Ranker's Return Chapter 3

"Thank you for accepting despite my sudden contact."

Yeongchan led Hyeonu into the house without saying anything. He stopped in front of a room. Once the door was opened, a huge tetragonal capsule could be seen. It was one of the devices that connected to Arena—the Cube. 

Yeongchan told him, "Come and live in my house. It will be hard for a month or two at the start. You have to save money."

"Hah..." Hyeonu looked at the floor silently. He thought that he would shed tears if he raised his head now. Although he felt sorry to Yeongchan, he still agreed to Yeongchan's suggestion. He felt somewhat ashamed, but now wasn't the time to worry about that.

'I'll pay them back... Jung Hanbaek and Yeongchan. Additionally, my parents.'

Hyeonu clenched his fists tightly.

***

After several hours of repetitive and tedious monitoring, Arena's GM Park Cheolhyeong rubbed his eyes and felt his sleepiness disappear when he saw the message on his monitor.

[Gang Hyeonu character creation (past character name: meleegod). Security rating: 1]

"G-Group Leader-nim!" Park Cheolhyeong, Arena's GM, shouted in an urgent voice. "It is serious!!!"

"...What is it?" The team leader of Arena's operations was overwhelmed by the continuous monitoring and responded while massaging his eyes.

"m-meleegod is back."

"Who? Migang? Who is Migang?"

"meleegod. Perfectionist meleegod!"

"What?! meleegod is back!!... is what you thought I would say. Hey Cheolhyeong, are you not doing your job? If you have time to look at something like that, you should work harder you bastard!" The operations team leader said. Then he pointed to his eyes and shouted, "Can't you see my eyes are red right now? I don't even remember the last time I went to sleep! Shit."

Wasting time in useless places when there was a lot of work to do...

The leader of the operations team had a headache. He couldn't believe this guy. Come to think of it, there was a rumor that there was such a person under the leader of the planning team. He felt compelled to eat with the head of the planning team again after such a long time.

"Go and think about how to handle the guild kids! Do it before I kill you. If you don't, I really won't let you go." 

Park Cheolhyeong returned to his seat under the stern criticism of the leader of the operations team and removed meleegod's screen. He went back to monitoring the large guilds as the team leader ordered.

Some time later, the shoulders of a female operator whose job was to monitor the low-level zones suddenly trembled. 

"Does this mean meleegod has returned?"

It was because the leader of the planning team suddenly shouted at the leader of the operations team. The leader of the planning team soon felt the attention of others in the cafeteria and lowered his voice.

Cough cough.

"Still, what does he want to do going back now? It is useless even if he is meleegod."

"That's true. The level of the current pros is different from when meleegod played in the past."

"Don't pay attention to unnecessary things. It is hard to touch the fortress of the professionals. They consume content so quickly..."

"That's why we've been troubled lately. They play the game too well."

The leaders of the planning team and the operations team ignored Hyeonu's return. Their assessment of Hyeonu was that he was a legacy from an outdated past.

***

A sweet voice rang out in the dark space, -Do you want to create a character?

Hyeonu felt his heart beating. He heard a voice he thought he would never hear again. Some people might laugh at this version of Hyeonu. However, reality was disastrous, and Hyeonu had returned to Arena. That was it.

"I'm not going to customize my character, so I don't need to listen to the explanation."

Hyeonu completed the character creation like it was a waste of time.

-Then let's move onto the tutorial as you wish.

Along with these words, Hyeonu disappeared from the dark space.

***

The space where Hyeonu appeared was a huge Colosseum. There was a man waiting for Hyeonu. His name was Al. It was the NPC who conducted the tutorial.

-Hello, Gang Hyeonu. I am Al, and I'm responsible for the progress of the tutorial.

"Finish it as quickly as possible," Hyeonu urged Al like every second was a waste of time. Still, Al didn't panic as he had seen many such players before.

-Then I will proceed directly with the tutorial. There are two tutorials. I'll go through the details of the magic power test and the combat test before proceeding.

The moment Al's words finished, a magical force sprung up under Hyeonu's feet.

