Ranker's Return

NEW NOVEL: First and foremost, I'm delighted to announce that our long-time veteran translator littleshanks has finally launched his new novel, Rise!  Rise is a novel about the esports scene in Shanghai, the competitive gaming capital of China. It follows the story of Lin Feng, a boy who has just moved to the city for his last year of high school. He's a passionate gamer and dreams of being the best professional League of Legends player in the world. The twist? He almost achieved his dream, but failed at the...

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-Hiiik? Tang-E is fighting?

-Alley Leader, please protect Tang-E’s dignity!

-Even if you don’t have new content, why sacrifice Tang-E?

-Still, isn’t Tang-E’s level very high? Most of those in the pet arena are just raising their pets...

-In a good sense, the pet is like the owner. ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

The viewers were very interested in Hyeonu’s words. The pet arena—some streamers had challenged it. However, the results had been devastating. Pets who had just been summoned couldn’t beat pets who had been raised. Tang-E had won the title of the best pet in the world. Now he was running to participate in the pet arena.

“Tang-E is probably stronger than most of the viewers here. No, he is. Tang-E is extremely powerful.”

Hyeonu took the matter for granted, but the viewers were upset by his words. He thought it was natural. After all, the viewers didn’t know about Tang-E’s level or his second awakening. To the audience, Tang-E was just a good buffer and a very cute pet.

-Yes, I’m sure he is.

-No matter what, Tang-E takes after his master.

-If Alley Leader raised a pet in reality, it would be a dog or cat like this. ㅋ ㅋ ㅋ

-That doesn’t matter. The important thing is for Tang-E to stream for a long time today.

-Right. That’s what matters. Everything else is irrelevant. Our Tang-E is coming out. So what about winning or losing?

The viewers were already focusing on Tang-E. All their attention was on Tang-E. There were the occasionally bent ears and silly giggles that kept viewers from shifting their attention away.

“Viewers, don’t you have pets? Don’t like Tang-E too much. How about raising your own pet from an egg? Of course, you won’t get a pet like Tang-E.”

-I’ve already tried it and was ruined.

-I was also screwed, but my pet is still pretty cute.

-Once you get a pet, you will receive feelings of affection you’ve never had before.

-I got something like a golem. It feels like I’m showing off a large SVU while others are riding a sports car.

‘There are many nice people.’

Hyeonu smiled as he looked at the chat window. There were all types of comments. The common thing was that no matter what their pet looked like, they cherished it.

-In fact, I think that our pets will be better after their awakening.

...Even if their intentions were somewhat impure.

“Tang-E, you have to fight weakly as I explained earlier. Do you understand? Use the minimum of magic power and rely on your punches.”

“Understood, Master dude.”

Before starting the pet ranking battles, Hyeonu gave Tang-E a new challenge. Due to the level difference between Tang-E and regular pets, this was the same as when Hyeonu streamed to obtain a gold medal. It might be different if he wasn’t streaming, but there was no need to be brutally overwhelming during the stream. Just winning would be enough.

Tang-E spat on his paws and slammed them together. 

Bang!

“Where did you learn such a strange thing? Don’t do it later on.” Hyeonu frowned and hit Tang-E’s forehead.

***

[The pet ranking battle has started.]

[You haven’t entered the rankings yet.]

[Starting the placement match to enter the rankings.]

The pet ranking battle wasn’t only about pets going to the arena. Just like coaches in boxing and martial arts, players were positioned on the edge while pets fought on the central stage. Due to these rules, Hyeonu’s stream had attractions other than the fight. The player who owned the pet matched with Tang-E approached Hyeonu and asked, “Oh, it is Alley Leader. I’m really a fan. Can you take a photo with me just once?”

“Huh? A photo?” For a moment, Hyeonu wondered if this was a tactic only used within pet arena.

The player would distract the opponent while their pet would use the prepared strategy.

‘However, his face is telling me that this is real.’

The opponent was sincerely happy. It was like an excited child showing something off to his friends.

“Sure, I’ll take a photo with you. It isn’t something difficult.”

While Hyeonu was taking a photo with his opponent, Tang-E was looking at the small wolf in front of him.

“Hey, come over here. Quickly.” Tang-E made a proud gesture with his short legs. “Do you think I’m funny too?” 

Tang-E saw that the little wolf didn’t intend to move and acted. As if using Blink, Tang-E appeared in front of the wolf and swung his paws.

“Yiip!” A pitiful scream emerged from the wolf’s mouth.

The wolf took a blow unaware and was unable to come to its senses. Tang-E struck without any force. It was just a touch, but for the little wolf, the pain was like being hit by a rock. As Tang-E returned to his original position, he ordered the little wolf again, “Hey, sit down.”

The young wolf realized something through the excruciating pain. It would be less painful to obey the words of the monster in front of him.

“Pant pant.” The young wolf accepted reality and dropped his ass to the ground according to Tang-E’s order.

It was natural for the wolf to smile brightly. Tang-E stroked the wolf’s head with a small paw and gave another order. “Well done. Then lie down this time.”

The young wolf moved desperately. He lay down if Tang-E told him to lay down and crawled if told to crawl. This continued until Hyeonu shifted his attention from the other player.

“Eh? What is this?” Hyeonu rubbed his eyes like he couldn’t believe the scene in front of him. Of course, he was wearing a mask, so it was a very amusing sight. It was a slapstick comedy reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin.

