Damn Necromancer - Chapter 37

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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 Wasteful Necromancer (37)
Ancient Dragon
There’s a saying that one’s words can catch in one’s throat.
When confronted with a sight so startling, or a presence so overwhelming, that speech becomes impossible.
The human mouth seals shut like glue, refusing to move.
Park Si Woo possessed considerable skill, it was true—but it paled entirely against what Geom Seon demonstrated today.
Shin Chang, Gwon Wang, Dok Ma.
These three knew Geom Seon’s abilities well.
He was, unquestionably, a master swordsman.
But today was altogether different.
‘What… what is this?’
Gwon Wang, the youngest of the four, blinked in disbelief. A swarm of monsters well over Level 500 had blocked their path.
By the time he, Shin Chang, and Dok Ma had each dispatched two creatures, more than six corpses lay crumpled before Geom Seon.
Geom Seon was Korea’s finest Awakener, no question. But this gap in power suggested something far beyond mere rank.
The four of them had always been separated by only a hair’s breadth.
“…So, older brother. Did you happen to pocket some pills without telling us?”
“No pills. But I did receive a rather fine gift.”
“A gift? What gift? Come on, share it with your younger brothers! Let us enjoy some rejuvenation too!”
Geom Seon regarded the three of them.
Not just Gwon Wang, who’d spoken, but even the normally taciturn Shin Chang and Dok Ma—their eyes gleamed with curiosity.
“I’ll tell you once we clear this Gate.”
“…Excellent! Let’s finish this quickly then!”
Mana flickered and crackled across Gwon Wang’s knuckles. Shin Chang’s spear point grew sharper. A sickly green mist began to coil around Dok Ma’s form.
By the time they reached the boss chamber.
[The tomb trembles violently as you encounter a formidable foe for the first time!]
[The tomb’s final guardian, the ‘Ancient Dragon,’ emerges!]
“…Huh?”
Dok Ma and the other Awakeners tilted their heads in confusion.
The tomb’s boss had always been of the Dragon Race.
But this name—Ancient Dragon—had never appeared before.
This was a monster none of the four had encountered.
‘A Hidden Boss?’
The Awakeners’ eyes lit up.
There had been a time when they too explored Gates with burning passion. Though the flames had dimmed over the years, they had never fully died.
“Haha, this should be fun! Older brothers, I’ll go first!”
Impatient Gwon Wang charged forward toward the Ancient Dragon. Mana surged and coalesced above his fist.
[Using Baekbo Divine Fist (S)!]
Boom!
As he unleashed the strike, a colossal fist materialized and slammed into the creature’s body.
Whoosh.
Smoke and dust billowed upward.
Yet the Ancient Dragon, fitting for a final guardian, remained utterly unmoved.
Moments later, a dark energy gathered within its maw.
Shin Chang and Dok Ma’s eyes narrowed at the gathering force.
“Watch out, youngest!”
Danger. The thought struck him instantly.
He bolted forward. A crimson breath beam was already streaking toward Gwon Wang.
[Using Moonlight Slash (S)!]
[Using Lethal Toxin Barrage (S)!]
Two of them unleashed their skills in desperation. Enormous power surged forward to meet the breath. Gwon Wang, too, lashed out against it.
In the next instant, all three gasped.
‘We’re… being pushed back?’
Their skills were being crushed beneath the breath. The massive energy crept steadily closer to Gwon Wang.
That was the moment.
A chilling pressure struck all their spines at once.
Their gaze snapped involuntarily toward Geom Seon.
A sword, emanating no aura whatsoever. And yet the suffocating oppression it radiated was unbearable.
Like standing naked before a blade, one’s neck bared to the steel.
The Ancient Dragon, too, jerked its head around urgently. A terrible pressure seized the creature’s heart with crushing force.
As the breath began to turn toward Geom Seon.
Crack!
With the sound of something being severed, the Ancient Dragon Corpse split cleanly in two.
“……!”
Every eye in the chamber went wide beyond measure.
Byproducts from the dragon’s corpse scattered outward, but no one spared them a glance.
What Geom Seon had just shown them was far too shocking to ignore.
No one had seen him draw his blade.
Yet the Ancient Dragon was dead.
Geom Seon descended from the air and gazed at the message materializing before him.
[Achievement Unlocked: Incomprehensible!]
[Title Acquired: ‘Zealous Disciple’!]
