The Max Level Hero Has Returned!

“Si-Woo!”

Park Sun-Hyung called out to him with a hardened face.

"Hey… I’m alright. I’m human too; I make mistakes,” he said while forcing a smile as he walked away.

Sun-Hyung watched him go, then glanced at the other team members.

"Whoa, Sun-Hyung, what was that?" someone called out from a distance. It was GarlicSpear, the top laner for Team TC.

"He looks totally shaken right now," GarlicSpear commented.

"Yeah, I have no clue…" Sun-Hyung began.

Even casual players noticed something was wrong; there was no way the pro gamers wouldn’t.

"Damn it. Si-Woo, are you alright? What the hell happened... Oh, Kim Park-Soo, hello. What brings you here?"

"Hello, Vasirian Team Captain. I just came by because Si-Woo didn’t look too good," Park-Soo replied.

Kim Park-Soo, the top laner for Team TC, knew Player Si-Woo personally.

"Phew, I know, right? Maybe he’s just feeling off today…?”

"I don’t think it’s a matter of his condition," the team leader muttered. Sun-Hyung shook his head in response.

"So, it wasn’t just a coincidence?"

"If it hadn’t happened twice in the exact same way, maybe, but honestly, even at my best, I couldn’t pull that off.”

"But you're in a different lane."

"The way she played, how do I put it..."

"It's like she was on a completely different level," Park-Soo added, and Sun-Hyung nodded.

"Feels like he played against some supercomputer, not a human."

"Was it really that bad?"

"Did you even watch the game? Every movement of hers was flawless. She spaced out basic attacks and dodged skillshots with pinpoint precision, calculating every range perfectly. He might’ve had a chance in a group teamfight, but in a one versus one lane, there's no way.”

Hearing this, the team captain’s expression grew serious.

"She still looked pretty young, though..."

"Age doesn’t matter in gaming. Plenty of pro gamers are basically kids, hardly even old enough to drive.”

The captain turned to Kim Park-Soo.

"How about you, Park-Soo? Do you think the same?"

"Hahaha, if even Si-Woo couldn’t keep up, how could I possibly win?"

"But you've never been completely outplayed by Si-Woo."

"Well, I never exactly won against him, either; I just held on every time. When someone is that good, even holding out is a challenge," Park-Soo stated firmly. His opinion was in stark contrast with someone regarded as one of the best in the game.

"Anyway, let Si-Woo know not to take the loss too hard. There’s always the possibility of someone better appearing. But still, don’t you think it’s kind of funny?” Park-Soo chuckled.

"Funny?”

"Yeah, I recognized their playstyle. Turns out they’re from Heins Clan.”

"And that matters because...?"

"It was a team I thought I remembered, so I did a little digging. We even replayed some clips with the team, and honestly, it’s not actually the top laner who’s best on their team—the mid and jungle are where the real monsters are."

"Mid and jungle?"

"Honestly, I kept quiet because it felt so crazy and we were playing on smurf accounts, but both our mid laner and jungler ended up having mental breakdowns and went into a slump for days."

"What in the…”

"She moved in such nonsensical ways so there was no way to handle her. At first, she seemed like a beginner. But then, later on, we realized she had been moving tactfully like chess, every move calculated. By the time we caught on, the snowball was already out of control. There was nothing we could do."

"No way... For reals…?”

Sun-Hyung shuddered slightly.

"Anyway, tell him not to feel too down about it. Our team also agreed that there’s no way to beat someone like her or the others.”

"Where the hell did monsters like them even come from all of a sudden?"

Each individual had ‘out of this world’ skills. Their team had unparalleled coordination. Across all roles, a group of monstrous rookies had emerged.

Of course, these so-called rookies had already lost interest in League of Leagues. But to working pros, these players were rising stars who threatened their standings—or even a great wall that felt impossible to overcome.

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Thud!!

"Si-Woo?”

"Where’s that girl?"

"Si-Woo, hold on, calm down!"

"I just want... just one more match against her."

