Emperor of Solo Play

Warlord had many castles. Amongst these, the castles that beginners start out in were comparatively large to accommodate the large concentration of players.

But there were few specific spots where players congregated. The Subjugation Association branch, the Class Tower, and the Item Workshop. Most players were around these three spots.

Of these three, the Item Workshop was the most diverse.

‘I don’t understand why these idiots come here instead of screwing around in casinos.’

If players in the other two spots were regular gamers, then players loitering around the Item Workshop could only be seen as gamer addicts. Hyrkan wasn’t particularly fond of the Item Workshop atmosphere. Every time he saw others who gambled their life in the game and failed, he could see himself in their shoes.

“Tsk.”

Holding in the bitterness, he felt, Hyrkan stepped into the Item Workshop.

The inside of the Item Workshop resembled slot-machine filled casinos. Cubes the size of small children were lined up side by side, while players stood in front, putting in crafting coins or crafting jewels then shaking them diligently. Many seemed as if they had lost their souls as they continued to shake these cubes. These players were the ones hoping for a Rare-rank or a Unique-rank item that rarely dropped while crafting Normal-rank items. There was even a line in front of one of the cubes despite the fact that many others were still open.

‘Looks like someone popped a Unique there.’

These players bet money with the tiniest of hopes of striking it rich, and they were fittingly called gamblers rather than gamers.

Hyrkan didn’t spare a glance at them. He didn’t have an inkling of mind to involve himself with these type of players. After wandering around the place for a bit, Hyrkan sat down in front of an empty cube.

He first put in 1 gold in the cube. Then, one of the cube’s black faces turned into a touchscreen. Using the touchscreen, Hyrkan looked up the Corrupted One’s Essence, a crafting jewel, and the Corrupted Werewolf’s Bone and Corrupted Werewolf’s Skin. These, of course, were the crafting materials he got from killing the Corrupted Werewolf. The screen then showed a list of items he could create from these materials.

The entire process was rather inconvenient and boring. At the same time, it was a process that players had to go through. Looking up the items, putting in the materials, then shaking the cube. These three steps were how items were crafted. Although it was fun to test one’s luck for three or four items, one could imagine what it would feel like when crafting hundreds of them. It was mentally taxing, to say the least, and Hyrkan had once done this job.

Before returning to the past, at the time when he was working part-time at a Warlord-related workshop.

‘I must have been crazy.’

The worst feeling was that after hundreds of Normal-rank items, when you finally got a Rare-rank item, you would have to give it to someone else. The sense of loss could only be imagined. Though, it was thanks to this part-time job that Hyrkan could get into Warlord. Without it, Hyrkan would never have played Warlord.

Placing aside the glimmering memory in his mind, Hyrkan focused on the screen in front of him.

‘Hm.’

He looked through the items of the list one by one.

What caught his attention was...

‘Mm? I can make a necklace?’

A necklace. He could craft a Rare-rank necklace. It was better than what he had been expecting.

‘I really am lucky.’

Players could equip three types of items. Armor, weapon, and accessory. Of these, accessories were the hardest to obtain. Players generally had to wait until they were almost level 30 until they could get themselves accessories. That’s how rare the crafting materials were for them.

As such, Hyrkan didn’t have much thinking to do. He quickly put in 3 Corrupted Werewolf’s Bone coins and 2 Corrupted Werewolf’s Skin coins. Then, he opened the cube and put in the crafting jewel. Finally, he selected the necklace from the touchscreen and began shaking the cube. After about 20 seconds, just as he was getting annoyed from the shaking...

[You succeeded in crafting an item.]

An alert sounded out.

Rather than being happy, Hyrkan was slightly irritated.

‘Warlord’s good and all, but it irritates you in the strangest places.’

And with an irritated face, Hyrkan opened the cube. Immediately, his face stiffened.

“What.”

★★★

[Pursuer of Corruption Necklace]

*Main Properties

– Unique-rank Item

– Increases class-specific stat proportional to level

– All stats +18

– Required level: None

– Required Condition: Title ‘Pursuer of Corruption’

*Sub-properties

– You have not yet selected a skill option bonus.

– This item becomes tied to the crafter.

*Miscellaneous

– This item was crafted to significantly boost the power of its user through the Corrupted One’s power.

Looking at the item options through the hologram window, Hyrkan breathed in deep. At this time, there was only one word in his mind.

‘Whoa.’

The word was ready to pop out of his throat at any moment. Even with his vast experience, Hyrkan could only gape at this marvel. He wasn’t just surprised; he was mesmerized.

