Emperor of Solo Play Chapter 98:
Chapter 98 – Cursed Domain(2)
Hyrkan stared intently at a large boulder . The boulder didn’t look too special on the outside . In truth, the boulder wasn’t anything special .
Took took .
Hyrkan used a shovel to dig up the fine soil near the boulder . There would have been no significance to this boulder if an Ingredient Coin hadn’t appeared inside the hole .
“Chet . ”
Hyrkan clicked his tongue after checking the Ingredient Coin . His expression naturally changed into a sour expression .
‘In the end, I’m back to the same location . ’
He put the Ingredient Coin back into his pocket . Hyrkan closed his eyes with a frown on his lips .
‘I never expected this to turn out like this . ’
Hyrkan knew where the Cursed Domain was located at . It was one of the important parts of the Main Scenario Quest, so of course, he knew where it was located at . It was located southeast of Misandra’s Castle, where there was a tall mountain called the Ricky mountain . There was a long winding road past the Ricky mountain, and one had to cross the Inue Lake! One finally reached the boundary of the Cursed Domain after crossing all of those landmarks .
If one could pinpoint a location to this degree in Warlord, one was basically as knowledgeable as a navigator .
However, he was currently going around in circles . He couldn’t even get past the Ricky Mountain .
‘I had no idea the Block Field was still up . This is really unexpected . ’
Block Field .
No Users could get past this barrier, and it was in the way of Hyrkan .
The Block Field was placed beyond the Ricky Mountain, and Hyrkan already knew the Block Field hadn’t been dispelled yet . It was something one could confirm through several internet searches .
Still, he never thought the Block Field would be a problem for him .
‘I’ve received the Quest, yet the Block Field is still present… This is a pain . ’
Hyrkan had received the Main Scenario Quest . In most cases, the Main Scenario Quest acted as a key in dissolving the Block Field . This was why Hyrkan hadn’t worried over the Block Field . He had been worried about getting to the Cursed Domain faster than everyone else . He wanted to get there first, and he wanted to eat all those delicious Titles .
‘Some random **** tried to block my path before and now such a trivial thing is blocking my path . ’
Of course, this fact didn’t have all negative connotations .
Instead, it could be seen as a positive news .
‘The fact that the Block Field is around means the Cursed Domain is still intact… It means the Storm Hunters haven’t reached this place yet or they are progressing in a different Quest route as me… I like that . ’
The possibility of the Stormhunters guild receiving the same Quest to search for the Cursed Domain, and them being ahead of him was gone .
It was an element that was sufficiently positive .
‘All right . ’
Hyrkan let go of his sour mood, and he organized his situation .
His next task was set . He had to dispel the Block Field . A Block Field couldn’t be dispelled by force .
‘It’s been awhile since the Misandra’s Castle was released to the Users . I’m sure the Quests are completed up to a certain point . ’
Hyrkan turned his head . First, he had to return to the Misandra Castle .
‘Huh?’
As if it had been waiting for Hyrkan to turn his head, a monster appeared behind Hyrkan .
Koo-roo-roo……!
Koo-huhng! Koo-huhng!
It was a wolf human standing on its two feet . It was a werewolf . It was different from a normal werewolf . It was holding very rusty knives in both hands .
It was a level 100 monster called Weapon Werewolf .
Amongst the level 100 mid-sized monsters, it was a monster of average difficulty . It wasn’t hard to kill, but it wasn’t easy to kill either… Basically, it was a middle of the road monster .
Four of them appeared . At the very least, it was numerous enough where a single User wouldn’t be able to easily deal with them .
However, Hyrkan didn’t even unsheathe his Ivan’s Sword when the pack appeared . He didn’t even snort at their appearance .
Instead, he flicked his fingers twice .
This caused the Skeleton Warriors that had been on standby to appear from behind the Weapon Werewolves . They held golden colored swords that looked to be made by smelting gold .
Kuhng!
As if they were surprised by the appearance of the Skeletons, the Weapon Werewolves desperately turned their bodies .
The battle started immediately .
Kwahng!
