Chapter 16

Become a Legendary Necromancer - Chapter 016

I shook my head.

There was no need for him to apologize.

I was just a little surprised.

No, perhaps unexpected was the better word.

I'd only ever heard him address me respectfully as Honored Master, so this was the first time I'd heard him swear like that.

And it wasn't even ordinary swearing. There was a dialect mixed into it...

Well, anyway.

'Looks like he has a rougher way of speaking than I thought.'

Of course, it was perfectly understandable.

'Actually, that wasn't even enough. Not for those bastards.'

I shifted my gaze from Yulias to Ryu Jun-hwi.

He looked genuinely apologetic.

Disgustingly so.

“Mr. Yoo Seong. Are you really all right?”

Ryu Jun-hwi spoke as though nothing had happened.

“You don't look well. Why don't we come over there and...”

Ryu Jun-hwi started moving toward me.

But I stopped him.

By firing an arrow at him.

Whoooosh!

However, Ryu Jun-hwi avoided the arrow with a slight twist of his body.

As expected, it would be difficult to hit him by shooting directly at him.

Accuracy wasn't the problem.

My arrows simply lacked speed and destructive power.

Well, I hadn't fired that arrow intending to hit him in the first place.

It had only been a warning.

“Mr. Yoo Seong?”

Immediately afterward, Ryu Jun-hwi gave me a bewildered look.

His eyes widened as though he couldn't understand my behavior at all.

And this time, Yulias reacted before I could.

[Look at that... Look at him acting! I'll snap his neck right this...]

Yulias stopped speaking and glanced at me.

[Hehe.]

Then he smiled.

There he went again. I couldn't help chuckling.

“It's fine. You can say it. You're talking about trash anyway, so why shouldn't you?”

As long as he didn't speak to me like that.

Only then did Yulias nod vigorously.

Clatter— Clatter—

[Let's rip those bastards' heads off and stomp them into the ground!]

He was fuming so hard he practically seemed to be snorting.

Naturally, that was exactly what we should do.

Meanwhile.

“Try to get a hold of yourself, Mr. Yoo Seong. You seem a little out of sorts.”

Ryu Jun-hwi's voice rang out again.

It was understandable for him to think that.

From Ryu Jun-hwi's perspective, it must have looked as though I were talking to myself in thin air.

Naturally, he would think I'd gone mad.

“Take a few deep breaths. We're not monsters. We're on the same side. There's no reason to attack us. Do you understand?”

Ryu Jun-hwi raised both hands above his head.

The other two men beside him did the same.

Whoosh!

I fired another arrow at Ryu Jun-hwi.

Of course, he easily dodged it again.

“Why don't you stop with the ridiculous acting?”

At those words, Ryu Jun-hwi finally revealed his true colors.

“What? You're not quite as stupid as I thought. There have been idiots who actually believed us when we said it was a mistake, you know.”

Ryu Jun-hwi curled one corner of his mouth into a long, sinister grin.

The two men beside him were no different.

One of them openly snickered.

I thought his name was Seo Do-chil.

“Jun-hwi, what did that bastard say back then? Oh, right! Now I remember. He got all serious and said, 'Please be careful not to make mistakes next time!' It was fucking hilarious.”

“What happened afterward was even funnier. After we stabbed him, he started going, 'Wh-why are you doing this...?!' And then he pissed himself.”

“Right. That's what happened.”

They laughed as though they were reminiscing about an amusing memory.

The smiles never left their faces.

That alone told me everything.

These people had already crossed the line beyond humanity.

They were monsters wearing human skin.

'Fucking lunatics.'

Otherwise, there was no way they could laugh while talking about murdering someone.

Immediately afterward, Ryu Jun-hwi waved his hand.

Several pieces of his equipment began to change.

[He's quite meticulous, isn't he? He was even wearing different equipment to deceive people.]

“Yeah.”

That's Danis's Ring, and that's Victor's Wristguard.

Both were D-rank items I recognized.

Ryu Jun-hwi looked at the other two men and gestured.

“You two change your equipment, too.”

“Yes.”

Afterward, the equipment worn by the other two men also changed one piece at a time.

Among them, Seo Do-chil met my eyes and scowled.