-This magic circle is responsible for gathering magic power. It will check your sensitivity to magic power.

Hyeonu nodded like he already knew.

-From here, the magic circle will start. You might feel a strange sensation. You have to be honest about what you feel without any falsehoods.

The magic circle was activated, and a large amount of magic power rushed toward Hyeonu. This was a familiar feeling to Hyeonu. It felt like the magic power he used two years ago. Yet for Hyeonu, it felt like he had used it just yesterday, not two years ago. 

Hyeonu subconsciously raised a hand toward Al. 'Familiar...'

Flames made of magic power burned at Hyeonu's hands.

"!!!"

'Monster!' Al didn't know anything about Hyeonu and was astonished. It was a result no one had ever shown. Al decided to finish the magic power adaptation since going any further was meaningless.

-There is no need to ask. Let's move onto the next test. The combat test summons one monster. You have to deal with the summoned monster. If the player is fatally wounded, the test will stop automatically. The difficulty goes from stage 1 to stage 10. Once you pass through one stage, you can move onto the next stage. The rewards paid will be different depending on the stages you pass.

A table of weapons appeared in front of Hyeonu as Al's words continued. Hyeonu was no longer listening to Al's words though. He was busy looking at the weapons on the table. Starting with a sword, there were things like a bow and a spear.

Hyeonu's choice was a weapon he used in the past—a longsword. The width of the longsword was around four centimeters, and the length of the blade was 130 centimeters.

Hyeonu picked up the weapon and gestured to Al to start. "Start."

A magic circle was created 10 meters away from Hyeonu. A monster was summoned with a powerful wave of magic.

'What is going to come out…? A wolf? Or perhaps a goblin.'

***

GM Jung Dahui was busy as she monitored the low-level zones. Jung Dahui couldn't hide her anticipation as she watched Hyeonu on the monitor. Despite returning after a long time, Hyeonu clearly burned with magic power during the tutorial. It was worthy of the name meleegod.

'This is the real meleegod. Then let's see if his fighting skills are the same.'

Jung Dahui's fingers moved so quickly that they couldn't be seen. It was because she was reaching out to the settings of the tutorial.

'The difficulty isn't set? Then shall I make it stage 10?'

Jung Dahui's hand stopped, and Hyeonu and a dark elf were confronting each other on the screen. The dark elf wasn't a monster that a level 1 character could handle easily, even if the person was Hyeonu. Nevertheless, Jung Dahui wasn't worried. Hyeonu would surely catch the dark elf, although the process might be tough. 

"Please, I hope you catch it... Be as splendid as before..."

The stopped hands started to move quickly again.

***

The monster that appeared was a dark elf warrior!

'What? A dark elf? Why is it now...'

Hyeonu was nervous. The dark elves were monsters that should never be seen in the tutorial. In Arena, dark elf warriors weren't challenging monsters. The dark elf warrior was strong in offense and was a monster that would die under the concentrated attacks of the party members if the party members held out for one attack. On the other hand, they were a nightmare for those who couldn't withstand one attack. It was why a dark elf warrior appearing in the tutorial was nothing more than telling the player to just die.

'Take a deep breath. Hu, ah, hu, ah.'

Hyeonu gripped his longsword while controlling his breathing. 

Was it due to fear? Or was he just nervous? This wasn't the reason why. He just hadn't been so excited about battle in a long time. That was it.

The dark elf showed cautious movements. It was as if it was already fighting with Hyeonu. On the other hand, Hyeonu was relaxed. It was due to the idea, 'Well, how hard can they make the tutorial?'

Additionally, he believed in his skills. In the end, the single dark elf warrior was impatient and attempted to attack. The dark elf crossed the 10 meters in a flash and appeared in front of Hyeonu, stabbing its dagger. Hyeonu didn't panic. He used his longsword to deflect the dagger.

'It is better than I thought...'

The dark elf was taking full advantage of the dagger. It used the recoil to quickly continue with its attacks. The dagger which stabbed at Hyeonu's belly was so fast that it seemed like two or three daggers. However, Hyeonu was someone who once dominated Arena. This dagger was gently evaded like it was nothing. 