[Title Acquired: ‘Heart Sword Wielder’!]
[New Titles]
[1. Zealous Disciple]
[Through unwavering faith, you have manifested the miraculous.]
[Effect: When in the presence of your teacher in spirit, the likelihood of Enlightenment increases significantly.]
[2. Heart Sword Wielder]
[You have become a swordsman who transcends the boundaries of the Material Realm, able to sever the very essence of things.]
[Effect: When using the Heart Sword, power increases by 30%]
[You have glimpsed the illusory and its boundary—the realm of Selflessness that dwells between.]
“……At last.”
The words Kim Min Woo had spoken back then.
Now, finally, Geom Seon began to grasp what they meant.
The illusion was the Material Realm itself.
Beyond that boundary, Geom Seon had opened a new frontier—the Heart Sword.
A state of being that had stagnated for more than twenty years.
Without those words, that stagnation might have lasted a lifetime.
‘Yet…….’
He was still foolish.
He did not yet fully understand what the realm of Selflessness was.
But it no longer mattered.
For now, a teacher resided in his heart.
As Geom Seon was composing this newfound Enlightenment, it happened.
Three elderly men pressed close around him, urgent with questions.
“……B-big brother!”
“What in blazes was that just now?”
“It’s not something you can just call a Skill, is it?”
Still, his younger brothers possessed a certain keen sense between them—they’d grasped that it was no ordinary Skill.
“A gift I was given.”
“Argh! This is driving me insane! So what exactly is this gift?!”
Gwon Wang, never one for patience, pounded his own chest in frustration.
His curiosity had swollen to the point of choking him.
“A lesson. A great one.”
“A lesson?”
“For you?”
“From whom?”
“You expect us to learn this from your lips alone?”
“This isn’t fair!”
“We can’t let this stand!”
“Big brother! How many years have we walked this path together? And you didn’t even call on us for this!”
“……Ahem.”
Geom Seon cleared his throat and regarded his younger brothers.
He’d teased them enough. Now came the time to make his true offer.
“Very well. I’ll introduce you to that person. But understand—this could bring harm upon you both. Do you accept?”
Three nods, in unison.
“Then you’ll need to bring a gift of your own.”
Geom Seon pointed toward the dragon’s corpse.
The three elders understood and nodded their agreement.
They had come to help with the Gate’s conquest only because they were asked—never chasing reward.
Had they been hungry for spoils, they would never have chosen semi-retirement in the first place.
Can you truly forge a bond with a remarkable talent over something so trivial?
He could have handed over corpses and byproducts by the dozen, by the score—all of them.
So Geom Seon stuffed the Ancient Dragon Corpse and its byproducts into the Subspace Ring. Moments later, along with the Gate Clear reward, their figures vanished.
* * *
Kim Min Woo.
He had been startled multiple times today.
On the way back from watching the Auction House news.
[Title acquired: ‘The Greatest Teacher’!]
[New Title List]
[1. The Greatest Teacher]
[A disciple you taught has created a miracle.]
[Effect: When imparting teachings, the learning effect increases significantly.]
Once for the title acquisition message that had appeared so unexpectedly.
Once more for Geom Seon, who had rushed over after cutting short even his interview—apparently eager for something.
And then…….
“You’ll give me the corpse and all the byproducts? For free?”
“That’s right. It was the first Boss that appeared—the Ancient Dragon. Its Level seemed to be far beyond just S-rank, so it should be of considerable help.”
The Ancient Dragon.
It was a name Kim Min Woo was hearing for the first time.
When he himself had gone to clear Dragon’s Tomb, no such Boss had emerged.
‘Did it appear because of Geom Seon?’
He’d said he’d swept through everything in the Gate. It seemed the Ancient Dragon had appeared as a result.
‘At this level, it should be top-tier material…….’
Even if one scoured the entire world, it would be difficult to find dragon materials comparable to an Ancient Dragon.
There were precious few Awakeners capable of defeating such a monster.
In terms of price, it seemed like it would easily cross into the trillions.
The creature itself was already expensive as a member of the Dragon Race through and through, yet it was even stronger than any that had appeared before. If a price tag were attached, there was no predicting how high it might soar.
And he was offering to give it away for free.
There was no helping but to be astonished.
“The others all agreed to this as well?”
“They did. If you do me one favor, that’s what we’ve decided.”
“A favor, you say……”
“It’s nothing difficult. I’d simply like you to meet those three people.”
