Apocalypse Summoning Tome (1)
Each grade in Legend Seven had its own symbolic color.
And the grade granted to Hertia was ‘Apocalypse’.
Its symbol was dark purple.
In other words, the card before my eyes was probably a class card of the ‘Apocalypse’ grade.
‘...Was there an Apocalypse-grade class in the game?’
No. There was not.
To begin with, the grade known as ‘Apocalypse’ itself did not exist.
Then was this also an effect of the perk?
Or had a new grade been added when the game became reality?
All kinds of thoughts swirled around in my head, but in the end, the answer was fixed.
‘I can’t ignore this.’
I immediately turned over the card that was giving off an ominous light.
At that moment.
《Adventurer, you have advanced to the Apocalypse-grade class ‘Rebel of the Morning Star’.》
Rebel of the Morning Star...?
It was a class name I had never heard in my life.
‘No, actually, there is something that comes to mind...’
The original meaning of ‘Lucifer’, which I had used as my account name, was the morning star in Hebrew. In other words, the dawn star.
It differed from the perspective of modern theology, but in creative works, he was often treated as a figure with the image of ‘an arrogant angel who challenged God and fell into Hell’.
The word rebel was probably derived from that narrative.
‘So, in other words, they gave me a class called “Lucifer” of all things...’
【Apocalypse Class: Rebel of the Morning Star】
Description: The morning star served by all demons. The only being who can rule over those who defied the will of Heaven.
Apparently, this class had been granted to me because I was handling ‘villains’.
If so, what would the skills be like?
【Summoner Skill】
1st Skill
The damage inflicted on the ‘archenemy’ forces of your owned villains is ‘greatly’ increased.
※Current applicable target: Elves (Hertia’s archenemy)
Additional damage against archenemies, huh?
So, since I had Hertia, it meant I could deal heavy damage to the ‘elves’, who were her archenemies.
But... were there even any dungeons where I could encounter elves as enemies?
To begin with, by the time adventurers began the game, most of the elves in the game had already been destroyed by Hertia’s hands, so it was hard to even meet them.
‘The use of this skill feels a little vague... Tsk, let’s look at the next skill first.’
2nd Skill
Summoning and control are possible even when the summoner and summons are far apart.
※Current radius: 5 km. The range will increase as the skill grows.
Oh! This was extremely good.
A summon’s control radius was basically around 10 meters.
But now, it was a 5 km radius?
Did that not mean I could throw a summon into a dungeon and do something else myself?
‘This is perfect for me right now, isn’t it?’
My greatest weakness at the moment was that I could not reveal my combat power in reality.
After all, I had to hide the fact that I was a super rookie as much as possible, and even more so the fact that I handled ‘villains’.
‘But if I can summon from a distance like this, things change.’
Depending on the situation, I might even be able to summon Hertia from afar and make use of her.
Feigning an attack in the east while striking in the west, auto-hunting, killing with a borrowed knife.
So many ways to use it came to mind that I felt full just thinking about them.
Besides, it said the range would increase as I grew, right?
‘This is a real winning skill.’
I had no ability to use magic right away or support combat directly, but honestly, it did not matter even without such abilities.
At my level, I could lead the battle in the direction I wanted with only summon combinations.
Still, the 1st skill felt a little disappointing...
The effect of additional damage was extremely simple and powerful, but of all things, the target was ‘elves’.
‘Elves. A dungeon where elves appear... No matter how much I think about it, there isn’t one...’
While thinking about how to use the 1st skill, I came out of the Rune Dungeon I had cleared.
The moment I looked around Jamsil Amusement Park, which had already grown dark—
DING!
An alarm came from the Adventurer App I had downloaded in advance.
“What is it?”
Notifications from the Adventurer App were alarms sent to all adventurers, so I checked it immediately.
However, the content was quite interesting.
「Announcement from the Record Tower. Episode 8 is scheduled to update in 1 month. The subtitle of the next update is ‘Return of the Elf Legion’. -Adventurer Central Management Headquarters」
‘Ha, what timing.’
There was no need to worry.
The subtitle of a main episode always indicated the episode’s ‘main enemy’.
In other words, starting with the next patch, I would be able to face ‘elves’ until I was sick of them.
It seemed a very interesting situation would unfold one month later.
At the same time, I also became worried.
Judging from the days when it had been a game, a ‘large-scale update’ meant an increase in difficulty.
And the Republic of Korea’s tower-clearing progress was already in a state where it was vastly outnumbered.
The powerful nations that had signed clear-proxy treaties kept delaying clears with all kinds of excuses every time, only taking separate chunks of meat when the deadline drew near and clearing a little at a time.
