Emperor of Solo Play - Chapter 84

Chapter 84 – The Baheim Tribe (3)

8.

Thick vines were interconnected between the large trees, and the Elves were walking across the vines at a quick pace. Unlike walking a tightrope, one didn’t feel a sense of danger. It felt as if they were children playing jump rope. The sight evoked a feeling of wonder.

The Elves, who had created such a surprising sight, all twitched their ears at the same time as if they had promised to do so beforehand.

The Elves’ emerald eyes headed toward a single location like arrows.

Their gazes landed on Hyrkan and the single Elf that was guiding him.

Chu-buhk, chubuhk.

Unlike the Elves traveling across the vines, Hyrkan and the Elf was walking on land. The sound of their steps sounded unusually loud. Their steps stopped under a particular tree.

“Take this.”

The Elf that had guided Hyrkan suddenly gave him a thick and tough vine. Hyrkan took the vine and raised his gaze. His eyes followed the line, and at the end of it was a house. The house wasn’t made by cutting parts of the tree. The house was made out of already broken parts of tree.

It was neither tidy nor shabby. Instead, there was a sense of mystique that permeated the house. If one saw it for the first time, the sense of mystique would have made him fall into a trance.

‘This is all bullshit.’

However, Hyrkan wasn’t dazed. The sense of mysticism worked only on someone who saw this for the first time.

“Climb up.”

At the Elf’s word, Hyrkan started quickly climbing up the vine before the Elf could gesture towards it. He didn’t need to use his feet. He used only his arms, and he went up as if he was sprinting a short distance.

The Elf glared at Hyrkan from below. The Elf’s gaze was filled with vigilance and hostility. It made the bottom of Hyrkan’s feet turn cold. Hyrkan glanced below then he put on a mocking smile.

‘As I suspected, I don’t mix well with handsome or pretty people.’

He was once again awakened to the unpleasant reality when Hyrkan reached the tree house’s floor. The tree house’s door was located on the floor. It was a round door with a diameter of around 1 meter. It was a little bit larger than a manhole cover.

Ddok ddok!

Hyrkan knocked on the door over his head as he dangled from the vine. The door opened and a face could be seen across the dark space.

He had a youthful appearance. If Hyrkan had to guess his age using normal human standards, he would have to put the man in his 30s. However, his beautiful appearance was the most striking one he had seen amongst the Elves. There was a large scar made by a knife above the bridge of his nose, and at the end of the scar, there was another scar that looked as if a tip of an arrow had punctured that location. From afar, it looked as if someone had drawn an exclamation point on his face. Instead of it looking hideous, the scar made him look look more stylish and cool.

‘The exclamation scar… So, this guy is Drah.’

NPC Drah.

He was Baheim tribe’s chieftain. Amongst the Elf enthusiasts within Warlord, he was quite popular. He was always within the top 5 of every popularity poll regarding the male Elves of Warlord. Hyrkan always disparaged the poll result, and he considered people who casted the vote to be crazy. He even yell out, ‘Do they have nothing better to do?’, once.

Hyrkan raised his hand towards the Chieftain Drah. He was asking for a handshake.

However, Chieftain Drah just stared at the hand offered by Hyrkan. 1 second, 2 second, 3 second…… After 10 seconds had passed, Chieftain Drah spoke before he took the hand.

“So you are the person sent by Olf-nim.”

If it hadn’t been for the Secret Society Ring, chieftain Drah would have kicked Hyrkan to drop him to his death.

Chieftain Drah shook Hyrkan’s hand only after saying those word. Only then was Hyrkan allowed to see the inside of Chieftain Drah’s house.

‘This is the first time I’ve come into an Elf’s home. I’ve only seen it through footages.’

Hyrkan turned his head. He wanted to see his surrounding, and at the same time, he wanted to film everything. Hyrkan looked everywhere.

The most eye-catching part was the ceiling. The ceiling had small holes where water couldn’t pass through, but the light and wind could filter through. He let out a sound as he looked at the cloth making up the ceiling.

‘Elf Silk.’

If used to make a defensive gear, it had pretty good defense and it was light. Moreover, Elf Silk had Attribute Resistance.

Overall, the room was dark. The small room had furnitures made from broken or rotten wood. It was vaguely shaped like furnitures, since the wood wasn’t cut from trees.

“Sit.”

