Chapter 178 – Hero Slaughterer (1)

1.

"Will you guys really be ok here?"

They were at the entrance of the Highwood Forest.  For the past 5 days, they had a pleasant hunt in the Red Desert and the Highwood Forest.  They had been walking in the same direction for a long time.  Now Hyrkan and Whistling’s party was facing each other.   When they came to a stop, there was only one reason why they would face each other.

It was time for them to part.

Hyrkan directed his question towards the three, and they immediately gave their answer.

"We aren’t children.  If it is just the three of us, it’ll be hard to overcome these monsters, but it won’t be a problem if we run away.  We can go by ourselves from this point.  Also, this has been a lot of fun."

"You should go take care of your own business.  We have to part ways here anyways.  If you want to cross the Urugual mountain range, you’ll have to head west.  We have to head east.  Also, this has been a lot of fun."

Yojori and Joba didn’t speak one after another.  They spoke at the same time.  Their words overlapped, and they even spoke the last sentence at the same time.  Their two voices weirdly complemented each other.

It was similar to how they overlapped their words.  They glared at each other at the same time.  It seemed even their thought patterns were similar.

Each thought the other was intruding on their words, and it made them annoyed.

During all of this, Whistling and Hyrkan spoke to each other.

"Thank you."

"No, I’m more thankful.  If it wasn’t for you, I would have been floundering to find a clue."

"The Sand Snake Ice Cream tasted pretty good."

"Yeah.  It had a butter vanilla ice cream taste.  This game is overflowing with such delicious food, but I have no idea why all the expensive recovery Items were made to taste so bad."

"You expend a lot to play this game."

"It is driving me nuts.  It is too expensive.  I have to grow these expensive Skeletons.  I might have to fight more to lower the cost of labor."

Whistling shrugged his shoulders.

Hyrkan spoke to Whistling.

"I’ll see you next time.  Ah.  If someone bothers you, you can contact me.  I’ll completely destroy them.  In truth, that is my specialty.  I mow down bastards, who act arrogant, because they have a little bit of power.

Whistling let out snort at Hyrkan’s unexpected words.

When Whistling let out a smirk of disbelief, Hyrkan kept speaking.

"I’m not kidding.  I….  In the past…  Yes, in my last game, I was nicknamed the Hero Slaughterer.  I took down arrogant Rankers like a demon."

"It is a great nickname."

"It was a great nickname."

After those words ended, the conversation came to a brief pause.

What else was there to talk about?

It will leave much to be desired if they just parted ways right now.  They tried to come up with a topic they could talk about.

Still, they would have to part in the end.

"I’ll see you......."

It was unknown as to when they’ll meet again, but there was no need to forcefully prolong a conversation.

"Let’s have a beer sometime."

"You want to meet in real life?  Wouldn’t that be a little bit too hard?"

At Hyrkan’s question, Whistling spoke calmly.

"It wouldn’t be too hard for me to go to Korea.  It isn’t as if I’m barred from going there.  If you are in North Korea, it might be hard."

Hyrkan slightly reacted to the word Korea.

"How did you know I’m Korean?  Ah.  I guess my Hahoe Mask gave it away."

Even as Hyrkan spoke the words, he laughed.  Even the youtube page managed by Hyrkan was littered with images of the Hahoe Mask, and he always wore one.  It was an overwhelming evidence that indicated Hyrkan was Korean.

"Even if you didn’t have the Hahoe Mask, it isn’t too hard to figure out that you are a Korean."

However, the surest evidence that labeled Hyrkan as a Korean was elsewhere.

"Whenever a game comes out, nine out of the ten Users, who rush to the end of the game, are Koreans."

Hyrkan’s game style was the prototypical game style of a Korean.

"Isn't that to be expected?  You start a game to reach the end."

Whistling closed both his eyes, and he nodded his head.  Whistling finally confirmed what the Hahoe Mask was pursuing  in this game.

