Ranker's Return

“Really? New World?” Ket questioned it. He was quite surprised. Hyeonu had seen Ket a few times, but he had never seen Ket open his eyes so wide.

“Is it that shocking?”

“New World is a big guild that everyone knows. Anyone who plays Arena would be amazed that you, Alley Leader, actually know New World.”

‘He knows that money ghost?’

A money ghost—it was a term that referred to Jin Sijong in reality. People called him a money ghost because his talent for collecting money was like a ghost’s.

‘Looking at his face, they haven’t met in reality yet.’

Hyeonu was unaware of what Ket was thinking and spoke what he needed to say. “Then the Pioneer Guild should come with me. New World did the main scenario last time, so there is a certain connection with the imperial palace...” Hyeonu didn’t finish his words. Some things were omitted.

 Just as Ket was about to answer, Asu intervened and replied instead, “Then let’s go quickly, Alley Leader.”

“Yes, then let’s go.”

The Pioneer Guild and Hyeonu moved to the camp in the Hejin Mountains where the imperial rangers were gathered. In the meantime, Asu continued to stay by Hyeonu’s side. It was to say some words. Then he finally obtained the right timing.

‘Now.’

“That... Can I add you as a friend?”

Jewel, another guild member, saw this and laughed. “Is that why you’ve been following him around like a dog who needs to go poop?”

Hyeonu was bewildered that he was asked to be Asu’s friend. ‘Are there nine people now?’

Lebron’s words were still embedded deep in Hyeonu’s heart.

“Yes. Please do so.”

***

The incident with Asu passed, and Hyeonu and the Pioneer Guild arrived at the camp of imperial rangers. The imperial rangers greeted them. The rangers recognized Hyeonu and led them to the location of the ranger leader.

“The captain is in here. Then we’ll be going now.” They were guided by the imperial rangers and arrived at a small tent.

There was a man with an incredible appearance in the tent. “I received the message. Are you Lebron’s disciple? Who are the people quivering behind you?”

He boasted a large stature and was taller than the 180-centimeter Hyeonu. The head of the imperial rangers—his name was Garon.

“They are the adventurers who will help uncover the reality of the monster wave. They are powerful adventurers. They can explore the great mountains although their skills are limited.”

Garon showed dissatisfaction at Hyeonu’s answer. By Garon’s standards, the Pioneer Guild members brought by Hyeonu were very weak. Of course, Hyeonu was also weak, but he was Lebron’s disciple.

“Really? Then go and hunt monsters in the great mountains. They aren’t normal monsters. They are monsters with their bodies covered in tattoos. Go and hunt them.”

[A quest has been created.]

[Kill the Tattooed Monsters]

[The tattooed monsters are created by forces that threaten the empire. Kill them to reduce the influence of these forces.

Rating: MS

Conditions: Kill the Tattooed Monsters 0/???

Rewards: Experience, imperial contribution.]

“I got a quest. It has a main scenario rating,” Ket whispered to Hyeonu.

“I received it as well. I guess it is given before the script of the scenario continues,” Hyeonu replied.

Then he politely said goodbye to Garon. Reputation management had to be done as usual. This was how unexpected opportunities could come at any time.

“Then we will go. We’ll see you again after hunting the monsters.” Garon waved his hand like he already knew it.

Hyeonu and the Pioneer Guild left the way they entered.

“Then we’ll split up here. From now on, it depends on how you act and how lucky you are.” Hyeonu’s words were simple. Break through the main scenario with crazy skills or solve the main scenario with great luck. It was irrelevant to him what method they used.

“How interesting. The main scenario...” Ket didn’t regret accepting Hyeonu’s offer. He thought it was a very good opportunity.

‘There is no place I want to go lately.’

“I’m very grateful for this. I’ll definitely call you next time, even if it isn’t the main scenario.”

The Pioneer Guild members left the ranger camp.

***

Hyeonu, the man in the dark blue coat, raced through the Hejin Mountains. His eyes were on a stone golem with tattoos all over its body.

Thump!

It was an expressionless stone golem, but urgency could be felt from its actions. The stone golem was moving to escape. However, during a short battle with Hyeonu, all parts of its body got broken, and now the stone golem couldn’t escape from him. The sword energy that stretched out from Hyeonu’s sword collided with the body of the stone golem, shattering it beyond recognition.

‘This is the problem with golems.’

It was boring. Unlike creatures, the golems didn’t have buffs, and there wasn’t the unique feeling of piercing flesh. It wasn’t fun, and hunting took a long time. 

A ray of light appeared around Hyeonu. It was a sign of leveling up.

[The enhanced stone golem has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[You have leveled up.]

[All health and magic power have been restored.]

[Kill the Tattooed Monsters 23/???]

Hyeonu checked his status window. Now that he had leveled up, he had to distribute his stat points.

[Status Window]

[Character Name: Gang Hyeonu

Level: 137

Class: Knight of Keon

Title: Lebron’s Disciple, Warrior Acknowledged by Khan, New Star Acknowledged by Lebron, First Person to Enter the Imperial Palace, First Person to Meet the Emperor, Achieved 100 Consecutive Wins, Solo Raider, Desert Dragon Slayer, Ruler of the Spider Mine, Viscount Vampire Killer

Stats: Strength: 260 (+550)  Agility: 370 (+600)  Physique: 150 (+650)  Magic Power: 155 (+700)  Fighting Energy: 150 (+300)

Remaining stat points: 5

Retained Attributes: Dark]

‘Level 137.’

