Chapter 14

Become a Legendary Necromancer - Chapter 014

The phone call ended smoothly.

Because Ryu Jun-hwi had agreed to let me join the party.

We were scheduled to enter the Gate at 3 p.m. today.

“Son, time to eat!”

My mother's voice came from outside.

“Yes! I'm coming!”

I got up to get ready for the meal.

At that moment, my mother's voice rang out again.

“Bring Yulias with you!”

When I turned my head, Yulias had already manifested.

[Yes, Mother! Yulias is coming right now!!]

Heave-ho! Yulias jumped up with a little hop and dangled from the doorknob.

Click!

Before long, he naturally opened the door and went out into the living room.

“...”

___________

After eating a hearty lunch.

I left my family home rather late.

“Well, I'll be going now.”

“All right.”

As I slipped on my shoes, I looked at my parents.

“I told you, you don't have to come out.”

Despite my protests, my parents came all the way to the front door to see me off.

And just before I stepped outside.

[Mother, Father. I'll come visit again sometime. Please take good care of yourselves until then.]

Clatter—

Yulias gave my parents a deep, polite bow.

“All right. Come visit again, okay?”

[Of course!]

“And be careful on your way.”

[Yes! Don't worry!!]

My parents' gazes were entirely fixed on Yulias, who was standing on my shoulder.

Somehow, they seemed more reluctant to part with Yulias than with me...

It was probably just my imagination, right?

Anyway.

“I'm going.”

After saying one last goodbye, I stepped into the elevator.

And as I did, I thought to myself.

'My brother is probably waiting outside. He always does.'

Although I'd never expressed it, I had always been grateful to my older brother.

And at the same time, I felt sorry toward him.

'Because he gave up so much because of me.'

Starting when I turned twenty, I attended an academy to prepare to become an Awakened.

It was similar to attending an academy to prepare for the civil service examination.

At the Awakened academy, I studied theories about monsters and learned practical skills through simulations.

That was the standard curriculum for people with high Talent Stats.

Naturally, it cost a lot of money.

And it was an enormous sum that couldn't be covered even by working part-time jobs.

Financial support had been unavoidable.

My parents made sacrifices for me.

And so did my older brother.

Why?

Because of my unprecedented Talent Stat of 100.

The higher someone's Talent Stat, the shorter the time it usually took for them to awaken.

'That's why we thought I'd awaken soon.'

But that wasn't the case for me.

And then, what happened?

After that long wait, I finally awakened, only to discover that I couldn't use my Unique Skill or Mana Release.

In truth, that was when my life truly became hell.

My parents and older brother took out loans and gave me the money.

As my family, they simply couldn't stand by and do nothing.

Basic equipment. Or consumable items.

Without those things, I could have died that very day.

That was the fate awaiting me.

And so, I'd endured until the very end. Desperately clinging on.

Someday, the day would come when I could use my Unique Skill.

Someday, I would be able to repay my parents and brother several times over for everything they had endured.

By believing that.

[Sob, sob. This is so sad, Honored Master...]

Yulias's eyes had already changed into T_T.

And sure enough.

Just as always, I spotted my older brother leaning against the exterior wall of the apartment building.

“Heading out?”

My brother approached me.

Step, step.

He gradually drew closer.

“Yeah. I'm leaving now.”

“Take this.”

“It's fine now. You don't have to give me—”

“Take it.”

Before I could finish speaking, my brother cut me off.

At the same time, he extended his hand.

In his hand were 50,000-won bills.

I didn't even have to look closely.

I already knew there was 200,000 won there.

“...”

I silently looked down at my brother's hand.

Then I raised my gaze toward him.

“It's okay. You don't have to give me money anymore.”

“Take it.”

I smiled.

“No. I'm telling you, I'm earning a lot of money now. If anything, I should be the one taking care of you from now on.”

“...”

But my brother's hand didn't budge an inch.

That was when it happened.

[Heave-ho!]

Yulias jumped off my shoulder.

He landed neatly in my brother's hand.

Then he took the bills my brother was holding.

[Thank you, Elder Brother. I'll use this money to buy something delicious for Honored Master and me!]

After saying that.

Clatter!

He leaped back up and landed on my shoulder.

“Then get going. See you again, Yulias.”

[Yes, Elder Brother!]

My brother casually walked past me.

I grabbed Yulias, who was sitting on my shoulder, with both hands.

Then I held him up to eye level.

Before I could say anything, Yulias spoke first.

[Honored Master. When someone does something like this, the polite thing to do is simply say thank you and accept it! It's the thought that counts, the thought!!]

Then he added.

[If something like this happens again, just say thank you and accept it. That way, both the person giving and the person receiving will feel good, understand? And another thing!]

Yulias slipped the bills between my fingers.

[You aren't planning to just keep receiving things from your family without ever giving anything back, are you? Of course not.]

“Of course not.”

[Exactly. Then that's all that matters.]

“That's all that matters?”

[Yes. Later, you can repay them with something even greater than what you've received now, right?]

The corners of Yulias's mouth curved upward.

[Ahem! It seems I can consider myself your senior in matters like these, Honored Master. Just trust me. I'll teach you everything slowly, one thing at a time.]

