One Man Army

Chapter 100 [Episode 52] There is no impossibility 1

@ There is no impossibility

Since the difficulty of the quest was so high, so Sang Hyuk did not move quickly. He investigated and thought carefully.

All four apostles were different in the scope of work and tendencies. But one thing was all the same.

It was….. that they were unbelievably strong.

Their jobs were different, but they were really strong. Sang Hyuk investigated further and found that they were at about level 85.

They were not the master level 100, but level 85 was a very high level.

In particular, as the legendary NPCs, their artificial intelligence was excellent, and even the equipment they had was great, so users had to be at least level 75 to be able to compete with them.

In other words, it meant that because the top rated users in EL were at the low level 50’s, the difference in level with these NPCs was absolutely impossible to overcome.

Sang Hyuk had to attack them.

“Attack can be interpreted in a various ways…even interacting with them in any way. They are legendary NPCs so my title effects do not apply to them, right now I can’t even converse with them…. In the end, the only choices is one out of two. The method that can take a long time but is the safest and the method that is a gamble that can be done very quickly but it is very dangerous. I have to choose one out of these two methods.”

Considering to the size of the quest, it can be conquered in a minimum of two months. The longer method Sang Hyuk would have to spend up to four months…but with the faster method he would be able to decide whether it is a success or failure in only a few days.

“Was it long and thin or short and bold?”

Sang Hyuk bitterly smiled while moaning slightly.

Postponing the decision would be another way, but he did not like to do other things while putting down the thing that he needed to do in front of him.

“Alright, you only live once anyway. Let’s do it short and boldly.”

Sang Hyuk finally made his decision.

To do it long and thin, the time was too short. Because there was a lot of work that Sang Hyuk has to do, so he could not exclusively work on to this quest for months.

There was nothing simpler than the short and bold way. But although if it was not complicated, the difficulty was never easier.

Rather, this was much more difficult than going long and thin.

“Fiuh, NPC with level 85…. It’s crazier the more I think.”

He made the choice, but he still has not been convinced yet.

The opponent was an NPC with a high level enough to chew up and spit out a raid boss. Even if it was Sang Hyuk, he could not have confidence in this opponent.

“The first is the Magician of Glory Egray. Let’s start with him.”

The short and bold way that Sang Hyuk chosen. It was….. to fight all of the four apostles

In another words, Sang Hyuk would use strength without mobilizing other resources.

In fact, it was a ridiculous challenge in every way. Usually, ‘Magic Armor’, ‘Enhanced Ancient Knowledge’, and ‘Awakening Skill’ were a must.  They were necessary to fight a legendary NPC with level 85.

With at least level 70 AND all of these skills, he would barely be able to defeat them. But Sang Hyuk did not have these three skills.

Exactly, all three skill have not appeared yet. And he is now only level 55.

Still, Sang Hyuk was preparing for the challenge.

It was a challenge that he thought was reckless but Sang Hyuk oddly looked confident.

“It’ll be hard, but at least it’ll be fun.”

Ultimately, it was a game to enjoy anyway. Sang Hyuk did not want to get stressed and be frustrated in such a game.

“Let’s make an estimation while dealing with the wizard who can be called as my natural enemy. After that, then I can think about how to deal with the remaining three apostles.”

If Sang Hyuk was a regular user, he might try to find the reasons why this quest was impossible, but Sang Hyuk was trying to find the ways to make this quest possible.

The starting point was different, so the result was different.

“Let’s figure out all about him first.”

His opponent was a legendary NPC. To fight such an opponent, there were lots of things he had to know.

He thought that this fight could have been staged without any difficulties because of the quest, but the important thing was he could not fight anywhere.

Fighting when Egray was alone and at a place he would be disadvantaged was important.

And if it was possible, it would be better to find out direct information such as the main magic system that he used.

“Because this side is the information network that guards the shadow line of the Heroic Lands, so I will have to do my own leg work.”

He was able to catch Shadow Line’s surveillance immediately when he made a request to the information guild. It was so cumbersome that everything had to be done by Sang Hyuk alone.

Sang Hyuk immediately moved to a small village where the Magician of Glory, Egray, was hiding and began collecting all the information about him secretly.

And after a careful research in about three days, he was able to get a closer look at Egray.

Egray was a very active character even when he was called ‘The Great Wizard of Flames’ in the past. But over the years and for various reasons, he retired and did not leave this town.

One thing for sure is that he believes in ‘Proof of Glory’ very sincerely.

The good news is he was alone when he retired and put down all of his power. In other words, Sang Hyuk could fight him whenever he wanted.

Of course, his specialty was flame magic, and he was named as the strongest ‘War Mage’, so his combat skills were expected to be excellent.

The only thing to look forward to was that he had been retired for more than 10 years.

For 10 years, he was away from the actual battle, so at least it seemed that he did not have 100% battle skills like when he was in active duty.

The only information Sang Hyuk could use was that he could choose the battlefield and raid time.

“Wizard of Flame with good skill. Then…… the dark lake at dawn without sun. Perfect!”

Since Egray’s movement has already been fully grasped, a battlefield just came in Sang Hyuk’s mind. Everyday in the early dawn before sunrise Egray enjoyed the walk out of the house.

In the game or in reality both have the same feeling that when people get older they lose the morning sleep. When the battlefield and raid time were decided, the preparations were actually done.

After the preparation, Sang Hyuk hid deep behind the shade of a large tree near the lake and waited for Egray to come.

Sang Hyuk’s concealment ability has come to a new level as various title effects and item effects overlapped. When he hid himself, not even a master could find him.

Of course, he used the Concealment ability to figure out Egray’s movement. And in the process, he found out that Egray could not break his concealment.

