The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage - Chapter 16

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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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Episode 16
Episode 16
2.
-What brings you to find me, friend? Well, it’s good to see you either way.
More than his rustic dialect, those words asking if someone was looking for him sounded impossibly sweet.
This hidden piece seemed to be the type where I’d need to find clues in the dead Gerik’s room and visit various locations.
But the moment I met Gerik’s ghost, that became unnecessary.
I thanked the other NPCs and stepped back before speaking to Gerik.
“Are you Gerik, the gravedigger?”
-Ah yes, that’s me. What brings you to find me?
“Hmm.”
How should I put this?
After a moment’s thought, I opened my mouth.
“The village chief of Hindel Village told me to seek you out, saying you could be of help to me.”
Would he understand if I said it this way?
That thought proved correct.
The moment Gerik heard my words, he broke into a bright smile and nodded enthusiastically.
-Ah! Oh my! So you’ve finally come! Now I understand exactly why you were sent to find me!
“Oh.”
It worked immediately.
Though I still had no idea why I was actually sent here.
-Oh dear, I didn’t explain. The village chief Pahm asked me to give you something.
“Something?”
Pahm again.
How much was he planning to give me?
Was there a reason for giving this much?
I regretted not hearing what the chief said at the end.
My expression turned puzzled.
Gerik scratched his head as if troubled.
-Ah well… I don’t know why Chief Pahm asked for this either. I was just told that when an adventurer sent by Chief Pahm arrives, I should give them the item along with a note.
If even Gerik didn’t know.
There was only one way.
I’d have to go and check the item myself.
Other users might have done this too.
They might have met Gerik’s ghost as well.
“Let’s go right away.”
-Ah! No need to hesitate! Come along!
Gerik answered immediately at my words.
Gerik took the lead as if to guide me, and I followed behind him.
The eerie atmosphere of the Common Cemetery felt desolate.
The atmosphere was so tense that something seemed ready to burst forth at any moment, and the other users were visibly on edge.
Some walked as if unbothered, but their cautious footsteps betrayed their inner anxiety.
I, however, found the atmosphere far too familiar to be concerned.
To me, striding forward with purpose, the Common Cemetery was no different from any other place.
Ghosts appearing?
They were all kind to me anyway.
There was no reason to fear them.
Still, I clicked my tongue with a hint of disappointment.
‘I won’t be able to use Legion of the Dead.’
Because of the other users’ gazes?
No.
Now that I’d left the Beginner Village and advanced to the dark mage class, using skills wasn’t an issue.
The real reason was the condition of Legion of the Dead itself.
My low level meant I could only raise corpses I’d killed directly.
A rather bothersome restriction.
Of course, it didn’t matter much either way.
I drew my blades and fastened them to my waist.
On my left, I secured the tiger’s fang—short sword-sized—and on my right, the steel sword—long sword-sized—into my belt.
With preparations complete, I resumed my purposeful stride.
The users around me turned their attention toward me.
“Wow, they don’t seem scared at all.”
“Their nerve is something else, isn’t it?”
“Hmm, they look like a beginner, but they’ve got skill.”
Some users were observing the other players—their true purpose here wasn’t hunting.
I didn’t know it, but they were scouts from various Guilds.
They were stationed in the first village to recruit promising newcomers with potential.
My appearance in the Common Cemetery was more than enough to catch their eye.
Composure and calm were essential qualities for any gamer.
But separate from that, skill was necessary.
Without skill here, composure and calm were worthless.
“Oh? An undead appeared?”
“Let’s see how they handle it.”
“If they lack skill, they’re finished.”
The scouts murmured with keen anticipation.
Some who wanted to impress the scouts felt jealous watching their attention shift to me.
But there was no way their eyes would turn to them instead.
Just as I was about to step forward to face the undead that appeared, Gerik spoke.
-Master! Skeletons are far more effective against blunt force than slashing!
‘Hmm?’
“Huh?”
A sword, but striking?
