Emperor of Solo Play

Translator’s note: BM means bad manner. It’s used as a verb in the gaming community, and it literally means to do bad mannered acts.

­ Golden Skeleton (4)

Hyrkan’s plan was to make the Golden Skeleton hunting team reluctant to continue or to stop their hunt. If they did continue, they would surely make one of them face the Golden Skeleton while the rest fought against him.

Hyrkan’s target was the one person left to aggro the Golden Skeleton.

He placed two Skeleton Warriors and a Skeleton Magician on the east side in their defense mode. Hyrkan himself prepared to cause a ruckus on the west side along with another Skeleton Warrior. It was literally threatening the east while striking the west*.

[T/N: Korean idiom derived from Chinese (聲東擊西)].

The battle had begun when Hyrkan snapped his fingers twice.

While Hyrkan distracted the four members of the Golden Skeleton hunting team, his two Skeleton Warriors and a Skeleton Magician charged towards the swordsman facing the Golden Skeleton.

The starting signal was the Fireboom used by the Skeleton Magician. Fireboom exploded between the Golden Skeleton and the swordsman, and the two Skeleton Warriors quickly attacked the swordsman’s helmet and side with their hammers.

Although the two Skeleton Warrior’s attacks weren’t light, the final blow was dealt by the Golden Skeleton. With its height of 4 meters, it swung its long arms holding its long sword like a whip.

Crack!

The thick shoulder pad on their swordsman’s left shoulder broke apart like a piece of paper. The armor was crushed, and the Golden Skeleton’s attack seemed powerful enough to sever the man’s arm.

“Shit!”

The swordsman momentarily felt a shocking pain on his shoulder. In Warlord, such level of pain signified a severe amount of damage.

“Help me!”

That was only the start. As a boss monster, the Golden Skeleton didn’t overlook his opponent’s weakness, and it swung its sword continuously. Unable to use his left shoulder, the swordsman was not able to hold up his shield. As a result, he had to endure five of Golden Skeleton’s attacks with his armor and helmet. Endure was a nice way of putting it, as he was simply beaten up.

Plus.

Bang, bang!

As if to irritate him, the Skeleton Warriors beat on the swordsman’s armor with their hammers, not giving him a chance to balance himself. Once he began to be bombarded, he was unable to control the situation anymore.

He was in a critical situation.

However, his allies weren’t in any position to help him.

“We’re screwed!”

“Should I cancel the shield?”

Currently, two priests and a magician stood inside a level 30 barrier magic. A total of 3 people.

Plus, their shield…

Bang, bang, bang!

Was being bombarded by a Skeleton Warrior under a Madness Helm effect. The Skeleton Warrior swung his hammer to a beat, as if to use the shield and hammer as instruments.

In such a situation, the only way of going outside the shield was to cancel the shield magic. As long as the shield magic was being maintained, the only thing that could go through the shield were magic spells and skills.

However, the magician was currently casting a new spell. If the shield was canceled… at least one of them would be killed by the Skeleton Warrior.

The three trapped inside the shield were unable to come to a decision.

Meanwhile, Hyrkan moved on to his next act.

‘So far so good.’

Hyrkan had planned up to the current situation. He knew that it would be hard to win against them by himself. After all, they were strong enough to put food on their dinner table. Even now, Hyrkan was under a fair amount of damage. The magic thrown by the magician was fantastic. Throwing magic behind a player and exploding it sounded easy on paper, but it was hard to do without experience. Although Bone Armor and lowering his posture helped reduce the damage, it was still a significant damage. Close to half of his HP had disappeared.

The state of his magic power was even worse.

He had summoned three Skeleton Warriors and one Skeleton Magician. One of them was under Madness Helm and he had used Bone Armor on himself. His Skeleton Magician used magic as well.

In truth, he didn’t have any magic power left to try anything.

Hyrkan looked straight ahead. The swordsman in front of him looked as if he didn’t understand the situation, as he only stood in alert without attacking him.

At this, Hyrkan turned his back on him.

Then…

‘Time to run.’

He ran with all his might.

★★★

The momentHyrkan ran away, his skeletons that had been fighting with all their might suddenly turned and followed suit.

Watching this scene, the four players were simply speechless.

‘What?’

The whole situation was so bizarre that they couldn’t utter a sound.

Meanwhile…

“HELP ME I SAID!”

The swordsman fighting the Golden Skeleton used what little strength he had left to scream for help.

It was then that the four players snapped back to reality.

“Cancel Shield!”

When the cracked shield disappeared, the magician quickly ran towards the Golden Skeleton. Once the distance was closed to a certain extent, he stopped. He immediately threw the fireball in his hand at the Golden Skeleton. The fireball turned into a gigantic fire arrow mid-air before it pierced the Golden Skeleton’s head.

The Golden Skeleton turned his head and stared at the magician. With its head burned with a arrow stuck inside, the sight was terrifying to behold.

At the same time, the swordsman that had been fighting Hyrkan ran toward the Golden Skeleton. The two priests moved as well.

