Ranker’s Return

“Hyung, it really won’t work out as you said today,” Mason warned while waving his sword through the air. He knew better than anyone just how hard PvP was for magicians. There was a limit to how much could be done with the set level and specifications.

In a battle between a magician and a melee player of the same level, it was inevitable that the magician would be defeated. Melee players with similar specs to Mason were highly capable of dealing with magic and items. However, magicians couldn’t fight properly. No matter how quickly they finished casting magic, if the magician couldn’t finish the battle in two or three blows, the other party would soon be in front of them. Once that happened, the magician would undoubtedly lose since it was a fact that a melee class would beat a magician class at close range.

“Am I like you? Just because you can’t do it doesn’t mean it is impossible for me. And... I doubt your strength is the same as that of the other melee players,” Hyeonu said, calmly giving Mason a dose of reality.

There were two things that Mason had overlooked. Firstly, Mason’s skills weren’t the same as Hyeonu’s. Secondly, it was doubtful if Mason could handle a melee class as well as the other melee players Hyeonu had competed against in the past.

Magic attacks were trickier to cope with than some people thought, and experience was necessary to deal with them effectively. How did flames splash when they were knocked back, and how could ice be broken? When was the best time to release debuffs? Everything depended on experience; it simply wasn’t possible with senses alone. Having a lot of experience was the best recipe for dealing with magicians.

“You don’t know how tricky magicians are. You might create a terrible dark history before you retire,” Hyeonu sneered at Mason.

“Players Mason and Gang Hyeonu, please check your character settings. The match will soon start. Please give a confirmation as soon as possible,” the announcer’s voice rang out while the two men’s psychological war was in full swing.

Hyeonu and Mason’s psychological war ended there as both men became busy with setting up their characters.

‘Status window,’ Hyeonu thought.

[Status Window]

[Character Name: Gang Hyeonu

Level: 300 

Class: Event Magician

Title: None.

Stats: Strength: 150  Agility: 250  Physique: 450  Magic Power: 1,800

Remaining stat points: 0

Retained Attributes: None.]

Hyeonu checked the status window and smiled with satisfaction. Perhaps it was because this was an event, but the stat points were more generous than the usual PvP. The unfortunate thing was that there were no attributes. Still, it was okay. It wouldn’t matter since Mason was his opponent.

‘This time, it is the skill window...’

There was nothing to confirm in the stats window. He hadn’t wanted to change the stats distribution in the first place.

‘This is enough.’

A magician was a class with an already extreme stats distribution. It would be a real problem if it became even more extreme. He would be like a turret standing still—remain motionless and use magic or die bitterly.

[Skill Window]

[Magic Power Mastery]

[Magic Power Activation]

[Magic Power Concentration]

[Extended Magic Power]

The skill window was empty except for four very basic continuous skills. The reason for this was simple—the attributes had yet to be picked. Magicians usually had one or two attributes. It was rather unusual for a magician to use three attributes like Tang-E did. Usually, magic of the same attribute that the magician possessed was the main attack power, while the secondary attribute was used as CC. Of course, it was advantageous to have many attributes because they could be used as trump cards.

However, the issue of proficiency couldn’t be ignored. It was important to be able to make efficient choices and have high levels of concentration.

[Please select an attribute.]

Hyeonu pressed on the message that rose. Among the attributes that came up, he picked fire and ice.

[You have selected the fire attribute.]

[You have selected the ice attribute.]

Two short messages rose, and a change occurred in Hyeonu’s skill window. The fire and ice attribute skills appeared.

‘That’s it.’

The skills that popped up weren’t unusual; they were all common skills that everyone knew about. Hyeonu raised a hand and formed a circle to indicate that the character set-up had ended.

“Player Gang Hyeonu has finished the preparations, and the long-awaited event is starting. The 1st match of the class change event has started.”

Mason had been ready right from the beginning. In fact, the stats distribution was important for melee classes, but skills weren’t as important as they were already given at the start. It was only slightly different depending on the class and wasn’t much of a factor.

“The biggest issue of this match is whether player Gang Hyeonu can beat player Mason as he said in the interview.”

“That’s right. He might be confident, but it is important to show his skills. If the emperor of melee classes can handle magic well... I think many magician players in Arena might fall into despair.”

The commentators were watching the event with great interest. As they said, this match was very interesting. Would it remain as Alley Leader’s bravado or would he become a player who fit the word ‘omnipotent’? It would be decided at this moment.

Just then, the announcer received a signal from the field staff and announced the start of the match. “The match is starting now. A match that draws the attention of the world. Players Gang Hyeonu and Mason will start the first match of the event!”

Several hundred million pairs of eyes were focused on the match between Mason and Hyeonu in the class change event.

***

‘Let’s start small.’

