Chapter 71 – Secret Society (1)

1.

The background was littered with the corpses of Black Trolls and Black Orcs. The Helm Ogre which had fallen resembled a corpse placed within a royal tomb. The corpse was massive. Rationally, everyone knew it was dead and it couldn’t do anything to them. However, this monster had a sense of grandeur that was hard to dismiss.

Hyrkan, Alto Family, and Toon Family all looked at the Helm Ogre’s corpse without saying anything.

Numerous thoughts started flowing inside their heads.

‘We really came back from the dead. If I had died here, I would probably be drinking beers until I threw up. I’ll probably be watching the last year’s World Series, where the fucking Cubs came back to win.’

The members of the Toon Party were just thankful that they were alive.

‘We really have been given a second chance at life. We were lucky. I never expected the Hahoe Mask to come to our help. However, it seems he isn’t helping us for free. He’ll most definitely suggest something or maybe he’ll suggest a deal? What would he ask from us?’

Alto Family was thankful that they were still alive, but they were worried about the cost of their survival.

The last was Hyrkan.

‘It’s quite big. It’s size is comparable to a Golem. It has to be at least 5 meters tall. If I break it down, I could get a bucketful of gold for the ingredients. What do I have to do to make this all mine? Will it be too much if I took everything? However, if I’m being honest, shouldn’t I get everything? No, this is mine. Of course. I was the first to attack, and I also did the Armor Break. I even got the last hit, so of course this is my possession! I also have to get the highest distribution rate for the smallfrys.’

How would he be able to get the bigger share? Only the most materialistic of thoughts occupied his head.

The three groups were sorting out all sorts of thoughts. The first to open the gates of communication was the Toon Party. They had all somewhat sorted out their thoughts. The 5 members of the Toon Party turned towards the other 6 people, then the Toon Party bowed.

“Thank you for helping us.”

Before they spoke their peace, they expressed their thanks. They had come back from the brink of death, so they couldn’t help but feel thankful. The Alto Family had helped them despite knowing of the danger. Hyrkan wasn’t even a member of the Community, yet he had helped them as a complete stranger. Moreover, they were at the doorsteps of level 100, so their feeling of gratitude had grown deeper.

They had to be sure to clear up this situation, and their actions should reflect their thankfulness.

“Since we were in a situation where we needed help, we won’t argue with you. We’ll give up all our rights to the monsters here.”

After hearing those words, Hyrkan’s mouth briefly changed into a large smile. It happened for a very brief moment, and it almost stretched his mouth into an outrageous proportion. However, the smile disappeared quickly.

‘Ahn-jaehyun. Control your expression!’

Hyrkan quickly hid his mouth and massaged his mouth. Fortunately, no one had seen Hyrkan’s big smile. Of course, he had erased the smile around his face, but the smile inside his heart hadn’t been erased.

‘I like it. I really like their stance.’

Hyrkan immediately looked at the Alto Family. Alto Family’s leader Neal thought briefly over his decision. As a Tanker, Neal had suffered the most.

‘If I’m being honest, the Helm Ogre belongs to the Hahoe Mask. However, even if we exclude that one, the rest of the monsters would easily bring 2 to 3 thousand gold easily…’

There were 10 Armored Black Troll, and 20 Armored Black Orcs. They were wearing armor, so without a doubt, metal ingredients needed to produce metal Items could be harvested. That could be turned into coins. It wasn’t just one or two coins. It could tally up to couple hundred coins. It wasn’t an insignificant amount of gold. If a gem came out, the sum would increase sharply. It could come out to be 2 or 3 thousand gold in the end.

From the perspective of the Alto Family, they didn’t want to give up this profit, since they had to recouped the cost of the consumable Items they used in the hunt.

On the other hand, it didn’t feel right to unconditionally ask for their cut. Thanks to Hyrkan they came back from the dead. As players, who were at the cusp of reaching level 100, they didn’t want to waste their precious time. If it wasn’t for Hyrkan, they would have had to calculate for the lost time, instead of the profit.

Neal turned his head to look at his companions. They understood Neal’s thoughts, so they immediately answered him.

“It’s up to you.”

“I have no regret, since I avoided a Game Over.”

Of course, they were going to miss the monster corpses strewn about here. On the other hand, they weren’t the materialistic kind of people. The wouldn’t ask where their belonging was after being saved from drowning in the water. In the end, Alto Family wasn’t solely playing this game for the money.

“Let’s calculate, Hahoe Mask.”

Calculate.

Hyrkan clenched his mouth shut at the word. He immediately made a pledge inside.

‘6 to 4 split. I can’t give them over 4. It isn’t as if they are going to pay for my time. At the very least, I have to get that much.’

Hyrkan was firming up his resolve regarding the calculation.

“We’ll give you everything here. Instead, give us permission to take a picture with you.”

After Neal said this, he waved the other people closer.

“Before you skin the monsters’ leather, let’s take a group picture! Everyone gather around!”

Hyrkan couldn’t help, but laugh when he saw this. His head had been completely filled with materialistic thoughts, and calculations. All of this machination came tumbling down at once like a poorly constructed building.

