Chapter 168

Chapter 168

Spendthrift Necromancer (168)

The so-called Airport Riot spread rapidly.

Naturally.

Foreign Awakened had practically tried to occupy a Korean airport by force.

Korea erupted into an uproar almost instantly. Even now, while members of the Griff family were under arrest and investigation.

Amid all those reactions, Kim Minwoo calmly continued doing what he needed to do.

For example, introducing the newcomer to the existing guild members.

“Everyone, say hello. This is Miss Han Sia, our new guild member. Her Class is Mage, but she'll probably become a Priest.”

“A Mage becoming a Priest? Ah…… is this like what noona told me about?”

At Park Siwoo's words, Seo Yerim nodded. She had personal experience changing Classes from Swordsman to Archer.

Han Sia was probably something similar.

They asked ages and settled how to address each other almost immediately.

Han Sia was twenty-four.

The same age as Kim Minwoo.

“Let's get along from now on, Sia unnie.”

“Me too, noona.”

After the introductions.

Park Siwoo worked his lips for a moment and stared directly at Minwoo.

“Hyung. I saw the news today…… are you seriously planning to fight the Griff family? They looked insanely strong. That guy used some weird power too.”

“Still have to. Griff has a lot to do with Miss Han Sia.”

“A lot? But they're a German family? Ah…….”

Park Siwoo's eyes widened as though he'd realized something.

Han Sia was mixed-race.

Could that mean…….

“……

Yes. Their family head is my father.”

“Y-You were born with an insane silver spoon…….”

Information about the Griff family had already been spread everywhere by internet detectives. It had taken almost no time for people to learn that they ruled Germany.

Naturally, Park Siwoo had seen the videos and knew that too. Han Sia showed a bitter expression.

“What silver spoon…… it's not like that. At all…….”

“Uh…… sorry.”

“No. I didn't mean it like that…… I was just saying it wasn't…….”

She hurriedly waved both hands.

Kim Minwoo spoke instead.

“Miss Han Sia has suffered a lot because of that family.”

He told them about her situation. After hearing it, Park Siwoo snorted angrily.

“Those bastards are complete fucking assholes, aren't they?”

“Yeah. Pretty much.”

“Then what happened at the airport today……?”

“We have to charge them head-on. If we can't recover her talent, Miss Han Sia is basically living on borrowed time.”

“Then we really have to fight. Otherwise, we can't get it back.”

“Exactly.”

Park Siwoo nodded resolutely.

Should he help?

He should.

Han Sia's situation was pitiful, but the more decisive reason was.‘Because that's what Hyung wants.’That.

“Hyung. If you need my strength, call me anytime.”

“Same for me.”

Seo Yerim readily offered her help too.

Belonging.

Camaraderie.

For someone who had spent her entire life at Sword Sea Pavilion, those feelings were deeply familiar.

Han Sia was no longer a stranger. She was a fellow guild member and comrade.

Helping was natural.

And Griff's family head was basically a demon anyway.

Someone who could do that to his own child obviously had rotten character.

The family itself was infamous too.

There was no reason to hesitate.

However.

“But how are we going to take down Lucas?”

That was the problem.

Punish the villain and recover Han Sia's talent.

All good.

The question was how they were supposed to take down Griff's family head.

The family alone had well over ten thousand members and held Germany's political and business worlds tightly in its grasp.

And Lucas himself was a magnificent Mage ranked near the top of the world rankings.

That wasn't all.

According to Kim Minwoo, Lucas had stolen Han Sia's talent. Even with only twenty percent left, she'd generated an incredible Skill.

He'd devoured eighty percent of that talent.

And on top of that, he'd joined hands with a strange group called Shadow and wielded monstrous power.

This wasn't the strength of an ordinary individual.

“He's basically a Raid Boss…….”

“Correct. It's difficult. Even if we somehow met him secretly inside a Gate, same story. Objectively, our current combat power isn't enough.”

