Ranker’s Return

Kim Seokjung immediately took action. It started with calling Gang Junggu, who would handle the rest of the work.

“Ah, yes. You’ve already heard about it? Start working on it right now. Distribute the flyers right away.” Kim Seokjung ended the call with just a brief exchange of words. There was no need for a long conversation.

‘Flyers?’ Jamie wondered inwardly.

“Flyers? What does that mean?” Jamie questioned Kale after hearing Kim Seokjung talk to Gang Junggu in Korean. The flyers Kale knew about were a promotional product that promoted a store or were distributed during the election season. So why were they going to distribute flyers now?

“Do you want to make flyers about what happened between Mister Gang and Locke?” Kale expressed his understanding, but it was different from what Kim Seokjung meant.

“That isn’t what the flyers are about. Just stay still. You’ll know soon.” Kim Seokjung poured the full cup of whiskey into his mouth.

Then he encouraged the men gathered here, Kale and Jamie, to drink. The three people continued to drink in the heavy atmosphere. How many rounds did they get through? When the whiskey bottle was half empty, Kim Seokjung’s phone rang.

-Hyung-nim, it’s started. I will sow it steadily little by little for three days.

Upon receiving Gang Junggu’s report, a smile spread across Kim Seokjung’s face. The smile was very bright yet also sly.

“Yes, I understand. Make sure to keep it a secret. Got it?” Kim Seokjung ended the call with light words. Then he drank again. “Groan... Okay.”

Kale and Jamie had tired expressions as they looked at Kim Seokjung. They were afraid he would go crazy. Kim Seokjung’s current appearance was very bizarre. His lips were curled up as he said ‘okay’, but his eyes weren’t smiling. Rather, they were exuding a cold energy like knives.

Kale and Jamie had never seen someone display such different sides concurrently.

“You will know by the end of this drinking party, so drink quietly.” Kim Seokjung continued to recommend alcohol to the two people, regardless of whether he knew how they felt.

***

“Uhh, I’m dead tired.” Hyeonu lay on the pile of bones that had been cut apart. He rolled his back on the bones, using them like massage balls.

“Master dude, are you okay? How about taking a break now?” Tang-E ran to Hyeonu and shook Hyeonu’s shoulder. Hyeonu felt his back throb every time Tang-E shook, but that was a minor pain compared to the happiness of lying down.

‘I don’t know who made them, but the spartoi are really crazy.’ Hyeonu clicked his tongue in annoyance.

The spartoi were really tricky to defeat. High numbers always made things difficult, but the spartoi also had nothing missing from their attack power and defense. In particular, they had a really monstrous defense. They protected their body with magic power, so defense penetration didn’t work. Hyeonu could only peel it off with his own magic power.

It was fine up to there. The real problem was that 10–15 spartoi usually appeared together, and they moved organically as if they were one body. The first battle ended exceptionally quickly, but it had been hell since then. It took quite a long time for Tang-E to recover his magic power. In the meantime, the battle was difficult. Tang-E’s weak actions to keep them in check didn’t penetrate the spartoi’s magical armor, so Hyeonu had to beat them alone.

‘They fight better than the average ranker. The specs are also much higher....'

Even so, it was a good experience that was likely to be of considerable help to the siege tomorrow. His senses felt sharper than ever. It seemed he could show a more overwhelming appearance than anyone else in one-against-many battles.

‘I will run away immediately after gaining a bit of experience and skill proficiency.’

Nevertheless, Hyeonu had to run away for now in spite of the quest. He could come back to finish it later. It was good enough to just become a bit stronger. He didn’t have to struggle like this.

‘I should eat meat.’

His spirit was poor, and he was hungry. Hyeonu raised his upper body as he searched his inventory and started to prepare for a barbecue. He took out two small bricks and a stone plate before stacking them up and injecting magic power into the stone plate.

The stone plate soon heated up, and Hyeonu placed red meat onto it. As white smoke rose, the meat cooked in an instant, giving off a fragrant scent. During this process, Tang-E stopped with his eyes wide open. He soon figured out the situation and gazed at Hyeonu in a fiery manner. “Master dude...”

“I know. I will share it.” Hyeonu could only say these words as he couldn’t meet Tang-E’s intense gaze. When Hyeonu judged that the meat was cooked, he turned it over. The flipped meat was an appealing brown.

“It is perfect, perfect.” Hyeonu marveled at the perfectly cooked meat. Just then, the ground shook nearby. Hyeonu knew this phenomenon all too well. ‘The spartoi!’

“Tang-E, prepare for battle.” Hyeonu grabbed the Mysterious Sky Sword that was placed on the ground and rushed at the spartoi pouring out of the ground.

Tang-E looked between Hyeonu and the stone plate. The meat was cooking quickly while Hyeonu seemed to be starting a battle right now. The small bear didn’t know where to put his focus. If he gave Hyeonu the buffs and focused on fighting, it seemed like the meat in front of him would burn black. Tang-E cared about the meat, but he was also worried about Hyeonu fighting alone. He couldn’t handle both situations.

