Chapter 100 - Cursed Domain(4)
“Do you want me to sever your wrist and take your watch? Or do you want to keep your wrist by giving your watch voluntarily to me? Which one would you prefer?”
“I...I'll give it to you.”
“Since I've received your watch, what about the toll fee?”
“What? Toll fee?”
“Don't you want to get past me alive? If you want to get past me, then of course, I would have to receive a toll fee.”
“I don't have any gold right now…….”
“I can take Ingredient Coins or Ingredient Gems. If you don't have those either, you can get a loan. Don't you have a lot of comrades you can get a loan from? Also, you two over there.”
“Yes?”
“Us two?”
“Since the two of you didn't even think about attacking me, I won't take your watches. Instead, you'll have to give me a toll fee.”
“W...we have to give you money too?”
“It is a conscientious price of 100 gold.”
“Can you cut us some slack? We didn't do anything.”
“Please cut us some slack. We are women...”
“Women? So what? It isn't as if you girls will date me just because I let you girls go. So why should I let you girls off the hook?”
“So if we go out with you...”
“Ah, sorry. I'll turn down that offer. The two of you aren't my cup of tea. Maybe someone will be your white knight? Ah. What do I mean by white knight? I'm asking if anyone here would pay instead of the ladies here.”
Zeet couldn't believe what was unfolding in front of his eyes. He looked on with an absent-minded expression.
‘My god.’
This had happened in an instant.
The process of defeating Viol happened in an instant. Moreover, the events that happened afterwards also unfolded in an instant.
The other party didn't have a good mix of members. There was a Magician, Priest and Swordsman. The party wasn't made up in a way where they could gang up on a single opponent. In truth, the party had only one Swordsman.
The Swordsman User wasn't able to put up a proper fight.
Kah-ahng!
When the two swords clashed, the Swordsman User's sword bounced off. At the same time, he had lost his balance. This was the result of being overwhelmed by the opponent’s Strength Stat.
Of course, when the Swordsman User was stabbed in the eyes, he was afflicted by the Blind effect. Afterwards, the Swordsman User had become a meat shield. Instead of buying time for his Magician, he was used as a shield. The Magician let out the words, "Uh uh? Uh uh!", before he was subdued. The Magician's arms and legs were cut.
When the Magician and Swordsman was subdued, a Priest didn't really have any other choice.
This was how the previous conversation had started.
‘I never thought I would personally witness such a thing.’
It was common to see a single person fight multiple opponents in Warlord. This was a game. If one's Spec was overwhelmingly high, a single person could fight against several dozen people.
However, the current situation wasn't the result of differences in Spec. The opponents had been crushed by strength, but something felt different. It felt as if something much stronger had crushed them. It wasn't correct to say it was solely the difference in strength. Was it a difference in temperament? This was a feeling one would get when one saw a tiger tear apart a rabbit.
In that context, this was a hard sight to swallow.
Of course, Zeet had seen videos that was similar to what he was seeing.
‘It isn't as if he is the Hahoe Mask....’
Hahoe Mask.
His battle style was similar to the Hahoe Mask.
Moreover, the sand toss was one of Hahoe Mask's go-to move. In recent days, the Hahoe Mask didn't use the sand toss any more. However, his early fans were a very passionate about the Hahoe Mask's sand toss. Many people became his fan, because of that move.
While Zeet was watching with a slack-jawed expression, the situation was resolved.
The Swing guild members settled each of their account, and they left. Finally, Zeet approached his partner.
“Maybe I should have asked each of them for 200 gold...”
A chill ran up Zeet's back when he heard his partner talk to himself.
‘What will happen if the Block Field doesn't open after the Quest is completed? Do I really have to give him money?’
Accompanying the anxiety, he was truly worried about what would happen.
“Is it really ok to act like this? I'm sure they'll come back for revenge.”
Zeet had fallen out with the Swing guild, and he was still paying the price for it. Swing guild wasn't that great of a guild, but it was powerful enough to suppress a single User. They had committed the first transgression, yet they weren’t virtuous enough to admit that they were wrong in the first place.
“Don't worry about it. At their level, they won't even be able to get a queue ticket to face me.”
His partner had dismissive expression on his face regarding Zeet's worries.
“What?”
Zeet replied with a question, but his partner didn't elaborate on his answer.
“Anyways, let's move quickly. I don't want to unnecessarily get caught up in an annoying business. It seems the other side picked up on what we are doing.”
“Ah!”
Zeet finally came to his senses.
“Yes. We have to move quickly.”
His partner's words were correct. The Swing guild members, who were spared their lives, weren't dummies. They'll go request help from the other guild members. There were a considerable amount of Swing guild members around this region. Zeet personally knew over 10 members.
This was especially true since Viol had been taken down. They would surely try to get their revenge. Viol was someone that was pretty high up in terms of level in the Swing guild. This happened in any organization, but the way they treat someone depended on how much the member could contribute towards their organization.
This was reason enough to hurry up their pace.
“Are you perhaps a fan of that person?”
During all of this, Zeet asked a question he was very curious about.
