Skeleton Master Chapter 224
Mu-hyuk tilted his head.
"It's changed."
It hadn't changed for the worse.
If anything, it felt like it had improved.
"Yes, since you mentioned being camera-shy, I adjusted it accordingly. What do you think?"
He double-checked the contents.
The signing bonus of 3 million was unchanged.
But the monthly minimum guarantee had risen from 500,000 to 750,000 won.
The conditions had shifted too—no longer a minimum of 18 hours per week, but 24 hours of broadcast time.
Just leaving it on counted as 24 hours, which wasn't a big deal. Two days at 12 hours each would cover it.
"Hmm, the terms are actually better, so I'm a bit surprised. Why go this far...?"
Team Leader Park Hyun-sik gave a wry smile.
"Truth is, revenue isn't huge in the early stages."
"Ah, I see."
"We don't like seeing streamers get disappointed and leave either. Once time passes, we'll have real competitive edge, so we want to hold onto rankers like you until then. Plus, in your case, it's not about interaction—just leaving it on—so we figured raising the minimum pay while extending broadcast hours makes sense. Of course, if you preferred the previous contract, we can switch back right now."
"No, this is fine."
"Glad to hear it."
"The contract term is shorter than expected."
"Yes, most rankers balk at anything over a year. Feels too binding. So we slashed it to six months flat."
Mu-hyuk nodded.
Everything checked out.
"Looks good. Let's sign."
"Thank you!"
With signatures and fingerprints, the deal was sealed.
"By the way, are you subscribed to Illusion TV?"
"Yes."
"Great, could you text me your ID? Need to register you as a premium BJ right away. And the signing bonus will hit your account today."
World-class company, alright. Everything moved like clockwork.
"Well then, shall we?"
"Sure."
After heading to Illusion HQ and grabbing his car from the lot, he drove home. As he parked and headed up, a text arrived.
(Illusion TV Co., Ltd.)
Neat and tidy to the end.
*
Saturday evening, he headed up to Gangneung to spend time with Ye-rin.
He didn't get home until Sunday morning, then logged into the Illusion TV site.
After linking it to his capsule and finishing setup, he connected to the game.
Welcome to Illusion.
In options, he tapped Illusion TV—a small window showed his broadcast feed.
Working fine.
Current viewers: 17.
Seventeen people tuning in already? Illusion TV must be more popular than he'd thought.
He shrugged it off, closed the small screen, and wandered the mid-Alpono Mountains region.
A bit farther, and he'd hit his target: the black mage's final lab.
Will she be there?
Presence or absence—either spelled trouble.
This is tricky.
Confirming existence alone would be victory enough, so no greed.
Staying vigilant, a level 137 monster—a black dragon—slithered from the side.
Black dragon? More like a massive black serpent.
Whoosh.
He backstepped, summoning skeletons.
"Skeleton Summon."
Armor Knights and Armor Cavalry pressured it.
Mu-hyuk hung back, layering buffs and curses, firing occasional arrows.
When summons' HP dipped, he topped them with Blessing of the Dead.
Plenty to handle it.
The relentlessly battered black dragon flared once finally, then crumbled.
Experience gained.
He approached the fallen serpent.
Corpse Dissection.
He butchered it at blinding speed.
Swapped it onto a skeleton instantly.
Armor Knight 7's Agility -0.09.
Armor Knight 7's Stamina +0.11.
Bone swaps failed more often lately. Frequency rose with use.
Minimal losses thanks to high dexterity. Without it, agility would've dropped 0.15, stamina up just 0.05.
Shaking off thoughts, he pressed on.
Step.
Eyeing the new monster, Mu-hyuk muttered—for Illusion TV's sake.
"Wipe 'em out."
Kirrik, kiririk.
109 skeletons responded.
Boom, kwarung!
The level 137 black dragon was pulverized like driftwood in a storm.
Revive? No need.
Too easy still.
Meanwhile.
Diehard Illusion TV viewer Park Ki-gyu checked his favorited ranker BJ.
Two users live—he joined the more promising.
Village strolls and auction browsing, pointless chatter. Off.
"Argh, hunt already!"
Next was village rest, no hunt.
"Frustrating."
He scanned premium BJs for fun.
"Newbie?"
Fresh signup today.
Who?
Broadcasting BJ: Mu-hyuk.
Title: 'Gangster Necromancer's No-Talk Stream'.
"Ah...!"
Tournament champ!
Instant join.
"Ooh, hunting right away!"
Linked his top VR gear, switched to POV mode—sharing Mu-hyuk's view.
Crisp quality felt like he was fighting.
"Yes, this is it!"
Like becoming Mu-hyuk.
-Wipe 'em out.
Gasp escaped.
"Whoooaaa!"
Skeleton legion vs. giant serpent—dizzying beyond movies. Slain in seconds, onward.
New monster.
This time, Mu-hyuk himself moved.
"Hup!"
Insane speed.
Space warped, yet clear.
Black serpent's coils, blade rending scales—vivid.
Dodged tail swipe, stomped body, scaled to head, plunged sword.
Instant, but every frame caught.
Squelch.
Chilling realism up his spine.
Emotions peaked—Mu-hyuk retreated timely.
Bang!
Arrow to harass.
"Hoo, haa..."
Not resting.
Skeletons orchestrated like a maestro.
Unmissable.
Battle ended unnoticed.
Mu-hyuk strolled casually; Park Ki-gyu panted, yanking off VR.
"Sh-shit...!"
Curse slipped.
"Fucking epic!"
Regret—no recording.
Deep breath, re-immersed, recorded, edited, posted to Illusion forums' free board.
Views skyrocketed.
Best of the day in under three hours.
*
Lunch break, Mu-hyuk checked Illusion TV viewers post-logout.
Tilted head.
"Why so many?"
4,200 watching. Dark screen from logout, yet steady—exits matched entries.
Mu-hyuk stared blankly, then shook his head.
"Tch, whatever."
Viewers gonna view; chatters gonna chat. No need to overreact.
Lunch as usual, then back to Illusion.
Options—I illusion TV on. Enlarged the bottom-right mini-screen; chat scrolled.
Oblivious to chat, Mu-hyuk summoned skeletons.
Cautious sweep, mountain ascent resumed.
Monsters felled, step by step.
After many kills, Mu-hyuk's eyes gleamed surveying around.
Almost there.
Time to scout.
Hydra, Skull Snake Summon.
Snakes fanned out, Armor Knights ringed him; he sat.
Knights would block monsters—he focused on snakes' views carefree.
"......"
Time passed.
Found it.
The black mage's final lab.
*
CCTV-like feeds continued.
Situation shifted abruptly.
Mu-hyuk halted.
---