“GRAAARH!”

‘Silent Dead’

Chrono instinctively activates ‘Silent Dead’. A skill that could hide his presence completely so Grand King Behemoth won’t notice him. As long as he could avoid its eyesights.

The whole floor was in battle mode, logging out to plan for later was not an option. In that short period, Chrono devises a plan in a hurry.

He ran to his cart to see what he could use in the battle later. He pulled the cart to the throne room and then he put potions, explosives, daggers, spears, and scrolls in various places.

He couldn’t afford to carry a lot with him as it would have hindered his movement. But he did put some potions in his pouch and took some scrolls with him.

Before he left the building, Chrono pushed a small button beside the entrance door.

Trap Reactivated.

………

Everything ready, he pulled the cart towards Grand King Behemoth while still activating his ‘Silent Dead’ skill. Chrono tried to get as close as possible.

In his cart, there was only a single item. A rectangle wooden box with a cursed weapon in it. A cursed spear.

Valhalla’s Soul

Type: Spear Attack: 600

Durability: 600/600

A cursed spear that feeds its user's life force to satisfy the soul it took from Valhalla.

“( I guess this is close enough.)”

While calculating his distance, Chrono stealthily opens the wooden box. From his master's words, the spear would drain one thousand healthpoint per second. He had less then two seconds to hold the spear, aim, and throw it to the mighty beast in front of him.

Chrono put on his skull mask and started doing live streaming. He figured an epic battle between the skull mask and the dungeon hidden boss would garner many intentions.

After a deep breath, Chrono took his action.

“(Here I go!)”

He stretched his right arms, held the spear while in powerful posture, and swiftly threw it.

‘Spear Throw’

The spear flew like a rocket penetrated Grand King Behemoth’s armor. Precisely on the back of its heart.

“GRAAARH!”

The sudden back pain angered the king. The spear fed his life force as if it was junk food annoyed him even more. He quickly saw Chrono and was ready to exact his revenge.

“Sluurp”

Before he got noticed by the Grand King, Chrono managed to chug down hi-potion to replenish his health. He quickly held Grave after without taking his eyes off Grand King Behemoth.

As he saw The Grand King intimidating forces, he knew right away he couldn’t afford to just run away and give his back to the boss monster.

“GRAAARH!”

GrandKing Behemoth swung his halberd downward to Chrono as he cried. Chrono sidestepped to the right. He dodged the GrandKing attack before he swung Grave to the GrandKing left thigh, the area where it was not protected by the armors.

“GAARGH!”

The boss monster cried again, this time because Chrono managed to land an attack on him. His vein popped on his head and his face turned red. The GrandKing squinted his eyes as he wanted to see the puny thing that dared to hurt him. It was just a cut on his left thigh, but his pride hurt.

He managed to land a clean hit but it was not enough. The GrandKing's left thigh barely bleed, Chrono felt the tremendous strength needed to cut through GrandKing Behemoth's thick skin just now.

The first exchange just proved it. The battle to come would be a long hard one.

******

It didn’t take long for the whole Emperor Saga’s community to notice the first Skull Mask live streaming. Users opened up their streaming apps to watch the streaming. While some people preferred to watch it in bars with their friends, commenting about the streaming and making bets while they at it.

“ Hey, check it out. Skull Mask doing live streaming now.”

“ What? Maybe it’s another fake one?”

“No, this streaming ID is the one releasing uncut versions of all Skull Mask previous fights.”

“Hey, he's starting to attack!”

“That was his signature spear throw skill!”

Even in the real world, Skull Mask streaming brought a buzz. People opened their computers to see the streaming and even every tv gaming channel broadcasted the stream.

*******

A small bar, outside of town in the real world.

“Bartender, change to a game channel. I want to see a battle about some fool trying to solo boss monsters.”

A skinny bald man with a beard pointed on the tv screen while asking the bartender to change the channel. His leather jacket was worn out and his jeans had tears on both of his knees.

The bartender changed the channel as he saw the tattoo on both of the man's arms. He thought he shouldn’t mess with this customer.

