Ranker’s Return

The arena, where dirt and sand had been evenly laid, lost its original appearance. There were now pits all over the place.

“With the way things are going... there will probably be no shared duties? They will just stand behind Hyeonu like a folding screen,” Kim Seokjung remarked. He looked like he hadn’t shed a single drop of sweat.

In fact, players didn’t sweat in Arena. There was only one case of sweating—when there was a psychological change in the player. Of course, this was such a case. For Kim Seokjung, fighting against the five Crescent Moon players was just like going out for a walk for digestion after a meal.

‘I’ve been watching, but... it is serious, serious...’ Hyeonu thought.

Gang Junggu didn’t even stretch out his fist properly. The moment Kim Seokjung went on a rampage, no one in Crescent Moon could respond. Lee Hoon’s defensive wall collapsed, and they were all helpless. Everyone failed to stop Kim Seokjung’s attacks more than five times. Sunny’s undead were destroyed instantly by Kim Seokjung’s skills. From his fighting skills to his character specs, Dwayne was inferior, so he had to collapse in an instant.

There was no need to say much about Mason. He was able to complete the magic casting before Kim Seokjung arrived in front of him, but he never got to use the completed magic. Kim Seokjung’s fist touched Mason’s body first, and that was the end of the battle.

“Hyung-nim, aren’t your standards too high? I don’t think there is any team that won’t be destroyed if you do this.” Hyeonu floated down to the earth and appeared behind Kim Seokjung.

‘You went too hard...’ Hyeonu remarked inwardly. Kim Seokjung’s standards were too tricky. Based on his skills, any team would have a similar result.

‘Of course, if we play on the same terms...’

No professional team could beat Kim Seokjung under the condition of having no absolute ace like Hyeonu. It showed that an ace’s presence was that big. One superstar could change the game. The best example of this was Alley Leader—Hyeonu himself.

Gang Junggu frowned and said, “Honestly, you can finish the siege by yourself. But you don’t want them to be pushed by another team without you, so you asked us to do this.”

Hyeonu’s words were contradictory. If they couldn’t handle one Kim Seokjung, they wouldn’t be able to handle the aces of other teams. The aces might not fight as well as Kim Seokjung, but they were still better than the five of them. Crescent Moon would lose if Hyeonu didn’t fight.

“What does that mean? The aces will be fighting me anyway,” Hyeonu replied. He thought differently. The aces of each team would be forced to take charge of Hyeonu anyway. Otherwise, it would eventually be a team battle. A showdown between the six Crescent Moon players and 12 members of the other team. If they knew about Hyeonu’s debuff, they would definitely want to avoid that composition.

“Then what is the point of splitting up like that? If winning is your goal, just beat them all up.” Gang Junggu looked unconvinced by the explanation. He couldn’t understand it. Why did Hyeonu want to leave the easy path?

“They helped me, so I would like to give them a better title. For each of them, I want to create an image of someone who is talented, not someone who has no presence in Crescent Moon,” Hyeonu answered simply. He wanted to help his teammates’ future. Of course, it wasn’t really for Dwayne, Mason, and Yuri, who originally had separate jobs unrelated to Arena. Sunny and Lee Hoon were the ones Hyeonu had to take care of.

‘This way, it won’t be noisy later...’

Right now, no one was aiming an arrow at the two people. Yet once time passed by, and the memory of this moment was eroded and distorted... Obviously, the public would say things hundreds of times.

‘There are already too many precedents.’

He was especially worried since they were from South Korea. Hyeonu knew better than anyone how professional gamers were attacked in the past. After all, he was also a Korean young man interested in games back then.

“If you say so... I won’t bother saying anything else. But not now. At this point, they will easily lose to that mischievous guy’s team,” Gang Junggu said. He was referring to Mascherano. Despite losing to Reina’s New York Warriors and missing out on the Winter League win, Mascherano’s Red Bull America had been one of the heroes of Arena Week in the past.

“It’s okay. Aren’t you helping us from now on? We’ll work hard so there will be a real reversal,” Hyeonu replied. 

As they listened to the conversation between the two men, the expressions of the Crescent Moon players weren’t good. They were doing the hard work, but their opinions were already excluded.

“Although I have nothing to say... I still think this is too much,” Lee Hoon said sullenly.

Yuri heard it and raised her eyes sharply. “Watch your mouth. Will you be responsible for the increased intensity of the training?”

Mason responded to Yuri’s comment like she was right as he also had complaints but he hadn’t expressed them outwardly. “That’s right. Be careful what you say. You should keep those things to yourself, just like me.” 

Just then, Dwayne comforted the other team members with a serious voice, “Don’t be too dissatisfied. Mister Gang and the other two—they are working hard for us.”