Hyrkan sat in a simple chair. He wouldn’t have been surprised if the chair collapsed on itself at any moment.

The story line started immediately.

“Did you bring it?”

“Yes.”

Hyrkan immediately took out the pouch from a secure location on his body, then he gave it to Chieftain Drah.

[Quest ‘Olf’s Errand’ is complete.]

“Mmmm!”

After receiving the pouch, Chieftain Drah immediately opened it and place the content on the top of his palm.

Soo-roo-roo!

A silver colored liquid that looked like mercury fell on top of Chieftain Drah’s palm. After it fell, it immediately started to move as if it was alive. Soon, it looked like a circlet one could wear on one’s head.

Hyrkan’s eyes shined.

‘It’s the Circlet of Purification.’

Circlet of Purification.

It was from a mystical pond that was able to purify anything. The circlet was made using silver excavated from the bottom of the Pond of Purification.

Once equipped it had the Option of giving immunity towards all abnormal statuses. It had the unlimited ability to dispel the Curse Skills, and the Debuff Skills.

It was an incredible item.

‘I can buy beef with that. No, I can buy a whole cow if I had that item.’

One could directly acquire the silver from the Pond of Purification to make the circlet, but the Pond of Purification was a special location that had to be found at the same time as a special Boss monster. It was very hard to find the Boss and the location. Moreover, the amount of silver one could excavate was random. One had to be very lucky to have enough to make a Circlet of Purification from the Pond of Purification.

At this point in the game, he could get whatever he wanted in terms of price. It might be worth several more times its weight in gold.

‘I know for sure there is a Circlet of Purification given during the Immoral Prince part of the Quest.’

Moreover, the current Main Scenario Quest might be the one that gives the Circlet of Purification as a reward.

Hyrkan gulped.

While he was thinking this, Chieftain Drah confirmed it was the Circlet of Purification and immediately put it back into the pouch. When the hard circlet touched the pouch, it turned into liquid and was sucked back into the pouch.

“Thank you.”

This was the first time Hyrkan had received a word of thanks from Chieftain Drah.

“It was nothing.”

“You probably went through a lot of hardship to get here.”

“I’m on Olf-nim’s errand. It is proper for me to go through all of this.”

When Hyrkan’s words ended, Chieftain Drah’s expression slightly improved.

‘Is this the end?’

Chieftain Drah wordlessly looked at Hyrkan. His disinterested eyes seemed to say, ‘Your work here is done, so why aren’t you leaving?’

‘This isn’t how it’s suppose to play out.’

Hyrkan hesitated for a moment.

‘Isn’t he suppose to give me the Corrupted Elf Quest? I’m sure of it.’

This was the reason why the blacksmith Olf had given the Circlet of Purification to the Baheim Elf tribe. An Elf from the Baheim tribe had become drunk on the power of Corruption, and he had betrayed the Baheim tribe. One had to catch the Corrupted Elf, and the power of Corruption had to be purified from the Elf.

Chieftain Drah was supposed to explain this to Hyrkan. Then, he was suppose to give the Quest to capture the Corrupt Elf to Hyrkan. However, he just kept staring at Hyrkan. Chieftain Drah seemed determined to make Hyrkan the most shameless human.

Eventually Hyrkan opened his mouth.

“Do you perhaps have anything that needs my help? Olf-nim instructed me to help with anything the Baheim tribe needed. That was what he said.”

Of course, Olf hadn’t said those words. The situation was desperate enough that he betrayed Olf.

Chieftain Drah answered Hyrkan’s question without putting much thought into his words.

“I’m just thankful you came all the way here for an errand. I don’t want to give you a task that is beyond your capability.”

He got his answer.

‘Shit!’

This was the worst case scenario for Hyrkan.

‘I got caught in the level restriction.’

He hadn’t reached a level where he would be able to carry out the Quest.

Most Main Scenario Quests didn’t have a level restriction. It was intended as an invitation for the unqualified people to participate in the Quests.

Still, there had to be a cut-off point.

The first episode of the Corrupt Count was a Main Scenario Quest for the users between level 1-100. The second episode of the Immoral Prince was for users between level 100-200. Of course, the third part of the Quest was for users between level 200-300. The difficulty of the Quests were set with this in mind.

Basically, Hyrkan was progressing through the Immoral Prince part of the Main Scenario Quest right now. The difficulty was set with users over level 100 in mind.

However, Hyrkan’s current level was 96.

