The Regressed Necromancer Prepares for the Apocalypse - Chapter 32

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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 Necromancer Who Returned Prepares for the End — Episode 32

The road to the Hunter Cup is fiercely contested.
As the Hunter Cup draws near, players active in the Arena fall broadly into two camps.
Those who vanish from streaming, and those who take to streaming for the first time.
The reason for the former is simple: they log into the Arena and focus on leveling up while keeping their information hidden.
They cannot afford to expose their skills or strategies to rival competitors who will face them in the Hunter Cup.
But what becomes of the streaming business watched by ordinary audiences?
Does it shrivel or cease altogether?
Not at all. Unknown players who have languished in the shadows of star players, robbed of any chance to debut, seize this moment. These are the ones who belong to the latter group.
Guilds too wish to secure both the Hunter Cup and the streaming business.
So while guild flagship players are kept strictly hidden and supported in secret, newly awakened players with low levels are ordered to concentrate entirely on streaming.

– I miss Kim Su-ho ㅜㅜ
– Just wait! He’s in Hunter Cup training now…….
– At least Cha Yu-ri’s been doing great lately

So what is the Test Guild, which has only three players, doing about all this?
The guild leader doesn’t even play, so there are effectively only two active players.
Those two — Lee Do-jin and Seo Hae-won — were…….
Currently logged into the Arena.

“Senior! Senior! Look at this!”
“Hae-won?”

When Do-jin turned his head, something quite remarkable entered his field of vision.
Hae-won held magical power blooming in both her hands.
From her left hand came a biting cold, frost crystallizing in the empty air.
From her right hand, flames leapt upward.

“I did it, senior! I finally did it!”

Once upon a time in the Vortex of Desire Arena, Hae-won had only managed to awaken the Ice Attribute.
Had the quest continued longer, she might have pressed on and completed the awakening of her Fire Attribute as well, but the timing hadn’t aligned.
Sensing and channeling magical power requires its own technique.
During the chariot-racing quest she’d been wrapped in extreme tension, but now in safety, it seemed she couldn’t quite muster the same focus and sharpness as before.

“It took time, but…… I still did it!”

And here she was, wielding a Dual Attribute simultaneously.

“That’s amazing!”

Do-jin reached up and stroked her head with genuine admiration, and Hae-won’s expression bloomed into delight.
Do-jin smiled down at her before sweeping his gaze around the space.
A massive arena. The spectator seats, the competition floor, every person in sight — just the two of them.
Everything else scattered across the arena floor was training equipment of various kinds.
Dumbbells and barbells, treadmills and pull-up bars, all manner of outdoor exercise apparatus arranged as if someone had merged a high-end gym with a neighborhood park.

“So can I start logging into the Under Arena from now on?”
“…….”

Do-jin fell silent at the sudden question that tumbled out of Hae-won’s mouth.
For a moment he said nothing.
Perhaps her words weren’t so sudden after all.
For some time now, Hae-won had been pestering him to let her follow along into the Under Arena where he logged in.

“……Not yet. Not for now.”
“But why?!!”

Seo Hae-won’s protest erupted like a detonation.

“You said I could log into the Under Arena once I’d awakened all my attributes and could control them simultaneously!”
“…….”

Over the past few months, Seo Hae-won’s growth and transformation had been nothing short of remarkable. The Test Guild’s support and Lee Do-jin’s guidance certainly played a role, but her own talent and determination were exceptional.
She’d awakened not just one attribute but two, and had already reached Level 45. She was already a solid upper-tier D-rank Player.
Her appearance had changed dramatically as well.
Living in better circumstances meant not only nutritional balance but also proper Level Up progression, which allowed her body as a Player to develop for combat. She’d transformed entirely.
The frail, cowering figure she’d been when they reunited had vanished without a trace.

“I’m sorry, Hae-won. But there are still people hunting us, or so I’ve heard.”
“……!”

At that, Seo Hae-won fell silent for a moment, then opened her mouth as if to say something more.
But in the end, she couldn’t bring herself to speak.

“That Arena—no matter how much they search it, there’s nothing to find. So instead, they’re focusing on hunting down everyone who logged in that day. Fairly ruthlessly, I might add.”

The ‘Arena’ Lee Do-jin mentioned was none other than the Vortex of Desire.
And a ‘Phenomenon’ was when elements related to an Arena or Quest were transformed and strengthened in a Player’s favor.

