Damn Necromancer - Chapter 1

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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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Wasteful Necromancer (1)
I Became a Spoiled Heir
Everyone has that one game that defines their life.
For Ujin, it was Gate Hunter.
Gate Hunter was a virtual reality game set against the backdrop of modern-day hunters. It boasted graphics that seemed a decade ahead of its competitors, a vast open world, and NPCs that responded with uncanny human-like realism.
“Insane. Did they torture aliens to make this?”
“The combat alone is brutal. This is actually insane.”
“And it’s not even online—just a single-player package? Sign me up. I’m spending money on this!”
When it launched during his teenage years, the game swept through the gaming world like wildfire. At its peak, daily downloads numbered in the millions.
‘But it crashed eventually, of course.’
The reason was simple.
It was too difficult.
〈(Tip) Death returns all things to nothing. Treasure your life!〉
This message appeared when you first started the game.
Gamers who dismissed it ended up paying dearly.
You got only one life in this game.
[Park Si-u (Protagonist, Starting Character)]
[Characteristic: Swordsmanship Prodigy]
[Difficulty Rating: ★]
[Recommended Job Class: Swordsman]
[Fastest Clear Times]
[1. Kukurupbing-ppong – 365 days]
[2. Hello – 533 days]
.
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[Park Si-u User Forum]
―Why is catching five tutorial goblins so hard? Is infinite regression here normal??
―Totally normal lol just grind hard for a month lol
―He’s a swordsmanship prodigy but why does he die to goblins?!
―Oh lol your brain isn’t a genius I guess lol
―Shit. One wrong word and boom—back to Primordial Village lol this bastard is one star??
―After 2 years of playing Si-u lost everything to one mistake lol what do I do lol
―Starting over from zero let’s go
Even the starting character took a full year before anyone managed their first clear.
The difficulty was impossibly brutal for anyone lacking exceptional talent.
And the second unlockable character, Han Si-a, was…….
〈(Tip) To become a great mage, you must learn to control your mana well.〉
[Han Si-a (Heroine)]
[Characteristic: Magic Prodigy]
[Difficulty Rating: ★★]
[Recommended Job Class: Mage]
[Fastest Clear Times]
[1. Kukurupbing-ppong – 401 days]
[2. Hello – 703 days]
.
.
[Han Si-a User Forum]
―Jesus lol how do you even cast magic lol
―Teacher…… I really want to use magic……!
―Breaking news! Successfully implemented Fireball on the 20th attempt★Great★Success!
―Talented bastard dog breed. Downvoting. ㅗㅗㅗ
―Academy exam 30th attempt. Another total failure lol
―I literally can’t do this anymore!
Most players couldn’t even make it past the Academy—a trial where you had to graduate not by hunting monsters, but by actually feeling and implementing magic through mana itself.
It was no wonder that players caught in endless Infinite Regression began dropping out one by one.
Fifteen years after the game’s launch, only a handful of players remained.
Easier games with better graphics and instant gratification had flooded the market. Gate Hunter had become little more than a relic of nostalgia.
‘Except for freaks like me, there’s probably almost nobody left.’
He entered the capsule and logged in.
[Welcome, Kukurupbing-ppong!]
[Current playable character list!]
[1. Park Si-u (★)]
[Fastest clear time]
[2. Han Si-a (★★)]
[Fastest clear time]
[3. Namgung Min (★★★)]
[Fastest clear time]
[4. Seo Ye-rim (★★★★)]
[Fastest clear time]
[5. Kim Min-u (★★★★★)]
[Day 1,832 in progress.]
“God, I’m sick of this.”
Ujin laughed dryly as he looked over the character list. Those five lines of text held fifteen years of his life compressed into pure data.
He’d been fortunate—the game had turned his life completely around.
His personal livestream, where he’d played through Gate Hunter and documented his runs, had absolutely exploded.
There was something captivating about watching Ujin breeze through an infamously brutal game in record time.
His streams gave viewers an intoxicating sense of vicarious conquest, and the donations had rolled in lavishly enough to completely transform his circumstances. The lucrative sponsorships and brand deals only sweetened the pot.
He’d become world-renowned as the greatest virtual reality gamer alive—a status that held even now, long after Gate Hunter’s popularity had begun to wane.
Even those who’d quit playing still pored over his strategy videos religiously. By now, he could coast comfortably for life without ever touching the game again.
For all the vitriol the game had weathered over the years, it remained his lifelong benefactor.
“Today I’m seeing the ending.”
Kim Min-u.
Five-star difficulty.
The final boss of Gate Hunter was notorious, and this particular character was so frustratingly punishing that even now, after all these years, playing him made Ujin want to scream.
