Chapter 165 – Trace of Bokan (1)

1.

Koo-oohng!

The Frost Golem Snake, which boasted an enormous body length of 8 meters, appeared.  The monsters had been stumbling backwards, but now they quickly turned their gazes towards the Golem in fright.

The shaggy Orangutans weren't small.  They were 2 meters tall, and every one of them had crude instruments for weapons.  Moreover, they wore a very crude wooden mask.  This was why one couldn't see their expressions, but their actions clearly showed what emotion they were feeling.

Confusion.

Ooh-ggi-ggi!  Ggi-ggi!

It was as if they weren't satisfied with expressing their confusion with their actions.  The 10 masked monsters let out a sharp cry.  Their cries intermingled with each other to make a very unpleasant sound.

As if angered by this sound, the Frost Golem Snake opened its mouth wide towards the source of the sounds.  White Frost exited from the Frost Golem Snake's mouth, and it brushed past the monsters.  The cold terror made the Masked Monster Orangutans shake in fear.

However, the Frost Golem weren’t the ones to defeat the source of the noises.  It was the Skeleton Knights and the Skeleton Warriors.  The monsters were blocked off by the Frost Golem Snake, so they really were like mices trapped in a jar.  The Skeleton Knights and Warriors ruthlessly cut down the monsters as Frost swirled around them.

Kah-ahng!

In the beginning, it sounded like steel clashing on steel.

Poohk!

However, it quickly turned into the sound of swords cutting through flesh.  Winter arrived in the green forest, which was occupied by the Masked Monster Orangutans.

Suddenly, flame erupted from one side.

Hwah-roo-roo!

It was a Griffin.  It had the body of a lion.  It also possessed the head and wings of an eagle.  The Fire Golem had changed into the Griffin, and it flapped its wing to fly in the air.  It let out an enormous flame from its mouth as the forest was turned into a sea of flame.

Ggi-ee!  Ggi-ee!

While the forest was burning up, the masked monsters shot spears and arrows toward the Griffin Fire Golem flying above their heads.  The arrows and spears left clear wounds on the Golem's body, but fire quickly filled in the wounds.

The anger expressed by the monsters were egregiously futile.

While the monsters were focused on the Griffin Fire Golem, the Mini Ogre Skeleton Warriors quickly infiltrated the burning forest.  They were small, but in certain aspects, they were as scary as the Skeleton Knights. The burning forest completely erased their presence.

They moved towards the Masked Monster Orangutans like assassins, and the Mini Ogre Skeleton Warriors targeted the lower half of the monsters.

Thighs were stabbed.  Their knees were cut and their calves were severed.

When their legs were attacked, the Masked Monster Orangutans fell in place.  Two or three Mini Ogre equipped with level 190 Unique weapons fell on the monsters.  These weapons were too expensive for most normal Users to purchase.  These weapons started hacking the fallen monsters into pieces.

Ggi-ee! Ggi-ee!

The sharp cries that had filled the forest was disappearing one by one.

However, in this battle, the largest curse wasn't the winter or the flames.  It was the black fog that was filling this stage.

[The King Orangutan fell into lethargy.]

This monster was the king of the Masked Monster Orangutans.  The King Orangutan was a level 240 middle boss.

In truth, no Users had any informations regarding this monster.  This was the only stage where the King Orangutan appeared.  Moreover, it had been only four days since this Orangutan's Forest was found by a User.

When it became cursed, it started to pound its chest with its two hands like a gorilla.

[The King Orangutan's Shout has chased the Curse away.]

It had nullified all Debuff type Skills, and this was also the first time this setting was revealed.

After gaining confidence, the monster unfurled its crouched body.  It was also the first time anyone saw the 6 meter tall monster stand at full height.

‘Ok.’

Everything he was seeing now was new.  However, Hyrkan wasn't flustered.

‘I think I have a rough idea on what is going on.’

It seemed he had figured out something.  Hyrkan immediately gave the command for an attack to the waiting Death Knight.  It was as if the Death Knight had been eagerly waiting for the signal.  The Skeleton Steed let out its joy as it charged towards the King Orangutan.

Hyrkan was watching from 300 meters away, and he grabbed a Bone Spear.  As he grabbed the Bone Spear, he immediately put a recovery Item within his mouth.  It was very sour, and his tongue tingled.  It was like the candy one ate on a dare.  

Hyrkan furrowed his brow.

