Ranker's Return

There was something he couldn’t quite understand. The demon world was wide and very spacious. Penn and Etono were just on the outskirts. He couldn’t believe it was so annoying that the players would be kicked back to Etono.

“This is advice for you because you have helped me a lot. Those who don’t retreat to Etono will probably die. Take care of the people you want to take care of.” Callioraks’ intention was to show consideration for Hyeonu, who had helped him greatly in achieving his dream.

“There will soon be a war in the demon world. It will be a ranking battle to refill the empty demon king seats. All the nobles will be switched out,” Callioraks said.

“Are you going to filter them out from the start?” Hyeonu noticed what Callioraks had planned from his words. Callioraks was planning to thin out the demons.

‘Is he going to just take the promising seeds?’ Hyeonu wondered inwardly.

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand. The magic circle Ragan created a long time deprived the demon world of a lot of magic power. Naturally, the strength of the demons and demonic creatures was bound to be limited. Things were different now though. The environment was suitable for growth.

“Right. I can’t leave the magic power stones to any rabble.” Callioraks nodded and revealed his move. During the time when Hyeonu wandered through the middle world, Calliroaks roamed the entire demon world and inspected the magic power stones.

“A new magic circle has already been carved on the magic power stones. The existing magic circle is already useless,” Callioraks said. The check that he did was simple. It was impossible for the magic circles engraved on the existing rings to extract the magic of the magic power stone.

Callioraks added, “Of course, there are exceptions. The magic power stones held by the two humans will be left alone. Those who have achievements will be rewarded accordingly.”

Of course, there were places where this wasn’t the case. The rings held by John Blake and Lebron would retain the authority to harness the magic power of the magic power stone, just as they did now.

‘Touch the magic power stone?’

“Then what about mine...?” Hyeonu asked with a puzzled expression.

“Yours? I didn’t touch Penn and Etono... Ah, that’s right. I see.”

At first, Callioraks didn’t understand Hyeonu’s words. Then he thought about something after a brief pause. In this short amount of time, he figured out the meaning of Hyeonu’s words.

“I think you picked up a few more in the last war...” Calliorak’s said.

Hyeonu spread out his right hand wide. “That’s right. I got exactly five more.”

He had acquired five more rings in the war where four demon kings had disappeared. However, he had never used them even once.

‘I didn’t have the time to waste...’

The locations of the cities were all different. In addition, they were a considerable distance from where all the battles took place. There was no answer even if he moved for a day or two.

“I’ve never used them. Not once...” Hyeonu’s voice was full of regret.

“Hmm...” Callioraks thought about it.

Just then, Tang-E got up from where he was quietly eating a meat skewer on Hyeonu’s lap. Then he walked over to Callioraks and patted the latter’s knee.

“Umm?” Callioraks, who was lost in thought, lowered his head. On the other hand, Tang-E raised his head to meet Callioraks’ eyes.

“Understood.” Callioraks made eye contact with Tang-E for a few seconds before lifting up Tang-E and placing him on his lap.

“I’ll reinforce the magic circles in Etono and Penn. It will be at a level similar to the magic power stones used by the demon kings. Will that be enough?” Callioraks had a look like he was doing someone a favor.

“Yes, thank you Callioraks.” Hyeonu nodded several times.

‘Okay, this is the best,’ he thought.

Callioraks’ reward wasn’t the maximum Hyeonu could get, but it was the best. The five rings became useless ornaments, but two magic power stones were upgraded in return.

‘It was a problem to go around to seven places... Even if the overall stats increase is reduced, the time saved is more important.’

The magic power of the magic power stones wasn’t absorbed for free. He was able to absorb it only after a proper test. The time it took to get there was never short though. Considering the mental fatigue involved, it would probably consume a whole day.

Callioraks looked between Tang-E and Hyeonu before advising Hyeonu, “Don’t forget what I said. In addition, don’t ignore Edward too much. Those memories are scary enough.”

“I appreciate that advice.”

It was only now that Hyeonu was able to eat the meat skewer.

***

‘I can delay the magic power absorption a bit.’

Hyeonu left the demon world and returned to the middle world. Then he headed south. It wasn’t for hunting though. Hyeonu’s destination was Viper—the capital of the League of Different Species.

‘By now... won’t they be in the midst of building an army?’

Hyeonu thought about the situation that would be taking place in full swing at Viper. It was the organization of an armed force. A city of the different species created outside Viper was completely wiped away. It was on a totally different level from the previous sacrifices. In the previous attacks, there were never more than 100 casualties. Calling it several dozens of people would be too much of an exaggeration. Yet this time, the city was completely blown away. It was meaningless to count how many died.

‘It will be made with Raccoon as the main axis...’

Hyeonu had no idea how the army of the different species would be organized. The only one who could be confirmed was Raccoon.

‘If it is Raccoon, then... Cancun and Dakan should be considered a bundle deal.’

Due to Raccoon’s nature, he would probably go to war with his son and younger brother, Cancun and Dakan. It was because they valued getting practice so much.

‘I don’t know the rest.’

He couldn’t think of anyone else apart from these three. One thing was certain— great talents from each species would join the army. This was the only thing he could be sure of.

Hyeonu approached the elf guarding Viper’s gates and asked, “Can I come in?”

