[You have won the ranking battle.]

Hyeonu obtained the gold medal after 16 ranking battles—one more than predicted. His exact ranking was 97,746th. It was barely a gold medal.

“Phew, I didn’t know it would rise by 102,000. I played one more battle thanks to you. Is it okay?”

Why was it 16 instead of 15 ranking battles? The reason was that Hyeonu was unlucky and his ranking hadn’t risen too much. However, the viewers didn’t pay much attention to this.

-It’s okay. It is a gold medal anyway.

-Doesn’t he have to go to diamond level to see an actual fight?

-It seems a humanoid boss monster raid is required. There is no answer between players.

-Still, he should stream the ranking battles almost every week. One day, there will be a fierce battle.

Was it because Larson was beaten so overwhelmingly? The viewers didn’t respond much to Hyeonu’s gold medal. Hyeonu had already anticipated this reaction, but he still couldn’t help feeling good. He was a streamer whose mood depended on the reaction of the viewers. This was a characteristic of human nature and had nothing to do with Hyeonu’s mentality. It was natural to feel good when he did well.

‘In any case, at my current level, it is impossible to get a good response unless it is a ranker like Reina.’

“Then I’ll start the next ranking battle straight away.”

Even so, he couldn’t help feeling energized. It was because the stream had to continue.

***

“Everyone, thank you for watching my live stream today. I will end it here today.”

-The endless winning streak raised his ranking to 80,000...

-Won’t he become a master in a month at this rate?

-Master? This momentum is enough to rise to a grandmaster...

-Shivers, 1st place in the rankings. It seems that Teika will come down from first place.

-Hasn’t Teika lost to Rain? Rain’s third class is crazy. It is very powerful. He has climbed to 3rd place from 6th place in the arena rankings.

‘Rain is ranked third? Reina was similar... After the third class advancement, all their rankings went up.’

Hyeonu forgot to end the stream while chatting with viewers. Based on what he heard from Yeongchan, Reina had maintained her position as Masked Fighting King three times. Then Rain appeared and took her place. Hyeonu had quit Masked Fighting King, but he occasionally heard news about it through Yeongchan. Currently, Rain was on a three-round winning streak.

‘Rain will gain the title of first to achieve five consecutive wins unless someone else comes out.’

Additionally, the identity of the king was still hidden. The fact that the Masked Fighting King was Rain was still unknown.

‘I’m not the only one who is stronger.’

Hyeonu was lost in thought, and his fighting spirit ignited once again.

‘Jung Hanbaek.’

He remembered it again. In the past, he planned to step on Jung Hanbaek in the professional league. To do so, he had to become stronger than he was now. Hyeonu needed overwhelming strength to avoid any variables.

***

A large number of people gathered in the huge meeting room within the Korean Virtual Reality Gaming Association. The association officials were not the only ones present. The team officials, journalists, and politicians were there as well. They were gathered for a simple reason. The Dispute Mediation Committee assembled today to discuss the subject of Big Stars.

“Kim Junho-ssi of Ilsung Capital, do you have something you want to say?” Park Jeonghyun asked President Kim Junho in a stiff and businesslike manner.

Kim Junho’s body temperature rose because of Park Jeonghyun’s attitude, but he had to endure it due to his position. “No. I’m just sorry for causing a scandal.”

“Then Big Stars will be temporarily managed by the association. If there is an organization or individual who announces their intention to acquire it in the future, we will hand Big Stars over on the condition that they help Big Stars as much as possible. Then we will end the Dispute Mediation Committee meeting.”

Once the Dispute Mediation Committee meeting was over, people moved together in groups of twos or threes in an attempt to gain their own interests. They were like hyenas on the prairie.

Kim Junho approached Park Jeonghyun and said through gritted teeth, “Is this really going to happen?”

“What are you talking about? President Kim Junho, have you found the wrong person? Is there a relationship between us that we would talk like this?” Park Jeonghyun spoke respectfully to Kim Junho unlike in the recent phone call they had. He behaved like a man who had no relationship with Kim Junho.

“Really... Are you really going to act like this?” Kim Junho tried to suppress his rising anger as he spat out the words one by one. He was obviously angry.

“Ah! CEO Moon. It has been a while.” Park Jeonghyun’s gaze went beyond Kim Junho.

Seeing Park Jeonghyun’s gaze shift, Kim Junho naturally turned to follow and saw a man with a familiar face. When he saw Moon Doyeong who was the CEO of Moon Capital, Kim Junho made a strange expression—a combination of anger, despondency, irritation, and humiliation. Kim Junho realized why Park Jeonghyun ignored and pretended not to know him. It was because Park Jeonghyun had gotten hold of something new. In other words, Kim Junho had become a discarded hand. He had been forced to pay Park Jeonghyun a lot of money, but he was eventually abandoned. Moreover, it was to Moon Doyeong.

“You bastard! You played me?” Kim Junho rushed toward Moon Doyeong, not Park Jeonghyun.

