Ranker’s Return

Chapter 217

“I understand. I’ll see you in Arena.”

-I know, Mascherano. 

Mascherano smiled after receiving Kim Jinyong’s approval. He was relieved when he thought that he had a gift for Alley Leader.

‘Even if I don’t say it, there will be trouble.’

It was obvious. As long as that jerk who went against Alley Leader remained in JT Telecom, Alley Leader and JT Telecom would fight at any time. JT Telecom would become weaker the more this happened. There was a chance that they would be completely broken by the end of Arena Week.

‘The only thing left is to find the shield.’

Mascherano was troubled. Who should he call to kill the monsters in the Balder Mountains? It would be even better if it wasn’t a professional gamer. There were only two conditions, but they were actually quite tricky. However, they were just tricky. They weren’t impossible. Mascherano searched through his contacts for a long time before his eyes lit up.

‘Yes. There is such a person.’

Mascherano knew someone who met the conditions. He tapped on his smartphone again and called that someone. “Yes, it’s me. How have you been?”

-This is out of the blue. What’s going on? Aren’t you busy these days? You never make an ordinary phone call.

“How can you say such a sad thing? The master of the Tank Corps should be busy. How can a salary earner like me be busy?”

The person Mascherano called was Daniel, master of the Tank Corps and the one who ran away from Masked Fighting King.

-Mascherano is a salary earner? There is no such nonsense. Other pro-gamers will hit the ground.

“How about a match with Alley Leader? It is between the one who wants it so much and the person they want it from.”

Mascherano’s words finished, and a shout was immediately heard from the other side of the phone.

-Alley Leader’s main scenario? Then I’ll unconditionally participate. I’ll accept no matter the conditions. It is a chance to see his face. I can’t miss it. 

It was more than just the main scenario. In the months following Masked Fighting King, Alley Leader’s status had changed a lot. The name of Alley Leader now had such a high status that Daniel was acting like this despite being ranked second in the arena and the leader of the large Tank Corps.

“Really? Don’t worry, the condition isn’t bad. I’ll send you a note. Come to the place written there.”

Mascherano’s smile deepened as he hung up the phone.

‘The casting for the shield is also done. Shall I call Reina?’

*** 

There was one man sprinting alone through the Balder Mountains filled with powerful monsters. To be exact, it was one person and one bear sprinting.

“Tang-E, you will have to work hard again from today. It will be as hard as a few months ago. Understood?” Hyeonu asked Tang-E. The deeper he entered the Balder Mountains, the more desperate he was for Tang-E’s help. Tang-E’s magic was greater than that of ordinary magicians, and when he was in his Giant Transformation state, he was better than ordinary tankers.

“I understand, Master dude. Tang-E will kill everything. Believe in me.”

Hearing Tang-E’s words, Hyeonu felt his heart fill with warmth. “Yes, I will trust you, Tang-E.”

Tang-E’s chance to play an active role came quickly. It was because Hyeonu’s endless sprint was forcibly stopped.

“Hey, it’s very big.” Hyeonu frowned at the monster in front of him. It was only by lifting his chin up like crazy that he could see the head of the monster.

“It is 10 meters long, Master dude.” Tang-E agreed with Hyeonu’s words.

Tang-E was being held in Hyeonu’s arms and couldn’t even see the monster’s face. All he could see was the monster’s lower body that was filled with muscles. Just then, Tang-E noticed something strange. ‘Six legs? Weren’t there definitely two?’

Obviously, there were only two legs at first. Then at one point, he saw six legs instead of two.

“Why are there six legs, Master dude?” 

“What?”

Hyeonu closely examined the monster after hearing Tang-E’s words. The muscles weren’t well defined because it was over 10 meters tall, but they clearly held a dynamic force. There were also two arms and two legs.

‘Only two?’ Hyeonu rubbed his eyes, but he still only saw two legs. “Why do you see six? I only see two no matter how hard I look.” 

“The shadow has six legs. Stupid Master dude.” Tang-E looked at Hyeonu like he was pathetic.

‘Shadows?’ Hyeonu couldn’t pay attention to Tang-E at all.

He was focused on the shadows that Tang-E mentioned.

One, two…

Three, four, five, and six…

It really had six legs.

“Damn, it wasn’t one but three. The one in front is blocking the rest. Tang-E, get ready,” Hyeonu said in an urgent voice and immediately drew out the Mysterious Sky Sword.

Tang-E got down from Hyeonu’s arms and used the buffs. “I know. Hang in there for five minutes, Master dude.”

The time of five minutes was how long it took for Tang-E to buff himself. This meant he would use Giant Transformation to directly participate in the battle rather than just using magic from the rear.

[You have received Bear’s Momentum.]

[Physique has increased.]

[Strength has increased.]

[You have received the Forest’s Blessing.]

[Defense has increased.]

[Health will continue to recover.]

[You have received Breath of the Wind.]

[Your agility has risen.]

