Chapter 32

Chapter 32 . Corrupted Stone (1)

In Lizard Swamp, two players were facing each other . However, the two were in completely different states .

One stood straight and tall, while the other was kneeling on the ground . The latter’s arms were held by Skeleton Warriors, as his eyes were full of brutal injuries .

“You, I swear I’ll get my revenge on you…”

The kneeled player grit his teeth as he spoke to the standing man with hatred . The standing man, of course, was Hyrkan . Wearing an almost spotless armor, Hyrkan smirked at the kneeling player’s child-like curse .

“Yeah, sure . If you’re coming, bring some more expensive items . I’ll be waiting . See you in 48 hours . Sleep tight . Good night~”

With that, Hyrkan stared at the three Skeleton Warriors surrounding the kneeling player .

Snap, snap!

Hyrkan snapped his fingers twice, making two Skeleton Warriors pulled on the player’s arms . The remaining Skeleton Warrior raised his sword and stabbed the gap between the player’s helmet and breastplate .

Stab, stab!

As if once wasn’t enough, the Skeleton Warrior stabbed consecutively . Hyrkan only watched on emotionlessly . Rather than emotionless, it was more correct to say Hyrkan erased the battle just now from his memory . Only a number was recorded .

‘It’s the 15th one now . ’

Two weeks had passed since Hyrkan came to the Lizard Swamp . After the first day’s disturbance, Hyrkan put his focus on leveling up . The result was great, as he achieved 7 levels during that time . Considering that it takes an average player 2 weeks to go from level 20 to level 30, Hyrkan’s level up speed was comparable… no, much faster than the Rankers .

However, hunting wasn’t the only thing he did .

‘It’s almost one per day . ’

He was attacked . Not once, but nine times, for a total of fifteen players .

‘Come on, this isn’t even the real world . All this, just to look good to girls in a VR game? If they like girls so much, why don’t they go play dating sims or a blind date game?’

“Haa… I guess it really is hard to find normal people in Warlord . ”

The attackers’ motive was revenge .

The three beauties that approached to play Hyrkan, but got played by Hyrkan . Instead of reflecting on their mistake, they coaxed other men to get revenge on Hyrkan .

‘What a bunch of snakes . At least their fishing skills are top notch . ’

Of course, Hyrkan didn’t have a shred of regret about screwing over those girls . He had not physically harmed them in any way . It’s just that there was a little accident during their hunting, which was caused by the three girls, not Hyrkan . In fact, Hyrkan was more help to them than harm . After all, he killed nine Lizardmen for them . If anything, he should be rewarded .

Unfortunately, Warlord wasn’t a place where such logic applied . If three beauties accused a strange man wearing a hahoe mask and leather clothing of assaulting them, there were bound to be people who believed them .

Some of them would have their normally nonexistent sense of justice provoked and come out to judge said sexual deviant .

‘Their acting skills are just too good . I wouldn’t be surprised if they debuted as actresses soon . ’

In reality, Hyrkan could easily justify himself, but Hyrkan didn’t do so .

‘Well, I’m thankful to be honest . ’

Looking at the wrist of the player in the game over state, Hyrkan grinned .

This was why .

Hyrkan didn’t need to justify himself in any way .

‘This one was trash too, but looking at his items, he must be around mid to late 30s . That means his items should be at least level 30 . Now, if I can get a level 30 rare item… I can have some meat for dinner tonight . ’

Why would he say no to human-form monsters delivering themselves to his doorsteps? Not to mention, they drop already crafted items .

More importantly, although Hyrkan was unbelievably strong against monsters, he was even more monstrous versus players . Furthermore, it was hard to find good players from the self-righteous fools trying to look good to a bunch of girls .

Of course, Hyrkan didn’t forget to remind himself .

‘If they’re going so far to get back at me, for two weeks no less, then they’ll have to pay the price . If I catch them again, I’m going to play soccer with their cut-off heads . ’

Hyrkan told himself to get back at the girls when he got the chance . Otherwise, they would never stop .

In any case, thanks to these reasons, the Lizard Swamp, which was no different than hell to other players, was nothing less than heaven for Hyrkan .

He leveled up fast, and people even came to donate him items . There was truly no better hunting ground .

“Tsk . ”

Could that be why?

Hyrkan felt a sense of shame again . He would have to leave the Lizard Swamp soon . After all, he couldn’t stay here forever .

“What a shame . ”

After picking up the watch, Hyrkan looked around . He had long grown accustomed to the area, showing just how long he had stayed . Soon, he would have to leave .

‘3 levels left to go… I’m hoping I can get at least 5 more watches until then . ’

Level 30 .

That was Hyrkan’s current goal . Once he achieved level 30, he planned to search the Lizard Swamp thoroughly to clear his Nested Egg quest . And if he couldn’t find it?

Then he would have no choice but to move on to the next place . He couldn’t stay in one place forever . Not unless he knew for certain that this was the quest area . However, even if Lizard Swamp wasn’t the quest area, he didn’t need to feel bad .

‘If this isn’t the place for the Nested Egg quest… I’m going to put out all the videos I collected from here . ’

If this wasn’t the testing ground Ahimbree mentioned, it wouldn’t be one of the places suspected by the ones who approached Hyrkan . In that case, it would be fine to make his videos from here public .

