My Catastrophic‑Level Summon Devours Gates - Chapter 1

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 1

50 years since Gates appeared in the world.

We live in an era where Magic Engines and monsters have become part of daily life.

Hunters are the suppliers of Magic Stones, the new energy source.

They’ve established themselves as an indispensable element protecting people from the threat of monsters.

Though globally, it’s the profession with the highest mortality rate.

That’s why being a Hunter is a job everyone admires.

I too am one of those Hunters.

“Kang! Krung!”

“Huh? Huh huh?”

“One broke through over there!”

A dog-headed beastman.

A Kobold came charging, ignoring the tank line.

“Sigh.”

Well then, I guess it’s time to earn my keep.

Click—

I opened my luggage Carrier.

Severed arms and legs.

It looks like I’m concealing a crime, but I’m not.

Look at the face.

It’s not human—it has a pig snout.

It’s the corpse of an Orc, a D-rank monster.

5 seconds to fit together the separated arms, legs, and torso.

I placed my hand on the cold skin.

“Open your eyes.”

[Corpse Crafting]

A gloomy energy connected the divided corpse.

The Orc that bolted upright trembled slightly.

“Kang! Kang!”

“Uuuuuu.”

Like an actor frozen with tension.

The Orc grabbed the Kobold tightly with stiff movements and collapsed on top of it.

The Kobold pinned under the corpse frantically stabbed at its side with a dagger.

Thunk, thunk, the body swayed left and right but not a drop of blood came out.

Of course. It’s a zombie after all.

The orc zombie grabbed the kobold’s arms to immobilize it.

Then bit into its neck.

Crunch!

[Experience points increased.]

[Maximum level reached. Converting to accumulated experience points.]

A message indicating the kobold’s death.

“Stop.”

Even corpses are money.

If you devour everything, there’s nothing left.

The orc zombie stood up abruptly.

The E-rank hunter hired as day labor was startled.

“Mr. Park. You were a necromancer?”

“It’s a side job. A side job.”

I’m not a necromancer, who’s guaranteed at least B-rank upon awakening.

It’s a similar profession called necrosmith.

“Mr. Kim didn’t know? Mr. Park is famous for being a perpetual E-rank.”

“Perpetual E-rank?”

“He’s been E-rank for 5 years. He’s a celebrity at the Hunter Employment Office, didn’t you know?”

Damn it.

Thank you sooooo much for introducing me.

“Bark! Bark!”

The sound of barking stimulates my eardrums.

“More kobolds are coming!”

“Everyone do as you were trained. Tanks to the front.”

“Yes, yes!”

“Hey mage there. What are you doing preparing a Fireball! Are you planning to roast the tanks?”

“Sorry!”

Clang— The noise of something being dropped echoes

And tense breathing sounds like “hik” or “huk” can be heard from all directions.

The first real combat for Small-Medium Hunter Academy students.

Today I came to work as a shield for hunters with no real combat experience.

Catching the kobolds that slipped past the tanks was also part of the job.

“Mr. Park. Is this your job again today?”

“The pay is decent.”

“Wiping the noses of these brats is annoying though.”

“Can’t be helped.”

A bitter smile lingered on my lips.

Five years since awakening as a hunter.

After awakening, I faithfully maintained a schedule of five days a week going in and out of gates.

They say an average hunter enters gates three times a week?

I put in nearly twice the effort.

But I still haven’t managed to reach D-rank.

“Still, your undead’s movements seem to have gotten a bit smoother.”

“Ha, haha. Thank you.”

As if.

My undead can barely manage to control its limbs.

Charging blindly, knocking things down, and biting—that’s the best combat method it has.

You’re wondering if undead are stiff because of rigor mortis?

[Corpse Crafting]

Grade: E

Restriction: Necrosmith

Proficiency: 100%

Process materials judged as corpses to create weapons or undead.

Undead created through Corpse Crafting are influenced by their creator.

When imbued with souls from another world, the creator also inherits some of that soul’s abilities.

▷Evolutionary skill.

Necromancers can easily raise corpses as undead with just mana.

But my class requires actual ‘crafting.’

It feels like a downgraded ability.

I could accept that much.

The real problem is.

▷Influenced by their creator.

This part.

It’s talking about things like athletic sense.

You know those people who trip and fall by themselves while chasing a ball on the playground as kids?

That was me.

Owner of cursed athletic abilities.

Taekwondo.

Muay Thai.

Kickboxing.

Personal training at the gym.

There’s nothing I haven’t tried to improve these cursed athletic abilities.

―I’m sorry. We’d like you to come in just until today.

―We don’t see any possibility for improvement with you.

―We’ll refund your registration fee.

It’s because they all failed.

“Uuugh.”

Seeing the orc zombie rise stiffly made me frown.

The reason I still hadn’t risen to D-rank was because of the promotion exam.

Level cap.

So when you reach level 50, you have to take a promotion exam.

The exam content differs for each job class.

For necromancer-type job classes, the D-rank exam tests ‘creation’ and ‘control’ abilities.

Rather.

If they had told me to fight monsters one-on-one like a warrior, I wouldn’t have felt wronged.

