Ranker's Return

Supplementary Story 10

It didn’t take long for the Baekyang Guild to be wiped out.

Hyeonu and the scorpion king—there were two disasters from the perspective of the Baekyang Guild. It was too much alone, but it was impossible to even properly resist because there were two of them. The moment when all of the Baekyang Guild members lay down on the Arti Desert as cold bodies, Hyeonu and the scorpion king also stopped moving.

They realized that the implicit alliance had come to an end.

‘Now it is the real one.’

Hyeonu smiled brightly at the scorpion king. His heart started to beat quickly.

‘I don’t like the desert, but...’

It was good.

A battle where he risked his life, not a one-sided battle, was waiting for him. Hyeonu felt his heart pounding, only to suddenly kick off against the ground. The sand was dug up deeply every time Hyeonu’s feet touched it. As Hyeonu moved, the scorpion king also started to move.

The scorpion king’s body swayed from side to side as he gently moved through the desert. It was the exact opposite of Hyeonu. There was one thing in common. They were very fast.

Hyeonu and the scorpion king reached each other in an instant. At the same time, they wielded their own weapons. Hyeonu’s sword cut through the air without a sound. The scorpion king lowered himself slightly and swung his huge tail like a whip.

‘A tail pattern from the start?’

Hyeonu momentarily worried over the scorpion king’s approaching tail. Should he retrieve the sword and evade or should he collide with it?

‘I’ll have to collide with it for now.’

Hyeonu’s choice was to counter it. It was the first time Hyeonu had actually dealt with the scorpion king. He needed some information. Then Hyeonu was pushed back for a long time in return for stopping the scorpion king's tail attack. Hyeonu pulled forward his center that had been pushed back. At the same time, he dug both feet into the sand.

“Sigh.” Hyeonu managed to stop and exhaled the breath that he had endured.

‘It is awful.’

The scorpion king was strong. It was worthy of being called a boss monster. A head-on confrontation seemed impossible.

‘It might be different if my class was a knight... not an assassin.’

He was pushed too much when it came to strength. However, it was fine.

‘It is going to be more interesting.’

The stronger the opponent was, the fierier he got. The fear of dying at any moment brought about greater joy.

‘Avoid a head-on confrontation... I should hit him from the side as much as I can.’

Hyeonu had some understanding of the scorpion king’s movements. He was confident that he was superior in terms of speed. Hyeonu started to run on the sand again. It was lighter than before. It was to the point where not even footprints were left.

As Hyeonu moved, the scorpion king also moved. The scorpion king approached Hyeonu with the same movements as before. The difference was that it was an attack from the pincers, not the tail.

The scorpion king’s giant pincer narrowed as if it was going to pick up Hyeonu. Hyeonu dodged the scorpion king’s attack by kicking off from the ground.

‘It is creepy up close.’

The force felt from the pincers was overwhelming.

He thought that there was a reason why the Baekyang Guild collapsed helplessly.

‘Still, I think it is worth fighting against.’

Hyeonu rose in the air and landed on the scorpion king’s pincer. At the same time, he lowered his sword without hesitation. The sword was covered in dark blue sword energy and casually penetrated the shell of the scorpion king. Hyeonu ran all over the pincer with the sword inserted. As Hyeonu ran, yellow-green essence poured out like a hot spring from the scorpion king’s pincer.

The scorpion king shook his body violently to drop Hyeonu, but Hyeonu took center stage by shaking his body flexibly like a tightrope walking master. Before he knew it, Hyeonu had moved halfway across the pincer. This also meant that the wound Hyeonu made was that long.

‘This could end more easily than I thought?’

He wasn’t careless. He just felt regret and pity.

‘If the boss monster is this easy... won’t it be too difficult later?’

For Hyeonu, the game had to be hard. It should be this taste. His interest would drop the moment it became easier. However, it took a really short time for Hyeonu to change his mind again. The scorpion king’s body shook and at the same time, a dark shadow appeared above Hyeonu’s head.

‘Huh?’

Hyeonu felt that the hot desert sun had disappeared for a moment and lowered his head to look at the scorpion king’s body. He saw an elongated shadow that had never been there before.

‘Shadow?’

The scorpion king moved his tail when he realized that he couldn’t drop Hyeonu just by shaking his body.

‘I have to avoid it!’

Hyeonu threw himself to the side without hesitation. Shortly after Hyeonu fell from the pincer, the scorpion king’s tail that was glowing green struck that spot.

“He attacked his own body?”

Hyeonu clicked his tongue at the scorpion king’s ignorant methods. Then he immediately started moving again.

‘The artificial intelligence isn’t easy.’

His carelessness was thrown away immediately. He was filled with the thought that he shouldn’t make complacent judgments.

‘How should I deal with him?’

Hyeonu stepped back to distance himself from the scorpion king.

‘I think I can not worry about that side.’

The long stab made by Hyeonu and the big hole made by the scorpion king—due to these two things, one of the scorpion king’s pincers was in a tattered state. It was surprising that it was still attached.

