Ranker's Return

Chapter 806

“The ranking battles will stop here. I can’t match it any longer.”

Hyeonu’s penalty ranking battle lasted for around four hours after his fight with Teika. It was just that the number of ranking battles wasn’t high. Exactly five more battles were played, so it was almost one battle an hour. There weren’t that many grandmasters or masters.

‘Six battles is enough.’

Nevertheless, Hyeonu was satisfied. It was because his original goal had been met.

[66 consecutive PVP wins 66/66]

[The stage 4 open conditions are satisfied.]

[The item effect of ‘Rainbow with Desire’ has changed.]

[All stats +300 → all stats +400.]

[Stage 4 - Distorted Beliefs: When dealing damage to an opponent, inflict additional damage equal to 15% of the damage dealt.]

[Stage 5 opening condition: Level up 0/15]

There was another reason why Hyeonu chose the ranking battles.

Rainbow of Desires—its upgrade was another purpose for today’s arena streaming, and he successfully achieved it.

‘If it is an extra 15% damage...’

The newly unlocked effect was powerful. It was a much more efficient effect than simply adding some skills or raising stats.

“I will end today’s joint live stream today. Alley Leader has personal scheduling issues. Of course, I can continue.” Yeongchan proceeded with the live stream instead of Hyeonu while the latter was busy looking at the new item effect. It was possible because he had talked to Hyeonu about this beforehand. Hyeonu had said he would end the live stream if he won six ranking battles.

-Already? Just six rounds?

-However, the matching time is longer, and everyone seems to have run away...

-To be honest, there is no change in the rankings, but who would like to be beaten like that? It is worth running away.

-However, it takes a few dozen minutes for each round. It feels like he talks for a long time and then disappears once in a while?

The viewers were sad, but they didn’t react seriously to Hyeonu leaving. It was because they felt he wouldn’t get another ranking battle anyway.

‘That’s right. I was streaming.’ Hyeonu heard Yeongchan’s words and realized he was streaming. Normally, he wouldn’t have been able to forget about streaming and check an item effect, but there was Yeongchan to help him today. In some ways, Yeongchan had more skillful hosting abilities than Hyeonu, so Hyeonu could be so relaxed.

“Dear viewers, I will go first. Please show a lot of love for Argon’s live stream.” Hyeonu quickly gave a final goodbye to the viewers.

-Before you go, tell us what you said to Teika earlier.

-Right, what was the last thing you talked about?

-Did he say to buy some rice served in soup?

-Which country is Teika from that you are talking about rice in soup? Is he Korean?

The viewers grabbed at Hyeonu who was about to leave and asked what happened during the first ranking battle with Teika. However, Hyeonu had disappeared. It was an escape without the slightest bit of hesitation.

-He is already gone.

-He should listen until the end.

-I’ll have to ask when Teika turns on his live stream later.

-Yes, that will be faster.

The viewers sighed when they saw Hyeonu disappear in an instant. However, they weren’t terribly disappointed. It was because they still had hope in Teika.

***

Teika, who withdrew from the ranking battle with Hyeonu, immediately ended the live stream.

“Sorry, see you next time.”

He gave the viewers the excuse that he couldn’t overcome the shock of defeat. Yet in reality, he wasn’t that shocked. He already knew it would be hard to win even if there was a penalty. The problem was that Hyeonu was stronger than expected. Even so, it was a satisfying ranking battle with its own achievements. He had learned how to handle the trickiest part of dealing with Hyeonu.

‘Can I learn fighting energy?’

Hyeonu had kindly told Teika how. He said it was a secret he hadn’t told anyone else.

‘Go to the north of the Black Forest and find the orcs?’

Of course, Hyeonu didn’t teach Teika everything. There were clearly parts Teika had to take care of on his own. However, there was a huge difference between not knowing at all and having a clue. Thus, Teika gave up on leveling up and moved to the Black Forest. He decided it was better for his future to get fighting energy than to level up.

‘The orcs that appear here are from the Meadow Wolf Tribe.’

Teika quickly broke through the Black Forest using on the information he knew in advance. The Black Forest was a field where people only hunted before the second class advancement, so for Teika, whose level was close to the fifth class advancement, it was nothing more than a leisurely walk in the neighborhood.

Teika quickly discovered the Meadow Wolf Tribe.

‘Is it here?’

There were only a few weak orcs based on Teika’s standards. These orcs were the orcs of the Meadow Wolf Tribe that Teika was looking for.

‘Can I really get fighting energy from orcs like this?’

Teika already knew about the orcs through his research beforehand, but they were weaker when he saw them in person. He couldn’t understand how he could get something as good as fighting energy from an orc like that.

‘Still, he did get it from here.’

However, Teika trusted Hyeonu. He didn’t think that Hyeonu had lied to him. Teika carefully roamed the interior of the Meadow Wolf Tribe. There seemed to be no place that he didn’t explore. Yet for over an hour, the only orcs that Teika met were weak ones.

