“This must be the Reward Room I have only heard about….”
They said that when one cleared a Dungeon, one was moved to a space called the Reward Room. Apparently, this was where one received the Dungeon clear rewards.
In truth, he had heard that only one’s consciousness came here, and in reality, time itself stopped entirely.
It was his first time experiencing it, but it was quite fascinating.
And he felt it even more keenly.
This was no ordinary god.
‘It must be some tremendous greater divinity….’
As someone who had been an Archlich in his previous life, he found this phenomenon itself profoundly mysterious and wanted to know what on earth it was. But in any case, there was nothing he could do right now.
Then again, even the Constellations of this world were said not to know where this Hunter System originated.
Earth was practically a Pantheon, with gods no one had ever heard of running wild while calling themselves Constellations.
In truth, the title Constellation itself was merely something enforced by the Hunter System.
Each and every one of them was an immortal god.
And even beings like that did not know what this was….
He was thinking that when it happened.
[You have cleared the Dungeon.]
[Measuring Dungeon clear grade.]
[B+ Clear.]
[Measuring Dungeon clear contribution.]
[Your Dungeon clear contribution is 85%.]
[You can acquire 3 Skills.]
[You can acquire 1 item.]
“Whoa. It is my first Dungeon clear, and I get three of them? Was it not said that sometimes you do not even get one Skill?”
As far as he knew, Dungeon clear rewards accumulated.
In other words, if an F-Grade Hunter cleared an F-Rank Dungeon about ten times.
Around that point, they could acquire one Skill.
As that happened, they would also accumulate experience by clearing Dungeons, and their own grade would rise as well.
In short, one could say that the Hunter System’s intention was for them to continuously enter Dungeons and clear them.
Outside Dungeons, no matter how many Monsters one killed, one did not grow.
The only place where one’s grade could rise and where one could obtain Skills was inside a Dungeon.
“They said the Dungeon changed somewhat…. Is that why I gained so much? Or is it because we killed people?”
He could not know. In that case, he should move on.
[Displaying the list of Skills you can acquire.]
WHOOSH! A Skill list appeared.
“These are all things I know.”
Park Il-sang muttered so. In truth, it was packed with Necromancy spells he had learned in his previous life.
However.
By the standards of his previous life, they were only 1st Tier spells.
Naturally, that made sense.
Why would higher-tier spells be allowed to him when he was only F-Grade?
“Hmm. Will 2nd Tier spells appear on the list once I become E-Grade…?”
Thinking that as he looked over the list, he chose three spells—no, Skills.
[Necro Item Creation]
[Corpse Processing]
[Life Force Absorption]
“This is what is good about Necromancers…. They can craft magical items starting from 1st Tier.”
That was right.
Generally speaking, the creation of magical items was something done by those among Mages who belonged to the Enchantment Magic School.
Even for them, proper magical item creation began at 2nd Tier.
But Necromancers could make them even at 1st Tier.
Was that not incredibly impressive?
[Displaying the list of items you can acquire.]
This time, only three items appeared on the list. It seemed he had to choose one of them.
[Human Bone Staff]
Grade : Common
Description : A staff made from human bones. It was completed by joining shinbones together and fitting a skull at the end. It adds Necro Mana and increases the number of corpses that can be controlled.
Function : Necro Mana increased by 15%
Function : Corpse Control +5
[Human Bone Ring]
Grade : Common
Description : A ring made from human bones. It was made by joining finger bones together and completed by shrinking and attaching a skull. It amplifies the power of Necromancy.
Function : Necromancy spell power increased by 20%
[Human Bone Tongs]
Grade : Common
Description : Work tongs made from human bones. They were completed by fusing hands, feet, and a skull. They increase the success rate when creating Necro Items and add a function.
Function : Necro Item Skill effects increased by 100%
Function : Skill effect +1 when creating Necro Items
“Oh?”
All three items had clear concepts. Judging by the staff’s description, it increased the number of controllable Undead and increased his mana. The ring purely increased the power of spells, while the tongs attached bonus effects to crafted items.
And when he looked at them.
Naturally.
He had no choice but to take the Human Bone Tongs.
“Production types are the best.”
Park Il-sang immediately chose the Human Bone Tongs.
Then.
POP!
A pair of one-handed tongs made from human bone appeared in front of his eyes. The tongs, made of glossy white bone, were wrapped in gloomy Necro Mana.
When he grasped them, the world collapsed.
When he came to his senses, he had returned to the Boss Room where the Boss Monster’s corpse lay.
And when he glanced around.
Uncle Kim Dong-su’s belly fat had gone in, and he could be seen wearing a horned helmet on his head.
‘What is this? He said Barbarian Warriors cannot wear armor. But helmets are fine? And his belly fat went right in. What Skill did he learn?’
It seemed the other side had received decent rewards in his own way.
Looking at the other two, Lee Si-woon’s mace had changed, while nothing about Han Da-young had changed.