In any case, Hyrkan would benefit .

Thinking about this, the corner of Hyrkan’s mouth once again curled up into a smile . With that, Hyrkan shook his pocket full of watches .

‘It’s been a while . Why don’t I go cash in?’

★★★

Ttzzzz!

As a thick piece of meat fell onto a heated pan, an enticing burning smell filled the air . The taste of a savory steak could be easily imagined through the smell .

‘God, it’s been so long . ’

In front of such a smell, An Jaehyun couldn’t help but smile .

‘Ku! What a shame I can’t drink beer with this . ’

2,530,000 won .

That was the amount that entered his bank account today .

He had transferred the money he made so far into his bank account . YouTube donations and the amount from selling Lizardmen’s crafting materials . Of course, these two didn’t account for much of his earning . The secret lied in the watches he exchanged .

‘I can’t believe I got a level 35 Rare weapon . ’

A level 35 Rare weapon, a sword no less . Just this was 800,000 won .

‘I also can’t believe that was all he could do with a weapon like that… talk about casting pearls before swine . ’

It was thanks to this weapon that Hyrkan’s usual dinner menu of glucose candy and cheap coffee turned into the current tenderloin steak . With his long awaited protein ahead of him, An Jaehyun was feeling happier than ever .

‘No, I’m grateful . Bless them, really . It’s because they spent their money in this game that I’m able to eat like this . If I see them again, I should greet them . Maybe I’ll even give them a hug . ’

The smile on Hyrkan’s face didn’t seem to want to disappear . That was how happy An Jaehyun was . He felt like he was soaring in the skies . After plating his steak, he put the macaroni salad and potato salad he bought form the supermarket next to him .

Gulp!

He would feel even better once he put the meat in his mouth, as he would achieve absolute bliss .

But Hyrkan’s happy feeling…

“Mm? An email?”

Was destroyed when he saw a certain email .

★★★

– I am Stormhunter Guild’s head scout . Hahoe Mask Hyrkan, I saw your YouTube videos . I was mesmerized by your skill and talent . Thus, we, the Stormhunter Guild, would like to invite you for a formal talk . Between 10 A . M . and 6 P . M . Korea time, setting aside lunch time of 1 P . M . to 2 P . M . , tell us when you are free . We will be awaiting your response .

It went without saying that those who could make a name for themselves by uploading personal videos to YouTube received attention from numerous groups – Video content creation businesses, management companies, and Warlord guilds, etc . Scouting offers from groups like these were like a medal of honor for Warlord YouTubers .

Just one of such offer would make one happy, and even more so as they accumulated .

However, when An Jaehyun saw this medal of honor, joy was furthest from what he was feeling .

‘Stormhunter… that damn name . ’

Scouting offers weren’t outside of his expectations . He had already been receiving offers from management companies and guilds . If one wasn’t blind, it was easy to tell An Jaehyun’s battles were incomparable to other players’ . Although most of his offers came from no-name guilds, he had received some from fairly well-organized, mid-size guilds . He even got offers on how to raise an all-strength necromancer .

In that sense, this was truly a big deal . Although An Jaehyun’s YouTube page was getting popular, it wasn’t to the point one of Top 30 Guilds would make a scouting offer . The Top 30 Guilds were generally busy pulling the weeds out from those that applied . They didn’t bother to look for players on their own accord . Even if they did, they had their pride . Because of this pride, they didn’t easily do such a thing .

However, he had gotten an offer from a Top 30 Guilds for the first time . Most Warlord YouTubers would have contacted them without turning back . They would be drunk in happiness .

However, An Jaehyun still remembered clear as day .

‘At the very least, I’ll never hold hands with that bitch . ’

Why was he here?

It was because of the Stormhunter Guild and Choi Sulyeon . Just remembering her face made him grit his teeth . The sense of hatred, pain, and despair he felt because of her and others, he could still feel it .

It went without saying that An Jaehyun didn’t have the faintest idea of accepting this offer .

‘Even if there’s a knife to my throat… well no, I’ve already experienced that many times . ’

As such, this offer only put his mood in a dumpster, nothing more and nothing less .

‘That bitch . At least she’s got good standards . ’

An Jaehyun immediately deleted the email . Then, he went back to eating . However, the taste of the meat was no longer on his mind . An Jaehyun chewed on the meat as if he was chewing on rubber .

His eyes shined with menace .

The Stormhunter Guild’s scouting offer evoked the wrath of a king . An Jaehyun was remembering his original intention .

‘Right, this isn’t the time to sit and chew on some meat . An Jaehyun, don’t think you’re free to eat meat just because you’ve got some money now . ’

An Jaehyun struck down on the steak with his fork . Is this the time to leisurely eat meat?

‘If I’m satisfied with where I am, that’s all I will ever be . An Jaehyun, get your shit together . ’

No .

An Jaehyun . His goal was to take everything on alone . To become the best in Warlord .

To become the best, he had to give up everything . The life of wealth and honor could wait until he achieved his goal . Before then… he had to be a starving predator .

An Jaehyun got up from his seat . He put his steak and salad into the trashcan . Then, he boiled water and threw in a handful of glucose candy into a cup .

Beeeep!

Only the sound of a kettle filled the surrounding air of loneliness .