Translator: rainbowturtle
Editor: LD & Jyazen
âThen todayâs stream will end here. I would like to ask everyone to say a word of thanks to Teika, who appeared as a guest today.â
Once the stream was ending, Hyeonu placed Teika next to him and forced the viewers to say goodbye.
-Alley Leader Junior, it was fun today.
-Another king with this personality was born.
-Letâs all say hello to this king of human nature who is less handsome.
Teika saw the messages on the chat window and smiled bitterly. For some reason, the viewers were calling him âAlley Leader Juniorâ.
âIt doesnât seem to be because of strength...â
He could read the mood and noticed that the viewers werenât just talking about strength, but he just couldnât figure out the precise reason.
âTodayâs stream was so much fun. Iâll come out again if there is a chance next time. Originally, I didnât think streaming would be that fun. I think that it is worth a try again sometime.â Teika expressed his feelings about participating in the stream as a guest.
He normally didnât have many positive thoughts about streaming. It was hard enough just playing Arena. How could he chat with the audience too? Yet today, he had fun communicating with the viewers as a streamer, so he thought it would be okay to do it again once or twice.
After Teikaâs words, Hyeonu ended the stream: âThen Iâll see you the next time I stream. I will return with more interesting content.â
Then he turned to thank Teika. Hyeonuâs request had been sudden, but Teika had willingly accepted it and participated in the stream as a guest.
âMaybe I am more of a streamer than I thought,â Teika thought.
Hyeonu didnât know how Teika had commented, but the reaction of the audience showed it was quite good.
âThen if fate allows it, letâs stream together again. We could hunt or do quests.â Hyeonu was preparing to separate from Teika. The stream ended quickly, so he needed to get back to his team members who were still training.
âAre you busy now? There was something I wanted to ask...â Teika had the idea of personally asking for a spar once the stream was over. This was why he had surrendered from the ranking battle, so he couldnât help being flustered at Hyeonuâs hasty attitude.
âI have to get ready for Arena Week. All my teammates are practicing hard right now, so I think I have to go quickly.â
âAre you practicing for PvP and the siege? Can I help?â
âTeika?â Hyeonuâs jaw dropped at Teikaâs sudden offer. Teika wanted to help Crescent Moon practice.
âBased on his level of strength... He is stronger than the Hyung-nims, not weaker...â
There were many advantages to having him help out. In retrospect, there was no better opponent than Teika to increase the experience of the players. Teika was, after all, the 4th ranked arena exhibition specialist. Simply looking at the rankings, he was superior to Kim Seokjung.
âOf course, Hyung-nim doesnât play the arena often... So a proper comparison isnât possible.â
It was rare for Kim Seokjung to come to the arena. Nevertheless, his rankings always hovered between 6th and 10th place. He was a person who couldnât be judged by rank alone.
âOf course, I am thankful for your help. But can I use your time like this? Arenât you busy?â Hyeonu asked.
The thing that worried Hyeonu was whether Teika could afford to lose his time. Rankers were always busy. The basis of the arena ranking was the strength of the character. If one's level was low and their items were poor, it was impossible to maintain a single-digit ranking.
Teika nodded and said, âItâs fine. Instead, I have a favor to ask, Alley Leader.â
He was undoubtedly busy. There were many things he had to do, but he wanted to fight with Hyeonu even more. In particular, he wanted to fight against Hyeonu when he was showing his true fighting power.
âA favor? What is it, Teika?â
âCan we fight properly just once? It is using everything. If the spar is just before logging out, that solves the problem of the cooldown time...â Teika spoke cautiously. He knew it was rude to ask for a spar randomly, so he maintained this polite attitude.
âWhat? This is barely a favor,â Hyeonu thought. He had been momentarily surprised when Teika asked for a favor. A ranker was making a request to him, so he thought it wouldnât be an easy request. Nevertheless, Teikaâs request was too simple.
âIt isnât hard at all to fight once. Itâs naturally a profitable trade if I can hire a high-quality worker like Teika. Good. If you help me for an hour or two today, Iâll do whatever you want,â Hyeonu easily accepted Teikaâs request.
It was nothing big, so he felt no worries.
âIs that so? Then letâs go to the place where the players are waiting,â Teika urged Hyeonu. He wanted to start quicker so he could fight with Hyeonu sooner.
***
âSo in addition to the Hyung-nims, Teika here will help with PvP and siege practice.â Hyeonu introduced Teika to Kim Seokjung, Gang Junggu, and the five Crescent Moon players.
âIs it really Teika?â
âWhy is he helping us?â
âHyung, are you friendly with him?â
The Crescent Moon players were surprised to see Teika appearing with Hyeonu, since Teika was a celebrity who was really hard to meet. Hyeonu was also a celebrity, but they could see him daily. It was a different feeling from meeting Teika for the first time.