He thought that Moon Doyeong had encouraged Park Jeonghyun to act against him. However, the reality of the situation was completely different.

“What are you doing? Have you people only been working a day or two? Inspector Park, isn’t there any security here? I’ve met a dog like this, yet no one has come running?”

“Wait a minute. They will come soon.”

At Park Jeonghyun’s words, terribly big men in black suits entered the meeting room.

“Take this person out of here.”

“I understand, Inspector-nim,” one of the big men answered while bowing toward Park Jeonghyun.

Another big man waved his hand, and the other men pressed their hands onto Kim Junho’s shoulders. They grabbed him by the armpits and started to force him out.

“Park Jeonghyun, how dare you do this to me?! Do you think I’m just going to be hit like this? Me?! Kim Junho! Kim Junho of Ilsung Capital!” Kim Junho screamed at Park Jeonghyun and Moon Doyeong as he was being dragged away.

However, Park Jeonghyun and Moon Doyeong weren’t scared at all. They only saw him as a barking dog.

“Aren’t I too old to be scared of that sound?”

“No one is afraid of a toothless tiger. Oh, is it a cat, not a tiger?”

They smiled at each other.

***

‘What is a shaman? It is a topic I don’t know much about.’

Hyeonu thought a lot about Chroma in his heart. The information Chroma gave was half empty. There was no false information, but there was too little information, regardless of whether it was because Chroma didn’t say it or didn’t know it. The giants never moved alone. It was only at the beginning of the Arperium that the giants hunted alone. Once he headed to the center of the Arperium, the giants started to unite. Just like right now, there were at least six giants flocked at the center.

A small crater was created, and dirt and stones flew through the air. One of the giants’ lump of metal slammed into the spot where Hyeonu had just been. Hyeonu moved back and forth, avoiding the giants’ attacks while shouting loudly at Tang-E, “Tang-E!! Use some magic!”

“I’m sorry, Master dude! Just wait a little bit!”

Tang-E was also in a hurry. It was the first time he had poured out all sorts of magic in such a short period of time. As a result, the cooldown calculation of the skills was different from usual. It was natural that Hyeonu screamed when the skill wasn’t used when needed.

Despite this, Hyeonu didn’t stand still. He was able to use skills while dodging the giants’ attacks. Crescent Moon Cut, Magic Power Explosion, Mysterious Sky Range, and Heavy Blow—he used the skills whenever the cooldowns ended. The giants started to fall one by one in front of Hyeonu’s powerful attacks. Hyeonu gained some room to breathe, and miscellaneous thoughts started to enter his mind.

‘I have to squeeze more out of Tang-E. If the situation is urgent, he can’t use his skills properly. He doesn’t know the timing. I was perfect. This is the video I’ll upload this week.’

It was an evaluation of the battle. Hyeonu was perfect. He fought a fantastic battle against the giants without allowing a single attack. The only problem was Tang-E. He panicked and could not use his skills in a timely manner. Giant Transformation had not been seen at all during the nearly 20 minutes of fighting. It was clear that the battle would’ve ended much sooner if Roar had been available.

‘It is Spartan training starting from today.’

Tang-E was busy releasing magic without knowing Hyeonu’s thoughts. Soon, all the remaining giants were knocked down by Hyeonu and Tang-E’s co-ordination.

[The ancient giant has been killed.]

[Experience has been acquired.]

[You have leveled up.]

[All health and magic power are restored.]

[Giants defeated 557/657]

‘Are there only 100 left? Hopefully it will be over today.’

Thinking about it, Hyeonu smiled. He was already excited to receive the quest for the S grade quest. Hyeonu had a full heart as he headed to the center of Arperium. Then he shook his head and had to stop.

“Why can’t I see it?”

Originally, he encountered the giants once every 10 minutes. Until now, Hyeonu had avoided the giants in order to control his condition. Yet the moment he entered the center, no giants could be seen at all. It was as if they had gone on a group outing.

‘Are they standing next to the boss?’

Hyeonu imagined 100 giants standing behind the boss monster.

Shivers.

It was terrible just imagining it. He hadn’t used the giant buffs or One Who Yearns attached to Kallu’s Desire, but the battle he had a while ago against eight giants had been tough. Hyeonu would never ever win against 100 giants and the boss monster.

His damage was high enough, but Hyeonu’s current defense made victory an unthinkable possibility if he were to be hit by the boss monster. Even at this moment, Hyeonu looked around slowly as he moved. Paradoxically, he wanted to see the giants. In spite of this, Hyeonu did not meet any giants until he reached the bell tower that Chroma mentioned.

“Wow...!”

Once Hyeonu arrived at the bell tower, he stood there quietly and sighed. It was because he could see Floyd, the chief of the giants who boasted a powerful figure that was worthy of admiration. Floyd was 1.5 times bigger than the average giant. Not only that, but his entire body was also full of muscles, and his back carried a spear that was longer than his height. Just then, Floyd’s head suddenly turned toward Hyeonu.

“Are you the ones who killed the members of my clan?” Floyd’s voice vibrated in the air.