‘I’m sure he got it from the boss monster...’

Teika’s gaming career wasn’t short. No, it was very long. He had played all types of games from a young age until now. Thanks to this, he also had a sharp intuition.

“Who are you? What is going on here?” A huge shadow appeared behind Teika at this moment.

Teika moved quickly as his vision darkened instantly. He sprang forward at explosive speed and pulled out the spear he was carrying on his back. Then he quickly turned around and threw the spear at the shadow. The advancing spear was covered with the image of a bloody wolf.

“If I ask a question, I should get an answer. Why are you throwing your spear?” The owner of the shadow expressed his displeasure at the sight of Teika’s spear approaching him. Then he threw a fist the size of an adult male’s face toward the bloody wolf. The fist and spear collided, and there was an explosion like a huge bomb had gone off.

“Why did you come here? Why are you here?” the owner of the shadow once again asked Teika, who was being pushed away. This time, he was obviously annoyed.

Teika looked surprised when he saw the shadow standing behind him. ‘That orc... It is that orc from Arena Week.’

The owner of the shadow was an orc—the most famous orc in Arena. It was Raccoon, who bombed Arena Week and appeared on Alley Leader’s live stream.

Teika retrieved the spear and told Raccoon his reason for visiting the Black Forest: “I came here because I was told I could learn fighting energy here.”

“Fighting energy? Who said that?” Raccoon changed his attitude at Teika’s words. He was now curious rather than annoyed.

“It is someone I think you know very well. Gang Hyeonu...” Teika naturally sold Hyeonu’s name. It was true that Hyeonu told him this.

“Gang Hyeonu? That guy? He doesn’t seem like it at all...” Raccoon murmured with an expression of disbelief. The Hyeonu that Raccoon knew wasn’t a human being who would say such things.

‘He doesn’t seem like the type of person to share good things... Or was his weakness caught?’

“Have you caught any of his weaknesses? How did you hear this?” Raccoon asked Teika again.

“His weaknesses? How am I supposed to catch those? Rather, I don’t know if my own weaknesses were caught.” Teika shook his head. He didn’t know Hyeonu’s weaknesses. He couldn’t find any. In Teika’s eyes, Hyeonu was a man without weaknesses.

Raccoon thought for a moment before nodding. “Really? Hmm... Well, it is okay to teach one person if he is the one who sent you.”

This must be a reliable human if Hyeonu had sent him. Hyeonu would also owe Raccoon a favor after this.

Teika approached Raccoon with wide eyes, grabbing his arm and asking, “Really? You will teach me fighting energy?”

“However, it is up to you to learn. It is entirely up to you if you can learn like him or just waste your time.” Raccoon frowned and threw away Teika’s arm.

“I understand. I will do my best.” Teika nodded and pulled himself together.

“Then follow me.” Raccoon led Teika to Dakan's residence.

[You have entered the residence of Fighter Dakan.]

‘An instance dungeon?’ Teika had a slightly bewildered expression on his face as he saw Raccoon leading him into the instance dungeon. He could now understand why he couldn’t even find Raccoon’s nostrils after walking around for an hour.

“Cancun!” Raccoon, who was stepping forward without hesitation, shouted at an axe-wielding orc in the distance who was exuding bloody energy.

“Have you been training well?” Raccoon strode toward Cancun.

Cancun swung his axe and answered Raccoon’s question, “It is going pretty well. The problem is that I am only training with Uncle Dakan, so I am used to it. The training itself is pretty good.”

“That is why I brought you a training partner. Say hello,” Raccoon said while pointing to Teika.

Cancun looked Teika up and down and complained, “He looks weak... Will he help with the practice?”

Raccoon shook his head. “He isn’t that weak. He just isn’t as good as the human you are aiming for.”

Teika wasn’t weak. They had only exchanged blows once, but that was enough to ascertain that.

“Try to use fighting energy like you did when you first met that other human. This guy also wants to learn fighting energy,” Raccoon said.

Cancun heard that and frowned slightly. It was because these words reminded him of his first spar with Hyeonu. Hyeonu failed to deal with fighting energy properly, but he succeeded in clumsily controlling it after a few confrontations. There had been several meetings and fights since then, but Cancun had never won against Hyeonu.

“I understand. I will fight,” Cancun accepted.

Then Raccoon beckoned to Teika, who was standing in the distance. Teika approached at a quick pace.

“I’m not expecting much. Feel with your body what fighting energy is during your fight against Cancun,” Raccoon instructed Teika to fight Cancun directly. No other method was needed. Learning with the body was the surest method.

“I understand. I will do my best.” Teika pulled out his spear and stood in front of Cancun. He didn’t express it outwardly, but his pride was hurt.

‘He is ignoring me too much.’

Cancun’s words were not pleasant. Raccoon looked like this, so Teika naturally had to bow and go in. However, Cancun was different.

“Then fight well.” Raccoon lightly patted Teika’s shoulder.