Fifty years had passed since Gates first appeared in the world.
We now lived in an age where mana engines and monsters had become ordinary parts of life.
Hunters supplied magic stones, a new energy resource.
They had also become an indispensable force, protecting people from the threat of monsters.
It was the profession with the highest death rate worldwide.
Yet that was precisely why Hunters were admired by everyone.
I was one of those Hunters as well.
“Bark! Grrr!”
“Huh? Hey?”
“One slipped through over there!”
A dog-headed beastman.
A Kobold had ignored the tank line and charged toward us.
“Hiss.”
Time to start earning my keep.
CLICK—
I opened the wheeled case used to transport my cargo.
Severed arms and legs.
It looked as though I were concealing a crime, but I was not.
Take a closer look.
That was not a human face. It had a pig’s snout.
It was the corpse of an E-rank monster: an Orc.
It took five seconds to fit together the separated arms, legs, and torso.
I placed a hand on its cold skin.
“Open your eyes.”
[Corpse Crafting]
A gloomy energy connected the divided corpse.
The Orc sprang to its feet and gave a slight shudder.
“Bark! Bark!”
“Uuuurgh.”
Like an actor who had frozen under pressure.
The Orc grabbed the Kobold with stiff movements and toppled over on top of it.
Pinned beneath the corpse, the Kobold repeatedly stabbed its side with a dagger.
STAB. STAB.
Its body swayed from side to side, yet not a single drop of blood spilled.
Of course not. It was a zombie.
The Orc Zombie seized both of the Kobold’s arms, preventing it from moving.
Then it tore into the creature’s neck.
CRUNCH!
[Experience Points have increased.]
[You have reached the level cap. Experience Points will be converted into Accumulated Experience.]
The message announced that the Kobold had stopped breathing.
“Stop.”
Corpses were money too.
If it devoured everything, there would be nothing left.
The Orc Zombie immediately stood up.
An E-rank Hunter working here on a day contract recoiled in shock.
“Park, are you a Necromancer?”
“It is just a small trick.”
I was not a Necromancer, a class guaranteed to be at least B-rank upon Awakening.
I was in a related profession called a Necrosmith.
“Kim, you did not know? Park is famous for being a permanent E-rank.”
“A permanent E-rank?”
“He has been E-rank for five years. He is practically a celebrity at the Hunter manpower agency. How did you not know?”
Damn it.
Thank you so very much for introducing me.
“Bark! Bark!”
The sound of barking assaulted my eardrums.
“More Kobolds are coming!”
“Everyone, follow your training. Tanks to the front.”
“Y-Yes!”
“You there, Mage! Why are you preparing a Fireball? Are you trying to roast the tanks?”
“I-I am sorry!”
CLANG—
The sound of something falling echoed through the area.
Tense gasps rose from every direction.
This was the first real combat experience for students from a small Hunter academy.
Today, I had come to work as a temporary shield for Hunters with no field experience.
Catching the Kobolds that slipped past the tanks was part of my job as well.
“Park, are you doing this job again today?”
“The pay is decent.”
“Is it not a pain, wiping the asses of snot-nosed kids?”
“There is not much else I can do.”
A bitter smile lingered on my lips.
It had been five years since I Awakened as a Hunter.
After Awakening, I had entered Gates without fail, five days a week.
An ordinary Hunter entered a Gate three times a week, did they not?
I had worked nearly twice as hard.
Yet I still had not managed to rise to D-rank.
“Still, it looks as though your Undead have started moving a little more smoothly.”
“Haha. Thank you.”
As if that were possible.
At most, my Undead could barely keep their limbs moving.
Charging forward without thought, knocking enemies down, and biting them was the best combat method they could manage.
Were Undead not supposed to move stiffly because of rigor mortis?
[Corpse Crafting]
Rank: E
Restriction: Necrosmith
Proficiency: 100%
Processes materials deemed to be corpses into equipment or Undead.
Undead created through Corpse Crafting are influenced by their creator.
If an Otherworldly Soul is bestowed upon them, the creator also inherits a portion of that soul’s abilities.
▷ Growth-Type Skill.
A Necromancer could raise corpses into Undead with ease as long as they had mana.
My profession, however, required me to actually craft them.
It felt like an inferior version of the real thing.
That much, I could accept.
The real problem was this part.
▷ Influenced by their creator.
In other words, it referred to things like athletic coordination.
You know the sort of person who runs after a ball on the playground, then trips over nothing?
That was me.
I possessed cursed athletic coordination.
Taekwondo.
Muay Thai.
Kickboxing.
Personal training at the gym.
I had tried everything to improve my cursed sense of coordination.
—I am sorry. Please come only through today.
—You do not seem to have any potential for improvement.
—We will refund your registration fee.
They had all ended in failure.
“Uuuurgh.”
My brow furrowed as I watched the Orc Zombie rise stiffly.
The reason I had not advanced to D-rank was the Rank Advancement Assessment.
Once a person reached the level cap—Level 50—they had to undergo an advancement assessment.
The contents differed depending on the class.
For classes in the Necromancer line, the D-rank assessment evaluated “Crafting” and “Control.”
Honestly.
