Ranker’s Return

Chapter 154

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As he took a sip of a sweet and slightly bitter cafe mocha, Hyeonu thought that he was going out more frequently lately.

‘It means I have more time to relax.’

Hyeonu thought positively. He had never dreamed about it previously when he was still paying off the debt. However, he hadn’t come here today to play. It was a meeting about streaming.

“Alley Leader?” A young woman appeared and called out Hyeonu’s streamer ID that few people in the real world knew about.

“Sunny?” Hyeonu called out the other person’s streamer ID in a slightly awkward manner.

The woman’s identity was Sunny, an idol and representative reporter of A-World. Surprisingly, Sunny was Korean.
She was an impressive beauty with black hair and double eyelids. The reason why the two people met was simple. In the fifth main scenario, Hyeonu had promised to appear on Sunny’s stream in exchange for being provided with information. Today’s meeting was to discuss it in detail. 

“My streaming schedule is busy, so I only got in touch recently.
I’m sorry,” Hyeonu apologized at the beginning of the conversation. In fact, he should’ve already appeared on Sunny’s streaming show as planned. However, the show was delayed due to the overlap with Alley Leader Academy and various things.

“No.
I’m grateful to you.
This isn’t a joint stream but a guest appearance…
How can I be dissatisfied?” Sunny replied with an expression that would be obvious to anyone as a disgruntled one. Facing such a look, Hyeonu could only smile bitterly. There was no way out because it was his own fault.

“What about this Monday? Is it okay?” Hyeonu made a suggestion because he wanted to pay off his debts.

“Today is Saturday…
It is a good time to advertise it.
Yes, Monday is good,” Sunny agreed happily.

She streamed live five times a week. It meant the content that was already in progress wouldn’t be disrupted by a day’s delay.

“So what are you going to do on the stream?” Sunny asked while sipping her ice Americano.

“Do I have to think about that too? Sunny, I will do whatever you want to do.”

‘Why is this man so passive? He should take the lead.’ Sunny frowned at Hyeonu’s passive attitude.
“Is there anything you’re confident in or want to do?”

Hyeonu pondered on Sunny’s question and barely managed to answer.
“Then shall I teach you how to hunt in a special tutoring format? Sunny is famous for…”

Sunny’s expression crumpled at Hyeonu’s straightforwardness. Seeing this, Hyeonu didn’t know how she streamed with such an honest face.

“I…! My skills are a bit poor compared to my level and equipment.
Well, I’m not that bad, right?” Sunny wondered.
However, her momentum subsided like she had been stabbed.

“Then the content has been decided.
Shall we eat together today?”

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Sunny replied to Hyeonu’s meal proposal with a smile, “Yes, if you want.”

 

***

 

A post was posted to Arena’s community. It was natural that it became the most viewed article in the community. Why? That was because it was a post about Alley Leader. It didn’t matter if it was true or false. The important thing was that it was plausible.

The post quickly spread to all Arena communities.

[Everyone, Alley Leader is unifying with someone else!]

[Alley Leader and Sunny’s joint stream.
To be precise, it is Alley Leader appearing on Sunny’s streaming. 

It is currently being talked about on Sunny’s stream.
It isn’t a rumor.
It is official.]

-Broken Yuljae: Yes, I don’t believe it.

-Muscle Lion: If you’re this good at writing a plan, don’t trick people here. 

-Gangnam People: ??? Really? Alley Leader will appear as a guest on another show?

-New Dog: This is real. I’m watching Sunny’s stream as well. It is coming on Monday. There are two days left.

People didn’t believe it. If anyone was asked about the identity of the highest-priced streamer on A-World, they would say Alley Leader. Why would he appear as a guest on another person’s stream? However, the truth of this controversy was soon revealed. Sunny’s stream didn’t have just one or two viewers.
So, after the truth was revealed, people looked forward to Alley Leader’s new challenge.

Then Alley Leader’s reputation increased even further. He gained the image of a streamer who didn’t stop at the top and constantly challenged himself to find new things to do.

 

***

 

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It took more preparation than Hyeonu expected to appear on another person’s stream. After all, it wasn’t his own stream, so he had to check things in advance and be careful about his behavior.

“Alley Leader, you have millions of viewers, so you won’t be nervous, right?” Sunny had been treating Hyeonu with ease since the last meeting.

Based on her twinkling eyes, she was planning how to make him appear on her stream again rather than liking him as a man.

“Not at all? I’m not the one shaking with tension.” Hyeonu was a bit nervous, but on the surface, he acted like his vocation was a streamer. It was a natural bluff that no one would notice.

“Really? Then let’s get started straight away.
The expected streaming time is six hours as promised.”

Hyeonu nodded at Sunny’s words. Six hours—it was longer than the usual streaming time, but it wouldn’t be too difficult for the two of them.

“It’s longer than I thought it would be…
But it will work out somehow.”

