Ranker's Return

Chapter 885

“I am Alley Leader. Have you been well?”

Hyeonu turned on the live stream, bowed his head, and greeted the viewers.

-Yes, it is nice to see you.

-There is good news today.

-Who is the winner?

-Don’t we already know the winner? The A-World hits were no joke.

-Still, he said that there are other evaluation criteria. It isn’t known who it will be.

-Considering this, it seems like there are roughly five candidates.

The viewers welcomed Hyeonu. No, to be precise, they waited for news of the winner that Hyeonu would announce.

“Everyone is waiting for the winner to be announced?”

Hyeonu smiled when he saw the chat window that was more active than usual. This was worth revealing one unique item.

‘Even if the number of views increases, the price of the unique item will remain.’

It was shared on all kinds of social media and Internet communities, as well as A-World and the news. For the past week, there hadn’t been any place where Hyeonu’s name hadn’t been mentioned.

Anyone who watched a media outlet for more than 10 minutes would hear Hyeonu’s name mentioned at least once. The ramifications of the event were to this extent.

Hyeonu smiled and continued, “I’m sorry, but what can I do? The winner announcement will be revealed on the A-World channel after the live stream ends today.”

-After the live stream?

-...How can I wait?

-I am curious.

-Surely it won’t really be announced after it is over, right? Are you joking?

The viewers couldn’t accept Hyeonu’s words. It was inevitable since two days had passed since the event was over.

Two days was enough time to get the results. The number of people who participated in the event was as numerous as the grains of sand on the beach, but among them, there were those who stood out among inferior lights. Naturally, there weren’t many such people. The winner would have to be one of them no matter what.

“Once again, the winner will be announced in the video that will be uploaded after the live stream ends.”

However, Hyeonu was still stubborn and came up with something else instead.

“I am going to reveal something else on the live stream right now.”

-Something else?

-What else have you prepared?

-What?

-I think it is just a joke.

“I came with the video of the winning candidates.”

Instead of announcing the winner, what Hyeonu brought with him was a video of the winning candidates.

“There are exactly five people in this video. This is a video that analyzes everything about how they applied for the event and what the result will be.”

Hyeonu finished speaking and clapped. Then a video started to play in the eyes of the viewers.

“The first one is a face that you know well. It is Sunny, a streamer and pro gamer.”

The image of Sunny smiling broadly appeared.

“Sunny applied for the event through social media and an A-World video. Her social media has 3.7 million likes and 650,000 shares, while the views of her A-World video are 17 million.”

Sunny achieved remarkable results. She had a huge fandom behind her and achieved overwhelming results on social media. That didn’t mean that her A-World views didn’t turn out well. It attracted 17 million views in less than a week. This was great even if there were duplicate views.

-They made half of it.

-Truly. It is saying ‘I just want to get it’...

-It isn’t ‘I want to get it’. It is ‘I need it for Crescent Moon’. Stupid.

-It seems to be half Crescent Moon’s fans and half Sunny’s individual fans.

The viewers nodded at Sunny’s appearance from the beginning. It was natural for Sunny to be the winner of the event. Sunny had been a fairly popular streamer right from the beginning. Then after beginning her career in Crescent Moon, her popularity grew exponentially.

If it were just this, the viewers wouldn’t have been so easily convinced. However, Sunny had some really steadfast fans.

-There are all sorts of people supporting her... It isn’t possible to win against them.

-There are three groups that I know of.

-What are you counting for? Just say that all the black magician classes support her.

-She is almost at the level of a queen to necromancers, right?

-Not a queen, just a god. A goddess.

Sunny’s supporters were all classes associated with black magicians. They offered unconditional support for Sunny.

‘Did she build up the pride of a necromancer?’

Based on what Hyeonu knew, it was roughly like this. It wasn’t just that. Sunny’s support base was also filled with Hyeonu’s fans. If Sunny received the unique item, Crescent Moon’s power would naturally go up.

This would make Crescent Moon perform better in the league. The people who wanted this also added to Sunny’s popularity.

“This is the second one. It is another familiar face. The captain of Red Bull America, Mascherano.”

Just then, Sunny disappeared from the video, and a new person appeared. It was Mascherano, a blond-haired man with an attractive smile.

“Mascherano also participated on social media. He got 13 million likes and 11 million shares.”

Mascherano didn’t participate in as many places as Sunny did. He only participated through one social media. Nevertheless, he was a finalist. This was proof that Mascherano was immensely popular.

-If you are an American, you should support Mascherano.

-The New York Warriors or Red Bull America should get this armor.

.

-13 million likes aren’t comparable to 1.1 million A-World views.

-That’s right. The likes are far more overwhelming.

Mascherano’s appearance was met with a heated reaction by some viewers. They had only one thing in common. They were American.

‘Certainly, there is firepower because there is no Reina.’

As far as Hyeonu knew, Mascherano’s popularity wasn’t to this extent. 13 million likes weren’t nothing. Hyeonu chose Reina’s absence as the reason for this. Reina didn’t participate, so her supporters naturally empowered Mascherano.

‘For the pride of the American league... It is something like this.’

