Chapter 22

Chapter 22 . Chance and Danger (3)

[You have entered an instance dungeon . ]

The moment Hyrkan entered into the darkness, he found himself in a space about 300 square meters wide . The ceiling was 4 meters high, while the floor was octagonal with columns in each corner .

‘A ring . ’

The stage felt similar to an MMA ring .

Then .

Prrrrr!

The sphere of light on the Skeleton Warrior’s head jumped with force and reached the ceiling . Then, streams of light began shining down on the dark space . The light streams did not brighten up the stage, but rather mixed with the darkness to form a dim lighting .

Tension filled the air .

‘Nice . ’

Hyrkan liked this atmosphere . The video he was taking was coming along his expectations .

Then, when the streams of light began to reveal what was hidden in the darkness…

Krrrr!

The monster showed itself with a roar .

‘Werewolf . ’

Hyrkan quickly recognized its figure . It wasn’t particularly hard to do .

‘It’s a bit big, though . ’

Even so, the werewolf in front of him had several differences compared to the blue werewolf he faced earlier . This werewolf was over 2 meters high with very long arms . Its thick claws resembled Captain Hook’s hook . Besides, its fur was black, not blue .

‘Mm?’

But what caught Hyrkan’s attention the most was…

‘Is that?’

His eyes .

‘Black Marbling?’

His eyes had a mix of red and black like a marbling . It was truly grotesque .

‘Well, damn . ’

The corner of his mouth went up .

‘Who would’ve thought I’d run into a quest related to the Corrupt Count here?’

Corrupt Count .

It was Warlord’s first main scenario quest .

Warlord’s main scenario was a huge current . Players had to go through this current to get to the next story .

‘The last main scenario quest I was part of was the fourth, Army of the Dragon . ’

Before he returned to the past, Hyrkan had participated in the fourth main scenario quest .

Corrupt Count, Immoral Prince, Ruined Kingdom… although Hyrkan couldn’t even play the supporting role in these first three main scenario quests, he made a meteoric rise to a leader position in the Army of the Dragon . This was when the Hahoe Mask Guild began to make a name for itself .

No one knew for a fact how many main scenario quests there were . Tobot Soft had considered this information a top secret . What was important was that the rewards of the main scenario quests were amazing . First, titles were given out like candy . The difference between owning and not owning main scenario quest titles was huge .

Second, the attention was on a completely different scale . Main scenario quest related videos weren’t treated like ordinary videos . They sold well even as paid videos . Over 10 million people purchased the final battle video of the third main scenario quest, the Ruined Kingdom .

Of course, core content like this was hotly contested by the Top 30 Guilds . The leaders of the main scenario quests were always from the Top 30 Guilds . Not only did they have the necessary information and manpower to complete these quests, but they also bribed or utterly destroyed their competition .

Hyrkan was now in possession of tip of that iceberg .

‘The Corrupt Count quest should already be well on its way…’

The main scenario quest was a one-way bridge . One quest led to another and so on and so forth . Because of this, those ahead of him should already have finished a large portion of the main scenario quest . There wasn’t much left for Hyrkan to take for himself .

Of course, it didn’t mean he didn’t like it .

‘I can’t say no to this . ’

His thoughts ended there .

Monsters corrupted by the Corrupt Count were far stronger than regular monsters . They were incomparable to the blue werewolf Hyrkan had killed before .

Snap snap!

Without a warning, Hyrkan snapped his fingers twice . The Skeleton Warrior charged at the Corrupted Werewolf with fire ablaze in its eyes .

Meanwhile, Hyrkan used his right index finger to write on the palm of his left hand .

Demon .

Immediately after he wrote this word…

[You activated the Demon Curse spell . ]

An ominous dark aura appeared on his left palm .

“Grant Curse . ”

Hyrkan touched the blade of his longsword with his left hand . Then, the longsword’s blade absorbed the dark aura like a sponge .

This was all Hyrkan had in his arsenal .

What was important from now was how he could utilize the weapons he had .

After finishing the curse magic, Hyrkan looked on ahead . The Skeleton Warrior and the Corrupted Werewolf would close their distance at any second now .

“30 seconds . ”

Hyrkan only had one expectation from his Skeleton Warrior .

To hold its ground for just 30 seconds .

Hyrkan didn’t have the slightest hope of the Skeleton Warrior killing the Corrupted Werewolf by itself .

It just had to hold its ground for 30 seconds . Then everything would go smoothly . He had hopes as well . After all, the Hero Slaughterer himself had given it 1 on 1 lessons, even going so far as to go all into strength .

It . Will . Endure!

But when Hyrkan had his hopes up the highest…

Thwack!

A stunning sound flowed out .

