"This…"
The Lion King Quest! But something was strange. Wasn't this quest originally about finding the Lion King's Armor? He quickly opened the quest window and confirmed that the quest to find the armor still existed separately.
"Is it necessary to find one condition to be completed?"
The Lion King's armaments were said to react to each other, so this new quest seemed to be the notification triggered by that reaction. Lokan, deep in thought for a moment, nodded and proceeded with his next action: collecting the Five-Colored Pearls.
He made another Ragged Mechanical Vest and flew toward the next Giant Clam.
"Rush of Destruction!"
This time, his hunting method was a little different. After using Leaf Attack to kill the Shaman, he immediately changed direction and used Destruction Charge. As soon as he returned in the direction he came from, the Murloc Rogue who was about to attack was either caught in the charge and collided, or had his stealth broken and chased him, losing the element of surprise.
Instead of being attacked from three directions, there were only a few Rogues attacking head-on. Boasting superior power, stamina, and control, he played with them and swept them away.
Repeating this many times, he opened the Giant Clams. Unexpected attacks from Murloc Rogues and Shamans intervened, but he was able to deal with them immediately, taking a few hits with his body.
"Did you say I should learn Alchemy?"
Once the Murlocs were cleared, their respawn rate was greatly reduced. Furthermore, Lokan's mana was crawling at the bottom, but he was able to continue fighting as his mana was occasionally refilled when he leveled up. He had to seriously consider investing his spare stats toward Intelligence for his still-lacking mana. The Mana Pearls accumulating in his inventory were, after all, the main ingredient for Mana Potions.
"Let's collect only fifty."
His mana consumption was increasing as Force was sustained, but he could hold off for now. There were several other ways to increase mana. Now was the time to be patient. It was possible to delete his auxiliary job and learn Alchemy, but it would be a huge waste of time to delete First Aid, which he had leveled up, and start Alchemy from scratch just to reach the point where he could make Mana Potions.
Except for using a skill to kill the Murloc Shaman, Lokan collected Five-Colored Pearls while dealing with Murloc Rogues using control instead of skills as much as possible.
"Where should I go…"
In the end, after collecting fifty Five-Colored Pearls, Lokan withdrew from the Murloc Farm. He slowly restored his health and mana and began to review the quest.
"Because it's unkind."
Other games would have indicated the direction with arrows, but The Road was notoriously unhelpful to users. It was fun, though, so he couldn't stop playing.
"Is this a Shipwreck after all?"
The only thing that stood out was the wreck. If he went a little further, there were cliffs carved out by the waves, but seeing the Lion King's Sealed Helmet react, he thought it wouldn't be too far away. The only other habitat for Murlocs, then, was the Shipwreck.
Lokan's gaze turned toward the entrance, then shifted.
"Gills of Murlocs, use."
He used the consumables he got from hunting Murlocs. The Murloc's Gills automatically flew to his face, and his attached skin turned into gills. Lokan, who had circled the Murloc territory, jumped into the sea.
[The Murloc's Gill effect enables underwater breathing.]
'There's no way anything related to the Lion King is right in front of you.'
He planned to infiltrate by circling to the rear of the wreck. Otherwise, he'd have to fight his way through the entrance. At first glance, it seemed easier to deal with a large number of enemies in a confined space like the shipwreck than in the open farm, but with the main classes being ranged Shamans and stealth-based Rogues, it was a formidable challenge. He'd have to use Berserk and run away.
For that reason, Lokan dived underwater and infiltrated the rear of the wreck. He poked his head in, searching for a broken hole.
'You're right.'
This was a trick discovered later, and though a patch was released that put a lot of Murloc Rogues in that location, it was still a workaround for now. Lokan slipped through the hole and climbed into the shipwreck's hull. This was also the shortest way to the boss room, but Lokan had only one goal: the Trace of the Lion King.
It was unknown how the Lion King and the Murlocs were related, but having confirmed the abilities of the Lion King's Sealed Helmet, he had to investigate.
"I have no choice but to believe in the Explorer title."
But the hints were too few. Considering the last hero's test quest, there must be a hidden device, but Lokan had never heard anything about it. Even in his previous life, he cleared the Murloc Shipwreck repeatedly but found no singularity.
"At best, the collectibles… uh"
A memory flashed through Lokan's mind as he quietly recalled information about this place. It was the drop item of the Corrupted Captain Murloc, the boss of this place.
"It was an Old Coin."
When this boss died, it dropped an unusual item: an Old Coin that couldn't be identified no matter how much people tried, eventually becoming a souvenir or collectible. Lokan had dismissed it as ancient currency or junk, but now doubts arose. A coin the size of a woman's palm might be a key or a hint. It felt plausible that the reason its identity was unknown was because the 'conditions' hadn't been met.
"I'm going to have to hit it first."
With that decision, he felt lighter. Moving carefully, he looked for any hidden devices or dungeons but could only reach the back of the boss room. In the meantime, he checked everything he could touch, but nothing stood out.
