Ranker's Return

Chapter 157

Translator: rainbowturtle

Editor: LD & Jyazen

Hyeonu was focused on checking his status window without worrying about what Tang-E was doing.

‘Status window.’

[Status Window]

[Character Name: Gang Hyeonu

Level: 210

Class: True Knight of Keon

Title: Lebron’s Disciple, Warrior Acknowledged by Khan, New Star Acknowledged by Lebron, First Person to Enter the Imperial Palace, First Person to Meet the Emperor, Achieved 100 Consecutive Wins, Solo Raider, Desert Dragon Slayer, Ruler of the Spider Mine, Viscount Vampire Killer, First Detached Force Member, First Person to Clear Laek, First Player to go Beyond The Limits, First to Become a Viscount, True Knight of Keon.

Stats: Strength: 470 (+1,050) Agility: 660 (+1,150) Physique: 320 (+1,10) Magic Power: 300 (+1,250) Fighting Energy: 428 (+800) Dignity: 100 (+800)

Remaining stat points: 0

Retained Attributes: Dark]

Only one ring had been added, but his stats were raised by at least 100. Hyeonu was already level 210. It was still far away from Rain, but Hyeonu felt closer to his goal when he saw his level going up one by one. In the past, Hyeonu played Arena and used the settlement amount from A-World to pay off his debt.

Things were different now. He had a goal. It was to become a professional gamer and to step on Jung Hanbaek’s back. However, that wasn’t all. He also enjoyed the process of running toward his goal. Hyeonu found pleasure in raising his level and skill proficiency. It was a change that was brought about by having an ease of mind.

“Tang-E, let’s go hunting.”

***

As Hyeonu was laughing and enjoying the settlement from the giant dungeon, blood battles were exploding everywhere. The bloody battle wasn’t one with swords. It was a war of mouths. Liu Shei roughly opened the huge door blocking his way. Inside, there was a mature man of around 30 years old. He was sitting on a colorfully decorated chair.

Liu Shei opened his mouth, “I won’t tell you a long story. Zhou Fang, I think it is time to give up that position.”

“What does that mean? Give up my position all of a sudden? Isn’t it too much to joke around in the middle of the night?” Zhou Fang, the leader of the Kowloon Guild, frowned at Liu Shei’s sudden visit.

“A joke? Do you think I would joke about something like this? Today, you have to decide if you want to give up the position of First Dragon and go down to the general public guild or if you will quit the guild entirely.”

“Bullshit! Why should I do that? If you insist on this bullshit, I will kick you from the guild.”

Liu Shei had anticipated Zhou Fang’s resistance and threw the envelope full of papers onto Zhou Fang’s desk.“Haven’t you done many things? I’d been thinking that our income was strange for a guild competing to be the best in a big country. I didn’t expect you to have eaten so much of the profit. I was quite surprised when I was handed the data.”

Zhou Fang shook his head and opened the envelope of papers thrown by Liu Shei. There were five or six sheets of paper in it. They were filled with numbers and jargon, but Zhou Fang easily recognized what they meant.‘He tracked the guild’s account!’

“Who would believe these fabricated papers? The others will never believe it,”Zhou Fang said, thinking of the other dragons. They were the force supporting him. They would never believe Liu Shei’s words.

“The others? Are you talking about Li Taoping? Or Hu Gaomin? Xiao Bao? They’ve already turned their backs on you. They were terribly angry. I think they are feeling pretty betrayed. You should’ve known how to share. How could you take such a large amount of money alone? Seriously? Did you think you could do it and move on?”

Zhou Fang seemed to have already lost his mind and didn’t refute it. Liu Shei smiled coldly at the sight. He had already blocked off all the means and people that Zhou Fang believed in. Zhou Fang would be dismissed today.This was an already established fact.No matter what he did, Zhou Fang wouldn’t be able to escape. The traps Liu Shei had set over the past few months had worked.

“Now, decide. Hand Kowloon over or be taken away by the public security police tomorrow.”

Hearing Liu Shei’s ultimatum, Zhou Fang’s eyes shook at Liu Shei.

***

A new bait emerged in the Arena community. This bait was the biggest one since Arena gained explosive popularity. It was the rebellion of a huge guild. The leader of the Kowloon Guild, which was said to be one of the best Arena guilds, had changed. The First Dragon Zhou Fang gave up his position and was kicked out of the Kowloon Guild.Then Third Dragon Liu Shei rose to his position.

At first, everyone thought it was a joke. It was fine that the First Dragon suddenly announced his retirement, but then the Third Dragon rose to his spot. The news that followed ended the speculation surrounding Kowloon. Liu Shei was going to hold a party to commemorate his rise to the position of Kowloon’s leader.

Numerous invitations were sent out to Arena’s rankers, leading politicians in China, and business people from all over the world. It was a party that only VIPs were invited to. There was also a press conference being held ahead of the party. Starting with the People’s Daily which was China’s leading newspaper, reporters from world-famous TV stations boarded the plane to China to attend the press conference.

