Damn Necromancer - Chapter 53

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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 (53)
Yongbong Gathering
[The Human-Faced Boss has been defeated!]
[Your level increases by 4!]
The moment the Human-Faced Boss fell, I clenched my fist tight.
Honestly, it was half a gamble.
No matter how talented you are, you don’t generate a new skill every single time.
But I pulled it off.
I looked down at the Human-Faced Boss.
Being a mid-tier boss monster, it spat out byproducts in abundance—starting with experience points.
Among them was a Bound Skill Book.
I glanced sideways at Seo Ye-rim.
She seemed still lost in the afterglow of the moment, staring blankly at her bow.
“Seo Ye-rim?”
“Oh, yes?”
“What do you want to do with that?”
I gestured toward the skill book as I asked.
By the books, the contribution was roughly split down the middle.
Thanks to Cedric and Ha-yang, I’d managed to land a solid amount of damage myself.
‘Normally in a situation like this…….’
Byproducts could be acquired by all party members.
If there was no standout contributor in the party, the standard procedure was to open an auction on the spot. Once an item sold, it would be divided by one over n and distributed to all party members.
If it went to auction, that worked perfectly for me. Regardless of the price, I was planning to bid on it anyway.
She, who’d been alternating her gaze between the bow and me, spoke up.
“Just take it.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Thanks to this, I learned about talents I didn’t even know I had…….”
That was a steal.
There was no reason to refuse.
As Kim Min-woo, who couldn’t create skills through action the way other geniuses could, I felt it even more keenly.
I stepped forward immediately toward the Bound Skill Book.
The moment I picked it up.
[You have obtained a Bound Skill Book.]
[You have obtained the Necromancer Skill Book: Bone Golem Summoning (A)!]
‘Hah.’
A smile of pure happiness spread across my face as I read the skill.
Bone Golem Summoning.
Even without looking at the details, I had a pretty good sense of what this skill did.
[Bone Golem Summoning (A)]
[Level Requirement: 120 or higher]
[Consumes 200 mana to summon a massive golem composed entirely of bone. The golem’s level matches your own.]
The description was straightforward and intuitive.
Seo Ye-rim crept closer and asked.
“What did you get?”
“This.”
[Summoning Bone Golem!]
Nearly four meters tall.
A golem constructed entirely of bone materialized before us.
[Bone Golem]
[Job: Warrior]
[Level: 120]
[Skills: Provocation (A), Defensive Stance (B)]
[Strength: 240 (+120)] [Agility: 120 (+60)] [Endurance: 240 (+120)] [Magic Power: 60 (+30)]
“Wow, looks like it’ll work out perfectly.”
“Yes. It’s a tank.”
Just looking at it, the stat distribution screamed tank duty.
Heavy investment in strength and endurance. With the Death Lord’s fifty-percent bonus stacked on top, the numbers came out absurdly high from the start.
The skills were no different.
Provocation was a threat-generation skill, and Defensive Stance reduced all incoming damage by thirty percent.
‘Finally. I have a tank.’
Up until now, whenever an attack came in, I’d stack skeletons and use them as a meat shield.
Was it effective? Honestly, not really. The skeletons weren’t summoned creatures specialized in defense.
I was just throwing numbers at the problem and hoping for the best.
‘This style of combat gets more awkward the further I climb.’
When I’m the one slashing from behind.
Whether there’s a tank in front who can reliably hold the enemy’s attention makes all the difference in battle difficulty. A golem would be able to perform that role properly.
It was exactly the skill I needed.
‘And there’s plenty of room to enhance it.’
Bone Exchange.
Since the Bone Golem was also a summoned creature made of bone, it had a capacity limit.
A reassuring capacity of 120.
If I selected a few monsters that were good at tanking and swapped in their bones—
‘It would become much sturdier.’
And that’s not all.
The golem hadn’t equipped any gear yet. Since its weight class was different, I’d have to craft weapons separately, but—
‘It’s worth the investment. I have to do this.’
Normally I would’ve hired a crafting artisan to make a full set.
But I didn’t need to now.
I already had thousands of artisans at my disposal, didn’t I?
The skeletons’ crafting skill was still E-rank.
