Ranker's Return

-Mister Gang? What’s going on? The owner of the voice was Kale. He was surprised to get a call from Hyeonu the moment he went to work.

“I have a small favor to ask of you... Do you have time to talk?”

-Yes, please speak. I have plenty of time to listen, Mister Gang. I just got to work, so I can afford to do so. I haven’t started any work yet.

Of course, he would speak to Hyeonu even if he had other things to do. It was because communicating with Hyeonu was his most important job.

“Time is running out, so I’ll get down to business right away. I would like you to do an analysis based on the videos I’ve sent you so far and my specs.”

-What analysis are you talking about?

Kale didn’t understand Hyeonu’s request for an analysis. He didn’t know what to analyze.

“If I fight the emperor, who will win? Please analyze the probability.”

-Huh? When you fight the emperor?

Kale almost let go of his smartphone.

A battle with the emperor—it was strange that Hyeonu already had this in mind.

-Have you ever thought that you are making a hasty decision? Kale started to persuade Hyeonu.

Hyeonu’s thoughts were too dangerous. Kale also knew that the emperor was injured. He had watched the video over and over again the moment he received it.

-The emperor is a monster. It could be a trap. The internal opinion is that the emperor’s situation was intentional.

This was Kale’s judgment. It wasn’t exactly Kale’s personal opinion though. It was the result of an analysis put forward by analysts inside Nike.

“I am aware of that. However, the emperor has no reason to dig a trap. The NPC nobles would never rebel against the emperor.”

It wasn’t that Hyeonu didn’t have the same thought as Kale. There was just no reason for the emperor to do this.

-Then... I understand. We will do an internal analysis. Is it based on the specs shown in the videos?

Hyeonu shook his head. “No, I’ll send you the analysis criteria separately. Recently, my specs have changed again.”

His specs had soared recently.

‘Callioraks gave me something amazing.’

The blessing that the demon world dragon Callioraks gave to Hyeonu brought about quite a big change in Hyeonu.

-I understand, Mister Gang. I will analyze it based on your newly sent status window.

“How long will it take?”

-Two days is enough.

Kale was confident that analyzing the data wouldn’t take long. It might be different if it were the first time, but they were quite experienced now as Hyeonu had made the request more than once.

“Okay, I’ll send you the changed specs right away.”

Hyeonu ended the call with a satisfied expression.

***

“Boss, why did you turn off the lights? Are we watching a program?” a member of the planning team of Nike Management asked with wide eyes when he saw Kale sitting in the meeting room with the lights off.

“Hurry up and sit down. There is a lot to see.” Kale pointed to an empty chair on one side. The employee quickly sat down in the seat that Kale pointed to. After that, the same process was repeated several times.

“Are you all here now?”

“Yes, Boss. The entire planning team is in attendance.”

Kale confirmed that all the people who were called had gathered and adjusted the remote control in his hand. Then large images and writings appeared on one wall.

“Have you ever seen anything like this?”

A laser dot from the remote control in Kale’s hand appeared on the image on the wall.

[Coat of the One Who Controls Desire]

[A coat made of the blood, bones, and skin of a dragon of a demon world. It has received the blessing of a transcendent being.

Rating: Legendary

Conditions: 4,800 agility, 3,700 physique.

Durability: 11,111/11,111

Defense: 6,750

Effect: All stats + 50, ‘Ruler of Desire’ can be used.

Ruler of Desire: Attack power is increased by 50%. Defense is increased by 20%.]

The employees of Nike Management read the effect of the item and were amazed.

“I’ve never seen it before.”

“Are there any items like this?”

“Isn’t this similar to Alley Leader’s item?”

“I think it is a bit better than that. This much... I think it is the best in Arena.”

Ridiculous effects were written one after another. It was better than any items that the rankers had.

“It is as some people have said. This item belongs to Alley Leader. The existing items have been upgraded.”

Kale adjusted the remote one more time, and the size of the images and text decreased. Another similar thing emerged. It was another upgraded item like the previous one.

[Pants of the Repentant Sage]

[Trousers made of the blood, bones, and skin of a dragon of a demon world who desperately regretted the past when he couldn’t resist the desire of the moment. It has received the blessing of a transcendent being.

Rating: Legendary

Conditions: 4,500 strength, 3,800 magic power.

Durability: 11,111/11,111

Defense: 6,500

Effect: All stats + 500, ‘Enlightenment of the Repentant’ is available.

Enlightenment of the Repentant: 30% increase in all stats when fighting an opponent for the first time. 50% increase in all stats when fighting against enemies you have fought more than once.]

“This doesn’t make sense either?”

“How did he get these items?”

“It is at a very mysterious level. I can’t believe it even when seeing it.”

“I can’t reach that much even when combining all my items together.”

Emotions that were beyond admiration poured out. Hyeonu’s items were that good. They were items they couldn’t have even in their dreams.

“It is too early to be surprised. There are three more similar ones.” Kale chuckled and pressed the remote again. This time, three images and three explanations appeared at the same time.

[Belt Dyed With Emptiness]

[A belt made of the blood, bones, and skin of a dragon of the demon world who had no choice but to seal himself. It has received the blessing of a transcendent being.

Rating: Legendary

Conditions: 4,000 physique, 4,000 magic power.