“Are you happy?”

“Why shouldn’t I be happy? I’m in the position I want.”Liu Shei was chatting with a man, but unlike his words, his expression didn’t seem happy. “I’m happiest that I don’t have to see your face anymore. I held an internal meeting yesterday. The result ended with the removal of the Adidas logo.”

“You will regret it. Definitely,” Rudd declared with a stiff expression.

The speed of the actions was fast, and his expression became complicated. This was the worst.

‘Things became unreasonable like this due to Alley Leader...’

However, Rudd couldn’t blame anyone. If he had to blame someone, it would be himself. There was one more person to blame...

‘Cheong Chen.’

...His boss and the source of the problem. Still, Rudd couldn’t break free of this situation. Clutching at straws, Rudd spat out any words he could think of. “Did the guild executives accept it? I understand that the amount of money sponsored by us, Adidas, isn’t small...”

He continued, “Considering the amount of money Zhou Fang siphoned off behind your backs, you need Adidas’ sponsorship. I think not everyone is willing to be your sponsor. I was surprised as well. It is always uncomfortable to want too many sponsors.”

However, Liu Shei cut through Rudd’s struggles.‘He is always making threats...’

“I won’t accept Adidas even if you beg on your knees. Don’t you know that there are many companies who want to advertise with Kowloon? So get lost. I’m going to vomit just at the sight of your face.”

At Liu Shei’s resolute declaration, Rudd turned and left the room. He knew that no negotiation was possible since Liu Shei showed such an attitude.

‘I’ll come back tomorrow.’

At least a week—no, it felt like he would have to keep visiting Liu Shei for an unknown period of time.

***

Hyeonu was preparing for the stream when he heard the news about the party that Liu Shei and the Kowloon Guild were holding. He was wandering around the community for information when he saw an article outlining the incident called the ‘Kowloon Incident’.

[Sorting out the Kowloon situation. Only people who don’t know about it should read this.]

[In fact, it is a bit embarrassing to call it ‘sorted’, but I will still sort it out.

The beginning is when the First Dragon, the guild leader of the Kowloon Guild, left the guild.

There is a lot of speculation around the reason, and I think the most influential one lies with Third Dragon Liu Shei, who took Zhou Fang’s position.

I think there was an incident between the two of them.

Why?

It is because Liu Shei became the First Dragon, okay?

The first thing Liu Shei did after rising to the First Dragon was organize the sponsors.

He cut off Adidas, the main sponsor.To be exact, the contract was about to expire, and he refused to renew it.

Liu Shei is acting big right from the start.

There are many companies eyeing the position, and I think it will probably be taken by a Chinese company.]

It wasn’t an accurate explanation, but Hyeonu actually nodded while looking at the article.

‘Was this the reason?’

Hyeonu now realized why Liu Shei had so desperately found him for Adidas. Rudd had gained information about Liu Shei’s rebellion and used it to threaten him into organizing the meeting. That’s why renewing the contract with the main sponsor failed.

‘Should I send him a note?’

Hyeonu was troubled. Should he send a congratulatory note or not? His first meeting with Liu Shei had been a bad one, but now he could coolly get over it. After all, Tian Hu had been the main cause of the conflict, not Liu Shei who had rubbed his palms next to Tian Hu.

‘There are no bad connections.’

Even Lee Hoon, the proxy knight, had given him help several times. The master of a large guild might be able to provide more help.

‘Yes, let’s send it.’

Hyeonu’s heart became determined, and he wrote up a note to Liu Shei.

***

“Hello, everyone. I am Alley Leader.”

After sending the congratulatory note to Liu Shei, Hyeonu immediately started streaming. Today’s content was also the arena.

“Today’s content is the arena. It is a very special arena.”

-What’s special about the arena?Is platinum special?

-Wouldn’t it just be similar in that section?Bronze = silver = gold = platinum?

-Yes, it is bullshit.Is the special thing that he will stream until he is ranked number one?

-I hope so.I want his stream to last 20 hours instead of just 5 or 6 hours.

-Our Alley Leader is a civil servant, so he can’t do that.Getting off work on time is the reason for streaming.

“I won’t be the one in the arena today.”

-Proxy?

-A proxy will act as Alley Leader?

-But who can be better than Alley Leader?

-Right?Then what?

The viewers expressed doubts about Hyeonu’s words. Who was going to participate in the ranking battle instead of Hyeonu? For viewers, Hyeonu becoming first in the arena was a given fact. They thought it was only a problem of time, not skill. Hyeonu came up with the answer for the audience.

“This one is doing it.”

At his words, the streaming point of view changed to his perspective. Hyeonu’s gaze lowered to the ground where there was a bear with golden fur.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Damn master.”

Today’s content was the pet arena. It was the day when Tang-E, the golden bear who finished his second awakening, appeared in the arena. Hyeonu adjusted the streaming view back to the third-person perspective. “We are going to the pet arena today. I will show you the level at which it means to be a bully.”

A golden bear appeared to hit the gentle flock of sheep at the arena.