FWOOSH!
The cursed undead flames blazed.
“RrrrrikkkKkiikikiKikKi......!”
The true boss of this section, wreathed in those cursed flames, let out a grotesque cry.
[Lich].
A boss monster representative of undead magic and necromancers. That [Lich] was the true wall of this hidden quest.
In other words.
‘This hidden quest isn’t simply about scooping up poison.’
The real content of the quest was obtaining the [Medusius Serpent]’s poison while avoiding the [Venom Serpents] summoned by the [Lich].
It was a kind of evasion and survival game.
In the tutorial section, you could not level up... or rather, that was not quite true. I had learned this time that you could level up through another route.
In any case, since this was a section where leveling was tricky, there were more gimmicky hidden elements like this.
‘Since you can’t rely on level advantage, things like this have more impact.’
The same went for the [Venom Serpents], but if I allowed even one or two attacks from this [Lich], death was guaranteed.
It was an insane difficulty for an RPG, almost like a shooting game.
The Healing Potions given to kill the [Venom Serpents] were only a means of buying time.
However, if you changed your perspective, things became a little different.
‘Is there any need to dodge attacks against a monster?’
With just “a little more effort,” it was possible to skip that insane-difficulty shooting game.
TAP!
The moment I passed through the [Venom Serpents], leaped onto the mountain of corpses, and faced the [Lich].
[Hidden objective unlocked!]
◆ Additional Objectives
─[Hit the Venom Serpent with a Healing Potion.] (Complete)
─[Defeat the Venom Serpent.] (Complete)
─[Defeat the Lich.]
The hidden completion objective I had been aiming for opened.
That was right.
Even if you avoided the [Venom Serpents] and defeated them with potions, you would ultimately only suffer against the infinitely multiplying [Venom Serpents].
‘It’s more convenient to kill them and get rid of them than to dodge.’
The real solution was to directly kill the [Lich], the creator of the [Venom Serpents].
CLACK!
I took out and equipped a weapon in one hand, then took out a potion with the other. A High-Grade Healing Potion, which I had obtained for the first time after earning the Gold Medal of Honor.
“RriiiiiKiiikkkkii......!”
KABOOM-KABOOM-KABOOM!
The [Lich] shot flames at me. Then the cursed flames flew over, burning the mountain of corpses as they came.
The effect was flashy, but it was a linear attack. I changed direction to the side and avoided the flames.
‘Now!’
Then, aiming for the opening, I threw the High-Grade Healing Potion I was holding at the [Lich].
SHATTER!
It hit without any chance of missing. And then.......
HSSSSSSS!!!
“K, KiaaaAAaaaa?!?!!”
The [Lich] screamed from the tremendous damage of the High-Grade Healing Potion.
‘Somehow, this got even easier than before.’
Now that I thought about it, that was true.
Unlike the ones you could meet in other fields, that [Lich] was a monster exclusive to this hidden zone with only 10,000 HP.
With just one shot of that High-Grade Healing Potion, nearly 20% of its total HP had been shaved away.
And that was not all.
“There’s still more.”
I took out a second and third High-Grade Healing Potion and threw them in succession.
SHATTER! SHATTER! HSSSSSSS!!!
“KiaaaAAAAaaa!!!!!”
Under the successive Healing Potion offensive, the [Lich] screamed and fell into a knockdown state.
‘This is too easy.’
Compared to the first time I cleared it, it was practically free.
Of course, there was a reason for that. Originally, the supply tickets you received for achieving the additional objectives with the Silver Medal of Honor were five tickets.
One ticket could be exchanged for five Mid-Grade Potions, and a Mid-Grade Potion had a healing amount of 500, so originally, you could deal a maximum of 7,500 damage with potions.
Then you would shave off the remaining 2,500 with physical attacks.
That meant even if you poured out every potion at once, that was all you could do.
But now, after receiving an absurd amount of potion service with the Gold Medal of Honor?
‘I have potions overflowing.’
I started with ten High-Grade Healing Potions that could deal a full 1,800 damage each, and below that, I still had hundreds more.
