Ranker's Return

Chapter 685

Hyeonu kept his mouth shut at the emperor’s ridiculous words, which were spoken at a ridiculous time. He was busy moving his eyes around to hide his flustered eyes.

“The joke is too much, Your Majesty.” It was Lebron who spoke on Hyeonu’s behalf. Lebron responded sincerely to the emperor’s words.

“The marquis was so uncomfortable that I was joking to try and lighten up the atmosphere… I guess it isn’t the case.” The emperor had a strange smile.

“If the nobles had heard your words, it would be a year of finding fault, Your Majesty.” Lebron continued to stress that such a joke was a mistake to the emperor.

“I didn’t expect that I couldn’t even do this much… I apologize.” The emperor readily apologized.

Of course, Hyeonu didn’t know if he was sincere or not. However, it was important to maintain formality. “No, Your Majesty. There is no need for an apology.”

Hyeonu shook his head. His mind was complicated. He couldn’t figure out why the emperor said those words.

‘Will he step down if I collect around 100 permits?’

Hyeonu had an absurd thought. If he collected the permits and became the emperor…

‘It already takes a lot of manpower to manage two territories.’

Just imagining it made him tired. Running Etono and Phinis was already labor intensive. There were quite a few NPCs as well as regular players running the territory. If so, what about the imperial palace that governed the Yusma Empire, which dominated half of the great continent?

‘I will need dozens or hundreds of times more people to manage it to my liking.’

It would take a long time for such a system to be completed. It couldn’t be done in a day or two. However, there was no need to become the emperor if he left all of this to the NPCs. It was the same as the constitutional monarchy that reigned, but didn’t rule.

‘The current emperor… it is definitely a royal regime.’

The man standing in front of Hyeonu was the absolute. He pretended to listen to the opinions of the nobles in order to alleviate his troubles, but he was a monster that could devour the entire empire.

“Even if Your Majesty gave me such an opportunity, I would refuse it. I think that excessive greed is a shortcut to defeat.”

Hyeonu acted as if he accepted that the emperor’s joke was a true story. However, the reaction of the emperor was strange. It was a very short moment, but the smile on his face disappeared. He quickly smiled again, but Hyeonu, who was staring at the emperor’s face, clearly witnessed the change.

‘Did I say something wrong?’

Based on the change in the emperor’s expression, he seemed to have done something wrong. He just didn’t know what was wrong.

‘I didn’t say anything wrong.’

He didn’t have the faintest idea, but it wasn’t a good thing to defy the emperor’s temper. Hyeonu chose to keep his mouth shut and his head down.

“Excessive greed… that is possible.” The emperor turned and rushed forward. There was an inexplicable bitterness in his voice.

"Hrmm… I think you should be careful in the future,” Lebron spoke to Hyeonu instead of going after the emperor.

‘Be careful? Why me?’

“What does that mean, Teacher?” Hyeonu asked like he didn’t understand Lebron’s words.

“It means that you just have to move as you said. If you want to stay as you are now, don’t be greedy. Absolutely never.” Lebron disappeared after saying things that Hyeonu couldn’t understand. He followed after the emperor who left.

“What the hell is he saying? Don’t be greedy?”

Hyeonu was left alone and stood with his head tilted.

***

Hyeonu’s next streaming of the main scenario was much faster than expected.

Hyeonu took 10 days to travel from Tendmul to Alfore. In other words, they were going to run for 10 days in Arena time. Yet someone appeared that interfered with Hyeonu’s plan. To be precise, it wasn’t ‘someone,’ but ‘them.’ It was multiple, not singular. It wasn't just one person.

-Is this real?

-There are 30 boss monsters?

-It is the first time I’m seeing the demonic creatures in the rear?

-They look very powerful at first sight.

-By the way, the streaming was turned on at the right time. It is fortunate.

The viewers, who saw the situation through Hyeonu’s livestream, marveled at the demons in front of them. It was already known through the other livestreams that any noble was a boss monster. There were 30 such nobles. It was a sight they had never seen before.

“It is becoming a bit interesting now. Isn't that right?"

“The 30 demons who appeared seem to be nobles. I think it is suitable to call it a feast for the eyes.”

The emperor and Lebron had a peaceful conversation when they saw the endless line of demons, demonic creatures, and the 30 nobles leading them. The two of them were eager about the appearance of the demon world army.

“This is an opportunity to get rid of the disappointment of last time. They can fight as much as they want,” Hyeonu added one more thing. The other players would be delighted by their appearance. Moreover, Hyeonu looked at the situation as if he wasn’t going to fight.

“Marquis, do you think the adventurers can kill everything in front of them?” the emperor asked Hyeonu, who was relaxed like himself.

