emperor of solo play

Chapter 19 : A Nail in a Pocket (3).

 ­ A Nail in a Pocket (3)

The moment Hyrkan grabbed his spoils, he headed straight to Figur’s Castle. Holding this much all alone was equivalent to saying ‘please come kill me.’ Although he took some effort in arriving at Mt. Bima, it was better to lose a few hours than to lose everything.

After returning to Figur’s Castle, Hyrkan separated his loot into those he needed and those he didn’t.

First, he removed the Black Goblin’s Eyeball from the list. He was planning on using it to craft an item. Other than that, he sold everything in a hurry. Though he ended up selling them cheaper than the market price, he was able to acquire some gold immediately. The gold he obtained was a bit less than 150,000 won, a sizable profit.

But an unexpected fortune struck when he was trading his 10 watches away.

‘My god.’

Looking at the 10 items on his item list, Hyrkan’s eyes became wide and open.

[Black Goblin Leather Pants]

*Main Property

– Rare-rank

– Intelligence +5

– Magic Power +5

– Required Level: 15

*Additional Property

– All stats +2 for every additional ‘Black Goblin’ item.

*Miscellaneous

– Leather pants made out of Black Goblin skin. Although it isn’t entirely comfortable, it allows the user to gain the power of Black Goblin.

[Deadwood Essence Sword]

*Main Property

– Rare-rank

– Magic Power +10

– Required Level: 15

*Miscellaneous

– It is a sword imbued with the rare essence of deadwood monsters. The sword itself is no different than an ordinary sword, but the deadwood essence empowers the user’s magic power.

‘2 rare items?’

Hyrkan was ready to dance with open arms if he got any crafted items. He was fully expecting to get Subjugation Association’s default items. Having received 2 rare items, he was beyond happy.

Furthermore, they were items that raised magic power.

‘But why use deadwood essence to make a sword?’

It was a mistake to use deadwood essence to craft a sword. Deadwood essence was a material that raised magic power by a large amount. As such, it was used to make magicians’ weapons such as wands or staffs. It was likely that the crafter blanked out in the middle of cubing. Although it was rare in rank, it would be hard to treat it as a real, rare item.

But with such weapon ending up in the hands of an all-strength necromancer, the only one who could possibly utilize it, it was indeed a twist of fate. It was as if King Arthur pulled the Excalibur.

‘If I craft a robe or shoes with the Black Goblin’s Eyeball I got, then…’

Furthermore, if Hyrkan crafted a new armor item using the Black Goblin’s Eyeball, he could get at least 20 points of magic power from the Black Goblin set effect. 20 points of magic power would multiply Hyrkan’s magic power by quite a bit even when he reached level 15.

Other than these two items, there were 5 items that weren’t from Subjugation Association’s default item. Over half of level 10 players used default items, not to mention a item from their entire item slot was chosen at random. With a luck like this, one should really buy a lottery ticket.

‘The only downside is that I can’t equip them now.’

Unfortunately, these precious items had a level 15 restriction, thus Hyrkan could not equip them at the moment.

‘Level 15.’

Hyrkan quickly made a rough calculation.

‘Rising Star title can be obtained upon completing the quest before level 15.’

It was level 15.

Once he hit level 15 and equipped these items, he would clear the quest at Mt. Bima. Even a complete beginner would be able to come to this conclusion. Hyrkan’s job was simple.

‘Time to break some records.’

Hunting.

That’s all he had to do.

★★★

Hyrkan’s expression turned somber as he stared at the website shown on his tablet PC.

‘300,000 won for video editing… it’s cheap considering Romany’s skills, but…’

After logging off, An Jaehyun obtained the video file he filmed. At the same time, he searched for a professional to edit his video. It didn’t take long. He knew who he was searching for.

Romany Films.

In the past, An Jaehyun had a deep connection with them. With most of early Hahoe Mask Guild’s videos being made by Romany Films, not much explanation was needed.

