Chapter 1

Become a Legendary Necromancer - Chapter 001

Awakening.

I thought that once the moment of my awakening arrived, everything would go smoothly for me.

No, I thought the world would be mine.

Naturally, I had good reason to believe that.

The System, monsters, Awakened, and so on...

Now, fifty years after the world turned into something resembling a game.

There exists something called a Talent Stat.

This value, measured from 1 to 20 for each person, indicates that the closer it is to 20, the greater the possibility of becoming a high-ranking Awakened.

That is because the probability of obtaining a high-grade 'Unique Skill' increases accordingly.

And by a very, very large margin.

Of course, there are exceptions.

But those are extremely rare. Most high-ranking Awakened possess a Talent Stat of 20 or something close to it.

And as for me...

My Talent Stat turned out to be a staggering 100.

Naturally, the entire world was thrown into an uproar.

It was the moment when the theory everyone had believed—that Talent Stats could only range from 1 to 20—was proven wrong because of me.

Afterward, I waited for my awakening amid tremendous attention, and finally, I awakened.

But the reality?

"Haah."

I let out a deep sigh.

Just thinking about it made my stomach ache.

I had awakened, all right. But it was worse than not awakening at all.

No. It would actually have been better if I hadn't awakened.

Then I wouldn't have been 'forcibly' dragged into the Tower, would I?

"At least I could have lived without worrying about dying."

F*ck. I barely managed to suppress the curse threatening to burst from my mouth.

Even so, I kept my hands moving diligently.

Because it was about to begin.

And sure enough.

Bristle!

Along with the sensation of every single hair on my body standing on end...

Goosebumps spread across my entire body.

There was nothing particularly special about it.

It was a familiar phenomenon.

"Phew."

I took a deep breath and waited for the System message that would follow.

Before long.

[You will be forcibly transported to the 24th floor of the Tower of Trials in 1 minute.]

A System message that made me shudder just by looking at it appeared before my eyes.

Any Awakened can enter the Tower of Trials once a day.

However, there are also cases where entry is forced, like now.

"When you haven't entered the Tower for a week."

The Tower of Trials must be entered at least once a week without exception.

Otherwise, the System forcibly sends you inside, just like now.

This was why I had thought earlier that it would have been better not to awaken.

A cow being led to the slaughterhouse.

That was exactly my situation right now.

For me, entering the Tower of Trials was no different from being dragged into the jaws of death.

Why?

Because I can't use the Unique Skill that every Awakened is supposed to be able to use.

Nor can I use Mana Release, the skill that allows one to manipulate basic mana. I can't use anything at all.

"F*ck."

This time, I couldn't hold back the curse.

Naturally.

Because from this point onward, I had to think solely about survival.

Soon, a bow appeared in my hand.

You could call it my personal weapon.

"Even though it has absolutely nothing to do with my class."

Because my class is 'Necromancer,' which has nothing whatsoever to do with handling bows.

Immediately afterward, a holographic window appeared before my eyes.

[Soul Devouring (EX)]

My Unique Skill, possessing the EX grade—the only grade of its kind that supposedly doesn't exist in this world.

Of course, there was no way to verify anything about it.

"I'd have to be able to use the skill before I could check anything."

[The Soul Devouring skill cannot be used.]

[This skill has not been unlocked.]

"Figures. It hasn't worked once in the five years since I awakened. Why would it suddenly work now?"

Just as I was thinking that.

I suddenly felt a sensation of weightlessness.

I was being transported to the Tower.

[You are being transported to the 24th floor of the Tower of Trials.]

______________

[Eliminate all monsters present in this area.]

[Objective: Knight Orc ×1]

[Reward: C-rank Magic Stone ×5, C-rank Random Box ×1]

A dense forest stretched out before my eyes.

The damp smell of earth assaulted my nostrils.

There was no time to admire the scenery. I immediately started moving.

Before long.

A figure clad in silver armor, holding a massive greatsword in one hand, came into view.