In that instant, I drew upon the Former Instructor Ghost’s memories.
Wondering if there was a way to strike with it.
Conveniently, the Former Instructor Ghost’s experience battling the undead surfaced within me.
A skeleton burst forth before me.
A decaying skeleton wielding no weapon whatsoever.
The sort of undead that could be called the lowest tier.
I swung my sword toward it.
“Ah, he’s just swinging the sword straight.”
“That won’t kill it in one hit.”
“Did he come to the cemetery without preparing a blunt weapon?”
“I suppose it can’t be helped—he’s a beginner.”
The Scouts clicked their tongues in disappointment.
One Scout cried out.
“Wait!? Look at that!”
I had indeed swung the sword.
But instead of slicing, I struck the skeleton’s head precisely with the broad flat of the steel blade.
Whoosh! Crack!
The sound of bone shattering echoed as the skeleton’s skull caved in with a single blow.
The decayed skeleton crumbled to dust and scattered across the ground the moment its head collapsed.
A precise and clean strike.
“With the flat of the blade!?”
“Incredible! Striking with the flat of a blade is no easy feat!?”
“I saw a flash of light for a moment—was that a critical hit!?”
“And look at that sword! That longsword! It’s a steel blade!”
“Huh!? He might have spent real money, but….”
“He actually picked that out?”
The Scouts stirred with unified admiration.
The sense and judgment displayed in that instant.
And the talent to execute it.
Anyone claiming he lacked skill would have to be blind.
Just as they were all offering their praise in unison.
Messages appeared before me from that single strike.
[Critical Hit!]
[The effect of 『One Strike』 activates!]
[You gain experience.]
[You have demonstrated an ability that defies common sense through ‘Unknown Power’.]
[Dexterity +3 permanently increases.]
Simultaneously, memories and experience from Gerik flooded in.
The gravedigger’s memories contained records of countless encounters with the undead.
Thanks to that, I could clearly feel it.
How to deal with the undead.
And paradoxically, once I understood how to fight the undead, I also grasped how a dark mage should handle them.
‘Ah.’
Could it be that’s why Elder Pahm told me to seek out the gravedigger?
Because I’m a dark mage?
No, that’s reading too much into it.
It’s better not to overthink this.
For now, I’ll just keep hunting the undead.
Even without comparing myself to Helena, my memories and experience as Gerik fell short of the Former Instructor Ghost or the hunter Apik.
The same went for my natural talent and my role as a gravedigger.
But at least when it comes to the undead spawned in this cemetery, I’m different.
Clatter, clatter.
The skeletons rose from the ground again.
Five of them this time.
Most users would have retreated at such numbers, but I didn’t.
First, I sheathed my steel sword.
Not to run away.
Tap-tap-tap-tap!
I dashed forward toward a shovel lying some distance away from the skeletons.
I sprinted toward it, kicked the shovel up with my foot, and caught the rising tool in my grip.
A cool, weighty sensation.
Grasping the shovel’s handle, my eyes gleamed as I charged forward again.
Tap-tap-tap! A crisp sound and swift movement.
The skeletons pursued me with hollow eyes, but my sharp turns made even following me difficult.
As I drew close, something black expanded before their vision and a sound rang out.
Crack—!
With a crumbling sound, the bones of the leading skeleton shattered.
One skeleton felled in a single blow.
[Critical Hit!]
[The effect of 『One Strike!』 is activated!]
[You gain experience points.]
The skeleton directly behind saw my shovel swing and tried to grab me, but I instantly lowered my stance.
Then came a low kick.
Tap-tap-tap!
My kick connected with the frail leg bones, and three skeletons trying to grab me tumbled backward.
Ignoring the fallen ones, I swung the shovel toward the one struggling to stand behind them.
Crack——!
[Critical Hit!]
[The effect of 『One Strike!』 is activated!]
[You have gained experience.]
The creature thrashing against the shovel handle swung with great force crumbled into dust.
