Ranker's Return Chapter 49

Epic—it was the fifth rating that existed following the setting of common -> uncommon -> rare -> unique. There were currently no known epic items. There was only Quency’s explanation that there was such a thing, and there was also an epic rating in the achievement level.

-First to be acknowledged by the warrior class training officer.

-First to be acknowledged by the best knight of the empire.

-First to enter the imperial palace.

-First to meet the emperor face to face.

-First to achieve 100 consecutive victories in the arena.

-First to kill a desert dragon alone.

Then the last line shocked everyone.

-First to become the disciple of the empire’s best knight.

This was a series of firsts. It was safe to say that the achievements were equal to the number of titles. ‘Achievements = titles’—this formula had been established.

When it was released in the early days, Hyeonu’s status window had shown his level and class. Then at some point, his class stopped being seen. It was shortly after he changed his class to a Knight of Keon.

-Wow, it is a rare class.

-Lebron’s Disciple seems to be at the top of the rare list.

-Who is Lebron?

-Don’t you know Lebron? The best imperial knight. The main NPC of the previous main scenario.

-No wonder why he is so strong. He has a good class.

“Uh… Um…” Hyeonu didn’t know what to say. How could he deal with it so he could move on without gaining backlash from viewers?

‘Yet did I do anything wrong?’

Then his thoughts changed. No matter how he thought about it, he hadn’t done anything wrong. “Yes, it is a rare class. That’s why I’m a bit strong.”

-Boo, rare classes should retire!

-Why don’t you teach me how to change to a rare class?

There were viewers who protested that Hyeonu had hidden his class. They asked why he didn’t tell them. The rare class wasn’t the problem. The problem was that he hadn’t taught them how to change classes.

“Did you ask about my class? If you asked me, I would have answered. Isn’t that right?”

-Hah… Outrageous.

-No one asked? Really? No one?

-It can’t be refuted.

-No one ever asked.

Hyeonu didn’t stop here and went one step further, “I didn’t expect you to be so indifferent to me. It is disappointing. Today’s broadcast should only be the comprehensive competition.”

-Excuse me? Then what about Masked Fighting King?

-Are you upset?

-Hey, do you think so?

“Yes, I’m a triple-A blood type. I’m narrow-minded and close-minded. So I’m going to stop streaming.”

-Hey, come on.

-Who is upsetting our captain?

-I will find a way to teach him a lesson. So, please give us a long broadcast. Please.

The initiative had passed. Now Hyeonu was standing in the superior position.

“Then shall we go do the magic power test? Today’s broadcast is very fun. I think I can do it for a long time. I’m in good shape. Haha.”

The only thing the viewers could do about Hyeonu’s laughter was to flood the chat room.

-I thought I was the one teasing you.

-This is the damage. You are no different from a loach, seriously.

***

Hyeonu talked to the audience for a while and was able to reach the magic power test after 30 minutes. “What exactly is the magic power test? Is it similar to the tutorial?”

Hyeonu didn’t know much about the magic power test. In the first place, he hadn’t paid much attention to the competition. He just thought of it as content for today’s live stream.

-It is similar to the tutorial.

-It tests two other things.

-I failed my magic power test.

-It is scarily difficult. I thought I would die from the fire.

The viewers started to reveal the information they knew. It was noisy, but it was a great help for Hyeonu.

‘One is similar to the tutorial, and the other is different for each person. The result also comes out just like the achievements evaluation.’

“Yes, thank you. I’ll take a good look at the magic power test.”

-As long as unique appears here, he should be ranked first in Arena.

-? It will be an epic rating even if the uncommon rating appears in this test.

-PvP is 10 victories. ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-It seems to be a new record already. ㅋㅋ

The viewers had already decided that Hyeonu had broken the record for the comprehensive competition.

“Everyone, do you know? Won’t it be an unprecedented record if epic appears in the magic power test?”

Hyeonu was confident. He didn’t remember much, but the NPC in the tutorial had been amazed. So he thought it would be okay. However, Hyeonu was the only one who knew the result.

From the viewer’s point of view, Hyeonu seemed to be inhaling a bowl of kimchi soup. [1]

-Drinking kimchi soup again.

-If you drink it like that, your stomach will be upset.

-This is an ability as well. He doesn’t know any shame.

-It must be a mask. If it is taken off, then it is the chuunibyou disease.

“No? I’m not going to get that epic rating? You’re igniting my desire for it.”

Hyeonu was furious. There was a certain amount of disregard that was impossible for people to ignore. It was kimchi soup—the chuunibyou disease. Hyeonu decided to get the epic rating and shove it in front of their eyes.

“Let’s take a look at what the result will be after the magic power test.”

Hyeonu’s heart was on fire. It was a red fire.

***

“The magic power test consists of two tests in total. First, it is what you did in the tutorial. The difference is that a magic circle isn’t given,” the NPC gave a detailed explanation this time as well.

Hyeonu listened to the explanation. There was information he had heard from viewers, but he didn’t think it would be as accurate as the NPC’s explanation.

“Second, there is a test to measure proficiency. You’ll know once you enter, but there is a bead inside.” The NPC was introducing a black bead the size of an a.d.u.l.t’s head. “Once you add magic power to this, the color of the bead will change. There are a total of five colors. Red, green, blue, yellow, and white.”

“Then?”

“Simply change the bead to the color given. Isn’t it simple?”

The moment the NPCs finished speaking, the others who weren’t Hyeonu protested. It was the viewers.

-What is simple?