In fact, the High-Grade Healing Potions were so powerful that each bottle was giving the [Lich] tremendous damage and stun.
“Ki, Kia, KiaaaaaaaAaa.......”
With only three potion baptisms, the [Lich] had lost more than half its HP and entered a knockdown state.
‘It’s completely defenseless.’
And in a defenseless situation like that, close-range attacks became incredibly easy.
I took out a Supply Sword and Holy Water from my inventory.
SHATTER! SPLASH!
Then I smashed the Holy Water bottle and coated my sword with Holy Water.
A simple enchantment through Holy Water. The simplest method for dealing with undead-type monsters.
WHOOOSH!
Then I swung the sword enchanted with Holy Water and cut into the [Lich].
SLASH!
“KiaaAAAaakaa?!”
The [Lich], already having lost half its HP, had defense as soft as tofu. With a single blow, one of the [Lich]’s arms was severed.
“Hup!”
SLASH! SLAAASH!
The sword’s trajectory drew a semicircle and unleashed a second and third slash. Each time, the [Lich]’s body was instantly cut apart.
“RiKki, RkiKiKi......!”
The [Lich], having barely escaped the knockdown state, tried to counterattack with a spell, but I was already at point-blank range, and it had even lost an arm. The [Lich]’s spell was slow enough to make me yawn.
WHOOSH!
Before the [Lich] could finish its spell, I delivered the final blow.
SLAAAASH!!
Like that, the point-blank thrust pierced [Lich]’s skull, and.......
[Hidden objective completed!]
◆ Additional Objectives
─[Hit the Venom Serpent with a Healing Potion.] (Complete)
─[Defeat the Venom Serpent.] (Complete)
─[Defeat the Lich.] (Complete)
All objectives were fulfilled.
[Defeated the Lich!]
[Hidden boss defeat reward granted!]
***
After information about the controversy over Kylo’s hack program and the Gold Medal of Honor spread,
all the Elysium game communities were burning with those topics.
[BEST][Brought proof that even Rani can’t raw-parry ten times in a row]
[BEST][They’re definitely game company shills. It’s a fact that they couldn’t catch the hacks lololol]
[BEST][He did consecutive parries that even pros can’t do, but it isn’t hacks?]
[BEST][Just because water-rocket pros can’t parry a little, that makes it hacks???]
[BEST][So are you guys better than pros???]
[BEST][Fact) They’re pros from other games. Elysium has no pros]
It was a characteristic of internet communities that topics swelled in a short time.
And once the huge bait of a hack program and a hidden element came into play, the argument grew into something close to a massive fire.
Because players who had left to verify the hidden element had disappeared from the community, the controversy related to the hack program was being mentioned more often.
[BEST][What’s wrong with an expert telling people about a hidden element???]
[BEST][He crushes someone in PVP and gives hidden info, then gets treated like a hack-using bastard lololololol]
[BEST][Will experts even play this game because they’re scared of newbies?]
[BEST][Kylo <- getting beaten up for the crime of daring to be an expert and beat a newbie lololol]
[BEST][No, so where did the bastard who threw the hack bait go???]
[BEST][This place is a prime trolling spot lololol]
The more the criticism grew, the fiercer the defenses became, and the fiercer the defenses became, the greater the criticism grew too.
Within that cycle,
[BEST][So this whole mess is because of one no-name hack player??]
[BEST][Upvote this if you’re Kylo voyeuristically watching this burn and laughing lololol]
[BEST][Isn’t exposing his nickname too much when it’s not even certain he’s hacking?]
[But upvote this if you don’t care because it isn’t your problem lololol]
└[As long as it’s not meeeee lololol]
[BEST][Upvote this if you’re Kylo, scared after seeing your nickname spread and now thinking about changing it lololol]
Kylo’s name only continued spreading to more and more communities.
And this series of arguments did not remain only inside the communities.
***
SLASH!
[You have died from ‘Goblin Rider’ attack!]
[No party member nearby can revive you!]
[Returning to last safe zone!]
“Aaagh, I died again!!”
After dying again, streamer Yang Pinpin screamed while lying collapsed and clutching her head.
