160
Chapter 49. The Forest of Dead Trees (1)
One.
“You can get it by catching a coolie zombie.”
Shamos, when he mentioned the Coolie Zombie, El Palm knew.
That he has no intention of making a normal transaction.
It had to be that way.
Coolie zombie.
It was a completely different being from the normal zombies, the ones created by zombie mushrooms.
Lich, a zombie created by that cursed monster, was on a whole other level of strength and ability.
Moreover, the coolie zombies spoken of in the El Nas Mountains were not just any coolie zombies.
“Those damned zombies that live in the mines.”
Because the place where coolie zombies appear in the Elnas Mountains is the forest of dead trees located in the abandoned mine area.
It was a place where you had to go quite deep into the abandoned mine area.
Additionally, the coolie zombies there were much stronger than those in other areas.
“Hehehe, the lich that created the coolie zombies there is no ordinary lich.”
Long ago, a revered priest dabbled in dark magic and became corrupted, becoming a lich.
The power of the lich that appeared like that was enormous, and the adventurers who died in the El Nath Mountains were drawn to its power and turned into coolie zombies.
Because of this, the coolie zombies in the abandoned mine area were at least twice as strong as the coolie zombies found in other areas.
It didn’t end there.
‘There is a curse on the abandoned mine area.’
The abandoned mine area itself is nothing less than a hell and a nightmare for adventurers.
Moreover, the dark contract that Shamos spoke of was not something that could be obtained immediately by catching a coolie zombie.
Originally, the Dark Contract was a contract made between Lich and Coolie Zombie when they created them.
There could not have been a normal contract where both parties stamped or signed each other’s names.
Even if it existed, there was no way a coolie zombie would keep it in his arms and carry it around so preciously.
However, there was an exception.
Originally, Coolie Zombies were already dead adventurers who were turned into zombies against their will by being drawn into it by the power of Lich.
But there were those who volunteered to become coolie zombies.
For revenge.
Or for any other purpose.
Or being deceived by someone.
In any case, there were those who made a contract with Lich while still alive, and a dark contract existed in their hearts.
That’s what Shamos asked for.
An item that can be obtained by killing dozens, hundreds, or perhaps even thousands of coolie zombies.
Bring me something like that?
It was a reckless demand.
“Hehehe.”
And this was the Shamos way.
Up until now, the Adventurer’s Association and the Maple Union have offered Shamos quite a few deals.
And each time, Shamos made an absurd demand.
El Palm said to such Shamos.
“great.”
“Yeah, that sounds good. Huh? What?”
Shamos responded with a look of surprise instead of laughter and asked back.
“Did you say it was okay just now?”
“Yes. I will bring the Dark Contract.”
“I know what that is!”
“I’m just bringing it because you asked for it. Is there a problem?”
Shamos looked dumbfounded at El Palm’s calm words.
‘this guy.’
Because if I knew what the Dark Contract was, I would never have said those words.
So Shamos was convinced.
‘He’s crazy.’
El Palm is a fool who doesn’t know anything.
In fact, it was nothing special from Shamos’ point of view.
In the first place, it is not normal to come to see him, who has been turned into a hob by touching dark magic, and is even imprisoned in a prison guarded by the Adventurer’s Association.
Do you even want to do business with such a Shamos?
The crazy guy was right.
So there was no need to think rationally.
‘Hehehe, the number of coolie zombies will increase again.’
Just think of it as one crazy guy turning into a zombie.
Of course, El Palm did not accept Shamos’s offer without knowing anything.
Rather, it was the opposite.
‘As expected.’
El Palm knew that Shamos would make this suggestion.
To be exact, I had about five suggestions in mind for Shamos to make.
‘This is the easiest thing I expected.’
——————
faqwiki.us
Join our Discord for new chapter updates!
https://discord.com/invite/xr7SxG5T6V
——————
Moreover, this proposal was the least difficult of the five.
It means there is no reason to hesitate.
“then.”
El Palm, he said.
2.
“I’m going to catch the coolie zombie.”
El Palm, his colleagues including Divo, surprisingly were not that surprised by his words.
It wasn’t because I didn’t know.
“When you say coolie zombies, you mean the ones that come out of the abandoned mine?”
“Because in the Elnas Mountains, the only place where coolie zombies appear is in abandoned mines.”
It was a well-known fact to all adventurers in the Elnas Mountains that coolie zombies appeared in abandoned mines.
“That’s why abandoned mines are hell.”
To be exact, one of the reasons adventurers fear the abandoned mines is because of the coolie zombies.
If you don’t know about Coolie Zombie, that’s weird.
It was such a terrifying monster.
However, El Palm’s companions were not surprised when El Palm said he was going to hunt the monster.
“Well, that shouldn’t be a problem. For our leader.”
It was certainly a fearsome monster, but El Palm was an adventurer who made such monsters look pathetic.
“Hey, Golden Eye.”
Above all, it wasn’t just El Palm anymore.
“Don’t worry. You won’t have to go all the way to the boss.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Because I am here. I am Divo, the successor to the hero of Polarm!”
At the El Palm Party, there was a Divo who could use Aran’s Boots.
That was a really huge deal.
Because the skill of none other than Aran, the hero of Polarm, meant that it was a skill powerful enough to stand up to the black magician.
It was more than enough to surpass the number of circles.
In other words, it seemed that Divo now had the skills to fight against a 6th circle warrior adventurer without being pushed back.
And in Maple World, being in the 6th circle was proof that you were one of the strongest people in the world.
The knight commanders of the Knights of Signus were also of the 7th Circle, and those of the 8th Circle or higher were only truly great ones, such as Heinz, the master of the magicians who led the magicians of Ellinia.
