Ranker’s Return

“Handling the Demon World’s Flame? Isn’t this a skill book?” Jamie Moore checked the information of the item and asked Hyeonu. He seemed to be wondering why Hyeonu gave this to him.

“Didn’t you hear me? It is a gift. It will be a great help when hunting in the future. It is easier to improve the proficiency if you learn it from a lower level.”

Hyeonu awkwardly pushed away Jamie Moore’s hand that was holding the book toward him. The book was pressed against Jamie Moore’s chest.

“Jamie, I hope the next time we meet will be after your class change.”

Hyeonu smiled.

“Okay, I’ll see you next time after the class change,” Jamie said in response to Hyeonu’s smile before departing. The moment Jamie Moore departed, Hyeonu sent a whisper to someone.

- To Ray: Can you come to the arena now? Simply enter the password I told you in advance.

The person Hyeonu sent a whisper to was Ray. It was the very man who won an Alley Leader Academy lesson at the fan meeting.

Hyeonu called him now.

-From Ray: I understand. I’ll come over right away.

The answer came immediately. Ray replied as if he had been waiting.

‘What? Why is it so fast?’

Hyeonu was puzzled by the reply that flew at an unthinkable rate. However, this was just the tip of the iceberg. Ray appeared in the arena a short time later.

“Wow, you came already?”

Hyeonu truly admired it. Ray appeared really quickly. It hadn’t been even five minutes since he sent the whisper. It was impossible to appear this fast unless he wasn’t doing anything.

‘However, it is impossible that a ranker of this level isn’t doing anything.’

It was the world of top rankers where they would be eliminated as soon as they rested. In particular, if it was party hunting, then one person resting could cause damage to others.

“Are you resting? You came very quickly,” Hyeonu waved and spoke to Ray, who was running toward him. It meant for him to not run. Nevertheless, Ray approached Hyeonu without slowing down.

“Yes, yes. You said you would contact me today, so I was waiting. If I went hunting, then I would’ve been a nuisance to others,” Ray answered the question the moment he stopped in front of Hyeonu.

Hyeonu looked surprised at the answer. Ray’s words were no different from saying that he had abandoned hunting for a few days.

‘If everyone goes hunting, then they have to at least do that much...’

It was extremely rare to join in the middle or end of the hunt. Ray was unlikely to be able to hunt after his meeting with Hyeonu today unless he found another party.

‘Then I will give him something valuable to replace it.’

He simply needed to teach Ray things that were incomparable to a few days of hunting. In any case, they met so Hyeonu could teach him.

“Honestly, there isn’t much I can teach players above level 300. Ray, do you know that?”

Ray nodded. He knew that he didn’t have much to learn. Nevertheless, he felt like he was grasping a straw. He wanted to be better and to rise to a higher position. Thus, he hung onto Hyeonu even more.

“However, that is a story for someone else. I have something to teach you. It is the combat style I used in other games.”

Ray’s eyes shone.

Alley Leader’s combat style—it was what everyone wanted, even if it wasn’t the present one.

“Thank you. I will do my best to learn.”

Ray bowed deeply.

Hyeonu shook his head and raised Ray’s body up.

‘Words like this should be received on the streaming.’

There was no inspiration when only the two of them were present. Honestly, Ray wasn’t a person with a huge story.

“The greetings will be received when you achieve your goal.”

Ray nodded with a firm expression. A solemn feeling was overflowing from his face.

“Then after watching a short video, I’ll start the training right away. I will be streaming in a few hours, so you should learn a bit first.”

Hyeonu finished his words and played a video for Ray to see. A man appeared in the video. There was a giant sword on the man’s back.

‘I thought I would die looking for that.’

The man in the video was naturally Hyeonu. Hyeonu originally didn’t leave videos behind when playing games. If it wasn’t for this video being intended to be sent to someone, he would’ve never shot it.

‘I didn’t know it would help me now...’

A bitter smile appeared on Hyeonu’s face. He remembered the situation at the time of the video. Many people flocked to Hyeonu in the video. The group that appeared surrounded Hyeonu. Hyeonu’s expression stiffened when he saw the people who appeared. Hyeonu had a fierce argument with someone in the group.

Then the battle began. It started with Hyeonu. Hyeonu bent down, quickly pulled out the sword from his back, and swung it. The speed wasn’t lacking at all compared to any swordsman. The man who blocked Hyeonu’s attack flew away. It was a monstrous destructive power.

After that, Hyeonu swept through the battlefield for a long time. No one could block Hyeonu’s sword more than three times. The most persistent person only held out twice. By the third attack, they had lost their weapons and were bare-handed. It was only when the number of people surrounding him had decreased to five that Hyeonu’s rampage stopped. From then on, Hyeonu also had to fight fiercely.

“This is the combat style that you have to learn.”