─Wow, Miss Pinpin is seriously a scrub lololol
─She said she saw the angle this time, but got wrecked again, right? lololol
─There were 30 seconds left, but she died again, right? The mission failed too, right? lololololol
“Huh, what? The mission time is over? Aaaaaaagh!!”
Yang Pinpin looked as if the world had collapsed and showed intense regret.
In truth, from midway through, she had already thought that succeeding in the mission was impossible. However, she had learned from her long streaming career that viewers liked it more when she screamed and despaired like this.
─Can’t pretend to be an old hand anymore lololol
─Elysium specialist streamer (terrible controls)
─Anyway, an old hand (getting taken on a tour bus by goblins for an hour)
“Ah, but this isn’t something just anyone can do. It’s really hard. I’m telling you, those Goblin Riders can’t just be taken down.”
Pretending to have barely calmed down, Yang Pinpin made that excuse to her viewers.
Whether or not it was actually a difficulty that could be cleared was one thing. But failing repeatedly without finding even the slightest possibility clashed with Yang Pinpin’s entire concept as an Elysium old-hand streamer.
The problem was.......
‘Ha, seriously, how do you clear this?’
The problem was that she could not see any way to get past this death section at all!
“No, but seriously. Am I the only one who couldn’t find the mechanic weapon in the field? That expert told us there was a mechanical weapon, but I really couldn’t see anything!”
According to the information she had heard earlier, she clearly had to avoid the Goblin Riders’ offensive and pick up the mechanic weapon.
The problem was that it was not easy to dodge the Goblin Riders’ fast offensive while checking the surroundings, and even then, she could not see anything nearby.
“Everyone, some of you must have gone to try this, and some of you must have watched other screens while I was dying. Did anyone really find the mechanical weapon?”
─lololol Exposing yourself as blind, then pretending you’re not lololol
─Pin-yang-yang was secretly a scrub lololol
─But I didn’t see it either lololol
─It really isn’t visible lolol
─Actually, I didn’t see it either lololol
At first, the viewers who had been teasing Yang Pinpin began honestly saying one by one that they could not find it either.
─I kept the stream open beside me and tried for more than 30 minutes, but it really doesn’t appear.
─Me too.
─I asked people from original server clans, and they said they don’t know about a hidden route like that lolol
As a result,
opinions began to gather that no one had defeated the Goblin Riders, nor had they even heard of anyone getting past that section.
“Really? What the hell is this?”
While Yang Pinpin tilted her head like that, the chat room burned for a while, and then.
[Anon donated <1,000 won>!]
Someone shouted through a super chat.
<Didn’t that guy scam you???>
“Huh, what? Did I get baited?”
─Ah, that’s right lololol
─Now that I think about it, he did give out the hidden route way too easily lolol
─Yang Pinpin got baited hard by a hidden route she’d never seen before lololololol
─Ah lololololol
─He’s probably laughing behind your back, thinking the hidden scam was hilarious lololol
─Ah, crazy. Today’s clip moment properly appeared lololol
At Yang Pinpin’s stunned face of shock, the viewers all burst into laughter.
“Huh, clip? Guys! Don’t do that! What did I even do?!”
[‘Elumseonsinbi’ donated <2,000 won>!]
<Looks like he baited you on purpose so Yang Pinpin couldn’t do the max-level achievement event....... Giving consolation money because you won’t get the sweet max-level reward.......>
“Ah, thank you for the donation! But what do you mean I’m late for the max-level achievement event? I’m not late yet, okay? That lasts until next season, so there’s plenty of time left. Why are you saying I won’t get it just because I’m one hour late?”
─She missed the last bus because of this one hour lololol
─Right lololol It’s always the most fun when you miss these things by a tiny margin lolol
“Ah, I’m really not lateee~! I’m seriously going to catch it now, okay?”
Yang Pinpin huffed and roughly wrapped up the situation.
“Ah, anyway. It seems like I really got baited by this. I’m going to stop and go back to finishing the hidden quest now.”
Just as she was about to turn the stream back to its original course for the max-level achievement reward.
