“Soul Utilization.”
Park Il-sang used the [Soul Utilization] Skill on the 200 Souls he had poured out.
Whoooooosh.
Wooooooo.
Graaaaaaah.
Souls. To be precise, they were Souls that had shattered and fragmented. Even with [Soul Capture], it was still impossible for him to bring over the Soul of the dead in its complete form.
It would likely become possible later, once his level grew higher.
For now, it was impossible.
Even so, they contained far more than when one made Undead from nothing.
If the original Soul was 10, then when an Undead was created, it contained about 1 worth of Soul. What he caught with [Soul Capture] was around 5 to 6.
And now he was pouring in a staggering 200 such Souls.
FWOOSH!
The Souls making up the Skeleton Beast and the newly poured-in Souls clung together through [Soul Utilization].
That was only natural, since this Skill was used to bestow Souls upon objects so that they carried special powers, or to make Souls cling to one another and form a large mass of Soul.
Then,
the color of the Skeleton Beast’s entire body began to change.
Its body, which had originally been pure white bone, turned black and began to emit a gloomy energy.
Resentment flowed out.
Just looking at it made one feel as though a blade were stabbing into the mind.
-The Undead Skeleton Beast Leader is evolving.
-The Skeleton Beast Leader has evolved into a Skeleton Beast Lord.
[Skeleton Beast Lord]
Grade: Treasure
Description: A large Undead beast created by processing various bones. Countless Soul fragments have been fused, transforming it into a wicked and powerful Vengeful Spirit Entity that dwells within. It possesses the power to command nearby Undead, and living beings feel intense fear merely by seeing it.
Function: Fear
Function: [Corpse Manipulation] +100 when mounted
Function: Can be controlled with 1 [Corpse Manipulation].
Function: Can be additionally modified with corpses up to a number appropriate to the rider’s Grade.
“Wow. The System really is nice, is it not?”
Park Il-sang exclaimed in admiration.
Treasure Grade!
Of the seven stages—Common, Special, Rare, Treasure, Transcendent, Mythic, and Divine—a Treasure-grade Undead had been born.
If it was Treasure-grade, even B-Grade Hunters would not easily get to see something of that Grade.
That showed just how strong this creature was.
In fact, even by the standards of his previous life, something at this level was a mid-ranking Undead. It was absolutely not something a 1st Tier Necromancer could handle.
Even so, the System had forcibly made it possible for him to control it.
Terrifying!
However, he had a feeling that this was the limit.
“It feels as if the System is letting me know instinctively… This is interesting. I never had this kind of sense in my previous life.”
In his previous life, many had self-destructed because of that.
They used power beyond their limits and either lost their sanity or, quite literally, burst apart.
Ahh. Those nostalgic old days!
“Then. Shall we go one last time?”
Night was gradually coming.
Because of his Fame, he had infinite Vitality and did not feel tired, but that did not mean he wanted to work into the dead of night.
So he decided to run the Dungeon one last time and climbed onto the Skeleton Beast Lord’s back.
“Let us go, Kitty!”
“Meow.”
After he had even used [Soul Processing] and [Soul Mending],
the Skeleton Beast Lord, now perfectly transformed into something like a tiger (cat), answered cutely.
***
-You have acquired enough Experience and risen to E- Grade.
-Since you have become E- Grade, you may acquire Skills of a new Grade.
-You have acquired enough Experience and risen to 2nd Tier.
-Since you have become 2nd Tier, you may acquire Skills of a new Grade.
“I did iiiit!”
After continuing to grind through the Dungeon over and over, he had finally graduated from F-Grade and entered E-Grade!
“It feels strange for me to say this… but Necromancer really is overpowered.”
In front of the corpse of the Nest Guardian, the boss Monster he had grown sick of seeing, he was singing his own praises.
But it was also true.
Because
Necromancers were completely different from Mages and other Hunters.
They generated Mana within their bodies, recovered it, and used Skills.
However, Necromancers generated and used Necro Mana from [Corpse Box].
From the start, their Mana recovery and total amount of Mana itself were different!
Of course, that did not mean Necromancers had no weaknesses. If this [Corpse Box] was destroyed, they lost all of their Necro Mana.
Even so, there was no way Monsters would know a Necromancer’s weakness… so in Dungeon hunting, he could not help but possess an overwhelming advantage.
As a result, less than a month after his Awakening, he had reached E- Grade.
“If I post this on some community, will it go up in flames?”
The world had been about one-third ruined, but even so, people continued to live. Even something called the economy still functioned.
That was why all sorts of internet communities ran rampant… and among them, the most active one centered around Hunters was, naturally, the [Hunter Board].
If he posted there that Necromancers were strong, it would blaze up fiercely.
For now, he set aside thoughts of the [Hunter Board] and decided to inspect his own condition.
He closed his eyes
and focused his mind inward.
Then
he felt that the amount of power he could handle had increased.
[Corpse Box] produced Necro Mana worth 100 corpses, but when he had been F-Grade, he had not been able to use all of that power at once.
