Emperor of Solo Play

Chapter 74 - Battlefield (1)

1.

[Battlefield]

- Quest Rank : Rare

- Quest Level Range : Over 80, Equal or below level 100.

- Quest Content : Battlefield. Please get rid of all the monsters across the Terube castle walls.

- Quest Reward : The Reward changes depending on the number of monsters killed.

Hyrkan had a queer expression on his face as he looked at the content of the Quest.

‘I never expected to have the opportunity to run a Battlefield in this fashion.’

Battlefield.

The hunting content that exemplified Warlord after the the Boss Monster Raid was the Battlefield.

The Battlefield was a stage where the monsters would be crawling all over the place. Ordinarily, there was a standard castle wall, and the field across it was the stage for the Battlefield. Only the skilled users acknowledged by the Subjugation Association was able to go into a Battlefield. Hyrkan had received the Battlefield Admission Pass from Ahimbree, and it was a form of a ticket.

‘It is a hellhole overflowing with money.’

The Battlefield's regen system was turned up higher compared to a normal Dungeon or a field hunting ground. There were a lot more monsters and they appeared at a faster rate. The monsters were endless even if one kept killing them. Moreover, only the users who satisfied a prerequisite condition could go in.

It was basically a land overflowing with monsters.

Of course, it was dangerous. However, the danger came with great EXP and the reward was quite good.

If one performed well on the Battlefield, the Subjugation Association would acknowledge the player publicly. The public notoriety one could gain wasn't comparable to the one gained through the Quests given by the Subjugation Association. Once one build one's reputation from the Subjugation Association, one could gather further titles. Later on, one could gain authority within Warlord. It wasn't a reward that could be ignored.

However, the fact that there was a lot of monsters wasn't why this hunting content was the most popular one after the Raids. There was always an Event Quest attached to the Battlefield Quest.

The content of the Event Quest was usually about catching a certain monster. If one was able to catch this specific monster, the Reward was quite significant.

'The jackpot Rewards appeared at a Battlefield for users over level 200.... It ranged from one thousand gold to the appearance of a Unique Item. It was unexpectedly big time.'

On top of this, the Event Quest was given to multiple parties, and it happened simultaneously.

Naturally, there was a competition to catch the Boss Monster.

This was why this event was fun. Usually, one had to wait one's turn when a Boss Monster appeared. That was the etiquette. However, this concept was useless on the Battlefield. One had to use every ways and means to kill the target monster on the Battlefield! Basically, that was the rule.

It was a form of chaos allowed by Warlord.

Some users enjoyed the Battlefield fights more than the Boss Monster Raids.

This was a stage that suited Hyrkan's style. Unexpectedly, Hyrkan hadn't participated much on the Battlefield stage. One had to gain a reputation, complete tasks, and be acknowledged for one's skill by the Subjugation Association. Only then would one be able to gain a pass into the Battlefield. The Hahoe Mask Guild had mainly focused on Boss Monster Raids so, of course, he didn't have much opportunity to do this.

‘This will be fun.’

This was the reason why Hyrkan had a queer expression on his face.

This would be fun, However, he also knew that he hadn't been able to do this in the past, because he hadn’t been in a situation where he could compete in this battle.

Of course, this wasn't a stage for users who soloed. The basic party structures numbered between 5 to 7 members on the Battlefield. On the very large Battlefield stage, one could create a party up to 30 members. Of course, that was an exception to the rule.

Basically, Hyrkan had to go up against 7 member parties. It wouldn't be easy.

As mentioned before, the Battlefield didn't have any rules. It was quite common to see PKs.

If it was the old Hyrkan, he would have dispassionately made a decision, and he would have ripped the Battlefield Admission Ticket into pieces.

However, the current Hyrkan was different.

‘Below level 100...’

Hyrkan would enter a Battlefield where the users would be between level 80 and level 100.

‘At least there won’t be a lot of users here who went through the 1st Promotion.’

It says up to level 100, so there might be some users who went through the promotion already. They'll be hard to deal with, but the users below that level won't be too hard to deal with if he was being honest. Moreover, he had earned the proof of the Secret Society. Hyrkan's battle capability was amazing.

‘It won't be easy, but it isn't impossible.’

Moreover, Warlord users were romantics.

The act of soloing a Boss Raid Monster, or soloing the Battlefield also fell into this sense of romanticism.

Of course, if the outcome was favorable, one could also expect a tidy profit from the footage.

‘Anyways, I can't immediately go to the Urugal mountain range right now, and I need more money.’

It wasn't too hard for Hyrkan to make his decision.

2.

“You want me to get rid of the Hahoe Mask?”

A greasy, slow and inarticulate voice flowed into Heh-bibin's ear.

- Yes. I beg of you.

