Ranker's Return

Chapter 743

Now that the spectators were gone, Hyeonu’s battle was unlike before. Instead of using instantaneous skills, he started a concise and quick hunt using Mysterious Sky Steps appropriately. Additionally, Gom-E showed a great performance. Gom-E became larger than a troll and swung his paws, turning the trolls into porridge. The attack of Gom-E’s paws caused so much damage that a troll’s ability to regenerate was meaningless.

[The troll scout of the Mapa Tribe has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[The troll assaulter of the Mapa Tribe has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[The troll warrior of the Mapa Tribe has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

‘I have to finish this quickly.’

Hyeonu poured out more magic power as he watched the trolls falling down. In any case, magic power was restored by killing the trolls. There was no need to save any. The thing he really needed to save right now was mental strength. He had to be vigilant about fatigue building up.

Gom-E and Tang read Hyeonu’s heart and also changed their movements. Gom-E drew more of Hyeonu’s magic power and Tang-E also used Polymorph to transform into a huge size like Gom-E, actively participating in the battle.

Tang-E saved his magic power and fought using just his strength and agility. This was enough. He would not be lacking when compared to Gom-E. The combat skills he learned from Hyeonu gave Tang-E the ability to fully utilize his overwhelming physical abilities.

The three of them increased the tempo of the hunt and it didn’t take long to clean up the trolls. It was a speed that the players who entered the troll village would’ve never expected.

[The troll elite warrior of the Mapa Tribe has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

The last troll fell down. Hyeonu, Tang-E, and Gom-E immediately bent over and started collecting the things that had fallen to the ground.

‘What is wrong with this?’

“It is ridiculous.”

Hyeonu couldn’t help exclaiming as he picked up the loot left by the trolls.

“How can they only offer gold and miscellaneous items like this?”

In the end, there was only one reason why Hyeonu was angry. He killed so many trolls but there was nothing good. There were just some miscellaneous items and gold.

‘Remain calm, calm.’

Hyeonu controlled his shaking heart. There was no need to make a fuss already. This was just the beginning. In the future, he would kill so many trolls that it would be incomparable to now.

‘The boss monster is mine too.’

It was already Hyeonu’s from the moment Leo and Teika gave up the right to preempt the boss monster.

“Tang-E, let’s go. Kill the trolls.”

Hyeonu ignored the feeling of emptiness and headed inside the troll village.

***

Teika and PSG’s players faced great difficulties after they entered the troll village first with Hyeonu’s sacrifice. The inside of the troll village had so many trolls that it was incomparable to what they saw outside.

“Leo, what should we do?” Teika looked at Leo and asked after becoming aware of the endless trolls.

“Won’t it be hard for us? There aren't enough of us to handle hunting here.”

Leo shook his head.

The troll village—to be precise, the Mapa Tribe Village was too daunting for them to hunt alone. There were too many trees.

“It is more important to stay alive than to hunt faster. Dying once will waste a few days of hard work,” Leo spoke with a somber expression. He usually had a thoughtless personality but he was cool-headed when it came to Arena.

“Then what should we do? Who should we call?” Teika nodded and asked back. He was also sensitive about the death penalties. It was even more so because he had been hunting alone most of the time. The sense of survival cultivated through solo play was warning him that this was dangerous.

“There is Alley Leader, but he is just an individual. In the end, he is alone. We need at least dozens more…”

They needed someone they could trust. These people should be talented and have a good personality.

‘Who should I contact?’

Leo weighed it in his head. Large guilds and pro teams. Who should he call? His worries were brief.

“Would a professional team be more reliable than a large guild?”

Still, Leo didn't make the decision alone. He sought the opinions of Teika and his teammates.

“In any case… it is better to have a professional team with some restrictions on their actions than the large guilds.

“However, professional teams are our competitors… can we give them this chance?”

“If possible, we should find teams that play in other leagues, not the European League. Arena Week is nearly a year away. It isn’t something to worry about right now.”

“Instead, there should be the condition that they can’t kill the boss monster here.”

PSG’s players expressed their opinions. The players' opinions quickly narrowed to one side. They acknowledged that they weren’t enough and called for reinforcements.

“Let’s start with teams that aren’t active in the demon world.”

“I think two teams will be enough.”

***

A few days later, Hyeonu came across a familiar face as he was hunting in the troll village. It was a face he never expected to meet here.

“It has been a while, Alley Leader.”

“Mascherano?”

“A fool has come, a fool.”

Hyeonu was looking surprised by the sudden emergence of Mascherano and Red Bull America. After hearing these words, Hyeonu lightly flicked Tang-E’s head.

