Ranker's Return Chapter 108

“Should I say this is good? No, it is the worst…” Jeong Byeongjin muttered as he stared at the bright screen.

The worst compet.i.tor, the Mano Guild, had disappeared. It also meant their s.h.i.+eld, the Mano Guild, was gone.

“Although our relations.h.i.+p with Alley Leader is the worst… it doesn't matter as long as we don't touch him. The problem is Red Bull America.”

There was no solution no matter how he thought about it. The moment Alley Leader cleared a huge obstacle, Red Bull America would take owners.h.i.+p of the Kunta Plateau ahead of JT Telecom.

'There is no way to win.'

Moreover, there was still Red Bull America's ace. There were no players skilled enough to keep Mascherano in check. They would lose every battle as long as they couldn't handle Mascherano. The role of a highly skilled close range damage dealer in PvP was this influential. Of course, magicians were also good, but magic didn't distinguish between enemies.

That was the problem. Choosing between PvP and PvE was a magician's weakness. The choice was between wide-area magic and single-target magic.

“The last raid video confirmed they have an item that can release status abnormalities, so it is impossible to catch Mascherano using CC…”

The answer wouldn't appear. Jeong Byeongjin was looking around the Arena communities in a frustrated manner when an unbelievable fact entered his eyes.

[An alliance between Red Bull America and New York Warriors. The Kunta Plateau will enter the arms of Red Bull?]

“d.a.m.n!” Things had become terribly twisted. Jeong Byeongjin hurriedly grabbed for his smartphone. He had to tell the players about this. “Please pick up! Please!!”

The ringing sound went on for a while. As time pa.s.sed, Jeong Byeongjin became anxious. It had been two hours since this was posted. Two hours was enough time for JT Telecom to be defeated by Red Bull America and the New York Warriors. Finally, there was the sound of a person instead of the ringing tone from his smartphone.

-h.e.l.lo?

It was Yoo Bin. Jeong Byeongjin realized that Yoo Bin's voice didn't sound the same as usual. It was a voice full of embarra.s.sment, not the usual cheerfulness. Anxiety filled Jeong Byeongjin's heart.

“Were you hit?” Jeong Byeongjin spoke briefly. Maybe it was because he already knew the answer.

“I'm sorry. We faced Reina and Mascherano at the same time…” Yoo Bin's voice became quieter. By the very end, the volume of his voice was so low that it couldn't even be heard.

“No, it is my fault for not noticing sooner. Let's take a break today and go out. I will buy you some delicious food.”

Kunta Plateau had fallen into the hands of Red Bull America.

***

“Mascherano moved really quickly. It seems that the negotiations had already ended before Mano left,” Yeongchan speculated while picking up a chicken leg.

Hyeonu nodded. “Probably. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to take the plateau so quickly. Maybe he contacted them right after meeting me.”

Hyeonu tore at the chicken wings, thinking the chicken was even more delicious today. He had watched the video of JT Telecom being swept away several times and was very satisfied.

“What are you going to do now? Is that the end of your deal with Mascherano?”

“Let's see… I only need to walk around the Kunta Plateau anyway. Once they find it, the NPC they will report to is Garon, and I will be in charge of the adventurers.”

“You are going to eat it all by yourself. You don't need to work hard.”

“Yes, now I just have to watch and eat some rice cakes.”

Hyeonu diligently ripped at the chicken.

'It will be perfect if I find one dungeon before we hit the base.'

***

The rankers noted that Kunta Plateau was dominated by Red Bull America—rather, the US Alliance, to be precise. Meanwhile, ordinary players noted that Alley Leader had beaten the Mano Guild. Naturally, the general community had no interest in the Kunta Plateau being occupied by Red Bull America or JT Telecom being pushed out by the members of Red Bull America and the New York Warriors.

It was on Alley Leader. The attention was focused on Alley Leader winning the fight against the large guild, the Mano Guild.

[Gather the people who watched yesterday's stream]

-It was so refres.h.i.+ng to see those Mano guys being beaten yesterday.

-It feels like I drank 50 bottles of cider.

-When I think about the gold coins I threw at those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds who tricked me with the streams, I still feel furious.

-Now I need to suck up to the expert of justice, Alley Leader.

-I will only shoot gold coins there.

-I can't believe the rest anymore.

 -Milk Drinking Yuljae: I admit it. I was impressed by what I saw yesterday. Watching him cut Marco, I shot gold coins right away.

-Unexpected Death when Touched: Mano Guild is a big guild recognized by everyone. Now he has won against a big guild alone.

-Power Muscle King: He didn't win against the guild. Patrick quit after judging the situation. It might be different if they fought to the end.

-Pro Dreamer: That's true, but winning is winning. Now it seems a new career line has been added.

-Idiot Idiot King: It's good, but Arena is too bleak now. All sorts of random dogs and cows are doing character deletion bets. They are just talk.

The Arena community was all over the place. They felt a surrogate satisfaction from Hyeonu's actions. Players usually had difficulty hunting properly because of the large guilds occupying the fields and dungeons. Hyeonu crus.h.i.+ng the large guilds gave satisfaction to the oppressed general players.

Now Hyeonu's image had completely solidified as an expert at implementing justice. It was an image that would greatly help Hyeonu's future.

***

“Then Alley Leader isn't coming? You should've told me earlier, you…” The blonde woman, a great beauty in blue armor, was furious.

The ending words were omitted, but everyone knew it was a curse word.

“No, why are you saying this to me? Didn't I tell you not to come? Didn't you say you're busy?” Mascherano felt it was unfair.

