Ranker's Return

Chapter 900

Chapter 900

Hyeonu didn’t leave the arena even after he finished streaming. He sat on the arena ground and stared at it dazedly.

‘Now it is six.’

Nonetheless, Hyeonu wasn’t actually looking at the ground. He was watching a video visible only to his eyes. It was a video that was taken before Alley Leader Academy. The video showed some people making promises to help Hyeonu with his plan.

‘I have to increase it step by step.’

This was just the beginning. He had to possess a lot more footage than he had now.

‘I have to move in secret... I won’t be able to increase it quickly, but...’

It wasn’t good to increase it recklessly. He had to offer it only to people he thoroughly trusted. Of course, it was difficult to move in such a restrictive way. The range of those who deserved to make the promise was too narrow. It was natural since he didn’t move as actively as usual. The good news was that Hyeonu’s goal wasn’t big.

‘I just need to collect as much as I am able to now.’

12 people in a guild or team—that was enough. The six people he had already collected were the best in Arena. It was overwhelming in quality rather than quantity.

‘It won’t be a large-scale war anyway.’

It was good enough to recruit six more at a similar level to now.

“Alley Leader?” Someone appeared in the arena where Hyeonu was located just then.

“You’re here already?” Hyeonu rose from his spot and welcomed the person who called him. “Didn’t you say to come back after a short talk? It has already been quite some time. In addition, training will begin in 10 minutes.”

The name of the man who returned was Teika. The reason he returned was that Crescent Moon’s training was scheduled to soon take place.

“That is true.”

Hyeonu checked the time after listening to Teika and nodded. A lot of time had passed.

“Isn’t it hard to use a sword instead of a spear?” Hyeonu asked. Teika used a sword only in PvP practice with the Crescent Moon players. The reason was simple but obvious. The weapon of the vast majority of melee players in the Pro League was a sword.

“It isn’t too hard. I used a sword in the previous game.”

“Is that so? Why did you change weapons?”

“It wasn’t interesting,” Teika replied with a smile.

Instead of answering, Hyeonu made an expression like he found that hard to believe. It had been a while since virtual reality became the age of money. In such a world, it was rare to give up part of one’s skills.

“It is hard to believe, but it is real.” Teika made a resentful expression when he saw Hyeonu’s look of disbelief.

“I believe you. I know someone like that,” Hyeonu quickly agreed. It was because he knew someone worse than Teika.

‘I deleted my character...’

It was himself. Hyeonu had deleted his previously first-ranked account just because he no longer found it interesting.

‘It was because of the army, but...’

Of course, there was a separate reason apart from it being boring. Yet no matter the reason, it was right that he deleted it because he didn’t find it interesting.

“Is that so? Is there someone else like that beside me?” Teika asked with wide eyes after hearing Hyeonu’s words.

Hyeonu silently pointed at himself.

“...Don’t tell me?”

Hyeonu nodded at Teika’s question. “I didn’t change my weapon. I expressed it in a slightly different way.”

“A different way...”

“I deleted my character.” Hyeonu revealed a secret he hadn’t told anyone before.

“Huh?”

“It is exactly as you heard. I deleted meleegod with my own hands.”

“Why did you...?”

“Teika, didn’t you mention it? You did it because you no longer found it interesting. I was the same. Only the results are different.”

Teika was speechless because Hyeonu’s answer was too unbelievable. ‘This is a bit...’

However, he didn’t say anything outwardly. It was as Hyeonu said. The result might be different, but the motive and choice were the same.

‘I’m sure he is an unusual person.’

In Teika’s mind, the image of a man called Hyeonu became a bit clearer.

“Coach, hello.”

“Hello.”

“I enjoyed the live stream.”

At this time, the Crescent Moon players showed up one by one and greeted Hyeonu and Teika.

“Yes, you came.” Hyeonu waved at the Crescent Moon players who appeared.

“Hello,” Teika also welcomed the players of Crescent Moon. It wasn’t long since they got to know each other, so his awkwardness still remained.

“Hello, Coach Teika.”

The Crescent Moon players were also awkward. In fact, they were worse than Teika. For Teika, the Crescent Moon players were no different from regular professional gamers. Yet for the Crescent Moon players, Teika was a ranker in a position that was out of reach.

“Everyone is here, so let’s get started.” Hyeonu clapped and stepped forward. “We are going to practice PvP today. Each player has 10 minutes of sparring time. If you do it with me, you can fight again with Coach Teika after 20 minutes of rest.”

The rules of the training were the same every time. The number of Crescent Moon players participating in the PvP was six. There were two coaches, so it was three people per coach.

Lee Hoon raised his hand and asked Hyeonu a question, “Is it for two hours today?”

“Yes, it’s for two hours today.” Hyeonu nodded. At first glance, this didn’t seem like a long time at all. Excluding the breaks, they were only doing around 40 minutes of PvP training. However, this was from the Crescent Moon players’ standards. The coaches, Teika and Hyeonu, had to fight non-stop for two hours. The burden on the two of them was enormous.

Now that Teika was helping out, the individual training time had increased to 40 minutes. Previously when Hyeonu was alone, it was only around 20 minutes. Of course, this alone made Crescent Moon’s players struggle.

