Chapter 33

The Corrupted Stone (2)

It was on the 20th day of entering Lizard Swamp that Hyrkan reached his level 30 goal .

[You have leveled up . ]

At the same time his level went up…

[You have obtained the title, ‘Lizard Hunter’ . ]

He obtained a new title . It was because he had killed hundreds of Lizardmen by the time he hit level 30 .

Next .

[Skeleton Fragment skill rank has increased to D . ]

[Demon Curse skill rank has increased to E . ]

[Madness Helm skill rank has increased to E . ]

Three skills ranked up simultaneously . The Lizard Hunter title and achieving level 30 had boosted his skill proficiencies significantly .

To Hyrkan, these alerts were the harmonic choir of heavenly voices . He felt like he was ascending every time he heard one alert .

Hyrkan shook as he clenched his fists tightly .

‘Yeah, that’s right! This is what Hero Slaughterer Hyrkan is all about!’

Truth be told, even Hyrkan was surprised at his current achievements .

‘I can’t believe I beat my past record by 4 days . ’

In the past, it took 24 days for him to get from level 20 to level 30 . During those 24 days, he played Warlord like a corpse, not to mention he wasn’t alone . Back then, he was with Kim Dongsoo, the man he believed to be friends with forever .

Although they weren’t at their prime, their achievement of level 30 allowed them to believe that they could really turn their lives around through Warlord . Any doubts they had before had turned into confidence .

Rightly so . It took 30 days for slightly above average players, but they managed to do it in 24 days . Those 6 days accounted for a 20 percent decrease . The difference was between that of someone who ran 100 meters in 10 seconds and 8 seconds .

But Hyrkan managed to shorten that time by another 4 days .

20 days!

‘Although it isn’t a new record, it’s at least faster than the current Rankers in the 100s . ’

It called for a celebration . It signified that Hyrkan’s choice wasn’t wrong, and that he could run much faster than the Rankers who had started playing 10 months ago .

Hyrkan gained confidence .

‘That’s right, I’m good . ’

At the same time, he grumbled .

‘I deserve to eat some meat now, don’t I?’

It was over throwing away the expensive tenderloin steak a few days ago . In truth, he massively regretted his actions as he ate protein powder . Of course, as always, it was a little too late for regret .

‘Ehew, I’m such an idiot . ’

Hyrkan erased the painful memory from his mind .

‘Mm?’

At that time, Hyrkan caught sight of something appearing then disappearing in the distance . With no hesitation, Hyrkan changed his Skeleton Warriors back to their fragment form and collected them . Then, he disappeared between the trees .

“Find him!”

It was then, the people who had been hiding came out and ran towards where Hyrkan was .

“We have to find him, quick!”

A player urgently shouted . Squatted behind a tree, Hyrkan watched the player that shouted . He was someone Hyrkan was acquainted with .

‘There’s that retard again . ’

It was a player that came to avenge the three beauties, and was absolutely thrashed by Hyrkan . This time, he came with two companions .

‘My level 30 gifts grew legs!’

It was a visit Hyrkan couldn’t decline . As such, Hyrkan slowly revealed himself .

“Here! Thanks for coming all the way out here!”

After coming out of hiding, Hyrkan waved his hand to make himself known .

He was fully confident .

That he could take care of three by himself . No, Hyrkan wasn’t alone . Now, he had four trustworthy skeleton servants . He didn’t have a reason to be afraid .

‘If I get something good again, I’ll get steak again . This time, I won’t throw it away . No matter what happens… agh, I can’t believe I did something so stupid . ’

★★★

One man was kneeling in a swamp . His eyes were a mess as if he had been through a torture . Standing about three feet away was Hyrkan .

“Let me ask you something . Did those bitches tell you they’d give you a kiss in real life if you caught me? What, did they write you a contract for a deep kiss? Otherwise, why are you doing all this just do get me?”

At Hyrkan’s inquiry, the blind man did not respond .

“Don’t tell me you actually put your life on the line for a kiss . Really? I mean, a life in Warlord is cheaper than one in real life, but it’s still not worth a kiss . Come on, don’t you have anything better to do?”

“… You son of a bitch, you think you’ll be fine after this?”

At Hyrkan’s teasing, the man became enraged as he threatened Hyrkan . Of course, his threat didn’t mean a thing to Hyrkan . By his books, it didn’t even count as one .

Hyrkan grinned . As he did, he tapped his left wrist with his right index finger . Then, a Skeleton Warrior sliced down at the man’s left wrist . His hand wasn’t chopped off with just one swing . After all, he was wearing thick, steel gloves .