The priests each stuck to a swordsman.

“Save Kang first! I’ll buy time!”

Before they could decide on whether to run away or to continue fighting, they needed to first catch some breaths. Moreover, although it was hard to chase the Golden Skeleton, it was equally hard to escape from it. Even if they planned on running, they needed to make careful preparations beforehand.

It took them five minutes to get into their formation again.

The priests used Healing until their magic power ran out, and the magician and the swordsmen fired their skills and magic to buy that time. Thankfully, no one had died.

“I thought I’d die. Did you know? My HP fell to a single digit.”

A player that barely survived death thanks to the priests’ heals took a breath.

“What do we do now? Fight? Or run?”

“What about that psycho? Won’t he come back?”

While the Golden Skeleton hunting team was discussing their next plan and fighting…

“I’m here to get an apology.”

Hyrkan reappeared.

This time, he was alone. He came alone wearing just his Bone Armor. Even that looked ridiculous. A Snapback hat, Bone Armor, and hahoe mask… no matter how one looked at it, it was a weird combination.

If they saw such a getup at a castle, they would surely have bursted out into laughter.

However, such an appearance in a battlefield was… eerie, to say the least.

‘What’s wrong with this guy?’

Having seen Hyrkan, the five players felt goose bumps rather than rage.

It wasn’t uncommon for someone to disturb a boss monster raid. It was especially true in cases like this when the raid wasn’t announced beforehand and the raiders PKed nearby players.

Even so, what was happening now was the first of its kind. What Hyrkan was doing was undoubtedly cruel. Of course, it would have been funny for anyone watching. If this situation was being broadcasted live, the chat would surely be spammed with laughter.

However, it only provoked swearing from the ones on the receiving end.

Above all, Hyrkan was strong. His Skeleton Warriors were incomparable to the skeletons at Dead Woods. Not to mention, he had a Skeleton Magician!

As such…

“You fucker! Do you even know who we are? Hm?”

The response could only be emotional.

“Hey!”

“Ah…”

“Are you out of your mind?”

“S-Sorry.”

When a priest bursted out in anger, the magician shushed him with his words.

Do you know who we are?

It was perhaps the most used phrase in Warlord. In a world where everyone moved in guild or party units, flaunting one’s background known was only natural.

The problem was with the current situation.

The five people here and the two dead players schemed to take the Golden Skeleton for themselves. If what they were doing were known by their guild, they would surely be punished and have their belongings taken by the guild.

Flaunting their guild?

Stupid.

Thankfully, they stopped just in time.

However…

“Ah, so you guys are in a guild. Please tell me the guild’s name. I will request an apology from them officially.”

There was no way Hyrkan would let this opportunity pass. Hyrkan’s words sent chills down the spines of the five players.

‘We’re screwed if he finds out.’

If Hyrkan found out and told their guild about what they did, they could only imagine the consequence.

At this point, their minds had already stopped functioning. It was impossible for them to make sound decisions. If they could, they wouldn’t have done this in the first place.

“Let’s just kill him.”

“Yeah, let’s just give up on everything and kill him.”

At any other time, they would have dropped whatever they were doing to kill Hyrkan.

However…

“Calm down. The Golden Skeleton’s HP is at 30% now.”

The Golden Skeleton in front of their eyes made it hard to do so.

They saved their ally and fought until they could reorganize they formation. The magician had fired his magic continuously and the swordsmen continued to deal damage to it. The HP they shaved off the Golden Skeleton wasn’t small in the slightest.

Now, it only had one third of it left.

They knew they were almost at the finish line.

Not only that, but the Golden Skeleton was also incomparably more valuable than other boss monsters.

‘Golden Bone…’

‘If it dropped a crafting jewel, it would be even better.’

They would get at least 5,000,000 won. It wasn’t a small sum at all. Just two decades ago, if someone said he would be able to make 5 million won by killing a single monster, everyone would have called him crazy. Not to mention, 5 million was the minimum. There was a chance it might drop crafting jewels. In that case, they would be able to earn even more. 10 million wouldn’t be impossible, meaning each person was guaranteed more than a million won.

Giving up?

“If he comes at us again, we’ll do what we did last time. One person just has to hold the aggro, while everyone else goes after him. He’s by himself anyways.”

Impossible.

Plus, as long as Hyrkan wasn’t plastered with Unique items, there was a definite limit to his magic power. The reason necromancers weren’t popular was that there was a clear limit to their potential.

They wouldn’t be caught off guard this time either.

They knew what they were up against.

“Either fuck off or come at us!”

One of the priests took lead to provoke Hyrkan. Hearing this, Hyrkan turned tail. Then, he disappeared. When he did, the five players sighed in relief.

‘So it really is impossible by yourself.’

‘Please don’t come back.’

They wished for Hyrkan to give up and run.

Unfortunately, their wish did not come true. 3 minutes. In exactly 3 minutes, Hyrkan reappeared. He came with skeletons, but this time, they weren’t his own.

