The Regressed Necromancer Prepares for the Apocalypse - Chapter 31

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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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The Regressed Necromancer Prepares for the End — Episode 31

Do Jin poured mana subtly through the hand gripping the Reins.
Normally, a horse ran freely once the reins were loosened.
But the Wooden Horse conjured in the Arena was different.
The harder he pulled the Reins, the faster the Wooden Horse galloped.

“I’ve got this now, Hae Won!”

Hearing those words, Hae Won huddled into a corner of the Chariot and gripped the handrail firmly.
Clatter-clatter! Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!

— Unbelievable! It seems the charioteer of Hae Won’s team intends to take direct control of the Wooden Horse and drive the Chariot himself right now?
— Reckless! To think they’d recover a Chariot that’s veered completely off the track back onto it using skill alone…….
— But…… what if? A team that returned to the track even after hitting a Booby Trap — could they really pull this off?
— If they manage it…….

A legend would be written at the Gambling Den Arena.
The spectators too murmured as they watched Do Jin and Hae Won’s Chariot intently.
The ice bridge extended through the Arena’s open air to the finish line at the end of the track, and its width was barely enough for a single Chariot to pass through.
On top of that, the ice bridge where the machete had struck was beginning to crack near the finish line, then pieces started breaking off one by one—likely due in part to Hae Won not having sufficient Mana reserves.
Across it, the small Chariot surged forward.
Like a snowboard sliding down a hillside, the Chariot came racing down, bouncing violently into the air each time it struck the jagged ice, as if about to fly off the bridge entirely—

— Look! Everyone, look at that!

——yet each time, the Chariot delicately regained its balance just before plummeting, settling back down onto the bridge.
Then it charged forward even faster, even more ferociously toward the finish line.
Wherever the Chariot’s wheels passed, the ice bridge slowly cracked and crumbled.
Yet leaving the falling ice in its wake, the Chariot wove through with uncanny precision, as if racing down a road suspended in emptiness.
Each time the Chariot threatened to bounce away from the ice bridge, both the broadcast booth and the spectators held their breath frozen—
And each time, it tilted its trajectory mid-air with perfect timing, descending back onto the ice bridge to continue its charge.
Distance remaining to the finish line: 100 meters.

— Could it be that the player in the charioteer’s seat…….
— That’s exactly right. That player is using mana-infused kicks to thrust the Chariot back onto the bridge every time it veers off course!
— Good heavens! Was that even possible?
— U-up until now, Chariots and other artifacts that came from the Maelstrom of Desire quest have never had the structural integrity to withstand that level of impact…….
— ……Are you saying the Arena System has been hacked?
— Well…… it’s possible this could be a surprise event built into the quest itself…….

50 meters remaining.
The more the broadcast booth’s commentary continued, the more the spectator stands churned with confusion and cheers.
30 meters.
10 meters.
At last.

— Clear! It’s clear!
— The chariot race champion is! Good heavens, defying every spectator’s expectation…….
— Hae Won’s team! A rookie team attempting the Maelstrom of Desire quest for the very first time has claimed victory!
— The worst upset in history has just occurred!!!
— My word! Is that sound from the spectator stands cheers or screams?

Looking back on it later, even Hae Won had to admit it:
The final broadcast by the commentator that day had been nothing but pure, unvarnished fact.

* * *

“What on earth were you both thinking?”

A voice all the more terrifying for its measured tone.
Ra Hui’s voice—one he hadn’t heard in quite some time.

“No matter how much freedom guild members are granted in their private lives, you logged into an arena without so much as informing your guild master? And an illegal gambling den arena at that?”

As a member of the Han River Group’s founding family, Ra Hui had every right to be scandalized.
For the upper echelon, scandal was something to be avoided at all costs.

“That’s precisely why I went under an assumed name, Ra Hui. Fortunately, Hae Won also—”
“Do Jin, as a member of the Test Guild you need to show more awareness! Your face has already been exposed through streaming, and—”

But Ra Hui couldn’t continue.
Looking at Do Jin’s face, she found it difficult to voice concerns about his identity being compromised.

