Chapter 106 – Catacombs (1)
Cursed Domain.
The powerful monsters called Voodoo Chimera were swarming this location. This was a difficult stage where a User had to be at least a certain level to play here. Moreover, the Evil Eyes appeared intermittently. If one wanted to block the Evil Eye's Curse, one had to finish the Quest to get 'Sarabo's Charm'. Even Users well over level 140 were ruthlessly sent back to reality if one didn't have 'Sarabo's Charm'.
Moreover, this location didn't drop really good Items, and the EXP wasn't that great considering the difficulty of the Voodoo Chimera hunt. The method to clearing the Voodoo Chimera was still under research.
From that perspective, this was really a cursed place for high level Users, who sought efficiency in their hunts. They should have had no reason or interest in stepping onto this stage.
However, there were an unusual amount of high level users hanging around the Cursed Domain. These Users were all over level 140.
“What's the status of the Quests?”
“There's definitely a variety of Quests here compared to other locations. There are more Search Quests and Commission Quests compared to the simple Hunt Quests.”
After the Noopy Family arrived at the Cursed Castle, a branch office of the Subjugation Association was established inside the Cursed Castle.
At the same time, the Cursed Castle received a respectable name called Heuban's Castle.
The NPC related to the Subjugation Association revealed new NPCs that started to fill up the Heuban's Castle.
This was the reason why the Users were coming here.
New NPCs had appeared. New Quests meant opportunity.
The Cursed Domain was the land of opportunity.
This was what the Cursed Castle had turned into.
Hyrkan arrived at the Heuban's Castle.
“Who is that?”
“Who?”
“The Sword Class User over there.”
“You mean the Swordsman wearing the Rusted Steel set? Who cares? Isn't the Rusted Steel set a level 90 defensive set? Maybe he came here to sightsee. Don't pay attention to him.”
He came in secret.
He hadn't worn his custom Red Skeleton set given to him by his unknown benefactor. He wore the defensive gear that had been previously equipped by his Skeleton. He had appeared with his identity hidden.
There was simple reason why he had hidden his identity.
‘If I'm following the map correctly, the Secret Entrance should be over there.’
Dungeon.
This was the reason why he had hidden his identity.
Maeung had given Hyrkan a map that showed where the secret Dungeon was located beneath the Cursed Castle.
It was described as being a secret region of the castle, but it was basically a Dungeon. This was an obvious thing to say, but it wouldn't be great if this information was leaked.
Moreover, the Users that were operating out of the Cursed Castle right now were like demons, who knew the ins and out of Warlord.
The Users were here on the off chance that an unexpected opportunity might pop up.
If Hyrkan operated in this region as the Hahoe Mask, he would be like a mother duck with its ducklings following after it. He'll have a large tail of Users following after him.
Anyways, Hyrkan's effort had been a success. None of the Users within the Cursed Castle paid any attention to him. This expedited his progress in getting to his destination.
‘Uh?’
At that moment, something had suddenly attracted Hyrkan's attention.
It was a statue.
It was a statue of several Users in a heroic pose. They were the four heroes, who had killed the first Evil Eye. They had also reached the Cursed Castle first. The Subjugation Association had created a statue of the Noopy Family.
‘Shit.’
Of course, the Noopy family had more or less stolen the Sarabo's Sword from under him.
‘The Options on that Item was killer.’
The Options for the Sarabo's Sword had been immediately posted online. Hyrkan gritted his teeth when he thought about it.
As a level 140 Unique Rank Item, the Sarabo's Sword had great Options. At the same time, the Item was tradeable, and it was high in scarcity.
If he had sold it for a high price, he would have been able to make some eye-popping amount of money.
‘If it hadn't been for that son of a bitch…’
If Sinclair hadn't interfered, the Item would have been in the possession of Hyrkan.
When he thought about the situation, it made his inside burn even if he was inside the game.
Hyrkan shook his head from side to side.
