Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Spendthrift Necromancer (14)

Tomb of OsirisGates.

The in-game setting was simple.

They were essentially fragments created by cutting out a section of another world.

And there wasn't just one or two of these other worlds. Fantasy, wuxia, cyberpunk, even regions filled with yokai.

Truly, there was a huge variety.‘Low-level zones are usually fantasy-themed, though.’The kind with goblins, wolves, Orcs, and things like that.

You usually had to reach at least C-rank before Gates started appearing that made you go, what the hell is this?

Anyway.

Players could clear these Gates and obtain various rewards such as mana stones, items, experience, and titles.

F-rank Gates were everywhere.

There were several reasons he'd chosen Tomb of Osiris among them.

First, there were no particular gimmicks.‘These gimmicks can be pretty annoying.’Puzzles, hidden elements you had to find before paths opened, things like that.

Gate gimmicks weren't fixed elements. They changed slightly every time you entered.‘So they take time to solve.’But this Gate was extremely straightforward.

You just followed the path and beat everything you saw to death.

Very easy.‘And it's a tomb, right?’A tomb.

Didn't that sound like it would obviously have something to do with Necromancers?

Unfortunately, he'd never been able to confirm that before. He'd been a player aiming for the shortest possible clears, and every character had classes that suited them best.

Like swordsmanship genius Park Siwoo or magic genius Han Sia.

You couldn't exactly choose Necromancer while carrying traits like those.

And Namgung Min and Seo Yerim, the third- and fourth-difficulty characters, started with predetermined classes, so picking Necromancer wasn't even possible.‘But it's different now.’Kim Minwoo now?

A Necromancer.

And this was a tomb.

How could he resist?‘I can't.’Of course, he wasn't certain something related to Necromancers was necessarily hidden here.

Necromancers might be an unpopular class, but there were always people who deliberately chose whatever everyone else told them not to.

Plenty of Necromancers must have visited this Gate before.‘But their Achievement Ranks would've been low.’A Necromancer with an S-rank Achievement?

At least in Korea, there were none.

Even A or B were practically endangered species.

The reason was simple.

For a Necromancer to become strong, the basic structure demanded that you pour money into them.

And not just an ordinary amount.

You had to pour it in exponentially.

Only then could they stand above other classes.

It was a widely known rule.

Naturally, compared to other classes, choosing Necromancer was burdensome.

Even if the government or a major guild supported you, it was the same.

They weren't suckers.

The money they gave you was ultimately debt you'd have to repay someday.

And if you used your precious S-rank Skill Book to choose Necromancer?

Unless your father was Chairman Kim, choosing it just because you had that much backing meant.‘You'd drown in debt without even overwhelming everyone else.’It was a shortcut straight to hell. That was why anyone with sense usually didn't choose Necromancer.

The only variable would be an extraordinarily wealthy person awakening.‘But how would they know their awakening condition?’A rich person would try all sorts of things, sure. If they awakened easily along the way, they'd finish with a low-rank achievement.

But what if they didn't awaken?

That meant their condition was difficult.

At that point, even the grandfather of all chaebol heirs wouldn't be able to figure out their awakening condition.

And even if they somehow did.‘How would they achieve S-rank?’Even Minwoo, who knew his condition, had needed to face the Sword Immortal for S-rank.

Could plump rich people easily achieve S-rank?

That was why high-Achievement Necromancers didn't exist.

Conclusion.

If there was something related to Necromancers here, the odds were high that he would be the one to obtain it.

Of course, this was only an F-rank Gate, so he wasn't expecting some enormous reward.

Since he had to clear it anyway.‘Even one title would be fine.’That was about the extent of his expectations.

And if he was going to set a world record, it was more stylish to do it somewhere difficult rather than somewhere easy.

That was the final reason he'd chosen this place with a difficulty score of 95.

He extended his hand.[Using Summon Cedric(SSS)

!][Using Summon Skeleton(F)+9!]

Because he'd repurchased the same equipment destroyed in the previous battlefield, it added another 28 Magic to his summons.

And then Indomitable Soul's effect was added on top.

A monstrous total of 113 Magic.

And then Death Lord's 50% mana reduction effect.[422 Skeletons are summoned!]

Skeletons filled the vast interior of the Gate.‘Didn't they say I'd only summon around 150?’Kim Minwoo smirked as he recalled public opinion.

Nearly three times that number.

And these Skeletons weren't the same stupid Skeletons as before.

Thanks to Cedric and Death Lord's enhanced learning effects, they were absorbing training like drinking water.

And that wasn't all.

Their stats were boosted by 50%.

On top of that.[Spatial Ring(Intermediate)

opens!]

Sturdy equipment for the Skeleton soldiers.

Their combat power began exploding upward in an instant.‘Thanks, Chairman.’After confidently declaring that he would set a world record.

Chairman Kim had provided overwhelming third-round support.

That was why he'd once again acquired a Spatial Ring and mountains of equipment.

Clack!

Clack!

The armed Skeletons began moving in neat rows and columns. An enormous thunder of footsteps echoed out.

At the sound, the monsters inside the Gate began waking.

Rustle.

Rustle.

The sound of insects scurrying busily came from all directions.‘There they are.’A massive swarm of cockroaches blocked the path ahead.

Corpse Roaches.

An insect-type monster he'd encounter until he was sick of them in this Gate.

Their average level was around 40.

Disgusting appearance, fairly hard shells. Cockroach-like tenacity.

Strong jaws, along with enormous numbers.‘And the most troublesome thing.’Was their blood.

