Ranker's Return

Chapter 932

Hyeonu took a reasonable amount of time to do the work. He didn’t rush in. He made his own reasonable calculations.

‘There are two days before Suped finds a way to undo the curse.’

The curse wouldn’t get worse as time passed, but it was natural that the energy would be consumed. Little by little, it would definitely weaken. It was because this was what a curse was. That wasn’t the only thing Hyeonu had to consider. There was one more issue that hadn't been decided yet.

‘Should I bring the troops of my territory?’

The descendants of the Luos Empire gathered in Phinis—he was worried over whether to call them or not.

‘It is the matter of calling them.’

They were naturally a great force. They must be helpful. However, calling them was a serious problem. The emperor had great informants that Hyeonu didn’t know about. The number of descendants of the Luos Empire wasn’t small. Once they moved, they would almost definitely stand out to the informants.

There was no way out of it.

‘No matter how they scatter and move... they will definitely be caught.’

It was very rare for thousands of NPCs to leave Etono. Tens of thousands of adventurers came in and out in a day, but NPCs were different. It was hundreds at most.

‘I’ll have to confirm it once again.’

Hyeonu thought that he should visit the imperial palace again. This time, his goal wasn’t simply to meet the emperor. The goal was to wander around the entire imperial palace to see how much power there was in the palace.

‘Let’s go right away.’

Hyeonu didn’t hesitate to move toward the imperial palace. Now every minute and second was important. If there was something he needed to do, he had to do it as quickly as possible. This way, he would have time to deal with it if another variable popped up.

‘I have to be careful, be careful.’

Hyeonu entered the imperial palace very carefully. This time, he didn’t enter through the gates of the imperial palace. He secretly crossed the wall.

‘Was there always... no people like this?’

Hyeonu got a strange feeling as he walked around the palace. There were too few NPCs in sight. It was to the extent that this could be called the castle of a small territory, not the imperial palace. It was only this much, no matter how high he estimated it.

‘This much... I don’t need Phinis’ troops, right?’

The total number of NPCs that Hyeonu saw when walking around the imperial palace was a bit over 500 in total. There were also no strong NPCs. There were just ordinary soldiers on patrol.

‘Is there something I don’t know about?’

Hyeonu couldn’t erase the thought that it was strange. The small number of NPCs was definitely a good thing for Hyeonu. However, common sense told him that it didn’t look right.

‘Let’s go around some more.’

Hyeonu decided to go around a bit more. Of course, he didn’t go close to the great hall that contained the emperor.

Hyeonu moved again in a very secretive manner. As a result of visiting the palace, Hyeonu set the next day as the day to carry out the plan and contacted the others.

‘It is a good thing...’

He simply decided to go. The absence of any strong NPC was a good sign. All he had to do was finish the work before they showed up. Hyeonu glanced at the imperial palace with a smile on his face and left the palace.

A bear with seven-colored fur was floating above the spot where Hyeonu had been standing just now.

***

Near the imperial palace of the Yusma Empire...

A group of people gathered with their faces covered by masks. It was a very strange sight, but no one cared about them. Even if it wasn’t them, there were too many people wearing similar masks. There were many people who followed Hyeonu and wore the masks he wore.

“Are you all here?” Hyeonu asked while looking at the people gathered. He couldn’t tell who was who due to the masks. On top of that, many people changed their appearance using items in order to hide their identity.

“New World is here.” Gang Junggu was the first to answer Hyeonu’s question.

“I’m here as well.”

“I came too.”

Reina and Mascherano followed suit.

“All of Kowloon has come as well.” Liu Shei replied on behalf of the Kowloon Guild.

“Teika is here as well, Alley Leader.”

“I came too.”

Finally, there were Rain and Teika. The two of them answered at the same time.”

“Thank you all for coming.”

Hyeonu confirmed that all the people had come and walked forward slightly.

“Let me briefly explain what you are going to do. You will follow me into the imperial palace. You just need to clean up the surroundings so I can fight the emperor. That is your role.”

Hyeonu very simply explained what his assistants should do. It was a simple explanation. It was so simple yet the listeners had questions.

“Is the number of people enough? Based on what I know, there are a great deal of troops stationed in the imperial palace...” Liu Shei asked in a concerned voice. This was a natural question. He had also entered the imperial palace several times. Every time he came, he felt the fierce gazes of the NPC soldiers and knights pouring toward him from all sides.

“I checked and for some reason, there is only a very small number of NPC soldiers. The number of people gathered here is enough to respond to them.” Hyeonu had a duty to address their concerns. “It is hundreds at most. The number of knights that are hard to deal with is less than 10.”

Everyone nodded at Hyeonu’s detailed description. This was enough to handle.

“Can you do it alone?” Teika was worried about something else.

Hyeonu was dealing with a monster called the emperor alone. Teika was often beaten by a monster called Raccoon, so he knew how strong monsters of that level were. To be honest, he was still thinking in his heart that Hyeonu was too reckless. A wounded monster was still a monster.

“It might take 10 or 20 years if it isn’t now.”

