“Cheong Chen! It’s serious.” Rudd rushed through the door of Cheong Chen’s office with his usual composure gone. Cheong Chen was holding his coat in an uncomfortable position like he had just arrived in the office. Yet he didn’t panic at all. He focused on arranging his own clothes without paying attention to Rudd.

It was only after the perfect cleanup that Cheong Chen’s gaze turned to Rudd. “What happened?”

Cheong Chen’s face showed no emotion. Rudd’s attitude could cause someone to feel flustered, but Cheong Chen looked normal like nothing happened.

“It seems we’re ruined.”

“Aren’t you the one ruined? How is it the same? Additionally, what is ruined?” A crack appeared in Cheong Chen’s indifferent expression upon hearing Rudd’s words.

The moment Cheong Chen frowned, Rudd corrected his answer. “I’m ruined. Team Shadow failed. They were hit by Alley Leader.”

“Did you get a call from them? Or...” Cheong Chen’s words trailed off at the end.

What he didn’t say was the worst-case scenario. It was Team Shadow telling Alley Leader everything. This was the worst.

Rudd shook his head when he heard it. “I didn’t get in touch with Alley Leader. A video of Team Shadow was uploaded to his channel.”

When Cheong Chen heard Rudd’s detailed description, the emotions on his face disappeared once again.

“They are trash. A waste of money,” Cheong Chen murmured in a low voice as he ignored Rudd’s words. There was no need to listen to all of it. He only needed to know the results. Failure was failure. It didn’t matter as long as he wasn’t exposed as the one behind it.

“Take care of Team Shadow. As for Alley Leader, ignore him for the time being. Use your energy to recruit a new large guild to replace Kowloon. If you can, find a similar guild in China. It would be nice if it were New World.”

Upon hearing Cheong Chen’s words, Rudd bowed with a slight smile on his face. ‘Did he finally give up? He is thinking well.’

At last, Rudd could do decent work.

“He is going to be a pro gamer anyway. He isn’t lacking money or skills. All that is left is honor. That is what we’ll aim for.”

Rudd’s smiling force instantly distorted when he heard Cheong Chen’s words.

‘Damn, please give up. Give up!!’ Rudd screamed inwardly.

***

“Tang-E...” Hyeonu called for his pet in a warm voice.

Yet in Tang-E’s eyes, Hyeonu looked like a demon calling for him in a fierce voice.

Tang-E looked frightened as he groped for words to release the information he knew. “I... I know it now. The forest where nature breathes is the largest forest in the great mountain range. The entrance to Bung Bung Island is in the waterfall in the middle of the forest.”

“Really? Well done, our Tang-E.” Hyeonu cocked his head at Tang-E’s strange appearance, but he also smiled at the thought of going to Bung Bung Island.

Hyeonu had just overlooked one thing. He didn’t know the location of the largest forest in the Hejin Great Mountain Range. Arena didn’t have a map feature like a mini-map. It was for the sake of realism. However, he just thought it was annoying when he saw the map item appearing on the integrated auction house. In the end, Hyeonu decided to ask the people he knew.

“Do you know where the biggest forest is in the Hejin Great Mountain Range?”

He searched through the names of several friends and sent them a note.

‘There are still around 10...’

Doing that didn’t take long. It wasn’t because he repeated the same words like copy and pasting the contents. The main reason was because he didn’t have many friends in the first place.

“Hah...” Hyeonu was just sighing when a reply came from somewhere. It was quite fast. In fact, it had only been 10 minutes since he sent the note.

‘Does he not have much to do? He replied quickly.’

“I expected it would be him.”

The person who replied was Ket. The master of Pioneer, a gathering of eccentrics, was Hyeonu’s hope.

[To Alley Leader:

-I don’t know why you’re looking for it, but since you asked, I will answer you. The largest forest in the Hejin Great Mountain Range is one of the fields currently being explored. The owner of the area is currently the New York Warriors. It is where the High Elf’s Forest is located.]

‘New York Warriors? High Elf’s Forest?’

Sure enough, the eccentric Ket didn’t disappoint Hyeonu. He asked for accurate information. Ket was able to do his part by telling Hyeonu the force that owned the field.

“It is the New York Warriors where Reina is...”

Hyeonu thought of Reina and felt a bit reluctant. It was the first time in his life he had met a woman like this. She was a very beautiful woman, but based on the fact that she had gone to find him for a duel, it was very likely she wasn’t an ordinary person.

‘At least it isn’t the Mano Guild.’

Hyeonu thought he had avoided the worst and started to move toward the place that Ket had mentioned.

***

“Hello?”

“Hello?”

Hyeonu and Tang-E suddenly appeared in front of a player guarding the entrance of the camp.

