Kim Dong-su, wearing only a single pair of underwear and holding twin axes in both hands.
Park Il-sang, holding a shield in one hand and a sword in the other.
Han Da-young, with lumps of gold hanging all over her body.
Lee Si-woon, holding a mace.
At least judging by their composition, they were fairly decent.
Two Warrior Classes.
On top of that, they had one Mage and one Priest.
But how should he put it?
Whenever Park Il-sang looked at the others, he felt strangely unsettled.
First of all, Kim Dong-su’s appearance was a bit much. Perhaps because he had only just Awakened as a Hunter, his body, clad in nothing but a single pair of underwear, was the very image of an utterly unmaintained middle-aged man.
Should he say that his vision grew dizzy on its own?
On top of that, Han Da-young, who had come wearing workout clothes and pieces of gold, also stood out.
“I used to come to this Frog Dungeon often back in the day! Just trust me!”
“Ah, yes. By the way, Han Da-young.”
Ignoring Kim Dong-su’s shout and trying not to look at him, Park Il-sang opened his mouth.
“Yes.”
“Are all of those real gold? When I heard your Job name earlier, I wondered whether they were related to your Job….”
“That is right. They are real gold.”
‘They really were….’
Although he had experienced all sorts of things in both his previous life and this one, Park Il-sang’s head felt rather dizzy today.
“When I keep gold close, the power of my magic becomes stronger, and my mana consumption decreases.”
“That is… a good ability.”
“Right? It does cost quite a bit, though. I made all of these by taking out an Awakening loan for Hunters.”
That made sense.
Her belt. Necklace. Bracelets. If he added all of them together, they looked to weigh at least one kilogram.
‘Was the market price of gold around 150 million won per kilogram…?’
Among Monsters, there were some that gave gold. One naturally came to know such things after working as a Menial Worker.
In other words.
This novice Hunter had already brought about 150 million won in equipment. That staff was also for a Mage, so even if it was an item meant for a low Rank, it must have cost a few million won.
In fact, if she had more gold ornaments hidden somewhere, it might have cost even more.
Who knew? Perhaps even her underwear was made of gold thread.
‘Hunters these days are terrifying. To think she came here after taking out such a huge loan from the start….’
Hunters were a promising profession, but at low Ranks, it was not as if they could earn money hand over fist. And yet she had fearlessly taken out a loan exceeding 100 million won!
Of course, Hunters did earn a lot of money.
The problem was that it was the price of their lives.
Dungeons and Monsters in the field were not the only problems.
In this world, which had become something close to a dystopia, public order was a complete mess.
If she walked around with that much gold hanging from her body, she could die an untimely death.
At least Lee Si-woon was dressed normally.
The problem was that she did not look like a Hunter.
She was simply holding a single mace in one hand, but her clothes were not the combat uniform worn by Hunters or Menial Workers.
Han Da-young was not wearing a combat uniform either, but since she had a special Job called Gold-child Mage, he could understand that. But why was this woman, Lee Si-woon, dressed like that?
If anything, Park Il-sang himself, who had come wearing an old but proper combat uniform because he usually worked as a Menial Worker, felt like the abnormal one.
In any case, Kim Dong-su walked into the Portal first.
The so-called Frog Dungeon.
When they entered the Portal, they found themselves inside a damp, dark cave. It was not completely devoid of light, as glowing moss grew here and there on the walls.
But it was only not entirely invisible; that did not mean they could see well.
When he turned around, the Portal was closed.
Now, unless they cleared this Dungeon, they could not leave.
“O resplendent light of gold!”
‘Does gold absolutely have to be included in the incantation? How absurd.’
While Park Il-sang was thinking that.
A golden sphere appeared above the party’s heads.
“It will last two hours.”
“As expected of a Mage! Well done, Da-young! Then let us go!”
“Please wait. Before that, we need to turn on all the cameras.”
Everyone nodded at Lee Si-woon’s words.
‘But how is that uncle going to attach his camera?’
The man had stripped off all his clothes because he was a Barbarian Warrior. Still, it seemed a backpack was allowed, because he had one on his back.
He had stuffed all his clothes into it.
Kim Dong-su attached his camera to the backpack strap.
‘I was hoping that, since he was a Barbarian Warrior, he would attach it to his skin….’
Park Il-sang was disappointed.
Kim Dong-su stood at the front. Park Il-sang stood beside him.
The Frog Nest was an ordinary F-Rank Dungeon.
Amphibian-type Monsters such as Frogmen appeared here, but they were not strong.
They were weak enough that even someone who was not a Hunter could defeat them.
“Ribbit!”
“WHAAAAAAA!”
-You have heard a Battle Cry.
-Your spirit has been elevated.
-Your physical abilities have increased slightly.
The underwear-clad uncle shouted and charged forward like a beast.
‘Oh. Not bad.’
And then he slipped spectacularly.
SPLAT.
Park Il-sang let out a sigh.
‘This is driving me mad. Did he really work as a Menial Worker for ten years? I had a bad feeling from the moment I saw that belly fat.’
Then he rushed toward the Frogman that was leaping at the fallen Kim Dong-su.
‘Heavy Strike!’
Warrior-type Skills could be used with just a thought!
The moment his sword shone, he struck down like lightning, and the frog was split in two at once.
SPLIT!
‘Oh. To think my swordsmanship has become this strong. Amazing!’
