Ranker's Return

Chapter 794

Hyeonu left the officetel for his first appointment in nearly a week.

‘When did he come to South Korea?’

The person Hyeonu had made an appointment with was Kim Seokjung. After going to China, he called and said he had returned to South Korea and made an appointment to meet.

“Hyung-nim, where should I go?” Hyeonu called Kim Seokjung first before taking a taxi.

-Come to my house. I’ve got everything ready.

Kim Seokjung hung up after leaving only saying for Hyeonu to come to his home in Hannam-dong. He didn’t give time for Hyeonu to respond. It was a very unique way of communicating. Nevertheless, Hyeonu wasn’t flustered by that. He started an app straight away and hailed a taxi. The destination was Kim Seokjung’s house.

Hyeonu managed to get a taxi quickly. While getting into the taxi that picked him up, Hyeonu couldn’t take his eyes off the smartphone in his hand.

‘Is anything going on today?’ Hyeonu was looking for news that would entertain him. It could be gossip from the entertainment industry or news related to Arena.

‘News... There is nothing much to talk about.’

Hyeonu quickly turned off the Internet news. There wasn’t a single story that caught his attention. Hyeonu immediately turned on the Arena community application.

‘Did something happen?’

Hyeonu was looking at the Arena community when he found a post with a lot of comments. There were more than 10,000 comments alone. There were hundreds of millions of people enjoying Arena, but the Arena community also had a huge number. This led to the creation of a site that only collected and showed popular posts from the Arena community. As such, it wasn’t easy for a post with more than 10,000 comments to appear on one site unless it was a big matter.

[What’s wrong with the north?]

Hyeonu saw the number of comments and read the title of the post. The post was about the north.

‘Is there something strange going on in the north?’

Hyeonu’s brow furrowed.

The north—there was nothing that came to mind regarding it. He couldn’t remember any large guilds or rankers active there.

‘Cancun and Lepil—these are the only things.’

Hyeonu’s memory of the north was finding Cancun. Then he moved to Lepil, the capital of the ancient Luos Empire, in search of the giants’ relic to give to Tang-E. These were the only two things.

‘What is going on?’

Hyeonu clicked on the article with a sense of curiosity.

-I’ve been hunting in the north for around two months. What is happening these days? Suddenly, the undead came out and went crazy. Originally, there were just monsters that everyone knew. Now it is really crazy. The undead are too strong. The hunting difficulty seems to have good up two or three levels because of how good the artificial intelligence is. I’m leaving the north now. I can’t hunt here any longer.

The content of the article was by no means ordinary. It was one that deserved thousands of comments.

‘There really is a change in the north.’

The hunting grounds had changed, which meant that something would soon happen in the north. It was a precursor to the fact that a huge quest would soon appear or had appeared in the north.

‘It isn’t my business.’

Hyeonu tucked his smartphone into a padded pocket and leaned back comfortably against the seat. Whether there was a change in the north or not had nothing to do with Hyeonu. He had to focus on his work in the divine world. It was hard for him to even pay attention to the north.

‘The end still isn’t in sight.’

Hyeonu frowned. The divine world wasn’t over yet. At some point, the attacks of the god tribe subsided. As a result, Hyeonu’s quest progress encountered problems, and his growth stopped. To be precise, it was hard to fill up the experience points. The skill proficiency could be raised little by little due to the incredible magic power recovery speed.

“Customer-nim, where should I drop you off?” the taxi driver called out to Hyeonu upon arriving near the destination.

“Ah, yes. Please stop over there in front of that house.” Hyeonu was awakened from his thoughts and pointed to Kim Seokjung’s house. At the same time, he used his other hand to pull a card out of his pocket and prepared to give it to the taxi driver.

Finally, the taxi stopped in front of Kim Seokjung’s house, and Hyeonu got off after paying for the taxi with his card. He was standing in front of Kim Seokjung’s house when the door opened like it recognized him. Hyeonu was flustered by the open door, but he entered the house as if nothing had happened.

“Hyeonu, you came?”

In the garden, Kim Seokjung was wearing a thick padded jacket and drinking coffee while sitting on a chair. He was also drinking an iced Americano full of ice.

“Why are you drinking something like that when it is cold, Hyung-nim?” Hyeonu approached Kim Seokjung questioningly like what the latter was doing was ridiculous.

Kim Seokjung clicked his tongue. “What is it? Fight fire with fire, use cold to prevent cold. Don’t you know this, Hyeonu?”

He said so, but there was no such thing as hot coffee in Kim Seokjung’s dictionary. The only coffee he knew was iced coffee that was thoroughly filled with ice.

“I actually only drink cold ones as well.” Hyeonu smiled and sat on the other side of Kim Seokjung.

“Yes, that’s right. Are you staying for dinner?” Kim Seokjung asked.

“Didn’t you call me to have dinner? That’s what I thought?”

“It is right to eat and drink. Is there a need to stay separately?

“That’s right. It is nice to eat together. You can eat separately later.”

It happened as Hyeonu and Kim Seokjung were having a casual conversation. Gang Junggu appeared from inside the house. He was holding a steaming cup.

