Chapter 56

Maoong’s Test (3)

Hyrkan’s body became covered in black liquid as he charged out . It seemed the black liquid was unable to withstand Hyrkan’s speed, as it fell off of his body . When the black liquid completely disappeared, Hyrkan’s Skeleton Armor could be seen .

Hyrkan took something out and threw it on the ground . Then, he pulled out his sword from the sheath hung by his left hip .

Chwing!

With a strong, metallic sound, Hyrkan’s longsword made its appearance . Hyrkan held this seemingly inexpensive sword with both hands .

‘Left . ’

Already in position to attack, the one Hyrkan was aiming for was the left most player among the three .

His name was Wang Jiang .

Of course, it wasn’t a name Hyrkan would remember . What was important to Hyrkan were the gaps in his armor and helmet . Hyrkan swung his sword horizontally at these gaps like a baseball player .

Whish!

His sword cut through the air .

Crash!

It penetrated the gap and made a rough sound . Hyrkan’s ability to stab the small gaps in armor was more of an art than technique . It was clean and beautiful .

‘Kuk!’

Of course, for the one on the receiving end, it was like a fierce, unavoidable natural disaster .

After suddenly being struck on the neck, he couldn’t even let out a breath of air .

Hyrkan didn’t stop there . He continued on like a bulldozer .

“Eh?”

“Huh?”

The two remaining players watched their ally suddenly disappear . They were unable to respond in the slightest, and stared at Hyrkan knock down their ally .

While they were staring dumbfounded…

Clack clack!

The four Skeleton Fragment Hyrkan threw while charging forward quickly sprouted forth four imposing figures .

2-meter-tall, black Skeleton Warriors with large shoulder bones . Fangs shooting up from their lower mouth clearly showed that they were made using Black Orcs as material .

The Skeleton Warriors didn’t hesitate in the slightest as they made their move . In an instant, they charged at the two players staring at Hyrkan .

“What?”

“Eh?”

By the time they noticed the eerie sound coming from behind them, it was too late . The sight of four Skeleton Warriors charging at them caught them completely off guard, and they were unable to react properly .

Crash!

A head for one .

Crack!

The stomach for the other .

Clang!

They shook as they were hit on their head and stomach respectively .

More attacks poured forth as they were shaking .

“Shit! Hey!”

“I know!”

Although they tried to counterattack by pulling out and swinging their sword, as they were completely off balance, their attacks were nothing more than pointless flailing . The Skeleton Warriors were too good to be hit by such attacks . The Skeleton Warriors dodged the attacks with ease and counterattacked .

“Kuk!”

With a short and rough cry, one of the two players fell . His fate was gruesome to say the least, as the Skeleton Warriors hacked away at him as if they were cutting firewood .

“Are you okay?”

Although the one remaining player shouted towards his ally, he wasn’t in any better positon .

Meanwhile, Hyrkan summoned his Golem .

Kugugu!

The Golem rose from the ground and became a wall that split the battle in half .

“Fuck!”

At the same time, the one who Hyrkan had sent flying to begin the fight finally got up as he cursed . However, what greeted his line of sight was Hyrkan’s sword tip .

Stab!

“Uk!”

Hyrkan’s sword penetrated the gap in his helmet with precision, and instantly took away his vision .

“What?”

For the one on the receiving end, it felt like the light had suddenly gone off . Hyrkan simply put Wang Jiang back down on the ground with a kick .

“Whoop!”

Hyrkan pushed down on his chest with his foot, pulled out the sword still stuck in his face, then stabbed it again .

Stab, stab .

An indescribable bone-chilling sound rang out .

Although Wang Jiang struggled, because Hyrkan’s strength stat was higher than his, Wang Jiang was unable throw off Hyrkan’s foot .

“Fuck! Do you know who we are? You won’t get away with this!”

In the end, all he could do was talk . Hyrkan seemed unfazed by his childish threat as he continued to stab his eyes with his sword .

“Stop! Stop!”

Wang Jiang cried out .

It was something he could say only because he couldn’t see what was happening to him . If he could, he would undoubtedly piss his pants .

As they said, ignorance is bliss .

“I’m from the Apollo Guild!”

At his continued childish threat, Hyrkan stopped his sword for the first time .

“Apollo Guild?”

“Yeah, that’s right! You’re fucked! We’ll kill you over and over again until you quit the game for good!”

