Chapter 137

Chapter 137 – If You Set It on Fire, Blessings Will Come Your Way (1)

1 .

– Huh? It ended? Did we catch them all? Huh? Maeung? What the hell?

The footage ended after 3 seconds . The footage faded out as if it was a mirage . Then two Users appeared afterwards .

It was Amohng and Ken . These two characters were known to have the most popular Warlord-related Ranking show, and their lips were twitching . It was as if they were trying to suppress their laughter .

“……if we have to pick the best scene of the year, I’ll pick this scene without hesitation . ”

Pfffft!

As Ahmong was speaking, Ken couldn’t help, but let out a laugh . Ahmong followed his example . He started to laugh too .

“Don’t be like this, Ken . I’m barely holding it back . ”

“I’m sorry . Ah . It really is funny . I’m not saying the scene itself is funny . The situation itself was so ridiculous that I couldn’t help, but laugh . ”

“It happens sometimes . An event is so absurd that it is funny . Did you watch it live, Ken?”

“Of course, I saw it live . I was frozen for a brief moment when I saw this scene . ”

They exchanged some words, and they were able to regain their cool . After they let out an appropriate amount of laughter, they continued their conversation .

“In many ways, it was a very memorable scene . There are some, who think the scene was staged as an attempt to put his name in the headlines . What do you think, Ken?”

“If this scene was really done on purpose, the Hahoe Mask should immediately take off his Hahoe Mask, and he should go straight to Hollywood . If so, maybe we’ll see him in the Oscars next year . Even Al Pacino couldn’t pull off this kind of acting . ”

“Well, we’ll immediately start our Ranking Show . First, let us check who came in 1st in the Paid Video Sales category . The owner of the first place is… . ”

– Huh? It ended? Did we catch them all? Huh? Maeung? What the hell?

In a flash, the 3 second video was replayed again .

Pffft!

Ken once again let out a laugh . Ahmohng kept poking at Ken’s side . Afterwards, Ken was barely able to read his lines .

“Yes . The hero who earned 1st place by recording a sales of 101 million is the Hahoe Mask in the Immoral Prince Raid . ”

At that moment, Ahn-jaehyun was watching Ahmong and Ken’s Ranking show, and he was massaging his eyes with his two hands . He wasn’t massaging his eyes from being tired .

‘This is driving me nuts . ’

This shameful clip was something he wanted to forget, but it was being replayed in front of millions of people . The hands over his eyes were also a method to avoid looking at the replay . Of course, it was a preposterous way to avoid looking at it .

‘Shit . Of all the things… . ’

At that moment, Ahn-jaehyun once again reminisced on what had happened .

Maeung’s appearance had been foretold . Although, it was a bit of a surprise that Maeung chose to end the Immoral Prince . It was a scenario where he had expected Maeung to show up when the Immoral Prince was close to death . He had expected Maeung to give a clue about the ruined kingdom .

However, he never expected Maeung to search out the Hahoe Mask after it finished its business .

No, he didn’t have the mental capacity to worry about such a thing . The Immoral Prince Raid had been very hard, but Ahn-jaehyun had been close to his limit even before the Raid . To face the Immoral Prince, he had to reach level 180 as fast as possible .

Moreover, he had wanted to work in secret behind the Red Bulls, so he had stopped receiving help from the Red Bulls’ level up support team . Afterwards, he hadn’t had time to rest . When he reached level 180, he had to recover the Items he had put in Item Storage . His personal attention was also needed for coming up with the Item Setting he would enter the Immoral Prince Raid with . He also had to check each of the Item Setting of his Skeleton subordinates .

The Hahoe Mask’s goofy response was an appropriate reaction . It was a great feat in itself that he hadn’t logged out by falling asleep .

However, no one was aware of his situation . The world thought the Hahoe Mask was talking in a half-asleep state at the most important moment in the Raid . Still, people focused on it, and they really enjoyed that scene .