Creak—

I immediately drew the bowstring.

Twang!

An arrow shot straight toward the creature at high speed.

However, the arrow was blocked far too easily.

The creature had swung the greatsword it was holding.

Crack!

In fact, it hadn't merely blocked the arrow. It had swung its greatsword and split the arrow cleanly in two.

"Yeah. Of course there's no way it'd let something like that hit it."

Since I hadn't expected anything, I wasn't disappointed.

It had been an arrow fired straight at it.

For the purpose of drawing its attention toward me.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

The Knight Orc charged toward me like a madman.

Its red, gleaming eyes beneath its helmet were fixed directly on me.

"Damn, it's fast."

The speed at which it closed the distance was much faster than I had anticipated.

In an instant, the distance between us shrank.

At that moment.

Whoosh!

The creature leaped high into the air.

Naturally, its destination was where I stood.

It intended to crush me beneath its weight.

And that action of its...

"I knew you'd do that!"

It was one of the attack patterns I had been waiting for.

With a thud, the Knight Orc landed where I had been standing.

Of course, I was no longer there. I had already thrown myself backward.

Its gaze immediately turned toward me.

Its eyes showed that it intended to pursue me at any moment.

However.

"Not happening."

Crack, crack, crack!

The ground surrounding the creature froze in an instant.

Naturally, its two legs weren't left unscathed either.

Starting from the soles of its feet, the ice rapidly spread up to its thighs.

This was the result of a Frost Explosion Stone detonating.

Before leaving that spot, I had placed it there in advance, so the creature would step on it and break it.

Creak!

I drew the bowstring and held my breath.

Whoosh!

An arrow shot forward at high speed.

Of course, just as before, the arrow was split in two by the greatsword the creature swung.

Crack!

However, the result was different this time.

"Yeah. There's one there, too."

Crack!

The Frost Explosion Stone detonated, instantly freezing the creature's arm.

And at that moment, I...

Whoosh!

Had already fired another arrow.

Once again, an arrow flew toward the creature.

That brief opening when it couldn't move its body.

That was enough.

"Hit."

And so, the arrow struck the creature's left eye.

However.

Clang!

The moment it closed its eye, the arrow bounced straight back.

It lacked the destructive power to penetrate even the creature's eyelid.

Of course.

"Yeah. Naturally, that would happen."

Even that was something I had anticipated.

Boom!

Immediately afterward, an explosion erupted.

Fwoosh!

An enormous blaze flared up.

The flames engulfed the creature's face.

This time, I had attached a Flame Explosion Stone to the arrow.

It was designed to explode from the impact when the arrow was deflected.

This was my method of fighting.

Because my inability to use mana meant that I fundamentally lacked destructive power.

I compensated for that deficiency with consumable items.

Then, the creature came into view.

"You son of a..."

A curse naturally escaped my lips.

"Even so, how the hell is it still completely fine?"

Suddenly, the creature's thighs seemed to swell for an instant.

Craaaack!

Every frozen section shattered apart.

The same happened to the hand gripping the greatsword.

The ice shattered into countless pieces and scattered in every direction.

Not even the slightest scorch mark could be found on the creature's face.

Despite having been engulfed in that enormous blaze moments earlier.

"They said consumables would stop working from the 24th floor onward..."

With an arrow slung over my shoulder, I busily moved my hands.

Afterward, various consumable items hindered the creature's movements.

Of course, none of them were of any use.

From then on, it became a battle of endurance.

Before I knew it, my body had become a ragged mess.

Scraped against trees, rolling across the ground... I was going through one hell of an ordeal.

"Huff, huff!"

I was completely out of breath.

More than half of my consumables had already been used up.

"F*ck. It still hasn't been five minutes?"

The Knight Orc swung its greatsword like a madman, trying to kill me.

As I dodged its attacks, I shouted.

Five minutes after entering the Tower.

To be precise, five minutes from the moment the battle began.