‘It’s not even just a Unique; it’s a Chronical Unique!’

Chronical Unique.

It referred to items only obtainable through the main scenario quest process.

These items had better options than ordinary Unique items. However, they could not be traded or dropped. As such, players traded their crafting materials, but even these were exceedingly rare. Their price was whatever the seller called.

But now a Chronical Unique had appeared for Hyrkan!

‘I can’t think, my head’s spinning.’

Although he had played games for a long time before returning to the past, he had never been so lucky.

Of course, if the item were tradable, he would have felt luckier. If he found a rich guy, he might have gotten enough to pay off the amount he borrowed.

But Hyrkan wasn’t too disappointed.

‘I couldn’t even place 3rd in all those lotteries, but this is where I hit my luck!’

He was more than satisfied with what he got. If he were any luckier, he would begin to be worried.

After regaining his calm, Hyrkan immediately went into the bonus skill option screen. The bonus skill option was for skills level 20 and below. Hyrkan selected the black magic category upon which 10 or so magic spells appeared. Of these, what caught Hyrkan’s attention was the option related to Skeleton Fragment.

[Number of Skeletons Allowed to Summon by Skeleton Fragment + 1]

Hyrkan did not hesitate.

‘Looks like God just can’t wait to see me take over Warlord.’

★★★

“Oppa’s got your items; he’s coming to get you~♪.”

Grey pointed hat, the symbol of Warlord’s magicians. Top and gloves made out of Green Lizard skin. Tight leather pants and leather boots. Finally, a necklace with a purple jewel the size of a baby’s fist.

Wearing these ridiculous assortment of clothes was no other than Hyrkan.

They were something people wouldn’t get paid to wear. They were enough to make people watching embarrassed.

Even so, Hyrkan was happily singing away, which he couldn’t do well either. He even danced to the beat of the old-school song as he headed towards Bangtz Castle.

“Come out already...”

Of course, there was no way monsters would leave such an unsightly being alone.

“... it really did.”

One monster sauntered towards Hyrkan. It was a large bear mixed with a pattern of brown and green. A Forest Bear.

It was one of the tougher level 25 monsters. Even with its high stamina and attack power, it didn’t drop a single item that made money. Also, the EXP (experience point) it gave was comparatively lower. As such, most Warlord players chose not to deal with it given the choice.

If it were the usual Hyrkan, he would’ve clicked his tongue upon seeing the Forest Bear, cursing his bad luck.

But the current Hyrkan was a bit different than usual.

He wasn’t normal.

Not only regarding his mental state...

‘It’s finally here.’

But also regarding his current battle prowess.

‘I was getting all itchy just waiting.’

In a blink of an eye, he had gotten an unbelievable spec-up. Not only did he get a Unique item from what should have been a Rare item, but he also purchased some Rare items at a low price. These items were, of course, the green leather top and gloves. His entire body was showing why it was so cheap. It wasn’t something someone would normally pay to wear.

However, as he had already given up on fashion with the leather pants, Hyrkan had no qualms wearing them.

His spec-up didn’t just end here.

Watching the Forest Bear slowly walk up to him, Hyrkan put his hand in his pocket, grabbing three Skeleton Fragments.

‘150,000 each.’

He had purchased new crafting coins to craft 3 new Skeleton Fragments. For these, he spent almost 500,000 won. To be honest, Hyrkan was dying to know.

Skeleton Warrior’s Combat AIs were shared. In other words, there was no need to train new Skeleton Warriors.

Then, how capable would these three Skeleton Warriors be?

And if Hyrkan added his own skills?

Hyrkan could guarantee it.

Strongest in history!

Hyrkan had faced a countless number of experts and Rankers, and he knew the current Warlord better than anyone else in the world. Even he couldn’t fathom the power he would have in the future.

Knowing that such power was now in Hyrkan’s hands, any gamer would tremble. It was also why Hyrkan had not stopped grinning.

Alas, Hyrkan knew he couldn’t continue grinning forever. He forcefully erased the grin off his face and threw the Skeleton Fragments on the ground. Bulky skeletons with skulls resembling a crocodile appeared. The Skeleton Warriors held sharp knives on their right hand and carried shields woven from bones.

The Skeleton Warriors that were created using Lizardman as the sacrifices didn’t hide their aggressiveness upon seeing the Forest Bear.

Upon seeing the number of enemies increase, the Forest Bear also stopped its sauntering and began charging towards Hyrkan. Watching the scene, Hyrkan slowly put on his hahoe mask.

Then, he spoke into his watch.

“Start Camera.”

It signaled the start of a fight.