Ranker's Return

Chapter 731

Tang-E and Hyeonu returned to the village of Bung Bung Island only after they had completely erased the smell of meat that was on their bodies. The village was noisy. Here and there, they were busy talking about how they had roamed Bung Bung Island.

“It is my first time seeing them so energetic,” Hyeonu sat down and said.

“That’s right. This is also the first time for Tang-E. Everyone seemed to enjoy it a lot,” Tang-E added to Hyeonu’s words.

Tang-E had never seen Bung Bung Island as noisy as it was today.

“This has never happened in the past. Well… it is good for everyone.”

Hugo nodded. The Marionette Bears did fun and exciting things as individuals, but they didn’t have an opportunity to move as a group as they did today. At best, it was around six friends flocking together.

“It is late… would you like to eat?” Just then, Manong opened her mouth. At the same time, Tang-E, Hugo, and Hyeonu stopped talking. The atmosphere became cold. Manong felt a strange atmosphere and her expression hardened.

“Tang-E and I were hungry, so we ate first.”

Hyeonu struck first. It was as if he had never closed his mouth. He naturally continued to talk.

“That’s right, we ate. Master cooked it. He is a good master.” Tang-E continued from Hyeonu’s words as if nothing had happened.

“Really? Indeed… you have been wandering around for half a day, not an hour or two. You must’ve been hungry. Then what about you?”

Manong’s eyes were on Hugo. He was the only one left.

“I… I’m going to eat. I was actually planning to eat,” Hugo spoke more naturally than Tang-E or Hyeonu.

“So you are the only one eating, right? Wait a little bit. I’ll make it for you soon.”

Manong laughed and disappeared. Tang-E shook his head as he saw Hugo’s frustrated expression.

“Hugo,” Hyeonu called out to Hugo.

Hugo turned his head at Hyeonu’s call.

“I found it.”

Hugo’s expression changed rapidly at Hyeonu’s words. His lost vitality was revived and his eyes came back alive.

“Can you guide me now?” Hugo asked as he grabbed both of Hyeonu’s hands.

“Of course. It isn’t a big secret. What’s wrong with telling you?”

Hugo’s request was what Hyeonu intended.

“Then let’s go quickly.”

Hugo shot up from his seat. The chair he was sitting on failed to overcome the recoil and fell backwards. The loud noise made Manong reappear.

“Where are you going?” Manong grabbed Hugo who was trying to run out.

“It is just that he found the treasure… I’m going to check it now. I’ll eat after I come back. I’m sorry.”

"Really? Then I’ll prepare it slowly.”

Manong nodded at Hugo’s words.

Hyeonu briefly added, “It won’t take long. He is just going to check the location. He will return in 20 minutes.”

“20 minutes… I understand. Go quickly.”

Manong smiled and waved after hearing Hyeonu say it would only take 20 minutes. There was no need to mention that Hugo’s expression had become bad.

“Let’s go, Hugo.”

Hyeonu took the lead without caring about Hugo’s heart.

***

“Here is the space that contains the descendants of the empire.”

Hyeonu guided Hugo to the place where he had eaten with Tang-E.

“Certainly… there is a magic circle. It is amazing even with just a glance.” Hugo marveled as he examined the magic circle in the pit.

“Do you also know magic?” Hyeonu saw it and asked Hugo with a surprised expression.

“No? I’m just saying this because there is a lot of magic power,” Hugo shook his head and replied. He was a layman when it came to magic. He just expected the magic circle to be great due to the extreme magic power.

“Ah, yes. Indeed.”

Hyeonu managed to hold back the laughter that was about to burst out and nodded.

“Why don't you go back now? I am going to enter the space inside this magic circle.”

“Go in. I will watch until you enter.”

“I understand.”

At Hugo’s words, Hyeonu nodded and threw himself into the pit. Then a message window appeared in front of Hyeonu.

[Do you want to enter the Traces of the Empire Left in the Middle World?]

Hyeonu answered the question in the message window without hesitation. “I will enter.”

Hyeonu and Tang-E’s bodies were surrounded by light. They eventually became a ray of light and disappeared.

***

[You have entered the Traces of the Empire Left in the Middle World.]

Hyeonu looked around the moment he entered the instance dungeon. It was just a habit. He didn’t know when, where, and what would happen. It was Hyeonu who would suffer damage if he was careless, not someone else.

‘It is quiet.’

The scenery of the space that Hyeonu entered was the same as Bung Bung Island. It was peaceful and beautiful. It was natural. This instance dungeon was created by severing the space of Bung Bung Island.

Hyeonu carefully explored the instance dungeon. He remained tense as he looked around carefully. Hyeonu was vigilant of the descendants of the empire, not the existence of monsters.

‘Hugo’s words were right.’

Not all the descendants of the empire would be as fond of Hyeonu as Kalui.

‘Who was it? The man from that time.’