Then again.
In terms of contribution, Park Il-sang himself had practically monopolized it….
“Si-woon, that mace looks impressive.”
“Kim Dong-su, your helmet is impressive as well.”
“Right? This is one hell of a helmet!”
Uncle Kim Dong-su was extremely excited.
And then.
Soon, a Portal opened.
“Oh! Let us get out, everyone! How about a wrap-up meal?”
Kim Dong-su left first as he said that.
Park Il-sang grinned and followed after him.
***
In the end, only Kim Dong-su and Park Il-sang went to the wrap-up meal. Lee Si-woon and Han Da-young left, saying they had things to do.
Still, all four of them exchanged contact information. They had worked well together this time, so they might form a party again later.
After that, the two went to a bar for the wrap-up meal.
It was a cheap bar in a 5th-class residential district, but alcohol was a manufactured product, so there was no qualitative difference between this place and a 1st-class residential district deep inside.
How could bottled beer possibly differ?
“With this, even a 2nd-class residential district is not just a dream!”
Uncle Kim Dong-su shouted while drinking bottled beer and eating well-grilled cultured beef.
“My daughter can go to a good school now….”
Then he even ordered soju and drank it, until he was half wasted.
From what Park Il-sang heard.
Though his behavior was somewhat strange, he seemed to be the head of a family.
Because Kim Dong-su had completely lost it from drinking, Park Il-sang took him home. Getting wasted in this 5th-class residential district was extremely dangerous.
If he sent him off like this and he became a corpse the next day, it would leave a bad taste in his mouth. So when he took him home, a fourteen-year-old girl opened the door and came out.
“Dad!”
She was a fairly cute child. Her mother was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps she had gone out to work somewhere. Or perhaps she was dead and no longer existed.
Long ago.
In other words, a memory from his previous life came to mind.
The time when he had fought to save the world, even after becoming an Archlich.
Why had he run himself ragged back then, trying to save the world?
He remembered that it had been because he had wanted to see a child’s smile like this.
“Your father is a little drunk, so take good care of him.”
After returning Kim Dong-su home like that, Park Il-sang went back to his own house.
He still had more than enough Necro Mana overflowing within him, but his body was quite fatigued.
So after arriving home.
He locked the door tightly and dove straight onto the bed.
Park Il-sang soon fell asleep.
***
The next day.
When Park Il-sang woke up after sleeping, his body felt refreshed.
He slung the [Corpse Box] onto his back again and left the house. He had quite a lot to do today, so he had to move diligently.
“Here.”
He went to the Association and held out the camera.
He needed this for the Association to acknowledge him and issue his Hunter license. Once he had a Hunter Registration Card, he could move straight into a 3rd-class residential district.
It was on a completely different level from a lawless zone like this.
After hearing that it would take about ten days to analyze the camera footage, he left the Association and moved busily.
Because he was planning to go back to the Dungeon he had entered yesterday.
He saw that the Frog Nest he had cleared yesterday was still there.
Dungeons did not disappear just because they were cleared.
The only problem was that if they were not cleared, a Dungeon Break would occur, causing countless Monsters to pour out from inside.
SWISH.
When he entered the Dungeon, he found the same dim cave interior as yesterday.
“Let us see.”
Park Il-sang took out the items he had prepared in advance before coming here.
WHIRR.
Drones flew into the air.
There were four drones that rose up.
They were not for filming. The four drones emitted very bright light.
In that state, he took Undead out from the [Corpse Box].
Frogman Zombies wriggled out.
‘Among the lowest ranks, Zombies are better than Skeleton Soldiers after all. It is because they have weight class, but now things are a little different.’
If one asked which was better, something that was nothing but bones or something with thick flesh remaining, the answer could only be that the lump of flesh was naturally better.
At least Skeleton Soldiers were faster than Zombies, but that was all. The problem was that once they came into contact, they were pushed back by the difference in weight class.
However.
There was a trick.
Or perhaps it should be called a technique.
“Corpse Processing.”
When he used the Skill, the Zombies’ flesh was peeled clean away.
[Corpse Processing] was a spell that processed corpses freely. It was a Skill that could make pieces of flesh stick to one another and alter their external forms as much as desired.
Usually, it was used to make impressive Abominations and the like, but….
What Park Il-sang intended to do was a little different.
CRACK.
When the flesh was stripped from the Zombies, what remained were Skeleton Soldiers, and the bones of those Skeleton Soldiers began to join and stick together.
-Kraaaaaagh!
The torn vengeful spirits clinging to the skeletons screamed.
An Undead was fundamentally a corpse with fragments of a soul, or a soul itself, attached to it, so this was only natural.
When two Skeleton Soldiers physically fused together, the vengeful spirits also mixed together.
Should he call it a hodgepodge mixture of vengeful spirits?
Before long.
The bones of the two Frogmen had become one, and their form had changed.