Ranker’s Return

On the way to a vacant space deep in the lord’s castle, Hyeonu asked Suped, “Is there any magic that has the effect of tricking or covering people’s eyes?”

While wondering why this question was being asked, Suped replied, “Of course. I’m not using it now, but it was one of the essential magic circles before the continent was unified under the imperial flag.”

Of course. It was impossible that it didn’t exist. Important buildings such as the mansions and towers of nobles were often hidden in magic circles.

“Is that so?” Hyeonu nodded. He was glad. This meant it wouldn’t be impossible to hide Fuca’s head.

“Suped, how large can you make the magic circle?”Hyeonu asked this time.

“I can hide this entire castle. Why? Do you want me to hide it?”

"No, it isn’t the castle...”

“That means you need it… but it seems you don’t want to tell me. Tsk...” Suped expressed his frustration. He asked Edchan and Hyeonu again and again, but they never answered. They just repeated like an echo that he would know once they arrived. Soon, they all stopped walking as they had arrived at their destination.

“I will take it out here,” Hyeonu notified Edchan and Suped.

“Yes, that is good enough.” Edchan looked around at the surroundings and nodded. The vacant lot was quite spacious. It was perfect as Edchan’s workplace, even if it were a situation where he didn’t know what he would be working on.

Meanwhile, Suped simply stood still and glared at Hyeonu. He was waiting to find out what Hyeonu and Edchan had dragged him here to see. Then in an instant, the expression in Suped’s gaze changed as his eyes filled with shock. “What is this...?”

Suped was unable to speak at the breathtaking sight of the head of a purple dragon.

“This is what I wanted to show you, Suped,” Hyeonu said to Suped, who couldn’t shut his mouth. “Using the dragon’s head as the center, hide an area with a radius of around 10 meters. Distortion is also good. You just have to keep it from the eyes of others.”

Suped had no response. He just stood blankly as he stared at the dragon’s head in front of him.

“Hah... How can there be such a thing?” Suped murmured. Greed appeared in Suped’s eyes. It wasn’t greed for the dragon’s head but for what Edchan would ask from him. Suped would definitely have the chance to touch the dragon’s head.

“Keok... Look at how surprised you get when you're old.” Edchan laughed at Suped, forgetting that he had been like that just a few dozen minutes earlier.

“I will hide it right now.” Suped waved his hand. Colorful patterns emerged out of thin air and covered Fuca’s head in an instant.

That was it.

“It’s done?” Hyeonu was dumbfounded because the situation ended so quickly. Suped had just waved his hand once and said it was over.

‘Is this really the end?’ Hyeonu wondered inwardly.

Suped once again frowned at Hyeonu. “Are you doubting me? If you’re really curious, go out and see for yourself. Just take 10 steps back.”

Hyeonu went with what Suped said and took exactly 10 steps back. “Eh?”

Surprisingly, he didn’t see anything in front of him except the original scenery of the lord’s castle. Hyeonu rubbed his eyes several times, but Fuca’s head still wasn’t visible. ‘It is a bit vague, but...’

He focused his senses on magic power and managed to sense a vague existence. However, this was only when he was extremely focused. None of the NPCs in the castle would go around in that condition.

“Then I’ll be on my way,” Hyeonu said. He didn’t go inside the magic circle again. There was no reason for him to be here now that he had confirmed the magic circle was perfect.

Hyeonu disappeared and left Edchan and Suped inside the magic circle.

***

The third day of Arena Week attracted more attention than before. The cause was the issue that was updating throughout the night and the early morning, and it was still updating even now. More things popped out endlessly like the layers of an onion being peeled.

The Arena Week committee, including the staff dispatched from Quency, discussed the incident that occurred overnight.

“What are we going to do?”

“Shouldn’t we confirm the facts with the players first?”

“What if it is true? Will you stop him from competing?”

They were very flustered. An unexpected incident had broken out. They never dreamed there would be such a topic among the players.

“Let’s leave it to the Korean side to deal with this matter. I don’t think we have to make a fuss.”

“Contact the two teams first, briefly ask the players for the facts and keep quiet to people on the outside.”

“I think that’s a good plan. In any case, shouldn’t we finish Arena Week first?”

After putting forward various opinions for a long time, they eventually ended the meeting with a stopgap measure. They could’ve come up with a clearer solution as they had the power for that. However, they had no reason to do so. So what if the information in the community was true? The fact that Jung Hanbaek had been a bit rude in his school days and that his father had deliberately ruined a company wasn’t a reason to prevent Jung Hanbaek from participating in Arena Week. Rather than making unnecessary noise, they decided it was better to avoid responsibility and hand the baggage over to the South Korean side.

