Chapter 110

Chapter 110 – How Much? (2)

When a User achieves great success in Warlord, everyone starts to comment on the reasons behind the User’s success .

One of the reasons behind the success was attributed to the excellent AI making up Warlord .

This was why the Users paid much more attention to the NPCs in Warlord compared to the NPCs of other games . Of course, it wasn’t as if all the NPCs were popular . If an NPC wanted to be popular, one had two fulfill one of the two requirements .

The NPC had to be either a beautiful woman or a handsome man . If not, the NPC had to have a habit of giving out good Items .

From that perspective, Ahimbree’s massive popularity was inevitable . Ahimbree was an NPC that gave Items that was beyond good . It was downright amazing .

Moreover, a User named Cocomo had obtained Ahimbree’s Disciple title, and it seemed he had been short on money . He sold information regarding Ahimbree, which had never been disseminated before . This drove Ahimbree’s popularity into a pitched fever . Numerous Users attempted to become Ahimbree’s Disciple .

At that point, the much praised AI system of Warlord did something very wise . There were too many Users visiting Ahimbree, so Ahimbree’s residence was moved .

This was to Hyrkan’s benefit as there weren’t many obstacles when he tried to meet Ahimbree .

‘Shit . If he was going to move, he should have moved up north . Why the hell did he move to the south?’

Of course, Hyrkan had been working in the North, so he had to spend a good amount of time traveling towards the south . However, this was a very minor problem .

The usual office that had always greeted Hyrkan was gone .

“Welcome . ”

“……your room is very clean . ”

The books that had been strewn about…

Unlike his previous office where the expensive Skill books had coated the floor, his current office was very clean . It was hard to find any books or even a whiff of paper inside the room .

One would never expect to feel a sense of unease when confronted with a clean room .

However, Hyrkan felt uneasy .

‘The mood is strangely cool . ’

He had come here expecting to receive a delicious treat . Instead of a treat, he was worried he might have wasted his time coming here .

‘Eh-ee . At the very least, he’ll still probably give me a Skill . It isn’t as if he would only give a Skill book only if the Skill books were strewn across the floor . ’

He tried very hard to push down his anxiety, and Hyrkan greeted Ahimbree .

“How’s your health and peace of mind, teacher?”

He used respectful words that he had utter to his parents before . Hyrkan looked very respectful .

However, Ahimbree didn’t answer immediately . The NPC kept staring at Hyrkan . It looked like Ahimbree was affected by a system freeze, but the manual explicitly stated that such a scenario wasn’t possible . This meant it was really having a hard time answering Hyrkan’s question . It meant Hyrkan’s action had stumped the outstanding AI . The AI was at a loss for words at Hyrkan’s absurd action .

Ahimbree opened his mouth after more time had passed .

“I’ve been well . How have you been?”

“I’ve had a lot on my plate, so I’ve been busy . ”

“I’m sure your hands were full . Did you perhaps learn of any important information?”

Hyrkan was a bit worried at the question .

‘Is he fishing for something or is this just a straightforward question? Is he testing the water with me?’

Ahimbree knew Hyrkan was carrying out activities as a member of the Secret Society . This question was probably intended to ask about his activities related to the Secret Society . Moreover, Hyrkan had gained an important information recently . He had sufficient information where he could cast suspicion on Prince Dean .

If he continued this conversation with Ahimbree by telling him about the Trigon Emblem, it might be a key to opening a hidden quest .

On the other hand, he remembered the Maeung’s warning . Maeung told him to tell this information to no one .

After coming to a surprisingly difficult decision, he decided to keep his mouth shut .

“I’m still investigating . Unfortunately, I’m lacking in ability, so it is unfortunate that I can’t be of bigger help . ”

“I heard about your accomplishments from Bagel . I also hear a lot of praise about you . If we have 100 men like you, we could clear the lands across the Terube Castle walls . We’ll be able to immediately occupy the lands . He wants to introduce you to Prince Dean as soon as possible . ”

Bagel .

As the administrator of the Terube Castle wall, it seemed the NPC had taken a liking to Hyrkan . As someone who serves under Prince Dean as his lord, this was the highest compliment that could be given to Hyrkan .

Of course, he knew Prince Dean’s real identity, so Hyrkan could only put on an awkward smile .

“Thank you . ”

Hyrkan calmly ended this particular thread of conversation with a single phrase .

“So why did you come looking for me?”

Ahimbree started the conversation in earnest . Hyrkan didn’t hide anything . He spoke immediately .