For equipment with level requirements between 51 and 100, they crafted well.
‘Anything above that would fall apart.’
The success rate dropped sharply, and even if something was produced, it came out crude and worthless.
‘For now—’
I decided to cobble together basic equipment to put on the golem as a stopgap.
I summoned the skeletons and scattered materials before them.
“Match those measurements and try making something.”
The skeletons looked toward the golem.
They began climbing onto it immediately afterward.
Seo Ye-rim tilted her head, watching what looked like they were taking measurements.
“What are you doing right now?”
“Making equipment for the golem.”
“…You make equipment?”
“My skeletons do. Like this.”
There were no special facilities or equipment, but I could use crafting skills even on bare ground.
Over a thousand skeletons reached for the materials. Soon, equipment of a size far larger than ordinary goods began to be crafted.
She gasped at the sight.
“Wait—what is this… all of it has plus stats? Were you the one supplying equipment to Ilseong?”
“That’s right.”
“…If this gets out, there’ll be chaos.”
“Well, as long as you don’t talk about it.”
“I’m not someone with a loose tongue.”
I nodded.
That’s why I’d shown her the crafting in the first place.
‘Though the real reason is different.’
I handed her a bow, but there was no change in achievement points.
Why would there be?
It was probably because she wasn’t planning to use it as her main weapon right away.
‘The sword still takes up far more of her repertoire.’
It wasn’t an incomprehensible reaction.
She’d used nothing but swords her whole life, and almost all her skills were swordsman ones.
At best, she was thinking of occasionally using the bow as a sub-weapon.
That wouldn’t do.
‘I need to make her use the bow as her primary weapon.’
Only then would her destiny as a protagonist shift, and whether achievement points came out or not would become irrelevant.
To say anything on that subject, we’d need to grow closer first.
Sharing secrets was one of the best ways to build inner familiarity.
Why would I expose a secret in the first place?
Because I trust the other person.
It was an implicit gesture.
I trust you, is what I’m saying.
One thing after another adds up, and before you know it, some nobody becomes a colleague worth relying on.
‘Then my words will carry more weight too.’
For Kim Min-woo, whose level cap was so low, achievement points were an asset beyond price.
To obtain them, he could easily justify taking on this much risk.
And if there was one more minor reason.
“Seo Ye-rim. Since you’re already giving it to me, would you mind being generous about it?”
“……?”
“I’d also like to take the Human-Faced Boss’s corpse. It seems like it would be useful material for crafting. If you need money, I’m happy to bid.”
“Forget it. Just take it.”
Perfect.
After the Bound Skill Book, he’d even gotten a mid-boss-level monster corpse for free.
‘I’ll need to grind the golem bones.’
Cedric couldn’t use them—capacity was an issue. So he was planning to grind the golem’s bones. Of course, whether it would work or not was something he’d have to try.
* * *
Inside the carriage.
Seo Ye-rim glanced sidelong at Kim Min-woo. Until just before they’d rushed into the Gate, her impression of him had leaned decidedly negative.
―Ah, that swordplay’s pathetic?
―Hmm…… Is that the extent of it?
She’d been humiliated enough because of that comment about the downward strike.
Of course, she had made remarks about how they wouldn’t be able to clear the Gate, but honestly, it hadn’t been malicious.
She’d just thought it seemed unlikely to succeed, so she’d said as much.
Back then, anyway.
Just some guy who’d suddenly gotten good with a sword out of nowhere. A personality wreck.
That was roughly the impression she’d had.
‘But now it doesn’t seem quite like that…….’
It had been about two weeks since they’d entered the Gate.
She’d come to learn far more about him than she’d expected.
She’d felt it when he’d let Jang Sam live.
His character was more sound than she’d thought.
‘And…… he’s meticulous.’
How to put it.
Like he’s constructing a framework and moving within it?
That was the feeling.
There was a reason behind every single action.
‘He’s more conscientious than I’d imagined too.’
Even in the carriage, he never just sat idle through a day.
Whether he was grinding skeleton bones, or continually attempting crafts, or summoning Cedric to discuss combat, or training combined movements together—he never stopped.
Except when he slept, he never rested.
It was clear he was genuinely serious about clearing this place.