Their distance grew after Hahoe Mask Guild became more popular and received the sponsorship of major video editing teams, but Hyrkan always left his personal videos for Romany Films to edit.

‘Now that I think about it, I’ve only really met and talked with Romany once. He was really quite good.’

He was the best.

Romany Film’s owner, Romany, was a die-hard fan of Hero Slaughterer Hyrkan, and he could capture Hyrkan’s charm better than anyone else. He would even stop his other work to do Hyrkan’s videos first. Hyrkan fully planned on continuing their good, past relationship.

The problem was money.

Even with the video already being there, it still took great time and effort to edit it. A professional’s time and effort meant money.

For Romany, the price was 300,000 won.

It wasn’t expensive. Big shots in the field easily receive over a million won per video. Even in Romany’s case, his price went over 1 million won once he got famous through the Hahoe Mask Guild. For the Top 30 Guilds, the cost of editing videos for their channels was about 30% of their operating expenses.

Because of this, An Jaehyun couldn’t be stingy with money. In fact, it was a chance to use a skilled professional he approved of at a cheap cost.

Above all, this video would serve as An Jaehyun’s introduction video. In a world where plastic surgery costs several million won, it would be foolish to be too stingy to spend 300,000 won on a video that would serve as his face.

‘Looks like my mouth’s going to be dry for a while.’

An Jaehyun smiled bitterly.

Growl!

As if it sensed danger, his stomach let out a scream.

★★★

Romany. His dream was to become a movie director representing Hollywood. However, there were hundreds of thousands of others who shared his dream in the U.S., and Romany could do little to distinguish himself in the competition. He sold his services for a cheap price in the name of establishing personal connection and gaining experience.

With his dream, he had spent his whole life hungry. The turning point of Romany’s life was the introduction of V-Gear.

The appearance of VR world was revolutionary for the movie industry as well. Those quick on their feet entered the stage to obtain the skill and experience needed to survive in the VR era. It was the same for Romany. During this process of producing VR game videos, he was able to establish a name for himself with the few that reached views in the millions. He was given the chance to live doing what he loves without having to rely on part-time jobs at the same time.

His days were joyful but boring at the same time. He had fun producing videos he loved, but it was torture to produce amazing videos from videos that showed a worthless level of skill and content. Thus, whenever he received a request, he prayed.

“Please, at the very least, let it be decent.”

He couldn’t pick his clients. He could only pray for a good client.

Currently, Romany was looking into a new request he received with an apathetic face.

“Korea, introduction video, PK…”

Nothing particularly stood out as enticing in the brief summary he read. In fact, the level 11 status of the client caused his face to turn dark. When players around level 10 requested for a video, they mostly had the same line of thinking. It was for rich players to brag on social media. The videos they sent were truly worthless.

Romany had the feeling this would be another one of those videos, and his intuitions were always spot on.

But for the first time, his intuition failed him.

“….wow.”

A switch turned on inside him when he watched the video.

He had watched a countless number of PK videos, and most of them were flashy. It really could be nothing but flashy. The clash of powerful skills and magic were like the climax scenes of movies.

But the PK video he received was not flashy. There was more or less no skills or magic used. It was just a strangely masked player fighting 3 other players. The setting was simple. There was not a hint of flashiness in the entire video.

However, there was ruthlessness, a story, and scheming. It was as if top class actors were acting out a script.

And the best part…

– I…

Was the masked player making his opponents lower their guard by talking. Unlike in a battle of strength versus strength, the masked player’s fight had tension that made its viewers swallow their saliva.

Romany was charmed.

‘This probably won’t get many views.’

Honestly, Romany found it hard for this video to go viral. It was too cruel. Although Warlord was an adult-rated game, if he made the masked player’s ruthlessness stand out, the video would be locked for adult only.

But that part wasn’t for Romany to worry about. Since he got the money, he just had to work for it.

What was important…

“But at least it’ll be fun.”

