Damn Necromancer - Chapter 52

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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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Spendthrift Necromancer (52)
Seo Ye-rim looked at Kim Min-woo.
He was always a man who exceeded her expectations. She’d thought he might offer some comfort, but instead he was telling her to pick up a bow.
It was absurd.
“Are you seriously saying that right now?”
“You’ve never held a bow before.”
The certainty in his eyes left her at a loss for words.
Born in Geomhaegak, she’d awakened with a sword in her grip. Kim Min-woo was right—she’d never held a bow.
There had never been any reason to.
“But that doesn’t mean you have no talent for it.”
“Seo Ye-rim. Right now, you want to grow stronger, don’t you? Then you have to try everything.”
Seo Ye-rim fell silent.
Of course, his words weren’t entirely unreasonable. If she tried, she might discover talent in a new domain, just as he said.
If she didn’t find any, that was fine too.
She could just keep training with her sword as she always had.
But what if—what if, against all odds, she actually found a different talent?
‘What becomes of my life then…….’
A lifetime of training.
All of it negated in an instant.
That was why she didn’t want to attempt change. If she failed to find talent elsewhere, that was one problem.
If she actually succeeded, that was another.
“I understand. It’s daunting. But what Cedric said wasn’t a lie. You might level up and learn a few more Skills, but beyond that, you won’t go.”
Kim Min-woo spoke calmly.
That’s what people usually called a Hollow S-rank.
High level, but hollow inside.
‘Of course, Seo Ye-rim isn’t quite at that level yet…….’
But making her pick up a bow required him to shake her awake. Now was the time to be blunt.
“Think carefully about what you really want. Is it to settle things with a sword, or is it recognition from Geom-seon? Either way, you’ll never achieve that goal while holding a blade.”
Seo Ye-rim lowered her head.
If some nobody had said that, she would have refuted them on the spot.
But Kim Min-woo was different.
He was a swordmaster whom even her grandfather sought instruction from.
When someone like that spoke with such certainty, she couldn’t bring herself to argue back.
She stared at her own blade. Was settling things with a sword really her goal?
‘……Maybe not.’
To earn her grandfather’s recognition.
That was her true goal.
The sword was, strictly speaking, merely a means to that end.
Because her grandfather wielded a sword.
Because his profession was swordmaster.
Because she’d trained her whole life with it.
It was simply a weapon she couldn’t let go of for that reason.
“Let’s leave it at that. We should head out to conquer the Inmyeonjiju soon.”
He wasn’t expecting her to pick up a bow overnight just because he’d told her to.
Simply reminding her that there were other choices beside the sword gave this conversation meaning.
‘That’s enough for now.’
There was value in letting things simmer.
He looked at Seo Ye-rim.
“Shall we head out?”
“……You think my mental state collapsed over just this? Let’s go.”
Still, as a professional Awakener, she didn’t seem to have lost her composure inside the Gate.
He gazed toward Cheongong Mountain ahead.
A mountain shrouded in mist.
Now was the time to set out toward it.
* * *
Seo Ye-rim drew her sword and looked toward him.
“Do you have some kind of plan?”
“I’ve sketched one out.”
“You seem to know a lot about the Inmyeonjiju. All I know is that its face looks human.”
A monster whose face resembled a human’s.
Its defining characteristic was that it was an exceptionally cunning and intelligent hunter.
‘Average level range sits somewhere between 351 and 400.’
A typical A-rank monster that served as a mid-boss encounter, and I’d hunted them a few times before.
Of course, if I answered that way, it’d seem rather suspicious.
“I’ve read quite a few strategy guides. It was mentioned in those.”
“Strategy guides? You read?”
“……Yes. I do read.”
People read books, it’s hardly unusual.
Why be suspicious about such a thing?
It was rude to embarrass someone for being honest.
“Then, shall we head in?”
“It’s evening now though?”
The Inmyeonjiju is active at night. If you go in the morning, you can’t catch it. It hides and won’t come out.
The Inmyeonjiju typically makes one large mountain its base of operations.
Spider webs shoot forth from its tail, spreading in all directions and clinging to every nook and cranny of the mountainside. That’s how its hunting ground is completed.
‘Stumble in blindly and you’ll come out as a corpse.’
The spider web was thin and transparent.
Identifying it with the naked eye was extraordinarily difficult.
That wasn’t even the worst part.
The stickiness was potent enough to sever whatever adhered to it, and venom flowed thick through the gaps between the strands.
Touch it and you were done for.
Before climbing a mountain saturated with venom.
The first thing I did was consume the Antidote.
I split a bottle of the highest-grade Antidote with Seo Ye-rim, each taking one.
With this, I’d have roughly thirty minutes before the airborne venom posed any serious problem.
“The plan is simple. I’ll make the Inmyeonjiju come to us.”
“How?”
“Like this.”
I summoned a group of skeletons.
