Ranker's Return

Supplementary Story 43

Supplementary Story 43

Yeongchan spat out half of the soda he was drinking and shouted at Hyeonu, “Hey, is this a lie? Right? Are you kidding me?”

“Hey, that’s dirty...” Hyeonu frowned at the soda splattered all over the convenience store’s outdoor table.

“Tell me quickly. Is this a lie?” Yeongchan was busy shouting and urging Hyeonu as if he didn’t care about Hyeonu’s appearance.

Hyeonu stuck the straw in the banana milk, sucked it, and roughly answered Yeongchan’s question, “I’m not lying. I just deleted it.”

“Don’t you know that your hands will fly away if you are caught lying?”

In his seat, Yeongchan moved his face close to Hyeonu’s with a serious expression.

“Take a look.” Hyeonu held out his smartphone to Yeongchan’s face.

Yeongchan quickly took the smartphone and launched the app. “Huh?”

Hyeonu’s smartphone had a Horus Saga level 1 character on it. The name of the character was Nutt. It was the same name as the character of Horus Saga that Hyeonu raised.

‘He really deleted it...!’ Yeongchan realized. Horus Saga was a game in which only one character was allowed per person. In addition, the character name couldn’t be duplicated.

“Why did you erase it, you crazy person?” Yeongchan was about to grab Hyeonu by the collar. Hyeonu’s actions were that ridiculous.

“Why delete it…? I deleted it because I don’t intend to play it any longer. If it were you, would you continue even after being subjected to that situation?” Hyeonu sucked up the banana milk in a peaceful manner.

“Hey, it’s 500 items, 500. If this were switched to chicken, you could eat 500 of them.” Yeongchan couldn’t understand Hyeonu’s attitude. The value of what Hyeonu threw away was beyond imagination.

‘I don’t understand. Even if he is a rich young master...’

Even if Hyeonu could afford it financially, Yeongchan still found it absurd. Horus Saga was the most popular virtual reality game right now, and the items Hyeonu stole from the Zeus Guild were among the best-performing ones. The cash transaction for each item would be extraordinary.

“If it’s chicken, I can eat it whenever I want... Not all the items were deleted. I scattered them moderately to the people in my friends window.”

Hyeonu didn’t eliminate all 500 items. He gave away as many as he could. Hyeonu added, “I sent you a few as well. It will be much better than what you are currently using.”

“To me? Items?” Yeongchan’s face momentarily lit up.

If they were items used by the Zeus Guild, he would unconditionally welcome them. This lasted for only a short time.

Yeongchan’s face hardened again. “Then I will ask you why. Why did you delete it?”

“I didn’t think the Zeus Guild would be ruined unless I deleted the character without selling the items.”

“What?” Yeongchan asked with wide eyes.

Hyeonu’s answer was somewhat confusing. Yeongchan couldn’t read Hyeonu’s intentions at all. Hyeonu put the empty banana milk down on the table and started explaining to Yeongchan with a serious expression, “Think about it. I stole 500 items from them. 500.”

“That’s right. It’s 500.”

“Where did the Zeus Guild get all of them from? Those who could fight against me were 50 people at most. The rest of the guild members weren’t at the level of fighting with me.”

“That’s right. There aren’t many who are at a level that can compete with a ranker.”

The Zeus Guild might be a large guild, but there weren’t many rankers. ‘Ranker’ was literally a word that meant the top players.

“So where did the items they used come from? Did they rob the guild warehouse?”

“I suppose they did that at first.’”

“They couldn’t rob the warehouse any longer, so they took all the items on the market. That is why the market price of items used by the top players has jumped a lot. Got it?”

“Of course, I know. I tried to buy an item, but I couldn’t afford it.” Yeongchan shook his head.

The market price of Horus Saga’s items had risen ridiculously over the past month. Cheap low-level items had doubled while the items used by top players such as Hyeonu and Yeongchan had risen by around 50%. It was a great rise considering the original prices.

“It was all due to the Zeus Guild.”

“Those jerks bought them all.”

“Then they must’ve spent a lot of money, right?”

“Yes. Isn’t it quite a lot? They must’ve spent a lot. We can’t even imagine it.”

In fact, many rankers predicted that the amount of money the Zeus Guild spent in this month was ridiculous.

“Then why did they spend this money?”

“Of course, they lost items because they failed to kill you. Then they needed to restore those items.”

“Then they kept coming at me even if it meant losing close to 20 items every time.”

“Really? Why did they come at you?” Yeongchan cocked his head as he continued to exchange questions and answers with Hyeonu.

‘The damage was so great. Why didn’t they stop fighting?’

The sensible option was to stop the kill order. The damage the Zeus Guild suffered every time they killed Hyeonu was really huge. At least 20 players who were equivalent to rankers died, and they each lost one item they wore.

“It would have been over for them then if they had stopped. Their image would be ruined, and they would lose their prestige.” Hyeonu smiled at the troubled Yeongchan. “Think about why the large guilds continue to act like bullies while they are being cursed.”

Large guilds often monopolized things of little value. The low-level hunting grounds, low-level dungeons, and basic quests were examples of this.

Hyeonu concluded, “In fact, the actual profit is on the elite side of the guild.”

The only thing a large guild needed was a hunting ground with high-level monsters and quests for them to perform. Even so, there was a reason for them to act like bullies in low-level fields. It was for them to gain authority through the use of violence.

“They are truly bullies.”

It was the same behavior of those classified as delinquents, thugs, bullies, and so on.

“Yes. Now, I have deleted the character. I didn’t even sell the items. So how will the Zeus Guild move?” Hyeonu asked while looking into Yeongchan’s eyes.