Was that he finally found a work worthy of his full attention after so long.

★★★

Once Warlord dominated the VR game market, the vast money and businesses surrounding VR games all traveled to Warlord.

As a result, everything and anything Warlord-related began receiving value above its original value. Among these, what rose the most was human capital. Just by being good at Warlord, one could receive the same fame and attention a sports star would. All skilled players began competing with each other for market value, and a few billionaires even purchased these players like some did with soccer teams in the past.

An enormous amount of money began going back and forth, and players began to make videos dreaming of making a fortune. Of course, few geese laid golden eggs. Of 1000 players, 999 of them would be chickens incapable of laying any eggs. Only one would have a small chance of laying a golden egg.

Naturally, luck was needed just as much as skill. This lady luck only visited only those who could recognize her. The owner of the Stormhunter Guild, one of Warlord’s Top 30 Guilds, and one of the skilled players representing Warlord as a whole – Choi Sulyeon. To receive her attention required a thousand of such luck.

But now a winner appeared.

‘Not bad.’

Choi Sulyeon was one of Warlord’s greatest players. Naturally, her standards were extremely high. Even well respected players were only mediocre in her eyes.

But now, a man in a video she was watching grabbed her attention. It was an extraordinary luck. In the first place, she didn’t usually look up videos herself. She had only come across this video by coincidence.

‘He should be around level 10, but his battle experience is above a veteran player’s. I doubt he’s a killer in real life… he must have come from another game.’

He didn’t show a particularly spectacular battle. Rather than spectacular, the man’s fighting style was better described as peculiar and full of the his own color.

In fact, Choi Sulyeon was interested in the man for a reason she couldn’t quite put to words.

Sixth sense.

Choi Sulyeon’s sixth sense whispered to her.

‘I want him.’

She couldn’t explain why, but she wanted him in her grasp.

Of course, at this moment, Choi Sulyeon engraved the name of this video’s lead in her mind.

‘Hahoe Mask Hyrkan.’

Chapter 19 : A Nail in a Pocket (3).

 ­ A Nail in a Pocket (3)

The moment Hyrkan grabbed his spoils, he headed straight to Figur’s Castle. Holding this much all alone was equivalent to saying ‘please come kill me.’ Although he took some effort in arriving at Mt. Bima, it was better to lose a few hours than to lose everything.

After returning to Figur’s Castle, Hyrkan separated his loot into those he needed and those he didn’t.

First, he removed the Black Goblin’s Eyeball from the list. He was planning on using it to craft an item. Other than that, he sold everything in a hurry. Though he ended up selling them cheaper than the market price, he was able to acquire some gold immediately. The gold he obtained was a bit less than 150,000 won, a sizable profit.

But an unexpected fortune struck when he was trading his 10 watches away.

‘My god.’

Looking at the 10 items on his item list, Hyrkan’s eyes became wide and open.

[Black Goblin Leather Pants]

*Main Property

– Rare-rank

– Intelligence +5

– Magic Power +5

– Required Level: 15

*Additional Property

– All stats +2 for every additional ‘Black Goblin’ item.

*Miscellaneous

– Leather pants made out of Black Goblin skin. Although it isn’t entirely comfortable, it allows the user to gain the power of Black Goblin.

[Deadwood Essence Sword]

*Main Property

– Rare-rank

– Magic Power +10

– Required Level: 15

*Miscellaneous

– It is a sword imbued with the rare essence of deadwood monsters. The sword itself is no different than an ordinary sword, but the deadwood essence empowers the user’s magic power.

‘2 rare items?’

Hyrkan was ready to dance with open arms if he got any crafted items. He was fully expecting to get Subjugation Association’s default items. Having received 2 rare items, he was beyond happy.

Furthermore, they were items that raised magic power.

‘But why use deadwood essence to make a sword?’

