Chapter 2
Chapter 2
[Advance of the Necromancer]: Oh ho, what is this? A gallery? Fascinating indeed.
└ [Necro Newbie]: This post smells ancient. Smells like old man dust.
└ [Corpse Lover]: You idiots seriously making the first comments like this? Reflect on yourselves.
└ [No.20]: Your names are strange. Foolish. I shall laugh for you.
“What the hell is this?”
Mysterious figures were posting messages right before my eyes.
Based on what I could tell, they seemed to be people living in the realm of necromancers.
“Oh…”
It was pretty fascinating.
Should I try writing something too?
[Greetings, necromancers. Or should I call you Necros for short? I’m the owner of this gallery, so get in here and greet me properly.]
└ [Advance of the Necromancer]: So you are the owner of this gallery? I can sense overwhelming dignity from you…
└ [Necro Newbie]: Thank you very much! I was bored anyway, so this is perfect!
└ [Corpse Lover]: To think we are supposed to greet instead of burying corpses. I should try this greeting thing as well…
└ [No.20]: Corpse Lover is foolish. Greeting means greeting. Idiot. I laugh for you.
“Hm…”
The first four users had already left comments and posts.
But the view count was already in the hundreds.
Looks like only a few people actually talked.
“But what exactly does trading mean…?”
My unique ability was called Trading Gallery.
Judging from the name, it obviously involved trading.
I grabbed the nearest object beside me.
A can of cola.
I immediately tried putting it into the gallery.
[Would you like to register Cola as a trade item?]
Well, it was my ability.
Might as well use it.
“Yeah.”
The moment I accepted—
[Trade Item: 1 Can of Cola]
Current Bidders: None
-Starting auction.
└ [Advance of the Necromancer]: Hoh… Cola… It must be an extremely precious item. Then how about this skill? It is excellent for beginners.
As soon as he left both a comment and an item—
-Bid: [Advance of the Necromancer] – Corpse Control
At the same time, others began participating as well.
└ [Necro Newbie]: Senile old man! Thinking you can monopolize such a precious item with only that is a huge mistake!
-Bid: [Necro Newbie] – Corpse Explosion
The moment Necro Newbie placed the bid, Advance of the Necromancer mocked him.
└ [Advance of the Necromancer]: Heh heh… You still understand nothing. No matter how talented one may be, the basics must always come first.
└ [Necro Newbie]: You old fossil #%$#@!
“Why are those two fighting already?”
At least now I understood who the elder one was.
But that wasn’t the important part.
“Skills can be used as trade items too?”
That was what truly mattered.
I could trade the things I owned for things they possessed.
This was my real ability.
“This is insanely good!”
I could obtain techniques from entirely different dimensions.
That was absurdly overpowered.
It meant I could use abilities nobody else could even imagine.
“This is amazing.”
For now—
Only two people had joined the trade.
Advance Necro and Necro Newbie.
Those two.
And the bidding system wasn’t about raising prices.
It seemed like I was the one making the final choice.
I could decide who to trade with.
“Corpse Explosion is tempting, but in my current situation…”
Sure, if I blew up the zombies outside, they’d probably all die.
But then what?
The explosion would attract more zombies and even higher-level mutant zombies.
Those bastards had excellent hearing.
Anyway—
“Yeah, this choice is obvious.”
I immediately selected Advance Necro’s Corpse Control skill.
[Advance of the Necromancer]: Heh heh… As expected of the gallery’s owner. Truly a man of refinement. Basics are always the foundation.
[Necro Newbie]: That old man just got lucky! It only happened because Corpse Explosion wasn’t suitable for the current situation!
A chill ran down my spine.
Necro Newbie had perfectly understood my situation.
I wanted an attack skill like Corpse Explosion too, but I couldn’t use it because the circumstances were too dangerous.
“For now, those four are definitely high-ranking necromancers.”
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have caught on so quickly.
Well, whatever.
-Trade completed.
-Time remaining until next trade cooldown: 1 week.
“Ah…”
Just as expected.
Trading itself seemed to be the actual skill.
The cooldown was a pretty major restriction.
But at least the duration felt manageable.
“One week…”
Long, yet short at the same time.
“First, let’s check what I got.”
I immediately opened the acquired skill.
[Skill Name]: Corpse Control Lv.1
[Cooldown]: 10 Minutes
“Wow…”
The skill was seriously good.
