Emperor of Solo Play

­ Bulkas Mountain Range (2)

‘God damn it!’

As Hyrkan ran through the forest, his face was full of anxiety. He reached into one of many pockets in the lion suit, picked out a Skeleton Fragment, and threw it on the ground.

The Skeleton Fragment quickly bloated up to a single Skeleton Warrior.

Snap!

Hyrkan snapped his finger, and the Skeleton Warrior lowered his body and took on a defensive stance.

In front of the Skeleton Warrior…

Kuoooo!

A roar of a monster could be heard.

Soon after the terrifying roar, a wolf with four drill-like fangs appeared. The Tooth Wolf changed his target from Hyrkan to the Skeleton Warrior.

Crunch!

Running like a race horse, the Tooth Wolf quickly closed its distance to the Skeleton Warrior.

The Skeleton Warrior did not back down in the face of this monstrous wolf. Inside his black eye sockets, two small flames blazed as the Skeleton Warrior showed its willingness to fight.

Hyrkan caught sight of this scene from the corner of his eye. He clenched his teeth and snapped his finger twice.

Although his finger snaps were soundless because of his gloves, the Skeleton Warrior received the command and charged at the incoming Tooth Wolf.

Hyrkan did not stay and watch the outcome.

Instead, he prayed.

‘Sorry skellie.’

The result was too obvious.

Even among mid-sized level 60 monsters, the Tooth Wolf was among the strongest. An original Skeleton that wasn’t made out of any materials was not able to buy time against it for long. Normally, it would be 1 second. If it went well, 2 seconds. If the Skeleton Warrior was lucky, it would be 3 seconds. But that was it. That was all Hyrkan’s Skeleton Warrior was capable of. If it wasn’t his, it would be knocked down in a split second like a bowling pin.

This time, the Skeleton Warrior was able to buy 2 seconds. The Skeleton first dodged the Tooth Wolf’s bite, but was shattered by its following foreleg attack. This attack halted the Tooth Wolf’s uncontrolled charge, as the Tooth Wolf landed on the ground after the attack. In other words, it meant he had to start running again.

In that short instant, Hyrkan furthered the distance between himself and the Tooth Wolf by by tens of meters.

Krrrr…

The Tooth Wolf let out a low growl and turned its head. Under its front leg was the Skeleton Warrior which had now lost the light in its eyes. The Tooth Wolf then…

Crack!

Crushed the Skeleton Warrior.

Although Hyrkan couldn’t hear the sound, he shuddered while he was running.

‘Damn it.’

It was only after 3 minutes had passed that Hyrkan was finally able to stop and catch a breath.

Of course, he wasn’t particularly out of breath. After all, he was in a game. He was still full of strength, and he promptly climbed up a thick tree. Anyone would be able to tell by his monkey-like quickness that it wasn’t his first time doing this. After climbing the tree, Hyrkan immediately looked around his surroundings.

Ssss…

The leaves of the tree swung calmly with the wind. Not wanting to break this calmness, Hyrkan silently sighed in his heart.

‘Whew.’

Only after he let out a silent breath did he finally relax.

‘The Monster Belt is lifted, but this place is still hell for my standards.’

Currently, Hyrkan was on his way to the Bulkas Mountain Range. He had been waiting at the Herb Castle, the nearest castle to the Bulkas Mountain Range.

The Herb Castle was an unpopular castle amongst Warlord players. No castles had been discovered to its east, and no one set out to explore the area either.

This was because it was a so-called Block Field, an area purposely managed by Warlord’s system for the purpose of main scenario quest progression.

Of course, the Block Field disappeared once a certain condition was met. It could be when someone received a certain quest or when a certain quest was completed. Once the Block Field was removed, players would be able to enter the area and any areas beyond.

It went without saying that the disappearance of a Block Field signified a chance to obtain treasures that were hidden inside. As such, there were always players waiting near Block Fields. They weren’t just waiting either. They were always on the lookout for competitors. This was why the Herb Castle wasn’t popular. Players in it always looked at each other with eyes of suspicion.

In any case, Hyrkan already knew that the Bulkas Mountain Range existed beyond the Herb Castle. He knew what route to take as well. At the same time, he knew that the Block Field would disappear when the Corrupt Count was killed.

It went without saying that Hyrkan would be the first one to go past the Block Field and arrive at the Bulkas Mountain Range.

The only problem was that the area Hyrkan had to go through was filled with monsters ranging between level 60 to 80. As skilled as he is, Hyrkan could not guarantee his safety.

Even so, there was a reason Hyrkan was taking such a risk to go through this place.

Hyrkan turned his head and looked out far beyond the overgrown forest.

‘In the past, I couldn’t even dream of a discovery title at this level.’

Beyond this overgrown forest was the Bulkas Mountain Range.

And in the Bulkas Mountain Range…

‘If I meet the Bulkas Mountain Range rangers, I can probably obtain 3 titles on the spot.’

Were several magnificent treasures.

Although no one knew about the Bulkas rangers at the moment, they would soon become one of the most well-known NPCs in Warlord. There was a simple reason behind it.

‘What a nice bunch.’

They gave out a lot of things.

That was how games worked. When monsters or NPCs became famous, it was either that they were incredibly strong or gave incredibly good things.

The Bulkas rangers were the latter.

