Ranker's Return

Chapter 777

“We passed through in such a boring manner.” Hyeonu yawned as he watched the different species exit Anfra Forest.

There were no incidents as they passed through Anfra Forest. The live stream had already ended. He just showed a bit of the battles of the different species and had a light eating show at lunch with Raccoon. Hyeonu wanted to show more, but there was nothing to show. Every time monsters appeared and a battle took place, Hyeonu’s group just pushed with numbers.

‘The scene where Raccoon fought is probably the most impactful scene.’

One of the highlights had been Raccoon’s battle. The real power of Raccoon, who made Arena Week’s atmosphere cold, was revealed in pieces. Raccoon cut down hundreds of trees and separated the upper and lower bodies of the charging monsters with one light axe swing.

‘That is where it ended...’

After that, Raccoon never fought in one of their battles again. All the monsters were cleaned up even before he stepped out. The number 10,000 was too huge.

“Still, it is better to be bored than to have an accident. It is clear that some of them would grumble if anyone had died.” Raccoon shivered. It was tedious and bothersome to bring around as many as 10,000 different species. There were some who could not kill a monster on their own due to the difference in level, so Raccoon naturally had to pay attention to these different species when moving.

It consumed mental strength, but the slow movement was the most annoying part. He had always traveled alone or with Dakan. It was a party of three if Cancun was added. On top of that, Dakan and Raccoon were so strong that they had no hesitation to travel alone. There was nothing stopping them no matter where they went.

“I’m sorry, but I won’t be present on the journey to Phinis. You will have to work a bit harder.” Raccoon had a distorted expression as he patted Hyeonu on the shoulder.

“It’s fine. I’m used to it.” Hyeonu smiled helplessly.

‘I’m tired of dragging around the descendants of the Luos Empire...’ Hyeonu was relatively used to taking the weak around with him. He had a few similar experiences before. The biggest example was crossing the continent with the descendants of the Luos Empire. The descendants of the Luos Empire weren’t weak, but they were significantly weaker than Hyeonu. He had to move with great consideration toward them.

Hyeonu felt his eyes were already spinning at the thought of doing this one more time.

‘No, I have to do it again in the divine world.’

He was scheduled to take on the nanny role several times.

***

One day—this was the time it took for the different species to decide on the location where they would live after they left Anfra Forest.

“Do you want to stay here?” Hyeonu asked with a tired expression.

“Their talent is great. They can just pick anywhere they want to live. How good a place do they want to live in? There are elementals and they can use magic. In addition, there are the dwarves. Let’s see, let’s see. You don’t know the end.” Raccoon, who was by Hyeonu’s side, was angry. He was going to swing his axe immediately if the answer ‘no’ came out this time.

Raccoon had built the village of the Meadow Wolf Tribe near the Black Forest. Back then, he just pointed out any location. Naturally, he didn’t like that the different species continued to move while weighing the pros and cons of all types of conditions.

An elf who represented the 10,000 different species members opened his mouth and stated, “We will settle down here. In the opinion of the dwarves, this is the best location.”

“Then start with the construction. Handle acquiring your own food. You should start farming. In addition, diligently craft things to trade with humans. Once the city is complete, work hard to trade with humans. Understood? Don’t get hit. No, if you get hit, kill your opponent. The league will be your support.” The annoyed Raccoon eventually expressed concern about the different species.

It was a clear depiction of the saying that it was easy to give affection to those close to them.

“Raccoon is right. Kill the humans if they do anything strange. Instead, there should be evidence. It must be solid evidence, not someone’s testimony. If you have proof, I will raise my hand to aid you.” Hyeonu helped support Raccoon’s words. He was going to stand on the side of the different species. The different species might be exclusive, but there was a very low chance that they would act in defiance of the defiance of Raccoon and the other great tribe chiefs.

“That is very kind of you to say,” Raccoon said while looking at Hyeonu.

“Don’t humans know humans the best? They are the ones most likely to cause an accident.”

This was a certainty. Hyeonu was certain that someone would cause an accident.

***

Late at night, Hyeonu started to pack his things one by one in his carry-on suitcase. They ranged from comfortable t-shirts and pants to clothes for going out. The suitcase soon became full. Hyeonu closed the suitcase full of clothes, raised his head, and looked around the room. Then he repeatedly turned his head from side to side before opening the door and leaving the room.

Yeongchan was surprised by the sound of the wheels and turned to look at Hyeonu’s room. Yeongchan put down the half-peeled tangerines on the tray and stood up and shouted, “What? Where are you going?”

“I’m going on vacation. Winter vacation.” Hyeonu picked up a few tangerines from the tray and shoved them into his pocket.

“Vacation? You are going on a trip? So suddenly?”

“You are going on vacation. So I have to go as well. I don’t know where you’re going, but have a safe trip. I’m busy, so I’ll go first.” Hyeonu gave a dismissive response to Yeongchan’s fierce reaction and dragged his suitcase to the front door.