His thought that had come tumbling down was very seedy. Hyrkan felt mixed emotions.

‘I’m almost envious of their romanticism..’

At that moment, he didn’t know why but he envied the people here more than the 30 Great Guild rankers.

2.

There were various types of hunters in this world. There were gunmen who liked hunting with guns. There were archers who like hunting with a bow and arrow. There was also fishermen who liked hunting through fishing. However, all of them had a similar habit.

“The photo came out pretty well.”

“Came out pretty well my ass. It didn’t come out well. We are taking it again.”

“We can’t take it again. Everyone’s already disbanding.”

“Ah, I really have to upload this picture on my account. Why is it coming out like this? If I do this right, I’ll gain some subscribers.”

“You have to take off your ugly face if you want to grow the number of subscribers. Just try posting a nude photo of a pretty model.”

“What?”

“Truthfully, isn’t that how it works in reality?”

If one caught something big, everyone always took a picture in front of the big game. It didn’t matter if it was an animal or a fish. If one caught something big, even people other than the hunter wanted to pose in front of it. They would take a group photo. This was the instinct of a hunter.

This was the case right now.

Eleven people gathered in front of the enormous Helm Ogre, and they took a picture.

Hyrkan was put in the center. He held back his laughter at the nonsense of this situation as he looked at the picture with him in the center.

‘In the past, I had so many of these pictures that I got sick and tired of it.’

Before he returned to the past, the Hahoe Mask guild always took a picture after a hunt, especially after a Boss Raid. Moreover, Hyrkan alway had stood in the middle of the picture. Every time they had hunted down a monster like this one, Hyrkan took an active role in the battle.

Hyrkan erased the smile on his lips as he thought about the past. Those past events didn’t exist anymore. It wasn’t as if he would feel better thinking about such memories. He was only left with mixed feelings.

‘Hoo-ooh.’

Hyrkan shook his head to dislodge that train of thought, getting ready to dismantle the monsters.

The dismantling of the monsters took very little time. Hyrkan owned all the monsters here, but the others helped with the task. The job of skinning the leather finished with relative ease. The people gathered here were used to this kind of work. Weren’t they high levels because they killed a lot of monsters?

The reward for the hard work was the melting flesh of the monsters. It was ice cream.

“Since this one’s dark, I thought it would taste like chocolate. Why does it take like root beer?”

“This one tastes quite unique. Is it because it’s a Boss Monster? It’s like a fruit sherbet. The taste is quite profound and mysterious.”

“I hate sherbet. Don’t they have cookies & cream?”

“The most recently caught level 150 monster, Blue Slime Dragon, is said to taste like cookies & cream.”

“I’d rather go to a store nearby instead of going to go catch that monster.”

A conversation started as everyone started eating the melting monster corpses. Still, even during such a friendly conversation, Hyrkan didn’t participate. He was eating the ice cream like a pig. He must have had some pent up resentment about not being able to eat it in reality, so Hyrkan kept scooping the ice cream into his mouth as if to assuage this feeling. Neal approached Hyrkan, and he spoke.

“I’m not going to ask you about being in the same Family or Guild. Have you any thoughts on joining this community? I’m not asking for your help. However, there is the aspect of information exchange or cultivating friendship. We spend a decent amount of money on this game. We can’t play as well as you, so we’ll be in a situation where we’ll be holding your ankles. Still, we can be your springboard sometimes .”

Neal didn’t want to end the relationship between Hyrkan like this. This had to do with something more than profits. Hyrkan was a very special existence within the world of Warlord.

Hyrkan listened to Neal’s words as he looked back with stoic eyes. Hyrkan thought hard on Neal’s offer.

‘It isn’t too bad.’

The Alto Family was pretty skilled. Truthfully, they wouldn’t have been able to reach this point if their skills were terrible.

Moreover, Hyrkan came to an epiphany through their help. He was strong. If one looked through all of Warlord, Hyrkan was the only one who had been able to do the work of a party by himself. He would become much stronger from now on.

However, Hyrkan would be much more powerful if he was hunting with a party. The current Hyrkan was monstrous. However, with the help of a mage, tanker and a priest, he would become a very scary beast.

If he could keep the proper distance between the people who would be helping him, he thought the arrangement might not be too bad.

‘They also know the meaning of romanticism.’

Most of all, the Alto Family weren’t people, who devoted their whole lives to this game. They saw the game as a game. The money wasn’t the reason why they were playing the game. The money was something on the side, something they made as they played the game. They spent the money they earned for the pure enjoyment of playing the game. They fell into that category.

They were like the large guilds, who had to make calculated decisions. They were also different from the rankers, who were playing this game to make profit. This meant he could probably foster true friendship with them.

When his thoughts reached that point, Hyrkan shook his head inside his heart.

‘Yes. That is why they won’t be compatible with me.’

