Emperor of Solo Play Chapter 142:
Chapter 142 – The Frozen Land (1)
1 .
The endless snow that was falling down was swept up by cold winds . It was as if the whole world was shivering .
Hweeeeeng!
The sound of the winds made one’s ears numb . The world had turned white, which blinded one’s vision . The only thing one could smell was the coldness .
During all of this, a User dared to to step onto the snowfield .
Pooh-poohk .
The white snowfield became the white predator . Accompanying a terrifying sound, the intruder was swallowed up to his knees .
“Fire!”
– I have no visuals at all!
In such a ridiculous stage, Sohank was blocking an Ice Bear with his single shield . It was a 10 meters long bear made out of ice, and it wasn’t easy to block it .
‘This is crazy . ’
Sohank repeated those words until he was sick of it . He was about to repeat it again, when the Ice Bear let out a roar .
Koo-oh-oh .
‘It’s coming . ’
Sohank was nervous, but he readied himself .
Unlike its prior attacks, the Ice Bear used all of its strength to use its Bodyslam .
Ggwah-ahng!
Sohank felt an incredible amount of force transferred from across his shield . Sohank’s body was pushed backwards .
He had barely avoided falling over . He had maintained his stance as he endured the Bodyslam . Sohank busily grinded his teeth inside .
‘It this was a grassy plains, this bear **** would… . ’
Ice Bear .
This was his first time facing this monster . It was large, but it wasn’t too difficult to face it in a vacuum . Basically, it didn’t have any special skills . It also didn’t possess incredible strength or incredible Battle AI compared to its size . Moreover, it was fairly easy to maintain the aggro .
The problem was the environment . The snow was up to his knees, and the ground was covered in ice . It thoroughly vexed Sohank .
Sohank could always rely on the ground being steady, but he never expected his lack of footing would making him feel so weak . He be skeptical of the ground he was standing on . He never expected such a thing to happen, and it made a chill run up his spine .
“Fire!”
Sohank yelled out again . He wasn’t shouting out an order as the commander of the group . His shout was almost close to a plea for help . In his life as a gamer, Sohank would be hard to find an experience that was as humiliating as the one right now .
– We really can’t see anything! If we use our magic, you might be swept up in it!
However, it wasn’t easy to help him either . Magician’s had to be judicious with their magic . They had to avoid harming their allies . However, the magicians could barely see the tip of their noses . No matter how accurate these magicians were, it was an impossible situation where they couldn’t fully use their abilities .
“Fire!”
However, Sohank yelled out again .
– I’m sending it!
In the end, a magician gave an answer, and at the same time, he threw the ball of fire in his hand forward .
The ball of fire thrown by the magician started to roll forward . As it rolled forward, it started to expand, and in moments, it took the form of an enormous bear .
Koo-wah-ahng!
Flame Bear .
This scary magical spell was charging forward as it melted the snow away .
However, Sohank was the one in the path of the charging Flame Bear .
‘Aigo . ’
He was the one that had ordered the use of the magic, but he never expected the Flame Bear to charge at him from his rear .
Sohank took short breaths . The important part will start now . If he did nothing, he would be sandwiched by the two bears .
It was the moment of truth . Sohank moved when he saw an opportunity . The Ice Bear had been continuously ramming into his shield . Sohank lashed out at the Ice Bear with his shield .
Ggwah-ahng!
A loud sound exploded forth, and the Ice Bear’s body was shifted slightly to the side .
Koo-roo-roo… .
The Ice Bear had been about to let out a roar, but now it was letting out a low growl . It was a sound made when a beast has reached the peak of its anger .
However, when the Ice Bear reorientated its head to express its anger, Sohank had disappeared from its field of vision . When he hit the Ice Bear on the head, Sohank had immediately escaped from his current location .
Sohank had leaped into the air, and he landed on the Ice Bear’s nape .
As he landed, Sohank took out the dagger equipped on his leg, and he stabbed it into the neck of the Ice Bear .
Pah-kahk!
The dagger was planted inside the Ice Bear’s neck . It was in only up to the depth of the middle knuckle . It couldn’t be considered to be a deep wound .
Koo-ah-ah!
However, it was enough to drive the Ice Bear into a rage .
The Ice Bear suddenly stood up . At the same time, it turned to look towards its back . Sohank was hanging on by grabbing onto his dagger . Instead of shaking Sohank off, it planned on biting him .
Koo-oh-oh!
It was great timing . The Flame Bear threw itself at the Ice Bear, and it swung its paw .
Puh-uhng!
The Flame Bear’s front paw let out a rough sound as it violently struck the Ice Bear’s head .
Hweeek!
The Ice Bear’s head snapped to the side, and a terrifying claw mark appeared on its face .
At that moment, the Ice Bear’s anger wasn’t directed at Sohank at all . It was directed towards the Flame Bear . The two bears immediately started to fight each other . The two bears stood on their hind legs, and they used their front paws to strike at each other . Neither bear backed down, but it wasn’t a good battle to watch .
