Emperor of Solo Play Chapter 22:
Chapter 22 . Chance and Danger (3)
[You have entered an instance dungeon . ]
The moment Hyrkan entered into the darkness, he found himself in a space about 300 square meters wide . The ceiling was 4 meters high, while the floor was octagonal with columns in each corner .
‘A ring . ’
The stage felt similar to an MMA ring .
Then .
Prrrrr!
The sphere of light on the Skeleton Warrior’s head jumped with force and reached the ceiling . Then, streams of light began shining down on the dark space . The light streams did not brighten up the stage, but rather mixed with the darkness to form a dim lighting .
Tension filled the air .
‘Nice . ’
Hyrkan liked this atmosphere . The video he was taking was coming along his expectations .
Then, when the streams of light began to reveal what was hidden in the darkness…
Krrrr!
The monster showed itself with a roar .
‘Werewolf . ’
Hyrkan quickly recognized its figure . It wasn’t particularly hard to do .
‘It’s a bit big, though . ’
Even so, the werewolf in front of him had several differences compared to the blue werewolf he faced earlier . This werewolf was over 2 meters high with very long arms . Its thick claws resembled Captain Hook’s hook . Besides, its fur was black, not blue .
‘Mm?’
But what caught Hyrkan’s attention the most was…
‘Is that?’
His eyes .
‘Black Marbling?’
His eyes had a mix of red and black like a marbling . It was truly grotesque .
‘Well, **** . ’
The corner of his mouth went up .
‘Who would’ve thought I’d run into a quest related to the Corrupt Count here?’
Corrupt Count .
It was Warlord’s first main scenario quest .
Warlord’s main scenario was a huge current . Players had to go through this current to get to the next story .
‘The last main scenario quest I was part of was the fourth, Army of the Dragon . ’
Before he returned to the past, Hyrkan had participated in the fourth main scenario quest .
Corrupt Count, Immoral Prince, Ruined Kingdom… although Hyrkan couldn’t even play the supporting role in these first three main scenario quests, he made a meteoric rise to a leader position in the Army of the Dragon . This was when the Hahoe Mask Guild began to make a name for itself .
No one knew for a fact how many main scenario quests there were . Tobot Soft had considered this information a top secret . What was important was that the rewards of the main scenario quests were amazing . First, titles were given out like candy . The difference between owning and not owning main scenario quest titles was huge .
Second, the attention was on a completely different scale . Main scenario quest related videos weren’t treated like ordinary videos . They sold well even as paid videos . Over 10 million people purchased the final battle video of the third main scenario quest, the Ruined Kingdom .
Of course, core content like this was hotly contested by the Top 30 Guilds . The leaders of the main scenario quests were always from the Top 30 Guilds . Not only did they have the necessary information and manpower to complete these quests, but they also bribed or utterly destroyed their competition .
Hyrkan was now in possession of tip of that iceberg .
‘The Corrupt Count quest should already be well on its way…’
The main scenario quest was a one-way bridge . One quest led to another and so on and so forth . Because of this, those ahead of him should already have finished a large portion of the main scenario quest . There wasn’t much left for Hyrkan to take for himself .
Of course, it didn’t mean he didn’t like it .
‘I can’t say no to this . ’
His thoughts ended there .
Monsters corrupted by the Corrupt Count were far stronger than regular monsters . They were incomparable to the blue werewolf Hyrkan had killed before .
Snap snap!
Without a warning, Hyrkan snapped his fingers twice . The Skeleton Warrior charged at the Corrupted Werewolf with fire ablaze in its eyes .
Meanwhile, Hyrkan used his right index finger to write on the palm of his left hand .
Demon .
Immediately after he wrote this word…
[You activated the Demon Curse spell . ]
An ominous dark aura appeared on his left palm .
“Grant Curse . ”
Hyrkan touched the blade of his longsword with his left hand . Then, the longsword’s blade absorbed the dark aura like a sponge .
This was all Hyrkan had in his arsenal .
What was important from now was how he could utilize the weapons he had .
After finishing the curse magic, Hyrkan looked on ahead . The Skeleton Warrior and the Corrupted Werewolf would close their distance at any second now .
“30 seconds . ”
Hyrkan only had one expectation from his Skeleton Warrior .
To hold its ground for just 30 seconds .
Hyrkan didn’t have the slightest hope of the Skeleton Warrior killing the Corrupted Werewolf by itself .
It just had to hold its ground for 30 seconds . Then everything would go smoothly . He had hopes as well . After all, the Hero Slaughterer himself had given it 1 on 1 lessons, even going so far as to go all into strength .
It . Will . Endure!
But when Hyrkan had his hopes up the highest…
Thwack!
A stunning sound flowed out .
