Ranker's Return

Chapter 144

Translator: rainbowturtle

Editor: LD & Jyazen

“How did it go? Did you send it?” Kim Jinhwan asked Han Jaeyeol, who had finished talking to someone. Kim Jinhwan’s expression seemed a bit nervous. He might’ve shouted at the other players, but in fact, Kim Jinhwan was a young man of a similar age to Han Jaeyeol.

“He will stream it soon. No real names were mentioned, but I could tell who it is. This is how they are acting as a gate-keeper.” Han Jaeyeol smiled brightly. It was an impromptu plan, but it went smoothly.

“So when is the date?” Kim Jinhwan asked with a smile.

“It is fast. This Friday.”

The sooner the date, the better it would be. This way, they could decrease the number of times that they would act as proxy knights, and Yoon Hyeongu and his team would have less profit to take away. Additionally, they would be accelerating toward their new beginning.

“It is a good day.”

***

Hyeonu’s expression was unusual when he saw the email that Kale had sent him.

“Is this a professional team? What is Quency doing?” Hyeonu scolded Quency.

The level of Big Stars, the team involved in the report, was close to garbage. No, it was just crap. It couldn’t be separated from garbage.

‘How did this place pass the regulations?”

The more he read, the more curious he became. Arena was a game that cost a lot of money. The monetary prizes offered for the continental or national leagues were enormous, and the amount that was received from streaming and advertisements was truly astronomical. As such, Quency applied fairly tight regulations for the founding of clubs. Big Stars could only become a formal club after passing this.

“The director was changed in the middle? Since then, it was like this?”

The start was good for Big Stars. The company that supported and founded Big Stars wasn’t a large one, but it was one of the largest medium-sized companies. The problem was that due to a conflict with the mid-sized companies, Big Stars was thrown into the air and acquired by some type of force. The name of this force was Ilsung Capital. It was a company that gave off a bad smell.

“What are they doing in this place? Isn’t it a private moneylender?”

Hyeonu let Ilsung Capital go. This part wasn’t something he could touch.

“The problem is the constant coercion to become proxy knights and the low salary...”

These were the two real problems. Once this was spread through his stream, Big Stars would be disbanded. Of course, it didn’t matter because the players’ opinions were all in agreement. However, this seemed to be insufficient revenge against the club and coaches who squeezed the players dry.

Hyeonu continued to think about it.

“Uwah! What should I do?”

The answer didn’t appear no matter how hard he thought about it.

So Hyeonu decided to just do it.

***

[Alley Leader - Something you want to know.]

Hyeonu chose a title with a strong aggro.

‘I’m sure more people will come with this.’

It was a shallow idea to increase the number of viewers. Still, the aggro did well attracting an audience. The audience numbers increased faster than usual.

-What is it this time?

-This room is really...I can’t help but come in.

-He pulls attention very well.

-Is this a parody?Or is it like Alley Leader Academy?

-I don’t know.We will know a bit later.

The viewers talked about Hyeonu’s title before Hyeonu arrived. However, they couldn’t get the right idea even if they talked back and forth.

“Hello? It is Alley Leader. Today will be a fun stream!”Hyeonu started the live stream pleasantly.

-Hi hi.

-I’ve been waiting for today, seriously.

-Can’t you increase your streams by one day a week?

-I wanted to see you!

Hyeonu smiled when he saw the messages greeting him. Money was money, but he was happy with these little things. Hyeonu was now a true streamer.

“Today, I’m going to talk about a topic that is slightly heavy. It will probably be a surprise for everyone who hears it.”

The chat room became noisy at Hyeonu’s words. There was always an incident when Alley Leader said something like this. Thus, it wasn’t unusual for viewers to react in this way.

-???There is something again today?

-Then is it a parody?

-Who else did something wrong?

-What guild will he do the character deletion bet with this time?

-Wow, will I get to see the character deletion bet after a long time?

The viewers all thought it was a character deletion bet. The biggest thing Hyeonu did with the character deletion bet was to erase the Black Skull Guild and Aisis Guild.

“Today it isn’t like that. It is real life.”

-Real life?

-Is he suddenly going to talk about politics or economics?

-It can’t be.It must be related to Arena.

-Or is he talking about himself?

“That’s right. It is related to Arena. In fact, it has to do with Alley Leader Academy.” Hyeonu paused for a bit. This way, the viewers could focus more on himself. “I received a report from a current professional gamer. He is Korean, so he is a Korean professional gamer. His exact identity won’t be revealed. Do you all understand why?”

-I know we’ll get some details soon.

-What is the point of dragging things out?

-Tell me quickly.I’m dizzy.

Hyeonu saw the reaction of the viewers and thought this was enough to start talking. “There were two main things that were reported. One is that the club forced him to act as a proxy knight. The other thing is that unlike the contract, they lowered the annual salary payment.”

-Wow, it is a complete XX dog.

-Crazy bastards.Getting pro-gamers to act for them?

-Then what about the kids who said they wouldn’t do it?

-The person above, aren’t you thinking at all?If they didn’t do it, then they would be penalized by being prevented from participating in competitions or something else.

-Which club is it?Did he say it was Korean?

