Ranker’s Return

Hyeonu’s arm stopped in front of Chen Long’s mouth. The chill was so powerful that his arm could barely move.

‘It is really cold.’

The cold air flowing from Chen Long’s body felt colder than a field filled with ice. Even so, Hyeonu moved his stiff arms and succeeded in pushing his arm forward to put the red bead in Chen Long’s mouth. The moment the red bead entered Chen Long’s mouth, it melted away like water and disappeared. At the same time, the ice covering Chen Long’s body melted a bit. The water droplets that dripped from the body looked as firm as an iceberg.

‘Now’s the time.’

When Hyeonu realized that the chill felt from Chen Long was decreasing, he walked a few more steps to arrive near Chen Long. Then he stretched out both hands and placed them on Chen Long’s frozen back.

‘Should I melt this first?’

Hyeonu injected magic power into both of his hands. His magic power that was a mixture of his two attributes, darkness and fire, burned violently. Hyeonu’s burning hands touched Chen Long’s body, and it sounded like water was sprayed on heated iron.

‘I’m going to need a lot of magic power?’

The ice was thick like many layers of armor. It was melting due to Hyeonu’s magic power, but the melting speed was slow. At this rate, Hyeonu thought he would only be able to touch Chen Long’s body after exhausting all of his magic power.

‘Then the medicine will run out...’

Hyeonu still remembered the fantasy and martial arts novels he had read during his military service. If medicine like an essence wasn’t processed as soon as it was eaten, it would lose a lot of its effect.

‘I will have to focus on my magic power.’

Hyeonu made a series of judgments and poured out more magic power. The black flames gained a stronger momentum, and the melting speed of the ice accelerated. The dripping water was now like a faucet that had been turned on. Hyeonu’s hands penetrated into the ice to the point where his elbow couldn’t be seen at all.

‘I touched him.’

Hyeonu’s hand finally touched Chen Long’s body.

Right then, a message appeared in front of Hyeonu’s eyes.

[Starting the mini-game for magic power control. Move the magic power along the lines that appear in front of you. If your magic power deviates from the path, something unexpected can happen.]

Then a hologram appeared in front of Chen Long.

‘What is going on?’

The hologram was white drawing paper. On top of it, red lines glowed as they repeatedly thickened and thinned, indicating a direction. He had to move his magic power toward the thickening red lights.

‘It isn’t that hard?’

At first glance, it seemed complicated, but the lines were shining repeatedly. Thus, he didn’t have to worry about losing his way. Hyeonu wriggled his fingers and moved toward the starting point of the hologram.

[Magic Power Control: 1%]

He injected magic power at the right point, and a message appeared informing him of the progress of the quest. It also meant that Hyeonu’s start was smooth.

‘The start is okay. I should finish it quickly.’

Hyeonu drove his magic power through in an instant in order to wake Chen Long up quickly. If only it wasn’t for the sudden pressure he felt...

‘What?!!!’

Hyeonu’s eyes widened, and he cursed inwardly. The pressure felt like someone had grasped Hyeonu’s magic power with their hands. Right when Hyeonu was feeling upset about the sudden change, he was given an explanation about the pressure.

[The magic power control has reached 20%, and the second section has been entered. The operation of magic power is somewhat slower.]

‘So it’s like this... An SS rating can’t be so easy after all.’

Hyeonu smiled bitterly. Thinking about it, he felt it had been too easy so far. The level of the first section couldn’t be an SS-rated quest.

‘It is time to fight.’

Hyeonu changed his mind about completing the quest quickly. He knew the difficulty would continue to rise, so he couldn’t proceed quickly. Instead, he had to slowly adapt to the change that occurred with every quarter section. Otherwise, clearing the quest would be impossible.

‘Slowly again...’

Hyeonu moved his magic power at a speed that was slowed down due to the increased pressure. If the previous speed was like a swift current, it now moved as leisurely as a stream. Hyeonu wasn’t in a hurry, and he wasn’t impatient. He was confident that he could complete the quest. There was no need to fret.

***

‘I did well to ask him.’

Bakar had an expectant expression as he saw Hyeonu putting his hands on Chen Long’s body.

‘It is great how he can approach Master casually.’

It wasn’t like Bakar had been waiting for someone. He had tried to cure Chen Long again and again since obtaining the heart of the lava giant. Yet his attempts had all ended in failure. Bakar hadn’t even been able to try properly as the cold air flowing from Chen Long’s body had become several times stronger than before from the very moment he moved Chen Long to the crater.

‘I can’t believe he broke through it so easily...’

Thinking about it again, Bakar felt it was really amazing. Hyeonu had approached Chen Long casually like nothing was wrong. However, this was actually Bakar’s misunderstanding. It was mostly thanks to Tang-E that Hyeonu was fine. Hyeonu’s fire attribute was helpful, but Tang-E’s buffs were the reason why his health didn’t decrease.

