Ranker's Return

“Footwork?”

Lebron thought it was absurd. Footwork wasn’t the name of a dog. It was more like swordsmanship. It was an area that was hard to describe in words.

‘Still, I can’t say that it isn’t possible.’

If it were at a level that could be reproduced with an explanation, his monstrous disciple wouldn’t have found him. This was a matter of pride. His pride as the best knight of the empire was at stake.

“Really? Explain it to me once. Then I will see if I can give a demonstration. Won’t that allow you to understand?” Lebron said.

Hyeonu nodded in response. It was obvious. Lebron was a great NPC, but he couldn’t know everything unless he was the AI overseeing Arena.

“The name of the technique is Mysterious Sky Steps. The technique allows me to move very quickly. There are afterimages that make it look like I’ve split into several bodies. In short, it is a bizarre movement. It can be expressed in this way.”

As Hyeonu explained, Lebron’s expression became increasingly strange. However, Hyeonu didn’t see this because he was focused on what he was describing.

‘How do you want me to demonstrate this technique? Who does he think I am?’ Lebron remarked inwardly.

However, Lebron couldn’t let these thoughts show. So, he made his expression look as majestic as usual, but his mind was still in confusion. ‘How should I teach it? I have no sense of it at all. Yet I have to teach him how to do it?’

“Then you should learn from the basics of footwork. You can’t learn such brilliant skills without a foundation. Don’t you know this well?” In the end, Lebron chose to stall. He turned to teaching about footwork from the beginning.

Yet contrary to Lebron’s impure intentions, this was quite appropriate for Hyeonu.

“So the footwork you’re talking about isn’t just adding magic power. In a way, it requires more detailed magic power control than what’s required for creating pure energy.” Lebron wasn’t just words though. 

He also gave a demonstration.

The floor of the training ground was broken as Lebron’s body leaped into the air. “Maybe it is like this when you train alone. Isn’t it?”

Hyeonu nodded as Lebron re-enacted his appearance from a few minutes ago. It had looked exactly like this. This was what he had done for dozens of minutes.

“That’s right. It really was like this.”

‘I’m glad that I came. It might’ve been fine if I did it alone, but it is also good to learn comfortably.’

It was a matter of efficiency. If he learned the method by himself, the proficiency might be high. However, there was no guarantee of that. Hyeonu thought it would be better to learn from Lebron and improve his proficiency than hang onto the Mysterious Sky Steps, which he didn’t know when he would be able to learn it on his own.

Lebron told him, “First of all, I will teach you the magic power footwork that every Knight of Keon learns.”

‘I will first use this to delay the time and think about it a bit more. Bizarre movements... I think I know what it looks like,’ Lebron thought. Then he exhaled once and continued, “First, use a minimal amount of magic power. Don’t just focus on your feet because it is footwork. Think of it gently circulating around your entire body.”

Hyeonu followed Lebron’s words and used the minimum amount of magic power that he could control.

“Think about what is next. The basic practice of the Keon Knights is to be fast—to move like a bird, even in heavy armor. Imagine an infinitely light breeze. Then the moment you move, explode the magic power from the soles of your feet! Yet make sure that all the magic power circulating around your body isn’t cut off.”

‘It is dirty and tricky.’

Lebron’s orders were really tricky despite being the basics. Still, Hyeonu concentrated and challenged it. If it didn’t work at once, then he would challenge it two or three times until it worked. Hyeonu concentrated so much that he couldn’t feel the passage of time. He couldn’t remember how many times he challenged it. He couldn’t count the number of times he failed.

‘Fast, light, fast, light.’ The two words Lebron mentioned were the only things repeating in Hyeonu’s mind. It had to be done quickly and lightly.

Hyeonu moved again. He didn’t give up. He would challenge it until it was possible. Then his effort shone through. Hyeonu moved in a dizzying manner although his movements were extremely monotonous. It was fast, and the afterimages were still there.

Clap clap clap! Lebron clapped with a smile when he saw Hyeonu’s appearance. He was endlessly admiring Hyeonu’s talent. ‘This person is a monster. It took him less than an hour to learn the secret technique of the knight captain.’

The footwork Lebron taught wasn’t the basic footwork of the Knights of Keon. Instead, it was a secret footwork technique taught only to the knight captains. The technique’s exact name was Lightning Blink, and it was named this because the movement was as fast as lightning. It took Hyeonu less than an hour to learn such techniques.

‘But thanks to it, I can understand what he is saying about the footwork,’ Lebron thought.

The technique he taught Hyeonu was Lightning Blink, but Lebron could now roughly see what the Mysterious Sky Steps looked like. Hyeonu might not know it, but Lebron had seen it while watching. Hyeonu’s movements contained a bit of the Mysterious Sky Steps.

‘This is it!’ Hyeonu stopped and raised his fists to the sky.

Simultaneously, he shouted, making unidentified noise, “Uwaaah!”