“You should've just died quietly. Now you've gone and made us bother changing our equipment. Don't expect an easy death.”

“Seo Do-chil.”

A cold voice followed.

“Stop fooling around and take this seriously.”

“Yes, Jun-hwi. Understood.”

The smiles vanished from all three men's faces.

Their expressions became utterly serious.

“Even now, if you quietly hand over that thing you're holding, we'll at least let you live.”

Ryu Jun-hwi pointed his sword toward me.

More precisely, he was probably pointing at the Divine Bow.

“Of course, you might report us after getting out. So we'll need to take measures to prevent that.”

A hollow laugh escaped my lips.

The measures Ryu Jun-hwi was talking about.

I knew exactly what he meant.

Naturally, he was talking about killing me to silence me.

He was talking as though he'd spare my life, but there was absolutely no chance of that.

He was merely trying to make it easier to kill me.

“Mr. Yoo Seong. Wouldn't it be a shame?”

Ryu Jun-hwi asked before quickly continuing.

“Your Talent Stat was a whopping 100, wasn't it? If I were you, I'd feel terribly wronged dying here. Don't you think? If it were me, I'd want to get out of here alive and, you know, find some way to turn things around later. You never know, right? Maybe someday you'll suddenly be able to use your Unique Skill! Wouldn't it be better to stay alive until then? Isn't that why you've been desperately hanging on all this time?”

“Jun-hwi's right. Surely you'll manage to use it before you die, won't you? Come on, let's keep hoping together.”

I could see them desperately holding back their laughter.

Now they were even openly mocking me without hesitation.

Anger surged within me.

At that moment, a voice reached my ears.

[Honored Master. Calm down! Why should you get stressed because of scum like them? There's absolutely no need.]

It was Yulias.

[Compared to you now, Honored Master, those people are nothing more than specks of dust. You're the one holding their lives in your hands! Not those pieces of trash.]

That's right. Yulias was correct.

The right to do whatever I wanted belonged to me. Not those bastards.

Only then did my rising anger subside.

I let out a soft chuckle.

Nodding, I looked at them.

“Come to think of it, you guys are right.”

Then I spoke.

“Surely I'll be able to use it right before I die, won't I? Don't you think?”

Crack, crunch!

Immediately afterward, the bones of the Rat Knights rose from the ground.

I had summoned Skeletons.

Three Skeletons appeared in an instant.

“Just like this.”

Toward the three men, who were utterly flustered.

I smiled.

______________

Ryu Jun-hwi.

He had repeatedly killed newly recruited party members inside Gates.

To steal their items.

It was an extremely profitable business.

Several times more profitable than obtaining rewards from Gates.

And then, today.

Yoo Seong joined their party.

'Fuck. What rotten luck. Of all people, this bastard... Haah. What a waste of time.'

Ryu Jun-hwi hadn't intended to accept Yoo Seong.

But then.

Yoo Seong suddenly showed him a bow.

'This bastard has a D-rank weapon? And it's the Divine Bow?!'

The Divine Bow was one of the more expensive D-rank weapons.

Even at the lowest estimate, it was worth 600 million won.

'What a fucking windfall!'

Ryu Jun-hwi looked toward his party members.

Their expressions had already changed completely.

Their eyes were sparkling with greed.

And so, Ryu Jun-hwi accepted Yoo Seong and entered the Gate.

Surprisingly, Yoo Seong was fairly skilled with a bow.

His accuracy was decent.

But that was all.

Perhaps it would have been different if he had been sniping from somewhere unseen...

'I could dodge arrows like those with my eyes closed. But...'

Something was strange.

'Why is he so relaxed?'

So, as usual, Ryu Jun-hwi deliberately sent Rat Knights toward Yoo Seong.

To gauge his abilities.

However.

'He's nothing special, is he?'

Despite his suspicions, there was nothing unusual.

Once he was certain, Ryu Jun-hwi immediately put his plan to kill Yoo Seong into action.

However, Yoo Seong dodged Ryu Jun-hwi's attack.

That was another surprise.

And on top of that.

'He's not falling for it?'

Ryu Jun-hwi tried acting innocent, but Yoo Seong didn't buy it.

His judgment was surprisingly quick.

