Dark Fantasy Guide for the Summoner - Chapter 62

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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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Chapter 62.
Royal Tomb I
The summoning conditions for the Hidden Boss, the Grim Reaper, are simple but finicky.
‘Keep wandering the map while maintaining a non-combat state for over an hour.’
There are two main reasons why this is tricky.
First, the Abandoned Cemetery is a location with exceptionally high mob density. Over the course of an hour, we’re bound to encounter enemies at least ten times.
Second, the perception range of Undead is generally wider than ours. Without a Ranger or Thief-class party member equipped with Presence Detection, it’s impossible to evade combat beforehand.
That’s why Laurent and I couldn’t avoid fights while wandering through the Burial Grounds.
Beyond that, randomly spawning High-Tier Undead and the damnable terrain features shrouded in perpetual mist only raise the difficulty further.
‘……That’s why when I played the game, I just wiped out the entire Undead population in the area.’
My hunting speed exceeded the spawn rate by that much.
Naturally, to pull off that kind of performance, your average stats had to be considerably higher than the recommended level for the hunting ground.
Meanwhile, what’s our current state?
‘My Level is currently 30.’
It’s overkill in some ways, but still falls short of the cemetery’s average recommended level.
The party is scattered to the four winds, our fighting strength reduced to a fraction of its former self.
To make matters worse, our physical condition has suffered from successive battles.
In other words…….
Welcome to the Achievement Shop.
Your current player access tier is Silver. Certain items are locked depending on tier. Please note that purchased items cannot be refunded.
Remaining purchase attempts
▶ Bronze-tier and below items: 1 attempt
▶ Silver-tier and below items: 3 attempts
Achievement Points held: 12,375,151 P
There’s no choice but to use the Achievement Shop here.
Scanning quickly, I soon found the item I was looking for.
Mysterious Invisible Cloak
A replica modeled after the invisible cloak favored by the legendary thief Loot Builder. By blurring the wearer’s presence, low-intelligence creatures cannot perceive not only the wearer’s appearance but even their very presence.
▶ When used, monsters will not detect you for one hour.
▶ Effectiveness may be limited against certain special entities and high-intelligence enemies.
Price: 100,000 P
Expensive enough to make you curse, but…….
Depending on how you use it, it’s an item that can really pay dividends.
‘It feels like a waste using it here.’
But I need to let go of that efficiency-obsessed mindset to some degree.
It’s not a structure where you can wipe out, curse once, and hit [NEW GAME].
Besides, there are still more items to buy.
Spirit Hunter’s Elixir
A combat elixir left behind by the Immortal, once called the natural predator of Undead. It reacts to the essence of death, maximizing the drinker’s power in combat against the Undead.
▶ Duration: 10 minutes
▶ All stats significantly increased
▶ Attack power against Undead-type enemies increased by 100%
▶ Damage received from Undead-type enemies reduced by 50%
Price: 200,000 P
With our firepower insufficient, some chemical enhancement is necessary.
I’ll need to buy enough for Laurent too, so two bottles comes to 400,000.
Add the Mysterious Invisible Cloak on top of that, and a clean 500,000 Achievement Points evaporate.
‘……How many characters would I need to level up to accumulate 500,000 points?’
Like everything else, earning takes forever while spending takes an instant.
Of course, that doesn’t mean…….
[Will you purchase the Mysterious Invisible Cloak and Spirit Hunter’s Elixir?]
The most infuriating part is that I can’t say no.
* * *
Draped in the invisible cloak, I traverse the Burial Grounds.
There’s no need to move quickly, so I maintain a steady pace.
Shhhhh…….
The feeling is certainly different from when I was playing the game.
Even with mobs right in front of our faces, unable to see us and passing by—it’s a sight worth paying to witness.
‘Though they could probably see it if Achievement Points were the currency instead of gold.’
……The tension lasted only the first few passes. After that came a stretch of tedium.
I walked deliberately slowly, trying to give my body any rest I could.
Though enemies lingered about, the hour that passed was the most peaceful since I’d arrived at the cemetery.
[You have wandered through the Burial Grounds for one hour without encountering any monsters.]
[A change occurs in the field.]
Suddenly, the mist thickened.
The pale luminescence that had confused day and night began to fade gradually, and before long, everything was swallowed by pitch-black darkness.
I couldn’t even see Laurent, who stood right beside me.
“…….”
Laurent wasn’t alarmed.
I had hinted to him beforehand that something like this would happen.
Of course, there was a chance he might grow suspicious of my identity because of it, but that was a problem to think about only after we survived this crisis.
Whoooooosh—!
A fierce wind tore through from somewhere, and all the mist that had filled our surroundings was swept away.
Had the gale also scattered away the Undead that had been wandering nearby?
When my eyes adjusted, the landscape before us was entirely different from what it had been just before the mist enclosed us.
“…….”
Not a single burial mound was visible.
The mist was gone, and the pale glow with it.
Instead, I saw a night sky—real night sky—for the first time in ages.
Crowded with constellations, no less.
I withdrew the Spirit Hunter’s Elixir from my pouch.
‘The elixir lasts only ten minutes.’
Since every second counted, it was better to drink it right after combat began rather than beforehand.
Especially since the Grim Reaper, being a Hidden Boss, was famous for talking a great deal before entering the Battle Phase.
Hummmmm—
Then, several constellations in the night sky flickered ominously, quickly forming a five-pointed star.