“Will they disband? But they are still a big guild. Won’t they quickly make up for the loss?” Yeongchan cocked his head.

“The Zeus Guild is already a train with broken brakes. All they had to do was kill Nutt endlessly. However, the damage was huge, and Nutt disappeared. What will people think?” Hyeonu said and roughly crumpled up the container of banana milk. “The Zeus Guild isn’t a big deal. They couldn’t even kill a single Nutt. On top of that, they fell behind the other big guilds in order to kill me for a month.”

Hyeonu threw the crumpled container of banana milk into the trash can.

Then he concluded, “If they lose their prestige and their skills have deteriorated, isn’t it natural for them to be consumed by someone aiming for the position? By the way, those who have reached that position have their own sense of pride. It is better to shake it off neatly than be miserable while in a rough situation.”

Yeongchan got goosebumps when he heard Hyeonu’s entire explanation. ‘This ghost-like jerk.’

Hyeonu might be different in real life, but he was cold-blooded with no blood or tears in the game. It was hard to believe he was the same age as Hyeonu.

“I’m glad you are my friend.” Yeongchan drank the rest of the soda.

“Isn’t that because I gave you items?” Hyeonu asked with a slight smile.

“What do you see me as?” Yeongchan threw the can in his hand at Hyeonu.

“Hey, I told you it was dirty."

***

-The bait is on a different level.

-Is this type of thinking possible for a high school student?

-If he were born in the old days... he would’ve ruled at least one country.

-This is called being skilled in both literary and military arts.

The viewers heard everything about the destruction of the Zeus Guild and reacted not much differently from Yeongchan at the time. They were busy admiring Hyeonu’s amazing mind.

“It isn’t a big deal. It was just a casual incident.” Hyeonu shrugged with a happy expression.

-You should start by speaking after suppressing the corners of your lips.

-The clown is already on the verge of ascension.

-Wasn’t this Reina’s look at the start of the stream?

-Really, they are like a match made in heaven. Both their words and actions are different.

It happened at a time when the viewers were teasing Hyeonu excitedly.

-Breaking news, breaking news! In the north, the undead will go to war again. The atmosphere in the chat window was changed by one viewer.

-Don’t lie.

-I won’t be fooled.

-Fish somewhere else. It doesn’t work here.

Most of the viewers didn’t believe the news. It was just treated as normal aggro.

-It isn’t a lie though? Turn on the Venom Guild’s live stream right now.

However, this time was different. The audience member, who was treated as someone who wanted aggro, kept chatting like it was unfair.

-Uh? It is real. Now the undead are heading to the south.

-That person’s words are real.

-Based on the distance, I think they will arrive in two or three hours?

It was soon proven true by other viewers.

“A war?” Hyeonu cried out with a surprised expression right then.

‘Is it starting now?’

Despite that, Hyeonu was, in fact, unconcerned. He was just pretending to look surprised. Everything was moving in the palm of Hyeonu’s hand.

-Yes, it seems like there will be a war.

-If our Alley Leader logs in, he will have a lot of documents to deal with.

-??????. It will be a two-hour extension for the stamping.

-Alley Leader is now imagining swinging a sword on the battlefield ????

-Yes, he is an office worker ~ He can’t even see the scene.

The viewers didn’t know about this and were busy teasing Hyeonu’s natural reaction.

“What is wrong with them that they’re going to war?”

-We don’t know that.

-If you keep watching the live stream, you will know.

-By the way, they look stronger this time compared to last time.

-Yes, there are two of the boss monsters who were guarding the castle at that time.

“It is just me who has this problem, just me.”

Hyeonu turned his face away from the camera and fell on the table. Then his body shook intermittently.

-Is he crying?

-Crying?

-?????

The viewers just laughed when they saw Hyeonu like this.

‘Okay, it has started off well.’

Actually, Hyeonu wasn’t crying; he was smiling very brightly.

‘Now Rain and Teika need to do a good job...’

The Venom Guild was just the beginning. There were still two more places left.

-Breaking news. Teika and Argon are leading the different species, and they declared war in the south. A viewer who seemed to know what Hyeonu was thinking appeared with another piece of news.

-Again? Is this a lie?

-Try searching for it. If it is Teika and Argon, one of the two would’ve turned on their stream.

-Both of them are streaming now.

There was already a past history, so the audience didn’t doubt it this time. A quick search could determine if the news was true.

-Even in the south?

-Two wars?

-Wow, this sounds interesting. If you want to fight the undead, go to the north. If you want to fight the different species, go to the south.

-There will be more live streams to watch.

-Honestly, it has been too quiet for a while.

Through a series of processes, this was proven to be true. The viewers cheered for the relentless outbreak of war as this came at a time when they were very bored because there were no incidents.

-Breaking news. Rain is leading the god tribe, and he has declared war on the Yuxin Empire.

-Wow, what day is it today? Isn’t this just crazy?

-What is going on all of a sudden?

Rain’s declaration of war marked the climax. It was the announcement of the third war.

-By the way, what should our Alley Leader do? It looks like he will be stamping all day long.

-Three wars are a bit tough.

-He will have to stamp until his shoulders fall off. What should he do?

The viewers, who had been talking for a long time without paying attention to Hyeonu, finally showed him some concern.

“I am fine as long as you are satisfied... That is more than enough.”

Hyeonu tried to pretend to smile. Even until the end, he acted like he didn’t know anything.

‘Now I just need to attract the imperial prince...’

Someone’s face popped into Hyeonu’s head.