Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Spendthrift Necromancer (4)

His eyes closed as though he'd fainted.

Kim Minwoo's consciousness scattered in an instant. Everything became hazy, as though he were dreaming.‘Did I pass out?’Well…….

He'd been so exhausted he was one step from collapsing anyway. It wasn't strange that he'd lost consciousness.

At that moment, messages appeared before him.[Beginning achievement calculation.][This body possesses the worst possible talent. A correction bonus will be added to all achievement calculations.][Achievement ‘The Hundred-Billion-Won Duel’ achieved!][This is truly money-burning madness!][Rank: B][Achievement ‘Who the Hell Are You?’ achieved!][One of the game's main characters has begun watching you closely!][Rank: B+][Achievement ‘Extreme Combat Continuation’ achieved!][With this pathetic body, you displayed fighting spirit that transcended your limits!][Rank: A][Achievement ‘Swordsmanship Genius from the Cradle’ achieved!][You granted profound enlightenment to more than one hundred outstanding swordsmen!][Rank: A+][Achievement ‘Insane Ordinary Human’ achieved!][You fought fiercely against an S-rank Awakened!][Rank: S][Achievement ‘Master of the Sword Immortal’

achieved!][The Sword Immortal has begun to confront the wall blocking his path!][Rank: S+][Achievement ‘Founder of a Sword Art’ achieved!][During your awakening, you created a sword art of astonishing caliber!][Rank: ??][Combining all achievements.][Calculating…….][This is an unprecedented, abnormal achievement beyond established standards.][The existing ranks cannot express its limits.][A new achievement rank must be opened.][A conference will be convened!]

Kim Minwoo's eyes widened at the messages appearing one after another.

The highest achievement rank he'd ever received until now was S.

These were messages he'd never seen at S rank.‘Could it be even higher?’His heart pounded.

If he could achieve a rank above S from the very beginning!

He would start incomparably further ahead than the original Kim Minwoo, who had learned the E-rank Spinning Slash.‘But what's this conference?’Minwoo tilted his head.

Then messages appeared in blue, unlike the usual ones.‘These are…….’He'd only seen them once in all his time playing the game.

The messages that had appeared just before he was moved to Stage 6!

They were identical.〈1. Astonishing. To think someone has accumulated an achievement surpassing the limits of his species.〉〈1. He has demonstrated possibility. Should we raise humanity's growth ceiling?〉Then messages of various colors, not just blue, began to appear.[2. Is there really any need? That human is merely a special exception.][3. Zero and one are different. The fact that one has appeared means there may be a second or a third. The existence of possibility matters.][4. If we intervene, ???

will begin to exert its power as well. It is dangerous.]〈1. Without risk, can there truly be reward?〉[3. I agree with her. We have stagnated. The time has come for a bold decision.]‘What is this?’The messages were conversing with one another as if they were alive. It was a sight he'd never seen once in his entire life.

Then…….[2. I still oppose…… Wait. Don't tell me that human is eavesdropping on our conversation right now?][Warning!][The beings behind the veil have noticed the anomaly!]

A nameless chill ran through Minwoo's body.〈1. We have no time for idle chatter. We must settle this issue before he awakens. I vote in favor.〉[3. I will place my hopes in humanity. In favor.][4. ……

To think he noticed us. Very well. It may be worth giving them a push once. In favor.][2. Are you people prepared for the consequences? Have you lost your—…….]● In favor 3. Opposed 1.● Motion passed.● The worldline is changing!● Transcending the Species!● The potential of all ‘humans’ has greatly increased!● Achievement: ‘One Who Opened the Horizon’ achieved! This achievement will be added to your existing achievements!● Warning! Warning! Warning!● ???

has sensed the anomaly!● ???

has begun searching for the cause!● Beware. ???

will not take this incident lightly!* * *Minwoo's eyes opened to the fragrant scent of medicinal herbs. A tub filled with lukewarm brown liquid.

His body was submerged in it.‘This is…….’Sword's Tears, a medicinal bath passed down through the Sword Sea Pavilion.

Its main effects were relaxing the muscles, improving blood circulation, and cleansing the meridians.‘This stuff should be pretty valuable.’A treatment concocted from monster byproducts, elixirs, and mana stones.

