NSE-Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Tomb Guardian.

It was one of the notorious bosses.

To sum this guy up in a word, it was a spec-upgraded Corpse Roach.

Even more toxic blood.

On top of that, a huge frame and nimble movements.

‘Definitely on the tricky side for an F-rank Gate boss.’

―Eeek! Run away!

He recalled the disgraceful sight of Kim Min-woo refusing all combat actions and fleeing.

You couldn’t imagine how absurd that had felt back then.

‘I really made a person out of him.’

Unlike its notoriety, Tomb Guardian was being cleared helplessly.

The Skeleton Soldiers moved in orderly fashion under Cedric’s command.

They blocked the body slams with dozens of shields, and in the meantime thrust spears and swords in.

From behind, maces and axes were being slammed into its outer shell.

Of course, the guy was resisting fiercely too.

The boss’s attacks were not something ordinary Skeletons could easily withstand. Even with Cedric’s command, blocking them all was impossible.

Because the Skeletons couldn’t keep up with the commands.

Each time they were swept up in an attack, ten Skeletons were unsummoned.

Every time the guy moved its body greatly like that, he drove his sword in.

Perhaps because his Stats were high, the outer shell was sliced like tofu. Cedric too, while commanding, launched intermittent fierce assaults.

The Guardian’s Health began to run out in an instant. Soon, one of the guy’s dreadful patterns appeared.

Tomb Guardian opened its mouth wide.

Hundreds of tiny cockroaches burst out of its mouth.

Upon contact, they burst and spread poison.

‘Vicious.’

The clearing keyword was, in the end, making them touch something. If that something was your own body, it was a wipeout.

Usually, you needed a Mage-type Class to handle it smoothly.

Because they’d have to use something like Shield to block the roaches and pop them before they arrived to avoid a wipeout.

Unfortunately, the baby Skeletons had no magic like Shield.

Pop-pop-pop!

The burst roaches spread poison wildly.

The Skeletons crumbled helplessly.

[122 Skeletons are unsummoned!]

As if it had finally seized the upper hand, Tomb Guardian’s eyes sparkled.

Gurgle-gurgle!

The Tomb Guardian, extremely excited, moved roughly.

Though its body had turned to rags, in the end all the Skeletons lay down.

Gurgle……!

The Guardian looked at him and Cedric with eyes mixed with rage.

“Sorry, one more refill.”

He drank a Potion and gestured, and.

[506 Skeletons are summoned!]

Gurgle……?

Seeing that sight, Tomb Guardian’s jaw dropped wide.

* * *

[The Gate’s boss, Tomb Guardian, falls!]

[The Skeleton unit’s combat experience increases greatly!]

[Level up…….]

Certainly because it was a boss, a lot of Experience came in.

In one go, he went from Level 22 to Level 25.

The Skeletons’ average Level had also risen to 7.

‘It took exactly ten minutes.’

[You have cleared the Gate!]

[Would you like to exit?]

There was a clear difference between leaving from the Middle Zone and leaving after clearing.

The Gate’s color changes when you come out.

From the Middle Zone, it’s white.

After clearing, it’s green.

The time elapsed so far was about 2 hours 10 minutes.

‘No need to leave right this moment.’

He refused the message.

―Master, are we not leaving?

“It’s a tomb, isn’t it?”

―Do you think there are hidden elements?

“Not certain, but roughly.”

On top of that, the time Isabella, holder of the world number one record, had taken was two days.

All he needed was to be somewhat faster than that. When entering, he had said something about before the cameras cool down to draw aggro, but.

‘I need to adjust the pace around here.’

Doing well is good.

But doing too well actually becomes tiresome.

There already existed an overwhelming gap between her, who had reached Level 49, and himself.

And on top of that, the clear time was extreme too?

Skills crafted from S-grade Class Skill Books differed from person to person even within the same Class.

Even so, a rough average existed.

That is, people had a rough sense of ‘ah, this range is S-grade Skill level.’

‘They’ll get suspicious.’

About whether the Achievement was higher than S-grade rather than S.

The reason it was established that nothing existed above S-grade was that no one had appeared yet.

