Ranker’s Return

Once all the players in Red Bull America completed their tasks, the announcer asked, “Mascherano, can you tell us what task is written on the paper?”  

The announcer was curious too. What exactly was written on Mascherano’s paper?

“My task?” Mascherano replied.

“Yes, what task is written on that paper?”

“It was written that I should find someone who will be the MVP of Arena Week and give them a 10-second hug.”

The moment Mascherano’s words were over, laughter erupted all over the New York Arena Stadium. They understood Mascherano’s actions now. He had named himself the MVP of Arena Week, so he hugged himself.

“Ah! I see. Player Mascherano’s big dream... I will support you. I just don’t know if it can be realized. Nevertheless, isn’t it within your freedom to have a big dream?” The announcer laughed at Mascherano and sent Red Bull America back to his seat.

Then the announcer continued, “The second team is the team that successfully entered Arena Week after defeating Red Bull America. It is also a team that takes New York as its home. Please applaud to welcome the New York Warriors!”

The second team to appear on the stage was the New York Warriors. They also had a dozen players, so 12 balls were drawn out of the box this time too. Without waiting for the instructions from the announcer, the players each took the piece of paper out of their ball and showed what was written on their papers to the camera.

“Oh, the results of the New York Warriors are worse than expected. There are many strange punishments,” the announcer remarked.

The New York Warriors were no better off than Red Bull America. The tasks were just as ridiculous—for example, do 40 push-ups without a break or running to the audience to play rock, paper, scissors. There was no one who got something decent.

Reina wasn’t the lucky person either. She left the center of the stage to perform the task written on the paper and stopped in front of the Crescent Moon table. To be exact, she stood in front of Hyeonu.

“Huh?” Hyeonu was quietly looking at the table when he saw the shadow in front of him and raised his head only to find himself looking at Reina.

“What do you have to say...?” Hyeonu asked Reina confusedly with a blank expression. Reina approached Hyeonu’s side and pulled his face toward her cheek. He didn’t know when it happened, but Reina had already pulled out her smartphone and turned on the camera.

“Smile, cheese,” Reina said.

Hyeonu smiled accordingly. A soft camera shutter sound rang out, and a photo of Hyeonu and Reina was left on the LCD screen of the smartphone. After that, Reina turned around and returned to the stage.

“Hey, what was that?” Hyeonu asked the other team members because he couldn’t understand the situation. He wanted an explanation for what just happened.

“Hey, it isn’t an ordinary relationship.”

“I didn’t know he was so good at lying.”

“What is your relationship really?”

These words were from the three Crescent Moon players who were younger than Hyeonu—Mason, Lee Hoon, and Yuri respectively. They were more curious about the relationship between Hyeonu and Reina than the current situation.

Hyeonu looked frustrated as he asked his teammates again, “What was written on the paper?” 

Lee Hoon saw Hyeonu’s unusual expression and answered with a trembling expression, “Take a photo with whom you think is the most handsome among the players here. That’s what was written.”

“So, what? Reina might think that I am handsome. Am I ugly?” Hyeonu suddenly felt angry. In his life, he never thought he was handsome, but he never thought he was ugly either. Therefore, Lee Hoon’s words hurt Hyeonu’s self-esteem.

“No, Hyung, that isn’t it...” Lee Hoon noticed that Hyeonu’s eyes had become cold in an instant. Hyeonu was rarely so serious, and that made Lee Hoon even more alarmed.

“Hoon means that there are many handsome players gathered here. Why did she have to come to Oppa specifically? Oppa and Reina have a history...” Yuri explained on behalf of the perplexed Lee Hoon.

“Her gaze is a bit unique,” Hyeonu answered casually, but he also had questions inside his heart.

‘Why did she pick me? Does she like me?’

It was strange no matter how he thought about it. There were many really handsome men here. Despite being attacked every time, Mascherano was also a handsome man.

‘Ah, there is a bit of that.’

Mascherano’s relaxed personality was likely to be a negative factor.

‘Ryan is handsome as well... Aike too.’

Coincidentally, the aces of each team were all handsome men. Yet among those handsome men, the one Reina chose had been Hyeonu.

‘I don’t know. Why am I worrying alone?’

Reina’s heart was only known by Reina. It was futile for Hyeonu to worry about such things right before an important event. There was a man who helped Hyeonu with such a mindset—the announcer. He called out Crescent Moon’s name. “The third team to go on the stage is Crescent Moon! It is a team that ended various scandals and dominated South Korea!”

The Crescent Moon players rose at the announcer’s call.

“Please don’t let it be a strange thing,” Hyeonu muttered as he looked at the players. He was speaking to himself as well.

