Ranker's Return

Chapter 655

Translator: rainbowturtle

-What did he say?

-I’m curious, I’m curious.

-Please tell me quickly!

The viewers, who were curious about the conversation between Hyeonu and Tang-E, were going crazy. What did he say that made Tang-E react like that?

“Please wait a moment. Wait,” Hyeonu told the viewers to wait.

He didn’t intend to explain it.

‘It isn’t fun to tell them beforehand.’

Hyeonu wanted to see the viewers’ surprised reactions. It was an impromptu choice, but there was also the hope that this would have a positive effect.

‘Now, what type of reaction will they show?’

Hyeonu smiled. The reason for Hyeonu’s meaningful smile was soon revealed. A light came again from Tang-E’s body.

-Another light is coming from Tang-E’s body?

-Is he returning to his original form?

-So this is why he smiled like that?

-You can’t dooooooooo this!!!

-Go back to before!

Viewers screamed when they saw the light coming from Tang-E. How long had it been since they had seen Tang-E’s human form? There were a number of people who had been so moved that they forgot to save screenshots or shoot videos. Of course, today's streaming video would also be featured on Hyeonu’s A-World channel, but that was a different story. A photo taken by themselves was different from those taken by others.

In the meantime, the light being emitted from Tang-E’s body subsided.

-It is still the same?

-I’m glad.

-What has changed?

-There seems to be no change?

In the eyes of the viewers, nothing had changed. It wasn’t known if it was because Tang-E was turned around, but there were no changes right now.

‘Nothing has changed, these people.’

Hyeonu smiled at the sight of the chat window. He couldn’t hold back the laughter and it burst out. He had to laugh when thinking about the reactions of the viewers that would soon be seen.

‘Maybe this will bury the rest of the topics.’

In Hyeonu’s opinion, Tang-E’s current appearance had that much impact. Even Hyeonu had been the same for a few days at the beginning. Finally, Tang-E turned around and showed his face to the viewers. At first glance, Tang-E’s outward appearance was the same. It was literally just one thing.

The change was obvious. The ears. There were two black ears located between Tang-E’s fluffy hair.

“Sniff. You wanted to see me like this? You should’ve told me earlier. What is hard about this?”

Tang-E gently wiped his nose with his index finger. It was because he felt good about Hyeonu’s words.

‘He thinks this is really cute? He wanted to see it?’

“Hehe.”

Tang-E was really a kid. He was weak to praise. As Tang-E laughed, the ears on Tang-E’s head continued to move. They kept folding up and down.

-What is this…

-Tang-E has ears now.

-He always had ears.Now animal ears have grown out.

-So what is this?

-A new skill?

-I don’t know.As long as it looks good.

It was as Hyeonu expected. Viewers couldn’t take their eyes off Tang-E.

‘Now it isn’t Demi-human Transformation, but Polymorph… well, the skill name doesn’t matter?’

Giant Transformation and Demi-human Transformation were absorbed by Polymorph and disappeared. However, Tang-E had an image of that time and could completely recreate the appearance using Polymorph.

“Isn’t it cute? It is very cute, right? Extremely cute?”

Hyeonu stroked Tang-E’s head.

-I also want to touch…

-Tang-E is too cute.

-Hah…Crazy.I want to be there as well.

-I really want to see it in person.

Viewers expressed their envy as they watched Hyeonu continue to touch Tang-E’s ears. It wasn’t just the viewers.

“Hyeonu…” Reina appeared like a ghost next to Hyeonu and called out to him.

“Huh? Reina, what is it?”

Hyeonu looked at Reina with a surprised expression. He might’ve been focused on the chat window, but she came so stealthily and fast that he couldn’t help being surprised.

“Can I hug him just once?”

“I’m not the one you should be asking?”

“Ah, that’s right. Tang-E, would you like to come here for a minute?”

Reina made an apologetic expression as she reached out to Tang-E with both hands.

"Huung… I understand.”

Tang-E made a nasal sound as he emerged from Hyeonu’s arms and jumped toward Reina. Reina carefully hugged Tang-E, who jumped into her arms, and stroked Tang-E’s head.

“So cute…” Reina whispered as she carefully touched the ears sticking out between Tang-E’s hair.

“Sniff, it tickles. It tickles.”

Tang-E raised his arms and pretended to block Reina from touching his ears. Of course, it was just a fake act. There was no real desire to stop her.

-Ah, I’m envious.

-I’m really envious.

-I’m envious of Tang-E and envious of Reina.

-I’m also envious of Alley Leader.

-I’m envious just looking at the three of them.

The viewers saw Reina hugging Tang-E and their envy soared even more. They were envious in many ways. Reina, who was hugging Tang-E;Tang-E, who was being hugged by Reina; and Alley Leader, who was watching it—there was no one they weren’t envious of.

The smile on Hyeonu’s face deepened.

‘The effect is certain.’

Tang-E was no different from a cheat. No, he was a black hole. A black hole that sucked up everyone’s attention.

***

After the streaming, Hyeonu checked his smartphone after coming out of the cube and immediately made a call. There was a text message asking him to call.

“Yes, Kale. Has it been hard lately?”

The person Hyeonu was talking to was Kale. Kale saw Hyeonu was streaming and contacted him. The matter could be sent by email, but the fastest communication was to speak directly.

-It’s fine.In fact, there is nothing too difficult.The boss has been doing many things in a short period of time.

“Then I’m glad. By the way, you are no longer accepting applications?”

Hyeonu called Kale because of this. No more applications were being received for New Moon and Alley Leader Academy.