“If Players could actually interfere with Arena systems, everyone would have done it ages ago! They really don’t know that?”

Frustration and indignation mixed in Seo Hae-won’s lament.
Her outburst was entirely justified.
Ever since that day, no small number of pursuers had indeed attached themselves to the pair.
Society conducted background investigations on them as a matter of course, and the moment they logged into an Arena, watchful eyes seemed almost certain to follow.

‘And with reason. If someone could hack the system and control it at humanity’s whim, they’d be holding the world in their hands that very day.’

Hadn’t it been the same even before his regression? Humanity—corporations and nations alike—had desperately clung to system research.
Though it had ultimately been abandoned as a waste when it yielded no results whatsoever.

‘For them, this was the first real clue they’d ever found.’

Lee Do-jin knew that even within the Han River Group, there were researchers investigating the Phenomenon.
That’s why he’d refrained from fully testifying about the situation to those people at the meeting where Ra Hee was present.

– If you happen to remember anything later, please contact us immediately.

The investigation within the Group had only just wrapped up after a bleary-eyed researcher with dark raccoon circles beneath his eyes earnestly pressed that request upon him.
But there were still those outside who suspected there was far more to it than that.

‘If we hadn’t joined a Guild under the Han River Group’s umbrella, they’d have approached us far more openly.’

Seo Hae-won had ventured outside the Test Guild building just once, itching for a change of scenery, and had nearly been kidnapped for it.
So was it any wonder that Lee Do-jin himself now purchased and wore an item that altered his appearance?

[Black Badge (C+)]
Description: An item that overlays an illusion upon a person’s appearance. Limited to illusions the owner can precisely imagine in their mind.
Category: Accessory-type, Mana-rechargeable
Effect: Disguise
Restrictions: Requires Level 50 or above to use, limited to 30 minutes per day, single owner only

Lee Do-jin had found this item in a shop and immediately decided to purchase it. Ever since logging out of the Vortex of Desire Arena and returning home, he’d thoroughly scoured the shop until he obtained it.

‘It performed quite well. Well enough to pass on a streaming broadcast.’

Thanks to Do-jin’s continued streaming activity, made possible by the careful use of the Black Badge, he’d managed to shake off his pursuers.

‘Though not completely, perhaps.’

But the shop had only that one item with transformation or illusion capabilities.
Two players couldn’t share ownership of a single item.
Once ownership was transferred, it couldn’t be taken back.
Which meant Do-jin had no choice but to placate Hae-won as much as possible—no streaming, Arena login restrictions, no going outside.

“Otherwise, buy me a transformation item too! Will you?”

Strangely enough, Hae-won tended to obey Do-jin’s words without complaint.
Before joining the guild, she’d cleanly severed ties with that rough crowd of low-quality players, and she trained her mana and leveled up diligently, following Do-jin’s guidance.
Thanks to that, Hae-won had become a player even the Test Guild had to acknowledge.

‘…But no, that’s not quite right.’

He’d already cut off enough clues for anyone pursuing him. Wouldn’t it be fine to transfer the Black Badge to Hae-won now?
Before the Regression, Do-jin hadn’t merely built combat experience.
He’d grown seasoned in pursuit and concealment alike.
Thanks to the traitors hiding among humanity, he’d spent considerable time chasing and being chased.

‘Over these weeks, I’ve gradually adjusted my appearance. To viewers and other players, it should look like my body naturally grew as I leveled up.’

They wouldn’t think his disguise had suddenly come undone.
Even if someone harbored suspicions, without physical evidence, they wouldn’t dare press further.
…So he’d floated the proposal to Hae-won.

“No, I don’t want to. That’s your item. You said there are still people out there chasing us. If you give it to me, what will you do?”

Hae-won refused outright.

“Hae-won. I’ve been carefully controlling how I appear to the outside all this time. I think it’s safe enough now to move around in my true form.”
“…”

But Hae-won merely shook her head stubbornly.

‘Still doesn’t trust me, then…’

He’d thought they’d grown considerably closer since clearing the Vortex of Desire quest.
Seeing Hae-won still hesitant to lean on him entirely left a bitter taste in his mouth.

‘Then again, as an independent player, her current stance might be the wisest one.’

Then Hae-won spoke, her voice brightening.

“By the way, do you know what’s for lunch today? Pork cutlet!”

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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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