My Catastrophic‑Level Summon Devours Gates - Chapter 78
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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 78
The night after taking the promotion exam.
“To Hunter Park’s S-rank promotion!”
President Baek leading the toast.
“Cheers!”
The Support Team friends raised their glasses high and shouted joyfully.
Clink!
Glasses meeting in mid-air.
A few drops of liquid splashed into the air, but no one pointed it out.
A private room restaurant.
“This looks incredibly expensive.”
I felt overwhelmed eating at such a high-end restaurant that I’d only seen in dramas.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m treating today.”
“Boss is the best!”
Mi-jeong from the Support Team shouted loudly.
“You see, I was once a director at Chilseong Guild.”
“Yes.”
“Do you know when I felt I had succeeded?”
President Baek picked up the menu.
“When I could order whatever cut I wanted without looking at the price.”
Oh.
That’s a comparison that really hits home.
But you know.
Boss, you’re a venture entrepreneur now.
I was worried about his financial situation, but I kept my mouth shut.
“It’s fine. I can afford this much.”
Yikes.
He caught my inner thoughts.
Oh right.
“Would it be okay to call one more person?”
“You mean your Summoned Being. Please, make yourself comfortable.”
Adding one more mouth is a bit burdensome though.
Wanting to feed her something delicious, I called Ingrid out from Death Space.
A woman’s figure suddenly emerged from the ground.
“Huh.”
“Whoa.”
“Wow.”
“Kyaa.”
Exclamations erupted from here and there.
The Support Team friends’ eyes went wide.
“Oh my. Why is everyone acting like this? It’s not like we’re meeting for the first time.”
“Wh, who, who are you?”
“Mi-jeong. I’m more disappointed that you’re acting this way. Should I increase the training intensity a bit?”
Mi-jeong was startled at the mention of training.
“I, Ingrid?”
“Then the person you called Master during the interview was…”
“A Skeleton Mage?”
“That’s impossible.”
Close your mouth.
You’ll get splattered oil in there.
Whether the Support Team was surprised or not.
Ingrid naturally sat down next to me.
“That’s my seat.”
“Yeah. I need to be by Master’s side, so would you go over there?”
Seong-su, the Support Team leader, couldn’t say anything and moved to an empty seat.
“Can Undead become human?”
“She looks human but she’s still Undead.”
To be precise, she has dual attributes, being both human and Undead.
I’m not sure they’d understand even with a long explanation.
Since the very idea of Undead becoming human is too radical, I kept it brief.
“Ah.”
They immediately accept it even if they don’t understand.
“Master. Please have a piece.”
“I’m fine, so you eat first.”
Whooooa.
The Support Team friends let out a collective sigh.
“When the skeleton called you Master, I didn’t think much of it.”
“But when someone who looks like a celebrity calls you Master, it feels really strange, doesn’t it.”
“Right.”
“Um, can I call you sister from now on?”
Good grief.
Why is appearance so important?
Ingrid is Ingrid.
Whether she was just bones back then or has regained her living appearance now, she’s the same subordinate of mine.
“Master. Ahh~”
Hmm.
Come to think of it, there might be a slight difference.
“Please eat plenty.”
President Baek smiled warmly.
The atmosphere that had become awkward after Ingrid appeared gradually relaxed as alcohol was consumed.
【To be able to taste meat. How truly enviable.】
This.
He’s serious.
Sir Isra’s telepathy was dripping with the emotion of envy.
Ingrid’s lips curved into an arc as she chewed the marbled meat.
“This is really delicious! It melts in my mouth as soon as I put it in!”
【You, you. Mage!!!】
Sir Isra trembling.
Munch munch—
As if to show off, Ingrid picked up another piece of meat and put it in her mouth blissfully.
Sheesh.
Even her eating meat looks like a photo shoot.
“Really. I’m so lucky to be able to taste such delicacies.”
“Please eat plenty.”
President Baek speaking formally to my subordinate.
Honestly.
If I were in his position, I probably couldn’t speak casually like I do with the Support Team friends either.
“Mmm~ It’s really delicious!”
【Grrrrrrr!!】
Right.
As long as it tastes good, that’s fine.
I’ll buy something separate for Sir, so don’t feel too bad about it.
* * *
I completed my promotion to C-rank.
But my life didn’t change as dramatically as before.
“B-rank contracts are difficult to win.”
President Baek said bluntly.
Up to C-rank, there are many Gates that allow over-grade entry.
But for B-rank, there aren’t many Gates that allow lower-grade entry.
“Even A-rank isn’t like that, but only B-rank is peculiar.”
“That’s fine. I’m not in a hurry to level up anyway.”
My current pace is too fast.
You might ask, what’s wrong with being fast?
There’s one bad thing about it.
I can’t properly build my foundation.
【Master, you don’t need to worry since we’re by your side.】
【Haha. No matter how strong the enemy, they must kneel before my sword.】
It’s not that I doubt you guys.
“Most of my skills are growth-type.”
“Both Undead Creation and blacksmith-related skills?”
“Yes.”
When I was promoted to D-rank, both [Corpse Crafting] and [Corpse Processing] were enhanced.
It had been years since I achieved 100% understanding.
