Damn Necromancer - Chapter 144

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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 Spendthrift Necromancer (144)
Gold
600 Achievement Points from defeating Han Baek-gil.
After I’d used that up, I’d been holding back on spending, just waiting.
I was aiming for something bigger when the next shop tier opened.
500 points for Silver.
3,000 points for Gold.
‘I have no idea what the next tier will cost…….’
But one thing was certain.
I couldn’t resist shopping.
As luck would have it, right after the limited-edition items for Necromancers, the Exchange System had been added too.
How was I supposed to hold back from that?
Just then.
Isabella tilted her head and asked.
“Is something good happening?”
“Something urgent just came up for me. I’ll tell you next time. I should go.”
“Wait, just a second——”
I fired up Volthron and took off. Thankfully, there was no cruel ten-minute time limit like when Seo Ye-rim had used it last.
Ten hours gave me plenty of time to look over the items and think things through.
I left Isabella standing there, reaching out uselessly, and headed back to headquarters.
Once I arrived.
I opened the shop right away.
[Achievement Shop opened!]
[Tier: Gold (Total Achievement Points Earned: 3,030)]
[Current Achievement Points: 1,530]
[Exchange System has opened!]
Plenty of points on hand.
And then.
One more line had been added to the message. I checked the rate right away.
[Entering Exchange System.]
[Current Earth Exchange Rate between Earth Credit and Achievement Points is 1 trillion to 1.]
“Wait, hold on.”
Was this right?
Kim Min-woo blinked.
I’d thought it was one-to-one, but there was something else attached to the back of it.
1 *trillion* to 1, they said.
In plain terms, it meant you had to hand over 100 trillion to earn 100 points.
The 40 trillion I had left after the Heavenly Auction House.
Plus the roughly 100 trillion I’d agreed to receive from selling 5% stake in the United States first.
After the Ilseong fight and the Guild War, Wall Street had bid 60 trillion for 10%, so my stake had tripled in value compared to then.
That was only natural, really.
My stock had gone up from competing in the Super Rookie Selection Tournament. Beyond that, I’d even demonstrated the amazing Education function. Honestly, it’s still a bargain, but.
Either way.
The 100 trillion won was supposed to be delivered roughly a month from now.
Even if I factored in the installment plan from China and what I’d receive next month on top of that.
‘That’s about 200 trillion.’
China tended to give a lot of miscellaneous resources and real estate instead of cash. Even if I squeezed out all of it, that was only 200 points.
‘Of course, it’s not like Achievement Points don’t have that much value…….’
It was just that the items in the Achievement Shop were really good enough to justify their price in pure currency terms.
The random equipment draw tickets and S-Rank Skill Books were starting to underperform, true.
But conversely, the Elixir of Transcendence and the Undead Cocktail still held enough value that you’d need to spend trillions to purchase them elsewhere.
That’s how good they are.
Especially now that I’ve reached Gold, there are plans to unlock even better items in the shop going forward.
‘Still, it’s expensive.’
Dropping 200 trillion won just to earn 200 points immediately was practically insane.
If there were absolutely no way to earn Achievement Points, sure—but weren’t SS-Rank Necromancers being active right now?
Every time they act, I get points deposited straight in, 100 at a time. Considering that, the cost-to-value ratio doesn’t work out.
That said, it wasn’t hopeless.
‘Basically, it just needs the Earth Exchange Rate to go up.’
Something better than 1 trillion to 1 point.
Five hundred billion to one point, or something like that.
Or even lower rates, depending on how Earth’s currency appreciates. Once Achievement Points become cheap enough to buy, that’s the limit.
Given enough time, we might even exchange two hundred trillion for two thousand points.
So how does the Earth Exchange Rate actually rise?
‘There are plenty of signs if you pay attention.’
Nurturing geniuses like Seo Ye-rim and Park Si-woo to bloom, or sweeping away villains like Shadow.
It seemed highly likely that the very actions that award Achievement Points were themselves the means of raising the Earth Exchange Rate.
Giving Achievement Points is essentially like handing out gold stars for good behavior.