Bang, bang!

As if it was hammering, the Skeleton Warrior continuously struck down on his glove . After several clashes, giving off sparks, his steel glove became a mess and his hand chopped off .

Hyrkan grabbed the chopped off hand by its wrist, took out the watch, then stored it in his pocket .

“I’ll let you live . ”

With that, without delivering the final blow, Hyrkan left .

‘It’s about time to leave here . ’

He had gained quite a lot in the Lizard Swamp . Thus, it was time to finish up .

More importantly, there were just too many who Hyrkan had done in . In the first place, they grouped up against one man just to look good to a bunch of girls . They were the type to try every means possible to have their way .

They would go after him with vengeance . They might even hire a skilled Ranker . In Warlord, one could do almost everything with money . Because of this, Hyrkan had to finish up and leave the Lizard Swamp . Moreover, Lizard Swamp was no longer a favorable hunting ground for Hyrkan . Although it was right for his level, Hyrkan could hunt at a higher level hunting ground with his abilities .

There was only one thing left to do .

‘If I can’t find that egg in 3 days, I’m going to give up . ’

The Nested Egg quest .

Hyrkan gave 3 days until its deadline . He would look for it with all his might for these three days, and if he couldn’t find it, he would give up and move on to the next area . If he couldn’t find it there either, then the right choice would be to come back to Lizard Swamp .

Plus, Hyrkan had diligently collected any information on the Nested Egg, and did his fair share of analysis .

‘It’s called Nested Egg, but I’m sure it’s not some normal egg . ’

Hyrkan was positive that what he was looking for wasn’t really a nest or an egg .

This quest was part of the Corrupted Count quest . In that case, it was likely that the Power of Corruption would be related somehow .

‘Could the egg have been exposed to Corruption? Then what does Nest mean?’

A monster’s egg exposed to the Power of Corruption .

For the record, it was exceedingly difficult to find a Lizardman’s egg . As it was a considered a crafting item rather than a monster, it was a treasure hunt to find one . This was why Hyrkan have yet to find any . At the same time, what Hyrkan needed to find was not likely to be a normal egg from a Lizardman’s nest .

As said before, it must be a related to the Power of Corruption in some way . Ahimbree would not have given him a simple quest like brining back an egg from a nest . Hyrkan needed a special egg from a special nest .

‘If only I could find a Corrupted monster…’

What would be most helpful in situations like this was finding a monster with the ‘Corrupted’ title .

With that, he would be able to ensure that something was related to the Corrupted Count .

However, no matter how much Hyrkan looked for information on Bangtz Castle’s Lizard Swamp, he could not find anything about a mutant monster . In fact, there were more stories about Hyrkan; that a very strange necromancer was going berserk in the Lizard Swamp .

Moreover, even if someone found a mutant in the Lizard Swamp, it was unlikely for that information to be shared . After all, such rare monsters would drop rare crafting items . The founder would obviously try to kill it . Otherwise, he would sell information about it for a sizable sum .

Relying on information from fan sites to solve this problem was meaningless . It was no different than buying a lottery ticket and expecting to win .

In the end, there was only one answer .

‘Time to run . ’

★★★

‘Shit . ’

Hyrkan ran with all his might . Behind him, seven players chased after him .

“Get him!”

“Don’t let him get away again!”

Hearing the hostile voices behind him, Hyrkan clenched his teeth .

‘These god damn idiots . Are they not embarrassed, doing all this for a bunch of girls? Fuck!’

The ones taken out by Hyrkan . Realizing that they were powerless to deal with him alone, they banded together . Of course, it was unlikely that they found each other on their own . Ilya and the other two bitches likely had their hands in the matter .

In any case, a total of ten players grouped together to catch Hyrkan .

It was a rather large number for a bunch of idiots who got tricked by a bunch of girls . The group immediately formed a plan to catch Hyrkan, and the current situation was a result of that plan .

Hyrkan was running .

No matter how strong he was, it was impossible for him to handle 10 players who were equal or higher level than him . At the same time, Hyrkan didn’t have the slightest idea of wanting to die in a valiant battle .

The only answer was to run!

Thankfully, there were three factors that helped Hyrkan’s escape . First was that Hyrkan was an all-strength necromancer . Second was that he knew the ins and outs of the Lizard Swamp . The last was that…

“You bastard!”

In the most critical situation…

‘Summon Skeleton Warrior!’

He could call upon a scapegoat to take the blow for him .

The summoned Skeleton Warrior quickly blocked the path Hyrkan crossed . As soon as the Skeleton Warrior appeared, the swordsmen that were running after him swung their swords at it .

