Ranker’s Return

“What are you talking about?”

Gang Junggu grabbed Hyeonu’s shoulder. At the same time, he made eye contact with Hyeonu.

“It is literally what I said.
I am the one who connected the Venom Guild with Edward,” Hyeonu replied with an unconcerned expression.

‘I have to tell my Hyung-nims.’

Kim Seokjung and Gang Junggu—the time he got to know the two of them wasn’t long. Additionally, the time they spent together wasn’t long. However, he knew they were more trustworthy than anyone else.

“I remember.
You met Edward face to face because of the main scenario.”

Gang Junggu could immediately recall the contact point between Hyeonu and Edward.

“Yes, there was something like that.
It is a slightly complicated relationship.
In any case, you just need to know this.
I’ll tell you in more detail when meeting in person.”

“Yes, it is suitable to eat and drink side dishes.
I want to have a good drink today.”

Gang Junggu nodded vigorously. It wasn’t like he wasn’t going to be told at all, so it didn’t matter if it was put off for a few hours.

“I’ll see you then, Hyung-nim.
Additionally, please clean up the aftermath.”

Hyeonu bowed to Gang Junggu. Gang Junggu waved to Hyeonu and moved toward the place where the New World Guild was gathered. Hyeonu confirmed that Gang Junggu had disappeared and moved elsewhere. 

Hyeonu arrived in a sparsely populated forest and stopped walking. Hyeonu took a seat next to a huge tree. After a while, someone appeared on the path that Hyeonu had taken. The person who appeared was a woman in blue-colored armor. Hyeonu raised his hand above his head after spotting the woman and waved it. Then he called out the woman’s name in a voice that was neither loud or low, “Reina! You’re here.”

The woman immediately responded to Hyeonu’s call. She turned and headed to Hyeonu straight away.

“What happened all of a sudden? Why did you ask me to meet you?” Reina stopped in front of Hyeonu, looked down at Hyeonu, and asked.

“Is that a greeting?” Hyeonu raised his head and made eye contact with Reina.

“It has been a while, Hyeonu.” Reina blinked a few times at Hyeonu’s words before greeting him with a clear smile.

“It has been a while, Reina.
Sit here.” Hyeonu patted the spot next to him with his hand. Reina sat down silently in the place Hyeonu had patted.

“Has it been hard for you?”

Reina couldn’t respond to Hyeonu’s sudden question and her lips twitched. A few seconds passed before she came up with an answer that denied Hyeonu’s words. “Me?”

Hyeonu nodded without hesitation at Reina’s words. “Yes.
Mascherano said it? He said Reina is having a hard time.”

“That jer…
no, Mascherano? He said something like that even though I haven’t met him recently?” Reina barely swallowed down her curse at someone’s name that came out of Hyeonu’s mouth.

“Mascherano didn’t hear it directly…
he said there were rumors like this.
Honestly, I think that is a bigger problem.”

The so-called rumors were sometimes nonsense, but they often unexpectedly held the truth.

‘In particular, this one…
it is possible that it is real.’

In Reina’s case, it was likely to be the latter.

‘There must be smoke in the chimney.’

There were two occasions where rumors usually circulated in the gaming industry.

‘The first is the transfer season.’

The transfer season—it was when a player moved teams. It was right after the end of the Spring League or Summer League, or just after Arena Week finished.

‘If it isn’t that…
it is when there is an accident…’

The accident wasn’t properly resolved and noise came from somewhere. It was a case of showing there were no perfect secrets in the world.

‘This is close to the latter.’

The transfer season was already over. It was too late to move teams. There was only around a month left before the Spring League started. It was too tight a time to develop a tacit understanding. Naturally, the possibilities shifted to the other side. There was really something going on with Reina.

“It seems right based on the reaction.
Those rumors,” Hyeonu saw Reina’s stiff expression and muttered in a low voice.

“Are you really going to quit being a pro gamer?” Hyeonu asked while looking into Reina’s eyes. Reina lowered her head when she made eye contact with Hyeonu. Then she remained silent without answering.

“Why do you want to quit?” Hyeonu asked again. To be honest, he was worried, but he didn’t have any questions.

‘She had just risen to the top.
Now she is quitting?’

He didn’t understand the timing. Reina had only reached the pinnacle of North America in the last Winter League. Reina’s team, the New York Warriors, personally won in PvP and her achievements were enough to be called the rulers of the league. Additionally, she led the New York Warriors to 2nd place at Arena Week. It was Reina who should be even more excited about next season.

Now there was no Alley Leader standing in her way. The one closest to winning Arena Week this year was the New York Warriors.

‘Yet in this situation, this type of talk is floating around…
does this make sense?’

Therefore, Hyeonu was curious. Why did this talk come out?

Reina was still shaking her head. Then she spoke in a small voice, “I don’t know either.
It has just been hard to be like this.”