The amount of Necro Mana he could use at once had been around 5 corpses’ worth.
But now, he could use several times that amount of Necro Mana.
His output was about 20 corpses’ worth of Mana.
One had to assume that the power of [Necro Mana Bullet Barrage] had also become about four times stronger.
What was surprising was that the Grade of Warrior, the Job he had originally possessed, had also risen.
Despite the fact that he had not fought as a Warrior in the slightest.
His Mana as a Warrior had also increased. It was power he did not use anyway, but it would be useful in an emergency.
After all, Warrior was a physical-type Job!
“Phew. Then shall I start heading back?”
Park Il-sang butchered the Monster corpses and extracted the Magic Stones.
***
“Mr. Park. Where on earth did you get so many of these?”
“Come now, why are you being like this, sir? Not asking those things is the rule of this neighborhood, is it not?”
“That is true, but… this is a bit much, is it not?”
Lee Ho-gyu, the pawnshop owner, spoke while looking at the heap of Magic Stones Park Il-sang had brought.
There was a variety of them, from ones with fairly decent purity to mediocre ones.
Given what kind of neighborhood this was, Lee Ho-gyu could tell at a glance where they had come from.
They had probably come from the Frog Nest.
The large, high-purity ones must have come from the boss, and with this many, the amount would come not in the tens of millions of won, but in the hundreds of millions.
“If you are bringing in this much, why not go to an official purchasing center? Even if you have to pay some taxes, that would be safer.”
“I am not considering it yet.”
“If that is the case….”
Lee Ho-gyu calculated the price of the Magic Stones and gave it to him.
“It is 245 million won.”
“Thank you.”
“If this much money starts circulating, word about you will spread even if I do not want to leak it. You know that, right?”
“I know.”
A 5th-class district.
And one in Yeouido, a neighborhood where shantytowns and Temporary-buildings were gathered together. As he had encountered robbers while walking down the street before, public security in this neighborhood could not be called good even as an empty compliment.
“The big players will come too. Go to a motel in a 3rd-class district or somewhere until things calm down. I hear your Hunter Registration Card came out, Mr. Park.”
“I will handle that myself. Then I hope business is good.”
Park Il-sang waved to Lee Ho-gyu and left the pawnshop.
Lee Ho-gyu stared silently at Park Il-sang’s retreating figure, then let out a sigh.
He had no desire to actively sell this information here and there. Though he did business in a neighborhood like this, he had lived while keeping to his own moral code.
That was probably why he had not been shot dead yet.
His pawnshop handled all sorts of contraband goods, so he had a fair amount of assets. In truth, with the assets he possessed now, he could move to a stable area in a 3rd-class district and live there.
Even so, he remained here.
Because this place was his hometown.
Even if that was a trivial reason, he was still living in this dangerous place.
It was not long after Park Il-sang left.
“Long time no see, old man.”
“What? What brings you here again?”
At the familiar voice he had not heard in a long time, Lee Ho-gyu raised his head. Ten-odd years ago, he had once helped a fellow who had collapsed after losing an arm.
He had sent him to a quack doctor with a cheap prosthetic arm and had it attached. Later, that fellow had said he would repay the favor, then disappeared.
This was that man.
After that, perhaps because he had Awakened, he had reappeared looking fairly imposing and took control of the organizations around this area.
As far as Lee Ho-gyu knew, his Grade was C+.
He was Kim Cheol-su, boss of the Cheol-su Faction.
His original name had not been Cheol-su, but he had supposedly changed it. Lee Ho-gyu had thought the man’s naming sense was truly awful, since he had apparently done it because of the prosthetic arm on his arm.
Perhaps because of their old connection, he did not take protection fees from Lee Ho-gyu and treated him with a certain amount of respect.
At C+ Grade, he could have gone to an upper-class district, yet he was playing king in this neighborhood. Was it that he preferred being the head of a snake to the tail of a dragon?
“I came to see your face, old man. I heard this neighborhood has been a little noisy lately. Is anything causing you trouble?”
“No. Business is good too. If you are backing me, who would say anything?”
“That is true enough. But what about the guy who just left? He did not act rude to you, did he?”
“What? Did you come because Mr. Park caught your attention?”
“Mr. Park, huh…. You must be close with him, old man?”
His words kept drifting this way and that.
Considering he had been a hoodlum at his core, that was only natural. But Lee Ho-gyu paid it no mind. He was this kind of man, but he still had loyalty.
“Unlike the others, he has manners.”
“Manners…. That is important. If he has manners, then… there is no need to be rough with him.”
“Do not. He is no ordinary man.”
“He still has to pay tax. Otherwise, I lose face. You know that, old man.”
“For ordinary fellows, perhaps. But that man is not ordinary. They say he is already E-Grade. In less than a month or so, his Grade has risen by three stages. He is not someone you can handle.”
At Lee Ho-gyu’s words, Kim Cheol-su’s face twisted into a frown.
“E-Grade in one month? That is incredibly fast.”