Still, because he had swung his sword so powerfully, his arm felt stiff.
“Uncle, are you all right?”
“I am fine!”
The underwear man sprang to his feet.
“It is just that I have not adapted to the strength of my body. I will do better next time.”
“You should have done some adaptation training before coming here.”
It was common sense that when someone Awakened as a Hunter, they had to undergo adaptation training. Naturally, it was because a new power had been granted to their body.
“That sort of thing can be done in actual combat! I have killed more than a hundred Monsters while working as a Menial Worker!”
‘Is that a bluff, or is it true…. I do not want to clean up a corpse….’
Park Il-sang looked at Kim Dong-su with unfocused eyes and scratched his head vigorously.
‘This will not do….’
Then he took off the hard, pure-white bag on his back and set it down on the ground.
It was the [Corpse Box] he had made with his Skill.
“Everyone, stop. Let us prepare a bit before we go.”
“Prepare?”
Han Da-young approached and asked.
Her expression seemed to ask what he intended to prepare.
“Come out.”
When he opened the top of the [Corpse Box] and spoke, bones poured out in a heap.
Then.
They became two Skeleton Soldiers.
Two Merman Skeleton Soldiers!
“Whoa! That is incredible!”
It was only natural for Kim Dong-su to say that. After all, the two Skeleton Soldiers, clad in ominous black Necro Mana, looked rather intimidating.
‘They only look like this. They are not a major fighting force right now, though….’
Ordinary Skeleton Soldiers did not weigh much, so in truth, they were not very strong in close combat. They did become stronger after various measures were taken.
But that was not the case right now.
They were meat shields—or rather, since they were made of bones, perhaps bone shields.
However, that alone was tremendously effective. The mere fact that they did not fear death and could cling to enemies to hinder their movements was enough to guarantee safety.
“I will be the leader instead. Does anyone object?”
No one objected to Park Il-sang’s words.
“Then let us go again.”
***
“Ribbit!”
“Ribbiit!”
Frogmen appeared.
This time, there were two.
But this time was different.
CLATTER. CLATTER.
The Skeleton Soldiers quickly ran toward the Frogmen. Then they slammed into the Frogmen with their bodies!
Because the Frogmen were not carrying weapons either, the two Monsters and the two corpses made a mess of things while grappling with each other.
“WHAAAAAA!”
With a Barbarian Warrior’s Battle Cry, Kim Dong-su charged at the two Frogmen and swung his axes horizontally, hacking into their necks.
THWACK! THWACK!
The blades bit halfway into their necks with a single blow, and the Frogmen trembled before soon dying.
“Ha! Did you see that? Did you?”
Uncle Kim Dong-su laughed heartily, holding up his bloodied axes as if he were in a good mood. However, the party did not pay attention to him.
“Wow. This is incredibly convenient.”
“To think they would cling to the enemies outright. That is impressive, Park Il-sang.”
“Thank you for the praise. They are certainly useful. And Uncle Dong-su, well done. Killing them like that makes them perfectly usable.”
“Did I kill them cleanly?”
“Yes.”
“Heh. I knew I was someone destined for success. I feel as if all my hardships until now have been rewarded!”
“Yes, yes. Please let out your roar of joy later, for now.”
Park Il-sang held out his hand.
“Corpse. By my power, rise from death and take your steps. Undead Creation.”
The Skill activated!
WHOOSH!
The two Frogman corpses that had just died twitched, then rose to their feet.
“Guuuuuuh.”
“Gggggggg.”
The Frogman corpses made grotesque sounds!
Frogman Zombies had been added to the Merman Skeleton Soldiers!
“Huh… You could control even more?”
Kim Dong-su’s expression became envious.
Four Undead!
This was worth envying!
Han Da-young and Lee Si-woon’s expressions had changed as well.
“You said you were a Necromancer…. How many can you control?”
“They are Zombies and Skeletons. In the case of Skeletons, they may be allowed into the city, but Zombies seem likely to be a problem.”
At Han Da-young and Lee Si-woon’s words.
Han Da-young looked at Lee Si-woon.
“Why would Zombies be a problem?”
“Because they smell. Complaints are an issue.”
“Ah. That is true. They would smell even if you brought them home.”
‘I had not thought of that.’
Park Il-sang agreed with the two of them.
Zombies.
They smelled!
Corpse stench, as it was called—the smell of rotting corpses—was unavoidable.
Once they reached the level of Ghouls, their Necro Mana became powerful enough that further decomposition no longer occurred, so corpse stench did not arise, which could make it less of a problem. But Zombies had no such mercy.
‘That is a good point. But I still cannot separate flesh and bone yet…. Tsk. It would be convenient if I could use the spell directly.’
Originally, Necromancy included spells that dissolved flesh, removed it, or fused it together. Such spells were essential for creating skeletal Undead or special Undead made by fusing corpses together, such as Abominations.
But now, even though he knew those spells, he could not use them, which was frustrating enough to drive him mad!
“All right. Let us stop chatting and get moving again. The tactic is the same as before. My Undead will tank, and Uncle Dong-su will kill them with his axes. If there are many enemies, Da-young will support us from the rear. Si-woon, you will stand by. I do not know why you brought a mace, but please focus entirely on healing. Understood?”
“Let us do that.”
“Yes. I understand.”
“Understood.”
The party moved forward once more.