Chapter 95 – Waltz (2)
4.
A single Skeleton Knight was in a heated battle with a Black Hound.
The battle wasn't tight at all. It was obvious that the Black Hound held the upper hand. As the battle continued, deep wounds started to appear on the Skeleton Knight's body.
Kuh-huhng, kuh-hung!
The Black Hound let out rough barks as it either scratched the Skeleton Knight with its claws or it bit the Skeleton Knight with its teeth. Every time it attacked a significant wound was formed. If the Skeleton Knight hadn’t been wearing armor and the Bone Armor wasn't layered on top of it, the Skeleton Knight would have become a chew toy for the Black Hound.
Shweeek!
Moreover, the sword swung by the Skeleton Knight was able to wound the Black Hound, but the wound wasn't deep. The Black Hound was known for its large body and tough hide. The wound was only a little bit deeper than a scratch.
At this point, it was obvious that the Skeleton Knight was inferior to the Black Hound.
Was this the cause?
‘Uh-whew.’
Hyrkan let out a sigh. He hadn't participated in the battle. He just observed the battle from the back.
Truthfully, this particular battle shouldn't have made him sigh. It was a given that the Skeleton Knight's battle ability wasn't on the level of a Black Hound. However, this was something very obvious that he had known even before the battle.
Hyrkan's level was 114, so there was no way his summoned Skeleton Knight would possess a higher level than him.
On the other hand, the Black Hound was a level 130 monster. Moreover, it was one of the strongest mid-sized monster in the level 130 range.
It would have been more strange if the Skeleton Knight was able to fight on par with the Black Hound. However, Hyrkan hadn't let out a sigh, because of the Skeleton Knight's battle capability
‘The money I spent on just one Skeleton…… It was more expensive than my down payment on my one room.’
It was all about money.
‘I emptied everything, yet I was only able to equip one of them.’
Currently, the Skeleton Knight was equipped with level 100 Unique Items. His Armament Skill was Rank C, so he could equip four parts including the weapon. Hyrkan decided to equip the Skeleton Knight with Unique Items.
Of course, it wasn't as expensive or good as the Golden Mantis Scythe Sword or the Clear Spider defensive set. However, he hadn't skimped on his spendings.
As Hyrkan had said before, the Skeleton Knight was wearing a collection of Items that was more expensive than the down payment on his one room.
This was the part that made Hyrkan let out a sigh.
‘I'm out of ramen, and the coffee's all gone….’
Hyrkan reflexively opened the Hologram window to access his Youtube page.
He wanted to check how much donation he had received. Of course, he didn't have to view his account to see that he had no donations. Still, he decided to check the status of his donations. It was basically scraping the bottom of an empty rice bowl with a spoon…
His appearance was pitiable, and very miserable.
Hyrkan couldn’t hold back the bitter laugh as he considered his own status.
‘I've finally gone crazy. It isn't as if I'll suddenly gain money if I stare at it…’
He finally caught sight of his donations.
“Uh?”
Hyrkan was having a hard time believing what he was seeing.
5.
It was Dmitri Shostakovich's Waltz No. 2 or the Second Waltz.
It was a very beautiful song.
It was a lyrical music, where at times it was lively. From start to end, the music never lost its grace. The music had a strong magic of making people want to start moving their body to the music.
With this beautiful song as background, two people were dancing.
They weren't lovers.
On one side, there was an enormous muscular monster. On the other side, there was a human wearing a Hahoe Mask.
Also, each dancers held hideous swords that was unbefitting this dance.
They were an ill-matched pair for this dance.
However, their movements were in sync with the music. It was uncanny.
Kah-ahng, kahng!
The sound of their swords clashing rang out. Accompanying the sound, they lead each other around a restricted stage.
Puh-uhng!
The crescendos were the sound of magic exploding. The sounds of the explosion was interspersed within the song, and the sound was much more powerful than the sound of drums accenting the strong points of the music.
The highlight was last half of the video.
In the former part, various instruments were used in concert. However, when the battle reached the latter half, a saxophone solo started. The saxophone's unique mournful sound continued to the end, and it created a serene scene when the battle ended.
The footage ended after 3 minute 40 seconds.
“How wonderful was that?”
Red Bull's guild master Chev was watching the video with others. He asked the question to his aide Yel.
“Well, he is good.”
She hated that Chev held the Hahoe Mask in such high esteem. However, she couldn't help, but acknowledge the footage.
It was that great.
Chev replayed the video, and he spoke in a tone of admiration.
“I heard when one becomes a master at something, it become an art form. It seems the Hahoe Mask has reached that level.”
Chev's continued to give high praise. Yel pouted when she heard Chev's repeated high praise.
Around the same time….
“A talented person is talented.”
The first string raid members of the Stormhunters guild was also watching the Hahoe Mask's new video. They admired the Waltz.
Hatch was the first one to articulate his feelings.
“Where the hell did this guy appear from?”
“Hooong. If I meet someone, who dances this way, I’ll be able to destroy him in an
instant! I'll win in a fight against him!”
Hahui answered in an ill-tempered manner when she heard Hatch give his compliments. Hatch smirked as he looked at her.
‘She must have been quite surprised by this.’
Hatch had bickered with Hahui the most, so he knew what her personality was like. The fact that Hahui was speaking like this meant she was feeling a sense of inferiority.
“All right. Now you are just bragging.”
“Hoong.”
At that moment, Hatch and the rest of the members naturally looked at their leader Shir.
‘How is she going to respond to this?’
‘Our boss really has an eye for talent.’
Shir's interest towards the Hahoe Mask was great. If one was a member of the Stormhunter guild, this was a well known fact. Basically, this video had put a fire to her desire to have this talent. It was more apt to say a bomb had gone off.