-I got that one too. Fortunately, it was white. ㅋㅋ

-Yellow kept appearing, and I couldn’t even touch green. ㅠ ㅠ

-Isn’t this the hardest one? I heard from the community that it is the worst—the magic power test.

The people who had already taken part in the same magic power test of the comprehensive competition started running wild. For the average player, simply injecting magic power was a daunting task. It wasn’t easy to adjust the strength of the magic power.

‘This is difficult…?’

“It seems easy. The epic rating is in front of me.”

On the other hand, Hyeonu thought the magic power test was easier than he thought. It wasn’t much different from what he had done in Lebron’s training hall. In other words, there would be no problems once he got the hang of it. Hyeonu walked into the building.

***

The interior of the building was squeaky clean. As the NPC said, only the bead was floating in the air.

-Starting the magic power test of the comprehensive competition.

Hyeonu heard a voice ringing through the space.

‘Is it the same voice that appeared when I was creating a character?’

-The first test. Manifest magic power outside. However, skills can’t be used.

“Then shall I light it properly?”

Hyeonu remembered what he had learned from Lebron.

‘Draw strongly. Draw the magic power from deep in my heart.’

Hyeonu imagined the roaring flames. He imagined flames with the strength to burn everything. A blue flame that was one meter big appeared.

-Crazy!!!

-That is made with just magic power?

-Crazy. Wow, it is really crazy.

Hyeonu had no feelings when he saw it. It was natural. Every time he hunted, he made a sword energy that was one meter long. He wasn’t surprised by these flames. It was due to the novel technique that Lebron had shown him. However, the viewers were different. Their own experiences made them even more shocked. They had found it hard to manifest their magic power, let alone form fire.

Then the first test was over.

-You have passed the first test. Place your hand on the bead in front of you.

Hyeonu followed the voice’s instructions.

-Once you add magic power to this, the color of the bead will change. Once you shout ‘start’, the second test will begin.

Hyeonu held the bead and started to inject magic power. Then the color of the bead quickly changed, going from red to green, blue, yellow, and white. Hyeonu had a sense of it after holding the bead.

“Start.”

The second test began.

-The second test has started.

***

Kim Seokjung was lying in the A-Cube. However, his lack of movement showed that he wasn’t playing Arena. Kim Seokjung was watching Hyeonu’s live stream. He had been about to access Arena when he remembered Hyeonu’s live stream. So, he immediately connected to A-World and turned on Hyeonu’s live stream.

“Little brother, aren’t you good at speaking?”

Kim Seokjung marveled. In his eyes, Hyeonu spoke very well. The progress was smooth, and communication with the audience wasn’t a problem. By his standards of occasionally entering A-World to watch live streams, Hyeonu was excellent.

“Hah…”

Kim Seokjung watched Hyeonu’s live stream without noticing the passing of time and was shocked. Fire rose from Hyeonu’s hand. It was a fire made of great magic power.

“Huhu…”

Kim Seokjung had nothing to say when he saw magic power being used like this. It wasn’t just that. The next test was even more breathtaking. It happened after injecting magic power into the bead for 10 minutes. Hyeonu shouted to start and quickly lit up the ball. He did it without any errors. It was in an instant. The time it took him to complete the second test was 15 seconds. He changed the color 15 times.

“Truly a monster.”

Kim Seokjung exited Hyeonu’s live stream. Then he immediately terminated the A-World connection and emerged from the cube. He pulled out his smartphone and started making a call.

“Hey, Brother. Uh, it’s me. What is the company doing? You know, I’ve been hit with an yevertis.e.m.e.nt today.” [2] Kim Seokjung banged his chest with frustration when the other person couldn’t understand his words. “Call me when Alley Leader appears. I really want to see it. I understand. Thank you, Brother.”

Kim Seokjung hung up when the purpose of his call was achieved.

“Okay. I just need to meet the little brother.”

***

“Now only the result is left.”

-Is this something we need to see?

-Yes, it is an epic rating anyway.

-It was confidence, not bluffing.

-Alley Leader’s class has come out.

Hyeonu and the viewers were waiting for the results of the competition.

[PvP: 10 wins and 0 losses.

Achievements Rating: Epic.]

The magic power test results were very good. It wouldn’t be strange to see an epic rating.

‘Will epic come out?’

At this moment, a message appeared in front of Hyeonu. It was a message of the results.

-Joint 1st place in PvP.

-1st place in the achievements evaluation.

-1st place in the magic power test.

[Player Gang Hyeonu’s overall competition result is the ‘epic’ rating.]

[The rewards have been placed in your inventory.]

“It is epic.”

-It is as I thought.

-So hurry and move on to Masked Fighting King.

-Go to Masked Fighting King.

‘Why is the reaction like this? Isn’t it too bland?’

Hyeonu was puzzled by the response in the chat windows. There weren’t too many excited responses. He had expected it to some extent, but he hadn’t expected it to be like this. However, the viewers took it for granted. They took the successful result of the comprehensive competition as natural.

The achievements rating was epic, and the magic power test finished in an instant. If so, the result was predictable. That’s why the reactions were like this.

“Then I will talk about Masked Fighting King in earnest.”

Finally, Masked Fighting King was revealed to the world.

[1] I assume this is based on the idiom ‘drink the kimchi soup before being offered rice cake’ which warns against assuming that your expectations will be fulfilled. A similar idiom is don’t count chickens before they are hatched. Click on the link to read the full explanation behind the idiom. https://www.dramasrok.com/2017/10/korean-rice-cake-idiom-drink-kimchi-soup-offered-rice-cake/

[2] Trying to say advertis.e.m.e.nt in English)