The Werewolves let out a roar as they charged first . The eyes of the Skeleton Warriors and Knight burned as they silently looked at the Werewolves . They dodged the incoming attack, and their fighter’s disposition was strong enough to cut the enemies with a single stroke .
Hyrkan had a sour expression on his face as he opened his Hologram Window . Then he searched for more information .
‘No 30 great guilds are present in Misandra’s Domain . There aren’t even Underfoot guilds there . This might be more annoying than I thought it would be . Any ways, what should I have for dinner tonight?’
Hyrkan was starting to fight battles in a way that was befitting a Necromancer .
Misandra’s Castle was revealed to the Warlord Users around 2 months ago .
In the world of gaming, two month was almost like two years . It wasn’t a short amount of time, and a lot of Users had visited Misandra’s Castle . They wanted to dispel the Block Field present beyond the castle . This was why they diligently found and cleared the Quests .
However, the Block Field would not be easily dispelled . They kept finding likely clues, yet no one could find the actual key .
In a situation like this, the Users made a simple judgement call .
“Oh well . I’ll just go hunt somewhere else . ”
“Well, I’ll only get a single Title if the Block Field is dispelled . Wouldn’t it be more profitable to level up at a different hunting ground?”
Give up .
It was the obvious course of action .
Not many Users were willing to invest their time here when it hindered with one’s level up .
Moreover, Misandra’s Castle was located in an ambiguous location .
One could earn Quests between level 80 to 100 at Misandra’s Castle . The level 80 Users diligently did their Quests, and they diligently leveled up .
What happens when they reach level 90?
In Warlord, there was a single goal every users tried to fulfill at level 90 . It was to get to level 100 as soon as possible . They wanted to go through the Advancement! If one wanted to go through the Advancement as soon as possible, one had to find an effective hunting ground . Misandra’s Castle was hardly an effective hunting ground, so there was no reason to stay there .
In the end, the Users left for various parts after they completed Quests up to a certain point .
New Users influxed into this location, but they repeated the actions of their predecessors .
Of course, not everyone left .
“Does anyone want to do a Quest with me?”
Zeet .
He was different from the other Users . He was part of the minority of people, who was staying behind at Misandra’s Castle for his Quest progress .
He was level 91, and his Class was Magician .
As a Magician, he couldn’t operate out in the field by himself . This was why he was gathering party members at Misandra’s Subjugation Association . He was trying to progress in his Quest .
“What kind of Quest is it?”
“It is an Exploration Quest . It is a Quest to find the remains…”
“Does it give a lot of EXP? What’s the Reward?”
“It’s an Exploration Quest, so it doesn’t give much EXP nor a lot of rewards . ”
“What for?”
“What?”
in the end, his recruiting process always ended on a bad note .
It was the same right now .
What for?
After saying that phrase, the User turned around and left as if he never wanted to see Zeet again . The User’s action was so cold that Zeet felt a little bit humiliated .
Zeet gritted his teeth .
‘Shit! I should have chosen the Swordsman Class instead… At the very least, I could carry out the quest whether I sink or swim!’
Zeet manipulated his watch as he spoke . He checked the Quest again .
[Blackened Remains]
– Quest Rank : Rare
– Quest Level Range : 90
– Quest Content : Recover the Blackened Remains . Deliver it to the fugitive ‘Chados’ .
– Quest Reward : Chados’ Staff .
Blackened Remains Quest .
It was a Rare Rank Quest . It meant it wasn’t an easily obtainable Quest . However, it wasn’t special enough where only Zeet was carrying it out .
It was actually the opposite . If one was diligently leveling up from level 80 to 90 at Misandra’s Castle, one would receive this Quest . The Quest Route had already been made public .
However, there was a Quest that was nicknamed the Diploma . When Users received this Quest, a vast majority of them left Misandra’s Castle to search for another hunting ground . It was as if they had graduated from this location .
There was a reason why Zeet was holding onto this Quest, while he was stalled in leveling up .
‘I’m sure this Quest is the key that will break open the Block Field . ’
Numerous Users went through the Quests available at Misandra’s Castle, and they all reached the Blackened Remains Quest . However, no one had solved the Quest yet . The Block Field remained closed . There was ample reasons why one should be suspicious that this Quest was related to the Block Field .
