Ranker’s Return

Hyeonu woke up early in the morning and headed to the hotel’s fitness club to do some cycling.

‘I don’t have any information on the raid time attack yet... Tonight, a party will be held to commemorate the end of Arena Week.’

He was organizing his day. It was a habit he started a few months ago because he had so much spare time to think during the aerobic exercise that took place at the end of his weight training.

‘I will cast them at the party.’

The first student of Alley Leader Academy would definitely go to the party tonight as they had an identity that forced them to attend. 

Hyeonu’s feet moved quickly even as all sorts of thoughts moved through his brain. He was showing what it was like for the mind and body to be separated. A gust of wind entered the fitness center; someone had opened the door. An outsider appeared in the space where there was no one but Hyeonu.

‘Who opened the door?’ Hyeonu’s thoughts soon ended at this point. After all, it was as natural as breathing for him to turn his head toward the source of the sound.

“Hyung-nim?” Hyeonu’s eyes widened when he saw the man who appeared at the door.

“Hyeonu, you are very diligent. You’ve been exercising since the morning.” The man who showed up at the fitness center in sportswear was Kim Seokjung. Kim Seokjung was wearing a short-sleeve compression t-shirt that showed the lines of his upper body.

‘What is this body...?’ Hyeonu uttered inwardly.

Kim Seokjung’s body line was very three-dimensional. In other words, it was a body that looked much harder than Hyeonu’s.

“Your body is better than I thought,” Hyeonu expressed.

Kim Seokjung laughed at Hyeonu’s admiration. “Our brother is also a formidable man. This is a body that people like a lot.”

Then he quickly approached Hyeonu.

“You’re really tanned. Also, is it because you are young...? The elasticity of your thighs is great.” Kim Seokjung smiled as he pressed down on Hyeonu’s thigh with his finger. After that, he sat on the bike next to Hyeonu’s.

“By the way... have you seen the news yet?” Kim Seokjung asked as he slowly turned the wheels of the bike in a relaxed manner.

‘News?’ Hyeonu thought.

He turned to look at Kim Seokjung and said, “News? I came to work out the moment I woke up. What happened?”

Hyeonu didn’t usually watch the news. Instead, he would take a break once or twice a day to see the Internet news on his smartphone or laptop.

“There is a very interesting article today. I wondered if you knew about it,” Kim Seokjung answered without turning his head.

“What news? It must be interesting if you are telling me about it, Hyung-nim,” Hyeonu said.

Kim Seokjung ignored Hyeonu’s urging and slowly proceeded to explain. Unlike his relaxed tone, the words that emerged from Kim Seokjung’s mouth were very shocking to Hyeonu: “There was an article that Jung Cheolho was summoned to the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office for investigation.”

Kim Seokjung’s tone changed toward the end. His slightly strange dialect disappeared, and he started to speak in standard Korean with extreme clarity. However, Hyeonu wasn’t aware of such a difference because all his attention was directed at Kim Seokjung’s words.

‘Summoned to the prosecution? So suddenly?’

“Why did the prosecutor summon him?”

“Business embezzlement and breach of trust.”

“Business embezzlement and breach of trust? Don’t tell me...” Hyeonu’s voice trailed off. The end of his incomplete sentence implied many things.

“It isn’t what you are thinking. The charges aren’t for Damsu Construction but for Geumgang Investment Finance where he is currently working.” Kim Seokjung firmly cut off Hyeonu’s thoughts.

“Geumgang Investment Finance? What did he do there?” Hyeonu asked with an expression of regret.

“He made a lot of money. There is a lot of work that a competent person who made plans for a mid-sized company can do,” Kim Seokjung replied, still continuing to speak in a relaxed tone. “Don’t be too disappointed.”

“Huh? What do you mean by disappointed? I’m not, Hyung-nim.”

“No... it is natural to feel disappointed, but you don’t have to. I will get payback for you. For every single grievance.”

This time, Hyeonu’s feet stopped moving completely, and so did the bike he was cycling. He asked, “Are you involved in this?”

Upon hearing that, Kim Seokjung turned his head and made eye contact with Hyeonu. “From the beginning to the end. Starting from the articles on the Internet to Jung Cheolho’s summons, I did it all.” 

***

After hearing Kim Seokjung’s shocking remarks, Hyeonu finished his workout and returned to his room like nothing had happened.

‘Hyung-nim did a lot of things on my behalf.’

At first, he felt very flustered. He couldn’t believe Kim Seokjung had been involved in everything. Then as he took a shower and thought about it, he realized that Kim Seokjung had sacrificed a lot for him. 

‘I’m sure he heard many things...’

Kim Seokjung must have had to expend his money, people, and so on, yet he did such things casually for Hyeonu.

‘I need to do better.’

Hyeonu was very grateful to Kim Seokjung and even felt he had a responsibility to be better to Kim Seokjung in the future. He was that thankful. This was because Kim Seokjung had gotten revenge for him.

‘First, I’ll play Arena... I will meet Hyung-nim at the stadium.’

Kim Seokjung was a man who was like the wind. He couldn’t be found just by searching. Hyeonu had to wait.

***

There was a familiar castle in front of him. It was Penn, one of the cities he most frequently visited in the demon world.

‘I’ve finally arrived at Penn.’

Hyeonu looked thrilled.

He had finally reached Penn!

“Tang-E, go back for a bit. I’ll call you later.”

“Understood, Master dude. Call me.”

Hyeonu released Tang-E’s summoning when the Penn’s entrance gate was still small in the distance. After Tang-E returned to Bung Bung Island, Hyeonu put on his mask and slowly walked toward the gate.

