Ranker's Return

Chapter 745

[The shaman of the Mapa Tribe has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

Hyeonu kicked the collapsing troll and knocked it down faster. Then he waved to Tang-E, who was standing far away.

‘A shaman...’

He had been roughly expecting it. It wasn't normal to swing a wooden stick and make a thunderbolt.

“Do I just beat up the shamans here?”

He naturally knew what monsters were present at the special training ground.

Troll shamans. It was obvious.

‘The boss is a shaman.’

The owner of the instance dungeon was also predictable. Hyeonu woke up from his thoughts and swung the Mysterious Sky Sword. The trolls weren’t dead yet. To be precise, only the first one died. He released purple pure energies toward the trolls crawling on the ground.

"Kuooh!"

The trolls screamed as they watched the pure energies flying toward them, but there was nothing they could do. They had no choice but to block the pure energy with their bodies. The bodies of the trolls exploded. Their defense was too low to hold out against Hyeonu’s attack.

[The preliminary shaman of the Mapa Tribe has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[The preliminary shaman of the Mapa Tribe has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[The preliminary shaman of the Mapa Tribe has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

The trolls disappeared, leaving behind gold coins, bottles of red liquid, and white rubber.

‘It is miscellaneous items again.’

“Hah...”

A sigh emerged from Hyeonu’s mouth when he saw it. Once again, equipment items weren’t dropped. Unlike quests with a story, hunting without a purpose was very tedious and fruitless. The vital part of such hunts was to get good items.

"Master dude, it won’t come out even if you’re disappointed. Let go of your greed. Then you will get it,” Tang-E scolded Hyeonu, who was sighing. It was a sight to see every time, but Tang-E couldn’t understand it. Hyeonu was greedy about small things while having so many good items.

“I don’t understand, I don’t understand. Why are you so greedy for things you won’t use anyway?”

Upo hearing Tang-E’s words, Hyeonu turned his head to look at Tang-E.

“Then from today onward, meat will be a daily quantitative distribution. It will end right away after cooking enough to eat. There will be no more putting it in the subspace.”

Hyeonu raised a corner of his mouth and smiled. One should be careful with their words. Just as dragons had the reverse scale as a weakness, Hyeonu also had a weakness. Tang-E touched it just now. He was very fearless.

“What are you doing, Master dude. How can you do this all of a sudden?”

Tang-E quickly approached and grabbed Hyeonu’s collar.

“Let go of your greed, Tang-E. You aren’t going to eat it right away anyway. Why are you greedy? Don’t you know? Do I need to give you more meat if you are satisfied with what is given?”

Hyeonu’s smile widened even further.

***

After the argument that wasn’t an argument, Tang-E started to indirectly reveal his displeasure. He silently proceeded with the hunt without saying anything.

‘Should I apologize?’

Hyeonu was uncomfortable with this silence. However, he didn’t apologize to Tang-E. Hyeonu’s harsh words to Tang-E were correct. It was Tang-E who provoked him first. No matter whether it was right or wrong, Tang-E was the cause.

‘Yet I have to apologize first?’

Hyeonu thought when he saw Tang-E walking ahead with his shoulders shaking.

“Tang-E.”

Hyeonu decided to apologize and called out Tang-E’s name. Tang-E, who was walking in front of him, flinched. However, he didn’t turn toward Hyeonu. He was busy walking forward and his shoulders shook even faster.

‘Is he crying?’

“Tang-E? Tang-E! Let’s talk for a second.”

Hyeonu quickly ran forward at Tang-E’s unusual response and clung to Tang-E. It happened at this moment...

Tang-E suddenly accelerated and got away from Hyeonu.

‘Is he really crying?’

Hyeonu raised his magic power at Tang-E’s response and used Mysterious Sky Steps. He was able to narrow the distance to Tang-E in an instant and he held onto Tang-E’s shoulder.

“What is it? Huh?”

Tang-E was grabbed on the shoulder by Hyeonu and no longer moved. Instead, his shoulders and head kept moving faster. Tang-E didn’t even look back at him. Hyeonu thought he had to look at Tang-E’s face to continue the conversation, even if he forced it.

“Tang-E, look at me.”

Hyeonu took Tang-E’s shoulders, gave power to his hands and turned Tang-E’s body.

‘Huh? Hold on?’

Hyeonu was flustered by Tang-E’s actions of holding out as hard as a rock. At this moment, Hyeonu felt a sense of incongruity. Hyeonu turned around Tang-E’s body using incomparable techniques so far. He exquisitely collapsed Tang-E’s sense of balance and turned his high strength into nothing.

Hyeonu came face to face with Tang-E and looked bewildered. He couldn’t hide his emotions.

“You... what is this?” Hyeonu pointed to Tang-E’s face and asked.

"It's nothing,” Tang-E covered his mouth with both paws and barely answered.

“Open your mouth just once. Why are you covering it?”

Hyeonu realized why Tang-E hadn’t turned his head. He wasn’t crying, he was eating meat.