It was a mistake to use deadwood essence to craft a sword. Deadwood essence was a material that raised magic power by a large amount. As such, it was used to make magicians’ weapons such as wands or staffs. It was likely that the crafter blanked out in the middle of cubing. Although it was rare in rank, it would be hard to treat it as a real, rare item.

But with such weapon ending up in the hands of an all-strength necromancer, the only one who could possibly utilize it, it was indeed a twist of fate. It was as if King Arthur pulled the Excalibur.

‘If I craft a robe or shoes with the Black Goblin’s Eyeball I got, then…’

Furthermore, if Hyrkan crafted a new armor item using the Black Goblin’s Eyeball, he could get at least 20 points of magic power from the Black Goblin set effect. 20 points of magic power would multiply Hyrkan’s magic power by quite a bit even when he reached level 15.

Other than these two items, there were 5 items that weren’t from Subjugation Association’s default item. Over half of level 10 players used default items, not to mention a item from their entire item slot was chosen at random. With a luck like this, one should really buy a lottery ticket.

‘The only downside is that I can’t equip them now.’

Unfortunately, these precious items had a level 15 restriction, thus Hyrkan could not equip them at the moment.

‘Level 15.’

Hyrkan quickly made a rough calculation.

‘Rising Star title can be obtained upon completing the quest before level 15.’

It was level 15.

Once he hit level 15 and equipped these items, he would clear the quest at Mt. Bima. Even a complete beginner would be able to come to this conclusion. Hyrkan’s job was simple.

‘Time to break some records.’

Hunting.

That’s all he had to do.

★★★

Hyrkan’s expression turned somber as he stared at the website shown on his tablet PC.

‘300,000 won for video editing… it’s cheap considering Romany’s skills, but…’

After logging off, An Jaehyun obtained the video file he filmed. At the same time, he searched for a professional to edit his video. It didn’t take long. He knew who he was searching for.

Romany Films.

In the past, An Jaehyun had a deep connection with them. With most of early Hahoe Mask Guild’s videos being made by Romany Films, not much explanation was needed.

Their distance grew after Hahoe Mask Guild became more popular and received the sponsorship of major video editing teams, but Hyrkan always left his personal videos for Romany Films to edit.

‘Now that I think about it, I’ve only really met and talked with Romany once. He was really quite good.’

He was the best.

Romany Film’s owner, Romany, was a die-hard fan of Hero Slaughterer Hyrkan, and he could capture Hyrkan’s charm better than anyone else. He would even stop his other work to do Hyrkan’s videos first. Hyrkan fully planned on continuing their good, past relationship.

The problem was money.

Even with the video already being there, it still took great time and effort to edit it. A professional’s time and effort meant money.

For Romany, the price was 300,000 won.

It wasn’t expensive. Big shots in the field easily receive over a million won per video. Even in Romany’s case, his price went over 1 million won once he got famous through the Hahoe Mask Guild. For the Top 30 Guilds, the cost of editing videos for their channels was about 30% of their operating expenses.

Because of this, An Jaehyun couldn’t be stingy with money. In fact, it was a chance to use a skilled professional he approved of at a cheap cost.

Above all, this video would serve as An Jaehyun’s introduction video. In a world where plastic surgery costs several million won, it would be foolish to be too stingy to spend 300,000 won on a video that would serve as his face.

‘Looks like my mouth’s going to be dry for a while.’

An Jaehyun smiled bitterly.

Growl!

As if it sensed danger, his stomach let out a scream.

★★★

Romany. His dream was to become a movie director representing Hollywood. However, there were hundreds of thousands of others who shared his dream in the U.S., and Romany could do little to distinguish himself in the competition. He sold his services for a cheap price in the name of establishing personal connection and gaining experience.

With his dream, he had spent his whole life hungry. The turning point of Romany’s life was the introduction of V-Gear.

The appearance of VR world was revolutionary for the movie industry as well. Those quick on their feet entered the stage to obtain the skill and experience needed to survive in the VR era. It was the same for Romany. During this process of producing VR game videos, he was able to establish a name for himself with the few that reached views in the millions. He was given the chance to live doing what he loves without having to rely on part-time jobs at the same time.

