Chapter 44

Chapter 44

Spendthrift Necromancer (44)

Debut (1)

An enormous underground forge.

Clang!

Clang!

Countless Skeletons hammered away, busy crafting.

Bubble, bubble!

Elsewhere, others placed materials into cauldrons and practiced alchemy.

+ items were being duplicated in real time.

The production process was kept under absolute secrecy.

Materials were purchased in bulk, then transported covertly through Spatial Rings.

After several transfers, the materials eventually arrived at this hidden underground forge.

Once enough finished items accumulated, they were placed inside Spatial Rings and delivered to Ilseong Group.‘Seems everyone's dying to know who's making them.’The hottest topic lately was the mysterious craftsman mass-producing + items.

He'd heard corporations were searching with bloodshot eyes for the person behind them.‘Admirable effort.’The problem was, they were looking for a craftsman.

Not a Necromancer.

Kim Minwoo could walk around wherever he wanted without attracting suspicion.

Nobody would ever imagine a Necromancer was using Skeletons to supply this much merchandise.

Before long, piles of equipment covered the floor.

He picked up one.[Ratman's Spine Sword][Rank: Normal+][Required Level: 10 or higher][A beginner weapon touched by a craftsman's hands. It feels like carrying it might save your life.][Effect 1. Strength +2, Agility +1][Effect 2. Low chance to inflict slight Bleed on hit.]

One of the Skeletons' mass-produced items.

Despite being Normal-grade, the effects were excellent.‘Was this selling for 9 million won?’To get a similar weapon at auction, you'd need to spend around 20 million.

Auction prices ran somewhat higher because of the 10% commission.

Nearly half price.

The scarier part was how much profit remained even at that price.

At most, it required Ratman vertebrae, a few monster byproducts, and finishing agents.‘Material cost probably isn't even 2 million.’What inflated equipment prices were craftsman labor and various miscellaneous costs.

Awakened knew that too.

And they still bought them.

Why?

Nobody saved money when their life was on the line.

And crafted gear was still cheaper than buying at auction.

That was why every major corporation in the country had jumped into the equipment market.

Once you secured a foothold, it practically printed money.

Then.

A familiar figure entered the underground facility.

Park Siwoo.

“Hyung, I'm here.”

“Yeah. Dump the materials over there.”

“Yes. And I got quite a few attribute items too. There were more listings at the auction house this time.”

He began dumping the contents of his Spatial Ring onto the floor.

Security was everything in this transportation process.

Give the job to someone untrustworthy, and the truth could be exposed instantly, causing chaos across the entire world.

That was why Kim Minwoo had chosen Park Siwoo.

They were already in the same boat, so he had no reason to talk.

His personality was trustworthy too.

And Park Siwoo had indeed maintained absolute secrecy.

Even while busy hunting, he'd diligently swept up supplies whenever he had time.

“Snowy, time to eat.”―Coo! Coooo!

The moment Minwoo pointed at the attribute items, the excited bird rushed toward them.

Snowy opened its beak wide before the items imbued with various attributes.

Then.[All Fire attribute contained in Sharp Flame Sword is absorbed!][All Wind attribute contained in Wind-Infused Armor is absorbed!][All Lightning attribute contained in Static Staff is absorbed!]..[Fire Attribute increases by 0.05%…….][Wind Attribute increases by 0.06%…….][Lightning Attribute…….].

Over the past few days, he'd fed Snowy mountains of attribute items.

Thanks to that, the feathers around its nape had split into several different colors.‘Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth.’He planned to feed it another Ice fragment in the next Gate.

Those were the four attributes he'd raised besides Ice.

Five total.

With this much, he should be able to handle most Gates.

He'd decide on the remaining two later.

“Wow, it's weird every time I see it. Every time it eats an attribute, the item's rank drops straight to Normal…… Doesn't this cost a ridiculous amount of money?”

Park Siwoo pointed toward the emptied items.

He was right.

Items ranging from Magic to nearly Rare-grade were collapsing into Normal-grade every time their attribute was drained.‘Of course.’What was the core value of an attribute item?

The attribute.

Take that away and naturally it became an empty shell.

“Think of it as an investment.”

“Hyung, does feeding it like this raise the attributes a lot?”

Let's see.[Opening Status of Divine Beast Snowy!][Name: Snowy][Race: Seven-Colored Bird][Attributes Possessed: Ice 20%, Fire 0.52%, Wind 0.51%, Lightning 0.5%, Earth 0.53%]

“So far, all four rose to around 0.5%.”

“What? Only 0.5%? I think the items we've fed it already cost around 200 billion won…….”

“Your hyung expected this much.”

The Fragment of Winter that had frozen the entire northern region only filled 20%.

He'd already understood from that moment.

Raising attributes would burn an obscene amount of money.‘And I can't spend forever searching Hidden Gates for all seven attributes.’He knew how to unlock a few Hidden Gates, but not all of them were tied to attributes.

Even when they were, he had no idea whether they'd be enough to fill an attribute to 100%.

So he had no choice but to spend.

If anything, finding the money wasn't the real problem.

The problem was finding enough attribute items.‘They're rare…….’For now, he was sweeping up whatever appeared at auction and feeding it to Snowy.―Burp.

After absorbing another several tens of billions of won worth of items, Snowy let out a burp and flew back.

“Tasty?”―Coo.

“Yeah, yeah. Daddy will work hard and bring you more.”―Coooo.

He gently stroked its head, and the bird cooed happily.

Then he looked at Park Siwoo.

“What level are you?”

“About 93 now.”

“Oh, you've raised it quite a lot.”

“Still a little short of Level 101…….”

Siwoo glanced at him.

Apparently he wanted to officially stamp his name into the guild.