It wasn’t because Hyrkan couldn’t get along with these people. They were quality players. It was the opposite for Hyrkan, since he felt he wasn’t worthy of them. He was doing this for money and fame. The only thing he was good at was playing games. He had sacrificed his life in reality to catch the money and fame. He wouldn’t be a good influence on these people, who were simply playing this game for fun.

Nothing good would come from mixing with them, and he couldn’t mix with them.

“I’m sorry.”

Hyrkan slightly lowered his head, shaking it in refusal. When Neal saw this, he shrugged his shoulders.

He didn’t feel bad about it. Instead, he felt better, since the Hahoe Mask had thought about it more seriously than the last time he suggested the enrollment into the community. At the very least, it meant Hyrkan had refused after careful consideration.

“Well, it can’t be helped. I’ll still cheer for you.”

“Thank you.”

“Also, what are you going to do with today’s battle footage? No matter how I think about it this is quite an extraordinary bait.”

Hyrkan immediately understood what Neal was saying.

‘Of course, he realized what was going on.’

The dark energy within the pupils was clear evidence that the monsters had been exposed to the power of Corruption. Moreover, even if the Alto Family wasn’t on the Corrupt Count’s Quest, they had some general knowledge about it, so of course, they realized what was going on. According to his words, it seemed they had recorded everything. When the footage was released, the information about the Helm Ogre would surely spread.

‘Hoo-ooh..’

From Hyrkan’s perspective, this development wasn’t ideal.

On the other hand, Hyrkan couldn’t prevent the info from getting out even if he tried to block it. The only thing he could do was to ask for them to put a mosaic over his face. If they do that, it was up to the Alto Family and the Toon Party, on whether they want to reveal the information about the Helm Ogre.

Moreover, the first one to find the Helm Ogre had been the Toon Party.

The fact that they were even asking for Hyrkan’s input was all out of courtesy.

“If your goal isn’t to sell it, you own the rights to the recorded footage. You can do as you like.”

“Is it ok if the Hahoe Mask appears? If you don’t want it…….”

“It’ll be weirder to upload it with a mosaic over the mask. Just do as you want.”

“Thank you. I really want to keep these kinds of memories as it is.”

Hyrkan let out a light laugh.

Truthfully, he wanted to hide his identity. However, these people weren’t trying to make money off of the footage. They were probably going to produce the footage as a memento, so they could reminisce on it. Hyrkan didn’t want to mess up their fond memories for his small benefit. They had shown him good etiquette, so he should do the same.

‘I really can’t mix with these types of people.’

This was why he had said they were different from him.

Hyrkan couldn’t help it. He became weak when dealing with these types of people. However, Hyrkan didn’t want to become soft. In the future, he couldn’t become weak.

‘A guy like me is more suited to play with the bastards of the 30 great guilds, who has terrible personalities. I’ll play with the greedy and the self-centered bastards.’

Neal, who didn’t know what Hyrkan was thinking, put forward his hand. He put forth his right hand.

Hyrkan grabbed his hand.

“If we have a chance to meet next time, let’s at least greet each other.”

“All right.”

3.

The information spread across online, and the ripple effect moved at a surprisingly fast speed.

– Hahoe Mask Hyrkan’s Helm Ogre attack!

A diary-like post was uploaded to the SNS, and several pictures were uploaded with the post. The word spread incredibly fast, and it was seen by those who enjoyed Warlord.

– I’ve attached a clip! This is only a small taste. I will upload the full video later! All right. I will upload it immediately if I get a 1000 likes!

The video was soon released. It wasn’t uploaded by the Hahoe Mask Hyrkan himself, but it was enough to bring several hundred thousand people to view it. Amongst the several hundred thousand people viewing the Hahoe Mask Hyrkan, there members of the 30 great guilds also included in the figure. A lot of them were watching it for the Main Scenario Quest.

The Helper.

Most in the 30 great guilds called The Helper when they needed support. The Helper had seen the video of Hyrkan.

“He fights incredibly well.”

“He had no prior information, yet he did an Armor Break. His skills are almost unbelievable.”

“He looks like a guy, who played this game for 5 to 6 years?”

Everyone was surprised by Hyrkan’s skill.

However, there was something else that surprised them even more.

“The Hahoe Mask didn’t go to Parung Forest to level up. We’ve basically confirmed he went there for the main scenario quest.”

“The next location after Bulkas mountain was the Parung Forest? Aren’t the Stormhunter Guild progressing along the same route?”

“Does this mean the Hahoe Mask’s Main Scenario Quest is progressing at a faster pace than the Storm Hunters?”

They had found out the reason why the Hahoe Mask stayed at the Parung forest, and the reason made them even more surprised.

“The guild behind the Hahoe Mask is carrying out the Main Quest Scenario from outside our control.”

“Are the Hydra Guild doing this without our knowledge? They have the ability to be the furthest along on the Main Scenario Quest within the 30 great guilds. We even missed out on the Corrupt Count.”

“It could be the Stormhunter Guild. This route happens after the Bulkas Mountains. That’s the route taken by the Stormhunters.”

“Someone has to hurry up and take measures against him. Isn’t that the reason why we are receiving this money?”