It was sour, but the effect was indisputable.  His magical energy quickly climbed, and Hyrkan used the magical power to imbue a Curse on the Bone Spear.

On top of everything, this Bone Spear wasn't made out a common Bone Ingredient.  It was a Bone Spear made using a level 190 Boss Monster as ingredient.  

It was incredibly powerful, and it was expensive.

He was burning money.

There was no other way to describe what he was doing, but he didn't worry about the monetary part of the game.

He didn't let it linger in his mind.

He only focused on the battle.

‘There is no cool time to the Dispel skill, and it can be used in an unlimited fashion.  However, it has to pound its chest every time it wants to use the Skill.’

King Orangutan.

As mentioned before, this monster had never been revealed to the world yet.  Hyrkan was the first to discover this monster.

Even if Hyrkan combined his current experience with his past memories, he had never seen this monster in Warlord.

This was a natural course of events.  From now on, Hyrkan would experience things he had never experienced before.

However, Hyrkan wasn't flustered by it.  There was no reason to be flustered.

‘I just have to stop it from pounding its chest.’

Hyrkan had experienced too much to be taken aback by anything.

He proved that his determined attitude wasn't a bluff when the Death Knight and the King Orangutan started to fight.  Hyrkan took the situation into his own hands.

The battlefield was loud.  It was like trying to make a phone call in a very noisy rock concert.  It was an annoying environment, yet Hyrkan's concentration allowed him to hit the bullseye.  It hadn't been a short distance.  Hyrkan's spear flew 300 meters before it was embedded in the King Orangutan's body.

[King Orangutan was hit with the Sloth Curse.]

[Curse Infection was activated on the King Orangutan.  The curse has spread to the surrounding.]

As predicted, the King Orangutan couldn't dispel the curse.  The Death Knight didn't give it time to pound its chest.

At that moment...

[Your Level has increased.]

The Level Announcement that notified Hyrkan reaching a higher level of 220 was heard.

2.

[Hyrkan]

- Level : 220

- Class : Lich

- Title : 227

- Stats : Strength(2855)/Stamina(1855)/Intelligence(1952)/Magic Power(2222)

– In possession of the Ancient Power of ‘Frost’

“Ah.”

Level 220.

Even he thought his Level Up pace was ridiculous, yet Hyrkan had an unsatisfied expression on his face. There was an expression filled with worry behind the Hahoe Mask.  He wasn't worried about his Levels, Stats, Item setting and the current hunting speed.  There was no way these issues would worry him.  Instead, he was thrilled about those aspects of the game.  Before he had returned to the past, he had dreamed about hunting this way.

‘Do I really have to go back?’

If looked in a certain way, his progress was the root of his worry.

‘Ah.  This is driving me crazy.’

He was doing too well.

Hyrkan wanted to maintain his Level Up pace.  Most Users dreamed about hunting like him.  He had the best Item setting, and he didn't need to hold back in using recovery Items.  Moreover, he didn't have to worry about gathering crap items, since he was financially well off.  He was basically monopolizing a hunting ground, and his Level Up pace matched what he experienced when his level was in double figures.

If he hated this, he shouldn't be playing this game.

However, he had reached a point where he had to clean up the loose threads.  He was already level 220.  After passing the level 200 mark, he had never visited the Class Tower yet.

‘I have to receive the Quests, and I have to learn new Skills....  At the very least, I have to visit the Class Tower....’

The problem was the fact that he had to cross over the Urugal mountain range to consolidate these loose ends.

Currently, the only rest place in the Black Continent was the town near the Heard Fortress ruin.  The Heard Fortress town was getting bigger by the day, but it would take a long time for a Class Tower to be erected.

He had already anticipated the problem.  In the past, the most annoying part of operating in the Black Continent was the travel.  

This was why he had refused to go back at level 210.  He promised himself that he would go to the Class Tower when he was level 220.

‘Still, the [Steel Golem] will surely be of help to me.  I've also gained enough Skill Rank to acquire [Curse Shower].’

It was time for him to make good on his promise.  If he kept pushing back a promise he had made to himself, he might die later on, because he lacked certain Skills.  It would be better for him to go than regretting his inaction in death.

Moreover, there was no actual downside in going to the Class Tower for Hyrkan.  Instead, he would gain a lot by going there.

There was only upsides to obtaining the [Steel Golem] Skill.  There was no way he would suffer a loss.