[Kim Min-u (eldest son of Ilsung Group)]
[Characteristics: silver-spoon brat, talentless, arrogant, apathetic, cowardly, lecherous, hypochondriac, freeloader]
[Difficulty rating: ★★★★★]
[Job Class: Prosecutor]
[Objective: Hunt the Dragon Lord within three in-game years.]
Eldest son of Ilsung Group, the nation’s top conglomerate.
Strip that pedigree away and the character is utter garbage.
〈(Tip) Kim Min-u is a character with an exceptionally strong sense of self. Please respect his opinions!〉
“Damn bastard.”
He recalled that opening message, which never failed to make his teeth clench.
Each of the five characters had their own distinct mechanics.
Kim Min-u was no exception.
An exceptionally strong sense of self.
He’d only understood what that truly meant after he’d started playing.
The bastard actively ‘interfered’ with the player’s actions.
The interference was straightforward enough.
Say you tried to enter a Gate—
[Kim Min-u refuses entry!]
—A Gate? Why would I go somewhere so dangerous? I’ve already Awakened, isn’t that enough? Items? I can just buy them with money, can’t I?
[Kim Min-u refuses the action!]
—Drink an elixir to strengthen my body? No way. You said it hurts like hell. I can’t stand pain.
[Kim Min-u refuses training!]
—Ugh, grinding Proficiency is such a drag, seriously. I’m doing fine without it, living well enough already.
The truly depressing part was that even after pushing him to train himself to death, Kim Min-u never broke past intermediate Awakened One tier. He was catastrophically talentless across every discipline.
And Christ, was he afraid of everything.
The memory of that first Boss fight was still vivid.
[Kim Min-u is gripped by extreme terror!]
[All stats reduced by 50%!]
[All skills sealed!]
[All combat actions refused; fleeing immediately!]
—Ahhhhh! Run away!
[Death.]
[Game over.]
Three in-game years.
No matter how many optimal routes Ujin mapped out, there simply seemed to be no path to hunting the Dragon Lord.
How on earth was he supposed to clear the final Boss with this useless piece of work in three years?
The user forums’ reactions to that day’s broadcast were mostly the same.
―Saw the clear video and Kim Min-u is actually a legend lmao
―This is a Swordmaster? Si-u was basically an angel lmaooo
―Like Ujin said, if the Job Class was at least different I could understand it but lol
―Seriously. If it was Necromancer it’d be different. But this game doesn’t let you change classes lmao you’re gonna suffer so much lmao
That first battle was drowning in despair.
It would have been far better if he’d been a Necromancer with the ability to summon minions.
The problem wasn’t a lack of summoned creatures—it was Kim Min-u’s own talent that was missing.
Even an F-rank Skeleton could do its job properly if equipped with decent gear.
Besides, undead minions weren’t cowards like this one.
Yet Kim Min-u’s Awakened Job Class was, devastatingly, a Swordmaster.
Kim Min-u had displayed all five stars in their full glory.
After that day.
[Kim Min-u, Attempt 1,024. Let’s try making allies!]
Thinking that if talent was hopeless, forming allies might solve things, he attempted party play—something he’d never done before.
[Kim Min-u flares up greatly!]
―You, a lowborn, questioning me?
The way he’d manage to charm someone only to turn them into enemies in an instant was impressive enough that even Ujin had to admire it.
‘This socially maladjusted bastard!’
He realized it.
This man was born incapable of standing alongside allies.
After that came a grueling period of hardship.
Eventually he carved out a new path.
He clawed his way up from nothing within his family, seized more authority, earned money, and swept up every Artifact in sight.
If talent was lacking, money made up for it.
If money wouldn’t work, he’d pour in more. If that failed, he’d spend even more!
1,832 days of investment to clear the game.
Now it was time to see the fruits of that labor.
[Logging into the game!]
[Broadcast commencing!]
A massive gate loomed before him.
[Dragon’s Sanctum Entrance]
[The place where the final Boss, the Dragon Lord, slumbers.]
[1 day remains until the Dragon Lord awakens.]
[Defeating the Dragon Lord will clear the game.]
‘Worth a try.’
Right before the Dragon Lord awakened and caused chaos—the moment when Kim Min-u’s power was strongest and the Dragon Lord’s was weakest!
“Let’s go!”
The gate opened.
A creature as colossal as a dragon emerged from the darkness.
* * *
―An unwelcome visitor.
[You have witnessed the form of a dragon!]
[Overwhelming dread engulfs you!]
That was the moment.
Crack—crack—!
The rings on his fingers began fracturing rapidly.
