Emperor of Solo Play - Chapter 113

Chapter 113 – Black Tree (3)

8.

Unique and Rare was not a vocabulary that the Users disliked. The word, Unique, drove people into a fervor.  This was the same for Rare Boss monsters.  Either the odds were very low or one had to fulfill a particular set of requirements to be able to meet a Rare Boss monster. The reward given out was proportional to how difficult it was to encounter the monster.

It gave ingredients Items with good Options, very good EXP, and rare titles.

On top of that…

“Are you thinking about uploading the hunting video again?”

Raid videos was an opportunity to bring in a lot of money.

“Of course. It’s my meal ticket.”

When he decided to commit to the Black Tree Raid, all the risk regarding the Raid was erased from his head.

Return!

Instead, Hyrkan’s head was filled with thoughts about the costs in regards to the Black Tree. Hyrkan  had carried out numerous Raids before, but the most profit he could make until now was riding on this Black Tree Raid.

This was why Hyrkan asked an indirect question.

“Is it a problem?  Do you want me to edit you out?  Do you want a mosaic? Or do you want a share?”

Of course, he wasn’t asking those questions, because he wanted to cede those things. Still, he asked the question to confirm where he stood with Whistling.

However, Whistling shook his head from side to side at Hyrkan’s questions. It was the reaction Hyrkan had wanted to see.  However, instead of a smile, Hyrkan couldn’t help, but feel amazed by Whistling.

‘He really is an incredible person.  He is giving up everything to save the Elven tribe….’

Whistling was giving up Items and rights that was rightfully his.  Of course, if one wasn’t competent, it was moot point in the first place.  If Hyrkan was in Whistling’s shoes, he would have acted differently. If he couldn’t have it, then no one could.

If some else saw Whistling’s action, he would be labeled a stupid loser.

However, Hyrkan didn’t even think those thought. Instead, Hyrkan felt truly amazed by Whistling’s action.  Even if Hyrkan died and woke up again, he would never be able to live his life like Whistling.

Whistling’s action made Hyrkan’s heart shake.

“If this business ends well, let’s have some melon beer together.”

The words that came out of Hyrkan’s mouth was very rare. It was hard to hear such words from him.

Whistling answered Hyrkan with his words.

“I’ll show you my battle footage.”

Whistling’s voice and expression was very serious. His expression was especially overwhelming. His face looked like that of a pitbull, and his face came off as menacing when his face turned serious.

Hyrkan had seen all kinds of monsters…  These monsters were beyond odd. The monsters had outer appearances that was hair-raising, yet Hyrkan smiled as he killed the monster. He had thought about the Items they would give.  However, Pitbull’s face even made Hyrkan flinch.

Of course, Hyrkan immediately changed his mindset. He locked away such nonsensical thoughts deep within his stomach.

“All right.”

They had to make preparations for the battle.  Of course, Hyrkan didn’t need to see the footage.  He already knew how to take down the Black Tree.  However, he couldn’t explain that to Whistling.

Whistling immediately showed the footage of his battles with the Black Tree.

The Black Tree was quite big.  It was around 30 meters tall.  If ten broad shouldered men linked hands, they would barely be able to surround the circumference of the tree. The special characteristic of this tree was the long and thick strand-like branches.  It was closer to whips than tree branches.

Its attack method was quite simple.  It took root into the ground, and it swung its whip-like branches towards its enemies.

It was very simple, but the power behind the strikes were enormous. The tree branch headed towards its target as it divided the wind.  The sound of the strike would make anyone’s neck stiffen.

Whitling had tried attack the Black Tree twice.

In the first attempt, Whistling barely dodged the rampaging tree branches.  When he approached the main body of the Black Tree, he used his Charge skill to immediately close the distance.  Then he used a high level Booster skill, and the Flash Skill.  These skills increased the power and speed of the sword strike.  Then he used a level 150 Rare Fighter skill called Cut-Cut.  He had maximized the cutting force of the sword to the extreme.

However, when the three skill combo impacted on the Black Tree’s Bark, it left behind a cut that was only an inch deep.

It might be a critical wound on a human, but an attack of that caliber wasn’t even considered to be a scratch.

On this second attempt, Whistling aimed for the knothole.  He once again evaded the tree branches as he closed the distance with the Black Tree.  Then he aimed for one of the knotholes.  The wound was deep, but Black Sap exploded forth from the wound, and it coated Whistling’s body.

At the same time, the Black Tree tried to shake off Whistling, who was stuck to the tree like a bug.  It used its branch to send Whistling flying.

After being flung far into the distance, Whistling immediately got out of there.  When he saw the Black Sap eat away at his HP, he immediately realized he couldn’t catch this monster by himself.

