Ranker's Return

Chapter 737

Hyeonu was surprised to meet Reina by chance. Then he thought about it and found it wasn’t surprising. Initially, the store Hyeonu was visiting felt like a really hidden restaurant that only acquaintances knew. Now it was a popular store for people in the neighborhood.

‘Is that the person from the club?’

Hyeonu saw the woman standing next to Reina and asked carefully, “Did you meet here?”

Reina shook her head. “The meal was eaten somewhere else. We came here because she likes alcohol more than coffee...”

She had just arrived at the store; she wasn’t leaving after being done here. Due to the small nature of the store, she couldn’t find any seats even though it wasn’t very late in the night yet. Thus, she left her regrets behind and exited the store.

“There is no room inside,” Reina told Hyeonu about the situation of the store.

“No, I made a reservation, so it is okay,” Hyeonu replied with a slight smile.

Reina’s worry was in vain. Feeling bewildered by Hyeonu’s words, Reina stopped her clumsy Korean and asked in English, “This place doesn’t even have a phone number, right? They also say that they don’t accept reservations.”

Hyeonu proceeded to reply in English like he was familiar with Reina’s sudden change in language. It was because he had just explained it to Yeongchan as well.

“It is more like an appointment than a reservation. I know the boss here.” Hyeonu shook the smartphone in his hand.

“Ah, is that so? I see...” Reina calmed her excitement.

If so, it made sense why the boss said there were no seats even though there were still a few empty seats.

“Um... If it isn’t uncomfortable, would you like to go in with me?” Hyeonu suggested for Reina to join him.

‘If I hadn’t called... she could’ve entered the store.’

Of course, it might or might not have been the case. After all, it had been an hour or so since Hyeonu called. In the meantime, there could’ve been those who came before Reina and left because there were no seats.

Hyeonu’s offer was because Reina wasn’t a stranger. The only person who might be uncomfortable about sitting together was the woman with Reina, the club employee.

It wasn’t just Hyeonu who was comfortable with this situation. Yeongchan wasn’t awkward with Reina either. They had worked out together more than three or four times at the fitness center, and the number of times they ate together was around that much. It wasn’t comfortable, but it couldn’t be called uncomfortable either.

“I am fine... Is it okay?” Reina nodded before looking at Yeongchan standing next to Hyeonu and speaking in slightly clumsy Korean.

“I’m fine.” Yeongchan nodded. It was fine. It was unconditionally fine.

“This jerk’s eyes are reluctant,” Hyeonu joked while looking at Yeongchan.

“Who is reluctant? Don’t talk nonsense, you jerk.” Yeongchan pretended to reach out to such a Hyeonu. As the two men were bickering, Reina and the woman next to her started chatting in English.

“When did you learn Korean like this? Why are you so good?”

“What is so good? In any case, Hyeonu said we can share the same table. Don’t say anything weird, and just drink your beer quietly.” Reina clicked her tongue when she recalled this woman’s personality. She never knew what this woman would say.

“Looking closely... it is understandable why you are doing this. Isn’t he really handsome?” the woman whispered softly into Reina’s ears. Reina’s face quickly turned red.

“Hey!” Reina shouted sharply at the woman.

“What is it?” The woman looked at Reina with a playful expression and shook her eyebrows.

“Be careful with your mouth.” Reina opened her eyes wide and glared at the woman. The amount of pressure coming from Reina made it feel like this was Arena, not reality. It was only then that the woman shut her mouth. Even so, she didn’t stop blinking.

Reina sighed lightly and said to Hyeonu, “This friend says it is fine as well.”

“Really? Then let’s go in together.” Hyeonu pushed open the door and went inside. The shop was full of people. There weren’t that many people, but the store was so narrow that it felt this way.

“Noona, it has been a while.” Hyeonu waved to the only person standing.

It was a beautiful woman.

“Uh, you came? Sit here,” the woman said and pointed her finger to an area. “Are these four seats okay?”

The woman was pointing to the seats right in front of the kitchen. It was a table structure that could be seen in a sushi restaurant or teppanyaki restaurant. It wasn’t a structure where they sat face-to-face but in a row.

“These seats are fine. There are four chairs, right?”

The four people, including Hyeonu, sat down following the woman’s words. The woman approached Hyeonu and asked, “What do you want to eat?”

“Boss-nim, what is your recommended menu?” Hyeonu replied straight away without any hesitation.

“There is nothing like that?”

“Then anything?”

“There is nothing in particular that you want?”

“Everything here is delicious, so you can give me anything.”

Hyeonu and the woman casually exchanged jokes like they were quite close.

“You won’t be able to do anything if you stay still, Reina.” The woman sitting next to Reina saw it and smiled at Reina.

***

‘Status Window.’

[Character Name: Gang Hyeonu

Level: 381

Class: Preliminary Commander of the Knights of Keon

Title: Successor of the Chaos Dragon and 42 others.