However, Shir didn't respond immediately. She didn't say anything as she thought in silence.
The guild members of the Stormhunter also waited in silence.
She finally opened her mouth.
“Hatch.”
“Yes, boss.”
“How many guilds within the 30 great guilds do we have an amicable relationship with?”
“There are twelve.”
“Send this to all twelve of them.”
What should he send?
Hatch looked back with a questioning look on his face. Shir answered with a resolute expression on her face.
“The Stormhunters are calling dibs on the Hahoe Mask. Tell them to keep their hands off of him.
6.
Kuh-huhng, kuh-huhng!
Hyrkan was running on full tilt as he tried to run away from the Black Hound that was chasing him.
This was the one that had been fighting a 1on1 battle with his Skeleton Knight, not too long ago. It still possessed numerous wounds it received from the Skeleton Knight's sword. After crushing the skull of the Skeleton Knight, the Black Hound has immediately chased after Hyrkan.
‘This is crazy.’
In truth, Hyrkan could kill this monster with the skills he currently possessed.
However, Hyrkan was running away as if he had been bewitched by something.
‘What the hell happened?’
The numbers had bewitched Hyrkan.
Seven hundred seventy thousand views.
This was the current view count on the battle footage with the Corrupted Comrade called the Waltz. It hadn't even been a day since the video had been uploaded, yet he was at the cusp of 1 million views. The views was rising sharply.
That wasn't the end of the news. His Waltz video was being put up on the main page of every website related to Warlord. It was causing quite the sensation. It was being called the best battle video in the history of Warlord! It was being said he had elevated his battle to an art form! There was enough extreme praise to make him feel embarrassed since he was the target of those praises, and the donations were coming in at an explosive rate.
This was why his thoughts was all jumbled up inside his head.
Kuh-huhng, kuh-huhng!
The Black Hound let out a rough bark towards Hyrkan. Hyrkan yelled out in annoyance.
“Shut the hell up!”
Of course, the shout couldn't be understood by the Black Hound. Hyrkan was so messed up in the head right now that he spoke those words out loud.
Moreover, Hyrkan knew what it meant to reach the milestone of 1 million views in a day.
‘Will I get to 100 million?’
If he could get 1 million views in a single day, then he had the chance to reach hundred million views!
This wasn't a certainty, but it was a general rule of thumb.
Moreover, if he reached that 100 million views, his own valuation would change. His income from just the ads would be incredible, and the brand of his nickname would rise in worth. At the very least, Hyrkan would earn enough money where he wouldn't have to worry about the cost of buying ramen.
Hyrkan tried to catch his breath.
‘I never expected a big hit from this.’
Basically, this was a big hit!
This was the jackpot one dreamed about for those who wanted to earn one's keep through playing Warlord.
Hyrkan was finally able to think clearly once again. His head had been filled with numbers, but the thoughts inside his head was organized now.
Hykran put his hand into his pocket. Then he took out a handful of Skeleton Fragments, and he scattered them.
At the same time, Hyrkan came to a stop. When Hyrkan stopped, the Black Hound was already right in front of his nose.
Kuh-huhng!
The Black Hound opened its mouth wide as if it wanted to crush Hyrkan's head with a single bite. Hyrkan used the sword in his hand as a shield to block its insolent attack.
The Black Hound chewed on Hyrkan's sword as if it was a bone, and it didn't stop in its charge. Hyrkan's body was being pushed backwards.
During all of this, the Skeleton Warriors appeared, and it charged toward the Black Hound to help their owner. When the Skeleton Warriors reached the Black Hound, they stabbed their swords into its large body. The Black Hound turned its attention towards the Skeleton Warriors, who had stung him like a swarm of bees.
When he became free from the Black Hound, Hyrkan waved his sword around to shake off the Black Hound's slobber from his sword.
Eventually, he re-gripped his sword, and there was a smile on his lips.
“……oh yes!”
Hyrkan's shoulder started to shake from his exclamation, which was infused with happiness.
7.
“That's the end!”
“Wow! We caught it! The Raid was a success!”
A large bear, which boasted a body of 30 meter in length, fell down. At that moment, over thirty users in the surrounding simultaneously raised their hands into the air. They started to celebrate their victory.
It was a level 160 Boss Monster. One of the 30 great guilds, Triple Wings, had taken down the Eagle Bear.
The leader of the raid party was named Skool. He was also an executive of the Triple Wings guild. Skool started to look for a particular user. Everyone was celebrating and sharing their happiness with others, but a single user was off to the side by himself.
“Thank you for helping us.”
The user shook his head at Skool's words.
“No. I just did what I was paid to do. I didn't do much.”
“No way, Michael. We were able to overcome this great tribulation, because of you. This was also true with the previous war with the Big Smiles… We keep becoming indebted to you..”
The user named Michael nodded his head, and he refused to respond to Skool's words.
Skool spoke carefully to him..
“If you come to our guild, we would treat you in a first class….”
An executive of a 30 great guild was directly recruiting this user. This was unheard of.
However, Michael put on a small smile as he shook his head when he heard those words.
Skool swallowed what he was about to say.
“Since you are our benefactor, I won't bother you anymore. Still, if you need any help from us, please contact us.”
“Thank you.”
At that moment, Michael raised his hand.
“I'm sorry. I have to receive an urgent call…”
Michael turned to walk away after he spoke those words. After moving to an appropriate distance, he answered the call.
There wasn't much substance to the call.
“I just finished my raid. What do you need?”
– One more person has been added to the List.
When he heard the word List, Michael's face hardened into an ugly expression.
“Who?”
– Hahoe Mask. From now on, we kill him on sight. It's an order.
The call ended there.
