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...

Read More...

‘Eh?’ Rain was flustered.

It was because this person was different from the Alley Leader he knew. A celestial streamer who had a tendency to go a bit overboard but always had kindness at the base—this was Rain’s image of Alley Leader. Yet the current Alley Leader was completely different. He was the opposite of that image. Alley Leader looked like he was living alone in the world.

“You aren’t coming? Then I’ll go,” he said with a voice filled with all the melancholy in the world.

The moment Rain heard Alley Leader’s voice, he drew his sword and prepared for the incoming attack. ‘It’s coming!’

Once Alley Leader finished talking, he began to move at a formidable speed. In the blink of an eye, Alley Leader crossed a distance of 20 meters and appeared in front of Rain.

‘Kuock!’ Rain groaned after receiving Alley Leader’s blow. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he would’ve thought he had been beaten by a rock, not a sword. The problem was that the attack wasn’t a skill but a normal cut. Yet even preventing this attack was hard to do.

‘How is he so strong?’ It didn’t make sense to Rain. He had clearly passed his third class advancement, and his damage increased dramatically. His fight with Teika had proven this. In that match, Rain had been pushed when it came to pure control, but he overcame it with overwhelming damage and skills.

However, Alley Leader was more powerful than him. It was unknown as to what Alley Leader was thinking, but he stepped back for a moment. This gave Rain enough time to take a deep breath. Then Rain’s eyes fell on a golden-furred bear. ‘Eh? A teddy bear?’

Rain noticed the cause of the difference between him and Alley Leader. ‘Pet...? Buff!!!’

The reason was the buffs. It was well-known that Tang-E, Alley Leader’s pet, used buffs. The powerful effects of Tang-E’s buffs had been guaranteed by Jin Sijong, the master of New World. He had said Tang-E’s buffs were superior to the buffs of many ranker priests. Yet it was impossible for Rain to do anything even though he knew this fact.

Alley Leader was already buffed. Killing the pet didn’t mean the buffs that had already been received would disappear. Rather, it would be better for Rain to use his own buffs.

‘I’ll start with the buffs first.’

This was the biggest change since the third class advancement. It was the existence of powerful self-buffs.

[Furious Beast]

[A furious beast doesn’t cover its front or back.

It just runs toward its prey.

Rating: Unique

Skill Proficiency: F+

Effect: Strength and agility increased by 30%. Attack power and movement speed increased by 25%.

Duration: 10 minutes.

Skill Cooldown Time: 30 minutes]

Furious Beast was the only buff skill of Rain’s class, Wild Swordsman.

[Furious Beast has been used.]

[Your strength stat has increased.]

[Your agility stat has increased.]

[Your attack power has increased.]

[Your movement speed has increased.]

‘Okay, it’s like this...’

Rain felt his stats rise. This stat increase was enough for him to try putting up a fight. This way, he wouldn’t be pushed one-sidedly by Alley Leader’s attacks. Despite that, it turned out that this thought was only temporary. Rain’s confidence plummeted to the ground the moment Alley Leader started earnestly using his skills.

The black energy from Alley Leader’s Dark Star eroded the floor. It was a display of Hyeonu’s skill, Area Proclamation. Simultaneously, a message window popped in front of Rain’s eyes.

[Player ‘Rain’ has entered a ‘slowed’ state.]

If it were just this, then Rain wouldn’t have lost confidence. Players with CC were rare, but there was at least one or two among the top rankers in the arena. Thus, it wasn’t special. However, Alley Leader had two CC skills.

[Player ‘Rain’ has entered a ‘slowed’ state.]

This time, a red energy poured from Alley Leader’s body, and the final destination of the energy was Rain’s body. Yet instead of lifting the debuffs, Rain moved his body relatively slowly. ‘It is slower than before I used the buff.’

Of course, Rain also had an item that had the effect of unlocking debuffs, but he didn’t use it hastily. He had to wait and use it when an opportunity came to him. He couldn’t waste his chance.

Rain’s sword collided with Alley Leader’s sword. Although Rain’s movement was slowed, his damage hadn’t been reduced. Naturally, he wasn’t pushed one-sidedly like in his previous clash with Alley Leader. He just couldn’t continue with his subsequent attacks. Due to Rain’s slow and passive movements, it was very difficult for him to block Alley Leader.

Rain gritted his teeth. It was disgusting. He wanted to know how there was such a fraudulent character. That said, he wouldn’t feel so unhappy if Alley Leader had a good or straightforward personality like Teika.

‘Hah...’ Rain sighed as the battle became increasingly one-sided.

***

‘Bah, I’ll get revenge for my bankbook,’ Hyeonu thought.

While Rain was momentarily distracted, Hyeonu summoned Tang-E to give him buffs. Following that, he pushed Rain one-sidedly. After seeing Rain use the buff, Hyeonu used Fighting Energy Emission and Area Proclamation to make Rain’s buff useless. It was a perfect display of dominance, but Hyeonu was a bit dissatisfied.

Then he soon figured out why he felt that way. His sense as a streamer caused a sharp pain in his heart.

‘Yes, it doesn’t feel good.’

Currently, the ranking battle was too ordinary. He was going to dominate his opponent and win as always. Even if he edited the video and placed it on his channel, the number of viewers wouldn’t be that high in comparison to other videos.

‘I am going to use everything overwhelmingly.’

Hyeonu instantly used the giant buffs and One Who Yearns.

[Giant’s Nature has been used.]

[Your strength stat has increased.]

[Giant’s Origin has been used.]

[The strength stat has increased.]