At this, Hyrkan couldn’t help but smirk . Then, he continued his sword work .

“You fucker, I said stop!”

Wang Jiang shouted out once again . However, his cries didn’t enter Hyrkan’s ears .

Hyrkan began to reminisce .

‘What do they call this there? Karma?’

The image of a chubby, squinty-eyed man popped up in Hyrkan’s head .

‘I didn’t think I’d be tangled up with him again . ’

The man he was thinking of was none other than the Apollo Guild’s guild master, Apollo .

He was the son of a rich Chinese tycoon, and lived luxuriously his whole life because of it . Unsurprisingly, he poured huge amounts of money into Warlord to enjoy the same luxurious life, and he formed the Apollo Guild to leech off the guild members .

Although the Apollo Guild wasn’t as powerful or influential as the Top 30 Guilds, it still had better management and stronger influence than most other guilds . Their play style was dirty to say the least, as they pressured low level players with their numbers, items, and levels . Although they didn’t regularly PK or monster steal, they didn’t hesitate to do so if they thought they could get away with it . They were the type who pressured the weak and were servile to the strong .

‘He was quite a funny guy . ’

The Apollo Guild and Hyrkan met before a certain boss raid .

Hyrkan and the Hahoe Mask Guild had waited a long time for their turn in a boss raid . But when their turn had come, the Apollo Guild interjected, saying that it was their turn . The whole situation was absurd for the Hahoe Mask Guild, but Apollo Guild’s guild master said they should decide who gets to go through a fight between representatives from each guild . His plan was to crush the Hahoe Mask’s representative and claim the boss raid .

Of course, Hyrkan had easily crushed their hopes .

In their fight, Hyrkan instantly cut off Apollo’s wrist, but it didn’t just end there . The Apollo Guild couldn’t accept their loss and began to fight with the Hahoe Mask Guild . 30 vs 18 . Although the Hahoe Mask Guild was outnumbered, the Hahoe Mask Guild had an overwhelming victory with Hyrkan killing 10 of Apollo Guild’s members . The Apollo Guild didn’t give up afterwards . They hired mercenaries and tried to get revenge . Of course, Hyrkan easily crushed them too . Then, one day, while Hyrkan was going somewhere alone, he was suddenly attacked by Apollo and his men . Hyrkan was able to win that fight as well, and in the end, the Hahoe Mask Guild released a statement on Apollo Guild’s behavior, and they were reimbursed along with an official apology .

‘I remember Kim Dongsoo and I ate a 200,000 won dinner with a Rothschild wine . That foie gras was so good…’

Hyrkan had thought that was the end of his relationship with the Apollo Guild . One day, however, Hyrkan ran into Apollo Guild members sexually harassing weaker players and took care of them . This incident spread, and the Apollo Guild became ___ overnight . That was the last time Hyrkan had heard of the Apollo Guild . After that, the Hahoe Mask Guild grew immensely, and became a guild the Apollo Guild couldn’t mess with .

‘Come to think of it, the amount of items I stole from Apollo was… whew . ’

In any case, the profit the Hahoe Mask Guild made from the Apollo Guild greatly helped them grow as a guild . Apollo was the type to have his entire item slots filled with expensive items, and every time Hyrkan killed him, he made at least 10,000 gold from his watch . Hyrkan made good use of Apollo’s items and later sold them off .

To Hyrkan, Apollo looked like an angel . Maybe even an arch-angel .

“You fucker . ”

That was the end of Hyrkan’s reminiscence .

“We are going to chase you to the ends of the earth . You’re going to regret ever playing this game . ”

Wang Jiang was still pouring curses after curses . Watching this, Hyrkan was a little bit impressed .

‘You still haven’t logged out? How tenacious . ’

Most people chose to log out in such a situation . No one wanted to wait around to get logged out forcefully, especially since they had to watch themselves being killed powerlessly .

Wang Jiang, however, flapped his mouth endlessly .

‘He’s going to die with just a couple more stabs . ’

Hyrkan knew Wang Jiang had very little HP left, probably about 10% or so . He would die sooner or later .

“Hey . ”

Hyrkan stopped his attacks .

“You said you were from the Apollo Guild, right?”

“Heh, you messed with the wrong guy . ”

“Your guild master is Apollo right?”

