Ranker’s Return

Gang Junggu was speechless at Hyeonu’s shocking words.
He heard too much in a short period of time and needed time to organize his thoughts.

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Hyeonu smiled and continued talking: “Ah! Now that I think about it, Hyung-nim’s behavior was a very good choice.
Wouldn’t it be a useless waste of time to be there anyway? There is no reason to decide based on the information known by the people present there.”

“It would just be in vain.
That is what happens when there is no information.
Honestly, if it wasn’t for Hyung, would I have left that position? I’m not Hyung-nim.
I’m sure he would have found a solution among those people.” Gang Junggu shook his head. He seemed annoyed just thinking about it.

“Hyung-nim, don’t make it obvious, and just enjoy the war fully.
What is there to stress about?”

“Yes, you are right.
I ’ll enjoy the war.” Gang Junggu smiled. 

Hyeonu smiled along with him.

***

A week passed like a flash of light.

During this period, the magic circle emitted light dozens of times a day. This was the first time it had been this active since the time the demon world was first made public.
The magic circle lit up repeatedly all week.

‘5,107 people…’

Hyeonu smiled when he saw the number in the quest window. He had successfully accomplished what he initially thought was impossible.
He thought 3,000 people would be enough, but the guilds that were capable and greedy numbered greater than Hyeonu ’s estimation.

‘Over 2,000 people came in a week…’

It was completely unexpected.
Thus, it was more enjoyable.

”Your Majesty, can I come in?” Hyeonu knocked on the door of the great hall where the emperor was today.

“Come in,” the emperor’s voice rang out clearly from inside the hall. It sounded as clear as a speaker being placed by Hyeonu’s ear. However, Hyeonu wasn’t surprised by this.
He had seen and gone through too much to be surprised.

“The week that Your Majesty gave me has passed.” Hyeonu raised his head toward the emperor sitting on the high throne.

“The time has passed…
So what is the result?” The emperor lowered his head and looked down at Hyeonu with a strange energy in his eyes.

It was a strange feeling.
Hyeonu didn’t know if he should call it a sense of expectation or madness.

“More than 5,100 adventurers have joined the war, exceeding the 5,000 that Your Majesty wanted.” Hyeonu roughly expressed the number written in the quest window. It didn’t matter if it was 5,100 or 5,107.
The system would take care of the rewards.

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“5,100 people…
Many blind fish have gathered.” The emperor was implying that the rankers were puppets.

Hyeonu smiled bitterly at the emperor’s words.
He thought he knew why they were called blind fish.

‘They are blinded by greed.
In addition, they…
are bait.’

The fish would become bait for the larger fish.

‘Baler will warn them, but there is no demon king who will listen properly.’

If the players took over the cities, the nobles would naturally emerge. If the nobles died, senior nobles would appear. Once even the senior nobles died, the demon kings would come out. Then Lebron and the emperor would appear and kill them.
The players were just laying the groundwork for this.

“You have faithfully fulfilled your task…
You should be compensated accordingly.
Marquis, is there anything you want?”

The moment the emperor’s words ended, a message window appeared in front of Hyeonu to announce the clearance of the quest.

[Demon World Invasion Force Recruitment has been cleared.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[51,070 imperial contributions have been acquired.] 

[You will acquire 10% of the imperial contribution that every player in the main scenario will obtain.]

‘10% of 5,000 people…’

As expected, a huge amount of imperial contribution would be acquired.
For example, if he obtained 1,000 imperial contributions from every person then Hyeonu would receive over 5,000,000 imperial contributions.

‘What can I do with this?’

He had no intention of raising his title at all. There was no need to rise to a duke when there wasn’t any player who had become a marquis yet.
It was enough just to preoccupy the title.

‘It is a waste, a waste.
In addition, Lebron is a duke.
It will be weird if I become a duke too.’

Lebron’s position was a duke, so it would be strange if his disciple, Hyeonu, became one as well.

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“You seem to have a lot of troubles.
Or is there nothing you want?” the emperor asked Hyeonu, who was standing blankly.

“I did what I had to do, but since you said you would give me a reward…
I am wondering if I can accept it…”

The emperor scoffed at Hyeonu’s absurd excuse and said, “Then there will be no rewards.
If I reward my subject for doing your duty, won’t I be insulting you?”

Hyeonu started to beg with the spirit of kneeling down at the emperor’s words: “However, I am your subject and can’t refuse Your Majesty’s gift.
If you just give me anything…
I will be happy to receive it.”

The emperor burst out laughing.
He laughed over and over again like it was really pleasant.

“Marquis, I really like you.
You aren’t stiff at all.
And…”

The emperor got up from the throne.

Hyeonu suffered from the illusion that the ceiling suddenly seemed to be lowered.

‘This damn monster.’

Step by step, the emperor walked down the stairs that were connected to the throne. 

“You have greed but not too much.
You are bold but not reckless.
In addition, you have deep thoughts, but you aren’t insidious.
Competent but not conceited,” the emperor said as he slowly walked down the stairs. “So this time, I will give you a gift worthy of your hard work.
Once you return to the imperial palace, the imperial library will be opened for you.
Take a book from there.
Or do you want an artifact? I can give one to you.”