[Mental protection Artifacts activate!]
[Iron Body (S) activates!]
[Unbreakable Will (S) activates!]
[Mirror Mind (S) activates!]
[Viking’s Courage (S) activates!]
[Berserker (S) activates!]
[Resisting the Dragon Lord!]
[Resistance successful!]
[You are immune to fear for 15 minutes!]
Five rings shattered all at once.
‘Damn!’
All the humiliation he’d endured to acquire these!
Five top-tier rings ground to dust just resisting once.
—Lol, five Artifacts with just a look. Is that exchange rate even real?
—He’s actually lost it lol. Is this game designed to be beatable?
Fifteen minutes of fear immunity.
Not a single second could be wasted.
He activated every Artifact he’d accumulated while charging forward like a rhinoceros all this time.
[Dwarf King’s Roar (S) activated!]
[All stats of Kim Min-u’s equipped gear increase by 50%!]
[Holy Hymn (S) activated!]
[Kim Min-u’s talent ceiling increases by 100%!]
[Lightning Blade (S) activated!]
[Attack power of Kim Min-u’s equipped sword increases by 100%!]
[Sword Dance (S) activated!]
[Kim Min-u’s Swordsmanship Proficiency increases by 200%!]
No matter how worthless a talent might be, stack enough buffs on top of each other and…….
Shrieeek!
Even the Dragon Lord’s thick scales could be cut.
Slash after slash.
The battle descended into something approaching trance.
Three minutes.
—Insane. How is he dodging and striking all of that?
—Lol, Kkukkuru Ppingppong wasn’t world rank one for nothing
[Dragon Lord’s health below 85%!]
[Astonishing Achievement unlocked…….]
.
.
Eight minutes.
[Dragon Lord’s health below 63%!]
[Impossible Achievement unlocked…….]
—Did he seriously use all the Items he brought?
—This isn’t working. The patterns keep getting more complicated;;)
—But “Impossible Achievement”? That’s a first for me today.
—Me too.
Fourteen minutes and fifty seconds.
[Dragon Lord’s health below 50%!]
[The Inscrutable Achievement, “Discovered Possibility” unlocked!]
That was the moment.
—The entertainment ends here.
[Dragon’s Word (EX) activated!]
[Artifact activating…….]
[Resistance is impossible!]
[Control of the body is severed!]
Thump.
His body crumpled like a puppet with its strings cut.
‘Hah…….’
An EX-rank skill.
A hollow laugh escaped him.
This thing wasn’t designed to be beaten.
‘Damn it. With any other Job Class, maybe, but a Swordsman? Absolutely impossible.’
The compatibility between timid Kim Min-u and a Swordsman was the worst of the worst.
From the earliest growth speed right through to the late-game potential, everything was far too weak.
‘How am I supposed to clear this?’
He’d conquered this game countless times, but this time—there was simply no answer in sight.
Then it happened.
The screen froze, and instead of the usual red messages, a blue message appeared.
〈Player.〉
〈Congratulations.〉
〈You have exceeded our standards and demonstrated possibility.〉
[Notification: The Final Stage, Level 6, has been unlocked!]
[Kim Min-u]
[Clear Difficulty: ★★★★★★]
[Traits: Diamond Spoon, Talentless, Arrogant, Lazy, Cowardly, Lecherous, Hypochondriac, Freeloader]
[Job Class: Unawakened]
[Clear Objective: Hunt a Foreign God within 7 years.]
[Special Notes]
[1. Kim Min-u’s Job Class changes from Prosecutor to Unawakened!]
[2. All main game characters converge into a single world!]
[3. Growth elements diversify further!]
[4. The stage of activity expands dramatically!]
[Entering Stage 6 in 10 seconds!]
‘…What the hell?’
Ujin’s jaw went slack as messages cascaded before his eyes.
‘Stage 6 exists?’
Could it be that shaving the Dragon Lord’s health past fifty percent was the unlock condition?
This was the first he’d heard of an enemy called a Foreign God.
Nine seconds.
Eight seconds.
He watched the countdown plummet, thinking to himself.
‘Stage 6, huh. This should be interesting.’
With Stage 6, he wouldn’t have to worry about stream content for a good while.
Add to that the cursed Unawakened Job Class.
The simple fact that Kim Min-u wasn’t some cancer-ridden prosecutor guaranteed the entertainment value.
When ten seconds had elapsed.
Ujin’s consciousness began to fade. His body vanished in an instant.
Not just from the game, but from inside the capsule itself.
When the screen resumed its flow……
―Pingpong just logged out?
―What’s going on?
―Did something happen?
The chat scrolled busily through the ended broadcast.

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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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