Being a Hunter Is Too Easy for a Former Necromancer - Chapter 16
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Reincarnated Necromancer Finds Hunter Work Too Easy — Chapter 16
“Soul Utilization.”
Park Il-sang deployed Soul Utilization on the two hundred soul fragments he had just poured out.
Screeeeeee.
Waaaahhhhh.
Shrieeeek.
Souls — or more precisely, shattered and fragmented souls. Even with Soul Capture, it was still impossible to retrieve the soul of the deceased completely intact.
Perhaps once his mastery grew higher, it would become possible.
For now, it was not.
And yet.
Even so, they contained far more than when creating undead from raw materials.
If an original soul were measured as ten, an undead created the conventional way would contain only about one unit of soul, but what he captured with Soul Capture contained five or six times that.
And he was pouring in as many as two hundred of them.
Shriek!
The souls that formed the skeletal beast and the newly infused souls adhered to one another through Soul Utilization.
After all, this skill was designed to imbue objects with souls to grant them special power, or to bind souls together into larger agglomerations — so the result was inevitable.
Then.
The color of the skeletal beast’s entire body began to shift.
What had been a pristine white bone frame darkened to black, releasing an aura of desolation.
Resentment poured forth.
Merely looking at it felt like having one’s mind pierced by a blade.
-The undead skeletal beast leader evolves.
-The skeletal beast leader has evolved into a Skeletal Beast Lord.
Skeletal Beast Lord
Rank: Treasure
Description: A large undead beast crafted from numerous bones. Countless soul fragments have fused within it, transforming it into a malevolent and mighty wraith that dwells within the form. It possesses the power to command nearby undead, and the very sight of it instills intense terror in the living.
Property: Fear
Property: Upon mounting, Corpse Control +100
Property: Can be controlled with a single Corpse Control.
Property: Can be augmented with corpses up to the limit matching the rider’s rank
“Wow. The system really is generous, isn’t it?”
Park Il-sang marveled.
Treasure rank!
Out of seven tiers — Common, Rare, Exceptional, Treasure, Transcendent, Mythic, and Divine — an undead of Treasure rank had been born.
Treasure rank was a grade even B-rank Hunters rarely encountered.
This creature’s strength was evident.
By the standards of his past life, this was a mid-tier undead — absolutely not something a first-rate Necromancer could control.
Yet the system had forced the ability into his hands regardless.
Terrifying!
However.
He sensed this was approaching his limit.
“The system seems to instinctively warn me… it’s strange. I never had this sense in my past life.”
In his past life, many had destroyed themselves for that very reason.
Wielding power beyond their limits, they lost reason or simply burst apart.
Ah, how I miss those old days.
“Then. Shall we make one final run?”
Evening was settling in.
Though the Weitmyeong granted him infinite stamina and no fatigue, he had no desire to work past dark.
Deciding to make one last sweep through the dungeon, he climbed atop the Skeletal Beast Lord’s back.
“Let’s go, meow!”
“Meow.”
Using both Soul Refinement and Soul Completion.
The Skeletal Beast Lord, now perfectly transformed into the form of a tiger — or cat — answered adorably.
* * *
-You have gained sufficient experience and advance to E- rank.
-You have reached E- rank and can now learn new skills of this rank.
-You have gained sufficient experience and advance to 2nd Grade rank.
-You have reached 2nd Grade rank and can now learn new skills of this rank.
“I did it!”
He continued spinning circles through the dungeon.
Finally, he’d graduated from F-rank and entered the E-rank tier!
“I know it sounds strange to say, but Necromancers are genuinely overpowered.”
Nest Guardian.
Standing before the grotesque corpse of the boss monster, he couldn’t help but praise himself.
But it was the truth.
Because.
Necromancers operated on an entirely different principle than mages or other hunters.
They generated magical power within their bodies, recovered it, and cast skills like anyone else.
But.
Necromancers generated and drew their magical power from the Corpse Box.
The very foundation was different—both the rate of magical recovery and the total capacity of power itself.
Of course, Necromancers weren’t without weakness. If the Corpse Box was destroyed, all necromantic power would vanish in an instant.
Even so.
Since monsters had no way of knowing a Necromancer’s vulnerability, they held an overwhelming advantage in dungeon hunts.
As a result.
Less than a month after his Awakening, he’d already reached E-rank.
“If I posted this on community forums, it’d catch fire instantly, wouldn’t it?”
The world had crumbled to roughly a third of its former self, and yet people endured. The economy still functioned.
That’s why countless internet communities thrived, and among hunters, the most active by far was the Hunter Board.
If he posted about how strong Necromancers were, the whole thread would erupt in flames.
Setting aside thoughts of the Hunter Board for now, he decided to take stock of his own condition.
He closed his eyes.
Focusing his mind inward.
Then.
He felt the quantity of power he could handle had increased substantially.
The Corpse Box generated necromantic power equivalent to one hundred corpses, but at F-rank, he couldn’t deploy all of it at once.
