Chapter 147 – Dullahan (7)
Translator: Seven
Editor: Ana_Banana
“They’re retreating!”
A player from the Great One Guild who was monitoring the situation within the Black Fog with a skill announced to everyone.
“The Skeleton Soldiers are retreating!”
Ellis Highton, who had been waiting for the information, lifted the corner of her mouth slightly.
“He’s a smart guy.”
Jay Jackson, who was standing beside her, made a comment of his own.
“It’s smarter to make a safe decision than to die. No matter how valuable legendary items are, they aren’t worth your life.”
That was the end of their conversation about him.
“Get ready for battle. It’s our turn.”
Ellis immediately ordered her men to prepare for the battle and the members of the Great One Guild sprung into action.
The same was true for Jay Jackson.
“Support the Great One Guild.”
Everyone showcased their determination to win the upcoming battle.
This caused the atmosphere in the clearing to become incredibly tense and heavy.
It was then.
“The fight hasn’t ended.”
Words seemed to come out of nowhere.
“What the h.e.l.l are you talking about?”
Ellis Highton reacted strongly to those words and immediately turned her head to look at the speaker.
“This isn’t the time for jo…Isaac?”
Isaac Ivanov, the man who wore the skeleton mask, appeared before her eyes.
“H-, how are you here?”
Kim Woo-jin’s appearance surprised her.
In fact, she wasn’t the only one surprised.
‘When did he get here?’
‘Is it possible to approach us without anyone noticing like this?’
All of the players from the Great One Guild and the Frontier Guild were staring at Kim Woo-jin, who had suddenly appeared, with horrified gazes.
‘Impossible.’
It was the same for Jay Jackson, who had unsheathed his sword and pointed it toward Kim Woo-jin the moment he noticed him.
This showed that he felt threatened by Kim Woo-jin’s presence.
It wasn’t without reason.
They had just set a trap for Isaac Ivanov, so from his perspective, killing them could be considered self defense.
And Isaac Ivanov had now penetrated their group without even the slightest trace.
What would have happened if Isaac Ivanov had chosen to attack Ellis Highton just now instead of speaking?
Gulp!
Those who imagined it couldn’t help but swallow their saliva.
Still standing among them, Isaac Ivanov spoke.
“The fight hasn’t ended. So please wait your turn.”
It was said in a polite tone, but no one thought the words were polite.
“Don’t be ridiculous. You have already given up the battle.”
After a while, Ellis Highton was the one who broke the silence.
“That’s right. Battle isn’t like a wine bar. There’s no such thing as leaving behind a drink for later.”
Immediately afterward, Jay Jackson lowered his sword and backed up Ellis with his words.
“There was an accident, but you still gave up fighting and withdrew all of your troops. That’s usually called defeat.”
Kim Woo-jin didn’t respond to their words.
Instead, he simply lifted his index finger to his mask covered lips.
Shhh, everyone went silent at the gesture.
As the surrounding sounds subsided, sounds began to drift over from the distance.
Clang!
It was the sound of fighting.
At the sound, Ellis Highton turned her head towards the direction, which happened to be where the Dullahan was located.
Naturally, all she could see was the Black Fog.
The player who used their skill to look through the Black Fog on her behalf quickly informed her of the situation.
“The, the fight hasn’t ended.”
“What?”
“Skel-, a Skeleton Knight is attacking the Dullahan with a crossbow.”
When they heard these words, one name came to everyone’s minds.
“Wilhelm Tell’s Crossbow?”
A legendary item whose bolts chased after a target following one successful hit.
It was enough.
“Really?”
To understand just what Isaac Ivanov was thinking at that moment.
“We’re still in battle. The Skeleton Soldiers’ retreat is to make tactical changes according to the current circ.u.mstances.”
It was also why Ellis Highton and Jay Jackson could not refute Isaac Ivanov’s words.
In any case, as he’d said, he was still fighting, so wasn’t this still a situation where his priority to attack the Dullahan was still in effect?
“I’ll summon additional skeletons, and once I’ve properly equipped all my troops, I will try to attack again.”
Furthermore, he expressed his willingness to continue fighting.
“It might take some time, but there are no time limits so I will not listen to any objections regarding that.”
Regardless of how many hours…no, even if it took a few days, he was still willing to fight.
“You crazy b.a.s.t.a.r.d, this place is filled with Black Fog!”
At that moment, Ellis could no longer hold back her anger and shouted.
“There is only a limited amount of time to fight! But you are here wasting it like this? Are you kidding me?”
Isaac Ivanov responded simply.
“That’s your problem. I can stay here for at least a month.”
“A month in this poison mist? That’s impossible…Ah!”
At that time, Isaac Ivanov’s personal information began to run through Ellis Highton’s head and in the process, she remembered his very first nickname.