“It is hard? What happened?”

“I think it is because I rested so well in South Korea.
I can’t adapt well to living in the dormitory.”

The reason why Reina was struggling was complicated. Several things happened at once. She had been running for the goal of being the number one player in the league and the emptiness that came after achieving the goal. A free daily life with the person she liked. Then the disappointment of returning to a limited life after that freedom. All these things combined to make Reina feel skeptical about her life as a pro gamer.

“Is it that hard?”

“A little bit.”

“Then stop.
If it is hard, then you should rest,” Hyeonu said to Reina in a playful manner.

“Is that so?”

Reina raised her head and made eye contact with Hyeonu.

‘She has lost all motivation.’

Hyeonu realized that he couldn’t find the same passion in Reina’s eyes as before.

‘I guess she ran only to see the number one spot.’

He also realized that it wouldn’t work no matter what he said.

‘She should stop if it is hard.
She isn’t without a background.’

Quitting the professional gamer life—in the past, it wasn’t uncommon for professional gamers to be semi-forced to continue because they didn’t make good money. Now it was different. Most of the pro gamers were people who didn’t have a problem making a living. It just had to be smooth at the end and not make any noise. The knot had to be tied for sure.

“Instead, you have to play in the Spring League.
It is a courtesy to your other colleagues and the team,” Hyeonu smiled at Reina and continued speaking.

“I will think about it more for now.
There is still plenty of time.” Reina nodded. In fact, she had been thinking about it alone, but she had never spoken to anyone. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust her teammates, but it was obvious that talking to them would change the mood of the team in a bad direction.

“If this happens, don’t think about it alone and talk to those around you.
The other players of the New York Warriors won’t pretend they don’t know your troubles.”

There was just one thing Reina hadn’t considered. It was that her colleagues who saw Reina struggling alone would be even more worried than the change of mood that would come with her talking.

“Ah… I guess that is correct.
I must’ve thought too much by myself.” Reina immediately realized from Hyeonu’s words that her thoughts were wrong.

‘I was wrong.’

Reina knew she wasn’t good at controlling her emotions. Naturally, her face must’ve been stiff during this time.

“I will have to talk to them today.
Everyone must’ve been worried…”

Reina sighed. The faces of her teammates came to mind one by one. She also saw the worry and concern in their eyes.

“Think carefully.
Your career path is up to you.
Do it if you want to do it, or don’t do it.” This was what Hyeonu thought. It was why he just played in the Winter League before quitting his professional career. “Streaming is enough to meet people’s expectations.
No, they actually prefer this.
Right now, your activities are limited due to the league, but that isn’t the case when you become a streamer.
People will be excited about being able to see you more often and that you can show more of yourself.”

This choice was supported by many viewers and subscribers. There were too many people who disliked Hyeonu using the excuse of the league to take a break from streaming.

“Thank you for helping me with this.” Reina’s eyes curved in a half moon shape as she smiled at Hyeonu.

“What thanks? Have strength.”

Hyeonu smiled brightly at Reina.

 

***

 

During the time when Hyeonu and the large guilds started the war to restore the city, a cataclysmic change was taking place in the demon world. A large number of demonic creatures and demons, hard to count with the naked eye, gathered and moved. The players who saw the huge amount panicked momentarily.

“What is that?!!”

“Run away!”

“Retreat to the castle!”

Then they soon woke up and started to yell. Standing still was no different from asking to be killed.

“What the hell is going on with this?”

“Don’t you know anything?”

“I don’t know either!”

The players ran fast and talked to anyone, regardless of the guild. To be precise, they didn’t ask anyone specifically.
They just threw out anything so that everyone could hear it.

“Does it make sense for monsters to come together like this?”

“By the way, why aren’t they going back? If we’ve run away to this point, shouldn’t they go back on their own?”

“Are they following us to the end?”

The players screamed as the demons and demonic creatures kept following them to the end despite a long run. Originally, it was right to give up and go back after chasing this much. Yet today, it wasn’t known what wind blew, but they chased to the death.

“Did everyone contact the guild?”

“I did it earlier.
Yet based on the conversation, there aren’t many people at the castle?”

“Then what? We can’t stop that?”

“It is possible to hunt that.
I just need 30 more people to hunt it.”

They were those who belonged to large guilds, so they made accurate judgments even in an urgent situation.

“Still, what is going on? Sigh.”

“Now we can’t hunt in one or two parties.
At least 10 parties should come together.”

They all sighed. It was annoying to have to end the hunt here today. A huge wall entered the eyes of those who ran for a long time. The players gathered on top of the wall could also be seen.

“Fight with our backs to the wall while receiving support, understood?”

The players who arrived in front of the city walls immediately turned their backs to the walls and aimed their skills toward the demons and demonic creatures chasing them. Things like this were repeated on a daily basis.