The result appeared inside the box in an instant.
Jeon Jae-woo was so startled that he nearly stumbled backward.
And for good reason.
What had emerged from the box this time was a skeleton—a pile of bones.
The skeleton was hunched over, draped in rags and clutching a staff.
Simply looking at it sent an eerie chill through him.
Myeolgeop, standing beside him, briefly explained what the skeleton was.
[It is an Elder Lich, an Undead-type monster. During the war of the past, entities of this kind were used to overwhelm enemies through sheer numbers.]
“Do you two know each other?”
[I am familiar with entities known as Elder Liches, but I have never met this particular individual. For all intents and purposes, it has only just been born.]
“Ah. Right.”
Jeon Jae-woo immediately checked its Status Window.
〈Elder Lich〉 - Bound (Jeon Jae-woo)
Description – An Undead that forcibly draws in souls and creates undying soldiers to fight its enemies. It is one of the highest-ranking Undead entities and is capable of wielding high-level Sorcery.
Type – Undead
Traits – Sorcery (S). Resurrection (S). Soul Summoning (S). Barrier (A). Energy Wave (B).
He had extracted only the energy dwelling within the swords and put it into the box, yet an Undead-type monster had emerged.
It was probably because the Mana he had infused was associated with spiritual beings.
As he looked at the newest member of his strange household, a thought suddenly occurred to him.
‘Wait. If I had known this would happen, should I have extracted the energy from the Knight King’s armor before giving it to the Hunter Administration?’
Both the swords and the armor worn by the Skeleton Knight King had contained a similar aura of death.
If he had combined the armor’s energy with that of the swords, perhaps an even more powerful entity might have emerged.
Well, at least he was going to receive an enormous amount of money for the armor.
-CLACK CLACK CLACK!
Just then, the Lich spoke as its jawbones repeatedly knocked together.
“A pleasure to meet you, Maker.”
“??”
Jeon Jae-woo had not expected it to speak, so the voice startled him.
It did not even have a tongue, yet ordinary speech somehow came out of its mouth.
“Uh, yes. Hello.”
The voice sounded like that of an old man, so Jeon Jae-woo instinctively spoke politely.
The Elder Lich seemed amused by the respectful treatment and let out a dry chuckle.
“You use honorifics with a newborn child? What an unusual Maker.”
“…No matter how I look at you, you do not resemble a child. You do not even look like an old man. You look like someone who has already been dead for quite a long time.”
Technically speaking, it really was a newborn, considering it had only just emerged from Heaven’s Box.
Jeon Jae-woo checked its Status Window once more.
As expected, the Elder Lich was classified as an Undead, and it possessed no fewer than three S-grade Traits.
It could not compare to Myeolgeop, which possessed Transcendent-grade Traits, but it was still an extraordinarily powerful entity.
Would this not make it stronger than the person currently known as South Korea’s strongest Hunter?
Of course, when it came to Myeolgeop, which possessed two Transcendent-grade Traits, Jeon Jae-woo was not even sure whether any Hunter in the entire world could defeat it.
“Hmm. Then I look forward to working with you, Elder Lich.”
“It is I who should say that. I look forward to working with you as well. And you may simply call me Lich.”
“But what exactly do your Traits do? I cannot really tell just by looking at their names.”
Sorcery was probably some sort of magic-like Trait, while he could more or less guess what Barrier and Energy Wave did.
The bones of the Lich’s face shifted slightly, almost as though it were smiling.
“If you are curious, it would be better to show you directly. Wait a moment.”
A sudden sense of foreboding struck Jeon Jae-woo, and he hurriedly spoke.
“You are not going to break anything, are you? It would be a problem if you used your power in here.”
“I will demonstrate it safely, so there is no need to worry. I possess at least that much common sense.”
-THUD.
The Lich infused its skeletal staff with dark Mana and tapped it against the floor several times.
-CRACK!
“??”
Jeon Jae-woo’s eyes widened.
