Ranker's Return

“Hey, hey! Gang Hyeonu!! Wake up, dude!” Yeongchan was shocked to see Hyeonu nodding off while eating .

“Are you not sleeping lately? Didn"t you take a break from streaming? Why are you playing Arena so ignorantly? Aren"t you going to think of your body? Will you only be playing the game for a month or two?” Yeongchan nagged at Hyeonu .

Hyeonu responded in a voice that was almost inaudible, “Yeongchan . . . I think I"m dying . It"s too hard . ”

“What the h.e.l.l are you doing? It has been like this for a week . ”

Hyeonu hadn"t slept more than four hours a day for the past week .  He had gotten no rest, and he had also postponed all his regular personal training sessions .  Hyeonu was only immersed in Arena .  It was a terrible thing .  He invested 20 hours a day only in hunting and would just hunt, hunt, and hunt again .

It was a crazy schedule .  Tang-E said it was too hard and fled to Bung Bung Island .

“I hunted and hunted . I have to level up . ”

Hearing the answer from Hyeonu who seemed to be missing his soul, Yeongchan shook his head .  “Well, I don"t know what you"re saying but do it in moderation . Don"t overdo it . ”

Hyeonu nodded hard as he felt the same way .  He didn"t know about one or two days but one week was impossible .  "If I hunt like this again in the future, I will go mad… mad . "

Hyeonu"s sword energy separated the troll"s head from its body .  It was a troll, but it couldn"t move with its head cut off .  After all, trolls weren"t dullahans .

[A contaminated mountain range troll has been killed . ]

[Experience has been acquired . ]

[You have leveled up . ]

[All health and magic power have been restored . ]

[Killed the Tattooed Monsters 99/???]

[Level 170/175]

"I"m finally level 170 . . . "

It was unreasonable yet rewarding .  This had been a week of intense hunting for a quest which he didn"t know when it would end .  During that time, Hyeonu experienced an average of four level-ups a day .

“No matter how fast the speed of the main scenario, it will take a week or two at the earliest . ”

Now it seemed like he could have a little room to breathe .  Surely this was the case… at least, until he returned to the imperial rangers camp and met Garon .

“The pre-preparations will end in three days . The imperial knights have already departed for here, the Hejin Mountains . ”

To Hyeonu, Garon"s words were like a bolt striking out of the blue .  Three days . . .

Even if the deadline was reduced, wasn"t this number too small?

“Huh? What are you talking about? You said a month . A month!!!” The fl.u.s.tered Hyeonu screamed involuntarily at Garon .  Garon"s words were absurd and outrageous .

“Didn"t I say a month at the latest?” Garon replied in a sly manner .

This person"s master, Duke Lebron, was the most cunning man in the empire .  However, this adventurer that was his disciple was very suitable for teasing .  It was hard to find such a naive person .  Garon opened his mouth, “I didn"t tell you the exact time, so I"ll give you another week . I"ll wait until then . ”

"Phew, I"m glad . " Hyeonu sighed with relief at Garon"s words .

Hyeonu had gained 30 levels in a week .  On the last day, he had gained two levels with much difficulty .  The problem was that the other large guilds were now in the Hejin Mountains, so he couldn"t hunt monsters as randomly as he had before .  

“Thank you . I"ll see you again in a week . ” Hyeonu bid farewell to Garon and tried to go hunting again .

It was urgent .

"I have to quickly go and hunt . "

At this moment, Garon stopped Hyeonu .  “Wait, will you do me a favor? The reward is enough to help you in your current state . ”

Helping the current Hyeonu meant giving him a lot of experience .  He could level up as much as possible .

"A favor? Is it a quest? One that will give me a lot of experience?"

Having received a sudden request from Garon, Hyeonu smiled while panicking .  “Of course, I should . After all, it is a request from Garon, leader of the imperial rangers . ”

“There isn"t much to the request . There is a great magician called Suped here in the Hejin Mountains . Tell Suped the information you know and get an answer from him . The problem is that his location is an ancient dungeon that he stumbled upon . ”

[A quest has been created . ]

[Great Magician Suped]

[Great Magician Suped is devoting himself to studying magic in an ancient dungeon . Inform him of the current situation and give his answer to Garon .

Rating: MS

Conditions: Deliver Suped"s answer to Garon 0/1

Rewards: Experience, Garon"s gift]

Garon held out a familiar-looking piece of parchment .

"Herard . . . " Hyeonu received the parchment .  It looked exactly like the parchment he had received from Herard .  There was no difference .

[Ancient Dungeon Scroll]

[A map that can move you to the ancient dungeon connected to Suped"s dungeon .

Rating: Common

Restrictions: None

Effect: Once used, you will be moved to the dungeon called the "Ancient Dungeon" . ]

The difference was that this parchment was completed from the beginning .

“I understand . I will go and meet Suped . ” Hyeonu tore the parchment on the spot .  He was surrounded by a white light and disappeared .

“Ah, didn"t I tell him? It is just as difficult as it is helpful . ” Garon"s expression wasn"t apologetic at all despite forgetting to convey this information to Hyeonu .  Rather, Garon looked like a naughty boy .

Hyeonu disappeared from Garon"s residence and reappeared in a huge s.p.a.ce that was reminiscent of the arena .  Hyeonu glanced around and muttered, “What? There are no paths?”

It was blocked everywhere .  At this moment, the s.p.a.ce shook .

-Welcome to Laek, the beginner"s academy of the Luos Empire .