“I didn’t give you meat... where did you get the meat from?”

“...No, it isn’t like that,” Tang-E replied one beat slower to Hyeonu’s words. Strangely, it was more comfortable to listen to than before.

‘Should I say that the reverberation has improved?’

“You have eaten all the meat you put in your mouth, right?”

Hyeonu immediately noticed the reason for the change. There was space in his mouth so Tang-E’s voice became clearer.

“No, no. I didn’t eat anything.”

Tang-E waved both paws that used to be covering his mouth and denied Hyeonu’s words.

"No, what do you mean? Look at the oil around your mouth before saying that.”

Hyeonu ignored Tang-E’s words. The fur near Tang-E’s mouth was covered with oil. It looked like it was rubbed with a lot of oil.

“Ah...” Tang-E let out a short groan at Hyeonu’s words and raised his paws to rub the sides of his mouth. Amazingly, the fur around Tang-E’s mouth became immaculate.

“No, Master. I really didn’t eat.”

Tang-E grabbed Hyeonu’s leg and shook it.

“Sigh... What to do with this cutie?”

Hyeonu burst out laughing at the shamelessness and lifted Tang-E with both arms.

“Am I cute?” Tang-E smiled at Hyeonu’s words. It was as if he had forgotten about the previous matter altogether.

***

Hyeonu sat in the chair with a tired expression and restored his breathing.

“Ouch... It is hard enough to die.’

A groan flowed from his mouth. He couldn’t stand it. No matter how much he exercised, this feeling of weakness didn’t go away. It was an exercise intensity that he was unable to adapt to.

“Are you having a hard time?”

Just then, someone sat in front of Hyeonu with a water bottle.

“Yes, a little bit. I’m just a bit weak.”

Hyeonu accepted the water bottle from Reina.

“You’re not an athlete. Aren’t you overdoing it?”

Reina held out a towel this time. Hyeonu received the towel silently and wiped the sweat on his face.

“It’s fine. I’ve been doing it so... I’m used to it. By the way, Reina, are you much different from the beginning?” Hyeonu took a sip of water and asked Reina.

In retrospect, it had been quite a while since Reina came.

“Let’s see...? I think so, but I also don’t think so...”

Reina looked at her body and shook her head slightly at Hyeonu. There were no noticeable changes.

‘I seem healthier than before, but...’

It just seemed like the vitality she felt in her daily life was different. It was training that she started forcibly due to Hyeonu, but she thought she would continue exercising even after returning to New York.

“What do you want to eat today? You worked out hard as well... do you want to eat meat? How about that restaurant we went to the other day?” Hyeonu naturally suggested lunch to Reina.

“Any place is fine.” Reina nodded and readily accepted Hyeonu’s suggestion. She didn’t dislike the restaurant that Hyeonu mentioned. No, even if the restaurant wasn’t good, it was fine as long as she was with Hyeonu.

“We will eat lunch there and then go to the cafe that you like to have a light cup of coffee.”

Hyeonu stood up and clapped his hands. Reina got up as well.

“Yes. I will wash up and see you again.”

Reina waved and disappeared into the dressing room to take a shower. Hyeonu also walked into the dressing room as soon as he saw Reina disappear. The two of them washed up and met again. Then they took Hyeonu’s car to the restaurant he talked about before and filled their stomachs.

There was no end to the conversation before the food came out, but they didn’t talk while eating. Perhaps it was because it was right after the workout, but the two of them had a great appetite. The conversation between the two people started again when they got into the car to move to the cafe.

“Did your friend from last time go back well?”

Hyeonu recalled Reina’s friend whom he met a few days earlier and made her the subject of the conversation.

“Ah, no. There is still work to be done in South Korea. She hasn’t returned to New York. By the way, why did you mention that friend?”

“It’s nothing. She is Reina’s friend, right? Therefore, I was just asking,” Hyeonu spoke again with an expression as if he was wondering why she was asking.

In fact, Hyeonu couldn’t even remember this person if she wasn’t Reina’s friend. Reina was her friend so he remembered that there was such a person.

A moment of silence occurred between Hyeonu and Reina. This silence didn’t last long. It was because Reina opened her mouth straight away.

“February is almost over,” Reina spoke with an expression of regret. She had to return to New York after February. She had to step up the preparations for the league in March. She was still doing it now, but there was a difference between staying together at the camp and not being there.

“Not much time left...? It is still nearly three weeks away,” Hyeonu didn’t know this and answered Reina with a bright expression.

“I’m only in South Korea until February. I will go back to the US in March.”

“Really? You’re leaving already?” Hyeonu reversed his words like had forgotten what he just said.

‘Then I’ll have to work out by myself again... I have to eat alone... I have to drink with Yeongchan in the evening.’

Hyeonu thought that the place Reina occupied was bigger than expected. It was clear it would be sad without Reina. She was now a familiar person. He was so used to her that she couldn’t disappear.

“Reina, how about this?” Hyeonu turned his head to look at Reina and opened his mouth.