Ranker's Return

Alley Leader turned on the streaming mode! Moreover, he would be participating in the pet contest and the world’s best pet event. The news quickly spread and attracted the attention of many people. Alley Leader, who was supposed to take a two-week break, had returned quickly.

-Wow, I didn’t expect him to turn it on today?

-Look at this person above. I saw you insulting Alley Leader in another room.

-Gasp, that wasn’t me.

-Leader Groupie has gifted you 333 gold coins.

-Leader Has Come Back has gifted you 444 gold coins.

“Everyone, I’m back after a long break. Thank you Leader Group for the 333 gold coins and Leader Has Come Back for the 444 gold coins. Sorry for coming late.” Hyeonu reacted like this as he caught the gold coins that appeared during his opening remarks.

-No, you’re welcome...

-Why are you only here now? You should’ve come on Monday.

-Shut your mouth. I wished that Alley Leader would come.

-I’m so grateful you turned on the streaming mode. 

“Everyone, I actually wanted to stream on Monday. However, I slept on Sunday night and woke up on Tuesday morning. Sorry.” Hyeonu bowed 90 degrees and apologized.

It was just that none of the viewers accepted Hyeonu’s apology. Rather, they mocked him.

-Just admit it cleanly. You wanted to rest.

-You’re already here, so it is useless now.

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Why is our Leader-nim apologizing?

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Yes, yes. I know it well. Bring out Tang-E quickly. Tang-E, haha.

-Tang-E, come out... Bring him out. Haha.

Then they found Tang-E. For the viewers, Hyeonu didn’t exist anymore. The important thing was Tang-E. It was only Tang-E.

“Yes, the Tang-E you desire is here. Feel free to take a look. After a while, he will go out and smash all the pets.”

With bright golden fur, red cheeks, and a cute blue tail, Tang-E boasted a cute figure that anyone would fall for if they saw it.

“Master dude, will you really give me the essence if I fight and win? Really?” Tang-E was undaunted by Hyeonu’s introduction and grabbed Hyeonu’s collar.

“Yes, you will get the essence if you win against the other pets. Don’t you trust your master? I’ve already fed you a few essences. Can’t you trust me?”

-He has already been fed essences?

-What is an essence?

-An essence is for eating.

-So what is an essence?

-I want to eat it!!

-No, so what is the effect?

-It raises the pet’s stats. If you’re lucky, skills or a race change will be gained. I haven’t seen such cases yet though.

-Then how many did Tang-E eat?

 Few viewers knew about the essences. The viewers knew about the essence because it was a reward for the pet events, but they didn’t know what it was. In such a situation, Hyeonu had already fed several essences to Tang-E. The viewers who actually knew about the essence couldn’t help being surprised.

“Oh, the viewers don’t know?” 

-What is it?

-What don’t we know?

-What? How to win? I don’t know that.

-Teach me quickly. Don’t joke around.

 Hyeonu, who had been arguing with Tang-E, threw a stone at the audience. The viewers who had been watching Hyeonu and Tang-E’s gag were curious about Hyeonu’s words.

“During the time when I applied for the event, I heard there were very few participants. Around 30 people? There is a chance it might not be even that many people. There are many reasons for this, but I’ll give you a quick explanation. It is because there are few people who have pets, the rankers who have pets aren’t participating, and those who aren’t confident in their pets didn’t apply. I think this is why the number of participants is so small.”

-In any case, first place is Tang-E.

-Tang-E. 

-We’re here to see Tang-E. Not interested in the rest.

-Yes, perhaps if Reina came out... Hah, Reina is the best...

The viewers didn’t care about this. All they wanted was to see Tang-E, not some other pets.

“Well, I’m sure everyone is the same. Yes, yes. Tang-E will work hard.” Hyeonu sneered at such viewers.

-Leader Groupie has gifted you 1004 gold coins.

-Have Strength Leader has gifted you 666 gold coins.

 “Oh, my. Thank you Leader Groupie and Have Strength Leader for the gold coins. Here is a small Tang-E show! How cute is he?”

However, Hyeonu’s attitude collapsed helplessly in front of the gold coins.

 

***

Finally, time passed, and it was time for the world’s best pet event to begin. The number of pets that participated was 32. It was a tournament format, so victory would be attained as long as five matches were won.

“You only have to win five times. In fact, it doesn’t matter to me if you win or lose. Isn’t it an essence for Tang-E to eat anyway?”

Hyeonu smiled. It was true. There was no penalty for Hyeonu if Tang-E didn’t win the world’s best pet event. The penalty was only for Tang-E. He wouldn’t be able to eat the essences. For Tang-E, the essences were more than just stats.

“This is a heavenly taste, Master dude.” 

For a pet, the essences were a delicacy. This was the essence.

“So fight hard, Tang-E.” Hyeonu stroked Tang-E’s head. In reaction to Hyeonu’s actions, Tang-E was silent. He was already sold due to the essence.

‘Essence... Essence… It’s so good.’ Tang-E smiled brightly, and all the viewers reacted. 

-Ugh... My heart...

-Someone buy me Tang-E!

-I’m not going to watch anymore. I’m going to buy a pet egg!

