Ranker’s Return

the Breath struck the wall. The wall that the emperor created remained intact all along while the red dragon had its mouth open. It was a flawlessly solid iron wall. Finally, the mouth of the red dragon closed as the Breath stopped.

“You should know who you are up against.
Who let you dare exhale that dirty Breath?” The emperor saw it and closed his hand lightly. Then the red dragon suddenly fell to the ground. It fell straight down. There was no flapping or gliding. It was just like a stone falling to the ground due to gravity.

Thump! The heavy body collided with the ground. The ground shook like an earthquake had struck, and a cloud of dust particles rose up.
Then the sound of popcorn popping filled the plains.

‘Where is the sound coming from?’

Hyeonu listened to the sudden sound and soon found the source. It wasn’t far away. The sound was coming from the red dragon, whose body was bursting. Its scales were torn, and its flesh had split open with blood spurting out into the air like a fountain.
Golden light leaked from the dragon’s wounds.

“Those who don’t know this subject don’t need to breathe,” the emperor declared with a casual expression.

After that, he bent down to touch Tang-E’s face.

“Were you hurt? Or were you shocked?” The emperor asked with an awkward smile on his face.

With a similarly awkward expression, Tang-E nodded in response to the emperor.
Then the emperor straightened his back and turned to Hyeonu: “Earl, you can’t even deal with an incomplete hatchling? I need to talk to Lebron.
You are too weak to be the disciple of the commander of the Knights of Keon.”

Hyeonu, who had fought fiercely, was struck with a bolt from the blue.

“I’m sorry for my weakness, Your Majesty.
I will do my best in the future.”

***

Jung Dahui was staring at the monitor only to turn at the sound of someone calling her.

“Dahee, look at this.
This is like a bug…” It was Park Cheolhyeong.

He was pointing at his monitor.

“What’s wrong with you? There’s no place for bugs right now.
The next patch hasn’t been delivered by the development team, right?” Jung Dahui got up from her seat and walked to Park Cheolhyeong’s side.

Then she stared at his monitor.

“Alley Leader entered Rondal, and the emperor killed a tier 1 monster.
Isn’t this a bug? It wasn’t Alley Leader who killed it.
It shouldn’t be getting cleared right now,” Park Cheolhyeong explained the situation.

He was currently watching Hyeonu’s play screen. After listening to his explanation, Jung Dahui criticized Park Cheolhyeong, “What? This is nothing.
What bug is this? It is just one of the play contents.
Oppa, have you only been monitoring for a day or two? Why? You’re like an amateur.”

Jung Dahui didn’t think this was a bug. In the first place, there was a good chance the emperor would go in as well when entering Rondal. First, the player had to be able to enter the great hall where the emperor was and know him well enough to ask this of him.
If such a player went to Rondal, it was impossible for the emperor—considering his personality—not to intervene.

“The problem is that the emperor intervened in the test…
However, it wasn’t requested by Alley Leader.
The dragon attacked the emperor, right? So it is just part of the common gameplay.”

“No, I still have to report it.
The team leader should know about this.
It is a peculiar thing.”

“That is up to you, Oppa.
I am going.” Jung Dahui was trying to return to her seat when someone stopped behind her.

“The two of you are having fun chatting instead of doing what I asked you to do?” It was the appearance of the leader of the operations time, Kim Jinyeong.

“No, Team Leader-nim, that isn’t it…
GM Park had something to ask me.
I am going back to my spot now.” Jung Dahui left Park Cheolhyeong and returned to her seat.

Park Cheolhyeong was now having a one-on-one meeting with Kim Jinyeong, and his expression stiffened.

“Oh, my.
GM Park Cheolhyeong, do you think your work is very comfortable these days? You actually called a colleague over to talk.
How are your preparations going?” Kim Jinyeong glanced at Jung Dahui, who left quickly, and placed an arm around Park Cheolhyeong’s shoulder.

“That…
It isn’t like that, Team Leader-nim.” Park Cheolhyeong denied it first.

If he were caught like this, he would be tired all day. Kim Jinyeong had been working overtime for a while, and he was now very mean.
It was best to avoid being hit by this evil.

“It isn’t like that?”

“Ah, yes.
My review of the 1 billion players event is almost finished.
I just need to confirm it with the planning team a few more times, but there won’t be any problems,” Park Cheolhyeong said, licking his dry lips.

Simultaneously, he felt a burning thirst and gulped.

“Yes, you should work like this, GM Park Cheolhyeong.
Don’t you think we should go home? Put a coordinated plan on my desk by tomorrow.
In addition…” Kim Jinyeong paused for a moment and drank the Iced Americano held in his hand like it was water. “I said it before that what you are seeing now isn’t a bug.
An NPC not doing what NPCs should do or items that shouldn’t be there—they are bugs.
This isn’t a bug.
It is just part of the play, part of the play.
Therefore, become more serious about your job if you don’t want to work overtime.” 

Kim Jinyeong knew about it all.
Jung Dahui and Park Cheolhyeong had spoken quietly, but it was impossible for Kim Jinyeong not to have heard their words. It was natural as they were the only ones talking in the operations team earlier.

Kim Jinyeong called out, “Dahui-ssi, ignore him next time.
You just need to work hard on your job.
Don’t listen to such stupid things.
It is a waste of time.
I want to go home.”