Moreover, Hyrkan also came to an understanding too.

"I’ll see you soon."

"If someone messes with you, just contact me."

They parted ways.

This was when the others moved in.

2.

Over 10 Users stepped forward.  At a glance, one could tell they were equipped with sturdy-looking armors and helmets.  They even had their swords unsheathed, and they looked as if they were prepared to cut down any enemies that got in their way.

The members of the Big Smiles appeared to surround them.  This should have surprised Whistling, but he snorted instead.

"Hoong."

He snorted as he sized up his opponents.

'Are they from the Big Smile guild?'

It wasn’t just Whistling.  This should have been a surprising situation, yet Yojori and Joba wasn’t acting surprised at all.

"It has been awhile, since we’ve fought like this."

"Give me a buff."

"Give me one first."

"Don’t be so shameful."

"Shameful?  Maybe I shouldn’t give you a buff if you act that way."

Yojori and Joba looked very relaxed as they got ready for battle.  Yojori put a buff on herself, and Joba immediately activated the [Body Revolution] Skill.  It was a skill that flipped the the Intelligence Stat with the Strength Stat.

While the two bickered with each other, Whistling held a conversation as his opponent spoke first.

"You are Whistling of the Hydra Guild?"

Whistling smirked at the question.

"You don’t recognize my face?  I never expected someone to check my identity twice.  I guess my face is more common than I realized."

"We are from the Big Smiles guild."

Their opponents didn’t hide their guild affiliation.  Even if they wanted to hide it, they couldn’t.  This was the entrance to the Highwood Forest, and the nearby region was the territory of the Big Smiles guild.   If a large group of Users were able to move through this region, it pretty much labeled them as members of the Big Smiles guild.  The only other User that could pass through this region with impunity was the Hahoe Mask.

"Also, the Highwood Forest is under our control.  This has been confirmed by the 30 great guilds.  Your guild hadn’t asked for permission to hunt here.  You’ve participated in an illegal hunt inside the Highwood Forest, so what is your excuse?"

They revealed their intention.

"Hoong."

Whistling once again snorted.

'How laughable.'

Their words were disingenuous.  They just wanted Whistling to say something they could use as a pretext to an attack.  If he made an excuse, he would be admitting he had done something wrong.  They wanted to exact a pound of flesh from Whistling.

In such a situation, Whistling wasn’t going to make any excuses.  He didn’t plan on debasing himself like that.  He decided to cleanly settle the account.  If they wanted to exact a price, he’ll pay.

"First, I am part of the Hydra guild.  I’ll apologize for hunting in a hunting ground recognized officially to be under the control of the Big Smiles guild.  Next, what if I give back an equal compensation?  What if we do it through our guild?"

Even as he spoke, Whistling was already aware of what they wanted.  

If they really wanted a monetary compensation or an official apology, they would merely have to send the footage of Whistling’s party hunting inside the Highwood Forest to the Hydra guild.  Then the guilds would negotiate to bring this issue to a conclusion.  This was the normal procedure.  It was clean, and the trouble ended right there.

There was no reason for the 10 Users of high level showing signs of wanting to fight him.  Moreover, they had waited for Whistling to come out.  They wasted time by waiting for him.  This basically meant they didn’t want monetary compensation or an apology from the guild.

They wanted the opposite.

"Are the Hydra guild looking down on the Big Smiles guild?  Huh?  Or is this an attempt at a revenge?  Are you trying to avenge your 2nd Head, who was killed by Killer?"

It seemed they didn’t want to bring the guilds into this.  They wanted to resolve this as a personal issue.

In Warlord, a personal problem like this was very simple to resolve.

"We don’t look down on the Big Smiles guild.  However, you brought a dozen Users, who are higher in level than us, to catch the three of us.  I think that is funny."

"Ooh-ha-ha"

Joba let out a big laugh.  It was a true laugh.  It was a laugh full of ridicule, and it was very effective.