“Hey! Another kobold got away over there!”

“Yes. I’m going.”

The orc zombie moved stiffly and blocked the kobold’s path.

Please, just take the hits moderately.

Repairing you costs materials, you know.

What good would it do if repair costs exceed my part-time wages?

* * *

[Hero’s Tomb]

[Grade – E]

[Restriction – D-rank and below (30)]

This is the name of the gate that the bumbling newbies set out to conquer.

“Agh! It hurts!”

“Keep formation. Don’t retreat.”

“Block the kobold!”

Despite its grand name.

The main monsters in this gate are kobolds.

E-rank weaklings that stand shoulder to shoulder with goblins.

“You people! Get to work!”

The Academy Supervisor’s neck veins bulged.

You’re the one who failed to teach the students properly, so why are you taking it out on us?

“Mr. Park. Can you only move one zombie?”

“I can handle multiple too.”

“Then why do you only use one?”

“The cost-effectiveness isn’t good.”

My undead are handmade.

If they get damaged, I have to repair each one individually.

Unless I’m tackling a gate solo.

There won’t be any need to control multiple ones.

“If you’re a necromancer, isn’t it all about quantity?”

“That rush does feel good though.”

But trading style for wallet thickness isn’t worth it.

“You could just whip up undead on the spot.”

“They need to go through an aging process.”

That’s why I brought corpses in a luggage carrier.

Corpses that haven’t been aged with mana don’t perform properly.

The advantage is that they don’t consume mana for maintenance though.

But from my perspective where damage directly translates to money, it wasn’t much of an advantage.

One of the day laborers who came as a hunter patted my shoulder.

“I was nervous seeing the gate’s name, but it’s nothing special.”

You’re right.

There’s one more reason I joined this part-time job besides money.

Yeongmyo is another expression for tomb.

Couldn’t I find ‘Otherworldly Soul’, an option for [Corpse Crafting]?

With that thought, I entered the gate grasping at straws.

As you can see, there are only kobolds breathing roughly.

When we reached the end of the gate, the atmosphere changed.

One of the Hunter Academy students looked around and muttered.

“The atmosphere is quite fitting.”

“Who chats during a gate raid?”

“S-sorry!”

A desecrated graveyard.

A kobold shaman sat perched on a coffin that had been dragged above ground.

There were a total of 10 kobolds near the graveyard.

We had to get through the minions to target the kobold shaman.

“Grrrung!”

The boss monster, the kobold shaman, let out a low growl and extended its staff.

A magic circle appeared in front of the staff.

This was dangerous.

“Students. Watch carefully.”

The Academy Supervisor, who had only been giving orders from behind, broke formation and charged forward.

Was he a D-rank hunter?

[Howling Blade]

The vibrating blade cut through the Fireball.

It even slashed through the one preparing an additional spell in one strike—swoosh.

“Wow. D-rank is different. Even cutting through magic like that.”

It’s all about the items though.

Necromancer + Blacksmith.

Thanks to my class traits, I could immediately understand the item’s effects.

The vibration caused by mana neutralized the Fireball.

The remaining force killed the kobold shaman instantly.

The newbies’ parade of embarrassing moments continued, but the raid ended without major incidents.

“We did it!”

“We cleared the gate!”

“I’m finally a proper hunter now!”

Excited voices echoed loudly at the gate exit.

That feeling.

I understand it.

I was like that too when I first entered a gate.

Back then, I didn’t know I’d be stuck at E-rank until I had 5 years of hunter experience under my belt.

“Tsk.”

Leaves a bitter taste.

“Since the clear message hasn’t appeared, we need to eliminate the remaining enemies.”

The Academy Supervisor urged the newbies.

When a gate raid is completed.

[You have successfully cleared this gate.]

[Grade — E ~ SSS]

The grade is determined by clear time.

Each member receives rewards accordingly.

This raid took quite a while.

So getting good rewards is out of the question.

While the newbies were making a racket, I circled around the graves.

Who knows?

Maybe I could find that thing called an otherworldly spirit.

Well, I said that, but honestly I was starting to doubt whether that spirit really existed.

No spirits came out even when I killed monsters.

I sometimes see souls when wandering around the outside world.

But [Corpse Crafting] wouldn’t even activate, saying those spirits weren’t valid skill targets.

“Another dead end this time?”

Even when I quietly approached where the Coffin was.

I couldn’t find even a trace of any spirit.

“Uuuuuh.”

The orc zombie approached with slow, sluggish movements.

It was instinctively protecting its master.

Right.

At least I have you with me······.

【Who is it?】

The Coffin shook lightly.

A neutral-toned voice pierced into my mind.

It wasn’t a sound.

It was a thought emanated by the dead.

Thump— Thump—

My heart trembles.

The Coffin that had shown no reaction until just moments ago.

Did it react to the orc zombie?

The reason doesn’t matter.

If the owner of that thought is a soul from another world.

I might be able to see a new aspect of [Corpse Crafting] that I haven’t been able to attempt even once in 5 years.

I barely calmed my trembling heart.

And slowly parted my lips while feigning composure.

“Who are you?”

【My name is Isra. I am the strongest knight of the Enras Continent.】

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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