Emperor of Solo Play

 ­ Dungeon Map (2)

Hyrkan’s plan was simple. He would visit the Bulkas Ranger Village in plain clothes, finish his quest with Maoong, then leave with the rewards and a new quest. He had no plans to show off his identity and gather needless attention.

Unfortunately, the Apollo Guild had caught sight of Hyrkan who was wearing plain clothes.

They didn’t do it knowing Hyrkan’s real identity. Hyrkan could tell that they just stopped a random guy that seemed to be a pushover.

Although Hyrkan wasn’t happy that they saw him as a pushover, he was more than happy to laugh it off as fate’s trick.

But.

‘Why are the Stormhunters here?’

Ballista Hatch. The moment Hyrkan saw that face, his face stiffened. With Hatch, Hyrkan’s ill-ties ran deep. Hyrkan had been killed by him three times in the past. Not in a 1v1 of course, but while Stormhunter Guild’s tankers were holding him off, Hatch had used magic and killed Hyrkan.

Hatch was undoubtedly a player with skills. His ability to predict Hyrkan’s escape route and attack accordingly always impressed Hyrkan.

It was surprising enough for Hyrkan to have seen him, but he was even approaching him saying he had a business with him.

‘What’s happening?’

He didn’t feel good about the current situation.

If this was it, then Hyrkan would have passed it off as fate playing a trick on him. Even in the worst case, Hyrkan was confident he could hold his ground against Ballista. Hatch wasn’t good at fighting 1v1 anyways.

However…

“Where are you going by yourself? Stick with the team! Do you wanna die?”

Storm Princess Hahui. The moment she appeared, Hyrkan couldn’t just think of this as fate’s trick. Furthermore, Hyrkan knew the situation had become even more complicated.

‘Why this crazy bitch of all people?’

Hahui. She was a downgraded version of the Storm Queen. She was weaker than Shir, but the problem was that she saw Shir as some sort of a goddess. Why else would she be called the Storm Princess?

She was also the person that irritated Hyrkan the most in the past. To Hahui, Hyrkan who had refused Shir’s offer and bared his fangs against her was no different than Satan himself. Although she wasn’t as skilled as Hyrkan, with her going after Hyrkan like a mad dog, she had always irked Hyrkan, like a pebble in his shoes.

Furthermore, Hyrkan had never fought Ballista Hatch up front. Hahui, on the other hand, was a completely different story. Not only had seen her up front multiple times, he had been headbutted by her dozens of times.

‘Let’s not get involved.’

It was only obvious that tension and irritation would fill Hyrkan in this moment.

Of course, the ones who were most confused were the Apollo Guild members.

“What’s this?”

“I don’t know.”

“Why are the Stormhunters…”

“He’s from the Stormhunter Guild?”

“We’re fucked…”

Although they had planned on using a pushover to take care of their problems, a tiger had followed the pushover’s trails. Not only were they confused, they were also fearful for their lives.

Meanwhile, Hatch and Hahui conversed, not minding the surprised Apollo Guild members at all.

“Hatch, you son of a bitch, do you wanna die?”

“Can you stop saying that? Clean your mouth and be more ladylike.”

“What did you say, you son of a bitch?”

“… Nevermind.”

“If you keep ignoring the guild’s rules, you’re going to die.”

Hatch only shook his head at Hahui’s foul language. Although her appearance was that of a small, cute girl, she talked and acted like a man.

Furthermore, she emphasized the guild’s rules more than anyone else in the Stormhunter Guild. She hated those that affected the guild’s number one rule – group activity. Plus, she was the Stormhunter Guild’s Disciplinary Leader and Assault Captain. Although she was scary, Hatch had to admit her worth was greater than his.

‘Fuck my life.’

Hatch gritted his teeth and shut his mouth. Although he acknowledged her abilities and achievements, every time he talked to her, he wanted to leave the game more and more. And every time he felt this way, his contract that lasted until 2050 carved away at his soul.

While Hatch was thinking about his painful circumstance, Hahui turned her gaze away from Hatch and looked towards Hyrkan.

“You’re Hahoe Mask Hyrkan?”

“No, I’m not.”

Hyrkan immediately replied.

‘No need for me to play along with them.’

Hyrkan didn’t know why they were looking for him, but since there were no benefits in revealing his identity, he didn’t plan on doing so.

Hahui then glanced sideways to Hatch, giving a ‘is this him?’ kind of look. Hatch avoided her eyes, indicating he wanted nothing to do with her. Hahui looked at Hyrkan like a wolf in front of a prey.

Suddenly, her fist flew towards Hyrkan.

It happened in an instant.

There were only two who could keep up with what happened in real time. One was Hahui, who initiated the action, and the other was of course…

‘I knew it. This bitch.’

Hyrkan.

He knew the Storm Princess’s temper better than anyone. If he dodged her fist here, it would be obvious that he wasn’t a typical player.

Because of this, even though he could have dodged and even counterattacked…

Smack!

He let himself be hit.

‘Tsk!’

Like a tree, Hyrkan didn’t move an inch and let himself be hit by Hahui’s fist. By the force of the attack, his body flew backwards like a scene from the movies.

Thud!

He fell on the ground with his arms and legs out in a 大 shape. It was perfect.

Even Hahui who threw the punch was surprised.

“Hey, looks like it’s not him.”

Watching Hahui say this to his face, Hatch was dumbfounded.

‘You’re the one who hit him. Why are you looking at me for?’

Meanwhile, Hyrkan got up from the ground. If it happened in real life, he could very well be dead or at the very least be fainted, but he was in a VR game.

“What was that?! You think you can just hit people because you’re in a famous guild?”

At his words, Hahui made a slight frown. Considering her personality, she would not resolve the situation in the correct manner.