“You had no idea who Skull Mask is. You just make a bet aren’t you.”

A guy in his late thirty casually put his left arm around the man's shoulders. He wore almost the same attire and the same tattoos as the skinny bald man, so were half of the customers in the bar.

“ Heh, I don’t care.”

The skinny man chugged his glass of beer before he continued.

“ Like all famous other famous men, that Skull Mask or whatever just wants to make quick cash with video streaming by fighting impossible battles.”

The skinny man peeks at the betting apps on his phone. It showed the were 32:1 against Skull Mask. He smirked as he said.

“I won’t get much but everyone loves easy money.”

“Did you just say Skull Mask?”

A man at the back of the bar suddenly spoke. He had disheveled hairs, his shirt unbuttons to the third rows, and his cheeks red like a rose. He rose from his chairs before he walked toward the skinny man like a zombie.

Without saying a word, he sat beside him while looking at the tv screen. Tears flowed through his red cheeks like a river as he said.

“That bastard, ruin my entire life.”

“Oh, you one of his haters?”

“Yes”

“Hah, you're just another one who wants easy money.”

The drunk man silently placed his bet on his phone apps. He used the entire money from his bank account. But instead of betting against Skull Mask, he bet for him. He frowned his head and grit his teeth as he thought.

“( I will prove it, I will prove it to everyone! I lose back then not because of my incompetency, but because I fought someone like him! )”

Bryan Freeman, known as TigerB in Emperor Saga world. The former leader of TerraNorth. He had a good run before the man known as Skull Mask crushed him.

“( All of you bastards who fired me, mocked me, sneered at me. Now see for yourself, how can anyone win against HIM!)”

As he thought that, Bryan clenched his fists as his body trembled. His eyes looked at the tv screen while he gritted his teeth in anger.

********

In the Emperor Saga world, the bars in Egil City.

Unlike any other days, no hustle-bustle in the bars today. Everyone's eyes were glued to the screen that showed Skull Mask live streaming.

At one of the bar’s tables, there was a group of mercenaries that just got back from their hunting expeditions. The mercenaries spoke with each other.

“Hey, did you place a bet too? Let’s root for Skull Mask, he even beat Chaos Knight.”

“You think I’m stupid aren’t you? That win was a fluke.”

At the same table, there was a goblin warrior sat like a statue. He was a popular hired muscle among the NPC in Egil City.

As a goblin warrior, it was natural to have muscles like a rock, but his unnatural growth spurt made him often to be mistaken as a teenage orc warrior.

While hearing people commenting about his master, the usually straight face goblin warrior Kai smirked as he recalled the historic battle in the former TerraNorth Headquarters.

“(LUCK?)”

*******

In Emperor Saga, every user had their philosophy on how to build their character. Of course, there were popular builds, but generally, there was no wrong build when it comes to stats distribution as it was debatable.

Only when it comes to dexterity, stats that directly affect the character speed everyone agreed it was not supposed to be raised above 400. An athletic person with fast reflexes and motor skills could raise it to 450. Anything more would be hard to control even by a master martial arts.

But Chrono, even with over 500 dexterity, could control his character movement with ease. While gradually making his way to the throne room, Chrono dodged and countered Grand King Behemoth's attack accordingly.

He did some damages with his counterattacks that he managed to land perfectly and he consistently dodged the Grand King attacks. But the wind pressure came from the mighty beast’s halberd made cold sweats stream through his body.

A misstep means dead. That was Chrono's impression on every attack made by Grand King Behemoth.

“( Why do I feel like the throne room so far away.)”

In his mind, Chrono prayed he could reach the throne room safely.

******

On the west side of Egil City, there was a crack on the city’s wall. There were times smugglers used to exploit it to smuggle items to evade taxes. As the black market grew larger, so were the cracks, it eventually turned to secret doors.

As times went on, tyrants started to camp outside the secret doors. They make houses, shops, bars, and farms there. It was the first creation of Egil City’s unofficial slums area. As it was practically outside of Egil City’s wall, the authority had no jurisdiction there but the slums turned out to be a problem for Egil City.