Just then, a good idea came to Tang-E’s mind. He created a heart and extended it toward the stone plate. Dark blue magic power poured out from the heart and covered the stone plate, quickly cooling it down. Tang-E placed his paws on the stone plate to check its temperature.

It was just right. The meat would no longer cook at this temperature.

Tang-E smiled brightly and turned his attention to Hyeonu.

***

‘Why aren’t the buffs coming?’ Hyeonu became annoyed while he blocked the spartoi’s attacks. He wasn’t receiving any of Tang-E’s buffs.

Yet the current battle was the fiercest one since they entered this instance dungeon. The reason for that was the three spartoi that now blocked Hyeonu’s way. These spartoi were slightly larger and used a purple magic power, unlike the previous spartoi’s blue magic power. They were pressuring Hyeonu like crazy. Honestly, he found it harder than dealing with three rankers like Rain and Aike at the same time.

‘Their cooperation is like they were triplets.’

There was a certain gap even among rankers. They might use the expression ‘moving like one body’, but they would still have gaps while fighting. However, the spartoi had nothing like that. They moved like they had shared thoughts.

‘It can’t be helped.’

Hyeonu used a buff that he had been saving. It really couldn’t be helped. If he didn’t use the buff, it would be very hard for him to win this battle.

‘One Who Yearns.’

[One Who Yearns has been used.]

[All stats have increased.]

The moment Hyeonu used One Who Yearns, Tang-E’s buffs flew over at the same time, and Hyeonu felt the power of his rapidly rising stats. His body felt as light as a feather as he flew forward. Unlike the giant buffs, One Who Yearns increased all of his stats, which meant that Hyeonu’s combat power had risen significantly. This increase in combat power was enough to change the situation of the battle.

The body of a large spartoi collided with the Mysterious Sky Sword. Hyeonu didn’t miss this opportunity and immediately used Mysterious Sky Steps. Another spartoi’s huge sword swept over Hyeonu’s head. However, Hyeonu’s goal wasn’t the big spartoi. Instead, he broke the bodies of a normal spartoi. All of its bones were broken and sent flying away.

[The Fuca spartoi has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

In precisely one blow, the Fuca spartoi died. The combination of Hyeonu’s increased stats and his knowledge of the spartoi after more than 10 battles created this situation.

Just then, purple pure energy covered the sky. Hyeonu sensed the sharp rise in momentum behind him and fell back. Just as the purple pure energy swept over his face, Hyeonu kicked hard against the ground. His body shot at a large spartoi like an arrow.

Hyeonu turned his body and wielded the Mysterious Sky Sword, filling the sky with dozens of pure energies. Simultaneously, the big spartoi swung its huge sword and sliced through the air. The spartoi was able to endure getting hit by Hyeonu’s attack and block what could be stopped with the sword. It seemed the purple armor was strong enough to withstand Hyeonu’s pure energy.

Just then, Tang-E’s magic glowed. Dark blue ice expanded from the ground and quickly froze the legs of the spartoi, binding them to the ground.

“Tang-E, nice!” Hyeonu shouted loudly to Tang-E, who was holding a heart in the distance. Then he summoned the magic spirit. Hyeonu was going to wrap up the battle with the magic spirit.

‘I have to sweep it all up at once.’

The magic spirit was a skill where Hyeonu could pour out a lot of magic power at once. That wasn’t all. He could also use other attack skills in concurrence with the magic spirit. In other words, two skills could be utilized simultaneously.

A large amount of magic power emerged from Hyeonu’s body. A dark red bear with a clear shape in the air; the magic spirit had appeared. It ran leisurely toward the frozen spartoi. The magic spirit reached the spartoi in an instant and swung its paws with a bouncing motion. Struck by the magic spirit’s paws, the spartoi’s face was crushed.

[The Fuca spartoi has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

The magic spirit moved like Hyeonu using Mysterious Sky Steps. With a sudden appearance and disappearance, the magic spirit moved its body agilely, jumping from one spot to another in an instant. It soon broke another spartoi’s face.

[The Fuca spartoi has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

Thus, the magic spirit cleared the battlefield. However, the battle didn’t end smoothly. The three huge spartoi broke Tang-E’s ice magic and started to move. Nevertheless, Hyeonu wasn’t staying still either. A red glow shot from his fingertips—six rays, to be exact. They dug into the eyes of the huge spartoi.

This was Mysterious Sky Demonic Strength that was strengthened by the buff One Who Yearns and Tang-E’s buff. It was also boosted by the rise in stats from the magic spirit. The skill was more than enough to break the eyes of the spartoi. As the glowing purple eyes of the huge spartoi disappeared, their bodies fell to the ground.

[The No. 99 Fuca spartoi has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[The No. 96 Fuca spartoi has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[The No. 100 Fuca spartoi has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[The skill Mysterious Sky Demonic Art’s rank has risen to 9 stars.]

A smile appeared on Hyeonu’s face.