Emperor of Solo Play

­ Bear Warrior (1)

The Bear Warrior stood on its hind legs, giving off an intimidating aura. Within its helmet, two jet-black pupils shone with dignity.

“Hyrkan, can you really kill that?”

Bear Warrior.

It was the lord of the Bulkas Mountain Range, and as the one in the middle of the strange occurrences happening in the Bulkas Mountain Range, it gave off a fitting aura. Its intimidating presence was enough to make even the most experienced player whimper in fear. It fact, it would be the expected reaction for most.

“Bro, I’m Hyrkan. Super Star Hyrkan!”

In front of such a fearsome monster, the ones that weren’t scared were the strange ones. Some that talked nonsense instead of whimpering were the abnormal and crazy ones.

Even back then, Hyrkan was showing his extraordinary talent. His presence wasn’t any less than the Bear Warrior’s.

“Come on, you’re really going to push for that nickname?”

“Jaehyun, I’m fine with most things you do, but that nickname is a little…”

“Yep. He’s usually weird, but at times, he really likes to prove his weirdness with his entire body.”

“He can fight so well because he’s crazy. What sane person would go all into strength and jump into a fight with a monster like that? You’ll die with just a single hit and end up sucking on your fingers for two days.”

“Aw, shut it! Stop making fun of someone who’s volunteering to go on the frontlines to fight a monster like that. If you don’t stop, I’m going to just leave this guild!”

Hyrkan always made his presence known and proved himself.

“Let’s stop the chitchat and focus on the battle. I’ll distract that guy and open his back, and you guys shoot some magic, got it?”

That he was more capable than anyone else.

Moreover…

“If it looks like I’m about to die, then help. Don’t be stingy with heals. Alright, let’s finish this! Let’s show them we’re not to be stopped here!”

He constantly proved that those that followed him… would reach the skies with him.

‘This is the first time I realized how good I am at remembering things.’

Now, however… those memories were nothing but emotional baggage he wanted to throw away.

Hyrkan shoved those memories into oblivion.

‘No need to remember those bastards.’

Although memories weren’t something one could easily forget, Hyrkan had done so at this moment.

He only sought memories he found useful.

‘Bear Warrior has 3 phases total.’

The Bear Warrior had 3 phases which changed based on its HP.

When its HP was above 70%, its attacks included only its standard attack mixed with two basic skills. Its aggro was directed at the last one to attack it. The two basic skill it had were Shout and Charge. Charge had a 60 second cooldown time, and Shout had 170 seconds. It also had the Fear skill, which was something almost all boss monsters had, and Fear was on a 900 second cooldown time.

When its HP fell below 70%, it entered its second phase. The Charge skill fell to a 30 second cooldown time, and all of its stats increased by 10%. At the same time, when it was attacked by magic, it would always go after the magician regardless of aggro.

When its HP fell below 30%, it entered its third phase. The Shout skill turned into a passive skill. Debuff skills no longer worked on it, and the cooldown time on Charge disappeared. On top of all this, its stats increased by 33%.

The key point in conquering the Bear Warrior was…

‘Taking off its armor and shield.’

Disarming.

If compared to a player, it would be a wearing a full set.

It was equipped with a helmet, a breastplate, shoulder pads, gloves, and boots. Its upper body was entirely covered with armor. Its lower body was mostly protected with only the inside part of its thighs open. Even so, its thick hair protected the thighs, and it was naturally difficult to attack that area.

Finally, it was equipped with a shield bigger than its own body and a scimitar-shaped sword bigger than an adult male.

The best way to deal damage was to use magic. Fire attribute magic was especially strong against the Bear Warrior as it pierced its armor. However, using fire attribute magic as the main source of damage caused a huge problem when the Bear Warrior entered its second phase. In its second phase, it became a bulldozer that used Charge at magicians in the back while ignoring everything else.

When it entered its third phase, that’s when the real hell began. In a situation where there were less magicians, the raid team would now have to deal with fully armed Bear Warrior who couldn’t get debuffed. There was no way the remaining tankers and strikers could deal with it.

As such, it was best if one could take off at least 2 of its armor parts, preferably its breastplate and shield.