Armed skeletons began moving freely through the mountain without hesitation.
Then, at once.
Crackle!
[Skeleton 356 has caught in the sticky spider web!]
[Virulent poison spreads!]
[Skeleton 543 has…….]
[Skeleton 654 has…….]
Skeletons writhed with their feet stuck fast to the ground.
It was essentially sending a signal to the Inmyeonjiju.
Come quick—I’ve laid out a feast for you.
However.
‘This won’t be enough.’
The Inmyeonjiju was exceptionally cunning.
It wouldn’t be stupid enough to charge straight in the moment its web caught something.
‘It’ll circle around.’
Whether by climbing a massive tree.
Or by digging a tunnel and bursting through.
No matter what, it wouldn’t rush directly at the skeletons.
‘It’ll suspect a trap.’
And what made this worse.
The Inmyeonjiju possessed Protective Coloration as an innate ability.
If it activated it and approached hidden, ordinary senses wouldn’t detect it.
I continued spreading skeletons in all directions.
Each carried a trap in its hands. They climbed trees to install them, placed them on the ground.
I carpeted every stretch of space around us with snares.
“……Wouldn’t it be easier to just set the mountain on fire?”
“If we set fires, it’ll retreat into tunnels or caves it’s dug ahead of time. Then it takes forever to catch.”
If the Inmyeonjiju retreats to its true lair, things become extremely troublesome. Unlike this mountain with its sparse scattering of web, its entire dwelling is spider web.
‘And fire won’t even catch it.’
If you charge in thinking it’s just ordinary web that melts in flames, you’ll end up being devoured instead.
A monster was a monster for a reason.
Then it came.
―Caw.
Hayangyi’s cry echoed through the air.
‘It’s here.’
I’d told her to call out whenever something large approached. The Protective Coloration might fool the eye, but there was no hiding the sound of that massive body crashing through the underbrush.
Smart creature that she was, she’d picked up on it and let out her warning call.
Direction: west.
Seo Ye-rim had caught on as well—her grip on her blade tightened visibly.
Rustle.
In the distance, trees shook.
A semi-transparent body, gelatinous and shapeless, oozed toward us.
An Inmyeonjiju, approaching cautiously from a distance, as if testing the waters before the tethered skeleton.
Soon it began creeping forward, inch by inch.
Click.
Boom!
Shrapnel traps erupted in all directions. With several layered in overlapping positions, a chain reaction was inevitable.
―Kek?
Its body was engulfed in shrapnel.
‘Protective Coloration broken.’
I cast the curse.
After several near-misses, the curse finally bit deep into its flesh.
[The ‘Inmyeonjiju’ is afflicted with the Curse of Aging!]
[The target’s Level is overwhelmingly higher!]
[It resists the curse!]
[Defense and movement speed decrease by 5%!]
“Get it!”
Skeletons hidden all around rushed forward.
―Screee!
The Inmyeonjiju’s eyes blazed crimson. It spun its massive body in a full rotation. Immense weight crashed down on the skeletons.
Skeletons shattered everywhere.
The level gap alone was 300.
Realistically, skeletons couldn’t deal significant damage to it.
That’s precisely why I hadn’t summoned a Mage. Magic wouldn’t land anyway. Better to swarm it and obstruct its movement—that was the best strategy available.
Cedric and I rushed in together.
“Ice!”
[Hayangyi shares her Attribute with her master!]
[You can now utilize the Ice Attribute!]
[Ice Attribute resistance increases by 20%!]
The Inmyeonjiju’s outer carapace was incredibly hard. It had fire resistance besides. Conversely, it was vulnerable to the Water Attribute. Ice fell within the Water family of Attributes. I drove my blade—now laced with frigid energy—deep into its body.
[The Title ‘Bug Slayer’ takes effect!]
[Damage increases by 10%!]
[The Title ‘Strong Slayer’ takes effect!]
[Damage increases by 20%!]
[You wield an opposing Attribute!]
[Damage increases by 40%!]
Bug Slayer and Strong Slayer.
The damage amplification didn’t stop there.
When attacking with an opposing Attribute, damage multiplies up to double the Attribute percentage.
The 20% Attribute Hayangyi granted me.
Thanks to that, damage jumped by 40%.
‘Damage scaling is multiplicative.’
The damage—boosted nearly 1.8 times over—crashed against its carapace with force.
Crack!
‘Won’t pierce in one hit.’
Even with multiplied damage, if the base damage was low, the absolute gain would be just as low.
But that was fine.
I had a way through.
From the opposite side, Seo Ye-rim unleashed her blade.
[Seo Ye-rim uses Spatial Slash (B)!]
Slash!
Her blade tore through part of the creature’s outer shell in one fluid motion.
A high Level and a weapon to match.
Add a powerful Skill to that, and she was certainly formidable.
Poisoned blood sprayed in all directions.