The dark elf seemed to be going crazy. The human, who didn't seem to be special, boasted a defense that was like an impregnable wall. There was no way to succeed no matter how much the dark elf attacked. It was blocked like this human was anticipating its every move. The amount of stamina being consumed by the continuous attacks was enough to make the dark elf nervous.

At this moment, Hyeonu's longsword made a stab at the dark elf's shoulder.

"Kuock. Human!" The dark elf struggled in pain.

Hyeonu wielded the longsword with a blank expression. This was just like watching meleegod who had been at the top of the rankings. An undefeated legend who had never lost to anyone in battle—the legend was continuing in the tutorial. The dark elf screamed and stabbed wildly toward Hyeonu.

'It won't stop. Human.'

It was the dark elf who kept launching attacks yet it couldn't smile. Hyeonu's voice was expressionless as he blocked the dark elf's blows. It seemed as if these attacks were nothing. Hyeonu's longsword showed a strange trajectory. He seemed to be drawing in the air, but at some point, he hit the dark elf's dagger. After cutting off the head of the dark elf with a blank expression, Hyeonu finished the tutorial. 

Al was only left with a sense of shock when he saw Hyeonu's battle. Hyeonu had succeeded in the stage 10 combat tutorial, where no player had succeeded so far.

"Tru... Truly amazing. I will finish the tutorial with this. The reward will be given by Aslan's village chief, Dell."

***

"Oh! Are you a new traveler? It is nice to meet you," Dell, an old man with a warm expression, welcomed Hyeonu. "I am the chief of Aslan. You'll probably see me often while you are here."

Hyeonu appeared at the location of the village chief of Aslan. Dell was an NPC that beginners were tired of meeting.

"What is your name?" He greeted Hyeonu with a smile like he wasn't an NPC that was tired of saying such things every time.

Hyeonu politely introduced himself to Dell, "I am Gang Hyeonu."

"Gang Hyeonu... I'll remember it. Here are your rewards. You can get something useful or perhaps something from a legend."

Hyeonu received the reward box from Dell. He immediately opened the box. The thing that emerged from the box was a ring with a rough pattern.

[Ring Containing the Form of a Giant]

[-A ring containing the form of a giant. The power and spirit of a giant from the past mythical era can be felt from it.

Rating: Unique

Restrictions: None

Effect: Strength +50, Physique +50, 'Giant's Power' is available (Cooldown: 2 hours).

Giant's Power: Gain an additional power equal to the physique stat. The duration is 5 minutes.]

"Isn't this good? I'll wear it right away."

Hyeonu felt great from the start. It was like a gift celebrating his return. Hyeonu revisited the plan he made when he decided to return.

'All I can do right now is... sell items…? Is that all?'

***

Hyeonu came to the integrated auction house to buy materials to make an item. However, he couldn't see the materials at all. No, as soon as several appeared, they disappeared like a ghost. It was like someone was hoarding them. Hyeonu struck the ground in anger.

At this moment, a whisper arrived from Yeongchan.

-From Yeongchan: Hey? Is the tutorial over? Then don't waste time with pointless things and come to the east gate. This Hyung will give you a proper bus ride. Or should I play as your bus driver?

Hyeonu was impressed with Yeongchan's concern. Yeongchan was definitely a ranker. He had no time to waste in places like this yet he took the time to help his hopeless friend.

-To Yeongchan: No. I have to make an item. Thank you for thinking of me. I'll consider it for next time.

-From Yeongchan: ...What?

-To Yeongchan: Just wait a bit. I'll show you something really good.

Yeongchan, who was waiting for Hyeonu outside the gate, cocked his head in a confused manner. He didn't know what this person was thinking.

'What are you thinking about? Hyeonu...'

Still, Hyeonu was a friend who could do anything, so Yeongchan just had to believe in him. Then a whisper from Hyeonu came again.

-From Hyeonu: By the way, Yeongchan...

-To Hyeonu: What? Want to take the bus?

-From Hyeonu: Give me 50 gold. I forgot that I don't have gold.

-To Hyeonu: ...Understood.

Chapter end