“I’m unable to carry out the Secret Society’s missions with my current level of ability . As you have done for me before, please provide me an opportunity and a stage . ”

Ahimbree stared at Hyrkan when it heard his words . It was an NPC, but the light in its eyes was really strange . It really felt as if an incredible sage was seeing into Hyrkan’s heart . It almost made him believe that it wasn’t an NPC .

However, Hyrkan didn’t turn away from the gaze . The saving of one’s face and sense of shame… Those words weren’t in Hyrkan’s dictionary .

Its gaze gave him goosebumps .

Ahimbree stared into Hyrkan’s eyes as it spoke .

“You are already plenty strong . I cannot do anything for you . Moreover, don’t you already know about the methods to become stronger?”

Its words were dressed up adequately, but in the end, it meant it couldn’t provide a stage like the Battlefield from before . It basically meant Hyrkan couldn’t suck out any honey here from Ahimbree .

“I want to learn a new magic . ”

Hyrkan immediately gave a straightforward comment . Even if Ahimbree had sent him to a stage like the Battlefield, Hyrkan wouldn’t have gone .

“Magic isn’t something that is easily earned . ”

“If I wanted to take the easy road, I wouldn’t have come here . Please you can give me any trials and tribulations!”

Hyrkan spoke in a sincere tone .

Of course, his inner thoughts differed from his tone .

‘Please give me an easy one . I want the really easy task . Please . ’

Warlord’s difficulty was almost limitless . In Warlord, an NPC of Ahimbree’s stature could give really difficult Quests . Those were the ones that Users didn’t even bother completing .

“You should search out the Magician’s Tower . It would be better for you to ask them for help instead of me . ”

Ahimbree once again expressed words that rejected Hyrkan . Maybe this was to be expected . It would be absurd to expect a free Skill at this point in the game .

‘Yes, this is the right answer . ’

In the end, Hyrkan had to accept it .

‘Everything was going so well for so long that I lost myself for a moment . It was stupid of me to come here . ’

The problem lay with him . He was the one who had come searching for the easiest and most obvious answer in Ahimbree .

At that moment, Ahimbree continued to speak .

“If you give a big contribution to the Magician’s Tower, the Magician’s Tower will surely give you a recompense . ”

‘Huh?’

For a brief moment, Hyrkan combed through his memory . It felt as if he had heard about something similiar to this before .

However, Ahimbree gave a clearer explanation before Hyrkan could search through his memories .

“The Magician’s Tower always needs a lot of help . They need testing ingredients and other various needs . ”

‘Will you look at this?’

Hyrkan let out a yell of delight inside his heart . Ahimbree couldn’t directly give him a skill, but it seemed he’ll be able to earn a Skill book from the Magician’s Tower . From Hyrkan’s perspective, he didn’t care where he got the Skill book .

“Of course, their biggest need is operational funds . ”

“What?”

At that moment, Hyrkan’s expression did a 180 .

‘Funds? What fund? I…it can’t be true . ’

“Donation . That is the sure fire thing they want . ”

“Huhk . ”

From Hyrkan’s mouth, the sound of him gasping was automatically let out . Ahimbree didn’t even register Hyrkan’s change of countenance as he continued to speak .

“I think around 100 thousand gold should be enough . You’ll be able to learn a magic befitting your level . ”

“Sship? Sship? Did you just say Sship?” 1

His words had come out reflexively yet Ahimbree decided to react to Hyrkan’s words .

“Is that a problem?”

It seemed sship had sounded like a curse word to Ahimbree . In truth, it was a form of curse word if one considered how he was feeling .

Hyrkan quickly changed his words .

“Sship…… So you were saying Sship-mahn gold would be enough?”

“That’s right . A donation of that size would be plenty enough to get what you want . ”

It happened at that moment .

[The Quest ‘Meaningful Donation’ has started . ]

The critical blow was struck when the announcement rang in his ears .

Ahn-jaehyun had a cup of water in front of him, and he had his eyes closed . Ahn-jaehyun had an outdated Tablet PC in his hand . Someone else’s SNS page was open on the LCD . If one looked at the number of subscribers, it seemed the owner of the SNS page was very popular . The owner was a handsome white man with blonde hair and blue eyes .

‘Somehow, things always find a way to go sideways . ’

Donation Quest .

He felt a chill run up his spine from just hearing that name .

At first, Ahn-jaehyun hadn’t been too worried about the quest .

In truth, he didn’t even need to think on it . It would be crazy to spend 100 thousand gold for a level 140 Skill book . Currently, the level 160 and 170 Skill Books had been released into the market . These Skill books were popular yet it was traded for a similar price . So why should he spend 100 thousand gold in buying one of the skills regarding the unpopular Black Magician Body Modification Skill Tree?