If the difficulty of clearing increased in this situation, and if they even failed to clear it...
‘A dungeon break... might happen again.’
The memories of that terrible day that I never wanted to experience again.
I felt a drop of cold sweat run down my spine.
SLAP!
I struck my own cheek hard and snapped myself back to my senses.
‘I can do it. I was powerless in the past, but things are different now.’
Of course, I did not have the kind of patriotism that would make me rise up like a patriotic martyr to protect the country.
However, now that I had obtained the power to protect my family, my friends, and the foundation of my life, I had no intention of simply standing by and watching.
And to achieve that, above all else, I had to become strong quickly.
“Nngh!”
DING!
I was stretching to shake off my worries and loosen my stiff body when another notification rang.
This time, it was from the status window.
「The sale of the Hero Summon Selection Ticket has been completed.」
「95,000,000 won has been deposited after excluding the 5% anonymous transaction fee.」
Ooh! The selection ticket had sold too.
I looked at my phone screen again to check my account, but—
‘...? Why are there so many messages?’
While checking the transaction completion message, I saw that my phone was full of chat messages and missed calls.
I had turned on airplane mode to focus on clearing the dungeon, but who on earth had contacted me?
I felt as though I had forgotten something...
-Assistant Manager Oh, did something happen today?
-You are very late. Please contact me as soon as you check this.
-I am leaving this message because I am worried that someone who was never late even once is suddenly unreachable.
-Nothing serious happened to you, right?
“Ah, work.”
Come to think of it, Thursday was the day when Rune Dungeons of all attributes opened, but it was also a day when a perfectly normal office worker had to go to work.
I had been so caught up in the joy of awakening that I had completely forgotten it was a weekday.
“...Can this be processed as annual leave?”
***
The next day, I went to work and apologized to my colleagues for making them worry.
In truth, I was already scheduled to resign.
I had been preparing to change jobs since a month ago, so I had already submitted my resignation letter.
But because I awakened at such an odd time, I got carried away and completely forgot about it.
“Anyway, it was nothing serious, right?”
“Yes. I was not in the right state of mind yesterday. I apologize for not replying.”
“No, it is fine as long as nothing serious happened. It is just, you know. The times are rather unsettling.”
The team leader trailed off while glancing at an article about adventurer crimes displayed on his computer screen.
A weak adventurer force combined with appetizing infrastructure had caused the crime rate to soar.
Despite its old nickname as the country with the safest streets at night in the world, the current Republic of Korea was practically close to a crime city.
They said Seoul was better off, at least, since government offices and adventurer-related facilities were concentrated there, but even here, safety could no longer be guaranteed the farther one went toward the outskirts.
Self-defense items such as stun guns had been added to the list of mandatory office supplies alongside fire extinguishers, so that said everything.
CLAP!
The team leader clapped his hands to refresh the mood, then continued speaking with a bright expression.
“Anyway, what are we going to do once Assistant Manager Oh leaves? You were the ace of our team.”
“I was not that impressive.”
“Oh, enough with the modesty. If your next job has not been decided yet, why not stay a little longer? It is not even the job-change season right now.”
“That is true, but there are some matters at home.”
Of course, that was a lie.
The accident had passed long ago, and my parents were currently recovering, so things were in the stage of being settled.
I had simply given a convenient excuse.
“Shouldn’t we at least hold a farewell party?”
“No. It is all right.”
“Still, we worked together for years.”
“It is fine. I will just accept the thought. I also feel sorry about making everyone take time out during such a busy period.”
As I talked with my teammates and organized my belongings, President Bu Yeongho walked over from afar with a benevolent smile.
The president of our company was truly a good person.
His dad jokes were a little severe, but as a person, he was the real deal.
Though he seemed to be having headaches because of issues with his children.
“Oh dear, Assistant Manager Oh.”
“President!”
“It is a shame to see you go like this. Part of me wants you to stay longer, but another part of me thinks it is right to send off someone capable quickly. My heart keeps going back and forth.”
“I learned a great deal thanks to you, President.”
“If only my kids were just about as good as you, Assistant Manager Oh, I would have no wishes left.”
“Are your children still giving you trouble?”
“Do not even ask. They say they want to become adventurers or whatever, and everything is a complete mess.”
Oh dear.
Saying they wanted to become adventurers meant they had awakened.
However, society was far from easy for minors who wanted to be active as adventurers.
“It is not easy at all to work as an adventurer at that age.”
“That is why I wondered whether I should send them to a related university, but when I looked into it, the tuition was no joke.”
After the Great Cataclysm, every country hastily began encouraging the establishment of adventurer development departments at the national level.
In our country, they had been created at Y University and K University, but apparently, the tuition surpassed that of medical school.