His resolute voice made Sun-Hyung grab his arm.

"No! Si-Woo! You’ll ruin your reputation if you do that!”

"If wrecking my reputation is the price of breaking past this wall, then it’s worth it!"

Sun-Hyung had assumed Si-Woo was just sulking, but clearly, it was something more serious.

"Si-Woo, chill! The event’s not even over yet!”

"There’s still a bit of time, right? I’ll make it quick, during the break.”

"Uh... I kinda want to see it too.”

With that, Si-Woo hurried off as Sun-Hyung followed. When they arrived, they saw the private room reserved for Team Heins wide open and empty.

"Huh? Where did Team Heins go?"

"They forfeited and left."

"What?"

"It’s not uncommon for amateur teams to forfeit under pressure and drop out," the staff member explained.

Their expressions hardened.

‘Forfeiting because they couldn’t handle the pressure? My ass…’

To them, it felt more like Team Heins had just casually visited to have a quick round of fun.

Forfeiting was entirely the team's choice, and with them gone, one of the remaining four teams would have another chance to advance to the next round. From the audience's perspective, it wasn’t unusual for one or two teams to drop out, so it wasn’t much of an issue.

"We have to find them."

"Si-Woo, calm down. For now—"

"Just one more time! No, two more matches, and I swear I can break past this wall!"

It took Sun-Hyung and the team leader a long time to hold back a fired-up Si-Woo, stubborn to the end.

* * *

"He… He was on TV.”

Han Yu-Na, a member of NSDIA who worked to save people, pointed out a familiar face on a TV program to her director.

"Huh… What? W-What?!"

The director, biting his nails with a dazed expression, looked as if he had aged decades in just a few days.

It was only natural.

When a crisis involving their agency hit the media—whether through small complaints or an outright public scandal—it always led to chaos. He knew these things could cost him his position as Director.

At this moment, he was already a man with a guillotine blade hanging over his head.

"Look at him having his fun. He doesn’t care one bit about the NSDIA. Don’t sweat about him.”

"R-Really?!"

His face lit up as if he’d finally grabbed hold of a lifeline, his expression rapidly transforming into one of hope. He then widened his eyes as he glanced at the internet stream Han Yu-Na showed him.

"Yes!! I’m saved!!"

He let out a near-hysterical scream, throwing his hands into the air in triumph.

"How did you even find out about this, though?" Grape-flavored Cat Tower asked.

"Didn’t I tell you? My dad’s company sponsors a team that’s participating in the event—Team TC. There’s a pro gamer I know in that team, and he sent me a Durian Talk earlier saying there was a lot of eye candy at the event. So I checked it out."

Hearing this, he nodded.

"You’ve really changed, you know."

"Me?"

"Yeah. You used to be such a crazy bitc—Gaa!!"

Yu-Na swiftly kicked Grape, glaring at him.

"Do you want to die?"

"I was just saying it figuratively! Why kick me?!"

"Because you say stupid things!"

"Well, it’s true! You used to be all prickly except with Ji-Ah, and now you’re all friendly with everyone!"

"Whatever.”

Though Yu-Na brushed it off nonchalantly, she was well aware that she had changed a lot. There was a time when Ji-Ah’s younger brother Ji-Hwan used to call her crazy all the time.

She thought about when she had started changing. She assumed it was after meeting that guy. Or maybe it was when she’d been wasting time alongside Grape, wallowing in their shared misery.

But that wasn’t important.

"So… then you’re saying…?"

"Honestly, this kind of stuff is probably nothing to him. And since he’s unexpectedly kind, he might just overlook everything since he knows it was done for the sake of saving people.”

"So… So he’ll let it slide?!"

"Otherwise, there’s no way he’d pretend not to notice for a whole week."

"I… I see! He’s letting it go?! Thank goodness! I’ll finally be able to sleep peacefully tonight!"

Watching the director’s overly joyous reaction, Han Yu-Na let out a sigh.

Everything was still just a speculation. Whether he was really going to let it go was anyone’s guess.