[Your movement speed has increased.]

“I know. It will be five minutes.” Hyeonu grasped the meaning of Tang-E’s words and stroked Tang-E’s head.

‘I’m reminded of the old days.’

In the early days of Arena, Hyeonu had no information. He had played Arena alone and had been a pioneer. Of course, it was the same as when he went to the East Continent, but he didn’t feel it because he focused on the quest instead of the monsters. Now he was fighting a monster that seemed powerful, and he did not have any information on it.

Thump thump!

The moment Hyeonu started to move, the 10-meter-tall monsters also moved. They were in a line like the ‘一’ character. The monsters were each holding a club that looked like it had been broken off a huge tree. Out of the three monsters, the one standing in the middle raised its head toward Hyeonu and cried out, “Kuooh!”

[The Fear of the purple ogre, the naughty one of the Balder Mountains, has been heard.]

[The influence of fighting energy allows you to ignore the Fear of the purple ogre.]

‘Purple ogre?’

Hyeonu discovered the identity of the 10-meter-tall monster through the message in front of him.

‘The purple ogre, the naughty one of the Balder Mountains’—this seemed to be expressing the strength of the purple ogre.

Originally, the word used meant a naughty or a badly-behaved child. However, power was required to act like this among the monsters. It was the power to act at will.

‘The ogre will be very powerful, but I don’t want to use the giant skills…’ 

Hyeonu just couldn’t be hasty when using his item skills, including the giant skills. It was a situation where he didn’t know what monsters would pop out deeper in. After all, it would be a disaster if he met a boss monster within two hours.

‘I will hit it first. I can think about it after that.’

There was no time to worry anymore. The purple ogres were less than 30 meters away from him. It was no different from being in front of him considering that the purple ogre was 10 meters tall.

“Kuaaah!” The purple ogre that yelled at Hyeonu initially was the first to act.

It swung the giant club in its hand at Hyeonu’s feet. The noise made by the purple ogre’s swing sounded like a bomb going off. It frighted Hyeonu, and he used Mysterious Sky Steps. The new Mysterious Sky Steps meant Hyeonu moved quickly and split into several afterimages.

‘Inside!’

Rather than dodging the purple ogre by moving backward, he moved inward instead and escaped the trajectory of the club. It was a bold decision. There was always an opportunity after a crisis. Hyeonu escaped from a purple ogre, and now there was a defenseless calf of that purple ogre in front of him. The Mysterious Sky Sword, which was covered in black sword energy, cut through the skin and muscles of the purple ogre like it was cutting soft tofu.

[The purple ogre has resisted the ‘Curse of the Five Elements Spider.’]

‘This…’

When Hyeonu saw the message window that appeared in front of him, he showed a puzzled expression. It was just like the effect of the cursed spear. He had expected that there would come a day when Curse of the Five Elements Spider wouldn’t work. Yet he was flustered once it became a reality.

However, it was only for a moment. One distracted moment was enough to end the battle. It was time to fully focus on the ogre in front of him or else he would be logged out. Hyeonu would be in trouble if he were hit just once, so he kept moving. There were not just one but three purple ogres. Apart from the previous attack, Hyeonu couldn’t find the right timing to strike. It was because the three ogres cooperated too well.

‘Am I going to fight endlessly like this?’

It would be fine as long as Hyeonu could attack. This was because his defense penetration level was very high. However, this was useless as he couldn’t carry out an attack at all. Just then, a purple ogre blocked the path of Hyeonu’s movements. 

Hyeonu paused for a moment, and another club flew at him. He was forced to swing the Mysterious Sky Sword at the club to block the strike.

“Oof!” He was able to block it, but the aftermath was too great.

Hyeonu bounced back and eventually flew to the place where Tang-E was hiding.

“Master dude, is it hard?” Tang-E whispered as he hid in the bushes.

Hyeonu couldn’t help laughing at the situation. He might be in a situation where he shouldn’t laugh, but the laughter still came out anyway. “If it is hard, can you help me?”

“Of course. This body will help you.” Tang-E crawled out of the bushes and started to buff his body.

Then he used Giant Transformation to transform himself into a bear that was close to five meters tall.

“Tang-E, why do I feel like you’re a bit bigger?”

“It isn’t just your impression. I actually am bigger.”

Originally, Tang-E was around four meters tall when he used Giant Transformation. Today, he was five meters tall.

“It has been like this for some time. I think I just need to become bigger one more time, and my claws will come out,” Tang-E said.

Hyeonu heard Tang-E’s words and realized why Tang-E had grown. It was because the rank of Giant Transformation had increased.

‘It didn’t go up because I don’t use it often…’

So it was probably E+ rank. It seemed that reaching the D rank would cause another change in Giant Transformation.

Thump thump!

His thoughts lasted up to there. The purple ogres were coming.

“Let’s go, Tang-E!” Hyeonu ran first toward the purple ogre.

“I know, Master dude!” Tang-E followed after him.