“Who are you going with? Are you going alone? No... he isn’t the type to go alone,” Yeongchan whispered behind Hyeonu’s back. He looked like he didn’t understand the situation at all.

“Have a good trip with your friends. I’m going.” Hyeonu ignored Yeongchan’s words to the end and exited the officetel.

‘Who is it, really?’ Yeongchan was left alone in the officetel and bit his lip while his mind spun. No faces came to mind. All his friends were in the same boat. There was no one who would go on a trip with Hyeonu. It was because the hidden camera prank was currently in progress.

‘Reina...?’

Just then, Reina’s name popped up in Yeongchan’s mind. A few days ago, she was contacted by Hyeonu to go on a trip with him. Yeongchan kicked off against the smooth floor of the officetel and quickly returned to the living room. He picked up his smartphone on the couch.

“Hello? Reina?”

Yeongchan made a phone call immediately. The person he called was naturally Reina.

-Yeongchan? What happened? Reina answered the call right away. Her voice was oddly high-pitched. It seemed higher than usual.

“Don’t tell me... Have you been contacted by Hyeonu again since that day?” Yeongchan asked cautiously.

-That day? Ah! Are you talking about traveling?

“Yes, it is about traveling.”

-Yes, I think I got two more calls?

“If you don’t mind, can I ask where you are now?” Yeongchan asked the question and gulped. It was because Hyeonu’s whereabouts would be determined depending on Reina’s answer.

‘If it isn’t Reina... I guess he just went to his parents’ house.’

He just left the officetel out of pride. However, Yeongchan’s hypothesis was immediately destroyed.

-Now? I’m at home right now?

“Perhaps... are you going to meet Hyeonu?”

-Yes, we have around 30 minutes left until the meeting time.

Yeongchan barely endured the groan that wanted to emerge and continued speaking.

“Thank you for letting me know. Hyeonu suddenly left the house without saying anything. I was asking in case you knew. Then have a good time.”

Yeongchan ended the call. The smartphone slid out of Yeongchan’s hand and fell onto the sofa. Eventually, a sigh emerged from Yeongchan’s mouth. “I’m envious...”

The ending of the hidden camera prank was a tragedy.

***

Hyeonu put his suitcase in the trunk and leaned against the car. He opened the SNS app on his smartphone and moved his gaze across the screen. Reina emerged from an elevator at the side while Hyeonu couldn’t take his eyes off the smartphone. She was also dragging a small suitcase.

“Have you been waiting long?” Reina asked as she approached Hyeonu, who was looking at his smartphone.

“No, I just came out.” Hyeonu put his smartphone into his pocket and then placed Reina’s suitcase in the trunk of the car.

“Let’s go quickly. It is tight when considering the flight time,” Hyeonu said as he got into the car.

Time was tight. Their booking was for the last flight of the day, but they needed to arrive at the airport by a certain time to complete all the preparations.

“I understand. Let’s go quickly.” Reina took her seat on the passenger side. She covered her cheeks with her palms, which seemed hot even in the cold winter.

“Do you have a cold? Your face looks red...?” Hyeonu asked when he saw Reina’s red face through the mirror.

“No, it must be because I was in a warm place and then suddenly came out to a cold place. I’m fine.” Reina lowered her hands from her cheeks and blew on them. It was an act that indirectly showed that it was cold.

“Is it cold?” Hyeonu moderately raised the temperature of the heater.

The interior of a car was cold on winter nights, so it made sense that Reina was cold as well. Their conversation didn’t stop even on the way to Gimpo Airport as they exchanged updates about each other. In the meantime, the two of them arrived at Gimpo Airport. Their arrival was a bit earlier than scheduled, so there was some time to spare.

Hyeonu finished checking in and turned to Reina to ask, “Did you say that you are going back next week?”

Reina nodded. “Yes, next Wednesday. I need to prepare for the Spring League.”

Today was Friday, so precisely five days later, she would be on a flight to New York.

“Then isn’t taking this time off unreasonable? Two days of rest can cause a problem.”

The trip to Jeju Island was from Friday night to Sunday. They were supposed to spend less than two days on Jeju Island. Naturally, they couldn’t play Arena during this time. It didn’t matter much to Hyeonu who was a streamer, but it was an important time for Reina who was a professional gamer. Taking two days off wouldn’t make a meaningful difference between her and other people straight away, but those times could accumulate and cause her to fall behind little by little.

“Today, we will go to Jeju Island and eat dinner. The time will be late. Tomorrow, we will rent a car in the morning and go sightseeing slowly.” Hyeonu had a general plan on how to move.

This was natural as he found it difficult to make time ever since he became a streamer. An ability to make good use of their allotted time was necessary.

“Yes. Let’s do that.” Reina smiled and nodded. Anything was good as long as she was with Hyeonu.

“Isn’t that Alley Leader? The woman next to him is Reina.”

Meanwhile, among those watching the two friendly people, there were some who recognized them.

Click.