I had to endure that long before I could leave the Tower.

Just as I was reaching my limit.

[It is now possible to leave the Tower.]

"Out! I'm getting out!!"

I shouted before the System message had even finished appearing.

My vision distorted, and the Knight Orc's figure grew distant.

And just like that, I safely escaped from the Tower.

"Holy shit. I really almost died this time."

I immediately flopped onto my back.

I poured potions over the battered parts of my body.

Two-thirds of the consumables I had prepared were gone.

And despite using that many consumables, I hadn't inflicted any damage whatsoever on the Knight Orc.

"Haah..."

A sigh escaped my lips.

A sense of emptiness washed over me.

Even so, I forced myself back to my feet.

"The remaining week."

During that time, I had to figure out another way to survive.

And taking it a step further, a way to kill that creature.

I could replenish the cost of the consumables I had used today by entering Gates and grinding away.

Just as I always had.

"Still, that's better than dying, isn't it?"

Reassuring myself with those words.

I began reviewing my battle against the Knight Orc.

______________

"Ha... This is just ridiculous."

Cough! I spat out a mouthful of blood.

The Knight Orc.

In the end, I had succeeded in defeating it.

It had truly taken an incredible amount of effort and countless trials and errors.

After all, I had spent more than an entire year struggling to kill that creature.

And today was the day I finally did it.

But then.

"What the hell is this...?"

The world had suddenly come to an end.

Shin Joo-ah, ranked first in Korea, Kim Min-hyuk, ranked second, and Han Jun-mo, ranked third...

All of them had become cold corpses.

Soon, I would probably end up the same way.

...I barely managed to raise my head.

At the end of my gaze stood seven unidentified individuals.

I had absolutely no idea who they were.

The same was true for everyone else.

They had appeared out of nowhere, and everyone had died at their hands.

The only thing I knew was that they were followers of the Demon God.

It was at that moment, with death looming right before me.

A bitter chuckle escaped my lips.

"After everything I went through to survive, just because of a few lunatics like those..."

I had managed to survive all this time without being able to use my Unique Skill, or even Mana Release, something every Awakened was supposed to be capable of.

And yet, in the end, I had to die because the world was coming to an end, something that had nothing to do with my own problems?

It was utterly absurd.

I was having difficulty breathing.

The sounds around me gradually grew distant.

They became muffled, as though I were hearing them underwater.

The edges of my vision began turning black.

Starting from the edges, the darkness slowly... slowly crept inward, devouring everything.

It seemed I really was about to die.

My consciousness began to fade.

I could no longer see or hear anything.

That was when it happened.

[When the hell is he finally going to die?]

Suddenly, I heard a voice.

It wasn't coming from beside my ears. It was a clear voice that seemed to resonate directly inside my head.

[He'll probably come this close to dying and then somehow survive again, damn it. Sigh. Let's not get our hopes up for nothing.]

[Hmm... His vital signs should be rising again around now. They're still not going up? At this rate, he's really going to die, isn't he?]

[Huh? His vital signs stopped! What? He's actually going to die?]

That was the last of it.

[The unlocking conditions for the Soul Devouring (EX) skill have been fulfilled.]

[The Soul Devouring (EX) skill is now unlocked.]

[...Reversing time.]

My consciousness abruptly snapped off.

Become a Legendary Necromancer

A Full-Length Fusion Fantasy Novel by CheonhwaS

Author

: CheonhwaS

Publishers

: Kwon Tae-wan, Woo Cheon-je

E-book Publication Date

: 2026-10-01

Regular Price per Episode

: 100 won (Episodes 1–15 provided free of charge)

Provided by

: KWBOOKS

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: Room 203, Ace Artis Forum, 62 Digital-ro 31-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul

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G720:N+A014-20260929141

This book has been published as an e-book by KWBOOKS under a contract with the copyright holder.

Unauthorized reproduction of this book without the publisher's permission is prohibited under copyright law.