Chapter 142 - An Unexpected Connection (3)

The deal wasn't made immediately that day.

The amount to be paid had been decided, but they still had to discuss other things.

Hyun returned to the lobby after a short talk.

While sitting on the sofa, Hyun looked at the records of what had just happened.

'To think that becoming flustered would be of help!'

After returning from rest mode, he didn't move for a while because his surroundings had suddenly changed.

Thanks to that, he got lots of important information about the project!

Which was also why he was able to ask for as much money as possible.

'Even if we leave Louise aside, if they want all of the other guild members to participate, I should try to get as much money as possible.'

Hyun had asked for 9.8 million dollars!

It was a detailed amount of money he was able to ask for because he'd heard their conversation beforehand.

The only thing left was for him to make the final confirmation. Hyun began analyzing all of Robert's proposals one by one.

A playing documentary project…

It was going to be a documentary that looked like a movie.

Among the countless rankers, the developers had asked him, who was a Support.

Maybe they knew his true value because they were the developers.

'It's real, right?'

Hyun read the contract a few more times.

The amount of money was 9.8 million dollars!

It was enough money to get a level 100 unique full set, and you would still have lots of money left over to spend.

He could even get Ain one… and if there was more money left, he could even upgrade the private room.

If he still had some left after all of those upgrades, wouldn't he be able to get a house in real life?

He compared that amount with his YouTube earnings. They hadn't uploaded a new video recently, so the earnings had gone down compared to the beginning.

'The amount of money is on a whole different level…!'

‘Ahh, calm down.’

Hyun tried to relax.

It was a dream-like opportunity, but it was still too early to get excited. He looked at the most important part of the contract.

The contract clearly said that he should successfully complete a big-scale event.

It was understandable. After all, they should’ve been able to get normal footage of hunting anywhere.

'Could I beat a large-scale event… On my own?'

Hyun shook his head after thinking about it for a while.

A Support couldn't complete what the developers wanted on their own.

If he wanted to be able to complete what they had asked for on his own, he had to be at least level 300, maybe 400 to be on the safe side.

That's right. It was a proposal directed at the guild.

The reason why the developers had proposed such a huge sum of money was probably so that he could distribute it amongst the other guild members.

Even if they knew how capable he was, it made no sense to ask for 10 million just for the appearance of one person.

'Yes, I'm finally starting to understand.'

They were asked to create a movie-like scene with the other guild members.

It didn't matter if it was a quest or invading a castle—they wanted the best possible action.

They probably didn't want him to overwhelm the enemies just with their specs. It should be something that couldn't be achieved with just specs.

'How troublesome.'

Hyun's head, as the guild leader, became messy.

He had to ask the opinions of the other guild members, too.

He had to think about how to distribute the money and the penalty related to the recording. It wasn't just one or two things he had to think about.

'I'll have to ask them first.'

Hyun asked for everyone’s opinions by talking to them individually.

He thought that he knew what Salon's answer was going to be, but he still decided to talk to him first.

"What? We're going to appear in a movie? And it was the developers who proposed to us?!"

"It's not exactly a movie but a playing documentary. I'm also not a hundred percent sure… Do you want to read the contract?"

"We should do it! I don't care if it's a movie or a documentary!"

The tips of Salon's mouth were shaking as if he wanted to start immediately.

Since the developers had proposed it, the effect it would have couldn't be compared to a YouTube video.

Next was TarrTarr.

"Director Steven? Are you serious?!"

"Do you know him?"

"Of course! But to think that director Steven is participating in a project like this… I just can't believe it!"

Unexpectedly, TarrTarr's reaction was similar to Salon’s.

TarrTarr said that director Steven was his role model.

It was at that moment that Hyun realized that he was a famous movie director.

'Now that I think about it, TarrTarr was part of a movie club in his school.'

‘From a bigger perspective, aren't YouTube editors and film directors part of the same industry?’

According to him, Steven was the number one in that industry… so it was normal for TarrTarr to admire him.

'Two are up for it.'

Hyun also asked Louise.

She seemed to be thinking about something while reading the contract.

He soon realized she wasn't thinking about anything.

'Three are up for it… Now I just need to convince Ain. This is going unexpectedly smoothly.'

Hyun smiled as things began progressing smoothly.

Although he still hadn't decided how to distribute the earnings, that was something he could think about later on.

* * *

It wasn't hard convincing Ain, either.

Although she initially didn't seem convinced, after she heard from Hyun that they’d be able to buy a house with that money, her eyes shone.

"A house? Where are you going to buy it?!"

"Huh…? I still haven't thought that far yet…"

He'd already thought about five possible item sets, but he hadn't thought about where to buy a house.

Hyun was thinking of using the remaining money on it.

"Well, I'm probably going to buy an apartment in an okay location."

"Before you buy it, don't forget to tell me."

"Why…?"

"N-no particular reason…?"

The conversation almost went in a weird direction, but in the end, Ain was also willing to participate in it.

'And finally, this.'

Lastly, he had to think about how to distribute the 9.8 million dollars.

He had heard many cases of close friends becoming distanced from each other due to money-related troubles.

He feared the atmosphere could get awkward, but that didn't happen in the shade guild.

The amount of money was so huge that, even if Hyun put most of it away for himself, he wouldn't know what to do with it.

They decided to distribute the money based on the party contribution rate.

He expected to receive the biggest part of it, but that was to be expected.

'I'm probably going to have the biggest contribution rate, and I'm also the one who got the contract.'

Hyun was able to differentiate between morality and fairness.

Everyone agreed. After Hyun sent the answer, the deal was made incredibly fast.

* * *

A few days later…

When Hyun met the developers again in the white space, Hyun thought, 'That makes sense.'

