Ranker's Return

“So let’s start with a general fighter first,” Hyeonu said while watching Dwayne rushing at him. To be precise, he was speaking to the audience.

‘In any case, you have come here to learn from Alley Leader. So don’t be burdened, Dwayne.’ Dwayne didn’t tremble like usual rankers. He charged over to Hyeonu with the desire to win and show off his skills. Once Hyeonu was three meters away, Dwayne pushed with his right shoulder. This was one of the close-range fighter’s skills, Iron Mountain Attack.

Hyeonu dodged it simply by taking one step. Then he struck at the crook of Dwayne’s knee. Dwayne lost his center of gravity and fell to the ground.

“Look, don’t charge in such an ignorant manner. Unless the opponent is an idiot, they won’t be hit by a fighter who is charging honestly. If the opponent is a swordsman, you would already be done here. Your body would’ve been cut apart,” Hyeonu said and then waited for Dwayne to stand up. “You should never run like that. The opponents aren’t idiots. There is no one who can’t handle it. This time, let’s try a melee. Come back.”

Due to Hyeonu’s words, Dwayne walked over slowly. Then he took a fighting stance.

“Slowly, think slowly. Don’t just enter casually. ‘What skills should I use?’ ‘How will I fight?’ ‘After this skill, use this.’ You should keep thinking, Dwayne.” 

‘Think... Dwayne, think!’ Dwayne stretched out his fists.

He had a rare class and was wearing many unique items, so his speed was extremely fast. However, Hyeonu avoided Dwayne’s fist by turning his upper body and stepping his right foot back.

‘A chance!’ At this moment, Dwayne’s blow came in.

He had a class that used his entire body as a weapon. They were at a distance where they could feel each other’s breaths. This was the distance for a close-range fighter. Dwayne had never lost to anyone at this distance.

So he held a dash of hope. ‘I can deal one blow!!’

Dwayne gave strength to his leg that was behind while stretching out a fist. Then he hit Hyeonu with his elbow. Still, Hyeonu was Alley Leader. He wasn’t someone who would be struck by such a simple series of blows. Hyeonu precisely punched Dwayne’s elbow and followed up with a straight blow! Hyeonu’s fist hit Dwayne’s abdomen. It was like a balloon bursting open.

‘He is better than I thought at close-range combat. I think he’ll be able to get a bronze medal on Monday,’ Hyeonu thought as he reached out for the fallen Dwayne.

“Finally, let’s show you the difference when you're fighting a close-range fighter. Dwayne, take a good look.”

At this moment, Dwayne regretted being the first to be admitted to Alley Leader Academy. He thought Alley Leader was going to beat him up again. However, he wasn’t the one Alley Leader’s fists struck. It was a scarecrow. The scene looked the same as before, but the contents were different.

The scarecrow also moved according to the setting. As if to prove this, the scarecrow moved gently. Additionally, this scarecrow was carrying a sword.

“This is the scarecrow version of a swordsman set to the highest difficulty level. I’m going to show you the exact difference in fighting styles by fighting against this scarecrow.”

As Alley Leader spoke, his fists were covered in red. The scarecrow was around five meters away. Alley Leader stretched out his fists, and surprisingly, a pit formed in the scarecrow. Due to the shock, the scarecrow couldn’t support its body. Alley Leader appeared in front of the scarecrow. Then he raised his fists several times. The scarecrow went on the defensive and opened up the distance between it and its opponent according to the programmed data.

This was an extremely mechanical move. But who was Hyeonu? His skills were terribly frightening in PvP. Hyeonu chased and beat up the scarecrow, ending the battle just like this. The scarecrow’s movements soon stopped.

“A fighter can deal the first blow before opening the distance and striking again. Simple, right?”

-How is it simple?!

-Look at this personality. I despise it.

-If I could, I would fight like that.

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ 

There was no answer from Dwayne, who just stared blankly at Hyeonu’s combat style. Hyeonu didn’t show incredibly fast movements. This type of movement was enough for him. It was just that his instantaneous judgment was different.

‘Is it the close-range fighter’s turn now?’ Dwayne felt his heart beat strongly.

It was time for Alley Leader to show the close-range fighter class.

“This time, I will show you a close-range fighter. Dwayne, take a good look. This is the combat style you’ll be practicing and that I’ll be teaching you.”

Hyeonu once again created a scarecrow. This time it was still set to the highest difficulty.

‘How are you going to deal with it, Alley Leader?’ Dwayne was looking forward to Hyeonu’s battle. He felt hopeful that his future would look like this. Hyeonu moved step by step, never in a hurry. He approached the scarecrow carefully. This time, the scarecrow took the bait and swung its wooden sword quickly. The scarecrow was set on the highest level difficulty, so the sword had sword energy.

The wooden sword’s trajectory moved accurately toward Hyeonu’s shoulder. In a normal PvP match between a swordsman and fighter, the fighter would half dodge the sword energies and half use skills to hit back. However, Hyeonu didn’t follow such traditional methods. He dug deeper into the scarecrow instead of evading. Hyeonu didn’t miss the trajectory of the sword with his eyes. As a result, he was able to enter the gap.

‘Now!’