The great War Mage was powerful enough to dominate the battlefield. He was often able to do things that warriors and knights of the same class couldn’t do.

But it was about war.

War and 1:1 confrontation were completely different. He was the War Mage who was a powerful attack force when he was well protected, but in the end, he was a person with a low defense and vitality.

All living creatures in EL have collapsed when their HP reaches zero. Of course, Egray was exactly the same.

“It is indeed not an easy opponent, but I don’t have to worry about it. If I stab him with the sword, it would be the same anyway.”

Sang Hyuk, who was hiding deep in the shadow and waiting for Egray, was pulling the Ten Millennia Goldbone Whip with both hands tightly. As always, the most important thing in the battle for Sang Hyuk was the first hit.

With that done well, it seemed that Sang Hyuk could dissolve Egray in a moment.

“If only the very first hit is done properly, I immediately spam my skills and end it!”

Of course, He could not be sure. Level 85 is on the level of gangsters, and even if he is a wizard, he would have a very high HP. And no one knew what the other variables would be.

Sang Hyuk breathed in the shadow and quietly waited for 20 minutes before finally Egray appeared.

He walked by the lake as usual and was enjoying the refreshing dawn air.

It was kind of funny for an NPC to behave like a living human being, but  artificial intelligence ultimately pursued this kind of reality.

Especially if it was a legendary grade NPC, it was not strange for him to enjoy such a relaxation.

When Egray came a little closer, Sang Hyuk could once again see the gray question mark clearly floating on his head.

To summarize the meaning of this question mark, it was ‘The NPC related to the quest and it is possible to fight freely.’

Of course, free combat also means that you do not have to fight.

If Sang Hyuk was trying to solve this quest with the long and thin way, it was likely that he would first try to talk to Egray. Sang Hyuk didn’t know that Egray would take the conversation or not, but it was not a bad choice to try.

However, when he chose the ‘short and bold’ way, the conversation attempt had no meaning.

“Throw it down!”

Sang Hyuk looked at Egray with intense eyes while grabbing his Ten Millenia Goldbone Whip more strongly.

Because all enhancement/buffs that he can use was readied 10 minutes ago, now Sang Hyuk’s condition is almost like the nuclear bomb before the explosion.

As soon as it bursts, the first hit which was horrifying enough to shake the heaven and earth, would be completed.

Sang Hyuk cleared his mind for the hunt and waited for his prey to come within his attack range. As soon as the prey entered the kill zone, he ran like a lightning bolt and was about to bite its neck straight.

“4, 3, 2,…..”

When Egray came close, he slowly counted in his head at his pace, And the moment Egray steps to exactly where he wants!

He did not hesitate to swing the Ten Millenia Goldbone Whip.

Phiing! Charererek!

A straight flash of lightning pierced the mid air, flew then stuck in Egray’s head. Sang Hyuk was going to blow Egray’s vitality at least 70% in this very first hit.

In order to do that, he bet almost all of his enhanced effects and buffs into it.

According to Sang Hyuk’s intention, even if he could not penetrate his head, he would suffer at least a massive damage and be stunned for at least 5 seconds.

Jjojong! Kwakwakwakwang!

The attack stuck firmly. Even a critical hit exploded and caused a huge effect. The tactile feedback in Sang Hyuk’s hands with the Ten Millenia Goldbone Whip told him that the attack was perfect.

However…. the sound was a bit strange.

“Variable interrupted!”

At that moment, Sang Hyuk could feel intuitively that some serious variable has appeared.

The blessing of darkness! Concealment is maintained!

In the midst of this, his luck was good so the blessing of darkness was played. However, if the blessing of darkness was triggered, the Concealment was maintained, and the opponent was clearly recognized as Sang Hyuk, then he could not re-fire the first deadly strike because the battle was still on-going.

Sang Hyuk originally planned to fire the first hit like a nuclear bomb and when the opponent could not keep up, he would immediately jump out of the shadow without maintaining the concealment then continued by pouring multiple attacks in succession.

But as soon as he intuitively realized that the variable appeared, Sang Hyuk blew up all his plans. Now he needed something different.

The sound that caused Sang Hyuk to make this judgement.

The sound was the triggering effect of Egray’s legendary necklace.

“Flame Attack (S+): the glowing flame energy forms a protective shield and prevents unauthorized attacks. This shied absorbs up to 50% damage of the maximum health. The shield is activated only once. The effect is activated 24 hours a day.”

This was crucial. Sang Hyuk obviously did not know Egray had this item, and as a result, the power of Sang Hyuk’s nuclear bombs had dropped.

Originally it was a hit that was powerful enough to blow up Egray’s vitality up to 70%, but now it’s barely just 20% blown.

Of course, in some ways 20% could be considered a lot of damage.

But it was a terrible failure to Sang Hyuk. Although he lost 20% of vitality in one hit, Egray was only twitching his head backwards and stumbled for only a second.

And this also meant that Egray had a chance to counterattack.

As Egray proved why he was once called the strongest War Mage, the moment he was raided, he was already preparing a response spell in his head.

Hwarerereuk!

In exactly one second, a large firebird was created in his hand, and the firebird was flew towards Sang Hyuk who came out of the shadows and stepped back quickly.

Kyyaaaaaaak! Hwwarerereruk!

The greatest feature of the ‘Flame Eagle’, that the Great Wizard of Flames Egray proud of, was ‘Unavoidable’ and Automatic target tracking’. So, Sang Hyuk could not avoid the attack.

Kwakwakwakwakwang!

While swallowing Sang Hyuk, the flame eagle burst.

It seemed that he has completely failed from the beginning.

Chapter 100 [Episode 52] There is no impossibility 1 – End