Of course, one could be suspicious, but it was hard to have conviction about such a conjecture . Zeet was so sure, because while he was progressing another Quest, he had found the identity of Chados .
‘Chados is a fugitive . For some reason, he is a fugitive running away from some unfortunate circumstances . ’
Chados was a fugitive that had run away from somewhere across the Block Field . He had heard this story from a NPC caretaker named Dodo, who maintenanced the castle walls . Moreover, this truth hadn’t been spread anywhere online . Zeet had never disclosed this information to anyone .
This was basically Zeet’s trump card .
He was very sure about his conjecture . He just had to ramp up his efforts in gathering party member . That was the answer .
The problem was…… .
“Hey, look who it is? Isn’t it, Zeet?”
Zeet had a disadvantage that no one else had here .
“You are still operating out of Misandra’s Castle? Huh?”
Three Users approached Zeet . The three Users had identical guild emblems on their chests . It was the Swing Guild .
“I thought we squared everything last time!”
Swing Guild .
It was a medium-sized guild with about 300 members . They weren’t considered to be one of the 30 great guilds nor were they part of the Underfoot guilds . They were a guild formed for the purpose of mutual cooperation . The members of the guild consisted of low level Users to pretty high level Users . There were a diverse group of Users gathered in this guild .
Moreover, they were a guild in bad standing with Zeet .
“What did I say? Did I say we’ll smash you to pieces when we find you near the Field?”
“What a strange **** . We were just wondering why you were still here . We were just curious!!”
‘Shit . They should just be transparent with their threats, sons of bitches!’
It had been a disagreement that happened quite frequently in games .
They had met up by chance, and they had started a party hunt . They bickered, since they weren’t in sync with each other . The bickering escalated .
‘Why are you so lacking?’
‘Like your mother?’
As the conversation escalated, feelings were hurt and there was had been an argument .
Zeet had gotten in a disagreement with a User, and there had been an accident afterwards during the party hunt .
Zeet was a bit late in his assist, so the User that was playing the role of a Tanker had experienced Game Over .
It was an accident born out of a mistake, but the aggrieved User felt like it was done on purpose .
Afterwards, all of Swing guild didn’t see Zeet in a positive light . This was why these Users had spent a long time at Misandra’s Castle, yet they operated far from each other .
‘Those **** **** . They aren’t even a 30 great guild, yet… Since I’m alone, they are ganging up on me like a pack of dogs . ’
This was the reason why Zeet wasn’t able to aggressively further his agenda . This was why he solicited every new Users he saw to join his party .
‘Yes . It isn’t that I’m dodging shit, because I’m afraid of it . I’m avoiding it since it is dirty . ’
A man appeared in front of Zeet .
‘Uh?’
To escape the attention of the Swing Guild, he was about to head out . At that moment, he came face to face with a User at the door .
He had on a plain armor, and there was a plain sword equipped on his waist . The impression the User gave off… . .
‘He has a really gullible face . ’
The User really looked like someone that could be tricked .
In a flash, Zeet’s eyes checked the other User’s Item setting .
‘Swordsman Class!’
At a glance, this User obviously had a setting common to the Swordsman Class . Zeet reflexively asked the man a question .
“Are you perhaps here to receive a Quest?”
The User silently nodded his head .
“Then would you like to do a Quest with me?”
Zeet spoke the next part with a low voice .
“This is a secret, but the Block Field might open if this Quest is completed . ”
He wouldn’t have made that comment about the Block Field to Normal Users, but the man in front of him looked as if he would fall for anything… He felt this was a chance that would never come again, so he had thrown out the bait .
As if Zeet’s bait had taken hold, the User looked at Zeet with an interested expression on his face .
“If it isn’t true, how much are you going to give me?”
“What?”
However, the words and tone of his voice didn’t indicate he was interested . The other User continued to speak .
“If I complete the Quest and the Block Field is still up, how much compensation are you going to give me?”
He was most definitely a pushover, but it seemed Zeet had met someone with a real tiger’s mouth .