In the case of the Frogmen or Mermen that appeared in the Frog Nest, the only weapons they carried were things like extremely crude wooden or bone spears.
Or they attacked barehanded.
It was easiest to think of it as being attacked by wild beasts, and in truth, they were not particularly strong. It felt as though any trained F-Grade Hunter could kill them.
The problem was their numbers.
If dozens of them suddenly rushed in, even an F-Grade Hunter party could be wiped out. That was why, even though it was F-Grade, the Frog Nest was not a place where one could afford to wander around carelessly.
On the other hand.
Starting from E-Grade, the difficulty clearly rose.
The Kobolds armed themselves with shields, shovel-spears (the Kobolds’ strange weapons, half shovel and half spear), bows, and the like, and attacked while maintaining formations.
When they formed ranks like that inside a mine tunnel and attacked, they gave off the feeling of a fairly organized army, making them troublesome to deal with.
The standard tactic was for a Class with strong firepower, such as a Mage, to strike hard once, then for the Tank and melee Damage Dealers to charge in and fight.
He had seen it often back when he worked as a Menial Worker.
Of course, Park Il-sang had no need to do that.
As in the battle just now, he only had to push straight in.
The Necro Guards’ basic capabilities far surpassed those of Kobolds, and Kitty was practically a Boss-level Monster.
If he advanced the Necro Guards, waited a moment, then had Kitty jump and launch a falling attack into the enemy formation, the Kobolds’ formation collapsed like a house of cards.
Into that confusion, the Necro Guards charged and cracked their skulls open.
It truly became a massacre and a frenzied party of carnage.
That was not all.
Thanks to the Mythic-Grade Fame [First to Destroy a Dungeon], Park Il-sang’s current Necromancer abilities had doubled.
His ability to handle Necro Mana was doubled, but so was his Undead Control Capacity!
His item-crafting bonuses were doubled as well. In short, everything was doubled!
The result was this.
A massacre.
“All of you, collect that.”
Park Il-sang made [Corpse Boxes] from the corpses of the Kobolds he had killed, then neatly packed corpses inside them.
As for the items the Kobolds had used, he used the [Corpse Processing] Skill to make a bone cart, piled them up inside it, and carried them around.
After roaming around and sweeping out the interior of the Kobold Mine like that, Park Il-sang eventually arrived at the Boss Room.
A Hobkobold Chieftain.
A Kobold’s height was usually around 1.5 to 1.6 meters, but a Hobkobold was a huge creature that easily exceeded 2.5 meters.
It was muscular, and it even looked agile.
Behind it, a hunched Hobkobold Shaman was chanting something.
All around them, about twenty Hobkobold Warriors and dozens of Kobolds were formed up.
And.
This scene was completely different from what Park Il-sang had seen when he came here in the past.
“No. Why has the Boss Room difficulty become so absurdly high?”
Before, all there had been was a Hobkobold Chieftain, a Hobkobold Shaman, and five Hobkobolds!
And what was this about a military unit digging in and waiting in ambush?
It was absurd!
“Kwakuaaaaaaaa!”
While he felt baffled for a moment.
The chieftain roared.
At the same time, the Kobolds raised their bows.
A volley of arrows was fired at once!
CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!
However.
“Corpse Processing.”
Park Il-sang quickly used the [Corpse Processing] Skill. Around the bone saddle he was riding on, a bone barrier formed and blocked the arrows.
THUNK! CRACK! THUNK!
The Kobolds’ metal arrows dangled from where they had lodged in the bone barrier. In the meantime, Park Il-sang poked his staff slightly outside the bone barrier.
“Necro Mana Bullet Barrage.”
WHOOOOSH!
FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!
Necro Mana was drawn out from the surrounding [Corpse Boxes], gathered above Park Il-sang’s staff, and clumped together.
Their number exceeded dozens all at once!
KAKAKAKAKAKABOOM!
It was speed no different from a machine gun!
It was overwhelming firepower made possible only because he had such a terrifying amount of Necro Mana!
THWACK! THUD!
“Keeek!”
“Kyageng!”
The ordinary Kobolds that had been shooting arrows, and even the Hobkobolds maintaining formation with spears and blades, all suffered serious injuries or died.
Through their ranks, the Necro Guards moved.
“Kwaa… Kghak!”
SLASH! STAB!
The Hobkobolds were no match for them.
Above those Necro Guards, the Hobkobold Shaman’s sorcery erupted.
A bizarre being with a metal body wreathed in flames was summoned in midair, then dropped down and began slaughtering the Necro Guards.
However.
“Meow.”
When Kitty approached and swung a forepaw, the thing that appeared to be a type of Metal Spirit had its body smashed apart and scattered.
At that moment.
SWOOOOSH!
The Hobkobold Chieftain flew in at an incredible speed with Mana wrapped around its entire body.
A strike aimed at an opening—
WHIP! THUD!
—but it was struck by Kitty’s kitty punch and slammed into the ground.
That was right. A feline animal’s reflexes were not to be underestimated!
Moreover, Kitty was a powerhouse Park Il-sang had created with painstaking effort, and through [Soul Processing] and [Soul Mending], its soul had become endlessly suited to a feline creature.
Something like this was only natural.
STAB! STAB!
“Kraaagh!”
Then, as the Hobkobold Chieftain lay slammed into the ground, Necro Guards approached and stabbed it to death with their swords. With that, the battle was as good as over.
The shaman remained, but there was nothing a shaman could do once the front line had collapsed.