Durability: 9,999/9,999

Defense: 5,300

Effect: All stats +500, ‘Unseal’ can be used (cooldown time: 24 hours.)

Unseal: Unseal for 30 minutes. All stats will be increased by 30%.]

[Helmet with Utopia]

[A helmet containing the future that the demon world dragon, who was obsessed with bluffing, was looking at. It has received the blessing of a transcendent being.

Rating: Legendary

Conditions: 3,500 strength, 2,900 physique

Durability: 9,999/9,999

Defense: 5,500

Effect: All stats +500, ‘Arrival of Utopia’ can be used (cooldown time: 48 hours.)

Arrival of Utopia: Recover all health and magic power. Clears all status abnormalities. Immunity to all adverse effects for 10 minutes.]

[Extreme Shoes of Freedom]

[Shoes made of the blood, bones, and skin of a dragon of a demon world who wanted to be freer than anyone else. It has received the blessing of a transcendent being.

Rating: Legendary

Conditions: 4,200 agility, 3,400 physique.

Durability: 9,765/9,765

Defense: 5,000

Effect: All stats + 500, ‘Infinite Freedom’ is available.

Infinite Freedom: Movement speed will increase by 50%. You can move freely in the air.]

“I have nothing to say.”

“By the way, why are you showing us this?”

“Do you want me to die of envy?”

Now the planning team employees didn’t even feel admiration. They felt no inspiration when they saw a tree that they could never reach. They just pleasantly let it slide.

“This isn’t the end, so you shouldn’t be like this already. There is still one more left.” Kale laughed louder at the staff members’ reaction. At this moment, the images and writing on the wall disappeared, and a few new sentences appeared.

[The Chaos Dragon (5/5) set has been worn.]

[The five-part set effect is applied.]

[All stats +1,000.]

[Increase the effect of magic power-related skills by 400%.]

[The skill ‘Dragon Fear’ can be used.]

[The skill ‘Manifestation of the Chaos Dragon’ can be used (Cooldown time: 24 hours.)]

[Dragon Fear: Mimics a dragon’s pressure and reduces the opponent’s stats by 35%.]

[Manifestation of the Chaos Dragon: By releasing the power of the chaos dragon, the effectiveness of all skills is increased by 100%.]

[Duration: 10 minutes.]

The staff members who read what was written on the wall were speechless. They were seeing these sentences for the first time in their lives.

“The effectiveness of the skills are doubled...?”

“Does that make sense?”

“Isn’t this outrageous?”

“Isn’t this the first time there is an item effect of increasing the skill effectiveness?”

They were shocked due to ‘Manifestation of the Chaos Dragon’. It was only for 10 minutes, but it increased the effectiveness of the player’s skills. This was already an unprecedented effect in Arena.

“Why are you showing this to us, Boss?” The attention of the planning team turned to Kale.

“Based on his improved specs, we must calculate Alley Leader’s winning percentage if he were to battle against the emperor.” Kale pressed the remote control again. Then the item effect disappeared, and another article appeared. Kale took the materials from Hyeonu and thought about it alone. As a result, he was able to create three possible cases.

“We will consider three cases in total. First, the emperor can’t use his left arm, and Alley Leader uses Tang-E’s buffs and item skills.”

“You placed Tang-E in the condition as well?”

Kale nodded. “Of course, I put him in. Tang-E is also a major power. He has received a tremendous increase in specs lately.”

Tang-E was a power that couldn’t be excluded. This didn’t mean that Hyeonu’s power would double, but it would definitely increase it.

“The second is similar to the first. It just adds the condition that he has received buffs from several temples.”

At the end of Kale’s words, one of the employees raised his hands and opened his mouth to say, “What is the extent of the level of the buffs?”

Kale thought for a while before soon coming up with an answer: “It is unconditionally the best. I think you can set it by the criteria of a top ranker.”

The priests with Hyeonu definitely had to be the best. Looking at New World alone, it was full of priest rankers. There was no need to talk about other helpers.

“Lastly, the third one... It is like the second without one thing. It is if the emperor has no injuries. Set the standard based on the normal emperor.”

The moment Kale finished speaking, the faces of the employees hardened. After a few minutes, they started to speak one by one.

“I don’t think we need to analyze the last one.”

“I agree with that.”

“We just have to think about the first two.”

The staff members ruled out Kale’s last case altogether. It was too obvious. There was no need to spend any time and effort thinking about it.

“In fact, I think so as well... Do we agree on this?” Kale smiled softly. He didn’t disagree with the employees of the planning team. He was just asking one more time for confirmation.

“Alley Leader will be defeated unconditionally. No matter who you ask, the answer will be the same.”

“All the advantages of Alley Leader don’t work against the emperor. The emperor’s stats are higher than Alley Leader’s.”

“It is the same for power and skills. Based on the video sent directly by Alley Leader, the emperor and Duke Lebron have the same teacher. In other words, the emperor’s swordsmanship is likely to be better than Alley Leader’s.”

The staff members gave their opinions the moment Kale’s words ended. They used arguments that supported their judgment.

“Okay, let’s analyze the first two. It will be one case a day. We will finish it tomorrow and send the data to Alley Leader the day after tomorrow.” Kale clapped and turned on the lights in the meeting room.