Chapter 3

Become a Legendary Necromancer - Chapter 003

At the time Yoo Seong was defeating the Red Orc.

An entirely white space.

Within that vast, seemingly endless expanse, there was a being.

It was a tiny skull.

Scratch, scratch, scratch—

The skull was crouching on the ground, diligently moving its hands.

It was at that moment that a voice rang out.

[This time... This time, absolutely not.]

The muttering continued.

[I have to be firm from the very beginning. No matter what. There's no other choice. I absolutely have to. I can't keep repeating what happened before, can I? That's right, Yulias. You need to keep your wits about you. Only then can things change.]

It was a voice filled with determination.

Even as it muttered, its hands continued moving.

Scratch, scratch, scratch—

Every time the skull's hands moved, something was drawn on the ground.

[I'll finally be able to meet him soon.]

Scratch, scratch, scratch—

How much time had passed like that?

Craaaack!

A crack appeared in front of the crouching skull.

At a certain moment, the air suddenly split wide open.

Light leaked through the opening.

Clatter—

The skull rose to its feet.

[Finally!]

Its voice was filled with overwhelming emotion.

Clatter— Clatter—

The skull slowly walked toward the opening in the air.

Before long, the skull disappeared.

Craaaack!

The gaping opening returned to its original state as if nothing had happened.

As though such an opening had never existed in the first place.

The vast, boundless white space.

The skull could no longer be found anywhere within it.

All that remained were drawings on the ground.

To be precise, they were drawings of someone's face.

Several identical faces...

They covered the ground so densely that their number was practically impossible to count.

____________

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled...]

[You can now share consciousness with the Lich.]

Whitish smoke was gathering into a single mass.

Before long, it began taking on a certain shape.

Then, something suddenly popped out of it.

It even spoke.

[Oh! I'm finally out!!]

It was an extremely small skull.

It was no bigger than the palm of my hand.

On its head sat an unnecessarily extravagant crown-like object.

A cloak adorned with purple fur hung over its shoulders.

Pale purple flames flickered within its hollow eye sockets. Strangely enough, those flames seemed filled with joy and delight.

[Hehehe!]

The creature looked down at its two skeletal hands and curled the corners of its mouth upward.

Surprisingly, its mouth moved just like a human's.

“A skull... can smile?”

Just as I muttered that.

[Masteee... No!]

The skull hurriedly stopped speaking.

But only for a moment, because it suddenly shouted angrily.

[A skull, you say?! Show some respect, Master!]

Whoa, that startled me.

Caught off guard by its sudden reaction, I unconsciously took half a step backward.

However, the situation didn't turn hostile. If anything, it became rather comical.

The crown it was wearing slipped down and covered half its face.

It had knocked its crown crooked while shouting.

[...Damn it.]

The skull used both hands to straighten its crooked crown.

With an expression that anyone could tell was one of embarrassment.

'Come to think of it, it just called me Master, didn't it?'

The skull had definitely addressed me that way.

However, that aside, I wasn't particularly pleased with its manner of speaking.

Although it called me 'Master,' its tone was practically informal.

Naturally, my response wasn't particularly polite either.

“So, what exactly are you?”

[Gasp!]

At my question, the flames inside the skull's eye sockets instantly shrank.

Immediately afterward, they swayed from side to side.

Anyone could tell.

The creature was flustered.

However, that lasted only a brief moment.

Fwoosh!

The flames within its eye sockets blazed fiercely.

[Masteee... No, no, Master! Listen carefully!! As for who I am—]

The skull then spread its arms dramatically.

[I am the great 'Lich,' Yulias von Kandel Ediar!]

After declaring this, the creature puffed out its chest and raised its chin.

[You may comfortably call me Yulias, sir—no, you can! You could say I'm a companion who will accompany you, Master. And I am a noble of extremely distinguished bloodli—I'm a noble!]

Was it simply flustered?

The creature kept stumbling over its words terribly.

'Anyway, a Lich?'

Come to think of it, I had seen that term before.

In the System message from a moment ago.

It had said that I could now share consciousness with a Lich.

...A companion, huh.

Repeating that word to myself, I questioned the creature once again.

“Fine, Yulias. So, what exactly are you?”

[...]

I stared intently at Yulias.

Yulias was clearly connected to my class.

More precisely, to my Unique Skill, Soul Devouring.

To begin with, I had never even heard of an existence called Yulias.

A noble? A Lich?

None of that mattered.

What mattered was why the creature had appeared and what purpose it served.

However, I had to postpone my conversation with it for a little while.

Because a System message announced that I was about to be transported outside the Gate.

[You are being transported outside the Gate.]

Immediately afterward, I quickly used Soul Devouring on the Red Orc I had defeated.

[The Red Orc's soul has been absorbed.]

[The Red Orc's soul already exists in the Soul Inventory.]

[Proficiency in the Soul Devouring skill has increased.]

[Proficiency: 10% → 20%]

____________

The scenery around me changed in an instant.

Before I knew it, I had been transported outside the Gate.

A group of people entered my field of vision.

Five in total.

Every single one of them was looking in my direction.

With thoroughly bewildered expressions.

It wasn't difficult to understand why.

'It's probably because the Gate was suddenly cleared.'

I knew exactly who they were.

After all, they were the people who had saved my life before my regression.

A raid team dispatched by the Association to deal with the Gate Break.