He knew it was extremely expensive, and judging by how generously they'd used it, he seemed to have scored quite a few points with the Sword Immortal.

“I feel great.”

The muscle pain had vanished as though washed away.

Even his fatigue had faded long ago. As Minwoo rotated his arms, messages appeared before his eyes.[All achievement calculations have been completed.][Final Result: EX][You have received a Class Skill Book(EX)

!][Choose the class you desire.]‘EX rank!’His eyes gleamed.

It was the same rank attached to the skill the Dragon Lord had used.‘A single Dragon Tongue turned every top-tier artifact I had into scrap.’It was a rank overwhelmingly superior to S. He couldn't have asked for a better start.

Knock, knock.

A knock sounded from outside the bath.

“Who is it?”

“If you're awake, get dressed and come out.”

A displeased voice answered.

It sounded strangely familiar. A few memories immediately surfaced in Kim Minwoo's mind.

Seo Yerim, the Sword Immortal's granddaughter.

Along with memories of himself leering at her.‘Ugh.’Whatever.

He hadn't done it anyway. That was all the original Kim Minwoo's doing.

There was no reason for him to shrink back. He just had to make sure he didn't act like that from now on.

He changed into the clothes hanging beside the bath and stepped outside.

“Need something?”

“Grandfather told me to bring you to him once you woke up.”

“Let's go.”

Seeing Kim Minwoo calmly take the lead, Seo Yerim felt conflicted.

Something, something was different.

Not long ago, this was a guy who couldn't even meet her eyes, and now he was casually talking to her as though nothing had happened…….‘His eyes are different.’There wasn't the slightest trace of lust in those pitch-black pupils looking at her. Had he somehow attained enlightenment in the meantime?

After walking in silence for a while, Seo Yerim spoke.

“……

That swordsmanship earlier. Where did you learn it?”

“I've never learned it.”

“Liar!”

Smooth, flawless distribution of force.

Even the seamless linkage between consecutive forms.

Even without mana, and even with the terrible body of the person wielding it, what Kim Minwoo had displayed was undeniably a refined sword art.

And one more profound than her grandfather's Wind Swordsmanship

at that!

If he had never learned it, then surely…….

“Don't tell me you created that swordsmanship on the spot?”

“I just swung it however felt natural. Calling it swordsmanship is a bit much…….”

Seo Yerim, who had gathered her courage to ask, was utterly dumbfounded.

He'd simply swung however felt natural, and it was better than her grandfather's swordsmanship.

How did that make any sense?

Her pupils trembled violently.

“How, how is that…… even possible?”

When even I couldn't do it?

She swallowed those last words through superhuman restraint and asked.

“You can't do it?”

Kim Minwoo tilted his head as though genuinely puzzled, and an abyssal sense of despair washed over her.

“……

Let's go.”

She didn't think she could continue this conversation anymore.

Eventually, they arrived at the inner courtyard where the Sword Immortal was waiting.

“You're here.”

“Yes. Thank you for treating me.”

“Think nothing of it.”

The Sword Immortal chuckled warmly.

“Congratulations on awakening. Your brilliant talent has finally grown wings.”

Listening to the Sword Immortal, Seo Yerim secretly clenched her teeth.

From the age of seven until now, at twenty-two, she had swung a sword every single day without exception.

Admiration and praise poured in from everyone around her, but her grandfather was different.

Not once had the Sword Immortal ever told her she was talented.

Until now, she hadn't taken it to heart. No one her age had ever heard such words from the Sword Immortal either.

But now…….

“Take this.”

The Sword Immortal handed over a small box. Minwoo accepted it and opened it.

A fragrant aroma spread out.

Inside lay a small crimson pill.

Sword Shadow Pill.

One of the finest elixirs produced by the Sword Sea Pavilion. A treasure difficult to obtain even with money.

“This seems like a precious elixir…….”

Even as he said that, he casually tucked the box under his arm.

There was no reason to refuse it.

He'd given the people of the Sword Sea Pavilion enlightenment. This much was more than fair compensation.

“I'll make good use of it.”

“Good. Ah, Minwoo. Have you any thought of becoming my disciple…….”

“No.”

“Right, you don't…….”

