Ranker's Return

Chapter 699

“My turn is over… Alley Leader, isn’t it your turn to attack?”

Jeong Cheolmin cocked his head like he didn’t understand why Hyeonu was acting like this.

-What is he saying??????

-Is he giving Alley Leader a chance to attack?

-Cheolmin is a fool who only knows the game.

-This is something beyond innocence and naivete.??????

Viewers laughed when they heard Jeong Cheolmin’s words. The purpose of the spar was for Hyeonu to give the nine people a chance to attack. Hyeonu was always able to attack, but it was impossible for the nine people. It was a choice he made in order to show their strength.

‘Giving this chance to me?’

“Huhu…”

Hyeonu couldn’t resist the laughter that emerged. He just kept laughing. Hyeonu stood there for a long time before speaking to Jeong Cheolmin, “Jeong Cheolmin-ssi.”

“Huh?” Jeong Cheolmin replied with a startled expression at Hyeonu’s call. His eyes looked like he still didn’t know what he had done.

“Please take care of me.” Hyeonu bowed his head, just as Jeong Cheolmin did at the start of the spar.

-Hah…Look at him trying to match the other person.

-This is why he is Alley Leader, Alley Leader.

-He is picking out everything that is as small as a grain of sesame.

-Nothing is missed.Really ???

The viewers admired Hyeonu’s appearance. Hyeonu didn’t miss Jeong Cheolmin’s pure appearance that was close to a fool and accepted it directly. It was so natural it seemed to be planned in advance.

“Huh? Yes, yes. Please take care of me.” Jeong Cheolmin blinked at Hyeonu’s sudden greeting and nodded quickly.

-By the way, was this really not planned?

-Ahh, did he plan something like this because there is no funny image?

-If this is planned, isn’t it an audition corruption?The qualified person is already determined internally.

-I agree.

They were very sharp. Several viewers questioned the situation. It was because the series of processes was too natural.

‘How can I show them?’

“Jeong Cheolmin-ssi, I’ll ask you one last time.”

Hyeonu asked Jeong Cheolmin questions that could explain it.

“How old are you now?”

“21 years old.”

“What about the army?”

“I haven’t gone yet.”

“Family relationships…?”

“I have my parents and one younger sister.”

“I understand.”

This was the end of Hyeonu’s questions. They were very personal questions related to the other party’s personal information. However, this alone made many viewers realize that Jeong Cheolmin was real.

-It is possible if he is 21 years old.

-He is still a kid, a kid.

-By the way, it doesn’t make sense to plan this.Otherwise, he would’ve just received Jeong Cheolmin as a Crescent Moon player.There is no reason to do this here.

-I admit it.

It was more than enough to control the controversy.

21 years old—it wasn’t too old. He was young enough to show a simple and honest appearance, even if he wasn’t deceiving them. Additionally, Hyeonu’s lack of a need to do such a thing played a part in calming the controversy. Plotting was always done by people who were lacking.

“It is really going to start now.”

The moment Hyeonu’s words were over, Jeong Cheolmin gripped his wooden sword with a nervous expression on his face.

‘Take it lightly.’

Unlike the nervous Jeong Cheolmin, Hyeonu looked the same as usual. Hyeonu’s movements were similar. He walked slowly like he was taking a walk in the neighborhood.

One step, another step.

As Hyeonu approached, Jeong Cheolmin felt his body stiffening little by little. It wasn’t because Hyeonu was using any skills. It was just that Hyeonu’s achievements so far were heavy.

Undefeated Sovereign. Arena’s strongest player.

Such titles caused Jeong Cheolmin’s body to stiffen.

‘I can’t be stiff. I came all the way here.’

This was his last chance. It was really over if he was eliminated here.

Jeong Cheolmin relaxed his excessively tense body. Then another problem emerged. Jeong Cheolmin’s body started to flinch little by little based on Hyeonu’s movement.

-Is something wrong with Cheolmin?

-Is he having seizures?What’s wrong with him?

-Can you get seizures even in virtual reality games?

-Shouldn’t we stop it?

This appearance was visible to viewers as well. However, some viewers knew that Jeong Cheolmin’s trembling wasn’t a disease. It was the case for those who viewed the livestream from a third person perspective, not Hyeonu’s perspective.

-From a third person perspective, Alley Leader is shaking the wooden sword around.

-His shoulders are shaking as well.

-This sentence comes to mind.How long are you going to make me do the shoulder dance~

The reason for the shaking of Jeong Cheolmin’s body. It was related to Hyeonu’s behavior. The arm inevitably had to move in order to extend the sword. In order for the arm to move, the shoulder had to move first. Hyeonu kept moving his shoulders, so Jeong Cheolmin had no choice but to move his body in response.

The problem was that the distance between Jeong Cheolmin and Hyeonu was more than 10 meters. In general, it made no sense to react so sensitively at this distance.

‘I’m getting used to it.’

However, it was different for Hyeonu. Pure energy was released the moment his weapon was swung. In front of the attacks that ignored distance, Jeong Cheolmin had to pay attention to everything about Hyeonu. At one point, Hyeonu’s body stretched out as he approached Jeong Cheolmin.

At the peak of the stretch, a purple light overtook Jeong Cheolmin. Jeong Cheolmin quickly swung his wooden sword at Hyeonu’s surprise attack. He could barely manage to respond because he placed all this attention on Hyeonu.

Jeong Cheolmin’s wooden sword bounced off. It was the same for Hyeonu’s wooden sword. The shock was received together. However, Hyeonu shook off the aftermath of the collision much faster. Hyeonu’s sword became a snake that crawled to Jeong Cheolmin.

‘So fast!’

Jeong Cheolmin swung his wooden sword with a frightened expression. It wasn’t enough to just swing it. It was clear that he wouldn’t be able to reach Hyeonu’s wooden sword like this.