And among them.

I shifted my gaze toward one man in the group.

'Jo Hyun-seong.'

Short, crew-cut hair.

A firm, resolute gaze reminiscent of a soldier.

On top of that, he was a man of such imposing height and muscular build that calling him a human weapon wouldn't have been an exaggeration.

'In truth, that man was the one who saved me.'

It had been Jo Hyun-seong who actually killed the Red Orc.

He was someone who would become extremely famous over the next few years.

And now, he began walking.

Wearing knuckle weapons on his hands, he approached me.

“Hello. We were dispatched after receiving a report that a Gate Break had occurred. But... it looks like the Gate has already been cleared. Could you explain what happened?”

Jo Hyun-seong glanced behind me.

He was probably checking one last time to see whether anyone else had come out with me.

When a Gate Break occurs, those inside the Gate cannot leave.

They can only exit after defeating the boss.

However, people outside can still enter.

That was why the raid team standing before me had been dispatched.

At that moment, Jo Hyun-seong brought the radio in his hand to his mouth.

“Before entering Gate Number 52225, one survivor secured. Gate presumed cleared. Currently verifying the survivor's identity and the situation. Will provide an additional report once the details are confirmed. Over.”

Crackle, crackle—

Immediately afterward, a voice acknowledging the report came through the radio.

By then, the other members had also approached Jo Hyun-seong.

Jo Hyun-seong spoke to me.

“First, I'll need to check your Awakened registration card.”

I took my Awakened registration card from my pocket and handed it to Jo Hyun-seong.

“Yoo Seong...?”

Jo Hyun-seong muttered quietly as he received the card.

At the same time, I heard people whispering.

They were the voices of those standing beside Jo Hyun-seong.

“Yoo Seong? The guy who got a Talent Stat of 100?”

“Yeah. I think that's him.”

“It's not exactly a common name to begin with. I'm sure of it. I remember his face, too. He was a huge topic of conversation back then.”

Their gazes turned toward me.

They recognized me immediately.

Naturally, Jo Hyun-seong was no exception.

“By any chance, have you become able to use your Unique Skill or Mana Release?”

At Jo Hyun-seong's question, I hesitated briefly.

What should I do?

However, I didn't deliberate for long.

“No.”

I decided not to reveal it.

I still hadn't properly examined my Unique Skill.

Understanding my newly acquired abilities came first.

Besides, I already knew from my experiences before regression.

Just how troublesome people's attention could be.

“Everyone else died, and I was the only one lucky enough to survive.”

“I heard the Gate's rank changed to D-rank because of the Gate Break...”

Jo Hyun-seong's gaze sharpened.

He clearly didn't believe what I was saying.

Of course, that wasn't a problem.

“The monster that appeared as the boss was a Red Orc. Fortunately, information about it was already well known, and one of the people who entered with us had a D-grade Unique Skill. We managed to kill the Red Orc, but... unfortunately, everyone else died, and I barely managed to survive.”

Jo Hyun-seong gestured toward someone beside him, and that person handed him something.

It was probably the entry register.

However, my attention wasn't on that.

It was on Yulias, who was flying around them.

[Oooooh! This fresh air!!]

As soon as we emerged from the Gate, Yulias had begun wandering around everywhere.

While exclaiming in admiration.

Should I compare his gaze to that of a baby seeing the outside world for the first time?

Yulias was showing curiosity toward absolutely everything.

Thanks to that, there was one thing I could confirm.

Only I could see Yulias.

'Otherwise, there's no way they wouldn't have said something about Yulias behaving like that.'

“So it really is true. Here you go.”

A short while later, Jo Hyun-seong returned my Awakened registration card.

“The Association may contact you later, so please answer calls from unfamiliar numbers for the time being.”

“Understood.”

To begin with, there was no way for anyone outside to know what had happened inside a Gate.

That was because recording anything inside Gates or the Tower was impossible.

Electronic devices themselves couldn't be used.

They simply stopped functioning.

With that, Jo Hyun-seong turned and left.

I watched their departing figures for a moment before starting to walk as well.

'Let's go home first.'

I needed to recover my mana and examine my rewards.

'And besides...'

Most importantly, I needed to find out more about Yulias.

___________

Afterward, I headed toward the one-room apartment where I lived.

Fortunately, it wasn't far from here.

After all, I had deliberately chosen a Gate close to my home.

I had regressed a full six years into the past.

Even so, finding my old home wasn't difficult at all.

Because I had lived in exactly the same place both before my regression and now.

Click—

Just as I opened the door and stepped into my one-room apartment.

[Don't tell me this cramped place is...]

A pitiful voice reached my ears.

When I turned my head, I found Yulias crying.

'Is he seriously crying?'

He really was crying.

The flames in both his eye sockets had somehow changed into the shape of a 'T'.

'I know living in a one-room apartment isn't exactly ideal... but is it really something worth crying over?'

Just as I stood there, considerably bewildered.

[Master, from now on, just put your trust in me!]

Before I knew it, his eyes had returned to normal.

No, if anything, they were now blazing even more fiercely than before.

Should I say he was overflowing with enthusiasm?

As I looked at Yulias, I thought to myself.

What exactly am I supposed to trust you with?

Perhaps he had read the look in my eyes.

Yulias spoke.

[From now on, I shall explai—no, I'll explain my abilities to you!]