From that point, it took him three hours before he had contacted Hyrkan.

“Its characteristic are…….”

The video had ended, and Whistling started to give a more in-depth explanation.

“I can see it for myself.”

However, Hyrkan immediately cut off Whistling with his words.

“The Tree Bark has a very high defense. Instead, we have to attack its weakness, which is the knotholes.  However, if the knothole is attacked, it’ll let out the Black Sap. It is probably a poison.  No, you would have just used an antidote item if it was just a simple poison.  You were prepared for this possibility.  This means antidote item and skill won’t work on this attack.”

Whistling was impressed at Hyrkan’s explanation.

“You are amazing. You just saw the footage once, yet you were able to come up with those answers.”

“It isn’t anything amazing.”

Hyrkan displayed an ambiguous reaction, and he immediately changed the topic towards the Raid.

“The Circlet of Purification will block any negative effect caused by the Black Sap.  This is why Chieftain Drah gave you that Item.”

The solution to the biggest obstacle had already been provided.

“However, you are the only one able to equip the Circlet of Purification right now.  You will have to do the Armor Breaking.”

However, the Circlet of Purification couldn’t be transferred. To be precise, it returned to its liquid form when held by someone other than Whistling.  This was why the Armor Breaking or the expansion of the knothole was Whistling’s job.

Hyrkan’s role was to occupy the several dozen tree branches, so Whistling could focus on his job.

“It won’t be easy.  This is especially true for you, Hahoe Mask.  If the task becomes too arduous, you can just leave me behind.”

If one looked at the difficulty of their tasks, Hyrkan’s role was overwhelmingly more difficult.  Since Whistling had the Circlet of Purification, he had to just climb the tree to attack the knotholes.  He had a body that could easily climb a cliff of 90 degree to 150 degrees.  The act of climbing a tree was nothing to Whistling. Moreover, the Black Tree’s Bark was so rough that one could easily find the handholds.

On the other hand, Hyrkan had to face several dozen wild tree branches.  It was almost impossible to imagine how a single person could pull it off.

It was such a difficult task that Whistling had told Hyrkan to run away if things got bad.

“Huh.”

However, Hyrkan’s reaction to Whistling’s reaction was unexpected.

“No, it isn’t really that hard…”

“What?”

Whistling was surprised.  However, Hyrkan didn’t give an explanation.

“You are the one doing the hard work.  My role is just to put a bow on at the end.”

Whistling soon found out the meaning of Hyrkan’s words.

9.

The process of finding the Black tree had been complicated and difficult.  Just hearing about how Whistling did it made Hyrkan dizzy.

The first requirement was to receive the Black Tree’s Curse Quest from the Tehkee tribe.

However, to find the Black Tree hiding within the lush forest, one needed to find the ‘Compass Twig’.

However, one could receive this twig only if one had high affinity to the Mooah tribe.

At the same time, one needed the ‘Tree Alarm Clock’ from the Soorey Tribe to be able to wake up the Black Tree.

Of course, the order of obtaining these Items happened in reverse order.  One had to increase affinity with the Soorey tribe by doing Quests related to them.  This will allow one to establish a connection with the Mooah tribe. Then one wouldl be able to receive the request from the Tehkee tribe.

If one was crazy enough to do all the Quests related to the Elven tribe, one would be able to do the Black Tree hunt.  Currently, Whistling was the only User that had reached this point.

However, at that moment, Whistling was thankful that he had developed a good relationship with Hyrkan.

‘How surprising.’

At the same time, he was in awe.

Whistling had climbed up the body of the Black tree, and he was widening the knotwholes.  When he looked at Hyrkan from the side of his eyes, he saw 15 Skeleton Warriors nimbly dodging the Black Tree’s branches.

Hoo-oohng!

The tree branches were letting out a heavy sound as they flew towards the 15 Skeleton Warriors.  It was like watching a circus show.  It didn’t feel like a battle at all.

This had been the cause of Hyrkan’s confidence.

Hyrkan confirmed it the moment he saw Whistling’s video.  The branches of the Black Tree moved slower than he had originally expected.  He realized the Skeletons he had poured much effort and care into developing would be able to dodge the Black Tree’s attacks.

Moreover, he had three more cards he could play aside the Skeleton Warriors to catch the Black Tree.

– The magic spells are coming. You should dodge it.

His first card was the Skeleton Magicians, who could control the aggro.

His second card was his Golem.  Of course, it wasn’t an ordinary Golem.  When he decided to do the Black Tree Raid, he immediately bought the Ingredient Gem of a level 140 Boss monster called the Elephant Colossus.  The Elephant Colossus was a large sculpture with the head of an elephant.  It had a human body with four arms. Hyrkan had used it as ingredient to the Clay Play, because this particular monster was very good at using its arms. As Hyrkan had expected, the Elephant Colossus was able to grab the tree branches, and a tug of war ensued. There were times when all four hands had grasped a tree branch each.

