Chapter 178

Chapter 178

Spendthrift Necromancer (178)

After sending Han Sia off.

Forbes contacted him.

They said they wanted to visit for an evaluation.

Less than half a day later, a five-person evaluation team arrived at the guild headquarters. They were people Forbes had sent.

“Pleasure to meet you, Guild Master Kim Minwoo.”

“Likewise. I didn't expect to see you this year.”

“You defeated Lucas himself. Of course we had to meet you.”

Evaluation Team Leader Marco spoke with an easy smile.

That lasted only a moment.

He clutched his head as though suffering a headache and sighed.

“Honestly, we're struggling quite a bit ourselves. As you know, Guild Master, rankings involve so many variables. And we've never had a case like yours before…….”

Contending for world-ranker status only six months after Awakening?

It had never happened before.

Even Isabella had only managed to enter the top 1,000 in her third year.

And that wasn't all.

Kim Minwoo was a Necromancer.

The strength of his summons also had to be included in the ranking evaluation.

Then there was his battle with Lucas.

Apparently Lucas had displayed tremendous power by using some evil energy, yet Kim Minwoo fought him with nothing but a single sword. Unfortunately, no footage of the battle itself existed, making data analysis impossible.

It was difficult to even know what criteria they should use to assign his rank.

That was why Marco sounded so tormented.

“I understand.”

“……

How much are you willing to reveal? For reference, the more information you disclose, the more favorable the evaluation will be.”

Between a ranker who revealed information and one who didn't, the former naturally had an advantage in the rankings.

With the former, they could build the ranking from facts.

With the latter, they had to fill gaps with inference.

“I'll reveal my Level. Nothing more.”

“……

Only your Level?”

“Why are you so surprised? It's not like world rankers reveal much information themselves.”

“No, you're not wrong…… but there's inevitably a huge difference between the amount of reference data we have on other world rankers and what we have on you, Mr. Kim. You've only been Awakened for a short time. Meaning you're at a disadvantage.”

“I know. That's still all I'll reveal.”

There was no need to show everything.

Even if he stripped off his underwear and waved it around, he'd be lucky to rise from Rank 200 to Rank 150.

Revealing everything for a measly fifty-rank increase would simply be stupid.

His ranking would rise naturally as long as he kept gaining Levels. Why expose everything now?

The side desperate for information should analyze him thoroughly and raise his rank themselves.‘And right now, Forbes is the desperate one.’Six months since Awakening.

Below Level 400.

Minor Class, Necromancer.

And entering the world rankings?

It would cause an uproar.

Forbes, the organization assigning those rankings, would benefit from the attention too.‘And this isn't going to last only a day or two.’The biggest ranking shift happened every June, but that didn't mean rankings stayed frozen during the rest of the year.

There were minor changes every month.

People would pay attention to whether his ranking rose or fell then too.

“It can't be helped. We can't force you. Then your Level…….”

Kim Minwoo shared the Level section of his Status. The evaluation team stared at it and sighed as though dumbfounded.

“Good lord…… 385?”

“……

This isn't manipulated, is it?”

“How would I manipulate a Status window?”

Only Level 385.

By Level alone, he wasn't even S-rank. He'd only just reached A-rank territory.

Yet his actual performance was completely absurd.

Marco swallowed too.‘……

He's genuinely insane.’Kim Minwoo's whereabouts were always ambiguous.

He only publicly entered Gates once in a while.

They assumed that was because he was clearing Hidden Gates.

Meaning no one except Kim Minwoo himself knew his exact Level.

Reaching Level 385 only six months after Awakening was astonishing enough.

Displaying this much strength at only Level 385 was equally absurd.

“Level confirmed. You made the Guinness Book once before, didn't you? For your NewTube subscriber count.”

“You know about that?”

“Haha. We've been watching you for a while too. Even without this Duel, I suspect you would've entered the top 1,000.”

Marco continued.

“Looks like you'll enter the Guinness Book once again. Fastest to reach the highest Level…… and lowest-Level world ranker.”