Without the breastplate, its entire upper body became a target. If needed, one could even climb on its back to deal damage. Without its armor, the Bear Warrior wasn’t so difficult.

Without the shield, the power of its Charge would lessen greatly. When the Bear Warrior used Charge, it put its shield in front of itself. Plus, if it used Charge without its shield, it took self-inflicted damage.

That was the very basic of Bear Warrior hunting method.

’29 points on its shoulders and ribs.’

The real point was to aim for the 29 points joining its armor.

The very basic hunting method was something anyone could figure out from seeing its appearance. With just that, it couldn’t really be called a hunting method. A real hunting method had to be more detailed.

The 29 points that Hyrkan knew about. It was something worthy of being sold for money.

‘I’ll first aim for the left shoulder which is holding the shield.’

What Hyrkan had to do now was show how it was done.

“Whew!”

Hyrkan took a deep breath of air, then used a skill.

“Golem Summon.”

★★★

The clash between the 4-meter tall Golem and the 4-meter tall Bear Warrior was more one-sided than one might have imagined.

Kuoo!

Contrary to his ferocious growl, the Bear Warrior moved with shrewdness.

Clang!

It blocked the Golem’s arm swing with its shield, and took advantage of any gap in defense it could find to slash its sword.

Puhat!

It slashed down at the Golem’s left shoulder as if to instantly sever it. For the Golem who was on the receiving end, it could only be thankful that it was a sword and not an axe.

‘Amazing.’

Watching this scene, Hyrkan could feel a phantom pain in his shoulder. That was how strong the blow was. The Bear Warrior’s attack was both powerful and excellently executed.

‘This is not the time to be impressed.’

Hyrkan gritted his teeth and organized his thoughts. Then, he swung his right arm like a whip.

Whoosh!

The Golem copied Hyrkan’s movements and swung its arm like a whip, albeit slower. The Bear Warrior easily blocked its attack with its shield.

Kwang!

Although it looked like a simple clash, the sound suggested otherwise. The boom from their clash was something straight out of a car crash.

Kuooo!

The Bear Warrior’s roar cut through the booming sound and rang out.

Crack!

It swung down with its sword once again, which penetrated deeply into the Golem’s left shoulder, which had yet to recover. The sword continued down from the Golem’s left shoulder to its chest. The resulting wound was enough to instantly kill a human being. Thankfully, the one with the wound was a Golem.

Furthermore…

‘Okay!’

The chance Hyrkan had been waiting for had come.

“Hardening!”

When Hyrkan used the skill, his Golem which had partially turned to dirt started hardening. Then, the Golem’s body grabbed onto the Bear Warrior’s sword.

Kuuu!

Although the Bear Warrior tried its hardest to pull out the sword, the Golem’s body held onto the sword tightly and refused to let it go.

Snap!

Meanwhile, Hyrkan snapped his fingers.

Whish!

As soon as the signal came, two Skeleton Warriors that had been waiting in the corner made their appearance. Two Black Orc Skeleton Warriors fearlessly charged at the Bear Warrior.

Puhat!

In that instant, the Bear Warrior kicked the Golem’s body with its foot, successfully pulling out its sword from its body. With the sword pulled out, the Golem stiffly fell backwards.

Bom!

When the Golem’s body touched the ground, the ground rumbled slightly. The Bear Warrior immediately turned its body to face the two Skeleton Warriors charging at it. It then opened its mouth big.

Through its mouth…

Kuaaa!

[Skeleton Warriors ignored the Bear Warrior’s Fear.]

Fear struck out.

Of course, Fear had no effect on the Skeleton Warriors. Undead monsters had no such thing as a sense of fear. It was one of the benefits of having Skeleton Warriors.

Of course, just that wasn’t enough to cover the overwhelming difference between the Skeleton Warriors and the Bear Warrior.

Swish!

With a swing of its sword, the Bear Warrior easily took care of one of the Skeleton Warriors.

Puhat!

A Skeleton Warrior was cut in two in an instant and fell on the ground.

