Damn Necromancer - Chapter 96

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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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Donzirah Guild’s Necromancer (96)
Ilseong Guild
Chairman Kim pressed his hand to his forehead as if nursing a headache. It was true that the Ilseong Guild had been attracting considerable noise lately.
The parent company, Ilseong, was funneling tens of trillions of won to other guilds on their behalf, so it wasn’t strange that people were upset.
Of course, that guild belonged to the eldest son, but the structure didn’t have a direct connection to the Ilseong Guild anyway. To put it bluntly, even if the Donzirah Guild received sixty trillion won, none of it would trickle down to them.
“Your father is sorry. Still, there’s no need to worry too much. The investment will be executed soon enough…”
“No, sir. I’m not asking you to hurry up with the investment. We still have plenty of time.”
Kim Min-woo shook his head as he spoke.
“I’ve heard the gist of what those people are saying. That our guild hasn’t shown anything worthy of that kind of investment.”
“Yes. That’s what they’ve been arguing.”
To put it in the coldest terms possible.
He could honestly understand the complaint.
An A+ Rank Gate Clear.
Accomplished by just the two of them.
And that with one Awakener of lower level in tow.
It was indeed a remarkable achievement.
But was it enough to sell a twenty percent stake for sixty trillion won?
‘By conventional social standards, not really.’
True, he’d been throwing around trillions like they were nothing, but that didn’t mean trillions were pocket change.
It was a substantial sum.
There was internet chatter claiming you couldn’t even buy Kim Min-woo for a hundred trillion won.
‘But that’s just national pride talking, nothing more.’
Looking at reality, even if you combined the market value of himself and Seo Ye-rim, most people would agree on roughly twenty trillion won.
Why?
Because even if there were a guild capable of clearing A+ Rank Gates, their price wouldn’t reach twenty trillion.
For transferring a one-hundred-percent guild stake, they’d get maybe three to four trillion at best.
No matter how critical Gates had become.
And even though the Gate phenomenon had driven economic expansion and increased its scale, valuations rarely inflated to that degree.
An A+ Rank Gate Clear?
Globally speaking, guilds operating at the 2.5-tier level were perfectly capable of achieving that.
Under normal circumstances, there was almost no reason for someone’s valuation to spike that high.
‘The prices that truly skyrocket start from the top-tier Awakener bracket.’
Awakeners whose worth was incalculable.
There was a tier where that language applied.
Geom-seon, for example, was one such Awakener. Not merely an S-rank by raw classification, but a genuinely skilled fighter.
The kind the nation treasured as national treasure, the kind every movement of whom they anxiously tracked, the kind they lavished care upon—those genuine elite saw their value properly inflated.
Seo Ye-rim and he weren’t at that level yet.
The reason was simple.
‘How can they judge what they haven’t seen?’
They hadn’t revealed their full capabilities. Of course, if they exposed everything, they might be recognized as genuine elite.
But that would actually be a loss.
‘Why would an elite let their hand show?’
Beyond the status of mere Super Rookie.
Beyond the title of Mega-class Rookie.
The rare few S-rank Awakeners recognized as genuine.
They were people who had spent years, sometimes decades, moving in and out of Gates, living on the battlefield.
Even the famous Isabella had taken ten years to transition from Super Rookie to genuine recognition.
That alone was remarkable.
Among the first generation of Awakeners who’d been flying and fighting for decades, only truly proper fighters.
Reaching a level comparable to, or slightly below, those Awakeners. In any case, reaching that kind of rank.
But to be recognized at that level merely three months after awakening?
Even he found it difficult to predict what kind of backlash might come.
‘A person should rise to prominence at a measured pace.’
Too rapid an ascent only brings exhaustion. That was why they didn’t expose everything.
In any case.
The real reason they’d secured the sixty trillion investment was that he’d demonstrated his genuine value to Chairman Kim.
The people of Korea—the people of the world—didn’t know that. So if there were complaints about overinvestment, it was only natural. The fact that things had stayed quiet suggested the chairman was still managing public opinion somewhat.