If they started suspecting SS or SSS or something like that?

He was the son of Korea’s top conglomerate family.

Even America would give up on trying to win him over.

Frankly, what would he be missing to go there?

He could just live large in Korea.

Then naturally guys with strange ideas would appear.

Can’t have him?

Then we’d better break him, right?

Things like that.

It would become extremely annoying to operate.

Of course, meeting such a fate someday was inevitable.

But that wasn’t now.

‘Roughly 40 hours should do it.’

That much, he could manage to make passably convincing.

Being Undead, immune to fear.

Having some resistance to poison.

That gave him the advantage.

On top of that, I’m a swordsmanship genius.

Discovered a hidden route in the Gate, gained an advantage in clearing, blah blah blah…….

Since gimmick elements are variable, it would sound fairly plausible.

Especially Japan and China, at odds with Korea, would want to believe it was luck, not skill, that made him clear fast.

‘Anyway, eliminating suspicion completely is impossible.’

But he could delay the time when the real behind-the-scenes struggles begin.

He picked up the junk items.

“Cedric. Pick up the junk items and train the kids a bit.”

―Understood.

Skeletons picking up drop items like silent farmers.

There was no particularly special reward.

No, to correct that slightly.

[You obtain the Tomb Guardian’s Carapace Armor!]

Items that an ordinary Awakened would have loved had come up, but to him, they were no more than one more piece of equipment for Cedric.

“You take the armor. It’s a bit better than what you’re wearing.”

―Very well.

Cedric changed into the armor.

That was the end of the boss reward.

‘What will they give as the clear reward?’

Items dropped by a boss and Gate clear rewards are treated separately.

After a brief wait, a message appeared.

[Gate clear reward is granted!]

[You have met a special condition!]

[You are a Necromancer above the standard!]

[Osiris’s Arrangement is granted!]

“Oh, did a Hidden Piece pop up?”

A small necklace was placed in his palm.

[Worn Necklace]

[Grade: ??]

[A somehow mysterious-looking necklace. The groove in the center is empty. If you insert the matching jewel, it may be activated.]

[Effect 1. Inserting the matching jewel into the groove grants qualification.]

[Effect 2. Upon obtaining qualification, you can carry out ‘Osiris’s Arrangement.’]

“It’s a chain quest item, huh?”

There wasn’t really any such thing as a quest, but the format was roughly similar.

If there were a quest window, it would probably have shown up roughly like this.

[Find the matching jewel, insert it into the necklace, and carry out the Arrangement!]

Well, roughly like that.

Min-woo had seen a few such items.

A chain quest could continue with just one, or with several.

‘The more complex the structure, the bigger the reward.’

Rewards from carrying out chain quests tended to be bigger than just going to a Gate, beating everything down, and obtaining rewards.

If he carried out a chain quest with a proper ‘main thread’.

‘He’d get something amazing.’

Lots came to mind.

A good Title.

A Unique-grade or higher accessory with a low Level requirement.

A special Elixir.

Or a special Summon, or a high-performing special Skill Book, things like that.

Things that make the game very comfortable once you get them.

‘I need to find the jewel, though.’

The groove in the center was strangely shaped.

A groove intricately carved as if depicting a dragon.

‘It’s probably not an ordinary jewel sold on the market.’

Even if he cut an ordinary jewel to fit the shape and inserted it, it didn’t seem like it would activate.

And no wonder, because that’d be too easy, right?

Two main possibilities came to mind right now. Either it was among the rewards obtainable from other bosses.

‘Or…… it exists inside this Gate.’

It might not be.

But when he didn’t know yet.

“Everyone gather up. From now on, we sweep the inside of the Gate thoroughly. Smash everything and open it. Tap the floor and walls too! Report immediately if anything’s off! Execute!”

―……Execute!

Clack!

Sweeping from the nearest place was the truth.

Min-woo also began to sweep through the inside of the Gate.

‘Very good.’

He felt good.

Because the smell of a jackpot wafted over faintly.

Let’s think.

This necklace was an item given out simply by clearing a condition.

A Necromancer with about a B-grade Achievement would probably have visited here.