“Then creating a Necromancer must also count as increasing in value?”
Thinking it over, it really did seem that way.
If it had been a death knell for Earth, Earth’s currency should have become worthless instead.
Yet the moment the eleventh Necromancer was born, the Exchange System activated?
The currency appreciated enough to be worth trading for Achievement Points?
Wasn’t that a sign that we’d gotten one step closer to saving Earth?
‘Damn.’
Kim Min-woo couldn’t help but sigh.
Looking back, he’d been a fool who understood nothing but Earth.
‘For now, I’ll focus on accumulating wealth.’
I’d spend what I needed to, but otherwise stockpile what I could. Then when the rate climbed, I’d cash it in big. As I grew stronger, Earth’s value would rise naturally anyway.
Besides, I’d already set up one money-printing route: the Slime Battery.
About 10% of Ilseong Group’s sales revenue would be deposited into the guild account.
It was only fair compensation for opening up such a vast market.
The exchange problem would wait for now.
Next, I reviewed the newly stocked merchandise list.
[Product List]
[5. (New!) SS-Rank Exclusive Skill Book]
[Achievement Points Required: 1,000]
[6. (New!) Physical Potential Amplification Potion]
[Achievement Points Required: 1,200]
[7. Blood Water Prison <Limited Sale, 9 Hours Remaining>]
[Achievement Points Required: 1,500]
[8. Necromantic Secret Manual]
[Achievement Points Required: 3,000]
[9. ???]
[10. ???]
.
.
Four items newly unlocked this time.
The prices were outrageous for Gold-grade goods.
The SS-Rank Exclusive Skill Book was one thing, but I looked into the details of the remaining items.
[Physical Potential Amplification Potion]
[Grade: Special]
[Usage Restriction: Kim Min-woo]
[Effect 1. Temporarily unlocks Kim Min-woo’s Constrained Physical Potential.]
[Effect 2. Takes effect for exactly one hour.]
‘…What?’
I tilted my head at the description. So it didn’t permanently increase potential—it just temporarily released it.
And the duration was a measly hour at that.
‘That costs 1,200 points?’
They really valued a one-hour unlock that highly?
I thought it over carefully.
‘…Maybe it’s not entirely unreasonable after all?’
Drinking it would give me a lot to try in that one hour.
First, the Brain Wind Sword Technique.
It was Geom-seon’s signature blade art.
No matter how much I’d practiced it, I’d never been able to register it as a skill—but with this, it’d be worth attempting.
Because losing this terrible potential meant I could register skills through practice like anyone else.
There was just one variable.
Supposing the Constrained Potential were released.
How strong was Kim Min-woo’s ‘original potential’ actually?
That was the problem.
When he’d fought the Dragon Lord, he’d managed to shave off half its health by maxing out his swordsmanship potential and gear, but even that hadn’t generated any new skills.
‘That was the peak of what I’d ever achieved.’
Even with all that, no skill had materialized.
Simply loosening the constraints wouldn’t come close to enabling skill creation.
Even if the potion fully released all constraints, what if his underlying potential was just average human level?
‘Then I’m just throwing points away.’
Unlocking potential would be meaningless.
After all, ordinary people didn’t generate SS-Rank skills just by swinging a sword.
If anything spawned at all, he’d be lucky to see an A-grade.
Of course, on the flip side, there was the possibility that once Min-woo’s constraints were released, his potential would go absolutely haywire.
That best-case scenario wasn’t zero probability.
In the end, it was jackpot or bust.
‘Well, never mind that for now…….’
He turned his attention to the remaining items.
[Blood Water Prison]
[Grade: Special]
[A round orb that confines blood.]
[Effect 1. Absorbs the blood of any corpse you choose.]
[Effect 2. Once the blood level reaches a certain threshold, the structure can be transformed into a “Blood Prison.”]
[Effect 3. Undead can be placed within the Blood Water Prison and strengthened. However, the type and quantity of blood each Undead can accept varies. (Applicable to: All Undead)]
‘……That’s pretty good.’