His days were joyful but boring at the same time. He had fun producing videos he loved, but it was torture to produce amazing videos from videos that showed a worthless level of skill and content. Thus, whenever he received a request, he prayed.

“Please, at the very least, let it be decent.”

He couldn’t pick his clients. He could only pray for a good client.

Currently, Romany was looking into a new request he received with an apathetic face.

“Korea, introduction video, PK…”

Nothing particularly stood out as enticing in the brief summary he read. In fact, the level 11 status of the client caused his face to turn dark. When players around level 10 requested for a video, they mostly had the same line of thinking. It was for rich players to brag on social media. The videos they sent were truly worthless.

Romany had the feeling this would be another one of those videos, and his intuitions were always spot on.

But for the first time, his intuition failed him.

“….wow.”

A switch turned on inside him when he watched the video.

He had watched a countless number of PK videos, and most of them were flashy. It really could be nothing but flashy. The clash of powerful skills and magic were like the climax scenes of movies.

But the PK video he received was not flashy. There was more or less no skills or magic used. It was just a strangely masked player fighting 3 other players. The setting was simple. There was not a hint of flashiness in the entire video.

However, there was ruthlessness, a story, and scheming. It was as if top class actors were acting out a script.

And the best part…

– I…

Was the masked player making his opponents lower their guard by talking. Unlike in a battle of strength versus strength, the masked player’s fight had tension that made its viewers swallow their saliva.

Romany was charmed.

‘This probably won’t get many views.’

Honestly, Romany found it hard for this video to go viral. It was too cruel. Although Warlord was an adult-rated game, if he made the masked player’s ruthlessness stand out, the video would be locked for adult only.

But that part wasn’t for Romany to worry about. Since he got the money, he just had to work for it.

What was important…

“But at least it’ll be fun.”

Was that he finally found a work worthy of his full attention after so long.

★★★

Once Warlord dominated the VR game market, the vast money and businesses surrounding VR games all traveled to Warlord.

As a result, everything and anything Warlord-related began receiving value above its original value. Among these, what rose the most was human capital. Just by being good at Warlord, one could receive the same fame and attention a sports star would. All skilled players began competing with each other for market value, and a few billionaires even purchased these players like some did with soccer teams in the past.

An enormous amount of money began going back and forth, and players began to make videos dreaming of making a fortune. Of course, few geese laid golden eggs. Of 1000 players, 999 of them would be chickens incapable of laying any eggs. Only one would have a small chance of laying a golden egg.

Naturally, luck was needed just as much as skill. This lady luck only visited only those who could recognize her. The owner of the Stormhunter Guild, one of Warlord’s Top 30 Guilds, and one of the skilled players representing Warlord as a whole – Choi Sulyeon. To receive her attention required a thousand of such luck.

But now a winner appeared.

‘Not bad.’

Choi Sulyeon was one of Warlord’s greatest players. Naturally, her standards were extremely high. Even well respected players were only mediocre in her eyes.

But now, a man in a video she was watching grabbed her attention. It was an extraordinary luck. In the first place, she didn’t usually look up videos herself. She had only come across this video by coincidence.

‘He should be around level 10, but his battle experience is above a veteran player’s. I doubt he’s a killer in real life… he must have come from another game.’

He didn’t show a particularly spectacular battle. Rather than spectacular, the man’s fighting style was better described as peculiar and full of the his own color.

In fact, Choi Sulyeon was interested in the man for a reason she couldn’t quite put to words.

Sixth sense.

Choi Sulyeon’s sixth sense whispered to her.

‘I want him.’

She couldn’t explain why, but she wanted him in her grasp.

Of course, at this moment, Choi Sulyeon engraved the name of this video’s lead in her mind.

‘Hahoe Mask Hyrkan.’