Chapter 105 - There is No Free Lunch (2)
[Your Level has increased.]
Accompanying the Announcement, the Black Lamia's body flopped to the floor. It was a large monster about 10 meters long.
It had the lower body of a snake, and a muscular upper body. It also possessed a snake's head. The sight of the monster falling left a strong impression.
Koong!
The sound of the impact was also incredible.
Hyrkan had been attached to the Black Lamia's back, but when the Black Lamia fell to its death, he couldn't resist against the shock of the impact. He was thrown into the air. However, Hyrkan didn't do anything in the air. He didn't even brace himself for the landing. He didn't do anything to lessen the impact he would feel.
He fell to the floor like a lifeless corpse. Even after he fell to the floor, he didn't move. He was still like a corpse.
Ddul-goo-ruhk ddul-goo-ruhk!
The surviving Skeleton underlings gathered around Hyrkan. The Skeleton Knight's Bone Armor was shattered, and all the surviving Skeleton Warriors were marred by injuries. There was a total of four Skeletons, and they surrounded Hyrkan in a circle as if they were making a perimeter. They stared down at Hyrkan.
It was a bizarre sight.
Moreover, the Skeleton Warriors were using Hyrkan's magic to slowly recover their body. They didn't look like his underlings right now. It looked as if Hyrkan was surrounded by monsters that was about to eat him. If someone unwittingly came upon this sight, one might make the mistake in thinking Hyrkan was being attacked by the monsters.
At that moment, a thought crossed Hyrkan's mind.
‘Ah. I'm really tired.’
It was tiring..
In truth, Hyrkan should have already ended his playing time. If he followed his original schedule, he should have been logged out 40 minutes ago. He should have been asleep dreaming about eating steaks inside his dreamland.
Moreover, time was very valuable to Hyrkan. If one wanted to be called an expert in Warlord, one had to dedicate one's life to Warlord. However, the biggest obstacle wasn't the scary monsters inside the game. It was being able to keep one's body healthy.
If the level 130 Black Lamia wasn't such a sweet fruit, Hyrkan wouldn't have made any changes to his schedule.
‘I almost didn't catch it.’
Of course, the Black Lamia was worth investing his time to catch it.
In the Great Urugal mountain, the Users were still avoiding the region between the entrance and the halfway point of the mountain. In this ambiguous region, there was a very low chance of finding the Black Lamia. Most users weren't even aware of the existence of the Black Lamia. If he could get the footage of the hunt and make an Item out of the Ingredient coin, it would be worth a lot of money. The incredibly luxurious Snake Leather Belt was made out of the ingredient coin dropped by the Black Lamia. It was very popular amongst the female Users.
He didn't regret catching it.
However, there was something that worried him. It took him much longer than expected to catch it.
‘My condition is a mess these days.’
Condition Disorder.
A person's condition couldn't always be great. There were good days and bad days.
However, Hyrkan's condition wasn't showing any signs of recovering easily, and the issue was dragging at Hyrkan's ankle.
This had been also true today.
He could have caught it faster and with more style, but he hadn't been able to.
This wouldn't be a problem with the monsters, but this would be a very big problem if he met the Users, who were gunning for him.
‘It'll be very dangerous if I meet one right now.’
The probability of tricking another one with the Watchman Style was higher than his chance for victory right now.
Hyrkan gritted his teeth.
‘Patience.’
Hyrkan showed his patience. However, Hyrkan's patience couldn't calm down his twisting uneasiness.
At that moment, a thought appeared inside Hyrkan's mind.
‘I have to be patient. I have to think about the Red Skeleton set. Yes, I can wear it now.’
Red Skeleton Set.
A smile barely formed around Hyrkan's lips when he thought about the Item set.
‘Uh?’
When he saw it for the first time, he almost doubted his own eyes.
‘What the hell?’
He had made a deal with the V&V guild. The Red Bulls had been the middle man. As a price for handing over the Greenstone Imoogi helm, the V&V guild promised to give a level 130 Unique Rank weapon named 'Gargoyle Knight's Sword.'
Truthfully, he didn't like the deal. Hyrkan was in more need of a defensive gear instead of a level 130 weapon. Hyrkan currently had a Chronicle Rank item. Ivan's Sword wasn't inferior to any level 140 Unique Rank weapons. It was that great in terms of Options and offensive capability.
Hyrkan wasn't going to use a level 130 Unique weapon, so this Item was basically an expensive paperweight.
Of course, he wouldn't turn it down, but a paperweight was a paperweight. It was a paperweight he could sell at a high price. If need be, he could give it to his Skeleton Knight or Warrior. He could get his bang for buck through that method.
