Chapter 40

Golden Skeleton (3)

Swordsman class players who were skilled in PKs had balanced strength and stamina stats . It was never the case that one of the two were much higher than the other . Even so, this did not mean that they distributed the stat points from level up equally . If so, down the line, they would only be suited for PKs .

Typically, players chose either the strength or stamina stat to focus most of their stat points, then filled the other stat point through items .

In the case of Join, he chose stamina with his level up stat points and strength with his item choices .

Join’s current stamina stat was 149 .

That was enough to determine the outcome of this match .

Crash!

Hyrkan’s hammer struck Join’s helmet like a bell . Join staggered, during which time Hyrkan’s Skeleton Warrior struck him with its hammer . Join’s body flew up in the air, then landed on the ground with a thud .

‘Shit . ’

Join got up from the ground slowly . He felt his body heavier than ever before .

‘He even knows curses . ’

Demon Curse and Slow Curse .

These two curses were currently hindering Join . He felt as if he was wearing shackles on both his hands and feet .

‘Who is he?’

Not to mention, the magician that was supposed to help him was long dead . When Skeleton Warriors suddenly jumped on Int, he had no way of avoiding and death was inevitable . Although magicians were strong, that was it . His magic had dealt a fair bit of damage to one of the Skeleton Warriors, but the other ones didn’t miss the opening created after his attack . It was Game Over with just one swing . Once a magician fell down, he didn’t have enough stamina to sustain being hit continuously .

At this moment, Join did not despair, but rather considered his opponent’s strength once more .

‘A necromancer with 4 skeletons . He raised strength and is also a curse magician . ’

He knew his role in this situation . There was no chance of him escaping alive . His allies had already begun fighting the Golden Skeleton . What he had to do now was to deliver as much as information as possible to his allies .

Join raised his sword .

Watching this, Hyrkan charged towards Join .

Before the distance closed, Join turned his sword horizontally to slash at Hyrkan .

Before that…

“Booster!”

He used a skill .

The moment the skill was used, Join’s sword moved with incredible speed, just like the sword had a booster attached to its hilt .

Whoosh!

Even so, Join’s sword only slashed through thin air . Hyrkan had lowered his body and dodged the attack . Immediately afterwards, Hyrkan swung his hammer at Join’s knee .

Crack!

Join’s knee made a strange sound before his body spun a full circle and landed in place .

While he was staring into the sky feeling dizzy…

Crash!

A hammer slammed down his face .

Crash crash!

It rained down endlessly .

★★★

-We got taken out .

When the message from the Joint duo came, the Golden Skeleton hunting team was already in action .

They had no choice .

Their two priests had already used their buffs and their strongest magician had already finished casting his strongest spell . Most importantly, the Golden Skeleton was in front of their eyes .

Giving up and going back at this point was… something they couldn’t afford to do .

In the end, two swordsmen led the way while the magician supported them from the back . Meanwhile, one of the priests talked to the already dead Joint duo using the voice talk program .

-He’s not normal . Even though he’s a necromancer, both he and his summons are strong . It seems we fell into his trap .

“Trap?”

-Otherwise, why would someone so strong pretend to be a weakling? The one he was fighting wasn’t a monster, but his own summon .

“Mm . ”

Trap .

The priest wasn’t surprised . He only thought what was meant to happen, happened .

‘I knew this would happen . ’

Dead Woods was a hunting ground for level 30+ players . Players who were above level 30 at this point in the game were people who spent a fair amount of money in the game . They weren’t the kind to sit back and do nothing when they were PKed without reason . Without a doubt they would surely try to get revenge . Because of this, PKs generally only worked at levels 10s and 20s . Past that, there was a huge risk involved . If one didn’t find great joy in PKs, most opted to do PvP, a fair 1v1 dual .

Of course, there was no way the Golden Skeleton hunting team didn’t know this . That was why they placed so much emphasis on ending this early . Once they finished what they wanted to do and left, there was lesser chance of receiving retaliation . Their faces weren’t filmed, and they could simply change what they were wearing . It’s not like there were security cameras or finger print scanners .

However, it seemed that one of their victims had a strong backing . They didn’t think someone so skilled would come in such short period of time .

“Are you sure it was just one person?”

-Just one . No one else .

“One person…”

On the other hand, it seemed that the victim could only find one person in such short amount of time .

This fact made the priest unsure .

‘If it’s just one, maybe we can deal with him . ’

If a group of players came, they would have no choice but to run away . But with just one, it was a different story .

Of course, Join’s thoughts were different .

-I’m telling you, he’s not normal . You guys should take care of him first before you get to the Golden Skeleton .

The priest refused Join’s suggestion .

“If we miss the Golden Skeleton today, we’ll have to try again tomorrow . By that time, there will be more people after us . ”

If they wanted to kill the Golden Skeleton, now was the time . They had delayed it long enough . Any more would be too risky .

-But…

Join knew this as well .

“Just tell me how he looks like again . ”

-Alright .

Join decided not to continue with his suggestion . He was already in Game Over state, and he had no choice but to hope for his allies to succeed .

Everyone else agreed as well .

“If we’re going to do it, we have to do it now . ”

“You said it was just one, right? Even if he comes here, I’ll just take the aggro, and everyone else can pounce on him . It won’t take long . ”

“Yeah, let’s hurry up and finish . ”

They knew that if they couldn’t kill it today, it was better to leave Dead Woods .

The Golden Skeleton hunt started in such a way and went on as if the two missing people weren’t needed .

All members were at their maximum concentration, and they were already experienced in dealing with the Golden Skeleton . Because of it, they were able to coordinate well with each other .

