Ranker's Return

A-World, Arena’s professional streaming site—it had hot issues like the raids of big guilds and main scenario quests. Videos of famous streamers were posted on there. The #1 video of the day—this floating throne, which was unlikely to be broken by any video, was destroyed.

It was Hyeonu, Alley Leader, who rose to the throne while beating the Big Dipper stars in the sky. Alley Leader’s video wasn’t an extreme concept. It wasn’t even a position he earned from advertising. However, the skill that went beyond concept and the charm that caught everyone’s eyes were what made Alley Leader’s video a hit.

Of course, another factor that influenced his instant rise was Nike’s support of Alley Leader. A small rectangular banner appeared briefly at the end of the video. The logo symbolized Nike, and there were two words written on it—Nike Management.

People were in shock. No matter how good the player, this was Nike. For streamers, Nike was a wall. It was a huge steel wall. Nike’s entry was the greatest boost for the low-level Alley Leader. The two things combined caused the video to catch the attention of A-World.

[Justice Character Deletion Bet.avi]

It might not be an extremely famous guild, but the video of the character deletion bet with the Black Skull Guild—a strong guild in Arena—was enough to make it a hot topic, even without the contract with Nike.

***

“Shall I see how many hits there are?”

Hyeonu connected to A-World to check the number of views there were on the character deletion bet video he posted yesterday.

‘Isn’t this familiar?’

A-World’s main page had a familiar video. The biggest banner...

Today’s TOP 10 videos were shown in order.

“It’s mine?”

Hyeonu was baffled. He expected a certain number of hits, but he didn’t think it would be in the top 10.

“1.8 million?”

The number of views was almost over two million.

“By Cube has 10,000 replays?”

People could watch the video in the cube by paying a certain amount set by the video uploader. It was popular because they could see it from the uploader’s point of view and the other party’s point of view.

“It is 500 won per view... 5 million won?”

The reactions to the video pleased Hyeonu.

-Immortal Cell King: 500 won to see inside the cube. Really, I almost wet my pants. The class is different in 2D.

-Anti Milk: I paid for it, but the standards are different. 500 won is worth it.

-Slot: He seems to have evolved from before? Every video has a different combat style.

There were comments that praised Hyeonu. However, there were some comments that caused frowns in the middle. Even so, Hyeonu didn’t pay attention to them. He had already expected there to be these sorts of comments. It was Hyeonu's burden to carry as long as he decided to be a streamer.

“Wah!!!”

Hyeonu stretched. Once he finished stretching, he was going to play Arena again.

“I should paddle when the water comes in. I’ll run when it is resilient.”

Hyeonu continued to move around in an unidentified rhythm.

***

“By the way, how many black magicians do I have to hunt?”

It was a thought that came to mind as he headed to the Dark Cave. The information in the quest window was a question mark. It wasn’t fixed. One, two... perhaps even more than that. 

“Are there only two undead hunting sites here?”

It was just these two. Hyeonu came to that conclusion and held the hope that he would be rewarded if he caught one more. He arrived in front of the Dark Cave where many people were gathered. There were no players in the cemetery because they were all driven to the Dark Cave. Like any hunting grounds, the Dark Cave was crowded with people looking for parties. Usually, they had to recruit party members to replace a dead person while hunting or because one person had to leave.

Hyeonu entered the Dark Cave alone with no party. He was moving along when he heard his name being called from somewhere.

“Hyeonu oppa!” The owner of the voice was Yuri.

Hyeonu struggled not to frown. He knew it would make things difficult if his expression were caught. “Eh? Isn’t this Yuri? What are you doing here?”

“I’m going hunting. Oppa?”

“I’m also going hunting.”

Yuri was happy to meet Hyeonu again. For Yuri, Hyeonu was more like a brother than a friend. He was like a brother she wanted to take care of? It was like that.

‘Didn’t he say he was level 30?’ Her thoughts on this matter didn’t last long though.

The reason why Hyeonu was here didn’t matter.

“Oppa, would you like to join my party? We were just forming a party.”

“Party?”

Hyeonu thought about it. Would it be better to join the party or would it be better to hunt alone with Tang-E? ‘It is better to have a priest.’

“Yes. Let’s party.”

“You’ll see a nice face when you come over.”

‘A nice face?’

When Hyeonu made his decision, Yuri’s face brightened, and she dragged him over to somewhere.

“Eh? Hyeonu hyung?”

“Isn’t this Yeongjun? It is nice to see you. When did you become so big?”

There was a familiar face. It was Yeongchan and Yuri’s brother, Yeongjun.

“Hyung, why has it been so long? Did you go to the army? Your complexion seems to have become a lot worse?” Yeongjun pierced Hyeonu’s chest with a dagger while smiling brightly.

“Yes. I went to the army and came back.” Hyeonu pressed onto Yeongjun’s head while boiling with rage. 

“By the way, is it only the three of us hunting?” Hyeonu played around with Yeongjun for a long time before coming to his senses.

Come to think of it, there were only three party members. There was the warrior, Hyeonu, and the glass cannon priest.

“Yeongjun, what is your class?” 

“I’m an archer.”

Meanwhile, Yeongjun’s class was an archer. An archer and a priest—it wasn’t a good combination.

“Archer?”

“We’ve been hunting with three people so far. My friend is a warrior.”

