NSE-Chapter 5

Chapter 5

[You have acquired the Necromancer Skill, Death Lord(EX).]

[Death Lord]

[Grade: EX]

[Type: Passive]

[Effect 1. Summoned Undead revive once more upon death (limited to once per day).]

[Effect 2. The Stats of all summoned Undead increase by 50%.]

[Effect 3. The Mana cost of summoning Undead decreases by 50%.]

[Effect 4. All Undead under your command gain the ability to learn.]

[Effect 5. Upon meeting a specific condition, the Death Lord’s Trial is granted. Overcoming it yields a special reward.]

‘Good grief.’

Seeing the Skill’s effects, Kim Min-woo dropped his jaw.

Until now, he had seen quite a lot of S-grade Skills.

That was why he could tell at a glance.

That an EX-grade Skill was a Skill of a completely different caliber from S-grade!

‘Isn’t this insane?’

Even just thinking about efficiency, that was the case. Say there was a Necromancer identical to him.

When the opposing Necromancer summoned ten Skeletons.

‘I get twenty.’

Because the Mana cost of summoning was half. And what if their Stats increased by 50% on top of that?

Purely arithmetically, that amounted to the power of thirty.

And that wasn’t all, they were even supposed to revive once more upon dying.

Factoring that in, it amounted to sixty.

This snowball would start rolling like crazy as time went on.

The effects didn’t end there.

‘The ability to learn, huh.’

Undead did have the ability to learn, too. However, that applied only to high-ranking Undead.

‘Roughly Dullahan and above, as I recall.’

The Dullahan, a mid-to-high-tier Undead and a headless knight.

Only at that level could they learn anything at all.

But with that effect…….

‘Does that mean even an ordinary Skeleton gains the ability to learn?’

A tremendous effect.

Of course, how efficient it would be was something he could only find out by summoning and handling them himself.

‘It’s the effect of an EX-grade Skill.’

It would surely show efficiency that didn’t lose out to the other effects. His chest was already swelling with grandeur.

As for the Trial in Effect 5, well, since he didn’t know the condition for now, all he could do was get on with what needed doing.

‘Status Window.’

[Name: Kim Min-woo(23)]

[Class: Necromancer]

[Level: 1]

[Owned Skills(1/1): Death Lord(EX)]

[Mana: 100/100]

[Title: None]

[Strength: 8] [Agility: 8] [Health: 7] [Magic Power: 10]

Stats were typically 10 for a human average. Considering that, Kim Min-woo’s body was below average.

‘Well, at least Magic Power barely scraped by as human.’

Magic Power added one Skill slot per 10. On top of that, it was a Stat that granted 10 Mana per 1.

‘First of all, I need to raise Magic Power before anything else.’

He had a Skill that strengthened Undead, but no Skill to actually summon Undead.

He had to raise Magic Power to increase his Skill slots.

Rummaging through his coat, he took out the Elixir.

[Sword Shadow Elixir]

[Grade: A]

[An Elixir made at the Sword Sea Pavilion. Upon consumption, increases all Stats by 10(cannot be stacked)]

As expected.

Premium goods really were different.

All Stats plus 10 was, in other words, the same as adding the strength of one more person.

‘It’d be a waste to eat it now.’

Just like studying, the higher Stats got, the harder they were to raise.

An Elixir this good would be better used later.

‘I should try to get other Elixirs.’

Since low-grade goods could be obtained easily with just money, he decided to solve the Stats problem that way.

Just then…….

His phone rang.

[Father]

“Hello?”

―Min-woo. I heard you Awakened. Is it true?

Urgency could be felt in Chairman Kim’s voice from the other end of the receiver.

It seemed the bodyguards had passed on the news.

“That’s how it turned out.”

―Come home quickly. Don’t go wandering anywhere else.

“Yes.”

There were plenty of things to spend money on, Elixirs, equipment, and even the donation.

It was perfect timing.

* * *

Chairman Kim Gang-cheol.

He paced around his study.

Even now, he found it hard to believe the contents of the call he had received a moment ago.

And no wonder, as the contents had been far too shocking.

Even lies had to be moderate to be plausible!

His eldest son, a total brat, not only fiercely sparred with the Sword Immortal, but was praised by him as a great Swordsman?

If this were a novel or a movie, it would have been slammed as garbage before it even came out.

―Heh heh. You seem flustered. But I swear on my sword, what I just said is undoubtedly the truth.