And yet it had only now been activated, which meant.

‘The required level is fairly high. A at minimum, maybe even S.’

He had a feeling.

A feeling that the difficulty would be quite stiff.

Stiff difficulty, in other words, also meant a big reward.

Having found a lead to walk into a fiery hell, no wonder he was in a good mood.

* * *

“Reporter Kim, it’s already been 40 hours. Why don’t you head in?”

“Bullshit. You go in first.”

“Come on, I can’t go in. I’d get chewed out by the Bureau Chief.”

“You think I don’t have a Bureau Chief? Anyway, before the cameras cool down, my foot. At this rate they’ll not just cool but freeze solid.”

Reporter Kim tightly gripped the hot pack in his hand.

As the warm heat spread, he felt like he could barely survive.

Seeing that, Reporter Park said with a sly grin.

“We keep them on, so they’re still toasty, aren’t they? And, well, didn’t you half expect this? Don’t tell me you were actually hoping?”

“No, well, it’s been a while since a dragon emerged in Korea, you know. I was wondering if someone should step up by now.”

Reporter Kim said sheepishly.

……Honestly, he had been hoping a little. And no wonder, since he’d spoken so boldly.

“Behold, a true patriot has graced us.”

“……It’s not only because of that. You know too. That there’d be more to write.”

Kim Min-woo, who had already received all kinds of attention.

Like a kind of villain.

‘Ilseong’s damn brat. A washout eliminated from the succession lineup.’

That was the public’s assessment.

It was a situation where the second son was known to be the likely heir to the Group’s management rights.

But if that villain rewrote a world record here?

The board would be flipped completely.

Ilseong would get noisy inside too. Whether management ability and Gate clearing had a direct relationship was, well, a somewhat questionable matter, but…….

‘Like I care about that.’

He’d broken a record.

When someone achieves overwhelming results in one field, people subconsciously think and expect they’d do well at other things too. With the ripple effect of Ilseong, the dinosaur among dinosaurs, one thing was certain.

That Korea was about to get very interesting.

“Well, that’s true, but…… honestly, will it happen? It’s a bit much, a bit much. Forty hours have passed and he’s still not out? Judging by it, just coming back alive would be thank-you enough.”

“……True.”

They didn’t even know whether he was dead or alive now.

Usually, if someone entered a Gate and didn’t come out for over a month past the expected deadline, they’d be handled as a death notice.

The death rate in Gates was that high. Not to mention, wasn’t this a 95-point loathed Gate?

It wouldn’t be strange even if he had died away from home.

‘If he’s going to fail anyway, I at least hope he comes back alive…….’

Reporter Kim thought inwardly.

He was the source of an impact that had made Korea buzz in just a few days.

He didn’t know whether he was a super rookie.

But he was definitely a promising prospect.

Korea was already suffering from an Awakened drought.

Because prominent nations like Japan, America, and China were running a recruitment war with their eyes lit up.

As soon as a fairly decent Awakened appeared, they’d come with bundles of cash.

Kim Min-woo was one of the very few chosen Awakened who was free from that controversy.

“Yawn. I’m sleepy. I’m about to sleep, Reporter Kim, what about you?”

“Me, well, I’ll wait a bit more.”

“Don’t overdo it. Take it easy. Mister, your bones will rot like that…….”

“……!”

At that moment, both reporters’ eyes flew wide.

That was the common reaction of every reporter nearby besides them.

“Wake them up! Quick!”

From the dozing reporters to those sleeping in tents, they all rushed out.

The Gate was rippling.

It was the sign of a party coming out.

Recently, only one party had entered there.

A one-person party, Kim Min-woo.

Cold sweat ran across every reporter’s forehead.

Their hearts began to pound wildly.

Now only two possibilities remained.

White, or green?

If the former, it would be recorded as a promising prospect’s hard fight.

But if the latter, the green of a clear…….

“Damn it…….”

“It’s green! Green!”

“Crazy, a world record?!”

“Post the article right now! You bastard! Forget the content, just write and post the headline first!”

In an instant, the waiting area in front of the Gate grew as noisy as a marketplace.