, he had to leave the demon world.

‘I wish I could come back soon, but... it doesn’t feel good.’ 

Hyeonu was worried because he had been playing virtual reality games for many years, and his experienced senses told him this outing would be quite long. Just then, he arrived at the lord’s palace of Blanc. He lightly kicked off from the ground and crossed the wall of the palace.

There was no time to go through the main entrance. Finally, Hyeonu was able to reach where John Blake and Lebron were. Finding them wasn’t difficult. Strong waves of energy poured out wherever they were.

“Look at whose disciple is going over the wall.”

“Whose disciple? Who did that disciple learn it from?”

‘Look at these childish people,’ Hyeonu thought. John Blake and Lebron had a childish quarrel that didn’t match their age.

“Why don’t the two of you stop? It is embarrassing to see it.” Hyeonu restrained the two men who were fighting endlessly. They were perhaps ashamed by Hyeonu’s words and thus closed their mouths at the same time.

“I’ve come looking for you because something serious happened. Please don’t be childish and listen to me,” Hyeonu told the two people. It intrigued them with accurate aim.

The bait was eaten up, and John Blake and Lebron started to focus on Hyeonu’s words.

“What happened?”

“Did a demon king come to Etono?”

Hyeonu shook his head. It would’ve been fine for Hyeonu and the two people in front of him if it were such a thing.

“His Majesty wants to visit Etono. He will be here in a month, so he told me to make the preparations,” Hyeonu said. He handed them the imperial message he received from Suped. “This is His Majesty’s message that he delivered through Suped. The order was written inside.”

Lebron snatched the scroll like a seagull catching food. “Seriously... The emperor should just stay in the imperial palace...”

He couldn’t hide his dumbfounded expression. The emperor’s words were incomprehensible. These actions were too frivolous for someone leading a nation.

“It isn’t that I don’t know Alexander’s character, but what is the use of coming here and doing something like that?” John Blake questioned. 

“That’s right, but...” LeBron replied. 

From the beginning, they never thought about dissuading the emperor. It was an answer that wasn’t written in the available options. Based on the emperor’s personality, he would never reverse his choice. John Blake and Lebron knew this better than anyone else.

“Make sure personally that there is no trouble. There is a limit to what I can block in the demon world. I can’t guarantee I can win against that guy,” John Blake said. 

“I know. Did you say he was called Baler? It is okay to make him a new target,” LeBron stated. He recalled the demon king he had seen a while ago—Baler. A fearsome nature was hidden behind his laughter. Baler was an obvious predator.

“I know. So... now, polish up your magic spirit and quietly follow Alexander when he comes. It has been a long time since he went out. Pay special attention to him,” John Blake stressed to Lebron. The emperor had a personality where his actions were unpredictable.

“By the way, the city seems to have recovered quite a bit.” This was all Hyeonu had to say. Previously, Hyeonu had nothing to say, so he remained silent.

“It is already half done. The construction speed is great. The demonic creatures have different physical abilities, so it is no wonder.”

Hyeonu listened to John Blake’s answer and was reminded of the Colosseum where the repairs would’ve ended by now had the repairs continued.

‘I have to use Magic Power Absorption as well...’

The more stats he had and the higher they were, the better it would be. The cooldown time of Magic Power Absorption was extremely long. It was better the sooner he used it.

“Then I’m glad. It is for this reason that Etono is empty.” Hyeonu had nothing else to say, nor was there anything he had any questions about. He'd met the two people and talked about the emperor, so he had achieved his purpose of coming here.

‘I should go hunting with Tang-E.’

Hyeonu felt there was nothing left for him to do here and decided to leave Blanc. However, the situation didn’t develop as Hyeonu desired. Lebron caught Hyeonu as he was trying to leave: “Are you going already? You haven’t sparred with your teacher for a long time. How about it?”

Hyeonu looked at Lebron with an expression that asked, ‘What is this person saying?’

Then he opened his mouth and said, “Why should I? I am a busy person, Master. I barely made time to come here to talk about this matter.” 

Hyeonu refused vehemently and pretended to be very busy. There was no need for him to accept and suffer.

‘A spar will obviously be very hard… really hard.’

There were things in the world that he could know without experiencing them. One of them was a spar with Lebron. Hyeonu never wanted to do it without a reward.

‘It is probably unpaid work this time...’

That sort of thing was impossible to do. It was much better to have a good time alone with Tang-E.

“I’m not saying we should hit each other. Why don’t we spar with just our magic spirits? You have to get used to commanding it anyway. You should be familiar with it by now, but isn’t it better to try it out in actual combat?”

Lebron’s repeated suggestion caused a somewhat conflicted expression to appear on Hyeonu’s face. It was an interesting suggestion.

‘Should I do it once?’

He hadn't had a battle since his skill proficiency of the magic spirit increased, so it was necessary to determine how strong the magic spirit was.

‘However, I have to do it with this monster...’

The trouble was if he should test it out with Lebron.

‘He will be upset if I don’t do it...’

“Okay, there is no reason for me to refuse if it's just a battle between magic spirits. Today, I’ll show you a disciple who is better than the master.” Hyeonu smiled brightly and accepted Lebron’s offer for a spar.

“It is 50 years too early for you to say that.” A sneer appeared on Lebron’s face.

***

Hyeonu and Lebron stood apart at a distance of several dozen meters. John Blake stood halfway between the two of them. He looked at Lebron and explained the rules again: “As I said earlier, this spar will only use the magic spirits.”

Lebron had a dubious expression.

“Am I a child? I’m not going to break my promise with him!” Lebron shouted at John Blake.

“Then let’s get started straight away, Master. I’m curious about what Master’s magic spirit looks like,” Hyeonu said. He was quite curious about Lebron’s magic spirit since John Blake’s magic spirit was an eerie snake. It was different from an imoogi and dragon and had a unique charm.

“Why? Are you curious? Yours is the bear you always have with you, right? Mine is better than that.” Lebron smiled triumphantly. The moment his words were over, black magic power rose behind him like a cloud. The magic power took shape in an instant. It seemed like it would spread endlessly, but it quickly compressed and reduced to a sphere of around five meters wide. The black sphere was cut down. Sharp lines intersected on the initially round magic power.

“How much more will it decrease?” Hyeonu muttered when he saw the sphere getting endlessly smaller. Now it was less than one meter wide. Of course, the magic power was compressed rather than lost, so the intense compression process made people tired just from watching it.

Moments later, Lebron’s magic power ended the transformation. The magic spirit was created with a full form, and it was very small—almost the same size as Tang-E.

Hyeonu saw the magic spirit and was startled. ‘Um... this...!’ 

It was because the size and appearance of the magic spirit didn’t match Lebron at all.

“A cat?” Hyeonu muttered to himself with an incredulous expression.

Upon hearing that, Lebron shouted agitatedly, “It isn’t a cat. It’s a tiger!”