In a way, the choice they made was best for them. 

“Then let’s call the parties in question, JT Telecom’s Jung Hanbaek and Crescent Moon’s Gang Hyeonu, to see what is going on. In addition, write a press release for the reporters and audience,” an employee from Quency said, quickly sorting out the situation. 

“Please do so. I will conduct an interview with the players here.”

“Then we’ll write an announcement.”

The rest also took their roles one by one.

“I hope nothing will happen for the remaining two days...”

The staff of Quency placed their hands together and muttered to themselves with their eyes closed.

***

‘Is it here?’

Knock knock knock.

Hyeonu knocked on the office door of the Arena Week Operations Committee member who was looking for him.

“Yes, come in.”

In response to the answer from inside, Hyeonu carefully grabbed the handle and turned it. He could see inside through the open door. The office was shabby and impractical. There was one small table and three chairs. The other tables and chairs were all for employees only.

The moment Hyeonu entered the office, the man sitting in the chair got up and approached Hyeonu. “Hello, Player Gang Hyeonu.”

“Yes, hello.” Hyeonu held out his right hand to the man. The man took Hyeonu’s hand and shook it lightly.

“Please sit here.” The man then pointed to a chair in front of the small table and sat down on the chair opposite Hyeonu. “We wanted to meet you to ask the truth about the rumor that spread in the community last night.” 

Using the word ‘we’, the man expressed it wasn’t him but the operations committee he belonged to that was asking for the truth about this incident.

“Ah, if it’s about that... there is no need to say much. Most of the articles spread through the community are true. In particular, the most popular articles recommended by millions of people are true,” Hyeonu answered the man’s question with a calm expression.

The man, on the other hand, looked puzzled. “Is that so?”

He couldn’t hide his surprise at all and felt Hyeonu’s answer was unthinkable. ‘It’s all true?’

The man had already read the articles spreading through the community. Among them, there were many articles that made him frown.

“Yes, that’s right,” Hyeonu replied.

“I hope you don’t misunderstand...” the man began to say. 

“Yes, please speak.”

“I think it will be tough to give a separate punishment to Player Jung Hanbaek just because of what happened last night.”

“I already know this. This is a personal matter between me and Jung Hanbaek. I don’t intend to interfere with his life.” Hyeonu nodded in agreement with the man’s words. He had already known this from the very beginning, which was why he’d decided not to do anything about it then.

Hyeonu thought, ‘It is morally problematic, but strictly speaking, it is the parent’s problem, not the player’s problem.’

The man was even more flustered by Hyeonu’s indifferent response. “Ah... Yes...”

Hyeonu spoke to the man again, “Then can I go now? I have a meeting to discuss today’s match.”

The man nodded and stood up. “Yes, you can go. Thank you for your cooperation.”

After being sent off by the man, Hyeonu left the office.

***

There was one more person who experienced the same thing as Hyeonu—Jung Hanbaek. He also had a meeting with the Arena Week Operations Committee.

“Player Jung Hanbaek, do you know about the articles that have become a hot topic in the community since last night?”

“Yes, I’m aware,” Jung Hanbaek answered the question of the committee member in a low voice.

“Regardless of whether the articles are true, the operations committee has no intention of taking it as a problem. Therefore, please answer with only the truth. The information... is it true?” the committee member asked as gently as possible.

Various modifiers were added in order to draw out Jung Hanbaek’s true answer.

“......” Jung Hanbaek remained silent. Nevertheless, the committee member didn’t urge him and simply stared at the latter with gentle eyes. Jung Hanbaek was silent for a long time before finally saying, “Some of the articles are true, and some aren’t.” 

“Player Jung Hanbaek, can you tell me specifically what is true and what is false?”

“There are so many posts that it is hard to tell exactly. But... I can tell you that there are definitely things that are right.”

“Is that so? Some are true, and some aren’t... I understand. Player Jung Hanbaek, you can go back now. Today, this is a casual meeting. As I said before, Player Jung Hanbaek will receive no punishment because of this.” The committee member continued to maintain the same attitude toward Jung Hanbaek.

Jung Hanbaek bowed slightly to the committee member and exited the office.

“Hah...”

Once he was out, Jung Hanbaek sat on the ground and showed a pained expression. He felt a sense of shame as he didn’t know why he had to hear and answer such words here.

‘Since when have things become so twisted?’

Jung Hanbaek couldn’t relax his stiff expression.