Emperor of Solo Play Chapter 40:
Golden Skeleton (3)
Swordsman class players who were skilled in PKs had balanced strength and stamina stats . It was never the case that one of the two were much higher than the other . Even so, this did not mean that they distributed the stat points from level up equally . If so, down the line, they would only be suited for PKs .
Typically, players chose either the strength or stamina stat to focus most of their stat points, then filled the other stat point through items .
In the case of Join, he chose stamina with his level up stat points and strength with his item choices .
Join’s current stamina stat was 149 .
That was enough to determine the outcome of this match .
Crash!
Hyrkan’s hammer struck Join’s helmet like a bell . Join staggered, during which time Hyrkan’s Skeleton Warrior struck him with its hammer . Join’s body flew up in the air, then landed on the ground with a thud .
‘Shit . ’
Join got up from the ground slowly . He felt his body heavier than ever before .
‘He even knows curses . ’
Demon Curse and Slow Curse .
These two curses were currently hindering Join . He felt as if he was wearing shackles on both his hands and feet .
‘Who is he?’
Not to mention, the magician that was supposed to help him was long dead . When Skeleton Warriors suddenly jumped on Int, he had no way of avoiding and death was inevitable . Although magicians were strong, that was it . His magic had dealt a fair bit of damage to one of the Skeleton Warriors, but the other ones didn’t miss the opening created after his attack . It was Game Over with just one swing . Once a magician fell down, he didn’t have enough stamina to sustain being hit continuously .
At this moment, Join did not despair, but rather considered his opponent’s strength once more .
‘A necromancer with 4 skeletons . He raised strength and is also a curse magician . ’
He knew his role in this situation . There was no chance of him escaping alive . His allies had already begun fighting the Golden Skeleton . What he had to do now was to deliver as much as information as possible to his allies .
Join raised his sword .
Watching this, Hyrkan charged towards Join .
Before the distance closed, Join turned his sword horizontally to slash at Hyrkan .
Before that…
“Booster!”
He used a skill .
The moment the skill was used, Join’s sword moved with incredible speed, just like the sword had a booster attached to its hilt .
Whoosh!
Even so, Join’s sword only slashed through thin air . Hyrkan had lowered his body and dodged the attack . Immediately afterwards, Hyrkan swung his hammer at Join’s knee .
Crack!
Join’s knee made a strange sound before his body spun a full circle and landed in place .
While he was staring into the sky feeling dizzy…
Crash!
A hammer slammed down his face .
Crash crash!
It rained down endlessly .
★★★
-We got taken out .
When the message from the Joint duo came, the Golden Skeleton hunting team was already in action .
They had no choice .
Their two priests had already used their buffs and their strongest magician had already finished casting his strongest spell . Most importantly, the Golden Skeleton was in front of their eyes .
Giving up and going back at this point was… something they couldn’t afford to do .
In the end, two swordsmen led the way while the magician supported them from the back . Meanwhile, one of the priests talked to the already dead Joint duo using the voice talk program .
-He’s not normal . Even though he’s a necromancer, both he and his summons are strong . It seems we fell into his trap .
“Trap?”
-Otherwise, why would someone so strong pretend to be a weakling? The one he was fighting wasn’t a monster, but his own summon .
“Mm . ”
Trap .
The priest wasn’t surprised . He only thought what was meant to happen, happened .
‘I knew this would happen . ’
Dead Woods was a hunting ground for level 30+ players . Players who were above level 30 at this point in the game were people who spent a fair amount of money in the game . They weren’t the kind to sit back and do nothing when they were PKed without reason . Without a doubt they would surely try to get revenge . Because of this, PKs generally only worked at levels 10s and 20s . Past that, there was a huge risk involved . If one didn’t find great joy in PKs, most opted to do PvP, a fair 1v1 dual .
Of course, there was no way the Golden Skeleton hunting team didn’t know this . That was why they placed so much emphasis on ending this early . Once they finished what they wanted to do and left, there was lesser chance of receiving retaliation . Their faces weren’t filmed, and they could simply change what they were wearing . It’s not like there were security cameras or finger print scanners .
However, it seemed that one of their victims had a strong backing . They didn’t think someone so skilled would come in such short period of time .
“Are you sure it was just one person?”
-Just one . No one else .
“One person…”
On the other hand, it seemed that the victim could only find one person in such short amount of time .
This fact made the priest unsure .
‘If it’s just one, maybe we can deal with him . ’
If a group of players came, they would have no choice but to run away . But with just one, it was a different story .
Of course, Join’s thoughts were different .
-I’m telling you, he’s not normal . You guys should take care of him first before you get to the Golden Skeleton .
The priest refused Join’s suggestion .
“If we miss the Golden Skeleton today, we’ll have to try again tomorrow . By that time, there will be more people after us . ”
If they wanted to kill the Golden Skeleton, now was the time . They had delayed it long enough . Any more would be too risky .
-But…
Join knew this as well .
“Just tell me how he looks like again . ”
-Alright .
Join decided not to continue with his suggestion . He was already in Game Over state, and he had no choice but to hope for his allies to succeed .
Everyone else agreed as well .
“If we’re going to do it, we have to do it now . ”
“You said it was just one, right? Even if he comes here, I’ll just take the aggro, and everyone else can pounce on him . It won’t take long . ”
“Yeah, let’s hurry up and finish . ”
They knew that if they couldn’t kill it today, it was better to leave Dead Woods .
The Golden Skeleton hunt started in such a way and went on as if the two missing people weren’t needed .
All members were at their maximum concentration, and they were already experienced in dealing with the Golden Skeleton . Because of it, they were able to coordinate well with each other .