“I don’t need an apology anymore.”

Hyrkan had brought 3 Skeletons and a Skeleton Warrior from nearby.

Then, chaos ensued.

★★★

When 3 Skeletons, 1 Skeleton Warrior, and 1 psycho entered the fight, the battle became a complete mess. In this mess, the first to die was, of course, the priest.

A Skeleton Warrior continuously hacked away at one of the priests’ health. He left with one final word.

“FUCK!”

It was a word to describe everything that had happened to him today.

The moment he died, the outcome of the fight was determined. One priest wasn’t enough to support two swordsmen and a magician. In the end, the remaining priest chose to enclose himself and the magician in shield magic. It was the only thing he could do in such situation. Now, although he could support the magician, it was impossible to support the two swordsmen.

The swordsmen weren’t in any better shape. The priests’ buffs had already ended, and one of them had his armor heavily damaged by the Golden Skeleton. It was impossible for a half-broken swordsman to hold his ground without a priest.

Everything collapsed one by one.

When one of the swordsmen was killed by a Skeleton Warrior, the remaining three stopped thinking.

It was over.

“Run!”

“Damn it…”

A priest, a swordsman, and a magician.

They all escaped in different directions. The one remaining Skeleton, the Skeleton Warrior, and the Golden Skeleton did not stand by. The Skeleton chased after the magician and the Skeleton Warrior chased after the priest.

At the same time…

Bang!

Hyrkan’s hammer struck the helmet of the swordsman that was fending off the Golden Skeleton.

“You fucker!”

The swordsman naturally cursed.

Hyrkan did not stop to reply, and quickly moved on to his next action. After hitting the swordsman’s helmet to make him lose balance, he swiped down at his leg to make him fall. Then, he moved backwards by five steps.

Then, as if it had been waiting for it the entire time, the Golden Skeleton slashed its gigantic sword down at the fallen swordsman.

Crack!

In an instant, its gigantic sword severed the swordsman’s body in half.

He was dead without doubt.

The Golden Skeleton’s aggro then naturally moved to Hyrkan.

“Waow.”

Watching the light in the Golden Skeleton’s eyes, Hyrkan made the biggest smile he possibly could.

‘I didn’t think it’d go this well.’

With that, Hyrkan snapped his fingers twice and charged towards the Golden Skeleton.

★★★

Hahoe Mask Hyrkan, who had gained a fair amount of fame through Skull Clown, had released another YouTube video. Subscribers excited by his last video rushed to Hyrkan’s YouTube page and started the video.

Its title, The Avenger.

-Is it another video of him fighting?

-Is he fighting against skeletons again? That’s a bit boring.

Its title suggested that it would be another tense, thrilling battle video.

However, its content was completely different from expectations. The video started with a YouTube comment. After showing the comment requesting revenge, Hahoe Mask Hyrkan spoke.

“I’m not a kind person, but for the sake of my fan, I will do my best to punish the BM players.”

That’s how the video started.

– This guy’s hilarious. I thought he was just good at fighting. What a mad man.

– “I’m here to get an apology,” he says. LOL

– He brought monsters over the third time! Amazing. I should try it sometime.

It was comedy.

He requested an apology from the BMers, then using himself as bait, he attacked a player in the back. Then, he asked for an apology again, and when it didn’t work, he brought monsters over.

-I love this guy. This is better than just seeing him fight.

– I watched the whole 10 minutes from beginning to end!

– So he’s this kind of guy. I like him even more now.

– It’s been a while since I last found someone to watch.

The Hyrkan in the video wasn’t the terrifying master of battle he has last shown himself to be, but a jester.

-Isn’t it too harsh?

– It’s a little hard to watch. He’s too sly.

– Yeah, I’m disappointed.

For some, Hyrkan’s actions were too excessive.

– I got PKed while hunting there too. This makes me feel satisfied.

– I’m the one who commented. Thanks for taking revenge.

– What’s the problem? They’re PKers anyways. It’s not like he cheated or exploited a bug.

– Yeah, BMers deserve to die.

However, no one criticized Hyrkan’s revenge against the ones who BMed.

– I mean, he fought seven people by himself. If this is too sly, then what should he have done?

Most importantly, Hyrkan carried out revenge against seven players all by himself. Although there were many videos of players avenging others, it was hard to find one person taking on several.

In fact, the small argument in the comments increased the view count, and The Avenger video hit 20,000 views in a day. The view count rose much quicker than Skull Clown’s, and donations came in similar to Skull Clown’s.

It wouldn’t be strange for An Jaehyun to be dancing in happiness.

However, An Jaehyun was not dancing like he normally would. With glasses and a serious expression on his face, he was furiously typing on the tablet PC like a calculator.

‘With the donation, the money I got from selling the watches, the money from the Golden Skeleton, and the amount I collected so far…’

With his calculations finished, An Jaehyun took off his glasses and let out a sigh.

‘It’s enough to clear my debt.’

It was at that moment when one of the shackles on AnJaehyun’s feet disappeared.