It was very effective.

The third card was Hyrkan himself.

Hyrkan took an active role as one of the cards. It had been about 50 minutes when the Black Tree entered into its Third Phase.

10.

‘As expected of Pitbull, he is very skilled.’

Hyrkan admired Whistling’s skill at Armor Breaking. He was giving help, but there was no reason for him to disparage Whistling’s skill.

Of course, Hyrkan knew about Whistling’s capability, but he never expected him to be so good in a Raid.  Hyrkan had thought Whistling was more specialized towards PVP than Raids.

‘If his level and Items could be upgraded…  No, he could get into any primary Raid teams of the 30 great guilds right now.’

Whistling’s ability shined even in a Raid.

The fact that he could enter into the first team of the 30 great guilds meant that he was one of the top players in Warlord. However, this person had faded away from people’s memories.

Hyrkan was able to have an uncanny appreciation of this User.

At the same time, a thought crossed Hyrkan’s mind.

‘If I had met someone like Whistling instead of the Hahoe Mask guild before I returned to the past…….’

Maybe Hyrkan would have been like Whistling.  Instead of using the game as a tool to gain resources and achieve a goal, he might have lived life as he enjoyed the game itself.  What kind of life would he have lead?  Hyrkan couldn’t even imagine such a scenario.

‘Stop fucking with yourself, Ahn-jaehyun.’

He couldn’t imagine it, but he had been trying to imagine it.  He made a sarcastic remark disparaging himself.

These thoughts were unbecoming of Hyrkan.

‘The timing is almost right.’

Hyrkan wasn’t suited for some quiet fantasy game. He was intense, which lead to his flashy style.

The flashiness allowed him to make money.  He could become the best only if he could make money.

This was what the game meant to Hyrkan. There was no room for romanticism in this game for him.  It was a matter of life and death.  This was the only two choice.

The same was true of today.  He wasn’t here to simply succeed in the raid.  He had come here prepared to sell the Raid footage.

“Get down, Whistling.  I’ll end this.”

It was time for him to unveil ‘that’.

11.

Kwahng!

The first explosive detonated.

Kwahng, kwahng!

Black Sap continuously dripped down from all over the body.  The sound of explosives going off was heard, and flames erupted.  When the flames erupted, the Black Tree looked like a decorated Christmas tree.

The string of explosions were so numerous that it couldn’t be contained.  It started to spread.  It was like looking at night sky in a rural area where the stars dotted the sky.

‘The explosives are going off quite well.’

As he watched the sight, Hyrkan was struck with a feeling of admiration inside, but he had a sad expression on his face.

Bone Explosives.

It was the main cause of the explosions going off right now.  Hyrkan had prepared several hundred Bone Explosives to kill the Black Tree.

The total cost of this was unknown.  Hyrkan had bought ingredients for the Bone Explosives whenever he saw cheap Bone Ingredient Coins come up on the market. He made the Bone Ingredients into Bone Explosives, then he had put it into the Item Storage.  He had brought out most of the Bone Explosives he had save this time around.  It was possible for him to calculate the total cost, but he intentionally didn’t calculate it.  His insides would burst if he did.

One thing was for certain.  Several thousand gold was going off right now.

‘The picture will look fantastic.’

He didn’t really need to catch the Black Tree like this. The large group of bombs were set off for show, and it was a waste of resource. This was evidence that Hyrkan was playing this game for materialistic reasons.

Whistling’s expression became a bit heavier when he witnessed the sight.  Whistling quickly realized the reason for the spectacle in front of his eyes.

‘He’s desperate.’

As someone who was born into a wealthy family, he could play this game for pleasure.  Unlike him, Hyrkan had to think about the spectacle, and the way he could sell this footage.  Hyrkan wasn’t playing this game for himself.  He was playing for others, and Whistling felt sympathy towards Hyrkan.

Of course, Whistling didn’t pity Hyrkan.  He didn’t have a reason or the qualification to be able to pity him.

“Thank you.”

He just expressed his thanks.

Whistling had set up the table, yet he wouldn’t have been able to eat the meal if not for Hyrkan.

“If you need any help, please don’t hesitate to call on me.  If it is a request from you, I’ll help you once with no questions asked.”

Hyrkan expressed his thanks. At the same time, Hyrkan put himself under Whistling’s debt.  He had done something that left him grasping the short end of the stick.  Maybe it was a way for him to leave a point of contact with Whistling.

At that moment, both Users….

[You’ve gained the Title ‘ Black Tree Logger’.]

The Announcement that signaled the end of the hunt rang out.