Still, he researched about the skill reward as a precaution . There might be someone, who might have finished this Quest . He decided to research into it first .

In truth, he was sure he wouldn’t find a crazy bastard, who had gone through with this Quest .

Couple million people were spending quite a lot of money to play this game, and it seemed there was a User crazy enough to torch a large sum of money on such a Quest .

‘I think I regret searching for this in the first place . ’

Woody .

He was a world famous singer and actor named Neal Whittaker . Woody was his name in Warlord . Amongst the worldwide celebrities, he was known to be an incredible fan of Warlord . He had played the game since the game service started, and he had poured an incredible amount of money into the game . However, his level was a bit low considering how much time and money he had spent in this game . He was level 141 . However, if one ranked Users on the money spent on the game, he would easily be within the top 50 . His love for Warlord was that large .

At the same time, it was a twisted form of love . Woody had so much money that it pained him to not be able to surround himself with luxury items . He acted like a rich person showing off his sports car . He was someone who loved to boast about his unbridled spending on the SNS .

That guy had done the 100 thousand gold Donation Quest . As a reward, he had been able to choose a level 140 Unique Skill .

At that point, Ahn-jaehyun would have just ignored this all together . Instead of buying a Skill book with a price tag of 100 thousand, it would be more advisable and healthier for him to go a hotel buffet, and leave after eating salad .

The problem was that this Donation Quest’s reward didn’t have a fixed reward . One could choose the reward .

Once one chose a Skill Tree, one will have an unrestricted view of the Skill Tree from level 1 to level 190 . Then it’ll allow one to choose a Skill below one’s level . Since this was a level 140 Quest, the best he could choose was a level 140 Skill .

‘If I donate 100 thousand gold, I could see the little known Body Modification Skill Tree… . ’

The key point was the fact that he’ll be able to see the entire array of his choices .

This wasn’t just about gaining a skill . He would be able to find out about the entire Skill tree of his choice, and this information was a very precious information one couldn’t even buy with money .

The numerous Users of this game gather fragmentary information to puzzle out the Skill Trees . It was a hard task . He’ll be able to see such a Skill Tree for the price of 100 thousand gold, and it was well worth the price .

‘Shit . ’

This was the reason why he was agonizing over the decision .

Of course, Ahn-jaehyun’s best case scenario was for another person to confirm and reveal the Body Modification Skill Tree .

That was a pipe dream .

In the first place, Warlord’s magician population was highly skewed towards white magicians . Recently, the ratio had shifted towards Black Magicians by a little bit, because of the Hahoe Mask’s exploit .

He had been lucky with the Curse Skill Tree, since the Curse Monks were popular . He was able to gain enough information regarding the Curse Skill Tree . However, this wasn’t the case for the Summon Skill Tree and the Body Modification Skill Tree .

In regard to the Summon Skill Tree, even the veteran Necromancers didn’t recognized the Skills used by Hyrkan .

‘Our Class has that kind of Skill?’

‘What’s that horn growing out of the Skeleton’s head, Hahoe Mask-nim?’

The Body Modification Skill Tree was something one had to be over level 100 to obtain . This was why there weren’t any information regarding this particular Skill Tree out in the open .

It was possible that there were Users, who might be aiming for a Magic Swordsman type character . In that particular situation, the Black Magician would have to advance the Body Modification Skill Tree . Hyrkan had just found a User, who had spent 100 thousand gold to progress an unknown Quest, so it wasn’t too far-fetched to think that a Magic Swordsman was out there .

Still, there was no way that a User, who had spent 100 thousand gold to learn the Body Modification Skill Tree, would reveal this information to the public .

‘However, there is a possibility that this bastard might be selling snake oil . Isn’t he an attention whore? If I finish the Quest and… . ’

Woody hadn’t revealed the Skill Tree he gained in its entirety . He wrote he would reveal additional information as his number of subscribers grew . Currently, he had revealed Skills that most Users had already figured out . This was why there was a chance that this might be a stunt being pulled by Woody to gain more attention .

If Woody was lying, Hyrkan might just receive a single Skill Book for 100 thousand gold .

“Hoo-ooh . ”

Ahn-jaehyun finally drank the cup of water in front of him . He downed it in one shot .

‘If this is some plot to inflate the number of subscribers, I’ll kill you 100 thousand times with my bare hands, Woody . ’

He had drunk the cold water, but it was having a hard time cooling his boiling insides .

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Ship-mahn = 100 thousand Sship-pahl = curse word . They sound phonetically the same in the beginning . NPC thought Hyrkan was trying to curse .