Ranker’s Return

Hyeonu’s unexpected bomb rendered the entrance of New York Arena Stadium silent. Then he walked inside New York Arena Stadium. Following Hyeonu inside, Kale made fun of him by saying, “Well... you did a good job. This confident look is good on Mr. Gang.” 

Kale had been worried that the conversation Hyeonu had with the others on the way here had shaken his spirit. However, that was Kale’s groundless worry. Hyeonu hadn’t changed. That’s just what the atmosphere had been like for a while. He was still the same.

Hyeonu walked slowly while admitting, “I’m a bit nervous because I’m here, Kale.”

Naturally, anyone would be emotional when they felt Arena Week approach and their contact come to an end.

“I’ve loved playing games since I was a child. I’ve done a lot, and I’ve seen many things. Now I’ve somehow come to this place with good people,” Hyeonu said.

He walked down the long corridor of New York Arena Stadium and recalled the memories of the past year.

‘It was eventful.’

There were many hardships and many good memories. Nevertheless, he had gritted his teeth and moved forward. The result of all that was today—Arena Week.

‘My bad fate ends with this.’

Here at New York Arena Stadium, Hyeonu planned to clear up everything from last year. His name as a pro gamer and his ill-fated relationship with Jung Hanbaek—he would bury these two things in New York no matter what it took.

“The media might be noisy for the next few days. This will be several times more controversial than what I showed in South Korea,” Hyeonu stated. He was going to show that his performance in the Winter League was merely a prank. The audience coming to New York Arena Stadium and everyone watching Arena Week were going to see scenes that would cause them to fall into shock.

“To what... extent?” Kale wondered in a low voice. Kale was one of the few people who knew Hyeonu’s character specs. It was just that he had been preparing for Arena Week recently, so he hadn’t confirmed Hyeonu’s updated status. He already knew Hyeonu was already a monster.

Hyeonu had more overwhelming stats and skills than anyone else, and his pet, Tang-E, amplified his morale by several times. Yet Hyeonu hadn’t shown all of his power in the league. He always only revealed a certain level of organized force. This was why viewers of his stream were stunned when they saw his duel with the highest ranked players, including Kim Seokjung. It was on a totally different dimension from what he showed in the league.

During the league, he had not used the magic spirit or any item buffs. He only used one or two skills from time to time.

“I will use it all in the siege and raid. I will make the most of Tang-E and the magic spirit. I will have a shorter and bolder career than anyone else has had,” Hyeonu declared.

Hyeonu’s goal was to have the strongest short-term impact. He had decided to play for only one season, so going all out was the only way he could remain in people’s memories. Then he added, “This Arena Week is about Crescent Moon and Gang Hyeonu. There will be only these two names left.”

Hyeonu moved the feet that had stopped.

***

Instead of cubes, tables and chairs were placed on the stage of New York Arena. Each table had six chairs, and on each table were wooden cards printed with the names of the teams participating in Arena Week. The empty tables were filled one by one.

Crescent Moon had only six players, so everyone sat at the same table. The atmosphere was harmonious. It was the same as usual as if the conversation on the bus never happened.

“The second day is PvP, and the third day is the siege? Then the last day is the raid,” Lee Hoon said while looking at the sheet of paper on the table.

Quency had prepared the information on this sheet of paper for the players. It contained the schedule for Arena Week. There were some blank spots, which were for the match table and order. The printed schedule wasn’t much different from the explanation Kale gave to Hyeonu earlier.

“Only four of us will come out for PvP, right?” Lee Hoon asked.

Hyeonu nodded. Unless something happened, only these four people were going to participate in PvP—Hyeonu, Yuri, Lee Hoon, and Dwayne.

“If we’re told to have six people appear, I’ll just go out fourth,” Hyeonu added briefly. There was no problem even if there was a slight change in the rules.

‘As long as the gauntlet matches are maintained...’

The gauntlet match format was that the winner continued to play. It didn’t matter how the rules changed as long as this format was maintained.

“I think there is still some time until it starts. Why are you all sitting here? Is there anyone you’ve wanted to meet?” Hyeonu looked at the Crescent Moon players who were just sitting at the table and talking to themselves.

Apart from Yuri who wasn’t interested in professional gamers to begin with, the others—Mason, Lee Hoon, Sunny, and Dwayne—were all interested in this. They each had a favorite team and favorite players.

‘I thought Sunny noona would definitely walk around...’

Such an occasion was important for Sunny who would eventually return to being a streamer. It was because any friends she made here could become future guests, and good guests were directly related to the success of a streaming channel.

Despite this, even Sunny stayed in her seat. Sunny felt Hyeonu’s gaze and made an excuse that wasn’t an excuse. “I... It’s fine. Now is the time to change my streaming concept. The guests who are waiting to appear in my streams can already fill one truck. I don’t think I need to go around looking for guests.”

