Chapter 51

Chapter 51

Spendthrift Necromancer (51)

Human-Faced Spider (2)

Cheongong Mountain.

It would take forever to get there on foot.

They hired a carriage and boarded it.[A special mission field within the Gate has been unlocked!][You may now travel to Cheongong Mountain!]

A message appeared.‘It works.’The distance you could travel inside a Gate wasn't unlimited.

If you moved beyond the designated range, the entire region turned into a gray-white fog zone.‘Go in and you're done.’Out of curiosity, he'd entered one about three times before.

An endless passage with no exit.

Eventually, he'd starved to death.

Anyway.

There were limits to the travel range, and the higher the Gate's rank, the wider that range became.‘Cheongong Mountain was probably inaccessible originally.’Even by carriage, it took a full week.

And it was in the exact opposite direction from where the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering would be held.

That was why he'd assumed the area would be blocked off.

For every area out this far to be accessible, the Gate would need to be at least A+.

But what if you discovered a special gimmick, like accepting a mission?

Then the fog zone sometimes opened.

And so they traveled toward Cheongong Mountain, stopping every six hours to get out of the carriage and rest.

Seo Yerim looked toward Kim Minwoo.

“About your Skeleton. Can I spar with him?”

“You mean Cedric?”

“Yes. Him.”

“Go ahead.”

He summoned Cedric.

As Seo Yerim and Cedric began their spar.

Minwoo looked at Jang Sam, crouched in a corner reading the martial arts manual.

“Jang Sam. Memorized it?”

“S-Some of it?”

“Recite the mnemonic verse.”

Jang Sam muttered several lines before his voice gradually shrank to the volume of an ant.

“This won't do. You need a beating.”

“……

Pardon?”

“If your head can't learn it, your body will have to.”

Minwoo threw a punch.

Smack!

As expected.

Jang Sam's face caved in beneath the fist.

Blood poured from his nose as he stared at Minwoo with aggrieved eyes.

“No, if you just suddenly hit me like that……!”

“If you'd used Ghost-Slaying Steps just now, you would've dodged.”

“……

Young Master? It's only been six hours since you gave me the book.”

“I know. If you could learn martial arts in six hours, you'd already be eating and living well in some respectable place.”

“Then why…….”

“We don't have time. We need a shortcut. Catch.”

Minwoo pulled a suitable sword from his inventory and tossed it over.

“Th-This is…….”

“Yours. Hold it and stab me.”

“Pardon? Stab you, Young Master?”

“Yeah. You won't hit me anyway, so don't worry.”

Soon, squeals like a pig being slaughtered filled the air.

The sound of Jang Sam getting beaten like a dog.

Hard enough to stimulate his survival instincts.‘He'll learn if I beat him long enough.’That was how martial arts worked.

They were made to help people fight in the first place.

Naturally, actually fighting was the fastest way to learn them.

At least until a certain level.

Minwoo tossed a potion toward Jang Sam, who had collapsed limply.

“This is…….”

“Drink it down.”

Gulp!

Jang Sam's body recovered instantly.

“Feeling lively again?”

“Yes! I felt like I was dying a moment ago, but now I'm perfectly fine! Thank you, Young Master!”

“For what? Then let's get back to beating you.”

“……?”

Aaaaargh!* * *Nearly a week passed.

Teaching through the body was genuinely effective.

On the first day, Jang Sam had simply collapsed under every beating.

Now he was at least managing to counterattack.‘He's not completely untalented.’Minwoo had thought all the guy knew how to do was grin foolishly, but he possessed a decent amount of fighting spirit.

He was fairly persistent too.

If Minwoo had to evaluate his overall talent…….‘Around upper-middle?’He was starting late, but if he diligently learned higher-grade martial arts from now on, maybe he could still become reasonably successful later.

“You're a bit useful now.”

“Hehe. Back when I was young, I got into plenty of fights. I was the boss of my alley.”

“Good. At this level, you probably won't get murdered on the roadside. So go down the mountain.”

“……

Pardon?”

“Go down.”

“Go down……

the mountain?”

Jang Sam's eyes trembled.

