"It's been three days since the great beast appeared. The local hunters came up the mountain today. They said it's Kolut, the King of the Forest. No one can defeat it. No one. They urged us to leave this cursed place, but that damned Bass refused. He wants more money. He will not leave."
"Today, Bass hired a hunter. They say he's the best in the village. If anyone can kill Kolut, it's him. What was his name again? John, I think. Or maybe Henry. I was so terrified I barely listened when they introduced him. He goes into the mountains tomorrow. I pray he returns with the Bear King's head."
"The hunter left today. His name is John. Yes, John. He said he earned a Hunter's Medallion. He promised he would bring back Kolut's head and heart. As I watched him walk away, I felt an unease I could not explain."
"It's been days. I've lost count. John has not returned."
"Bass is panicking. He sent some of the younger men deep into the forest to search. None of them have come back…"
From there, the diary descended into frantic scrawls. The writer alternated between cursing Bass for his greed and praying for John's safe return, the words growing more erratic with each entry. After two weeks, the writing stopped altogether, leaving the rest of the story swallowed by silence.
One thing, however, was certain. John had been here. He had gone after Kolut and never returned. Whether by claw or fang, the hunter was dead.
Flynn closed the diary and stowed it away. The quest did not update. That meant this was not the final step. The last clue had to be at the Bear King's third spawn point.
The path led to a cave.
As Flynn climbed the slope, he spotted a grizzly bear that was way bigger than the others, pacing around with two smaller bears. Its fur was shiny, almost glowing faintly. Long fangs stuck out from its mouth, dripping saliva, and its red tongue kept licking its lips, flinging gross spit everywhere. Above its head floated a name:
[Kolut]
Flynn narrowed his eyes. "This won't be easy."
One boss alone would have been bad enough. With two grizzly adds, the danger multiplied. He ran through every option in his mind and found no clean solution. For now, observation was his only choice.
Kolut was not inside the cave but patrolled the area around it. Flynn glanced at the dark entrance. 'The clue might be inside,' he thought. 'If that's the case, I might not need to kill it at all.' The idea made sense, but he did not act impulsively. Instead, he stayed at a distance, clearing smaller monsters while carefully tracking Kolut's patrol route.
Before long, a pattern emerged. Kolut paused for two to three minutes at the far corner of the slope, well away from the cave entrance. With proper timing and his Stealth skill, Flynn could slip inside unnoticed. Stealth did not make him invisible, but unless a higher-level enemy scrutinized him at close range, it would hold.
With the decision made, Flynn waited.
When Kolut reached its usual stopping point, Flynn circled wide and sprinted for the cave. He slipped inside just as the boss turned away.
The greenish glow within revealed a cavern far larger than Borg the Silver-Fang's den. Human skeletons lay scattered across the floor, half-buried in dirt and moss that glowed faintly in the darkness.
Flynn felt no fear. If anything, excitement surged through him. He crouched low and searched carefully, letting the eerie light guide him. Near a shattered skeleton, he spotted a broken bronze medallion, pierced clean through by something sharp. The name engraved on it was faint but readable.
[John]
"This is it," Flynn whispered.
The moment he picked it up, the system confirmed the quest's completion. At the same time, a deafening roar erupted outside the cave. The ground shook as Kolut charged toward the entrance.
"Damn it," Flynn realized instantly. "Picking it up triggers the boss."
He was not yet in combat. He activated Stealth and moved for the exit, but he was a second too slow. Kolut and its two grizzlies reached the cave mouth first, blocking it completely.
Flynn cursed under his breath. Kolut had not detected him, but there was no way through. Trying to slip past now would break stealth immediately. Once again, he was trapped in a den, just like before.
This time, though, he was ready.
He retreated deeper into the cave, drinking every buff and potion he had in quick succession. Once fully prepared, he pulled out a mechanical doll pack and threw it toward the far wall.
The pack struck the stone and burst open, assembling itself into a meter-tall doll with a sharp clatter. Kolut and its minions roared and charged the decoy. At the same instant, Flynn broke stealth and lunged forward, his dagger carving across the back of one grizzly in a spray of fur and blood.
The bear spun with a furious roar and charged him. Its sheer size was terrifying, but Flynn kept his distance with practiced precision. Half a meter; close enough to strike, far enough to avoid its claws.
In less than five seconds, he kited the grizzly out of the cave. Behind him, Kolut and the remaining bear finished destroying the doll and thundered after them.
Flynn glanced at the first grizzly's health, down by a quarter now, and hesitated.
'Retreat? Or stay and try to solo them?'
The hesitation lasted less than a second before a reckless grin spread across his face. "Alright then. Let's see if I can actually kill you."
The quest was done. Death no longer mattered.
He continued kiting the grizzly in a wide arc, striking whenever the opportunity opened. Kolut and the second bear followed several meters behind, unable to cut him off. When the first grizzly finally collapsed, Flynn was still at full health, Bitter-Melon's potion quietly regenerating the damage he had taken.
With one add down, he charged straight at the remaining two.
"Keen Strike."
"Rupture."
Both skills landed cleanly on the second grizzly, ripping away a massive chunk of its health. The counterattack came instantly. Kolut's claw smashed into Flynn, tearing away nearly half his health in one blow.
His pulse spiked. "That hits hard."
He disengaged immediately, retreating and resuming his kiting pattern. He waited for his health to recover, then dove back in. Strike, withdraw, circle, recover. Again and again.
After three brutal minutes, the second grizzly finally fell.
Now it was just him and the Bear King.
Flynn charged in without hesitation, relying on footwork rather than brute force. Although no one in the Starter Zones had killed Kolut yet, many groups had tried. Its abilities were well documented on the forums, and Flynn had studied them carefully.
Kolut's basic attacks would not one-shot him. That knowledge alone was why this fight was even possible.
Claw Swipe struck in a wide cone, knocking targets back. Earthshaker dealt moderate area damage. Neither was fatal if handled properly.
The true danger was Kolut's third ability, used only when enraged. No one had survived long enough to describe it. Once enraged, Kolut's damage spiked so sharply that entire parties were wiped out in seconds.
Flynn pushed everything else out of his mind and focused entirely on the fight. He dodged at the last possible moment, with movements so precise and relentless. When he took damage, he drank a potion instantly. When potions were on cooldown, he kited until his health recovered.
Luckily, no other grizzlies spawned in the area around the cave, giving him plenty of room to maneuver.