Ranker's Return

Chapter 694

“By the way… it is a bit disappointing even after you receive the buffs,” Hyeonu grumbled when he saw that Yoo Hyeonsu couldn’t follow his movements properly.

However, this was just Hyeonu's outward appearance.

‘He is better than Hoon.’

Inwardly, he was admiring the unexpected sharpness of Yoo Hyeonsu’s senses. Hyeonu was pouring quite a lot of magic power into Mysterious Sky Steps right now. Once he used it to this extent, it was extremely rare for players to accurately grasp his movements. It was only possible for grandmasters of the arena to do so. In other words, out of the hundreds of millions of Arena players, only 10 players could follow Hyeonu’s movements with their eyes.

‘Still, it isn’t fun if I teach him that…’

Nevertheless, there was one reason why he was mean to Yoo Hyeonsu—it was very fun.

Hyeonu erased the smile from his face. It shouldn’t be known that he was having fun. Now he had to give the impression that he was being critical about Yoo Hyeonsu’s poor skills, and he had to do it thoroughly.

‘This is the first time in my life that I’ve seen such movements,' Yoo Hyeonsu thought.

He was in a situation where he couldn’t care about Hyeonu’s words. The difference between what he saw in the videos and what he actually experienced was like the difference between heaven and earth.

‘It is impossible to follow with the eyes.’

Hyeonu's movements were too fast and gorgeous. Yoo Hyeonsu had received the buffs, but it was too hard for him to identify the movements of Hyeonu, who had determined Yoo Hyeonsu’s stats and used Mysterious Sky Steps in response.

‘I need another way.’

He had to find a solution. With his abilities alone, it was impossible for him to counter Hyeonu. In that case, Yoo Hyeonsu could use his colleagues.

‘The siege is a team game anyway.’

It was in PvP that they won with individual ability. In a siege, however, cooperation with the team was very important.

“Please support me with magic!”Yoo Hyeonsu shouted loudly. It was heard not only by the Crescent Moon players but also Hyeonu. Even so, it didn’t matter if Hyeonu heard it.

‘It is enough to pay attention to that side.’

From the opponent’s point of view, it was beneficial to disperse attention.

Sunny shook her head and advised Cho Yeonghun, who was preparing a CC spell, “Don’t use CC. It won’t work on him anyway. It is best to just use attack magic.”

For some reason, Hyeonu was immune to CCs. He was a monster who devoured a boss monster’s Fear like it was a rice bowl. Such a Hyeonu couldn’t be affected by a player’s magic.

“I understand, Noona,” Cho Yeonghun said.

Upon receiving Sunny’s advice, Cho Yeonghun erased most of the magic he had thought of. He was naturally thinking about magic that was accompanied by powerful status conditions. Use magic to limit the opponent’s movement and through this action, the melee classes would lead the battle in a favorable direction—this was the formula for group PvPs where magicians participated.

‘I have to use single-target magic.’ Cho Yeonghun also ruled out wide-area magic.

Wide area magic was very powerful, but it could also hit Lee Hoon and Yoo Hyeonsu. It would be a great blow to the team if Yoo Hyeonsu and Lee Hoon were caught in the magic even if it managed to hurt Hyeonu. Yoo Hyeonsu and Lee Hoon had tank roles and high defense, but they weren’t as good as Hyeonu.

Hyeonu was plastered with only items of unique rating or higher, to the point where others found it ridiculous to see. Naturally, he would receive less damage than the two of them even if it was the same magic. As a result, Cho Yeonghun’s magic would hit his teammates in the back of the head.

Cho Yeonghun pointed a colorful staff at Hyeonu. Then dozens of arrows, which were over one meter long, appeared behind Cho Yeonghun. Sunny saw Cho Yeonghun using magic and also prepared attack magic. It was the most powerful magic she could use. A seven-meter-long black spear appeared in thin air, exuding a dangerous energy.