The Skill allowed him to summon an Iron Golem, and its usefulness was beyond description.  Its best attribute was defense.  Its defense couldn't be compared to the defense of the Earth Golem and the Frost Golem.  

If he used the Clay Play skill to borrow the Spec of a monster with great defense, he could use Hardening to create a massive shield.

Then there was the romantic in him, who wanted to obtain it.

‘I want to mount Skeleton Magicians on the Iron Golem like Rich Lich....’

Rich Lich had used a combination of the Iron Golem and the Skeleton Magicians.  The Iron Golem was like a moving castle wall, and it defended the Skeleton Magicians.  The Skeleton Magicians let out a continuous barrage of magic behind this protection.

On top of it all, the fact that he would have 3 Golems was incredible in itself.

He'll be able to defend attacks from three sides.

Currently, the Golem were mainly used in two ways.  The Earth Golem was used to block the road, and the Fire Golem was used to gather the monsters.

Since most monsters couldn't outnumber him anymore, Hyrkan was able to use this method.  

This method was even effective against the Boss Monsters.

In such a situation, what would happen if the Iron Golem appeared to close the third side?

It would create a stage.  It was a perfect stage where the Death Knight could go nuts!

Moreover, the [Curse Shower] was a very good skill.  The Skill allowed a shower to fall, which could give Curse Effect to his enemies.  It was an AOE Curse Skill.  Recently, his Curse Skill proficiency reached a point where he would be able to learn this skill.

If he gained these Skills, he would basically achieve another Spec Up.

Moreover, the enemies he had to fight weren't merely monsters.

‘There's the Five Star bastards.  Moreover, the Stormhunters have gone through a significant Spec Up.’

The Five Stars and the Stormhunters were also operating out of the Black Continent.  They weren't as fast as Hyrkan, but they were quickly increasing their Specs.  They were quickly handing out Unique and Rare Rank level 200 Items to their members.

On the other hand, Hyrkan's Item setting had remained the same.  He couldn't Spec Up.  There were no Items better than the ones he was wearing right now.  This was the price of being one of the leaders in this race.

In such a situation, there was no better way to Spec Up than to learn a free Skill from the Class Tower.

‘Recently, the traffic around the Voodook's tunnel has lessened, but....  If it comes to it, I could join a party as a third wheel.’

The current situation at the Voodook's Tunnel was added to his list of worries.

‘I have no choice.’

3.

‘Maybe I should have crossed over by dying?  It took me 2 days to get here, and it'll take me two days to...  Shit.  If I could fly over the Urugal mountain range using the Wyvern Golem, I could do a round trip in one day.  I have a mount I could ride, but the game mechanic won't allow me to fly it.  Fuck this game.’  

After obtaining his Skills from the Class Tower, he quickly moved his feet as he looked at the Skill descriptions.

Every second felt wasteful to him.  Hyrkan didn't bother hiding his identity as he descended the Class Tower. When he exited, there was a significant amount of attention directed towards him, but he was indifferent to it.  Even if a User came up to him to ask for a screenshot, he planned on tripping the User and running away.

However, the one to stop his hurried steps wasn't a User.  It was a NPC.

“I have a letter for the disciple of Ahimbree-nim.  It is addressed to Hyrkan-nim.”

He had received a letter.

If the NPC had said it was just a letter, it wouldn't have been able to stop Hyrkan’s steps. The problem was the person, who had sent it.

‘Ahimbree?’

Aside from the nickname of Rich Lich attributed to Hyrkan by the Users, he had a lot of Titles within this game.  Arbiter of Corruption, Hero of the Hiban Kingdom....  If this was really a fantasy world, he would have a hard time hearing his name mentioned, because he had too many titles.

The title mentioned right now was Disciple of Ahimbree.  It was a Title he had earned a long time ago, and it had almost faded into his memories.  Hyrkan tilted his head in confusion, then he became delighted by the news.

‘I'm sure Ahimbree gave Skill Book Quests after lvl 200.  Could it be?’

This morsel was delicious enough to stop him in his tracks.

“Who sent me this letter?”

Hyrkan immediately became courteous, and he treated the NPC with more respect.

“It is from Ahimbree-nim.  He personally left it here.  He left instructions for me to deliver it when I see his disciples.”

Hyrkan smiled.

‘I keep hitting the jackpot.’

4.

“Did you hear the news?”

