Ranker's Return

Chapter 801

The Venom Guild had been on the rise since the livestream in the north that revealed Edward’s face. The number of subscribers to their A-World channel had grown exponentially and the number of viewers in their livestreams had skyrocketed. It took only a week for the number to rise from a few thousand to hundreds of thousands.

Naturally, the income also increased tremendously. The combined revenue of gold coins from the livestreams, advertising, and the video revenue of the A-World channel generated nearly 10 million won in revenue per day.

“What is the order today?”

“Aren't all six of you playing together today? That is what I thought.”

“Is it right to do it all together? We have decided to stream about the north.”

The Venom Guild members spent an average of 20 hours a day streaming live. Of course, not everyone did it for 20 hours a day. The livestreams were done in turn. There was just a problem. In order to take advantage of the situation, they minimized their rest and poured their time into streaming. Then problems burst out in unexpected places.

“Ah, I’m going to die from exhaustion. Shouldn’t we have holidays like other livestreams? Does it make sense for six people to stream for 140 hours a week?”

“I think those words make sense. The content has already been repeated. There are already those who are bored among the livestream’s viewers. People who only watch the edited footage on the A-World channel are different, but...”

The depletion of content emerged as a problem. The Venom Guild was no different from other guilds.

Hunting and the arena. Additionally, a talk livestream without any special features. Once such livestreams were repeated, it was inevitable for others to call it boring. Killer content was needed to get out of this situation.

“Why don’t we go all-in on the north? I think there are enough odds. The livestreams can be reduced little by little for security reasons. Of course, even if this isn’t the case, we have to rest a bit. To be honest, we’ve already settled down. I think there will be enough profits in the future as long as there are no accidents,” the huge man, Crimson, said while looking at Kalen.

“The north? In what way?” Rose cut in here. Rose asked Crimson a question before Kalen could even answer.

“It is impossible for the six of us to do anything in the north. The big guilds are already moving. Alley Leader is currently in the divine world, but it is over when he returns. Once faced with the emperor, the big guilds and us will become dogs chasing after chickens. Therefore, we need to decide. Will we give up or will we hold on?”

Crimson’s words were very logical. It was revealed that the identity of the knight who appeared in the north was Edward. Based on this, the large guilds would run to the nobles they usually had a relationship with and proceed with the quest in some way. Then the Venom Guild would be deprived of the main scenario. Of course, the tangible and intangible gains obtained so far were sufficient compensation. However, whether to go further or not depended on the role they would play in the main scenario in the north.

“Why don’t we contact Alley Leader? We were the first to find it, so I think we can give him some information and ask for a ride on the bus. In any case, Alley Leader has his image, so he can’t just steal it, right? It might be different if we were a big guild, but he can’t do it against someone small like us,” Rose added her opinion to Crimson’s comments.

They should concentrate on the north, but not by themselves. They should bring Alley Leader over.

"It would be nice if that was the case, but... will he listen?” Kalen murmured with a worried expression.

Rose’s method was obviously good, but there was a fatal flaw. It was nothing more than a waste if Alley Leader didn’t listen to their proposal.

“In any case, let’s approach him first. If not, we can start over together on our own.” Kalen slowly nodded. There was nothing wrong with trying.

“I’ll try and contact him. So let’s work hard on today’s livestream.”

***

Hyeonu crossed the great mountain that was the divine world and rested without any worries for the first time in a while.

“It is good, comfortable, too good, too comfortable.”

He lay on the sofa in the living room and rolled around.

“Hey, come out. This jerk. Let me sit down as well. Is this your bed? If you want to lie down, go to your room and lie down.”

However, Hyeonu’s behavior was a big problem. He had gone too far. Rather than lying down in one corner, he lay in the middle of the sofa and rolled around with his arms raised. Therefore, there was no place for Yeongchan to sit.

“Ah, why? Let me rest a bit longer. It is good here. It is better than a bed.”

Hyeonu wasn’t bothered by Yeongchan’s complaint and continued lying down in the middle of the sofa while stretching out. He didn’t even think about moving.

“Ah, really. I will only let you off the hook for today.”

Yeongchan argued with Hyeonu for a long time before becoming annoyed and settling down in front of the sofa.

“By the way, didn’t you say you were contacted last night? You said it was a good thing?” Yeongchan turned on his laptop and asked Hyeonu.

“Ah, that’s right. Who was it? A channel that has been a bit hot lately. I was contacted by them.”

Hyeonu lay on the sofa and tried to recall the name of the channel. However, he couldn’t remember it. It couldn’t be helped because he had checked it just before going to sleep.

“Hey, go to my channel and check it for me. There is a note,” Hyeonu eventually failed to recall the name and instructed Yeongchan.

“Ah, really. I am...”

Yeongchan reflexively vented his annoyance at Hyeonu’s request. Then Hyeonu immediately presented a carrot as if he had anticipated Yeongchan’s reaction.

“I will buy chicken.”

“Yes, so can I enter A-World, Boss-nim?”