Sunny suggested, “Let's fire at the same time. That way, the probability of hitting is higher.”

It was calculated that two attacks would be more difficult to counter than one. However, the two people’s plan became useless from the beginning. It was because the gold and dark blue spears flew from somewhere and engaged in mutual destruction with the magic of the two players.

“We are just looking around. It is a fight between those three people. Put down your hands,” Tang-E said. He was the owner of the spear. Tang-E was keeping the rear of Crescent Moon in check as Hyeonu requested.

“Hmm…” a groan flowed from Cho Yeonghun’s mouth. It was an unexpected development. He had been worried about how he could make the magic hit Hyeonu, so he hadn’t expected the magic to be blocked by Tang-E.

“Noona, what should we do?” Cho Yeonghun asked Sunny with a flustered expression.

“I also don’t know. Still, we can’t give up just because we were blocked once,” Sunny replied. This was a first for Sunny. Tang-E had never participated actively when they prepared for the Winter League. At best, he only buffed Hyeonu.

“That’s right.” Cho Yeonghun quickly regained his composure. If it didn’t work once, they should try it two or three more times. Cho Yeonghun immediately cast another spell and prepared more than 10 fireballs this time. He used this spell a lot during hunts, so its power was great.

Sunny also cast another spell. Her class might be a rare necromancer class, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have any attack magic. It was just unfamiliar, so it took a long time to cast. Even so, there were a few spells where she was satisfied with the power.

A black beam of light shot out from Sunny’s skeleton wand toward Hyeonu. The moment Cho Yeonghun saw Sunny firing the magic, he released the fireballs straight away. The fireballs moved in slightly different trajectories according to Cho Yeonghun’s will.

However, such efforts were also wasted. A black-red curtain of fire swallowed up their magic. Sunny’s black ray failed to penetrate the red wall, and Cho Yeonghun’s fireballs were combined with it.

It was Tang-E again this time. Tang-E’s barrier of fire prevented the magic of the two people once again. After successfully fulfilling Hyeonu’s request, Tang-E mocked Cho Yeonghun and Sunny like Hyeonu had done to Yoo Hyeonsu and Lee Hoon: “Didn’t I say to stay still and watch? Stupid.”

“That… damn bear…” Sunny’s hands trembled at Tang-E’s powerful provocation. It was the first humiliation she had experienced since being taught by Hyeonu in a past stream.

“Noona, I don’t think it will work right now. Shall we use magic at the appropriate timing?”Cho Yeonghun calmly analyzed the situation. It seemed impossible to help Yoo Hyeonsu and Lee Hoon by using magic while Tang-E was watching.

‘At the very least, we have to shift Tang-E’s gaze…’

They could only use magic to help the two people after shifting Tang-E’s gaze at all costs. It was impossible to break Tang-E’s magic using their magic alone.

Cho Yeonghun’s plan was good. There was just one problem. Hyeonu didn’t give him time to execute it. During the time when Sunny and Cho Yeonghun failed to help, Hyeonu's fist hit Yoo Hyeonsu several times.

“It is a punch here, but it is a blade in the competition. Do you understand?” Hyeonu said with a smile after Yoo Hyeonsu fell down due to being hit in the chest by a fist.

“Now, look at that nasty person. Look at him hitting you and smiling.” Lee Hoon approached Yoo Hyeonsu, who had fallen, and helped him up.

“Do you want to be like this in the competition, Lee Hoon? How many minutes did you leave the battlefield? I don’t think you lost that much health. What is the use of returning after the team is dead? You are the shield of the team!” Hyeonu roared at Lee Hoon, who belatedly joined the battle after a long time.

Unable to respond to Hyeonu’s attack that was based on facts, Lee Hoon just remained silent.

Then he said, “Hyung, you can’t do it alone. We will attack together.”

Lee Hoon recalled the mistake he had made. He shouldn’t have run to Hyeonu at the beginning.

‘I was so stupid.’