The Inmyeonjiju’s gaze snapped toward her, its human-like mouth gaping wide.
Whoosh!
A torrent of toxic energy poured down on Seo Ye-rim.
[Seo Ye-rim uses Moon Step (A)!]
She retreated, evading the attack.
[Seo Ye-rim uses Sword Qi Dance (A)!]
Bundles of cyan sword energy streaked toward the Inmyeonjiju as she pressed her assault.
‘She dodges well.’
And she’s drawing aggro nicely too.
Which meant I could work uninterrupted. I kept striking the same spot.
[Same location hit! Damage increased by 11%…….]
[Same location hit! Damage increased by 22%…….]
[Same…….]
Same.
It meant attacking the exact same spot with no margin for error.
This level of play was something I could do while picking my nose.
Especially now, with aggro locked on her instead of me.
The damage multiplied exponentially, skyrocketing with each strike.
The outer shell, slowly freezing solid and turning pale blue, finally shattered apart.
A gaping hole appeared.
[Title obtained: ‘Digging Into One Spot’!]
The Inmyeonjiju’s gaze, screaming all the while, snapped toward me. I hurled all my skeletons at the creature’s gaping maw, then immediately bolted backward.
“Cedric!”
[Cedric uses Mini Breath!]
Cedric, already closing in with his maw wide open, drove his breath directly into the torn opening of the creature’s shell.
It had flame resistance, true—but that applied only to its outer shell.
The internal organs and blood had no defense against the breath.
Sizzle!
The poison-laden blood seared in the breath, and thick smoke billowed upward.
――……!
The Inmyeonjiju convulsed violently as flesh burned within its body.
But it couldn’t wrench Cedric away—he had clamped his jaws around the shattered outer shell and was driving his entire face deep inside.
Though the raging poison would summon him back before long.
‘Not a bad trade.’
He’d come back to life anyway.
And it wouldn’t cost me anything.
[Cedric is being unsummoned…….]
[Death Lord’s effect activates!]
He went limp for only a moment.
Then Cedric sprang back to life at full mana, bristling with energy, and drove a second breath into the creature.
――Kyeeeeeee!
The Inmyeonjiju shrieked in agony from the direct hit of two consecutive breaths.
Its legs began to buckle and writhe. Its tail rose up next.
Spider webs shot out in all directions. I fell back alongside Seo Ye-rim.
The slow-reacting skeletons were all unsummoned in the barrage.
The Inmyeonjiju spun around and started bolting away like mad.
“Chase it!”
I ran after it together with Seo Ye-rim.
I tried blocking its path by summoning skeletons ahead, but they were useless against its raw charging power.
Cedric unleashed his breath while Seo Ye-rim poured out sword energy relentlessly.
The creature met every blow head-on, its raw durability allowing it to barrel forward mindlessly.
The pursuit continued.
Soon a cavern came into view in the distance.
Its entrance was thick with spider webs—clearly the creature’s lair.
‘It looks like about 10% health is left…….’
It would eventually hide inside that cavern.
She felt it in her bones.
At this rate, she wouldn’t catch him.
It was time to gamble.
She rummaged through her inventory.
Then—
“Catch!”
She threw the bow along with the arrow.
It was one of the items the skeletons had crafted—a magical bow with a Level 51 restriction. She’d originally meant to use it just for pulling monsters, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
Seo Ye-rim caught it awkwardly, her head tilting as she looked back at Kim Min-woo.
“What are you doing? Shoot!”
“Wait, I’ve never held a bow before!”
“Just shoot! Hurry! If it gets inside the cave, we’re out of time!”
Before she could protest further, Seo Ye-rim gripped the bow. She assumed a clumsy stance the way she’d seen it done in movies.
She nocked the arrow against the string.
The string pulled taut.
She drew in a breath to focus, her eyes narrowing.
In that moment—
time slowed to a crawl.
Her stance was wrong, her breathing was wrong, her grip on the weapon was wrong, her weight distribution was wrong—everything was a mess.
And yet, a strange certainty bloomed within her.
If she fired now, she would hit.
A terrifying surge of mana poured into the arrow.
She could see the Inmyeonjiju’s form racing toward the cave.
[A radiant talent blooms!]
[Show Time!]
[An overwhelming talent creates a skill!]
[Skill, Precision Snipe (A) has been created!]
[Title, ‘Tasted Mushin State’ has been obtained!]
[Title, ‘Found a Pair at Last’ has been obtained!]
Twang!
The arrow, heavy with mana, flew.
It tore through the air and pierced the Inmyeonjiju’s skull in one fluid motion.
[Level has increased.]
[Title, ‘Divine Sharpshooter’ has been obtained!]
The Inmyeonjiju collapsed, dropping a Skill Book as it fell.
“…….”
Seo Ye-rim.
She stared blankly at the bow in her hands.

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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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