Chapter 15

Chapter 15 . A Cave in Mt . Bima (2)

It was no longer an odd job to make money with paid videos . This was especially the case with gamers, who made money through gaming . In the past, they made most of their money by selling in-game items, but now paid videos of game play made much more money . There were countless number of game VJs who earned hundreds of millions of won a year .

The same went for Warlord . Even without live broadcast channels, Warlord-related videos ranked among the top of paid videos . Even Hollywood was threatened by Warlord!

It went without saying that everyone uploaded videos to make whatever amount they could . Even cows or dogs did . As a result, there were over ten million Warlord-related videos coming out every day . It wasn’t easy to stand out in this sea of videos . The only way was to spend big money to actively advertise the videos or to have a concept that stood out among the crowd .

This was how the Hahoe Mask Guild was formed .

An Jaehyun and Kim Dongsoo . They decided to form a guild the moment they joined hands, and they contemplated on what concept to use to make their guild known . It wasn’t easy . They even considered dirty concepts like wearing underwear only . What’s funny was that there were people who have done this already . There was even a guild where the members all danced in their underwear after a successful raid . Although it wasn’t a Top 30 Guild, it was fairly popular .

In any case, An Jaehyun was the one to suggest something .

“Why don’t we wear hahoe masks?”

Hahoe mask .

“It’s a very Korean-esque, don’t you think?”

It wasn’t a bad idea . Thankfully, no other guild had used this concept before .

There was another reason .

“Also, we’re all comrades in arms . Let’s not do something like distinguishing our ranks through uniforms . ”

Almost all famous guilds had a symbol, and they matched their uniforms around that symbol . The bigger the guild was, the more people it had . As such, they distinguished their ranks using uniforms – 1st corp, 2nd corp, 3rd corp, etc .

But An Jaehyun suggested that every guild members wear the same mask . His dream back then was for everyone to eat and live well . His suggestion was approved, and the Hahoe Mask Guild was born . The concept of wearing hahoe masks in battles worked quite well, and they garnered attention at a quick pace .

Because of this, Hyrkan couldn’t throw away the hahoe mask . It was his pride and joy, almost like a son . Plus, he couldn’t throw away a concept he knew would work . In fact, he had to do it before others did .

But he had forgotten about it .

With the blue werewolf corpse in front of him, Hyrkan shook his head while watching the video he just took through the hologram monitor .

‘The video came out well, but…’

The battle video was amazing . His battle style was something never before seen in Warlord . It could go viral if word got around, and Hyrkan’s name was naturally spread .

On the other hand, if he really wanted to make hahoe mask his concept, he couldn’t release a video with his real face .

It wasn’t that he feared his face becoming recognized . At this time, no one should know who he was anyways . His war against the Stormhunter Guild hadn’t yet happened .

‘Concepts only work when you take it and keep it . ’

What was important was the concept .

Wearing a hahoe mask after showing his face already? The impact lessened greatly . Especially if the concept revolved around wearing masks, it was important always to have it on to add to the mysterious effect .

Most importantly, Hyrkan wasn’t handsome enough that he would benefit in any way by showing his face . In fact, he would be happy not to get penalized . Of course, if he used anti-face recognition mode, he could blur his face out . It was basic . In Warlord, players could prevent others from taking videos of them by using the anti-face recognition mode . Without this system, Warlord would become a voyeur heaven .

Of course, if he wanted to upload the video, it was possible . He just had to put in the hahoe mask with CG work .

But hiring a professional to do this was something he couldn’t do .

“Ehew . ”

In the end, Hyrkan decided to give up on the video . Though wasteful, he could always make another one . Although blue werewolves were a popular search topic, it didn’t necessarily guarantee high viewer count .

‘I was dumb . ’

Moreover, it was Hyrkan’s fault . He couldn’t blame anyone .

And this was who Hyrkan was . He was far from the word ‘perfect . ’ Except in games, he was below average in everything . It was why he bet devoted his life to gaming . If he were good at anything else, he wouldn’t have bet his life on gaming, nor would he have been so shaken after being betrayed .

After calming himself, Hyrkan got up .

He didn’t have much time .

Plus, killing the blue werewolf was a big profit in itself .

He was given an opportunity .