“I think the adventurers are enough to kill them. The adventurers here only need groups of six to kill a baron of the demon world. Additionally, adventurers become stronger as more are gathered. You don’t have to worry.”

Hyeonu seemed to give a presentation to the emperor. Yet unlike his confident words, Hyeonu was certain that they would never be able to kill all of the demon army. It was impossible to wake up after death.

‘If they fight in a separate space, then they can kill enough…’

There was a reason why Hyeonu was confident. One party of rankers was enough to kill a baron of the demon world. Depending on the level, there were also parties that could kill a viscount. There were two problems that came to mind. If the nobles were caught between the demons and demonic creatures, someone would surely be greedy enough to attack them and the formation would become messy.

‘Even if they aren’t greedy… the formation will be broken anyway.’

He didn’t know about the demons, but most of the demonic creatures were huge. The moment they entered, the players’ formation would collapse. It would also be pointless once powerful boss monsters broke in.

‘There will also be no magic power left.’

The problem was magic power. No matter how many magic power recovery potions there were and buffs to help restore magic power, it would end someday when there were no items to restore magic power in proportion to the damage inflicted like Hyeonu had.

‘It will be around three hours?’

Of course, three hours was generous. This was assuming they had magic power recovery potions in their inventory. The situation wasn’t optimistic. However, Hyeonu didn’t think it was hopeless at all.

‘There are two monsters…’

The emperor and Lebron—once the adventurers were forcibly logged out one by one and the front line collapsed, the two of them would come out.

‘I am also confident I won’t die.’

Additionally, Hyeonu would never die. This was the most important thing.

“Hmm… then we should clean up the obstacles.”

The emperor’s body slowly rose into the sky. Everyone’s eyes focused on the emperor.

“Get rid of the obstacles hindering the progress of the empire,” the emperor murmured after rising into the air.

He was murmuring, but it clearly entered everyone’s ears. It was a voice that hit their ears.

[A quest has been created.]

[Annihilate the Demon World Army]

[Some nobles have found out that human beings have officially launched a war against the demon world and have led the demons and demonic creatures to fight. Annihilate them all.

Rating: MS

Conditions: Kill the demonic creatures 0/???, kill the demons 0/???, kill the demon nobles 0/30.

Rewards: Experience, imperial contribution.]

At the end of the emperor’s words, a quest was created. There was no extra compensation, but no one complained. It was rewarding enough to kill the monsters in front of them. They would definitely find rare and unique items when hunting the endless number of demons and demonic creatures. Thus, they didn’t have any complaints about the poor quest rewards. Rather, they thought it was an opportunity to gather imperial contributions.

The moment the quest was created, the more than 3,000 players started to move. It was for the huge rewards.

“There are many monsters. Make sure you properly ration your magic power!”

“Don’t use skills at the same time! Think about fighting for as long as possible!”

Those who played the role of commander all shouted words with the same meaning: Prepare for a long-term battle. Hyeonu just watched this scene. He didn’t seem to want to jump onto the battlefield.

“Aren’t you fighting?” Lebron asked when he saw Hyeonu’s appearance.

“I can fight once the number has decreased to a certain extent and they are tired… is it necessary to fight now?”

Hyeonu watched the scene with a relaxed expression. The rankers’ battle against endless monsters was spectacular. It was definitely fun to watch.

“Just because they are adventurers doesn’t mean they don’t die…”

It was natural. The players were resurrected after death. They weren’t immortal.

“However, aren’t they all my colleagues?”

“So you should go out there and help. Is it okay for you to just watch like this?”

“I’m helping here.”

Lebron cocked his head at Hyeonu’s words. The place where Lebron and Hyeonu stood was quite a distance from the battlefield. It would be much more efficient to run out and fight than to fight from here.

“Tang-E, come out.”

Hyeonu felt the question in Lebron’s eyes and took action to resolve it.

“Tang-E has come, Master dude.”

Tang-E appeared gorgeously through a golden magic circle.

“Tang-E, you know the faces of those around you, right?” Hyeonu asked while holding Tang-E in his arms.

“Of course, Master dude. Tang-E isn’t stupid.”

“So can you put some buffs on them in turn? Tang-E, follow the order that you are familiar with,” Hyeonu asked Tang-E for a small favor. It was about placing buffs on his acquaintances.

“Understood, Master dude.”

Tang-E looked around the battlefield and nodded. The first place Tang-E’s buff headed was none other than Reina. It was natural since Reina had been the most attached to Hyeonu recently. However, it was only natural for Hyeonu and Tang-E. It wasn’t familiar to the viewers watching Hyeonu’s livestream.

-Why go there?

-It is Reina, not Hyung-nim?

-This… there is definitely something here.

-It is time for an investigation.

Hyeonu saw the chat window and raised a hand to his forehead.

‘Why did I say that…?’

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