The emperor offered Hyeonu two options—an item or a skill book.

‘What should I get?’

Hyeonu fell into happy troubles.
However, he didn’t have time to worry about this right now.

“I will decide after the war is over.
Your Majesty, I think now is the time to focus fully on the war,” Hyeonu said, postponing his choice.

The emperor showed a happy expression. “Yes, that is a good choice.
Marquis, go out first and gather the adventurers to prepare for war.
It is coming soon.”

Hyeonu bowed. “I understand, Your Majesty.
I’ll finish all the preparations before you come out.”

He immediately left the great hall where the emperor was.

‘I am one step closer.’

A dark smile flashed on the emperor’s face before quickly disappearing.

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***

Etono had more players than ever before, and they each wore an emblem on their chest that represented their guild.

Hyeonu looked around Etono ’s square.
It was filled with players in gorgeous equipment.

‘I can see quite a few faces that I know.’

Among them were many faces that Hyeonu knew well, be it in person or through any medium.

‘I think they have all gathered here.’

All the celebrities were gathered here. There was no need to mention the guild masters leading the large guilds as they would definitely be there, but he also saw the arena rankers like Teika.
With the exception of Hyeonu, some of these people were more famous than anyone else.

“Hey, Brother.
Sure enough, you are the main character, so you appeared late?” Kim Seokjung—the master of New World—greeted Hyeonu, who appeared late, with a bright smile.

“Hyung-nim, have all the guilds gathered? We have to depart soon.”

Hyeonu waved to Kim Seokjung with a bright smile.

“They all gathered on their own.
They aren’t three-year-old children who need to be taken care of one by one.
By the way, I heard everything.
It is pretty interesting.” Kim Seokjung mentioned the backstory of the main scenario that he heard from Gang Junggu.

Once he heard about it, he felt that Arena was a really fun game, unlike other games.

“I’m glad you find it interesting. Ah, should I go to Hong Kong? I think it is time we meet up…”

“How can I make a busy person go? I should come to South Korea with Junggu.
In addition…
I should appear on the live stream once.
Is that okay?”

“The stream? That’s good.
However, when will you appear? You can come out whenever you want when we ’re proceeding with the main scenario.”

Kim Seokjung shook his head. Appearing at that time would be meaningless.
He was aiming for something else.

“Alley Leader Academy.
You can invite me as a daily teacher.”

Hyeonu heard Kim Seokjung’s words and paused.

‘Why does he want to come to the academy?’

Nevertheless, Hyeonu didn’t express this thought out loud. He just pondered about it before letting it go.
After all, he would be very thankful if Kim Seokjung appeared in his stream.

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‘It will be a good experience for Ray.’

Kim Seokjung was the ruler of the arena who reached a grandmaster with just his fists.
It would be a great experience for Ray considering there weren’t many fighters in the platinum rank.

“Yes, I would like that.
Then do you want to appear on the next live stream?” Hyeonu said. 

”Sure.
Send me the details,” Kim Seokjung replied. 

Hyeonu bowed to Kim Seokjung and continued moving through the square. The players gathered in the square recognized Hyeonu, who was wandering aimlessly. However, none of them talked to him. The reason was simple. They didn’t know each other. The name of ‘Alley Leader’ was too heavy for them to just approach and talk to him.

Two guilds were disbanded at Alley Leader’s hands, and the number of dead players exceeded three figures. They couldn’t help thinking they would die if they made the wrong actions. It might be different if someone else acted as a stepping stone, but there was no such person.

Those who were close to Hyeonu were all celebrities. It was a problem to get acquainted with them, but exceptions always existed. 

A player who wasn’t very famous and was acquainted with Hyeonu—such a person existed in Etono’s square.

“Alley Leader, I didn’t expect to see you here.” A young man with a huge sword on his back approached Hyeonu and bowed.

“Ray? Are you participating in the main scenario?” Hyeonu greeted Ray.
It was an unexpected encounter. He thought Ray would participate since Ray’s level was high, but he didn’t expect them to meet in person.

‘5,100 really isn’t a small number.’

Ray made a lot of fuss as he talked to Hyeonu: “I heard that this main scenario was opened by Alley Leader again.
I really respect you.”

Light seemed to be pouring from Ray’s eyes. He was envious.
Hyeonu felt it tangibly.

“Yes…
Somehow, I got this opportunity again.
Has your practice been going well these days?”

“Yes, I’ve been studying hard while looking at the materials you sent me.”

During the time when he wasn’t hunting, Ray stayed in the arena and practiced using the greatsword against the scarecrow.
His stats were limited, and he repeated the training to get used to the greatsword itself.

“In the next live stream, an amazing person will come and teach you, so please practice diligently.”

Hyeonu showed a satisfied smile and tried to leave, but someone blocked his way.

“Hello, Alley Leader.”

It was the appearance of an uninvited guest.