“If you go to Cheonbong Mountain with your strength, you'll die.”

“……

Then couldn't I just wait here?”

“You'll die if you go to the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering too.”

“I-I can wait. If I stay at the Unorthodox Alliance…….”

“You'll die there too.”

“…….”

“Sam.”

“……

Yes, Young Master.”

“You saw the warning on the notice. Anyone who interferes with us gets their whole family exterminated.”

“I saw it.”

“So anyone planning something stupid probably hasn't come after us yet. Right now is the only chance you'll get to walk away in one piece.”

“……

B-But…….”

“At most, there's probably an Elder nearby keeping watch. Don't worry. They'll let you leave alive.”

Hunting the Human-Faced Spider was extremely important to the Alliance Leader.

Naturally, he would've attached a tail in case something went wrong.

Probably someone at least Elder-level.

Would that Elder kill Minwoo's loyal servant just because he'd learned a B-rank martial art?

Anyone capable of thinking about the future would let him go.

It wasn't an S-rank martial art whose leakage was absolutely forbidden.

Not even A-rank.

No one would risk turning a future supernova into an enemy just to kill one servant.

“Go as far away as possible. Don't show off your martial arts too much, and live quietly. If you keep training, you can probably become some local big shot.”

“……

Would asking you to protect me be too shameless?”

“You already know the answer. I don't have a faction. I can't stick to you twenty-four hours a day just to protect you.”

They had only met inside a Gate.

Still, Jang Sam had remained loyal and worked for Fifth Young Master even when Minwoo had no support whatsoever.

Thanks to him, Minwoo had obtained information easily.

That was why.

He could do this much for him.

But beyond this?

Jang Sam would become an obstacle to the clear.‘I'm busy enough keeping myself alive.’If he tried taking care of Jang Sam too, forget clearing the Gate.

He'd be lucky not to die before even reaching the midway zone.

Minwoo tossed him a pouch.

“There are preserved foods and a few jewels inside. Now really go.”

“……

Thank you for everything, Young Master.”

“Yeah. You worked hard serving me.”

Minwoo waved him away.

Right now, while Jang Sam knew nothing about Minwoo's plan.

This was the easiest time to send him away.

If they stayed together long enough for Jang Sam to learn about the plan to steal the Clue to Ascension, he wouldn't be able to leave even if he wanted to.

Only death would free him.

Being able to part on good terms before that happened was the best outcome.

Jang Sam's figure slowly disappeared into the distance.

Minwoo looked toward Seo Yerim.

For the past week.

Throughout the journey, she had constantly sparred with Cedric.

He remembered her hearing quite a lot of harsh criticism too.

“Can I summon Cedric?”

“Why are you asking me? Just do it.”

“I thought it might bother you.”

“Hah! It doesn't bother me at all.”

“Then I'll summon him?”

“Go ahead.”

Minwoo called Cedric.

The instant Cedric appeared, he looked toward her.―Another spar today? I've told you already, your swordsmanship has no further room to grow. Unfortunately, that's a matter of talent. The line separating the genuine from the fake.

Flinch!

Seo Yerim immediately stared at Minwoo.

“……

Do you think I'm some kind of fighting rooster? You didn't summon him because of me.”

“Right. We're going to hunt the Human-Faced Spider. That's why I called him.”―Is that so? Good. I was starting to regret wasting time.

“…….”

Seo Yerim lowered her head.

“Hey. Couldn't you phrase it a little nicer……?”―At times like this, speaking bluntly is better. Otherwise, that woman will keep wasting her life.

“Shut up.”

Minwoo smacked him on the skull.

Even then, Cedric showed no intention of stopping.―Her ambition is excessive compared to her talent. I've seen many fledglings like that. Every one of them eventually broke. Devoured by their own bloated ego.

Cedric's eye sockets practically burned.

Then he stared directly at Minwoo.―Master. Surely you don't plan to offer some clumsy comfort. That would be an even greater deception. Someone like you should understand that much.

Ah, this bastard.

He was really putting Minwoo in a difficult position.

Did Cedric think he didn't know that?

Minwoo had already publicly called her mediocre.

The problem was that things were very different now.

