Ranker's Return

Chapter 144

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“How did it go? Did you send it?” Kim Jinhwan asked Han Jaeyeol, who had finished talking to someone .  Kim Jinhwan’s expression seemed a bit nervous .  He might’ve shouted at the other players, but in fact, Kim Jinhwan was a young man of a similar age to Han Jaeyeol .

“He will stream it soon . No real names were mentioned, but I could tell who it is . This is how they are acting as a gate-keeper . ” Han Jaeyeol smiled brightly .  It was an impromptu plan, but it went smoothly .

“So when is the date?” Kim Jinhwan asked with a smile .

“It is fast . This Friday . ”

The sooner the date, the better it would be .  This way, they could decrease the number of times that they would act as proxy knights, and Yoon Hyeongu and his team would have less profit to take away .  Additionally, they would be accelerating toward their new beginning .

“It is a good day . ”

Hyeonu’s expression was unusual when he saw the email that Kale had sent him .

“Is this a professional team? What is Quency doing?” Hyeonu scolded Quency .

The level of Big Stars, the team involved in the report, was close to garbage .  No, it was just c.r.a.p .  It couldn’t be separated from garbage .

‘How did this place pa.s.s the regulations?”

The more he read, the more curious he became .  Arena was a game that cost a lot of money .  The monetary prizes offered for the continental or national leagues were enormous, and the amount that was received from streaming and advertis.e.m.e.nts was truly astronomical .  As such, Quency applied fairly tight regulations for the founding of clubs .  Big Stars could only become a formal club after pa.s.sing this .

“The director was changed in the middle? Since then, it was like this?”

The start was good for Big Stars .  The company that supported and founded Big Stars wasn’t a large one, but it was one of the largest medium-sized companies .  The problem was that due to a conflict with the mid-sized companies, Big Stars was thrown into the air and acquired by some type of force .  The name of this force was Ilsung Capital .  It was a company that gave off a bad smell .

“What are they doing in this place? Isn’t it a private moneylender?”

Hyeonu let Ilsung Capital go .  This part wasn’t something he could touch .

“The problem is the constant coercion to become proxy knights and the low salary . . . ”

These were the two real problems .  Once this was spread through his stream, Big Stars would be disbanded .  Of course, it didn’t matter because the players’ opinions were all in agreement .  However, this seemed to be insufficient revenge against the club and coaches who squeezed the players dry .

Hyeonu continued to think about it .

“Uwah! What should I do?”

The answer didn’t appear no matter how hard he thought about it .

So Hyeonu decided to just do it .

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[Alley Leader - Something you want to know . ]

Hyeonu chose a t.i.tle with a strong aggro .

‘I’m sure more people will come with this . ’

It was a shallow idea to increase the number of viewers .  Still, the aggro did well attracting an audience .  The audience numbers increased faster than usual .

-What is it this time?

-This room is really . . .  I can’t help but come in .

-He pulls attention very well .

-Is this a parody? Or is it like Alley Leader Academy?

-I don’t know .  We will know a bit later .

The viewers talked about Hyeonu’s t.i.tle before Hyeonu arrived .  However, they couldn’t get the right idea even if they talked back and forth .

“h.e.l.lo? It is Alley Leader . Today will be a fun stream!” Hyeonu started the live stream pleasantly .

-Hi hi .

-I’ve been waiting for today, seriously .

-Can’t you increase your streams by one day a week?

-I wanted to see you!

Hyeonu smiled when he saw the messages greeting him .  Money was money, but he was happy with these little things .  Hyeonu was now a true streamer .

“Today, I’m going to talk about a topic that is slightly heavy . It will probably be a surprise for everyone who hears it . ”

The chat room became noisy at Hyeonu’s words .  There was always an incident when Alley Leader said something like this .  Thus, it wasn’t unusual for viewers to react in this way .

-??? There is something again today?

-Then is it a parody?

-Who else did something wrong?

-What guild will he do the character deletion bet with this time?

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-Wow, will I get to see the character deletion bet after a long time?

The viewers all thought it was a character deletion bet .  The biggest thing Hyeonu did with the character deletion bet was to erase the Black Skull Guild and Aisis Guild .

“Today it isn’t like that . It is real life . ”

-Real life?

-Is he suddenly going to talk about politics or economics?

-It can’t be .  It must be related to Arena .

-Or is he talking about himself?

“That’s right . It is related to Arena . In fact, it has to do with Alley Leader Academy . ” Hyeonu paused for a bit .  This way, the viewers could focus more on himself .  “I received a report from a current professional gamer . He is Korean, so he is a Korean professional gamer . His exact ident.i.ty won’t be revealed . Do you all understand why?”

-I know we’ll get some details soon .

-What is the point of dragging things out?

-Tell me quickly .  I’m dizzy .

Hyeonu saw the reaction of the viewers and thought this was enough to start talking .  “There were two main things that were reported . One is that the club forced him to act as a proxy knight . The other thing is that unlike the contract, they lowered the annual salary payment . ”

-Wow, it is a complete XX dog .

-Crazy b.a.s.t.a.r.ds .  Getting pro-gamers to act for them?

-Then what about the kids who said they wouldn’t do it?

-The person above, aren’t you thinking at all? If they didn’t do it, then they would be penalized by being prevented from partic.i.p.ating in compet.i.tions or something else .

-Which club is it? Did he say it was Korean?

