The Hero Returns

The preliminary matches were made up of individual competitions.

The participants didn't fight each other physically but still competed to see who would score the most points.

As such, no one chose to fight their competition. After all, if the two people wasted their time and energy fighting, then it would only result in them falling behind the other three in the group.

Sometimes, a monster too powerful for one person to handle would show up in the preliminaries, resulting in competitors working together to overcome such obstacles.

But now...

Sun Wukong displayed an ability to utterly upend the script on the preliminaries.

Crunch, boom'”!

Whoooosh'”

Noises of monsters falling in droves came from every corner of the forest.

Dozens of cameras were working overtime to capture everything at the moment. The footage being broadcast also had to change drastically to match the action.

And all those cameras were showing the same faces.

"What kind of skill is this?"

"Isn't that, you know, the cloning technique?"

"Is that why he named himself Sun Wukong?"

"Well, at least he got the concept right."

"And his skill level isn't a joke, either."

The four participants promptly gave up right there and then.

It wasn't because Sun Wukong had produced too many clones of himself.

His main body hadn't even moved an inch from the spot, but more importantly, each of the clones was so strong that one punch from them was enough to kill a monster.

In other words, every clone was strong enough to rival a top-tier S-Rank awakener.

"Just who the heck is he?"

Only then did they realize something.

Kim Su-hyeun recommended him. Not just anyone could earn Su-hyeun's recommendation.

"Hmm... I'm getting bored," Sun Wukong muttered while standing in front of his fellow four participants.

After hearing his muttering, they finally realized that Sun Wukong's real body hadn't moved an inch until now.

He lightly spun Ruyi Jingu Bang in his hand, but he wasn't even staring at the forest. "This should take care of things on that end, so..."

The unmistakable fighting intent could be felt emanating from his glare.

"What about you lot? Are you any good?"

"W'”wait, there's no reason to fight us now, is there?"

"With things like this, the odds of us passing the preliminary are'”"

Sun Wukong replied disinterestedly, "I didn't come here for nonsense like that, you know."

"Nonsense like that?"

"Huh?"

From the get-go, these participants entered the Ranking Wars to advertise their names and enhance their value.

That purpose was even tied to enhancing the international prestige of their respective nations, similar to competing in the Olympics or the World Cup. To put it simply, the awakeners competing in the Ranking Wars were like the top representatives of their respective nations.

However, Sun Wukong's goal obviously had nothing to do with any of those.

"You see, I want to fight as much as I can." Sun Wukong beckoned at the awakeners, telling them to attack him, "So, hurry up. Let's have some fun."

* * *

In the Ranking Wars preliminaries, the matches were supposed to go on for two days in total. Everyone expected Su-hyeun to steal the limelight, but somewhat surprisingly, that role belonged to someone else.

"A new face, huh?"

"He won 4 versus 1, right?"

"I didn't think anyone not affiliated with the Paragon Guild would be that strong."

"But he's Kim Su-hyeun's acquaintance, apparently."

"Does that mean he'll soon join the Paragon Guild, too?"

Sun Wukong was the protagonist of all their gossiping.

Some were already asking if he was the real Sun Wukong, the one and only Great Sage, Heaven's Equal. Still, others simply called him a cosplaying weirdo.

Whichever side was the truth, it didn't matter in the end. Both were more than enough to generate so much buzz already.

Of course, the one responsible for all that buzz, Sun Wukong, didn't seem to care about any of the hullabaloos.

"It's my loss."

Currently, in the main match of the second round of the Ranking Wars, Hak-joon held up both of his hands. His whole body was soaked in sweat while his complexion was deathly pale.

Everything happened in less than 10 minutes. The arena was utterly wrecked while Hak-joon, normally overflowing with stamina, had exhausted himself to the brink of passing out.

"Still, you're pretty good, aren't you?" Sun Wukong grinned in satisfaction, which hadn't happened in a while.

Although this wasn't a life-or-death struggle, this fight nevertheless proved to be quite enjoyable to him. At the very least, Sun Wukong didn't see Hak-joon as yet another random rabble like the other awakeners.

