Emperor of Solo Play

 ­Skeletons Hunting Skeletons (3)

Large build, thick armor, bone-chilling sword, and fire-like eyes that shone between the helmet’s gap.

These were features that represented Skeleton Warriors. At the same time, these were the features of the grim reaper for any players hunting in the Dead woods.

However, the body of the Skeleton Warrior lying on the ground showed no signs of any of these features. Its shoulders and knees were completely busted, its armor was caved in as if it had been kicked multiple times, and its sword lied broken in half. Its helmet with the fire-like eyes…

Clack, clack, clack!

Was stuck under the shoulders of a man wearing a leather jacket as it was beaten up again and again.

It was a gruesome sight that was difficult to describe. If the Skeleton Warrior had human like emotions, it would undoubtedly be crying. Of course, the cause of this scene was none other than Hyrkan.

However, Hyrkan seemed to be in a bad mood as well.

‘This goddamn magic power.’

Until just a few minutes ago, he had been feeling better than he ever had. In fact, he had been feeling good since the start of the day’s battle. He was in an even better condition than he had been at the Lizard Swamp. It wasn’t just Hyrkan that was feeling this way. His Skeleton Warriors were showing much better movements than usual. The battle data they had accumulated so far was finally being reflected in their fights.

Here, Hyrkan decided.

‘Let’s film a Time Attack video!’

He set his goal high.

To kill 100 skeletons in 100 minutes!

Of course, Hyrkan knew better than anyone else that this was impossible. Even so, there was nothing wrong with setting one’s goals high. When he began, he was killing at an extremely fast pace. He even wondered if he could really achieve his goal.

However, his happiness quickly turned to disappointment due to his chronic disadvantage.

‘I know I’m an all-strength necromancer, but it’s not like my magic power is that low compared to normal necromancers at my level…’

Lack of magic power.

It was especially more draining in bold and forceful battles. When he used Skeleton Magicians to speed up his hunting pace, he found his magic power disappearing into the air.

As a result, he had to cut down on the number of Skeleton Warriors, which was why only Hyrkan remained standing.

Now that he had finished off the Skeleton Warrior, Hyrkan immediately checked his stat window. Checking his stat window signified the end of a battle.

[Hyrkan]

– Level: 33

– Class: Magician

– Title: 9

– Stats: Strength (190) / Stamina (30) / Intelligence (101) / Magic Power (141)

141 points.

That was Hyrkan’s current magic power stat.

Most necromancers distributed their stat points into magic power in a 1 to 4 ratio. In this case, disregarding the stat points from items, their pure magic power stat was 150. If one factored in their titles and items, it would be over 200 points. Of course, if the player was full of Unique items, it could be over 300 or even 400 points.

Compared to this, Hyrkan’s magic power was indeed low. However, it was a fine number considering he was an all-strength necromancer. He had yet to run into any problems either.

Until now that is.

‘So there’s no problem if I’m driving safe, but once I step on the accelerator, my fuel runs out in a breeze.’

It was a problem only Hyrkan could understand.

His individual performance was exceptional. In terms of cars, he would be a Lamborghini. Of course there would be a problem if one put in regular fuel in it instead of premium.

‘Tsk.’

In truth, it wasn’t anything like a fatal problem. No one could run at full power forever. Most people that earned their living in Warlord did so by running safely and steadily. They only ran fast every once in a while. Warlord was a marathon, not a sprint.

Even so, it wasn’t easy for him to ignore it after feeling the problem with his own body.

Most importantly.

‘It’s going to be real dangerous after level 40.’

At this rate, his problems would only get bigger with Golem Summon. No, Golem Summon wasn’t the problem. Once he hit level 40, Skeleton Fragment would rank up and he would have another Skeleton Warrior to summon.

In truth, he already had his answer.

‘Damn, if only I had the money.’

Money!

Everything would be taken care of if he had the right items.

It was a simple and obvious solution, yet something Hyrkan couldn’t do at the moment.

Then what should he do?

Efficiency.

He had to mind his fuel efficiency. He had to ensure his battles were as efficient as possible. Even if he fought boldly, aggressively, and assertively, he had to make sure his battles used as little magic power as possible. To do that, what he had to change was…

‘My condition is good, but not as much as in the past.’

Hyrkan himself.

Because of putting his Skeleton Warriors in front, he wasn’t doing as much as in the past. There was a difference between doing his best and being the best.

Hyrkan turned off his stat window.

‘I can’t make my skeletons work; I have to make myself work.’

★★★

Romany was currently bursting with excitement.

“Wow!”

Because of taking on so many boring and uninteresting works recently, he was about to go crazy from forcing himself to work. After a long time, however,he had received a request from a client that had once drove him crazy.

Hahoe Mask Hyrkan.

He had sent him an immense amount of battle videos, which Romany picked at random to watch. It was just one. Even so, Romany spent a full hour watching the video from start to finish.

