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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Standing there was a man Hyeonu never expected to meet. It was a man Hyeonu knew very well. The identity of the person was... Hyeonu’s close friend, Yeongchan.

“Yeong—Argon?” Hyeonu was flustered and couldn’t finish his words. Why was Yeongchan in front of him? Hyeonu looked dumbfounded.

Yeongchan was also a diamond ranker in Arena. What was the possibility of a close friend being a diamond ranker while he was also a diamond ranker? In addition, the two of them were matched out of 500 people. This match had a very low probability of occurring.

[The ranking battle has started.]

‘Kwon Yeongchan...’ Hyeonu stared at Yeongchan standing on the other side, not moving despite seeing the message that the ranking battle had begun. 

Yeongchan had entered the Arena streaming market one step ahead of Hyeonu. He had shown off his talents and quickly gained popularity as a streamer. Not only did he have excellent skills, but his streaming ability was also outstanding. For more than a year before Hyeonu returned, Yeongchan was considered to be one of Korea’s best streamers.

Now Hyeonu met such a Yeongchan. In addition, their relationship wasn’t a secret. It was a public fact.

-Isn’t Argon a good friend of Alley Leader?

-What good friend? They are roommates. ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-There are also rumors that they are brothers.

-They must be very close, or it would be impossible to introduce Argon to Masked Fighting King.

-Still, Argon isn’t very lucky. How did he meet a friend in the rankings?

Anyone who played Arena and watched the streams of the two people knew that Argon and Alley Leader were close friends.

-The universe seems to be helping the streams of the two people.

-To be exact, it’s helping Alley Leader. What is Argon’s sin?

The viewers were enjoying it. What was a more interesting sight than a duel between friends? It was a spectacle of streaming. Alley Leader’s streams always had a story. They weren’t ordinary and had twists, making them more interesting.

“Why are you here?” Hyeonu asked Yeongchan. As far as Hyeonu knew, Yeongchan’s content for today wasn’t the arena. He thought they would meet one day but not today.

“This is my situation. So why are you standing in front of me? I don’t think it makes sense.” Yeongchan was also speaking gibberish like he was very flustered. Due to a problem, his content for today’s stream had disappeared, so he had to choose the arena ranking battles instead. Yet he ended up meeting Hyeonu. It was truly an unlucky fate for Yeongchan.

‘I can’t believe I ran into that jerk here...’

“Uwah! This can’t be! I will lose to a guy like this?!”

Yeongchan knew Hyeonu better than anyone else, and he knew Hyeonu was a monster. As far as he knew, Hyeonu had never reached his limits. Hyeonu didn’t know how to lose any games. He always won and won again. Yeongchan was certain of this as he was the one who watched Hyeonu the most closely. ‘Damn!’

“Let’s finish this quickly.” Yeongchan felt resigned. Even so, he chose to fight with all his strength and lose like a man.

“Why should I? Am I crazy? I think your dark history from today will be very intense. I will remember it for 10 years.” Hyeonu did not intend to end it easily.

Who cared about finishing the match so neatly? 

Hyeonu smiled. Of course, his smile couldn’t be seen because it was obscured by a mask.

However, Yeongchan had spent a lot of time with Hyeonu, so he could see it in Hyeonu’s eyes. Hyeonu was smiling widely enough to reveal his white teeth.

‘Jerk.’ It was a word that Yeongchan swallowed inwardly, unable to express it out loud.

***

Hyeonu was well aware of Yeongchan. It was the same for Yeongchan. After all, they had played dozens of games together. They might differ depending on the game, but their basic tendencies wouldn’t change.

‘I’m sure I’ll be dragged into a dogfight,’ Yeongchan thought. It was always like this. No matter what type of class they played in the game, Hyeonu would drag them into a dogfight like he couldn’t remember his skills. Hyeonu never gave a reason for it no matter how much Yeongchan asked. He would always reply with, “Just because.”

‘It won’t happen today.’ Yeongchan was determined not to have a dark history anymore. “Come on, you jerk!”

***

Hyeonu smiled at Yeongchan’s spirit. 

‘You know how I’m going to act.’

Nevertheless, knowing made no difference. Yeongchan would be beaten today. The difference between them in other games was nothing compared to the difference between them in Arena.

Yeongchan had always asked after being beaten, “Why do you always fight like this in the game when you encounter me?”

How could Hyeonu say that he was embarrassed about losing once? He still had the memory of being hit in the face by a fist during a fight in elementary school. ‘On a rainy day...’

“Yes, you jerk!” Hyeonu rushed toward Yeongchan.

***

Hyeonu had no intention of letting Yeongchan go at all.

‘I’ll show your dark history on A-World.’

This was a steadfast commitment. It soon became apparent from Hyeonu’s movements. Hyeonu placed one hand on the handle of Dark Star like he was prepared to draw the sword at any time.

‘Don’t tell me...?’ Seeing this scene, Yeongchan was thrown into confusion because he thought his speculation was incorrect. It was because Hyeonu’s pattern was different from that of the past.

‘Is he giving up on the dogfight?’ Yeongchan shook his head. There was no way that would happen. The habit that had been maintained for almost a decade now couldn’t be corrected. Yeongchan’s face was stiff even after his confusion had disappeared. Apart from the confusion, he was feeling a great deal of pressure from facing Hyeonu (Alley Leader). It was a fear that came from knowing Hyeonu’s skills the best.

