Ranker's Return

Chapter 781

-Don’t lie.

-It is fishing. Go somewhere else to do that.

-It isn’t a lie. It really dropped.

-Can’t you look at the other big guilds? It isn’t just one or two rankers who received the quest. ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Really? The Lu Kuan Guild is really messed up... This is definitely a character deletion.

The viewers continued chatting even when Hyeonu remained silent out of surprise at the news.

-By the way, why isn’t Alley Leader saying anything?

-Did he meet with the emperor before the live stream? Otherwise, there is no way a kill order would come out.

-Right. The live stream shows only the East Continent. It seems he plans to unveil the West Continent later on A-World.

-Then his design collapsed, so he is having a mental breakdown?

-The emperor is magnanimous. He just gave a killing order right away.

The viewers had all types of speculations when they saw that Hyeonu was silent.

‘I didn’t meet with him...’

It was just that none of their guesses were right. Hyeonu’s first meeting was with the emperor of the East Continent. In fact, it would be ridiculous to meet the emperor of Yusma first.

‘Things happened on the East Continent. It is stupid to issue a kill order on the West Continent...’

Of course, there was a possibility that the Lu Kuan Guild would flee from the East Continent to the West Continent. However, even assuming that, it was right to come up with a solution first in the East Continent where the incident happened.

‘I have to pass over it for now.’

“The kill order has already been issued. It is indeed fast. Everyone knows how trusted I am, right? I am such a person. A very scary person.” Hyeonu started to speak with a natural smile. There were no signs of embarrassment at all on Hyeonu’s face.

“Then the Lu Kuan Guild has lost its footing on both the East and West Continents. The city they have taken as a territory will be recovered. They won’t be able to access any city, and they will have to doubt that any player they meet will be aiming for the bounty around their necks.”

Hyeonu continued to smile. He kept smiling and talking even when it wasn’t something to smile about.

-I have goosebumps.

-With a simple smile, he blew up a mid-sized guild that was on the verge of becoming a large guild.

-It isn’t blown up. It’s deletion...

-Lu Kuan must first disband the guild before thinking about what to do.

-Still, the kill order will remain even if they disband, right? At that level, it is aiming for them individually.

-So they have to quit and start again...

The viewers couldn’t help getting goosebumps at Hyeonu’s cold behavior. They realized again that the person who acted like a fool in front of them was actually so cold-hearted at times. It reminded them of the events when the name Alley Leader was born. He had smashed a few guilds and mercilessly stepped on those who challenged him. The process was terrifyingly sharp.

Hyeonu moved boldly without hesitation.

“I will end the unpleasant story here. It isn’t a good thing in many ways. From now on, as a surprise event, we will enter the Alley Leader A-World Channel and I will send items randomly.”

Hyeonu smiled brightly and erased the image the viewers just saw in their minds. He was once again imprinted in their heads as a light-hearted man.

***

After the live stream, Hyeonu naturally pulled a return scroll from his inventory and tore it. Hyeonu disappeared and reappeared in Yusma, the capital of the Yusma Empire.

‘I need to meet the emperor.’

He wasn’t very flustered because something like this had already happened before. Even so, he needed to know how things were flowing. He had to formally thank the emperor. He didn’t know what the emperor intended to do, but the emperor helped Hyeonu as a result of it. Naturally, Hyeonu had to show his gratitude for that.

“Your Majesty, can I come in?” Hyeonu stood in front of the great hall of the emperor’s palace and announced his appearance to the emperor.

“Come in,” a voice filled with boredom rang out from inside.

Anyone could tell it was the emperor’s voice. Hyeonu entered the great hall cautiously. He tensed up and hardened his expression.

“I greet Your Majesty.” Hyeonu carefully bowed toward the throne where the emperor was sitting.

“Raise your head. I’m not on the ground. Why are you only looking at the ground?”

At the emperor’s words, Hyeonu hurriedly raised his head and looked at the emperor.

“You came because of the kill order? Otherwise, there is no way the marquis would come to the imperial palace voluntarily.” The emperor came out strongly from the beginning. He immediately threw a fastball at Hyeonu.

‘Why from the beginning?’ Hyeonu let out a few small coughs at the heavy verbal strike that hit his solar plexus.

Then he spoke to the emperor with a slight smile on his face, “Your Majesty... you judged me as such a person...? I must do better in the future.”

Hyeonu repeatedly thought, ‘Am I crazy?'

However, it only echoed in his mind.

“Really? Then I’m looking forward to seeing how often you come to visit. I believe in you, Marquis. You will stick to your words no matter what.” The emperor had a much deeper smile than the one on Hyeonu’s face.

‘I was fooled.’ Hyeonu realized that he had fallen into the trap that the emperor had dug. It was just that this realization came too late. The emperor’s trap was like a swamp. It was over the moment he stepped into it.

[A quest has been created.]

[Meet the Emperor]

[Periodically visit the emperor as you have sworn to him.

Rating: F

Conditions: Meet the emperor once every 10 days 0/1.

Rewards: Experience, progress to the next quest.]

‘What is this...?’ Hyeonu frowned slightly when he saw the quest window in front of him. He would’ve cursed several times if he wasn’t in front of the emperor.

“You are stating the obvious. I am even more flustered. Of course, I should visit Your Majesty often.” Hyeonu spoke words with an amount of sincerity that wasn’t even as big as an ant.

“I’m looking forward to it.” The emperor’s gaze was fixed on Hyeonu’s eyes.