“A human? This isn’t a place where humans can enter. Go back.” The elf turned Hyeonu away at the door like he didn’t recognize Hyeonu. The elf’s words and deeds were resolute, but he wasn’t violent. Rather, he was very composed.

“Don’t you know me...?” Hyeonu asked.

Then it happened as Hyeonu was trying to appeal to the elf. A dwarf approached from an unknown place and spoke to the elf, “Open the gate. He is that human being.”

The elf immediately bowed his head at the appearance of the dwarf. “I understand, Kapa.”

The dwarf’s name was Kapa. He was the great tribe chief of the dwarves.

“Great tribe chief.” Hyeonu also recognized Kapa straight away. It was impossible not to know Kapa since they had met three times already. In particular, Kapa was a dwarf, so he was engraved very deeply in Hyeonu’s memory.

‘Edchan as well... Dwarves are subject to special care.’

The dwarves were NPCs that should be known in virtual reality games with a fantasy background.

“What brings you here today? The continent is still unsightly. Aren’t you going to participate in the war?” Kapa walked next to Hyeonu.

“Of course, I have to go to war. It just hasn’t been decided if it will be the war against the undead or the war against the god tribe.” Hyeonu shook his head. Nothing was decided, but in his mind, he was already leaning toward one side.

‘I have to hunt the god tribe.’

Hyeonu was thinking about participating in the war against the god tribe. He knew the secrets of the northern war, so he naturally had an interest in it. Besides, it was more fun to fight against living things than the undead.

‘The reality is that I don’t want to go there.’

The rewards were also poor. It was a different story when it came to the god tribe. The potential rewards were endless.

‘There are many rewards.’

It didn’t matter whether it was titles, items, or skills. There were many things to be gained.

‘The number of viewers will come out well.’

The main reason why Hyeonu leaned this way was that people’s attention was focused on the god tribe. Hyeonu couldn’t go against the trend as long as his job was a streamer.

“Really? I hope you decide well. By the way, can I ask why you came here?” the dwarf great tribe chief, Kapa, asked Hyeonu carefully.

“I was looking for a great tribe chief,” Hyeonu casually gave an answer right away. There was no need to hide his reason for coming to Viper from Kapa.

“Great tribe chief? Are you visiting Raccoon?” Kapa naturally mentioned Raccoon’s name. It was Raccoon who had taken Hyeonu with him, so Kapa naturally thought the great tribe chief Hyeonu was talking about was Raccoon.

Hyeonu shook his head. “No, I came to visit you.”

“Me?” Kapa stopped talking.

“Yes, I have come to visit you.” Hyeonu also stopped walking.

“Why? What do you want from me?” Kapa looked up at Hyeonu.

“Yes, I have business with you.” Hyeonu nodded.

“What is going on?”

“I want to ask you for a favor.”

“A favor? From me? What is it?”

“I would like to ask you to modify my equipment.”

Kapa’s face instantly hardened at Hyeonu’s words. “I don’t think we should talk about this here. Let’s go to my workshop first.”

Kapa’s workshop wasn’t far away. They walked for around 10 minutes before Kapa’s workshop appeared.

“Now, say it again. What do you want me to do?”Kapa’s voice echoed through the quiet workshop.

Hyeonu didn’t yield to Kapa’s pressure and stated his original purpose: “I want to modify some of the equipment I use, so I came to see you.”

“What are they?”

The Mysterious Sky Sword hanging from Hyeonu’s waist, the rings on his finger, and the necklace around his neck. Hyeonu pointed to a total of four things. “There are a total of four. A necklace and two rings. In addition, this single-edged sword.”

Kapa looked at the items and frowned. “Four items? By the way, there seems to be nothing ordinary?”

“Isn’t that why I came to visit you? If this wasn’t the case, I would’ve gone to see Edchan, the Golden Hammer and chief of the Red Anvil Tribe,” Hyeonu started to persuade Kapa with a serious expression.

‘Edchan liked the new things.’

Hyeonu remembered Edchan when he made the items. His expression was very happy because the materials were excellent. The Kapa in front of him wouldn’t be much different.

“Great tribe chief, I can guarantee that this is the first time you have seen such a thing,” Hyeonu spoke with a confident expression.

“The first time seeing it? How can you guarantee that? I am confident that there is nothing I haven’t dealt with.” Kapa’s expression changed rapidly. He showed interest in Hyeonu’s words.

“Would you like to take a look first?” Hyeonu handed the Mysterious Sky Sword that was hanging from his waist to Kapa.

Kapa drew the Mysterious Sky Sword from its sheath the moment he received it from Hyeonu. The Mysterious Sky Sword escaped from the sheath and boasted an excellent sharpness.

“This broken single-edged sword was repaired by Edchan,” Hyeonu explained about the Mysterious Sky Sword to Kapa, who was examining the Mysterious Sky Sword.

“It was put together well. It was a tricky task. But… why do you want to modify this? The raw materials are already so good. It won’t make much of a difference if you put in a bunch of things, right?” Kapa smiled with contentment. It was hard to believe the Mysterious Sky Sword had been broken once. This was proof that Edchan’s skills were excellent.

“As you know, the attribute of this single-edged sword is dark attribute magic power.”

“So?”

“I want to change that… with this.” Hyeonu took out a small bead from his inventory. It was the same purple bead that Callioraks had thrown at Hyeonu.