It was not as if it could raise corpses like a Necromancer.
As a result, even the shaman died, and the Dungeon ended.
-You have cleared Kobold Mine!
-You will be moved to the Settlement Room.
His vision soon darkened.
[You have cleared the Dungeon.]
[Measuring Dungeon Clear Grade.]
[A+ Clear.]
[Measuring Dungeon Clear Contribution.]
[Your Dungeon Clear Contribution is 100%.]
[You may acquire 3 E-Grade Skills. However, if you acquire F-Grade Skills, you may acquire twice as many.]
[You may acquire 1 Item.]
“This is it!”
Park Il-sang burst into cheers.
His first E-Grade Dungeon clear! The reward was deliciously sweet.
In particular, it gave him as many as three E-Grade Skills! Or he could acquire six F-Grade Skills.
By the standards of this world, they were divided into F and E.
However, by the standards of Park Il-sang’s previous life, they should be seen as divided into 1st-tier Necromancy Spells and 2nd-tier Necromancy Spells.
Naturally, 2nd-tier Necromancy Spells were stronger and had more uses.
In particular, starting from the 2nd Tier, he could create and command wraith-type Undead, and he would be able to make [Medium Corpse Boxes], the upgraded form of [Corpse Boxes].
If one [Corpse Box] could hold one hundred corpses, then a [Medium Corpse Box] could hold a staggering five times that, five hundred corpses.
That meant he could use an equally tremendous amount of Necro Mana!
[Outputting the list of Skills you may acquire.]
SWISH! The Skills appeared in a long list.
“As expected. I know most of these.”
Park Il-sang looked over the Skill list.
First, he chose what he needed to learn.
“First, this.”
[Undead Control Capacity Increase].
In the Skill description, it was marked as a Passive. In his previous life, it had been a Spell maintained at all times, but this side was better in terms of convenience.
Using this would double his Undead Control Capacity at once.
Even now, with the Mythic-Grade Fame and his gear bonuses added together, he could command hundreds of Undead. If he acquired this Skill as well, he would likely be able to command Undead on the scale of a thousand.
At this point, he could no longer be considered E-Grade!
“Next is this one.”
What he chose next was [Wraith Creation].
It was a Skill that turned Vengeful Spirits into wraith-type Undead.
The Undead created through it were Vengeful Wraiths, creatures capable of exerting a little physical force, but their main attack was Energy Drain, which sucked away an opponent’s Life Force.
If one were to render them in English, they were something like wraiths.
They were useful for scouting, and they had many uses in harassing an opponent little by little and changing the direction of the battlefield.
And if he had enough soul resources, he could use them as bombs too.
That was because [Corpse Explosion] could also be performed with souls. It caused a spiritual explosion, and while it had a decent amount of physical force, it also directly struck the soul.
If it worked well, it could tear apart the soul and cause Instant Kill. It was also effective for driving the target mad.
The third Skill he chose was called [In-depth Knowledge of Necromancy].
“This… this is highly suspicious. So I should try it out once.”
According to the Skill description, it increased the power of all Necromancy Skills and provided knowledge that allowed them to be applied in different ways.
No matter how he looked at it, this was suspicious!
Knowledge that allowed applications?
As a former Arch Lich, I already know all of that, do I not?
However, in this world, even when he did things according to the knowledge he knew, nothing had happened!
And yet, there was knowledge he did not know?
So he acquired the Skill.
Then his instincts whispered.
The moment he learned the Skill, various pieces of knowledge he had known in his previous life automatically surfaced in his head once again, and he became able to actually use that knowledge.
So this was a Skill that unlocked them!
That was right. By learning this Skill, he was finally able to use the knowledge from his previous life that had never manifested at all, despite his knowing it.
“So even what I already know has to be unlocked before I can use it? Seriously, this damned System… This is too much!”
Park Il-sang grumbled.
He had every reason to.
How frustrated had he been all this time, unable to do anything even with the knowledge from his previous life?
Now, goodbye to that frustration!
“Heh heh heh… All you Monster bastards are dead.”
Park Il-sang rubbed his hands together in delight. He soon came to his senses and decided to claim the final reward.
The Item!
[Outputting the list of Items you may acquire.]
Three choices appeared. It seemed that, this time again, he had to choose one among them.
[Hobkobold Skull Staff]
Grade: Common
Description: A staff made from the skull of a Hobkobold. It was completed by joining a Hobkobold’s spine and shinbone together, then fitting the skull onto it. It increases Necro Mana, increases the number of corpses that can be controlled, and increases the power of curse-type Necromancy.
Function: Necro Mana increased by 25%
Function: Curse Power increased by 25%
Function: Corpse Manipulation +20
[Hobkobold Finger Bone Ring]
Grade: Common
Description: A ring made from the finger bones of a Hobkobold. It was completed by joining together a Hobkobold’s finger bones and toe bones. It dramatically increases the number of corpses that can be controlled.
Function: Necro Mana increased by 25%
Function: Curse Power increased by 25%
Function: Corpse Manipulation +50
[Hobkobold Rib Shield]
Increases the success rate when crafting Necro Items and adds a function.
Grade: Common
Description: A shield made by weaving together a Hobkobold’s ribs. Its Defense is high because wicked vengeful resentment dwells within it.
Function: Durability increased by 300%.
Function: Corpse Manipulation +20
“Oh… These are fairly useful, are they not?”
Items better than what he could make himself had appeared.
As expected of reward Items!