The reason was obvious. It was the desire for an American team to win the next Arena Week. No one knew if the unique item given by Hyeonu would be a good item until then. However, it was definitely a good item right now. Based on this, it was possible for them to get a little bit ahead of others.

“The third, fourth, and fifth candidates will be announced at the same time. More time has passed than I expected.”

Hyeonu moved his hands quickly. The footage disappeared, and three photographs took its place. Each of the photographs contained a person and a short note.

“The third one is a group, not an individual. It is the Kowloon Guild. They have 89 million viewers on A-World. It is a really great number. The fourth is Ryan. He has 5.5 million likes on social media and 1 million shares. The last one... It is Dwayne. He has 17.5 million social media likes and 130 million A-World video views.”

-Is this part about Dwayne true? 17.5 million?

-What about over 100 million? Is this a number that can come out in a week?

-Isn’t over 100 million in a week only possible for Alley Leader?

-Didn’t you guys watch Dwayne’s video? 100 million is too little in my opinion...?

The viewers were shocked by Dwayne’s overwhelming results. It was incomparable.

-Isn’t this a bit much even for a Hollywood star?

-It smells of manipulation...

-Why would Dwayne manipulate it?

-He is someone who doesn’t need that.

-This jerk obviously hasn’t seen Dwayne’s video. If you had seen it, you wouldn’t be able to say this... Sigh.

These absurd numbers raised suspicions of manipulation. At first glance, this might be the case. Yet anyone who knew the details of the situation would never think of the word ‘manipulation’.

“Dwayne is not that type of person. The evidence is in this video.”

Hyeonu played a video. It was the same video that caught the eye of 100 million people in a week.

-I didn’t know I was going to shoot a video like this, but... I accidentally got a chance. The reason I’m making this video isn’t just to get an item to use. It is to get even a little bit more attention from you through this event.

As Dwayne’s words continued, the viewers could understand why Hyeonu said this to them.

“Dwayne turned my event into a campaign.”

It was a campaign. Dwayne said that if he won Hyeonu’s event, he would sell the armor at an open auction and donate the money he received from the winning bidder and a portion of his assets. The targets of the donation were children in need around the world. He would support them until they became adults.

“This type of person... There is no way he can manipulate the results. I will also tell you this in advance. It is something that has constantly appeared in the chat window, but... Those who have higher numbers than the five candidates but weren’t included in the candidates were found to have reasons for disqualification.”

After these words, Hyeonu no longer commented on the event.

The viewers didn’t even ask. It was because the ground started to vibrate along with the sound of a grand flute in the distance. This was a signal that the battle between the god tribe and the middle world’s allies was about to begin.

***

“Got it? You can’t give Raccoon the buffs.” Hyeonu grabbed Tang-E and whispered very softly so that no one else could hear.

“Why is this necessary? Isn’t it good if Uncle becomes stronger?” Tang-E cocked his head like he didn’t understand Hyeonu’s words.

“There is a situation. You can give it a little bit later, just not today,” Hyeonu whispered again. It was in order to convince Tang-E.

“Understood, Master dude.” Tang-E quickly nodded. He trusted Hyeonu. He believed there must be a good reason.

“You know how to fight on your own. If you want to come forward, you can. It isn’t a dangerous battle. What will you do?” Hyeonu was still whispering to Tang-E.

-Ah, I’m going crazy with envy.

-He has this mindset even right before the video.

-Why don’t I have a Tang-E?

-I’m the only one without a bear ㅠㅠㅠ

In the eyes of the viewers, it just looked like Hyeonu was rubbing his chin against Tang-E’s fur.

“Hmm... I will fight in human form for the first time in a long time, Master dude.”

“Really? Then I’ll handle the items. What weapon will you use?” It was Hyeonu who cocked his head this time.

Tang-E was fierce enough when fighting in humanoid form after using Polymorph. He wasn’t pushed even if he fought against some rankers. In particular, his magic power control was beyond the gamers.

“I will use a sword.” Tang-E raised his head and made eye contact with Hyeonu.

“Sword? Okay.” Something popped into Hyeonu’s head the moment he heard Tang-E’s answer.

“Buff me, then wait here and get the items from Yuri. Understood?” Hyeonu said while stroking Tang-E’s head. Tang-E applied the buffs to Hyeonu without saying anything.

Hyeonu hugged Tang-E and approached Yuri. “Yuri, can you give me the buffs?”

“Buffs? I understand.” Yuri applied a buff to Hyeonu without questioning it. There was no reason for Yuri to refuse Hyeonu’s request.

“Take care of Tang-E here.” Hyeonu didn’t just stretch out his arms. He leaned forward slightly and handed over Tang-E.

“I sent you an email, so check it later.” Hyeonu moved away from Yuri as if nothing had happened. Then he stood on the edge of the wall and examined the battlefield.

“Everyone, be alert. I am going.” He jumped off the wall without hesitation.

-Hey, this crazy guy!!!

-Once again, he isn’t a real person.

-At least turn on the signal blinkers!!

-How can we not be nervous when you speak while running, ah!!!

At the same time, the chat window became a mess. It was the result of Hyeonu’s actions.

At this moment, there was another person who was astonished—Yuri. Her eyes shook wildly after reading Hyeonu’s email.