Ahn-jaehyun’s gibberish from his lack of sleep had already hit the Warlord related fan sites, and it was being circulated as an animated gif . Moreover, the footage appeared in any article, interview or video related to the Immoral Prince raid .

There were even some Users in Warlord that used the word ‘Huh Maeung’ instead of saying a greeting or thanks . If things turned out unfavorably, Ahn-jaehyun’s shameful past had a chance of becoming a part of the lexicon of Warlord .

‘The image I built up until now was destroyed, because of a short 3 seconds clip . ’

Hahoe Mask .

He was stronger than anyone else . It didn’t matter what trouble he was in, the Hahoe Mask solved the problem with his own strength . He was an extraordinary hero, yet he had become the butt of a joke in the span of a single day .

“Aigo…… . ”

Ahn-jaehyun let out a moan . He was letting out a moan, but at the same time, it indicated that Ahn-jaehyun was full right now .

He had gained everything he wanted .

Ahn-jaehyun had earned everything he was able to earn in the Immoral Prince episode .

He had gained a level 200 Chronicle Epic Item . It was currently the strongest Item in existence . Moreover, there were merely 10 of these Items in circulation . It was the ultimate Item, and it wasn’t something that could be bought with money .

He had also gained numerous Titles . Ahn-jaehyun had gained the two Titles he had coveted forever . He gained the ‘Havan Kindom’s Hero’ and ‘Arbiter of Corruption’ Titles . These were precious Titles that couldn’t be earned any more . On top of it all, he had gained the ‘Hero of the Great Battle’ and ‘Defeater of Argardo’ Titles… .

He had earned a lot .

However, the biggest jackpot for him was the profit he received from the Paid Video Sales . The Immoral Prince Raid was seen live by over 5 million people . However, there were a large portion of the viewers that hadn’t been satisfied with the live broadcasts .

It was to be expected . Usually, a normal live Raid broadcast needed a lot of preparation and planning . When preparing for a raid, one had to be mindful of where to place the cameras, and one had to know which shots looked good . There was a separate group of people that had to get ready for the Raid .

However, this Immoral Prince Raid had developed too suddenly, and everything had been rushed .

The appearance of the Hahoe Mask was especially a surprise . In such a situation, they weren’t able to properly broadcast the Hahoe Mask’s exploits . This was why a lot of people were disappointed . However, the Hahoe Mask had his own footage, and a video was made using his contents . Their disappointment turned into anticipation as they waited for the Hahoe Mask’s version of the Raid . Ahn-jaehyun hadn’t move with that much forethought, but the anticipation felt by the people was immediately proven through the number of sales .

In just a week, the sales of his video moved past a million!

In terms of Personal Paid Video Sales, the only one who had been able to sell over a million in one week was the First One . The Hahoe Mask was the first to achieve this feat since the First One . His revenues were incredible . The price for his Paid Videos was $4 . 99 . Of course, the Hahoe Mask’s share of the money was in the hundred thousands of dollars .

Ahn-jaehyun had just gained the crowning achievement one could reach in the game of Warlord . Currently, Ahn-jaehyun was in a far better place than the time before he returned to the past . He was shining brighter than the time before he had gone to war with the Stormhunters .

This was why he couldn’t complain about this embarrassing event .

Ahn-jaehyun was cognizant of his situation .

He peeled his two hands off of his face . Then he put on his glasses over his slightly more relaxed eyes .

He looked at this Tablet PC .

– We will be announcing the guild ranking for the 30 great guilds . This topic always sparks a fierce debate, so we are qualifying it beforehand . Ahmong and Ken’s Ranking show uses 15 criteria to determine the ranking of the 30 great guilds . This ranking isn’t an official ranking, and we aren’t a credible source for such information .

He focused on Amohng and Ken’s Ranking Show, but the light in Ahn-jaehyun’s eyes was a little bit different from before .

2 .

The end to the second Main Scenario Quest affected a lot of people . The people, who were interested in Warlord, became new resident of the game . On the other hand, there were those that had lost interest, and they left the stage called Warlord . Then a vital change happened regarding the 30 great guilds .

