Ranker’s Return

There were no problems after Hyeonu’s shocking match. The melee players who picked the priest class won, while the magicians and priests who became melee classes also won. However, Hyeonu’s match was so shocking that the other matches didn’t have much impact. Hyeonu continued with his brilliant battles through the round of 16, the quarter-finals, and the semi-finals.

Then as Reina and Aike competed in the second match of the semi-finals, people finally had their attention focused on the game and not on Hyeonu.

“Ah. Unfortunately, Reina has lost. It was a really small difference. A split-second mistake resulted in this.”

The second match of the semi-finals was a fight between Aike and Reina. It was a battle between two people who were originally close-range players, so the match was very tense. They both used divine power like magic power and exchanged numerous blows. The end of such a fight was decided when Reina’s focus was disturbed slightly.

“Player Reina’s ability to fight against Aike, who was unbeaten in last year’s Arena Week PvP, proves that Player Reina’s ability has increased significantly compared to last year.”

No one mocked Reina’s defeat. Rather, she received more spotlight than the winner, Aike. Aike was the strongest player in the Arena Week PvP event last year. Reina might’ve missed out on victory this time, but she did a great job against Aike, who was dubbed the ‘strongest in PvP’.

“She showed such talent with a priest class. This means it will be hard to predict if Aike will win or lose when they meet in PvP or the siege. Reina is now a strong player in PvP that everyone recognizes.”

After the comments about Reina, the commentators’ attention was transferred to Aike.

“It could be said that Player Aike’s strength has remained the same. He has a talent for combat. I think he can achieve great results in this Arena Week.”

“This might be a personal opinion, but... I think it would be better to give up any greed at this Arena Week. I think it will be hard for Aike to show a good result like last year.”

One commentator started by talking about Aike, but another commentator finished by remarking on Aike’s true prospects at this Arena Week. The latter commentator thought that this competition was likely to be someone’s personal show; all the other participants were just bridesmaids.

“It might or might not be the case. That’s all I want to say,” the other commentator said with a dry laugh.

He already knew it, and this idea was further strengthened by this event. Alley Leader was definitely an overwhelming monster, and there was no professional gamer who could stop him. The host cut off the atmosphere of the commentators and said, “Now, it’s the long-awaited finals of the class-change event! The match between Alley Leader of Crescent Moon and Aike, PSG’s crown prince, will start in a little while!”

He made the comment with the appropriate timing to start the match.

***

During the conversation between the commentators, many changes occurred in the sitting area for Arena Week’s participating contestants. It was different from when earlier on when the teams were sitting at their own tables. The class-change event had mixed them all up. They were now talking to players from other teams. Some players were already close, and some others had just become friendly.

“Leo, you are the only one left now.”

“This is what a loser is saying.”

“Stop and accept it now. It is just a time difference anyway. You are only alive longer than me because you were the furthest from Alley Leader.”

“Still, there is one advantage. I am in the finals, so won’t I get more of a spotlight?”

The players who were friends with Leo—a.k.a. Aike—were busy making fun of him. Unsurprisingly, the one at the forefront was Mascherano. He had a false bravado and chose a magician class instead of a priest. It was because he wanted to fight in the same class as Hyeonu.

However, Mascherano wasn’t Hyeonu. He was the captain of Red Bull America, not Crescent Moon’s guardian, and he was eliminated immediately in the round of 64. The one who defeated Mascherano was Aike. So, Mascherano’s mouth naturally didn’t stop moving.

“It’s fine. I don’t think I will win anyway. It is just a pity. This duel will have no meaning in the upcoming matches,” Aike said.

He didn’t respond to the other players’ teasing. Aike just thought it was a pity that he couldn’t compete against Hyeonu with a melee class and felt regretful that this match couldn’t be used as a preliminary practice for PvP.

“It is meaningless to try. He isn’t a human being. Just think about winning with brute senses,” Mascherano advised. He knew Hyeonu better than anyone else at this table as he had watched Hyeonu fight dozens of times in person. Every time, he felt Hyeonu was consistently a being that existed outside of common sense. The character’s stats and skills didn’t matter; everything was just a scam for him to exploit.

“Honestly, don’t you already know it? There are hundreds of videos on his channel. It’s an overflowing amount of data to be analyzed. However, it is different every time. It is the same but different. That’s why I feel like I can’t figure him out,” Aike said.

The light expression disappeared from Mascherano’s face, and an expression filled with seriousness took its place. Mascherano replied, “I know that as well. I have also given up. I just know what his favorite skills are.”