"Are you trying to pick a fight with us?"

"Did you really think we would beg for our lives?  Is that what you want to hear?"

"It seems words will be useless."

"Run!"

It happened in a flash.

While they were having a conversation, Whistling let out a short command, and he launched himself towards the User, who he was having conversation with.

Kwahg!

Whistling used Body Slam to make the other User fall.

Pah-aht!

In a flash, Yojori and Joba stepped on Whistling’s body to launch themselves forward.  They used the gap opened by Whistling to quickly run away.

"We’ll go there first!"

"We’ll complete the Quest!"

Their footsteps were as rapid as their spoken words.  They were experienced in running for an extended amount of time for the sake of completing a Quest.  It wouldn’t be a misnomer to say their running away speed was on the level of the Hahoe Mask.

Still, their trackers weren’t average Users.  The rest of the group reacted immediately to such a sudden change in the situation.  They immediately prepared to run after Yojori and Joba.  Three Users had already ran forward to track them.

While this was going on, Whistling stood back up, and he turned to look at the Users, who had stayed behind.  

The already scary face of Whistling crumpled, and he looked more menacing.  Just his appearance made one clench one’s teeth.

While looking like this this, Whistling barked out like an angry fighting dog.  

"Come at me!"

3.

[Hyrkan]

- Level : 240

-Class : Lich

-Title : 245

– Stats : Strength(3219)/Stamina(2009)/Intelligence(2101)/Magic Power(2373)

– In possession of the Ancient Power of 'Frost'.

Hyrkan checked his Stats on the Bone Wyvern as he flew towards the Heard Fortress ruin.

'I gained a lot from this hunt.'

His battles always caused him to suffer losses, but he had gained a lot on this venture.  First, he had reached level 240.  He was able to acquire the level 230 Skills called [Ice Golem] and [Skeleton Exhibition].   The highlight of this venture was the [Skeleton Exhibition].

The [Skeleton Exhibition] was a similar to the Death Knight’s [Commander] Skill.

The [Skeleton Exhibition] was akin to the default ability of the Death Knight in being able to summon 12 Skeleton underlings.  The Skill allowed all Skeleton Fragments stored in the Skeleton Exhibition to be summoned all at once.  This was why it was called an Exhibition.  He had to store the Skeleton Fragments as exhibits.  Of course, there was a quota on how many Skeleton Fragments one could put in.

The Skeletons summoned through this method was separate from him normal Skeleton summons.  When he reached Rank A in the [Skeleton Exhibition] Skill, he would be able to handle nearly 100 Skeletons at the same time.

The level 230 Skill called [Ice Golem] was something he could learn at a later date.  In truth, he didn’t need the Skill right now.  In Hyrkan’s case, the Earth Golem had similar powers to the Ice Golem if he activated the power of Frost.  Still, there was no downside in having the skill.

He also earned 4 scrolls containing the Ancient Power.  He had three Transcendent Rank scrolls, and the high price he paid for them was as expensive as the Item’s name implied.  However, Hyrkan didn’t think it was expensive.  Moreover, his greatest gain was the Legendary Rank scroll.  

He was in a happy spot again.

He had found the clue, and he now knew what methods were used to hide the ruins within the Red Desert.  Moreover, he also found the identity of the Elven Artifact.  If things turn out well, he’ll receive help from Whistling, and he’ll be able to progress in his Quest more easily.  At the very least, he won’t be digging a bottomless hole.

On top of everything, he had gained a friend named Whistling.

'A friend.......'

Hyrkan let out a bitter laugh.

He never thought he would get close to someone within this game ever again.  He had avoided developing any deep relationships.  He never wanted to suffer that bitter sense of betrayal ever again.  He never wanted to buck under the misery he had felt before.  He had tried his best to avoid such a relationship, yet his current situation made Hyrkan smile.

'........I wonder what Dongsoo hyung is doing right now?  Is he playing this game?'