Moreover, if he asked for a defensive gear instead of a weapon in such a situation, it could have upset the entire deal.
Excessive greed could cause harm. It was best to take what was given in such a situation.
But!
‘Why did they give me a Red Skeleton set?’
He checked the inventory list given by the Red Bulls. It contained the weapon from the V&V guild, and a defensive set.
Moreover, it wasn't a normal item. It was the full Red Skeleton set.
‘Isn't this quite expensive?’
Red Skeleton Set.
The Red Skeleton Knight was a level 130 Boss monster. The ingredients and gems dropped by the boss was used to make the Rare Rank Items. Currently, the set was one of the top 10 known level 130 Rare Rank defensive sets. It was a very decent item.
Of course, it was inferior to a Unique Rank item, but it still took a good amount of gold to be able to gather this entire set.
Moreover, there weren't that many in existence. If one wanted to purchase it immediately, one had to pay a premium price.
‘Wait a minute. Isn’t this from the Stormhunters?’
Currently, the ones who were providing most of the Items related to the Red Skeleton was the Stormhunters guild.
It wasn't as if the Stormhunters guild were the only ones supplying it, but there weren't that many guilds or teams that could catch a level 130 Boss Monster whenever they wanted. The Red Skeleton Knight Raid was quite difficult. The success rate was low unless it was done by an experienced Raid team.
It could be basically considered the Stormhunter guild’s Item.
‘Did they deliver it to me by mistake?’
Anyways, this was something that shouldn't have been sent to Hyrkan. It was reasonable for Hyrkan to believe that the item had been delivered by mistake. It wasn't as if there weren't any accidental deliveries in Warlord. No matter how great the game system, is, humans were prone to mistake.
At that point, Hyrkan agonized over his decision.
‘Maybe I should just take it?’
If this was mistakenly sent to him by mistake by the Stormhunters guild, he might take it for himself immediately! He wanted to see the Stormhunters bellyache over it. He would have purposefully kept the item.
‘Isn't that a bit of a stretch?’
However, the Item hadn't been sent by the Stormhunters. It had been given by the Red Bulls. Currently, the Red Bulls had been of help to Hyrkan. If he carelessly took one of their Items, it would inevitably bring trouble with the Red Bulls.
Hyrkan immediately contacted the Red Bulls guild.
On that day, Hyrkan experienced something for the first time.
- It wasn't delivered to you by mistake. It is a present from an admirer of the Hahoe Mask. You don't have to return it.
An angel was present in this damn game called Warlord!
“I don't know who it is, but give my thanks to that person. Please deliver a message for me. I'll treat the person to lunch if we ever get to meet in real life!”
Hyrkan smiled brightly when he remembered that incident.
‘I don't know, who it is, but I've been blessed. For reals.’
Accompanying the smile, Hyrkan checked the Option of the Red Skeleton set, which was stored in his 3rd slot.
[Red Skeleton Set]
*When 2 parts are equipped
- Class-specific stats +55
*When 3 parts are equipped
- Class-specific stats +77
- The cool time of all skills decreased by 10%
*When 4 parts are equipped
- All stats +50
- The magic power consumption of all skills decreased by 10%
*When 5 parts are equipped
- All stats +100
- When in battle, the Red Skeleton Knight's Aura is activated.
Hyrkan had a satisfied smile on his face.
The part he liked the most was the Red Skeleton Knight's Aura. When it was activated in battle, the damage percentage was decreased based on the wearer's HP. When the HP decreased by more than half, it increased the All Stats by percentage proportionally to the HP lost from that point on. This effect activated instead of damage reduction Option.
"Slot on!"
Hyrkan immediately activated his Slot.
It looked as if eight enormous spider legs were grasping Hyrkan. Strands started to appear from Hyrkan's back, and it was wrapping around Hyrkan.
The strands were sticking to Hyrkan's body, and it was rapidly taking shape.
In 3 seconds, Hyrkan's Item Setting was changed.
Hyrkan immediately checked out the design of his new defensive set. He used a video program to check out his entire body.
‘Uh?’
Hyrkan was a bit surprised.
‘Its design is similar to the Skeleton Snake?’
The Red Skeleton set was similar in design as the set he wore when he was level 50. It looked similar to the Skeleton Snake set.
The Skeleton Snake set had meant a lot to Hyrkan. At the time, he was short on funds, so he had ignored the appearance of the Items. He only looked at the Options as he wore whatever he could get. He had been a fashion terrorist.
The Skeleton Snake set was the first set Item that had looked good.
Of course, there were differences between the two sets. It was similar in that the sets looked as if the User was wearing a Skeleton over black tights. As befitting the name of Red Skeleton set, the color of the bones was red. The red colored bones went very well with the black tights.