‘Something ordinary... It doesn’t have to be good.’

Hyeonu wasn’t expecting too much; he just wanted to avoid the worst. Perhaps this attitude helped Hyeonu because he didn’t draw a ball with bad content.

“Player Gang Hyeonu, you have selected the task of turning full circle 15 times while making an elephant trunk and then hugging the person you are facing when you look up. If you are facing the stands, you’ll need to go to the stands,” the announcer kindly read out the words on the paper that Hyeonu held out to the camera. [1] 

‘Still, I’m glad.’ Hyeonu was relieved. He hadn’t drawn anything good, but at least it wasn’t strange.

‘If I drew something like this...’ Hyeonu was referring to Lee Hoon.

There was only a short word written on the piece of paper in the ball Lee Hoon drew—‘Make-up’.

As a result, Lee Hoon had ridiculous things drawn on his face. Hyeonu raised his hand to make an elephant trunk like the gymnasts who raised their hands before a round began. Then he started spinning.

“One!”

“Two!”

“Three!”

The moment Hyeonu began making the elephant spins, everyone in New York Arena Stadium watched him and started to count. Hyeonu turned quickly, intending to finish this task as soon as possible. He turned all 15 circles in an instant.

‘I’m dizzy.’

“Sigh...” Hyeonu grabbed his dizzy head and breathed for a moment. It was because he would fall immediately if he raised his head in this state. He hesitated for a moment before looking up. Hyeonu’s position had already changed a lot from where he started the elephant spin. He had begun in the middle of the stage, and now he was unknowingly near the player tables.

“Uh...? If he raises his head like this...?” Those who saw Hyeonu’s actions had the same thought.

‘What’s wrong?’ Hyeonu looked up despite the people’s reactions.

“Huh?” he uttered. A blonde beauty, Reina, was sitting down in front of Hyeonu. Hyeonu couldn’t grasp the exact situation, so he turned his head and looked around. He didn’t seem to know why he was standing here. “I moved here...?”

The moment Hyeonu stopped, there were even more eyes focused on him. If the task had been completed naturally, he might’ve received less attention. Regardless of what speculation appeared, it might’ve been buried. However, his hesitation naturally led to more doubts. What was really between the two people?

Reina didn’t know this and asked Hyeonu, “What are you doing? Aren’t you going to do the task?”

Hyeonu regained his mind and walked to Reina. As he approached her, he slowly opened his arms. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think I would move here.”

Reina replied, “Why are you sorry? When did I say that I dislike it? I hoped you would come...”

She slowly moved closer to Hyeonu and pulled him over. “It’s just a hug. Understood?”

Hyeonu nodded at Reina’s words before immediately returning to his table. After the task, Hyeonu wasn’t sure how time passed by as he’d lost his mind after the lucky-person selection. He finally came to his senses only when the announcer’s words about how the class change event was beginning rang out through New York Arena Stadium.

“Hey, did you not sleep last night? Why are you in such a daze?” Lee Hoon cast worried glances at Hyeonu who was only staring at the table. He even worried if there was something wrong with Hyeonu’s health.

“No, I’m okay. So whose turn is it now?” Hyeonu replied.

“Whose turn? Hyung, you’re in the first game. Are you really sick?” Lee Hoon sighed at Hyeonu’s absurd question. There was definitely a problem.

“Really? When was it drawn?”

“What draw? It was a nomination method. Mason picked Hyung to fight... Are you really okay?”

The class change event didn’t include all 90 players. To be exact, 64 people were allowed to participate, and up to four people from each team could abstain. In the case of Crescent Moon, they didn’t have many players, so only two people could abstain as opposed to the allowance of four for other teams.

Crescent Moon’s two slots were used by Sunny and Dwayne because they couldn’t fight if they changed their class. The match assignment method was for the team to nominate one opponent every time they expressed the intention to abstain. However, Mason had picked Hyeonu. He wanted Hyeonu to fight after changing his class. Naturally, people cheered at this. It was a conflict within the same team and also the first time Alley Leader was fighting as a magician or priest class.

Just then, the announcer called out, “Player Gang Hyeonu, please come up.”

The interview with Mason was over, so all that remained was the interview with Hyeonu. Hyeonu walked to where the announcer was waiting.

“Player Mason, the representative magician of Crescent Moon, has picked you, Player Gang Hyeonu. What are your current feelings?”

Hyeonu took the microphone from the announcer.

“I’ll show you how easy it is to enjoy Arena,” Hyeonu boldly threw out these words and disappeared into the cube.

1. This is the elephant spin when one hand is on your nose while the other hand is crossed over the other arm.