Ranker's Return Chapter 918

‘Why is he calling me again?’

Hyeonu was frowning as he ran. The man who called Hyeonu when he was with Kim Seokjung and Gang Junggu was definitely not very close to Hyeonu.

‘He isn’t a person. He is a monster.’

It was Callioraks who called Hyeonu.

[Come to the top of the cliff in the north.]

Suddenly, Callioraks’ voice echoed in Hyeonu’s mind.

‘I don’t know the reason, but… I’m nervous.’

Callioraks called Hyeonu, but didn’t explain the reason why.

Hyeonu moved quickly. ‘If I am going to be hit anyway, it is better to hit first.’

‘Is it here?’

Hyeonu found the cliff that Callioraks mentioned without much difficulty. He once had the experience of wandering around Etono like a mouse. The memory was still vivid.

“Did you call me, Callioraks?”

Hyeonu approached the man standing precariously at the edge of the cliff, Callioraks.

“Were you busy?”

Callioraks turned around and looked at Hyeonu.

“I had a lot of work to do,” Hyeonu replied while staring at Callioraks’ face.

“It is a good time to be busy.”

Callioraks nodded. Then he stared at Hyeonu. Hyeonu noticed what Callioraks wanted from his burdensome gaze.

“Tang-E,” Tang-E’s name emerged from Hyeonu’s mouth. At the same time, a brilliant magic circle emerged under Hyeonu’s feet. On top of it, a little bear appeared.

“Master dude.”

Tang-E frowned and jumped into Hyeonu’s arms when he saw the dull environment of the demon world. This time, Hyeonu stared at Callioraks. Hyeonu’s eyes conveyed why he called Tang-E.

“I have something for you to do.”

Callioraks was clearly talking to Hyeonu, but his gaze didn’t turn to Hyeonu. Callioraks couldn’t keep his eyes off Tang-E.

“What should I do?”

Hyeonu didn’t pay attention to Callioraks’ behavior as if he was familiar with it. Hyeonu was just focusing on the words coming out of Callioraks’ mouth.

“Things aren’t going as I thought.”

“What do you mean?”

Hyeonu couldn’t understand Callioraks’ words.

‘Beat or kill. I think it is one of these two.’

Callioraks was a monster with the ability to make impossible things happen.

“There are those going against my will.”

“Is there anyone like that?”

Hyeonu deliberately left out the word ‘crazy.’

“Four of the demon kings died in the last war. Additionally, three humans had become new demon kings.

Baler, Damanos, Galiya, and Rubolle—these were the names of the demons who died to the emperor, Lebron, and John Blake.

“Did the remaining demons rebel against your will, Callioraks?”

“They know their place. They do as they are told. There is just a reckless fellow.”

“Who is it?”

“It is Renfelvik, the duke of true blood. He is the one closest to the position of demon king.”

“Closest to the demon king…?”

Hyeonu cocked his head. He couldn’t easily understand Callioraks’ words. A demon who wasn’t even a demon king was acting against Callioraks’ will.

‘Does he have 100 lives?’

Otherwise, the behavior of the demon known as the duke of true blood couldn’t be explained.

“Why don’t you act yourself?”

“I can’t do it. It is because he is the first result of the system I applied to the demon world.”

“So what do you want me to do?” Hyeonu asked calmly.

Callioraks openly mentioned ‘borrowing someone else’s knife to kill someone.’

“If you can’t win, then you have to die.”

Callioraks smiled. Hyeonu got goosebumps at the sight.

‘It is an excuse, an excuse.’

Callioraks’ words were an obvious lie. If he wanted to kill someone, then he could just kill them. Callioraks had the power to do so. Honestly, if he really cared about it, then it wouldn’t be a problem to raise one or two demon kings.

‘Just say that you want to be with Tang-E.’

It was obvious why Callioraks used such a ridiculous excuse. Tang-E. It was because of Tang-E.

‘Of course, he isn’t lying…’

It must be true that Renfelvik was annoying. However, it was very likely that Callioraks kept him alive to meet Tang-E.

‘Shall I check it out?’

Hyeonu sneaked a peek at Callioraks to see if his guess was correct.

“If you tell me where he is… I will act.”

“I’ll take you there directly.”

“Callioraks, you will do it? Aren’t you busy?”

“Even if I am busy, I’ll have to watch this with my own eyes.”

“I understand, Callioraks. By the way… are you going to move us with magic again?”

“Why are you asking?” Callioraks’ gaze finally left Tang-E and moved to Hyeonul.

“Shouldn’t I get rid of him as soon as possible so you can feel better?” Hyeonu indirectly said that Callioraks should use space movement.

“He isn’t far away. You have to bear with this.”

“I understand, Callioraks.” Hyeonu tried to hold back his laughter and nodded.

“Then why don’t we have a meal together before going?”

“I understand.” This time, Callioraks nodded. Callioraks wasn’t someone who would miss the opportunity to see Tang-E eat.

“I will prepare it quickly.”

Hyeonu put Tang-E, who was in his arms, on the ground. Then after glancing over a few times, Tang-E slowly walked over and grabbed Callioraks’ pants. Callioraks leaned toward Tang-E with a gentle smile. Tang-E grabbed Callioraks’s outstretched arm and got into Callioraks’ arms.