The Ice Bear was much more stronger than the Flame Bear . The Flame Bear could only leave scratches and wounds on the Ice Bear’s body . The Ice Bear’s attacks took chunks off of the Flame Bear’s body .
The two bears exchanged about 10 blows in total, and the Flame Bear became mangled . It started to disappear into the snowstorm .
During all of this, Sohank created wounds on the Ice Bear’s back and waist . Again, the wound wasn’t deep, but the location from where he struck was exquisite . He was at a location where the Ice Bear’s limbs and teeth couldn’t reach him . He was basically in its blind spot .
From such a location, Sohank yelled out again .
“Fire!”
Instead of answering back, the magicians used more magical spells . Accompanying the incantation of the magicians, fireballs and thunder strikes headed towards the Ice Bear . Moreover, it was also coming towards Sohank, who was sticking close to the Ice Bear’s body .
Koo-oh-oh!
The Ice Bear let out a roar as it struggled . As the Ice Bear flailed, Sohank started to accumulate a significant amount of damage . Sohank continued to attack it to keep the aggro on him .
This really was a gambit where Sohank had put his life on the line .
In such a battle, the rest of the party could do nothing . Natal, who was the leader of this party, didn’t say anything . At this moment, he couldn’t even come up with a word of encouragement for Sohank .
‘Shit . ’
Natal couldn’t do anything . He could only regret over his decision .
His regret started 8 days ago . It was when they first arrived at this frozen land . As if by magic, the snowstorm had appeared, and Natal was conflicted as to how he should proceed . He wondered if he should allow the group an adjustment time period before they earnestly started their search . On the flip side, they could start searching first, then they could get used to everything… . .
In truth, they planned on following the former plan . They were going to start their search after they got acclimated to this place .
However, the problem was the urgent news he received .
‘If it wasn’t for the Big Smiles… . ’
The urgent news said a large contingent of Big Smiles guild members had crossed the Terube castle wall .
In truth, this was within the realm of possibilities they had postulated . If one had a decent head on one’s shoulder, it was easy to connect the dot between the Northland and the third Main Scenario Quest .
‘No . If it wasn’t for Sinclair…’
Sinclair was within this group .
He wasn’t known to the world, but he was a User that was on par or better than the officers of the 30 great guilds . He was also a person that had received aggressive love calls from all the 30 great guilds, yet he was unwavering in switching his affiliation .
Yet he was wearing a Big Smiles guild symbol now . Moreover, Natal received information that Sinclair was one of the figures leading the group . Natal couldn’t help, but be thrown into a state of confusion .
This put a lot of pressure on him . If it was just the Big Smile, he could just treat them as a big dog that moved into the neighborhood . However, this was the Big Smiles guild with Sinclair included in the party . A feral beast had just moved into the neighborhood .
In the end, Natal decided to accelerate their timeline in finishing the Quest instead of facing off against the Big Smiles guild .
However, the frozen ground was starting to cause significant delays .
‘If things head along this way, they’ll definitely catch up to us . ’
They were in a obstacle race, and they were having a hard time getting past the obstacles . They were pretty much stuck .
Of course, they would be caught by the latecomers .
– We got it! Stop!
At that moment, Sohank’s voice was heard in Natal’s ears . At the same time, the Priests ran towards Sohank . They used the Healing skills to quickly mend the wounds . Then they started putting the Buff skills on him as a precaution for the unforeseen circumstances that might occur .
“Natal!”
As he was receiving the skills from the Priests, Sohank immediately called out to Natal .
Natal approached Sohank, and he gave orders to his subordinates through Voice Talk .
“Listen! We don’t have much time, so we’ll be brief in taking footage for data . Once you guys finish filming, we’ll immediately butcher the monster . Clean up after yourselves . Don’t leave behind any Ingredient Coins . ”
“Yes . ”
“I’ll say this again . We can’t leave behind any trace . The Ingredient Coins won’t disappear .
“Yes . ”
His warnings were almost approaching the level of nagging . Even though, he had given his warnings, Natal didn’t look to be in a good mood . His expression was screwed up as he started a conversation with Sohank .
2 .
Poo-oohk!
A wide and nimble sword was embedded deep within the Hammerhead’s single sharp eyes . The Hammerhead’s body started to shake . It was such a deep wound that the Hammerhead couldn’t even let out a scream .
Kooh-oohng!
In the end, the Hammerhead weakly fell to the ground as if it was a large piece of log . A User descended using the fallen Hammerhead’s body as a staircase . Sinclair immediately flipped over the Hammerhead’s body .
Swhoook!
After flipping it over, he immediately extracted his sword from the Hammerhead’s single eye . Sinclair sheathed his sword . It was the surest gesture that signified the end of a battle .
Everyone, who had been watching the battle, let out exclamations .
