Ranker's Return

‘Give this to them. Give this to the other kids...’

He had to send out hundreds of quests everywhere.

-To Kalen: Please put a bit more pressure on the players. Please move the undead tightly.

-To Rain: Fight as much as possible without touching the castles.

-To Teika: Just do it as you are doing now.

At the same time, he also had to control three battlefields.

-They seem to be getting pushed?

-Isn’t it a miracle for the Yuxin Empire to stop it in the first place?

-That’s right. Last time, the NPCs of the League of Different Species did it.

That wasn’t all. Hyeonu had turned on his live stream as usual, so he was looking at the fast-paced chat window as well.

‘My eyes are going to fall out.’

Hyeonu rubbed his eyes with his hands. His eyes hurt because he kept staring at something without a break.

‘Still, it is good. It is better working.’

Nevertheless, Hyeonu didn’t rest. It was because a short break could ruin the efforts he had made so far. Hyeonu looked at the chat window and spoke as if he was analyzing the battlefield, “However, it won’t be pushed so far. The subjects of this war are players, not NPCs.”

-Come to think of it, this is the case.

-It is definitely player-oriented.

-The god tribe NPCs seem to only be defending, right?

-The NPCs of the Yuxin Empire never come out from the walls.

The viewers who didn\'t know the inside matters were amazed by Hyeonu’s analysis.

“The problem is the different species. I think more rankers have switched than I thought. The front line is at a bit of a disadvantage.”

-Teika is too fierce. A minimum of two of three rankers must team up to become his opponent.

-Argon is pretty strong as well? There is no answer unless they are rankers.

-It just seems like the species advantage is too good.

-However, the quest to change species is really hard. It has to be that much.

-Of course. The quest made me throw up. I can see why even rankers don’t want to do it.

Hyeonu shook his head. This wasn’t the reason why they were pushed in the battle against the League of Different Species.

‘The numbers on our side are much higher.’

“Still, it makes no sense. There are far more rankers belonging to the empire than rankers who have gone to the league. The gap is even worse when including other top players. So why are we being pushed? This means the big guilds haven’t really become involved yet.”

-Ah, that’s right.

-Still, there are three battlefields...

-Even if it is three places, the number should be dozens of times higher.

-I think the undead side doesn’t even have tens of thousands of players, right? Even if there are quite a few high-level dark gamers. The number is too small.

-The god tribe is similar. Most of them haven’t even done the third class advancement.

“That is why I am working hard right now, viewers.”

Hyeonu waved the jade seal in his hand.

“I am working hard at handing out quests. It is in order to bring the big guilds in.”

-A buster call.

-It is a half-forced call.

-As expected of His Majesty the Emperor ㅋㅋㅋ

“I think the battlefield will remain a bit tight for the week.”

Hyeonu made a proud expression. It was like the face of a child who wanted something for his efforts.

-Ah, you want gold coins?

-This habit isn’t fixed even after becoming emperor.

-What are you doing? Hurry and throw it quickly.

The viewers immediately noticed what Hyeonu wanted.

-Alley Monster has gifted you 18 gold coins.

-Tang-E’s Fan has gifted you 18 gold coins.

-Gom-E and Tang-E is the Best has gifted you 18 gold coins.

The individual sponsors didn’t give large amounts. However, there were so many viewers watching the live stream, so he was able to receive a huge number of gold coins in an instant.

“Thank you all, I will work harder from now on.”

Hyeonu bowed to the viewers.

‘I don’t know how long it will be till then.’

The smile that spread across Hyeonu’s face lingered for a long while.

***

Only two sheets of paper remained in front of Hyeonu after the live stream ended. He had dealt with the huge volume of paper work.

[Lead the Holy Kingdom’s Reinforcements]

[The undead army has raided the northern part of the empire. Borrow the power of the Holy Kingdom to make up for the lack of power.

Rating: S+

Conditions: Arrival of the Holy Kingdom’s reinforcements at the battlefield in the north 0/1

Rewards: Experience, imperial contribution.]

Hyeonu looked down at the piece of paper and smiled. This was the only thing he dealt with so far that would be of great help.

“It will be a little gift.”

The quest already had an owner—New World.

Kim Seokjung and Gang Junggu were the owners.

[Please select a solution.]

[Dispatch an imperial delegation.]

[Dispatch an adventurer’s guild.]

There was no need to think about it. The seal was already heading toward the second option.

[You have chosen a solution.]

[Please set up the rewards.]

[Experience.]

[Experience and imperial contributions.]

[Experience and items.]

[Experience and...]

‘Experience with some imperial contributions.’

No matter how friendly he was with Kim Seokjung, his work and personal life were separate.

[Ending the government affairs.]

[Compensation will be paid.]

[The remaining compensation will be paid when Lead the Holy Kingdom’s Reinforcements is resolved.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[You have acquired 32 empire contributions.]

It was the first political matter in a long time that he felt was pleasant to handle.

‘What is the last one?’

Hyeonu smiled as he looked at the following documents.

[Request for Help from the North]

[The northernmost city of the empire is asking the imperial palace for help. They are fighting against the invasion of the undead. Help them fight the war.

