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 Extra Wide Drake, Caruso, has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[You have leveled up.]

[All health and magic power have been restored.]

[Your fighting energy stat has risen by 3.]

[The title ‘Drake Hunter’ has been created.]

[Drake Hunter]

[A title given to the first player to kill Extra Wide Drake Caruso.

Effect: Attack power is increased by 5%.]

Hyeonu smiled happily when he saw what the drake had left behind. It was like the saying, ‘A tiger dies and leaves its skin. A man dies and leaves his name.’

The drake died here and left leather behind. There was even a title.

‘It truly feels good to ride on a bus,’ Hyeonu thought. Johannes’ attack proved why he was a dragon. He killed the drake with just one spell.

[Caruso’s Leather]

[The leather of the drake, Caruso, who roamed the Balder Mountains like it was his house.

Due to some type of energy, the leather was discolored and became gray.

The item’s effects are enhanced when it is used in crafting.

Rating: Unique

Effect: None]

[Caruso’s Heart]

[The heart of the drake, Caruso, who roamed the Balder Mountains like it was his house.

Powerful magic power is condensed in it.

The item’s effects are enhanced when it is used in crafting.

Rating: Unique

Restrictions: Pet

Effect: None]

Hyeonu checked the items left behind by the drake, Caruso. They were all unique-grade items used as materials. It was what he wanted. Hyeonu couldn’t resist his joy and laughed loudly, “Huhuhu!”

Johannes looked on with a serious face. ‘He is stronger than I thought.’

The drake’s leather was extremely hard. This was the case of ordinary drakes. So how hard would the leather of a drake with an essence be? However, this human easily cut apart such leather. The human’s magic power usage seemed even better than ordinary hatchlings.

‘Adventurers... They are more useful than I thought,’ Johannes commented inwardly. The burden would be less if the number of adventurers at this level increased. It seemed he could make full use of them if he gave appropriate rewards.

‘I have to work diligently to gather artifacts.’

In addition, this fact should never be communicated to other dragons. He would collect many artifacts and use them to get more rest.

*** 

“Groan...” Hyeonu stretched while his entire body creaked.

‘I can sleep.’

The stream’s script that had been written in consultation with Nike was now finalized. The file Hyeonu sent was the final script that he had thought about. A proofread and smoothed out version would arrive in Hyeonu’s mailbox tomorrow morning. Hyeonu closed his laptop and lay in bed. The situation where he went to meet Johannes suddenly came to his mind.

‘Who were those bastards?’

They had blocked his way. It was a regular party of six people.

‘It is uncomfortable no matter how much I think about it.’

“I will ignore them one more time if they block my way again. However, I will kill them with no exceptions the third time.”

Hyeonu disliked tricks being played in front of him, but he hated tricks being played behind his back even more. Still, his status was close to that of a public figure, so he thought he should show some tolerance. Thus, he decided to give them one more chance. Still, it would only be up to three times.

‘Only up to three times,’ Hyeonu pledged. It didn’t take long before he fell asleep.

*** 

“This is the last one. Got it? Go deeper than here, and there is a place called Cruise Mountain. It is a place filled with monsters who have absorbed too much magic power. The highest peak should have a big monument. Break it. Then the barrier preventing movement between the East Continent and West Continent will disappear.”

[A quest has been created.]

[Cruise Mountain Conquest]

[Johannes’s last condition.

Break the monument at the top of the highest peak of Cruise Mountain.

Rating: MS

Conditions: Monument destruction 0/1

Rewards: Experience, can move to the East Continent.]

‘The sixth main scenario is nothing special. Isn’t that so? Is the sixth one just a springboard for the seventh?’ Hyeonu had many thoughts when he saw the quest window.

It didn’t take much time, and it wasn’t difficult. However, this was an obvious mistake. Hyeonu was just lucky. The story would’ve been different if other large guilds had received the main scenario from Johannes. A lot of time would’ve been consumed in the process of meeting and persuading the emperor. They probably would’ve cursed at the difficulty of the quest.

What about the second one—gain the consent of leaders from three different species? It was almost certain that they would’ve spent their time scouring the West Continent for information to clear this quest. Only Hyeonu could run the main scenario like a sports car on the Autobahn.

Hyeonu didn’t know this and simply shouted inwardly that the sixth main scenario was ‘too easy’ and a ‘springboard for the next main scenario.’

“I understand. Cruise Mountain... conquest...” Hyeonu replied with no sincerity and turned to exit the cave. 

Johannes smiled doubtfully at this sight. “It won’t be as easy as you think. The monsters on Cruise Mountain are a bit rough.”

*** 

Hyeonu left Johannes’ residence and walked toward Cruise Mountain. The place where he was meeting Gang Junggu was Derek Castle. There was quite a lot of time left until they had to meet, so Hyeonu was going to use this time to explore in advance.