Hyeonu also knew what Teika was worried about. Still, it was natural that a challenge would be accompanied by risks.

High risks, high returns. This was the phrase that defined Hyeonu’s Arena play.

“I will make a bet with all the buffs. I will receive it last.”

Hyeonu started to make the preparations. It started with the buffs. In fact, that was it. Other than that, all they had to do was check the amount of recovery potions that each individual could use.

“The buffs are finished. Now only Alley Leader needs to receive them.”

After some time, everyone except for Hyeonu finished receiving the buffs.

“I understand.”

Hyeonu heard the words of the priests and immediately turned toward the imperial palace. The priests’ buffs poured out toward Hyeonu, who had turned his back. The buffs of the priests from different temples were infused in Hyeonu’s body.

‘A guild is really good at times like this.’

Hyeonu preferred to go around alone rather than in a party, but he realized how comfortable and good a party was the moment he received the buffs.

“Tang-E, come here.”

Hyeonu received all the buffs before calling Tang-E, who was sitting on one side. Tang-E ran over and settled on Hyeonu’s head.

“The buffs, please.”

Tang-E buffed Hyeonu the moment Hyeonu’s words were over.

[You have received Bear's Momentum.]

[Physique has increased.]

[Strength has increased.]

[You have received the Forest's Blessing.]

[Defense has increased.]

[Health will continue to recover.]

[You have received Breath of the Wind.]

[Your agility has risen.]

[Your movement speed has increased.]

There were only three buffs, but they weren't inferior at all to any of the ranker buffs he had received so far. It was able to stand shoulder to shoulder with them.

“You can follow behind me.”

Then Hyeonu started to run at a moderate speed. Hyeonu casually crossed the wall of the imperial palace. It was the same spot he had crossed a few days earlier. The other rankers followed behind Hyeonu and also lightly crossed the wall.

It was a wall crossing that took place in broad daylight.

***

‘It is wrong.’

This was the thought in Hyeonu’s mind when he arrived near the great hall. Hyeonu also realized that the current situation was too contrived.

‘How can there be no NPCs?’

They might be rankers, but they still numbered more than a dozen. They were running, but no one came out. It was as if it was empty.

“Intruders!”

“Stop them!!!”

“It is a rebellion!!!”

“Stop them from reaching His Majesty!!!”

Just then, more than a hundred NPCs appeared from somewhere as if to prove that Hyeonu’s thoughts were wrong. It was the appearance of the imperial knights, who had their entire bodies wrapped in colorful, heavy armor.

“Leave this to us,” Kim Seokjung said while raising his fists.

“Hurry up and go.”

“We should stay true to our respective roles.”

The others also tried to send Hyeonu away. It was because it was the right thing to do.

“I understand. Then I’ll go first.”

Hyeonu nodded and started to run like a ghost toward the great hall. It was with a different speed than how he had been running so far. The imperial knights saw Hyeonu disappear and stopped in place. Instead, they started to clear the way.

Someone walked through the path they created.

“Everyone, I recommend you stop here.”

It was a man in a fancy robe. Among the helpers called by Hyeonu, there were quite a few who knew the man. No, there was no one who didn’t know him. It was because the man was such a famous NPC.

“Duke Suped...”

The man’s name was Suped. He was the emperor’s favorite great magician.

“If you know who I am, then put your weapons away, unless you want to die.”

Suped gestured and hundreds of magic circles filled the air. At the startling sight, everyone followed Suped’s words and put their weapons away.

“Well done. Additionally, you don’t have to be discouraged. You will be the hands and feet of the empire in the future.”

Suped smiled as he got rid of the magic circles.

***

Hyeonu rushed to the great hall and was able to face the emperor.

The emperor sat on the throne with an unusually white face and greeted Hyeonu, “You came?”

The emperor’s gaze was as sluggish as ever. His eyes seemed to have no strength at all.

Hyeonu didn’t answer the emperor’s question. He just kept his mouth shut.

“Why aren’t you talking?”

The emperor rose and leaned forward slightly. The emperor’s presence filled the great hall in an instant.

“I will ask again. You came?”

The emperor got up from the throne and started walking down toward Hyeonu.

“Yes, I’m here. Your Majesty,” Hyeonu replied reluctantly.

‘Wasn’t he cursed?’

At the same time, he had a hunch that things were completely wrong. A person under a curse couldn’t release such pressure.

“Duke Suped... has he been here?” Hyeonu asked in a small voice.

“He just came and left. He is probably on his way out by now.”

The emperor had come down halfway from the throne.

“The curse... I’m glad that you have been cured.”

Hyeonu’s body moved backwards little by little. The thought of leaving this position dominated his mind.

“Glad...? Is that so...?”

The emperor’s every step narrowed the distance between the two of them. Now they could reach each other just by stretching out their fists.

“Huh? What do you mean...?” Hyeonu asked with a face like he didn’t know anything.

“I’ve never been cursed in the first place.”

The emperor’s teeth, visible between his open mouth, shone white.

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