"What about Seo-Yoon and Yoon-Seok?"

"They’ve been stripped of their positions and are on probation for now. They’ve been behaving themselves since—probably because they know what they did. I contacted them earlier, and apparently, they’re still doing well.”

"Phew…”

The director let out a short sigh before breaking into a relieved laugh.

"Man, that was close. Something tragic might’ve happened.”

Despite his stoic appearance in the media, up close he seemed more like a fool than a professional.

"Well, since everything is settled for now, how about we celebrate with a staff dinner—"

"A dinner sounds great. Count me in."

At that moment, everyone froze.

They slowly turned their heads, necks creaking like rusted machines.

"Oh, these snacks are pretty good,” someone said while comfortably lounging on a sofa and munching on snacks.

It was none other than him, the grim reaper subjecting them to such torture the past week.

"P-Prince Davey!"

"Shhh."

He gestured for him to be quiet.

"You don’t want to blow this up into something bigger, do you?"

"…"

"So… should I start dishing out punishments, or can we resolve this nicely with a little chat?"

At his words, the director turned as though he had aged another decade on the spot. Yu-Na couldn’t help but notice how much more gray his hair looked today.

* * *

"Davey, didn’t you go to the League event? It’s blowing up with news about your team."

"Why do you keep talking to me like I’m older than you? Physically, I’m still just a teenager."

"Anyone stronger and richer than me, I respect.”

"…"

Davey shook his head at her ridiculous statement.

"You’re the director, right? I’m Davey O’Rowane.”

"Nice to meet you, Saint of Tionis. I’m Park Seo-Ho, Director of the NSDIA.”

"No need for formalities. I’m here on a personal matter. For now.”

Park Seo-Ho swallowed nervously.

"We’re truly sorry about what happened at Alfland. But…"

"I’m guessing you’ve prepared plenty of excuses. Go ahead, let’s hear them."

Davey spoke calmly as he started looking through his Contacts app.

"Let’s see… the President’s number…"

"W-Wait! Please! Hold on, calm down!"

The director practically collapsed and clung to his legs, pleading desperately.

"Please calm down! I understand everything! I’m fully aware of the problems. Trust me, I know exactly what went wrong! Why wouldn’t I?!”

"In that case, there’s a need to have a little discussion about it."

"Phew… First of all, thank you for not making this public."

"Well, your intentions weren’t malicious, after all. And I did find some of it entertaining."

The moon Thanatos he had created… It held no will of its own, but its vitality intertwining with the Red Void had led to the creation of a monstrosity.

Of course, not that they needed to know about that.

"I’ll be honest with you,” Davey said.

"Yes?"

"The NSDIA has nothing to offer that I’d want.”

"…"

"But it’s also true that their actions almost caused harm to a lot of people."

Negotiations only worked when both sides had something to bring to the table.

But if one side had nothing to offer, the result was a one-sided surrender.

"Isn’t there something we could possibly do? We’re willing to cooperate fully!"

The director was throwing out empty promises left and right.

"Hmm. Doesn’t sound appealing to me."

Tap, tap, tap!

As he fiddled with his phone again, the director screamed and clung to him.

"Please! Please stop! What do we need to do? If this gets out, the entire NSDIA could be shaken to its core. I beg you!"

"Then let it shake. That way, next time you’ll be more careful. Oh, it’s dialing.”

"Aaaaaah!!"

"Just kidding,” Davey said casually.

He saw the director let out a ragged breath. It seemed like he had aged another ten years.

Finally, with a defeated expression, he pleaded.

"Please… Just this once, grant us mercy…"

"Alright, how about this?" he said with a faint smile.

Seeing his smile, Han Yu-Na muttered under her breath, "We’re screwed…"

She turned pale in an instant.

Seeing her, Davey couldn’t help but think,

‘You know me too well.’

ChubbyCheeks & FriedNook's Thoughts

Editorb’s Thoughts

Puh puh puh, PRANKED!!! He got ‘em real good