No point denying reality.

Unlike in the game, the current Lucas had changed considerably. He'd eaten eighty percent of Han Sia's talent instead of fifty.

Becoming a minion of Hadronox had accelerated his Level growth too.

And most importantly.‘He'll use the Power of Shadow.’At a much higher level than Jonas.

Even converting him into a monster made it obvious the hunt difficulty would be brutal. Even Isabella with all her equipment would probably struggle against him.

And that was assuming they secretly handled him inside a Gate.

If they fought in reality?

No matter how evil Lucas was.

Unless they caught him through a formal Duel, killing him could still count as murder.

“Then what do we do?”

The guild members stared at him, seeking an answer.

“What do we do? Stop overthinking difficult things. At times like this, we just do what we can right now.”

“And what's that?”

“Power up.”

Getting stronger came first.

They could think about exactly how to capture Lucas after acquiring enough strength to beat him with certainty.

“Hyung is right! We need strength before we can choose what to do! Then should we run Gates right now?”

“No. No need.”

“Huh? If we're getting stronger, shouldn't we Level……?”

“There are plenty of other methods. Which brings me to this. None of you have a problem with tattoos, right?”

“……?”

Everyone tilted their heads.* * *Rune Crafting and Tattooing.

Both were incredibly useful techniques.

Tattoos alone proved that.

Tattooing had risen all the way to E-rank through short-term grinding.

The Barbarian chief had said.―The Great Chieftain of the past could bear eight tattoos. Four was my limit.

Four tattoos had been his limit.‘Wonder what mine is.’He was curious.

He intended to test it.

Not alone, but with Park Siwoo beside him.

The reason for choosing him was simple.

He had the least resistance to tattoos.

And if Minwoo suggested something, he usually agreed.

He was also another man, making it easy to test in the same room.‘Things like this can become common ground too.’He needed to work on Affinity because of Guidance of Fate. For various reasons, Park Siwoo was the perfect choice.

“You okay with it?”

“Uh…… yeah. Tattoos are fine. They're not too big, right?”

“No. They're small. We already finished miniaturizing them.”

Back then, he'd pressured the Barbarian chief into making them smaller.

Even someone who disliked tattoos would feel compelled to get one if something this tiny could provide stat bonuses.

“Let's go. To the lounge. Hyung already prepared everything.”

Gulp.

Park Siwoo swallowed and entered the lounge with him.

Clatter!

Two Skeletons saluted energetically as though delighted to see them.

Hail. Hai.

The senior veterans with the lowest numbers.

Naturally, he'd summoned them as Tattooists.

“I'm counting on you.”

Clatter!

Both Skeletons nodded with blazing pupils. Then they began working on the two men lying down.

The first location they tried was near the head.

A place for increasing Magic.

Once a skull-shaped image resembling a Skeleton was drawn there, the tattoo was complete.

“Ugh, that tickles.”

“Just hold on a little.”

Five minutes of work.

Then messages appeared.[Stage 1 Skull Tattoo is inscribed!][It can be developed further!]

The growth process for tattoos was simple. First, inscribe Stage 1.

Naturally, there were success and failure chances. Failure wasted only the materials and left no tattoo.

If it succeeded.

And if a message said it could grow further, all you had to do was add more layers over it.

As long as you had enough materials…….[Stage 2 Skull Tattoo is…….][It can be developed further…….]

The tattoo grew.

Each stage granted 3% stats.Stage 2 Skull Tattoo provided 6% Magic.[Insufficient proficiency! Stage 3 tattoo cannot be crafted!]‘E-rank caps at Stage 2.’But that didn't matter.

Proficiency would rise over time.

That was when.

“Hyung……?”

“Why?”

“It says my Magic went up 6% just now…….”

“Yeah. That's right. So?”

“Wait. I can have more than one of these, right?”

“Yeah. The limit varies by person. Just like everyone's talent is different.”

“……

This is fucking broken.”