-You still won’t be able to get Tang-E.

As everyone enjoyed the festival, a soft voice rang through the entire event field. -Hello everyone. I’m Sunny, the host in charge of this pet festival! After a while, the world’s best pet event will start, so all players please move to the waiting room! 

The event field looked like a huge football field. The only difference was that it was 10 times larger than a normal football field. It could accommodate hundreds of thousands of players. This was possible because a player’s vision was superior to a human’s sight in reality.

“I have to go to the waiting room. Let’s go.”

-Everyone, who will come out? 

-Let’s see... are there any celebrities with pets?

-Are there any pet-related classes?

-ㅇㅇ. It is said after Alley Leader appeared, many rankers started raising pets, but so far...

-Who cares about who will appear? We have Tang-E!!!

By the time Hyeonu arrived at the waiting room, everyone except for Hyeonu had already arrived.

“Wow, it is really Tang-E.”

“He is actually cuter in person.”

“Alley Leader, can I touch Tang-E once?”

All of them rushed toward Hyeonu. Their goal was Tang-E. Since all of them were interested in pets, Hyeonu was like an old man in the back room.

“Um... That...” Hyeonu was trying to answer them when Sunny appeared.

“From now on, the bracket will be decided. Draw these beads one by one.” Sunny showed a glass bead the size of an egg.

The 32 participants all received a glass bead, and Sunny resumed her explanation.

“Once you add magic power to the beads, a color will become visible. There are a total of 16 colors. You should already know that people of the same color will fight each other, yes? This process is repeated up to the top 4. Then everyone, give it a try.”

At the end of Sunny’s words, all participants held the beads and started to infuse magic power. It wasn’t easy to see the color of the beads. They had to insert a lot of magic power. Understandably, the first person to bring out the color of the bead was Hyeonu.

“Purple?”

The color of Hyeonu’s bead was purple. Simultaneously, the hearts of the remaining 31 people started to pound. Everyone prayed that purple wouldn’t come out.

“It’s blue!!!”

“I’m red!”

They succeeded in seeing the color of the glass beads one by one. Meanwhile, the protagonist of the purple bead appeared. 

“No...” The purple protagonist shook the moment he saw the purple glass bead that appeared.

‘I have to surrender. Mikey can’t beat Tang-E.’

Pring, the owner of the golden-maned wolf Mikey, decided to give up on the world’s best pet event.

‘There is nothing worse for Mikey then being struck by lightning.’

This was lightning, not anything else. It was lightning that hurt bosses above level 100. If it hit Mikey who was only level 80, then the result was known without even looking. Pring approached Sunny and said in a low voice, “I will surrender.” 

“Are you really surrendering? There is no next time, Mr. Pring,” Sunny questioned.

However, Pring just nodded.

“I understand. Then Alley Leader is free to enjoy the festival until the draw for the round of 16.”

“I understand,” Hyeonu replied with a trembling voice. Surrendering was unexpected.

‘Tang-E looks too scary.’

“Audience members, the opponent gave up, so I’m just sucking my fingers until the round of 16. Sorry.”

Hyeonu did nothing wrong, but he apologized. Yet the viewers chatted like they expected Pring’s response.

-This is normal. They would be crazy to fight Tang-E.

-Why feel sorry? The opponent is the one who surrendered.

-I would surrender too if Tang-E was my opponent. It is terrible to think of my pet being struck by lightning or caught on fire. It is terrible.

-Seriously, he will probably win the event by default without any fighting.

Hyeonu laughed at the nonsense that one viewer mentioned of winning without fighting. He was dumbfounded.

Winning by default...

It was unheard of.

 

***

 

“The winner of the world’s best pet event is Alley Leader’s pet, Tang-E!” Sunny shouted in a loud voice.

People’s reactions were the same. It was a win by default. A ridiculous scene was happening before Hyeonu’s eyes. Why did this absurd result of winning by default emerge? The reason was simple. Tang-E was overwhelming, and the rest of the participants were rational. 

The average level of the pets participating in the event was 85. Tang-E’s current level was 115. Of course, the other players didn’t know Tang-E’s level. All they knew was that Tang-E had used a variety of magic to deal with monsters over level 100. The problem was that they were already afraid. How could a level 85 pet be hit by lightning that even a level 100 boss monster couldn’t withstand? It was terrible just imagining it.

Therefore, everyone who met Hyeonu surrendered.

“I really won by default. It feels a bit hollow. It is bittersweet.”

It was a chance to show off Tang-E’s combat style, but this opportunity had flown away.

-What did I say? Didn’t I say they would all surrender?

-Really. Are you a shaman? I’m amazed.

-Please let me have a girlfriend?

-Don’t ask me for that because it won’t happen.

-Look at this winter squash. ㅋ ㅋ ㅋ 

-Still, it is regrettable. I didn’t get to see Tang-E fighting.

-That’s a bit disappointing.

Hyeonu and the viewers were unable to control their sense of emptiness. Then Hyeonu’s heart once again burned.

-After a while, the pet contest will begin! All participants are encouraged to come to the waiting room!

‘This time, it is really Tang-E’s show.’

Hyeonu clenched his fists.

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