Unlike the ambiguous Physical Potential Amplification Potion, the Blood Water Prison—available in limited quantities—was a purely high-performance item.
‘Bone Exchange. It’s similar to that.’
Blood?
Couldn’t he just liquidate it in bulk the same way as bones?
Blood, like bones, was one of the unpopular commodity types.
But money solves everything.
And it had one advantage over Bone Exchange that was far superior:
‘Much wider range of application.’
Bone Exchange.
Its applicability was quite narrow.
At best, only Skeletons, Bone Golems, and Cedric benefited from it. Unfortunately, Merchen, Specters, and Durahans couldn’t use it.
If an Undead didn’t rely primarily on bones, it was completely inapplicable.
That was the disappointment of Bone Exchange.
But the Blood Water Prison was different.
As long as he collected blood, he could strengthen all of them. Of course, the extent of that strengthening remained unknown.
‘Considering it’s limited-quantity stock at 1,500 points, the enhancement is bound to be pretty significant.’
Excellent.
In some ways, far more attractive than the SS-Rank Skill Book itself.
Min-woo examined the final item.
[Necromantic Secret Manual]
[Grade: Special]
[A tome containing the secret arts of Necromancers.]
[Effect 1. Reading and practicing may yield favorable outcomes.]
A secret manual.
Looking at it, he got the gist.
‘It’s like those martial arts treatises.’
With those, too, reading and practice could yield good results depending on talent.
Like skill generation and such.
‘But it’s pretty meaningless for me…….’
Min-woo’s lack of talent was staggering. And it wasn’t limited to swordsmanship.
Necromancer skills would be no different.
But they were selling it anyway?
That meant one thing.
‘They want me to take the potential potion first and see?’
No matter how he looked at it, that was the only picture that made sense.
But the price was brutal.
Together with the potential potion, he’d need a whopping 4,200 points to buy both.
Right now, he couldn’t see himself making that purchase.
‘Done.’
First, I should buy some of the limited-stock items.
[Will you purchase the Blood Water Prison?]
“Yes, I will.”
[Blood Water Prison acquired!]
The fervent support of SS-Rank Necromancers across the globe had transformed into a single, smooth sphere resting in the palm of my hand.
‘I’ll need to pick up some blood before heading to the Orc Gate.’
Just as I collected bones in containers, blood could be gathered the same way—by the liter, with prices varying by type.
Since things had come this far, I needed to source quality blood.
* * *
Isabella.
She made her way toward Geomhaegak with heavy, measured steps.
‘What could I possibly give him?’
The question gnawed at her relentlessly. As Kim Min-woo had said, money held no real value for him.
So she would have to offer something else.
‘……But nothing I have feels like adequate compensation.’
Everything—even the ancient-grade equipment adorning her body—paled in comparison to the Heart Technique. None of it seemed worthy.
Kim Min-woo was not a martial artist.
Whatever she gave him would likely only be converted to currency, nothing more.
The only thing that seemed to hold real meaning for him……
‘……Should I become his brand ambassador?’
Isabella understood exactly what position she held in the advertising world. Every product she endorsed was immediately recognized as the best.
She took considerable pride in that reputation.
Volthron?
It was certainly a decent vehicle.
In terms of points, it rated about 91 out of 100—certainly impressive for an East Asian automobile. But was it the world’s best? No, it wasn’t.
Something like the Slime Battery could justifiably claim a perfect 100 out of 100.
That’s why she’d turned it down.
But……
‘No matter how I look at it, it seems like he was disappointed…….’
A subtle disappointment, barely concealed.
As someone who desperately wanted something, she couldn’t help but flinch at the sight of it.
……What if she became the spokesperson not just for Volthron, but for the entire Ilseong Group? Wouldn’t Kim Min-woo be satisfied then?
For a moment.
She jerked her head sharply, startled by her own thought.
‘What am I even thinking……!’
On a smaller scale, it would trouble her conscience. On a larger scale, it would mean deceiving the consumers who trusted her and bought products based on her endorsement.
“Calm down. Isabella…… what’s this petty desire compared to that?”