‘Ah . ’

It was the sound of the Corrupted Werewolf’s arms smacking the Skeleton Warrior’s head off . The head hit the nearby wall, and soon the body also flew next to its head .

Two .

With just two swings of its arm, the Corrupted Werewolf easily subjugated the Skeleton Warrior . The Skeleton Warrior on the ground had X’s for its eyes, just as Hyrkan’s mouth was watching this scene .

‘Fuck this . ’

It seemed that it still needed some more training .

Luckily, Hyrkan had profited at least a little from the exchange .

‘Its speed and power are both outstanding… but it’s not to the point it’s impossible . ’

It was undoubtedly fast, but it wasn’t so fast that Hyrkan couldn’t dodge it .

Plus, seeing as how it didn’t completely destroy the Skeleton Warrior even with 2 hits, it meant its attack power wasn’t so strong as to one-hit KO Hyrkan .

‘Four hits? No, probably three . ’

Three hits .

It was the ticket cost for a one-way trip to Figur’s Castle . As an added service, Hyrkan would be stuck sucking on his fingers for 48 hours in the real world .

Most people would say they’re in a desperate and dangerous situation . After all, there was no way to run .

It wasn’t much different for Hyrkan . He felt as if he was standing on the edge of a cliff . The moment he stepped backward, he would fall to his death . He felt like his heartbeat was getting faster even though such a thing should be impossible in the game .

‘Three lives . It’s a perfect number . ’

Hyrkan liked this feeling . It was the type of feeling he would never be able to achieve in the real world . The feeling that he was alive .

“Haaat!”

With a loud shout, Hyrkan charged at the Corrupted Werewolf .

Snap snap .

He snapped his fingers twice while running . The Skeleton Warrior absorbed Hyrkan’s magic power and quickly restored itself . Its eyes turned back from Xs into blazing fires .

Whoosh!

At that moment, the Corrupted Werewolf swung its arm at Hyrkan, who had entered his range . With a bone-chilling sound cutting through the air, blackness entered Hyrkan’s left field of vision .

Whish!

Hyrkan ducked and dodged the arm, as strands of his hair were cut by the werewolf’s claws .

It was truly a hair’s breadth apart . Immediately after the mortal danger passed by, a new danger arrived .

The Corrupted Werewolf swung its left arm at Hyrkan who had continued charging towards it after dodging its right arm . Its left arm traced a diagonal path . It wasn’t something Hyrkan could dodge simply by ducking!

Whish!

But Hyrkan just leaned his body to the right, dodging the difficult path of the werewolf’s arm rather simply . It looked as if the Corrupted Werewolf was moving its arms following the movements of Hyrkan’s shoulders and arms .

At this point, even a bystander would be able to tell that Hyrkan was purposefully dodging the Corrupted Werewolf’s attacks by a hair’s breadth .

The reason…

‘I see it . ’

Was something only someone watching from Hyrkan’s perspective could tell . The moment Hyrkan passed by a potentially life-threatening situation, he saw the side of the Corrupted Werewolf wide open . This was his aim .

Hyrkan lightly scratched his side with his longsword . He didn’t plan on making any deep wounds .

[The Corrupted Werewolf falls under the Demon Curse . ]

His goal was to afflict the curse .

After his successful attack, Hyrkan breezed by the Corrupted Werewolf’s back and distanced himself from it .

The Corrupted Werewolf turned to follow Hyrkan’s movements, and Hyrkan also turned after he sufficiently distanced himself .

The two of them stared fixedly at each other .

Krrrr .

With a low growl, the Corrupted Werewolf let out its frustration .

Hyrkan simply taunted the Corrupted Werewolf by waggling his left index finger back and forth towards himself .

Then .

Stab!

The Skeleton Warrior that had finished restoring itself had thrown itself on the werewolf’s back with its bone-knife .

Growl!

The Corrupted Werewolf let out a shriek, and the Skeleton Warrior quickly jumped off and distanced itself . The Corrupted Werewolf did not chase after the Skeleton Warrior, but rather pulled off the bone-knife stuck on its back . Then, it furiously threw the knife at the Skeleton Warrior as it glared angrily at it . The Skeleton Warrior did not shy away from its intimidating glare .

Meanwhile…

‘Let’s see . ’

Hyrkan was slowly and stealthily closing the distance between him and the Corrupted Werewolf .

Krrr!

However, the Corrupted Werewolf quickly turned its head towards Hyrkan and revealed its razor-sharp fangs .

‘So he gets aggroed when he’s attacked, but quickly changes aggro when he’s on alert . ’

After finishing up his thoughts, Hyrkan charged towards the Corrupted Werewolf without a shred of hesitation . There was no need for hesitation . He knew the role he had to play, and that was to draw the Corrupted Werewolf’s attention . If he did, the Skeleton Warrior would act as his teeth and bite down on the Corrupted Werewolf .

