Ranker’s Return

There was a frozen atmosphere in New York Arena Stadium due to the huge record of 2 minutes and 39 seconds. However, that atmosphere quickly faded, and enthusiastic cheers filled the stadium. Compared to the record of 2 minutes and 39 seconds, Hyeonu’s performance created a bigger shock.

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There were all sorts of rumors surrounding Hyeonu and JT Telecom’s Jung Hanbaek. Hyeonu’s active participation in the siege, unlike in the previous matches, seemed to prove the rumors were true.

“As expected, my dongsaeng has a very good head on him.
He led the situation in this way.” Kim Seokjung smiled as he watched Hyeonu playing the sixth match.
He didn’t know if it was intentional, but Hyeonu’s actions were very beneficial to Kim Seokjung’s plan.

‘It is sooner than expected, but…
I will have to unravel it now.’

According to his original plan, tomorrow afternoon or the night Arena Week ended should have been the prime time to set things into motion. Yet, Hyeonu’s actions meant the attention of more people was concentrated here today.
Kim Seokjung couldn’t miss such an opportunity.

‘By the time the schedule wraps up today…’

With such good timing, the news of the traces of the past—which were found using Kim Seokjung’s power and money—would reach here when the siege event was ending.
“Junggu, pack it up well, and release it.
Understood?” Kim Seokjung spoke to Gang Junggu, who was beside him and staring at the screen with an expressionless face.

“I understand, Hyung-nim.
I’ll make sure there isn’t a problem with the delivery,” Gang Junggu answered.
Then he pulled out his smartphone and tapped on it.

***

Located at 157 Banpo-daero, Seocho-gu, Seoul was the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office where many of South Korea’s prosecutors worked. On the 10th floor of the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office was the anti-corruption department, the core of the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office.

The owner of the largest desk was a young man whose face couldn’t be seen due to the mountain-like pile of all sorts of documents on his desk.
However, the ‘Chief’ plaque, which was visible between the documents, proved that this young man was the head of the anti-corruption department.

“Chief-nim, an express package has arrived for you.” A young prosecutor went over and handed a small courier box to the chief, who was reading papers at his desk.

“Courier? I’m not expecting a delivery? Is it written where it came from?” the chief asked the prosecutor.

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“The sender isn’t written.
Only your name, ‘Kim Junsik’, is written as the recipient,” the prosecutor replied. The name of the young chief was Kim Junsik. It was the same Kim Junsik who became a star prosecutor after investigating the match manipulation of the Korean Arena League. At the time, he was a senior prosecutor of the Seoul Central Prosecutor’s Office, but he had since become the anti-corruption chief of the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office, fulfilling the promise he made seven years ago.

“Then give it to me.
Since the package is here, I’ll open it first,” Kim Junsik said.

The young prosecutor handed the box over to him. Kim Junsik then opened a drawer, pulled out a box cutter, and cut the tape seal on the box.

‘What is this?’ Kim Junsik frowned.
The box was full of things like the ones on Kim Junsik’s desk—white papers with black letters in a small print.

‘I’ll see what they say before throwing them away.’

He started to read the topmost piece of paper.

[Link between Geumgang Investment Finance and the Korean League’s Match Fixing]

The moment Kim Junsik read the title on top, he hurriedly turned back to face his desk while flipping the paper upside down.

‘What is this?’ 

Kim Junsik buried himself in his chair.
In order to avoid the paper being seen by anyone, he held it in front of his face and read it slowly.

[-Geumgang Investment Finance is a company established by accepting Chinese capital and has close relations with powerful politicians in South Korea. Beyond mere lobbying, they rapidly expanded by acting as an adviser to manage the funds of politicians and increase their assets. They are also involved in the recent match-fixing issue of the Arena Korean League.]

The other papers had evidence attached to support this content, including photos of influential politicians meeting with Geumgang Investment Finance and exchanging something.
Anyone would think these photos were suspicious.

‘A link I didn’t manage to find previously is right here.’

Kim Junsik’s expression became cold.
In the last match fixing incident, only a few people were punished.
It was literally just cutting off the tail of the beast.

‘The old men of Yeouido used their strength to cover up…
So there was a lack of conclusive evidence.’

That’s why he had been told to wrap up the case without digging too deep. Something was lacking in his case. Of course, there was actually more than enough evidence to prosecute them, but the opponents were the old foxes of Yeouido. He couldn’t win against them without having a perfect case.
If these materials were to have been in Kim Junsik’s hands at that time…

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He could’ve blown away the entire body, not just the tail.

‘This isn’t the time for me to think about that.’

Kim Junsik immediately left his office with the package and headed to the stairs.
He opened an iron door with the number 8 on it and walked down the passageway.
When he reached the end, he knocked on the wooden door.

“Prosecutor General-nim, it’s me.”

Kim Junsik headed into the prosecutor general’s office.

***

In the next match, Reina’s New York Warriors left a handsome record of 20 minutes and 03 seconds. It was the best record so far. The reason for their record wasn’t because they used a different strategy; it was due to their territory. The well-known territory of the New York Warriors was a city in the East Continent.