Hyeonu was relieved. Originally, three people were hunting. It wasn’t impossible, but they must have excellent skills.

“Then let’s go quickly. Don’t waste time.”

Hyeonu led Yuri and Yeongjun into the Dark Cave.

***

Skeleton hunting was easy. A priest’s power was extremely powerful against the undead. Every time Yeongjun’s arrows flew, the skeletons were smashed one by one.

‘This is how a three-person party was possible.’

Hyeonu admitted it. They were good enough to hunt with only three people.

Yeongjun’s arrows had a high hit rate and could be rapidly fired. Meanwhile, Yuri’s buffs were no different from those of a priest of this level, but her time calculations were so excellent that the buff chain on him didn’t break. Additionally, her timing in giving him a shield was excellent.

Hyeonu’s mouth was full of exclamations.

‘Still, 90 is the limit. It is just an undead dungeon.’

Of course, it was irrelevant now. Dark Cave was a hunting ground with an average level of 70.

“Yuri!”

The moment her name was called, Yuri buffed Hyeonu calmly.

[You have received divine energy.]

[Your weapon is filled with a high divine power.]

[Attack power has increased.]

Hyeonu’s longsword gave off the white glow of divine power. Inside a small, gym-sized space, Hyeonu showed off natural movements. Every time Hyeonu moved, a white light briefly appeared in the air and disappeared soon after. The light shredded the skeletons. It tore them to prevent them from returning to their original state again.

In the gap, another skeleton aimed at Hyeonu’s head. The skeleton thought it would kill Hyeonu at once. However, the skeleton’s blow was blocked in vain.

“Shield of Protection!” Yuri put a shield on Hyeonu.

The skeleton hit Yuri’s shield and Hyeonu swung his longsword straight at the now disorganized skeleton. The skeleton’s head was broken in one blow. A cry emerged from Hyeonu’s mouth.

‘This is the taste of hunting with a priest. There is no fun.’

Being in a party with a skilled priest made things too easy. All he had to do was attack. He didn’t have to struggle to escape the monster’s attacks. The priest would somehow use heals and shields to save him if he didn’t die at once. Hyeonu was admiring a priest’s power when Yeongjun’s arrow pierced the final skeleton.

[A low-grade skeleton has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[You have leveled up.]

[All health and magic power have been restored.]

“Wow! Hyung is great.” Yeongjun didn’t know Hyeonu’s past and was simply amazed by his skills. Yeongjun’s friend was a warrior, but he wasn’t this good. He just had the role of holding a shield and stopping monsters, while his attacks were just simple skills.

Meanwhile, Hyeonu was different. He skillfully pulled the skeletons’ aggro, and he fought well in the gaps between skeletons. Although he didn’t avoid all of them, he knew what action was right and also knew what to avoid. Simultaneously, he went on the offensive. From Yeongjun’s point of view, Hyeonu’s combat style was close to miraculous.

“It’s just okay. There is a priest here. There is also a damage dealer with a lot of attack power. I just roughly pulled their aggro.” Hyeonu’s response was lukewarm.

For Hyeonu, this type of combat was akin to a daily routine, so he wasn’t fond of it. At this moment, he came up with a good idea.

‘Yes, I’ll take them with me.’

He asked, “By the way, how long are you planning to play Arena today?”

“Around eight hours? Why?” Yuri answered Hyeonu’s question.

“Would you like to clear an instance dungeon once?” The temptation of a devil entered Yuri and Yeongjun’s ears.

“Instance dungeon?” Yeongjun asked again.

Meanwhile, Yuri replied, “Okay.”

“Really? Then let’s work hard for seven hours. Kids.” The corners of Hyeonu’s mouth rose into a smile.

A harsh hell awaited the girl and the boy—a hunting hell!

***

[A low-grade skeleton has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

“Hyung! Don’t you want to take a break?” Yeongjun continued to rub his right hand. His hands couldn’t hurt in Arena, but the seven hours of hunting were similar to doing labor. As a result, he reached a point where he was complaining of nonexistent pain. It was a state of mental exhaustion. This was Yeongjun’s current appearance.

“Yes, Oppa. It seems to be hard on Yeongjun.”

Meanwhile, Hyeonu and Yuri were still lively. Hyeonu was fine because he originally hunted like this while Yuri just had to stand still and give buffs steadily. There was no need for them to worry too much.

“Yes. Let’s take a break. Now, all we have to do is go to the boss room.”

‘I’ve been through the entire cave, but I haven’t seen a single one...’

Yeongjun and Yuri didn’t know it, but Hyeonu wasn’t just hunting. He was also searching through the entire Dark Cave. It was to find the black magician. Yet he couldn’t find any traces of the black magicians. Nevertheless, Hyeonu didn’t care. It was because there was still the boss room. 

‘If it isn’t here...’ Hyeonu trembled. It was a terrible possibility. What if the boss room didn’t have a black magician?

“Kids, let’s go.”

At Hyeonu’s words, Yeongjun and Yuri stood up.

Then Yuri’s mouth opened, and she asked, “Then where is Oppa’s instance dungeon?”

Hyeonu answered Yuri’s question, “It’ll be here soon...”

[Would you like to enter the laboratory of novice black magician, Adele?]

“We’re going into one now. Right away.”

A smile appeared on Hyeonu’s face.

‘Good.’

“I do.”

Hyeonu’s group disappeared from Dark Cave.