Chapter 18 – Main Story, Knight’s Lament [2]

— He did it!

— He fucking did it!

— That sounds… It reminds me of my newbie days, but it came from Hutch's cheek!

Ding!

[HutchSucks has donated 500 diamonds!]

[Good job! Ah! I am satisfied!]

Ding!

[KnightCaptainFans has donated 500 diamonds!]

[That sound reverberated in my soul!]

Two donations popped up with countless chats. Some viewers also posted the clip immediately, as no one had ever slapped Hutch before.

Meanwhile, Max was confused. The world suddenly stopped as soon as he slapped Hutch, and it rewinded at a fast speed, faster than before.

"What happened?"

Following that, red error messages popped up infinitely, filling his visions almost immediately. Everything turned red, including Max's character, Hutch, and the room.

It happened instantly and caused Max to panic.

— The karma!

— Damn! The game got an error because he slapped Hutch!

— No one can touch Hutch!

— What happened?

— Is Hutch invincible confirmed?

A few seconds had passed since the error messages popped up. It disappeared one by one, and the room and situation from earlier returned.

"Sir Breeze. You said there are 12 barbarians hiding in Ratcor Ner mountain? And you said you already cut them off?"

"This is…"

Max looked around and couldn't believe what had happened.

"Yes, Sir! I have annihilated them all in the shadow of night."

The cutscene was actually replayed from the start as if nothing was wrong. The dialogue, the movement. Nothing was perfectly played, just like before.

"It's replayed?!"

Max raised his voice loudly.

— Lesson learned. Hutch can rewind time.

— This mf is so OP!

— Thanks for your sacrifice, Breeze! We will remember you!

Ding!

[AxeLover has donated 500 diamonds!]

[Thanks for slapping him! My revenge… It's not for naught! I will remember you!]

— lolol! This axe guy was slapped, for sure.

"Ah… Thanks for the 500 diamonds, HutchSucks, KnightCaptainFans, and AxeLover. I am not dead yet, but I am happy that you remember me."

The cutscene played normally afterward. There was no other error, and it flowed to where it was before.

Knight Captain Hutch suddenly stood up from his seat, approached Breeze, and patted his shoulder with a smile.

"I know you can do it. You're more skilled than I thought. I think I can bring you to that place, Sir Breeze."

"That place, Captain?"

Breeze raised his eyebrows curiously.

"Yes, the front line. This will probably be your first and last fight as a knight. Do you want to accept this difficult mission? I can't guarantee your life, but I trust your ability."

Just as Hutch finished his sentence, his point of view changed back to his character, and a mission window popped up.

[Last tutorial completed!]

[A new mission is generated.]

[Knight's Lament]

[The barbarians' army has attacked the Rami Kingdom! Head to the front line and push back the enemies!]

"Front line?"

"Yes, Sir Breeze. I trust you to accompany me. Even I have a hard time dealing with 12 barbarians by myself. But you've proved yourself to be capable. So I will recommend you for this mission. Don't worry, we will have time to prepare."

Wasn't the story progressing too fast?

— …

— wtf?

— Front line? First main story mission?

Even the chat fell into confusion. The mission of fighting on the front line should've come later after a few smaller missions.

— Is the new route actually just a skip for speedrunners?

It wasn't wrong for the players and the viewers to think that way. But so far, everything was different from the normal gameplay.

Max also didn't know the details, but he accepted the mission nonetheless. The game wouldn't progress if he just stayed still without doing anything.

"Let's try this, guys."

[A month later]

A blue window appeared before his vision was distorted. Before Max knew it, he was already in a different place.

This time, he was behind an army of knights, numbered in the hundreds, in a clearing of a forest that transitioned into a vast plain in the distance.

Knight's Journey was a pretty realistic game with movement similar to the real world. That meant there was no magic or something similar. The battle was purely done with cold weapons and bows and arrows.

"Listen, people!"

That was why cavalry was important. In fact, Max was on a horse, wielding two axes behind his back, wearing silver knight armor, which looked nicer than the full-plate armor he wore before.

"We will fight and push back the barbarians trying to attack our country!"

A knight wearing similar armor with a red cape without a helmet, showing his majestic brown mustache, was in front of the hundreds of cavalry, radiating charisma enough to make people want to follow him.

Knight Captain Hutch was on his white horse beside that person, radiating a confidence and charisma that didn't fall low.

And the chat recognized that person beside the ever-famous Hutch.

— Huh Ah knight?

— What the…

— Surprise, MF! He's the commander!

—This new route is wild.

— Huh Ah knight becomes a commander of the front line… Where is the lady? Where is the lady knight?!

— Noooo, my sexy knight lady!!

The Huh Ah knight that everyone hated so much for kicking them in tutorials had become a commander, replacing the real commander who should've been leading the mission in the frontline with Hutch.

This storyline had turned strange with many differences from a normal one.

However… that wasn't too important for Max.

'There is nothing that changes.'

Nothing had changed for what he should do. The mission stayed clear and the same.

Besides, this was his first run, so any change didn't affect him at all.

"Is that Huh Ah knight strong?"

Max decided to use this time that the Huh Ah knight spent to have a speech to communicate with his viewers.

At his question, the chat exploded with answers.

— One word: He's a bastard

— Two words: He love butt

— Three words: I want to kick his ass

— Guys… Those are not one, two, or three words... But I agree. I want to kick his ass too.

"So you guys agree to kick his ass?"

Max smiled wryly at the chat's answers. This Huh Ah knight was hated more than Hutch. Well, the chat didn't hate Hutch but only wanted to get back at him.

But this time, their hate was really apparent.

Ding!

[FreakingNoob has started a mission.]

[Stream Mission: Kick Huh Ah knight's ass.]

[Reward: 3,000 diamonds.]

Someone even started a mission for him. And it was a familiar name.

However, it didn't end at that.

[AxeLover has increased the mission reward to 5,000 diamonds.]

[HuhAh24 has increased the mission reward to 6,500 diamonds.]

Ding!

[Showmeblood61 has started a mission.]

[Stream Mission: Kill Huh Ah knight.]

[Reward: 1,000 diamonds.]

"W-Wait a minute! There are too many notifications! Stop it!"

He began to panic as the notifications poured in.

This wasn't what he expected to happen!