Still, Yeongchan drew his sword. He had a premonition that if he didn’t draw it now, he wouldn’t be able to do so in the future. By the time Yeongchan pulled out his sword, Hyeonu was already standing in front of Yeongchan. Hyeonu quickly stretched out his fist, that he had placed on the handle of his sword. His fist went ripping through the air like that of a skilled fighter.

‘Stop it!’ Yeongchan had anticipated Hyeonu’s punch, so he didn’t panic. He just stretched out his sword in response. There was an incredibly loud sound when the human fist collided with iron. Simultaneously, Yeongchan’s sword bounced off.

“Uwah!” A groan emerged from Yeongchan’s mouth. Hyeonu’s punch had a monstrous power.

‘I don’t think the attack power of that gauntlet is very high...’

Hyeonu’s gauntlets might be unique rated, but they were a fairly low-level item. The gauntlets’ attack power was poor compared to that of the unique sword that Yeongchan wielded. Yet Hyeonu covered the difference with stats.

‘I can’t keep it in reserve.’

It was only one hit, but it was enough for Yeongchan to realize the difference between him and Hyeonu. So, Yeongchan immediately started to bring out all his strength. Yeongchan’s class was Apostle of the Stars. It was a class that grew stronger with the energy of the stars. After his third class advancement, he had become very strong, and two new buff skills were added.

‘Dubhe.’

[Dubhe has been used.]

[Your strength stat has increased.]

‘Merak.’

[Merak has been used.]

[Your agility stat has increased by 10.]

‘Phecda.’

[Phecda has been used.]

[Attack power has increased.]

[Movement speed has increased.]

‘Megrez.’

[Megrez has been used.]

[Defense has increased.]

[Your physique has increased.]

Yeongchan’s body was surrounded by a colorful energy.

Hyeonu opened his mouth when he felt the power of Yeongchan’s body. “Is it finished now?”

Yeongchan frowned and asked, “Were you waiting?”

“Of course. If I hit you and interfered, you would definitely hit my cube after this.”

“...Shut up and come at me, you jerk.”

“Why? Isn’t this amount of relaxation good enough? It is a good day.” Hyeonu shrugged and started giggling like he saw something amusing.

Yeongchan seemed to know what Hyeonu had seen. This was something Yeongchan had been trying to ignore. It was clear that Hyeonu was looking at the chat window.

“Let’s finish it.” Yeongchan held his sword tighter than anyone else.

The smile disappeared from Hyeonu’s face. “Yes, let’s do it properly.”

Hyeonu and Yeongchan clashed again. The two people rushed at each other, wielding their fist and sword at the same time like they had made a promise. This time, Yeongchan wasn’t pushed back. It was an equal match. Both of them took one or two steps back and prepared to attack each other again.

‘Amusement Star!’ Yeongchan used a skill, and his sword was dyed blue. Magic power gathered frantically, eventually turning Yeongchan’s sword into a three-meter-long sword.

Hyeonu saw Yeongchan and also used a skill. ‘Magic Power Explosion.’

Black magic power started to gather around Hyeonu’s fists. There was a buzzing sound like that of bees as the magic power continued to gather into a sphere. Then Hyeonu threw it. A blue giant sword and a black sphere collided. The giant sword pierced the black sphere and aimed at the human beyond it.

However, it was only momentary. The result was co-destruction. The giant sword lost its shape along with the black sphere. Shortly after the disappearance of the black pure energy, Hyeonu kicked off from the ground. ‘This is the end of the show.’

Until now, it had been a type of performance for the viewers. It was to provide a spectacle for those watching Hyeonu’s and Yeongchan’s streams. In actual PvP, these skills were only used for truly important blows, not at random times like they were doing now. It was like using grandiose skills against normal monsters. Using such skills against a player with a certain amount of defense and health was a shortcut to defeat.

Regardless of whether it was the same for Yeongchan, he narrowed the distance to Hyeonu while maintaining the blue pure energy around his sword. Yeongchan made full use of the sword’s length. He didn’t spend too much time in the arena, but Yeongchan was actually a master-level talent within the top 100 rankings. This meant he was talented enough to take full advantage of his weapon.

Yeongchan’s sword struck Hyeonu’s fist, and dark blue flames of magic power bloomed brilliantly. Streamer Argon seemed to have the upper hand over Alley Leader, but this was just Hyeonu’s afterimage. Yeongchan’s expression became distorted. Obviously, Yeongchan’s attack was strong, but that was it. His attack didn’t work at all. This damn man was the same as before. The pure energy around Hyeonu’s fists didn’t fade at all. Rather, it became denser.

‘Damn. He grew disgustingly well,’ Yeongchan remarked inwardly.

Just then, Hyeonu’s fist broke through Yeongchan’s storm-like attack. Yeongchan felt a shock that penetrated through his armor and dug into his internal organs. He thought it would be over in a few more hits. Even at this moment, Hyeonu’s fist was smashing everything.

In the end, Yeongchan made a decision. “I surrender.”

It was a surrender that had never ever been seen in the Celestial World.

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