Ranker’s Return

Baler laughed warmly, “Uhuhu! That’s right. Not everything can go according to my will.”

Hyeonu’s words weren’t wrong. This was Baler’s mistake. He’d thought too much and left Damanos and Galiya free to do what they wanted. Then Baler said, “This war will end in three months. The front line is where I’ve already told you. Damanos is dead, so Galiya will no longer desire an invasion of the middle world.”

The result of the unexpected situation meant Baler thought it was possible to end the war sooner than expected.

“I understand. Will you go back like this today?” Hyeonu asked. Baler’s words entered through one of Hyeonu’s ears and then out the other. It didn’t matter if the war would end in three or four months as it would all go according to what the emperor wanted. In other words, it had nothing to do with what Hyeonu intended.

“I will take this guy back. I have nothing to do here.” Baler grabbed the collar of the unconscious Galiya and threw him high into the sky. Galiya landed on the back of the giant tortoise, Teramas.

“Then I’ll see you later.” Baler also jumped onto Teramas’ back.

Teramas disappeared like a ghost, just like when it appeared.

‘I have to pick up the items.’

After confirming Baler’s disappearance, Hyeonu began to move. Damanos had died, so items would’ve been dropped. The moment Hyeonu moved to the place where Damanos’ corpse had been, white words appeared in the sky.

[Damanos, the demon king of iron and blood, was defeated by Alexander.]

[The new demon king’s name is Ennui. The demon king of ennui, Alexander, has been born.]

‘There is this.’ Hyeonu nodded as he read the writing in the sky. Now that an old demon king had died, it was natural for a new demon king to emerge. The number of demon kings was seven. This number wouldn’t shrink unless the demon kings fought.

‘Ennui... It suits him well.’

The master was Sloth. The disciple was Ennui. They were truly master and student. The titles were very normal.

‘Hang on, why isn’t there anything?’

Hyeonu sat down and swept his hands over the ground. He thought there might be a small ring even if he couldn’t see it.

“Ah, shit!”

After searching for a long time, Hyeonu stood up abruptly, raised his foot, and kicked the ground. He remembered what Lebron had said before.

‘Lebron said the emperor used to have bad hands...’

It was clear that the emperor had taken everything. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be so clean.

“Sigh... I have to go there once.” Hyeonu sighed and walked to Etono. He had a feeling that this would be harder than dealing with Galiya.

***

The battle between Hyeonu and the emperor and the two demon kings, Galiya and Damanos, had been witnessed by numerous people. Due to the sudden shaking, the players had climbed the walls of Etono and watched the fight between Hyeonu and Galiya and the one between the emperor and Damanos.

It was a shocking scene. The emperor was much more monstrous than rumored, Hyeonu was also proven to be a monster. Still, they could understand the emperor’s monstrousness to an extent. After all, the emperor was an NPC. It was surprising that he was so strong, but since he was strong to begin with, it was easier for them to accept it.

The problem was Hyeonu. Players who watched the battle firsthand or saw it through live streams or recorded videos were dumbfounded when they saw Hyeonu’s ridiculous battle. They couldn’t believe he was also a player. He fought more like an NPC than NPCs. His transitions between attacking and defending were smooth like flowing water. There was no shakiness at all. Additionally, there was something more fundamental than that. His stats and skills seemed much higher than those of other players. His skill proficiency was also much higher. It seemed like a completely different game.

At the same time, the viewers’ expectations for Hyeonu rose. What would he look like at Arena Week? In particular, their expectations for the raid and siege rounds increased greatly. Countless people now had new feelings of envy, anticipation, and jealousy toward Hyeonu.

Meanwhile, the man who received everything, Hyeonu, was now in a very difficult state.

“Your Majesty...” Hyeonu stood in front of the emperor like a dog who had to go poop.

“Why are you standing there?” The emperor frowned at Hyeonu. Hyeonu had been standing there for over 10 minutes. Naturally, the emperor felt uncomfortable as Hyeonu was interfering with his rest.

“Perhaps... did you see the ring on Damanos’ hand?” Hyeonu hesitated before the words finally left his mouth. He wasn’t looking for any other items—just one. It was the ring that served as proof the wearer of the ring was the master of Damanos’ city. Hyeonu needed this. He wasn’t greatly greedy for anything else.

‘There are different rewards anyway. I’ll know when I see the messages.’

Hyeonu had already gained five levels. Additionally, he had yet to confirm it, but it was clear his skills had gained a significant amount of proficiency. There were definitely such messages among the ones that just flashed past.

‘That is enough.’

Hyeonu was satisfied with just getting the ring; he didn’t want any other items. If he didn’t expect it, he wouldn’t be disappointed.

‘I didn’t kill him after all.’

The main reason for such a mindset was that the emperor was the one who killed the demon king. Hyeonu just dug a spoon in it. Therefore, he wasn’t really greedy for more.