―Oh, right. From now on, if you need the Sword Sea Pavilion’s strength, tell me anytime. If push comes to shove, I’ll come to help in person.

Even Chairman Kim, who had been through all sorts of hardships, had no choice but to keep saying “yes, yes” to the Sword Immortal’s words for the time being.

After all, you had to know what was going on before you could keep a conversation going!

And so, right after the call with the Sword Immortal, he immediately phoned the bodyguards, and…….

―Yes. I don’t know much about swords, but the Young Master definitely didn’t fall behind even the Sword Immortal.

―To me, it was more like the Eldest Young Master was pushing the Sword Immortal, that kind of feeling. Though in the end he collapsed from lack of stamina…….

‘This is absurd.’

It was truly absurd.

But that was reality.

As he paced anxiously, the study door opened.

“I’m here, Father.”

“Here, sit down here. What on earth happened?”

“I sparred with the Sword Immortal. I lost because I ran out of stamina.”

“……No! That’s too simple! Explain it in more detail, I’m telling you.”

At the sight of the fretting Chairman Kim, Min-woo scratched his head.

“Well, it’s like this…….”

With each continuation of the explanation, Chairman Kim chuckled heh heh, frowned, and slapped his knee, smack.

Since his eldest son hadn’t been able to act like a proper person even past twenty-three, Chairman Kim had been tormented a great deal until now.

But how about now!

The boldness to suddenly bet 100 billion won and request a spar with the Sword Immortal.

The terrifying talent whose limits even the Sword Immortal couldn’t measure.

Had his eldest son always been this lovable?

Before he knew it, a grin had crept onto the corners of Chairman Kim’s mouth.

“Haha! As expected, that’s my boy! My boy! Of course! A tiger father never raises a dog son!”

“Huh? Father is a tiger father……?”

“Hey now! I made a name for myself as an Awakened in my youth too! If I hadn’t had to inherit the company, I’d be S-rank by now…… Ahem!”

Chairman Kim kept clearing his throat, as if realizing he had gone too far himself.

“Anyway, I’m worried.”

“Worried? About what?”

“I did blow 100 billion won just like that, but as you know, Father, I’m dead broke. All my money was confiscated too……”

“Haha! What’s 100 billion won to worry about! There’s nothing to worry about at all! Your old man will take care of it, so don’t concern yourself.”

“Really?”

“Of course! Naturally!”

Chairman Kim answered heartily.

It wasn’t as if he were paying 100 billion won to clean up after some incident.

It was an amount that would advance relations with none other than the Sword Sea Pavilion.

The Sword Immortal’s side had said there was no need to pay, but Chairman Kim had no intention of missing this opportunity.

‘This is money I couldn’t give even when I wanted to. Perfect, of course!’

Money was originally a medium that made relationships close, after all. Now he had a very good pretext to hand some over.

A feeling of being full without eating.

This must be the joy of watching one’s child grow.

Chairman Kim asked, brimming with anticipation.

“So how did the Achievement turn out? I heard the light was tremendous when you Awakened. B-grade? No, that’s too stingy. Still, A, maybe even S……”

“Father. Is that all the ambition a tiger father has? Go higher.”

“Hm?”

What was he talking about?

Chairman Kim tilted his head.

Was he telling him to go higher than A-grade?

But hadn’t he already had up to S in mind?

For a moment, he couldn’t understand what his son was saying.

Then, Kim Min-woo’s finger pointed at the sky.

“Higher than S.”

“……Higher? Higher, you say?!”

Chairman Kim’s hair stood on end. Goosebumps even rose down his spine.

“What do you mean……! Isn’t S the end of Achievements!”

It was common sense of all common sense.

No Awakened in the world had ever received above S-grade in Achievements.

And yet, above that?

Did that even make sense?

“There is, above it. I’m the witness.”

[Awakened Kim Min-woo is sharing his Status Window!]

[Would you like to check it?]

Gulp.

Chairman Kim, barely managing to swallow his saliva, accepted his son’s shared Status Window, and.

“……!”

His eyes bulged.

[Owned Skills(1/1): Death Lord(EX)]

“EX? What on earth is this……!”

He was surprised once by the grade he had never seen and its effects, and…….

[Class: Necromancer]

“No, wait! Wh-What! Necromancer?”

He was surprised again at the Class.

“Yes. I changed my Class to Necromancer.”