‘If I get a little bit stronger, I'll keep hunting him down until this game closes it service.’
He made a resolution as he shook his head.
At the same time…
‘Please let there be something amazing in this Dungeon.’
He prayed earnestly.
Hyrkan’s thoughts were very busy in many aspects.
Koohng!
The ceiling of the pitch black tunnel fell. When the bricks forming the ceiling hit the ground, the rugged sound rang out. As if he was trying to quell the rugged sound from ringing out, a person fell through the ceiling! He let out a minimum amount of sound as he landed, and he immediately manipulated the watch on his wrist.
“Slot on.”
He yelled out a short phrase.
The armor made out of red bones appeared.
The owner of the Red Skeleton set was Hyrkan. After he finished the Item Switching, he held his breath as he listened to his surrounding.
‘There's nothing nearby.’
Fortunately, he didn't hear anything out of the ordinary.
Afterwards, Hyrkan let out a complaint.
‘Why isn't there any Announcements? Usually there should be an Announcement regarding a User entering the Dungeon. Where's the announcement for the Titles?’
Hyrkan turned on the light app on his wrist watch after he complained couple more times.
Paht!
The light source was small, but the powerful light illuminated the surrounding. It allowed Hyrkan to be able to estimate the size of the tunnel.
The tunnel was quite large. From the floor to the ceiling, there was a distance of about 3 meters. The width was slightly less than 5 meters. Most family cars could drive through this tunnel.
‘I'm pretty sure I'm at the right place….’
Hyrkan was relieved when he saw the size of the tunnel. A tunnel of this size wouldn’t be used as an escape tunnel. This meant this tunnel was built for a different purpose.
Hyrkan stealthily took out a single Skeleton Fragment. He summoned the Skeleton Knight. As soon as he summoned it, Hyrkan placed the light app on top of the Skeleton Knight's head.
The Skeleton Knight had become a walking light bulb. Hyrkan decided to reward his Skeleton Knight. He activated the Madness Helm then he summoned the Bone Armor. He also placed Curses on the sword being held by the Skeleton Knight.
How long had he been walking?
‘All right.’
The material making up the tunnel had changed, then a straight road suddenly appeared.
Hyrkan could sense something had changed.
[You've entered the Dungeon 'Catacombs'.]
[You've earned the title ‘Visitor of the Catacombs’.]
[You've earned the title ‘Awakened from Slumber’.]
The Announcements he heard immediately confirmed his suspicions. A smile formed on Hyrkan's lips.
‘Yes. This is it.’
At the same time as the Announcements, a noise intruded into the quiet space.
Ddul-goo-ruhk, ddul-goo-ruhk.
Hyrkan heard a very familiar sound.
The smile on Hyrkan's lips shited in an odd way.
‘What the hell?’
Eventually, a skeletal version of a Voodoo Chimera appeared in front of the Skeleton Knight. It was none other than the Chimera Skeleton. The smile around Hyrkan's lips turned into a sneer.
‘Would you look at this?’
It was rusty, but the Chimera Skeleton was fully equipped. The Chimera Skeleton had a presence couldn't be ignored.
Moreover, there were two of them. It felt as if the tunnel was packed, and it inevitably increased the pressure given off by the monsters.
If he had been a normal User, he would have been nervous in this situation.
However, the monsters were laughable to Hyrkan.
‘Who do you think I am? How dare a Skeleton show themselves in front of me!’
Hyrkan didn't summon any additional additional Skeleton Warriors or Magicians. He didn't even summon his Golem. He spoke in a low voice as he stood behind the Skeleton Knight.
“If you get killed by such opponents, get ready to dodge my fists every day in training when I summon you the next time.”
It was as if the Skeleton Knight understood what had been said by Hyrkan. The Skeleton Knight opened its mouth wider than usual, and it unhesitatingly charged towards its enemies.
