Ranker's Return

Chapter 673

Translator: rainbowturtle

Sweat was pouring like rain down Jamie Moore’s face.

“Gasp, gasp…”His turbid breath flowed like fog from his mouth.

“You’ve worked hard, Jamie. You’ve improved a lot. Rest now. It is Ray’s turn.”Hyeonu reached out to the fallen Jamie Moore.

“Yes, Mister Gang.”Jamie Moore grabbed Hyeonu’s hand and stood up. He moved to where Reina and the other players were. At the same time, Jamie Moore didn’t forget to glare at Kim Seokjung.

‘Son of a bitch.’

By the end, Jamie Moore had figured out that Kim Seokjung was deliberately hitting him. In a spar, they couldn’t help hitting the opponent. It was a natural thing.

‘He obviously did it on purpose.’

Meanwhile, Kim Seokjung was different. He intentionally used the spar to beat up Jamie. The purpose was completely reversed.

“You should put up with it, Jamie,”Hyeonu immediately said to Jamie Moore, who was about to approach Kim Seokjung and make a fuss.

“What does that mean, Mister Gang?”Jamie Moore looked back at Hyeonu.

“Don’t you remember that there are still many spars left?”

Jamie Moore nodded at Hyeonu’s question. Even if he didn’t do well, he still had to do five or six more spars. Hyeonu’s streaming would last for that long.

Hyeonu continued, “Throughout that time, Hyung-nim will be your only opponent. If you go over now, your remaining time here will be even harder.”

Jamie Moore’s expression stiffened at Hyeonu’s words.

“Until it is over?” Jamie Moore asked in seeming disbelief.

“Yes, until it is over. He is your dedicated instructor today.”Hyeonu came up with the same answer again. It didn’t change no matter how many times Jamie Moore asked him.

“I understand.”Jamie Moore sighed.

He knew that nothing would change even if he said anything.

‘He is clearly aiming for this.’

However, he couldn’t help being angry when he saw that smile on Kim Seokjung's face. He wanted to deal a blow on Kim Seokjung somehow.

“What do you think I need the most right now?” Jamie Moore asked Hyeonu.

“Let’s see… To be honest, I don’t think it is possible for you to hit Hyung-nim no matter what you do,” Hyeonu replied.

“Can’t I surprise him?”Jamie Moore asked with an earnest expression.

“To surprise him, you'll have to show unexpected behavior… Jamie, that will be really hard with what you have right now. Do you still want to try it?”Hyeonu hardened his expression and looked serious.

“Yes, I will try.”Jamie Moore nodded heavily.

“Okay. Then I’ll explain it quickly,”Hyeonu said. Then he whispered in Jamie Moore’s ear. Jamie Moore nodded with every word Hyeonu spoke. Before long, Hyeonu moved away from Jamie Moore. Meanwhile, Jamie Moore closed his eyes and stood still like he was thinking of something.

Just then, Hyeonu turned to look at Kim Seokjung, and their eyes met. Hyeonu smiled before quickly turning away. Then he spoke to Jamie Moore like nothing had happened. “Please think about it carefully, Jamie.”

“I’ll make sure to succeed.”

Hyeonu smiled slightly at Jamie Moore’s reply, which was even more solemn.

***

Ray felt his fingers tremble when he saw Jamie Moore being beaten like a dog. The shock Ray felt earlier was too great for him to pretend he was fine.

‘I can see it.’

Sparring with Hyeonu was just a kid’s prank;Hyeonu really did it with ease. Ray could tell this was the case by watching Kim Seokjung. Hyeonu’s pushing of Ray was a joke compared to Kim Seokjung’s pushing of Jamie Moore.

“Ray, I will check your skills first. I'm not going to do… that, so you don’t have to make such a scared face.”Hyeonu approached Ray, who was full of intimidation.

-Why is he so scared?

-Jamie Moore was hit, but Ray is the one who is in pain.

-He is scared to be beaten up like that.

-If you fight, you will get hit.That is what it is.

The viewers could see Ray was too nervous.

“Okay, come comfortably. Let’s do what we practiced one by one. I’m not Hyung-nim. I’m different from Hyung-nim,”Hyeonu calmly soothed Ray.

Ray came to his senses thanks to Hyeonu’s efforts.“Please look after me today.”

Ray pulled out the greatsword and placed it on the ground lightly. Then he started to carefully examine Hyeonu. He tried to look at Hyeonu’s breathing and figure out his movements. However, these efforts were futile. Hyeonu stood in place like a stone statue and never moved. It seemed like he wasn’t even breathing.

‘It can’t be helped.’Ray moved his feet strongly.

The ground of the arena shook, and sand splashed in all directions. Ray’s figure disappeared in an instant. He reappeared right in front of Hyeonu with his greatsword lifted over the latter's head. Ray quickly swung his sword down, aiming for Hyeonu’s head. There was the sharp sound of wind as the greatsword cut through the space in an instant.

Hyeonu stepped back. He never missed Ray’s movements for a single moment and was able to fully respond to this attack.