Back then, they barely knew each other.

And she'd been the one who started talking about him dying without clearing a Gate, so Minwoo had simply fired back.

Now she'd risked her life to jump in and help him.‘What the hell am I supposed to do with this atmosphere?’Unsummoning Cedric would only leave the two of them alone, which somehow felt even worse.

A freezing silence continued.

Soon, Cedric looked directly at Seo Yerim.―I'll give you one piece of advice. If you're going to hold a sword, don't aim any higher. Impatience has settled into your body. One day, it'll devour your mind as well.

“That's enough. The Sword Immortal probably knows too.”―Sword Immortal? Ah, the human who brought you my skull?

“Yeah. Her grandfather.”―Then he must have said something similar already. No?

“…….”

She lowered her head.―I understand. You've already become a Swordsman, so there isn't exactly a clear solution. Even so, it can't be helped. From my perspective, that's your only option.

“I said that's enough.”―Very well.

Cedric nodded with satisfaction, as though he'd finally said everything he wanted.

Which left Minwoo completely screwed.‘Fuck.’Could they even go hunt the Human-Faced Spider now?

The atmosphere had been murdered.

But Minwoo couldn't exactly offer some half-hearted comfort either.

This was a problem without an answer.‘Her class is already decided. What the hell am I supposed to do?’Five playable characters.

Two of them had a choice of class.

Park Siwoo and Han Sia.

Their starting screens displayed ‘Recommended Class.’

Their classes were undecided, so players could choose as they liked.

Naturally, with a swordsmanship genius and a magic genius, you picked Swordsman and Mage.

Starting from three-star characters, things changed.

Their classes were already fixed from the beginning.

And naturally, those classes didn't match their talents.

That was one of the main reasons the difficulty spiked.

Five-star Kim Minwoo.

He was somewhat unique.

He simply had no talent at all and suffered like hell.

Seo Yerim, on the other hand, did have talent.‘Her talent is…….’Archery Genius.

A master with the bow.

But her class was Swordsman.

At least unlike Kim Minwoo, she wasn't completely talentless with the sword.

If anything, she was highly talented.

Among the ‘fakes’ Cedric had mentioned, she'd rank near the top.‘The problem is that she's aiming beyond that.’To reach that place, she needed to throw away the sword and pick up a bow.

But she'd already become a Swordsman.

Of course, being a Swordsman didn't mean she couldn't use a bow, but there were naturally plenty of restrictions.

For starters, her Achievement skill and every skill she'd acquired so far would become dead weight.

And that wasn't all.

Whenever she obtained Bound Skill Books in the future, she'd have to weep blood.

Those books adjusted themselves according to level and class.

She couldn't learn Archer skills either.

Then why did Minwoo say she needed a bow to reach higher?

Because there was a way.

True geniuses could create skills even without Skill Books.

Han Sia learning magic from academy textbooks was an example.

Seo Yerim was the same.

She could no longer rely on Skill Books, but with her talent, she could create skills herself.

Study martial arts manuals related to archery and practice them enough, and they could become skills.

Or perhaps she could simply shoot an arrow once and a skill would be born.

That was why, looking far ahead, she needed to pick up a bow.

There were plenty of reasons Minwoo hadn't said this outright yet.

The current Seo Yerim wasn't a character being controlled by a player.

She had a genuine personality and ego.

If you suddenly told this Sword-Immortal-obsessed woman to throw away her sword and pick up a bow, would she accept it peacefully?

There was no reason to create unnecessary trouble yet, so Minwoo had remained silent.‘I was going to tell her someday…….’Even for Achievement Points, it was a topic he'd eventually need to bring up.

If Seo Yerim abandoned the sword for a bow, Achievement Points might pour in.

But this wasn't the atmosphere he'd wanted to say it in.

“Hey.”

“……

I don't need comfort. I…… I know too.”

“No, that's not it. Just use a bow.”

“……?”

“It's true you're not good enough with the sword. So stop getting hurt over it and pick up a bow.”

Cedric was right.

Half-hearted comfort was nothing but deception.

So Minwoo had no choice but to throw the fastball straight down the middle.