The faculty was also made up of Legend Seven PVP rankers and overseas experts they had recruited, or so they said.
They said there was information that only circulated there, so it was a popular department among young adventurers.
“Even if I somehow manage to prepare the money, they need tutoring to pass the entrance exam. But finding a tutor is like plucking a star from the sky.”
“It is an extremely popular department, after all.”
“So I said, how about taking the civil service exam for that Adventurer Management Headquarters or whatever instead? Then they said they do not want a job that pays with national tax money.”
“I suppose it is because adventurers these days are celebrities and influencers in themselves. Young people prefer glamorous jobs.”
“That is exactly what I mean. Oh dear. Here I am saying all kinds of things in front of someone who is leaving. All right. I hope our Assistant Manager Oh succeeds in a bigger pond!”
“Yes. Thank you for everything.”
My resignation ended warmly like that.
That aside, a civil servant at the Adventurer Management Headquarters...
In truth, my younger sister was also preparing for that exam.
It was an exam held only twice a year, so the competition rate was extremely brutal.
‘Since I thought of it, should I go see her face?’
I also had something to deliver.
***
Coming to my family home after so long made my heart feel at ease.
“Son! You’re here!”
“Hyunwoo, you’re here!”
“Yes! I’m here!”
“You said you would come on the weekend, so what brings you here? And what is this? Sweet-and-spicy fried chicken?”
“I bought it because I wanted us to eat together after so long.”
Aside from the sweet-and-spicy fried chicken, I had bought a few more things needed at home.
And also the bag containing something important.
“Why are you carrying a bag around at this late hour? It is dangerous! Give it here, quickly.”
“Ah. No, it’s fine. This is a little heavy.”
It had not even been a year since my parents had recovered enough to be discharged from the hospital.
It had taken so much effort to stop them when they said they did not want to be a burden to their children and wanted to start working right away.
They could manage daily life, but they were absolutely not in a state to work.
“Oh dear. You must have a lot of work at the company.”
“It isn’t that much. I’ll just carry it, so don’t worry. I’m afraid something will happen if you lift something heavy.”
“But why did you buy so much?”
“It’s food for our family, so of course I bought a lot.”
The moment Mother saw the things I had bought, she smiled and started organizing them.
Father tried to move the dining table quickly, so I moved first.
“Father, please sit down. Your body still hasn’t fully recovered.”
“I can do this much.”
“What is the point of having a grown son, then?”
“Is that so? Haha. Hyuna! Your brother is here!”
Father called out to Oh Hyuna, who had firmly shut the door to her small room.
She clearly knew I had come, yet she would not come out until her name was called, and only then did she slowly crawl out.
Not that I felt particularly disappointed or anything.
Was that not how siblings were originally?
Whether she came in or went out, she would take care of herself.
However, the difference in her attitude between when I gave her spending money and when I did not was a little irritating.
“Oh. You’re here?”
“You haven’t seen your brother’s face in a while, and you aren’t even happy? Why didn’t you come out to greet me?”
“I didn’t know because I was concentrating.”
“What were you concentrating on? You aren’t slipping back into your old habits, are you?”
“Old habits? What?”
“What else? Following our dear older brothers around.”
“Hyuna! Are you still chasing after Miracle Boys?”
“Ah! No! I’m not! I said I’m not! Why are you saying unnecessary things?”
Wow, Oh Hyuna! That reaction was so refreshing.
“You? You’ve grown bold, Oh Hyuna. Good. Keep acting like that.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You don’t need spending money, right?”
“Dear elder brother~ This maiden was foolish. Shall I carry your bag for you?”
“Fine. I’ll give you some. Come here.”
“No, forget it. I was joking. I know what your wallet situation is like, so what spending money? But what day is it today? Why did you buy so much?”
“It is a day of sorts. I caused a bit of an incident today.”
“An incident?”
At the word incident, my family all stared at me at once.
They must have been surprised because their diligent son, who was usually far removed from the word incident, had said it with his own mouth.
“It is not a bad thing, so do not worry.”
“R-Right?”
“Yes. Let’s eat first. I have been starving since morning.”
“Right! Let’s eat, let’s eat!”
***
After eating a table full of home-cooked food, my stomach was packed full.
On top of that, once we had even finished the cake I had bought for dessert, smiles formed on my family’s faces.
“It has been so long since we ate to our hearts’ content like this.”
“Exactly. We should gather and eat like this more often.”
Because I had lived obsessed with work due to hospital bills and loan payments, I had not been able to make time even if I wanted to.
But things were different now.
“I plan to do that from now on. That is why I submitted my resignation at the company today.”
The words that I had submitted my resignation.
As soon as they heard them, my family seemed startled.
