Chapter 2
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: The Convenience of Black Magic
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Anyway, that bitch Mir.
When I first asked her to help me make some money, she spouted bullshit about causality needing to be preserved, how she couldn't interfere with another world, and all that crap. But then her attitude did a complete 180 out of nowhere, and she spilled everything so easily. Guess there was a reason for it.
Even if I won the lottery jackpot, with the world falling apart like this, that winning ticket in my hand would just be worthless scrap paper.
So she must've figured there was no problem telling me now...
Mir, you fucking bitch. I want to go back and wring her goddamn neck. Not that there's any way to return to that world.
Haa, with the world collapsing like this, I wonder if I could even go claim that prize money right now.
Kukuku, fuck, no matter how I think about it, I'd just be running for my life from zombies nonstop. No way in hell someone's gonna say, "Ah, congratulations on the jackpot! We'll prepare your 4 billion won right away!" and hand it over.
Haa, I thought I could finally live easy, and then this shit happens. Never imagined the world would turn into such a total mess.
At least it's a relief that my Black Magician abilities are working properly, just in case.
I knew the demonic energy in my body was functioning properly since I got here, but Mana Drain was the first skill I've tried in this world.
To avoid detection by Mir, I dumped almost all my demonic energy before coming, so right now, it's safe to say I basically have no black magic I can use.
The best option at the moment might be Mana Drain, since it doesn't consume any demonic energy.
That's all because of the Black Magician's shitty trait.
Normal mages use mana as their energy source for spells, absorbing ambient energy from the atmosphere and converting it into their own mana. That's the standard method.
In other words, they have a system where mana regenerates just by sitting still. Like the per-second recovery rate in typical RPG games.
Black Magicians aren't completely without that, of course. We're mages too, after all, so we can gather ambient energy, convert it to demonic energy, and use it.
The problem is the efficiency is goddamn awful.
It's not even one-hundredth of what a normal mage gets from converting ambient energy into mana.
Even if we're casting the same amount of magic, a Black Magician's self-regeneration of demonic energy is like pouring water into a bottomless bucket.
So, what's the best way for a Black Magician to acquire a ton of demonic energy?
It's by directly absorbing the demonic energy inside what are commonly called monsters—magical beasts.
For some reason, all magical beasts carry demonic energy similar to what Black Magicians use, and absorbing it is way more efficient.
Just like how I sucked the demonic energy out of that zombie uncle earlier.
Of course, stronger beasts can't be fully drained with just Mana Drain, but something ghoul-like, like that one? Easy pickings.
The issue is that the amount I just absorbed is nowhere near enough to get me back to my peak.
If I had to compare it, it's like trying to fill the Pacific Ocean by dumping one full cup of water into it.
Truly, pathetically insufficient.
There is another method besides this one, though: absorbing the impure mana that spills out when you kill a non-monster—specifically, a human.
When a person dies, the pure mana inside them corrupts and starts leaking from the corpse. You snatch it up quick.
The absorption efficiency is much lower than from a monster's demonic energy, but it's doable even in a world without beasts like this one. That's what I planned to use to recover strength before spotting the zombies.
Of course, I'm not planning to go around massacring people just to power up. I'd hit up gravesites for scraps from the already dead, or maybe take out some human trash...
Anyone hearing this might say Black Magicians are total scum, and yeah, I thought the same when I first became one.
But despite the penalties, the advantage of a Black Magician is destructive power.
If you pit a Black Magician against a regular mage of similar level in a magic duel, the Black Magician will crush them overwhelmingly.
It's like pitting a kid who just started elementary school against a full-grown college student in a fight.
The problem is the massive drop in spell efficiency, but in terms of raw magical power, no other class can match what a Black Magician can unleash.
That's how I was able to take down the Demon King.
Well, I've lost all those powers now, but still.
Looks like the moment has come for my Black Magician abilities to shine again.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Haa... They're really noisy. Haven't they left yet?"
The guys who followed that uncle earlier are pounding on the door like maniacs. Do they know their prey is inside, so they won't leave?
If they want in so bad, might as well let them.
I slowly walked to the door and flung the locked thing open with all my strength.
Thud!
- Grraaaaaah!
The zombies screeching outside got shoved back by my force and tumbled over.
About five zombies, huh?
No big deal.
Out of the five, the one that didn't fall charged at me with a roar the second it spotted me.
"Shut up~ Don't you know you're bothering the neighbors? Well, not sure if there even are any."
I grabbed it by the hair and immediately activated Mana Drain.
- Gack! Gack-gack...
I tossed the guy aside after he met the same end as the uncle zombie. The rest, who had gotten back up, rushed to bite me, but they suffered the exact same fate.
No way a veteran like me, who's seen it all across another world, gets taken down by these trash mobs.
I could take them without Mana Drain or any other magic, easy.
After roughly cleaning up the zombies, I pondered what to do with the mummified corpses.
Leave 'em like this, and the stench would be unbearable. Or should I haul them out and burn them?
But my worries vanished quick.
Because the zombies' bodies I'd killed started crumbling into dust and disappearing.
Just like in games, where mob corpses auto-despawn after death.
"Hm... So that's the system. They vanish on their own once killed? Handy."
Dealing with monster corpses after a hunt is a chore. You'd loot anything useful, then clean up.
Leave 'em, and the demonic energy corrupts, turning them undead—more hassle. And most of the time, cleanup was on me since I had to scrape every last bit of demonic energy.
But here? Zombies clean themselves up. Free demonic energy refills, and no bodies left behind. Nice.
With the noisy zombies dealt with, I headed back inside and sank into thought.
Can the government step in and handle this zombie crisis right now?
In movies, when a zombie outbreak hits, the government usually collapses, leading to anarchy.
But in reality, most people say that won't happen. No matter how many zombies, modern weapons will push them back, and humans win in the end.
If this were some mystery virus like in the films, I'd agree...
Honestly, though, this doesn't look like that.
These zombies here are probably closer to magical beasts.
In other words, not a virus—some unknown entity intervened in this world, forcing the zombie apocalypse to happen.
Whatever their goal, do you think the ones behind this want to see the government swoop in and contain it?
Obviously, they've probably sabotaged things somehow.
They'll let the zombie crisis drag on.
I can't imagine what else this entity might do, but if the government fails to contain it, civilians are left with two choices.
Go solo and survive alone, or band together against the zombies.
So now I'm stuck wondering what to do next.
Nah, what's there to wonder?
I can just do whatever the hell I want.
Who's gonna stop me from living my way?
I'll carve out my own paradise and live like a king.
If I spot a girl I like along the way, I can take her with me. If some asshole pisses me off, I kill him on the spot.
This world's gone to shit anyway—no easy living with money anymore. Time to live easy with black magic.
The flower-child types might preach that "great power comes with great responsibility," saying I should save people in danger and stop the world from ending. That with my abilities, it's totally doable.
To those people, I can say with full confidence:
If you wanna play hero, be my guest.
I've saved the world enough. I'm sick of sacrificing myself for others.
From now on, I live for me and me alone.