The main character of the voice was Apollo's guild master, Apollo. His voice made Heh-bibin feel uncomfortable.

“The Hahoe Mask…… What's the reason?”

- He insulted our guild.

Heh-bibin, who had been listening to Apollo's story, had to stop himself from laughing at Apollo in ridicule.

‘Insulted? What a joke.’

Apollo guild was the one disgracing the Apollo guild. They were doing it to themselves. They put strength above all else, and they basically acted with poor manner. How could such a guild be insulted any further? That was the real question here.

However, Heh-bibin only showed his true feeling through his expression. He didn't say it out loud.

‘I guess I've gone as far as I can go.’

Normally, when Apollo brought such requests, he would give various reasons or no reason at all when he firmly turned down Apollo.

Big Smile Guild was one of the 30 great guild, and Heh-bibin was one of the officers in that guild. If he personally helped out the Apollo Guild, wouldn't he be inviting trouble by doing so?

The problem right now was the current situation.

‘I can't believe I have to think about this right now.’

Big Smile wasn't in a good state right now.

From Heh-bibin's perspective, he couldn't ignore the money given by Apollo, but it wasn't enough to put his life on the line. The important element here was Apollo's father. He needed a closer tie to Apollo's father. His father wasn't that amazing, but he possessed enough wealth to easily drop a sponsor contract worth a million dollar.

Moreover, his father ran a company that was well-known within China. Truthfully, the name of the company was more important than the money. If they could get a sponsorship from that company, the guild would get recognition and trust.

‘The Hahoe Mask…….’

If it was a reasonable request, he would have accepted the request.

If only the mark wasn't the Hahoe mask.

‘It'll be difficult.’

Currently, all the relevant people in the 30 great guilds knew about the Hahoe Mask. He was that hot right now. If he could make a cameo in a broadcast, one could easily get a million viewers. Of course, it was possible to get more than that. The 30 great guilds and the rest of the guilds was trying hard to contact him.

If Apollo Guild took care of him by accepting the request of the Apollo guild, the Big Smile Guild wouldn't receive any good publicity. Big Smile already had a negative public impression and they didn't need to pour gasoline on top of it.

Heh-bibin thought hard on it once again.

Then he gave his answer.

'I can't afford to move any of our forces to catch the Hahoe Mask.'

If he wanted to track down and kill the Hahoe mask, he would need a significant amount of manpower and effort to succeed. If he made it the business of the Big Smile guild, it would be child's play. However, that option wasn't possible. In the end, Heh-bibin had to move his personal troops and his personal guards, but they were woefully inadequate for this task. It was easy to kill him, but finding the Hahoe Mask was the hard part.

Heh-bibin opened his mouth.

“I'm sorry. The guild is in a tough place right now. Moreover, I can’t do anything unless I know the the exact location of the Hahoe Mask.”

Refusal.

- Please I beg of you. Big Smile doesn't have to put their name out there. If you can catch that bastard, I will pay you what the task is worth.

However, Apollo didn't stop. He kept up his entreaties. At his request, Heh-bibin eventually came to a compromise.

“Big Smile can't move to capture the Hahoe Masked. However, I can use various individuals to look for the Hahoe Mask. We'll talk again once I find him.”

Even as he spoke, Heh-bibin thought there was a very low probability he'll be able to find the Hahoe-mask. If it was easy to meet the Hahoe Mask, the 30 great guild wouldn't have to go all over looking for him.

However, it didn't take him too long to change his mind.

3.

The high castle walls made one think about a modern building. It stretched out to the sides, and it was hard to see the end with the naked eye. Hyrkan's expression hardened when he saw the existence of the castle wall from afar.

‘This is the first time I'm visiting the Terube castle walls.’

The wall he was looking at was named Terube. It was located north of the Bangtz castle, which Hyrkan had visited earlier. It was like a Maginot line that blocked the group of monsters from moving towards the south.

On top of that, no one had broken ground above the castle walls. There was a Block Field formed over it.

This was why there was a lot of interest in this place. What was the method to break the Block Field? If the Block field was broken and the monsters were killed, what was across this place?

‘If I remember correctly, the Frozen Kingdom is across this place?’

Of course, Hyrkan knew about it.

Across this castle wall, there was a frozen kingdom if one kept traveling that way. It was a stage set up for users over level 200. Hyrkan had nothing to do with that stage in the past.

‘The Stormhunter bastards took everything from the Frozen Kingdom.... Shit...’

When he thought about the memories regarding the Frozen Kingdom, he fought down the bitter smile that formed on his face. Hyrkan swallowed his bitter memory. He moved towards the keeper's office one had to always visit to go across the castle walls.

The keeper's office already had a lot of visitors. Numerous users were gathered there. Of course, most of them were around level 80.