A crucial decision had been made .

This truth was acknowledged by regular Users and Warlord fans, who weren’t part of the 30 guilds .

– Let’s be real about it . Even if they are all called the 30 great guilds, isn’t there too much internal differences amongst the guilds?

– I feel the same way . I think they should make a large scale changes to the live channel rights . In truth, some of the 30 great guilds don’t deserve the live channel rights . Some of them are even worse than the Fighters guild .

– If you look at Amohng and Ken’s RanKing show, the Fighters guild moved past the bottom of the 30 great guilds . They moved past the Big Smiles guild in terms of quality in their Guild Ranking .

– ㄴ For real . In truth, does the Big Smiles guild have anyone that can fight better than Pitbull?

– ㄴ Don’t look down on the Big Smiles . They are still one of the top guilds in the 30 great guilds in terms of views .

– ㄴ Their view count is inflated since China has a lot of people . Is that really something to be proud about? How many people purchase their pay-per-view videos? Can they even sell 500,000 live tickets any more?

During the Corrupt Count episode, a good number of guilds participated in the Main Scenario Quest . The evidence of this fact was shown when the Corrupt Count’s identity was revealed in the Corrupt Count Raid . A large portion of the 30 great guilds was present in the Corrupt Count Raid . However, only three guilds had made an imprint on the Immoral Prince episode . Aside from these three guilds, the other 27 guilds pretty much took on the role of sidekicks .

If so, what will happen in the 3rd Main Scenario Quest? The guilds had started to distinguish themselves from each other in the Immoral Prince episode .

Currently, there was the three guilds that was considered to be the Big 3 . What did the other remaining guilds have to do now?

First, they couldn’t avoid doing the Main Scenario Quest . In the Main Scenario Quest, one needed a good understanding of the game, a good information network, and monster hunting ability . It was the surest measuring sticking that allowed a guild to show their capability .

If a guild avoided doing the Main Scenario quest, one needed a sure content that’ll allow a guild to be self-sufficient in its survival . In reality, only the Sweepers guild and the Geicoff guild was able to do this .

In such an environment, the V&V guild was the first one to attempt a change .

3 .

Before he connected to Warlord, Ahn-jaehyun always searched for articles related to Warlord . Of course, Ahn-jaehyun’s attention was focused on the reorganization plan announced by the V&V guild .

‘What the hell is this?’

Ahn-jaehyun knew there were going to be changes . He had expected it . If they didn’t change, they would inevitably be culled . Ahn-jaehyun insisted on watching Amohng and Ken’s Ranking Show to gather information about the public trends .

In fact, this had also happened before Ahn-jaehyun returned to the past . When the Immoral Prince episode ended, all the guilds went through an overhaul . It didn’t matter if it was a big guild or a small guild . The outstanding Users were scouted, and the trading of Users between guilds, which had been considered a taboo, started to occur .

‘The team name is…… Poker? Is it in reference to the card game?’

With that in mind, the V&V guild had started to consolidate the disorderly organizations under their banner . The guild’s core power were being gathered into one team .

However, Ahn-jaehyun didn’t doubt the reasons behind their actions .

Instead, he was impressed by their bold initiative . Guilds were most definitely a for profit organization . If one joined and worked for a guild, one would expect personal gain in the process . If not, no one would stay in a guild .

Each of the 30 great guilds easily had over a thousand guild members . If the guild wanted to guarantee some profit for everyone, the guild had no choice, but to diversify their activities .

However, V&V had just gave up on that . They had decided to focus their efforts on a single purpose . This would surely mean that the profit gained by the regular guild members would decrease . It also meant that a good number of guild members would leave the V&V guild . They wouldn’t be able to avoid internal strife . If this was a company, it would basically be a restructure . They were willing to go through a grinding pain, and it deserved respect . They were willing to go through the pain in pursuit of some unknown purpose .