“Eek!” It was natural for the player to be shocked by the sudden appearance of a human and a bear. “A...Alley Leader?”

“Yes, I’m Alley Leader. Are there any players from the Warriors in the camp right now? There is something I want to ask them. I want to meet them for a minute...”

“I want to meet the pretty woman.”

After hearing Hyeonu and Tang-E’s words, the player thought about it for a moment before asking Hyeonu a question. “Are you really Alley Leader? If you are, there is no reason I can’t call them, but...”

It was a common-sense question. There was only one person who would wander through the Hejin Great Mountain Range alone with a golden bear. However, there was always a possibility that it was someone else, so Hyeonu’s identity needed to be double-checked.

“I don’t know about me, but I don’t think there is another pet that can imitate this guy. Tang-E, Lightning.”

The moment Hyeonu finished talking, magic burst out. It was a lightning bolt in an empty sky.

“Is this enough proof that I’m Alley Leader?”

The man nodded at Hyeonu’s words. “Please wait a moment. They will come out soon.”

After a while, a group of people emerged from the inside of the camp. At the forefront of the group stood a familiar woman. It was a blonde beauty, Reina.

“It has been a while, Reina.” Hyeonu was asking for a favor, so he spoke to Reina as politely as possible.

“Alley Leader, you were looking for me? What is going on?” Reina’s gentle manner of speaking caused the expressions of the players around her to change.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you? Just do it as usual.”

“When did you start speaking with this tone?”

“Reina, I think I’m going to throw up.”

Reina’s beautiful face crumbled at her colleagues’ words. She had been delighted when she received a whisper that Hyeonu had come to visit her. Why was he looking for her? Perhaps...

Maybe he came because he wanted to see her. However, she didn’t show it on the outside. After all, Ice Princess Reina wasn’t such a person.

“Hey!!! What am I? No, what did you say you were here for?” Reina exploded only to quickly change her attitude when she remembered there was Alley Leader in front of her.

Hyeonu thought that Reina was still the same. ‘She hasn’t changed since then.’

“I want to ask you for a favor,” Hyeonu said.

“A favor? What does Alley Leader want from us...?”

“Does he want to join the Warriors?”

“Then I will welcome it. I’ll share my salary!!! Please come.”

“Everyone, shut up! You are talking to me, so tell me,” Reina exploded at her colleagues’ excitement.

‘Taking his attention away?’ She couldn’t stand it anymore and was about to stretch out her fist.

“It isn’t like that. I want to visit the High Elf’s Forest here. Isn’t it right to be polite?”

At Hyeonu’s words, the faces of all the Warriors players, including Reina, looked sullen.

“Ah, what are you saying? Who would stop Alley Leader? Go hunt freely.”

“He wanted a free pass?”

“Is that really it? It wasn’t a confession to Reina? A confession? A confession? Don’t you need something like that?”

The Warriors started teasing Reina. It was rare to have an opportunity to tease Reina. She was the owner of a cold, titanium-like heart. When would they ever get to see her emotionally agitated? They had to tease her while they had the chance.

“Yes, I’m grateful that you asked us. Instead...” Reina’s words trailed off ambiguously.

“Instead...?” Hyeonu watched Reina’s face and predicted what she would say. ‘It is a spar again.’

Just then, words that overturned Hyeonu’s expectations rang in his ears.

“Please give me a peck just once!”

“Huh?” Hyeonu was flustered.

“A peck!!”

“How old are you for a peck? It should be a kiss!”

“How old are you for a kiss? It should be a deep kiss!”

All of the words that Hyeonu heard were actually the jokes of the Warriors players. They were in an endlessly playful mood today.

“Die!” Reina was unable to stand it and raised her fists. She didn’t stop like she did a moment ago. This time, there were no words to stop her. Reina’s fist struck the face of the Warriors player standing closest to her. Reina stepped on the player for a long time before finally calming down and smiling at Hyeonu. “Please spar with me just once. The league will soon start. I would like to use only continuous-type skills.”

Hyeonu nodded. After all the twists and turns, he couldn’t refuse Reina’s request.

‘I need to make sure it is give and take.’

“Then prepare immediately. If you don’t spread it around, you can record it. Use it as an analysis video.”

Hyeonu was being generous. Reina said she was preparing for PvP in the Pro League, but he still allowed her to shoot an analysis video. This could lead to there being a leak about his strength when he made his debut in the pro scene later.

‘Yet so what? There have already been more than one or two videos of me.’

His videos had already spread. Most of the videos uploaded to the channel had more than 100 million views. Showing his skills here didn’t mean that the huge number of views would decrease. Most crucially...

‘They won’t be able to beat me even with the video.’

This was Hyeonu’s infinite confidence. He wouldn’t lose. It wasn’t only pride but also confidence—confidence in his skills.