The terms of the alliance involved a face-to-face meeting with Alley Leader. At the time, he thought they would meet again, so he accepted it. Then Alley Leader disappeared like a ghost. He sent a whisper, but he said he was busy. Reina, the beauty in blue armor, was angry. 90% of the reason she came to the Kunta Plateau was to see Alley Leader.

“By the way, what do you want to do after meeting him? Have a fight? Again? You should stop it. You are always thinking about fighting people. This is why you don't have a boyfriend at this age,” Mascherano sneered. He seized the moment and teased Reina.

“Not this time! I'm not going to PvP!” Reina shouted. She felt like the nail had been hit on the head. In fact, she was going to ask Alley Leader to fight once they met again. Despite Reina's annoyance, Mascherano didn't stop. This was an opportunity. It wasn't common. Since it wasn't a common situation, he had to grab it when he could.

Mascherano wondered, “Then what? Are you going to confess that you love him? What is it?”

“That… That… It is about scouting him!! Why?! Are you dissatisfied?” Reina replied with a fl.u.s.tered look that would surprise anyone who saw it.

However, Mascherano wasn't looking at Reina's face anymore.

'Scouting… Should I have used everything possible to grab him at that time?'

Mascherano was thinking about the time he appeared on Masked Fighting King. He had made a scouting offer to Alley Leader and gotten refused. That had been the end of it. He had forgotten about that. Then he was reminded of it when he listened to Reina.

“Don't dream about it. He said he isn't making his professional debut. To be precise, he has no plans for now. I don't know about later.”

“What does that mean? He isn't playing pro? Who said that?” Reina was surprised by Mascherano's words and inadvertently caught him with her hand.

“Can you let me go?”

“Who said it?”

“He told me that himself. I heard it when I appeared on Masked Fighting King. I tried to scout him first, but he refused. There are circ.u.mstances, so he can't do it right now.”

'Then does that mean it is impossible to bring him in and fight him?' Reina wanted to see Alley Leader not just in the arena but also in the general fields and the real world.

She was a bit interested. Alley Leader was the first one to beat her in such an overwhelming manner.

“That's it! Hurry and make a spot! I'll give you one week. Bring Alley Leader in front of me or I will fly to Texas.” Reina's intense threat ended there.

Mascherano's expression crumpled. He made a long face.

“How can I bring him…?”

Mascherano's life was in Hyeonu's hands.

***

At this time, Hyeonu was arguing endlessly with Tang-E. It was because Tang-E was crying for the essences from when they partic.i.p.ated in the pet events.

'That's right, I haven't given it to him yet.'

Hyeonu had actually forgotten that he had the essences. There were even two of them.

“Sorry, I forgot. I should've given them to you earlier.”

Due to Sunny's information, he had forgotten about the essences. More so because it wasn't important to him. Hyeonu placed an essence on each of Tang-E's paws. “I'm really sorry.”

“I understand, Master dude. I have to understand.”

Tang-E quickly s.n.a.t.c.hed the essence. Then he hid. In a matter of seconds, the two essences disappeared.

“What? Are you hiding them under you?” The fl.u.s.tered Hyeonu yelled.

The essences had disappeared in front of his eyes, but they weren't eaten by Tang-E. Otherwise, the messages would've appeared.

“W-What is this? Master dude. Hiding them under me?” Tang-E stared at Hyeonu with wide eyes like he didn't understand.

“I saw it all. I saw you hiding the essences with your thick feet! Where are they?! Where did you hide them?”

However, Tang-E's cute actions didn't work on Hyeonu. Rather, they were counterproductive. Hyeonu grabbed Tang-E's paws and shook them.

“Are you really asking because you don't know? If you're playing around, then stop it here, stupid Master dude.” Tang-E was serious.

At first, he thought it was a joke, so he played along. Now it was different. Hyeonu's att.i.tude seemed sincere. He really didn't know.

“Playing around? What?”

“I got a skill a while ago. Don't you remember? Have you forgotten about it? d.a.m.n Master dude.”

Tang-E disappeared and returned to Bung Bung Island. Hyeonu was left alone, and he pondered on Tang-E's words.

'He received a skill? When?'

The struggling Hyeonu checked Tang-E's status window. He couldn't come up with a plausible idea no matter how hard he thought about it.

[Status Window]

[Name: Tang-E

Level: 155

Species: Marionette Bear (First awakening)

t.i.tle: Bung Bung Island's Heir

Stats: Strength: 685  Agility: 651  Physique: 817  Magic Power: 1,572

The heir of Bung Bung Island. Bear-like physical abilities and high magic power are racial characteristics. He is very affectionate, unlike his prideful tone.

Intimacy: 95

Skills Possessed: Bear's Momentum, Forest's Blessing, Magic Power Affinity, Lightning, Giant Transformation, Roar, Ice, Fire, Subs.p.a.ce.]

“Ah… Ah!!!” Hyeonu remembered when he saw Tang-E's status window. It was a message that appeared when they were hunting in the Hejin Mountains.

[Your pet 'Tang-E' has over 1,500 magic power, and a new skill has been created.]

[Subs.p.a.ce]

[A pet only inventory. Anything can be put in it.

Type: Continuous

Rating: Rare

Skill Proficiency: F

Gain an inventory with three s.p.a.ces.]

At that time, Hyeonu had been pouring everything into leveling up and inadvertently forgot the message.

“Ah, Tang-E!!!” Hyeonu screamed after realizing his mistake.

'I was wrong. Come back!!'