The atmosphere instantly became solemn. The others knew it as well that all of the preparations were for them.

“Now, I think we can start practicing right away. This training will be a three against five battle,” Hyeonu said while approaching them with a smile.

***

“Hah, hah.”

“Sigh...”

There were gasping sounds everywhere.

Hyeonu approached the Crescent Moon players who were collapsed on the ground. He said, “That’s it for today’s training. We will do PvP training next time. Don’t forget to hunt hard until the next training session. If you rest because you are tired, today’s training will be meaningless. Levels and items are the basics.”

Once he was done talking, he turned around and disappeared from the arena. Right then, Kim Seokjung and Gang Junggu approached the left behind Crescent Moon players with a smile.

“Oh, look at how cold he is to the kids.”

“Still, I think he really wants them to do well. He can’t take care of them like that otherwise.”

Lee Hoon lay down on the ground. “Didn’t the two of you come out too strong? I think it is stronger than what you said.”

Kim Seokjung gave a relaxed laugh. “Hyeonu is a ghost... I can’t cheat him if I do it in moderation.”

“That’s right,” Gang Junggu said before approaching Mason. He had something to say to Mason: “How is it going? It isn’t hard?”

Mason answered, “The preparations? Well... I’m just decorating the penthouse. I’m not doing it myself. How can it be hard?” 

It was his job to prepare the location for the Christmas party. To be exact, his butler was taking care of it.

“Really? By the way, I invited some guests without Hyeonu knowing...” Gang Junggu replied.

Life returned to Mason’s rotten fish eyes. There were surprise guests. Moreover, it was to surprise Hyeonu.

“This is a bit interesting,” Mason murmured.

***

After Hyeonu’s stream, the empty Shalun Mountain started to get a bit popular because the presence of the Rupiah Guild was gone.

‘Okay, this should be enough.’ Hyeonu observed the scenery of Shalun Mountain with a satisfied smile. The increased number of players might be helpful to Hyeonu. During the stream, he had simply done things according to his mood. There had been no calculations, and he had just let his heart go wherever it headed toward.

It was only when he finished everything and lay down on his bed that a thought flashed through Hyeonu’s head—increasing the number of players traveling around Shalun Mountain would help him find the location of Chen Long and the Cheonryong Group.

‘I’m holding a big part.’

Hyeonu had no problem even if other players were looking for Chen Long and the Cheonryong Group. The only quest that they could get was to determine the life or whereabouts of Chen Long and the Cheonryong Group at best. Hyeonu was the only one who could find them and connect them with the main scenario.

‘So I can do it in a relaxed manner.’

Shalun Mountain wasn’t a wide field. Just a few hundred players hunting was enough to cover all of Shalun Mountain. It was because the number of monsters was very limited, and the only places where there were no monsters were dangerous places to go to. For example, a crazy rock cliff.

‘After the thunderus is...’

Hyeonu had roughly examined the area where the furious tree spirits and thunderus appeared. There was no place for a large number of people to hide there. So, it was now necessary to look beyond there.

Hyeonu stood still and recalled the information about the monster that was after the thunderus. He took a few breaths and was able to remember everything. It was located at the center of Shalun Mountain and the place where most monsters appeared.

‘A land full of lava...’

He felt it was terrible just thinking about it. It was a place where the air seemed to burn, and lava frequently flowed from the ground. Sometimes, cracks would appear in the ground, and lava would rise above the surface. Ordinary items wouldn’t be able to withstand the lava, and they would be quickly logged out.

‘The monsters that appear... lava giants and flame predators.’

These were the two monsters that appeared on the land where lava gushed out—lava giants and flame predators. Lava giants were literally human-like giants made of lava. Due to their lava nature, they were immune to fire attacks and didn’t receive damage from a few water and ice attacks. It was a formula that applied only when the level of the opposing attributes was right. Pouring bottled water on lava could never cool it down. Strong rain and wind were needed to solidify the lava. Moreover, they needed to be intensely strong.

On the other hand, the flame predators were common creatures. They were beings made up of flesh and blood. As their name suggested, they grew up eating flames and were very resistant to heat.

‘The burning cow...’

The flame predators looked like giant cows. Their red skin and huge horns seemed to prove they were feeding on lava. It was written in the community that their shining yellow eyes were pretty scary just to look at.

‘Red skin, horns, and yellow eyes...’

“Isn’t that it?”

Hyeonu’s eyes shone when a cow with such an appearance emerged. By the way...

“There was no mention in the community about lava giants riding on flame predators...?”

Right above the cow was a huge chunk of lava—a lava giant. The lava giant sat on the flame predator with a majestic spirit like a general riding a horse.