Hearing Hyeonu’s optimistic words, Sunny laughed. Soon, the long-awaited stream began.

“Hello, everyone.
This is your cutie, Sunny! Today I will be streaming with a special guest.
Do you know who it is?” Sunny skillfully opened the stream with a cliched line. However, the audience’s reaction was apathetic. No, they ignored Sunny’s words because their attention was already focused elsewhere.

-Come out, Alley Leader!

-I took a break from streaming because I heard you were appearing here today!

-I’m here to catch a fugitive streamer. This is Sunny’s stream, right?

-Bloodshed won’t happen if you bring out Alley Leader and Tang-E.

‘Now, it is time for me to cut in.’

At this moment, Hyeonu appeared on the streaming screen. Hyeonu had seen the chat window and thought it was time for him to show up. Sunny might get sworn at if he took more time. It was better to prevent such a situation in advance.

“Hello, I’m Alley Leader who came to play on another person’s stream today.
It is nice to meet everyone.”

Once Hyeonu appeared, viewers with familiar names started to give gold coins.

-Leader Groupie has gifted you 99 gold coins.

-Tang-E is the Best has gifted you 100 gold coins.

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-Tang-E is Cute has gifted you 100 gold coins.

Hyeonu’s streaming fanbase and big donors appeared. Sunny was at a loss about what to do with the outbreak of gold coins that was different from usual. “Uh, thank you.
Thank you for the 99 coins, 100 coins, and 100 coins.
Thank you very much.” 

Hyeonu wasn’t the one receiving them, but he thanked the audience who presented the gold coins.
“Thank you, Leader Groupie, Tang-E is the best, and Tang-E is cute for the steady gifts of gold coins.”

The viewers who sent the gold coins found the obvious differences in attitude between the two people cute.

-There was a time when our Alley Leader was like that.

-He was really happy at just receiving gold coins…

-I don’t know about now…

-Should I give some gold coins here next time?

At the viewers’ words, Hyeonu quickly changed his attitude. Hyeonu was no different in front of the gold coins. Everyone was equal in front of gold coins.

“Oh, my! Thank you Leader Groupie for the 99 gold coins.
Where else would I get this? It is all your virtue.”

The viewers laughed and liked Hyeonu’s exaggerated words and deeds. This was the charm of Alley Leader. Alley Leader pretended to be proud and charming, but he did everything as long as the audience wanted it.

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ As expected, he was born like this.

-Isn’t this an automatic reflex?

-He grumbles but does everything he is told. ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-I can’t give good coins elsewhere because he is pitiful. ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

“Everyone, this isn’t my stream.
Please take care.
Say what you want to say, and I will receive the gold coins on Friday…” Hyeonu dissuaded the viewers from pouring out gold coins. After all, this wasn’t his stream. Even if his viewers gave gold coins, Hyeonu wouldn’t receive any of the profit.

-Leader Groupie has gifted you 99 gold coins.

-Tang-E is the Best has gifted you 77 gold coins.

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-Tang-E is Cute has gifted you 88 gold coins.

“That… Groan.” Hyeonu was trying to dissuade the viewers again when Sunny pinched Hyeonu’s side and pulled him.

He couldn’t see the viewers’ chat window from this angle. Hyeonu was forced to stop speaking due to the sudden pain.

“Thank you, everyone.
I’ll ask you to watch my stream on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays when Alley Leader doesn’t stream.” Sunny smiled and promoted it to the audience.
“Today, the content I am doing with Alley Leader is another Alley Leader Academy.
It isn’t the arena, but he will take the time to teach me basic hunting tips and skills.”

-I can already hear Alley Leader’s struggling voice.

-Our poorly skilled Sunny… No, she isn’t at the standard of a person. She is worse…

-It isn’t PvP but hunting?

-Isn’t Sunny a necromancer? How will he teach her?

-Don’t hit your head. You are already a stone head.
What will you do if more brain cells disappear?

Hyeonu saw the chat window and laughed. It was the first time that a stream was overflowing with viewers teasing their favorite streamers.

‘How bad can Sunny be? Everyone is worried but me.’

Now he had a question. How serious was the problem that there wasn’t even a single line of praise for Sunny?

“By the way, you’re finding it hard to hunt even though you’re a necromancer…? Why don’t you just summon the undead, use some curses, and support them from behind?”

Hyeonu thought hard about it and couldn’t come up with a way that a necromancer couldn’t hunt. So far in every virtual reality game he had played, a necromancer required a lot of money and was hard to raise.
However, it was superior for hunting alone.

-No matter what you imagine, you will see something beyond your imagination.

-In my view, running away after an hour or two is good for mental health. This is what I’m saying.

-Seriously, I’m choked up with frustration. I’m speaking the facts without any exaggeration.

“Is that so?”

Hyeonu thought the viewers’ words were just exaggerations. It should be so. However, it didn’t take long for him to realize that the viewers’ words were truthful.