The Return Of The Genius Ranker Of All Times [EN]: Chapter 45

45.

I couldn’t decide if I liked my friends for always being the same, or if they were just annoying me.

Dohyun casually ignored their banter, finished cooking the stew, and set the table.

He took a light spoonful. The harmonious blend of saltiness and the rich scent of soybean paste filled his mouth.

As expected, his mother’s soybean paste stew was amazing.

Dohyun quickly finished a bowl and plopped down on the sofa.

Then, a familiar scene flickered on the TV.

Dohyun usually ignored dramas and entertainment shows, but this time, it was a channel he knew better than anyone else – a gaming channel.

“What’s with the *God of Se* [a popular online game]? You play *God of Se* too?”

“Who doesn’t these days?”

“Seriously, you play?”

“Yeah. My level is pretty high, too. 71.”

“Wow.”

This was truly shocking.

The guy who wouldn’t even glance at games was playing *God of Se*? And his level was much higher than his own.

“Level 71 means you’ve been playing for a while, right? You’re not usually into this kind of thing.”

“About six months? A friend said they’d help me get started, so I tried it, and it was more fun than I thought, so I kept playing.”

“Hmm. Does it usually take about half a year to get that high?”

“Don’t you know? I don’t spend ten hours a day on it like someone else.”

“…….”

Dohyun had nothing to say and closed his mouth.

Well, that was normal.

It was abnormal for him to not only spend ten hours but also worry about how to use his time more efficiently.

With the possibility of becoming a top-ranked player already gone, most people played the game simply for enjoyment.

‘But I find it fun to do it this way.’

Dohyun found those people amazing, but if he said that, Hyunah would probably shake her head and say, ‘Ew, you smell like a shut-in.’

Choosing to wisely keep his mouth shut, Dohyun quietly watched TV.

-Today’s *God of Se* broadcast! The news we’re bringing you today is very hot!

*God of Se* broadcast.

It was the fastest program to establish itself after *God of Se* was released, and thanks to early investment, it was now the most popular program for delivering *God of Se* news.

The well-matched banter between MCs Jin Hyunmo and Jang Yena was also one of the reasons for its popularity.

The two were enthusiastically chattering again this time.

-Not another top 10 guild raid story, right? Viewers are already complaining about ‘Another Top Guild Raid.’

-Haha, I’d love to meet that expectation, but unfortunately, we have different news today! It’s guild news, but not about the top 10 guilds – it’s about the Hero Guild!

-Hero Guild? Oh, I know them. Aren’t they very famous?

-Is it because the guild master is handsome that you know them?

-Ahem, no! Well, he *is* my type… but I, Jang Yena, know how to separate public and private matters!

‘Huh?’

Dohyun unknowingly muttered at the familiar guild name.

“Hero Guild?”

“Huh? What, Oppa [term used by a younger female to address an older brother or male friend], do you know the Hero Guild too?”

“Well… I know them.”

Then, Hyunah stared intently at Dohyun.

Her expression seemed strange, and then she suddenly put on a solemn face and began to speak in as low a voice as possible.

“Guilds are for weaklings. They’re not even worth remembering.”

“……?”

“Where did the person who used to say that go? I thought you were cringey enough with your *chuunibyou* [Japanese term for “middle schooler syndrome,” referring to childish or delusional behavior] phase, but you’ve changed since you came back from the army.”

“……Ah.”

Dohyun, who had been tilting his head, let out a groan as he suddenly remembered.

Back when he was 18, when his *chuunibyou* phase came later than others, he suffered from ‘high school sophomore syndrome.’

He had been annoyed by Hyunah’s question about her slight interest in Demroq and had answered like that.

He was annoyed, but he thought it was cool at the time, but now it was a dark history like no other.

“Saying things like ‘Life is solitary’… Ugh, I’m telling you, games ruin people. Every time you spouted cringey things, I got goosebumps.”

“…Was I? I don’t remember.”

“I was afraid my friends would see you like that, so I couldn’t bring you along.”

…I think I know why she didn’t want to introduce me to her friends.

Even he would have been afraid.

Even he thought he was crazy, but he had his own excuses.

At that time, Dohyun was on a winning streak based on his excellent control, and many users approached him.

Some were trying to make an impression, but there were many more who were trying to stab him in the back.

As a result, he was wary of users from the start.

‘I was sick of guilds.’

Later, they even started fighting him in guild units, so Dohyun hated guilds.

Whenever something happened, they would say things like, ‘Do you know what guild I’m in?’ or ‘I’m an executive,’ and so on…

Bringing a guild seemed no different from a neighborhood thug bringing his older brothers after getting hit once.

He had experienced such difficulties in a game he started as a minor, so it was understandable that he had a critical view.

…He tried to comfort himself, but he couldn’t deny that it was a dark history.

“Ahem. Well, the Hero Guild must be a famous guild, right? Enough to be on TV.”

As he avoided eye contact and pretended not to know, Hyunah stared at him for a while, sighed, and turned her head.

It seemed she had decided to let it go at this point.

“The Hero Guild is popular among people in their 20s these days. In terms of popularity, it’s on par with Myeolsal, right?”

“Hmm? Why? Even though it’s not one of the top 10 guilds?”

“Their main activity is teaching bullies a lesson… The idea of becoming a hero is good, the average age of the guild members is young, and, above all, the guild master is handsome.”

“…Ah.”

In the end, it was all about looks.

They had all the trends that young people would like, but he was sure that the last reason played the biggest role.

“Guys seem to like Myeolsal more, but girls usually like the Hero Guild.”

“Yeah… I see. That makes sense.”

In short, Myeolsal was what excited men, and the Hero Guild’s master was what made women fall in love.

He was just responding appropriately, but he understood.