Of course, that wouldn't change the outcome.

Only then did Ryu Jun-hwi discard the mask he'd been wearing.

And in that situation.

“Come to think of it, you guys are right.”

“Surely I'll be able to use it right before I die, won't I? Don't you think?”

Yoo Seong suddenly began spouting something incomprehensible.

“Just like this.”

Crack, crunch!

Skeletons appeared in front of Yoo Seong.

“Wh-what the hell?”

“That bastard can use his Unique Skill?!”

“He was a Necromancer?!”

Seo Do-chil and the other party member were visibly shaken by the completely unexpected situation.

Ryu Jun-hwi shouted at them.

“Calm down, you idiots! They're just Skeletons! Nothing more than Skeletons revived from Rat Knights! And there are only three of them!!”

“Ah...”

“Right, that's true.”

The two men quickly regained their composure.

They had remembered the weakness of Necromancers.

The undead summoned by Necromancers.

The weakest among them were Skeletons.

“Those Skeletons he just summoned can't possibly be any stronger than Rat Knights!”

The shock they had felt upon seeing the Skeletons.

That feeling had already vanished completely from all three men.

They regained their confidence.

At that moment.

Clatter, clatter, clatter!

The three Skeletons charged toward them.

“Jun-hwi, I'll handle them. Just thinking about how scared I got earlier... Haah. It's ridiculous.”

Muttering those words, Seo Do-chil stepped forward.

“They're just pathetic Skeletons... I'll wipe them out in one strike!”

Immediately afterward, Seo Do-chil gripped his sword like a baseball bat.

Wooooong!

His sword extended to roughly one and a half times its original length.

More precisely, the blue energy surrounding his sword had extended.

It was Seo Do-chil's skill.

Whoooosh!

Seo Do-chil swung his sword horizontally.

He intended to cut all three Skeletons down at once.

However.

[The Skeleton activates Iron Shield.]

Thud!

A dull impact rang out, and a tremendous recoil surged through the hand holding his sword.

“Urgh!”

Clang!

The force was so great that Seo Do-chil lost his grip on his sword.

Meanwhile, the Skeleton had already approached directly in front of him.

The Skeleton extended its fist.

A fist glowing red.

[The Skeleton activates Flame Strike (F).]

Whoooosh!

At that instant, a pillar of fire shot straight forward.

The long stream of flames engulfed Seo Do-chil's face.

“Aaaaaagh!”

With flames spreading across his entire body, Seo Do-chil rolled on the ground.

Leaving Seo Do-chil behind.

Clatter, clatter, clatter—

The Skeleton was already heading toward its next target.

“What are you doing?! Get a hold of yourself! Go fight!!”

Ryu Jun-hwi shoved Jang Heung-su hard in the back.

“U-uaaah!”

Forced forward by the shove, Jang Heung-su had no choice but to confront the Skeleton.

Jang Heung-su swung his sword.

And that sword.

Slaaaash!

Easily sliced the Skeleton in half.

What the hell? It's nothing special.

His eyes were already shifting toward another Skeleton.

However.

[The Skeleton revives once.]

Crack, crunch!

The Skeleton that had died suddenly reappeared.

Its severed parts had rejoined in an instant.

And that wasn't all.

The revived Skeleton slid behind him.

Grab—

“Wh-what the hell? Let go of me!”

He couldn't move his body.

The Skeleton had grabbed him from behind, preventing him from moving.

Immediately afterward, the other two Skeletons began mercilessly beating him.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud...

Watching this scene, Ryu Jun-hwi felt chills run down his spine.

“What... is this...?”

The Skeletons had clearly used a 'coordinated attack' just now.

As though they were people with minds of their own.

Could mere Skeletons actually think and move like that?

And that wasn't even all.

“Th-they used skills?!”

What had happened to Seo Do-chil at the beginning?

A skill had been used.

A Skeleton had actually used a skill!

Ryu Jun-hwi couldn't believe what was happening.

In the midst of all that.

“Now you're the only one left.”

A voice reached his ears.

It was Yoo Seong's voice.

Ryu Jun-hwi turned his head.

And there stood Yoo Seong.

Aiming his bow directly at him.

“You fucking...!”