Ranker’s Return

Hyeonu entered the instance dungeon without hesitation. There was no reason to hesitate and waste a short amount of time.

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[You have entered the Mapa Tribe’s Training Center.]

 

The scenery into the instance dungeon, the Mapa Tribe’s Training Center, was no different from an ordinary forest. It was like an ordinary forest in Arena.
It was thick with huge trees.

‘It said training center, so…
there are two possibilities.’ 

There were two types of instance dungeons that Hyeonu expected. One was a large swarm of trolls, while the other was specific missions such as Laek or Senu. This was the limit that could be inferred from the name of ‘training center.’

‘Let’s see first.’

His thoughts ended here.

Hyeonu walked into the forest with Tang-E on his shoulder. He walked for around 20 minutes. Then Hyeonu suddenly stopped walking. He climbed up the nearest tree and stood on a tree branch. Shortly after Hyeonu hid his appearance, a giant troll passed by the spot where Hyeonu stood.

‘It is a place where I have to work hard to hit them.’

Looking at the troll, Hyeonu realized that the first of his two guesses was right. The Mapa Tribe's Training Center was like an ordinary instance dungeon.

“Tang-E, let’s work hard again this time.”

If it was an instance dungeon for hunting, then Tang-E couldn’t just watch. As usual, he would have to fight hard by Hyeonu’s side.

“Understood, Master dude.
If I don’t help Master dude, who will?”

Tang-E readily nodded at Hyeonu’s words. It was a reaction that came out because there was meat to be eaten.

“By the way, what are you going to do, Master dude? Will you move forward in an ignorant manner?” Tang-E whispered to Hyeonu, who was looking around on the tree. It was an important question. Hyeonu’s answer would decide the position that Tang-E should take in future battles.

“There is no need to hit them ignorantly from the beginning.
Let's move quietly for a few hours.”

Hyeonu didn’t intend to fight. What type of structure did this place have and how many trolls were there? Where were the boss monsters? He planned to collect some information before moving.

‘There is no need to rush.’

There was no reason to move hastily. Unlike normal cases, the only advantage of instance dungeons for the current Hyeonu was the presence of boss monsters. If it was just regular monsters, there was no difference in the number of trolls in the troll village and the number of trolls in the instance dungeon. No, the number of trolls outside could be higher. However, the boss monster was huge enough to ignore all of this.

Hyeonu covertly chased after the troll that had passed by earlier. The troll never noticed that Hyeonu had watched and chased it. It was because there was no sound when Hyeonu moved. Hyeonu was running around on the trees much bigger than a giant troll. He didn’t even step on the tree himself. He ran for a long time through the air while occasionally stepping on a tree branch.
He just sounded like leaves brushed by the wind.

‘Where are they going?’

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Hyeonu chased the trolls for a long time. The trolls continued to move without stopping. They encountered other trolls from time to time but didn’t stop. Of course, Hyeonu couldn’t stop either. At some point, Hyeonu lost his mind as he ran.

“Master dude, what are you doing? That guy has stopped.” Tang-E shook Hyeonu’s head. Hyeonu hadn’t stopped running even though the trolls had stopped.

“Uh, where?”

At Tang-E’s words, Hyeonu came to his senses and looked below him.

“It is over there.”

Tang-E pointed to a distant place behind Hyeonu’s back. It was only a short moment, but Hyeonu had passed really far away. Hyeonu quickly returned to where Tang-E pointed.

“I almost missed it.
Thank you, Tang-E.”

Hyeonu stroked the head of Tang-E, who stopped him at the right time.

If it wasn’t for Tang-E, he would’ve left the trolls he was chasing behind and ran to a strange place.

‘By the way, what are they doing over there?’

Hyeonu cocked his head in a confused manner at the troll’s actions.

“Kuooh? Kuoh!”

The troll stood still and muttered words he couldn’t understand.

‘What?’

It happened at this moment…

Hyeonu’s eyes widened. An unbelievable thing happened. The huge troll disappeared in an instant. It was as if it never existed. Hyeonu quickly descended from the tree and moved to where the troll had just been. However, there were no special devices. The place where the troll stood was part of the forest and there were only lush trees in the vicinity.

‘What is it?’

Hyeonu quickly looked around. He searched carefully so that he didn’t miss anything. Then Hyeonu was able to discover something bizarre.

‘Isn’t this strange?’

He had a very strange feeling every time he passed by a certain point.

“Tang-E, come over here.”

Hyeonu called out to Tang-E, who was searching the area with him.

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“Move left and right like this.”

Hyeonu instructed Tang-E to move from side to side. Tang-E moved as Hyeonu told him to. He slowly moved from side to side like a crab.

“Huh? I feel strange, Master dude.”

Tang-E, who was constantly moving from left to right, cocked his head. The tilt of his head became worse as his repeated movements increased.

“Right? Isn’t it strange there?”

Hyeonu checked it with Tang-E.

“Yes, Master dude.
It is strange.”

Tang-E nodded and agreed with Hyeonu’s words.

‘There is definitely something here that made the troll disappear…’

It was obviously strange, but that was it. No message appeared. It happened as Hyeonu was going to continue talking about the strangeness…

A message window appeared in front of Hyeonu as if to quench such thirst.