Once word spread that he’d purchased a twenty percent stake for sixty trillion won, there would be talk.
‘All sorts of things might surface—gift loopholes, tax tricks, you name it.’
Of course, given the lingering effects of the Gate Clear, people wouldn’t dismiss it as outright corruption.
In the end, the issue was simple.
Was this really worth paying that price for?
Or was it a con?
This was precisely what the Ilseong Guild kept hammering on.
‘I’ll just have to show them it’s not.’
The solution was straightforward.
“Father. Let’s hold a Guild War.”
A Guild War.
One of the system-sanctioned contests, much like a duel. And naturally, like a duel, the rules could be set by the participants.
At those words, Chairman Kim tilted his head.
“……A Guild War?”
“Yes. Two guilds clashing openly and decisively. That way, there’ll be no room for gossip, will there?”
“Surely you don’t mean against their first team?”
“Of course the first team. If we only beat their second or third string, people will keep talking.”
The Ilseong Guild ranked around fifth in Korea. Naturally, its members were quite capable.
Thirty people in the first team.
Of these, roughly ten were S-rank Awakeners.
Twenty were A-rank.
‘Among them, the ones worth using are…….’
Guild Master Nam Chul-min.
An S-rank archer Awakener in his forties.
‘His Achievement rank is S.’
An Awakener who had drawn attention as a Super Rookie when he awakened twenty years ago.
His skills hadn’t completely dulled even now. In an Awakener’s terms, his forties put him near a fully mature prime.
The other S-rankers also had Achievement ranks that fell mostly between A and B.
‘The guild’s level is just so-so.’
They had enough power to manage Gates from high A-rank up through low S-rank. In other words, beating their first team meant……
‘Demonstrating the potential to clear an S-rank Gate.’
That would be equivalent to proving such a possibility. Their valuation would skyrocket, naturally.
Enough to justify the sixty trillion won investment to some degree.
“……Are you sure about this? If you lose, the whole thing falls apart.”
Chairman Kim asked, sounding uneasy.
If things continued as they were, there would be talk, but they could still secure the investment regardless.
But if the Donzirah Guild lost?
The investment might still happen, but the amount could shrink considerably.
After that, there would be no ignoring public opinion even if they wanted to.
‘Even winning is a problem.’
Three people beating the first team?
If they pulled that off, the major Awakener powers might actually show genuine investment interest. Clearing A-rank Gates and clearing S-rank Gates were entirely different leagues.
‘Ugh. That won’t do…….’
The world might not know, but he did.
A guild gathering EX-rank and SSS-rank Awakeners.
He absolutely had to get his foot in the door with Ilseong. Especially while they were desperate and offering such explosive discounts.
But by that time……
‘Will he really accept the investment then?’
This was why Chairman Kim couldn’t help but worry.
What if he raised his price?
The cash was already stretched thin.
For the first time in his life, he found himself worrying about money.
At that sight, Kim Min-woo smiled knowingly and spoke.
“There’s no need to worry. We will definitely take the investment. And the price is fixed. Sixty trillion, twenty percent.”
“……Really?”
“Of course. Who else in this world can you trust but family?”
Ilseong was a family company.
He wouldn’t betray family for profit.
Better to grow the company well and use it in various ways.
“Even if you do win…… please don’t crush the Ilseong Guild too badly. It’s still a guild bearing the Ilseong name.”
“Well…… I’ll do my best.”
Kim Min-woo nodded.
Had they not discussed the assassin earlier today, he might have said otherwise, but the matter was already spoken of.
Solo, I’d crush S-rank Gates without breaking a sweat. And now Seo Ye-rim and Park Si-woo are joining in?
Chairman Kim must have suspected it himself.
The Donzirah Guild had a good chance of winning.
‘The lukewarm feeling probably came down to the investment issue.’
Either way, problems would surface.
That’s why I gave a definitive answer.
‘With this, I’ve got permission.’
I’d secured Guild War authorization from the chairman, who was essentially the guild’s owner.
Now there was nothing left but to make it happen.
Honestly, it was a bit cruel to the Ilseong Guild.