[Conditions are met.]
[The Hidden Boss, the Grim Reaper, appears.]
Below the five-pointed star, a tattered robe-like garment materialized from the hem upward, and soon revealed the skull-like visage beneath a deeply pulled hood.
Along with the scythe clasped in its skeletal fingers.
The very image that comes to mind when anyone hears the word reaper.
[Lv.▓▓ ‘Grim Reaper’]
Due to the nature of a Hidden Boss, its level wasn’t displayed, but…….
Its combat power was roughly weaker than this map’s Last Boss, yet stronger than a typical mid-tier boss.
In short, it was brutally difficult.
‘Now that I see it in person…….’
The pressure it radiated was immense.
So this is what trembling knees feel like?
It commanded a dignity that bore no comparison to the Water Gate Commander I’d fought earlier.
[You are…….]
At that moment, the Grim Reaper’s gaze turned toward me.
More precisely, toward me alone.
I maintained my guard, but then the Grim Reaper gestured.
[Come closer…….]
“…….”
Come closer?
Why. To make cutting me down easier?
As I stood there thinking such things, Laurent spoke first.
“How strange.”
“What is?”
“I sense no malice from that being.”
Malice……?
The truth is, I still can’t reliably sense what people call killing intent or malice.
In life-or-death combat, I do sometimes feel a chill, but that’s closer to an instinctive warning of danger than sensing any aura of intent.
The concept of Qi remains vague to me still.
“Isn’t that just because it’s Undead?”
“The other Undead all radiated malice, killing intent, and blind hatred toward the living. But this being…… seems calm somehow.”
“…….”
“Why not follow its lead and find out?”
I never expected Laurent to suggest something like this first.
I looked at the Grim Reaper once more.
[…….]
It stood motionless, staring directly at us without making a single move.
The moment to swing its scythe had long since passed.
A clear abnormality…….
After a brief deliberation, I nodded.
“Have the elixir ready to drink, and if that thing makes any sudden moves, come join me immediately.”
“Got it.”
Let’s approach it for now.
I don’t know how this will turn out.
* * *
The Grim Reaper’s frame, seen up close, was massive enough to evoke a giant.
Simply looking up at it filled me with a sense of majesty; the very air seemed to grow heavier…….
‘Hmm.’
That’s all there is.
No hostility emanates from it…… Now that I’ve drawn this close, I think I understand what that means.
‘Is it similar to the feeling Haitan gives?’
Extraordinarily dangerous, yet not the kind that seems poised to harm me right now?
The sensation is so abstract that it’s hard to put into words.
If someone asked me to explain, I’d probably just have to say it’s that way…… and leave it at that.
[Familiar yet…… strange visitor…… what brings you to this Abandoned Cemetery…… what is your purpose…….]
Visitor, it said.
Even as that word stirred something in my memory, I realized I stood at a crossroads.
‘What now.’
I had three choices before me.
The first was to reveal my purpose honestly; the second was to mix in lies.
And the last was…….
‘Just tell it to go to hell and fight anyway.’
I’d spent valuable Points summoning this thing in the first place, after all.
But…….
“I have business at the .”
I chose not to do that.
[What business…….]
“It seems our ally entered the . Linking up with them and extracting them is my first objective.”
[And the second……?]
“The said to exist somewhere in the . The artifacts there.”
I simply laid out my intentions plainly.
If asked why, I could only call it instinct, but the moment the words left my mouth, vague conflict crystallized into certainty.
Of course, I still needed to prepare for any contingency, so I kept my grip tight on the elixir and remained focused on the Grim Reaper’s presence.
‘What will you do?’
If this thing truly was a tomb’s guardian, it would enter Battle Phase now.
Declaring grave robbery to the protector of the amounted to the same thing.
That wouldn’t be a bad development.
But if it wasn’t…….
[The artifacts of the Royal Tomb…….]
“…….”
[Yes……. That’s right……. If that weren’t the case, you wouldn’t have struck down the guardians…… one after another…….]
Bastard. So it was watching the whole time after all.
……The Gravekeepers I hadn’t yet encountered looked identical to this Grim Reaper.
Scythe in one hand, torch in the other, they prowled the .
I’d suspected they might be the eyes and ears of the Grim Reaper.
[Honest visitor…… I understand your purpose well…… then…… .]
The flames in the eye sockets of its skull blazed with sudden fury.
[You disturb our rest…… all for gold and silver treasures……? Is that what this means……?]
The temperature around us plummeted, and a chill ran down my spine.
The moment I looked around, the fog that had dissipated began pouring in from somewhere once more.
Wooooo…….
A dirge-like wail accompanied the emergence of numerous Gravekeepers.
‘Two, three, four, five, eight, eleven…….’
I gave up counting.
At least dozens of them.
With numbers like that, breakthrough was impossible, and even the elixir wouldn’t tip the odds in our favor.
Click.
The sound of Laurent’s hand settling on his sword hilt.
I couldn’t see it, but he might have been bringing the elixir close to his lips.
Yet my own mind remained oddly calm.
If you asked why, well.
‘The Grim Reaper never pulled this pattern in the game, at least.’
It was thin reasoning, perhaps, but for that very reason I straightened rather than buckled, and spoke to the Grim Reaper.
“May I ask you something?”
[What is it…….]
“Are you, by any chance, of the Pashu Clan?”
At my question, the Grim Reaper fell silent.

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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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