"Have you decided on the topic?"

At that moment, Hyun realized why the developers had asked him.

"If you're about to do a quest soon, you probably don't have to think about it too much!"

He already knew about the quest that the shade guild was preparing.

A mission that would be great for making a playing documentary…

Yes, they probably wanted him to use the guild’s Quest.

'Well, I guess there's no way they wouldn't now.'

They were developers, after all.

He had no reason to be bothered about them monitoring his gameplay as long as they didn't get involved in the play.

Hyun smiled confidently.

He’d probably gotten such an opportunity to begin with due to Robert's interest in him.

One take…

They had to make the quest a success in one take without making any mistakes!

Making the quest a success was part of the contract, so Hyun planned to finish it as quickly as possible.

And the day finally came.

Before the quest began, Hyun gave a warning to everyone.

"A drone is going to be filming us. You just have to ignore it and act as usual."

"Where's the drone?"

As TarrTarr asked while looking around, Hyun smirked.

The moment Hyun mumbled "Unstealth"…

"Ahh…!"

"Wh-what…?!"

The number of drones surrounding them overwhelmed the group.

About a hundred drones were flying around them.

"Stealth." The moment Hyun mumbled those words, the drones hid again.

"It's hard not to think about them, right? But still, try to act as naturally as possible because that's the concept of the video."

"Ahh… I can feel my blood boiling."

Salon was trembling.

After looking at the overwhelming amount of drones, he once again realized he was part of the filming.

"Is everyone ready?"

Levels, items, and team play…

They'd practiced for the past three weeks, so the preparations were perfect.

It was time to reap the fruits of their efforts.

"Mr. Bahmir…"

The moment TarrTarr called the Duke…

A ritual happened following the thread that connected both souls.

Fwoosh-

A huge amount of magic appeared in front of them. The black energy suddenly took a humanoid form.

Bahmir, the highest-ranking Duke among the ones that used to be human, appeared in Shade Guild's private room.

The Duke was looking down on TarrTarr.

He smirked after looking at TarrTarr's eyes.

"It seems like you've made up your mind."

He nodded. With that small movement, TarrTarr accepted the quest.

Hyun was telling him how to answer through the capsule's whisper function, so there was no way he would make a mistake.

"Good choice."

He suddenly said something to TarrTarr.

Hyun understood the meaning behind it—the Duke realized that TarrTarr had changed jobs to a Death Knight.

Then, Bahmir's eyes focused on Ain and Salon.

Magic brushed past their skin and gave them chills.

"Oh, so there are even members of the Heavens?"

At that moment, a few hearts sank, but TarrTarr calmly answered just as Hyun was telling him through the party's chat.

"Is that a problem?"

"Not really… but users are weird, as expected."

Bahmir laughed loudly as if saying that it wasn't anything.

"Why would I deny someone who says they will recover my castle?"

Paf-!

The moment the Duke's hands hit the air, Louise was surprised and shrugged.

A red portal opened in the air.

The red light coming from the portal was a gate that led to the Symmetrical World.

"You're lucky. It seems like some magical power is left around the castle area."

Only Hyun and Ain understood what those words meant.

If they had made the decision a bit later, then maybe the portal that led toward Kaidan Castle wouldn't have opened.

"Mablen."

The Duke talked to the air.

Just like you could send a whisper to the other party members, it seemed like he was talking to someone that was far away.

It was an order he was giving to his underling.

"Once they finish, send me a message."

"…"

After the Duke finished talking, he turned toward the party and smirked.

"The Darkness isn't somewhere you should carelessly get close to, but if you overcome this, I promise I'll change my judgment about you. I promise it by my name, Bahmir!"

After the Duke finished talking, he became magic and scattered away.

The only thing in front of the party was a portal that emitted a red light.

They had to confirm two things when they stepped into the world on the other side…

The first thing they had to check was their tendency towards the Dark…

And then the other…

Aah… After letting out a sigh, Hyun looked at the air.

All of the drones were probably still recording everything.

They had to check if the quest was a success or a failure, so the developers were probably watching it at the moment.

It would probably look bad if he failed the quest. After all, he had made sure every single thing that day ended in success.

「Let's beat it in one try.」

The moment they stepped inside, they were devoured by red fog.

When they crossed the portal, they were greeted by the sight of a giant castle.

The place, illuminated by a black sun, was a city where devils lived.

「This…」

「This is a castle?」

Ding- Ding-

A bell that announced the time began ringing from somewhere.

Some were impressed by the constructions of the Symmetrical World because it was different from the image they had of what a castle was.

How many kilometers was there between there and the castle's inner walls?

Hyun had explained the details to the party members before the quest began, but seen in reality, the castle looked like another world's city that was dominated by undead.

"Nice to meet you."

The party members turned around after hearing someone's voice suddenly.

They saw a vampire wearing a butler's clothes next to them.

His name was Mablen. He was one of Bahmir's most loyal underlings and was the one he was talking to through the soul.

Mablen appeared because Bahmir had ordered him to watch the group closely and inform him when they were done.

"That was close. If you were one day late, the traces of magical power would have completely disappeared."

The diagram of the castle was as shown below.

(Outer Wall (Inner Wall (( Core )) Inner Wall ) Outer Wall)

The party members were able to cross into the other side of the outer wall of the castle.

According to Mablen's words, if they'd been a day late, they would've been sent outside the outer wall of the castle.

…

"Tens of thousands of monsters at level 200 ~ 300? If we go with just the five of us, we'll surely die!"

TarrTarr complained after hearing details about the quest, but he was wrong.

From the very beginning, an upfront invasion hadn’t been what Hyun was planning.

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