Ranker's Return

Chapter 734

“Hello, I am Jeong Cheolmin. I am lacking skills, but... I will try my best not to be a nuisance to other players.” Jeong Cheolmin walked in front of Hyeonu and slowly bowed.

His appearance was so heartfelt to those who saw it.

“Jeong Cheolmin-ssi—no, I chose Player Jeong Cheolmin as the only passing candidate of New Moon because his passion is superior to that of the other eight. I thought I could improve his skills to become as good as those of other professional gamers before the Spring League opens,” Hyeonu explained why he chose Jeong Cheolmin.

He didn’t give a detailed explanation; he just explained it briefly. Jeong Cheolmin was the only one with the potential to grow to become a professional gamer. This was the end of it. In the professional world where they had to prove everything with results, there was nothing as important as skills.

-By the way, he really made the announcement like this.

-It isn’t the announcement of the final players passing New Moon. Rather, isn’t this the announcement of the Crescent Moon players?

-Still, he picked a child worthy of being picked.

-I acknowledge it if it is Jeong Cheolmin. It wasn’t bad at first. It was the biggest change in a week.

The viewers didn’t react much to Hyeonu’s sudden announcement. They had been expecting it to some extent. No, they had been convinced that Jeong Cheolmin would be picked unconditionally. As such, he was unchallenged among those who participated in New Moon.

“This is how the 12 players have come together. I don’t know when it is going to be, but before February ends, I will be revealing how we are training on the livestream.” Hyeonu also revealed his plans for the future.

He wasn’t going to end the stream by simply revealing Crescent Moon players. He was going to consistently reveal the appeal of the team to the public. That way, Crescent Moon would be loved by many in its own right before Hyeonu’s halo disappeared.

‘I can’t be the coach forever.’

Crescent Moon had to maintain its status without Hyeonu. Hyeonu once belonged to it, and now he organized it himself. That meant that, of course, it had to be the best.

“So today, there will be time to communicate with the players of Crescent Moon. You can ask simple questions and listen to the answers.” Hyeonu proceeded with the livestream while believing that everything he did now would be of great help to the team.

***

After leaving the instance dungeon with the descendants of the Luos Empire, Hyeonu left the descendants in one place and returned to the village where the Marionette Bears were gathered.

“Hugo,” Hyeonu called the name of a man wandering around on one side of the village.

“Ah, you came. Did your work end well?” Hugo found Hyeonu and welcomed him.

“Yes, it ended nicely thanks to your help.”

“What help? Everyone was just faithful to their desires.” Hugo waved his hands strongly at Hyeonu’s thanks. The Marionette Bears had truly done nothing. They merely went around Bung Bung Island to play while using helping Hyeonu as an excuse.

“Still I think that you helped me.” Hyeonu didn’t agree with Hugo. The Marionette Bears might’ve wandered around casually, but they remained faithful to what they had to do. They looked around Bung Bung Island for Hyeonu’s sake. It went without saying that Hyeonu had found the traces of the empire several times faster.

“Thank you for saying that.”

“And... unfortunately, I think I have to go back. I feel sorry for Tang-E, but...”

“Tang-E won’t be very sad. I’m sure he has played enough.”

“I’m glad...” Hyeonu’s words trailed off. There was a brief lull in the conversation between Hyeonu and Hugo.

“I have a favor to ask of you, Hugo.”

“A favor? From me?” Hugo asked while pointing at himself.

Hyeonu nodded. “Yes, it is a favor that only Hugo can do.”

Hugo looked at Hyeonu as if urging Hyeonu to tell him.

“I need records from the days of the Luos Empire. To be precise, I need records from just before the destruction. I also hope there will be information about the imperial family of the Luos Empire,” Hyeonu calmly expressed what he wanted.

Hugo thought briefly about Hyeonu’s words before asking Hyeonu, “Is that all?”

“If there is any information about the divine world... I’d like to see it.”

In addition to the help with finding the ruins, Hyeonu wanted one more thing—to know about everything related to the Luos Empire.

“It isn’t hard to ask for this favor, but... can I ask why you want to know about them?”

“As you know, I have a lot to do with the Luos Empire whether I know it or not. I met the descendants of the empire by chance in the demon world. They were trapped in the same magic circle like the one on Bung Bung Island. Then... I felt like something was weird. The last emperor of the Luos Empire that I met wasn’t someone who would give such an order.”

Hyeonu made this request to Hugo because he felt a strange sense of unease. There was a discrepancy between the Larenix that Kalui and Hill talked about and the Larenix he met.

‘There is nothing more annoying than being hit on the back of the head by an NPC...’ Hyeonu thought about it carefully. He felt something odd, so he had to worry. It was foolish to try and solve the problem only after it had already occurred.

“I got it. I’ll look for books related to the things you said. And... if it is related to the divine world, Raccoon knows better than me.”