‘Looks like I can finally use the Skeleton Fragment skill properly . ’

★★★

In Warlord, completed items didn’t drop after killing monsters .

Except for items received as quest rewards, most were crafted . The crafting process was largely split into three stages .

The first was to obtain the materials . To obtain the materials, players had to disassemble the monsters . The moment the monsters’ HP became 0 they could be disassembled . It became much easier to skin the monster, like opening a well-packed box . If you did it randomly, the tape would get in the way, but by using a knife, it became much easier .

As soon as the leather, skin, or scales come off, the monsters begin melting . Players called it the ice-cream mode . During this process, it was possible to taste the monsters’ meat . They surprisingly had various tastes, like different flavors of ice-cream . They were also cold, like a dessert after players .

Finally, after the monsters finished melting, they left behind bones and jewels .

What was important to note was that skin and bones were something obtainable from all monsters, but not jewels . Jewels had a drop rate . Some dropped them; some didn’t . And these jewels were usually used to craft high-ranking items, starting from rare rank .

Furthermore, the skin and bones could be converted into coin form whenever the players wanted . If one converted the skin and bones of an apartment-sized monster, he could get enough coins to fit a 20-kilogram rice bag . It wasn’t light, but it was much better than carrying around the skin and bones . Besides, no players hated getting a rice bag worth of coins . In fact, they would say ‘this is all I get?’ Then again, common sense would ask why they didn’t just place them in the inventory .

These materials could be used to craft items with the Cube in Item Factories located in certain castles . Although the official name was Cube, players called it the slot machine . If one put it the basic materials needed to craft items and coins, a normal-rank item popped out . To get items rare or above, jewels had to be put in . After putting in the materials in the cube, one just had to shake it furiously; then an item popped out from inside .

There were times when a unique-rank item came out from the expected normal or rare rank items . There were cube addicts who bet on this small chance and continued buying materials for crafting . It was so bad that people were concerned whether there should be a law against it . Some players spent their whole time cubing like this . Of course, as it was cumbersome to constantly shake the cube, there were workshops for it as well . The workers logged in and shook the cube all day . After a month of this part-time job, you wouldn’t want to play Warlord even if you could for free .

In any case, the stat of these unique-rank items were at least 25 levels higher than normal-rank items of the same level . At a time where a level 70 player was the highest, a 25 level difference was huge .

As for the Skeleton Fragment skill, it used same materials as one would for cubing . It was a simple process . You just had to hold the coin tightly in hand and use the Skeleton Fragment skill .

Then .

[You created a Skeleton Fragment using blue werewolf bones . ]

[Proficiency in Skeleton Fragment increase . ]

A new Skeleton Fragment could be obtained .

Hyrkan opened his hand . Instead of a human skull, the skeleton fragment now took the form of a wolf head . Hyrkan immediately threw the skeleton fragment on the ground .

A new Skeleton Warrior appeared . With its wolf-skull, the Skeleton Warrior looked much more fearsome than before . It had two fangs invoked chills, and Hyrkan liked its burning, red eyes .

Whoosh!

Hyrkan threw a surprise punch at the Skeleton Warrior, which it lightly avoided . While avoiding, it distanced itself far away from Hyrkan . Hyrkan, who had been planning on giving it a kick, smiled instead .

‘It’s definitely faster than before . ’

The new Skeleton Warrior was undoubtedly faster than the basic one .

At the same time, he felt a bit of pressure .

‘A monster for one skeleton fragment . It’s no problem for small fries, but if I want to make one out of a boss monster… what a money eating skill . ’

Skeleton Warriors stats changed depending on the monster used as its base . One made from a boss monster would naturally be stronger .

On the other hand, monster bones were the most frequently used crafting material .

It meant it would cost a lot .

Of course, there was no need to be stingy . What was important was making back the money spent .

Hyrkan took out his hahoe mask .

‘No more mistakes . ’

Hyrkan also took out a hahoe mask to give his Skeleton Warrior . He was fully prepared to push his concept .

“Hm?”

Once again, Hyrkan realized something .

‘It doesn’t fit because of its protruding mouth!’

That he really was a dumbass in anything other than gaming .

“Fuck, why am I so stupid?”

It was just another reason Hyrkan had to devote his life to gaming .