NSE-Chapter 053

Chapter 53

Dragon-Phoenix Gathering

[The Human-Faced Spider falls!]

[Level increases by 4!]

The moment the Human-Faced Spider fell, he clenched his fist tight.

Honestly, it had been half a gamble.

No matter how much of a genius someone was, they didn’t generate a Skill every time.

But she had done it.

He looked at the Human-Faced Spider.

Perhaps because it was a mid-boss-class monster, it had spat out plenty of by-products, starting with experience points.

Among them was a Bound Skill Book.

He glanced at Seo Ye-rim.

She still seemed unable to shake off the afterglow, gazing blankly at the bow.

“Ms. Seo Ye-rim?”

“Oh, yes.”

“What do you want to do with that?”

He asked, pointing at the Skill Book.

In terms of contribution, it was close to 50-50.

Because on this side, too, thanks to Cedric and Whitey, he had been able to cram in quite a lot of damage.

‘Usually in a case like this…….’

By-products can be acquired by all party members.

If there was no one with outstanding merit in the party, it was normal to hold an impromptu auction. Once it was won, the winning price was divided 1/n among the party members as their share.

If it went to auction, that was great for this side. He had planned to win it no matter how much he splurged.

Looking back and forth between the bow and herself, she said,

“Just take it.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Thanks to you, I found out about a talent I didn’t know I had…….”

Sweet.

There was no reason to refuse.

All the more so for Kim Min-woo, who couldn’t create Skills through actions like the other geniuses.

He walked straight toward the Bound Skill Book.

The moment he picked up the Skill Book.

[You obtain a Bound Skill Book.]

[You obtain the Necromancer Skill Book, Bone Golem Summon(A)!]

‘Ahh.’

Seeing the Skill, he showed a happy smile.

Bone Golem Summon.

Didn’t it feel like you could roughly tell what kind of Skill it was without even looking?

[Bone Golem Summon(A)]

[Level Restriction: 120 or higher]

[Consumes 200 Mana to summon a giant Golem whose entire body is made of bones. The Golem’s Level follows its master.]

A simple, intuitive description.

Seo Ye-rim crept over and asked,

“What came up?”

“This.”

[You summon a Bone Golem!]

A bulk of nearly 4M.

A Golem whose entire body was made of bones was summoned.

[Bone Golem]

[Class: Warrior]

[Level: 120]

[Skills Owned: Taunt(A), Defensive Stance(B)]

[Strength: 240(+120)] [Agility: 120(+60)] [Health: 240(+120)] [Magic Power: 60(+30)]

“Wow, it looks like it’ll take hits well.”

“Yes. It’s a tank.”

They were Stats clearly built for tanking at a glance.

Stats weighted heavily toward Strength and Health. With the Death Lord’s 50% effect added on top, they hit freakish numbers from the very start.

The Skills were the same. Taunt was a Skill that drew the enemy’s aggro, and Defensive Stance had the effect of reducing all damage taken by 30%.

‘It’s finally here. A tank.’

Until now, when attacks came in, he had stacked Skeletons up and used them as meat shields.

Was that effective? Honestly, not really. Skeletons weren’t Summons specialized in defense.

They had simply taken the hits through sheer numbers, forcing their way through.

‘This fighting style gets more inconvenient the higher you go.’

When slicing from behind.

Whether there was a tank in front to firmly hold the enemy’s attention made the difficulty of a battle differ enormously. A Golem could perform that role properly.

It was exactly the Skill he had needed.

‘And there’s plenty of room to strengthen it.’

Bone Exchange.

The Bone Golem was also a Summon made of bones, so it had a capacity.

A reassuring capacity of 120.

If he picked a few monsters good at tanking and swapped in their bones.

‘It’ll get much sturdier.’

Not only that?

The Golem wasn’t wearing any equipment yet. Since the weight class itself was different, he would have to craft armaments separately, but.

‘It’s worth investing in. I’m absolutely doing it.’

Normally he would have hired a crafting-class craftsman and had a set made.

But now there was no need for that.

Didn’t he already have more than 1,000 craftsmen?