“Fortunately, my appearance has changed rather rapidly. Most people won’t realize I’m a Necromancer.”

After Awakening, players naturally transform as they grow according to their Attribute and Class.
Changes in hair and eye color according to Mana characteristics were merely the baseline; even after growth had ceased, players could shoot up in height or develop pronounced musculature.
But Do Jin’s transformation was happening at an accelerated rate.
This was partly because his Leveling had progressed faster than any ordinary player’s, having cleared all the way through the Underground Arena.
Yet that was only part of the reason—Do Jin was a Returnee.
As one of humanity’s final survivors and one of its mightiest, even if Regression had reset his stats to their genesis, a kind of Mana Blueprint remained intact within him.
This was a clear advantage over ordinary players, who built their own Mana Blueprints gradually through the leveling process.
Do Jin’s overwhelmingly superior Mana Control and instinctive mastery compared to other players were extensions of this same edge.

‘Which is why now, despite being a Necromancer—a mage-class—my stats are closer to those of a warrior.’

Since his Regression, Do Jin had cleared only a handful of arenas, yet his outward appearance had already shifted dramatically.
He’d grown taller with defined musculature, and his features—once unremarkably mild before Awakening—had sharpened into something altogether more striking.
Those who’d known Do Jin before Awakening wouldn’t recognize him now.
So even if someone had seen both the streaming footage and the gambling den arena Do Jin, they likely wouldn’t connect the two versions. The difference in height alone was unmistakable.

“Please don’t worry too much, Master.”

Still, Do Jin understood well enough that Ra Hui’s agitation was justified. So he began with a straightforward apology.

“From now on, neither Hae Won nor I will log into an arena without notifying you first.”

And he glanced sidelong at Hae Won standing beside him.

“Yes! I promise!”

Hae Won bobbed her head vigorously.

‘She looks like she’s learned her lesson.’

The moment Do Jin cleared the quest in the Maelstrom of Desire arena, he was swarmed by spectators pouring into the arena floor.
If Ra Hui’s people hadn’t arrived at precisely that moment, escaping would have been nearly impossible.
With his current stats, he couldn’t have pushed through hundreds of civilians without causing injuries.

– We are the sponsors of these two players.
– Their contracts are already finalized.

The Player Special Task Force—assembled from Awakened individuals who didn’t actively pursue careers as players.
A department the Han River Group had created to handle all the tedious minutiae surrounding arenas and player-related matters.
Had they not extracted Do Jin and Hae Won, the two would probably still be in the Maelstrom of Desire arena, enduring all manner of trivial questions—what’s your name, what’s your guild, what’s your salary expectations.

“……What did you just say?”

Ra Hui’s expression shifted to that of someone who had just heard the most preposterous thing in the world.

“Look, Do Jin. I know you’re the world’s only Class, that you cleared the Underground Arena first, that your Leveling pace is remarkable. I’ll even grant that you have a personal intelligence network on other players. But…….”

Ra Hui turned to Hae Won with a bewildered gaze.

“This schoolgirl is going to compete in the Hunter Cup?”

Ra Hui seemed unable to find the right words to describe Hae Won. A schoolgirl, no less.
The word wasn’t entirely wrong in this moment, but Do Jin, who remembered the demonic Archmage Hae Won from before the Regression, could only suppress a smile.

“I did give you a rough report on what happened in the Maelstrom of Desire, didn’t I?”
“That’s……well, yes, but.”

A seventeen-year-old player who had manifested her Attribute and immediately conjured a massive ice bridge.
The adage held true—a tree with promise shows it from the very sprout—and that promise stood before Ra Hui’s eyes in living form.
Of course, Do Jin had reported on Hae Won in detail, and regarding the modifications to the Chariot system that formed part of the Arena, he’d only mentioned what others had observed directly.