At the sight of his son speaking so proudly, confusion hit Chairman Kim’s thoughts for a moment.

The Sword Immortal had definitely praised him as a great Swordsman, so why?

Why on earth……?

Then…….

As if resolving something, Kim Min-woo’s face turned solemn.

“Father.”

“Y-Yes.”

“Our family has a lot of money, right?”

“That’s…… true, isn’t it?”

“If I buy top-notch equipment and put it in a Skeleton’s hands, wouldn’t that be invincible?”

“Uh, that’s not entirely wrong…… but why bother?”

“Because that’s the romance of it. And Necromancers can swing swords too. If I really feel the loss, I can just be a genius Swordsman Necromancer, whatever.”

At those words, Chairman Kim’s words stuck in his throat.

* * *

‘Somehow, he’s been persuaded.’

Min-woo, who had entered his room, let out a sigh.

The Sword Immortal might have been persuaded with a roughly plausible reason, but that kind of talk wouldn’t work at all on Chairman Kim, a C-rank Awakened.

Boundary this, No-Self that.

He’d be lucky if he wasn’t treated like a cult preacher.

Fortunately, he had only been slightly disappointed and accepted the reason in his own way.

Chose it, relying on the family’s backing.

The EX-grade Skill was tremendous.

If I raise it, it’ll earn its keep.

What’s family for?

So please give me some money.

Against the invincible five-step logic, the Chairman’s bundle of money was undone, and…….

―Since you’ve Awakened anyway, give it your all. The only Awakened who will make our Ilseong’s name shine is you, Min-woo.

[100,000,000,000 won has been deposited into Kim Min-woo’s account.]

He was able to extract 100 billion won as the First Round of Funding.

‘So far, it’s all going according to plan.’

The reason he had revealed his grade to Chairman Kim was simple.

He had seen it while playing for six years.

Chairman Kim was a good father.

At least he wouldn’t stab him in the back.

And, most decisively…….

‘I’ll need money going forward, a lot of it.’

He could have gotten by by vaguely saying the Awakening Achievement was roughly A or S-grade.

But then, even if he could get a moderate amount of funding.

‘I couldn’t get a truly generous amount.’

The world’s one and only and a so-so prospect were treated differently from the start.

The First Round of Funding might have come as a sharply reduced amount instead of 100 billion won.

The second and third amounts would shrink sharply too.

A situation where he had to hunt the Outer God within seven years.

Every single day was precious.

To race ahead, he had to act boldly.

‘Well, with this much…….’

‘I can at least buy our Skeletons some snacks.’

What he had received from the Chairman wasn’t just money and encouragement.

[Lowest-Grade Magic Power Elixir]

[Grade: E]

[Required Level: 1 or above]

[Slightly increases Magic Power upon consumption. (Applies up to Stat 50)]

[Lowest-Grade Health Elixir]

[Lowest-Grade Strength Elixir]

[Lowest-Grade Agility Elixir]

He had received plenty of mass-produced Elixirs, each costing anywhere from tens of millions of won to the hundred-million range.

“With this, everything should get up to 50, uh…… of course it will, right?”

Look at the Elixir’s effect.

It raises the Stat by ‘a little.’

How much that slight amount was differed depending on the individual’s body and talent.

Someone with a genius talent and body would see Stats shoot up by 1 per pill.

But Kim Min-woo?

‘This guy is a bit too worrying.’

He had brought them after practically sweeping the low-grade Elixir warehouse clean, but…….

Elixirs like these were no different from a lottery to Kim Min-woo.

The kind you had to force down, praying they’d raise something.

It wasn’t for nothing that Elixirs like the Sword Shadow Elixir were treasures.

Because it reliably raised a fixed value of ‘10.’

Even Ilseong had only a few of those.

‘Going after even those would be a bit hard.’

Ilseong had Awakened too.

Considering that Elixirs had to go to them as well, even a Chairman couldn’t easily touch such items.

‘Well, I can aim for them later.’

Good Elixirs would roll in on their own once he proved his ability.

And so he consumed close to several hundred Elixirs, and…….

“Ah.”

[Strength: 32] [Agility: 33] [Health: 34] [Magic Power: 35]

“Chairman, sorry.”

Kim Min-woo’s talent exploded.

In the negative direction.

‘Still, the Skill slots have been unlocked, so…….’

For now, he’d have to splurge on more Elixirs.