Ranker's Return

Chapter 706

“Huh? Hyung-nim?” Hyeonu asked in surprise like he couldn’t believe it.

-It is a joke, a joke. Hey. Why are you so surprised? Gang Junggu burst out laughing. -I should’ve met in person and told you. It is a pity, a pity.

Gang Junggu imagined what expression he would make at Hyeonu’s response, and more laughter burst out of his mouth.

Hyeonu sighed lightly and asked again, “Then which guild is it? Seriously.”

This time, he hoped he would get the right answer.

-What are you talking about? It is us. Hyung-nim and I didn’t die, but it is right that 30 people were killed.

Gang Junggu confirmed to Hyeonu that the information transmitted through his smartphone wasn’t wrong. It was right that the 30 people who died hunting near Alfore were from New World.

“30 people from our guild died? What happened exactly?”

Upon hearing this, Hyeonu immediately showed a sorry expression. However, it was only for a moment. Then he asked Gang Junggu to give a more detailed explanation. He didn’t want a vague explanation like before; he wanted to know exactly what happened for the 30 people to die.

-It isn’t much different from what has already been said. The children saw the noble appear and rushed to fight. However, he was stronger than expected, so they died.

“If they couldn’t handle the noble, shouldn’t they sacrifice some people while the rest run away? Was the noble that strong?”

Hyeonu couldn’t understand the situation. Even if the demon noble were stronger than expected, there would still be time for the top rankers to flee.

Rather than answering, Gang Junggu asked Hyeonu a question: -Hyeonu, what happens when a player dies?

“Various things will fall. Money and items are dropped, and you will also lose experience,” Hyeonu replied bluntly like he was wondering why this question was being asked.

-Yes, they died picking those things up. Somehow, those who died in the beginning dropped expensive things.

This was the reason why the rankers of New World died; it was all due to the items dropped by those who died first. It was hard to describe the items they dropped as simply expensive.

First of all, they couldn’t be bought with money. There had to be a buyer and a seller in order for a transaction to take place. As always, good items were in high demand, but there was no supply. In particular, this tendency was more serious for the things used by top rankers.

The items they could use could only be obtained by players of a similar level. There was also a shortage of quantities to trade within the guild. Therefore, such items couldn’t be sold on the market.

“If so, I think that is possible. It is better to retrieve some items than keep experience.”

Hyeonu respected the judgment of these New World members. He also thought it was the right judgment. Lost experience could be recovered quickly, but there was no telling when lost items could be obtained.

-Maybe we won’t be there when you come back to Alfore. It is almost impossible for 30 people to come back. We have to go pick them up.

After the call, Gang Junggu planned to access Arena immediately and lead the remaining guild members of New World back to Etono. They were more powerful than most other guilds even without the 30 people, but this wasn’t a reason to abandon the 30 people in Etono.

“If I were in Alfore... I would’ve gone with you.”

-It’s fine. What is the point of finding someone who isn’t there? I’ll contact you later, Gang Junggu said bluntly and ended the call.

‘I think time is running out.’

Hyeonu didn’t feel bad about Gang Junggu abruptly ending the call. He just hung up because it was time to hang up.

‘I should hurry and connect as well.’

Hyeonu also wanted to access Arena quickly.

‘Just a little bit more, and I will get a new skill.’

He was on the verge of gaining a new skill.

***

The new skill that John Blake taught to Hyeonu was Land of Mirrors in which mirrors were created with magic power, surrounding a certain area and attacking the opponents trapped inside.

‘Why do I have to learn skills like this every time?’

This was Hyeonu’s first thought when he saw John Blake demonstrate Land of Mirrors and then started practicing it himself. As far as Hyeonu knew, other players never had to learn their skills this way, even if it was a rare class.

‘I don’t know what it would be like for them to learn epic-rated skills.’

Of course, the skills they obtained wouldn’t be epic-rated skills like Hyeonu’s. They might have to go through the same process as Hyeonu when obtaining epic-rated skills. However, that wasn’t important to Hyeonu. The important thing now was that Hyeonu was struggling tremendously.

John Blake quietly approached Hyeonu and whispered to him, “It isn’t easy this time?”

“Yes, it is a bit difficult.” Hyeonu nodded.

He found John Blake, who asked while knowing the answer, very annoying, but he didn’t show it. It was because he didn’t know what tip John Blake would give him.

“Still, you seem to have improved a lot compared to the beginning. Compared to when it was hard to make two mirrors... You will be able to learn it soon. Keep trying. Don’t give up.” John Blake left while it was unknown if he was trying to tease Hyeonu or if he was being sincere.

“Sigh...” Hyeonu sighed when he saw John Blake’s back moving away.

Then he shook off the irritation surging in her heart and started to practice Land of Mirrors.

“Huu...” Hyeonu took a deep breath and repeatedly exhaled in order to calm his heart. The moment his mood calmed down and his head was empty, Hyeonu’s mind gathered in one place. In his mind which was as blank as white drawing paper, Hyung drew a rectangular mirror where the vertical length was twice as long as the horizontal.

