Ranker's Return Chapter 915

B-ram (영비람)10-13 minutes 24.09.2022

“Damn Master dude.” Tang-E sat on Hyeonu’s shoulder and shook Hyeonu’s head. “Did you have to do that?”

Strength was added to Tang-E’s paw. Hyeonu’s head shook even more. He pulled Tang-E down and made eye contact with Tang-E. “It is all for you.” 

“Bah…” Tang-E lowered his head and avoided Hyeonu’s gaze.

What Hyeonu said obviously worked. It was clear that ever since Hugo received the secret techniques from Hyeonu, the time Tang-E spent learning from Manong decreased. Hugo used the pretext of teaching to treat Tang-E in a very pampered manner, and Manong had no choice but to let him do it.

“If you know that, do your best.” Hyeonu patted Tang-E on the head.

“It is the last time today, so I hope you cooperate well.”

“Understood, Master dude. I will work hard today as well.” Tang-E raised his head, made eye contact with Hyeonu, and nodded.

“You don’t need to work hard… Just do it in moderation. Moderation. That uncle is very weak.” Hyeonu shook his head. He didn’t want Tang-E to work hard.

‘It will be hard if Tang-E says he will work hard and then beats Jamie down like last time.’

At the very least, Hyeonu had a conscience. He felt sorry for Jamie Moore. He didn’t want Jamie Moore to be hit so unilaterally by Tang-E every time. Therefore, Hyeonu made a request this time.

“Got it? You can’t do it like you did back then.”

“Understood, Master dude. Believe in me.” Tang-E nodded.

‘I can’t believe him.’

However, Hyeonu had no faith in Tang-E. Even if it were an accident, it definitely seemed like he would hit hard.

‘I have to concentrate today.’

It would be good to leave everything to Tang-E and talk to the viewers, but Hyeonu couldn’t do that today. He had to concentrate on the confrontation between Tang-E and Jamie Moore in order to prevent accidents in advance.

“Then transform and wait a bit.” Hyeonu took out a small box and long sword from his inventory and placed them down in front of Tang-E. They consisted of what Tang-E wore when he appeared on Hyeonu’s live stream.

“Understood, Master dude.”

Tang-E’s appearance changed even before he finished answering. He grew as tall as Hyeonu, but despite his tall height, he still had a very youthful face.

“Hurry up and put on your mask.” Hyeonu rushed Tang-E just in case someone saw him.

“Understood, Master dude. I know even if you don’t say it,” Tang-E replied curtly and disappeared somewhere. He grumbled as he disappeared. 

Then someone came looking for Hyeonu. “Hello, Mister Gang.”

‘The timing is amazing.’ Hyeonu sighed with relief that Tang-E wasn’t seen clearly before greeting the person who had appeared.

‘Didn’t he come earlier than usual?’

The man who found Hyeonu was Jamie Moore, the one who was about to graduate from Alley Leader Academy.

“I came early with the thought that this might be the last time,” Jamie Moore said.

He was never late, but today, he found Hyeonu very early. The reason he came so quickly was due to Hyeonu’s words.

[The ranking battle will start immediately after the third class advancement.]

Jamie Moore was currently in the midst of the third class advancement. Alley Leader Academy was around once a week based on real-time. So the next time they met, he was likely to start the ranking battle straight away. Therefore, he was thinking about getting a bit more advice from Hyeonu today.

“Is that so? Jamie Moore is leveling up so fast that it is unavoidable.”

“Should I stop leveling up?” Jamie Moore said with a sad expression.

Hyeonu shook his head. “Jamie, you have already learned a lot. It won’t make a difference if you learn one more time.” 

Jamie Moore had already learned so much that it was excessive. He had probably learned more than any other player.

“I understand.” Jamie Moore nodded in agreement. There was nothing wrong with Hyeonu’s words. Jamie Moore had indeed learned a lot.

‘I learned firsthand what I saw in the videos…’

Proper practice accompanied by a detailed explanation had been an immeasurably great help in embodying Jamie Moore’s knowledge. Now, it was time for him to move on his own.

“Then would you like to do a final spar with me?” Hyeonu suggested to Jamie Moore.

“Sure.” Jamie Moore accepted Hyeonu’s sparring suggestion without even thinking about it. There was no reason to refuse. Jamie Moore might already be full of knowledge, but he still had the desire to learn a bit more.

“We have around 30 minutes before the live stream starts, so there is plenty of time,” Hyeonu said after checking the time. There was plenty of time left. Hyeonu stepped back slowly. He stopped once the distance between the two of them widened to some extent.

“Draw your swords.” Hyeonu stretched out his right hand and pointed at Jamie Moore’s two swords. “I’ll use this.” 

A long wooden sword appeared in Hyeonu’s hand.

“Are you going to use a wooden sword?” Jamie asked.

“I just need to use magic power. You don’t have to worry too much.”

Purple pure energy rose around Hyeonu’s wooden sword.

“Ah… Then that is the way it is…” Jamie Moore felt sweat dripping down his neck. Hyeonu’s pure energy was clearer than that of any other ranker and smelled menacing.

“Come on. Time is gold.” Hyeonu placed the wooden sword diagonally on his shoulder. Jamie Moore drew his two swords. However, he couldn’t rush at Hyeonu. It was because he knew too well how many rankers had knelt in front of Hyeonu’s sloppy posture.