“Those gentlemen?”
Geom Seon nodded.
“They likely seek teachings. Whether you share anything or not is your call. The contents aren’t worth a single dragon corpse.”
Think about it.
In truth, even if Geom Seon were to spread that knowledge, it would be awkward to object.
After all, those teachings had first been passed down to him by Geom Seon, and besides, he wasn’t even sure if they held any real efficacy.
‘But he’s really setting me up like this?’
With just a few words, he could forge bonds with three masters?
And gain a dragon corpse for free on top of it?
‘This is an incredible deal.’
Shin Chang, Dok Ma, Gwon Wang.
There was no one among the three with whom forming a connection would be a loss.
Kim Min Woo wasn’t foolish enough to refuse something even if it were offered.
“Very well. Are the three gentlemen waiting outside?”
“If you heard me, get in here at once!”
With those words, the door swung open and three elderly men hurried inside in agitation.
“Heh heh. I had my doubts, but to think it was really this young fellow.”
“We’d already suspected something when the Ilseong Group came around.”
“That’s true, but…….”
The three old men gazed intently at him.
“It’s an honor to meet you. My name is Kim Min Woo. I’ve heard much of your reputations, sirs.”
“Ahem! Is it really true you granted our senior an enlightenment? I simply can’t believe it.”
Shin Chang spoke through a clearing of his throat.
“Enlightenment is perhaps too grand a term…… but it does seem to be something similar.”
At those words, the three old men leaned in at once.
“What exactly is this enlightenment?”
“Tell me as well! I shall not forget such a debt!”
“Couldn’t you at least give me a clue?”
But saying that wouldn’t help—I’d just end up parroting the same things I’d said before.
I turned to Geom Seon.
As luck would have it, a young prodigy who’d just attained Enlightenment and refined it to some degree was standing right in front of me.
“Geom Seon, why don’t you explain?”
“……Are you sure? In the end, it’s still you telling them…….”
“Yes. Since you’ve already reached that realm, you’d explain it far better than someone like me who’s only glimpsed it.”
“……Very well.”
Soon after, Geom Seon began to speak in an explanatory tone, addressing all three men.
Summing up the content roughly, he was talking about seeing a world beyond the Material Realm.
‘What on earth is this about?’
It was definitely Korean, but it sounded like an alien language.
What was even more startling was the way the three old men’s faces had grown grave as they listened.
Mm-hm.
I see.
The elders nodded along, interjecting with those murmurs of acknowledgment.
“……However, regarding the realm of Selflessness that Min Woo spoke of, I have yet to grasp it at all. I can only sense that something might be there…….”
I caught Geom Seon glancing sideways at me.
A thirst for knowledge was flickering behind his eyes, unmistakable.
The three old men’s gazes converged on me as well.
The atmosphere suggested I should say something now, here.
I hastily rifled through Geom Seon’s sayings in my mind.
Words he’d tossed out almost carelessly.
I found the most plausible one among them.
“I don’t know exactly either. But…….”
“But?”
“Selflessness is forgetting oneself. The more you do so, the freer you become—but the boundary is clear. We are human. Is it truly possible for us, as humans, to forget ourselves?”
“……”
“And so, I understand only this much: to forget yourself, yet not forget.”
To forget, yet not forget.
It was something Geom Seon had once told me. The silence around us became so complete that not even a pin’s drop could be heard.
Geom Seon, who had kept his eyes closed for a long while, slowly nodded.
In that instant.
[The ‘Greatest Master’ effect activates!]
[The ‘Fanatic Disciple’ effect activates!]
[Effects stack!]
Messages bloomed before me.
‘That’s terrifying.’
Did he really grasp something just now?
“To forget, yet not forget……you’ve taught me something profound once again.”
At those words, the faces of the other three old men grew solemn as well.
Though they hadn’t grasped the meaning themselves, they could feel through their very skin that these were not empty words.
“……I thought all the young people these days were ruined, but I was wrong. Korea will soar to great heights from now on.”
Shin Chang was the first to break the hush.
“Your name was Kim Min Woo, yes? Here’s my number. If you need anything, contact me anytime.”
“Ahem! I’m the same way. Take my number too.”
Gwon Wang and Dok Ma pressed their numbers into my hands, as if competing with each other.
My network was accumulating at a dizzying rate.
And the Ancient Dragon Corpse rolling in was just the bonus on top of it all.

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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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