That’s how good it was.

‘This is incomparable to those casuals. This is on a completely different level!’

He had seen countless number of videos from countless number of people. Although they probably sent what they believed to be one of their better fights, Romany had to forcefully edit and direct to make something barely passable.

However, Hyrkan’s video was enough to make him shudder in fear. How could he make this better? It would be fine even on its own!

‘My god.’

His every movement was art. Others played what seemed like a turn-based game, but Hyrkan prevented his opponent from ever attacking as he poured attack after attack. Watching Hyrkan dodge attacks by the hairs-breadth was simply breathtaking.

The best part of it all…

‘Do they take after their owner? How can they move like this?’

Was that Hyrkan’s Skeleton Warriors fought just as well.

One can dance alone, but it was even more marvelous when done in a group!

Not only that, their opponent was also a top choice.

Skeletons vs Skeletons!

Just thinking of the film’s title made him shake in excitement.

The actual video was enticing as well. It was grotesque, yet captivating. As he watched, Romany found his heart beating fast.

There was just one problem.

‘What’s up with his getup? Is he wearing that on purpose? Or is there some sort of a problem?’

His fashion.

“Who’s his fashion coordinator? Or did he do this on his own?’

In any case, it was Romany’s job to make this look as good as possible. His scenario was already finished.

He even had a title in mind.

“Skull Clown.”

That would be the title of this film.

★★★

Baseball, soccer, basketball, etc. No matter what sport it may be, there were two factors that made their fans quiver in excitement. The first was the victory of the team they cheered for. The second… was the appearance of a super rookie. In particular, rookies caused not just one team, but the entire sports scene to be heated up.

It was the same in Warlord. There was now 2 months left until the 1-year anniversary. Because of recent appearances of super rookies, Warlord was currently heated up to the extreme.

– Fallout Online’s Rank 10, Rony Jackson joins the Hydra Guild!

– The Machine Rank 3rd, Ugo Sanchez joins Red Bull!

Recently, with top-tier players of other virtual reality games moving to Warlord, related articles, interviews, and videos were making headlines.

But, as always, it wasn’t the royal road that people were interested in, but the road of a jewel crawling up from the bottom to the top.

It was because of this.

Skull Clown!

The 15-minute video of Hahoe Mask Hyrkan fighting skeletons in the Dead Woods achieved 150,000 views in just 3 days of going public. Showing what seemed to be an infinite amount of potential, it signaled the appearance of another super rookie. Naturally, stories of Hyrkan began to circulate around the internet.

– I’ve seen this guy hunting by himself in the Lizard Swamp. It was amazing.

– I saw him too. He always hunts by himself. He’s the master of solo play. He never does party.

– After seeing this, I’m going to go make myself a necromancer.

– What’s up with his clothes? Isn’t it too much?

– He’s probably doing it on purpose. What sane person would wear this? He’s probably doing it to get attention.

With Hyrkan gaining all sorts of attention, there were those who didn’t see it in good light.

‘What’s this?’

Until her secretary, Park Suji, reminded her, Choi Sulyeon had forgotten about Hyrkan.

When she watched Hyrkan’s new video, she was amazed from the bottom of her heart.

However, along with the end of the video, her amazement changed to suspicion. She asked Park Suji whether she had scouted him as she had asked, which Park Suji assured she had. When Choi Sulyeon asked what the result was, Park Suji replied that she didn’t even get a response.

It was a justified suspicion.

The scout offer came from none other than the Stormhunter Guild. Even if he had no choice but to decline, it was proper manners to at least give a reply. No, rather than proper manners, it was the obvious thing to do.

However, there was nothing.

Then?

‘Is he ignoring us?’

Never mind the refusal. There was great chance that he was ignoring them. The fact that he had been silent this entire time with nothing but a new video meant that he treated the Stormhunter Guild as no different than any of the other small guilds.

That being the case, Choi Sulyeon didn’t think that Hyrkan was looking down on Stormhunter Guild. She didn’t even consider that he would have a personal grudge against the Stormhunter Guild.

After all, it was impossible.

According to her standards, it was impossible for a Warlord player to act in such a way.

Instead, she came up with a different answer.

‘Is he part of another guild? If he’s some other guild’s hidden card, it makes sense that he can’t give a reply.’

That Hyrkan was part of a guild and was currently hiding his identity! That was the answer she came up with. It wasn’t that she couldn’t think of any other possibility. It was just that, to her, that was the only possibility.

“Hmph.”

And this fact only served to fire her up. A treasure without an owner and a treasure with an owner. Although a treasure without an owner had more worth, there was a certain thrill and sense of achievement to stealing a treasure with an owner.

‘If he grows, he can one day become the Stormhunter Guild’s ace. He has just as much… no, even more potential than me.’

And just like that, Choi Sulyeon once again played Hyrkan’s video, Skull Clown.