Hyrkan's Skeleton Knight skill was Rank C. It was a case where the Rank was rising much faster than Hyrkan's level. It was evidence that the Skeleton Knight had performed more brilliantly than he had expected.
Moreover, every one of his summoned Skeletons were influenced by the Rank A Skeleton Science skill. It increased all stats of the Skeleton by 30%. On top of that, the Skeleton Knight was using the Madness Helm skill. The Rank A Madness Helm had the effect of increasing all stats by 30%.
It didn't end there. There was something else that could also be used by the Skeleton Knight.
It was the Rank A Bone Armor. A layer of sturdy Bone Armor protected the Skeleton Knight's entire body.
Of course, the Bone Armor was inferior to Rare Rank defensive sets.
However, the Rank A Armament skill allowed Hyrkan to equip the Skeleton Knight with the Clear Spider set and the Gargoyle Knight's sword. The Bone Armor was like a coating laminated over steel.
As the finishing stroke, Hyrkan had trained his Skeletons everyday whenever he had some spare time. This allowed the Skeleton Warriors to be able to dodge Hyrkan's attack, who boasted a higher Strength stat than a Swordsman class.
These were the reasons why Hyrkan's pride wouldn't let his Skeleton Knight lose to a similarly equipped Skeleton monsters.
“Yes. That's right! Drill him!”
The Skeleton Knight was defending Hyrkan's pride. The Skeleton Knight cornered the two Chimera Skeletons, who were blocking the tunnel.
Hweeeek!
In the small space, the Skeleton Knight easily dodged the halberds swung by the Chimera Skeletons. The Skeleton Knight immediately swung its petrified sword towards the Chimera Skeleton's armor.
Kwah-jeek!
The one-sided attack continued, and the Chimera Skeleton's armor was turned into junk. The only thing left was to trash the Chimera Skeleton's body.
From the back, Hyrkan touched his Bone Explosives and Skeleton Fragments.
The sight in front of Hyrkan was satisfying.
‘My hard labor was worth it.’
It felt akin to your kid getting into a named university. He truly felt that way.
At the same time, he gained confidence.
‘I'm better than Rich Lich.’
He was confident in that statement now. Hyrkan had built himself up to a point where he had jumped over his role model, Rich Lich.
The only thing he was lacking was funds. If he had the funds, Hyrkan could do everything that had been shown to him by Rich Lich.
‘Yes. All I need is money.’
Of course, money was the source of his biggest problem.
‘If I had money, nothing would be impossible in the first place.’
Hyrkan was like a parent with a child, who was about to enter into college. He felt a feeling akin to a parent worrying about the school tuition.
Hyrkan was growing at an incredibly fast pace. He didn't have to worry about the front-runners anymore. Several Users suspected the secret to the ridiculous fighting abilities of the Skeleton Warriors. They were attempting to grow a Necromancer like the Hahoe Mask. However, Hyrkan didn't feel threatened by them. He wouldn't have to worry about any of them unless someone gets hit by a truck and that someone is sent back into the past.
The problem was the fact that Hyrkan would truly be competing against talented individuals, who had dedicated their lives to Warlord. He would have to compete again those who achieved a lot in this game through their effort and talent.
Moreover, the market for the Items he would use will change now. If Hyrkan wanted to get the best quality Items befitting his level, his funds would be inadequate to the task.
Even if he did have the funds, he would run into those, who would halt a deal, because of who he was.
When his train of thought reached that point, Hyrkan's expression cooled off.
His Skeleton Knight's performance had heated up his heart, but now it had cooled off.
His cooled heart directed Hyrkan's hand to move. Hyrkan took out several Skeleton Fragments, and he threw it over the Chimera Skeletons. The Skeleton Warriors formed behind the Chimera Skeletons. They opened their mouth wide as they waited for his command.
Hyrkan flicked his finger twice.
As if the Skeleton Warriors were trying to console their master, they leapt into action.
