“The proxy knights—recently, the community has been talking about them... More people have been meeting them lately than before.”

“Then... what does that mean for me?”

“There might be many proxy knights, but in the end, there are only a few dozen. In the midst of millions of people, dozens are just grains of white sand. Don’t worry about it,” Hyeonu comforted Choi Yoon. Choi Yoon wasn’t going to meet any of them.

‘If he is unlucky, then it’ll be once? They might not meet...’

The anxiety in a corner of Hyeonu’s mind started to fade.

“Let’s do the final exercise before we start the stream.”

Hyeonu summoned a scarecrow with the highest difficulty. It was only by winning easily against the scarecrow that Choi Yoon could expect to get a bronze medal. Although there wasn’t a big gap in the time period between when Hyeonu taught Dwayne and when he taught Choi Yoon, the players would’ve raised the average level by at least five levels. It meant that Choi Yoon’s condition was worse than Dwayne’s.

Compared to Dwayne, everything about Choi Yoon was the worst. Paradoxically, Hyeonu taught and expected even more from Choi Yoon.

“You need to have a neat victory against the scarecrow to expect the bronze medal.”

“Yes. I will do so.”

Choi Yoon drew his sword at the scarecrow. Now he was used to fighting against a scarecrow. After all, he had fought it for a week.

‘Just do what I can.’

Choi Yoon never attacked first. He stood still in his attack posture and waited for the scarecrow to attack. This was how he learned to fight. The scarecrow attempted to attack Choi Yoon who was on the defensive. It lunged forth with a straight and fast stab!

Choi Yoon looked at the end of the scarecrow’s stab. The moment the scarecrow entered his range, light exploded from Choi Yoon’s sword. It was Turning Over the Ground. Choi Yoon’s sword struck the scarecrow’s sword, making the scarecrow lose its balance. Choi Yoon’s hit caused the scarecrow to let go of its sword, and the scarecrow was sent flying away a few meters where it then slumped onto the ground.

“Stop!” Hyeonu called out to stop the scarecrow. There was nothing more to see. Choi Yoon’s short battle was more than satisfying.

‘Fatherhood... was it?’

“I see that you’ve worked hard. I think this is enough for going against players. Let’s start the stream right away.” It was Hyeonu’s rare praise.

Choi Yoon let out a breath. It had been worthwhile to practice until death for a few days.

‘I can’t be a bad dad for Jisu.’

The objective of today’s stream was clear. Of course, there was a time difference because Choi Jisu wasn’t watching from the A-Cube, but this alone was a big burden for Choi Yoon. As a dad, he couldn’t show his daughter a bad look.

‘Additionally, Alley Leader...’

The man who chose Choi Yoon and the one who helped with Jisu’s surgery—Choi Yoon couldn’t ruin Alley Leader’s stream. He had to repay this person for his grace.

“Yes, I’ll be waiting.” Hyeonu nodded at Choi Yoon’s answer.

***

“Hello? It is Alley Leader. Today is the last class of the second term of Alley Leader Academy. It is the long-awaited ranking battle.” Hyeonu started the live stream pleasantly.

-Hi hi.

-Hello.

-Is it finally the ranking battle today?

-A dirt spoon is challenging the bronze medal. ㅋ ㅋ ㅋ

-No, no. The uncle’s challenge.

The audience was just as pleasant as Hyeonu.

They also expressed great interest in Choi Yoon’s bronze medal challenge.

-By the way, is it really possible?

-It seems a bit tough.

-Recently, there are so many proxy knights that I haven’t participated in the ranking battle for two days.

-Seriously, I don’t know why there are so many proxy bastards. They seem to be seen once a day. I am worried about Choi Yoon.

Most of the viewers were deep-sea players [1]. They were in a position to meet the proxy knights once in a while.

Previously, they thought proxy knights were only good players even if they encountered one. Then the existence of proxy knights was publicized through Hyeonu’s broadcast. That was how they knew the players they met were proxy knights.

“Everyone, don’t worry. Trust in the skills of our uncle, Choi Yoon. You’ll probably be surprised.”

-That’s it. Proxy...

-Hey, shut your mouth. If you say it again, you’ll die.

-Don’t talk about making a bet.

-He will soon bring it up.

-He’s sick again. Does he hate streaming that much? Don’t give it. Please.

‘A bet? Shall I take a look?’

Hyeonu had no intention of betting with the audience. It was only a 1% chance of winning. Still, a modest push and pull was helpful for streaming.

“So what will you bet? Choi Yoon will gain the bronze medal without losing. Let’s bet like this. If I win, it is a week off from streaming. How about it?”

The viewers didn’t know Hyeonu’s intentions and were furious by his empty words. They were like animals in a zoo who weren’t getting fed.

-Never do it.

-Do it alone.

-Yes, you can do it with your right hand and your left hand.

-Yes, turn on streaming on Friday.

“Why? Let’s try it once. Are you scared? Isn’t my audience very courageous? We should do it coolly.”

Hyeonu gently stimulated the viewers, but they didn’t fall for his words. The experience with Dwayne was engraved on their bones.

-Don’t do it!!!

-Do it alone!

-I’m telling you to stop it!

“Kuk kuk kuk,” Hyeonu laughed in such a small voice that the viewers couldn’t hear him. “I understand. Then I won’t do it, okay? Choi Yoon will start the ranking battle straight away.”