-There are probably few people who don’t know the Hero Guild. Among the large guilds, they are in the upper ranks and are one of the few guilds challenging the dominance of the top 10 guilds.

-They’re almost top-tier in personal combat and assassination, right? I heard that they’re comparable to the top 10 guilds in those areas.

-Yes, the Hero Guild itself was established to punish villains.

-Actually, there are those reasons, but the guild master, Verze, is really handsome. Even a man would fall for him.

Verze’s appearance in the short hunting video on the screen was, well, like a beautiful young man.

He heard he was Korean, but he customized his hair and eye color to look like a foreigner, so he really looked like a nobleman in a romance fantasy.

“Doesn’t he look too much like a gigolo?”

“That’s what ‘handsome and pretty’ is. Girls go crazy for that kind of face.”

“…….”

If he’s handsome, he’s handsome, and if he’s pretty, he’s pretty, but what is ‘handsome and pretty’ supposed to mean?

It would be tiring to try to understand, so he decided to just let it go.

‘I should go work out.’

It’s a 20-minute walk to the gym, so if I walk now, I’ll probably digest my food.

I even ate moderately on purpose.

He was about to get up when it happened.

-But I heard that the Hero Guild issued another assassination order today?

‘……Huh?’

The familiar word grabbed Dohyun’s attention.

-Ah, you’re up to date. As everyone in Raven knows, there are a lot of bad people in Raven who enjoy bullying others.

-That’s right, that’s right. I was bullied so badly when I was in Raven…

-Wasn’t it Jang Yena who taught them a lesson?

-I was wondering if it was because they were a little handsome… No, is that important now?

-Haha. Anyway, this time, those bullies shamelessly tried to incite people in the *게시글* [online forum or bulletin board]? In the end, the news spread to the Hero Guild, and things went wrong… Let’s look at the data screen.

The data screen began with interview videos of people who had been victimized by the Assassin Boy and his group.

“They’re complete trash. I still can’t get over what they took from me back then.”

“I was new to the game, so I was inexperienced, and they offered to help me. I was so grateful… but it turned out to be a trap. They lure newbies in that way.”

“I reached level 24, but I didn’t graduate. Why? Because it’s fun for them.”

“It’s too unpleasant, even though it’s just a game. Even if I report them, it’s not reality, so the law doesn’t apply… There’s nowhere to turn, and it drives people crazy.”

Numerous victims expressed their resentment, and they even showed how they were victimized through reenactment videos.

Then, the atmosphere changed with majestic background music showing the Hero Guild, and the video showed five heroes.

To be exact, it was the appearance of the five heroes *versus* the Assassin Boy’s group.

The Assassin Boy and his group, whose equipment had become infinitely shabby compared to the last time he saw them, were being massacred by the Hero Guild over and over again.

“Wow, that’s so refreshing. There must be a lot of trash like that.”

“That’s how all games are.”

The production even amplified the catharsis that viewers felt.

That handsome and pretty (?) man is teaching villains a lesson?

There’s no way he wouldn’t have fans.

It might be unpleasant if it were on public television, but most of the people watching the *God of Se* broadcast were young, so they were relieved instead.

“Are all games like that originally?”

“All the games I’ve played were like that.”

The only games he’s played are Demroq and *God of Se*, which are famous for having a lot of trash, but he thought they were all similar.

This is why people should live kindly.

Isn’t it because they live badly that they’re being taught a lesson on TV like that?

Hyunah nodded and muttered, “Is that why…”

“These days, teaching bullies a lesson videos are popular on NewTube too.”

“NewTube?”

“Yeah. Videos like ‘I tried filming bullies with hidden cameras,’ ‘I tried inducing PK [Player Killing] while pretending to be a newbie’ are uploaded all the time. Ah, Oppa, you might not know since you just got out. These days, NewTube is all *God of Se* videos.”

Dohyun’s eyes lit up with interest.

The content was fresh and looked fun, but before that, he was more interested in the fact that *God of Se* had swallowed up NewTube.

‘Well, it was said that it had swallowed up most cultures, so it makes sense that there would be changes in NewTube too.’

He doesn’t *not* watch NewTube, but he only watches it when he needs to, so he didn’t realize it, but now he could see that most of the videos were *God of Se* videos.

Even the content is diverse.

From raid videos to arena videos, hidden camera videos, songs, and fantasy building, etc…

“The views are all over ten million?”

Even the views on those videos were enormous.

Before he went to the army, they were usually around a million…

“When was that? Popular videos get over 100 million views.”

“Wow?”

“Since there’s no one who doesn’t play *God of Se* these days… But it seems hard to be successful. There are tons of people who can’t even get picked up by the algorithm.”

The principle of all markets is supply and demand.

There is a lot of supply and demand, but in this case, there was too much of it.

There was too much supply, so they were almost all videos that had been seen somewhere, and naturally, people only looked for fresh or highly entertaining videos.

“If it’s 100 million views… they must be making a lot of money?”

“Probably? I heard that the Hero Guild master alone makes hundreds of millions of won [Korean currency; 1 million won is approximately $750 USD] a month from NewTube.”

“Oh, hundreds of millions?”

“People like Myeolsal make 1 billion won a month if you combine all their income, it’s really a different world.”

“10, 1 billion…”

His head is getting dizzy.

Even if he maintained first place in Demroq, he only made about 10 million won a month at best, but 1 billion?

Even that was when he was on a *망겜트리* [term for playing a dead or dying game] and he was happy to make 1 million won a month.

In the end, it was a miracle just to make money.

‘But 1 billion…’

NewTube?

Back then, he was just grateful and happy that people were watching.

He never even dreamed of making money with it. So Dohyun wasn’t very interested either.

But now the world has changed.