“As I said, I won’t reveal the club . There is concern that the ident.i.ty of the informant will be revealed . The biggest problem is that it might not only happen here . Honestly, the average age of professional gamers is just over 20 years old . How can a young person know how to deal with such a thing? They will just get tricked . ”

As he spoke, Hyeonu felt emotions overflow in his heart .  He felt something hot surge up in his heart .

“Honestly, isn’t it a pity for professional gamers to be proxy knights? Then they wouldn’t have become pros in the first place . After all, a proxy knight is more profitable . However, being a pro means you have a desire to be a pro-gamer itself . Now, adults who are much older than them are exploiting them, and they’re not getting money . ” 

The viewers became angry after hearing Hyeonu’s words .  Simultaneously, more than a million viewers started looking for the Korean Arena team .

-First, exclude those who are sponsored by big companies .  There is no reason for them to do such a thing, and they get a lot of money .

-Right .  Their salaries are high .

-So how many are left? Is it two or three?

-Big Stars, Cube, and Gelato—only these three aren’t from large companies .  However, Gelato is a team that’s directly controlled by the a.s.sociation, so it isn’t possible .

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-Then there are two teams left—Big Stars or Cube .

The viewers started to look for a team that matched the conditions based on Hyeonu’s scattered information .  The candidates were quickly selected .  They were Big Stars and Cube .  Hyeonu saw this and found it a bit scary .

‘Crazy . It took them less than 5 minutes to determine the candidates . ’

On the other hand, Hyeonu was wondering how to indirectly reveal it was Big Stars .

‘Um . . .  Yes . ’

Hyeonu decided to use the mouth of another person to reveal more accurate information .

“Wait a minute, I’m going to call someone, so I have to turn off the microphone for 30 seconds . ”

Hyeonu made a one-sided declaration to the audience and opened the friends window .  Fortunately, the person Hyeonu wanted to call was currently connected to Arena .

‘Will he be able to come?’

-To Lee Hoon: It has been a while, Lee Hoon .  Do you have some time today?

Hyeonu carefully sent a whisper and prayed .  He prayed that Lee Hoon was in a village and that he didn’t go hunting .

Lee Hoon replied immediately .  

-From Lee Hoon: -Yes, the hunt is over, and I’m resting .  I was about to shut down the connection .  What is it? Did something happen?

‘Phew . ’ Hyeonu let out a small sigh .  He was glad .  It would’ve been very difficult if Lee Hoon hadn’t replied positively .

-To Lee Hoon: Do you know Big Stars? They are acting as proxy knights .  I want you to come to my stream for a while and talk about them .

-From Lee Hoon: Ah . . .  Is that so? By the way, how did you know about this? Few people know . . .  Well, I’ll come .

-To Lee Hoon: I’m currently at Deer Castle .  Come here .

Lee Hoon was a bit surprised by Hyeonu’s sudden whisper, but he felt happy .  His goal still remembered him .  However, he also had a question .

‘How did he know about Big Stars?’

It had been a long time since Big Stars started acting as proxy knights .  The moment the club was acquired, they started acting as proxy knights, and it had already been half a year .  Only a few proxy knights and their agents knew about this, including Lee Hoon .

‘It isn’t public knowledge . Who gave the report?’

Lee Hoon shook his head and started moving to Hyeonu’s location .

A short time later, Lee Hoon arrived at Hyeonu’s position .

“h.e.l.lo, I am appearing for the second time . I am Heder, a former proxy knight . ”

The viewers questioned the masked man who suddenly appeared and greeted them .

-This stream is a gathering of masked people . . .

-Was this person called Heder?

-Is it because he is a proxy knight?

-However, why is he a former proxy knight? Did he quit being a proxy knight?

“Yes, this is the person I called earlier . Still, I’m only finding out for the first time that he is a former proxy knight . ” Hyeonu was also surprised by Lee Hoon’s words .

Lee Hoon had quit being a proxy knight .

‘He didn’t quit Arena though . . . Did he make enough money?’ Hyeonu thought up to here and was no longer bothered .

In any case, he wasn’t Lee Hoon .  He naturally wouldn’t know what Lee Hoon was thinking .

“I only want to ask one thing . Is there really a club in South Korea that is acting as proxy knights?”

Despite Hyeonu’s sudden question, Lee Hoon replied calmly without panicking .  He knew this question would be asked from the moment Big Stars was mentioned in the whisper .  “It isn’t exact, but I heard from the agent that Big Stars is getting a lot of sales . In particular, it is said they would sweep all the orders below the bronze medal . ”

There was a smile on Hyeonu’s face under the mask .  Hyeonu’s best-case scenario was achieved .  It was an impromptu plan, but it was perfect .  He mentioned Big Stars, so he took a step back .  All that was left was to mobilize the power of Arena fans around the world .

“I see . . . There was such a rumor . ”

Hyeonu responded naturally like he was hearing it for the first time .  He was even disgusted .  However, no viewers questioned Hyeonu .  Their attention was already all on Big Stars .

-Wow, it is Big Stars .

-No wonder why the children’s faces were very gloomy in the last league match .

-Who said it was best to eat bibimbap with canned tuna .

-It isn’t tuna bibimbap, it is soy sauce egg rice, idiot .

-Now it has really become pine nuts—Big Stars .

“Yes, it has really become pine nuts,” Hyeonu murmured in a low voice .  [1]

[1] I was confused about this and asked a fellow translator . He presumes it is implying they"re too poor for anything better than those foods . Like they"re so screwed that"s all they"ll be able to afford .

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