It baffled everyone in Egil City’s management how a crack on the City Wall could turn into a big slum area in less then three months.

“Come on, die already!”

“I’m sure with just one hit he will die and we can get our money.”

Even in the slums, everyone's focus was the Skull Mask stream. Except for one group of goblins. Instead of watching the stream, they circle one particular yoblin. The smuggler king. Yoblin Fai.

“Guys, did you know, when people go around digging gold who benefits the most?”

“We don’t know, mayor.”

Yoblin Fai smiled as he said.

“The one who sells shovels. Now go, offer food and drinks to everyone that watches the stream. Offer out our loaning scheme while you’re at it.”

‘What a day!’. Yoblin Fai grinned as he thought that.

******

Slowly but surely, Chrono lured GrandKing Behemoth to the throne room. By the time they reach the doors, Chrono puts his plan into motion. The moment GrandKing Behemoth was about to make a large swing with his halberd, Chrono reached for his belt to take a fist-size metal item.

Hand Grenade

Type: Explosive Attack: 2000

Durability: one-time use

A common explosive used by adventurers. Can cause a small explosion

Boom!

As he threw the grenade exactly on the GrandKing face, Chrono entered the building before he ran and leaped to the center of the room.

‘Fake Death’

“GRAAARH! Grrr…”

The GrandKing Behemoth had enough, the puny creature should be punished with the heaviest sentence. He slammed through the giant doors to chase the puny thing. The throne room he entered had the same size as a football field, a bit dark but it didn’t hinder his sights. There was giant pillars lineup six on the left and six on the right. And in the middle of the room was… a corpse.

“ Fool, ‘Fake Death’ won’t work on the boss monster that had eyes on you.”

“Haha, this fool trying to fool boss monsters”

“Easy money in ten seconds!”

“Is this truly Skull Mask?”

The streaming channel filled with nonstop live comments as they were watching the live streaming. On the other side of the screen, GrandKing Behemoth dashed towards the ‘corpse’ to attack it.

Traps Activated.

Wooosh!

Wooosh!

Booom!

Boom!

Sashh!

Whiish!!

When the GrandKing was about to close in, he was bombarded with thousands of arrows, spears, and offensive magic. As for Chrono, nothing came after him because the traps assumed he was dead.

‘Grand Parry’

He was desperate to deflect it with his halberd but most of the attacks came through. Shortly after, he realized his healthpoint went down like a waterfall. His body took heavy damages, something he didn’t expect.

Suddenly the boss monster changed his stance. He stopped parrying, instead he tanked all the attacks with his body while he unleashed his first area effect skill. With all his might, he swung his halberd around himself in 360 degrees.

‘Grand Swipe’

Whiiiishh!

Creak…

All twelve pillars on both sides of the throne room took heavy damages. The building barely stands but the attacks stop because the pillars were the main bodies of the traps. GrandKing Behemoth purely acted on instinct and he succeeded in disarming the traps with his raw power.

He had arrows and spears stuck on his body all over. Countless burns and frostbite injuries. His rear turned worse every second as the cursed spear on his back relentlessly fed his healthpoints. His breathing was a mess as he tried to catch his breath after the unexpected ambushes.

But the GrandKing was still alive, he had plenty of energy left to crush the coward who acted like a corpse in front of him. Without wasting his time, he swung his halberd to the ‘corpse’ as if he was swatting a fly.

Bang!

Chrono swiftly tumbled to the right just before the halberd about to reach him. In that counter opportunity, he activated his skill before he unleashed his chain of attacks.

“( Ten )”

‘Soul Blade’

Critical hit!

Critical hit!

Critical hit!

Critical Hit!

With ‘Soul Blade’ skill, Chrono attacks penetrated through GrandKing defense like a hot knife through butter. GrandKing Behemoth’s thick skin, hardened muscle, or even his sturdy armors couldn't stop Chrono’s blade. But everything has a price, the relentless attacks came with an opening for the GrandKing to land a clean hit.

‘Grand Pierce.’