The necromantic power he could use in a single burst amounted to roughly five corpses’ worth.
Now, he could wield several times that amount.
Output was around twenty corpses’ worth of power, he’d estimate.
The Necro Magic Bullet Rapid Fire had grown roughly four times more potent as well.
What was striking was that his original job—Warrior—had also advanced in rank.
Despite the fact that he hadn’t fought as a Warrior at all.
His Warrior-class magical power had increased too. It was power he didn’t use, but it would prove useful in emergencies.
After all, the Warrior was a physical-type job!
“Well then, I suppose it’s time to head back.”
Park Il-sang butchered the monster corpse and extracted the Magical Stones.
* * *
“Park, where in the world did you get so many of these?”
“Ha, well—why are you asking? Boss. That’s not how things work in this neighborhood, is it?”
“True enough, but… this is quite excessive, isn’t it?”
Lee Ho-gyu, the pawnshop proprietor, spoke as he gazed at the heap of Magical Stones that Park Il-sang had brought.
They ranged from stones of respectable purity to ordinary ones.
Given the neighborhood, this proprietor could tell at a glance where they’d come from.
They had to be from Frog’s Nest.
The large ones with high purity were probably gifts from the boss, and in this quantity, the total came not to tens of millions but hundreds of millions of won.
“If you’re going to do this, why not visit an official purchasing center? Even with taxes, it’d be safer.”
“I haven’t decided to do that yet.”
“Well then….”
Lee Ho-gyu calculated the price of the Magical Stones and handed him the payment.
“Two hundred forty-five million won.”
“Thank you.”
“Once money like this starts circulating, your story will spread whether I want it to or not. You understand that, don’t you?”
“I do.”
5th Grade District.
More specifically, a neighborhood in Yeouido where shanties and makeshift structures clustered together. Just as he’d encountered muggers on the street before, this district couldn’t be called safe by any measure.
“Big players will come looking. Why don’t you hole up in a 3rd Grade District motel or somewhere until things settle down? I hear your Hunter Registration Certificate came through.”
“I’ll handle that myself. Thank you for your business.”
Park Il-sang waved goodbye to Lee Ho-gyu and left the pawnshop.
Lee Ho-gyu watched his retreating figure for a moment, then let out a long sigh.
He had no desire to actively peddle this information to every corner. Though he ran a business in a neighborhood like this, he’d managed to keep his principles intact.
So he’s still alive, having taken a bullet without dying.
His pawnshop dealt in all manner of contraband, so he’d accumulated considerable assets—enough that he could have relocated to a stable neighborhood in the 3rd Grade District and lived comfortably.
Yet he remained here.
Because this was his hometown.
For such a trivial reason.
He still lived in this dangerous place.
It wasn’t long after Park Il-sang left.
“Long time no see, old man.”
“What is it? What brings you here now?”
At the sound of a voice he hadn’t heard in years, Lee Ho-gyu looked up. Over a decade ago, he’d helped a fellow who’d lost an arm and collapsed.
He’d arranged for a cheap prosthetic from a quack doctor and sent him on his way, and the man had disappeared after promising to repay the debt someday.
This was that man.
Since then, it seemed he’d undergone an Awakening—he’d returned looking considerably more impressive, and had seized control of the local criminal organization.
According to what Lee Ho-gyu knew, his rank was C+.
Kim Chul-su, the boss of Chul-su’s Organization.
His original name wasn’t Chul-su; he’d taken a new name, apparently inspired by his prosthetic arm. Lee Ho-gyu had thought his naming sense was rather poor.
Perhaps because of their old connection, he didn’t extract protection money and treated Lee Ho-gyu with a certain respect.
A C+ rank could’ve made it in the upper districts, yet here he was ruling this neighborhood like a king. Better to be the head of a snake than the tail of a dragon, as they say.
“Just came to see your face, old man. Heard things have been stirring in this neighborhood lately. You haven’t had any trouble, have you?”
“None. Business is good. And with you watching my back, who’d dare complain?”
“That’s true enough. But that fellow who just left—he hasn’t been disrespectful to you, has he?”
“What’s this? You came worried about Park?”
“Park… So you two are close?”
His words kept shifting.
It made sense; the man had been a street thug at heart. But Lee Ho-gyu didn’t mind. Despite what he was, this man had principles.
“He’s different from the others—he has manners.”
“Manners… That does matter. If someone has manners, well, there’s no need to be rough with them.”
“Don’t be soft. He’s no ordinary fellow.”
“Still, taxes have to be paid. Otherwise it looks bad. You know how it is, old man.”
“That may be for ordinary people. But that one isn’t ordinary. He’s already E rank, I hear. His grade jumped three levels in less than a month. He’s not someone you can handle.”
At Lee Ho-gyu’s words, Kim Chul-su’s face contorted.
“E rank in a month? That’s incredibly fast.”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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