-Yes, that’s right.In the case of New Moon, it has been two days since the applications stopped coming.Meanwhile, the list for Alley Leader Academy has already been narrowed down to 10 people.I think this alone is enough.

Kale explained the reason to Hyeonu. it was written in the email already sent, but it was obvious that Hyeonu wouldn’t have seen it based on the time of the call.

“Ah! Is that so? Then you don’t need to accept anymore people.”

Hyeonu heard Kale’s explanation and nodded. It didn’t matter if it was closed if there were no applicants.

‘10 people? I don’t think I can even do that much…’

Hyeonu smiled bitterly at Kale’s words that he selected 10 candidates for Alley Leader Academy. He had no intention of dragging out Alley Leader Academy for so long.

‘It will get boring later.’

He could only receive people with a story once or twice. Viewers were well acquainted with this. Streamers had to be vigilant of viewers becoming used to it.

“By the way, I revealed New Moon’s evaluation criteria on today’s streaming. Have you seen it?”

-No, I haven’t seen it yet.I had a lot of work to deal with.I was going to try and watch it when the video came to Ellis…

“Then I’ll tell you myself. Regardless of the reason, please discard all applications from those with poor experiences such as the arena proxy knights and PKers, Kale.”

Hyeonu repeated what he had said on the streaming.

-Are you really going to do this?Then there wouldn’t be many applicants left?

Kale had already gone through all the application documents once. The investigation had been completed to some extent. He knew what type of past they had and the evaluation of that person. He was able to learn a lot in a short amount of time by searching through the communities. One or two posts could be fake, but if dozens or hundreds of articles pointed in the same direction, it was public opinion.

“Yes, it doesn’t matter. Just throw them away. Crescent Moon shouldn’t be the subject of controversy at any time. Send the application documents of the remaining people by email. From there, I’ll do it myself.”

-I understand.If this is Mister Gang’s will, I can’t stop it.Then I hope you have a good night.

“Kale, I hope you have a great day too.”

***

As darkness disappeared and pale sunlight came out, a man in a down jacket walked out the door with a heavy-looking black duffle bag.

“I’m going to die of the cold and I’m sleepy. Really.”

Hyeonu, the man in the down jacket, forcibly opened his half-closed eyes and moved. No matter how sleepy he was, he had to go and exercise according to his fixed schedule.

‘If it collapses once, then it will keep collapsing.’

He could rest if he was tired. However, it was very easy for it to happen two or three times. This was why Hyeonu worked hard to keep to a set schedule.

Hyeonu took the elevator to the parking lot and got into his car. Hyeonu immediately started the engine and headed to the fitness center he visited three times a week. The fitness center wasn’t that far from Yeongchan’s officetel. It was around 10 minutes away. It was early in the morning and the roads were quiet. This meant he arrived faster.

“Hyung, why do you look so sad today? Were you lectured by Noona again?”

Hyeonu put his duffel bag down on the ground and looked at the trainer in charge of his personal training.

“What do you mean by lectured? There was no such thing.”

“Then why do you look so depressed?”

“It is because the world is unfair. It is unfair.”

The trainer muttered unexpected words before disappearing. He was going to prepare for Hyeonu’s training.

“What’s wrong?”

Hyeonu shrugged and opened his duffel bag to pull out a water bottle. Then he pulled out a disposable plastic bag. Inside the plastic bag was powder of several colors. The identity of the powder was a supplement. It wasn’t pure protein, but also contained other supplements that were helpful for exercise. Hyeonu was too lazy to take them separately, so he mixed them all together.

Hyeonu put the mixed powder in the water bottle, poured water into it, and shook the water bottle. The liquid in the water bottle was changed to an unidentified color. It was a hard color to confirm. Hyeonu casually drank the water mixed with supplements as if nothing had happened. Nevertheless, there was nothing he could do about the taste. Hyeonu shook his head at the taste of the drink, which was as strange as the odd color.

Meanwhile, the trainer reappeared. He was holding a small folder in his hand. It was Hyeonu’s exercise journal.

“Sigh…” He continued to sigh as he returned to Hyeonu.

“What is it? Wake up, this guy.”

In the end, Hyeonu couldn’t bear it and grabbed the trainer’s shoulders, shaking them.

“Hyeonu, I don’t know why I only receive male members. I can also do the beginner’s orientation.”

Hyeonu’s trainer was very competent. He was a famous person in Gangnam. He wasn’t a person who won a prize in a competition or something, but he was one of the best when it came to rehabilitation.

“Why? Did Noona get a female member again? How good is our Hyung? I can’t believe it again…”

Hyeonu clicked his tongue. He could tell what happened without even seeing it.

“By the way, is there another person exercising in the morning apart from me?”

Hyeonu cocked his head at the sound of numbers being counted inside the fitness center.

“You’ve never seen it before. Yes, this person has come for a while.”

The trainer nodded and walked away.

“Really?”

Hyeonu followed after the trainer’s back with curious eyes. For more than half a year, Hyeonu hadn’t seen anyone except for him. Of course, there were people who occasionally appeared in the morning due to unavoidable schedule changes. However, they soon disappeared. Exercising at 7 o’clock in the morning was terrifying.

“Over there, do you see the person exercising? It has been around two weeks now?”

The trainer looked at the mirror on one wall and pointed to the two women exercising. One was the trainer and the other was the person learning to exercise. Coincidentally, both of them were faces that Hyeonu knew.

‘Eh?’

The female trainer was the girlfriend of the man in front of him. It was impossible not to know her. The other person was…

“Reina…”