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋ He’s only seeing it now. Sigh.

-Tang-E has been doing that since the beginning. How does Alley Leader normally teach him?

-Is Tang-E actually the master?

-Or perhaps he is practicing to boss Alley Leader around. ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

The viewers had been laughing and enjoying Tang-E’s actions for a while.

“He’s been doing this since the beginning?” Hyeonu asked the viewers in a dumbfounded manner.

He couldn’t adapt to the sight in front of him. Hyeonu’s appearance was in reaction to the wolf doing all sorts of tricks in front of Tang-E.

-Yes. He gave orders again and again right from the start.

-The wolf was hit once and started crawling. This is the feeling of being beaten by the local bully.

-Still, Tang-E is very fast. Wasn’t he originally a remote support? I think he is faster than me.

-What is Tang-E’s level? I think he was present from the very beginning. Shouldn’t he be over level 100?

-If he is level 100 and went through the awakening, did his stats change? I want to see Tang-E’s status window.

‘They said it was from the beginning? He is totally a neighborhood bully. That’s it.’

“Sigh.” Hyeonu thought that he should have an in-depth conversation with Tang-E after today’s stream.

Of course, it was a deep dialogue that included conversing with the body.

“What is Tang-E’s level? I’ll show you after this battle. There is no need for me to hide it. It seems that everyone wants to see it.” Hyeonu accepted the needs of the viewers.

In any case, there was already a lot of information that had been released about Tang-E. He could use buffs and was a unique rated pet. Additionally, he used powerful magic and was very cute. This didn’t mean he would show it all.

‘I just have to cover everything and only show the level.’

Since he was going to be a professional gamer in the future, the more information he hid, the better.

“Then I will surrender. I don’t think Ron can beat Tang-E.” The wolf’s owner quickly gave up on the match.

It must not be comfortable to see his pet rolling like that.

“If I knew Ron could do tricks like these, I would’ve trained him earlier. I learned good things today, Alley Leader.” 

Of course, there were people in the world who were different.

[Player ‘Gang Hyeonu’ has won.]

Tang-E’s first ranking battle ended strangely.

***

“Hey, are you crazy? Who told you to do that?” Hyeonu hit Tang-E.

“What did I do wrong? I didn’t hit him as hard as I could. I also didn’t use magic. I didn’t hit him recklessly. What’s the problem, Master dude?” Tang-E refuted Hyeonu’s words, picking at them logically.

The moment Tang-E responded like that, Hyeonu was rendered speechless.

“Since when did you talk so much? Is this the effect of the second awakening?’

“No, that isn’t...”

Hyeonu prevaricated, and Tang-E pushed Hyeonu more aggressively.

“Master dude always mistreats me. It is always unconditionally my fault. Therefore, I’m a bit sad. Ah, I’m the only one who...” Tang-E sighed with mournful eyes.

This was the peak of his performance. It was full of soul. It was art beyond acting. Nevertheless, Hyeonu noticed it. He had been with Tang-E for too long, so he wasn’t deceived.

‘It’s acting, as usual.’ 

Yet at this moment, Hyeonu became a human who abused animals. 

-Wow, it is usually like this.

-I hadn’t seen it...

-What’s wrong with our Tang-E?!

-Do you usually mistreat Tang-E? Really?

-Asking Alley Leader for the truth! 

Behind the mask, Hyeonu frowned. It felt like he was being played by Tang-E. Hyeonu glanced at the golden bear. Tang-E’s mouth was trembling slightly. It was almost definitely a laugh.

‘Damn,’ Hyeonu cursed inwardly.

“No way? How can that be? There are no masters as good as me.” Hyeonu hugged Tang-E.

Then he poked Tang-E in the side from an angle that the viewers couldn’t see.

“Ack! I know. Stop poking me. Hehe, that’s right. Master dude is good.”

Hyeonu changed methods and started tickling Tang-E when he saw that the bear showed no signs of saying what he wanted. It worked. Tang-E laughed and started to say what Hyeonu wanted. “Did you see? You can’t be a bad master when you play with me so well. I was trying to make the viewers feel sorry for me.”

-Yes, of course.

-An authentic masterpiece stream.

-I saw the scene where he was poked in the side ^^

Nevertheless, the viewers didn’t stop teasing Hyeonu.

“Ah! That’s right. Didn’t you ask me to show you Tang-E’s status window? I won’t reveal everything, but I’ll show you some of it.”

Hyeonu chose to show the status window as a way to divert the viewers’ attention.

[Status Window]

[Name: Tang-E

Level: 202

Species: Marionette Bear (Second awakening)

Title: Bung Bung Island’s Heir

Stats: Strength: 1,375  Agility: 1,321  Physique: 1,615  Magic Power: 3,012

The heir of Bung Bung Island. Bear-like physical abilities and high magic power are racial characteristics. He is very affectionate, unlike his prideful tone.

Intimacy: 100

Skills Possessed: Bear's Momentum, Forest's Blessing, Magic Power Affinity, Lightning, Giant Transformation, Roar, Ice, Fire, Subspace, Burning Magic Power, Breath of the Wind

Retained Attributes: Corrupted.]

Hyeonu turned the status window to private. He didn’t have to show everything. It was enough to show the audience the level and intimacy stat.

‘This is how friendly I am to Tang-E. Eh?’

At this moment, something strange caught Hyeonu’s eyes.

‘Corrupted?’

“What is this?”

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