‘Ah . ’
It was the sound of the Corrupted Werewolf’s arms smacking the Skeleton Warrior’s head off . The head hit the nearby wall, and soon the body also flew next to its head .
Two .
With just two swings of its arm, the Corrupted Werewolf easily subjugated the Skeleton Warrior . The Skeleton Warrior on the ground had X’s for its eyes, just as Hyrkan’s mouth was watching this scene .
‘Fuck this . ’
It seemed that it still needed some more training .
Luckily, Hyrkan had profited at least a little from the exchange .
‘Its speed and power are both outstanding… but it’s not to the point it’s impossible . ’
It was undoubtedly fast, but it wasn’t so fast that Hyrkan couldn’t dodge it .
Plus, seeing as how it didn’t completely destroy the Skeleton Warrior even with 2 hits, it meant its attack power wasn’t so strong as to one-hit KO Hyrkan .
‘Four hits? No, probably three . ’
Three hits .
It was the ticket cost for a one-way trip to Figur’s Castle . As an added service, Hyrkan would be stuck sucking on his fingers for 48 hours in the real world .
Most people would say they’re in a desperate and dangerous situation . After all, there was no way to run .
It wasn’t much different for Hyrkan . He felt as if he was standing on the edge of a cliff . The moment he stepped backward, he would fall to his death . He felt like his heartbeat was getting faster even though such a thing should be impossible in the game .
‘Three lives . It’s a perfect number . ’
Hyrkan liked this feeling . It was the type of feeling he would never be able to achieve in the real world . The feeling that he was alive .
“Haaat!”
With a loud shout, Hyrkan charged at the Corrupted Werewolf .
Snap snap .
He snapped his fingers twice while running . The Skeleton Warrior absorbed Hyrkan’s magic power and quickly restored itself . Its eyes turned back from Xs into blazing fires .
Whoosh!
At that moment, the Corrupted Werewolf swung its arm at Hyrkan, who had entered his range . With a bone-chilling sound cutting through the air, blackness entered Hyrkan’s left field of vision .
Whish!
Hyrkan ducked and dodged the arm, as strands of his hair were cut by the werewolf’s claws .
It was truly a hair’s breadth apart . Immediately after the mortal danger passed by, a new danger arrived .
The Corrupted Werewolf swung its left arm at Hyrkan who had continued charging towards it after dodging its right arm . Its left arm traced a diagonal path . It wasn’t something Hyrkan could dodge simply by ducking!
Whish!
But Hyrkan just leaned his body to the right, dodging the difficult path of the werewolf’s arm rather simply . It looked as if the Corrupted Werewolf was moving its arms following the movements of Hyrkan’s shoulders and arms .
At this point, even a bystander would be able to tell that Hyrkan was purposefully dodging the Corrupted Werewolf’s attacks by a hair’s breadth .
The reason…
‘I see it . ’
Was something only someone watching from Hyrkan’s perspective could tell . The moment Hyrkan passed by a potentially life-threatening situation, he saw the side of the Corrupted Werewolf wide open . This was his aim .
Hyrkan lightly scratched his side with his longsword . He didn’t plan on making any deep wounds .
[The Corrupted Werewolf falls under the Demon Curse . ]
His goal was to afflict the curse .
After his successful attack, Hyrkan breezed by the Corrupted Werewolf’s back and distanced himself from it .
The Corrupted Werewolf turned to follow Hyrkan’s movements, and Hyrkan also turned after he sufficiently distanced himself .
The two of them stared fixedly at each other .
Krrrr .
With a low growl, the Corrupted Werewolf let out its frustration .
Hyrkan simply taunted the Corrupted Werewolf by waggling his left index finger back and forth towards himself .
Then .
Stab!
The Skeleton Warrior that had finished restoring itself had thrown itself on the werewolf’s back with its bone-knife .
Growl!
The Corrupted Werewolf let out a shriek, and the Skeleton Warrior quickly jumped off and distanced itself . The Corrupted Werewolf did not chase after the Skeleton Warrior, but rather pulled off the bone-knife stuck on its back . Then, it furiously threw the knife at the Skeleton Warrior as it glared angrily at it . The Skeleton Warrior did not shy away from its intimidating glare .
Meanwhile…
‘Let’s see . ’
Hyrkan was slowly and stealthily closing the distance between him and the Corrupted Werewolf .
Krrr!
However, the Corrupted Werewolf quickly turned its head towards Hyrkan and revealed its razor-sharp fangs .
‘So he gets aggroed when he’s attacked, but quickly changes aggro when he’s on alert . ’
After finishing up his thoughts, Hyrkan charged towards the Corrupted Werewolf without a shred of hesitation . There was no need for hesitation . He knew the role he had to play, and that was to draw the Corrupted Werewolf’s attention . If he did, the Skeleton Warrior would act as his teeth and bite down on the Corrupted Werewolf .