Above all, the one they had been wary of never came . Not even skeletons and Skeleton Warriors, which often arrived after hearing the commotion, showed up . The Golden Skeleton hunting team could put all their energy and focus onto the Golden Skeleton .

As a result…

“Get ready to chase!”

“It’s phase 2!”

They were quickly able to lower the Golden Skeleton’s HP to half .

Once the Golden Skeleton’s HP dropped to half, the Golden Skeleton dropped aggro and ran away as fast as possible .

“Catch it!”

“Don’t let it escape this time!”

This was why it was so hard to hunt a Golden Skeleton . If the Golden Skeleton went out of vision, the game system decided that it had successfully escaped . In that case, the hunters would have to wait another day .

The Golden Skeleton hunting team had already failed two times . They didn’t want to fail a third time . Experienced from its last two escapes, they didn’t blindly chase after it . They set up a formation and moved accordingly .

Swordsmen, magicians, and priests all took part in the chase .

The five moved as one .

And…

‘It’s finally starting . They did better than I thought they would . ’

Hyrkan, who had been hiding and watching, made his move .

★★★

“I’m here to get an apology . ”

When the Golden Skeleton hunting team successfully caught up with the Golden Skeleton, they couldn’t help but yell in excitement .

Once the pursuers caught up with the Golden Skeleton, it stopped running and fought back . At this point, finishing it off wasn’t too big of a problem .

However, a strange player suddenly appeared in a strange getup, wearing a strange mask, while saying strange things . The Golden Skeleton hunting team stood dumbfounded .

“What?”

They had already received a report .

The Joint duo told them about Hyrkan’s characteristics, and they weren’t the ones to be forgotten so easily either . They had even made a plan to remove him if he appeared .

Even so, they couldn’t help but be shocked by the absurd thing Hyrkan was saying .

Hyrkan repeated his words at the two priests standing in the back .

“Your acts of bad manner have not gone unnoticed . Countless players have been PKed by you already . I’m here to get an apology . ”

He continued .

“I’m not here to cause a ruckus . All I want is an apology, a sincere one . I also want you to return the watches of all the players you PKed . That is all . ”

Hyrkan’s polite and composed words were undoubtedly just . Since they PKed, he wanted them to apologize and to return the watches! There was nothing unfair about it .

However, for the ones hearing it…

‘The fuck is he saying?’

‘Is he messing with us?’

It was complete nonsense .

It was so absurd that their faces were frozen in stupefaction .

When Hyrkan finished his speech, everyone snapped back . They opened their mouths to prepare for action .

“How long can you last alone?”

“I’ll be fine for 2 or 3 minutes . ”

“Good luck . ”

“Hurry up and come back in 3 minutes . That guy’s nuts . ”

To fight, a swordsman had to lead . Although he was alone, he was a necromancer who had skeletons at his disposal . They couldn’t just fight him with magicians and priests .

As such, one of the swordsman fighting the Golden Skeleton turned back to face Hyrkan .

At the same time, the other swordsman attacked the Golden Skeleton to draw aggro to himself .

The swordsman raised his sword up high and charged at the Golden Skeleton .

“Crash!”

When the swordsman yelled out, his sword lit up .

Shining Sword .

The Golden Skeleton swung its own sword towards this sword, and the two swords clashed .

Crash!

Rather than the sound of metal, a sound of explosion rang out .

In the midst of that explosion, the Golden Skeleton was clearly eyeing the swordsman .

“I got the aggro!”

Having succeeded in drawing the aggro, the swordsman shouted out . Meanwhile, the two priests quickly ran back, away from Hyrkan . It was the most basic of basics to aim for the priests first .

At the same time, the swordsman that had turned back stood between Hyrkan and the two priests . He immediately swung his sword at Hyrkan . Horizontally, vertically, diagonally… he slashed at him without any delay .

Whoosh, whoosh!

The sound of air being cut continued to ring out in Hyrkan’s ears .

“Alright, just buy time . I’ll send a hot one flying over soon . ”

The magician, of course, began casting his magic . It wasn’t a strong one, but one that could be casted quickly . If need be, he would risk losing the swordsman to finish Hyrkan off . After all, they were up against just one person, and the Golden Skeleton hunting team had two priests .

At this, Hyrkan gave one final warning .

“I just need an apology . If you do this, I will have no choice but to retaliate . ”

Of course, there was no response to his warning . There was no need to .

At the same time…

‘How is this guy dodging so well?’

The swordsman couldn’t help but be surprised as he watched Hyrkan dodge all his attacks with the slightest movement . He could even afford to blabber .

“I’m ready . ”

Hearing the magician’s report, the swordsman looked for a timing .

“Booster!”

Then, he used an attack speed boosting skill .

Whish!

The heavy sound of the sword quickly turned sharp . At the same time, the magician grabbed a hold of a heavy fireball . He estimated the distance between them as he prepared to throw .

At that moment…

Clack, clack!

A horned Skeleton Warrior wearing Bone Armor began to charge towards the magician like a bull .

Watching this, one of the priests quickly arrived next to the magician and held his palms out .

“Light Shield!”

A tent-sized barrier surrounded him and the magician . The Skeleton Warrior swung its hammer toward the shield .

At the same time…

Whish!

The magician threw his fireball at his ally and Hyrkan without hesitation . The fireball made a perfect parabola as it began to fall toward Hyrkan’s back . Then…

Boom!

The fireball exploded and fire shards exploded out in all directions .

“Shit!”

A scream was heard .

“Help me!”

“What?”

“What happened?”

The sound came from the swordsman who had been keeping the Golden Skeleton’s aggro .