Ranker’s Return - Chapter 31

The battle entered a lull. The man in the suit approached Hyeonu’s side naturally. The Mano Guild members failed to restrain the man because he had a unique momentum. It was the scent of a predator. He was a man who felt terribly dangerous.

“I arrived at the right place. Hello, I’m Yoo Junho, the sitter from Nike.” The man who introduced himself as Yoo Junho reached out to Hyeonu. It was a sign to shake hands.

“I don’t think it is time to say hello. In any case, it is nice to meet you. I am Gang Hyeonu. I’m also called Alley Leader.”

“Then take a break, and I’ll sort this out soon,” Yoo Junho declared and proceeded toward the Mano Guild members. “I am working for the first time today. Therefore, I’m in a good mood. I’ll send you away nicely today, so don’t hang around my customers again.”

Jason’s expression sank at Yoo Junho’s words. He couldn’t act carelessly against Yoo Junho because this person made him feel anxious. “Then quit if you want. We have business with Alley Leader.”

However, he couldn’t stop his current actions. Jason ignored the feeling of uneasiness and rushed to Hyeonu again.

“It’s a big hit. Ah, I was doing you a favor. You should’ve accepted it nicely.” As Yoo Junho finished speaking, he wielded a long dagger in his hand. He then moved toward the incoming Mano Guild members.

Puk! Puk! Puk!

In an instant, the three people collapsed. His dagger stabbed deep into the chests of the approaching Mano Guild members.

‘Their average level is at least 110. Then what the hell is this guy’s level?’

Hyeonu’s thoughts on this didn’t last long as the battle was over in an instant. Yoo Junho was strong. Not only was his level high, but he was also good at PvP.

‘Still, he isn’t as good as me.’

Yoo Junho reached Hyeonu’s side.

“Amazing. Your dagger is pretty sharp.”

“I’m embarrassed to hear something like that from Alley Leader.” Yoo Junho was fl.u.s.tered by Hyeonu’s praise.

“I’ve heard about it roughly from Kale, but what exactly is a sitter?”

“Sitters look after low-level star players like you now. The role is to protect them. It is a babysitting concept.”

Hyeonu understood after Yoo Junho’s explanation filled in the gaps in Kale’s brief description. “Isn’t your level really high?”

“I’m level 170 right now. Recently, Fort Nike hasn’t accepted any new recruits, so I’ve been working hard on hunting.” Yoo Junho spoke with an expression where it was unknown if he was smiling or crying. Haha.

‘170? Isn’t the 1st ranked person level 175 right now?’ Hyeonu was astonished when he heard Yoo Junho’s level. The scenario quest was currently blocked. So the top-ranked players were slow to level up, but they were still rankers. If Yoo Junho was level 170, then he must be ranked in at least the top 100.

“A ranker is doing something like this?”

“A level doesn’t feed you. I have to earn money for baby formula, and I will be kicked out of the house if I play games. I have to make money. Money!”

“Oh, you’re a married man?”

“Yes, for around two years.”

The two people had an unusually deep conversation for a first meeting. By the end of the conversation, it had developed into a relationship between brothers.

“I’m envious, Hyeonu.”

“Why are you envious?”

“Your age! I’m also envious that you’re single!!”

***

Hyeonu sent Yoo Junho away when he arrived at the Teuma Tribe. From here onward, he had to go on his quest by himself. Hyeonu once again summoned Tang-E. He didn’t know when and where he would need Tang-E.

“Tang-E!” Hyeonu summoned Tang-E and a magic circle appeared in front of him.

“Tang-E has appeared!” This time, Tang-E appeared while doing a somersault through the air.

His daily appearance kept evolving.

“It is still the desert, Master dude.”

“It has to be the desert for the time being. It can’t be helped.”

Hyeonu lightly put an end to Tang-E’s complaints.

***

In Hyeonu’s memories, the Teuma Tribe was a fairly troublesome and annoying hunting ground. The environment itself was a desert. There were quicksands everywhere. If he encountered a quicksand while fighting a monster, he would be logged out nine out of 10 times. The worst was the desert goblins—the goblin shamans, to be precise. They rode desert scorpions and had been terrible in the past.

Yet for the current Hyeonu, they were just monsters. The body of a desert scorpion was literally destroyed by a giant sword energy. Hyeonu swung his sword toward the desert goblin shame who was showing signs of confusion. There were no goblins that could survive being pierced in the neck.

[A desert goblin shaman has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[You have leveled up.]

[All health and magic power have been restored.]

“Now there is only one place left.”

During the two day hunt, Hyeonu had scoured all areas of the Teuma Tribe. However, he couldn’t find any clues to the quest.

‘Tell me something...’

Hyeonu was frustrated. It was inevitable that Arena’s unfriendly quests would cause dissatisfaction.

“Surely it isn’t somewhere else?”

Hyeonu thought of the worst-case scenario. The rebels could also be at Lake Briang and Lipa Castle. Hyeonu’s arms got goosebumps.

“Eh, that shouldn’t happen.”

At this moment, something caught Hyeonu’s eyes. From far away, a group of goblins could be seen being sucked into a quicksand.

“It is suicide? Why throw their bodies into quicksand?”

Hyeonu moved quickly, thinking there might be a clue to the quest that he didn’t know about.