“You arrived too late. I’m going to die of hunger.” Gang Junggu sat down next to Hyeonu. Then he immediately placed an arm around Hyeonu’s neck. “How have you been lately? It’s been too long.”

“Isn’t life always the same? It is always the same for me.” Hyeonu shrugged at Gang Junggu.

Arena, streaming, and exercise—Hyeonu’s life pattern hadn’t changed recently. It was really regular.

Gang Junggu cocked his head. “Really? Aren’t there many people contacting you? Isn’t this the best age?”

Hyeonu also cocked his head as he received Gang Junggu’s words. “The best age? The mid-20s is a good time, Hyung-nim.”

“No, that’s not it...” Gang Junggu continued speaking, but he couldn’t finish his sentence. It was because Kim Seokjung grabbed his arm.

“Let’s go eat.” Kim Seokjung got up from his seat and walked toward the gate.

“I understand. Let’s go, Hyung-nim.” Gang Junggu followed closely behind Kim Seokjung.

‘What is this?’ Hyeonu shook his head and quickly followed the two of them.

***

Dinner ended with a light meal of meat. Once the meal was over, the three of them naturally moved to the izakaya they frequented.

‘I should drink in moderation...’

The drinks continued, so Hyeonu started to get drunk little by little.

“Hyung-nim, I’m going to get some air for a moment. It is coming all of a sudden.” Hyeonu stopped drinking for a while in order to get home safely.

“Yes, go ahead.” Kim Seokjung nodded.

Gang Junggu saw that Kim Seokjung had gone outside and carefully spoke to Kim Seokjung.

“Isn’t he too dull-witted? Should a person be like this?!” Gang Junggu exclaimed with an excited face. It was an action that was possible because they were in an enclosed space that was clearly isolated from the outside.

“That is possible. Well... isn’t it possible that he is deliberately pretending not to know?” Kim Seokjung poured a glass full of alcohol into his mouth.

“Pretending not to know? How is that possible? He is in his 20s, yes? When I was that age, did I have such a pretty woman interested in me? Gang Junggu made a face like it was ridiculous. At the same time, he didn’t forget to fill Kim Seokjung’s empty glass.

“The US and South Korea are far away from each other. That doesn’t mean Hyeonu can’t move to New York right?” Kim Seokjung spoke bluntly.

“He isn’t that type of man, but... Still, at this age... Maybe I’m expecting too much from a guy who doesn’t travel and falls asleep at home because he is lazy.” Gang Junggu nodded in agreement with Kim Seokjung’s words.

It was possible if it was Hyeonu. That kind of lifestyle was enough for him.

“Or maybe he really doesn’t know. Isn’t Yeongchan the same? He is a dull guy.”

“It is possible. By the way, can I really not say anything? One side is so pitiful. Wouldn’t it be better to just let the relationship be established? It is only when the tree is photographed that you get the taste of it. Well, I think it is more like when a concrete building is photographed.”

“Leave the matter between the two of them. We shouldn’t interfere. If this is the case, we can just give them more chances to meet.”

“I understand, Hyung-nim. I’ll think about it again.” A strange smile appeared on Gang Junggu’s face.

Just then, Hyeonu entered the room again. “It is quite cold outside, Hyung-nim. Be careful not to catch a cold.”

It was amazing timing.

***

Hyeonu frowned as he looked at the descendants of the Luos Empire gathered in one place. All the faces of the descendants were bright. Not a single person had a weary face.

‘It is strange...’

More than a week had passed since the last large-scale battle took place.

‘Of course, it is nice if there are no battles, but... I’m anxious.’

He didn’t necessarily want a battle to occur. It was fine without it as it was best if the descendants of the Luos Empire returned to the middle world without dying. However, he had a strong feeling this wouldn’t be the case.

‘The final trial will surely come...’

Novels, comics, movies, and even reality—it applied everywhere. Lights were usually followed by shadows. Good things were bound to get stuck somehow.

‘Now is the time.’

Hyeonu saw the dust cloud rising in the distance and hurriedly got up from his seat. Tang-E and Gom-E, who were banging on each other’s heads next to Hyeonu, climbed Hyeonu’s body one by one with a look of surprise.

“What’s going on, Master dude?”

“What’s going on, Master dude?”

Tang-E and Gom-E, who took over both of Hyeonu’s shoulders, asked while looking at Hyeonu’s face. Hyeonu turned his head and alternated looking between Tang-E and Gom-E. “It is a battle, everyone. Be prepared. I will do a proper sword dance for the first time in a while.”

“Huh? Is it finally time for me to be active? I’ll show it properly. Master dude.” Tang-E gently tapped on Hyeonu’s head. Then he climbed onto Hyeonu’s head and looked down at Gom-E. “Gom-E, you should look as well. See just how strong has your brother become. You will definitely respect me.”

“I look forward to it, Brother.” Gom-E nodded.

“There are really all types of things, you guys.” Hyeonu laughed before kicking off from the ground and soaring high into the air.

Hyeonu, who had been rising endlessly, stopped at some point. Then he caught sight of a group of the god tribe members running from afar. Hyeonu pushed as much magic power as he could into the Mysterious Sky Sword. Dozens of crescent moons that measured tens of even over 100 meters long flew through the space toward the god tribe.