Their blood was toxic, but the poison was random.

Hallucinations, poison that drained stamina, fear-inducing poison, and other troublesome status ailments.‘The main reason this Gate got a 95.’The cockroaches swarmed in from every direction.

A melee was inevitable, and avoiding blood spraying from all sides during it was extremely difficult.

Take enough of that blood and both your mental state and stamina would be shredded, leading to a failed clear.‘Someone around my or Cedric's level can just calculate the spray trajectory and dodge it…….’But ordinary people couldn't.

That was why antidotes were essential in normal clears.

But antidotes only lasted around thirty minutes at best.

And they were fairly expensive too.

Plenty of people came here to make money and left after spending it instead.‘That's why it's unpopular. No, hated.’His baby Skeletons would probably get drenched in blood today too.

But it didn't particularly matter.

The Skeletons got unsummoned?

Wait until their numbers dropped enough, drink a potion, and summon them again.

An ordinary Necromancer would need a potion after every group, but he was different.

His current Skeletons could destroy four or five groups in one shot.

They even revived once.

For Kim Minwoo, this Gate wasn't particularly burdensome.

The cockroaches charging in so aggressively hesitated when they saw this side.

Chrk?

Chrrk?

Their intelligence was low, but they had at least basic caution.

Enemies far more numerous than themselves!

“Welcome. First time seeing this kind of quantity?”…….

“Cedric. Let's wipe them all out.”―Master, I've been waiting for those words. Forward! Brothers!

Clatter!

Clack!

Skeleton spearmen formed a spearhead formation with Cedric and charged.

Stab!

Thud!

Corpse Roaches spewed green bodily fluid as spears pierced them.

Then Skeleton soldiers wielding maces battered their bodies mercilessly.

The Skeletons themselves were weak, but their weapons were premium equipment usable from the beginning all the way to Level 40.

Screee!

One cockroach shrieked in pain and clamped tightly onto a Skeleton's torso.

Soon, one Skeleton collapsed beneath a swarm of roaches.

It resisted fiercely, but eventually lost strength.

Screee!

The cockroach let out a triumphant roar.

Stab!

The revived Skeleton's blade tore apart its innards.

Cedric's performance was outstanding.

Every swing of his spear made cockroach heads burst apart.‘Very good.’Wasn't this the beauty of auto-hunting?

He wasn't even moving, yet the monsters were being cleaned up on their own.[You have hunted 41 Corpse Roaches!][Level increases by 5!]Five levels rose in the blink of an eye.

“Damn. This is the life.”[Skeleton Unit gains combat experience against insect-type monsters!][Skeleton Unit gains experience!]

Summons could not surpass their master's level.

That was why the Skeletons had remained at Level 1 alongside him until now.

But from this point on, things were different.

As Kim Minwoo's level rose, the Skeletons' average level would begin rising as well.

Of course, with the experience divided evenly among the 422 currently summoned, their growth speed would be painfully slow.‘But growth is growth.’A hundred times better than not growing at all.‘I've roughly figured out the Skeletons' level…….’Now it was about time for him to start rampaging.

He drew his sword for the world record.* * *[You have hunted 52 Corpse Roaches!][Level…….][You have hunted 55 Corpse Roaches!][Level…….][You have hunted 60 Corpse Roaches!][Level…….]

Once he joined the fighting, their advance became almost absurdly fast. The level gap with the cockroaches was significant, so every group they encountered sent his level shooting upward.‘Of course.’Normally, you'd come here with a party.

That meant the experience was supposed to be divided among party members, but he was monopolizing all of it.

It would've been stranger if he hadn't leveled quickly.‘That's why I raised my stats first.’Leveling?

Something you could always do could be postponed.

You could binge it later, just like now.[You have acquired the title, ‘Insect Slayer!’][Damage against insect-type monsters increases by 10%]

He picked up another title along the way.

By the time he reached the boss room.‘Exactly two hours.’He'd stopped once midway.

More than half the soldiers had been ground down, so he'd drunk a mana potion, resummoned them, and reorganized.‘Current Level 22.’A leveling speed unimaginable to ordinary people.

He'd power-leveled like crazy in a single Gate run.

The same was true of Cedric, who shared his level.

As his level rose, Cedric's spear technique gradually grew more refined.

“Look at you growing. As your master, I'm so proud.”

―Hmm…… Rather than growing, I'm more accurately recovering what I once possessed…….

“Tsk. Didn't your big brother tell you not to talk back?”

―……

It was merely a personal observation.

“Now we're killing the boss.”

―What is the boss here?

“Grave Guardian.”

―Grave Guardian? Is that thing an insect too?

“Yeah. A fucking enormous cockroach.”

That was why it also shattered the mental state of Awakened.

Especially its attack where it sprayed clouds of tiny cockroaches from its mouth. Some Awakened practically collapsed screaming.

Awakened or not, disgusting things were still disgusting.―Master, do insects not disgust you?

“Well, they do. But I'm fine. I've seen too many.”

It wasn't as though there were only one or two Gates with insect monsters.

He'd long since transcended that sort of thing.

At that, Cedric tilted his head.―You've seen many? Does your home perhaps have an insect problem?

“……

Something like that.”―It would be wise to pay more attention to hygiene. Your home looked fine. You should clean immediately after eating.

“Shut up, punk.”

―Master. I was worried about you, so why did you hit my head?

“Because I love you. Let's go.”

He opened the boss room door.[The boss of Tomb of Osiris, ‘Grave Guardian,’ appears!]

Guruk?

“Kill it.”

The fearless Skeletons surged forward.