‘I knew this day would come.’

He had been worried about this. This had been a likely scenario. However, he never expected his worries to turn into reality at this juncture. In a way, this happened because Hyrkan was too amazing. He had basically exceeded the game’s standard by a significant amount.

‘I guess I have to get to level 100 now?’

There was only one way to resolve this problem.

He had to level up.

‘I have 4 levels to go. I’ve already somewhat filled my EXP, so I have to raise it only by 3.5 level. So it’ll probably take me 10 days even if I rush it?’

He had no choice.

If he wanted to quickly progress in his Quest, he had to raise his level. There was no other answers except for this.

The answer was clear. He was annoyed, but he didn’t think too long on it.

‘I can reach level 100 here. I have enough consumables. I’ll just level up here then I’ll receive the Quest. Afterwards, I can go to a castle with a Class Tower for my advancement. Then I’ll use all the money I have to get a level 100 Item.’

After he finished his thoughts, Hyrkan got up from his seat.

“I’ll see you again next time.”

9.

The moment Whistling saw Hyrkan, he called after him.

“Did everything work out?”

Hyrkan answered in a brusque manner.

“No.”

“I guess a problem cropped up. Anyways, I saw you were conducting a quest involving the Elves. That’s amazing. I never expected the Hahoe Mask to move along a Quest so quickly. I stayed here with a do or die attitude, but I haven’t received a quest yet. ”

Hyrkan discreetly glanced at Whistling..

“……I know you won’t do it, but don’t spread any unnecessary information. If this truth became well known, there is no way the other users will leave me alone.”

Whistling smiled. He had a terrifying smile on his face. Whistling wanted Hyrkan to trust him, and he tried to put that intent behind his smile. However, it caused Hyrkan to feel uneasy.

This time Hyrkan was the one to reply first.

“What about you? Since you’ve achieved your life’s wish, what do you plan on doing next?”

“I’ll continue doing all the Quests available to me by the Baheim tribe. I’ll increase their affinity towards me one step at a time. I’ll work towards finding more quests. My immediate goal is to make a Quest Map.”

Hyrkan had never seen Whistling with such an expression of anticipation before.

This was something Whistling really wanted to do.

‘So that’s the reason why…’

Hyrkan realized how Whistling had become an old hat before Hyrkan returned to the past.

‘This is the reason why he is behind the others.’

Whistling really enjoyed playing this game. Instead of the Rankings, he put more importance on the fantasy experience that could be given by the game of Warlord.

“All right. I wish you success.”

Even if he killed hundreds or thousand monsters nearby, Whistling wouldn’t be able to level up! …..He decided not to point out such jaded and reality-based words. He firmly closed his mouth.

Moreover, he wouldn’t give any warning or advice. Whistling had made a different choice from him, and it wasn’t the wrong choice.

“How about you? Can you tell me what you will be doing in the immediate future?”

“I’ll be trying to reach level 100.”

“Is that so?”

At that moment, Whistling took out gold coins from his pocket, and he handed it to Hyrkan. Hyrkan’s expression changed.

‘Oh yes!’

Of course, this was the winnings from their bet. Hyrkan quickly took the coins and started to count the coins.

‘Huh?’

Hyrkan’s expression crumpled.

“Hey. Isn’t this only 10 gold? I thought you were going to give me 100 gold?”

Whistling grinned at those words.

“Thankfully, you aren’t asking for 1000 gold.”

“Since you remember those words, I guess I’ll have to collect on the 1000 gold. When are you going to give me the 990 gold?”

“That’s the only amount I can give you.”

Hyrkan’s expression hardened.

‘Is he playing with me?’

He was always meticulous with his calculations. The 90 gold wasn’t something that could be easily ignored. Also, it was a money that fell out of the sky. With that money, he could purchase a 1 month supply of ramen.

“If you sold the sword equipped on your waist, can’t you pay that amount a thousand times over?”

“That’s the only gold I have on me.”

“Then perhap….”

“I’ll work off the rest of the money. What if I do a task that is worth 90 gold? I’ll help you level up.”

Those words…

It was such shocking words, since it was words that Hyrkan would never say to someone else. It took him awhile to understand what Whistling was saying. It took him a long time.

“Uh?”

He finally understood what Whistling was getting at.

“So you are going to let me ride the bus?”

Hyrkan was shocked.

