Chapter 174
[Player ‘Argon’ has surrendered . ]
[You have won the ranking battle . ]
“What?” Hyeonu was so outraged that he forgot he was streaming and grabbed Yeongchan . “I saved you some face yet you hit me in the back of the head?”
“Le . . . Let go of me first . ” Yeongchan gasped like he was suffocating .
Hyeonu let go of Yeongchan’s collar .
“Cough cough . Spit!” He coughed a few times and waved his hand toward Hyeonu . Then Yeongchan disappeared from the arena . He ran away from Hyeonu .
Hyeonu was now left alone . He finally grasped the situation and howled pitifully like a wild wolf, “Uwaaah!”
After achieving a wounded victory, Hyeonu showed a furious pace . He played more than 10 ranking battles and destroyed all the rankers he met, stepping on them like they were weeds . Hyeonu really did this best . As such, his ranking surged rapidly, and he broke through to the master level .
Now there might be one or ten matches remaining before he would reach the top of the rankings . It depended purely on Hyeonu’s luck . If he was lucky enough to be matched with a grandmaster (ranked 1-9th), he might be able to reach the top spot in two or three matches .
Hyeonu desperately hoped for such a situation so that today’s stream could end smoothly . ‘Please . . . ’
Then good news appeared before Hyeonu’s eyes .
-Breaking news) All of those ranked 1st to 10th are currently arena streaming .
-So the rankers in the top 50 are fleeing from the ranking battles .
-They suddenly stopped the ranking battles and said they needed a break . Crazy . ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Honestly, I have to admit it . They will just be shrimp caught between whales and end up exploding .
There was good news in the chat that all nine grandmasters had started the ranking battles .
‘Please let one of them be caught!’ Hyeonu earnestly prayed to a god he didn’t believe in for one of the nine grandmasters to be matched up with him . Just then, the surrounding landscape started to change . The matching was over . Hyeonu closed his eyes tightly .
‘Please . . . ’
He hoped there would be a familiar face in front of him once he opened his eyes .
As a result, Hyeonu’s wish came true . A grandmaster stood in front of Hyeonu . Moreover, it was Teika—the person who was currently ranked number one in the arena .
‘Waaaah! It worked!’ Hyeonu shouted inwardly and smiled brightly when he saw Teika’s face . He smiled as if he had gained everything in the world .
. . . At least, until he heard the words that would come out of Teika’s mouth after this greeting .
“Hello . I’m Teika . ”
“Yes, hello . I am Alley Leader,” Hyeonu responded to Teika’s greeting . He very excited because he could end the stream soon .
Hyeonu continued to speak as kindly as possible . “I guess I’ve risen a lot . I’m actually meeting Teika, first in the rankings . ”
This kindness was sufficient for the man who would lose his throne to Hyeonu in a few minutes .
“I’m not number one anymore . ”
“Huh?”
“It was just taken away . ”
“Huh?”
“Rain is very strong,” Teika said with a casual expression . Rather, his smiling face looked pleasant . It was Hyeonu’s expression under the mask that was distorted . He had thought this was the end of his journey, only to find out it actually wasn’t the end yet . Hyeonu became a demon .
‘This means I stream some more?’
“That means . . . you are number two?”
“Yes, second place . Alley Leader, what is your ranking now?”
“I’m 43rd . ”
43rd place—it was the result of five hours of streaming .
“I think I will be 43rd after this game . Still, I’m happy . I wanted to fight against you, Alley Leader . I’m envious of Reina . Haven’t you fought her three times? I can tolerate my ranking decreasing as long as I can compete with you . ”
Hyeonu wasn’t listening to Teika as he declared, “Let’s stop talking and get started . ”
It was because Teika didn’t have what Hyeonu wanted . His heart was already heading toward Rain . This person had the treasure he desired—the 1st place in the arena rankings . He was aiming for that great title .
“I am ready, Alley Leader . ” Teika pulled his spear out of his inventory . Teika’s spear had a very unique look . The white spearhead contrasted with the dark red body of the spear that was reminiscent of blood . It was like a fallen angel—an angel with white wings soaked in red blood .
Hyeonu drew Dark Star and walked with it on his shoulder . This was the unique preparation posture for Alley Leader that he commonly used in Arena .
“Let’s get started,” Hyeonu said .
Teika moved the moment Hyeonu’s words finished . In modern martial arts, a long weapon was advantageous against swords . Using a sword against a long weapon was no different from holding cutlery to fight . Teika stepped forward precisely one step and stabbed with the spear .
This was a stabbing attack . It was an attack that connected him to Hyeonu in a straight line . Teika’s spear attack was accompanied by a creepy sound . Yet in the face of this frightening strike, Hyeonu swung his sword without changing his expression . The moment the spear entered his sight, he subconsciously blocked with his sword . Not only that, but he also deflected Teika’s spear .
‘Giant’s Power . ’ Hyeonu wanted to end this match quickly . He couldn’t stop at a rest station . He would only stop if his car ran out of gas, and he had to stop by a gas station . Teika was a gas station . He was a gas station who would refuel Hyeonu, who was heading for the top spot in the rankings .
