Emperor of Solo Play

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[Pursuer of Corruption Ring]

*Main properties

– Unique-rank Item

– Increases class-specific stats proportional to level

– All stats +9

– Required level: None

– Required title: Title ‘Pursuer of Corruption’

*Sub-properties

– All stats +21 when equipped with the Pursuer of Corruption Necklace

– This item becomes bound to its owner.

After receiving the Pursuer of Corruption Ring from Ahimbree, the biggest smile hung on Hyrkan’s mouth. If one did not know any better, he would think Hyrkan had gone mad.

‘It’s untradeable, but it’s still a Chronical Unique accessory. A set item too!’

Just the additional magic power he gained was 50 points. He got 30 points from the item itself and its set effects. The other 20 came from the class-specific stat boost, which was half of whatever level he was. Once he buys the Magic Power Switching set, he would be able to get at least another 50 points.

In total, he would get close to 100 points of magic power in one day. Since he received 6% stat boost from the Rising Star and Ahimbree’s Disciple titles, it would be 106 points.

‘If I add Skeleton Science on top of this…’

Hyrkan set aside his ring and checked the new skill he acquired.

[Skeleton Science]

– Proficiency: Rank F

– Increases the stats of all skeletons by 5%.

– Decreases the amount of magic power needed to summon skeletons by 10%.

– Decreases the amount of magic power needed to maintain skeletons by 10%.

– Increases the number of summonable skeletons by 1.

‘This is more than enough.’

With more than 100 points of magic power and the effect of Skeleton Science, he would have no problems using his skeletons.

The spare magic power would then lead to more power.

‘Next is….’

Golems.

★★★

It was 3 meters tall.

With a clay gorilla-like appearance, the Golem wasn’t so visually appealing. However, if one personally felt the sense of comfort looking at its broad back, then he would know why Golems were called the flower of necromancers.

It was the same for Hyrkan.

‘Fan-tastic.’

After learning Golem Summoning at the Class Tower, he immediately headed to a desolate hunting ground to summon it. Even though he had full magic power at start, he only had three quarters left after summoning the Golem. Although Hyrkan had yet to buy the Magic Power Switching set, considering the sizable boost in his magic power due to the Pursuer of Corruption Ring, Hyrkan could understand why Golem Summoning was called a magic power-eating hippo.

Even so, Hyrkan didn’t feel bad in the slightest. He knew that his Golem would be his life-long partner, one that would spare no cost to protect him.

‘I can finally do some proper battles.’

The role of a tank was that important.

Furthermore, a Golem’s tanking ability was higher than what most players would expect.

Although no one should have learned it at this point in time, there were Golem-related passive skills that gave elemental properties to Golems. By using them, necromancers could change their Golems’ properties so that they received the least amount of damage from the monsters they were facing. As other tankers spent huge sum of money to acquire armor sets resistant to different elements, one could see how convenient Golems were.

Besides their tanking ability, Golems had two more fantastic features.

First was its travel mode. Necromancers could travel while riding on its back. When moving from one castle to another, as long as the necromancer had visited both places before, an automatic navigation system would activate. Currently in Warlord, players didn’t have much means of transportation. As such, it was a feature that brought envy from other classes.

The second feature was its copy mode. Copy mode made the Golem copy the movement of its master.

‘I always wanted to try it.’

It was the mode Hyrkan was most excited for.

A movie Hyrkan had seen long time ago, Real Steel starring Hugh Jackman. It was a movie that featured a bulky robot boxing other robots. In that movie, there was a scene where the robot was copying the main character’s moves.

Watching the scene, Hyrkan had once dreamed that the same thing would happen to him. Unfortunately, the era of virtual reality arrived before the era of boxing robots.

“Copy mode.”

With Hyrkan’s command, the Golem moved and copied Hyrkan’s stance. When Hyrkan shook his head side to side, the Golem shook its head side to side. When Hyrkan raised his arms up, the Golem raised its arms up. When Hyrkan made a fist, so did the Golem.

Then.

Whish!

Hyrkan threw out a jab.

Whoosh!

The Golem did so as well.

Full of expectations, Hyrkan’s face stiffened slightly. Then, he threw a few punches consecutively.

Jab, jab, straight!

Although the Golem copied Hyrkan and threw out punches, its tempo was clearly off. In other words, it was rather slow.

‘It’s slower and stiffer than I thought.’

Although Hyrkan hadn’t expected it to throw out punches and move its body like the robot from the movie, but the Golem’s movements were below his expectation.

‘It’s my fault for being too greedy.’

Hyrkan put his arms down and shook his head side to side.

The Golem put his arms down and shook its head side to side as well. Watching this, Hyrkan couldn’t help but laugh.

In truth, he was not disappointed. Copy mode wasn’t there to be used offensively in the first place. The real value of copy mode was in suppressing the enemy. Clinching the enemy or tackling the enemy was enough for Golems to do in battle.

“End copy mode.”

With Hyrkan’s command, the Golem went back to its drooped position. Hyrkan stepped on its body and sat on its shoulder. Now, it was time to check how comfortable it was.

“Travel mode. Destination, Bangtz Castle.”

At Hyrkan’s command, the Golem marched ahead. Exactly 3 minutes afterwards…

“Well, shit.”