The Skeletons’ crafting Skills were still E-rank.

They made equipment with a Level Restriction between 51 and 100 well.

‘Past that, it falls apart.’

The crafting success rate dropped, and even when a result came out, it was just a shoddy item.

‘For now…….’

He decided to put together basic equipment to fit the Golem in a pinch.

He summoned the Skeletons and scattered materials.

“Make it to fit that.”

The Skeletons looked at the Golem.

Soon they began climbing all over the Golem’s body.

At the sight of what looked like measuring, Seo Ye-rim tilted her head.

“What are you doing right now?”

“I’m having them make equipment for the Golem.”

“……You make equipment?”

“My Skeletons do. Things like this.”

There were no special facilities or equipment, but crafting Skills could be used even on bare ground.

More than 1,000 Skeletons reached for the materials. Soon equipment of a much larger size than ordinary goods began to be crafted.

At the sight, she was aghast.

“No, what is this…… They’re all Plus items? Were you the one who supplied equipment to Ilseong?”

“That’s right.”

“……If this gets out, all hell will break loose.”

“Well, as long as you don’t blab.”

“I’m not that loose-lipped, you know.”

He nodded.

That was why he had revealed the crafting, too.

‘Well, there’s a real reason separately.’

He had handed her a bow, but there was no change in Achievement Points.

Why would that be?

Probably because she had no intention of using it as her main for now.

‘The sword’s share must still be far larger.’

It wasn’t an incomprehensible reaction.

She had used only swords all her life, and nearly all her Skills were Swordsman ones, weren’t they?

At best she was probably thinking of using the bow only occasionally as a sub.

That wouldn’t do.

‘She has to use the bow as her main.’

Only at that level would the protagonist’s fate change, and the Achievement Points come out or not.

To argue about that topic, they needed to get a bit closer to each other.

Sharing a secret is one of the best ways to raise a sense of closeness.

Why would anyone open up a secret in the first place?

Because they trust the other person.

It’s a tacit gesture.

That I trust you.

When these pile up 1 by 1, some random loafer turns into a trustworthy companion.

‘Then my words will carry more weight, too.’

For Kim Min-woo, whose Limit Level was low, Achievement Points were an asset that couldn’t be exchanged for anything.

To obtain them, he could well bear this much risk.

And if there was 1 more trivial reason.

“Ms. Seo Ye-rim. Since you’re giving it anyway, could you give it generously?”

“……?”

“I’d like to have the Human-Faced Spider’s corpse, too. It seems like a useful crafting material. If you need money, I’ll bid.”

“Never mind, just take it.”

Nice.

On top of the Bound Skill Book, he had even gotten a mid-boss-class monster’s corpse for free.

‘Time to swap the Golem’s bones.’

Cedric lacked the capacity, so he couldn’t use it. That was why he planned to swap the Golem’s bones. Of course, whether it would work or not, he would have to try to find out.

* * *

Inside the carriage.

Seo Ye-rim glanced at Kim Min-woo. Until she jumped into the Gate, her impression of him had leaned toward the negative.

―Ah, that swordsmanship scrub?

―Hmm…… is he really that good?

How much humiliation had she suffered over that downward-strike remark?

Of course she had said something about him not being able to clear the Gate, but honestly it hadn’t been a malicious remark.

She had only said it because she thought he couldn’t clear it.

Up until then.

He was just a man with a broken personality who had suddenly gotten good with the sword overnight.

That was roughly the impression.

‘But then again, maybe he isn’t that bad…….’

About 2 weeks since entering the Gate.

She had learned more about him than expected.

She had felt it when he sent Jang Sam away alive.

His character was more decent than expected.

‘And…… he’s meticulous.’

How should she put it.

Should she say he drew up the board and then moved?

That kind of feeling.

Every single action had a reason.

‘He’s more diligent than expected, too.’

Even in the carriage, he never spent a day idly.

Sharpening the Skeletons’ bones, or trying crafting over and over, or summoning Cedric to discuss combat. Or training some joint movement together.

Other than when sleeping, he never rested.

The phrase about being serious about clearing.

It was true.

