“Are you ready?” Hyeonu spoke to the nervous-looking Ray.

“Yes, I’m fine. Isn’t it enough to just do what I have been doing?” 

Unlike Ray’s nervous expression, he said it was fine. It was a statement that had no credibility.

“Didn’t everyone say you have become better?” Hyeonu started trying to relieve Ray’s tension. Ray had to be in the best condition today.

‘He is especially nervous today.’

Of course, Ray’s nervousness today made sense. So far, it had just been interim assessments. Today was the true essence of Alley Leader Academy.

“The ranking matches aren’t much different. Just remember what you have practiced with me and believe in what you have been doing.”

However, this was the only thing that Hyeonu could say. He couldn’t participate in the ranking battles on Ray’s behalf.

“I believe it. However... it has been too long since I’ve done a ranking battle. I can’t help being nervous when thinking that so many people will be watching my ranking battle.” Ray covered his face with both hands.

The reason he was nervous wasn't due to distrust of his skills. It was due to Hyeonu’s viewers that easily exceeded 10 million. Ray was worried about playing the rankings in front of so many people and wondered if he would make a mistake. If that happened… he wondered if he would cause trouble for Hyeonu.

He kept imagining bad situations.

“Don’t worry about that. Losing once doesn’t mean that the content is destroyed. Ray, your skills have already reached the level you want. It doesn’t matter if you lose once or twice. As long as you win the rest, you will be able to reach the diamond ranking that you are aiming for.” Hyeonu continued to care for Ray’s mentality and injected the winning mentality of sports players.

After a while, Hyeonu turned on the live stream as scheduled.

“Hello everyone. I am Alley Leader. Welcome to my live stream today.” Hyeonu smiled at the millions of viewers who entered the moment he turned on the stream.

His live stream grew without knowing the end. It had already grown so large that it couldn’t be compared to anyone else’s, but it was still growing even faster than anyone else’s.

-Is it the real ranking battles today?

-Will Ray’s ranking reach the diamond level?

-By the way, did his skills improve? I can’t feel it because he is beaten up every day.

-That’s for sure. He was beaten up by the daily instructors invited. In addition, he was beaten up by Alley Leader... It is right that he was beaten up.

-If he could prevent himself from being beaten up by a grandmaster, would he be learning at Alley Leader Academy? It is already a high ranking ㅋㅋㅋ

-I acknowledge that ㅋㅋㅋ. Each instructor is amazing.

The viewers had some doubts about Ray’s skills. It was natural because nothing was shown. All Ray showed in Hyeonu’s live streams was a confrontation with Hyeonu and the other daily instructors. It was clear that he had improved, but Ray’s defeat each time was all that remained in the viewers’ memories.

“Ray’s skills have improved greatly. You will see it soon.” Hyeonu glanced at Ray, who was standing behind him. Then Ray gestured in the air and soon disappeared.

“You will probably be surprised. You will see a completely different side of him,” Hyeonu spoke with conviction. This wasn’t lip service. He was sincere. Ray had achieved a tremendous increase in PvP skills compared to when they first met. He had learned how to properly utilize his high specs instead of just believing in them.

-Yes, the next bluff.

-Let’s talk after the results.

-It is like he is pretending to be the student.

Some viewers still didn’t believe Hyeonu’s assertions. They just regarded it as his usual words.

At this moment, Ray’s ranking battle began.

“Ray’s ranking battle has begun. Now I am focused on watching the battle.”

Hyeonu shifted the viewers’ attention to the fight and focused on the battle rather than the chat window.

***

[The ranking battle has started.]

Ray looked at his opponent the moment the ranking battle began. The opponent was holding a long white sword. There was no shield in sight.

‘Is it an ordinary warrior?’

Then this opponent would be easy to deal with. He had practiced fighting against an opponent with a long sword the most. Ray held his greatsword with a light heart.

At the same time, he kicked off hard against the ground. Ray’s body flew flexibly like a curled-up spring that had been unfolded. He arrived in front of his opponent in an instant and swung the greatsword as quickly and lightly as swinging a branch. Ray’s sword moved with the momentum of crushing his opponent’s head.

The opposing warrior saw it and immediately stomped his feet. The warrior’s body moved back in an instant. He decided it was better to avoid Ray’s attack than to stop it. However, Ray didn’t stay still. He used a charging skill to cling to the warrior again. Ray’s behavior of not wasting even a second drew admiration from Hyeonu and the viewers, and it also made the opposing warrior flustered.

‘Was Ray like this?’

The opposing warrior was well aware of Ray. He had to know of Ray. There were only 1,000 players in the same ranking tier as Ray. In particular, among the rankers of his level, Ray was the only one in the platinum section of the arena rankings. Furthermore, Ray had appeared on Hyeonu’s live stream through Alley Leader’s Academy. This alone meant that everyone in the platinum ranking knew Ray’s face.