The floor of his studio apartment split open, and dark Mana poured out from the cracks.
Then another Skeleton crawled up through the floor.
“That is how it is done.”
“……”
The Lich sounded rather proud after demonstrating its ability.
As expected of an Undead monster, it possessed powers befitting a Necromancer.
But more importantly, there was now a crack in his floor.
“…From now on, please avoid using that Trait inside the house unless it is absolutely necessary.”
Come to think of it, though, he did not remember seeing any Trait in its Status Window specifically related to summoning Skeletons.
“When you summoned that Skeleton, did you use Resurrection or Soul Summoning?”
“I used both. More precisely, I combined the abilities of the two Traits.”
Jeon Jae-woo apparently looked as though he had no idea what that meant, because the Lich raised its staff once more.
“In other words, I first use Soul Summoning(招魂術) to draw a soul from the surrounding area…”
-RUMMMMMBLE.
Jeon Jae-woo instinctively hid behind Myeolgeop.
An ominous Mana had appeared in the air, every bit as unsettling as the aura the Elder Lich had emitted when it first emerged.
Its nature seemed remarkably similar to the Mana they had extracted from the swords.
However, Myeolgeop remained perfectly still, so the situation apparently was not dangerous.
“Then I use Resurrection to create a body that exists in a state of death and allow the soul to inhabit it.”
-CRAAAACK!
The floor split open again, and another Skeleton emerged.
‘Damn it.’
The first thing he would have to do tomorrow morning was call a repair service.
In any case, he now understood what the abilities did.
Then, suddenly curious, Jeon Jae-woo turned to Myeolgeop.
“What do you think? With this much strength, could we comfortably clear an Ancient-grade Ruin?”
[Yes. It should be entirely possible.]
In truth, Myeolgeop could probably somehow clear an Ancient-grade Ruin alone.
The problem was that if Jeon Jae-woo entered the Ruin with it, all sorts of complications could arise.
If they entered together, Myeolgeop would have to protect its master, who possessed virtually no combat power, in addition to fighting the monsters.
And as the grade of the Ruin increased, the difficulty of the clear would rise exponentially. An Ancient-grade Ruin would undoubtedly be an incomparably more complicated battlefield than a Legendary-grade one.
In such an environment, even Jeon Jae-woo, who stayed quietly in the rear, would likely encounter danger.
If Myeolgeop became preoccupied with combat, Jeon Jae-woo might find himself in danger before the Golem could reach him.
On the other hand, Ancient-grade Ruins took a long time to clear, so leaving Jeon Jae-woo alone in the real world was not a particularly good option either.
Jeon Jae-woo had recently attracted worldwide attention as the Hunter who had single-handedly cleared Legendary-grade Ruins.
Not only the major domestic Companies, but foreign organizations as well were undoubtedly doing everything possible to determine his whereabouts.
Even Myeolgeop would need a considerable amount of time to clear an Ancient-grade Ruin by itself.
There was no way to completely rule out the possibility that some organization might target Jeon Jae-woo and make a move while Myeolgeop was away.
Jeon Jae-woo had previously suggested that Myeolgeop try clearing an Ancient-grade Ruin alone, but Myeolgeop had refused the command, saying that now that its Creator’s name had become known to the world, leaving him alone would be too dangerous.
But if the Elder Lich possessed abilities of this caliber, all of those problems could be resolved.
Even if Jeon Jae-woo entered an Ancient-grade Ruin with them, Myeolgeop could fight freely while the Elder Lich protected him.
“Then should we try clearing an Ancient-grade Ruin sometime soon?”
***
Recently, the Hunter Administration—no, all of South Korea—had been in high spirits.
The reason was none other than the successful clears of Legendary-grade Ruins.
South Korea normally considered itself fortunate to secure even one Legendary-grade Ruin in a month, yet it had already obtained two.
And because both had been cleared by a single Hunter, public interest could only continue to rise.