[‘Germanium114’ donated <1,000 won>!]
“Huh? Really?? I’m tired from dying over and over, so should I look at the community reactions a bit?”
─The moment we say she’ll miss the last bus, she instantly turns community-browsing rest mode ON
─I am Yang Pinpin, a woman quick to give up
─When you play games at an old age, you do need to rest a bit lolol
“No, I’m not! I’m watching because I’m really curious, okay? Honestly, aren’t you all curious about whether this hidden route is real? There’s a Gold Medal and a hidden weapon!”
While arguing back and forth with the chat window like that, Yang Pinpin changed the stream screen to look at the community posts.
Then.
“Wooooow.......”
The current state of the community, where arguments were overflowing with tremendous momentum, entered the eyes of Yang Pinpin and the viewers.
─Immediate sigh lololololol
─See, you should have just gone back to playing the game instead of this lololol
─There is no paradise where you flee, Pinpin lolol
─What is this? Hacks???
─Did hacks appear in [Elysium Online] right now?
After suspicions were raised that Kylo’s consecutive parries were hacks.
“No, but what is all this about right now? We should at least see what’s going on.”
Yang Pinpin clicked a post related to the hacks like that, and saw an astonishing sight.
[Video) Scene of hack player doing consecutive parries]
“Huh? Isn’t this the person who told us about that hidden route?”
The player in the video who showed miraculous consecutive parries.
That player was Kylo, who had told Yang Pinpin and the viewers information about the Gold Medal of Honor.
“Ah, I think he did PVP earlier. So this was that!”
Because Yang Pinpin had not watched the PVP between Kylo and KingdomOldHand firsthand, she now saw the PVP video and belatedly regretted it.
─Missing bait, as expected of Yang Pinpin lololol
─It was right in front of her and she didn’t know lololololol
─See, you should have done it when he asked to just play the game instead of making a show out of crafting potions lololol
“But is that person really hacking? He gave us hidden information too. It didn’t seem like it, did it?”
While uncertain, Yang Pinpin continued checking the community reactions.
[So is it hacks or not?? Explain so even a dummy can understand]
└[We’re doing this because we don’t know, you dummy lololol]
└[Why is this board full of dummies burning over something like this??]
└[If we were smart, we’d have gone to play the game instead of keyboard warring here]
└[Understandable lololol]
The game communities’ reactions were just as confused.
There was no sign of a hack program, but thinking it was not hacks made no realistic sense either.
During the time until Yang Pinpin came to look at the community, no concrete conclusion had yet emerged about this controversy.
“I should’ve seen it in person!”
If she had, she could have attached the video, provided commentary, and drawn in a huge number of views.
‘What a waste.’
Yang Pinpin smacked her lips at the missed opportunity and continued checking the community.
In the middle of that.
[BEST][The tutorial gold hidden route is just a scam]
“Huh?”
Yang Pinpin’s eyes widened when she saw a post about the content she had just been challenging.
“Someone else is saying it’s a scam too. Let’s look at this one.”
[BEST][The tutorial gold medal hidden route is just a scam]
[(Clips of game streamers’ remarks)]
[According to Gamegun, he doesn’t know anything like this. Gudari also says nothing beyond silver has ever been confirmed. Sunloader says he doesn’t know either. Why the hell are people saying it exists??]
“Ah.......”
Gamegun. Gudari. Sunloader. These were broadcasters who explained Elysium Online information better than Yang Pinpin.
In particular, Sunloader was a famous expert YouTuber who even had prize-winning records in several games.
Information they did not know?
“It really is confirmed bait.......”
─Confirmed bait lololololol
─She died more than 20 times and came back just to get finished off lololololol
“Fine, as long as you guys laughed.......”
Yang Pinpin smiled bitterly in resignation.
She was about to finish checking the community, wrapping it up with laughter like that.
[BEST][Kylo <- Is there any player who can actually meet this guy and confront him???]
“Hm?”
A new popular post appeared at the top of the community page being broadcast on the stream.
─Meet and confront him?
─What is this? Did something big come?