Of course, what surprised her most among all of it was Kim Min-woo’s strength itself.

She had been truly surprised when facing the Human-Faced Spider. From the moment her sword energy wouldn’t sink in, she had sensed it was no pushover.

Against such a thing, Kim Min-woo had been smashing the outer shell and cramming in damage.

Did he use a Skill for that?

‘……He didn’t.’

Using a Skill shows.

Kim Min-woo’s movements had no such unnaturalness.

Then that meant he had crammed in that much damage with just a bare sword.

How skilled he was, she could hardly even imagine.

If the Human-Faced Spider hadn’t run away.

‘He would have caught it alone.’

It gave her goosebumps.

Now she could clearly understand why he had been loitering in front of the Gate. It had all been within his calculations.

‘His potential is beyond imagination, too…….’

The Skeletons were supposedly learning all sorts of things.

On top of that, he handled even a Summon as insane as Cedric.

What was known to the world was only the tip of the iceberg.

S-rank?

Absolutely not.

At that level, an undead couldn’t show such a performance.

‘I wondered why he chose Necromancer.’

She thought she could understand now.

Traveling together for about 2 weeks, she had felt it.

The Necromancer called Kim Min-woo had a dizzyingly high ceiling.

‘Even this is surely only a tiny part.’

He was a man so remarkable that even Grandfather privately regarded him as a teacher.

Would such a person not have generated even a single Skill?

By now his Skill window must be teeming with swordsmanship-related Skills.

Because Skills would be created whenever he just held a sword and swung it.

And what was scarier.

Was the fact that his talent didn’t seem confined to swordsmanship alone.

Even Grandfather hadn’t known she had talent for the bow.

But Kim Min-woo?

He had mentioned the bow in 1 go.

He had recognized it.

But how had he recognized it?

There was a saying.

All streams return to 1 source.

Meaning that ends meet.

Perhaps Kim Min-woo had talent for the bow as well.

‘Truly, he’s an onion of a man.’

No matter how much you peel, there’s no end.

Maybe teaching her about crafting was also because it was nothing special to him.

She became curious about how many more secrets he was hiding.

“……Do I have something on my face?”

Oh no, had she stared too much?

Seo Ye-rim hurriedly shook her head.

“No, I was just a bit curious.”

“About what?”

She rolled her eyes around.

She had blurted it out in a pinch, but.

Suddenly asking about secrets here would also be strange.

“Uh, that’s…… Ah! Martial Arts! Don’t those Skeletons learn Martial Arts? You said they could learn all sorts of things.”

“Cedric is teaching them. They’re not Martial Arts, but in the end, ways of fighting all connect.”

“I-I see.”

Kim Min-woo chuckled.

“We’ll arrive soon. Have you mentally prepared?”

“Prepared for what?”

“Once you get your points, you’ll become a star. I think quite a few people will pick fights with you, Ms. Ye-rim.”

“Ah…….”

Plausible.

The servant was gone, and they had cleared it as just the 2 of them. Whenever you charge upward, there are always those who try to bite you.

The Fifth Young Lord and the maidservant.

Which of the 2 would be the better target for picking a fight?

From any angle, wouldn’t it be her, the maidservant?

“……Would you really let them touch someone who’s going to do great things?”

“As for me, I think the Alliance Master will speak up for me. But you seem different, Ms. Ye-rim. You were thrown in as a bonus to begin with.”

“Ugh. Whatever. I’ll wreck anyone who touches me, so just know that.”

“Suit yourself.”

Kim Min-woo shrugged.

And so the carriage arrived inside the Unorthodox Alliance, and.

“Y-You’re crazy!”

“They really did it? Just the 2 of them?”

[Score Tally]

[1st place, Baek So-cheon – 15,000 points]

[2nd place, Choi Aeng-aeng – 15,000 points]

[3rd place, Baek Mu-han – 11,300 points]

[4th place, Baek Cheol-yong – 9,700 points]

.

.

2 days before the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering.

In 1 go, they had seized the 1st and 2nd places.

It wasn’t strange that the entire Unorthodox Alliance went into an uproar.