Dullahan Subjugation
Hidden quest.
True to its name—a "hidden quest"—the conditions for obtaining one were so stringent that rumors swirled it was harder to trigger than discovering a dungeon.
Even Mu-hyuk was a bit taken aback.
He never imagined it would turn hidden.
Not for a second.
He let out a breath.
Without delay, he checked the details.
Cursed Monster (Hidden)
📍 On the night of the full moon, head to Namur Valley with the guild masters of the Archer, Warrior, and Mage guilds to slay the cursed monster.
🎁 Reward: ?
⚠️ Failure Penalty: Curse. Massacre.
Aside from the inclusion of all three guilds and the reward now marked as a complete question mark, nothing had really changed.
But since it was hidden, he could infer the difficulty—and rewards—had spiked dramatically.
Gathering time: three days from now.
By 9 p.m.
Plenty of time left, so he decided to hunt.
To the left.
The warhorse turned.
Clop, clop.
With the original three commissions merging into one, he had two slots free. He planned to pick up new ones, clear them, and kill time.
At the commission office, he lined up, then skimmed only the B-rank ones. Linked quests were too unpredictable in time commitment, so he stuck to one-offs.
Dullahan Subjugation
📍 Slay 200 Dullahans in Kaisel Plains. (0/200)
🎁 Success: Massive EXP. Gold.
Dullahans were level 105.
Tough, but...
Mu-hyuk knew it too. At his current level 87, hunting them would be a real challenge.
But the harder the catch, the better the EXP—and the reward promised massive EXP, not just some.
Plus, monsters under 100 felt a bit boring lately.
Until now, he'd optimized for growth, picking the best prey. But now, he craved a thrill.
His rank had climbed nicely too.
So he wanted to test himself against one.
"This one."
"Understood."
He took the Dullahan subjugation commission.
"Alright then."
Leaving the mercenary guild, he summoned skeleton warhorses—three appeared. He reverse-summoned two, mounted the last, and headed for the warp gate.
"To Carben Kingdom."
"1 gold."
Carben Kingdom, dubbed the mages' kingdom for its swarm of mage users. He'd clashed with Black Guild here once. The vice leader popped into mind.
Killed him plenty.
Probably grinding levels now.
Hope our paths don't cross again.
Shaking off idle thoughts, he closed his eyes.
Vmmm.
A breeze whooshed.
"Welcome. To Carben."
A lovely voice opened his eyes. He'd arrived.
Mu-hyuk urged his mounted warhorse forward slowly.
Once past the west gate, he sped up. After about ten minutes, users thinned out. Ten more, and none at all.
This was Kaisel Plains.
Home to level 105 Dullahans.
Stop.
He reverse-summoned the warhorse.
Landing smoothly.
"Summon skeleton warriors."
"Summon skeleton archers."
"Summon skeleton mages."
He approached a nearby Dullahan.
When close enough.
Mage magic attack.
Strongbows, bone bows—full volley.
Preemptive strike.
'Enhanced Mage 1' deals 588 damage.
'Mage 1' deals 301 damage.
'Mage 2'...
'Strongbow 1' deals 120 damage.
'Strongbow 2' deals 117 damage.
'Strongbow 3' deals 163 damage.
Defense was high, no doubt.
Magic resist at 300.
Bone arrows hammered its body next.
Physical defense solid too.
Phys resist 200.
HP around 90,000, from memory.
Tough bastard.
He'd come prepared, fueling his fire as he commanded enhanced skeletons and bone swords forward.
The eight enhanced skeletons blocked the charging Dullahan's path.
It swung its severed head wildly.
Shields up.
All enhanced skeletons raised shields.
217 damage taken.
Even blocked, HP dropped more than expected.
Worse: the Dullahan's signature knockback triggered. Enhanced skeletons and bone swords skidded back.
They rushed forward again, but the Dullahan had slipped through the gap.
Tch, right from the start.
He nocked an arrow, shaking his head.
Powerful Arrow Shot. Storm.
The power-packed arrow slammed into its chest.
The force shoved it back; Mu-hyuk commanded enhanced skeletons and bone swords to block again. It charged, crashing into them.
Thud, boom.
It ignored the raining bone arrows.
Perfect.
Steady damage.
On impulse, he pulled slow poison, hallucination poison, weakening paralysis, and bleeding tears from inventory, coating the bone arrows.
Thwack!
Arrows hit; four poisons applied.
'Slow Poison' applied.
'Hallucination Poison' applied.
'Weakening Paralysis'...
Hallucination poison froze it solid.
Staring blankly at nothing.
At 10% HP loss, the hallucination would end.
Mage cooldown: about a minute left. He eased the attack pace.
40 seconds. 30. 20.
Cooldown up.
Attack! Attack!
Full assault.
Did it hit 10%?
The Dullahan twitched.
Snapping to, it charged the enhanced skeletons and bone swords ahead, swinging its head.
Thud, boom!
One bone sword reverse-summoned.
Bone Sword 9 reverse-summoned.
Ah, damn.
Too relaxed seeing the shields hold.
He quickly checked the summon window. Enhanced Skeleton 2's HP below half.
Blessing of the Dead.
He healed, but the others were hurting too.
"Mm."
A groan escaped.
Suddenly, the Dullahan backed off. The head in its right hand writhed, lips curling.
Kee, keekik. Kekeekikik.
An earsplitting cackle echoed.
It started dancing. Ridiculous, but no laughing matter. He knew what this led to.
Attack command. Bone arrows and magic blasted it.
Boom!
Dust cleared. The Dullahan's head now sat in its left palm.
No...!
The face spun, then roared forward.
Kiaaaak!
Powerful Ki Wave blasts outward.
Enhanced Skeletons and Bone Swords scattered!
Monsters over 100 had unique skills—this Ki Wave was the Dullahan's.
AoE, no less. HP plummeted across the board. Bone Sword 9 gone.
Powerful Arrow Shot. Storm.
Buy time.
Thwang!
Arrow away, he kicked off the ground.
Wind Step.
Shifted bow to sword, closing in. It wound up another wave, but he was already airborne on the wind.
Kiaaaak!
Dodged the blast, sword slicing its side.
Glancing past as usual—
Grip.
Right hand clamped his sword. He yanked—nothing. Immovable.
Ditching it felt wrong. In that split-second hesitation, headbutt incoming.
Crack!
Vision warped.
Thud, boom!
Headbutts rained.
Crazy!
Double kick to its gut. Still gripped; he shifted sword to bow.
Nocked, fired. Storm and Powerful Shot shoved it back, freeing the bow.
Recoil tumbled him far.
As he rose—
Kiaaaak!
Wave hit.
Shield from back blocked.
105 damage taken. (x5)
Total: 525 HP lost.
Five hits till it stopped.
Strongbows, bone bows—volley!
Bone arrows studded it again, ignored.
No choice. Buffed three low-HP bone swords with Storm, sent them to draw aggro.
Its eyes shifted; Mu-hyuk activated.
Wind Step.
Circled wide to its back.
Bone Sword 1, charge.
It drew eyes, easing his flank.
Thigh slice—no grab this time.
Bone Sword 1 reverse-summoned mid-task, but unavoidable. Zero-loss impossible.
Sent another bone sword for aggro.
Thud.
Back around, side slash.
203 damage.
520 bonus damage.
Quick retreat.
Good. Once more.
Another bone sword approached.
Mu-hyuk flanked again—but no dice. It ignored, eyed him, Ki Wave.
Kiaaaak!
Backpedal.
"Whew."
Just out of range. Frowning, he tried again—same, wave at him.
It knew the priority now.
Fine then.
Switch tactics.