Ranker's Return

Chapter 393

Translator: rainbowturtle

Editor: LD & Jyazen

‘I was lucky.’

Hyeonu was really lucky. No more, no less—his luck was just insanely good. There was no other way to explain it.

‘Does God exist?’Hyeonu thought that he received this in return for helping the hungry. He helped a poor man, so the dungeon appeared as a reward for him.

“I will enter.”

Once Hyeonu finished speaking, the gate opened with a harsh sound. While gesturing with his chin for Tang-E to enter, Hyeonu walked in first. He passed through the gate, and a message immediately appeared.

[You have entered Lepil, the capital of the ancient empire Luos.]

[The title ‘First Visitor to the Luos Empire’ has been created.]

[First Visitor to the Luos Empire]

[A title given to the player who first visited the ruins of the capital of the ancient empire Luos.

Effect: The strength of magic power is increased by 15%.]

A title was created. This was unexpected, but it was a pleasant reward. Hyeonu had the sudden feeling of receiving an unexpected gift.

‘Moreover, the effect is great.’

The title had a decent effect worthy of the ancient empire’s name. It increased the effect of magic power. This was an effect that everyone wanted. Yet even with this good start, Hyeonu couldn’t smile. From his countless experiences, he was well aware that this type of luck wouldn’t last forever.

‘I hope it doesn’t become terrible after the beginning.’

Hyeonu quickened his pace again.

***

It was gorgeous. This was Hyeonu’s first impression of Lepil after seeing it for the first time. Lepil even gave off a much more luxurious feeling than Yusma, the capital of the empire, let alone Phinis.

After that, he felt it was strange. It was against common sense. This place was obviously underground, and there was no sunlight, yet the surroundings weren’t dark at all. It was as bright as an ordinary day, and Hyeonu could see clearly. The reason was simple.

There was something else that lit up this place instead of the sun—the luminous stones that were inlaid into the buildings. The stones didn’t display an unpleasant glare; it was just the right level of illumination. Nevertheless, Hyeonu only admired Lepil’s appearance for a moment before watching the surroundings vigilantly. He focused on the monsters that he didn’t know when and where would pop out.

However, the monsters didn’t appear. The city was quiet, and the streets were bright. He couldn’t sense anything at all. The only footsteps were made by Hyeonu and Tang-E. There were only two people present.

‘Is it an empty city?’

Once such a judgment was made, Hyeonu started to increase his movement speed. He wanted to quickly recover the item and go back. It was too wasteful to spend time in a place where monsters didn’t appear.

‘Should I find a dungeon with high experience?’

Hyeonu was already thinking about what to do next after finding the bracelet.

‘I have to reach level 300...’

As he thought about it, he felt it was meaningless to be here now and pushed the task of getting the bracelet to the bottom of the list. He gave priority to leveling up and doing the class advancement instead of gaining one item. It was a personal choice, but Hyeonu needed the class change more than another item. After all, he already had enough items. Since the fourth class advancement was right around the corner, he decided to put more weight on that.

Just then, a rattling sound rang out in the distance. This was the moment when Hyeonu’s worries ended.

‘Guards?’

The sound came from a group of soldiers in cool armor. They had bodies made of blue smoke instead of flesh and blood. The soldiers looked like ghosts, but the armor they wore was definitely real. It was a type of living armor. This meant the soldiers were armor ghosts that had no physical bodies. Among the living armor, the one at the forefront had an unusual color. It was a much more luxurious set of armor than the other living armor.

‘He is the commander,’ Hyeonu concluded.

The commander of the living armor soldiers shouted loudly when he discovered Hyeonu: “Intruder... Kill... Charge...!!!”

He spoke slowly, but there was a strong feeling of anger in his tone. At the commander’s order, the dozens of living armor soldiers standing behind him started to attack Hyeonu.

“Tang-E, take care of yourself, be it by going to Bung Bung Island or hiding. Otherwise, fight alongside me. I don’t think I can protect you.”

Feeling the pressure from the living armor soldiers, Hyeonu presented this choice to Tang-E—escape or fight. Naturally, Tang-E’s choice was to fight. Abandoning Hyeonu was a story of the past. Their relationship had become so precious to Tang-E that he couldn’t imagine abandoning Hyeonu.

“There is no such thing, Master dude. I will help you as much as possible.”

After buffing Hyeonu, Tang-E immediately used Giant Transformation, growing large enough to overwhelm the living armor soldiers. The living armor soldiers had a height of two meters at most, which was because the armor was in a size that humans could wear.

“Yes, then let’s fight neatly as usual.”Hyeonu laughed as he watched Tang-E rush toward the living armor soldiers. Tang-E might grumble usually, but his loyalty was truly the best in important situations.

‘Up to three at most.’

Currently, this was the number of living armor soldiers that could attack Hyeonu. They were the only ones right before him. As long as there wasn’t an encirclement, they would only be able to attack him from his left, right, and front.

‘First come, first win!’

This didn’t mean Hyeonu was waiting for the incoming attack. Like Tang-E, Hyeonu rushed toward the living armor soldiers. It was a situation where both sides were running toward each other. Unsurprisingly, the distance between them narrowed in an instant, and the living armor’s blue magic power and Hyeonu’s black-red magic power collided.

