Chapter 3 : A Class You Can Play Alone (1) (2/2)
Right, virtual reality games were more unfair than any other games.
Even in PC games, there are good players and bad players. In a VR world, where everyone has superhuman powers, the difference was even clearer.
That’s not all.
In Warlord, the best way to earn money was through live broadcasts.
However, only 30 channels were given permission to broadcast Warlord-related content. In the past, when problems began to arise from gambling and swearing in private broadcasts, most countries began to require licenses for broadcasting certain content. In the case of Warlord, only 30 channels were given licenses.
That was how the Top 30 Guilds were created. Guilds that obtained broadcasting channels received no small benefits.
Furthermore, these guilds used the money and influence gained through live broadcasts and live tickets to prevent other guilds from challenging their authority. Although everyone aimed to become one of the Top 30 Guilds in the beginning, the gap between a Top 30 Guild and a non-Top 30 Guild only grew wider over time.
They were in a league of their own.
By the time Warlord entered its 4th year of service, no one could threaten to close this gap.
Except one.
The Hahoe Mask Guild.
Its members all fought wearing hahoe masks. Despite a majority of them having started a year after existing rankers, they showed incredible skills and results. In time, they even started to threaten the positions of the Top 30 Guilds.
And in the middle of this storm was Hyrkan.
His nickname, the Hero Slaughterer.
The nickname was given to him because he effortlessly slaughtered the rankers that represented Warlord.
He was a monster that defied logic.
“Hyrkan? He’s a real monster, the kind that disrupts an ecosystem. He throws a 150 km fastball, then throws a 250 km fastball right afterwards. Plus, he games harder than anyone else. That’s what VR games are all about. No matter how much time you invest, someone without talent can’t beat someone with talent. Even if someone with talent achieves something by investing time, it becomes nothing in front of greater talent. I assure you, Hyrkan is at the top in both talent and effort. If he started just a year earlier, no one would be his match.”
A monster that disrupts an ecosystem.
It was an apt description.
It was also the reason why Hyrkan was ostracized.
“Why Hahoe Mask Guild betrayed Hyrkan? It’s simple. They would’ve been ostracized by the Top 30 Guilds otherwise. At first, they all fought to recruit Hyrkan, but they soon realized it wasn’t going to happen. Hyrkan isn’t the type to bow his head in front of others. A tiger can grow up drinking a dog’s milk, but a tiger is a tiger, a dog is a dog.”
The Top 30 Guilds were already making enormous profit in their own ecosystem.
There was no way they would stand still and watch a monster like Hyrkan ruin it. Even so, they suffered more harm than good trying to take him out.
Hyrkan. Although he was nicknamed the Hero Slaughterer, he never actively sought out to kill others. It was always three or four rankers that attacked him first, and he only retaliated. Hyrkan never wanted to become a “slaughterer.”
So when Stormhunter Guild absorbed Hahoe Mask Guild and declared war on Hyrkan, the rest of the Top 30 Guilds promised their tacit support. It wasn’t anything unexpected.
“Hahoe Mask Guild is probably thankful to Hyrkan, but their inferiority complex must have been equally big. Betraying Hyrkan and joining the Stormhunter Guild or fighting against the entire Top 30 Guilds. The choice was obvious.”
No matter how amazing Hyrkan was, he wasn’t capable fight against the Top 30 Guilds by himself.
“In the end, Hyrkan was too amazing for his own good. That’s why he was betrayed from Warlord.”
Shunned by the whole world, Hyrkan was left with no choice but to quit Warlord.
Of course, all this…
“I can’t believe this is happening to me.”
Hasn’t happened as of now.
“I returned to the past…”
An Jaehyun, he returned to 2036.
With all his memories intact!