Ranker’s Return

“What is this...?” Hyeonu acted like a person who had seen what he shouldn’t have seen. His eyes and arms trembled. Naturally, the white sheet of paper in his hands also shook.

“It is as it is written on the paper. Go to the East Continent and get the emperor of the East Continent’s seal on this paper. It will be useful in due course.” The emperor stared at Hyeonu with his hands on his chin.

 ‘What the hell is he going to do...?’ Hyeonu felt his thoughts becoming more complicated due to the emperor’s words. The paper that the emperor had given him contained shocking contents.

-As emperor of the Yusma Empire, I ask the emperor of the Yuxin Empire to become a more active ally than he is now. For example, creating an allied force against a common enemy...

Hyeonu read the emperor’s message again, and the emperor’s intentions, which had been unknown when he first read it, slowly started to enter Hyeonu’s eyes.

‘Perhaps...’

All the other content was just rhetoric. The emperor really just wanted to say one or two sentences.

‘Creating an allied force...’

There was only one purpose, and it was obviously to hit the demon world. Otherwise, there would be no reason to create an allied force. There was nothing the Yusma Empire couldn’t deal with on the West Continent unless an invasion of the demon world or divine world occurred.

“Your Majesty, the demon world... Are you going to wage war against them?” Hyeonu expressed something that shouldn’t happen. 

He hoped his guess wasn’t true.

“As expected of the earl... We can communicate so well. You are worth more than dozens or hundreds of nobles.” The emperor laughed.

His laughter resounded through the hall, and it was like the whole building was shaking.

“The empire has had no enemies for too long. There is no longer any land in the West Continent that can be pioneered. There is just a pointless consumption of resources and manpower. However, we can’t go to war with the East Continent.” The emperor straightened his waist, and his eyes shone. There was an indescribable excitement on his face. “Now a pioneering city has been created in the name of the empire in the demon world. It is an unexpected windfall.”

‘Damn.’ Hyeonu swallowed down the curse words bubbling up his throat. After all, it was Hyeonu himself who had provoked the emperor’s curiosity. Blinded by gold, he had sold it to the emperor.

‘I just thought the profit was good...’

The variables had become too large. The situation had gone beyond Hyeonu’s control.

‘A demon world invasion…’

Hyeonu knew what the demon world was like, so he smiled bitterly. It was a place where Hyeonu couldn’t have much influence alone. There were many enemies that were much stronger than him.

‘Right now, there are seven demon kings...’ Hyeonu thought.

Regardless of the expression Hyeonu was making, the emperor continued speaking: “So... take care of this and come back. Then I promise to give you full compensation.”

The moment the emperor’s words were over, a message window appeared in front of Hyeonu to announce the creation of the quest. Hyeonu looked at it carefully. He hoped the emperor’s words were true.

‘Please don’t let it be an empty can...’

In any case, the dice had been thrown, and the wheels were rolling fast. Hyeonu chose to think about future gains instead of regretting the past.

[Emperor’s Ambition]

[Alexander, the emperor of the Yusma Empire, is extremely bored by the long peace. At such a time, the demon world appeared and stimulated his curiosity. Complete the pre-preparations to invade the demon world.

Rating: MS

Conditions: Get the seal of the emperor of the Yuxin Empire of the East Continent 0/1, report to Alexander 0/1

Rewards: Experience, imperial contribution, a special gift from the emperor.]

The quest rating was MS. A main scenario—the quest that he hadn’t seen for a while—had reappeared.

‘I like that it’s a main scenario.’

The bitterness disappeared from Hyeonu’s face. It was filled with satisfaction instead. The emergence of the main scenario was welcome.

‘I like the rewards.’

The compensation was good as well. No matter what the reward was, it wouldn’t be bad if it was a special gift from the emperor. The emperor’s rewards had always satisfied Hyeonu—be it a title, skill, or territory. There were occasionally empty quests, but building up trust with the emperor was already a reward that other players couldn’t receive.

“I understand, Your Majesty. I will return with the seal of the emperor of the East Continent on the letter.” Hyeonu left the imperial palace with a confident expression.

***

“Hey, isn’t the blind date today? Don’t you have to get ready? Aren’t you too confident?” Hyeonu spoke to Yeongchan, who was still leisurely watching TV even though it was almost 10 o’clock.

“You’re saying this to me when you’re also lying down and watching with me?” Yeongchan countered Hyeonu’s attack.

Hyeonu didn’t deserve to say this to Yeongchan since he was also lying on the sofa and watching television.

“I’m just going there to support you. You are the one going seriously. It would be shameful if we prepared at the same level,” Hyeonu said as he lay on the sofa like a person who didn’t intend to get up.

His eyes were on the TV while he breathed through his nose and spoke with his mouth. The rest of his body had already merged with the sofa.

“Jerk... Get ready quickly. We have to go soon.” Yeongchan frowned as he watched Hyeonu laze on the sofa.