Although the other Skeleton Warrior swung its sword at the Bear Warrior, the Bear Warrior’s shield blocked the attack with a ‘clang.’ Although the Skeleton Warrior tried to continue its attack, a sword bore down like lightning from beyond the shield.

To evade the attack, the Skeleton Warrior quickly sidestepped to the right.

Crack!

However, the Bear Warrior was quicker. The Skeleton Warriors left armor was severed off cleanly.

As the Skeleton Warrior staggered after losing its balance, the Bear Warrior struck the Skeleton Warrior with its shield. The Skeleton Warrior’s body flew into the air effortlessly.

An overwhelming strength!

It was enough to make most players gasp with horror. However, Hyrkan didn’t so much as to flinch at the sight of it.

Hyrkan. The moment the Bear Warrior struck the Skeleton Warriors with its shield, he was already flying towards the Bear Warrior’s back. Like an arrow flying through the air, Hyrkan drew a parabola and landed on the Bear Warrior’s left shoulder.

The armor at this spot was lighter than in the rest of the Bear Warrior’s body to allow its joints to move more freely. Hyrkan stabbed his sword in at this spot.

Crack!

The sound of armor being penetrated rang out.

Then…

Stab!

So did the sound of its skin being penetrated.

That was the end to the sound.

‘A bit light.’

There were no deeper sounds. Instead, another sound rang out.

[Bear Warrior falls under the Demon Curse.]

The system alert from the Bear Warrior falling under the Demon Curse.

Kuooo!

To cleanse the curse it just received, the Bear Warrior used Shout. The ringing from the shout lightly shook Hyrkan who was hanging by the sword stabbed into the Bear Warrior.

[Demon Curse disappears due to the Bear Warrior’s Shout.]

The curse had disappeared!

However, Hyrkan didn’t panic.

‘A game is just a game.’

Instead, Hyrkan acted as if he had expected it to happen. He used the sword stuck in the Bear Warrior as a pivot to spin himself like a hand of a clock. From 6 to 10, Hyrkan quickly climbed the Bear Warrior’s shoulder. Immediately afterwards, he pulled out the Orc Hero’s Sword and threw it somewhere.

Then, in the hole made by the Orc Hero’s Sword, he stabbed in another sword.

Stab!

This time, a deeper sound rang out.

“Aha!”

As did Hyrkan’s laughter.

[Bear Warrior falls under the Demon Curse.]

[Bear Warrior falls under the Slow Curse.]

[Bear Warrior falls under the Corrosive Ghost.]

The three curses quickly swallowed the Bear Warrior’s body.

Their effects were instant.

The Bear Warrior turned its head to the left to bite Hyrkan. However, his movement was visibly slower than before.

Hyrkan quickly jumped off the Bear Warrior, using its shoulder as a launching pad. Even afterwards, he had some time, which he of course used effectively.

‘Here you go!’

Hyrkan grabbed a fist-sized skeleton that was hanging on his chest and threw it into the Bear Warrior’s mouth. The skeleton grew in size to that of an apple.

Then…

Boom!

It exploded.

It was Hyrkan’s new level 60 skill, Bone Explosive. Like Skeleton Warriors, they had to be crafted using materials from monsters. The one Hyrkan just threw was worth 50 gold. Although it was called an explosive, it was just throwing money in Hyrkan’s eyes.

Its power was easy to see.

However, it wasn’t enough to deal fatal damage. In fact, after being struck by the Bone Explosive, the Bear Warrior used Charge at Hyrkan who had just landed on the ground. It was the perfect sneak attack.

Those who didn’t know about it would fall victim to it without doubt.

‘Hmph.’

However, it was an attack pattern within Hyrkan’s expectations. After landing on the ground, Hyrkan immediately moved to his right.

Whosh!

A bulldozer razed the spot Hyrkan had just been. There was nothing Hyrkan could do to stop the Bear Warrior when it was using Charge. It was hard enough to dodge it.

Kwaaaaa!

The Bear Warrior stopped only after crashing down five, large trees. Then, it turned around and faced Hyrkan once again.

Hyrkan didn’t smile at the sight.

‘158 seconds.’

He was colder than ever.

‘I’ll get at least 10 points within the next 158 seconds.’