Ranker’s Return

After a few twists and turns, Hyeonu arrived at Latus Fortress and immediately visited Herard. Herard was a middle-aged man with unusual white hair. “Are you Lebron’s disciple?”

“Yes, I’m Master’s disciple, Gang Hyeonu.” 

The moment Hyeonu bowed and greeted the other person, he heard a voice in his ear announcing the completion of the quest.

[Meet with Herard 1/1]

[The quest General Herard of Latus has been cleared.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

“The duke has told me to use you as I like, but how can I freely have his disciple at my disposal?” 

‘Eh? It isn’t possible?’ Hyeonu was flustered. He hadn’t expected the quest to go this way. If the quest didn’t progress, then there was no reason to waste time coming to Latus Fortress.

“If there is something you have that needs to be done, let me do it. This is what Master wants as well.”

“I understand. Then I’ll comfortably ask you to do things.” At this moment, a light smile appeared on Herard’s face. However, it disappeared in an instant, and Hyeonu had no knowledge that Herard had smiled.

“Do you know why the walls of Latus Fortress are so high and thick?” Herard asked Hyeonu.

The walls of Latus were exceptionally thick. They even seemed thicker than the walls of Yusma.

“Is it because of monsters?”

“To be precise, it is because of a monster wave. It occurs once a year. I don’t know why, but every year, the monsters of the Hejin Great Mountain Range flock here to Latus Fortress. This type of wall is essential to prevent them from getting in.”

“I see. Then what should I do?”

“This year’s monster wave is approaching. Before that, we need to reduce the number of monsters in the Hejin Great Mountain Range. Additionally, wouldn’t it be better to know the cause?”

[A quest has been created.]

[Hejin Great Mountain Range Cleaning]

[In order to reduce the size of the monster wave, it is necessary to reduce the number of monsters in the Hejin Great Mountain Range. Deal with the monsters of the Hejin Great Mountain Range.

Rating: B

Conditions: Monsters killed in the Hejin Great Mountain Range 0/999

Rewards: Experience, Latus’ treasure.]

[Monster Wave]

[A monster wave hits Latus Fortress like an annual event. Find out the reason.

Rating: B+

Conditions: Cause of the monster wave 0/1

Rewards: Experience, imperial contribution, the emperor’s gift.]

There were two quests that emerged—a simple monster killing quest and a quest to investigate the cause of the monster wave.

“It feels like the second one will be a lot of trouble?” Hyeonu muttered before shaking his head. Was it just his imagination? He decided to think of it as a good thing. After all, he had received two quests to help level up, and these were quests that others couldn’t do.

“Then I’ll hunt the monsters and see you again,” Hyeonu said goodbye to Herard and left.

Now was the time for Hyeonu to be busy.

***

Sword energy flew from a masked man’s single-edged sword and ripped through a bizarre-looking goblin.

[A demonic goblin has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[You have leveled up.]

[All health and magic power have been restored.]

[Monsters killed in the Hejin Great Mountain Range 32/999]

“Sigh, it is now 32.”

“Master dude, how many more do we need to hunt?”

“900 more must be killed, Tang-E.” 

“Ugh.” Tang-E covered his ears with both hands and bowed his head. It was an expression of frustration. 

“No. Master dude is crazy again. I won’t be able to return to the island again,” Tang-E complained quietly, but it was a voice that could be heard clearly.

Hyeonu heard those words and stroked Tang-E’s head.

“It is up to here for today. I’ll call you again tomorrow.” Hyeonu released Tang-E’s summoning.

Then he checked his status window.

[Status Window]

[Character Name: Gang Hyeonu

Level: 108

Class: Knight of Keon

Title: Lebron’s Disciple, Warrior Acknowledged by Khan, New Star Acknowledged by Lebron, First Person to Enter the Imperial Palace, First Person to Meet the Emperor, Achieved 100 Consecutive Wins, Solo Raider, Desert Dragon Slayer

Stats: Strength: 210 (+450)  Agility: 320 (+500)  Physique: 140 (+450)  Magic Power: 130 (+500)  Fighting Energy: 110 (+200)

Remaining stat points: 5

Retained Attributes: Wind]

“I feel like something’s stuck...”

Hyeonu added the points obtained from leveling up to the physique stat and closed the status window. Obviously, it was hard to see these sorts of stats at his level. The titles weren’t all at the same level, but it would be hard to find players with eight titles in Arena.

However, Hyeonu was anxious. He had grown extremely quickly. It wasn’t a slow growth. Rather, he was growing faster than anyone else.

Still, it was due to his growth rate that he felt frustrated with the current pace.

“I have to work harder and longer tomorrow.”

The day ended, and Hyeonu disappeared from the Hejin Great Mountain Range.

***

The next day, Hyeonu reconnected to Arena and summoned Tang-E.

“Tang-E, let’s get started.”

“Understood, Master dude.” 

Tang-E and Hyeonu high-fived. It was the signal for the start of the infinite hunt.

‘Will I get a weapon before I reach 999?’

Hyeonu had a relaxed mind just before the hunt started. He didn’t know it at the time, but 999 was a smaller number than one might think.

