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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The fire magic of Team Shadow’s magician struck the centaur captain’s waist. The centaur captain’s condition was disastrous. His body was covered with all sorts of wounds. Among them were several serious wounds. There was a long cut running down from the back of his human torso to the back of his horse lower half as well as a cut on the chest. Both were made by Hyeonu.

‘Now I have to begin,’ Tony thought while feeling anxious.

This way, they would be able to kill the centaur captain without any crisis. It was all due to the power of one person—the man who fought against the centaur captain without being pushed, Alley Leader. This was a situation created by that monstrous man.

Alley Leader was more monstrous than Tony thought. Tony hadn’t known there would be a player in the world who could have a one-on-one confrontation with a boss monster. He had believed the videos uploaded to A-World had been the result of the production situation. Then he actually experienced it and realized it was real.

Tony lowered his sword toward Alley Leader from a position where Alley Leader couldn’t see him. The other members of Team Shadow nodded at the same time. Tony’s action was a pre-planned gesture. He meant to pretend to make a mistake to damage Alley Leader.

Unaware of it, Hyeonu simply focused on dealing with the centaur captain.

‘Their skills aren’t trash. They are at the level of ordinary rankers.’

Anyone who heard it would wonder if this was a compliment, but it was actually a great compliment by Hyeonu’s standards. At this moment, a red glowing sphere flew toward Hyeonu’s back. Just then, a wall of ice appeared from somewhere and blocked the flames flying toward Hyeonu’s back. Hyeonu was no longer in the place where it would hit. The moment he noticed something flying to his back, Hyeonu used Blink to escape.

‘Has it finally started?’

“What’s going on?” Hyeonu asked Tony and the others in a low voice.

“It’s a mistake. It absolutely wasn’t on purpose. It seems that our magician made a mistake because you moved too quickly. I’m sorry,” Tony hurriedly apologized to Hyeonu in the midst of this urgent battle.

However, this led to Hyeonu being convinced. ‘Would people who make mistakes be so good at speaking? He isn’t flustered at all.’

“Then get out of this. Take your hands off the centaur captain raid. Right now. Otherwise, I will kill you,” Hyeonu said.

Everyone here could feel the extent of Hyeonu’s anger in his voice.

“This is ridiculous! We are the ones who found the boss,” one of Team Shadow’s players shouted at Hyeonu.

“Really? Then I will leave. Let’s see how long you can hold up. Then after logging out, watch my channel. Everyone will be a global star,” Hyeonu stated before moving to a different spot.

The place where he sat down already contained a bear with golden fur.

‘Alley Leader’s pet!’

‘When did he summon it?’

Team Shadow had many questions, but they couldn’t express them. This was a huge crisis. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say it was the worst situation. In front, there was the centaur captain with the double-edged sword who was almost impossible to deal with. In the rear, there was Alley Leader watching them with folded arms.

“Tony, what should we do?”

At his team member’s urgent cry, Tony bit his lips and replied with a distorted expression, “First, we need to kill the centaur captain. He doesn’t have much health left. After that, we have to kill Alley Leader. No one has been logged out yet. Stay calm.”

Following Tony’s orders, Team Shadow showed neat movements. Hyeonu smiled when he saw that. His smile was obviously full of ridicule.

‘Will those specs be able to prevent the attacks of the berserk centaur captain?’

“It is ridiculous.” This was something that Hyeonu could state because he had been in charge of attacking the centaur captain until just a moment ago. As far as Hyeonu knew, Tony’s specs could never stop the centaur captain’s attacks. Of course, he could stop it once or twice. However, it was the role of the sub-tanker to stop it once or twice, not the main tanker. One time...

Boom!

Then the second time...

‘The third is the last time.’

The double-edged sword of the centaur captain pierced Tony’s chest. It was as Hyeonu expected. There was nothing more to see after that. The centaur captain started to cut at Team Shadow as if to return all the pain he had suffered so far. The players disappeared with one slash.

Hyeonu didn’t come forward until all the players of Team Shadow were logged out. What about hitting them in the back? He wasn’t interested in such a thing. In fact, he just didn’t care about Team Shadow. He had no reason to be interested in such things.

There was no need. Only the weak would pay attention to such a thing. Now Hyeonu was the strong one, at least in Arena.

“Tang-E, please use Roar.” Hyeonu finished speaking and flew toward the centaur captain. Tang-E’s roar was heard from behind Hyeonu.

‘Okay. The defense is reduced.’

Hyeonu finally used his giant skills that he had saved so far. Now there were three different things.

[Giant’s Power has been used.]

[Your strength stat has increased.]

[Giant’s Nature has been used.]

[Your strength stat has increased.]

[Giant’s Origin has been used.]

[Your strength stat has increased.]

The number of Hyeonu’s giant skills had only increased by one, but the effect had doubled. The giant skills increased his strength stat in proportion to his magic power and physique stats. The centaur captain was in a good mood. It was fun for him to cut the flesh of the humans who annoyed him.

