Chapter 96 – Waltz (3)
8.
– Awesomeeeeee!
– I've never seen such a thing even in a movie!
– This is good enough to be made into a movie!
– If you have a conscience, you should donate a dollar if you saw the footage.
– The bastard above me is unscrupulous. He donated only 1 dollar? I donated 2 dollars.
– The bastard above me is unscrupulous. He donated only 2 dollar? I donated 3 dollars.
– The bastard above me is unscrupulous. He donated only 3 dollar? I……
It had been 1 week since the Waltz video was uploaded.
There were already over 1 million comments underneath the Waltz video. However, the more striking figure was the views.
[20,397,119.]
The number was eight figures long. In a week, he had rocketed through 20 million views.
It was considered a success if one reached 1 million view, yet his view count was increasing by 3 million everyday. This was beyond his imagination. It was a jackpot.
As the one, who had won the jackpot, Ahn-jaehyun had a smile on his face. He looked like a deranged person, but it was to be expected.
‘Wow. This is spooky. This is on a frightening level.’
There were 3 million playbacks everyday. If a one per 1,000 people donated a dollar, then he would receive $3,000.
Even if he discounted the donations, his current ad revenue couldn't even be compared to the ones he received before.
His earnings didn't end there.
Ooohng!
Ahn-jaehyun's smartwatch vibrated to announce the arrival of texts. Ahn-jaehyun had a happy smile as he checked the figures on his smartwatch.
[WR Entertainment has deposited $500.]
[DBC has deposited $500.]
[TW Contents has deposited $500.]
The smile on Ahn-jaehyun’s mouth was so wide that it looked frightening. His smile evoked the villain from the Batman movie. He looked like the Joker.
Warlord was watched by everyone in the world, so the contents related to Warlord was popular. Currently, a very large number of media companies were creating contents related to Warlord. They were in a position where they needed to broadcast the Waltz video.
This was par for the course, but the media companies needed to enter into a contract with him to air the copyrighted Waltz video. Ahn-jaehyun was well acquainted with how this industry worked. When he uploaded his Waltz video, he had put up a copyright fee of $500. It would allow the contractors to use the video for 1 year.
‘At the time, I thought $500 was a bit too high….’
The amount was a bit higher than normal.
He wasn't from a decent sized guild. If one was uploading a personal, it was inevitable for the content to be sparse even if the quality could be overlooked.
Ahn-jaehyun had decided on the contract fee of $500, but in truth, it had been an audacious move. Instead of setting a very low contract fee from the beginning, he had bet on himself. He had been confident that he would be producing impactful videos in the future, and he was sure his worth would rise significantly in the future.
Still, the media companies were acknowledging Ahn-jaehyun's potential now, and they had willingly entered into the $500 contract.
‘Well, $500 is probably the price of a chewing gum compared to the money these big media companies used.’
On top of all of this, there was one more sector that had acknowledged Ahn-jaehyun's worth.
‘They want to insert their sponsored logo into 3 of my videos for $70,000 dollars…..’
It was the sponsors.
Up until now, Ahn-jaehyun had received several sponsor contracts. However, most of them had been sponsors that were trying to enter into a contract on the cheap with Ahn-jaehyun before he got big. There was even one that had proposed a three year contract for $3,000.
However, it was different now.
This particular sponsor wanted a total of three videos. The 3 videos would include the Waltz video and two future videos. They were willing to deposit $70,000 if their sponsored logo was inserted into the videos!
Of course, there was an additional condition. This would have to be an exclusive deal where only their sponsored logo would be inserted into the videos.
‘The conditions are good.’
This was an exclusive contract, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. The contract dealt with the number of videos instead of the time he would be bound to the contract. Ahn-jaehyun would have to put the sponsored logo into his two future videos, and the contract would come to an end.
‘The sponsor is better.’
The thing that made this deal much more attractive him was the fact that VV Enterprise was the one suggesting this sponsorship deal.
VV was the acronym for Virtual Videos. They were a company with cutting-edge technology in producing virtual reality videos.
Virtual reality videos were videos viewed using the VR machine. This wasn't like a simple movie where one viewed the movie as a third party. This wasn't a 2D movie either. One could enjoy the movie through the main character's POV or some other unexpected POV.
VV possessed technological prowess, and they liked to sponsor skilled virtual reality gamers. Basically, they were like the sports star marketing companies akin to Nike and Adidas.
The fact that VV was offering a contract meant they had rated Ahn-jaehyun highly!