***

Unfortunately, the quicksand wasn’t related to the quest. Still, it was another big hit for Hyeonu. It was similar to an instance dungeon. A message appeared when Hyeonu arrived in front of the quicksand.

[Would you like to enter the village of the desert goblins?]

“I’m going to get this.”

Hyeonu wasn’t able to proceed with the quest, but he decided to be satisfied with discovering the instance dungeon. In any case, he had obtained this main scenario alone. There was no need to be too anxious.

“I will.”

Hyeonu and Tang-E disappeared from the Teuma Tribe.

***

Hyeonu entered the instance dungeon, and it was more like a labyrinth than a village. “Tang-E, did we enter the wrong place?”

“Yes, Master dude. I don’t think we can go out quickly.”

“Kuoong.”

Labyrinth-shaped instance dungeons were the type that Hyeonu disliked the most. He preferred intuitive dungeons with many monsters since he was confident in his control. For example, there was a colosseum-type dungeon and a gate-breakthrough dungeon.

“Tang-E, we’ll go on only one side.”

“I think the right side is good, Master dude.”

“Then let’s go to the right.”

***

“Master dude, this doesn’t seem right.”

“Yes, let’s go to the left.”

After moving through the dungeon for 12 hours, there was a black wall confronting Hyeonu.

‘Should I take a break from broadcasting or broadcast the labyrinth escape?’

“It is a big deal.”

Hyeonu finally realized that it was now Monday morning. There were less than 12 hours until he had to live stream.

“Tang-E. There is no time to rest. I have to clear the dungeon quickly.”

Hyeonu seemed to see an illusion.

[12:00:00]

It was a time attack.

***

Hyeonu wore a mask and said cheerfully, “Hello everyone. I am Alley Leader.”

-The background is dark today?

-What labyrinth did he enter?

-Is today a cool special edition...

The response from the audience was consistent. They were saying Hyeonu hadn’t cleared this dungeon. “It was pointed out that the last streaming was short.”

-Who said that?

-A no-conscience boss.

-The opening class has come.

Hyeonu started to make things up on the spot. He had never seen such a comment or reaction, but he thought lying was allowed for the sake of broadcasting.

“That’s why the content I’ve prepared today is a labyrinth instance dungeon clear. It has been around an hour since I discovered the dungeon. Today’s broadcast will continue until I clear the dungeon.”

-Alley Leader has booked a 24-hour broadcast.

-I think it will be broadcasting tomorrow as well.

- ㅋㅋㅋ A boss bluff. It will be broadcasted until Friday ㅋㅋ

Hyeonu scanned the fast-paced chat. Most of those in the chat were laughing at Hyeonu. The mainstream opinion was that he would never clear it quickly.

“Let’s get started.”

Hyeonu’s scam to obtain more than 100,000 viewers began.

***

Three hours ago, Hyeonu saw the end of the dungeon. To be precise, he found the place where the dungeon boss was located. However, he didn’t have enough time to prepare other content. Thus, he came up with this. “Today is a dungeon escape.”

Hyeonu spent the next three hours diligently wandering around the dungeon. It was to memorize the inside of the dungeon.

“There are traps here and goblins will come out, so I’ll make it one of the highlights...”

Hyeonu was creating a scenario.

‘This much should be prepared for the broadcast.’

“Wicked master dude. You are clearly a crook,” this was Tang-E’s sobering assessment as he watched Hyeonu’s actions.

***

Hyeonu started to act according to the plan he took three hours to make. He made every step he had already planned.

“Everyone, this is desert goblin village instance dungeon. There are many desert goblins here. The amazing thing is that they are stronger than the goblins of the Teuma Tribe.”

-Give the coordinates.

-Summoning the coordinates!

-Aren’t you telling us the position?

“You can find out the location in the video later.”

Then a group of goblins appeared. There were generally 5 to 6 goblins that appeared at one time in the Teuma Tribe. However, at least 10 appeared in this dungeon. It was double the number of desert goblins. Nevertheless, this was an irrelevant matter to Hyeonu.

A crescent-shaped sword energy swept through the passage. All the desert goblins except for one were blown away. The one remaining desert goblin was hit by Tang-E's lightning.

[A desert goblin has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

“Isn’t it simple? Isn’t this fun? Everyone.”

Hyeonu looked relaxed.

***

Hyeonu’s broadcast was smooth. He thoroughly followed the script and drew the reaction of the viewers.

-Wow! My heart just dropped.

-This is where the desert goblins pop out.

-I’m going to change my diaper now.

Hyeonu had a conscience and pretended to wander the dungeon for six hours. Then by chance, he accidentally found the boss room of the dungeon. Tang-E knew the situation and had a hateful expression on his face, but none of the audience noticed.

‘It is despicable, Master dude. I’ll have to take off that mask sometime...’

“Everyone, I have good luck today. The gold coins didn’t explode, so I will accept the rest after this broadcast. It is the boss room.”

-He has good skills and is lucky. Why don’t I have anything?

-I also feel like that. There is nothing here.

-I thought it would be a minimum of 12 hours. Yet it is over in six.

Hyeonu’s scenario was up to this point. The boss room was an area that Hyeonu hadn’t seen. However, there was an unexpected development here.

“Eh?”