Sohank shrugged his shoulders at Natal's question.

It was a gesture that said, 'What the hell are you talking about?'

“I'm talking about our take over.”

“Ah.  You mean the Fighters guild?”

Sohank continued to speak as if the news wasn't noteworthy.

“It's a good move.  They have a lot of User good at fighting.  Ah.  I'm not saying our guys aren't good at fighting....”

“I understand why we are taking over the Fighters guild.  Still, I don't get the reason why we have to be in such a rush.  The First Head usually never fails to give us a heads up, and he almost never rushes any business dealings....”

Sohank patted Natal's worried shoulders.

“At the very least, he isn't messing up the deals.  Don't worry too much about it.  Above all, we have another opportunity thanks to the First Head.  As he had said before, we would have never gotten this opportunity if we hadn't gambled everything in coming west.”

When he mentioned the opportunity, Natal nodded his head.  However, his expression refused to relax.

“In truth, we had to do something if we want to go up against them.”

At Sohank's words, the two of them turned towards the large mountain range in the distance.

It happened at that moment.

“Sohank-nim!  Let's fight once more!”

A carefree voice was heard coming from somewhere.  When the source of the voice was located, one could see a User with his sword out.  It was as if the User had readied himself for a battle.  The two Users, who had been looking at the mountain range, looked at each other when they saw the new User.

Natal looked at this User with a very annoyed expression on his face.

“Kiyote!”

“Ah.  It seems Natal-nim is here too.  How are you doing?”

“Why do you keep making trouble for me.”

Kiyote.

He was a User, who had become incredibly famous through PVP.  The love calls from the 30 great guilds had been sent his way for a long time.  It was difficult to hit the jackpot through PVP, but at the very least, you could get one’s basic needs through this content.

This was why everyone was surprised when they heard Kiyote had entered the Hydra guild.

First, Kiyote had ignored significant amount of contract fee in the past.  He wasn't interested in money, and he hadn't been interested in the Hydra guild, since they didn't really deal with PVP contents.  There was no common ground between the two parties.

This was why everyone was curious.  Why did Kiyote enter into the Hydra guild?  What did the Hydra guild use to entice this User?

“I made it clear when I entered the Hydra guild.  I'm allowed to challenge anyone at any time for a PVP match unless there is an unavoidable engagement.”

This was the reason why he had joined.

The Hydra guild had drawn the line at not killing each other, but the Hydra guild agreed to let Kiyote challenge anyone to a PVP match if the situation allowed it.  

There was no stronger Users than the ones in the 30 great guilds.  This guild was filled with skilled Users.

His reputation took a bit of a hit when he was killed by the Killer Sinclair, but Sohank was still one of the top Strikers in Warlord.

From Kiyote's point of view, this was the most enticing reason that made him join this guild.

It was rare to be able to do PVP match with a skilled User, who represented one of the 30 great guilds.

In truth, Natal put up the most ferocious opposition to this deal.  Natal had expressed his discontent regarding the deal when the Nine Heads had a meeting.  

Sohank was their most important fighting power, and he didn't want Sohank to waste his time and effort in humoring Kiyote.  Natal wouldn't stand for it.

However, in the end, the Hydra guild accepted Kiyote into their folds.  It was passed through a vote of majority as 8 Heads agreed with the decision.  When it was such a decisive vote, Natal had no choice, but to accept it.

“A deal is a deal.”

Unlike Natal, Sohank welcomed the addition of Kiyote.

“What conditions?”

“Let's fight with no Skills.  You possess the power of Darkness, so how could I win against you in terms of Skills?”

“What about Items?”

“We'll go with what we have on right now.  A handicap of that level would spice up this fight.”

Sohank let out a smile.  He actually welcomed Kiyote's challenges.  He was satisfied with Kiyote's presence.

Natal shook his head from side to side as he looked at Sohank.  The one, who welcomed Kiyote the most, was none other than Sohank.  Sohank was called the most important fighting power amongst the 9 Heads, but it was probably hard being the only skilled User of his level in the guild.

In such a situation, it was imperative for them to add Users that didn't fall below their expectations.

This made Natal think about another User.

‘If we are taking over the Fighters guild....  Will Whistling Pitbull be added to our ranks?’

Even the Fighters guild had a hard time dealing with the Whistling Pitbull.  It boggled Natal's mind that it would be his job to handle the Whistling Pitbull now.

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