[Giant’s Power has been used . ]
[Your strength stat has increased . ]
Teika struck again during the short period of time when Hyeonu used Giant’s Power . It was an eerie stab because it was just as neat as before . Once again, Hyeonu easily resisted the attack . However, there was something else . There were three impact sounds .
Teika’s attacks just seemed like a single stab because of his speed . When he realized that his attacks weren’t working, so Teika stepped back and used a skill . ‘Blood!’
A stream of blood flew from Teika’s spear to hit Hyeonu . This time, Hyeonu didn’t intend to block it . A denser and stronger pure energy was fired from Hyeonu’s sword toward Teika’s red pure energy . It was Hyeonu’s trademark Crescent Moon Cut . The two pure energies clashed, trying to carry out the commands of their masters .
There was a huge roar as they collided . The sound was as loud as the power was strong . Before the aftermath of the collision disappeared, Hyeonu used Blink to narrow the distance to Teika .
The advantage of the spear was that it had a long range . Its weakness was that if the distance was narrowed, it would hard for the spear to be used . Hyeonu’s movement aimed appropriately at the weakness of the spear . However, Teika was well aware of that weakness . He felt Dark Star swinging toward him and lifted his spear, dispersing Dark Star’s trajectory .
‘Doesn’t he fight very well?’ Hyeonu was impressed when he saw Teika neatly blocking the blow he dealt with Blink . This level of skill was worthy of the number one person in the rankings . There was a moment of admiration .
‘This doesn’t mean I intend to lose . ’
Hyeonu was in a hurry to rise .
‘Let’s see how long he can hold on . ’
Then Hyeonu extended his sword again . This time, his attack was faster and more powerful than before . The black haze showed that Hyeonu was injecting magic power into his sword . Teika’s spear exploded every time it was attacked by Hyeonu . The continuous strikes caused Teika to keep stepping back .
‘It is stronger than I thought . ’ It wasn’t just words . Teika actually thought it would be hard for him to beat Alley Leader .
He couldn’t help wondering, ‘How can I win?’
It was just that reality was cold . Winning depended on more than just skills . There was also the difference in specs . Alley Leader currently boasted specs that were unimaginable for a character that was only a few months old . From items to skills, Teika had no predominance . It was either equal or inferior . In particular, that red aura was a big problem .
[Player ‘Teika’ has entered a ‘slowed’ state . ]
The skill accompanied by the message window about his slowed state was a shackle . It was a shackle that prevented him from escaping from the pit of defeat .
‘It is a bit daunting to stop now . ’
Teika’s spear was a metal spear . This was a class-specific item . According to the law that it wouldn’t be destroyed until the durability reached 0, Hyeonu’s attacks were blocked without distinction between the spear’s blade and body . It was just that the spear also had its limitations . The spear’s durability was slightly reduced every time Hyeonu hit it .
‘I think Rain can still win . . . I just can’t see any gaps here . ’ Teika realized that it was impossible for him to win against Alley Leader right now .
This didn’t mean he was giving up . He tried to find a possibility of winning . Teika thought about the skills that could be reused soon and tried to make a special skills composition that was different from usual . As a result, he succeeded in coming up with a linkage of skills that was completely different from the skill combo he normally used .
Teika predicted that the new linkage of skills would have an excellent effect on players at a level similar to him . Alley Leader was the first opponent . He was more suitable as a test subject than anyone else .
‘Blood!’ The blood-colored pure energy that Teika originally used reappeared at this moment . Unlike its gorgeous appearance, the bloody pure energy disappeared without a trace before Hyeonu’s light-hearted attack . However, this was to the extent that Teika expected .
‘It is an obvious result . ’ Teika nodded slightly . He didn’t feel regretful . After all, it didn’t make sense that a player as fast as himself wouldn’t be able to stop Blood . Blood was just a stepping stone for the subsequent skills .
‘Blood Storm . ’ Teika kicked off from the ground and charged toward Hyeonu . At this moment, Teika’s body burst forward like a beam of light . Simultaneously, his spear was surrounded by a bloody stream . It was the precursor of Blood Storm . Teika threw his spear without a moment of hesitation . Then a bloody swirl was released from the spear . The vortex of blood shot toward Hyeonu with a strong momentum .
Hyeonu did nothing and just watched it . If someone else saw it, they would’ve thought Hyeonu had no skill to stop the bloody wind .
‘This . . . ’
“How did it come out so obviously?” Hyeonu mumbled in a small voice as he swung his sword toward the blood-colored storm .
‘Mysterious Sky Range . ’
Hyeonu’s choice was Mysterious Sky Range . Dozens of long blades of pure energy appeared in the air . Then they charged toward the bloody vortex, tearing it apart . Like a deer in front of a lion, it was almost impossible to find a trace of the bloody wind by the time it reached Hyeonu .
The black pure energy then headed for Teika, as if eating up the bloody vortex wasn’t enough . Teika had been preparing for the next attack and had no way to stop the strong pure energy coming toward him . After being defeated by Rain, Teika was forced to suffer another defeat . This time it was to Hyeonu .
[Player ‘Gang Hyeonu’ has won . ]