 

[Would you like to enter the Mapa Tribe’s Special Training Center?]

 

‘Another instance dungeon?’

The new message window informed him of the existence of an instance dungeon. This was the first time Hyeonu was experiencing it. An instance dungeon within an instance dungeon.

‘It is really like a movie.’

Something happened that he never thought about, but it wasn’t a bad thing. The number of instance dungeons suddenly became two.

“I will enter.”

Hyeonu quickly entered the instance dungeon.

 

***

 

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[You have entered the Mapa Tribe’s Special Training Center.]

 

The newly entered instance dungeon looked completely different from what it was before. It wasn’t a dense forest, but a vacant lot that had been well polished by someone. The trees surrounded the vacant area like walls.

‘Maybe it is because the trolls are big…
I can’t see the end.’

The vacant lot was large and wide enough that the end couldn’t be seen in one glance. There were also many statues and buildings whose purpose was unknown.

“Kuoooh!”

“Kuoooh!”

At this moment—

The intense cries of trolls were heard from a distance. Hyeonu moved carefully to the place where the sound was heard. It was while using Mysterious Sky Steps. Hyeonu arrived at the place where the trolls’ voices were heard and could see trolls welding a long wooden stick.

‘Are they training?’

Hyeonu saw the actions of the trolls and felt something strange. The weapons used by trolls were usually heavy weapons. Their innate power was immense so it was a natural choice. However, the trolls in front of him were wielding thin wooden sticks compared to the huge clubs. It was also in a very clumsy manner.

‘What are they doing?’

They didn’t appear to be high level monsters at all. It was obviously strange. It happened at this moment…

One troll struck the ground with the wooden stick and a dark thunderbolt fell from the air. The sound of thunder resonated through the empty lot.

“Kuoooh!”

“Kuoooooh!”

Upon seeing the lightning, the trolls in the area raised their thumbs toward the troll that dropped the thunderbolt.

‘What? Magicians?’

After seeing this scene, Hyeonu realized that the trolls in front of him were unusual. They were literally special trolls, not ordinary warriors.

‘The trolls…
they are shamans rather than magicians?’

Hyeonu guessed the trolls’ identity and approached them.

“Kuoh?”

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“Kuooh!”

The trolls started to react when Hyeonu moved. They cocked their heads and swung their thin wooden sticks in Hyeonu’s direction. As a result, Hyeonu’s movement also changed. Hyeonu’s figure split into several copies as he evaded the attacks from the trolls.
At the same time, he moved forward.

‘I think they are a bit stronger than the trolls outside…’

Hyeonu got closer to the trolls and immediately swung the Mysterious Sky Sword. Purple pure energies cut through the air toward the trolls. Hyeonu’s pure energy quickly reached the trolls. The trolls took back their wooden sticks and swung it toward the pure energies.
However, the pure energies struck the trolls several times faster.

“Kuooooh!”

“Kuaaaaaah!!!”

The trolls screamed.

At the same time, blood burst like a fountain from the wounds created by the purple pure energy. However, a strange color permeated through the blood of the trolls that was flying through the air. The blood of the trolls was red like human blood.
Meanwhile, the new color was very blue.

A deafening sound hit Hyeonu’s eardrums. Hyeonu shook his head slightly as he looked at the spot where he had just been standing.

‘I would’ve died right away if I was hit.’

There was a huge hole in the place where the thunderbolt fell. His body automatically trembled at the thought of being hit by it.

‘No way, they can’t keep using it, right?’

“Tang-E, do something!” Hyeonu yelled at Tang-E, who was standing in the back for no reason.

“Understood, Master dude.
Just wait.”

Tang-E appeared to be pondering on something at Hyeonu’s shout. Hyeonu was interested in such a Tang-E. He knew it from experience. Tang-E was going to help him somehow. Hyeonu immediately held the Mysterious Sky Sword and rushed toward the only troll standing on two feet. He showed very cautious movements because the troll could once again use the thunderbolt. He didn’t stop in any place for a single moment.

The troll swung the wooden stick as if sweeping the ground. It realized that it could never hit Hyeonu by picking a single point and aiming for it. However, this troll’s actions were very wrong. Near the place where Hyeonu was currently running, the trolls who were knocked down by Hyeonu’s pure energies were regenerating their wounds. Therefore, rather than hitting Hyeonu, the troll’s stick dealt additional damage to the injured trolls.

‘They are stupid.’

“Or is there no sense of kinship?”

Hyeonu smiled when he saw it. In the meantime, Tang-E’s supporting magic was completed. Dozens of fireballs started flying toward the troll wielding the wooden stick.

“Kuooooh!”

The troll seemed bewildered by all the fireballs flying at it. It quickly took back the wooden stick and swung it toward the fireballs. A blue thunderbolt fell from the sky and hit the fireballs.

Meanwhile, Hyeonu secretly moved to kill the troll. The Mysterious Sky Sword shone purple and instantly cut off the troll’s head. It was so that regeneration was never possible! 

The troll’s cut head fell to the ground and rolled around.