Ranker’s Return

[The rewards will be paid in accordance with the rule of ‘winner-takes-all.’]

‘This is the end, Tian Hu.’

“Sigh,” Hyeonu let out a breath before speaking in a calm voice, “Everyone, it’s over.”

-Thanks for your work has given you 333 gold coins.

-Celebrate Victory has gifted you 777 gold coins.

-Jung29Hyun has gifted you 999 gold coins.

Gold coins poured in. Hyeonu’s endorphins were overflowing. “Everyone, I’m really grateful. Hahat! Then I’ll do an inventory extraction for 30 minutes.”

Hyeonu streamed like he had already forgotten Tian Hu for over two hours.

***

“Everyone, I’ll see you again on Friday!”

Hyeonu ended his livestream, but he didn’t quit Arena.

“I will go to Lebron.” Hyeonu decided to visit his master Lebron.

‘I want to obtain some skills or quests.’ 

Of course, he didn’t go just because Lebron was his master. He wanted things quickly. He wanted the skills, items, and quests that Lebron would give him. He didn’t want any other communication.

Hyeonu arrived at Lebron’s mansion.

“You’ve come.” The mansion’s guards didn’t stop Hyeonu because they knew he was Lebron’s disciple.

“Where is my master?”

“He is where he always is.”

The training hall—Lebron was once again in there.

‘Doesn’t he have a sitting room? He is never anywhere else.’

“I wonder if he has become even more powerful.”

Hyeonu walked toward the training hall leisurely. He remembered the first time he came here. At that time, he had to prove his identity every 50 meters. Now, every soldier he met greeted him. A short time later, Hyeonu arrived at Lebron’s training hall. Lebron asked, “Why have you come?”

“Is that all you can say when your disciple comes to see you?”

Lebron had a dour expression, much like a storekeeper seeing a beggar who returned after coming to the store yesterday. “I didn’t ask you to come, so why have you come? I said to come back when you’re stronger.”

Hyeonu replied to Lebron’s comment, “I have become stronger. So, isn’t it fine now?”

“What are you saying?”

At Lebron’s question, Hyeonu drew his single-edged sword. Then he freely adjusted the blue sword energy that was close to being translucent. It was a miraculous sight. Lebron’s expression became strange when he saw it. It was as if he noticed something he didn’t like. ‘The technique is good, but...’ 

Lebron declared, “Your body is too weak.”

“Huh? Weak?” Hyeonu questioned Lebron’s evaluation.

‘What does that mean?’

It didn’t make sense. Hyeonu was of a different level from the last time he saw Lebron, and his items were also different. In his present position, he could win against most players.

“Now you are just like them.”

“Them?”

“The owners of the gold coins. They all had a body similar to yours when they first found me.”

‘Ah, he’s talking about level.’ Hyeonu finally understood the ‘body’ that Lebron was talking about.

“The hearts of adventures are usually empty compared to their outward appearance. Hyeonu, you are different. Your insides are full, but your outside is too soft. If this continues...” Lebron’s facial expression became cold, and he didn’t finish his sentence. “Go further south beyond Brigs. Visit Herard, the general of Latus—a fortress blocking the Hejin Great Mountain Range.”

[A quest has been created.]

[General Herard of Latus]

[Visit Herard, the general of Latus—a fortress blocking the monsters of Hejin Great Mountain Range.

Rating: C

Conditions: Meet with Herard 0/1

Rewards: Experience.]

“I understand.”

‘That’s right. This is what I want.’ Hyeonu smiled brightly and exposed his white teeth although they were not visible behind the mask.

“Once you come back, you will have to go somewhere with me. Be prepared at that time,” Lebron said and then closed his eyes again. He had entered a meditative state.

“Then I’ll be going.” Hyeonu achieved his goal and left. Now he was free to go ahead with the quest.

***

Hyeonu ran out of Lebron’s mansion and toward the square. Brigs was a long distance away. It was hard to imagine Latus, which was even further south. He thought that if he found a return book for Latus, he would buy it no matter how much it cost.

“Selling various return books!!!” There was a merchant player selling return books.

Hyeonu went to the merchant player and asked, “Do you have a return book for Latus?”

As he was speaking to the merchant, Hyeonu realized he made a mistake. He hadn’t taken off his mask. However, the merchant selling return books didn’t react to it.

‘Ah, that’s right. This mask is fashionable now.’ Hyeonu sighed with relief.

“Latus? Wait a moment.” The merchant started looking through each of his return books to see if he could remember the name ‘Latus’. “I’m sorry, but there is no Latus Return Book. The return books for the Hejin Great Mountain Range and Northern Border aren’t back in stock.”

“They haven’t appeared? Then give me three Brigs Return Books.”

“That will be 15 gold.”

‘This should be fine.’

In the end, there was no return book for Latus Fortress. A return book was only sold at local general stores under special conditions. No one knew what the conditions were. They just appeared at some point.

“Then I’ll go to Brigs.”

Hyeonu tore one of the return books the merchant handed to him. Then a white light surrounded Hyeonu.