However, the part he fancied the most was the helm. There was a thick bone that was curved like the tail of a pig attached to the helm, and the face region of the Skeleton Helm it wasn't shaped like a normal skull. It was shaped like the Hahoe Mask.
This was a definite proof.
‘Wow! This really is a customized set.’
This was proof that someone custom-ordered this design for Hyrkan!
Hyrkan smiled.
He hadn't been feeling well for a while, but suddenly he felt much better. His condition was surging boundlessly towards the sky.
‘I'm feeling great now. It feels like my luck is starting to come back to me!’
Hyrkan used this momentum to charge towards the Bulkas village.
Bulkas Ranger Master Maeung.
In recent days, this particular NPC's fame was increasing at a much faster rate than the other NPCs in Warlord. All the Users worth their salt was seen meeting Maeung quite frequently. Of course, the Users realized this NPC was incredibly important at this stage of the game.
Numerous Users tried to increase their contacts with Maeung. Any Quest info, Quest route and raids related to the Maeung was heating up the online community.
With all that in mind, Hyrkan had come to meet with Maeung.
“Isn't that the Hahoe Mask?”
“Ah? It's the real Hahoe Mask!”
He hadn't concealed his identity.
He was wearing his new clothes.
If he had concealed his identity to meet with the Maeung, the Users would would have thought he was a pushover based on his bare face. They would approach him to cause trouble. Hyrkan knew this better than anyone, so he decided to reveal his identity. It prevented the mediocre users from approaching him.
Moreover, there was an additional reason why they stayed away from him.
“Uh? What the hell is that? Is that a new set Item?”
“It's the Red Skeleton set! I'm sure of it! It's the Red Skeleton Set! However, I've never seen that design.”
“The helm looks like a Hahoe Mask. It seems he custom made it to look like a Hahoe Mask.”
“He custom made the Red Skeleton Set. I heard the Hahoe Mask is the child of a magnate. I guess the rumor is true.”
“He wasn't born with a golden spoon. He was born with a diamond spoon. I'm so envious.”
He was showing off his newly made Item in front of everyone! This might be his true purpose in coming here like this. When one acquired an expensive Item, it was best to show it off to other Users instead of the monsters.
When Hyrkan faced Maeung, Maeung immediately greeted Hyrkan.
“I've been waiting for your arrival.”
Before Hyrkan could start up a conversation, Maeung reached for a map on top of his desk.
Then it ignored Hyrkan's attempt at a greeting, and it immediately gave Hyrkan a Quest.
“We found this Dungeon map, which is related to the Cursed Domain. This secret Dungeon is below the Cursed Castle. I believe some kind of experiment had been conducted there. You task is to bring me evidence from this Dungeon.”
[The Quest 'Evidence' has started.]
Maeung didn't even consult Hyrkan. It just gave the Quest.
It forcibly pushed the Quest onto Hyrkan.
‘This is.... The Crest of the Royal Family will appear.’
This basically meant the second Main Scenario Quest, Immoral Prince episode, was going to start in earnest.
Nine Users were gathered in one location. A variety of Items were being worn by these Users. If one was knowledgeable about Warlord, one would realize these Items required very high levels, and they were all very expensive.
The nine Users equipped with these Items were in a conversation, and the atmosphere around them indicated something important was going down.
The nine users looked like employees that was getting ready for a company's important project announcement. They were busy and disordered.
'Where did the information come from?’
‘Is the Quest information correct?’
‘Check it again!’
‘Give me that too!’
‘What happened to the thing we spoke about before?'
The conversation was very chaotic.
A User that looked to be the head of the group started to bring order to the conversation. He set the right mood then he spat out his words.
“Attention! Let's summarize it. Who had the closest relationship to the Corrupt Count? Was it Prince Arthur or Prince Dean?”
The atmosphere had settled, and an answer was given.
“It is public knowledge that Prince Arthur was the patron of the Corrupt Count. However, if we analyze the numerous Quest content and Quest info regarding the Corrupt Count, it had become apparent that the Corrupt Count has more of a connection with Prince Dean.”
“I knew it. The name was a trap. I suspected it. Isn't Arthur too obvious?”
The other eight Users nodded their heads at the leader's words.
“Does the Red Bulls guild know about Prince Dean?”
“There is a high probability that they don't know about him. They basically found out about the Corrupted Count by luck last time.”
“That's true. However, that's a problem.”
The leader gritted his teeth when he thought about that time.
“We can't allow what happened with the Corrupted Count to happen again. He have to unconditionally take the lead on this. How can 9 heads lose to a beast that has only one? Aren’t I right?”
No one gave an answer.
They put on their game face instead of answering.