‘Their naming sense is shitty… However, the content of their plan isn’t bad . No . I’m surprised the V&V guild went through with this decision . I’m pretty sure they weren’t like this before . ’

From Ahn-jaehyun’s perspective, the V&V guild was making the right decision .

Red Bulls, Stormhunters, and Hydra .

These three guilds had become the Big 3, and these three possessed the most powerful tools . If one didn’t have a tools that was as strong as theirs, one couldn’t covet what the Big 3 owned .

Moreover, the Team Poker that was being formed by the V&V guild was structured different from the primary Raid teams of the other guilds .

It was as the named indicated . The Poker would branch into 4 classification . It’ll be the Spade, Heart, Clover and Diamond . The members will be labeled starting with Ace and it would end with King . There would be a total of 52 Users, and three Jokers would be added in . The final tally was a total of 55 people . A normal primary Raid team had between 20 to 30 members . The Poker were much numerous in number .

On the other hand, they weren’t only going to do Raids . They would be like a swiss army knife in terms of their use in the game .

Ahn-jaehyun couldn’t find any fault up to this point .

‘Why is there so many bastards here that I don’t know?’

The problem was the new members that were added to the newly unveiled Poker Team of the V&V guild . There were faces that people from the outside didn’t recognize . They didn’t recognize the two Users that occupied the seat of the Aces .

Of course, Ahn-jaehyun couldn’t remember all the faces he had seen in this world . Moreover, his memory was on the poor side . If he was to spell it out more bluntly, he probably didn’t know the faces of the Rankers more so than knowing them . However, this time not all the faces was unfamiliar to him .

– V&V guild made an incredibly resolute decision . Still there are a lot of faces I’ve never seen before .

– I don’t think they were with the guild before . I checked their career data, and it says they worked as normal users .

Aside from Ahn-jaehyun, many people were interested in V&V Guild’s reorganization . They became suspicious when they saw faces they didn’t recognize .

– They are normal Users? What are their level?

– Huhk? Level 200? What the hell? Their levels are on par with the Rankers .

The bigger problem was that the V&V guild had tried to minimize the backlash for their actions . This was why they posted the Specs of the new faces, and their Specs were much better than an average User . They were all over level 200, and the state of their main Item Setting and the Titles they possessed wasn’t just above average . It was world class .

The part that bothered Ahn-jaehyun the most was the number of Titles they possessed . It was an incredibly high number .

The least of them had 150 Titles and the ones with the most had exceeded 200 Titles .

When leveling up quickly, it was hard to earn the necessary Titles . On the other hand, if one focused only on gaining Titles, the time one needed to invest in leveling up decreased . If one wanted to gain both at the same time, one had to be like Ahn-jaehyun . One had to map out how one will get the Titles, and the most effective Level Up route had to be planned .

Of course, this was possible for those in the 30 great guilds . They had the intelligence network, and there were those who helped to gather title for guild members .

If this was the case, the explanation given by the V&V guild clashed with the conventional wisdom . They couldn’t be normal Users .

‘They have that many Titles yet they are normal Users? Bullshit . ’

There was no way they were just normal Users . The number of Titles they have are impossible to achieve unless they received help from an organization that was on par with the 30 great guilds .

‘That bastard showed up last time . It seems these bastards appear every time there is a lull . Are they part of some professional guild that nurtures Users?’

Anyways, it seemed an unknown organization had appeared, and they were Ahn-jaehyun’s new enemy .

Ahn-jaehyun’s face hardened .

Stormhunters, Hydra, Red Bulls and others… .

He never thought any of them were easy enemies . However, they were enemies that he could see .

However, at that moment, an enemy that he hadn’t seen before had appeared in front of Ahn-jaehyun’s eyes . This enemy wasn’t in his memory .

Of course, he felt anxious .

The fact that he had accomplished a lot made his anxiety higher . Ahn-jaehyun had too much things to lose now .

‘……if I become lax, they’ll take it all away from me . ’

On the other hand, this anxiety allowed Ahn-jaehyun to come to a decision .

‘So my immediate path to a Spec Up… . The Skill Books are the only way . ’