This was a number that proved Hyeonu spent most of his time in Arena.

‘I am chasing them quickly.’

Hyeonu had gained 137 levels during the same amount of time rankers used to gain 20 to 30 levels. However, that was it. Unlike before, Hyeonu wasn’t pleased or impressed.

‘What happens from now on is more important.’

Hyeonu cleared his status window and opened his skills window. The skills window had been neatly arranged. There was no detailed description, only the skill name and ranking.

[Weapons Mastery (B-)]

[Master of Combat (C+)]

[You and I in One Shot! (C+)]

[Magic Power Control (C+)]

[Magic Power Compression (D)]

[Body Strengthening (C-)]

[Increased Magic Power (D+)]

[Magic Power Cohesion (D+)]

[Bash (B-)]

[Heavy Blow (B-)]

[Crescent Moon Cut (D+)]

[Magic Power Explosion (E+)]

[Mysterious Sky Demonic Art (1 star)]

There were eight passive skills and five immediately activated skills—13 in total.

‘It isn’t lacking or excessive.’

The number of immediate use skills might be insufficient, but there were many sustainable skills that surpassed them.

“I also have Tang-E, so there are many.”

Those weren’t all of them. Hyeonu still had Tang-E—a unique pet who had many skills. Considering Tang-E, Hyeonu wasn’t lacking in skills as compared to other rankers. This was even compared to Rain who was first in the rankings. 

“Is it already this time?” Hyeonu realized that it was time to exit Arena. He ran like crazy. Very few areas were safe in the Hejin Mountains. He had to go to a relatively safe area if he didn’t want to be surrounded by monsters the moment he connected to Arena the next time.

***

Hyeonu turned on his laptop and checked his mail out of habit.

“The video of hunting Crasul... Here it is.”

Ellis had signed a contract with Nike, so Hyeonu’s personal video editing was pushed back a little. To be exact, Hyeonu had too many videos. During the week, there had been five videos that Hyeonu sent to Ellis. This meant that Hyeonu played Arena in a nonstop manner.

“Okay. The upload is over. Let’s see the reactions.”

Hyeonu observed his channel closely in real time for the first time in a while. It was the first time he saw the responses in real time apart from the early days when Alley Leader’s channel was first opened.

-Kuk... I’m wetting my pants again today.

-It shows that life is meant to be lived alone.

-How to get that class? I wish he would share it. It looks really good.

-These aren’t the movements of a human. Really the god of battle. Do you admit it? I really admit it.

The responses were very good. It was beyond friendly admiration and closer to praise. A smile flashed on Hyeonu’s face. No one disliked praise. Then an unobtrusive comment caught Hyeonu’s eyes.

‘What?’

-It is just the power of his items. He also has a rare class, so it is the power of his class. With those specs, I would be able to kill it alone. What’s so good about this? Honestly, if I had Alley Leader’s character, I would also dominate in PvP and solo raid boss monsters.

“The power of my items? The power of my class? This jerk!!”

Hyeonu was furious. How much effort did he put into getting these items and gaining these skills?

‘You wouldn’t have acquired anything if it were you.’

He didn’t want to be belittled by someone who knew nothing. However, this anger was only momentary.

“If he had said it in front of me, I would've done a character deletion bet right away...”

This was his channel, so he would do payback differently. Hyeonu smiled widely. It was a really gloomy smile. Hyeonu clicked his mouse.

-African Eagle has been blacklisted.

“Don’t even think about watching my videos in the future.”

Now the owner of that comment wouldn’t be able to see all the videos on the A-World Alley Leader channel using his account. People couldn’t watch videos in A-World without logging in. Now the owner of African Eagle would have to borrow his acquaintance’s ID to watch Hyeonu’s videos.

“Just wait until you get caught. It will be very good.”

***

-You have been blacklisted by the channel’s administrator. You can no longer watch videos from this channel.

“Uwahh!” The owner of A-World’s African Eagle yelled at the message window in front of him.

‘Son of a bitch, blacklisting me just because I said some words?’

The more he thought about it, the more unfair he felt and the angrier he became. Ultimately unable to overcome his anger, he banged on his keyboard.

“Hey, what’s going on? What happened?”

Other people heard the sound and gathered in his room.

“Hanbaek, did something happen? What is it?”

“Hyung, who were you swearing at?”

That’s right. African Eagle—it was the A-World ID of Jung Hanbaek.

“No. Nothing. I was just excited for a moment. You don’t have to worry about it. I’m sorry for making a fuss during the break.” Jung Hanbaek bowed toward the JT Telecom players who had flocked to his room.

He was especially sorry for his roommate, Yoo Bin.

‘Ah. Everyone wasn’t playing the game today.’

Of course, Jung Hanbaek’s words didn’t contain any sincerity.

‘Alley Leader, this jerk. The next time we meet, I’ll kill you. I’m going to kill you.’

“Please go back to what you were doing. I’m sorry.” Jung Hanbaek bowed his head. The more he did this, the angrier he became at Alley Leader. Without knowing it, Hyeonu had carried out a small act of revenge on Jung Hanbaek.

Previous Chapter Next Chapter

(3/7) 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