“Mmm?”

“Uh?”

The users recognized Hyrkan's style of clothes. They realized the presence of Hyrkan by his Shadow Dog leather set and the Hahoe Mask he wore.

“Is that the Hahoe Mask?”

“Really?”

“Wasn't the Hahoe Mask at the Parung Forest? Why would a person at the Parung Forest come north to the Terube castle walls? Doesn’t it take a very long time to make the round trip?”

The atmosphere was becoming unsettled.

“Why else do you think he came here? He came to run the Battlefield.”

The unsettled atmosphere soon turned to nervousness. There was only one reason why a user would come here.

The Battlefield!

There was no other reasons. The only users capable of crossing the castle walls were those who had received the Battlefield Pass. Normal users could do nothing here; not even the merchants came to this place.

If Hyrkan was here, he was probably at this location for the same reason as them.

He came here to run the Battlefield, and it would start soon.

“A really incredible competitor has shown up.”

“Is he going to run it by himself?”

“He caught the Bear Warrior by himself, so it's quite possible he might solo the Battlefield.”

“Remember when he caught the Golden Skeleton? The Hahoe Mask will be a very formidable competitor.”

It basically meant an incredible competitor had appeared. This was the cause of their nervousness.

The users' expression changed. It was the expression made when looking at a rival. Their expression wasn't that great as they stared at the very difficult competitor. They frowned as their eyes narrowed. Some even expressed their displeasure.

Hyrkan put on a slight smile as he looked at their expressions.

‘This will be fun..’

Hyrkan used to feel such feelings of wariness directed at him everyday.

This level of wariness was laughable. When he was with the Stormhunters, he had gone head to head with the 30 great guilds. If he was someone, who would become afraid from seeing users of similar level put up their guard, he wouldn't have started a war in the first place.

Of course, not everyone was looking at Hyrkan that way. Several users greeted Hyrkan, who was famous in Warlord.

“Aren't you the Hahoe Mask?”

“Yes.”

“I've enjoyed looking at your videos.”

“Thank you.”

“Are you here to run the Battlefield?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think I can take a photo with you?”

“Of course.”

People stuck to Hyrkan to take a evidence photo. Not all people played this game by devoting their whole life to it. There were more users playing this game for fun than those who put their lives on the line. For these people, it was a fun experience where they were able to meet a famous player like Hyrkan.

However, there was a gaze looking at Hyrkan that fell into a third category.

‘Why was the guy Heh-bibin hyung-nim talking about at this location?’

The user stealthily covered the round smiley face mark on his chest.

This man was in the third category unlike the people in the other two categories.

4.

Hyrkan was about to take his 5th evidence photo when a short man wearing large armor appeared.

“Attention!”

The armor looked burdensome on the man. The man was the captain keeper of the Terube castle walls. His name was Bagel.

He appeared as he spoke in a loud voice. The man continued to speak without taking the stock of the mood around him.

“I won't give you a long speech.”

The words he spat out was stiff, yet his voice was slight and beautiful. It was as if a sweet boy was trying to put on a serious front. Several female users had a queer smile on their face. It seemed Bagel was their type.

However, none of the users acted out of turn at Bagel's words. No one did anything strange. Nothing good would come from antagonizing a NPC in Warlord. These users were over level 80, and they were well aware of this fact.

Bagel continued to speak without any difficulty.

“Each of the warriors here have been acknowledged by the Subjugation Association. At the same time, we recruited you here, so you can use your abilities to your heart's content. This is why I will open the castle gate for you guys."

Everyone nodded their head as Bagel continued his speech.

“The castle gates will open 144 hours later after it is opened once. During that time, all you have to do is fight. Kill the monsters. There is nothing else. The more you kill the more befitting the reward will be.”

Reward!

It was a sweet word, but none of the users reacted to that word. Instead, everyone waited for Bagel's next words.

‘I don't want to know that. Tell us the other part.’

‘Tell us the event.’

Everyone gathered here already knew about the reward. They wanted something else.

“Also, there is a monster tormenting the keepers of castle wall. The person, who’s able to kill it, will receive a personal reward from me.”

It happened when Bagel spat out those words.

[Event Quest 'Blue Giant' is starting]

The new quest was starting.

The users finally let out a smile. Everyone had come here to receive this quest. They had come to the Battlefield for this reason.

“Each of you are responsible for your own lives.”

Bagel let those words linger, then turned his back towards the group. The moment Bagel turned his back, everyone predictably looked at the watch on their left wrist.

Everyone reacted at the same time.

“Uh?”

“Huh!”

“Wa!”

Hyrkan also let out a yell.

“Wow.”

The reason for the reaction was...

‘The Quest Reward is a Unique Skill Book? Crazy!’

This battlefield had a jackpot item on the line.