Yeongchan grabbed the carrot that Hyeonu offered. He couldn’t refuse. The chicken that Hyeonu would buy was that precious.

“Yes, please check the note there.”

Yeongchan opened up A-World as Hyeonu told him to do and logged in with Hyeonu’s ID.

‘Is it this?’

Yeongchan found a note with the ‘read’ mark among the notes piled up in Hyeonu’s inbox.

“Ah, here it is. The Venom Guild. They are pretty popular these days. They revealed Edward’s face on their livestream... why did they send you a note?”

Yeongchan cocked his head. The Venom Guild’s channel had been the best rising channel in A-World recently.

“Do they want to do a joint livestream with you?”

This was the only thing Yeongchan could think of. A joint livestream. There was no other reason for them to contact Hyeonu.

“I don’t know, I don’t remember. I just clicked on it because it had some memories.”

Hyeonu looked like he really didn’t remember.

“Click on it. Why did they contact me?”

Hyeonu stopped rolling around and turned in the direction of Yeongchan’s laptop.

“Click it?”

Yeongchan opened the note as Hyeonu said and the contents of the note appeared on his notebook.

‘Um...? What does this mean? Why?’

Yeongchan read the note and cocked his head slightly. He couldn’t understand what was written.

“They are asking you to go to the north? They will give you the information they know.”

The Venom Guild’s note stated that they wanted to play with Hyeonu in the north. Everyone knew that the north was the place where the main scenario was most likely to appear.

“Really? Are they saying to forget about the past and do well?”

Hyeonu heard the name of the Venom Guild and immediately remembered where he had heard it before. He had met the Venom Guild in the Balder Mountains, the largest gateway to the East Continent. The Venom Guild hadn’t directly harmed Hyeonu at the time, but there was a history of talking ridiculous nonsense. In other words, the image he had of them wasn’t good.

“Then it is fine with me. I will feed them for free. Instead, tell them that they can’t livestream. I won’t turn it on either. They can only upload videos to the channel. If that is okay, then we will do it together.”

Hyeonu accepted the proposal of the Venom Guild without much thought. Of course, the condition was harsh. No streaming. If the Venom Guild made this proposal for the revival of their channel, then it was a tricky condition that needed to be seriously considered.

“I understand, Boss-nim. Give me your card. I will order chicken.”

Yeongchan quickly typed out Hyeonu’s words and sent a note to the Venom Guild. Then he immediately ordered the chicken on his smartphone. However, he didn’t receive an answer. Hyeonu had closed his eyes. He had fallen asleep like a ghost.

“This je....”

***

Liru sent Hyeonu and the descendants of the Luos Empire to the League of Different Species. Hyeonu left the descendants of the Luos Empire in the League of Different Species and headed to the imperial capital alone.

‘Ah, I really don’t want to go in.’

Hyeonu hesitated in front of the imperial palace in the center of the capital. It was clear that he had to go in, but he didn’t dare enter.

‘How many days has it been?’

The time the emperor gave was a week. However, Hyeonu had already exceeded a week due to staying in the divine world.

“Even so, I have to go in...”

Hyeonu sighed and entered the imperial palace. There was the matter in the north, so he had to unconditionally meet the emperor.

Hyeonu walked as leisurely as possible toward the palace where the emperor was located. Hyeonu felt that the imperial palace was empty today. There seemed to be a chill.

‘Calm down, calm down.’

Hyeonu finally arrived in front of the great hall. He just had to go through one more door and he would meet the emperor.

“Come in.” Before Hyeonu could say anything, the emperor’s voice came from inside the great hall.

Hyeonu shook his numb feet. The emperor called, but he didn’t enter the great hall.

“Your Majesty, I am a bit late.” After a while, Hyeonu took a deep breath and entered the hall with confidence.

“A bit? Did you say a bit? Don’t you think it is too late to wrap things up with these words?”

The emperor's intense gaze poured out as if to burn Hyeonu.

“There were circumstances, Your Majesty! Really. Just think about it, when have I ever lied to Your Majesty...” Hyeonu spoke with a look of real resentment.

It was right that there was a situation.

“Circumstances? Please explain the circumstances.” The emperor didn’t erase the sharp look in his eyes.

“I went to the divine world, the divine world. However, I didn’t know how to come back, so I couldn’t come back,” Hyeonu told the emperor the truth.

“The divine world? Are you referring to the divine world when talking about the demon world and divine world?”

The emperor’s mood changed abruptly. He expressed a sudden curiosity in the words ‘divine world.’

“I barely managed to get back, Your Majesty,” Hyeonu answered the emperor. Then he immediately changed the subject again, “Then during the time I was trapped in the divine world, there was a terrible rumor circulating among the adventurers. Have you heard the rumor that Edward is alive?”

The emperor’s face immediately hardened at Hyeonu’s words.

"I thought it was a rumor, so I ignored it... since even you are talking about such a thing, it must be true?”

There was a strange heat in the emperor’s eyes.