There was no reasons to decline this contract.
‘I'll sign a contract with VV.’
He had the copyright contracts, donations, ad revenues and now a sponsor contract!
After finishing his calculation, Ahn-jaehyun wiped away the unsightly smile off of his mouth, and he let out a sigh.
“Hoo-ooh.”
He had been worrying about his food money only a couple days ago. Who could have guessed such a turn of events would happen?
In some ways, he had made a narrow escape.
Ahn-jaehyun let out a sigh, and he happily thought about the luxury items he would buy.
‘I'll go to the market tomorrow. I'll put some pork neck into the kimchi-jjigae. I'll also buy couple cans of Spam.’
Ahn-jaehyun was getting ready to buy tremendous luxury items.
‘Moreover, when the lump sum of money comes in after the contract with the sponsor… Yes, I'll gather ingredients, and I'll make custom uniforms. It'll look awesome if all my Skeletons wore the same clothes.’
Of course, others will be the ones being decked out in real luxury.
9.
Ten Skeleton Warriors wore garbs that was made out of the hide of some primitive beast. The clothes were made out of shaggy furs. Each of the Skeleton Warriors wore Bone Helms, and they all held identical swords in their hands. The gray colored fur clothes was glistening with luster. It almost looked as if the fur was wet.
Kuh-huhng, kuh-huhng!
There was a Black Hound being surrounded by a group of Skeleton Warriors.
The Black Hound was penned in as it let out consecutive rough barks. It looked around its surrounding.
It had so much murderous intent in its barks that a normal person would have unconsciously stepped backwards. It was that terrifying.
However, the Skeleton Warriors weren't people, so they didn't budge an inch. They started to slowly close the encirclement.
As the encirclement closed, the Black Hound must have felt suffocated. The Black Hound jumped away like a spring.
Tah-aht!
After jumping away once, the Black Hound immediately bit into the shoulder of the nearest Skeleton Warrior.
Kwah-jeek!
The Skeleton Warrior's body made a sound that was reminiscent of a candy being chewed.
An incredible event occurred afterwards. The ferocious dog, which never let go of something it bit, spit out the Skeleton Warrior.
[Black Hound has been poisoned by Poison Mink's Venom.]
This was the effect of the Poison Mink's Venom.
Poison Mink.
It had a cute name, so some people mistook it for being a cute monster. In reality, it was a hairy monster over 5 meters tall. It looked like Bigfoot. It was a level 110 Boss Monster, and its special characteristic was the thick poisonous fur that covered its body. This was why it was named the Poison Mink.
The defensive gears were made from the ingredients gathered from the Poison Mink, and it had the special effect was poisoning anyone, who touched the gear.
The Poison Mink's Venom was special in that the poison had a rare abnormal effect.
Paralysis of the Five Senses!
When one was poisoned by the Poison Mink's Venon, the function of one's five senses decreased temporarily.
‘It's worth the high price!’
The Black Hound with its five senses temporarily dulled headed towards Hyrkan.
Hooong!
Hyrkan swung his sword, and the Black Hound intercepted it with its mouth.
Kwah-jeeek!
The Black Hound chewed on Hyrkan's sword as if it was a bone.
Hyrkan put strength into his sword as if he was trying to cut through the Black Hound's mouth. However, the Black Hound refused to back down as it resisted.
It was a battle of strength vs strength.
In the end, Hyrkan was inferior.
Hyrkan's body was being pushed back. Even if Hyrkan was an all-strength Necromancer, he wouldn't be able to win against a level 130 monster in terms of strength.
The Skeleton Knight moved, while this was occurring.
On the opposite side of Hyrkan, the Skeleton Knight readied itself. It didn't miss the golden opportunity created by its master.
It charged the Black Hound with its sword raised in front of it. It used the sword like a spear, and the sword embedded deep into the Black Hound's body.
[The Black Hound has fallen under the Demon Curse.]
[The Black Hound has fallen under the Slow Curse.]
[The Black Hound has fallen under the Corrosive Ghost.]
[The Black Hound has fallen under the Slow Curse.]
In a flash, the four Curses within the Skeleton Knight's sword took hold on the Black Hound.
When the Curses activated, Hyrkan came to a complete stop. At the same time, the teeth biting Hyrkan's sword started to shake. As time progressed, it started to shake harder.
Eventually, Hyrkan scratched the Black Hound's teeth as he started to crack open its mouth.
Poo-hwaht!
Hyrkan's sword forced the the Black Hound's jaws to open wider.