Because right below that was Circle 6.
“Hey, don’t be so mean. You’ve been using it a few times and it’s been losing its magic power and you’re still groaning.”
Of course, as it was such a powerful skill, there were limits to how much Divo could use it as he was still in the 5th circle.
“You don’t need to use it multiple times. One room is enough.”
Still, it is clear that it is something great.
In any case, at this point, El Palm Party was more than capable of venturing into the abandoned mines.
“It’s not a big deal to catch a few. Isn’t that what the boss is best at?”
Moreover, El Palm was an adventurer with greater adventuring abilities than anyone else.
An adventurer who would never be surprised if he could reach the abandoned mine without even fighting a single battle.
It didn’t seem that difficult to go to the abandoned mine with El Palm and hunt a few dozen coolie zombies.
“There aren’t many.”
El Palm spoke about it, and that fact did not faze El Palm’s colleagues.
“Then how many hundreds?”
“I think they’ll tell me to catch a thousand?”
Even if the number was a thousand, I thought it was definitely possible given El Palm’s abilities.
That’s why.
“We must catch at least 10,000.”
“Ah! Ten thousand! Then… … Yes?”
The moment they heard that, everyone was shocked.
“Excuse me, boss?”
“What did you just say?”
“Hey, 10,000? 10,000?”
Ten thousand coolie zombies were beyond even the imagination of El Palm’s colleagues.
“Everyone, think carefully about what the boss said. Didn’t the boss say 10,000?”
“Hey, Ralph? What are you talking about? I said ten thousand!”
“They said at least 10,000.”
Even El Palm said that was the minimum.
“ah.”
What this means is that there is virtually no set number of coolie zombies to kill.
“Hoo!”
At that point, Devo let out a long breath and said.
“There’s nothing I can’t do.”
I set my will ablaze.
“If I had thought it would be easy in the first place, I wouldn’t have hung out with the boss.”
His colleagues also responded to his will.
“That’s right. I’m not interested in easy things.”
“Of course, this is the level of taste that must be achieved. If you want to go easily, you should go back to the Nautilus right away.”
They were surprised by El Palm’s words, but soon accepted them.
It was thanks to experience.
Thanks to El Palm and the experience of going through hardships and adversities that were always thought to be impossible and beyond imagination.
Of course, there were exceptions.
“Why does everyone find it so difficult?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Shouldn’t this be something we should agree to?”
“agree?”
“Cooli Zombies were originally adventurers. They make more money than other monsters.”
Ralph wasn’t surprised, but rather his eyes were filled with anticipation as he heard El Palm’s words.
Anyway, everyone accepted El Palm’s plan to hunt 10,000 coolie zombies.
It naturally moved on to the next thing.
“Then I guess I’ll have to make a plan from now on.”
plan.
“First of all, the most important thing is to hide your identity.”
“It’s not the most important thing. Honestly, the coolie zombies might not be a big deal. If we line up the adventurers and outlaws who are trying to catch us now, it’ll probably lead all the way to Minar Forest.”
In fact, the only plan that had to be made was to hide one’s identity.
Fortunately, there were sufficient countermeasures for that as well.
“But there is a plastic surgery potion.”
If you use the plastic potion to act as an El Party instead of an El Palm Party, your identity will not be revealed unless there are extreme circumstances.
Of course, I couldn’t just rely on plastic surgery potions.
“If we just keep an eye on our surroundings and use our skills selectively, they won’t know that we’re the El Palm Party.”
El Palm Party’s abilities are already quite well known in Maple World.
In particular, everyone now knows about El Palm’s ability to use magic using telekinesis.
At the same time, it was very special.
Enough to be able to immediately identify El Palm the moment you see that skill.
So, it was impossible for El Palm to show off his full power and fight in front of everyone.
If you wanted to show off your power and fight, you had to avoid the attention of those around you and use it carefully.
“It might be a headache, though.”
It was never an easy constraint.
“Well, what can I do? It’s much better to just tie our hands and fight than to have our identity revealed.”
However, compared to the risk of having one’s identity revealed, that level of penalty could not be considered a penalty.
In other words, the risk of having one’s identity revealed was greater and more dangerous than anything else.
As Devo said, it would be much better to hunt monsters with one arm cut off.
“Isn’t that so?”
El Palm answered Divo’s words.
“We do not hide our identity.”
At that point, everyone seemed speechless again.
“Hey boss.”
Among them, Debo, who came to his senses relatively quickly, asked.
“To be honest, I understand everything else, but no matter how much I think about it, not hiding your identity seems crazy.”
That was the moment.
El Palm, he took out a folded piece of paper and handed it to Divo, who unfolded it.
Then, what appeared was none other than a map.
“Elnas Mountains?”
And there was a line on that map.
“The road to the mine? No way?”
Debo, who confirmed it, said with a smile.
“As expected of Boss! You know a secret route that no one else knows about! Whoa! Then there’s no reason to hide your identity!”
Because I knew why El Palm said that.
El Palm said to such a Divo.
“It’s not a secret route.”
“yes?”
“We will follow that route and sell maps like it at the Elnas market.”
“P, you’re saying that? Now, wait a minute. So you’re telling me in advance how the El Palm Party will move?”
“Yes.”
At that fact, Divo shouted without realizing it.
“No, boss! If we do that, over 10,000 adventurers will flock here to catch us!”
Now, it was beyond surprising; I was getting angry.
El Palm said to that Devo.
“That’s the goal.”
“yes?”
“Many adventurers and outlaws will flock to El Palm Party.”
With those words, El Palm pointed to the map that Divo was holding, and the end of the red line drawn on the map.
“Into the dead tree forest overflowing with coolie zombies.”
fantasy,
