Ranker's Return

Supplementary Story 4

A period of stagnation or an ice age—this was what some people called the present state of Arena.

-What a bunch of nonsense!

-Arena is an immortal game.

-There is no way it is going to be ruined.

-The upward curve hasn’t been broken yet.

Some people countered that it was nonsense. Arena had steadily increased its number of subscribers, and it had now surpassed one billion. It had risen to an unprecedented position for a virtual reality game. Nevertheless, the controversy continued. Part of it was caused by famous streamers and journalists.

-The growth engine has already stopped.

-It has been a few months since no new content appeared.

-Repetitive leveling up through only hunting and quests is possible in any virtual reality game.

It was the absence of new content that they took issue with. Arena had started releasing content at an unprecedented speed after Alley Leader appeared—or to be precise, after Hyeonu returned. Akin to the wheels of a stalled cart that started to roll, the main scenario continued relentlessly, and new areas such as the different species, the demon world, and the divine world were revealed one after another.

All of that momentum ceased when Hyeonu became emperor. The constantly rolling wheels stopped, and nothing new appeared. Nevertheless, there was a reason why this opinion didn’t become mainstream. It was because there were still so many people who didn’t properly grasp and enjoy the content Hyenou had discovered. Even after one or two years, there were hundreds of millions of players who couldn’t hunt properly in the demon world or divine world.

The amount of content that Hyeonu had unearthed was too vast to discuss a crisis. During such a time, there were other people who were searching for new content.

“Is this the right way?” Kim Seokjung, a man in the prime of his life who was wearing white armor, asked with a frown.

“I don’t know exactly... It is probably right. Combining the clues that you have with the clues that we have... It is this way.” The one who replied with a smile was Ket—the master of the Pioneer Guild, Arena’s number one explorers’ guild.

‘This is for certain.’ Ket thought belief in it went beyond that of a conviction that this was true. It couldn’t be wrong. Both the map Jin Sijong brought and the information the Pioneer Guild obtained pointed to the fact that the Holy Kingdom existed beyond the desert in the western part of the empire.

“Is that so? Then I will trust you once.” Kim Seokjung patted Ket’s shoulder. Then he disappeared toward the place where the other members of New World were.

“It won’t be long now, Jin Sijong!” Ket shouted toward Kim Seokjung’s back as he walked away. These words soon became a reality.

“The Holy Kingdom seems to be over there,” Ket cried out as he pointed to the wall in the distance.

“Is that the case? We crossed the desert... Is this really the Holy Kingdom?”

“Hey, would there be a desert kingdom out here all of a sudden? Do the developers have that much time?”

“Right? Isn’t that right? Then is it over now?”

The Pioneer Guild erased the small anxiety that had appeared in their mind. They thought the wall in front of them was unconditionally the Holy Kingdom. Other cases were not considered.

“Now I want to do something.”

“I hate just walking and hunting.”

“It doesn’t matter if it isn’t the Holy Kingdom. Let’s do some quests.”

The thing that the Pioneer Guild needed was a result. It was a result that would compensate them for their weeks of hard work.

“Wait here. I’ll go out and see.” Kim Seokjung confidently approached the wall.

Gang Junggu stared at the city walls and gave an order to the other guild members, “Buff Hyung-nim.”

The priests from New World poured buffs toward Kim Seokjung without overlapping. A colorful divine power covered Kim Seokjung’s body. Kim Seokjung’s walk stopped at a point quite far from the wall.

“I am a monk and adventurer who serves Sun God Liru. Is this the Holy Kingdom?” Kim Seokjung shouted loudly toward the city walls.

Just then, someone naturally appeared on the city wall. It was Andersen, a man in silver armor. He smiled and introduced the city to Kim Seokjung: “Yes, this is Reme, the gateway city to the Holy Kingdom. It acts as a shield to protect the Holy Kingdom.”

“I was contacted and informed that famous adventurers from the continent are coming. Are you them?”

At the same time, Andersen’s eyes shifted to the New World and Pioneer Guild members standing behind Kim Seokjung.

“Contacted? Was it the temple by any chance?”

“If this was the case, just tell us where to go.”

“Or give us a perfect map.”

The members of New World started murmuring to each other. It wouldn’t have taken so long to arrive here if they had been informed from the beginning.

“Don’t complain too much. They all have circumstances,” Andersen said to the New World Guild. It was an attempt to quell the fire they were showing.

“Those who grew up in the Holy Kingdom go on an ascetic journey called wandering. It is to wander the entire continent while preaching the will of the gods. On the other hand, those born and raised on the continent will go on a pilgrimage. That is what you went through.”

The members of the New World Guild kept their mouths shut. It was a principle that applied to everyone here, so it was stupid to complain.

“Then go ahead and open the gate. Everyone is exhausted,” Kim Seokjung said.

Kim Seokjung knew it best. No, he knew it from the beginning. After all, this was the Holy Kingdom, not anywhere else. Priests belonging to the temples didn’t receive accurate information about how to find their roots. It was obvious to anyone that it was a test.