The C-rank promotion was different.
The understanding of both skills wasn’t even 50%.
It was partly due to the triple penalty on understanding growth speed.
But it was also a mishap caused by leveling up too quickly.
“Will you take a break from Gate conquests for a while?”
“I still have Gates I’ve already won contracts for.”
The karma(?) from poking around everywhere due to Mir’s scheming.
I’ve reduced about half by clearing one per day.
But flipping it around, that means half still remains.
To say “half still remains” instead of “only half left.”
Wow.
I really am a positive adult.
“They all have plenty of time until the deadline, so it’s fine.”
A blessing in disguise.
And.
President Baek has one misunderstanding that I should correct.
“I have no intention of taking a break from conquests.”
“Don’t you need to stay at the workshop to raise your skill understanding?”
“That’s true for Bone Metallurgy.”
Analyzing undead remains whose crafting methods I don’t know.
It’s a means to quickly raise the understanding of Corpse Crafting and Processing.
“Please look for Gates with undead, focusing on C and D-rank.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
And from the next day.
I entered only Gates selected for having undead.
Crumble!
A monster whose entire body was made of dust-like material.
The D-rank undead Dustman collapsed.
[Corpse Processing]
[This is a new type of undead. Analyzing structure.]
Ugh.
The texture isn’t very pleasant.
[Corpse Crafting understanding increases.]
[Corpse Processing understanding increases.]
An undead created when dust clings to a corpse that has dried up.
It has excellent regenerative abilities.
But its specs fall behind even Skeleton Soldiers with only bones, making it difficult to use for combat.
[Dustman crafting method added.]
Still, knowing how to make it might come in handy someday.
“Krgh, ptui!”
Draco coughed and spat out the Dustman’s corpse.
Powder clinging to the dried corpse scattered.
Disgusted, Ingrid converted the nature of Wind Cutter to create wind that blew away all the powder.
“Ugh. You should be more selective about what you eat.”
Using even her Unique Technique.
She must have really hated the dust.
In another Gate, we encountered ‘Putrefiers,’ undead with swollen bodies.
【Mage. Work harder.】
【Why are you just watching?】
【Isn’t it disgusting?】
An appearance with pus dripping everywhere.
The blisters attached here and there on its body burst with a pop at the slightest impact.
Acidic liquid that melts whatever it touches.
It even contains poison, making it a monster you’d rather avoid in close combat.
“Iron Head. With your skills, you could take it down without a single drop splashing, right?”
【That’s true, but cutting that abomination is a bit…】
I felt this when I first met him too.
Sir Isra was surprisingly fastidious.
Isn’t sweating profusely during training part of daily life for knights?
【I have a constitution that sweats little.】
Ah.
I see.
Squelch!
I touched the rotted skin without hesitation.
[Corpse Crafting understanding increases.]
[Corpse Processing understanding increases.]
[Putrefier crafting method acquired.]
【Urgh.】
“Sir, you can’t even vomit, so why are you acting like that?”
【It’s a matter of feeling.】
I’m the one touching the Putrefier’s skin, yet he’s making a fuss.
Ingrid scoffed.
“Hoho. The one who goes on about being Master’s first sword is afraid of a rotting corpse?”
【Gah! To insult chivalry. I challenge you to a duel!】
In yet another Gate.
“Ehihihihihi.”
A Wraith, which is a spirit.
“Who am I.”
“Where is this place?”
I encountered a Returner, an undead that looked relatively similar to a human.
“Anyone can see it’s a corpse.”
“Isn’t it better compared to zombies though?”
“Hoho. Compared to the girl who received a body from Master, it just looks like a corpse.”
What a subtle point.
They’re making human voices, but those guys are undead too.
“If you get bitten or scratched by claws, you must receive treatment. Brother.”
They say you can think of Returners as monsters from zombie movies.
Their specs are somewhat better than zombies.
The really scary thing is the infection curse.
You need to use Cure on wounds.
Or pour holy water to shake off the infection.
【Hahaha. There’s no point since I can’t turn the already dead into zombies.】
“Oh my. You’re going to give your body to those kids? How pathetic.”
【Hmph! I’ll show you my skills.】
Each time the sword danced, the Returner’s body was split apart.
The wraiths that had immunity to physical attacks.
“Stay quiet.”
Were hit by flame fragments and fell silent.
Hmm.
“Can’t analyze spirits?”
Spirits that scatter the moment they die.
I knew analysis wouldn’t work since there’s no corpse.
[Corpse Processing understanding increases.]
[Corpse Crafting understanding increases.]
[You have acquired the Returner crafting method.]
For several days.
I deliberately didn’t finish conquering the gate and waited for the undeads to regenerate before hunting them again.
Seongsu shook his head from side to side.
“There’s nothing profitable about undeads.”
The magic stone drop rate was low too.
No useful byproducts or equipment came out either.
When something decent did come out, the durability was destroyed making it useless.
This is why gates with undead as the main force aren’t popular.
After struggling like that for a week.
[Corpse Processing understanding has reached 100%.]
[Enhanced to C-rank.]
[Corpse Crafting understanding has reached 100%.]
[Enhanced to C-rank.]
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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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