Hyeonu’s previous description was already widely known in the demon world—a person wearing dark red clothes. Baler had remained silent, but the demon king Galiya, who barely survived, had spread the information about Hyeonu’s appearance.

However, that wasn’t a problem for Hyeonu now. He hadn’t known this fact when he did it, but fortunately, he had changed his equipment. It had switched from dark red armor to purple leather armor, so it was hard to guess that Hyeonu was the human Galiya had described.

Hyeonu approached the soldiers guarding the city gates. To be exact, he didn’t approach the demons and instead just began passing through the gate.

Hyeonu exuded magic power wordlessly, and a purple energy wrapped around his body. His much higher levels of killing intent, fighting energy, and dignity made it difficult for the surrounding demons to even look at him properly. On top of that, the chaos attribute magic power gave them an overbearing feeling that went beyond what they felt from the dark attribute.

“Who...? No, I have to record... John...” The guard in front of Hyeonu couldn’t speak properly and spoke gibberish.

“It is Viscount Argon under Demon King John. I came here to see Viscount Garcia. Is Viscount Garcia in the city?” Hyeonu revealed the disguise he had been using for a long time to the demon guard. There were only two people who knew the precise identity of this status—John Blake and Viscount Garcia. 

“Yes, Viscount Garcia is currently in the castle.” The demon guard nodded vigorously at Hyeonu’s words. It was an action full of the hope that Hyeonu would disappear as soon as possible.

“Then I’m going.” Hyeonu passed through the gate with relaxed steps and entered Penn. Penn was the same as always—filled with demonic creatures and demons.

‘It seems a lot more than before...’

It was like looking at the downtown area of Seoul.

‘I have to kill all of them to take over Penn...’

It was highly likely to be a very sluggish war for players alone. Even if they killed thousands of demons and demonic creatures in one battle, it would be nothing compared to the number of demons and demonic creatures gathered in Penn.

‘It will be a different story if it’s Lebron or the emperor, but...’

The probability of the two of them heading out was extremely low. They would likely only go into the battlefield when a demon king appeared. There was no way they would go out right from the beginning.

‘Everybody will level up well.’

The number of enemies was high, so the items and experience were worth looking forward to.

‘By the way, this... What will happen to Penn after the war? What should I take care of?’

There was suddenly a question in Hyeonu’s mind. He felt that the reward was small compared to his efforts of running around. The emperor would give out rewards or experience, and items would be obtained from the demons and demonic creatures.

That alone wasn’t enough. The compensation for the main scenario alone had to be greater than that.

‘Let’s make my own plan.’

Hyeonu made a plan as he saw the demons and demonic creatures fill the interior of the city and unknowingly reached Penn’s castle. He entered and exited the castle as easily as if it were his own home. No one grabbed Hyeonu because he walked with a dangerous pressure that made him seem untouchable. No, they couldn’t grab him. They might be demons, but they only had one life to lose.

Thus, Hyeonu continued on a road where no one blocked him.

‘Is it here?’ 

He didn’t remember it perfectly, but he retraced his memories of the past. Penn’s castle wasn’t that big, so he soon reached the building where Viscount Garcia was located.

‘Um... I think this is right.’

From inside the building, he could definitely sense a magic power that was much stronger than what he sensed from his surroundings. Hyeonu entered the building without hesitation and moved quickly to the source of the magic power. He opened the door of the space where he believed Viscount Garcia to be and immediately greeted him: “It has been a while, Viscount Garcia.” 

It never occurred to him that the owner of the magic power inside wouldn’t be Viscount Garcia.

“Viscount Argon? Why are you here?” Viscount Garcia was bewildered when he noticed Hyeonu appear suddenly. Someone who shouldn’t have appeared had appeared.

“I stopped by on the way... Based on your reaction, is this a place where I can’t come?” Hyeonu asked.

“That’s not it... In any case, what is going on?” Viscount Garcia was wary of Hyeonu.

It was natural since Hyeonu had killed a demon noble right in front of Viscount Garcia. There was no guarantee that Hyeonu wouldn’t attack him too.

‘You don’t have to be so vigilant. I won’t do you any harm as long as you follow John’s will.” Hyeonu took off his mask and smiled.

However, Viscount Garcia couldn’t smile. It was because Hyeonu’s words contained a strong threat.

“Today, I really did stop by because I was passing through. I am very busy right now. I have to prepare for the upcoming war.” Hyeonu threw bait at Viscount Garcia. It was very attractive bait that had to be bitten.

“War? What do you mean? War... Is John preparing for war?” Viscount Garcia asked with a startled expression. It was the first time he had heard about it.

“The war isn’t going to be waged by John but by the emperor.”

“The emperor? Don’t tell me—you!” Viscount Garcia jumped up from his seat. He realized whom Hyeonu was talking about—Alexander, the one who killed the demon king of iron and blood and climbed to the throne of a demon king. There wasn’t a single demon who didn’t know about the emperor who led humans.

“Don’t look at me like that. I feel bad.” Hyeonu released magic power at Viscount Garcia, who was staring at him with strange eyes. The space was instantly filled with purple light before it disappeared just as quickly like nothing had happened.

“Of course, you don’t know this, but the emperor is John’s disciple. I looked for you today to give you a chance.”

Viscount Garcia cocked his head and asked, “A chance?” 

Hyeonu said, “Throw away Penn and leave. This is the chance.”

Viscount Garcia’s mouth dropped open.