He had gone through all kinds of hardship in Warlord, and he had experienced all kinds of wars here. However, this was the most surprise he had felt in Warlord.

10.

[Your level has increased.]

[You have earned the title ‘Expert’.]

[You’ve obtained the title ‘Necromancer’.]

[A strong power is roiling within your body.]

When he leveled up, Hyrkan didn’t share a moment of happiness with Whistling, who was nearby. With a stiff expression, Whistling tapped the shocked Hyrkan on the shoulder twice.

“That should be enough, right? I’m going. If there is an opportunity, let’s meet up again at a later date. At that time… I’ll have to receive something from you.”

With those words, Whistling got ready to log out. Hyrkan tilted his head back in thought as he looked at Whistling.

‘Wow. I hit level 100 in 8 days. I never thought such a feat was possible.’

With the help of Whistling, Hyrkan was able to focus on his hunt to level up.

During all of this, a level 130+ expert had given up any thoughts about leveling himself, and he wholeheartedly acted as a helper. The result had exceeded Hyrkan’s every imagination.

He had done something in 8 days that would have normally taken 10 days. If it took 10 seconds to run 100 meter, he had basically decreased the time to 8 seconds. It was an incredible feat.

He had a weird feeling as he saw the presence of Whistling fading away.

He was cool, obstinate, and amazing. He wondered if he could game like that… Several feelings coalesced inside his chest.

Those feelings…

Koong koong!

Hyrkan pounded his chest with his hand to break it up.

‘That kind of romanticism is a luxury to me.’

Moreover, Whistling was Don Quixote.

If he could game for pleasure, he would want to play like it like Whistling. Sometimes he wanted to game without any worries or concerns. Moreover, if he wanted to, he could choose not to be like this.

However, Hyrkan had chosen a different path.

‘That isn’t what I need.’

Hyrkan started walking.

11.

“The child is drunk on the power of Corruption. There is only rage and blind faith left in him. The child is desperately trying to Corrupt our race. It is the duty of our tribe to catch him.”

Hyrkan nodded his head at Chieftain Drah’s words.

“However, our tribe cannot easily leave our territory. Originally, one of our tribe members has to complete this task. However, you have the trust of Olf-nim, and we trust him. This is why we will leave this task to you.”

[You’ve obtained the title ‘Friend of the Elves’.]

[You obtained the title ‘Member of the Baheim Tribe’.]

He gained two titles.

The announcement for the title didn’t ring in Hyrkan’s ears. He was focused on what Chieftain Drah was saying.

“You have to track down the child, and you have to confirm the truth through the child. I hope you will fight against the power of Corruption for the tribe and the Society.”

[The Quest ‘Fallen Elf’ has started.]

After saying this, Chieftain Drah handed him the pouch. It was the pouch Hyrkan had given him in the first place.

“The Circlet of Purification is in there. It is a mystical item that corrects any abnormal statuses. If you bind the child with this item, you will be washing away his Corruption. If the Corruption is washed away, he will tell you the truth..”

At this juncture, Hyrkan’s expression brightened.

‘Are they perhaps giving me the Circlet of Purification? Is it the Quest Reward? Is this for real?’

His very dim expectation was suddenly about to become reality. It felt like buying a lottery ticket with one’s pocket money by chance, and a large sum of money had been won through the lotto. However, this feeling didn’t last long.

“You can’t lose the Circlet within that pouch. If you lose it, you’ll pay a hefty price.”

Since this hadn’t been given to you, don’t you dare sell it!

The warning basically held that meaning behind it.

Hyrkan’s expression became sullen.

‘I should have guessed. They wouldn’t give this item as a Quest Reward at this juncture. It probably has the option blocking users from wearing it.’

After speaking his words, Chieftain Drah looked at Hyrkan. Hyrkan looked back with a sullen expression. 1 second, 2 second…. The silence continued.

It was at that moment he opened his mouth.

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“You don’t have anything else to say to me?”

“Nope.”

“You really don’t have anything to say to me?”

“Nope. I want you to leave if you don’t have any other business with me.”

At that moment, Hyrkan’s expression crumpled.

‘Is this really it? I don’t even know the exact location of the Corrupted Elf. At the very least, don’t they have to tell me a direction?’

This was an unexpected situation.

‘This is crazy. What kind of game quest is so open ended like this?’

As expected, Hyrkan wasn’t compatible with beautiful men or women.