“Who?”
“Hahoe Mask.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“No. I'm just saying you have a similar fighting style as the Hahoe Mask. Ah. Of course, the Hahoe Mask is a Necromancer, and you are a Swordsman.”
Zeet's partner just smirked at his answer. Of course, Zeet's partner didn't answer the question.
“Let's hurry up.”
That was his partner's answer.
When one plays Warlord, sometimes it feels like one is putting pieces of a puzzle together.
This was how Zeet felt right now.
They diligently searched the hunting ground where the Sick Werewolves appeared. In the process, they found a clue.
As if black rain had fallen from the sky, there were black ink-like marks on the trees, rocks and ground. Moreover, anything that touched the black liquid wasn't doing well. In the case of the tree, the trees were shriveled up only where the black water was touching. The rocks and earth was corroded when in contact with the black liquid.
The black liquid was clearly the source of the problem.
“So this is why the Sick Werewolves appeared.”
Moreover, there was a high probability that the reason why the Sick Werewolves were appearing instead of the normal Werewolves was the effect of the black liquid. In other words, it was highly likely that this place was the location they were looking for.
“Let's just follow it. We can do the clean up later.”
“All right.”
This was like following the breadcrumbs left by Hansel and Gretel. Zeet and his partner followed the black marks. After traveling for awhile, they found a small hidden cave hidden between the foliages.
Moreover, there was a Black Skeleton within the cave. It was praying with its hands clasped like a high priest.
It was the Blackened Remains.
“This is why no one was able to find it. Who would have thought it would be here? ”
When Zeet found it, he spoke in a despondent manner, then he immediately lowered his head.
‘Fucking hell.’
He couldn't help, but curse inside.
‘I worked like a dog for over two month to be able to see this shabby Skeleton...’
It looked like a worthless Skeleton. In truth, what person likes a skeleton? Skeletons were always an ominous symbol. Yet he had spent two month to find this Skeleton.
It was apt to describe it as him working like a dog. From other people's perspective, he had basically wasted two month. From Zeet's perspective, it felt as if he had dug a hole for two months. It wasn't funny.
However, at that moment, he felt an emotion that he had only felt when he began playing Warlord.
‘Still, this is a first.’
No one had been able to accomplish this. Countless number of people had given up on this Quest, and he was the first one to complete it. He wouldn't characterize it as coming in 1st place, but it was a monumental moment for him.
“Thank you.”
Zeet's partner shrugged his shoulders when he heard Zeet speak.
“We can exchange pleasantries later. However, there's something I'd like you to keep in mind.”
“Keep in mind?”
“If we break open this Quest and the Block Field isn't gone, then you'll have to a choice to make like those Swing guild members.”
Zeet smirked at those words. He laughed as he replied.
“You really are a strange bastard.”
His partner shrugged his shoulder. Zeet didn't take his words to be a threat. He thought his partner was playing with his words. Of course, his partner might be warning him in truth, but Zeet didn't care in the end.
“All right. If it doesn’t come down, I'll give you the money. I'll give you a thousand gold.”
As he spoke, Zeet carefully picked up the Skeleton. When Zeet's hands touched the Skeleton, everything except the skull disintegrated into dust.
“Uh? What the hell?”
“It must have eroded.”
“D...does this mean we failed the Quest?”
“Since the skull is the only thing left, it means we should take it. We just have to escort it to where it wanted to go.”
Zeet came to his sense when he heard the word 'escort'.
‘Ah.’
It was time to part ways. Zeet felt a sense of loss.
Zeet hadn't made any comrades up until now. It was true that a part of the reason why no one wanted to play with him was the fact that Zeet wasn't exceptionally skilled. However, the biggest obstacle had been the fact that Zeet was annoyed by the other Users.
What kind of game would it be if one only focused on leveling up and hunting? One had to enjoy the game itself for it to be a game for him. He wasn't interested in hunting like a mad man to become the best. That was a minor part of the game for him. It was pointless.
This line of thought discouraged the need to find a comrade.
However, for the first time he had found a User, who he wanted to play the game with. Regrettably, it wouldn’t be possible.
‘At a glance, he is an expert, who had hid his level. There is no way he would want to play the game with me.’
He had caught on awhile ago. He realized that his partner wasn't a small fry like him.
“Yes. Let's end this.”
Zeet put on a smile.
‘I want to play the game with a guy like this.’
In the future, Zeet would come to be known as the Quest Man. This was the moment that started it all.
It happened the moment Hyrkan reached the peak of Ricky Mountain. An Announcement was heard inside his ears.
[You gained the Title 'Person who Conquered the Peak of the Ricky Mountain'.]
He was finally at the peak.
This meant the Block Field had been removed. Hyrkan raised his head to look at the lake that was located on the other side of the mountain.
‘I invested 3 days on this.’
He had to dispel the Block Field. Without any plans, he had used up 3 days to open the door.
However, Hyrkan let out a sigh of relief instead of being frustrated.
‘I'm fortunate that there was guy like Zeet here.’