Humans were said to be animals of oblivion. Lee Hoon felt these words deeply. It had been a month. This was how long he hadn’t sparred with Hyeonu.

‘That Hyung is such a monster…’

If it were another player, they would’ve dodged or blocked Lee Hoon’s charge. Meanwhile, Hyeonu was different. He was able to break the charge with minimal force.

‘I forgot that I shouldn’t use that type of skill unless it is really perfect timing.’

Charging skills against Hyeonu had considerable risks. Thus, he didn’t use it originally. There was only one case where he could use it—when it was perfectly angled.

‘Of course, the problem is that the perfect angle never comes out…’

Lee Hoon never succeeded in using the charging skill once against Hyeonu. Yet this time, he used the charging skill ignorantly like a wild boar with its tail on fire.

“Yes, let’s do it properly.”Yoo Hyeonsu grabbed Lee Hoon’s hand and stood up. His fighting spirit was burning once again. He comforted himself by saying that this was a good opportunity to learn from Alley Leader.

***

Hyeonu’s first training with the new Crescent Moon players lasted less than two hours. It was natural that the training time was short since the only people who could practice PvP were Lee Hoon and Yoo Hyeonsu. Yet for Lee Hoon and Yoo Hyeonsu who were trained intensively, the training time felt like two days instead of two hours. It was like a Möbius strip that never ended.

Yoo Hyeonsu drank a lot of cold water from the refrigerator and asked Lee Hoon, “Hoon, is it like this every time?”

Lee Hoon shook his head and answered, “It isn’t normally this hard… It is probably harder because it is just the two of us. It should be easier with more people?”

It wasn’t that hard when he trained with Yuri and Dwayne. He didn’t know that the absence of one person would be so big.

“Really? Is it okay when the number of people is increased?”Yoo Hyeonsu’s eyes shone at Lee Hoon’s words. He looked into the air like he was thinking about something and soon left the practice room with a sly smile.

“Hyung, where are you going?”Lee Hoon yelled after Yoo Hyeonsu as he left the dormitory.

“Downstairs!” Yoo Hyeonsu answered briefly before moving quickly. Below the dormitory where the Crescent Moon players were located was the dormitory of Crescent Moon's streamers.

“Open the door,” Yoo Hyeonu said.

Thanks to Cho Yeonghun's help, Yoo Hyeonsu was already close to the Crescent Moon streamers and former pro gamers of Big Stars.

“What is going on? Isn’t it time to practice now?” Han Jaeyeol, a former professional gamer of Big Stars, opened the door and cocked his head at Yoo Hyeonsu’s sudden visit.

“Jaeyeol, what are the kids doing now?”

“What are they doing? They are thinking about what to eat.”

“Really?” Yoo Hyeonsu walked past the entrance hall into the living room.

‘That jerk, what’s wrong with him?’Han Jaeyeol shook his head several times and chased after Yoo Hyeonsu.

Upon arriving in the living room, Yoo Hyeonsu saw that all the faces he wanted were sitting there, so he clapped and caught their attention: “Excuse me, everyone? Let me ask you one thing.”

Han Jaeyeol exclaimed from where he was following behind Yoo Hyeonsu, “What’s going on?! Why aren’t you answering me? What do you want to ask?”

“Ah, I will say it now. Is there anyone here who wants to be a professional gamer again? The conditions are very good. As long as you keep the training time, you can carry out your streaming at any time, and you will get a clear salary. Of course, you don’t have to act as a proxy knight.”

The reason why Yoo Hyeonsu came to visit them was to recruit colleagues. He added, “Ah, you will also get the great opportunity of being coached by Alley Leader. Is there anyone who wants to do it?”

Yoo Hyeonsu was doing this to save his colleagues who, filled with dreams and hopes, would be going with him to hell.

‘I can’t be the only one who wants to come back as a professional gamer, right?’

It wasn’t just Yoo Hyeonsu who had the memories of failure. These guys had them too.