For a moment, I wondered, 'Is this really right?'

But that thought didn't last long.

'He doesn't seem to be wrong, though.'

That was what I concluded.

After all, Yulias had lived longer than me and probably had far more experience dealing with people.

“For now... let's go.”

[Yes, sir!]

Afterward, Yulias ended his Manifestation.

And we headed toward our destination, the Gate in Daejeon.

____________

Before long, we arrived at our destination.

The area surrounding the Gate was tightly controlled with barricades.

Quite a few groups of people were gathered in front of them.

At that moment.

A generally round-faced man with a friendly-looking appearance approached and asked.

“Are you the person who called earlier? The one with the bow?”

The man even made a gesture mimicking drawing a bowstring.

Apparently, this man was Ryu Jun-hwi.

“Yes, that's right.”

“Ah. This way, please.”

I followed Ryu Jun-hwi.

As I did, I examined the equipment he was wearing.

'His equipment isn't anything special.'

Most of Ryu Jun-hwi's equipment was E-rank.

I was fairly confident in my knowledge of equipment.

'Although that only applies to equipment below C-rank.'

I'd spent a considerable amount of time searching around for the cheapest items that suited me.

Anyway.

The equipment Ryu Jun-hwi was wearing was far below the standard appropriate for this Gate.

And that was probably...

'To deceive people.'

So that a newly recruited party member wouldn't notice anything strange.

Or rather, so they'd let their guard down.

Meanwhile.

Before I knew it, we had arrived where all the party members were gathered.

There were three of them in total, including Ryu Jun-hwi.

Ryu Jun-hwi extended his hand toward me.

“Let me formally introduce myself. I'm Ryu Jun-hwi, the party leader.”

“I'm Yoo Seong.”

I shook Ryu Jun-hwi's hand.

And the moment our introductions were over.

A small commotion broke out.

Yoo Seong? Is he the Yoo Seong I know? I could hear them murmuring among themselves.

Well, I was used to this.

“It's a little embarrassing, but yes, I'm that Yoo Seong.”

I honestly revealed my identity to them.

“Ah...”

The party members exchanged awkward glances.

But only for a moment.

“As far as I know, Mr. Yoo Seong, you weren't able to use your Unique Skill or Mana Release... Have you become able to use them?”

Ryu Jun-hwi asked on behalf of the group.

“No.”

“Ah, in that case, I'm sorry, but—”

“However.”

I quickly continued.

“As I mentioned earlier, I'm more than capable of pulling my own weight.”

At the same time, I took the Divine Bow out of my Inventory.

“It's a D-rank item.”

Their reaction was immediate.

“Oh! In that case, there's no problem.”

Any trace of disappointment had completely vanished.

No, it would be more accurate to say their eyes were practically sparkling.

And that was probably exactly how they felt.

'They must be excited about getting their hands on a D-rank item.'

Immediately afterward, Ryu Jun-hwi scratched the back of his head and apologized awkwardly.

“Um, I'm sorry about that.”

“It's all right.”

Strictly speaking, their behavior was no different from looking down on me.

After all, they had completely disregarded my actual abilities.

What if I hadn't shown them my D-rank item?

They would never have accepted me as a party member.

That was why Ryu Jun-hwi had apologized.

Instead, I waved my hand dismissively.

“It's really fine. If anything, I'm grateful that you've accepted me. Given my circumstances...”

“Haha! Not at all. Even if you can't use skills, having a D-rank weapon is more than enough to pull your own weight.”

Ryu Jun-hwi smiled cheerfully.

I smiled as well.

I'd been worried they might refuse to accept me.

Apparently, I'd worried for nothing.

“Our equipment might not look like much, but we're pretty skilled. My name is Seo Do-chil.”

One of the party members extended his hand as he spoke.

“I'm Yoo Seong.”

“And I'm Jang Heung-su.”

“Nice to meet you. I'm Yoo Seong.”

Afterward, I finished introducing myself to the remaining person.

As soon as the introductions were complete, Ryu Jun-hwi spoke as though he'd been waiting for the opportunity.

“Let's do one last equipment check before entering the Gate. Mr. Yoo Seong, make sure you haven't forgotten anything, either. It's always at times like these that mistakes happen.”

At Ryu Jun-hwi's words, the others began checking their equipment one piece at a time.

Watching them, I had to force myself not to laugh.

Because...

Their intentions were far too obvious.

'At this point, aren't they practically staring openly?'

As they checked their equipment, they repeatedly glanced at me.

The equipment I possessed.

They were trying to see what other items I had besides the Divine Bow.

The reason was simple.

'They're checking whether there's anything else worth stealing.'

That was probably why they'd specifically told me to check my equipment.

'Now that I look at it, they definitely seem to have a well-established routine.'

Well, it made sense. This was hardly their first or second time doing something like this.

'Fucking lunatics.'

While I was thinking that.

[Republic of Korea Gate #83812]

-Rank: F

-Description: A Gate that requires four people to enter together.

-Entry Level Requirement: 1–20

Before long, a holographic window appeared before my eyes...

[Entering Republic of Korea Gate #83812.]

And we entered the Gate.

Flash!