At this moment, Hyeonu awakened Ray from where he was immersed in the video.

“Ah, yes! I understand. I will work hard.”

Ray nodded quickly. He was still watching it diligently. Hyeonu’s words made him even more eager to watch it.

‘I have to take it apart one by one.’

He even wanted to play the battle shown by the man on a frame by frame basis. The video didn’t care about Ray and kept playing.

-Haaap!

In the video, Hyeonu took a deep breath. At the same time, he kicked off hard against the ground. This technique was commonly referred to as kick and advance.

Hyeonu’s figure disappeared. The big white sword cut through the air toward the ground. Eventually, he knocked on the head of the man standing in front of him. The man’s body became lodged in the ground. He narrowly blocked Hyeonu’s attack but in return, he was directly buried in the ground up to his knees.

Just then, the people around him rushed at Hyeonu at the same time.

The front and back! There was pure energy everywhere.

Then Hyeonu showed off strange movements. He bent his waist and made his body horizontal with the ground. After that, he turned the greatsword. The sword in front of Hyeonu’s body became a windmill and caused a strong wind. The barrier made of white light firmly prevented the attack.

Hyeonu, who was half lying down, raised his body. Hyeonu’s body bounced out elastically like there was a good spring. The greatsword had a heavy momentum that was different from the past. Unlike his previous attacks that were reasonably fast and moderately strong, this attack was just ignorantly strong. The power was so strong that those who had fended off Hyeonu’s previous attacks failed to block this ordinary slash and trembled. This combat situation continued.

The people attacked Hyeonu and when Hyeonu had a chance, he immediately swung the greatsword. The people stopped Hyeonu’s attack without even thinking about it and often rolled directly on the ground.

‘Eh?’ Ray found something strange. The attack of the man in the video wasn’t that fast. He just swung unceasingly and in a strong manner. However, the opponents were urgently blocking the attacks. They didn’t avoid it.

“Looking at your expression, it seems there is no need to watch the video any longer.” Hyeonu noticed Ray’s expression and closed the video. Ray had noticed the most important thing in the video. “Ray, tell me the strange thing that you noticed.” 

Ray carefully answered Hyeonu’s question, “The attack of the man with the greatsword is powerful, but it isn’t very fast. It is easy to avoid, but all the opponents are blocking it.” 

Hyeonu nodded upon hearing Ray’s answer. Ray could see it exactly. This was what he needed to notice in the video.

“Yes, that is the theme of this video. It is worthy of the discerning eye of a top ranker.”

Ray scratched the back of his head like he was embarrassed by Hyeonu’s praise. In fact, this could be understood even if the person wasn’t a ranker like Ray.

“As you know, the man with the greatsword is me. The reason for that result is... I hope that you will experience it yourself. I think it is easier to understand if you experience it with your body than with words.”

In the air, two giant swords appeared. Hyeonu summoned the swords just like he summoned a scarecrow. One sword remained in Hyeonu’s hands and the other was in Ray’s hands. Hyeonu asked, “Is this enough?”

Ray nodded. A sword of this size didn’t differ much from the weapon he used normally. in a light spar, the difference in weight wasn’t so significant. It wasn’t something that would decide winning or losing. 

“Then I’ll swing my wooden sword. Please avoid it. It is a slash that moves from top to bottom.”

Hyeonu foreshadowed the next attack. It was a light cut. Until here, Ray wasn’t very nervous. The experience accumulated during this time wasn’t shallow enough to become nervous. Hyeonu’s sword moved. Hyeonu attacked exactly as he said earlier. It absolutely wasn’t a slow speed but it was an attack that felt very slow at Ray’s level.

‘I can avoid this much...’

Ray tried to avoid the attack by taking a light step to the side. Just then, there was a change in the greatsword. The tip of the greatsword moved and it gave people the illusion that it was waiting first in the direction where Ray moved.

‘If it continues like this, it seems like I am giving it my head.’

The moment Ray stopped, Hyeonu’s greatsword had already stopped above Ray’s head.

“Why didn’t you avoid it?” Hyeonu asked in a knowing manner. Naturally, Ray looked stupid and expressed what he felt.

“I felt like the sword would fall there if I moved.”

“That’s why you didn’t move?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s do it one more time. This time, you should avoid it. Understood?”

After saying this, Hyeonu returned to his original position. There was a gap between the two of them.

“Then I’ll start again.”

Hyeonu swung his greatsword the moment he finished speaking. This time it was once again a basic slash from top to bottom.

‘This time, I will close my eyes and avoid it.’

Ray looked at the approaching wooden sword and gave strength to both his legs, kicking off hard. Then he sat down directly on the ground. It was because Hyeonu’s sword stopped before his eyes.

“You are bolder than I thought? I never thought you would try to avoid it.”

Hyeonu was looking at Ray with a playful expression from behind the wooden sword.