[One Who Yearns has been used.]

[All stats have increased.]

All his stats were increased by 30% due to One Who Yearns. On top of that, his strength stat increased to over 4,000 with Giant’s Nature and Giant’s Origin.

Hyeonu was a monster. The stat increases made him strong enough to fight boss monsters of the same level. Hyeonu’s strength was demonstrated in the latest clash with Rain. The noise it created was two or three times louder than the previous clash.

Rain used his skills to strike at Hyeonu, but his powerful momentum just rebounded. The viewers who were watching Hyeonu’s stream lost their voices. It was an overwhelming sight.

-Crazy!!!

-What is this? What is the reality that I’m seeing?

-This isn’t reality. It is virtual reality. Yet what is this?

-He is beating the first ranked person in the arena like this. The difference in stats is huge.

-It isn’t a fight. His skills and stats aren’t sufficient, so there is no answer.

Hyeonu didn’t use any special skills. He just pushed with his strength. The atmosphere was sadly torn apart because of ordinary attacks that didn’t use any skills. It was just a powerful blow, a common hit. Rain blocked such a basic blow and knelt down while throwing up blood.

Hyeonu dealt the final blow to Rain who was kneeling powerlessly. The dark pure energy created a gash from Rain’s shoulders to his pelvis, and blood spurted out from the long cut.

[Player ‘Gang Hyeonu’ has won.]

[Win the battle against the opponent 1/1]

This was the moment Hyeonu ascended to the throne.

***

Hyeonu left the arena as soon as he saw the message in front of him.

“E-Excuse me...” Rain had seemed to call out to him. However, it didn’t matter to Hyeonu anymore. Hyeonu was currently in a state of intense emotions. He had reached his goal after returning to Arena.

‘I am finally ranked first in the arena!’

Ultimately, it was achieved. No, he got it. He regained one of his past glories—first place in the arena rankings. In the past, he had earned a number of points for each victory. It wasn’t the same process as now. The method had changed, but the essence wasn’t different. In the end, the player who fought the best was in that position.

‘There are two things left.’

He still had to get first overall in character level as well as make his debut as a professional gamer and lead his team to victory. The former, like getting first place in the arena, was reclaiming a former glory. The latter was a new goal and an act of personal revenge.

‘JT Telecom won the Korean League previously.’

JT Telecom was Jung Hanbaek’s team. They were innocent. Their only sin was bringing in Jung Hanbaek.

‘Ah, I’m streaming.’ This finally occurred to Hyeonu after being lost in his thoughts for a long time. He had forgotten about it in the joy of becoming ranked first in the arena.

“Everyone, I’m finally ranked first in the arena.”

-Now he is looking at the chat window. Congratulations on getting first in the arena!!

-Let’s celebrate Alley Leader getting first place!

-Congratulations on your first place!

-Now hunt hard and take first place in the level rankings!!

The viewers celebrated Hyeonu getting first in the arena. In addition to words, there were viewers who expressed their feelings through gold coins.

-First Place in the Rankings has gifted you 7,777 gold coins.

-Alley Leader’s Big Fan has gifted you 11,111 gold coins.

“Ah, thank you First Place in the Rankings for the 7,777 gold coins. I will work hard in the future. Thank you Alley Leader’s Big Fan for the 11,111 gold coins. I’ll buy a potion with this!”

Hyeonu trembled at the sight of the gold coins that started to explode again. It wasn’t just his heart that felt warm. He even felt his body had become fat. Then a huge amount of gold coins was given by a viewer.

-I’m Just a Celebrity has gifted you 111,111 gold coins.

-Congratulations on your first place ranking, Master!

The owner of the nickname ‘I’m Just a Celebrity’ was Dwayne. He had learned PvP from Hyeonu and was currently a top Hollywood actor challenging the gold medal.

“I hope Dwayne will also win a gold medal. Thank you for the gold coins. I’ll use them well!”

‘It is up to here for today.’ Hyeonu thought that the stream should end. It was time to give himself a gift.

“Then I will end the stream here today. I’ve achieved first place in the arena like I aimed for. Viewers, I’ll see you the next time I start streaming. I am grateful for today.”

***

‘Right. The quest!’

Hyeonu, who was about to quit Arena, recalled the quest and looked at the message windows he had put aside.

[Undefeated Sovereign]

[For the first time in the arena, the last trial is being given to you, who have never lost, as you challenge the king’s position.

Rating: S

Conditions: Win the battle against the opponent 1/1

Rewards: Title, skill book.]

[Undefeated Sovereign has been cleared.]

[The title ‘Undefeated Sovereign’ has been created.]

[Undefeated Sovereign]

[A title given to a player who reached first in the arena while undefeated.

Effect: All stats will increase by 50% when fighting players.]

‘A jackpot, a jackpot!’

The title’s effects were fraudulent since the conditions for generating the quest were near impossible. His stats increased by 50% against players. This meant that Hyeonu would never lose to players in the future. He wouldn’t be able to lose unless he let them win on purpose. Hyeonu was ranked first in the arena as of now. Once his current state was combined with the 50% rise in stats, it would be a disaster for other players.

‘Then let’s check out the skill book.’

Hyeonu confirmed the information of the skill book and couldn’t help crying out like a beast, “Amazing!!!!!”

The title was just the beginning. The real jackpot was the skill book.

Previous Chapter Next Chapter

(2/6) Weekly chapters. No set days. 

Official Artwork Page

If there are Korean honorifics you don't understand, please check out my Glossary of Common Korean Terms

Glossary of Common Korean Terms