Nevertheless, a different city was revealed this time. It wasn’t a city in the East Continent but a city in the West Continent. This city was a large one, where it took nearly 10 minutes to run from the city walls to the inner office. Moreover, that time was affected by other factors. If there was the obstruction of the NPC soldiers and players in the middle, it would naturally take longer than 10 minutes.
Crucially, Reina blocked the front of the inner office like a barricade. Thus, the match time was dragged out, and a record of 20 minutes and 03 seconds emerged.

“The New York Warriors are in first place with a time of 20 minutes and 03 seconds.
It’s finally the last match of today.
Crescent Moon will prepare for the last defense.”

Now it was Crescent Moon’s turn—the finale of Arena Week’s third day. Crescent Moon was preparing to beautify the end.

“Everyone, do you remember it?” Hyeonu gathered the five people together and checked it one last time. The siege was the event that Crescent Moon’s players had prepared the hardest for.
If they were to show something, it would naturally be in the siege.

“The moment it starts, Hyung will inject magic into the magic circle to activate it.”

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“Then I will give Oppa a magic power recovery buff.”

“Apart from Hyung, we will take Tang-E and the NPCs out to fight.”

Mason, Yuri, and Lee Hoon took turns answering Hyeonu’s question.

Hyeonu nodded.
They knew the plan well.

“Yes, that’s it.
The other side will probably be quite flustered.
In addition to Tang-E, I’ll even have the magic spirit join the battle, so don’t worry and just fight.” Hyeonu smiled.

The five players of Crescent Moon plus Tang-E and the magic spirit—these seven were a sufficient combination for the fight. In particular, the evolved magic spirit would be of great help. ‘The effect of Mysterious Sky Core is huge.’ The differences from before and after Mysterious Sky Core was most evident in the flexible use of the magic spirit.

Hyeonu felt it was now much easier to control the magic spirit.
He could move it just like he was using pure energy.

“It is about to begin.
Get ready,” Hyeonu stated when he saw the counter decreasing in the air.

The number was now reduced to the single digits.
There were less than 10 seconds before the start of the siege.

“Tang-E, help the people over there.
Understood?” Hyeonu summoned Tang-E and the magic spirit and attached them to the five people.

“Understood, Master dude.
Tang-E will help.” 

Tang-E then ran toward the players of Crescent Moon. He didn’t forget to buff Hyeonu as he ran. Above Tang-E’s head, there was a floating purple bear that followed Tang-E.

‘Focus, focus.’ Hyeonu raised his concentration. So far, he had rested in the siege, so now he wanted to show his perfect strength. He had to finish all of his preparations before the other teams entered the castle.
Moments later, an NPC in black armor ran to Hyeonu and said, “My Lord Marquis! The enemies are flocking to the wall.”

“Gather the soldiers from the walls and territory and go to the castle.
Stop the enemies there,” Hyeonu replied.

“I understand, Lord Marquis.” The NPC disappeared as suddenly as he arrived.

Once Hyeonu confirmed that the NPC was gone, he approached the magic circle Suped and Echan had made together. Then Hyeonu raised both of his hands and quickly injected magic power into the magic circle.
The magic circle glowed purple and rapidly started to take shape.

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***

“What is that? Player Gang Hyeonu is touching a statue of his pet, Tang-E.”

“I don’t think it is just touching.
He’s injecting magic power into it.
The proof is that Gang Hyeonu’s body is shining purple.”

“The statue seems to have a function.
Is that a secret weapon?”

The commentators were confused at Hyeonu’s behavior as it was their first time seeing this. It was natural since only a small number of people knew about the magic circle installed in Phinis.
Just then, the NPC soldier took the other NPC soldiers and retreated to Phinis’ castle.

“Crescent Moon is gathering all NPC soldiers.
They are thinking of dragging things out in front of the lord’s castle where the inner office is located.”

“This might be a wiser judgment compared to fighting on the walls for nothing.
It is the positioning of the battle formation.”

It was a great gamble to gather all of the team’s resources together to resist. The battle was in a limited location, so it was easy to fight. However, the distance to the inner office was so close that it would be a defeat if they were even a bit careless. It was why the other teams had chosen strategies to delay time as much as possible.

This time, the seven offensive teams adopted a different strategy of attack. They led their NPCs and entered from a singular direction. This strategy was derived from the judgment that they would have a greater chance of being defeated by Hyeonu if they were separated. The seven teams soon entered through the entrance of the castle without hesitation.

No one stopped them, so they didn’t have to stop. Starting from the walls right to the castle itself, there was no one in sight. Nonetheless, the moment the offensive teams began passing through the castle entrance, the NPC soldiers in black armor and the players of Crescent Moon appeared on the inner walls.
They simply made their presence known; they didn’t actually do anything.

Then Hyeonu flicked his finger and yelled loud enough for the other teams standing outside the inner city to hear: -Here is a gift I’ve prepared for today! I hope you all like it!

A black fog suddenly swept over Phinis.
Simultaneously, the players of the other seven teams frowned.

“What is going on?” the host shouted when he saw it.

Nevertheless, no one answered the host’s question. The moment the black fog started to appear, the NPCs on the walls jumped down. The counterattack of the defending team, which hadn’t been seen so far, had finally started.
At Arena Week, Crescent Moon was a team that practiced the saying that offense was the best defense.