Her words were true. For professional players, the number of times they could stream was reduced. Even if they started a stream, they couldn’t invite guests. Thus, there were more and more cases where professional players streamed alone. In other words, the frequency of the guest appearances on Sunny’s streams was significantly reduced compared to before she became a pro gamer. So, there would naturally be a number of guests waiting to appear on the stream.

“Still, isn’t it better if these people appear? A good thing is still a good thing.” This wasn’t justification for giving up on being friendly with professional players. They were two separate issues.

“Yes, but... it doesn’t have to be now, right? I like it like this,” Sunny stated.

Hyeonu nodded at Sunny’s firm attitude and backed off. He didn’t like it, but he had no way to force her.

“Yes. I don’t think we need to go... Aren’t they coming to us?” Hyeonu said and lifted his ass from the chair. He could see someone walking over to the Crescent Moon table.

A handsome man who gave off a neat impression approached Hyeonu and greeted him, “It has been a while, Alley Leader.” 

“It has been a while, Ryan,” Hyeonu replied. The man’s name was Ryan. Hyeonu was very grateful that Ryan appeared in Masked Fighting King twice, so he greeted the latter happily.

“I heard that a member of your team has retired. Are you okay?” Hyeonu opened the conversation in a straightforward manner. From a certain point of view, he seemed to be digging at a painful wound. However, Ryan didn’t take Hyeonu’s actions as rude because he heard genuine worry in Hyeonu’s voice.

“It’s fine. The news suddenly spilled outside with the impression that my friend did something wrong, but that isn’t the case. He had already expressed his intentions in the summer, and since then, I’ve found a substitute player to practice together with the team. He is a friend I am very grateful to.” 

Ryan’s words were surprising. It turned out there was a story hidden behind this incident.

‘In this case, that means they aren’t a weak team?’ Hyeonu thought. Teika’s information was wrong. It wasn’t just him though. Everyone was mistaken, but Manchester didn’t correct them.

There was no need to do so.

This was a good thing for Manchester, not a loss.

‘It has become a counterattack.’

The information that Teika disclosed would’ve been identified by other teams first. They didn’t know the true story behind this incident, so they wouldn’t have considered Manchester as a team to watch out for.

“Is it okay for you to tell me this? I am the captain of another team, you know.”

“Well, everyone will know by tomorrow anyway. In addition, you aren’t someone who will go spread this around,” Ryan answered Hyeonu’s words with a smile. Besides, all the other teams were competitors. He knew that Hyeonu wasn’t one to share this information with competitors.

“Yes. Why would I talk about this?” Hyeonu smiled too. It was as Ryan said. Hyeonu had no intention of talking about this anywhere. Rather, he hoped that the teams didn’t know.

Then someone else naturally approached Crescent Moon’s table.

“A guest came first?” It was Mascherano, a man with a bright smile.

“Mascherano, welcome.” Hyeonu saw Mascherano and lowered his head slightly.

Mascherano also bowed slightly at Hyeonu and the other Crescent Moon players before greeting Ryan who was standing in front of Hyeonu. “Ryan. It has been a while, my friend.” 

“You look much better, Mascherano. As expected, people should take a break,” Ryan greeted Mascherano. Both of them were familiar with each other. Ryan and Mascherano had been famous before they became professional players, and their friendship had continued to the present.

“That’s right. I heard that friend quit? The first time I saw him, I thought he wasn’t suited to being a professional gamer and had the feeling this would happen. Why make people suffer unnecessarily?” Mascherano made a meaningful remark. It seemed like he knew something.

“Mascherano, do you know the professional gamer who retired?” Hyeonu asked.

“Of course. He is a friend who started Arena with me. I thought he wasn’t suitable for a professional gaming life, so I didn’t mention it when I founded Red Bull America... I don’t know how he was persuaded, but he started playing in Manchester.”

“I didn’t persuade him to do it. John helped me. He was my friend before he started Arena with you,” Ryan explained. John was a retired professional gamer who started Arena with Mascherano and was also an old friend of Ryan’s. Their fates were rather intertwined.

‘This is why they’re friendly.’ Hyeonu realized why they had a good relationship with each other. These rankers were also neighborhood friends.

“Based on that guy’s personality, he won’t just retire blindly... Did you find a good successor?” Mascherano asked in a quiet voice.

Ryan looked at Mascherano and laughed. “Check it out for yourself tomorrow. You’ll be surprised!”

“Don’t do that, and just tell me the name. This is too much between friends,” Mascherano whined.

“Then I’ll just tell you the name,” Ryan said. 

Unable to put up with the whining, Ryan whispered the name in Mascherano’s ear. Mascherano’s eyes widened when he heard it.