“What fool? You can’t say that.”

“Bah, what is wrong with calling a fool a fool, stupid Master dude!” Tang yelled while rubbing his forehead that was hit by Hyeonu’s finger.

“It’s fine. It’s not like I’ve heard it only once or twice. You don’t have to say too much,” Mascherano waved his hand and said.

He didn’t pay much attention to Tang-E’s words. He wasn’t narrow-minded enough to keep such things in his heart.

“By the way, how did you get here, Mascherano?” Hyeonu nodded at Mascherano’s words before asking a question.

“I came at the introduction of a friend. He said he needed people he could trust. Don’t you know how difficult it is to hunt here?”

The process by which Mascherano, no, Red Bull America came to the troll village in Cinerimo was quite complicated. Mascherano and Leo weren’t strangers but they weren’t that close. Thus, it was Teika who acted as a middleman. Teika contacted Rain and Rain linked to Mascherano.

After two such introductions, Leo’s proposal reached Mascherano and Mascherano readily accepted it.

A new hunting ground. It was always welcome when there was no need to share the hunting ground.

“Really! I’m also not the only one here. Reina also came. It is because hunting will be more comfortable here.”

It wasn’t just Red Bull America that moved their hunting ground to the troll village. In the first place, PSG wanted two teams. It was around 30 people in numbers. Therefore, Mascherano recommended Reina to Leo. His opinion was accepted and Reina also led the New York Warriors over.

“Really? You are all done with the demon world?” Hyeonu cocked his head doubtfully and asked.

There might be many large guilds in the demon world, but it was still an attractive place. In particular, the cities would soon be distributed to adventurers by the emperor, so the larger guilds were staying there.

“It is already a red ocean. Well… in fact, apart from the main scenario, it is only slightly better than the West Continent. I don’t think there is a need to remain in the demon world if there are such empty hunting grounds.”

Mascherano sighed. During the main scenario, there was no inconvenience in hunting due to the quest experience and periodic large-scale battles. Then problems occurred when the main scenario was over. Etono was the only one with the proper infrastructure in the demon world. The other cities had no owners and no facilities. Only ashes remained in the aftermath of the war. Therefore, the large guilds naturally returned to Etono. They divided up the fields around Etono as if trying to obtain the land.

Hyeonu looked like he realized something after Mascherano’s explanation.

‘Ah, they’re not like me.’

Hyeonu had the ability to casually roam the demon world. He also didn’t need potions while hunting. It naturally didn’t matter where he was, even if it wasn’t Etono. Meanwhile, it was different for the others.

‘Additionally… professional teams have another reason to leave the demon world.’

“The professional teams don’t need a territory, so they are able to give up the demon world more comfortably.”

This was also one of the big reasons. The more territories that a large guild had, the better. There was the income from the territories and it was easy to attract the attention of ordinary people.

“Yes. You need to raise a territory well…”

Meanwhile, professional teams had no reason to do that. It was more important to grow one territory well and use it in the professional league. Thus, they were able to leave the demon world cities behind.

“I hope you hunt safely.”

Hyeonu chatted with Mascherano for a while before waving and leaving. He was relaxed enough after taking a break. Now was the time to start hunting again.

***

Hyeonu separated from Mascherano and started hunting again. He cut down all visible trolls. Then he definitely felt it.

‘Red Bull America and the New York Warriors are here…’

Trolls appeared less frequently. If he previously had no time to rest, now he had a break time after three or four battles. It was a huge difference. It meant he could relax his body and mind.

‘This is a bit of a minus for me…’

It might be good news for PSG and Teika, but it wasn’t good news for Hyeonu. For Hyeonu, hunting endless trolls wasn’t a problem. It was also easy for him to stop hunting. It was enough to release his magic power, kill the trolls instantly, and use the item effect to flee into the sky.

‘I’ve only gained three levels…’

Thanks to the endless hunting for trolls, Hyeonu gained three levels in a short amount of time. If he added the one level he gained at the entrance of the village, he had gained a total of four levels. It was fast, but he wasn’t satisfied. No, he was satisfied until a little while ago, but he couldn’t be satisfied from now on.

‘At this point, an instance dungeon should appear…’

Hyeonu expressed his regret while moving. It was to find a troll nearby.

‘Eh?’

At this moment, Hyeonu stopped in front of a huge wooden house.

[Would you like to enter the Mapa Tribe’s Training Center?]

“Nice!”

Hyeonu let out a stupid voice as he looked at the message window that appeared in front of him.