It was an exhilarating accomplishment. Then Lebron poured cold water on Hyeonu. “To be honest, I can’t give you the exact magic power operation of the footwork you’re talking about.”

Lebron’s words were sobering. He couldn’t show Hyeonu the original technique. Why? It was because he hadn’t seen Hyeonu use the technique. Yet even if he hadn’t seen it, he could still give a similar form, even if it had different principles. It was just never easy to restore exactly something that had not been seen. This was a hard and tedious task, which meant it needed a long time to do. It was impossible for Lebron to restore it in less than an hour.

“Huh? What does that...” Hyeonu responded like a fool to Lebron’s cold words. It was a big blow. Lebron couldn’t teach him the Mysterious Sky Steps. Then what had Hyeonu been doing so far?

“You don’t have to frown too much. I can’t teach you the exact skill. This doesn’t mean I can’t teach it at all,” Lebron said.

Hyeonu currently wasn’t wearing a mask, and his expression was clearly revealed. He didn’t need to wear it in front of Lebron, so he had taken it off before entering the training field.

“What is with my expression? I’m always smiling. Master, did you see it incorrectly?” Hyeonu quickly changed his expression to a smiling face.

Lebron laughed at Hyeonu’s cheekiness. “I will show you a demonstration. Think about whether it is similar to the Mysterious Sky Steps you mentioned.”

Lebron took a step to the center of the training field. This was the beginning of the Lebron-style Mysterious Sky Steps. Lebron’s figure became blurred. He appeared here and there, moving across the training ground that was dozens of meters wide. Lebron never stayed in one place for a long time.

A word came to Hyeonu’s mind when he saw it. ‘Flicker! Suddenly appearing and disappearing!’

Soon, Lebron’s movements started to change. He wasn’t just suddenly appearing and disappearing. As he left numerous afterimages behind him, Lebron’s movements started to become complicated. In the end, all the afterimages started to move differently.

“Wow...” Hyeonu sighed at the sight. Lebron’s Mysterious Sky Steps was superior to the one Hyeonu used. At best, Hyeonu’s attempt at Mysterious Sky Steps was consisted of the motions before Lebron’s movements changed. That was it.

Then Lebron added more.

‘I will learn that. It is enough even if it isn’t registered as a skill.’ Hyeonu made a firm commitment.

This skill must be learned. Lebron’s version of Mysterious Sky Steps was a continuous skill used by players. Even if the skill wasn’t registered, it would have a similar effect.

‘Then it will be a big boost once I become a professional gamer.’ 

Recently, Hyeonu hadn’t shown sword energy control these days. It was only used when hunting alone. Even now, he managed it. Adjusting the length of the sword energy made it look like a simple skill. After the third class advancement, the skill changed, and it seemed unusable.

“Did you see it?” Lebron asked Hyeonu after completing the demonstration.

“I’ll learn it, Master!” Hyeonu answered with enthusiasm.

***

Liu Shei was sitting on one side of the Sky Lounge on the 29th floor of the Kunlun Hotel in Beijing. In the past, Liu Shei had needed to be submissive to Tian Hu here. Now it was different. He was standing in the superior position.

“To sum up what you are saying, Nike wants to be Kowloon’s main sponsor?” Liu Shei questioned the man in front of him—Nike Management’s president, Jamie Moore.

“No, that’s not what I mean.” Jamie shook his head at Liu Shei’s words.

Liu Shei tried to speak again, but Jamie continued instead. “I’m talking about a contract with Nike Management. I want to recruit Kowloon. It isn’t just a sponsorship deal. It is about making Kowloon a part of Nike Management.”

Liu Shei appeared to be perplexed by Jamie’s words. It was a completely unexpected offer. Making Kowloon a part of Nike—it was a proposal that no company had ever made.

“This... Is this real?”

In some ways, it was an absurd proposition, so Liu Shei’s reaction wasn’t particularly strange. The proposal to swallow Kowloon, a large guild that divided China along with New World, seemed absurd.

“Once again, this proposal isn’t a joke. I have also brought a draft of the contract.” Jamie smiled, pulled out a bunch of papers from his bag, and pushed it in front of Liu Shei. “There are many pages, but... due to the importance of contracts, I thought it was necessary. I hope you will get in touch with the other Kowloon members.”

Liu Shei had a tired expression as he looked at the contract that was dozens of pages long.

‘What does this mean...?’ Liu Shei read through the contract and couldn’t figure out what to say. He had no choice but to nod at Jamie’s words. Still, he didn’t have the power to handle such large contracts arbitrarily, so he couldn’t even acknowledge the contract. It needed to be sufficiently reviewed using the guild’s manpower.

“Right, did you know? It was Alley Leader who recommended that I approach the Kowloon Guild.” Jamie left the hotel after saying these meaningful words.

‘Alley Leader?’ Liu Shei was left alone to interpret the meaning of Jamie’s words.