Kuh-huhng!
The Black Hound struggled in pain as its mouth was being forced open. At that moment, the Skeleton Knight brought down his sword again on the Black Hound's body.
Kwah-jeek!
It sliced through flesh, and the sound of bones being crushed was heard.
Poohk poohk!
Afterwards, all the Skeleton Warriors stabbed with their swords. The Black Hound struggled mightily.
The Skeleton Knight and Skeleton Warriors backed away, so they wouldn’t get tangled into the Black Hound's struggling body.
Kooh-roo-roo!
After its struggles stopped, the Black Hound looked at its surrounding with its guard up.
‘This will be number 100 of these bastards.’
“As I promised before, I'll make you all extinct.”
10.
[Your Level has increased.]
[You've gained the Title 'Black Hound Hunter'.]
[You've earned the Title 'Great Urugal Mountain's Novice Hunter’]
When the Level Up ended, Hyrkan looked at his surrounding.
The Skeleton Warriors wore identical fur clothes. They looked imposing as they stared back at Hyrkan.
‘They look really cool.’
Hyrkan was more satisfied with the sight than the level up.
‘It was worth it to spend a lot of money on them.’
The Skeletons weren't his girlfriends, yet he felt satisfied at gifting them Mink coats. He was probably the only human on earth, who felt that way.
Of course, Hyrkan was satisfied. He had acquired the Poison Mink ingredients to manufacture these items, and the items were better than expected. He was satisfied with the effects of the poison. The Paralysis of the Five Senses was most effective in controlling the aggro of the monsters.
This was why Hyrkan was able to level up quickly at the entrance of the Great Urugal Mountain.
He had gained a Title. The Title 'Black Hound Hunter' increased his Stamina by 10 points, and the 'Great Urugal Mountain's Novice Hunter' increased his class-specific stats by 10 points. Both of them were great titles. It was one of the reasons why he had decided to hunt at the Great Urugal Mountain. We wanted to obtain the titles.
If one had the ability to hunt properly at the Great Urugal Mountain, one could earn a lot of Titles. It was a repository for Titles.
‘If I could have it my way, I want to stay here until I reach level 130, but….’
Hyrkan glanced at the peak of the Great Urugal mountain. The entrance to the Great Urugal mountain range was a really good hunting ground. There weren't that many users, who operated around this location, so there weren't many competitors. The monsters that showed up here were diverse compared to the other regions. Moreover, people liked to view monster hunting videos from this location.
Normally, he would have leveled up as much as possible at such a location.
‘The Quest is more important.’
However, it wasn't time yet.
Hyrkan once again checked the content of the Quest he received from Maeung.
[Cursed Domain]
– Quest Rank : Rare
– Quest Level Range : Over Level 120
– Quest Content : Corrupted Comrade. Please investigate Ivan's Mission 'Cursed Domain' in his stead.
– Quest Reward : Skill Book
This was the Quest that was given to him by Maeung when he received the Ivan's Sword and the Corruption Destroyer's Necklace.
He had to reach level 120 to progress in this Quest, so he made leveling up his highest priority. In truth, if he there weren't any level restrictions, he would have moved immediately towards the Cursed Domain.
However, Hyrkan had been hunting to reach level 120, so he had given his competitors enough time to be able chase after him.
‘The Stormhunters put their Quest progress behind closed doors, so I have no idea how far… I have to accept that I might not be the front-runner in the future.’
It was especially true for this Quest route, since his competitor was the Stormhunters guild.
He had given them enough time to be able to catch up to him. Basically, he had given them a window where they could have surpassed him. Maybe the Stormhunters guild had also received the Cursed Domain Quest, and they might be carrying it out right now. If he was unlucky, he might even run across the Stormhunters, while carrying out the Quest.
Even if he didn’t come across them, everyone would try to keep him in check now. It was inevitable.
The world worked that way. As one climbs higher, one encounter stiffer winds. If he was running towards becoming the best, he had to overcome these obstacles.
Thanks to the recording of the big hit called the Waltz, Ahn-jaehyun had been able to strengthen his forces extensively. He had equipped 20 Skeletons with rare items, and he had passed his Golden Praying Mantis Scythe Sword to his Skeleton Knight.
It was clear to see.
Hyrkan was quickly closing the distance between him and the lead group. When he closes the distance and pass them, he would open up a bottle of champagne.
In other words, he had a long way to go before he could uncork that bottle of champagne.
Hyrkan's facial expression settled into a cold mask.