‘There is no exclusion.’ 

Jamie Moore recalled everything Hyeonu had shown so far.

‘The pure energy may or may not increase. Or he may or may not run to me quickly.’

Jamie Moore had a lot to think about. It was a very inefficient act, but he couldn’t help it. Otherwise, he would be beaten up at once. Hyeonu moved as soon as the distance between Hyeonu and Jamie Moore halved. The wooden sword moved slowly and lengthened after a moment. To be exact, Hyeonu’s pure energy surrounding the wooden sword lengthened.

‘The pure energy has gotten longer.’ Jamie Moore’s eyes widened when he witnessed the lengthened pure energy. At the same time, he bent his back and lay down on the ground. Jamie Moore’s body glided on the ice sheet as he approached Hyeonu. It was a method he thought of in order to avoid Hyeonu’s lengthened pure energy. 

At this moment, the pure energy of the wooden sword curved strangely. It changed its trajectory from swinging horizontally and ended up moving diagonally.

‘Pure energy…?’

Something long pierced Jamie Moore, who was feeling relieved. Jamie Moore confirmed its identity, and his eyes widened. He saw something that he shouldn’t be piercing him—pure energy.

The pure energy had continued to maintain a certain distance from Jamie Moore until the moment when Jamie Moore stopped and raised his upper body.

“You died once.” Hyeonu marked the number ‘1’ with his free left hand.

“How can I avoid this?” Jamie Moore asked with an expression like it was unfair. He thought he could just avoid it.

‘Then the trajectory changed there?’

It was the same as saying his body would be split apart if he avoided it without thinking. This would be the case if his defense wasn’t enough to handle Hyeonu’s attack power.

“Jamie, you need to figure that out yourself. By the way, do you really need to figure it out?”

“What do you mean…?” Jamie Moore asked again.

“It is a technique that only I can use anyway. Is there a need to counter it?” Hyeonu explained with a shrug.

This was Hyeonu’s unique skill that no ranker could copy. On top of that, Jamie Moore’s level was only 200. There was such a big difference in their arena rankings that it wasn’t even comparable. In other words, Jamie Moore wouldn’t even be able to meet Hyeonu until he rose to a master or grandmaster. It was really useless to waste time and energy destroying the skills of an opponent he wouldn’t even meet.

“There is one more,” Jamie Moore refuted Hyeonu’s words. Hyeonu wasn’t the only one who could use this technique.

There was one more person—the unidentified man wearing Alley Leader’s mask.

‘There is one more? Ah!’ Hyeonu immediately realized who Jamie Moore was talking about. It was Tang-E. Tang-E had copied the technique Hyeonu used.

“You don’t have to worry about him.”

Tang-E didn’t play in the rankings. No, he couldn’t. So Jamie Moore didn’t have to care. In any case, they wouldn’t meet again once Alley Leader Academy was over. It wasn’t even a relationship where Jamie Moore and Hyeonu set up a day to meet. Thus, they would never meet again.

“I understand.” Jamie Moore was forced to nod at Hyeonu’s firm answer. Hyeonu spoke so firmly that Jamie Moore couldn’t stay unconvinced. He could only believe it.

“Come at me again. There is still plenty of time,” Hyeonu told Jamie Moore. Less than five minutes had passed out of the 30 minutes they had.

“I understand.” Jamie Moore was unable to erase his disappointed expression and slowly narrowed the distance to Hyeonu.

Jamie Moore’s two swords moved through the air quickly, and the dark red sword energy warmed up the arena. Hyeonu’s wooden sword also moved straight away, piercing sharply between Jamie Moore’s two swords. Jamie Moore was surprised, but his swords still moved swiftly and blocked the wooden sword from both sides.

Hyeonu shook his wrists lightly. The wooden sword also shook at the same time. Jamie Moore’s two swords were unable to withstand the vibration and were pushed from side to side. This meant his body was left vulnerable to attacks. Hyeonu struck Jamie Moore’s open chest with the wooden sword.

“Ugh!” a groan emerged from Jamie Moore’s mouth.

At the same time, Jamie Moore was pushed back like crazy, but Hyeonu still chased after him. Jamie Moore managed to stop by applying strength to his heels. Then he used that power and bounced back like he was flying toward Hyeonu. Jamie Moore spun like a spin top and scattered dark red pure energy around.

‘It is okay.’ Hyeonu had a happy smile when he saw Jamie Moore’s counterattack. It was rewarding to teach Jamie Moore. That wasn’t a learned skill. It was an instant ability to adapt. This meant it was part of the usual skills he had developed through experience from practicing regularly.

‘Other people will like it when they see it.’

It was clear that the other rankers who taught Jamie Moore would also be happy to see that Jamie Moore had developed like this. However, his development was his development, and a spar was a spar. Hyeonu quickly swung the sword from side to side, shooting a purple crescent more than a few meters in size at Jamie Moore.

There was an explosion, and Jamie Moore flew away like a kite that had lost its string. After that, someone ran to Hyeonu.

“Master dude!”

It was Tang-E. Behind the mask, Hyeonu’s expression distorted uncontrollably.

‘It’s ruined.’