Once Hyeonu finished talking, Choi Yoon who was standing on the other side of the arena moved to Hyeonu’s side.

“Hello, I’m Choi Yoon.”

-Yes. Uncle, have strength.

-Uncle can surely get a bronze medal!

-Uncle, win!

Choi Yoon shook his hand awkwardly to wave at the audience. “Thank you for your support. I will work hard today.”

Hyeonu turned toward Choi Yoon. “Let’s start the ranking battle. Choi Yoon, what is your current ranking?”

Choi Yoon had memorized his ranking because he was told beforehand that he would be asked about it. So, he responded quickly to Hyeonu’s words, “It is around 100 million.”

“100 million... It was almost 40 million lower than when Dwayne first came here, right? Wow, 100 million... It is a big number.” Hyeonu sighed at Choi Yoon’s ranking.

100 million—it was a very dark ranking. The bronze medal started at 9,999,999. There was a difference of 90 million from 100 million. “We will do it straight away. From now on, I am an examiner evaluating your battle, not a mentor. I’m not going to cover for you. Instead, I will talk about the wrong parts. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Choi Yoon replied briefly before disappearing from Hyeonu’s stream.

He entered the ranking battle. There were many players doing the ranking battle in this section, so the matching speed was amazing. The moment Choi Yoon entered the rankings, the battle began.

“Then we’ll relax and watch Choi Yoon’s ranking battle from a spectator’s point of view.”

***

Choi Yoon sighed with relief when he saw his opponent. The start was good. Based on the equipment, it was a player between level 70 and 80 who hadn’t completed the second class advancement.

‘I can gain the momentum.’

Choi Yoon knew how important momentum was. It was an intangible energy that allowed him to do things that couldn’t be done.

[The ranking battle has started.]

‘Be vigilant.’

However, Choi Yoon wasn’t careless. His opponent was a relatively low-level player. It seemed clear that their specs would be lower than his. Even so, Choi Yoon didn’t attack first. He took a defensive stance. The Dwarf’s Sword was ready to respond to the opponent’s attack at any time. Instead of attacking, Choi Yoon stayed still.

The opponent thought this was an opportunity and rushed over. ‘This match is a victory! Bash!’

At a certain distance, the opponent used Bash to sharply narrow the distance to Choi Yoon. Then he swung his sword. In the ranking battles so far, this mediocre skill had allowed him to gain enough dominance. It was just that the opponent was too bad. His attack was slow for Choi Yoon, who had fought against the highest difficulty scarecrow and Hyeonu who moved at extremely high speeds.

‘I won!’ The opponent smiled when he saw that his sword had reached Choi Yoon.

It was just before the attack succeeded. He thought it was easier than expected, but the smile lasted less than a second. “Eh...?”

Light gathered at Choi Yoon’s sword and moved like a thunderbolt. Choi Yoon hit the opponent’s sword that stretched out toward him and used the momentum to strike the opponent’s chest. It was simple, but it was also Choi Yoon’s most powerful weapon. This was the combo of Turning Over the Ground and Heavy Blow. The opponent couldn’t hold out against this combination.

[Player ‘Choi Yoon’ has won.]

It was a neat first victory for Choi Yoon.

***

The viewers were surprised by Choi Yoon’s neat victory. They knew that Choi Yoon’s skills had improved but not by this much. Why? It was because Choi Yoon always showed an unstable appearance in the streams. He struggled practicing against the most difficult scarecrow, not to mention against Hyeonu. Choi Yoon always looked like he was in a precarious position, as if he were walking on the edge of a cliff.

The viewers were excited about the difference Choi Yoon showed at this moment.

-Uncle power!

-Awakening of the dirt spoon!

-Don’t ignore the uncle in the future!

Some people were enthusiastic about Alley Leader.

They claimed that Choi Yoon produced this result due to Hyeonu’s excellent skill.

-Sure enough, Alley Leader can teach even a dirt spoon.

-It seems possible to bring up a junior high school student.

Hyeonu smiled when he saw the chat praising him. “Choi Yoon, it was a very short match, so I don’t have to say anything. I’ll just say that you did well.”

Hyeonu hit Choi Yoon’s shoulder after the ranking battle. It was a somewhat expected result, but it felt different after his vague imagination became reality.

“It is all thanks to you, Alley Leader. You taught me well, so I managed to win.”

Hyeonu responded shamelessly to Choi Yoon’s words, “That’s right. It is because of what I taught you. Do you all admit it? Do you recognize it?”

-I acknowledge you.

-I’m tired of bullshit adlibs.

-I admit it.

-I admit it.

-Will it go smoothly to the bronze medal every time?

“Let’s start the next ranking battle. Today’s stream will end at 9:30 even if a bronze medal isn’t obtained.”

-So today’s stream will be short?

-For some reason, I thought he would change his mind and stream hard again.

-It is still far away. Guys, the thing we have to worry about is not ending at 9:30 but the end of the stream if a bronze medal is acquired before that.

-That’s the problem. I think it will be over before 8 o’clock.

Hyeonu and the viewers were talking while Choi Yoon had already disappeared to do the ranking battle.

“Choi Yoon’s ranking battle has begun again. Let’s watch it together.”

[1] Deep-sea refers to players whose ranking section is so low that it is impossible to escape from, like the deep sea