She spoke as though reassuring herself, but her eyes wavered nonetheless. The Heart Technique that Gwon Wang had displayed had been that shocking.
The pure desire to grow stronger.
It had shaken her soul with an intensity she couldn’t remember ever experiencing before. She couldn’t recall a time when she’d wanted something this badly.
‘At least…… not that.’
Kim Min-woo surely had something he wanted, just as she did.
It didn’t have to be a brand endorsement. There had to be other things he desired. If she could just find what those were, that would suffice.
It was as she stepped inside Geomhaegak that she noticed the interior had grown noisy. Through the translation device in her ear, snatches of conversation reached her: Kim Min-woo, purchase, Ilseong Group, dragons, blood……. Her eyes brightened as she processed the words. When she checked the articles on her smartphone, they told the same story.
Blood acquisition, all types.
Dragon blood especially commanding premium prices.
‘Does he need blood?’
Dragon blood in particular.
She’d finally found it.
What he truly needed!
It felt like a ray of light piercing through darkness. She’d finally discovered what her counterpart wanted. Dragons were difficult monsters to track down, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t find one.
Of course, simply supplying dragon blood alone wouldn’t be enough to earn that level of enlightenment.
But as the saying went, every thousand-mile journey begins with a single step. If she kept providing Kim Min-woo with what he sought, one day she would surely be able to learn that enlightenment from him.
‘I need to move quickly…….’
Just then.
She spotted four elderly men with familiar faces hurrying out. Having spent time at Geomhaegak and picked up some Korean, she understood a little.
She asked in halting Korean.
“Where…… go?”

The four elderly men came to a halt at her question.
Gwon Wang answered.
“Hmm? Oh, I was just about to make a delivery.”
“……A delivery? Of what?”
“Blood. Min-woo needs it, doesn’t he?”
“Min-woo, blood?”
“That’s right! Dragon’s blood!”
Isabella’s eyes widened sharply.
“……A lot, is it?”
“Yeah. Plenty. We’ve been collecting it bit by bit. The inventory is absolutely packed with it.”
The words, translated instantly, struck Isabella’s mind like thunder crashing down upon her skull.
“……Why?”
Why on earth would they stockpile dragon’s blood like that?
Of course, it wasn’t as though it had no use whatsoever. As a byproduct of the dragon-kind, it had applications here and there. But even accounting for that, it wasn’t the sort of material worth accumulating so painstakingly—so why, exactly, had they amassed so much?
“Miss Isabella, we have a saying in the East: foresight. We’ve been preparing bit by bit over these past months with precisely such times in mind,” Shin Chang replied with a faint smile.
Shin Chang answered with a grin.
The ancient-dragon-grade dragon-kind they’d hunted before didn’t appear anymore. No such dragon-kind emerged from Dragon’s Tomb any longer. But other dragon-kind bosses? They were plentiful.
So whenever they had a chance, they’d head to the Gate, smash things to pieces, and diligently collect the corpses of dragons.
Kim Min-woo’s profession was Necromancer.
That a Necromancer required corpses and various byproducts wasn’t particularly strange.
All four of them possessed exceptionally high Levels, and thus their inventories were vast.
The inventory was one of the miraculous byproducts granted by the System. It was superior to even dimensional-ring storage in every way. It could preserve corpses perfectly, even when stored inside.
So they’d gathered diligently.
Now it was their turn to give Kim Min-woo a gift.
“I… I should contribute something too…….”
“No, no. Your heart is appreciated, Miss Isabella, but there’s no need for you to step in. We’ve accumulated plenty on our own. This much should be more than sufficient for a good while. You must be tired from the car ride—just rest well today. Think of our eldest brother’s house as your own home.”
Gwon Wang replied with a playful tone.
He then glanced at the worn watch on his wrist and exclaimed.
“My goodness, we’ll have our Min-woo waiting forever at this rate! Let’s go, brothers!”
The four of them could reach Ilseong Headquarters in an instant if they so wished. And so the figures of the four elderly men vanished in a flash.
“Ah…….”
Isabella watched their departure with bewildered eyes.

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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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