‘Don’t block it.’

Yet he didn’t do so. It was because the current Hyeonu wasn’t Alley Leader but a player at a level that Ray could meet in the arena. At this level, he would definitely avoid Ray’s attack without blocking it. This didn’t mean he was in a daze though. After stepping back, Hyeonu immediately pulled out the Mysterious Sky Sword and released purple pure energy. A giant crescent-shaped pure energy flew toward Ray. Hyeonu hadn’t hesitated to use Crescent Moon Cut.

Ray, whose greatsword slammed into the empty ground, swung it again as he watched the huge pure energy coming toward him. Ray’s greatsword turned white, and it soon collided with Hyeonu’s pure energy.

In the aftermath of the collision, Ray stepped back with a wince. The situation at the beginning of the spar was re-created. If it wasn't for the damaged ground, it was possible to believe that the battle had yet to begin.

“By platinum, he should be able to boldly use your skills.”

“If he had hesitated a bit more, it would create that atmosphere.”

“It is clean, clean.”

Kim Seokjung, Gang Junggu, and Go Eunho saw the series of conflicts and spoke one by one. Hyeonu had indeed given an excellent response. In a defensive state, it was impossible to boldly return the fight to its original state without considerable experience.

“Now he will probably go on a direct attack.”

“He has used one skill. He will cherish it as much as possible until the cooldown time ends.”

“However, usually someone ranked that high will have half a dozen skills, even if there are no attack skills. You must boldly invest your skills to decide the outcome.”

"I don't think you're going to win here if you're Hyeonu. We don’t know how Ray has developed.”

“I don’t know. That guy might receive Hyeonu’s skill linkage.”

“Stop talking nonsense. How can he block our brother’s attack? It would be great if he isn’t beaten up," Kim Seokjung rebuked Gang Junggu.

It was because Gang Junggu's words were too absurd. No matter how the level was adjusted, Hyeonu was still Hyeonu. His perfect skill linkage, which could push the opponent, wasn’t something that could be prevented just because his power was reduced.

“He didn’t use it from the beginning until now.”Kim Seokjung clicked his tongue slightly and turned his head again to watch the spar between Hyeonu and Ray.

As Gang Junggu said, Hyeonu didn’t use his skills. He just calmly wielded the Mysterious Sky Sword to match Reina’s guess of confirming Ray’s strength.

Hyeonu wasn’t in a hurry. He pushed Ray step by step with basic skills.

‘What Ray lacks is nothing other than basic combat skills.’

The specs Ray had were more overwhelming than anyone else with a similar ranking. It would be possible for Ray to climb the ranks like crazy if Hyeonu had the ability to help him. This was why Hyeonu led the duel formally.

‘It is doable.’Ray felt his heart ease when he saw that Hyeonu wasn’t violently pushing him like Kim Seokjung had done to Jamie Moore. Ray regained his calmness, and his skills started to be properly revealed.

-He fights well.

-Based on my perspective of the current arena rankings, I think he can get at least 3,000th place.

-Yes, the next mythomania.

-I don’t know about 3,000th place.Buthis strength is certainly different from before.Just look at the smooth attacks.

Ray’s skills had made remarkable development compared to the first time, and it was amazing.

“Our brother really has the talent for teaching people. Right?” Kim Seokjung felt similarly to the viewers as he too marveled at Ray’s remarkable skills. Ray grew properly in a short amount of time.

“Hyeonu is amazing. It is something that no one can believe until he shows that it is possible…”Gang Junggu pointed out Hyeonu as the sole reason why the content called 'Alley Leader Academy' was possible.

It wasn’t that other streamers hadn’t tried it. They would copy anything for the attention of viewers. However, they failed one by one. There was no one truly successful. In the initial short term, there were one or two streamers who found success with it, but they never tried to do it again because the time required was too long and the success rate was too low. It was literally left as disposable content.

Meanwhile, Hyeonu was different. He selected the target of teaching, regardless of whether they were talented or not.

“That is the difference in class. It is different, different,” Kim Seokjung stated.

Reina nodded in agreement. As Kim Seokjung said, Hyeonu was different—really different from others in every way.

Just then, Kim Seokjung saw the confrontation between Ray and Hyeonu and opened his mouth, asking, “Is it finally starting?”

A sinister smile appeared on his face.

“10 minutes is a good time to warm up.”Gang Junggu also showed a subtle smile as he looked at the scene of the spar.

“Hell is finally going to be revealed.”

“He hid it for a long time. I think it is time for everyone to know.”

Kim Seokjung and Gang Junggu each added a sentence. However, only the two people understood the conversation between them. The others didn't really understand.

“What do you mean? Hell?”Reina asked Kim Seok-jung.

“Why doesn’t Hyeonu fail? Why is he successful in teaching? You will know from now on.”Kim Seokjung pointed at Hyeonu.

‘Is there a secret?’Reina quietly watched Hyeonu fight. Then her eyes widened.“Oh, my god…”