Having swung its sword at Hyeonu, the scarecrow had no means of defending. The meaning was that in this situation, the player should persistently attack with the body. In this situation, an average fighter wouldn’t be able to win against a swordsman. With similar items and similar skills, it would be absolutely impossible if they had a similar level too. As long as there were one or two attacks, there would be a knockback effect, and the fighter would be pushed back.

This was unless they had an item or skill that had the effect of restricting movements, like Hyeonu did. Still, it was possible for Dwayne to fight. A close-range fighter was literally a class optimized for fighting. He was able to keep his opponent in place and beat it.

This was possible for Hyeonu—no, Alley Leader. It started with a short punch. His fist flew, striking as sharply as lightning. Following that was an elbow attack. Hyeonu’s elbow directly hit the center of the scarecrow’s chest. It was clearly an attack that would cause a normal player to fall over if they were hit by it.

Hyeonu grabbed the shoulder of the floundering scarecrow. Its shoulder broke, and its waist was forced to fold. Next up was a knee kick! The helpless scarecrow allowed itself to be hit by the precise blow, sending it falling to its knees. The last attack was a soccer kick. Hyeonu’s brutal move struck the scarecrow’s face and popped the scarecrow’s head off.

“How about it? Isn’t this good? This is the fraudulent nature of the close-range fighter class. It is for all the kids who like fighting. Swordsmen like me are enjoying Arena with a garbage class.” 

The scarecrow disappeared as Hyeonu spoke, but no one responded to Hyeonu’s words. Everyone was in shock. No one had thought that such a battle was possible. It was the same for the close-range fighter, Dwayne Evans. 

‘Is that the combat style of a close-range fighter?’ Dwayne was in greater shock than everyone else. He had never imagined anything like this. The combat style was fast and intense. Simultaneously, it was soft. Every blow was clean, and the connections were smooth.

“Is this the combat style I’m going to learn?”

“That’s right. This is the framework. The details will depend on your skill.”

***

After the demonstration, Hyeonu taught Dwayne the basics of PvP.

“This is the most important point. Eyes—the eyes are the most important.”

“The eyes? Are you talking about motor vision?”

“There is something more fundamental and important—gathering information about your opponent. It is completely dependent on the eyes. To put it bluntly, you have no way of getting information on the opponents you will meet in the arena from anywhere else. It is because your opponents’ levels will be too low.”

-Kyah, look at that spiteful tongue.

-There is no need to worry because they don’t have bronze medals. Isn’t that it? ㅋ ㅋ ㅋ

-Alley Leader is beating them with facts.

“Dwayne, once you are matched to someone, your job is to look at the opponent with both eyes. Look at your opponent’s class and their weapon and guess their level based on their items. That’s it. The next step is to think about it based on that information.” Hyeonu tapped his temple with his fingers. “Let’s say the class looks like a warrior, and the weapon is a sword. Based on the items, the opponent is below level 100. Then using your high stats, you lead them into a melee. It is a design like that. Do you understand?”

Dwayne nodded at Hyeonu’s words. There were many things to realize from Hyeonu’s words.

‘How long have I been challenging the arena so far?’

Yet Dwayne had never heard of anything like this. The many posts in the communities and even his friends who bragged about their success in the arena hadn’t told him these things.

‘They didn’t want to teach me.’

Dwayne opened his mouth and said, “This is really good. Theories about PvP—I’m sure they will help me as well as everyone who has seen this stream.”

-I admit it. No one else can say these tips.

-The guilds and streams who make the arena as their main market seldom reveal their winning techniques.

-Praise the enlightened God Alley Leader!!

-Now that I’ve got super good tips, I’ll have to run to the arena. I will come back to the next stream with a bronze medal.

-Leader Groupie has gifted you 999 gold coins.

-Alley Leader is the Best Best Best has gifted you 999 gold coins.

-I Live Well in My House has gifted you 1234 gold coins.

-Parisian has gifted you 2345 gold coins.

Everyone agreed with Dwayne’s words. The streamers and guilds known for PvP occasionally used training as content. However, there had never been a case where they taught with as much detail and as systematically as Hyeonu had done. They always explained it vaguely.

‘Like this against a fighter, like this against a swordsman.’

It was just a demonstration of what everyone knew.

‘Cheap trick.’ This expression described it perfectly. Of course, they wouldn’t explain it like Hyeonu. They could, but they didn't actually want to teach. By disclosing this information, they were afraid that rookies would appear to grab their positions.

-Wow, the more I think about it, the worse I feel.

-What?

-Those guild jerks, especially Mano… He uploaded a few videos regarding PvP, but there are none of these tips. It is a complete deception in the meantime. 

-Really. I realized it when I saw the stream of God Alley Leader. Those jerks are garbage.

The atmosphere in the chat window started to flow in a strange direction. The chat, which had been filled with praise for the information released by Hyeonu, gradually shifted to criticism for those who used PvP as their content.

‘Eh? Why is the chat window like this?’ 

By the time Hyeonu realized it, the flames were already burning, and he had no way to put them out.

‘It can’t be helped.’

So Hyeonu came up with the most convenient and irresponsible method. “Then today’s stream will end here. The theoretical part is over. In the next stream, I’ll take time to improve Dwayne’s skills. See you next time!”

The stream ended.

‘Did I intend this? No.’

“I don’t know.”

Hyeonu looked like he knew nothing.