“You’re training with me, so you have to perform well in the Spring League. Understood?” Teika pulled out an iron sword from his inventory.

Hyeonu also took out a sword from his inventory. Then he called out the names of the three people who would join him first: “Lee Hoon, Cha Jihyeon, and Han Jaeyeol, go over there.”

“Hah...”

“Uh...”

Sighs and groans emerged from people’s mouths when they heard Hyeonu’s announcement. In any case, everyone had to fight with Hyeonu twice. It was just a bit burdensome to start a fight with Hyeonu right away. The three people who were not called by Hyeonu made a pitying expression like they were watching cows get dragged to the slaughterhouse.

However, that look only lasted for a moment. They would have to stand in front of Hyeonu after 30 minutes.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you moving?” Hyeonu urged the three people who were standing still.

“Please be gentle, Coach.”

“Gentle? Will you ask your opponent in the league to be gentle?”

Lee Hoon brought out unnecessary words and was criticized by Hyeonu.

“I will start with you,” Hyeonu called out.

Lee Hoon looked sad when he was suddenly pointed out, but that didn’t change anything.

The water had already been spilled.

“Please take care of me, Coach.”

Upon hearing this conversation, the other players of Crescent Moon nodded slightly toward Teika and moved to where they needed to go.

“The other side started with the tanker, so we will do the same. It will start with Yoo Hyeonsu.” Teika pointed to Yoo Hyeonsu.

“I understand, Coach.” Yoo Hyeonsu accepted the situation with a relatively calm expression. Teika and Yoo Hyeonsu maintained a distance of around 30 meters and stood looking at each other.

“Then let’s start setting up the stats.” Teika moved his hands through the air and started to adjust the setting of the arena. In the professional league, opponents in PvP fought with the same number of stats. Naturally, a proper setup was essential.

“Start right away when you are finished.” Teika finished the setup and lowered the longsword from top to bottom to mark the start of the practice. Yoo Hyeonsu saw this and immediately rushed toward Teika.

‘I have to fight as much as I can.’

Today’s sparring was practice. Regardless of whether he won, lost, or was at a disadvantage, the right thing to do was to fight a lot. This way, he could build up his skills and experience and show a better performance in the upcoming Spring League.

Yoo Hyeonsu narrowed the distance to Teika at once and swung his sword from left to right. His sword approached with enough force to split Teika’s waist, but Teika blocked it with a light swing of his weapon. Upon coming into contact with Teika’s sword, Yoo Hyeonu’s sword came to a stop. It couldn’t move forward. He didn’t have the strength to break through. It was already a good thing that he wasn’t thrown back.

‘Is it strength-oriented today?’

That wasn’t all. Yoo Hyeonsu almost let go of his sword due to the impact he felt, which was like he had been hit by a hammer. He had known this would happen, but Teika’s stats distribution seemed more extreme than he expected. Unlike what was well known, Teika fought against the Crescent Moon players using a strength-oriented stats distribution. It wasn’t as extreme as what Hyeonu showed in the league, but Teika’s stats distribution was extreme enough that he wouldn’t be pushed by anyone.

Now aware of Teika’s condition, Yoo Hyeonsu quickly changed his tactics. He abandoned the idea of going for an all-out battle.

‘Let’s go around.’

Yoo Hyeonsu was a tanker. He knew better than anyone else that there was nothing more ignorant than engaging in a strength battle against an opponent stronger than himself. Instead, he moved around Teika using unbelievably sharp movements that didn’t match his appearance.

Teika followed Yoo Hyeonsu and spun around in place.

The latest_epi_sodes are on_the ???????.???. website.

‘It isn’t a good decision to attack first, but...’

In a real competition fight, the first one to attack in this situation would unconditionally be Yoo Hyeonsu. However, it was currently a practice fight, not a competition. There was no need to waste time meaninglessly. Teika lightly kicked off against the ground. Then his sword swung in a quick and heavy manner.

Yoo Hyeonsu raised his shield at an angle to deflect Teika’s attack. No, he thought he deflected it. The moment that Teika’s sword struck Yoo Hyeonsu’s shield, Yoo Hyeonsu’s body shook. He lost his balance.

‘Why me?’

Originally, Yoo Hyeonsu should’ve deflected Teika’s attack and then wielded his sword. However, he failed to deflect the attack and received the shock to his shield. He was unprepared, so it was natural for his body to shake after being unable to overcome the shock.

“Stay focused until the end. Don’t relax until the moment you deflect your opponent’s attack.” Teika clicked his tongue. He created the current result just by twisting his wrist at the end and changing the trajectory of his attack. It was something he wouldn’t have been able to do if he were the same as before. This was why he had come to coach Crescent Moon.

‘I learned this detail.’

Hyeonu had taught a lot to Teika. Among them, what Teika liked the most were things that Hyeonu called miscellaneous techniques. It was just like the one he just showed.

“Then let’s do it again.”

Yoo Hyeonsu looked at Teika and blinked like there was a terrible sight before him. A certain someone’s appearance had started to overlap over Teika’s.