Ranker’s Return

“All that’s left are two death knights and one paladin.”

“There are still the priest and magician remaining, Xiao Bao.”

“In any case, it is over when the paladin dies.”

Liu Shei and Xiao Bao commented as they watched the battle in front of them. The battle flowed as everyone expected. Rain had the overwhelming advantage. Every time all types of animals popped out of his sword, the death knights and other melee classes in Crescent Moon had to sigh.

-It will be over soon.

-It is slightly unfortunate. Aren’t they losing too helplessly?

-Still, the opponent is Rain.

-If they go to Arena Week, the opponents won’t be very easy.

-Even so, the alternative is Rain.

The comments of the viewers were divided into two sides. There were those who thought this was enough and others who thought it was too bad. The two groups were in a tense dispute.

“They are holding on well. Haven’t they improved?”

“I know. It is rewarding to have trained them.”

Kim Seokjung and Gang Junggu clearly thought that Crescent Moon had grown remarkably compared to the first time they trained with Teika. Now they were fighting with stat restrictions, but they were fighting much better than they did back then.

“Nevertheless, I think it will be over soon.”

“I think it will be a big blow...”

Kim Seokjung’s and Gang Junggu’s extensive experience rang alarm bells in their heads. They noticed that Rain would soon be using powerful skills. 

Unsurprisingly, Rain waved his sword. The ground tore, and a blue shark appeared. The shark’s mouth engulfed the death knight and swallowed it, making it disappear without leaving a trace. As the last one remaining, Lee Hoon lifted his sword and shield and raised his hands toward the sky. “I surrender.”

Hyeonu saw it and ran out quickly, hitting Lee Hoon in the back of the head. “What surrender is there in practice? Do you think this is a joke?”

Lee Hoon quickly rubbed the back of his slightly pained head and showed his temper to Hyeonu. “Weren’t we going to lose anyway? I would rather use that time to fight again. In any case, I think we will have to keep fighting today.”

Lee Hoon’s heated words were valid. This was the time to practice. The practice might be actual combat, but it was still essentially practice. So they had to use the given time as efficiently as possible.

“Really? You’re right. Then let’s start it again quickly. This time... You will fight against Liu Shei and Xiao Bao.” Hyeonu thought Lee Hoon’s words made sense, so he arranged the next fight right away. There seemed to be no need for a break. Why?

“You didn’t do it to the end, so you don’t need a break, right?” Hyeonu smiled and returned to his original position. Even if Hyeonu didn’t see it happen, it was obvious to him that Lee Hoon’s expression would crumple due to Hyeonu’s actions.

***

The spar with the two members of Kowloon, Xiao Bao, and Liu Shei, was even more one-sided than the spar with Rain. The addition of one person had a very large impact; dealing with two people was greatly different from dealing with just one person.

“Isn’t it too easy?”

Teika and Rain were pretty friendly, so they struck up a conversation easily. The topic was naturally the battle taking place in front of them.

“The players of Crescent Moon are better than I thought. I just don’t think this will be enough,” Rain expressed his honest appreciation based on his previous experience. In fact, Rain thought that Crescent Moon was pretty good. There was no difference between the professional gamers he knew and the players of Crescent Moon.

Teika remarked, “Isn’t it a pity about their level? They are small in number, so their average level should be higher.”

“This is the way it is. It can’t be helped. It isn’t a problem that can be solved in a short amount of time. If their average specs were a bit higher... It would be a great combination,” Rain said. He was amazed at how these people were gathered. If he could also find such a combination, he wanted to build it for his guild, Behemoth.

At this moment, Teika whispered in Rain’s ears, “You should secretly ask for a favor. Surprisingly, Alley Leader doesn’t dislike having spars. He seems to have had a lot of experience with it.”

This was the biggest reason Rain joined Hyeonu’s streaming today. Teika had told Rain about his previous spar with Hyeonu. It was only after hearing about it that Rain was happy to agree to Mascherano’s request and appear on Hyeonu’s stream.

“Is that so? I’ll ask once the stream is done.” Rain nodded as a small answer.

‘He said he learned a lot,’ Rain commented inwardly. Teika mentioned that he learned a lot from fighting Alley Leader. To be exact, he said he gained the driving force to run again. The passion that had cooled off came back to life...

“The battle is almost over,” Teika said.

Just then, a strong pure energy poured out heavily from Xiao Bao’s broadsword. Lee Hoon struggled to raise his shield with his messy posture. Yet even if he took the proper posture, he wouldn’t be able to defend against this attack. His body was buried deep into the ground. He seemed to have dug over 10 centimeters in. Lee Hoon was so properly buried that he couldn’t fall out even if he used strength to try. He struggled, but he couldn’t move his body.

Liu Shei and Xiao Bao stared at Hyeonu. They seemed to think it was over.