“The First Needle Snake Hunter!”
Isaac Ivanov had been able to hunt the Needle Snake which had an incredibly ferocious poison mist.
When he noticed her worry, Kim Woo-jin a.s.sured her.
“Don’t worry, if there aren’t any special accidents or interruptions then I won’t need to fight for a month.” (TL: *mic drop*)
And with those words, Kim Woo-jin once again disappeared into the Black Fog.
…
In dungeons, the laws and morals that governed the outside world were not used at all.
The only things that had any sway were the rules that the players had created themselves.
Therefore, it was incredibly important that these rules were adhered to by everyone. Otherwise, in the event that the rules were ignored, the dungeons would become lawless zones which were always incredibly chaotic.
Among these rules, the order and priority for dealing with boss monsters were the most important.
The act of ignoring the order was considered an act of hostility against the rightful placeholder, toward the guild that they belonged to and even toward their country.
Such actions were taken as provocation.
Therefore, there was a clear standard for the transfer of priority.
If a party or player with priority dies.
If they give up their priority voluntarily.
If they are being one sidedly destroyed and it can no longer be seen as a valid battle.
And if the priority holder loses control of the monster and it attacks another party.
In the last case, it was deemed that the priority had been lost and would be transferred to the next in line.
So what about Isaac Ivanov’s current situation?
“What’s the status of Isaac’s party?”
“No casualties.”
First of all, there were no casualties.
“What about their will to fight?”
“Unwavering.”
Second, it did not seem like he was going to voluntarily declare his surrender.
“What about the strength that they have left?”
“Most of their power is still available.”
In addition, thanks to the timely retreat of the skeletons, he was able to maintain his power almost at his peak.
“What about their control over the boss?”
“…they’re controlling the aggro so much that the Dullahan looks pitiful.”
Finally, they were controlling the Dullahan’s aggro so perfectly that the other guilds could not even try to steal it.
“Then we’ll have to admit their priority.”
For these reasons, everyone was forced to accept Isaac Ivanov’s priority.
Only one, Ellis Highton was different.
“What ridiculous bulls.h.i.+t!”
She could not accept this fact at all.
“This way, Isaac Ivanov can hunt the boss for a whole month!”
And she wasn’t exactly wrong.
If they were to accept that Isaac Ivanov’s current fighting was valid then, as she said, it was likely that he would monopolize the boss monster.
“This is beyond controversy.”
The other guilds also admitted that it was quite controversial.
‘That’s why it might not be smart to take action.’
Which caused the situation to be even more of a problem.
‘I’m sure Isaac Ivanov would be able to resist.’
The controversial point was that it wasn’t just Ellis Highton, but also Isaac Ivanov, who might have something to say.
This meant that if they imposed restrictions on Isaac Ivanov or deprived him of his priority, then he would fight against it.
‘He’s insane.’
And Isaac Ivanov was the type of man who would express his displeasure using action instead of words.
‘He’s a ridiculously monstrous psycho.’
More importantly, Isaac Ivanov was on a completely different level from them.
Everyone had already felt this on the first floor.
‘To make him an enemy here…’
Besides, was it smart to fight Isaac Ivanov there in Dead Forest with the Black Fog as well as the dreadful Dullahan and its group of zombies?
‘There’s no reason to do that unless you’re crazy.’
In all honesty, no player wanted to make that choice.
‘And even if we did it, that doesn’t mean that we’d get a reward anyway.’
‘The second priority goes to the Great One Guild and the Frontier Guild has already decided to support them. In the end, won’t they be able to hunt the Dullahan if it’s their turn?’
‘We don’t have a chance anyway.’
Those below the third group had almost no chance of even being able to fight, and even if they did, it was impossible to tell exactly when that would happen.
And it was impossible to estimate just how much damage they would’ve taken from the Black Fog.
‘Well, even if we don’t get a chance here, it doesn’t mean that we lost anything.’
The most important point was that the other guilds weren’t suffering a big loss if Isaac Ivanov was the one to slay the Dullahan.
The only one who bet a legendary item was the Great One Guild and the other guilds didn’t bet anything.
Then the discussions ended.
‘I would rather get nothing than come to blows with Isaac Ivanov.’
‘No need to step onto a sinking s.h.i.+p.’
At that time, the scales in everyone’s minds were already s.h.i.+fted irreversibly.
Of course, this was what Kim Woo-jin expected.
‘They should be done with their calculations.’
Before returning to the past, Kim Woo-jin had dealt with even more jackals than these few.
‘In the end, they need to choose to take whatever action benefits them the most.’
So there was no way he couldn’t know how to handle this group.
‘Now, I can hunt without interruption.
That was why Kim Woo-jin didn’t hesitate any longer.
“I’m going to start hunting the Dullahan.”