Ranker’s Return

Kalen looked surprised when he saw Hyeonu who appeared out of nowhere. He looked like he had seen a ghost.

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“Ah… Alley Leader, you came?”

Kalen quickly controlled his expression and nodded slightly to Hyeonu.

“So what decision did the Venom Guild make? Will you gamble or will you be complacent?” Hyeonu approached Kalen and asked again.

‘He will say he’ll do it unconditionally.’

Hyeonu knew to some extent what answer Kalen would come up with. The fact that this meeting itself was arranged meant that a decision had been made. Otherwise, there would be no reason to meet.

“I will accept your offer.
I will commit myself to the undead army.
By the way, is this possible? Edward is half-crazy…”

Kalen was still skeptical. How did Hyeonu make this suggestion with such confidence?

“Yes, it is.
In any case, I’m glad you made the decision now.
If you were a few days late, I would’ve asked another guild.”

Hyeonu mentioned something that didn’t even exist. He had no intention of doing this and there was no guild that would do so.
Nevertheless, he mentioned it. It was because it would put psychological pressure on Kalen and the Venom Guild.

“Ah… I’m glad.”

Kalen was unaware of the situation and sighed with relief. He really thought Hyeonu would take the suggestion to another guild.

“I’ll get back to you in a few days, Kalen.
Please wait a bit.”

Hyeonu smiled brightly, waved his hand and disappeared.

 

***

 

Once Hyeonu’s livestream ended, the whole community was filled with talk about the different species. The different species that emerged on Hyeonu’s livestream was different from what they knew. They weren’t just different from humans.
They had their own characteristics.

The orcs had their own individual traits, and it was the same for the elves.
Each had their own advantages. It was very different from humans who had no characteristics.

[Is the species balance correct?]

I watched Alley Leader’s livestream yesterday.
The orc was really good, right? It just gives more stats? Isn’t this unconditionally good toward the different species? Humans have no bonuses, right?

[I heard from the elf elementalists of the Argon Guild.]

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They said that after becoming an elf, they became 20% stronger. It is about that much if the new stats and skills were combined.

Our guild is contemplating converting to the elf species.

The higher level players showed much greater interest than the lower level players. For those at a lower level, the appearance of Yeongchan and Teika was a distant future. It didn’t matter that much. However, the players with a higher level were on a similar level to Yeongchan, who appeared on the live stream. It was normal for them to be more interested. There were also people around Hyeonu who were interested in the different species.

“Hyung-nim, it isn’t possible.”

Hyeonu grabbed the arm of Kim Seokjung, who was pathetically holding his shoulder.

“Can you listen to this request? All the other children are done…”

Kim Seokjung had a very sad expression on his face.

He asked again and again, but Hyeonu shook his head relentlessly.

“The priests don’t accept it.
How many times have I told you, Hyung-nim? There are no priests in any of the species.
Not even the orcs.”

Hyeonu had a frustrated expression. Kim Seokjung’s request wasn’t something that Hyeonu could grant. What wasn’t possible wasn’t possible. It was also ridiculous for Hyeonu to come forward and ask for something that couldn’t be accepted by the different species.

“Why not?”

“How many times have I told you, Hyung-nim? The different species don’t have a god like Liru.
Each species has its own god.
Therefore, there are those who act like priests.
So it isn’t possible,” Hyeonu had said it many times, but he repeated it again.

“Really?”

“Ah, really.
Why would I lie to Hyung-nim? Please trust me, Hyung-nim.”

Hyeonu rubbed Kim Seokjung’s shoulder.

“Hyung-nim, the different species don’t have priests that give various buffs.
The base specs are just set a bit stronger than humans.
Just because a shaman takes on the role of a priest doesn’t mean that the shaman will become a priest, right? Additionally, I’m only telling this to Hyung-nim…
do you know what I saw in the divine world?”

Hyeonu quickly changed his words before Kim Seokjung brought up the same thing again.

“The divine world? What did you see in the divine world?”

There was some fortune out of misfortune and Kim Seokjung showed great interest in Hyeonu’s words. His curiosity about the divine world that he had never been to was awakened.

“I saw Liru.”

“Liru? That Liru?” Kim Seokjung asked again and again.

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“Yes, that's right.
It is the Liru that Hyung-nim knows.”

Hyeonu nodded.

“How was it?”

“He is just as depicted in the temple.
He is very strong.
It is enough to move thousands of people through space by flicking a finger?”

“Is that so? The name of a god isn’t a waste.”

Kim Seokjung smiled like it was interesting.

“By the way, how is Liu Shei? I did as Hyung-nim asked, but…”

Hyeonu changed the topic without stopping. He just pulled out anything that came to mind.

“Well…
he is begging.
How much money did he pour out here?”

Kim Seokjung burst out laughing.

Hyeonu didn’t get a call from Liu Shei. Gang Junggu and Kim Seokjung even deliberately ignored Liu Shei’s words.

“Why are you doing this? Liu Shei isn’t going out like he used to.”

“There is no reason.
It is funny.
I also have to pretend to be expensive once in a while so that he knows to be grateful.”

Kim Seokjung continued to laugh. It was really a joke. It brought life to his boring daily life.

“What are you going to do next?”