“As long as you’re not part of the Top 30 Guilds, you better make a new character . ”

Hearing this, Hyrkan grinned and took his foot off Wang Jiang’s chest . Free to move once again, Wang Jiang twitched his body . Meanwhile, Hyrkan moved his sword near Wang Jiang’s lower body .

“Huh?”

Wang Jiang, who was preparing to get up and put up a final struggle, instantly froze in place .

“You, what do you think you’re…”

Chwing!

Hyrkan slashed at Wang Jiang’s private area . The armor protecting the area was fine . Although there was a little dent, Wang Jiang couldn’t have received any damage .

“Uhuk!”

However, it was the most terrifying, powerful attack Wang Jiang had ever received .

★★★

When Hyrkan turned around after finishing off Wang Jiang, four lined-up Skeleton Warriors greeted him . Watching them, Hyrkan smiled .

‘My cute babies . ’

Hyrkan was more than satisfied by their performance .

‘These guys are even weaker than I thought . They’re probably somewhere around mid-level 60s . ’

Of course, the current outcome wasn’t just a result of Skeleton Warriors’ performance . The three guys from the Apollo Guild were just too weak . Their items were mostly normal rank, with only their weapon and top being rare rank .

On the other hand, Hyrkan had an incredible weapon to use against players .

The Orc Hero’s Sword .

In Warlord, players were also counted as animal-type . Its power in PvP was also why the Orc Hero’s Sword was so popular . Since the Orc Hero’s Sword’s option also applied to Skeleton Warriors, the outcome was only expected . Not to mention, there were no magicians or priests, and they had no time to self-buff either . If they had at least one priest, they wouldn’t have been crushed so easily .

In other words…

‘Considering their items, levels, or skill, there’s no way they made it up here by themselves . The rest of them must be here as well, and they were probably the scouts . The Bulkas Mountain Range should be a good hunting ground for the Apollo Guild . ’

The Apollo Guild was likely in the Bulkas Mountain Range . Since the Bulkas Mountain Range was a good hunting ground, it wouldn’t be strange if an entire guild had moved to group hunt .

‘Well, I’ll be done once I kill the Bear Warrior, so it probably won’t be a problem . It never hurts to be careful though . It’s going to be troublesome if I run into them now . ’

Although he wasn’t afraid of the Apollo Guild, Hyrkan wasn’t so bold as to fight them head on .

Not to mention, they weren’t what he should be focusing on . Hyrkan turned around . It was time to get back to his original goal . Hyrkan collected the Skeleton Warriors and the Golem, then started walking towards his original destination .

Then…

“Ah right, the watches!”

Hyrkan quickly turned back and grabbed the watches . His steps were lighter than usual like someone who stopped at a rest stop to get something to eat .

★★★

There was a bar located at the Bulkas Ranger Village famous for its delicious meat and drink . It was a must-visit place for anyone visiting the Bulkas Ranger Village . As one might expect, it was currently filled with people, especially due to Bulkas Mountain Range’s rise in popularity .

What was surprising was that there was a group filling up the entire bar as if they had paid to borrow the whole thing . Even more surprising was that there was only one person sitting even though there were plenty of chairs and tables around .

“So you’re saying he went after you even after knowing that you were from the Apollo Guild?”

The only man seated was wearing a memorable item . An armor made of reddish black scales . It was the Crimson Crocodile set, rumored to be one of the most expensive sets in Warlord . In fact, it wasn’t something one could get his hands on with just money, as one needed connections with the designer and the material provider .

However, the Crimson Crocodile set was currently looking rather… silly . It changed to fit the body of its user, and thus looked as if it would rip apart at any time . That was how fat the man wearing it was . He looked like the mascot of Michelin Automotive Tires .

“Yes, sir . Even though Wang Jiang warned him many times, he apparently did not stop . ”

Around the fat man stood five players wearing stern expressions .

They were the executives of the Apollo Guild, which had over 100 members averaging level 60 .

“What about his face?”

“They took a video, but it is unclear because of the anti-facial recognition program . ”

The Apollo Guild had entered the Bulkas Mountain Range just one day ago, and they had sent Wang Jiang and the others on a scouting mission .

But before they could properly do their job, they ran into trouble . Not only did this trouble get in the way of the Apollo Guild, but it went so far as to attack its members .