âWe arenât close, but we ran into each other during the ranking battle today. Somehow we ended up like this?â Hyeonu didnât explain himself; he just talked nonsense. It was a waste of time to say everything.
Teika said it was okay, but Hyeonu still needed to show him some consideration.
âHyung, what is this? Why is your explanation so strange? There is no beginning and no end.â Mason frowned at Hyeonuâs explanation that omitted a lot.
âJust do it. Now isnât the time to be doing this. You should take advantage of this precious time,â Hyeonu said and waved his hand like it was annoying. Then he turned toward the other Crescent Moon players and advised, âBe prepared. The spar with Teika is going to start now. It will probably be quite different from sparring with Seokjung hyung-nim and Junggu hyung-nim. It will be a good experience.â
After listening to Hyeonuâs words, the Crescent Moon players began to gather together. Unlike before, they couldnât fight without thinking now, so they held a meeting to ensure the minimum of cooperation.
âIâve watched Teikaâs videos, and he fights really well. There is nothing missing,â Lee Hoon stated.
Once the players gathered, he started to talk little by little about what he knew. What was Teikaâs fighting style? What were his skills? How powerful was he? Fortunately, Teikaâs videos were posted by the arena rankers who encountered him, so they could watch Teika from the perspective of his victims who suffered.
Lee Hoon continued to explain, âI think he is as good as the two Hyung-nims. Of course, his weapon is a spear, so we have to be more careful. The range is longer than you think.â
Hearing that, the other players expressed their opinions one by one.
âThen letâs use the undead. I will summon the death knight while Yuri uses her Shield and blessings. Why donât we approach Teika while they stall him?â Sunny mentioned one of the strategies they had practiced against Kim Seokjung and Gang Junggu.
Yuri nodded and agreed with Sunnyâs opinion, âThat sounds okay. In any case, we donât just have one chance at this. I think itâs fine to use as many things as possible.â
According to what Hyeonu said earlier, it seemed that Teika wasnât only here to help for a short time but for hours. In that amount of time, they could experiment with what they had prepared so far.
âNow, stop talking. We have to practice!â Hyeonu shouted at the Crescent Moon players who seemed to be talking endlessly. Then he turned to Teika and said, âTeika, donât go easy on them. Understood? If you see a gap, stab in and break it.â
âIs it really necessary? I donât think theyâll be able to hold on...â Teikaâs voice trailed off. He had seen several league videos of the Crescent Moon players. Their cooperation and power were pretty good, but that was it. In his eyes, that seemed too lacking. It was fine in the Korean League, but it wasnât good enough for the world stage
âPlease fight to the extent that you want to show me in our spar.â Hyeonu threw these words at the hesitant Teika. It was advice that relieved the guilt in Teikaâs heart.
âI understand. Iâll do my best.â Teika gave a light smile as he pulled a spear out of his inventory and walked to the center of the arena.
Gang Junggu approached Hyeonu and wondered, âIs it okay? They will be shocked. They might be skeptical about all their efforts so far.â
Teika seemed like he would fight sincerely, but Crescent Moonâs players were still too weak to take him on. The odds of success might be higher if they practiced PvP instead of the siege. Their differences in character growth were overwhelming.
âThere is something to be gained even from breaking. In addition, I believe in them. They wonât break. Instead, they will harden.â Hyeonu watched the Crescent Moon players with eyes full of trust.
***
Teika was determined. He had to do his best right now in order to see Hyeonuâs power.
âThe first battle should end quickly,â Teika decided. This wasnât a situation where he should consider others.
Teika held his spear firmly and spoke to the Crescent Moon players, âThen please.â
On the Crescent Moon side, Lee Hoon acted as the representative and answered Teika: âThank you for helping us practice.â
This concluded the conversation on both sides. Now they were aiming weapons at each other. There was a rattling sound, and four knights on skeleton horses emerged from the soil. They were Sunnyâs death knights. Sunnyâs proficiency had increased during this period of time, and she could now summon more majestic death knights.
âGo and fight.â At Sunnyâs brief command, the death knights moved into action, leading the skeleton horses in different directions. They surrounded Teika and attacked him at the same time. There was a strike from above, a second hit from left to right, and a third one flowing from right to left. Then the last one was a blow from the bottom up.
Four attacks poured toward Teika simultaneously. The death knightsâ swords seemed like they would quickly cut him apart. Teika stood quietly and watched the swords come toward him. He seemed to be simply standing still when he suddenly stabbed his spear toward the ground.
The ground split apart, and blood-red energy appeared. The skeleton horses lifted their front legs to avoid the blood-colored energy pouring from the cracked ground. Of course, doing that meant the skeleton horses had to stop midway through their charge. Under such circumstances, the swords of the death knights couldnât touch Teika.
âThe first blow has been given, so it is my turn now.â Teika pulled out the spear that was embedded in the ground and aimed it at the Crescent Moon players.