It was a huge purple mirror. The mirrors soon increased not just in number but also in form. The shape of the mirrors became clearer as more mirrors appeared one after another. Many mirrors gathered to form a large circle. By the time two-thirds of a circle that was around 10 meters in radius appeared, the speed of the mirrors increasing started to decrease dramatically.

It was proof that Hyeonu’s concentration had reached the limit. This was natural as the mirrors were made using Hyeonu’s magic power. Hyeonu had to make and control each mirror, so extreme concentration was required.

‘One more...!’

Trying to hold onto the mirrors that wanted to scatter, Hyeonu released magic power to create a new mirror. Little by little, a mirror took shape.

‘Once again before it is completed...’

Hyeonu was greedy. Before the mirror was perfectly shaped, he started making another mirror. However, he wasn’t being pointlessly greedy. He had already failed many times during the process of making the mirrors step by step. This wasn’t greed but a reasonable change.

The cost for the change came quickly. As a few more stems of magic power flowed out and he focused on them, the existing mirrors shook like they wanted to escape their designated positions.

‘No!’

The mirrors he was making now were the last ones. He just had to finish this...

Then it would be easy.

‘Please, please, please!’

His composure had long been broken; now only desperation remained. Hyeonu’s desperation brought about a miracle. All the mirrors were completed. Finally, Hyeonu succeeded in creating a circle of purple mirrors.

‘Here... Pure energy... I was told to release it here.’

Land of Mirrors started from now on. The mirrors making up the circle were made of different pure energies, and they were infinitely reflected in the mirrors, slaughtering the opponents who were trapped in the circle in a disastrous way. This was Land of MIrrors.

‘Come out, come out.’

Hyeonu moved his magic power with a desperate desire. The magic power responded to Hyeonu’s heart, and the purple mirrors sent out sharp swords one by one.

‘Come on, please.’

Dozens of swords were shot in a straight line at the same time, quickly meeting the purple mirror on the other side. The swords were naturally absorbed by the purple mirror before being shot back toward their original position. This process was repeated over and over again until a message window appeared in front of Hyeonu’s eyes.

[A skill has been created.]

[Land of Mirrors]

[You are already experiencing death when trapped between the mirrors.

Type: Immediately Activated

Rating: Epic

Skill Proficiency: F

Summon a land of mirrors up to 25 meters in radius depending on the usage of magic power.

Skill Cooldown Time: 25 minutes.]

Hyeonu felt something rising in his head when he saw the message window. It was a huge wave of pleasure. He had obtained all the skills he wanted, and it was especially more rewarding because he had put in so much effort.

“Amazing, amazing. It is really amazing!” John Blake exclaimed as he approached Hyeonu.

“I think we should go to Alfore quickly from now on. People are saying that the movements of the demons are unusual.”

“Take a break and go. It will be much faster to move after all your magic power has been restored.” John Blake knew that Hyeonu’s magic power was lacking.

Hyeonu replied, “I understand. Then we will leave after I take a break.”

***

Hyeonu and John Blake moved to Alfore while using their magic power generously. If Hyeonu’s magic power dropped, he would hunt the surrounding demons and demonic creatures to replenish his magic power. There was no time to rest. As a result, Hyeonu was able to reach Alfore a bit earlier than expected.

“Duke Blake, this is Alfore.” Hyeonu pointed at Alfore’s walls in the distance.

“I can feel two familiar energies. They are probably those guys.” John Blake’s senses felt two familiar magic powers.

One was the unique magic power of the Yusma Empire, and the other was the magic power he felt not long ago.

“I’ll go to them alone. You can go. I can tell you’re in a hurry from your expression.” John Blake waved to Hyeonu. An impatient expression had been on Hyeonu’s face since a few hours ago. It was impossible for John Blake not to notice.

“Can I really do that? However, I have to bring you to His Majesty...”

“I’ll see him on my own. You can go where you want to go.”

Hyeonu saw John Blake’s resolute eyes and immediately pulled the return stone out of the inventory.

“I’ll be back as soon as possible. I’ll see you again at that time, Duke Blake.”

Hyeonu disappeared from Alfore.

***

The place where Hyeonu reappeared was the silent Penn.

‘They should be here by now?’

Hyeonu came to Penn to welcome the members of New World who were moving from Etono to Alfore.

‘They will probably be shocked.’

Hyeonu smiled as he thought of the expressions of the two hyungs who would be surprised to see him. He looked over the walls of Penn just as a procession of people appeared in the distance. They were noisy. It wasn’t the atmosphere of a guild where 30 people had died. Hyeonu threw himself forward when they arrived at Penn’s walls.

“Brother?”

“Why are you here?”

“Why is Hyung here?”

“Oppa?”

Kim Seokjung, Gang Junggu, Lee Hoon, and Yuri, who belonged to New World, looked surprised to see Hyeonu.

“Now I will take you to Alfore quickly and safely, customers,” Hyeonu said while calmly waving to them.