There was a reason why Hyeonu was confident. He had met a magician player in another virtual reality game in the past. That magician had been rather unique. He enjoyed hunting people instead of monsters. In other words, he had been a player who specialized in PK. Hyeonu had gotten a chance to fight against the magician. He knew how to deal with magicians, but it was still quite hard for him. The opponent was a skilled hunter and never made any excessive actions. He moved step by step according to his design. Throughout the battle, that magician player used his magic in a planned order from start to finish and only used great magic at decisive moments.

In any case, it was clear to Hyeonu that magic’s forte was its formidable destructive power. Everything would be resolved as long as there was a single chance for him to land an attack.

At this moment, Hyeonu used his magic power without any scruples. In an instant, five fireballs the size of ping pong balls appeared in the air. This wasn’t the end. The fireballs immediately flew in a line, heading straight for Mason. In Mason’s eyes, it looked like only one fireball was flying. Yet, at the moment, the fireballs scattered in front of Mason’s eyes like they had split apart. Naturally, Mason swung his sword in a startled state upon seeing this.

‘Why is it so fast?’

Mason wasn’t surprised that the fireballs had increased to five. The thing that shocked him was that Hyeonu’s magic casting was too fast.

“Crazy.” Mason sighed and kicked off from the ground after successfully hitting all the fireballs. Now that he knew how fast Hyeonu’s magic casting was, he had to move quickly. This was the only way he could deal Hyeonu a blow.

‘By the way, why do I feel so bitter?’ Mason felt uneasy for some reason. He seemed to be starting a race with no end in sight.

***

“A ridiculous sight is unfolding.”

“Closing and opening your eyes won’t change the situation.”

“Mason picked the wrong opponent. He should’ve known that Alley Leader isn’t Alley Leader for no reason.”

The commentators marveled at Hyeonu’s overwhelming combat ability. They seemed to be seeing the combat ability that a magician could show.

“The floor of the arena is frozen. Ah! Traps have been created wherever Mason’s feet need to touch. Sharp thorns will pierce his feet no matter where he steps.”

Hyeonu waved his staff, and 20-centimeter-long thorns rose from the frozen floor. Mason saw that and stopped moving. From his position, he naturally judged that it would be the right move to break the traps before moving forward.

“Ah, this is an obvious mistake. It is Mason’s error in judgment. This shows that he has a poor understanding of melee combat.”

“He shouldn’t stop here. He should use his magic power to break the traps. In such a situation, no one knows how this brief period of free time the melee player gives the magician will be used against them. Moreover, Mason’s opponent is Alley Leader...”

The commentators sighed. They were regretful about Mason’s misjudgment. Melee pro gamers would never stop in this situation. It was a normal choice to focus magic power on their feet to break the ice thorns or use magic power to jump over the thorns. This was the correct judgment in the professional league PvP. In the general arena, such traps could be easily ignored and skills could be used to charge, but not everything was possible in the fair professional league.

“Be careful, this will hurt a bit,” Hyeonu gave a light warning and struck the ground with the staff. A giant red bird appeared behind Hyeonu. At first glance, the bird appeared to have a wingspan of around five meters.

“Firebird, one of the most powerful fire magics has appeared.”

“It is a crazy use of magic power. The casting for Firebird was finished in such a short time.”

“Doping testing is required. It is abnormal, abnormal. If everyone can quickly cast magic like this, we would only see magicians in the arena, not melee classes.”

It wasn’t just the commentators. Everyone who saw this was surprised. Firebird was a common fire attribute magic like Crescent Moon Cut. It was powerful, but it consumed a lot of magic power and was difficult to cast. The time it took to use Firebird was enough to measure the level of the magician. Hyeonu had taken the chance to cast the magic during that moment when Mason temporarily stopped advancing.

The bird of fire flew down from the top and even slid diagonally as it flew toward Mason. When Mason saw the shiny and translucent bird in front of him, he focused some strength on his hand that held his sword and quickly moved his magic power. Then he ran forth with magic power wrapped around his entire body.

Mason raised his sword over his head and brought it down powerfully. Surrounded by magic power, Mason’s sword struck the firebird’s beak, stopping the firebird’s charge. Nevertheless, it swiftly flapped its huge wings to advance again.

Red flames emerged in the air each time the wings moved, but Mason didn’t give in easily. He continued to pour out his magic power and pressured the firebird. Little by little, Mason pushed forward, and the firebird was shoved back. At the same time, Mason’s sword started to cut the firebird’s body. Right then, cold air started to build up from the ground around Mason, quickly engulfing him. Then the firebird directly crushed Mason’s frozen body.

“The first match! The confrontation between player Mason and player Gang Hyeonu! It has ended with player Gang Hyeonu’s victory!”