Zeet.
If he hadn’t been here, he wouldn't have been able to finish the Quest in 3 days. This was why he didn't say his time had been wasted. He was actually thankful.
‘I'm really thankful for that guy.’
If Users like Zeet didn't exist, how much time would Hyrkan have had to spend in dispelling the Block Field by himself? One week? Maybe Hyrkan would have had to retire here.
‘Guys like him make Warlord go around.’
Zeet and Users like him were the small components located all over Warlord. They were willing to to the small detailed tasks, so the Warlord Users could advance.
The world was like a clock. There were large and expensive parts, but one won't be able to make the clock work with just those components. The small parts played a role that was as important as the large parts. The Rankers of the 30 great guilds determined the flow of Warlord, but in the end, Warlord was made up of regular Users.
Of course, this wasn't an important story for Hyrkan.
Hyrkan didn't go too deep into his reverie. He wasn't in a situation where he would allow himself to fall into a reverie.
Hyrkan harbored a suspicion.
‘This doesn't match with the info I know.’
Cursed Domain.
Hyrkan knew that this place was of low importance in the Immoral Prince section of the Main Quest.
[The Cursed Domain is where the the Immoral Prince carried out his experiments. This was the location where power of Corruption was exposed to the monsters through his experiments. It was also the location where the clue about the Immoral Prince could be found.]
This was all the facts Hyrkan knew about the Cursed Domain.
If he looked at the current situation, Hyrkan knew this wasn't a stage he could easily finish. This might take awhile.
‘A barrier.’
If the scenario is as Zeet surmised, the barrier had been made by those who had run away from the Cursed Domain. On top of that, the Blackened Remains acquired by Zeet was the remain of the Magician that had been maintaining the barrier with his magic.
It wasn't a simple Block Field set in place by the System. There were a lot of cases where a Block Field was set by a Scenario. The Battlefield he had fought at the Terube castle wall was a prime example.
Moreover, if one crossed a Block Field linked to a Scenario, there was a pretty important Event Stage on the other side. For example, the Frozen Kingdom was across the Terube castle wall.
The heart of the problem was the fact that Hyrkan didn't have any information about that important stage.
‘I'm sure of it. Someone pocketed the Cursed Domain, and the information was never released.’
This meant the Users from the time before Hyrkan returned to the past had cleared the Cursed Domain, and they had never disclosed this fact to the public.
‘This place is where level 140 monsters show up....’
One would have to be at least level 140 to hunt at a hunting ground of this quality. The Event probably required a higher level than 140, yet he had never heard about it. There weren't many organizations that could cleanly swallow the whole event.
It could only be pulled off by the 30 great guilds and the Underfoot guilds. This meant there was a high chance the Cursed Domain held something very delicious. It was something worth hiding.
Hyrkan organized his current situation.
‘I don't have any information.’
Hyrkan had no idea what the Cursed Domain held.
‘Moreover, my level is only in the 120s.’
It wasn’t entirely impossible for him to go to a level 140 hunting ground, but it wasn't an easy stage for him.
‘I don't care if a dog or a cow shows up. However, I’m sure it won’t be an ordinary dog or cow.’
When such a stage opened, a dog or a cow would appear. However, the dog might be a trained attack dog instead of a normal dog. A bull could come out instead of a normal cow, and he would be the matador with no experience in facing these bulls.
These were the mountains Hyrkan would have to climb in the future.
Hyrkan put on his Hahoe Mask and he smiled.
‘This will be fun.’
Rumors in Warlord traveled faster than the wind.
“Did you hear about it? The Block Field across Misandra's Castle was dispelled.”
“Over there? How?”
“The Blackened Remains was found.”
“Who found it? I thought that Quest was a bug? I thought no one was able to find it?”
“His name is Zeet. Anyways, he found it.”
Rumors in Warlord was highly combustible. The fuse was lit immediately.
“So what's across the Block Field?”
“The Users are disseminating information as they thoroughly search the mountain. However, it seems the place is crawling with unexpectedly strong monsters. The lowest level monsters are over level 140. The average level of the hunt is around level 150.”
“Level 150? That's incredible! I bet the Rankers are very interested in that place.”
When the fire burns hot, the flame sometimes make the person drunk.
“Moreover, there is a rumor going around. The location might be an Event Stage and the reward is a Unique Item.”
“What?”
“Think about it. It's a level 150 Event location, and the reward is a Unique item. Doesn't that mean the reard is a level 150 or higher Unique Item?”
“A level 150 Unique item.... Wasn't there a recently sold Item like that?”
“It was a Level 150 Unique Item that Dropped from the Blue Dragon Slime Raid. It was a Magic Wand. It was sold at 250,000 gold, but the sale was a dud. In the end, it was traded for a level 140 Full Unique Defensive Set.”
“That's a ridiculous price. Two hundred fifty thousand gold....”
“The User backed out of the deal. He said he would rather use it than sell it for only 250,000 gold.”
They were drunk on the recent events, so they started talking nonsense.
This was how lies and rumors spread rapidly across Warlord.