Forest’s Blessing continued to restore health, and it restored more than the lost health. Still, this was something that Hyeonu, Tang-E, and Bakar didn’t know. Hyeonu and Tang-E didn’t care about it in the first place, and Bakar obviously couldn’t know about it.

“Ah!” Bakar suddenly exclaimed as dark red flames covered Hyeonu and Chen Long.

‘Is it over?’ 

Bakar considered the sight in front of him as the last gateway. Otherwise, Hyeonu wouldn’t show such a thing when he had been steadily controlling the magic power so far. Bakar’s judgment was completely wrong though. Chen Long’s treatment wasn’t over. Rather, it had barely reached halfway.

[Magic Power Control: 50%]

‘What is going on?’ Hyeonu felt his magic power shaking like crazy once it reached 50%. It wasn’t at a level he had adapted to, but the change was expected. He wasn’t too flustered.

‘It is really dangerous now...’

There was just one problem. The amount of magic power he had consumed was unbearable. The strong support and movement of the shaking magic power consumed a considerable amount of magic power. Hyeonu was still able to hold on right now as he had a lot of magic power remaining, but there was 50% of magic power control left to go. He wasn’t confident that he could hold on until then.

‘It can’t go on like this...’

He needed a way to reverse the situation. Continuing like this was a gamble. Hyeonu didn’t know what would happen in the next phase. Just then, an amazing idea passed through Hyeonu’s mind.

‘Should I take it out?’

The reason for the current problem was that Chen Long had no control over the magic power currently inside his body. If Hyeonu got rid of it… would Chen Long be able to regain his original form?

‘I know how to eat it...’

Magic Power Absorption—the ecstatic sensation Hyeonu had felt when he used it was still imprinted in his body. If it were applied here, he would be able to embrace that magic power in Chen Long’s body like it was his own. Hyeonu’s worries were short, and the time it took him to act was even shorter. He immediately changed his magic power management. Simultaneously, a message window appeared in front of Hyeonu.

[Magic Power Control: 47%.]

The number that had been rising decreased as quickly as jumping off a cliff. The more he did so, the stronger the chill that came from Chen Long’s body.

‘Good. It’s going down quickly.’

Hyeonu wasn’t discouraged. Rather, he liked it. Once that number reached 0… it would be his time. This was a golden opportunity to eat two essences.

[Magic Power Control: 0%]

Finally, the magic power control figure reached zero. At present, Hyeonu and Chen Long’s surroundings were spectacular. The dark red flames wrapped around Hyeonu’s body melted the walls of the cave while the cold air from Chen Long’s body froze the walls again.

‘Think of slowly plugging in a straw...’

Hyeonu imagined plugging in a virtual straw into the first part of the magic power control. Then little by little, the magic power started to flow into Hyeonu’s body. The magic power gave him a very cold feeling. Hyeonu ignored it and continued to absorb the magic power. Once he felt that he had adapted to a certain extent, he changed what he imagined. The straw grew larger and turned into a small pipe.

‘Is it too fast?’

Hyeonu thought it was too much, but he couldn’t afford such miscellaneous thoughts as he was too busy controlling the magic power that was being sucked into his body. Nevertheless, he soon adapted to it. After all, Hyeonu was a predator. He ruthlessly devoured the magic power moving through Chen Long’s body, sucking it in like a black hole.

Hyeonu soon finished the magic power absorption and opened his eyes. A black-red light burst out, illuminating the cave.

[The Frozen Heart and Lava Breath have been absorbed. However, they weren’t consumed directly, so the absorption rate has been reduced.]

[The strength stat has increased by 174 points.]

[The agility stat has increased by 192 points.]

[The physique stat has increased by 127 points.]

[The magic power stat has increased by 211 points.]

[The fighting energy stat has increased by 108 points.]

[The dignity stat has increased by 163 points.]

[The killing intent stat has increased by 119 points.]

Hyeonu smiled with satisfaction when he saw the message windows that appeared in front of him. He got something more satisfying than any reward—the rise of his stats. That wasn’t all. The numbers all rose by more than 100. This was a similar effect to what he’d get from wearing one more epic item.

The moment Hyeonu opened his eyes, Bakar approached him and asked, “What is going on?”

“Chen Long couldn’t control the magic power because he was unconscious. Therefore, I scattered the surplus magic power that was ruining Chen Long’s body. It is a pity, but... Chen Long’s life is the priority,” Hyeonu lied to Bakar.

In any case, Bakar had no way to determine if Hyeonu’s words were false or not, so this was something only Hyeonu would know.

‘It is a pity it wasn’t absorbed properly, but it is still good like this.’ Hyeonu pressed down the smile that wanted to soar into the sky.

He couldn’t make it so obvious here. Just then, a thick voice filled the cave: “Hyeonu is right. I can no longer feel the power of the essence in my body. I am feeling better.”

The owner of the voice was someone Hyeonu and Bakar knew well. It was Chen Long. He had come to his senses.

[Recovery of Chen Long’s consciousness 1/1]