“A ring?” the emperor asked like he didn’t understand.

However, Hyeonu didn’t give in to the emperor’s attitude and kept asking. “Yes, a ring. It is a crude-looking ring... Did you really not see it?”

He had to get the ring at all costs. Just as he had done in Etono, he wanted to extract the magic power from the magic power stone in Damanos’ city. After that, it didn’t matter who he gave it to.

‘I’m going to hand it over to Viscount Garcia.’

Of course, there was a rough plan on what he wanted to do. He was thinking of exchanging it with Viscount Garcia’s city. Viscount Garcia was deeply acquainted with John Blake. In other words, no one would be able to provoke Viscount Garcia if he owned Damanos’ city. Why? John Blake had beaten Rubolle, who had the assistance of the magic power stone. Of course, Hyeonu had helped John Blake in the fight, but no one knew that. Among the demons, Baler was the only one with the courage to upset John Blake.

“A ring...” the emperor repeated again. He took something out and threw it at Hyeonu. The thing the emperor threw out hit the marble ground with a metal collision sound.

‘It isn’t just one?’

The emperor hadn’t thrown out just one thing but several. There was one ring, one bracelet, and two small stones—making four items in total.

‘His hands are faster than the eye.’

Hyeonu got goosebumps all over his body. He kept looking at the emperor, but he didn’t notice that he was already caught looking.

“W-Why this...” Hyeonu stuttered. He had only wanted one ring. He didn’t know why the emperor gave him all of these.

“Take all of them. These things are useless to me. In fact, I’m thankful to you, Marquis. I enjoyed it for a while.”

The things the emperor threw out were gifts and compensation for Hyeonu.

[Demon World Invasion Force Recruitment has been cleared.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[173,230 imperial contributions have been acquired.] 

[The number of players recruited is 332,460. Additional rewards have been earned.]

[Additional rewards have been received as the emperor’s gift.]

‘Hah... Crazy.’ Hyeonu laughed upon seeing the accumulated imperial contributions. There was too much. Hyeonu was overjoyed by the unexpected clearing of the quest.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

He felt a sense of loyalty he never had before. Such great compensation made Hyeonu ready to give his allegiance a hundred times.

“What thanks? Take this as well. Marquis, you have the ring, so learn it all.” The emperor threw a book wrapped in red leather at Hyeonu.

Hyeonu received the book from the emperor and asked with wide eyes, “What is this, Your Majesty?” 

“Won’t you know when you open it?”

The emperor’s words surprised Hyeonu, and he blinked quickly. Simultaneously, the emperor’s eyes gradually narrowed. Hyeonu took the things given to the emperor and bowed to him.

“Then I’ll be going, Your Majesty.” Hyeonu made his exit excitedly.

“Hrmm... I hope it doesn’t take too long…” The emperor confirmed Hyeonu’s exit and buried himself in the chair.

“It has been more unbearable lately.” The words of the emperor rang through the space.

***

Hyeonu moved to the office and checked what the items were one by one. The first thing he checked was the ring. He was most curious about this; he wondered if it truly was what he wanted.

‘Item Information.’

[Master of Eriksen]

[A ring meant for the master of Eriksen, the 6th magic power stone created by the demon god.

Rating: Epic

Restrictions: A noble that is a baron or higher.

Effect: The skill ‘Magic Power Absorption’ is available (cooldown time: 4,320 hours.]

“It is the ring.” Hyeonu sighed with relief. At the same time, the joy of gaining what he wanted filled his heart, and he happily continued on with checking the rest of the other items. The second one was a stone. Hyeonu held the small stone and checked its item information.

‘Item Information.’

[Eriksen Return Stone]

[Only some nobles have it.

It has a limited number of uses, but it can recharge itself by absorbing the surrounding magic power.

However, it can only be used in the demon world.

Rating: Epic

Restrictions: None

Effect: You will be moved to the city ‘Eriksen’ when used. Up to three people can be moved at the same time. (Number of uses remaining: 6 times, 3 hours for a single charge)]

The stone was a return stone. The old return stones Hyeonu had seen were coin-shaped, while this return stone was shaped like a stone. Just like the shape, there was a big difference in the details of the two return stones. The rating was different—the old one was unique, and the new was epic. The effect was also very different.

‘It’s good.’

The new return stone could move up to three people, and the time it took to charge was reduced by half. Hyeonu placed the stone in his inventory with a satisfied smile. There was only a book and a bracelet left.

‘Which should I check first?’

Hyeonu started to agonize happily. His concerns didn’t last long though. The most attractive one amongst the remaining items was… the bracelet Hyeonu held. The bracelet was shining red.

‘Item Information.’

Hyeonu’s eyes grew extremely wide when he checked the bracelet’s information.