‘Skills…’

In that case, he would use a skill.

Jeong Cheolmin raised his magic power and used an instantaneous skill. The name of the skill he used was ‘Arcus.’ It was a skill that allowed him to swing the weapon seven times in a single move. It was also possible to release seven pure energies depending on the usage of magic power.

Jeong Cheolmin’s wooden sword hit Hyeonu’s wooden sword exactly seven times. Every time, Hyeonu’s wooden sword danced. Sometimes it was from side to side and sometimes it was up and down. Eventually, it shot off its original trajectory and headed toward the ground.

‘Was it blocked?’

Jeong Cheolmin saw it and sighed with relief.

“A sigh… I think you did it too early, Jeong Cheolmin-ssi.”

It happened at this moment…

Hyeonu’s wooden sword touched Jeong Cheolmin’s neck as Hyeonu spoke.

“Uh…?” a question flowed from Jeong Cheolmin’s mouth. It was natural. The wooden sword that should be stuck in the ground was touching his neck.

“Jeong Cheolmin-ssi isn’t the only one who can use skills, right?” Hyeonu spoke to the dazed Jeong Cheolmin.

The reason why Hyeonu was able to disappear from Jeong Cheolmin’s view in an instant. The reason why the wooden sword that should be touching the ground was touching Jeong Cheolmin’s neck. It was due to Hyeonu’s use of Mysterious Sky Steps. He turned to Jeong Cheolmin’s side using Mysterious Sky Steps and at the same time, he bounced off his sword and changed the direction.

-It is real art.

-An eye for an eye, skill for skill.

-Isn’t it his first time using a skill to attack?

-The rest ended with just the counterattack.It isn’t surprising.

The viewers were impressed by Hyeonu’s move. They continued to praise Jeong Cheolmin, who created such a situation. It was because it was the first time Hyeonu used his skills out of all the spars.

“The sparring will end here. There is no particular feedback to give you. There is nothing wrong. It is just a matter of experience and skill. You have no choice but to constantly go to the arena.”

There were no problems to point out about Jeong Cheolmin. He didn’t have a strange habit and didn’t lack the basics. Hyeonu didn’t know enough about Jeong Cheolmin to give advice that wasn’t conventional.

"Yes, I understand."

Jeong Cheolmin showed sincere joy at Hyeonu’s obvious advice.

“The schedule for today has ended with this. Let me talk about the viewers’ reports before the announcement of those who are eliminated… it has been confirmed that there isn’t a single credible report. Additionally, we will be taking appropriate action against those who left joking comments.”

During the livestream, the contents reported on Hyeonu’s channel were all jokes. There was only one reason for this judgment. It was because none of them disclosed their information, which was the condition Hyeonu had originally put forward for reporting.

-Guys, if you joke around, then it is a ban.

-You are playing with the futures of nine people.

-Let’s do it in moderation.

-If you feel wronged, then reveal your profile first.

Hyeonu glanced at the chat window before continuing to talk. He had made the decision from the beginning, so there was no need to delay anything.

“I have said everything I need to say. Then I will announce those eliminated. As I stated in advance, there will be three people eliminated today.”

Hyeonu’s criteria for selecting those eliminated was very simple. He was going to eliminate the applicants with the lowest PvP skills sequentially.

‘I don’t need empty cans with a high level.’

“Gil Yongho-ssi, Kim Junman-ssi, and… Choi Bongjun-ssi. The three of you are those eliminated today. Thank you for the hard work.”

Hyeonu identified the three people with the poorest performance in today’s spars.

“Thank you for today. It was a great experience, Alley Leader-nim.”

“I am also grateful. I will continue to support you in the future.”

Gil Yongho and Kim Junman approached Hyeonu as if they had expected it and asked for a handshake. They accepted Hyeonu’s choice. The two of them returned to their seats and a gloomy-looking Choi Bongjun approached Hyeonu and opened his mouth, “…You worked hard today.”

“Choi Bongjun-ssi, you’ve also worked hard today. About what I said earlier… even if you don’t like it, you should definitely think about it again,” Hyeonu gave such advice to Choi Bongjun until the very end.

“I will contact the six of you separately. Great job today.”

Hyeonu approached the six surviving people and shook hands with them.

“Yes, see you next time.”

The six people shook hands with Hyeonu and disappeared.

Hyeonu watched them to the end.

“Then I’ll go first. See you next time.”

Hyeonu also disappeared after the participants of New Moon. It was the perfect end to his livestream.

***

It was Yeongchan, wearing a thick padded jacket, who welcomed Hyeonu after he finished the livestream.

“Let’s go,” Yeongchan said while holding out a padded jacket to Hyeonu, who just came out of the cube.

“What’s wrong? Where are you going? I’m going to rest now. I just finished my livestream.”

Hyeonu thought to himself that he should rest. The livestream today was really mentally tiring.

“That is why you should’ve left earlier. Why drag things out like this?”

Yeongchan lightly ignored Hyeonu’s words. He couldn’t bear it any longer.

“The Internet, order it on the Internet.”

“If I order it now, won’t it come tomorrow night? What will we do until tomorrow night? Don’t speak nonsense and follow me, you jerk.”

Yeongchan frowned and threw the padded jacket to Hyeonu. Hyeonu saw Yeongchan’s serious expression and put on the padded jacket silently. Then he followed Yeongchan. After Hyeonu finished his livestream, the place where he headed with Yeongchan was a large supermarket.

“The refrigerator is empty, you jerk. You said you would fill the refrigerator. You said you would go tomorrow, but now there isn’t even any ramyeon. I had tried to endure it and ordered delivery once or twice. What family orders delivery for a whole week?”

This was the beginning of the adventure to fill an empty refrigerator.