An unexpected name popped out of Hugo’s mouth. It was a name Hyeonu never expected to come out here.

‘Does it make sense that it is near Aslan, the starter village?’

Raccoon—he was the chief of the Meadow Wolf Tribe and a monster on the same level as the emperor or Lebron. He lived in the north of the Black Forest, a field near Aslan.

“Raccoon knows about the divine world?” Hyeonu had a disbelieving expression.

“It isn’t just Raccoon who knows. There is also the dragon in the central cave. The divine world isn’t a place where it is impossible to go to.” Hugo shrugged.

Just because it was the divine world didn’t mean it was different from the demon world. There were the god tribe and divine creatures, just as there were demons and demonic creatures. There were also gods such as the god of the sun and the god of the moon.

"I understand... I’ll stop by and see Raccoon,” Hyeonu answered while bowing slightly toward Hugo. He had done everything here, so he was going to leave now.

“I hope things go well.” Hugo waved at the leaving Hyeonu.

***

After parting from Hugo, Hyeonu joined the descendants of the Luos Empire, who were headed by Hill. Hyeonu took the lead, and they started their journey to Phinis.

Hill ran next to Hyeonu and asked Hyeonu, “Guardian, how long will it take to get to the place called Phinis?”

“At this speed, it will take less than a week,” Hyeonu answered. In fact, Hyeonu wasn’t very clear about this either. After all, what type of idiot ignored the return scroll and ran? He just had to tear the return scroll and would arrive in one second.

‘Why can’t NPCs use return scrolls?’

Hyeonu never expected that he would have to run around like this even after returning to the middle world. This was a nuisance and a waste of time, but it wasn’t a difficult task. There was something else that bothered Hyeonu even more.

“What? Isn’t that Alley Leader? Why is he running around with NPCs?”

“I don’t think he is being chased... Is it a quest?”

“Is there a running quest among quests?”

It was the eyes of other people. There was no one who didn’t know that Hyeonu was running around the continent with thousands of NPCs. Every time they saw Hyeonu, they smiled with a strange gaze. It didn’t matter how thick Hyeonu’s face was. It was hard for him to be unbothered when every passing person looked at him like this.

‘I will be crazy, simply crazy, if I ever do this again.’

Hyeonu ran faster while trying to ignore people’s reactions.

***

It was as Hyeonu said. After traveling for a full week, he and the descendants of the Luo Empire were able to reach Phinis.

“Is this Phinis? Will we live here in the future?”

“It is good... It is the city I’ve only heard about.”

“Look at that statue over there. Isn’t it so cute?”

The descendants of the Luos Empire couldn’t take their eyes off the city they were seeing for the first time in their lives.

‘Like it more, more.’ Hyeonu took all the descendants of the Lous Empire from Bung Bung Island to the lord’s castle.

“I was waiting, Guardian.” Kalui was waiting for Hyeonu there.

To be precise, Hyeonu had conveyed the message through others. Then Kalui waited ahead of time here.

“Kalui, these are the descendants of the Luos Empire who remained in the middle world,” Hyeonu said as he pointed to Hill and the others.

“I know even without you telling me, Guardian.” Kalui took a step toward Hyeonu.

He only stopped after walking past Hyeonu.

“It has been a long time, Hill.” Kalui reached out to Hill.

“Yes, it has been a long time Kalui.” Hill held Kalui’s hand and shook it.

“I never thought... we would meet again.”

“That is what I want to say. I never imagined you would hold on until now.”

Kalui and Hill didn’t hesitate to speak sharp words to each other as an expression of welcome.

‘They are real friends.’ Hyeonu nodded when he saw it.

Such a conversation couldn’t occur unless they were really close. The wall of time hadn’t interfered with the friendship between the two men.

“You can relive things later. Kalui, please take care of them. You just have to do the same thing as before.” Hyeonu left everything to Kalui.

Kalui had successfully settled the descendants he led in Phinis, so Hyeonu hoped to use that know-how again.

‘I am paying all the money he needs anyway.’

The resources were provided by Hyeonu—the houses they lived in, their meals, and their salaries. Everything was paid with Hyeonu’s money.

“I understand, Guardian. I’ll take care of it,” Kalui replied in a solemn voice.

“Then please take care of them. I am going to look for the last people remaining.” Hyeonu turned away after stating that he was going to search for the descendants of the Luos Empire in the divine world.

“I hope you will also bring those from the divine world.”

“They are really poor people. It is time to take off that bondage of suffering.”

Kalui and Hill prayed to the departing Hyeonu with the same desire.

“I will try my best to bring them as quickly as possible. However... it is hard to say if it will be as fast as this time.” Hyeonu bowed slightly to the two men and left the lord’s castle. After exiting the lord’s castle, Hyeonu searched his inventory and tore the return scroll to Aslan.

‘Just wait, monster orc. I am coming.’