Stats: Strength: 1,460 (+6,700) Agility: 2,045 (+6,650) Physique: 1,054 (+6,650) Magic Power: 2,320 (+6,900) Fighting Energy: 1,575 (+6,450) Dignity: 1,034 (+6,450) Killing Intent: 1,091 (+6,450)

Remaining stat points: 0

Retained Attributes: Chaos]

Hyeonu was troubled while looking at his status window. He was currently level 381. It was 19 levels away from the level 400 required to clear Raccoon’s quest. The number ‘19’ was definitely small. However, it transformed into a very large number when comparing the conditions of level 381 and level 400. It took a lot of time and effort to gain 19 levels from level 381. Unsurprisingly, he needed a hunting ground to devote such time and effort to.

‘Do I have to go back to the demon world?’

Hyeonu didn’t know where he should go. It wasn’t that there were no hunting grounds for Hyeonu in the middle world. During the time when most of the big guilds, including Hyeonu, went on a rampage in the demon world, some large guilds worked to establish their place in the middle world. Among those efforts, the main one was the development of unexplored land.

In the early days of Arena, the unexplored lands were large enough to emerge as the main scenario. Now they had simply become a means of gaining imperial contributions and the trust of the nobles. The development of unexplored land was inevitably accompanied by quality hunting grounds. There were monsters suitable for both rankers or players with a slightly lower level to hunt. It was natural for decent instance dungeons to appear as well.

‘I really don’t want to go back to the demon world.’

He was tired of the demon world. Hyeonu was no longer a professional gamer; he was both a player who enjoyed Arena and a streamer. He didn’t have to do anything he didn’t want to do. There was no need to endure such things for efficiency.

‘If I come to a good hunting ground with a quest and instance dungeon...’

It would be perfect if this happened. However, this was just a wish. Who would tell Hyeonu about such a good hunting ground? They had to be busy exploring it themselves.

‘Who should I flatter?’

It would be easy once the location of the hunting ground was identified. He just needed to be shameless and sneak into the hunting ground. Even the large guilds wouldn’t stop him. It was because Hyeonu was alone. He might be a member of New World, but he didn’t bring them with him. Hyeonu always went around alone.

In addition… there was no one good enough to stop Hyeonu from entering. Force was required to stop him. As individuals, there were no guild members that could stop Hyeonu. Even if they blocked Hyeonu, they couldn’t block New World.

‘If Kim Seokjung leads the guild’s elites and makes a mess… There is no solution to that.’

In such a situation, it was best to just leave Hyeonu alone. Hyeonu opened A-World and started to look at the live streams.

‘Now which honey barrel is good?’

He searched for a bucket of honey that he could insert a straw in—a bucket of honey filled with bees working hard to fill it.

‘This isn’t good. This place isn’t good either.’

The more he looked at A-World, the darker Hyeonu’s complexion became. There was no profit.

“Ah, how many times have I seen the demon world?”

Many of the top-ranked streamers were in the demon world. Those who weren’t there were in the arena or proceeding with the content they had prepared.

‘There aren’t any the middle world? No!’ Hyeonu inwardly shouted. There was nothing. He couldn’t find one no matter how hard he looked.

‘Let’s look it one last time.’

Hyeonu couldn’t retreat. If he didn’t find it this time, he was determined to go to the demon world without wasting any more time.

‘Please just one...’

Putting aside that mindset, Hyeonu’s true feeling was that he didn’t want to go to the demon world. Just then, something caught his eye.

‘What is this?’

It was a man with a spear on his back. He had a familiar face. Anyone who often watched A-World would know it.

‘Teika?’

Hyeonu clicked on Teika’s live stream like he was possessed by something.

-I’ll rest here for a second. My party members aren’t here yet. They are all friends who aren’t good at keeping their time commitment, Teika said to himself like he was familiar with it.

He looked quite different from when he wasn’t streaming.

‘He’s in a party?’ Hyeonu noticed something strange in Teika’s words. Teika was a famous player who was known for going around alone, just like Hyeonu. It was amazing that Teika had a party. After a while, people started to gather around Teika one by one. They were the party members he spoke about. However, the party members had faces that Hyeonu knew.

‘PSG?’

That’s right. The party members Teika spoke about were members of PSG. To be precise, it was the party of Leo, PSG’s pillar and captain. It was an unbelievable sight for Hyeonu, who didn’t know that Leo and Teika were friends.

-Now I am going hunting with the idiots who don’t know how to keep their promises. Ah, where is this place? I guess it is the first time you’ve watched my live stream. I'll explain it again. This is Cinerimo, the southernmost part of the Yusma Empire. It has been a week since it was pioneered.

“This place!!!” Hyeonu shouted. This was where Hyeonu wanted to go. Hyeonu immediately sent a whisper to Teika.

-To Teika: It is Alley Leader. Can I hunt in Cinerimo?

Teika’s response to him was immediate.

-Huh? Wait a minute, everyone. Wait. I just got a strange whisper. Wait a minute.

The streaming Teika blinked with a flustered expression.