“That is enough for this fight. It would be nice to see it develop even more. We will take a 30-minute break before continuing with the next exercise.” Hyeonu rose from his seat and stopped the spar before announcing there would be a brief break. Fighting against opponents stronger than yourself was significantly tiring.

-What will you do in these 30 minutes?

-Yes.

-It seems fun just to chat to the guests.

-That’s for sure. Where else will you see this combination?

-There are four grandmasters here...

The viewers loved the break time where nothing happened. It was good enough just to talk to the guests during this time. Teika suddenly stood up and said, “It is boring if we stay still. Shouldn’t we do something?” 

“Is there something you want to do, Teika?” Hyeonu turned to look at Teika.

“Why don’t we fight too?”

“We?” The expression on Hyeonu’s face showed he was wondering what Teika was talking about.

‘What is he trying to say?’ Hyeonu didn’t understand it. What did Teika mean by ‘we’?

“The six guests who appeared today against Alley Leader... We will play the role of Crescent Moon and Alley Leader will play our role. How about it?” Teika proposed.

Hyeonu’s eyes shook upon hearing that. It was a completely unexpected suggestion.

‘I wanted to do nothing today...’

The biggest reason for inviting guests to face the Crescent Moon players was to make today’s stream easier. If a surprise event like this were held... Hyeonu’s plan would be for nothing.

“Um... Is this possible? The six of you together doesn’t make for a very good combination. There are no magicians and no priests.” Hyeonu tried to stop it as much as possible. It would be better not to fight if he didn’t have to. There would be no need to move his body if that were the case.

However, this wasn’t possible. Many people wanted to see Hyeonu fight.

-A fight between Alley Leader and real rankers...

-Where else can we see something so big?

-I think it can challenge the number one record for viewer count in A-World.

-It will be a jackpot video.

The viewers were already looking forward to it. There were three grandmasters—Rain, Teika, and Kim Seokjung—and three masters—Liu Shei, Xiao Bao and Gang Junggu. It was a luxurious lineup that couldn’t be seen anywhere else. If a professional team were formed with these members… they would sweep through the league in an instant. It didn’t matter if it was a local league or Arena Week.

“Yes, we should try it. Let’s do it once.”

“It is a shame that it isn’t a one-on-one, but there is time for one fight.”

Kim Seokjung and Gang Junggu went along with the viewers. The moment the two men added these additional words, it seemed impossible for Hyeonu to pull out of the fight now.

‘It can’t be helped...’ Hyeonu thought.

“Do the rest of you agree?” Hyeonu glanced at Rain, Liu Shei, and Xiao Bao in a last attempt to prevent this from happening. Nevertheless, Xiao Bao nodded with an interested expression while Liu Shei stared at Hyeonu without saying a word.

Meanwhile, Rain nodded gently. “I am fine.”

After all, fighting Hyeonu was what he wanted.

“I don’t think Liu Shei wants to do it...” Hyeonu grasped onto the silent Liu Shei, but this lasted less than three seconds.

Liu Shei received Kim Seokjung’s powerful gaze and quickly opened his mouth to say, “No, I’m fine, Alley Leader. If there is no priest, why don’t we bring the priest from Crescent Moon? If not, there are two monks here, so I don’t think we need one.”

Hyeonu’s expression momentarily became distorted due to Liu Shei’s betrayal. However, Hyeonu soon regained his smile and nodded as if nothing had happened. “It seems everyone wants to do it. It isn’t a difficult thing. I will relax properly after a long time.”

He pulled the Mysterious Sky Sword out of his inventory and walked to the center of the arena. “Everyone, come when you are prepared. I’m ready at any time.”

Once Hyeonu finished speaking, he summoned Tang-E.

“Nice to see you, Master! Huh?” Tang-E was rushing to Hyeonu when he momentarily paused due to the surrounding atmosphere. A few humans were pointing weapons toward Master dude.

“It is just a spar, a spar. You don’t have to look at me like that.” Hyeonu noticed Tang-E’s heart and patted Tang-E’s head to calm him.

“Is that so, Master dude? Then do I have to help?” Tang-E asked, looking reassured.

“It’s fine. You can just watch. Do you think I will lose?”

“I will help you, Master dude.”

“Then use your magic from behind me and run away. I’ll summon the magic spirit.”

“Is that so? Good. Then I’ll help you from behind, Master dude.” Tang-E smiled brightly at Hyeonu’s words about summoning the magic spirit. Seeing that, a smile automatically appeared on Hyeonu’s face. Then Tang-E stepped back and naturally gave Hyeonu his buffs. Three-colored lights entered Hyeonu’s body.

‘Now I have to summon the magic spirit.’ Hyeonu used his magic power to summon the magic spirit. A black-red bear that looked exactly like Tang-E appeared. Hyeonu finished receiving all the buffs and raised his head to look in the direction of the six players.

“Now, let’s start. You should use everything you are hiding. Otherwise, it might be difficult. This fight might end too quickly.” 

Hyeonu’s declaration of war was insanely arrogant.