“As I said, I won’t reveal the club. There is concern that the identity of the informant will be revealed. The biggest problem is that it might not only happen here. Honestly, the average age of professional gamers is just over 20 years old. How can a young person know how to deal with such a thing? They will just get tricked.”

As he spoke, Hyeonu felt emotions overflow in his heart. He felt something hot surge up in his heart.

“Honestly, isn’t it a pity for professional gamers to be proxy knights? Then they wouldn’t have become pros in the first place. After all, a proxy knight is more profitable. However, being a pro means you have a desire to be a pro-gamer itself. Now, adults who are much older than them are exploiting them, and they’re not getting money.”

The viewers became angry after hearing Hyeonu’s words. Simultaneously, more than a million viewers started looking for the Korean Arena team.

-First, exclude those who are sponsored by big companies.There is no reason for them to do such a thing, and they get a lot of money.

-Right.Their salaries are high.

-So how many are left?Is it two or three?

-Big Stars, Cube, and Gelato—only these three aren’t from large companies.However, Gelato is a team that’s directly controlled by the association, so it isn’t possible.

-Then there are two teams left—Big Stars or Cube.

The viewers started to look for a team that matched the conditions based on Hyeonu’s scattered information. The candidates were quickly selected. They were Big Stars and Cube. Hyeonu saw this and found it a bit scary.

‘Crazy. It took them less than 5 minutes to determine the candidates.’

On the other hand, Hyeonu was wondering how to indirectly reveal it was Big Stars.

‘Um... Yes.’

Hyeonu decided to use the mouth of another person to reveal more accurate information.

“Wait a minute, I’m going to call someone, so I have to turn off the microphone for 30 seconds.”

Hyeonu made a one-sided declaration to the audience and opened the friends window. Fortunately, the person Hyeonu wanted to call was currently connected to Arena.

‘Will he be able to come?’

-To Lee Hoon:It has been a while, Lee Hoon.Do you have some time today?

Hyeonu carefully sent a whisper and prayed. He prayed that Lee Hoon was in a village and that he didn’t go hunting.

Lee Hoon replied immediately.

-From Lee Hoon: -Yes, the hunt is over, and I’m resting.I was about to shut down the connection.What is it?Did something happen?

‘Phew.’Hyeonu let out a small sigh. He was glad. It would’ve been very difficult if Lee Hoon hadn’t replied positively.

-To Lee Hoon:Do you know Big Stars?They are acting as proxy knights.I want you to come to my stream for a while and talk about them.

-From Lee Hoon:Ah...Is that so?By the way, how did you know about this?Few people know...Well, I’ll come.

-To Lee Hoon:I’m currently at Deer Castle.Come here.

Lee Hoon was a bit surprised by Hyeonu’s sudden whisper, but he felt happy. His goal still remembered him. However, he also had a question.

‘How did he know about Big Stars?’

It had been a long time since Big Stars started acting as proxy knights. The moment the club was acquired, they started acting as proxy knights, and it had already been half a year. Only a few proxy knights and their agents knew about this, including Lee Hoon.

‘It isn’t public knowledge. Who gave the report?’

Lee Hoon shook his head and started moving to Hyeonu’s location.

***

A short time later, Lee Hoon arrived at Hyeonu’s position.

“Hello, I am appearing for the second time. I am Heder, a former proxy knight.”

The viewers questioned the masked man who suddenly appeared and greeted them.

-This stream is a gathering of masked people...

-Was this person called Heder?

-Is it because he is a proxy knight?

-However, why is he a former proxy knight?Did he quit being a proxy knight?

“Yes, this is the person I called earlier. Still, I’m only finding out for the first time that he is a former proxy knight.” Hyeonu was also surprised by Lee Hoon’s words.

Lee Hoon had quit being a proxy knight.

‘He didn’t quit Arena though... Did he make enough money?’Hyeonu thought up to here and was no longer bothered.

In any case, he wasn’t Lee Hoon. He naturally wouldn’t know what Lee Hoon was thinking.

“I only want to ask one thing. Is there really a club in South Korea that is acting as proxy knights?”

Despite Hyeonu’s sudden question, Lee Hoon replied calmly without panicking. He knew this question would be asked from the moment Big Stars was mentioned in the whisper. “It isn’t exact, but I heard from the agent that Big Stars is getting a lot of sales. In particular, it is said they would sweep all the orders below the bronze medal.”

There was a smile on Hyeonu’s face under the mask. Hyeonu’s best-case scenario was achieved. It was an impromptu plan, but it was perfect. He mentioned Big Stars, so he took a step back. All that was left was to mobilize the power of Arena fans around the world.

“I see... There was such a rumor.”

Hyeonu responded naturally like he was hearing it for the first time. He was even disgusted. However, no viewers questioned Hyeonu. Their attention was already all on Big Stars.

-Wow, it is Big Stars.

-No wonder why the children’s faces were very gloomy in the last league match.

-Who said it was best to eat bibimbap with canned tuna.

-It isn’t tuna bibimbap, it is soy sauce egg rice, idiot.

-Now it has really become pine nuts—Big Stars.

“Yes, it has really become pine nuts,” Hyeonu murmured in a low voice. [1]

[1] I was confused about this and asked a fellow translator. He presumes it is implying they're too poor for anything better than those foods. Like they're so screwed that's all they'll be able to afford.