“Confident? Like I said, once you join my guild, a lot of annoying shit is probably going to happen.”

“I've been through hell and back already. Even if an Assassin comes after me now, I'm confident! Seriously.”

Well.

Come to think of it, Park Siwoo had experienced plenty too after his flashy debut alongside the Sword Immortal.

He'd become famous as the Sword Immortal's disciple.

And all ten of Korea's top guilds had offered to recruit him.

Apparently they'd thrown every sweet condition imaginable at him.

The fact that he'd rejected every one and remained glued to Minwoo showed he had genuine loyalty.

“Fine. Join my Spendthrift Guild.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Perfect timing too. I was about to slow down production. Let's schedule a press conference. Time to grab the spotlight again.”

“Yes!”

“Ah, before that. Your little sister. Send her to Sword Sea Pavilion for a while. I'll contact them in advance.”

“Yes. I was planning to.”

Park Siwoo nodded.

Just as Minwoo said, once he joined the guild, there was no telling what might happen.

Especially now, with chaebol children getting condemned as a group.

Would those wastrels blame themselves?

They were specialists in blaming others.

They were probably grinding their teeth at Kim Minwoo.‘Hyung and I should be fine, but…….’His ordinary younger sister wasn't.

Even an expensive apartment didn't provide perfect security.

That was why he readily agreed.

Sword Sea Pavilion was famous as one of the most heavily secured places in Korea.

Perfect for entrusting his sister's safety.

“But wouldn't it be better to keep producing? You said it's basically printing money.”

“We already have around 100,000 items in stock. The proficiency's risen plenty too. Time to start hunting again.”

He checked the Skeletons' crafting skills.[Summon Skeleton(F)+9][This skill has been enhanced to its limit.][Consumes 10 mana to summon 2(1+1)

LV51 Skeletons.][* Possesses Melee Weapon Mastery(F), Dwarven Crafting Method(E), Elven Alchemy(E).][Melee Weapon Mastery(F): Damage from all melee weapons increases by 10%.][Dwarven Crafting Method(E): Uses Dwarven crafting techniques to create equipment with additional effects.][Elven Alchemy(E): Uses Elven alchemy techniques to create alchemical goods with additional effects.]

Countless things had changed while the Skeletons produced mountains of goods.

Their average level had shot up to 51.‘And both crafting skills rose by one rank.’Producing tens of thousands of items every day had made proficiency accumulate almost instantly.

Thanks to that, the Skeletons could now create + items even up to Magic-grade, as long as the gear was low-level.

Naturally, he had already crafted equipment appropriate for the Skeletons' Level 51 range.

Now that he had Bind Equipment, he could equip them without hesitation.

On top of that, he'd replaced two bone parts on each using the bones he'd purchased.

He'd settled for ordinary Success instead of Great Success, but the stat increases were still enormous.

In other words, he'd completed their setup for the next hunt while producing goods.‘The Mages are a little behind in levels.’He'd think about that later.

For production, summoning ordinary Skeletons in bulk was simply far more efficient.

Nothing he could do about it.

Either way.

He had built up what you could call an enormous reserve.

Even if he stopped crafting for a while, the stores wouldn't run out of products anytime soon.

Time to start moving for his next hunt.

He had already decided on the destination.‘A new Gate should appear in Gyeonggi Province soon.’The process of a Gate appearing was simple.

Before manifestation, mana suddenly gathered explosively in the surrounding area.

Not long afterward, the Gate appeared.‘Difficulty is B-rank.’A-rank would be a little rough.

C-rank would be too easy.

B-rank was perfect.‘Need to take that first-clear reward.’The word first always had value.

Gates were no exception.

The first party to enter a newly formed Gate was often given a special mission.‘The difficulty's higher.’More like B+ than B.

But the rewards were also better than a normal Gate clear.

Special rewards.

It felt somewhat similar to a Hidden Gate.

Naturally, the instant signs of a new Gate appeared, guilds and every kind of organization swarmed over like dogs.

All for the guaranteed jackpot of the first clear.

That didn't mean they entered recklessly.

Newly formed Gates initially displayed their rank as a question mark.

Only after investigation did the rank become clear.

Then one organization among those gathered would be selected to attempt the clear.‘Originally, Dorim Guild took this Gate.’In the game's story, several years from now, Dorim's Guild Master revealed part of the reward he'd received there.‘Yuger’s Ring.’Normal

- Magic

- Rare

- Unique

- Legendary

- Ancient

– Mythic.

Among those seven grades, it was a Legendary-grade ring.

Minwoo still vividly remembered what the man had said during a lecture.―I know many of you have been curious about my ring. I was extremely lucky. Do you remember that B-rank Gate that appeared in Gyeonggi Province several years ago? I obtained the starting item there……..

Conclusion.

Join our guild and you too might get opportunities like this, so please apply to Dorim Guild.

That had been the gist.

Later, several of the ring's options were revealed, causing an enormous stir.

As expected of a Legendary item, the effects were incredible.

The man had unquestionably been lucky.

He'd obtained something far beyond what his own ability deserved.‘Never managed to buy it.’When Minwoo had played Kim Minwoo before.

The game had started much farther into the future, and the Legendary ring was already sitting on that bastard's finger.

Minwoo had offered trillions to buy it, yet the man had refused to sell until the end.

That meant the undisclosed options had to be just as incredible.‘I'm taking it this time.’The Dorim Guild Master couldn't even complain.

After all, Minwoo wasn't taking it for personal glory.

He was going to use it to stop an Outer God.

For the sake of the world, the man would simply have to yield.‘Time to start moving seriously.’Things were completely different from when he'd cleared the tomb.

He now had enough power to protect himself.‘And if getting what I want requires it…….’He was perfectly willing to shake the entire world once again.