Whish!

Although it dodged the first swordsman’s sword,

Crack!

The second swordsman’s sword broke its shoulder bones .

Thud!

It then blocked the third swordsman’s swing with its shield .

Crack!

But the follow-up attack of the first swordsman broke its neck . The Skeleton Warrior’s head fell on the ground, and its remaining body served as a sandbag for the angry swordsmen .

Looking at his mana drain away, Hyrkan could tell what was currently happening .

‘You dare do this to my servant… . ’

Hyrkan bit down on his lips . Death was routine for Skeleton Warriors . To begin with, it was strange to use such an expression . After all, Skeleton Warriors were undead type monsters . Even so, experiencing the destruction of his Skeleton Warriors, Hyrkan’s mood turned sour .

Skeleton Warriors were his faithful servants . They never betrayed him, and they happily sacrificed their lives for him . Although that was because of their AI design, to Hyrkan who had experienced the bitter taste of betrayal, they were his servants and comrades . Hyrkan’s blood was too hot to not rage over their death .

‘You bastards, I remember your faces . You just wait . Soon, I’m going to get my revenge…’

Suddenly .

‘Huh?’

Hyrkan flinched .

‘What’s this?’

The reason was his surrounding environment . What was in front of him was a never before seen terrain .

Up until now, Hyrkan had been moving in the Lizard Swamp like it was his own backyard . There wasn’t a place he didn’t know about . If Hyrkan really did not know about this place, he would lose his advantages .

Hyrkan became tense .

‘Reset? Event Field?’

If it was a place he knew, it was possible that the area was reset . In Warlord, plant life didn’t grow randomly . Players used this feature to cut trees and cultivate the land . In such case, areas became reset depending on situation . After a certain period of time, if no players were nearby, an area go back to its original state .

Event Field was pretty much what it sounded like . It referred to fields changing to fulfill a role in an event . It was a chance to meet certain monsters or to find instance dungeons .

In any case, Hyrkan stayed vigilant of his surroundings .

As he was in a new area, he didn’t know which part had deep swamps, which part was suitable for fighting, or which part could be used to cross the swamp .

At that moment, in front of Hyrkan’s eyes, a black swamp made its appearance . The moment he saw the swamp, a sense of danger enveloped Hyrkan .

‘If I go in there… it won’t end well . ’

Hyrkan threw one Skeleton Fragment towards the Swamp . Then, he snapped his fingers thrice .

After appearing on top of the black swamp, a Skeleton Warrior attempted to dance as its feet were struck in the swamp .

Meanwhile, Hyrkan concealed himself .

★★★

“The hell is that?”

After finding a Skeleton Warrior dancing in a black swamp, the group of players chasing Hyrkan could only be infuriated .

“That fucking necromancer . He’s playing with us…”

They were already irritated by Hyrkan’s running, but now that they were suddenly provoked, their anger reached their limit .

Of course, the swordsmen headed out to de stress . They entered the swamp and began to mercilessly dismantle the Skeleton Warrior . Then, someone spoke out .

“Don’t kill it! Just damage it so that fucking necromancer wastes his mana . Necromancers are useless without their mana anyways . ”

At these words, the three swordsmen in the swamp nodded their heads . Meanwhile, the priests and magicians stood on guard with the rest of the swordsmen . Their target was an odd necromancer . Having been killed by him already, they knew they had to be on guard .

Suddenly .

“Hm?”

A priest that had been focusing all his senses on the black swamp blinked his eyes, as if he discovered something .

‘What’s that?’

He had caught sight of something . With swift, a 6 meter long monster swam across the black swamp .

Sssss!

The monster let out a bone-chilling sound as it approached three swordsmen and the dancing Skeleton Warrior .

“Caref…!”

Before the priest could finish his warning…

Pussh!

An enormous lizard exploded out from the black swamp . With its mouth wide open, the lizard…

Gulp!

Swallowed a swordsman whole before it quickly disappeared into the black swamp .

Someone had disappeared in the blink of an eye .

‘Huh?’

‘What just happened?’

At this sudden turn of events, all those watching froze in place . Only the Skeleton Warrior continued dancing . The only one who remained sane without panicking was the one hidden nearby, watching the whole thing happen .

It was, of course, Hyrkan .

When Hyrkan caught a glimpse of that monster, Hyrkan couldn’t help but frown .

‘A Dragon Lizard . Don’t tell me, ‘nest’ was referring to a Dragon Lizard’s lair?’

Dragon Lizard .

As a level 40 boss monster, its defense, stamina, and attack were several times that of normal monsters .