Of course they were.
The man who had been acting as the head of the household had said he would quit working.
Just as I thought I had to quickly tell them my future plans before my family became flustered—
“...I see. You have done enough. You worked hard. I was already looking for some kind of work myself.”
“Yes. I also felt awkward just staying at home now. Your father can move around now too.”
“I was thinking of adding another weekend part-time job too.”
It was not the reaction I had imagined.
I had expected the atmosphere to become heavy at least once.
But instead, everyone started saying they would work, as if they had been waiting for this.
That was not why I had said it.
“No. I said I was quitting the company. I did not say I would not earn money.”
I placed the star of the day, the work bag that I had made such a fuss over carrying myself, on top of the table.
THUD!
Unlike how it looked, the bag was quite heavy.
At the weight that made the table shake, Mother looked at me as if wondering what this was.
“Why the bag?”
“Look inside.”
Mother opened the zipper of the bag first, looked at the contents, and was startled.
“Oh my goodness! What is this?”
“What else? It is money.”
“How much is all this? How many bundles of 50,000-won bills are there?”
Oh Hyuna roughly counted from behind and clicked her tongue in disbelief.
“It looks like tens of millions of won?!”
“What?!”
“Exactly 95,000,000 won. I withdrew it from the bank today.”
Perhaps shocked by an amount far beyond his imagination, Father looked at me with even his eyes trembling.
“Son. What kind of money is this?”
“Well. This is money I earned after becoming an adventurer.”
At the word adventurer, my family’s eyes widened.
“What?!”
“What? Then, Oppa, you awakened?”
“Yeah. A little while ago.”
“Whoa. But how did someone who awakened only a little while ago get this money?”
“I was lucky and got a good item in the tutorial dungeon. I sold it.”
My family swept their hands over their chests in relief.
It was money close to 100 million won.
It seemed they had been worried that I had done something bad or gambled.
Still, once they heard it was money I had obtained after awakening as an adventurer, they felt relieved.
“I see. But I heard that adventurer work is not easy.”
“That is true. But where in the world is there an easy job?”
“Still...”
“Anyway. Let’s put out the urgent fires with this money first. And Hyuna. You should prepare to return to school without thinking about money.”
“Huh?”
Why was she so surprised when I told her to return to school?
Oh Hyuna. A twenty-three-year-old student on leave.
I had told her that I would somehow prepare her tuition, so she should stop complaining and just attend school.
But for some reason, she seemed to feel self-conscious, and after attending only one semester, she filed for a leave of absence and immediately began preparing for the civil service exam.
She had been smart since her school days and had a desire to study, so my heart had hurt back then.
Two years had passed since she took her leave of absence, so we could not delay it any longer.
I thought the timing of my awakening was truly perfect.
She had suffered all this time, so now she had to chase her dream before it grew any later.
“There is nothing to be surprised about. You are just going late to where you were originally supposed to go.”
“Ah... okay.”
“And quit your part-time job right away.”
“Even my part-time job?”
“I told you I’m an adventurer. I can earn enough to give you spending money.”
“Still... I don’t think all adventurers earn well.”
That was also true.
Not all adventurers succeeded and became influencers.
But my story was different.
After all, I was the unofficial number-one ranker and an extraordinary rookie summoner who possessed Hertia.
“Do not worry about me and prepare to return to school.”
“Ah... okay.”
“Why are you crying? You’re ugly.”
“Ah, what are you saying?!”
Leaving the tearful Oh Hyuna behind, I turned back to my parents with a much lighter heart.
“Then all the important talk is over! What should we do now?”
“What else? We should have a drink!”
“Father, I told you to cut down on alcohol.”
It seemed that, after so long, conversation would bloom among our family.
***
After finishing the meal, I returned to my room in my family home.
My emotional reunion with my family ended here!
Now, it was time to focus on growth again.
In the dead of night, after everyone in my family had fallen asleep, I carefully took out the Apocalypse Summoning Tome.
I had discovered something very interesting.
A tremendously useful ability was hidden within the Apocalypse Summoning Tome I had received as a perk.
【Apocalypse Summoning Tome】
Description: A summoning tome containing the power of the Apocalypse. By offering other summoning tomes as sacrifices, the Rebel of the Morning Star can inherit the legacies left behind.
※The required points will change each time a summon is called forth using the summoning tome.
[Currently Inherited Legacies]
▶1/7
[Points Remaining Until the Next Legacy Inheritance]
▶0/1,000 pt
*Lower-grade summoning tomes can be offered as sacrifices to obtain sacrifice points.
Common: 1 pt
Advanced: 5 pt
...
Mythic: 1,000 pt
Good. How should I play around with this thing?