***

36 hours remained until Masked Fighting King. Hyeonu’s spirit became a wreck after 12 hours of hunting. Items didn’t appear. A weapon? He didn’t see one. Armor? He didn’t see this either. Currently, Hyeonu’s inventory was only filled with materials and miscellaneous items that weren’t worth gold coins. There were also skill books for other classes. In the end, Hyeonu exploded, “Item!! Give me an item!!”

A group of giant snakes appeared in front of him, and he ran forward without looking back.

‘Ignorant Master dude.’ Tang-E shook his head when he saw this scene. No matter how he thought, this was a simple Master dude. Moreover, his level of ignorance was very strong.

A huge sword energy swept over the body of a giant snake. Hyeonu’s sword energy was more heavy than sharp. It was as powerful as the strike that Kim Seokjung showed in the past and seemed like he was smashing everything. The flesh of the giant snake was dug out after being hit by Hyeonu’s sword energy.

“Keeek!” The wounded monster was furious and moved toward Hyeonu. It was incredibly fast for something that was over 10 meters tall. The giant snake approached Hyeonu and opened its mouth. Then it started chewing. Fortunately, it wasn’t chewing on Hyeonu. The giant snake had bitten a giant tree instead.

Crying out with a voice full of anger, the giant snake opened its mouth again after realizing it hadn’t swallowed the human who hurt it. At this moment, Hyeonu’s single-edged sword shone, and the bright light entered the mouth of the giant snake. The rank of Magic Power Explosion was low, but it was strong enough if used in this manner. Monsters with an outer shell often didn’t have hard flesh, and the giant snake was one of the quintessential monsters that didn’t have hard flesh.

“Keeeek!” The giant snake released green blood.

It wasn’t just one or two liters. There was enough to make a small puddle. Additionally, the blood was terribly acidic and burned the ground.

“Wouldn’t I have died right away if I got bitten?” 

Hyeonu immediately jumped toward the giant snake. He only had the finishing blow left. Hyeonu slammed into the giant snake’s head. The sword energy that stretched out from Hyeonu’s single-edged sword cut the giant snake exactly in half.

[The giant snake has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[You have leveled up.]

[All health and magic power have been restored.]

[Monsters killed in the Hejin Great Mountain Range 67/999]

“Damn, it is another material item.”

‘I’m only at 67. There are still over 900 left.’

Hyeonu was anxious. There were still many monsters left. Over 900—this was 15 times the number of monsters caught so far.

“I have to move hunting grounds. There are too few monsters here.” Hyeonu kicked a small rock and left.

***

12 hours passed, yet there was still no profit. Now the remaining time was 24 hours. Based on the travel time and other factors, Hyeonu had around 18 hours left.

[Monsters killed in the Hejin Great Mountain Range 287/999]

Since the giant snake, he had killed more than 200 monsters, but it was a golden color that stood out. They were mostly material items.

“Damn! Daaamn!”

Usually, a party spent six to ten hours when they went out hunting and would acquire three or four equipment items with an uncommon or higher rating. Now Hyeonu had hunted for 12 hours and didn’t see a single equipment item. This was a very slim probability. It was as hard as winning a lotto.

“I can’t always have bad luck.”

Still, Hyeonu looked better than he did 12 hours ago. It was unbelievable that he hadn’t found a single equipment item for 12 hours.

‘I haven’t gained anything for 12 hours, so it will come out soon.’

This was a common compensation reasoning that some people had. Some of the gamers in Arena were naturally gamers who liked to play games that required drawing out something based on luck. They didn’t care about the failures that preceded them.

‘It hasn’t appeared yet, so it will show up this time.’

They had this mindset, and Hyeonu was such a gamer. This was why Hyeonu’s expression was relaxed. There was hope.

Meanwhile, Tang-E’s eyes were filled with complex emotions. ‘Poor and pathetic.’

“It is time to give up... Tsk. Stupid master dude,” Tang-E said, clicking his tongue.

From the point of view of ordinary people, people like Hyeonu were addicted to gambling. Another name for the hope they believed in was a shortcut for defeat. Hyeonu’s hopes were the same.

***

[The Blackstone Golem has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[You have leveled up.]

[All health and magic power are restored.]

[Monsters killed in the Hejin Great Mountain Range 900/999]

“Shitt!! I’ll kill all of youuuu! Quency sons of bitches! How are you setting the item drop rate?!”

The area around Hyeonu was filled with shattered rocks as he raged. They were all remnants of the blackstone golems. For Hyeonu who had lost hope, all that remained were denial and anger. There was no compromise or acceptance. He was only filled with negative emotions that were directed toward Arena’s developers.

It was their fault that he couldn’t gain any items. This was the only explanation. It wasn’t because he was unlucky but that they had manipulated it. 

“Damn, how many hours are there left?”

[-12:00:48 Korean time, Friday.]

Hyeonu’s face was filled with despair after he manipulated the menu to confirm the time in reality.

‘It is time to go back to the fortress.’

Now he had to return to Latus Fortress for his live stream. The quest wasn’t completed, and he hadn’t found any weapons. The only things he obtained were gold and seven level-ups. His skill ranking also rose several times.

‘Some people would be happy with this, but...’

Items were important to Hyeonu because he could save money. They were also tools that would make him more money.

“I will stop here.”