“Is it confirmed?”

“Well, probably? Your Skills are obviously excellent even without seeing them. Your Gate-clear achievements are a bit of a problem…….”

Marco's eyes gleamed.

“But you've proven your strength through this Duel. Your future growth potential and overall potential would both receive maximum marks…… and your fame is top-tier. If we don't include you, wouldn't people throw stones at us?”

The other evaluators nodded in agreement.

World-ranker status itself was already certain.

They'd all agreed on that before coming to meet Kim Minwoo.

The only remaining question was where inside the top 200 he'd land.

“For starters, Rank 1 in the individual Necromancer category is confirmed. Come to think of it, Necromancer might see the largest ranking shift this year. More than ten SS-rank Achievement Awakened besides you have appeared.”

Kim Minwoo nodded.

Starting with Liang Xiaojun, all kinds of new Necromancers had emerged.

And since Necromancer was still a minor Class, there hadn't been many true powerhouses in the first place.

Someone could enter the rankings merely by possessing one SS-rank Skill.

Taking that into account, there would probably be plenty of unfamiliar names in the rankings.‘Might be time to gather them.’SS-rank Necromancers?

Every single one was a wonderful potential lackey.

He had more than enough justification to gather them too.

If Forbes ranked him Number 1 among Necromancers this time.

Couldn't he host a roundtable under the pretext of giving advice?

If he met them that way, he could probably lure at least half of them over.‘That'd be fucking sweet.’As far as he knew, every one of them had received investment from their countries.

Let the other countries handle the investment.‘And give me the loyalty.’What a beautiful picture.

While he was thinking that.

The Forbes team stood. Marco extended a hand on behalf of the group.

“I hope we'll see each other often from now on.”

“If I like the ranking, I suppose that's possible.”

“I think you'll like it. We don't plan on being stingy.”* * *[Forbes Announces World Rankings!][Korea Produces New World Ranker After 36 Years!][Integrated Rank 157! Kim Minwoo Brings Glory to Korea!][Ilseong-Affiliated Stocks Soar! Up Over 212% in Six Months…….]

When Forbes released its rankings.

Korea erupted once again.―Holy shit lol Kim Minwoo is fucking insane; Level 385 in half a year lol―More insane is getting into the world rankings at that Level lol―Who was the old Rank 200 overall? Amrita? She's crying blood now lol―Nobody here was dumb enough not to buy Ilseong Electronics, right? Kyaa lol―Went all-in yesterday and it's up 22%, what the hell lol―Printing money while sitting still lol―(Stock newbie) Is it still not too late to buy Ilseong-affiliated stocks?―There are still traitors who haven't bought Ilseong? No way lolAnd the ranking news didn't end there.[Kim Minwoo Takes Rank 1 Among Necromancers!][Park Siwoo, Seo Yerim Enter Individual Rankings! Spendthrift Guild Shows Its Strength!]

The only one who failed to enter any ranking was Han Sia, who had only recently reawakened. Forbes had no data on her.

And her Level was only 102, still far down in D-rank territory.

KakaoTalk!

The guild group chat immediately became noisy.[Park Siwoo]―Hyung! I landed Rank 77 among Swordsmen.(Smug emoji)[Kim Minwoo]―Oh, congrats congrats. Yerim got ranked too, didn't she?[Seo Yerim]―Yep. Rank 43 among Archers. 765 overall.[Cedric]―Did you say that integrated ranking goes down to Rank 1,000?[Seo Yerim]―Yep yep. Honestly, that's the ranking people really care about.[Merhen]―Minwoo. Why isn't my name in the rankings?(Sulking emoji)[Kim Minwoo]―Summons and their master are treated as one for ranking purposes.

Kim Minwoo replied while tapping on his phone. Now that Merhen and Cedric had smartphones too, the guild group chat had gained more members.

They were probably lying on the sofa chatting through KakaoTalk.