“Let’s see… it is something my brother requested, so I have to take care of it, right?”

“You might be bored… are you okay with that?”

Hyeonu looked a bit sorry. What he asked Kim Seokjung to do was constantly hunt. Ultimately, he asked Kim Seokjung to do his fifth class advancement as soon as possible. It wasn’t just Kim Seokjung, but most of the elites of New World.

“What is boring? We have to hunt to live and eat anyway.
What difference does it make if we do a bit more of it? That’s what it is.”

Kim Seokjung waved his hand. Hyeonu’s request honestly wasn’t a big deal. They would’ve had to hunt anyway, even if Hyeonu didn’t ask for it.

“Nevertheless, the speed is different, Hyung-nim.”

“In any case, they will work hard when they hear what you said about the fifth class advancement.”

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The difference between the fifth and fourth class advancement was extreme. It appeared more clearly in the match between Hyeonu and Teika that took place not long ago. Most of the rankers judged that although their skills were good, the difference in strength between the two of them was the presence or absence of the fifth class advancement. It was inevitable because Hyeonu’s arena ranking battles were so different from when he was in the fourth class advancement state and when he announced that he had done the fifth class advancement.

It was just that the opponent couldn’t handle Hyeonu’s power itself.

“Hyung-nim, it will definitely be a great help if you do the fifth class advancement early.
In the future, the speed at which you level up might not be the same as it used to be,” Hyeonu said with a meaningful expression.

Hyeonu had his own plan.

“Of course, it might not be like this.
The thing that is clear is that when the time comes, the difference between those who have done the fifth class advancement and those who haven’t will be obvious.”

If the plan was successfully implemented, the atmosphere in the arena would definitely be different from what it was now.

“I should know.
I asked you to let me know, but you won’t say a word now?” Kim Seokjung asked with an expression of regret.

“If I tell you in advance…
I will be embarrassed if the plan falls through later on.
I’ll let you know as soon as things go well,” Hyeonu smiled softly and replied.

“I understand.
I believe in you.”

Kim Seokjung also smiled.

 

***

 

Hyeonu sneaked through the northern gate. There was no one on the walls except for a few NPC guards. All players left until it was time for the undead to appear. It was the result of being trained like Pavlov’s dog. The undead army appeared at the same time every day, so there was no need to remain in place.

‘Where is the bone dragon?’

Hyeonu quickly scanned the mountainous area north of the city. He was as relentless as a runaway locomotive. There was another reason why he had to be so.

‘He really scraped in a lot.’

The seeds of ordinary monsters had already dried up. He looked around, but didn’t find a single one. It was natural. Every day, more than 10,000 undead deteriorated. Nevertheless, the number of the undead army that appeared every day didn’t decrease at all. This meant the undead were constantly being replenished from somewhere. It was by killing living monsters. 

This was where such work was taking place.

‘There it is.’

Hyeonu found the bone dragon he had previously seen near the waterfall where he had met Edward. This dragon didn’t separate from Edward as if it was one body with him. He had found this bone dragon, so it was clear that Edward was nearby. It was like Hyeonu expected and it wasn’t difficult at all to find Edward. Edward was sitting upright in front of where the bone dragon was sitting.

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‘Is he meditating?’

Hyeonu approached Edward very carefully. Edward could be drunk on the fragments of the demon god. Hyeonu didn’t rule out any situations. It happened at this moment…

A dark light was gushing crazily from Edward’s body.

‘Is he devoured?’

Hyeonu stopped moving and gently placed his right hand on the handle of the Mysterious Sky Sword.

“Why? Are you going to wield your weapon?” At this moment, Edward opened his eyes and spoke while looking at Hyeonu. All the black magic power was absorbed into Edward’s body.

“I'm glad.
You weren’t devoured.
I was going to kill you if you were devoured.” Hyeonu took his hand away from the Mysterious Sky Sword and responded to Edward.

“Kill me? Isn’t that a bit of a stretch? I’m not what I used to be.” Edward smiled softly despite Hyeonu’s provocative words. He was relaxed like never before.

‘He is completely different.’

Hyeonu was a bit impressed by Edward’s changed appearance. It now dawned on him that Edward was part of the imperial family. Previously, he was just a person with immature judgment, but now Edward felt dignified.

“Things must be properly tested to determine whether it is good or poor.
What you see isn’t everything, Edward.
You still don’t know this?”

However, Hyeonu was never pushed when it came to words. He was confident he wouldn’t lose to anyone when it came to talking.

“I know that very well.”

Edward received Hyeonu’s words softly this time.

“Why did you come today? There shouldn’t be any reason to come now, right?”

“I have a request.”

“A request? Is it one of the three things I have to listen to?”

Hyeonu nodded at Edward’s words. The fragments of the demon god hadn’t been completely removed yet, but he thought a request like this was fine. It was because it really wasn’t a big deal.

“It isn’t over yet, but…
I will listen if it is a light request.”

Edward thought the same thing. He was able to slightly escape from the control of the fragments of the demon god thanks to Hyeonu. It seemed he would be able to escape the control entirely after a while. As such, it was necessary to listen to Hyeonu’s request now.

“I hope you can use a few adventurers in moderation.”

It was the beginning of the full-fledged solicitation.