“Hey, 30 minutes is long enough for me. Even if we have to leave at 11 o’clock, I still have 30 minutes to rest,” Hyeonu continued to easily respond to Yeongchan’s words.

He really seemed to have no intention of washing up. Hyeonu was being a total lazybones.

“I don’t know. You take care of it. Instead, you shouldn’t look too rough. It is a blind date, so you should be polite.” Yeongchan sighed at such a Hyeonu. Then Yeongchan got up from the sofa and moved to the bathroom in his room. While doing so, he added, “Be ready by 11 o’clock. I’m going to take it easy.”

The meeting time was 12 o’clock. The agreed upon location wasn’t far from Yeongchan’s house, but there were many variables on the roads in Gangnam. It was a scary place because it wasn’t known when or where a traffic jam would occur.

Hyeonu waved instead of replying. He moved after exactly 30 minutes, following his own words precisely.

‘30 minutes... That’s enough.’

Hyeonu had visited a hair salon yesterday to clean his hair. His long hair was arranged in a simple undercut hairstyle, reducing the time required for shampoo. The reason why he was confident in the 30-minute time limit was his short hair. Men usually took time to fix their hair, and there was nothing else that would take time.

Water poured out strongly from the showerhead. Hyeonu placed his greasy head under the water.

“Uwah, it’s cold!” He retracted his head in a frightened manner. Then he turned the switch to adjust the temperature as hot as possible. Simultaneously, very hot water flowed from the showerhead.

Hyeonu placed his head under the stream of water again. “Ah, hot!”

This time, it was too hot. It felt like he had dipped his head in a cold pool and then a hot pool. Hyeonu felt his scalp was burning and stepped back again. He turned the switch to adjust the water temperature until it reached a satisfactory temperature, at which point the shower began officially.

‘Shampoo once...’

Hyeonu’s shower had a set routine and nothing else. After shampooing his hair, he brushed his teeth before gargling. He finished rinsing his hair and started washing his face. Then after shaving and washing his body, Hyeonu’s shower was over.

‘15 minutes? Did I wash too fast?’

Hyeonu dried his hair and glanced at the clock on the wall. There was still plenty of time. He could’ve washed for a bit longer.

‘Just wear anything casually.’

They were clothes he was going to wear anywhere. There was no need for him to dress up for the blind date. Simple and easy—his usual fashion style was the direction Hyeonu pursued. Hyeonu’s wardrobe had no colorful clothes. Most of them were monochromatic and simple. He put on a white shirt and white cotton pants without any worries. Then he wore a pale brown knit sweater over it.

Just then, Yeongchan opened the door of Hyeonu’s room and poked in his head. “Hey, are you dressed?”

Hyeonu nodded and replied in a voice like nothing had happened, “I’m all dressed.”

“Fast...” Yeongchan cocked his head as he saw Hyeonu who was almost ready.

‘Maybe it is because his hair is short, so it’s almost dry...’

It seemed like it didn’t take more than five minutes to complete all the preparations. Rather, it would take longer for Yeongchan to finish preparing his long hair.

“Come out at 11 o’clock.” Yeongchan left these words and ran back to his room.

Meanwhile, Hyeonu started to complete the remaining preparations as if nothing had happened. After all the preparations, Hyeonu went out to the living room and waited for Yeongchan to come out. Yeongchan emerged shortly after Hyeonu.

‘He is full of accessories...’ Hyeonu remarked inwardly.

Yeongchan was dressed nicely from head to toe. He looked pretty cool like this but not as cool as Hyeonu.

“By the way, who is setting you up on this blind date today? Is there anyone around you who can give you a referral for a blind date?” Hyeonu asked Yeongchan, who had yet to get on, while getting on the elevator.

“Didn’t I tell you? Yuri is doing it. She told me not to just play games at home.”

“Yuri? For you?” Hyeonu’s eyes widened at the unexpected answer. It was an answer he couldn’t think of at all.

‘Yuri set up a blind date for Yeongchan?’

It didn’t make sense no matter how he thought about it. Then Hyeonu was soon convinced.

‘The affection between siblings is so deep...’

They fought whenever they met, but this was also a show of affection. Hyeonu also wanted a younger sibling who took care of him this much.

“You have a good dongsaeng. I wish I had a dongsaeng who takes care of me like Yuri. Then she will set me up for a blind date even if I play games like you,” Hyeonu said. Hearing that, Yeongchan coughed very fiercely. His face was red as he barely managed to speak.

“Really? A good dongsaeng...” Yeongchan didn’t say much.

If he revealed the truth here, this blind date might fly away.

‘I’m sorry, Hyeonu... forgive your ugly friend,’ Yeongchan continued to apologize inwardly. He was already kneeling and holding onto Hyeonu’s legs.

“Yuri is a good dongsaeng. She is pretty and has a good personality.” Hyeonu thought so.

Yuri was really a pretty little sister.