★★★

The Skeleton Warrior stared at the monster in front of him . Of course, a sense of intimidation or fear did not exist in his mind . He was only waiting for an opening .

His ill-tempered master, the one he was eternally loyal to and the one that occasionally attacked him, would provide that opening .

Click click!

The Skeleton Warrior charged .

He was a dart, and the dartboard was the monster’s back . The Skeleton Warrior had already accumulated an enormous sum of scores, and this would be his last .

Stab!

The Skeleton Warrior’s bone-knife dug into a wound he had made previously . The bone-knife had dug deeply into the wound, and only the hilt of the knife could be seen from the outside . At that moment, it heard the sound of two snaps from its master . Because of the continued attack order, the Skeleton Warrior did not run .

Bite!

It bit down on the monster’s back . It had dug its fangs into it . But seemingly unsatisfied, it also dug its claws into the monster’s back . With its sharp claws, it furiously scratched the monster’s body .

The monster’s body quaked .

At that moment, strength began to boil from inside the Skeleton Warrior’s body .

Stab!

The Skeleton Warrior’s two hands grabbed onto the monster’s flesh as if it was sand, and its mouth bit off the monster’s flesh . After biting off the monster’s flesh, the Skeleton Warrior opened its mouth and pointed it to the sky, letting out a soundless wolf-like cry .

★★★

[The Skeleton Warrior killed a very strong monster . Skeleton Warrior and its related skill proficiencies rise greatly . ]

[Skeleton Fragment skill rank rises to Rank E . ]

“Hm?”

The alert marking the end of Hyrkan’s 5-minute fight was different than what he expected .

‘What did it say?’

Hyrkan changed his concentration to hearing the alerts as if he was trying to listen to a malfunctioning radio .

[You completed the quest, A Cave in Mt . Bima . ]

[3 new titles have been registered . ]

‘Eh?’

Hyrkan was surprised once more .

‘3 titles?’

Thud!

Then, a static noise interfered with Hyrkan’s hearing . It was the sound of the Corrupted Werewolf’s body falling on the ground .

“Whew!”

Seeing its body fall on the ground, Hyrkan let out a breadth for the first time since the fight started .

He had fought while holding his breath .

His original plan had been to do a victory ceremony and say some cool words . However, the words he had prepared beforehand had long since disappeared amidst the sudden news .

‘Let me straighten out the situation first . ’

Hyrkan first checked his left arm, where a large wound could be seen . His elbow and shoulder . Two long scars could be seen where the Corrupted Werewolf scratched him . It was quite surprisingly that it hadn’t fallen off . Of course, he couldn’t move the arm as he wished . Hyrkan grabbed his left wrist like it wasn’t his . Then, he brought the watch towards his mouth .

“End Camera . ”

His first profit – the video .

Hyrkan turned the dial on his watch and turned on the quest app .

‘The quest is complete . ’

His second profit, the quest rewards, had been received .

Up until now was what Hyrkan had been expecting and wanting .

But .

‘A skill rank up already?’

There was an additional profit . Hyrkan moved his fingers to turn on the skill app .

[Skeleton Fragment]

– Proficiency: Rank E

– Number of skeletons able to be summoned: Warrior (2)

‘I thought it’d happen right before I hit level 20…’

His Skeleton Fragment skill had ranked up . It had progressed much quicker than he expected .

It seemed that the game had judged the Skeleton Warrior, not Hyrkan, to have killed the werewolf as it had delivered the final blow . Attack-related skill proficiencies often went up in such cases .

‘Good for me I guess . ’

Though sudden, it was a nice surprise . With the Skeleton Fragment skill rank-up, the stats of his Skeleton Warrior went up as well . Plus, he could now summon two . He had such battle prowess with just one, but now he could summon another . Just the thought of it made Hyrkan happy .

But rather than rejoicing, Hyrkan immediately looked for his fourth profit . He checked the title-related messages on his watch .

[You obtained the title, Rising Star . ]

It was the title he had been aiming for .

[You obtained the title, ‘One Who Challenges the Position of Hero . ’]

‘Oh? A Hero-series? Well, considering I solo-cleared an instance dungeon and first-killed the werewolf, it’s not too surprising . ’

Although he knew about the title beforehand, he didn’t expect to get it here . And finally .

[You obtained the title, ‘Pursuer of Corruption . ’]

It was a title Hyrkan had no connection to in his past life .

With that, Hyrkan completed his inventorying of his profits . The calculator in his brain finished its calculations, and after seeing the result, Hyrkan let out a grin .

“That’s right!”

‘Things are finally going my way!’

However, at this moment, Hyrkan didn’t know… that the real jackpot had yet to come .