The Sword Immortal's words abruptly died.

“Don't tell me you have no intention of becoming a swordsman?”

“Correct.”

“Why?”

Why, he asks…….

The Sword Immortal was laboring under a serious misunderstanding.

The only reason Minwoo looked like a genius was because he'd borrowed the sword art created by the future Sword Immortal.

And with the world's best expert controlling the body, of course he'd look talented.‘But that has a very short expiration date.’What happened after awakening?

Swordsman was the class most heavily dependent on the body. His growth would eventually hit a hard wall.

Because Kim Minwoo's physical talent was truly the worst.

Conclusion.

Kim Minwoo, you're much better suited to being a Necromancer than a Swordsman.

That was the conclusion reached by a pilot who'd survived every kind of battle imaginable.

He had no intention of rambling through all of that in front of the Sword Immortal, so…….

“I saw my limit.”

“Your…… limit?”

An eerie light entered the Sword Immortal's eyes.

“What did you see?”

“I saw illusion and the boundary beyond it. Between the two lies the realm of No-Self

.”

What did that even mean?

In truth, he didn't know either.

After creating the Thunder-Wind Sword Art.

Those were simply the exact words the Sword Immortal had muttered after breaking through his wall.‘This old man always did love spouting vague nonsense.’A suffocating silence followed.

“Illusion, boundary, No-Self…….”

The Sword Immortal closed his eyes and quietly murmured to himself as though he'd sensed something.

“I realized instinctively that I could go no further. But I don't want to decide my limits this early. Perhaps in some realm other than the sword, I might be able to go beyond them.”

The Sword Immortal quietly closed his eyes.

As expected…….

Nothing beat vague profundity at times like this.

“I'll be going now. The donation will be delivered soon.”

Leaving the silent Sword Immortal behind, Kim Minwoo walked out of the inner courtyard.

Yerim, unsure what to do as she watched her grandfather with his eyes closed, dropped heavily into a seat.‘Illusion? Boundary? No-Self? What the hell does any of that mean?’She didn't understand a single thing.

Then the Sword Immortal's eyes snapped open.

“……

So impossibly distant.”

“……

What?”

“He wasn't merely brilliantly talented. That Kim Minwoo is a genius!”

“Is……

he?”

Seo Yerim's voice sank as she asked.

“Yes. A genius who might appear once in ten thousand years! A monster has emerged from Ilseong Group. This is no time to sit around. Bring me my phone! Hurry!”

Even the Sword Immortal couldn't say exactly what Kim Minwoo's words had meant.

But he'd grasped the faintest thread.

It was an enlightenment of the heart.

If he could only make this tantalizing feeling a little more concrete!

He might glimpse not merely the next realm, but the one beyond that.

And so the Sword Immortal decided.

He would deepen the relationship with Ilseong Group, which until now had been neither particularly distant nor particularly close.

That would naturally give him more opportunities to interact with Kim Minwoo.

He had long since abandoned the absurd greed of trying to take the young man as his disciple.

Kim Minwoo was already a complete seeker of the sword who had seen its end.‘He doesn't have to become a swordsman.’Now the Sword Immortal merely wanted to speak with him a little more.

No, preferably much more.

“Hoho, Chairman Kim? This is Seo Jincheol. The reason I'm calling is…….”* * *On his way out of the Sword Sea Pavilion.

The bodyguards' gazes gathered on him. Their eyes were packed full of countless questions.‘Hold it in, guys.’It was time to perform the most important and sacred task of all.

He had no mental energy to spare on private conversation.

Fortunately, the bodyguards seemed to pick up on his mood and professionally restrained themselves from asking anything.

After getting into the back seat.

“Take me to the main residence.”

He drew the curtains over every window. The interior became pitch-dark like a sealed room.

Now it was time to create his EX-rank skill book.[Using Class Skill Book(EX)

!][Class, Necromancer, selected!][Warning: Once your class is chosen, it can never be changed!][Would you like to create the Necromancer's first EX-rank skill?]‘Of course!’Light erupted moments later…….[Changing class to Necromancer.][Stats have been created.][Inventory has been unlocked.][You have received an EX-rank skill.]

Messages appeared before Minwoo's eyes.