"I heard about you, but wow! You're really strong," Hak-joon said while rubbing his abdomen, which got hit by Ruyi Jingu Bang early on.

It must've been ages since the last time he felt such a strong impact force.

He ended up vomiting what he ate before the match. His whole body toppled forward while all the magical energy he roused up got dispersed.

Right after that, he realized how outmatched he was, then for the next 10 minutes, he proceeded to pour out every single ounce of his energy during each of his sword swings.

And then, he lost.

"To him, this fight was on the level of just horsing around," Hak-joon thought.

Sun Wukong had been maintaining a grin throughout the fight.

That grin looked so pure. Like a kid having fun in the playground, Sun Wukong thoroughly enjoyed himself during the fight.

That helped Hak-joon reaffirm something.

"If it weren't for him having fun, our fight would've finished much sooner."

Hak-joon grabbed Sun Wukong's offered hand and got back on his feet.

The first of the main match lasted for around 10 minutes. One could say it didn't take that long.

Most of the Ranking Wars' matches lasted anywhere between 15 minutes to a few hours. The reason why a match could go on for that long was simple'”most of the participating S-Rank awakeners were strong individuals, to begin with, and their strengths closely matched.

However, despite the short length, none of the spectators thought they got short-changed during this match.

"Wow..."

"What did we just see?"

"Could he be the real Sun Wukong? I mean, his staff, it'”"

"Didn't he also step on the clouds to fly around?"

The spectators of the Ranking Wars wanted only one thing, and that was to be entertained.

The battles between awakeners were much flashier and exciting than any video game or movie. Well, they knew how to use flashy skills, and their physical prowess verged on being superhuman, after all.

Everything was more visceral because the fight wasn't make-believe but happening for real.

Also, the spectators derived additional enjoyment from trying to predict which high-ranking awakeners would fight each other and who would emerge victorious in such a situation.

But now, a rising star announced himself by defeating an awakener of the Paragon Guild.

"Third Brother, it looks like you've quickly become a big celebrity."

"Eh? I have?" Sun Wukong turned his head to look at Su-hyeun. He was back in the participant waiting room.

He was merely competing in the matches since he was told to do so. His head began tilting this way and that, unable to understand why he had suddenly become a celebrity. He was wondering if he had done something amazing to warrant that.

However, to make him understand, first, one would also have to explain the significance of the Ranking Wars and then explain how the people of this world viewed the awakeners participating in the Ranking Wars.

Su-hyeun realized how complicated explaining all of that was going to be. He mulled over his options for a bit, then simply nodded, "I think if you go outside now, everyone will start recognizing you."

"Huh! That's gonna get a bit annoying."

"You could always use the transformation technique before going out, though. You know how to disguise yourself a bit, don't you?"

"Eh," Sun Wukong scratched his head while looking annoyed before settling down on a chair. He then popped a couple of biscuits in his mouth. "By the way, what were you doing in here?"

"Do you remember the guy from before?"

"How can I when you put it that way?"

"I'm talking about Mister Luslec."

"Luslec? Mm..." Sun Wukong combed through his memory bank for a while, then immediately nodded, "Aha! Yeah, we did fight side by side."

"I've been trying to contact him," Su-hyeun was fidgeting with the marble Luslec gave him in his pocket. "But he doesn't want to answer me."

"Is it an urgent matter?"

"Well, he is the Apostle of Brahma, after all. I wanted to find out if there's been any news, but I can't get a hold of him."

Up until now, it always had been Lusclec contacting Su-hyeun first.

He sometimes showed up for no special reason to visit Su-hyeun. He even replied within a few seconds when Su-hyeun tried to contact him as if he was waiting to be contacted in the first place.

However, during the Ranking Wars, Luslec didn't respond to any attempts at contact as if something was keeping him busy.

"I wonder, did Zeus meet Brahma by now?" Su-hyeun thought.

Zeus abruptly showed up on Earth to track Luslec down while saying he wanted to locate Brahma. Then, after getting a solid lead, he left in a hurry only to go missing in action, too.

"As soon as I wrap things up here, I should try searching for them."

There shouldn't be any immediate problems.