[Today’s Hunter breaking news. Apparently, the Hunter who cleared the Legendary-grade Ruins traded all of the rewards with the Hunter Administration.]
┗Does he never get tired? How did he clear two Legendary-grade Ruins?
┗Maybe they are two different people with the same name.
┗At this point, could he just clear an Ancient-grade Ruin alone too?
┗That seems like too much. If he wants to clear an Ancient-grade Ruin, he will probably have no choice but to cooperate with the Hunter Administration.
┗I am waiting for the day he clears an Ancient-grade Ruin by himself too.
Even the President publicly expressed his gratitude to the Hunters who had achieved such impressive results in the Ruin industry.
Meanwhile, the public’s curiosity continued to grow.
Just who was the Hunter who had cleared two Legendary-grade Ruins?
Elsewhere, Yoo Jeong-tae was smiling contentedly as he stroked the armor he had received from Jeon Jae-woo.
He handled it as carefully as a treasured family heirloom, wary of allowing even a speck of dust to settle on it.
Today, he intended to give the armor to a Hunter who could make proper use of it.
-KNOCK KNOCK.
“Come in.”
“You called for me, Commissioner?”
A female Hunter entered the Commissioner’s office.
Despite appearing to be around Jeon Jae-woo’s age, she gave off a remarkably powerful presence.
She was Kim Yu-min, one of South Korea’s representative S-grade Hunters.
When she first became a Hunter, she had attracted enormous attention as an Awakened Individual with unprecedented talent.
Her striking appearance had also made her tremendously popular with the public.
Yoo Jeong-tae beckoned her over.
“Ah, Yu-min. You are here. Come over and take a look.”
Kim Yu-min’s eyes widened when she saw the armor sitting on the desk.
“Commissioner. Is that perhaps…?”
“Yes. It is the armor I obtained from the Hunter who cleared the Legendary-grade Ruin.”
“Wow…”
Kim Yu-min could not help exclaiming in admiration.
Even to an S-grade Hunter like her, the armor radiated a formidable presence.
Kim Yu-min was a Martial-Type Hunter who wielded a Greatsword and fought monsters on the front lines.
Aside from the slightly ominous aura surrounding it, the armor was practically perfect for her.
“Here. It is yours from now on, so make good use of it. Of course, if you leave the Hunter Administration, you will have to return it.”
A bright smile spread across Kim Yu-min’s face.
“Really?”
“Of course. Is there anyone in the Hunter Administration who could make better use of armor like this than you?”
“Thank you!”
“Do not thank me. Thank the person who brought us the armor.”
Kim Yu-min hugged her newly acquired armor tightly.
Aside from the ominous aura it gave off, she loved it.
“This armor was brought back by the Hunter who cleared a Legendary-grade Ruin alone, right?”
“That is right.”
“You have met that Hunter personally, Commissioner. Who exactly is the Hunter who cleared a Legendary-grade Ruin alone?”
At present, almost no one in South Korea knew Jeon Jae-woo’s identity aside from Yoo Jeong-tae himself, several high-ranking officials in the Hunter Administration, the Minister of the Ministry of Disaster Administration, and the President.
Even the S-grade Hunters affiliated with the Hunter Administration had not been informed.
Jeon Jae-woo strongly disliked having his identity exposed, and there was little benefit in telling ordinary Hunters about him anyway.
What if one of them went looking for him out of curiosity and ended up causing a conflict?
“Do not be too impatient. Wait a little longer. I will tell you before long.”
“Oh, but I am so curious. Is he not going to join the Hunter Administration?”
“I am not sure.”
Of course Yoo Jeong-tae desperately wanted to recruit him.
He was doing everything he could to find a way, but given Hunter Jeon Jae-woo’s personality, it did not seem likely to be easy.
“More importantly, how is your condition? Do you think you can handle a Legendary-grade Ruin clear?”
Kim Yu-min smiled and nodded.
“With this armor, I think I can.”