★★★
The Skeleton Warrior stared at the monster in front of him . Of course, a sense of intimidation or fear did not exist in his mind . He was only waiting for an opening .
His ill-tempered master, the one he was eternally loyal to and the one that occasionally attacked him, would provide that opening .
Click click!
The Skeleton Warrior charged .
He was a dart, and the dartboard was the monster’s back . The Skeleton Warrior had already accumulated an enormous sum of scores, and this would be his last .
Stab!
The Skeleton Warrior’s bone-knife dug into a wound he had made previously . The bone-knife had dug deeply into the wound, and only the hilt of the knife could be seen from the outside . At that moment, it heard the sound of two snaps from its master . Because of the continued attack order, the Skeleton Warrior did not run .
Bite!
It bit down on the monster’s back . It had dug its fangs into it . But seemingly unsatisfied, it also dug its claws into the monster’s back . With its sharp claws, it furiously scratched the monster’s body .
The monster’s body quaked .
At that moment, strength began to boil from inside the Skeleton Warrior’s body .
Stab!
The Skeleton Warrior’s two hands grabbed onto the monster’s flesh as if it was sand, and its mouth bit off the monster’s flesh . After biting off the monster’s flesh, the Skeleton Warrior opened its mouth and pointed it to the sky, letting out a soundless wolf-like cry .
★★★
[The Skeleton Warrior killed a very strong monster . Skeleton Warrior and its related skill proficiencies rise greatly . ]
[Skeleton Fragment skill rank rises to Rank E . ]
“Hm?”
The alert marking the end of Hyrkan’s 5-minute fight was different than what he expected .
‘What did it say?’
Hyrkan changed his concentration to hearing the alerts as if he was trying to listen to a malfunctioning radio .
[You completed the quest, A Cave in Mt . Bima . ]
[3 new titles have been registered . ]
‘Eh?’
Hyrkan was surprised once more .
‘3 titles?’
Thud!
Then, a static noise interfered with Hyrkan’s hearing . It was the sound of the Corrupted Werewolf’s body falling on the ground .
“Whew!”
Seeing its body fall on the ground, Hyrkan let out a breadth for the first time since the fight started .
He had fought while holding his breath .
His original plan had been to do a victory ceremony and say some cool words . However, the words he had prepared beforehand had long since disappeared amidst the sudden news .
‘Let me straighten out the situation first . ’
Hyrkan first checked his left arm, where a large wound could be seen . His elbow and shoulder . Two long scars could be seen where the Corrupted Werewolf scratched him . It was quite surprisingly that it hadn’t fallen off . Of course, he couldn’t move the arm as he wished . Hyrkan grabbed his left wrist like it wasn’t his . Then, he brought the watch towards his mouth .
“End Camera . ”
His first profit – the video .
Hyrkan turned the dial on his watch and turned on the quest app .
‘The quest is complete . ’
His second profit, the quest rewards, had been received .
Up until now was what Hyrkan had been expecting and wanting .
But .
‘A skill rank up already?’
There was an additional profit . Hyrkan moved his fingers to turn on the skill app .
[Skeleton Fragment]
– Proficiency: Rank E
– Number of skeletons able to be summoned: Warrior (2)
‘I thought it’d happen right before I hit level 20…’
His Skeleton Fragment skill had ranked up . It had progressed much quicker than he expected .
It seemed that the game had judged the Skeleton Warrior, not Hyrkan, to have killed the werewolf as it had delivered the final blow . Attack-related skill proficiencies often went up in such cases .
‘Good for me I guess . ’
Though sudden, it was a nice surprise . With the Skeleton Fragment skill rank-up, the stats of his Skeleton Warrior went up as well . Plus, he could now summon two . He had such battle prowess with just one, but now he could summon another . Just the thought of it made Hyrkan happy .
But rather than rejoicing, Hyrkan immediately looked for his fourth profit . He checked the title-related messages on his watch .
[You obtained the title, Rising Star . ]
It was the title he had been aiming for .
[You obtained the title, ‘One Who Challenges the Position of Hero . ’]
‘Oh? A Hero-series? Well, considering I solo-cleared an instance dungeon and first-killed the werewolf, it’s not too surprising . ’
Although he knew about the title beforehand, he didn’t expect to get it here . And finally .
[You obtained the title, ‘Pursuer of Corruption . ’]
It was a title Hyrkan had no connection to in his past life .
With that, Hyrkan completed his inventorying of his profits . The calculator in his brain finished its calculations, and after seeing the result, Hyrkan let out a grin .
“That’s right!”
‘Things are finally going my way!’
However, at this moment, Hyrkan didn’t know… that the real jackpot had yet to come .