As such, Hatch took action.

“Sorry. Looks like we got the wrong person.”

Hatch bowed in a 90-degree angle, showing sincerity in his apology. Of course, no victim would let the matter to rest with just that. Hyrkan raised his voice.

“You think apologizing is enough?”

“No, of course not. We’ll compensate you as well.”

“Compensate?’

Hatch immediately took out a gold colored coin. It was a clean coin with ‘1000’ written on it. 1,000 gold. In real world currency, it was worth 1,000,000 won. Since it didn’t really hurt when hit in the virtual world, it was enough to make anyone satisfied.

Hatch was also more than happy to use 1,000 gold to let the matter to rest.

Of course, he was not paying this out of his own pocket. It was the Stormhunter Guild that was paying. The coin he took out was given to him as part of the guild’s support fund.

“We apologize.”

Watching him bow once again in a sincere manner, Hyrkan took the coin with a sour expression.

Hyrkan then turned around and looked at the Apollo Guild members. Watching them stand around flustered, Hyrkan opened his mouth.

“I’m going to say this once again. I’m not the one you’re looking for. I can go now, right?”

At this, the Apollo Guild members could only nod their heads. Although it didn’t look like the pushover was related to the Stormhunter Guild, they weren’t in any position to continue talking in front of them.

Hyrkan then disappeared, still looking sour.

Just like that, the small ruckus came to an end.

★★★

After the crowd dispersed, Hatch looked at Hahui and spoke.

“You better get that 1,000 gold back to me.”

At Hatch’s words, Hahui simply stared at her right fist.

Hatch looked at her with a sour expression.

‘So you’re ignoring me now?’

In that instant…

Whish!

Her right fist came flying at his face.

“!”

Scared witless, Hatch tilted his head backwards, and Hahui’s fist stopped right in front of his eyes.

It wasn’t an intimidation Hatch could just let off as a joke.

“The hell was that?”

“That’s normal, right?”

“What?”

“When a fist is flying towards you, isn’t it normal to react?”

“What do you…”

It was then that Hatch remembered the scene of the pushover flying backwards with Hahui’s fist. He flew in a picture perfect manner, like something out of the movies. It was almost like he was a dummy, rather than a living being. That is, it seemed like he saw the punch coming, and chose to let it happen without dodging.

Of course, Hatch didn’t dwell on it for long.

“Who the hell’s gonna dodge when you throw out a punch so suddenly? It’d be weird if you could react.”

Hahui’s punch was just too quick. Even just now, Hatch could react slightly because he was focused on Hahui. But back then, Hahui had attacked completely randomly. The man who was sent flying was totally justified in his lack of reaction. Not to mention, he didn’t seem like a good player anyways, as if he had spent all his luck just getting to the Bulkas Mountain Range. With the Bulkas Mountain Range’s recent rise in popularity, many players were coming. The number of monsters on the way to the Bulkas Village was low, and the paths to take were laid out online. It was easy for anyone to arrive at the Bulkas Village with enough luck.

“I see.”

“Nevermind that, just pay back the 1,000 gold.”

“Hmph.”

Hahui snorted and cut him off.

‘This bitch. I’m going to transfer away from the guild if only to get away from her…’

Hatch also didn’t want to continue talking to Hahui.

But it wasn’t so easy for him.

“You can be stubborn later. Since we’ve been seen, we have to move fast. Like you said, we have to move as a group. It’s not the time to worry about Hahoe Mask Hyrkan or whoever.”

It wouldn’t be long until the story of the Stormhunter Guild entering the Bulkas Mountain Range would be spread. They were expecting it in the first place. There was no way rumors wouldn’t spread when the Stormhunter Guild was moving. Plus, if they kept hiding themselves, it would just be a waste of time.

As such, the best way was to move as quickly as possible to accomplish their goal once people found out.

“Fine.”

Hahui also agreed with Hatch.

★★★

‘That bitch.’

Hyrkan held his boiling anger in.

‘I was going to let you guys be, but looks like you guys want to follow me to the ends of the earth.’

Although he would never forget his past relationship with the Stormhunter Guild, he didn’t have any plans to go after them in this new life.

But since things had turned out this way, Hyrkan was boiling with rage.

‘They’re just as unlikable in this life as they were in the last.’

It was true that he was able to avoid trouble thanks to Hatch and Hahui. Without them, dealing with the Apollo Guild would have been annoying.

‘Hmph.’

Hyrkan grit his teeth. He didn’t want to thank the Stormhunter Guild for anything.

On the other hand, he was surprised.

‘They aren’t called the Top 30 Guilds for nothing, I guess.’

The fact that the Stormhunter Guild came to the Bulkas Mountain Range meant that they were progressing in the main scenario quest.

Hyrkan could come to the Bulkas Mountain Range because he knew about it from the start. Normally, guilds had to pick up clues from different places and take a roundabout way to get to the areas related to the main scenario quests. The Stormhunter Guild also likely would have found clues regarding the Bulkas Mountain Range while completing multiple different quest routes.

‘If I started late, it would’ve been quite the hassle.’

The Top 30 Guilds progressed very quickly thanks to their quest teams. They didn’t hesitate to spend money to buy information either. Some of them even shared information with each other.

Had Hyrkan spent 10 to 14 more days leveling up as he had originally planned, his path would have overlapped with the Stormhunter Guild. It would have been a disaster if he had failed in hunting the Bear Warrior because of it.

‘Good thing I did it in one try.’

Hyrkan let out a short sigh of relief.

At the same time, Hyrkan became aware of the strength of the Top 30 Guilds, and realized the kind of determination and resolution he had to have to go against them by himself.

‘I have to be quicker. Next up is meeting Maoong.’

Hyrkan couldn’t afford to waste any time.