Park Siwoo exclaimed in shock.

The performance was so absurd he swore unconsciously.

All they'd done was draw a tiny skull-shaped image on his head.

His hair even hid most of it.

Yet it raised his Magic stat by 6%?‘And this is only Stage 2?’Stage 2.

Didn't exactly sound high.

Yet the return was vicious.

“Yeah, it's broken. It isn't without drawbacks, though.”

“There are drawbacks?”

“Yeah. They don't matter to me.”

“A drawback that doesn't matter to Hyung…… is it expensive?”

“Wow. Nailed it in one. Your instincts got better.”

“Come on. I've got seniority now too. If this were the army, I'd already be Private First Class.”

“True.”

It took three months to go from Private to Private First Class. Since it was now late May, he'd already known Park Siwoo for nearly half a year.

Not a short amount of time.

“So how expensive is it?”

“Stage 1 costs five billion won per body part. Stage 2 costs twenty billion per body part.”

“……?”

Park Siwoo blinked.

Looking in the mirror, the tattoo was barely bigger than a booger if you exaggerated a little.

“This costs twenty-five billion won? Wait. These can fail too, right?”

“Yeah. Roughly fifty-fifty.”

“……

Then even successfully reaching Stage 2 costs at least twenty-five billion per location?”

“Smart. Calculated it instantly.”

“Why the hell is it so expensive?”

“Monster byproducts and gathered materials. It uses a lot of them, and they're all difficult to obtain.”

“Ah…….”

Then it made sense.

Park Siwoo nodded. Twenty-five billion.

Expensive.

Even more so once you accounted for the success rate. According to Kim Minwoo, success and failure were roughly fifty-fifty. Factoring that in, the total could climb much higher.

But…….‘Is it really expensive? Actually…… maybe not?’For ordinary Awakened, yes.

No, beyond expensive. It was extortionate.

But high-ranking Awakened were different.

Their base stats were already high.

And these gave percentage-based stats?

If this became public, every ranker in the world would charge in with bloodshot eyes.

Highest-Grade Elixirs alone proved that.

If this were the old Park Siwoo, he'd be trembling at the price.

But now things were different.

Environment changed people.

Maybe because his Guild Master casually spent trillions.‘I've grown a lot too.’Instead of being horrified by twenty-five billion.

Huh, that's cheap?

He was thinking insane things like that.

The tattooing continued.

“Hyung.”

“Yeah?”

“It says I need to raise my Level before I can get more. Looks like four is my limit.”

“Should've Leveled harder.”

“What? I worked insanely hard. I'm already Level 270.”

“Yeah, I'm 370.”

“……

That's impossible. Why does the gap keep getting bigger? Leveling gets harder as your Level rises. This can't happen.”

True.

If he was upset, he should've had summons drop Meteor on armies.

Of course, Minwoo didn't say it out loud.

He only shrugged.

Kim Minwoo continued receiving tattoos.[You have reached your current limit!][To continue, you need a higher Level!]

The message appeared after six tattoos.‘Six.’Four granted 6% to each stat.

The additional two locations increased Magic and Agility.

Magic +12%, Agility +12%.‘Burp.’Solid and reliable as a bowl of gukbap.

And the power-up wasn't even over.

“Siwoo.”

“Yeah.”

“You know I'm the Guild Master of Spendthrift Guild.”

“Uh, yeah?”

“Six for me, four for you. We spent about three hundred billion won, right?”

“Uh, that's……

right?”

Park Siwoo's eyes trembled.

If Minwoo simply said they'd gotten ten tattoos, it sounded like nothing.

But three hundred billion won made his spine crawl.

“Kind of underwhelming, wasn't it?”

“Huh?”

“Now let's go spend real money.”

“……

Huh?”

“We have to enhance the equipment too. There's this thing called Runes. They're good. Let's squeeze everything we can out of today.”

Baby spending was over.

Now it was time for grown-up spending.