Rating: S+

Conditions: Arrive at the battlefield in the north 0/1.]

Rewards: Experience, imperial contribution.]

‘This is also related to the north.’

Hyeonu moved his hand mechanically. He had seen too many documents like this to react to each one.

[Please select a solution.]

[Dispatch an imperial knights division.]

[Organize an adventurer’s suppression team.]

[Dispatch the Knights of Keon.]

“Eh?” Hyeonu’s eyes widened. Then he blinked again and again. It was like someone who had seen something miraculous.

“Is this real?!”

Hyeonu cheered as soon as he realized that the message window in front of him wasn’t a mistake.

[Dispatch the Knights of Keon.]

This sentence excited Hyeonu.

‘I can go out.’

It was a type of key. It was the key to escaping the stuffy and boring imperial palace.

‘Quickly, quickly!’

Hyeonu held the seal with trembling hands.

[You have chosen a solution.]

[Please set up the rewards.]

[Experience.]

[Experience and imperial contributions.]

[Experience and items.]

[Experience and...]

‘There is no need for this.’

However, he had to do it. He had to choose something.

‘Then let’s just get some experience.’

Hyeonu stamped the seal on the paper again.

[Ending the government affairs.]

[Compensation will be paid.]

[The remaining compensation will be paid when Request for Help from the North is resolved.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[You have acquired 13 empire contributions.]

“The end!!!”

Hyeonu shot up from his seat. He wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.

‘I am going!’

***

In the northern part of the empire where a cold breeze was blowing, there was a man dressed in thin leather running through such a place. The man’s movements were very light and quick. They were so swift that the monsters around him didn’t dare to charge at him.

‘Am I going to arrive soon?’

The man running through the snow was Hyeonu. He used the return scroll to move to the north, but he didn’t join the battlefield. Instead, Hyeonu passed through it and entered the glacier zone. Then he ran to the iceberg, the deepest part of the undead kingdom.

“Who are you?” someone shouted from a distance the moment Hyeonu arrived at the iceberg.

“Receive the guest!” Hyeonu responded with a voice full of excitement.

“A guest? There can be no such thing.”

The one shouting had come close enough for Hyeonu to see him. It was a knight wearing skeleton armor.

Hyeonu lightly ignored the knight’s words and conveyed his intentions, “Why not? I am here. Please guide me to Edward.”

“Death to the intruder!” The knight judged Hyeonu’s words as sophistry. He immediately drew a sword and swung it. The black pure energy quickly shot at Hyeonu.

“The first thing you do is aim a sword at your guest... The response is very poor.”

Hyeonu didn’t dodge the pure energy. Rather, he shot forward and swung his sword at the flying pure energy. Hyeonu’s disastrous attack split the pure energy in half and sent it flying until it slammed into the ground of the iceberg.

“Be a guide. I don’t have time for jokes.” Hyeonu suddenly placed his sword against the knight’s neck.

Then the knight stopped trying to wield the sword. He wanted to say something to Hyeonu, but in the end, only his lips moved. “Follow me.”

Eventually, the knight put the sword in the sheath, turned around, and started to climb the iceberg.

“Good, very good,” Hyeonu said. Like the knight, Hyeonu put his sword away and climbed the iceberg with a smile.

‘Am I already here?’

Hyeonu glanced at the knight, who was starting to slow down a bit, and turned his head to look around. The terrain was a bit familiar. There was a memory of seeing it before.

‘I’m here.’

That was it for the knight’s role. Hyeonu left the knight alone and slammed off from the ground, shooting forth at an explosive speed.

‘This way.’

Hyeonu ran according to his memory. As if to prove that Hyeonu’s memory wasn’t wrong, a fortress that didn’t match the iceberg at all appeared. Hyeonu jumped a few times and crossed the wall.

‘It is over there.’

He ran toward a familiar place. There was a huge chair with a man sitting on it.

Hyeonu naturally walked in front of the man and greeted him, “It has been a while, Edward.”

“I want to rip your body apart.” The man, Edward, glared at Hyeonu. “Just how big is your liver for you to move so carelessly? I’m curious.”

“My liver? It is as big as a bean. I have a lot of fear. I will never move without any odds.” Hyeonu received Edward’s words gently. He wasn’t pushed at all.

“Where is John Blake?” Hyeonu looked for John Blake around Edward.

Edward shook his head. “I don’t know. He is somewhere.”

‘He really doesn’t know...’ Hyeonu frowned. Judging from Edward’s expression and tone, it didn’t seem at all like he was lying.

“Where would he be?” Hyeonu asked the question again.

Once again, Edward’s head shook from side to side. “I don’t know. I spend most of the day here.”

“What do you know then?”

Right when Hyeonu was getting annoyed, someone put their hand on Hyeonu’s shoulder from behind. Hyeonu reflexively turned his head to look.

“What brings you here?” Standing there was John Blake.

“I’m here to talk to you,” Hyeonu replied with a very polite expression.

“It could have been conveyed through other adventurers... What should be done if the emperor leaves his spot like this?”

“It is that important.”

“Important?”

“I intend to transfer my power as emperor before the war ends.”

John Blake’s eyes widened.