Hyeonu continued to smile awkwardly. Then he recalled why he came to meet the emperor.

“The kill order... Thank you. Your Majesty is thinking of me.” Hyeonu bowed politely.

“Of course, I should take care of it. You have shown a lot of loyalty toward me and the empire. There is no loyalty without payment. No, even if there is, it won’t be eternal. Marquis, I want you to keep that in mind.” The emperor waved his hand at Hyeonu and gave light advice.

It was about the art of using people well.

“I will keep that in mind, Your Majesty.” Hyeonu bowed again.

‘It is okay to talk like this.’

The emperor’s advice was useful for human relationships. There had to be a clear exchange unless they were blind relationships like a parent and child or friends. This would allow the relationship to continue without becoming twisted.

“When will they arrive in Phinis?” The emperor followed up with a question.

“It hasn’t been decided yet. I don’t think I can bring them as I like... It seems the exodus will begin only when all the people moving from the different species’ side are gathered,” Hyeonu replied. It was a simple question, so it was easy to answer. He just stated the facts.

“Is that so? I hope it doesn’t take too long.”

“I will try my best.”

“There is no need to overdo it. It is just that accidents won’t happen within the empire.”

Hyeonu was confused about how to react to the emperor’s words, which seemed to go back and forth.

‘What rhythm should I follow?’

“I understand, Your Majesty.”

Even so, he gave the same answer like he was a parrot.

“By the way, don’t I have to explain about the kill order?” The emperor smiled at Hyeonu’s answer and changed the topic of the conversation to something that Hyeonu might be wondering about.

Hyeonu shook his head and answered, “No, Your Majesty. How can I wonder about such a thing?”

He didn’t have to come here to know this. The important thing was that the emperor’s eyes and ears had already reached deep into the East Continent.

“Is that so? Then I can move on. You don’t need to know this now. You will naturally find out over time...” The emperor’s voice gradually lowered in volume. The last word wasn’t heard by Hyeonu at all.

“Then let’s stop here. Isn’t it time for the marquis to be busy?”

Hyeonu was about to say something to the emperor when the emperor issued an order to Hyeonu.

“I will see you again, Your Majesty.” Hyeonu immediately escaped from the emperor’s palace.

***

In the cold glacier zone in the northern part of the West Continent, there was a huge mountain. To be precise, it wasn’t a mountain but a mountain range. Mountains of snow and ice that seemed like they would never melt were gathered in a row. Right now, there were people climbing it.

“Where are we supposed to go? Is the map right?” A woman in a priest’s uniform that was as white as the mountain spoke in a sharp voice filled with annoyance. The others didn’t speak, but they didn’t look good either.

“It is right. The map isn’t right,” Kalen dismissed Rose’s complaints lightly. The map was accurate. There was nothing wrong.

“The problem is that it is an old map, so it seems to be different from the current domain. Just be patient for a bit more. We’re almost there,” Kalen comforted the other guild members. Now it was really in front of them. The rewards for completing the quest would become the foundation for them as they moved forward. They had to get it, even if it meant struggling like this.

“Then we should be patient. It is impossible to go back now.” Crimson, the man with the giant body, nodded.

There was no turning back for them. They had to keep going forward.

“Yes, I’m the only one impatient.” Rose smiled sarcastically.

Crimson didn’t miss this and teased Rose, “Don’t be too hard on yourself. What can you do when you are born like this?”

“What?!”

“Stop it. There is no time to waste.” Kalen quickly sorted things out.

There was no time for them to bicker. The destination was right in front of them.

“Let’s go.” Crimson picked up the coffin on the ground and prepared to move again. The Venom Guild ended their short break and hurriedly started moving. Footprints started to be engraved again on the snow mountain. They walked for another two or three hours. Then the Venom Guild found a giant ice altar. At the same time, there was a message window announcing the completion of the quest.

“Look here.”

“What should I do with the coffin?”

At Crimson’s question, Kalen calmly instructed, “Put the coffin down on the altar,”

Only Kalen had received the quest, so he was the only one who knew how to move from here.

“I understand.” Crimson placed the coffin on the ice altar as Kalen instructed.

“Open the lid of the coffin.”

Then he opened the coffin. After that, something amazing happened. White smoke rose from the ice altar and surrounded the coffin.

“What?”

“What is going on?”

The Venom Guild instinctively raised their arms and covered their eyes at the appearance of the tremendous amount of smoke. The smoke quickly subsided. In the midst of the disappearing smoke, a person emerged.

“Where is this place? Why am I here? Definitely...” The identity of the person was an adult man.

The man groped his body like he couldn’t believe this situation was happening.

“The corpse lives.”

“In fact, it wasn’t a corpse. It was just asleep?”

“What happened?”

The Venom Guild members were in shock. It was because the man’s appearance was the same as the corpse lying in the coffin.

Kalen emerged from the shock and asked the man, “What is your identity?”

“Who are you? My name is Edward.” The man raised his head and looked at Kalen with a dignified expression.

“Edward?” Kalen cocked his head at the name that was somehow familiar.

“It seems that thing on your shoulder isn’t a decoration. You seem to know my name. Yes, I am Edward, the second imperial prince of the empire.”

The identity of the man was Edward—the leader of Alkyl and the final boss of the 5th main scenario. In addition, the identity of the man standing in front of the Venom Guild was the one who met his demise under Lebron’s bombardment.