If he continued playing Warlord, he knew this was something he would inevitably have to confront.  Hyrkan’s life had changed a lot, because of Warlord.  He would continue this way of life, and he wouldn’t be free of his past until he reached the end of Warlord.

He had no intentions of becoming free from Warlord right now.

'Yes.  Since things have progress this far, I have to see this to the end.'

Hyrkan arrived at the Heard Fortress ruin town on his Bone Wyvern, and the news about Whistling greeted him.

4.

Ahn-jaehyun was looking through the the articles.  He focused on searching for the words Hydra and Big Smiles.  However, there weren’t many articles of substance compared to the effort he was putting into this search.

Ahn-jaehyun stopped searching for the articles for a moment.  He took off his glasses with one hand, and he massaged his eyes with the other.

'Did the 30 great guilds have some kind of grudge against me in the past life… Nevermind.  I guess they were always my mortal enemy.'

Whistling had been killed by the Big Smiles guild.

When he heard the news, Ahn-jaehyun immediately exited the game.  Then he brooded over his anger.  He was having a hard time coping with his anger, but he didn’t throw anything towards the wall.

'Before I returned to the past, it was the Stormhunters.  Will it be the Big Smiles now?'

In some ways, this might have been inevitable.

'Yes, it is time for me to bring this to a head.'

The Big Smiles had put out a statement saying Whistling had hunted in the Highwood Forest without permission, and his death had been a fair punishment.

They weren’t wrong.  Most would accept the the substance behind the Big Smiles guild’s announcement.

'They could have tried to kill us when I was with them.  They killed him after I left….'

The problem was the fact that they didn’t attack them when the Hahoe Mask and Whistling was together.  They targeted Whistling after the Hahoe Mask left.

It was a clear provocation.  Since they couldn’t take on the Hahoe Mask right now, they decided to punish those close to the Hahoe Mask.  This was the substance behind the provocation.

'They were not aiming for me.  They were aiming for my friend….'

This was an obvious provocation, and he was sure it would be exploited again in the future.

'These bastards are coming at me in interesting ways.'

There were only two choices he could choose.

He could respond to the provocation or he could just endure this.

If he looked at it in a logical manner, it would be harmful for the Hahoe Mask to respond to this provocation.  The Hahoe Mask couldn’t erased Big Smiles guild from Warlord.   Even if they got into a straight fight, it would be a battle of attrition.  Moreover, even if the Hahoe Mask attacked the Big Smiles guild and won, he wouldn’t be able to steal their Live Channel.

'I can just trivialize this by saying Whistling only suffered a death….'

Whistling didn't consider his death to be a loss.  He had lost a single Item, and he could take a break for 48 hours.  That was the extent of his damage, so Whistling didn’t ask anything of the Hahoe Mask.  He hadn’t even notified Hyrkan of his plight.  He decided to keep it as a personal matter.  

He didn’t want to unnecessarily put his friend in an awkward situation.

'Still, the mighty Hahoe Mask can’t hide behind his mask.  A friend had suffered."

In other words, his friend was killed, and if he thought only about calculating profits, he was being unfaithful to his friend.

'Moreover, if I show weakness here, it’ll be the end.'

Above everything else, it was time.

He had to step on the 30 great guilds at some point in time.  If he wanted to reach his goal, he had to use the 30 great guilds as his stepping stone.  He had to climb upwards by stepping on them.  Moreover, he had numerous methods he could use to conduct this war.

When he suffered under the Stormhunters guild, he had come up with a lot of methods for his revenge.  The tactics, strategies and tricks he came up with was etched clearly inside his head.

At the time, it was impossible to pull off these methods.  However, he now had the Level, Items and money he could use unsparingly.

'The title of the video....... I think I’ll call it Giant Killer.'

Ahn-jaehyun’s face was reflected on the Tablet PC, and one could see a smile on his lips.

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