The boss monster stabbed Chrono with his halberd, reducing his healthpoint to zero in an instant. As if it was not enough, the force of the GrandKing’s attack was so great to the point Chrono’s body flew a few meters.

Cheat Death activated!

Neutralized fatal attack once and reduced healthpoint to one. Only activated once a day

“(Three)”

With Cheat Death skill, Chrono survived. He stood up swiftly before he dashed behind one of the giant pillars. Behind the giant pillar, he picked up a spear he prepared so he could throw it to the boss monster.

‘Spear Throw’

Whoosh!

Crack!

“Graarh”!

The spear pierced through GrandKing armors, hitting his guts. The GrandKing bellowed, he swung his halberd towards Chrono but the halberd met a giant pillar instead.

Boom!

The giant pillar was utterly destroyed. Chrono knew the GrandKing about to attack again, he quickly grabbed a stone pebble and threw it at the boss monster.

Tak!

“(One!)”

As expected, the pebble couldn’t do anything other than annoyed the boss monsters. Chrono only had one healthpoint, anything damaging could kill him. GrandKing Behemoth knew it instinctively. The boss monster suddenly inhaled deeply before he unleashed his largest area effect skill.

‘Grand War Cry’

“GGRAAAAARH!”

The cries resonated with the whole throne room as the whole place trembled with the fearsome warcry. It was a given, Chrono couldn’t survive the attack. He only had one healthpoint left, and that last healthpoint was gone.

Chrono was seen laid on the floors. His clothes were tattered, torn here and there, his mask cracked a bit. He didn’t let go of Grave as he held tightly his favourite sword in his right arms, even when his eyes no longer shine life.

“Finally, it scared me a bit there.”

“He was cool after all, nice strategy though.”

“Yay, pocket money.”

“Quite cool.”

‘It was an unexpectedly fun battle’.Was what most live stream audiences thought. Some of them clapped their hands, some of them checked their betting apps, some of them preparing to leave and some of them leaned back on their chairs after some stretching.

Without moving an inch, GrandKing Behemoth glared at the lifeless Chrono. He knew he shouldn’t show his back to this guy. The mighty Behemoth held his halberd high to attack once more.

Boom!

He swung his halberd downwards only to hit nothing but rubble. He knew he messed up at that moment, using a big easy to dodge attack was a mistake. And he was punished in less then a second.

‘Soul Blade’

Critical hit

Critical hit

Critical hit

Chrono steps away from the GrandKing after the consecutive hits. His original plans to hit the boss monsters from behind turned fruitless. The attacks he just did was a good consolation but he couldn’t help to bite his lips.

“(Tch!)”

Merchant Luck triggered!

All your skills and vitality restored.

At the audience's side, everyone was baffled at the sudden development. They couldn’t grasp what happened and some of them could only stay silent as they watched the live stream. When they regain their senses, the live streaming was filled with comments again.

“H.Hey, what was that.”

“Isn’t he just super lucky?”

“Isn’t that a merchant skill? Is he a merchant?”

“You stupid? How about other fighting skills he just used? Merchants don’t have those skills.”

“Maybe he has a hidden class that can steal other classes' skills.”

“If that was indeed merchant luck that was just plain luck.”

*******

The top floor at the DT entertainment building.In the darkroom where it used to be a researched facility to create Emperor Saga. A middle-aged man intently watched the big monitor in front of him while holding a cup of wine on his right hand.

He quietly watched the new development of the battle before he took a peek at Alex’s face that sat beside him.

“Are you helping him?”

Without hiding his smile, Alex retorted.

“Yes, but I only told him he could summon his legendary weapon anywhere and a tip on how to summon GrandKing Behemoth.”

“He can’t be this lucky. Back when he fought Chaos Knight he also triggered merchant luck at the last minute.”

“Heh, you know…. I won’t be surprised if he can use that skill at will.”

“What?! What did you mean by that.”

“Did you know what kind of exploit that everyone can do on papers but no one can execute it properly?”

“What are you getting at?”

“RNG exploits, that’s his specialty. Back in the day, he was a top gamer because of that.”