– You’re truly unaware of what caused this, Do Jin?
– Since it was my first login to that Arena……between the Booby Traps and these sorts of sudden events, I suspect the Gambling Den Arena might have taken on its current form precisely because of them.
– ……Logging into the Gambling Den Arena itself is astounding, and now you’re caught up in this. Do you know how many people are tracking you right now?
– In my view, today’s incident seems to be characteristic of the Arena itself. The kind of thing you’d see in a Super Mario game—mushrooms, stars, that sort of thing.
– ……Are you saying new random events have been added? This time not Booby Traps, but something like special bonuses?

Ra Hui let out a sigh so deep it seemed the ground might crack beneath her, bringing the conversation to a close.

– For now, let’s spread word to the outside with that implication. But both of you remember this clearly. There are definitely those who suspect and pursue us, somewhere out there.
– I apologize, Guild Master.
– ……?
– I wish it had been an Arena the Han River Group could have simply absorbed, but it’s turned out to exceed expectations.
– I didn’t realize such a gambling establishment existed either. Hearing your explanation, Do Jin, it seems a few of the guests who logged in there may be acquaintances of mine.

As she spoke, Ra Hui frowned slightly. Her memory was already conjuring up a mental roster of dissolute conglomerate heirs and awakened Attributes who enjoyed gambling.

– …….

Do Jin felt some regret at not having been completely forthcoming with Ra Hui.
But there was nothing to be done about it now.
There was no need to make a fuss over something still uncertain, was there?

‘I still need to test whether my Mana accessing the Arena system was coincidence, or whether it can be replicated.’

If by some chance he, as a player, could hack the system and modify Arenas or Dungeons.
If such a thing were only possible.
……But.
Hope too grand becomes a burden when it crumbles to dust. For now, the clues are far too scarce.
First, I need to put my immediate affairs in order.

“For now, I’ll operate independently, and Hae Won should train according to the Test Guild’s prepared educational program.”
“Um, uh, I can clear quests in the Arena too……!”

Hae Won spoke up hastily from beside him, sounding as though she was anxious to assert her presence.

“I know. You’ll have plenty of varied Arena experience.”

Do Jin gently stroked Hae Won’s hair.
Ra Hui was somewhat startled seeing Hae Won’s expression at that moment. Just a few hours had passed, yet the light in Hae Won’s eyes had changed entirely from their first meeting.
When they’d first met with a band-aid on her forehead, she’d seemed powerless, almost doll-like.
Now that Do Jin and she had logged out of the Arena together, something about him felt different…

‘Like a kitten with its defenses down?’

He still carried that reserved air, but there was warmth now, and an unmistakable vitality.
And his gaze—it kept drifting toward Do Jin.

‘Did clearing that quest together in the Arena open his heart? As guild leader, I can’t complain.’

She couldn’t know the full scope of what had happened down there, but judging from reports by Do Jin and her own bodyguards, the Arena had been brutally hostile.
An orphan child with nowhere to turn, and he’d walked out unharmed, protected by someone?
And that someone was the very person who’d pulled him out of the abyss to begin with?

‘The guild’s atmosphere might soften a little.’

What was wrong with that? Nothing at all.
Ra Hui decided to let it play out naturally.

* * *

Do Jin had returned to the Penthouse.

“Feels like it’s been forever since I was last here…”

He sank into the sofa with a sigh, leaning back to stare at the ceiling. He’d never expected bringing back one old comrade to spiral into something this complicated.
He’d meant to settle the concrete matters first, but his mind kept circling back to the Chariot he’d modified inside the Arena.
He couldn’t ignore it. The result was hovering right there before his eyes.

Shocking Achievement!
You are the first in the world to hack the System.
A reward is being granted.

Notification windows he’d been too frantic to check while inside the Arena.
He’d kept denying it to everyone else.
But Do Jin had genuinely hacked the System.

“When I was a Spear Mage, that was impossible even if my life depended on it. Now as a Necromancer, it works…”

Could the Arena and the System itself actually be constructed from the dead?
If that were true—if the Necromancer Class was capable of System Hacking because of that—

“…”

Do Jin’s thoughts deepened, spiraling inward.

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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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