Whenever he was home, he usually summoned both Legion Commanders and let them do whatever they wanted.[Seo Yerim]―But Sia unnie is taking kind of long to come back. Doesn't using a Class Change Ticket normally finish in a few hours?[Kim Minwoo]―She'll probably be fine. Reassessment isn't exactly structured around risking your life or anything.

He'd heard that when Seo Yerim took her test, she'd popped balloons with arrows and been assigned a grade.

He didn't know what Han Sia's test involved, but it would probably assess her talent as a Priest.‘There is one variable, though…….’The usual Reassessment rewards were an SSS-rank Skill and equipment for a Hero Party.

But while the Hero Party had a Mage, it didn't include a Priest.

In other words.‘How are they supposed to give her a Priest weapon?’That question remained.

Of course, considering someone had given him the Class Change Ticket, there was probably some solution……

Maybe that process was why Han Sia's Reassessment was taking unusually long.

It had already been three days since she disappeared.

Compared to the two or three hours it had taken when he went with Seo Yerim last time, the difference was enormous.

Fortunately, he'd taken out insurance.[Kim Minwoo]―Don't worry too much. I told Popo about her.[Seo Yerim]―Will that be okay? That teddy bear looked kind of spaced-out.[Kim Minwoo]―He has good connections, though. You saw it too, Miss Seo Yerim. The Angel came to visit him.[Seo Yerim]―Oh, right. The Angel seemed to think he was really cute. Then maybe the Angel will help if something goes wrong……?[Kim Minwoo]―At minimum, if it's beyond Popo's own ability, he'll probably ask for help.

Minwoo had a very close relationship with Popo.

Popo was close with Middle Angel Ziphael.

Even Minwoo himself had a connection with the Angels.

If something difficult happened, they probably wouldn't simply look away.‘She shouldn't be in serious danger.’And worrying more wouldn't let him do anything right now anyway.

At times like this, trusting them was the answer.[Park Siwoo]―But Hyung, your overall ranking is way higher than I expected. Forbes has a reputation for being really strict.[Kim Minwoo]―Landing me exactly at Rank 200 would've lacked impact. Probably why.[Park Siwoo]―Doesn't this mean you're about due for an epithet too?[Seo Yerim]―Feels like it's time they gave you one. Grim Reaper or something.[Park Siwoo]―Or Wraith Swordsman, Necromantic Emperor, something like that might work too?[Merhen]―Both of you have terrible taste (barf)[Cedric]―Agreed.[Seo Yerim]―Then what did you two come up with?[Cedric]―How about Undead King. As in, King of the Undead.[Merhen]―Lame. If you're doing that, something like Death King would be better.[Cedric]―Death King?[Merhen]―Death as in the dead. King as in ruler. King of the Dead. You don't know that?[Park Siwoo]―Uh…… let's just leave it to the netizens. They'll come up with at least one decent one.[Merhen]―You're saying mine sucks?(Angry emoji)[Park Siwoo]―Haha…… collective intelligence is important. Something like that.―Minwoo!

Bang!

The door flew open.

Merhen had already reached the bed and looked down at Kim Minwoo as he lay there.―Minwoo. Is Death King really that bad? Don't tell me it's worse than what Cedric came up with?

“No way. Cedric basically has no sense at all.”―Right?

“Right. Death King is a hundred times better than Undead King.”

What was he, the King of Language?

What kind of thought process had even produced the epithet Undead King?

It gave him chills.

While he was soothing Merhen appropriately, a knock came at the door and a bodyguard entered.

“Young Master. The information you requested.”

“Thank you.”

Kim Minwoo accepted the documents.

They contained information related to Liang Xiaojun.

He read through them and smirked.

“He's doing pretty well.”

The last time they'd met, Minwoo had roughly told him whose connections to ride.

Looks like he'd chosen his lines well and settled in firmly.‘Might be time to gather the Necromancers.’Rank 1 among Necromancers.

Integrated Rank 157.

Right now, his name carried more weight than ever.

A worldwide roundtable for SS-rank Necromancers.

It seemed like the right time to hold one.