As a level 60~80 hunting ground, the Bulkas Mountain Range was a decent hunting ground for many players. Although it wasn’t the most efficient, one could sufficiently use it to train from level 60 to 80.

On top of this, the Bulkas rangers gave out many quests related to the Bulkas Mountain Range. The reward was rich in EXP or gold. They even gave out a really bountiful quest from time to time. As there were many quests, there were also many chances to obtain titles.

The rangers were generous in many ways.

What was the most valuable in their generous rewards was…

‘If I can win over the Bulkas Ranger Master, Maoong, I can place my spoon on the Immoral Prince quest.’

The Bulkas Ranger Master, Maoong.

He was a key figure in the Immoral Prince quest.

Just this was enough for Hyrkan to risk his life on this trail. Hyrkan once again looked at his surroundings.

Most players would be too fearful of a game over to move rashly.

But although Hyrkan found the situation quite annoying, he did not have any fear.

Because he was experienced.

‘At least it’s better than being chased by those Stormhunter trash.’

A lot.

Being chased or running for his life was something he had grown quite tired of.

Thanks to his experience, Hyrkan was able to run again.

★★★

A female magician dressed like a male and a man wearing a scaled armor glowing red were walking through the Boyz Castle.

Their appearances were did not lack anything to attract the attention of players around them.

“Whoa, look at that! He’s wearing a full Fire Lizard set!”

“Doesn’t the full set go for over 100,000 gold? That aside, don’t you have to be above level 90 to wear it?”

“Who is he?”

It was an extremely expensive armor made for top level players.

It was no different than a man and a beauty driving through town with the best open car.

Unaffected by the attention they were getting, they were murmuring through their voicetalk program.

“Did you find out who the informant was?”

“From what I can tell, no one has the slightest idea.”

“How is that even possible? It’s not just some incident. There are only a few who could get their hands on such a valuable piece of information.”

“In that few, there isn’t a single person who would inform all of the 29 guilds. It’s not them no matter how I look at it.”

“Doesn’t that mean there’s an incredibly strong player that we don’t know about?”

“It’s true that we don’t know the identity of some of the Rankers. We have no way of knowing anyone outside the Rankings too.”

“Things are already going off our plan.”

“It’s not like we can do anything about it. Our job is to just do what our employer tells us to do. Also, it’s not like we work under them with a great sense of duty.”

A brief silence hung between the two.

“By the way, where are they sending you this time?”

“Sweepers.”

“Why are you going to Sweepers and not me? Don’t they need more magicians?”

“Isn’t it the other way? They have a lot of magicians, so they’re looking for more front-liners.”

“I guess… well, since the Sweepers are moving, it looks they’re going to sweep through an entire Block Field. It’s going to get troublesome. Oh yeah, the Dragon Lizard’s egg. What happened to it? Did you find the one who took it?”

As soon as the question was asked, the armored player stopped in his tracks. The magician tilted her head. Their eyes met, and the magician could easily see the scowl on the swordsman.

“Whoever it was, if I catch him, I won’t let him off easy.”

With that, the swordsman continued on his way.

★★★

It was just one step.

[You obtained the title, ‘First One to Step onto the Bulkas Mountain Range.’].

With almost completely depleted magic power, Hyrkan stepped into the Bulkas Mountain Range and was greeted by a new title.

Moreover, that one step was one with a lot of meaning behind it. It meant he was a step in front of those who he had only been chasing after. At the same time, it signified the start of the legend Hyrkan would leave behind.

Of course, Hyrkan wasn’t in any mood to give such deep thought into his step.

Hyrkan immediately checked his stat window through his watch.

“Not bad.”

Checking the newly acquired title’s options was more important to Hyrkan.

After confirming its options, Hyrkan raised his head in satisfaction.

The Bulkas Mountain Range in front of his eyes seemed more distant than impressive.

The mountain range was full of trees with razor-sharp leaves and with countless number of monsters. Hyrkan was the sole player against such a force.

‘It would be foolish to move in thoughtlessly with the magic power I have now.’

What seemed the most distant was Hyrkan’s magic power. Hyrkan sat down where he was and started chewing on a magic power recovery gum.

As he chewed the gum, magic power slowly filled Hyrkan’s body.

‘If only I can buy an expensive recovery potion and fill my magic power in one go.’

Warlord had many different recovery items. Of course, the more effective it was, the more it cost. For example, a candy made from the sap of the rare level 150 Vampire Tree filled up HP by the percentage while it was in its user’s mouth. Not only that, but it also raised stamina by an incredible amount. If a tanker with full resistance setting was eating this candy, he would practically be invincible during the duration of the candy. Of course, the cost of the Vampire Tree Sap was enormous. It was a must have for top-level boss monster raids, and the demand was several times the supply. As such, with a raid like the Corrupt Count raid coming up, it sold for an incredibly high price.

Other than that, those who focused solely on leveling up were not stingy when it came to recovery items like this.

The most representative was the First OneSulwoo. To stay as the highest leveled player, he was always fully buffed, with the best items and skills. Although he must earn an enormous amount of money from it, the amount he spent far outweighed the amount he earned.

Of course, for Hyrkan who had to savor the 5 gold gum, such a thing was in the distant future.

However…

‘I’m here.’

It wouldn’t be too far.

Hyrkan got up from his seat.

Then, as if it had been waiting,

Whoosh!

An arrow landed near the Hyrkan’s foot. Seeing the arrow, Hyrkan smiled.