‘Though maybe it’s not the worst thing, letting these stagnant old-timers see reality.’
It might not be so bad?
To be honest, if you asked whether the Ilseong Guild was some corrupt relic, the answer would be no—not at Stage 6. If it were still Stage 5.
‘At that level, things wouldn’t have been so bad.’
Korea didn’t have many S-rank Gates. More growth would’ve been nice, but even if they’d settled here, it wouldn’t have been rock bottom.
But things were different now.
‘The arena had expanded.’
Humanity’s potential had grown.
There was no reason the Gates should be any different. Gates surpassing S-rank could burst through at any moment, and I wouldn’t even blink.
‘I’ve already glimpsed that higher world.’
The stage where Death Road raged.
The Demon Realm’s preliminary round, where all the lords participated.
Even the Trial Ground.
Stages that never appeared in Stage 5 had started emerging.
And even within Stage 5 itself.
‘I’ve seen EX-rank.’
The Dragon Lord.
I remembered my equipment turning to scrap metal with a single word of his dragon language, remembered collapsing.
The situation where I now knew there was a world far beyond S-rank.
Put differently.
‘S-rank alone might not be enough anymore.’
Lobsters grow throughout their entire lives, they say. They molt, their bodies grow, their shells harden.
But eventually comes a moment when the shell becomes so thick that molting becomes too difficult, and they give up.
‘That’s when they die.’
Awakeners are similar.
They grow well up to a certain point.
Then they hit a wall.
A point where molting seems too dangerous to attempt.
Usually it’s one of two paths.
Clench your teeth and attempt the molt, or stagnate right there and settle for what you have. Unfortunately, the Ilseong Guild fell squarely into the latter category.
A guild of lobsters that had given up molting. Content with reality, clearing Gates moderately, earning money off it. That’s why they were permanently fifth-place.
“We’ll schedule the Guild War with each other.”
“……Tell the guild master. But you’re really going public with this?”
“We need to put on a bit of a show so there’s no gossip afterward.”
Hold a secret Guild War and win, then the news breaks?
Boring.
No impact on the general public. They’d just shrug and move on.
But broadcast the whole fight live and win?
Korea would flip upside down in seconds. That frozen investment would unfreeze instantly.
If I fought alone, I’d have to expose all my power. But with three of us, it was different.
I could hold back strategically and still toy with the Ilseong Guild.
“Then I’ll take my leave.”
“Oh, wait a minute. Min-woo. That thing—Chairman of the Dorim Group keeps contacting me…….”
“Him?”
“Yeah. He wants to meet you. Ahem. Apparently, people are talking about it at Cheongwadae too.”
Well…….
I’d beaten up the Dorim Group quite a bit over time.
They’d not only become the nation’s most disliked company, but their revenue had plummeted over fifty percent, or so I’d heard.
It seemed they couldn’t hold out any longer and were about to throw in the towel.
‘Why the hell did they even resist this long?’
If he’d surrendered with a white flag earlier, the bleeding would’ve been considerably lighter.
“True enough. Fair point. Still, he’s the second-biggest player in the business world, whatever his faults.”
“If you really hate him, we could just ignore him—but squeezing too hard leaves a bad taste. Since we can’t exactly kill someone just because they’re an eyesore, might as well extract something and let him go. Keeps things clean.”
“Right. After the Guild War tomorrow, I’ll go meet with him.”
“Good.”
I left the study.
‘Better take something out of this.’
There was a business under the Dorim Group’s umbrella I’d had my eye on. It wasn’t huge yet, so if I made it part of the terms, they’d hand it over without much fuss.
‘They’re hardly in a position to refuse.’
That could wait until tomorrow.
I opened the guild group chat.
[Kim Min-woo]
―[Announcement] We’re holding a Guild War.
[Park Si-woo]
―?
(question mark emoji)
[Seo Ye-rim]
―?
(confused rabbit emoji)
[Kim Min-woo]
―We’re taking on the Ilseong Guild’s first team. All of this is to raise funds for your salaries, living expenses, and everything else, so I’m counting on your full cooperation.
That’s how it is.

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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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