Aike knew what Mascherano meant. His best friend had analyzed Alley Leader over the course of a few months, but this was all that emerged—a conclusion that there was nothing to be gained from analyzing him. Alley Leader seemed to change subtly with every new video. Such a change was close to evolution.

He fought an increasingly incomprehensible and bizarre battle in the videos, and this was also reflected in PvP. The average level of Korean professional gamers might not be particularly high up in the world, but they were still professional gamers and the best players in Korea. Fighting against them, he became more and more overwhelming. Alley Leader grew stronger without knowing his limits.

‘He is constantly evolving.’

The appearance Hyeonu showed in Week 7 was stronger than what he showed in Week 1.

‘I have also developed. I am different from before.’

This didn’t mean that Aike gave up. He watched Hyeonu’s videos, imitated Alley Leader’s style, and absorbed it into his own style. In particular, Aike’s ability to handle magic power had grown noticeably. He just hadn’t shown it to the outside world.

‘Fighting with the priest class is one of the training methods.’

Getting information for the class change wasn’t a training exercise. Rather, he just took everything that he thought was useful from what Hyeonu said and showed in Alley Leader Academy.

“Then I’m glad. Go and have a good loss before coming back, loser at the highest position.” Mascherano stood up and pressed a hand to Aike’s shoulder.

Aike remained the same until the end.

***

“It is the long-awaited finals of the class-change event! The match to pick the main character to end the opening ceremony of Arena Week has begun!”

“I’m really looking forward to the confrontation between players Aike and Gang Hyeonu. The priest played by Aike is no worse than the melee classes. However, the magician played by Gang Hyeonu is like a dream.”

“A PvP between a magician and priest—it is a lineup that is hard to see anywhere else. Moreover, they aren’t regular players but the best players who have made it to Arena Week!”

The commentators used a variety of modifiers to describe the finals between Hyeonu and Aike. However, the atmosphere of New York Arena Stadium made it seem unnecessary. The crowd was already more heated up than ever. Before the match started, Aike approached Hyeonu and reached out a hand. “Please take care of me, Alley Leader.”

“I should be saying that, Aike.” Hyeonu shook Aike’s hand. Refusing to shake hands wasn’t polite.

‘Well, it isn’t hard to shake hands,’ Hyeonu thought.

“Please look after me today. Is there a big need to take out all your power in an event match?” Hyeonu briefly added. He wanted to finish this match with ease. Aike’s performance against Reina was pretty good.

‘His use of skills is okay...’

Aike’s battle senses and skills were awesome, so it was expected to be a tricky battle.

“I have to do that if I’m going to live...” Aike released Hyeonu’s hand and went back to his place.

‘It might not be as tricky as I think,’ Hyeonu remarked inwardly. Until the finals, all of Hyeonu’s opponents had been melee classes. It was a coincidence that all of them were all fast and had strong physical abilities. Additionally, they all handled their magic power well.

‘Meanwhile, Aike is a priest...’

Priests weren’t as fast and strong as the melee classes. They could use healing magic or buffs, but it wasn’t comparable to that of the melee classes. This meant that Hyeonu had more time to cope with his opponent’s movements, giving him a more favorable situation.

Hyeonu pulled out a staff. Aike saw that and drew his sword. Then he ran over slowly while buffing himself. As a warm light wrapped around his body, Aike immediately sped up. He had only taken two or three steps when the sound of popcorn popping spread through the arena.

Simultaneously, a shockwave burst from the ground. It wasn’t just one or two; several burst out in succession. The source of the shockwaves were the fireballs Hyeonu had cast. At this moment, small red balls emerged from the ground. Explosions occurred exactly where Aike stepped, and his body trembled. His every step slowed down sharply, while he swung his arms left and right to avoid falling down.

“Crazy!”

“Does this make sense?”

“It is outrageous, truly.”

People were amazed at the scene unfolding before them. No, they simply had to admire it.

“He can create that many in such a short time?”

Hyeonu’s actions were really ridiculous. He had calculated Aike’s speed in that short moment and cast magic in the right position. Hyeonu showed what could only be expressed in words as: “It is a spectacle, a real spectacle...”

Everyone nodded at the words of the commentator, who had forgotten he was wearing a microphone and expressed his sincere thoughts. It was a sentence that could lead to a broadcasting accident, but no one criticized him. That was because everyone’s eyes were on Hyeonu’s magic.