At least, until the human in front of him appeared. He couldn’t hit this man, no matter how he swung the double-edged sword. The human seemed like a ghost. However, he was the captain of the centaurs. He couldn’t lose to a single human.

“Kuah!” The centaur captain roared and started to run toward Hyeonu. The centaur captain’s lower body was of a horse, so it moved at a speed that humans couldn’t compare to. His movements were much more natural than those of someone riding a horse. The centaur captain’s double-edged sword danced. Hyeonu saw the double-edged sword move through the air and used Mysterious Sky Steps.

‘Mysterious Sky Steps.’

His body moved in a remarkable manner, leaving several afterimages behind. The centaur captain’s sword slashed through the air without going anywhere near Hyeonu. Suddenly, Hyeonu appeared close to the centaur captain and stabbed Dark Star into the centaur captain’s side.

However, it was the double-edged sword that was waiting for Hyeonu instead of the centaur captain’s skin. The centaur captain had been wary of Hyeonu’s movements from the start and lightly deflected Hyeonu’s sword. Just then, Hyeonu’s sword moved bizarrely.

Dark blue sparks appeared around the centaur captain’s double-edged sword. Hyeonu’s destination wasn’t the original place he aimed for but the opposite side. His sword, which was overlaid with pure energy, pierced the centaur captain’s side without any resistance. Tang-E’s roar that shattered defense and Hyeonu’s high damage helped Dark Star break through the centaur captain’s skin.

“Kuaaah!” A scream burst from the mouth of the centaur captain. The feeling of cold iron piercing his body was a pain that no living creature could bear.

[The centaur captain has been afflicted with the ‘burned’ abnormal state.]

Crasul’s curse caused a small fire to appear in the centaur captain’s wound.

“Kuooh!” The centaur captain screamed more harshly from the hot pain. Hyeonu smiled slightly at this sight. 

‘One more time here.’

There was a huge magical explosion inside the centaur captain. It was from the sword attached to the centaur captain’s body. The centaur captain had its health exhausted from the ongoing battle. He received Hyeonu’s attacks and couldn’t afford to fight back. It was even worse because the centaur captain’s defense was reduced from the berserk state. Everything would be over if he were hit again. He didn’t have the stamina to move the double-edged sword to fight back.

Hyeonu pulled the sword from the centaur captain’s body, and blood burst out like a flood.

[The centaur captain has been afflicted with the ‘bleeding’ abnormal state.]

Hyeonu dealt the final blow against the centaur captain. ‘Mysterious Sky Range.’ Dozens of black blades slammed into the centaur captain. Once the storm passed, the only trace left of the centaur captain was the blood on the ground.

[The centaur captain has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[You have leveled up.]

[All health and magic power have been restored.]

[The title ‘Centaur Slayer’ has been created.]

[Centaur Slayer]

[A title given to the player who kills the centaur captain.

Effect: Agility +100, physique +50.]

It was an unexpected gain.

‘I didn’t expect to get a title here.’

He got a title from an unthinkable place. Hyeonu had thought that he would only get items if he killed the centaur captain. Fortunately, he got a title.

‘It is a good performance.’ 

Still, the biggest income was separate from that. It was a video. Hyeonu had started filming everything from the moment he doubted Team Shadow. As a result, he was able to obtain a video similar to the one in the past that made him stand out to Nike.

“It is an actual profit.”

Hyeonu automatically smiled as he thought of the income he would receive because of this video.

***

Hyeonu uploaded the full version to his channel without any editing.

‘It will be good to appeal to my original intentions.’

It was an extremely calculated act of capitalism.

[Alley Leader’s beginning. Being hit in the back of the head.avi]

The number of hits rose in an instant. There were more than 100,000 in less than 10 minutes after it was uploaded.

‘Should I check the real-time response for the first time in ages?’

Hyeonu was full of expectation as he waited for a response to the video. Some time passed. The people watched the video that lasted an hour and started to write comments one by one.

-Buddha Buddha: Isn’t this similar to the dark elf video in the past? There are still idiots left.

-Seoul National University Goddess: It is too real to be a fake. They are too stupid to be real. Team Shadow is a perfect team of idiots.

-Nampo-dong Sushi Restaurant: I don’t know how they became rankers. They don’t have eyes for people.

-Jongno-gu Collector: It isn’t a hunting or streaming video. It is just like the beginning, so it gives a fresh feeling.

-Northern Hemisphere World: By the way, did they get a commission from somewhere? They are famous among the rankers. They are experts at hitting people in the back. I have to remember Team Shadow.

‘The responses are good.’

“The money is better.”

Hyeonu was pleased that the response from his subscribers was as good as expected. It was true that he had been concerned. He had been prepared, but it hadn’t been a pleasant experience to be hit in the back of the head. Then the moment he received tangible and intangible compensation, the uneasiness disappeared and left only a good mood.

Hyeonu knew one of the best ways to maintain this pleasant atmosphere. “Yeongchan, let’s eat chicken! I made some money today!!!”

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