[‘Anon’ donated <1,000 won>!]
<Hey, owner, read it already. Stop spacing out>
The viewers also began showing great interest. Yang Pinpin had no choice not to check this post.
“What is it? Is it burning again?”
[BEST][Kylo <- Is there any player who can actually meet this guy and confront him???]
[I’m an Assassin who watched that hack controversy clip in person, and I originally thought he was just an expert, so I marked him because I wanted to leech off him later, right?? But fuck, I died ten times to the Gold Medal bait and I’m seriously pissed]
[Anyone going to teach him a lesson? Classes that can Karma farm, like Assassin or Thief, are welcome]
└[Hey, hey, hey;;;;;]
└[This is where the template ends]
└[No, but I really do want to check whether this is bait or not]
└[I got baited and absolutely destroyed too. Should I go?]
└[If we’re doing it, I’m really going. It’s not a report anyway, and if it’s just in-game PVP, there shouldn’t be any complaints afterward, right??]
└[I’m going too. If his explanation is garbage, I’m reporting him]
“Wow.......”
Yang Pinpin unconsciously groaned.
It seemed the players who lived in the community were gathering to go punish the player at the center of the hack controversy.
─Crazy lololol
─It isn’t even Mak’gora. They’re just going as a group to smash him lololol
─Well, if it’s hacks, there’s no helping it lololol
─Hack-using bastard raid? I can’t resist this lololol
Perhaps because they accepted it as a fairly thrilling situation, the viewers reacted well.
[‘CaptainPenguin’ donated <3,000 won>!]
<Yang Pinpin live field report, go?>
“Hmm, right. What should I do.......”
Yang Pinpin fell into thought.
It was difficult to simply say that it was fine as long as the viewers had fun, because right now, that time felt quite precious.
‘Surely this won’t make me miss being one of the first to reach Master Level, right?’
It was because of the classic server’s Master Level achievement event.
Currently, the classic server was holding a first-come achievement event for Master Level, the level cap equivalent to max level in other games.
The rewards were tremendous too.
An ultra-high-spec VVIP VR capsule, the latest phone, a graphics card, hotel travel vouchers, and for some reason, even home appliances like air conditioners and refrigerators were on the line.
In any case, the rewards were full of prizes that would genuinely help in real life.
Yang Pinpin had already started the classic server late because of another sponsored stream, so in truth, she had to hurry and level even a little.
She had been forcing herself to spend time farming the tutorial hidden zone because it would let her go to a hunting ground that helped more with leveling afterward, but.......
‘Isn’t going to watch that instead of leveling up a bit risky?’
However, there was also an advantage in reverse.
She could directly broadcast the hottest controversy on the classic server right now and make a summary video later.
There was an enormous difference in density between a video made after seeing the scene in person and commentary made only from community reactions or partial information.
‘Should I at least go to the scene?’
Reaching Master Level on the classic server was by no means easy. A few hours of side activity would probably not create that large of a gap.
She was also already late enough that, deep inside, she had half given up.
“Well, I’m not completely unrelated either, right? Should I go take a look? If it turns into something like Mak’gora, I can test whether he really does consecutive parries too.”
─Oh, Yang Pinpin, oh lolol
─Hey! Are you confident?!
“Of course I’m confident! When it comes to Elysium, I don’t lose badly anywhere, okay?! I played enough in the arena too! Let’s see if it’s really hacking or not!”
After somehow turning the matter into a cheerful moment, Yang Pinpin activated [Elysium Online] again.
“Good, let’s see. So that person’s name was...... Kylo! Right. Let’s go see what kind of person Kylo is!”
Right after she shouted that toward the stream.
‘Hm?’
Yang Pinpin felt something strange in an odd place.
‘Kylo?’
It was a strangely familiar nickname. But.
‘Who is that?’
She tried hard to remember, but nothing came to mind.
‘I feel like I’ve heard it somewhere. Is it just my imagination?’
In the end, Yang Pinpin gave up and focused on the stream again, feeling as if a thorn had caught in her throat.
Without knowing that this sense of incongruity had been her final lifeline.