If they had simply told me to fight a monster one-on-one like a Warrior, I would not have felt so wronged.
“Hey! Another Kobold slipped through!”
“Yes. I am going.”
The Orc Zombie moved stiffly and blocked the Kobold’s path.
Please, do not take too much damage.
It costs materials to repair you.
What would I do if the repair expenses became higher than my wages?
***
[Hero’s Mausoleum]
[Rank – E]
[Restriction – D-rank or below (30)]
That was the name of the Gate the boisterous novices had entered to clear.
“Argh! It hurts!”
“Hold the formation. Do not retreat.”
“Stop the Kobolds!”
For such a grand name.
The primary monsters in this Gate were Kobolds.
They were E-rank weaklings, on par with Goblins.
“You people! Get to work!”
The academy staff member shouted until the veins stood out in his neck.
Why was he taking his frustration out on us when he had failed to train the students properly?
“Park, can you only control one zombie?”
“I can control more than one.”
“Then why are you only using one?”
“It is not cost-effective.”
My Undead were handmade.
If they were damaged, I had to repair every single one myself.
Unless I was clearing a Gate alone.
There would be no reason to control several at once.
“If you are a Necromancer, should you not overwhelm them with numbers?”
“There is certainly an appeal to that.”
But I would be trading style for the contents of my wallet, so I could not afford it.
“You could just make Undead on the spot.”
“They need to go through a curing process first.”
That was why I had brought corpses in a wheeled case.
Corpses not cured with mana did not perform properly.
The advantage was that they consumed no mana to maintain.
But that did not mean much to someone like me, for whom damage immediately meant spending money.
One of the Hunters working here on a day contract gave my shoulder a couple of taps.
“I was nervous when I saw the Gate’s name, but it is nothing special.”
Exactly.
There was one more reason I had joined this job besides the money.
Mausoleum was another word for a tomb.
Could I perhaps find the “Otherworldly Soul” mentioned in [Corpse Crafting] here?
With that thought in mind, I had entered the Gate, clutching at straws.
Yet all I could see were Kobolds panting roughly.
When we reached the end of the Gate, the atmosphere changed.
One of the Hunter academy students looked around and muttered.
“The atmosphere certainly fits the name.”
“Who chats while clearing a Gate?”
“S-Sorry!”
An excavated grave.
A Kobold Shaman sat atop a coffin that had been pulled from the earth.
There were ten Kobolds near the grave.
We had to clear out the lesser monsters before we could target the Kobold Shaman.
“Grrr!”
The Kobold Shaman, the boss monster, extended its staff with a low growl.
A magic circle appeared before the staff.
It was dangerous.
“Students, watch carefully.”
The academy staff member, who had done nothing but give orders from behind, left the formation and charged forward.
He was supposed to be a D-rank Hunter.
[Howling Blade]
The vibrating blade cleaved through the Fireball.
Then, with the remaining force, it cut down the creature that had been preparing another spell in a single slash.
“Wow. D-ranks really are different. He even cut through a spell.”
That was because of an item, though.
Necromancer + Blacksmith.
Thanks to my class traits, I immediately understood the item’s effect.
The vibration generated by mana had neutralized the Fireball.
The remaining force had killed the Kobold Shaman.
The novices continued their parade of embarrassing mistakes, but the Gate was cleared without a major accident.
“We did it!”
“We cleared a Gate!”
“I am finally a real Hunter!”
Excited voices rang through the Gate’s exit.
I understood how they felt.
I had been the same way when I first entered a Gate.
Back then, I had not known I would still be stuck at E-rank after five years as a Hunter.
“Tch.”
It left a bitter taste in my mouth.
“The clearing message has not appeared yet, so we need to eliminate the remaining monsters.”
The academy staff member urged the novices onward.
Once a Gate was cleared.
[You have successfully cleared this Gate.]
[Rank — E ~ SSS]
The rank was determined by the time it took to clear the Gate.
Each participant received a reward.
This raid had taken quite a while.
There was no chance of receiving a good reward.
While the novices shouted and complained, I circled around the grave.
You never knew.
Perhaps I would find an Otherworldly Soul.
That was what I said, but honestly, I doubted such a soul even existed.
Souls had never appeared when I killed monsters.
I occasionally saw spirits while walking around outside.
However, [Corpse Crafting] did not activate on them. They were not valid targets for the skill.
“Another wasted trip?”
I cautiously approached the coffin.
Still, I could not find even a trace of a soul.
“Uuuurgh.”
The Orc Zombie slowly approached.
It was instinctively protecting its master.
Right.
At least I have you...
【Who are you?】
The coffin trembled slightly.
An androgynous voice pierced my mind.
It was not a sound.
It was a lingering thought left behind by the dead.
THUMP—THUMP—
My heart trembled.
The coffin had shown no reaction until now.
Had it reacted to the Orc Zombie?
The reason did not matter.
If the owner of that lingering thought was an Otherworldly Soul.
I might finally see a new aspect of [Corpse Crafting], something I had never once been able to attempt in five years.
I barely calmed my racing heart.
Feigning composure, I slowly opened my lips.
“May I ask who you are?”
【My name is Isra. I am the strongest knight on the continent of Enras.】