‘No, I would rather finish that side completely.’

Hyeonu decided to attack safely. He didn’t want to create any variables. Hyeonu moved diagonally. He slowly reduced the distance to the scorpion king and turned sideways.

The scorpion king wasn’t stupid. The scorpion king knew that Hyeonu was aiming for his damaged pincer. Therefore, he started to turn around and follow Hyeonu in place.

‘He is quick to notice.’

Hyeonu licked his lips. The scorpion king’s response was faster than expected. It was hard to believe he read Hyeonu’s intentions with just a simple movement.

“This is why I hate quick-witted kids.”

Hyeonu stopped moving diagonally and sprinted straight toward the scorpion king. The scorpion king responded to Hyeonu’s charge. He lowered his tail toward the jumping Hyeonu. Hyeonu changed the direction of his movement as soon as the scorpion king’s tail soared into the air. He ran to the left, not toward the scorpion king.

The scorpion king’s tail innocently turned over the desert. However, the tail attack didn’t end with just one blow. The moment it got stuck in the desert, it rose into the air and prepared to attack again.

‘As expected, there is a pattern of continuous attacks.’

It was what Hyeonu expected. He turned again without being surprised. Now he ran straight back toward the scorpion king. The scorpion king’s tail fell toward Hyeonu’s head. Hyeonu avoided the tail without difficulty this time. Just then, an unexpected attack came in. The scorpion king had rotated his body and swung his still intact pincer.

‘A pincer?’

Hyeonu rolled as soon as he felt the strong wind. However, it was too late to completely avoid the scorpion king’s pincers. The scorpion king’s pincer struck Hyeonu like a runaway locomotive.

However, the scorpion king swung his pincer again with red eyes as if he didn’t like something. The scorpion king turned and looked around. He was looking for something. Just then, a black figure slowly emerged on the head of the scorpion king.

“Where are you looking? I am here.”

The black figure was naturally Hyeonu.

‘I almost died.’

Hyeonu had moved his body as soon as the scorpion king’s pincer touched his body, minimizing the damage. Then he climbed straight up the pincer and used his Stealth skill. The scorpion king turned his head to look at Hyeonu. Hyeonu immediately thrust his sword into the scorpion king’s eye. It dug gently into the scorpion king’s eye as if digging into tofu.

‘Draw it right away!’

Hyeonu drew his sword at a faster rate than when he stabbed it. At the same time, he ran toward the scorpion king’s back. Hyeonu’s choice was very excellent. It was because the scorpion king started to glow as soon as Hyeonu moved. The scorpion king couldn’t stand the severe pain coming from his eye. He rolled around in the desert and shook his body wildly.

Hyeonu stabbed the sword into the scorpion king’s back and hung on. Then it moved back and forth in line with the scorpion king’s movements. As a result, the wounds on the scorpion king’s body also increased.

‘I have to hold on, hold on.’

“I will die right away if I fall.”

Hyeonu strengthened his willpower and added strength to the hand holding the sword.

‘It doesn’t make sense to miss the meat that I have caught.’

He had pushed this far so he couldn’t do that. The scorpion king’s glow seemed to last endlessly but it eventually ended. His movements slowed down as if he had lost his strength.

Hyeonu’s eyes shone when he felt it.

‘This much... I can do it.’

Hyeonu carefully drew out his sword and ran over the shell of the scorpion king. The scorpion king’s anger was reignited when Hyeonu’s presence was felt on his back, but the situation was already over. His physical strength had reached the limit. The scorpion king wanted to move his body, but it didn’t work out the way he wanted.

Hyeonu didn’t relax even though he felt the scorpion king’s movements gradually subside. He was running on the back of the scorpion king and it wouldn’t be strange if he was hit by a tail attack at any time. As if to not waste Hyeonu’s expectations, the tail of the scorpion king moved.

It soared high into the air and fell.

However, the speed wasn’t as fast as before.

Hyeonu dodged the scorpion king’s tail by rolling really lightly. The place where Hyeonu stopped rolling was right above the head of the scorpion king. Hyeonu knelt down and held the sword in reverse. Then he stabbed the sword down. It was so deep that only Hyeonu’s sword handle was visible.

Finally, the scorpion king’s eyes closed. The giant scorpion king, ruler of the desert, fell to the ground. It was the empty end of the scorpion king, one of the best bosses in the current Arena.

“Ah! This time it was a bit better.”

Hyeonu came down from the scorpion king’s body and stretched. He looked like he had been taking a light walk around the neighborhood.

***

“I was a bit careful because it was Reina’s live stream. Did you all have fun?”

-Fun? Are you telling me to believe this?

-Is there a streamer who does a solo raid as an assassin?

-Sir, do you want to be a pro gamer?

The viewers struggled to believe Hyeonu’s words, but it was meaningless. They were already thinking in their head that the story was true.

“Then I will stop the streaming here today. I’ll hear another story next time. See you again, everyone.”

Reina laughed at those viewers and ended the live stream.