Hyrkan unsummoned his Golem and yelled out angrily.

“How is this a Golem? It’s a fucking turtle!”

★★★

Thanks to virtual reality, people were able to meet in virtual worlds whenever they wanted. The five people currently in a meeting were able to meet thanks to this fact.

There were five people sitting around a properly sized round table. One was an old man, one was a young woman, one was a young man, one was a middle aged man, and one was a young lady with a small frame.

Although they seemed completely different on the surface, there was something they all had in common.

It was that they played Warlord, that they were members of the Top 30 Guilds, that they were all in top 100 Rankers, and that they were leaders of their respective guilds.

“Five people, what a surprise.”

The guild masters of some of Warlord’s Top 30 Guilds had gathered in a single place.

It was a rare sight, to say the least.

The Top 30 Guilds were competitors. To steal as many viewers as possible and to increase their broadcast ratings as much as possible, they had to do whatever means necessary.

Although there were cases where two or three guilds collaborated, it was extremely rare for five people to gather at a single place.

It was also more dangerous than ever. If other guilds found out, they would become suspicious of the five guilds and hold another meeting to discuss it. Once that happened, an incident was bound to happen.

“We’re all busy people. Let’s skip the introduction and go right into the main subject.”

As everyone present knew this fact, they didn’t try to ruin the atmosphere with needless jokes.

They were short and to the point.

“As you may all know, it seems that Hydra Guild has found out the identity of the Corrupt Count.”

The reason for the meeting was this.

“Although we can’t be certain, according to our guild’s intel, it seems the D-Day is March 10th. It seems they are aiming to match Warlord’s 1-year anniversary.”

Corrupt Count.

It was currently Warlord’s hottest issue.

At the same time, the Corrupt Count quest was nearing its end. Most of the Top 30 Guilds were around 80 percent of its completion.

The problem was that the Hydra Guild was much quicker than the rest. They weren’t just fast. The Hydra Guild had already found out who the Corrupt Count was, and they were now beginning to prepare for its raid. As the other guilds who didn’t even know who the Corrupt Count was, it was driving them crazy.

“It goes without saying, but we cannot let the Hydra Guild succeed on their Corrupt Count raid.”

If they were to do so, their profit would be too much.

First, they would be able to get large amounts of Corrupt Count Chronical Uniques. They would be able to equip many of their skilled first division members with Chronical Uniques. Considering the value of Chronical Uniques, the Hydra Guild would then hold a powerful ace up their sleeve.

Furthermore, they would receive amazing titles as well.

Most important was the public evaluation.

“If the Hydra Guild catches the Corrupt Count, I guarantee that the Hydra Guild will take most of second quarter’s ratings.”

In broadcasting, trends were absolute. If the Hydra Guild captured the Corrupt Count, many viewers would use them as their main broadcast channel, and Hydra Guild would receive even more profit from it. That would then lead directly to strengthening their forces.

It was a good chain of events for the Hydra Guild, but it was bad for the rest of the competitors.

If they were just playing a game, they could let such chain of events slide.

However, the Top 30 Guilds weren’t just gaming. They were doing business. Tens of thousands of people were working under their brand, and they were dealing with tens of millions of customers. They couldn’t just let this slide.

There was only one answer.

“As such, the five guilds gathered here must work together to stop the Hydra Guild.”

They had to make sure that such a thing never happens.

For that reason, five guilds had come to unite under a common front. To stop Hydra Guild’s capturing of the Corrupt Count, they were prepared to do whatever it takes.

“Let’s first make a peace agreement. The guilds gathered here now will not physically clash with each other until the 31st of March. Anyone against it?”

No one raised their hands.

“The peace agreement is as follows. We are to share all information regarding the Corrupt Count. If the Hydra Guild captures the Corrupt Count, any information we have would be meaningless anyways. Although you might not like it, it’s better to use the information before it becomes useless scrap. Anyone against it?”

Again, no one raised their hands.

“That will be all for now. I will send the related documents by email.”

★★★

Taking off her V-Gear, Choi Sulyeon lightly brushed her hair down. Then, she immediately closed her eyes and became lost in thought.

‘So it’s come down to this.’

Corrupt Count.

Thinking of this word, Choi Sulyeon grit her teeth. As if that wasn’t enough to quell her anger, she shuddered.

“Ggrrr, so annoying!’

She was confident. She was confident that she and her guild would stand above all others and complete the Corrupt Count quest.

However, the reality wasn’t so nice. She was indignant as she even had to join hands with other guilds to stop the Hydra Guild from going ahead.

‘Hmph.’

At this time, she ruminated on how this happened.

In truth, the answer was simple.

She and the Stormhunter Guild were simply not as good as the Hydra Guild. That was it. It was the result of the Stormhunter Guild’s players and guild operations being weaker than Hydra Guild’s.

In other words…

‘This is not enough. I need even more skilled players by my side.’

If she couldn’t fill this gap, the Hydra Guild would do better in the next main scenario quest as well. Choi Sulyeon and her guild would become nothing more than a sideshow.

That was a fact Choi Sulyeon could not accept.

‘A skilled player. One with more talent and skill than a jewel.’

She bit her lips lightly.

The figure of a certain player glimmered in her head.