That much was real.
Of course, what surprised her most was Kim Min-woo’s strength itself.
When he’d faced the Human-Faced Boss, she was truly shocked. From the moment when his blade wouldn’t quite bite in, she’d sensed instinctively that this wasn’t an opponent to be taken lightly.
Against such an opponent, Kim Min-woo tore through its outer shell and drove damage into it relentlessly.
Did he use a skill in the process?
‘…… No, he didn’t.’
When you use a skill, it shows.
There was nothing unnatural in Kim Min-woo’s movements whatsoever.
So he’d simply picked up a sword and delivered that much damage through pure technique.
Imagining just how refined his swordsmanship must be was almost beyond comprehension.
If the Human-Faced Boss hadn’t fled.
‘He would have taken it down alone.’
It was chilling.
Only now could she understand with certainty why he’d been pacing in front of the Gate. It had all been calculated territory.
‘And his potential is beyond imagination too…….’
And now that skeleton was learning all sorts of things.
On top of which, he was even commanding a summon of Cedric’s insane caliber.
Everything known to the public was merely the tip of the iceberg.
S-rank?
Absolutely not.
Ordinary undead could never demonstrate such performance.
‘I wondered why he chose necromancy.’
Now I could understand it.
After traveling together for about two weeks, I felt it clearly.
Kim Min-woo, this necromancer, had a ceiling that was dizzyingly high.
‘This is surely just the tip of the iceberg.’
He was remarkable enough that Grandfather secretly regarded him as a mentor.
Would such a person not have created a single skill?
By now, his skill window must be teeming with sword-related abilities.
The moment he picked up a blade and swung it, skills would manifest.
And what was even more terrifying—
was the fact that his talent didn’t seem confined to swordsmanship alone.
Grandfather himself didn’t even know if he had talent with the bow.
But Kim Min-woo?
He had mentioned it in a single breath.
He’d recognized it.
But how had he known?
There was an old saying for that.
All Paths Lead to One.
The ends and endings flow into one another.
Perhaps Kim Min-woo possessed talent with the bow as well.
‘Truly, the man is like an onion.’
Layer after layer, with no end in sight.
Perhaps what he’d taught us about crafting was merely trivial knowledge to him.
I found myself genuinely curious about how many more secrets he was concealing.
“…Is there something on my face, perhaps?”
Oh no, I’d been staring too intently.
Seo Ye-rim shook her head in flustered denial.
“No, I was just curious about something.”
“About what?”
She rolled her eyes downward.
I’d blurted it out without thinking.
Suddenly asking about secrets here would be strange.
“Ah, well… that is… oh! Martial arts! Those skeletons—don’t they learn martial arts? You said they can learn all sorts of things.”
“Cedric has been teaching them. Not martial arts exactly, but ultimately all methods of combat flow from the same source.”
“I, I see.”
Kim Min-woo chuckled softly.
“We should arrive soon. Have you prepared yourself mentally?”
“Prepared for what?”
“Once you earn points, you’ll become a star. I suspect many people will come at you, Ye-rim.”
“Ah…”
That made sense.
The servant had vanished, and we’d cleared it—just the two of us. Naturally, those who claw their way up attract the ones who bite.
A master and a maidservant.
Which of the two would make an easier target?
From every angle, it seemed like me, the maidservant.
“…You think you’ll let someone touch a person destined for great things?”
“As for me, I suspect Ryeon will mention my name. But you’re different. You were added almost as an afterthought, after all.”
“Ah, damn it. I don’t know. Anyone who comes at me will be crushed, so understand that.”
“As you wish.”
Kim Min-woo gave a slight shrug.
And so the carriage arrived inside Sadoryeon.
“Insane, absolutely insane!”
“You really did it? The two of you alone?”
[Score Tally]
[1st Place, Baek So-cheon – 15,000 Points]
[2nd Place, Choi Aeng-aeng – 15,000 Points]
[3rd Place, Baek Mu-han – 11,300 Points]
[4th Place, Baek Chul-yong – 9,700 Points]
.
.
Two days before the Yongbong Gathering.
He could seize the positions of first and second place in one swift motion.
It was hardly surprising that chaos erupted throughout Sadoryeon.

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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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