Hyeonu overwhelmed the living armor soldiers. After exchanging a blow, the living armor soldiers flew back and crashed into the living armor soldiers behind them. Hyeonu didn’t attempt to attack the living armor soldiers that had fallen back. Even at this moment, there were attacks aimed at him.

So he was just going to do it step by step. Lowering the Mysterious Sky Sword that was burning black, Hyeonu supported the back of the sword with his left hand. At the next moment, two blue-colored swords struck the blade of the Mysterious Sky Sword.

Hyeonu momentarily bent his knees and endured the shock. Then he struck off hard from the ground and reached out a hand. He moved toward the blue sword that was aimed at an empty space. The fact that the sword was just pointing into the air meant the arm holding it had been turned upward, soon revealing a gap.

Simultaneously, Hyeonu pivoted and swung the Mysterious Sky Sword horizontally. Black-red pure energy was fired in the shape of a crescent moon, and two sets of living armor split in half before falling to the ground. At that moment, there was a message informing Hyeonu of the living armor soldiers’ deaths.

[A guard spirit of the Luos Empire has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[A guard spirit of the Luos Empire has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

It was a neat start. Without any hesitation, Hyeonu rushed about like a wild beast. His figure appeared here and there at the same time. It was a skill he would be disappointed not to have. This was Mysterious Sky Steps. He appeared in many places, yet his posture was the same in every single place.

Each version of Hyeonu stretched out the Mysterious Sky Sword in front of him, and dozens of black-red lasers penetrated the living armor soldiers. The blue smoke supporting the armor quickly dispersed. Once that happened, the sets of armor couldn’t overcome gravity and fell down.

[A guard spirit of the Luos Empire has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[A guard spirit of the Luos Empire has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[A guard spirit of the Luos Empire has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[A guard spirit of the Luos Empire has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

Dozens of messages echoed in Hyeonu’s ears immediately, but even so, Hyeonu couldn’t smile as there were still many living armor soldiers in front of him.

“Tang-E, hit the big one!” Hyeonu shouted at Tang-E, who was engaging in a fierce battle with the living armor soldiers.

‘We need to sweep through them once with magic,’ Hyeonu thought.

In that case, Tang-E had to take action. His powerful wide-area magic was needed.

“I understand! I’m going to let out everything!”The six-meter-tall Tang-E yelled and jumped into the air.

Once he reached the highest point of his jump, his body started to turn blue. Looking closely, the color of his fur hadn’t actually changed. Tang-E’s body was just covered with magic power, which emitted harsh sparks as it waited to be released. Finally, Tang-E descended faster than he had risen.

The moment he slammed into the ground, blue clouds appeared in the sky and huge lightning bolts dropped down. It wasn’t just one or two but a number that was close to 10. The lightning bolts melted the suits of living armor. Only the red hot metal proved that the living armor soldiers used to exist here.

Nearly half of the initial number of living armor soldiers were wiped out in one blow from Tang-E’s magic. Dozens of them had been killed by Hyeonu, and dozens more had been killed by Tang-E. There weren’t many living armors remaining. Compared to the beginning, it was like there was nothing left now.

Hyeonu smiled and ran out.

‘Level 300... This is enough.’

***

“Tang-E, go and rest. You’ve worked hard. I’ll kill that guy. Have something to eat,” Hyeonu called out confidently to Tang-E.

Now, only the magnificent living armor remained, so Hyeonu alone was enough.

“Then I will eat a chicken skewer,”Tang-E said, stepping back.

He didn’t refuse. Instead, he took a seat while taking a large skewer out of his subspace.

“Brat...”Hyeonu laughed when he saw that. Tang-E’s personality was really consistent.

“Familiar... But... Subtle... Intruder... Block...” The commander of the living armor soldiers muttered strange words.

Then it moved toward Hyeonu in a flash. It was like an intermediate process had been deleted. Hyeonu hadn’t seen a sword being drawn, yet it was already descending toward his head. The Mysterious Sky Sword arrived at the location where the commander’s sword would arrive. It was as if Hyeonu had anticipated the commander’s movements.

Then Hyeonu twisted his wrist softly before using his strength. Sparks of dark blue magic power filled the air in a brilliant manner, and the Mysterious Sky Sword climbed up along the sword of the living armor soldiers’ commander. The commander raised its magic power to limit the movement of the Mysterious Sky Sword.

Simultaneously, the color of the commander’s body darkened. Unfortunately, the commander of the living armor soldiers started to get pushed back in a battle of strength with Hyeonu. As it stepped back, the commander showed a movement that caused it to disappear again.

In an instant, it approached Hyeonu and swung its sword. However, Hyeonu was already somewhere else, and the commander’s sword smashed into the innocent street instead. The place where Hyeonu reappeared was above the head of the living armor.

Hyeonu descended along with the Mysterious Sky Sword, but he too missed his target. This was because the commander of the living armor used a ridiculous speed to avoid Hyeonu’s attack. Still, it wasn’t just that. The commander made actions that were similar to Hyeonu’s. It appeared behind Hyeonu and stabbed with its sword.