***

“Tian Hu, that jerk. I’ll kill him,” Hyeonu cursed at Tian Hu, whose character had already been deleted. If it wasn’t for the character deletion bet with Tian Hu, Hyeonu wouldn’t have gone to Yusma. Then he wouldn’t have to run like this. Just a while ago, Hyeonu started running off to the Hejin Great Mountain Range.

When he first started out in Frozen Canyon, it hadn’t felt like much. However, the story changed when he set off from Brigs to the Hejin Great Mountain Range. It felt like no matter how much he ran and ran, he could only see monsters and endless plains. He couldn’t see anything that looked like castles.

Hyeonu lowered his head and stared at the bear in his arms. ‘I’m glad I have him.’

He was glad to have Tang-E. The thought of walking here alone was terrible. Hyeonu thought this was the biggest drawback of soloing. The longer he moved, the more bored he became. If he had party members, he wouldn’t be bored even if he were tired from walking.

“Tang-E, is there anything interesting?” Tang-E heard Hyeonu’s words and struck Hyeonu’s cheeks with his fists. After being hit by Tang-E, Hyeonu shouted, “Why did you hit me? Crazy guy.”

“I think this is interesting, Master dude. Kikik.”

Bang! Hyeonu also hit Tang-E as repayment.

“Groan.”

“Then let’s talk about the place where you live, Bung Bung Island.” 

“Bung Bung Island? It is a beautiful island. It is neither hot nor cold, and there is plenty of food all over the island.”

“Are there any monsters? What can be hunted?”

“There’s nothing like that. It is just a place where my clan lives. There are no monsters in my clan. There are just animals,” Tang-E said with a proud expression.

His pride and love for his island were clearly expressed in his voice.

“Where is it? I’ll visit it later.”

“It is a bit far from here. Additionally, Master dude can’t go there. You’re too weak,” Tang-E said firmly.

‘It would be of a higher difficulty than the Hejin Great Mountain Range,’ Hyeonu thought and nodded. He didn’t feel bad. Tang-E’s statement wasn’t meant to put him down. It was true. Arena still had hidden places and areas were added in patches. Most of them would require hundreds of levels, including Bung Bung Island.

“Let’s go, Tang-E.”

Hyeonu moved his feet that had been still for a while.

***

Arena’s general planning team leader and operations team leader were having lunch together in the company’s cafeteria today. A few months ago, they talked about the return of meleegod and started a friendship in earnest. However, currently, Hyeonu was erased from their minds.

“Team Leader Park, isn’t it time to patch it?” Kim Junyeong, the team leader of the operations team, asked Park Hyeonjun, the team leader of the planning team.

“The first-ranked player is level 197, so we’ll have to start by next week at the latest. We started preparing right after the main scenario, so we can handle it this time,” Park Hyeonjun answered and took a sip of his coffee.

He said he could handle it, but it wasn’t a schedule with a lot of room. Rain’s level up speed was faster than expected, so Park Hyeonjun would have to work overtime again.

‘Compared to the early days, this is still a paradise.’

“Is this the third time it has been patched—the siege war?”

“Yes, the third time didn’t have any problems, but the siege war will be hard. There might be an AI, but we need to define the framework first... Then we’ll hand it over and the operations team...”

Park Hyeonjun felt sympathetic toward Kim Junyeong. This patch would change the siege wars, so the operations team would be very busy.

“Hah... Buying castles using contribution. I don’t know who came up with the idea. Let’s get a title, buy a castle, and hold a siege war...”

Sigh. They both sighed at the same time. Things kept popping up. No matter how much they processed, the paperwork was never reduced. Park Hyeonjun pulled out another topic to change the mood—the currently popular Masked Fighting King. “Do you know Masked Fighting King? I watched it the other week. It is fun.”

“I’ve seen it. It was amazing to watch the unedited video.”

Kim Junyeong was very interested in Masked Fighting King. To be precise, it was Alley Leader that he was interested in. He was amazed at what Alley Leader showed in Masked Fighting King.

“Did you know? The Nano Robot Jackson who won against Mascherano was actually Alley Leader.”

“Huh? Is that true?!” Park Hyeonjun couldn’t help shouting at Kim Junyeong. That was too amazing. To think that it wasn’t Daniel but Alley Leader who defeated Mascherano...

“Daniel closed the connection after beating Kim Seokjung. Then Alley Leader appeared in his mask and clothes.”

“Huhu...”

“Then that means Alley Leader can come out at any time. I’m looking forward to it.”

“Is Alley Leader’s level comparable to Mascherano?”

“It naturally isn’t comparable. The community predicts that there is a difference of at least 80 levels.”

“If I know the ID, then I can search secretly.”

Although it was illegal, it was possible to view the streamer’s ID. However, in the case of Alley Leader, only the name of Alley Leader was dug up and no one knew his exact ID. Personal information was valuable, so no one would know anything if the ID was set as hidden.

“Maybe the main event in this patch will be Alley Leader. Additionally, there will be many pro gamers and streamers.”

Park Hyeonjun listened to Kim Junyeong and suddenly remembered meleegod. “So what is meleegod doing now?”

“meleegod? Why are you throwing out an obsolete name that we have no reason to think about? It hurts to think of those who are already known.”