‘Um…’

Hyeonu was preparing to cook the meat when he saw the appearance of Callioraks and Tang-E and thought of something.

‘Should I request something?’

Callioraks adored Tang-E and Tang-E didn’t find Callioraks too difficult. If so, it meant Callioraks was likely to fulfill the request if Hyeonu asked it of Callioraks.

“Callioraks,” Hyeonu made a decision in his heart and spoke to Callioraks.

“What is going on?” Callioraks looked up at Hyeonu.

“Can you teach Tang-E while we are on the way to Renfelvik?”

“Teaching?” Callioraks looked between Hyeonu and Tang-E. Then he fixed his eyes on Tang-E.

“Are you learning something these days?”

It was a very warm voice, unlike when it was directed at Hyeonu. Tang-E nodded a few times without saying anything.

“Callioraks, you know it. The secret arts used by Ragand. He is learning that,” Hyeonu replied to Callioraks on Tang-E’s behalf.

“Ragand’s secret arts. Where did you get it?”

Callioraks made a look of surprise. The secret arts used by Ragand were also coveted by Callioraks.

‘In particular, the guardians are… good.’ 

The guardians—existences that weren’t in line with ordinary undead. Additionally, they were more intelligent than imagined, so they were very useful.

“Edward owed me a debt. He settled the debt by giving the basics of the secret arts.”

“I see… unfortunately, I don’t know anything about the secret arts.”

“It’s fine because Tang-E has the book with the secret arts written in them.”

Hyeonu quickly looked at Tang-E. Tang-E received Hyeonu’s look, placed his paws to his chest, and a book appeared above his paws.

“I’ll take a look and give it back.”

Callioraks carefully picked up the book on Tang-E’s paw. For a long time after that, there was only the sound of Hyeonu cooking meat.

“Tang-E, you can eat it now.”

Hyeonu left Callioraks, who was examining the book with the secret arts, and called Tang-E. Just then, Callioraks naturally closed the book. He put it down on the ground and moved in front of the meat.

“You read all of it already?” Hyeonu asked while handing chopsticks to Callioraks.

“There isn’t anything of great importance. You said it was the basics and what is written is really just the basics,” Callioraks replied while receiving the chopsticks. The book really had only the basics.

“Tang-E has one other thing. It is the secret arts of the tribe opposite to Ragand… the book contains the secret arts.”

The ran tribe only had the foundations, but the ra tribe’s secret arts were written from beginning to end.

“Really?”

Callioraks’ head lowered. Tang-E felt the gentle force on top of his head and brought his paws to his chest. Then a different book from what he previously gave Callioraks appeared in his paw.

“Eat first.”

Callioraks patted Tang-E on the top of the head and picked up the book.

“Eat, eat.”

Hyeonu handed the meat to Tang-E. It would take a while for Callioraks to start eating after he opened the book. In other words, now was their chance to eat meat.

*** 

During the time when Hyeonu was in the demon world, some players were in the process of performing a strange quest.

“Why are we doing this?”

“Just do it. It gives a lot of imperial contributions.”

“Yes, but… do I have to do this in a game?”

Players wearing colorful equipment shook their heads and sighed deeply. They didn’t like what they were doing either. They weren’t famous rankers, but it was still enough to raise their shoulders among friends and in their neighborhood. The thing they were doing now was handing out leaflets.

“How many are left?”

“Around 200 sheets?”

“We’ll hand it all out soon.”

“Who is the crazy guy who gave us 5,000 leaflets, really?”

“Still, we are in a slightly better situation. I heard it is taking a lot of time for the kids in cities that don’t have many NPCs.”

It had already been more than two hours since they started handing out leaflets. The quest window didn’t change if leaflets were handed to the players. It had to be distributed only to NPCs.

“By the way, I think this is related to Alley Leader?”

“Isn’t it inevitable? The undead war and the divine war. Alley Leader was active in both of them. The contents of the leaflet have to be like this.”

“It is true when hearing it. He raised the name of the empire. He fulfilled the duties of the nobility. It is written like this…”

The leaflets they were circulating were like information sheets for the Yusma Empire. The recent events that took place in the empire were written in a relatively detailed manner. Among them, the person with the largest stake was Alley Leader.

An adventurer who recaptured a city occupied by the undead—he was the noble of the empire who made the greatest contribution to overcoming the crisis of the allied Yuxin Empire.

“If this is the duke of the empire… I’m really looking forward to the future of the empire.”

“It is okay even if the emperor has a problem. Duke Lebron and Duke Gang Hyeonu—the two of them will be strong shields for the empire.”

“An adventurer dies, but doesn’t die, right? It is really reliable.”

The NPCs who read the leaflet were gradually raising the reputation of Hyeonu, an adventurer and imperial duke. It was a leaflet full of content that made it inevitable for a citizen of the empire. This was happening simultaneously throughout the Yusma Empire. The place that was most affected was the capital of the empire, Yusma.

“It was successful.” The man in the black robe smiled.