Above all, the one they had been wary of never came . Not even skeletons and Skeleton Warriors, which often arrived after hearing the commotion, showed up . The Golden Skeleton hunting team could put all their energy and focus onto the Golden Skeleton .
As a result…
“Get ready to chase!”
“It’s phase 2!”
They were quickly able to lower the Golden Skeleton’s HP to half .
Once the Golden Skeleton’s HP dropped to half, the Golden Skeleton dropped aggro and ran away as fast as possible .
“Catch it!”
“Don’t let it escape this time!”
This was why it was so hard to hunt a Golden Skeleton . If the Golden Skeleton went out of vision, the game system decided that it had successfully escaped . In that case, the hunters would have to wait another day .
The Golden Skeleton hunting team had already failed two times . They didn’t want to fail a third time . Experienced from its last two escapes, they didn’t blindly chase after it . They set up a formation and moved accordingly .
Swordsmen, magicians, and priests all took part in the chase .
The five moved as one .
And…
‘It’s finally starting . They did better than I thought they would . ’
Hyrkan, who had been hiding and watching, made his move .
★★★
“I’m here to get an apology . ”
When the Golden Skeleton hunting team successfully caught up with the Golden Skeleton, they couldn’t help but yell in excitement .
Once the pursuers caught up with the Golden Skeleton, it stopped running and fought back . At this point, finishing it off wasn’t too big of a problem .
However, a strange player suddenly appeared in a strange getup, wearing a strange mask, while saying strange things . The Golden Skeleton hunting team stood dumbfounded .
“What?”
They had already received a report .
The Joint duo told them about Hyrkan’s characteristics, and they weren’t the ones to be forgotten so easily either . They had even made a plan to remove him if he appeared .
Even so, they couldn’t help but be shocked by the absurd thing Hyrkan was saying .
Hyrkan repeated his words at the two priests standing in the back .
“Your acts of bad manner have not gone unnoticed . Countless players have been PKed by you already . I’m here to get an apology . ”
He continued .
“I’m not here to cause a ruckus . All I want is an apology, a sincere one . I also want you to return the watches of all the players you PKed . That is all . ”
Hyrkan’s polite and composed words were undoubtedly just . Since they PKed, he wanted them to apologize and to return the watches! There was nothing unfair about it .
However, for the ones hearing it…
‘The **** is he saying?’
‘Is he messing with us?’
It was complete nonsense .
It was so absurd that their faces were frozen in stupefaction .
When Hyrkan finished his speech, everyone snapped back . They opened their mouths to prepare for action .
“How long can you last alone?”
“I’ll be fine for 2 or 3 minutes . ”
“Good luck . ”
“Hurry up and come back in 3 minutes . That guy’s nuts . ”
To fight, a swordsman had to lead . Although he was alone, he was a necromancer who had skeletons at his disposal . They couldn’t just fight him with magicians and priests .
As such, one of the swordsman fighting the Golden Skeleton turned back to face Hyrkan .
At the same time, the other swordsman attacked the Golden Skeleton to draw aggro to himself .
The swordsman raised his sword up high and charged at the Golden Skeleton .
“Crash!”
When the swordsman yelled out, his sword lit up .
Shining Sword .
The Golden Skeleton swung its own sword towards this sword, and the two swords clashed .
Crash!
Rather than the sound of metal, a sound of explosion rang out .
In the midst of that explosion, the Golden Skeleton was clearly eyeing the swordsman .
“I got the aggro!”
Having succeeded in drawing the aggro, the swordsman shouted out . Meanwhile, the two priests quickly ran back, away from Hyrkan . It was the most basic of basics to aim for the priests first .
At the same time, the swordsman that had turned back stood between Hyrkan and the two priests . He immediately swung his sword at Hyrkan . Horizontally, vertically, diagonally… he slashed at him without any delay .
Whoosh, whoosh!
The sound of air being cut continued to ring out in Hyrkan’s ears .
“Alright, just buy time . I’ll send a hot one flying over soon . ”
The magician, of course, began casting his magic . It wasn’t a strong one, but one that could be casted quickly . If need be, he would risk losing the swordsman to finish Hyrkan off . After all, they were up against just one person, and the Golden Skeleton hunting team had two priests .
At this, Hyrkan gave one final warning .
“I just need an apology . If you do this, I will have no choice but to retaliate . ”
Of course, there was no response to his warning . There was no need to .
At the same time…
‘How is this guy dodging so well?’
The swordsman couldn’t help but be surprised as he watched Hyrkan dodge all his attacks with the slightest movement . He could even afford to blabber .
“I’m ready . ”
Hearing the magician’s report, the swordsman looked for a timing .
“Booster!”
Then, he used an attack speed boosting skill .
Whish!
The heavy sound of the sword quickly turned sharp . At the same time, the magician grabbed a hold of a heavy fireball . He estimated the distance between them as he prepared to throw .
At that moment…
Clack, clack!
A horned Skeleton Warrior wearing Bone Armor began to charge towards the magician like a bull .
Watching this, one of the priests quickly arrived next to the magician and held his palms out .
“Light Shield!”
A tent-sized barrier surrounded him and the magician . The Skeleton Warrior swung its hammer toward the shield .
At the same time…
Whish!
The magician threw his fireball at his ally and Hyrkan without hesitation . The fireball made a perfect parabola as it began to fall toward Hyrkan’s back . Then…
Boom!
The fireball exploded and fire shards exploded out in all directions .
“Shit!”
A scream was heard .
“Help me!”
“What?”
“What happened?”
The sound came from the swordsman who had been keeping the Golden Skeleton’s aggro .