The remaining three tried to rise, but Sung-hyun, who had been swinging the shovel at the struggling creature, stomped down relentlessly, crushing the skull of one of the three still on the ground.
The skull shattered powerlessly into powder, and using that foot as a pivot, I drove my opposite leg forward in a powerful kick at the creature directly in front of me.
Crack! Snap!
[Critical Hit!]
[The effect of 『Single Strike』 activates!]
[You have gained experience.]
[Critical Hit!]
[The effect of 『Single Strike』 activates!]
[You have gained experience.]
As the skull of the creature struck by the soccer kick also shattered into dust, one skeleton that had fallen rose to its feet, but its allies had already become powder.
The lone skeleton might have been seized by terror, but the undead creature, being lifeless, charged forward mindlessly.
It revealed the true nature of the undead—their hatred for the living.
Reading the skeleton’s incoming movements, I dashed past it like a blur and swung the shovel handle with all my might.
A horrifying sound erupted from the shovel, swung with tremendous force, amplified by the skeleton’s own strength.
Craaaaaack!
[Critical Hit!]
[The effect of 『Single Strike』 activates!]
[You have gained experience.]
I had dispatched five skeletons in a single breath.
The Scouts watching couldn’t help but gape in astonishment.
“Good heavens!”
“Gasp!”
“What, what is this?”
“This insane shovel!?”
“Wow!”
The Scouts couldn’t contain their admiration.
To display such movements with an ordinary shovel lying around nearby.
The method itself was the same as what the gravedigger NPCs used.
Yet it was on an entirely different level from what the gravediggers displayed.
The speed of mental rotation in predicting movement and combat, the footwork that grasped every situation and moved accordingly.
Not a single aspect was lacking—it was flawless movement.
If they let this opportunity slip, they would surely regret it.
Every Scout thought the same thing.
We must recruit this person!
Just as they moved with a sense of mission.
“Huh, huh? Where did they go?”
“What?! They were just there a moment ago!?”
“Where did they disappear to!?”
“We need to find them right now!!”
Sung-hyun, who had been there just moments ago, had vanished.
They’d only looked away for a brief moment, exchanged a few words, and he was gone.
Where could he have gone!?
While the scouts scrambled about in confusion.
Sung-hyun was being guided by Gerik, rapidly disappearing into the forest behind the Common Cemetery.
That’s why the scouts couldn’t see him.
It was a dense forest.
With trees packed so thickly together, even Sung-hyun running through it could barely make out what lay ahead.
It was easy to lose one’s way here.
Among users, it was even called the Labyrinth Forest.
But Sung-hyun was running faster than anyone else could.
-This way, yes!
It was all thanks to Gerik’s guidance.
What would I have done without Gerik?
A hidden piece obtained through my own effort?
That’s nice, but when someone else is chasing you, arriving first is the priority!
As Sung-hyun ran tirelessly between the winding trees.
Something began to appear in the distance.
A clearing, you might say?
Everywhere else was dark, with no light penetrating through the densely packed trees.
But this place was different.
A clearing where soft light filtered down gently.
And seeing the cottage nestled there, I widened my eyes.
I’d arrived.
[You possess a clue regarding the Gravedigger Gerik.]
[The conditions to approach Gerik’s Cottage have been met.]
With the notification that the conditions were satisfied, I was able to enter the clearing.
‘Am I the first?’
I looked around, wondering if the user I’d noticed five days ago had come.
There were no signs of anyone having been here.
I could be certain, having examined it through the memories and experience of the hunter Apik.
I had arrived first.
Just as joy filled me and I moved toward the cottage.
Crack.
A sound came from behind.
Since I was drawing upon the memories and experience of the hunter Apik, my body instinctively twisted the moment I heard the noise.
Whoosh.
A bone arrow grazed past where I’d been standing just moments before.
Seeing that, I turned with sharp eyes toward the source of the sound.
“A beginner, and you dodged that?”
There stood the Robed User, eyes wide as lanterns, looking even more shocked than Sung-hyun himself.

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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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