Without needing to find Brahma right away, the frequency of dungeon generation had decreased noticeably. Also, Su-hyeun had already taken care of his primary concern'”Fafnir.

Even Osiris had been dealt with. Out of the Three Destroyers, two of them had died by Su-hyeun's hands.

"Okay, so, the remaining ones are Shiva and..."

It was the last boss whose name Su-hyeun didn't even know.

"The One Overlord..."

Su-hyeun still hadn't found out what the name of the apex of all Predators was. All he knew, for the time being, was that the One Overlord, just like Shiva, could lead a "world" on the scale of galaxies to their absolute destruction.

Thinking about the One Overlord filled Su-hyeun's head with complicated thoughts.

He wondered half-heartedly if it would be okay to pretend not to have thought about an existence with an unknown presence and unknown name. Still, his anxiety only got more amplified with time.

"Should I personally go out to find this One Overlord or something?"

But where?

"I guess there's no choice but to meet Brahma directly, then."

The most realistic and achievable goal right now seemed like meeting Brahma. There was the connection called Luslec, after all. Not to forget, Zeus was already chasing after Brahma's shadow.

Su-hyeun organized his thoughts and then got up from his chair.

He was up next.

* * *

Waaaaah'”!

The crowd's cheering was getting louder.

It was the second round of the main matches.

Finally, it was Su-hyeun's turn.

Not only that, but the match-up was also good enough to excite the spectators greatly.

"Thomas versus Kim Su-hyeun, huh?"

"The very first Ranking Wars' main match was these two, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. That match was a classic, too. I wonder what's going to happen this time."

"Maybe Thomas will win today?"

"No way, man."

They were both members of the Paragon Guild.

Some were even saying that the match-up between Thomas and Su-hyeun was like an early final.

Hak-joon recently overtook Thomas in the rankings to reach second place, but the margin between them was paper-thin, so to speak.

Step'”

Su-hyeun stepped inside the arena. Thomas was already there, waiting.

"Heeeey, Su-hyeun'”!" Thomas began waving his hand, looking really happy to see Su-hyeun.

The latter also waved back. He then turned his head to confirm, and sure enough, Gordon Rohan was observing the match from the VIP seats high up.

The announcer began his long and boring explanation next.

It started by introducing both Su-hyeun and Thomas. The announcer then explained the relationship between the two and even tried to impart some significance into the match that was not necessary.

And a short while later...

[The match will now begin.]

The announcement message floated up to signal the start of the second main match.

"Let me apologize in advance."

"Hmm?"

Despite the considerable distance, Su-hyeun's voice was clearly transmitted to Thomas, causing the latter to make a puzzled expression.

But he didn't need long to figure out what the apology was for.

Ka-boom'”!

"Kugh."

Thomas's eyes rolled.

A fist rammed into his abdomen, making him wobble helplessly before his whole frame collapsed to his front.

Su-hyeun carefully caught Thomas's falling figure.

The latter wasn't completely unconscious, though.

Su-hyeun was holding back just then, and it seemed his attack lacked enough bite in the end.

Still, the match was already over with this hit.

"Wha'”?"

"T'”that's really the end?"

"In one hit?!"

The spectators were left in disbelief.

Without a doubt, the two men's fight in the first Ranking Wars looked quite intense. Thomas activated the Dark World, and Su-hyeun battled hard to break through it.

But now, their rematch ended far too quickly and in such a deflating fashion, too.

"I'd like to make a suggestion," Su-hyeun scanned the spectators before turning his head to look up at Gordon Rohan.

When their gazes met, Gordon nodded to indicate that Su-hyeun should continue.

"Do you all remember the rule of the final match during the first Ranking Wars?"

The very first Ranking Wars?

The rule for the final match back then was rather simple.

The match was in the form of "rotation." One competitor stood firm and accepted all challengers. The loser would leave the arena while the winner would take on the other challengers.

The last one standing would be the winner.

"Why don't we do that from now on?"

Su-hyeun's expression suddenly changed.

As if he wanted everyone to see him and hear him, he made a haughty expression and addressed the crowd, "Only one among you today is my real opponent, anyway."