“Laek? Where is the Luos Empire?” Hyeonu c.o.c.ked his head at the unexpected words .

The voice continued ringing in the s.p.a.ce, -Laek consists of a total of 10 stages . If you can fulfill the requirements of one stage, you can move onto the next one .  Then let"s start with Stage 1 .

Once the words finished, Hyeonu"s surroundings changed .  He was now in a square s.p.a.ce filled with sand, and it looked like heat was going to overflow . It was a backdrop that seemed to cause some frustration .

“A cla.s.sroom . . . ”

In front of Hyeonu, a desk and chair appeared .

-In Stage 1, we will test the basic literacy of the Luos Empire .  After reading the book on the desk and pa.s.sing the test, you can move on to Stage 2 .  The given time is 30 minutes .

[Time remaining - 29:59]

“s.h.i.+t,” Hyeonu cursed as he sat nervously in the chair .  Hyeonu didn"t hate reading .  During his time as a student, he studied hard and read books steadily .  This was the case even when he was in the army . In his boredom, there were no books he didn"t read, ranging from literature to fantasy to martial arts .  However, this was a story for reality .

"I have to read a book in a game?"

Besides, the book on the desk was pretty thick .  At first glance, it seemed to be over 300 pages .

“The t.i.tle is . . . History of Luos?”

The t.i.tle of the book also exuded a sense of boredom .

[Luos, the only empire on the continent, was founded by the first emperor Akan . At that time which was unlike now, it was an era where monsters and other species were dominant . Akan fought for human freedom . . .

(Omitted) .

The great magician Root speculated that Akan was able to unify the continent because he was a giant, not a human .

The evidence for this was that the royal family was powerful and huge in size . However, this argument was buried on the grounds that ordinary people could also have the characteristics of a specific race .

(Omitted) .

The territory of the Luos Empire occupied roughly half the continent .

The rest were the territories of monsters and many other species like lycanthropes, elves, orcs, dwarves, and so on .  There were a few species that have a hostile relations.h.i.+p with the empire . The most representative races are the elves and lycanthropes . ]

“It is more interesting than I thought?”

Hyeonu read the book quickly .  He originally already had a fast reading speed, but this book was about the history of Luos .  It was really interesting .  Hyeonu felt like he was reading an excellent fantasy novel .  The time Hyeonu was given to read the book quickly pa.s.sed by .

[Time remaining - 00:00]

[The test is starting . ] 

-Answer the questions listed in the given test .  You must exceed 80 points to move on to the next stage .

The voice faded away, and the desk was gone .  Then a one-meter-sized stone emerged from the ground .

“What? What is with these questions? How can I write down the answers?”

Hyeonu was annoyed by the absurdity of the situation .  Normally, a test would be written on a piece of paper, and a pen would be given to answer it .  Yet this . . .

It seemed he had to engrave the answers on the rocks .

“Umm . . .  The questions are easy . ”

There were five questions in total on the stone .

[1 . What is the name of the empire?

2 . What is the name of the first emperor?

3 . Describe two characteristics of the imperial family .

4 . Write down two races that don"t have a good relations.h.i.+p with the empire .

5 . There is a great magician who speculated that the first emperor was another race . What is his name?]

The answers to the questions were revolving around in Hyeonu"s mind .  However, he stood idly because he didn"t know how to write down the answers .

“Yes! Let"s carve it by hand . ”

Hyeonu struggled for a long time before coming up with a solution .  It was to carve the answers into the stone using magic power .  Hyeonu stretched out his index finger and rubbed it against the stone .  There was a black glow at the end of his index finger .

“Is it originally supposed to be cleared like this? Won"t it be too hard?”

Hyeonu had already been carving the answers on the stone for a long time when he suddenly had this question .  Still, this was only for a moment .  Then Hyeonu concentrated on writing again .

“Well, I just have to clear it . ”

Finally, Hyeonu carved all the answers onto the stone, and a voice could be heard ringing in the s.p.a.ce again .

-You"ve answered all the questions correctly .  Compensation will be paid before moving on to Stage 2 .

After that, the stone disappeared, and a small gate appeared .  It was a door to move to the next s.p.a.ce .

[Experience has been acquired . ]

“This really gives a lot?” Hyeonu exclaimed at the amount of experience he earned as a reward .  Currently, Hyeonu"s experience was what he gained from Garon after hunting the tattooed monsters .  He only completed Stage 1 yet he already had around one-third of the experience .

"If Stage 1 gives this much, I might not be able to reach level 175 if I clear all 10 levels but level 173 should be okay . "

Hyeonu smiled with satisfaction and walked through the gate .

-You"ve answered all the questions correctly .  Compensation will be paid before moving on to Stage 3 .

“Good, it is Stage 3 now . ”

The moment the gate was created, Hyeonu"s experience bar rose again .  He had only 20% experience remaining until level 171 .  Stage 2 wasn"t much different from the first one .  If there was a difference, the first stage was related to history while the second was related to culture and art .

“It is easy to learn, but why is it so hard to write down the answers?”

The level of knowledge was at a child"s standards .  However, the standard of force required was equivalent to that of NPC knights .  After a moment, Hyeonu threw himself straight through the gate .  Hyeonu was surprised when he arrived at the s.p.a.ce for Stage 3 .  It was because the background was too different .  If Stages 1 and 2 were typical cla.s.srooms, Stage 3 felt like a science room .  There was one more thing .

“Why is he here . . . ?”

A familiar figure was seated here .

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