‘My dongsaeng said it.’

It wasn’t Kim Seokjung who thought of this. It was actually what Hyeonu had said when he heard Kim Seokjung’s story. This was why Kim Seokjung was able to treat Andersen like this without much change in his expression from the very beginning.

“You are always calm. You have exceptional talent as a commander.” Andersen admired it. The adventurer in front of him was different from other adventurers. There was very little agitation in his emotions.

‘This type of person is a necessary talent for the temple...’

“It is a pity that our gods are different. I wish you served Luna...” Andersen expressed his regret. The divine power he felt from Kim Seokjung was definitely that of Sun God Liru. It felt so intense that it was impossible for his abilities to be of a low level. This made Andersen even more regretful.

“Open the gate. The pilgrims have arrived.” Andersen brushed off his regrets. Then he started to perform the duties given to him. He was a person who greeted pilgrims and wanderers at the same time.

The tightly closed gate opened.

“Let’s all go in.”

New World and the Pioneer Guild entered Reme through the open gate. Reme had a peaceful country atmosphere. The word ‘quiet’ really suited it.

“Welcome to the Holy Kingdom, adventurers.” Andersen came down from the walls and greeted the players. “I hope you will help the Holy Kingdom a lot. The Holy Kingdom needs adventurers.”

“What’s happening in the Holy Kingdom?” Kim Seokjung grabbed onto Andersen’s words the moment the latter finished speaking. He had a feeling there was something.

“It isn’t a big deal. We just need a new wave of people.”

The thing that the Holy Kingdom needed now was manpower. There were many priests who wanted to retire, but there was no one to replace them. Under such circumstances, adventurers had appeared.

“Go to the temple of the god that you serve. Then you will naturally know what to do...” Andersen was talking to the players when he suddenly shut up. Then he turned his head to look somewhere.

“Why did you stop talking?”

New World and the Pioneer Guild saw it and naturally looked in the same direction as Andersen.

‘What?’

There was a group of men and a woman walking leisurely in the direction they were looking. The atmosphere around them was amicable. Once someone said something, everyone laughed together.

“The emperor?”

“The disappeared emperor is in the Holy Kingdom?”

“He was injured and is trying to recover... Did he come to the Holy Kingdom as well?”

The appearance of one of the men was something that players were familiar with. The man was the emperor of the Yusma Empire. The one who had left the position of emperor to Alley Leader was in this place.

“It is nice to see you looking like this. I have to go back to the empire now. The time has come.”

“Aren’t you speaking nonsense, Alexander? Where are you going?”

“Mother, Father is the emperor of the empire. He is someone who can’t be absent for a long time.

“Yes, Master is the great emperor of the empire.”

Alexander nodded while feeling delight at the words of his Tung-E and his only son, Heizer. On the contrary, Angela’s face was cold and hard. It wasn’t inferior when compared to the chill of the perpetual snow.

“We’ll talk about this again next time.” Alexander glanced at Angela’s face and quickly left.

“It is time for me to pray... I’m going first.”

“Master, let’s go together.”

Heizer and Tung-E saw Angela’s eyes and quickly followed Alexander.

“Next time? Is there a next time?” Angela sneered as she was left alone and disappeared in an instant.

“What is going on...?” one of the members of New World asked after seeing the situation in front of him.

“Just ignore it. There is nothing good about knowing.” Andersen sighed. Ever since the arrival of the emperor in Reme, such a scene had become commonplace. It was why no one recognized the emperor of the empire. No one would’ve thought that the emperor of the empire, who had blood flowing through his body like steel, would be like this.

“You just have to be interested in the Holy Kingdom.”

***

“Thank you, Hyung-nim. I watched the video you sent. I’ll make a position in the near future.”

Hyeonu ended the call with Kim Seokjung and literally threw his smartphone onto the bed. Then he came out into the living room with loud steps.

‘He did go to the Holy Kingdom...’

The emperor was shown in the video that Hyeonu received from Kim Seokjung. It was a funny video at first glance, but Hyeonu couldn’t laugh at it.

‘He put me in hell...’

“It was to spend time with his family?”

Hyeonu couldn’t stand it. He was boiling with anger. He wanted to throw away this emperor’s position as soon as possible.

‘He is going back to the empire? Nonsense!’

Hyeonu didn’t believe what the emperor said in the video. The emperor would never return to the empire. For now, it was true that he wouldn’t return to the imperial palace. It was obvious that he was going to wander almost every corner of the continent.

‘The emperor must be restored.’

The plan had been set to some extent. It was a plan with holes in it, but it was enough to just set the framework.

‘Bring danger to the empire.’

It was the only way to bring the emperor back. Hyeonu intended to create such a situation where the empire needed the emperor.

‘From the undead kingdom in the north, the demon world, the League of Different Species in the south, the Yuxin Empire in the east, and the ra tribe…’

Hyeonu would put everyone on the battlefield. It would also bring chaos to Arena. Then someone would appear to clear up the chaotic political situation.

“I can’t be the only one unhappy.”

A twisted smile appeared on Hyeonu’s face.