After hearing this, Apollo had gathered the guild’s executives to plan how to get back at him .

“They’ve seen them though, right?”

“Well… they said everything happened too quickly . ”

“What was he wearing?”

“They said they caught a glimpse of a skeleton armor, but they’re unable to describe it clearly . ”

“Three guys got taken out by just one person . How can they not remember his face or clothes?”

“It happened so quick, so…”

Of course, it didn’t seem like things would be that easy .

Listening to the executive’s explanation, Apollo frowned, making him even uglier .

“Whatever, just get him . Kill anyone that gets in the way . We’ll make an example out of him to show what happens to someone who touches the Apollo Guild . ”

At Apollo’s words, the executives bowed as they sighed on the inside .

Other players watching this scene clicked their tongue .

‘Film a movie, would you?’

‘Haa . Look at their fatass pig trying to look cool . ’

The sight of the Apollo talking like some mafia boss didn’t sit well with players watching him . Not to mention, his appearance was just as infuriating .

On the other hand, there were some players who didn’t even glance at the sight of Apollo making a ruckus .

‘Damn it!’

A grey-robed player drinking a cup of melon beer was one such example .

‘Why do I have to come all the way here to scout a newbie I don’t even know about?’

His name was Hatch .

As the number one magician in the Stormhunter Guild, his precision and accuracy with long-range magic earned him the name Ballista . His fame easily outshined everyone else in the bar combined .

Recently, he had received an order from the guild master .

‘Hahoe Mask Hyrkan… what does she need him for?’

Hahoe Mask Hyrkan . Those that knew him, knew him well, but to those that didn’t, he was just another rookie . The order Hatch had received was to find him and offer him a position in the guild .

‘I know this isn’t the only reason why I’m here, but it’s still too much . ’

Of course, he wasn’t here just for that alone . His primary goal was to meet the Bulkas Ranger captain, Maoong . It was for the second main scenario quest line, and finding Hyrkan was something the guild master added after hearing Hyrkan was in the Bulkas Mountain Range .

Even so, Hatch found it a waste of his time to spend even a single second on meeting a rookie .

‘The Queen sure is eccentric . There are plenty of others desperate to enter our guild…’

Had the order came from anyone else, Hatch would have ignored it . However, the order was from the guild master . Storm Queen Shir . Remembering her face, Hatch shook his head .

“Ah, yes . ”

It was then that Hatch received a sudden voicetalk contact .

“Yes, I’m at the Bulkas Mountain Range . Yes . ”

A bit into the call, Hatch’s expression turned worse and worse .

“Yes, I understand . ”

After finishing the call, Hatch chugged the rest of the melon beer .

‘Now I have to take care of the Princess too . Dear Lord, save me . ’

The Bulkas Ranger Village was slowly filling up with more and more bombs .

★★★

Kuooo!

A roar of a bear rang out from a distance, shaking the entire forest .

‘Oh!’

When the roar reached Hyrkan’s body, Hyrkan felt an electrifying sensation from his head to the bottom of his feet .

‘I’m here . ’

Under such terrifying air, Hyrkan fixed the hahoe mask onto his face .

‘This is exactly what I’ve been waiting for . ’

Although he had already fought with a few boss monsters, they were nothing more than lucky encounters . They were chance encounters, rather than real hunts . As such, this would be Hyrkan’s first boss raid where he had prepared every step of the battle .

It was nostalgic as well . Ever since the war with the Stormhunter Guild, Hyrkan had never participated in a proper boss raid .

It had been several years .

It would be a lie to say those years had no effect on his skills . The Bear Warrior raid would be a battle that would not forgive even a single mistake . Increased risk also meant increased worries and concerns . What if his body wasn’t as sharp as in the past? Just the thought of it gave Hyrkan a headache .

But now that the battle was just a few steps away, rather than being nervous, his heart was beating in excitement .

This is it .

Currently, Hyrkan felt his reason for existence more so than any other time . As useless as he was in real life, he was a hero in Warlord .

‘An Jaehyun, this is where it all begins . ’

At the same time, this was a test .

‘If you can’t kill this thing alone, then you’ll never be anything greater . If you fail… give up on solo play . ’

It was a test that determined whether the path he had taken was right or wrong .

“Haaat!”

Hyrkan let out a spirited shout .

“COME!”

It was the start of a legend .