There would be some people who doubted Hyeonu’s qualifications and denied his existence, like the descendant of the empire that he couldn’t remember properly. This was why he was even more careful. However, this was over after an hour. For an hour, Hyeonu and Tang-E simply looked at the scenery of Bung Bung Island. They didn’t see any life at all. Naturally, the vigilance was lightened and tension eased.

Tang-E knocked on Hyeonu’s head and asked, “Master dude, is this the right place? I can’t even see any ants.”

“I am curious about that as well. Why is there no one here?”

It was the same for Hyeonu. He wondered why no one showed up.

‘If I can’t find them, I will call them out.’

Hyeonu changed his mind. It was clear that the descendants of the Luos Empire were here. They were just hidden. Then Hyeonu had to make them come to him.

“Look well. They will come soon,” Hyeonu asserted in a voice full of confidence.

He was confident that he was better than anyone else at attracting attention.

“Call them quickly, Master dude.”

Tang-E was intrigued by Hyeonu’s words. He was really curious about how Hyeonu was going to call out those who they hadn’t found a trace of after one hour of wandering around. Hyeonu used a skill without saying anything. The skill selected was Dragon Fear, an item set effect. A shape resembling the dragon’s head in the empty space in Phinis appeared behind Hyeonu. The dragon’s head opened its mouth to cry out without any sound.

It happened at this moment…

A crunching sound started to be heard like crazy from the forest far from where Hyeonu and Tang-E were.

“Do you see? They are coming,” Hyeonu boasted as he heard the sound in the distance.

“By the way… I don’t think it is just one or two, Master dude. Be careful.”

Tang-E couldn’t smile. It was good for those who couldn’t be found to come on their own. The problem was that the number was too high.

“It is fine. If it doesn’t work, then we’ll just fight. We can win.”

Hyeonu pretended to be casual to reassure Tang-E. No, he was actually casual.

‘If we have to fight, then we’ll fight.’

The thing Hyeonu cared about was a variable that he didn’t know when or where would pop out. The problem in front of him didn’t matter much. He was sufficiently capable of coping with it.

“Understood, Master dude.”

Hyeonu and Tang-E chatted as they waited for the main characters to appear. After a while those he had been waiting for appeared in front of him. There were as many as 100 protagonists. They were ordinary humans. There wasn’t anything strange except for their nervousness.

“D… did a dragon come here?” the man in front of the 100 people asked Hyeonu. His voice was very solemn.

“I’m not a dragon. My species is human.”

Hyeonu’s voice was also serious. It was just that his tone wasn’t serious, so there was a strange sense of dissonance.

“Human? It was obviously a dragon’s energy…” The leading man looked confused at Hyeonu’s words.

“Don’t lie!” the man standing right behind the leading man screamed at Hyeonu.

“Who is the one leading the descendants of the empire? I want to talk to them,” Hyeonu lightly ignored the man’s bluster and said what he wanted to say.

This was the most comfortable and fastest way to get things done. It was obvious that he would just waste his time if he listened to everything.

‘Why isn’t anyone answering?’

Unfortunately, there was no return answer. At Hyeonu’s words, everyone quietly looked at each other. No one opened their mouths.

“Then live here for the rest of your life. I’ll be going now. I should tell Kalui that I didn’t find it…”

Hyeonu threw these words at those in front of him and turned away. There wasn’t any hesitation.

It happened at this moment…

“Wait! Did you just say Kalui?” the man in the lead shouted at Hyeonu.

Hyeonu turned and looked at the man again. “That’s right. How could I have come here? I came because Kalui requested it.”

“How can we believe that?”

“It has been a long time since the Luos Empire collapsed. Do you think it makes sense that there are humans who didn’t note down the names of the old emperors, but noted down the name of Kalui and sought the whereabouts of the descendants hidden by the old emperor?”

The man heard Hyeonu’s words and failed to say anything. It wasn’t just that. Not a single person could open their mouths among those standing behind the man. It was because Hyeonu’s words were right. They couldn’t refute it. Too much time had passed for someone to come visit them. They knew it best. Who would know how it felt unless they were the ones who were trapped without being able to die?

“If there is anything to prove my identity… How about this? It is a ring I got from Rondal.”

Hyeonu approached the man while taking off the gauntlet. Then he extended his hand without the gauntlet to the man. It was so that it could be seen well.

“This is the Guardian’s ring… did someone who passed Rondal really show up?”

The man looked amazed when he saw the ring on Hyeonu’s hand. It wasn’t just that. Expectations started to appear on the faces of those who heard the man’s voice.

“Can we finally escape this space?”

“The opportunity to live like a person has come.”

“Now I can make my mother’s wishes come true…”

They wanted to leave this space quickly.

This cursed space.

‘Everyone here wants to go out?’

Everyone responded similarly. The descendants of the empire gathered here seemed to want to escape the space.

“Then let's go. To the outside,” Hyeonu said with a smile.