Putting aside all of this, the opposing warrior had already fought Ray once before. At that time, he was unfortunately defeated as he was thoroughly pushed when it came to specs. However, Ray hadn’t shown the same combat ability he was showing today, which seemed to flow fluidly like water. Regardless of whether the opponent was surprised, Ray focused solely on what he had to do.

He swung the greatsword with the determination to beat his opponent. The greatsword cut through the space and gradually approached the warrior. Now the warrior had to make a choice—avoid the attack or counter it.

‘Avoid it.’ The warrior’s choice was evasion. He was clearly aware of the difference between him and Ray. It would be crazy to try and block Ray’s attack while he was on the defensive.

The warrior strongly moved his feet again, soaring high into the air. He decided to leave Ray’s field of view entirely. It seemed to be a very effective choice.

Ray’s pupils shook momentarily as the warrior disappeared from his field of view in an instant. Nevertheless, it was only for a short time. Ray, who was rushing in a ‘一’ shape, suddenly changed the direction of his movement.

He relaxed his body and dropped to the ground. His left foot stepped on the ground first. At the same time, his right shoulder protruded diagonally, and his right foot moved to be in a straight line with his left foot. Then he naturally turned to the left. Ray turned his body while moving his greatsword from top to bottom at the same time. When Ray had turned halfway around, the greatsword was about to touch the ground.

By the time Ray’s body regained its original position, the greatsword was raised to the sky. Ray’s greatsword released a thick pure energy. The warrior looked back when he saw the pure energy heading toward him. This was an unexpected response. Unlike his panicked mind, the warrior’s body was already moving as if to prove he hadn’t reached the platinum ranking by playing rock paper scissors.

The long sword in the warrior’s hand quickly slashed through the air. Pure energy was fired every time the long sword moved. This flying pure energy started to collide with Ray’s pure energy.

However, Ray’s pure energy didn’t stop advancing, seemingly without a care. Seeing this, the warrior moved his hand faster. The problem was that the warrior’s pure energy didn’t stop Ray’s pure energy from advancing. The difference in specs between the two of them didn’t allow it.

Ray’s pure energy hit the warrior, and the latter crashed down quickly like a windless kite. Ray once again swung his greatsword at the falling warrior. The greatsword moved with a powerful stroke, and pure energy was fired again. A huge pure energy flew toward the warrior and cut through the ground.

Ray’s pure energy pierced through the warrior. The warrior’s body disappeared without a trace.

[Player ‘Ray’ has won.]

Ray’s first ranking battle since Alley Leader Academy started came to an end.

***

“Everyone, did you see it? Isn’t it a different level of skill from before?” Hyeonu boasted while watching Ray neatly win the ranking battle.

-I think I’ve seen this scene before.

-He forcefully did it before and was scolded by Alley Leader.

-Ah, that’s it. At that time, he was scolded a lot because he did it forcefully.

-Now he is doing it very neatly. Did you see the other person’s flustered expression?

The viewers nodded at Hyeonu’s words. Ray was clearly different. The change was even more obvious when looking at it like this.

“The ranking might’ve fallen to 9,800th due to failure to play in the ranking matches during Alley Leader Academy, but... it doesn’t change that it is the platinum section. He crushed a platinum ranker like this. This is what is important.” Hyeonu was busy explaining how much Ray’s skills had improved.

He was appealing to viewers, but at the same time, he was speaking to Ray. This way, Ray could relax even more.

-I admit it.

-Platinum is platinum, even if it is the lowest section of platinum.

-Looking at his battle, I think the ranking will go up.

-If he wins easily, his ranking will rise vertically.

The viewers also thought that Ray’s skills no longer belonged to the lower area of the platinum rank. He was too strong for that.

“Ray, what is your ranking now?” Hyeonu asked Ray, who now had a similar expression to his usual one.

Ray confirmed his ranking and replied with an incredulous expression, “I am 8,900th place. It rose around 900 places at once.” 

He had never experienced such a steep rise in the rankings before. It was always little by little. Ray had repeatedly won and lost to raise his ranking.

“Then you just need to win around 10 times right? This will allow you to go to 999th place.” Hyeonu liked what he heard and clapped to show that.

‘I thought he would rise 300 or 400 spots at best...’

Ray’s ranking had risen a lot more than expected. At this rate, it seemed that the live stream would end quickly.

‘Then today’s live stream will be too short.’

The thought of a sudden problem rose in Hyeonu’s mind. This was something unexpected. It was a problem that Ray was so good.

“The next ranking battle has been decided. Please look forward to it.” Ray disappeared again while Hyeonu was feeling troubled.

Hyeonu erased his complicated thoughts and expressed his support for Ray, “Yes, I believe Ray will win again this time.” 

(6/7) Weekly chapters. No set days. 

Editor: LD

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