‘It is a bit far from here, so I can’t go to Cruise Mountain. I will just determine the path there first.’ 

Since the distance to Cruise Mountain wasn’t short, so he planned to check the route. Hyeonu definitely had such a plan if only it wasn’t for the ones who blocked his path.

“Are you Alley Leader? That outfit and that mask... In addition, you are good enough to go to the Balder Mountains. I’m right, aren’t I?” One of the people blocking Hyeonu’s way came forward. He asked a question, but he already seemed certain in his heart.

‘They look like the bastards from yesterday. Did they chase me?’

The encounters yesterday and today couldn’t be dismissed as coincidences. They’d met at the entrance and the inside of the Balder Mountains. There was too little time, and the gap between both places was significant. Hyeonu’s idea was that they followed him.

‘It was also from a very far distance, so I didn’t notice.’ 

In general, the identities of people who did such things were the same. They either came at someone’s request or were struggling to get their name known. It was very easy to distinguish between the two. A few questions were enough.

“Do you know me? I don’t know beggars like you. I thought I knew every decent ranker... You’re too average.” Hyeonu started acting to figure out their identity and purpose.

From the beginning, he stepped on their pride. It was a common method, but the effect was excellent.

“What? You don’t know us?”

“Don’t you know that we are 19th place in the A-World channel rankings after beating Mano?!”

Two out of the six people who blocked Hyeonu’s way shouted.

‘19th place? Who is that?’ Hyeonu heard their explanation, but no name came to his mind.

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t remember a guild that was in 19th place.

“19th place? What is so great about that? I don’t even know your name...?” He didn’t remember, so the quickest and most effective way was to ask. However, Hyeonu’s speech was a little over the top.

“What? You don’t know? You must be pretending not to know, right?” The reaction immediately burst out like a scream.

Their response was natural. 19th on A-World’s channel rankings—it was a ranking that anyone who played Arena had to know. Their channel was ranked 19th out of tens of thousands of channels. It was also a significant topic of interest because they became ranked 19th over the existing large guild, Mano. The Zenith Guild was the hottest issue apart from Alley Leader.

“The entire community is being bombarded with our name. Zenith here, Zenith there as well. Many TV shows dealing with Arena talk about us. Yet you don’t know us?”

“So? What about it? This is what you’re so proud of? Isn’t it a given? You just appeared a bit on the community and on TV shows. It isn’t that hard. I just need to turn on the stream right away, and there will be thousands or tens of thousands of posts on the community about Alley Leader. You just need to beat any content, and it will be reviewed on an Arena program. Is it that great? It is an everyday thing, everyday,” Hyeonu mocked them with his low voice and calm tone.

This was a bombardment of facts. It was also a missile that shattered the pride of the Zenith Guild members.

“What...?” The six Zenith Guild members were shocked by Hyeonu’s words and couldn’t speak properly.

‘They didn’t receive someone’s order. It seems they are trying to raise their status... I can’t see it.’

They were people who wanted to raise awareness using Alley Leader. The only difference from ordinary people was that they were the main pillar of a large guild.

“So don’t block the roads of busy people. If you want attention, develop your own skills or come up with the right content to gather viewers. This is the last time I will end things with words, trash. The next time you block me, you’ll show up on my channel. Be mentally prepared.” Hyeonu gave a cold warning and ripped his return book to move to Derek Castle.

*** 

“Sigh, trash.”

They didn’t want to develop their own abilities but wanted to rob other people’s things in order to enjoy a sweet fruit. He thought it was disgusting every time he saw it.

‘It would’ve been better if they asked me politely to appear on their stream.’

Those who want to stand out by harming others—honestly, they never looked good.

‘By the way, what should I do until Brother Junggu comes?’

The presence of the Zenith Guild meant he couldn’t go to Cruise Mountain after leaving Johannes’ dungeon. Hyeonu’s plan completely crumbled to pieces. There was around one hour left. It was both a long yet short time. Hyeonu was troubled. How could he make good use of this time?

However, it was a superfluous worry. It was because Hyeonu received something to do straight away.

-From Gang Junggu: I came to Derek Castle. Where should I go?

‘Huh? He’s already here?’ Hyeonu thought.

Gang Junggu appeared at Derek Castle earlier than promised.

-To Gang Junggu: I’m taking a break at the restaurant near the north gate. You can go there.

-From Gang Junggu: I got it.

Less than five minutes after the whisper, Hyeonu saw Gang Junggu enter the restaurant.

“Brother! Over here!” Hyeonu raised his hand and called out to Gang Junggu.

Gang Junggu saw Hyeonu and came over quickly. “Yes, but now isn’t the time to be smiling like this. Something big has happened.”

“Huh? Something big?” Hyeonu asked with wide eyes.

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