“Amazing . You are really amazing . ”
“Sinclair-nim! You are really incredible!”
Then there were those, who swallowed their exclamations .
‘How preposterous . He just climbed atop the Hammerhead’s head? If it went awry, he would have been swept up in the Head-butt… . I’ll never be able to do such a thing . ”
‘I know he has the Items, but it is also his incredible skills . Why haven’t such a skilled User gained any notoriety yet?’
‘Why did such a skilled User enter our guild?’
Of course, not everyone was letting out or swallowing exclamations .
“You did well . ”
Instead of an exclamation, Apollo spoke as if he was a noble giving praise to his subordinate . He spoke in a disinterested tone . Sinclair also responded in a disinterested manner . He slightly nodded his head .
Apollo’s expression crumpled a little bit . His presence was being continuously marginalized, so it seemed Apollo didn’t welcome the current situation .
Sinclair also didn’t like the situation he was in .
‘I know this is a job, but I can’t believe I have to lower my head to this guy . ’
He had operated without publicizing his face in the past, but Sinclair had been treated with utmost respect and care by everyone as a Helper from the Hands guild . Apollo was nothing if he didn’t have his father’s influence .
Of course, he didn’t look kindly to Apollo holding a role of being his superior .
‘Be patient . This will come to an end soon . ’
He knew the importance of this job, so Sinclair firmly preached patience to himself .
‘It won’t be too long . ’
After they moved beyond the Terube castle wall, Sinclair led the Big Smiles guild member in a chase after the Hydra guild . They had only one purpose . They were going to start a guild battle against the Hyrdra guild .
Of course, they didn’t plan on fighting a full scale battle . From the Hydra guild’s perspective, they weren’t keen on a full scale battle either . They would work to avoid that outcome . Reinforcements weren’t anywhere near them, and there were no castles or towns beyond the Terube wall . If they performed a fullscale war, it would be basically be akin to a suicide bombing .
In the end, they’ll decide do a 1on1 battle . A great match would ensue, and this was the result wanted by Sinclair .
‘If I kill Sohank, everything will change . ’
Sohank was the strongest User in the Hydra guild . What was the worth of winning a 1on1 battle against him?
He had no idea .
It was incalculable, but just the thought of it was enough to make him smile .
A smile formed on Sinclair’s lips . One User saw his smile, so the User spoke up .
“It seems you are in a good mood . ”
“Huh?”
“Nothing . I just saw you smiling, so I… . ”
The one that asked the question was Cho-oohroong . He was the one that had built an affinity with Bagel by playing on the Battlefield stage . He was also the one that was able to receive the Northland Exploration Quest .
Unlike Apollo, Sinclair had a high opinion of Cho-oohroong . Cho-oohroong had helped out Sinclair in various ways, so Sinclair treated him well .
“I’ll be fighting a skilled User soon . The anticipation I have for the fight must have revealed itself through my expression . ”
This was why Sinclair revealed some of his true feelings in front of Cho-oohroong .
“As expected, you are incredible . ”
Cho-oohroong had an expression filled with admiration as he looked at Sinclair . Sinclair’s smile deepened when he saw this particular expression .
This is what he wanted . He didn’t want everyone to look at him as just some nobody . He wanted them to look at him with respect . He didn’t want to be the expert that only other experts knew about . We wanted to become world famous .
“Sinclair-nim is probably the only one in this game that feels happy about the prospect of fighting Sohank . ”
“I’m flattered . However, if I don’t win, this would have all been an act of reckless bravado . ”
“No . From what I just saw now, you will definitely win . Of course, this is assuming the other side doesn’t do anything foul . ”
The dayy will come soon . Even people, who didn’t know Sinclair, would look up to him!
Sinclair’s smile deepened further . It was so deep that his smile couldn’t get any more broader .
It happened at that moment… .
“Uh? There is a Coin here!”
“What?”
The atmosphere suddenly changed . Everyone gathered in a single location when they heard the word Coin .
“Did you just say Coins?”
“Yes . ”
“Try picking it up . ”
“Here it is . ”
Sinclair immediately held the Coin, and he checked the Coin’s information on the Holographic Window .
[Deadwood Monkey’s Skin]
[Deadwood Monkey’s Skin]
[Deadwood Monkey’s Bone]
It was the Ingredient Coins from the Deadwood Monkeys .
“Isn’t this the 20th one we found?”
“We are finding fallen Coins every time we are about to forget about it . ”
“It seems there is a hole in the Coin Pouch carried by the Hydra guild . It seems they are leaving behind a trail . ”
Ingredient Coins was a trace that could only be left behind by Users .
“All of a sudden, we are like Hansel and Gretel following after the breadcrumbs . ”
Obviously, this tracks was left behind by the Hydra guild . In other words, the Big Smiles guild was on the right path in chasing down the Hydra guild .
However, Sinclair no longer had a smile on his face . He spoke in an earnest tone .
“Let us move faster . ”