"It won't be easy."
The Tainted Captain Murloc was not alone in the boss room. There were three Shamans and seven Murloc Rogues. Fortunately, the 'deckmaster,' 'navigator,' and 'vice captain' were outside the wreck as intermediate bosses.
However, this alone was a powerful force that made Lokan nervous. Typically, even a party would be annihilated several times here. With the Murloc Rogues and Shamans making things difficult, it was easy to stumble even if you knew the strategy. That's why Lokan needed a strategy.
'There is no proper cover… Is mechanical engineering the only variable?'
The boss room was the 'Captain's Room,' so there was nowhere to hide. The furniture was all destructible, so it couldn't be used as a shield substitute.
'All I can use are a Crude Bomb, a Ragged Mechanical Vest, and that's it.'
The problem was that Lokan's Mechanical Engineering proficiency was not very high. He had limits on the gadgets he could make, so he had to use his head well. Lokan, still out of their awareness range, devised a plan for a while and immediately took action. He wouldn't change anything by wasting time.
[You used Five-Colored Pearl Powder.]
[Increases all elemental defense by 10% for 3 minutes.]
"Mechanical Rat, use."
Cheeky!
He started with a Mechanical Mouse, a palm-sized toy with one special effect: wide-area provocation.
Good. Quinn!
All the Murlocs turned their gaze as the mechanical rat made a sound and moved quickly. The Murloc Rogues even broke their stealth and started chasing the fast-running mechanical rat.
"Leaf Attack!"
In the meantime, Lokan quickly closed the distance to the Tainted Murloc Shaman. He stomped his feet so loudly that the floor rang and dug deep.
"Lethal Strike!"
It was burdensome to use the combination skill from the beginning, but he couldn't help it. The priority was to quickly eliminate the order users.
'I'd rather be a wizard.'
The Shaman was probably more demanding than a wizard when fighting with a large number of people. As evidence, while Lokan slashed one of the Corrupted Murloc Shamans, the other two were already casting spells.
Queek!
"Eat this!"
But Lokan didn't even look at it. He immediately threw a fist-sized bomb to disrupt their casting. The damage itself was terrible, but it was a way to stop the spell.
"Mechanical Rat, use!"
In addition, he released another mechanical rat. The first rat, fast but physically weak, had already been caught and smashed. He wanted to taunt the Corrupted Murloc Rogues again to buy as much time as possible and reduce the number of Shamans by one more in the meantime.
'For once.'
Once the Shaman was finished, two were left. Lokan immediately used his speed and approached the next Shaman.
"Where do you dare do your tricks!"
"Shit."
Then, the Corrupted Murloc Captain interrupted. The mechanical rat he released again was caught so easily. As the final boss fell and blocked his path, Lokan quickly turned around.
"Strike!"
But he didn't give up the attack. Twisting his body, he amplified his power and raised the Battle Axe diagonally.
"Force!"
Wow!
Murlocs were usually chest-sized, but the Captain was definitely different, with a body larger than Lokan's. The power that came out of that size was never pushed back by Lokan. Though lacking, it didn't cause him to stagger or be pushed away, as the Captain was a Level 150 warrior class.
"Quick!"
[You have been under the Curse of Weakness.]
[All stats are slightly reduced.]
'Write.'
It was fine until then. The problem was that he wasn't alone. First, the Shaman's curse fell on Lokan's shoulder, and Rogues attacked with cool daggers.
"Heh heh heh heh heh!"
Lokan also immediately took action.
Cry of Madness!
Lokan's insanity was contagious, causing all beings to wither. It was a retaliatory demonstration: if his ability went down, their ability would also be lowered. The level difference was quite large, so the effect wasn't very big, but it was enough to overturn the Curse of Weakness.
"Come!"
In addition, Lokan's gestures became rougher. He actively dug into the Captain's arms.
"Power Attack!"
"Escape!"
"…!"
But he immediately turned his back and triggered his Escape skill! Lokan's body pierced through the Tainted Captain Murloc's body and turned back.
"Rush of Destruction!"
If so, he didn't know if he hit the back of the head. Lokan immediately withdrew and targeted the Tainted Murloc Shaman. When dealing with a boss, it was natural to deal with the rude subordinates first.
Whoops!
The Tainted Murloc Captain hurriedly turned around, but it was already too late. Lokan's chariot-like body crushed the Tainted Murloc Shaman. Its face was sunken, and its eyes popped out. He cut off the arm holding the wand and thrust a Battle Axe imbued with Force into its heart.
'You two are done.'
Now, only one Shaman was left! But then, a problem arose.
Queeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
As the last Tainted Murloc Shaman swung its staff, one of the Tainted Murloc Rogues chasing the Captain began to writhe in pain.
"Fuck."
A bloated body. A spirit that had completely turned to the eyeballs that were already rotten. It meant one thing: Spirit Descent.
The Tainted Murloc Shaman's Combination Skill, which instantly destroys a target and draws out powerful power, had been activated.