I could control two corpses, and the cooldown was only ten minutes.
And—
“Cost, huh…”
The detailed explanation read:
-The cost of controlling one normal zombie is 1. Mutant zombies cost 2 or higher.
“So basically, I can either control one mutant zombie or two regular zombies.”
Anything above cost 2 was beyond my control for now.
“But how am I supposed to know a zombie’s cost?”
That was the biggest problem.
Still—
The solution was easy enough.
[I’m a beginner necromancer. How do I check this cost thing?]
└ [Necro Newbie]: That’s very easy! Numbers appear above the zombies’ heads!
“Oh ho.”
In that case—
I immediately stood near the beverage display shelf inside the storage room.
Through the dusty glass display, I could see zombies outside.
[Normal Zombie] – 1
[Normal Zombie] – 1
[Normal Zombie] – 1
…
..
And beside them—
[Mutant Zombie] – 2
The mutant zombie that had tried attacking me earlier was wandering around nearby.
“Grrr!”
“Kraa…”
“Uugh…”
It shoved aside the other zombies as it moved around.
“Look at that bastard’s personality.”
I stepped away from the display.
A goal had appeared.
“I should control that thing.”
A cost of 2 meant—
I could control exactly one mutant zombie.
And before entering the storage room earlier—
Judging from its speed, it seemed to be a highly mobile type.
“Let’s try it immediately. Corpse Control.”
I stared at the mutant zombie through the display shelf and activated the skill.
Then—
“Oh.”
It felt like some kind of connection had formed.
At the same time—
Thud.
The mutant zombie froze in place like a robot awaiting orders.
“Does this work? Kill all the surrounding zombies.”
Immediately—
“KRAAAAAAH!”
The mutant zombie went berserk.
There were twelve zombies inside the convenience store.
One by one, it started slaughtering them.
“Grr…”
“Uuugh…”
The normal zombies struggled desperately.
But against the overwhelming strength of the mutant zombie, they collapsed one after another.
“Don’t forget the heads!”
The moment I gave another command—
“Grrr!”
Crunch!
It carefully smashed the heads of every zombie it knocked down.
“Whoa…”
So this was what being a summoner felt like.
This was ridiculously convenient.
I could already feel the superiority.
Everyone else had to struggle desperately and bathe in zombie blood while fighting.
But for me?
One command to a summon and it was over.
“As expected of a necromancer!”
A short while later, all the zombies had been cleaned up.
“You checked properly, right? Thoroughly?”
The mutant zombie nodded from beyond the glass display shelf.
It seemed surprisingly intelligent.
Anyway—
Creeeeak…
I opened the steel door and stepped outside.
Whoosh—
The smell of blood and rot hit me immediately.
“Ugh…”
But there was no time to stop.
“Let’s move first.”
If too much blood scent spread, mutant zombies could track it down.
That absolutely couldn’t happen.
At my current level, fighting multiple mutant zombies was impossible.
I quickly packed every bit of food I could carry into my bag and even carefully took the storage room key.
“I can always come back later.”
I glanced around the convenience store one last time before stepping outside.
I found an apartment complex nearby.
One of the expensive apartment buildings in Daejeon.
Right now, I was struggling near the first floor.
“Hey! Lift me up properly!”
“Urrgh…”
The main entrance had too many zombies.
So we had no choice but to enter through the balcony side.
As expected of a luxury apartment, climbing into the balcony wasn’t easy.
“Hup!”
Tap!
I jumped.
Finally, I managed to pull myself onto the balcony.
“You come up too.”
The mutant zombie simply jumped straight upward and landed beside me.
In front of us was a balcony door.
Probably connected to the master bedroom.
“I’ll open it. If there are zombies inside, kill them all. Got it?”
After giving the order to the mutant zombie—
I opened the door.
Soon, sounds of fighting came from inside.
Thankfully, it didn’t last long.
“Uuugh!”
“Holy shit!”
The mutant zombie suddenly poked its head through the doorway like it was reporting completion.
With a face like that suddenly appearing out of nowhere, anyone would be startled.
“Move aside.”
I stepped through the door.
A spacious living room appeared before me.
Photos of what seemed to be the middle-aged homeowners and their smiling children stood displayed in one corner.
The number of zombies matched perfectly.
Most likely, one family member had become infected, and the others stayed to protect them until the entire family turned.
“I hope you all found peace…”
After a brief moment of mourning—
I collapsed onto the sofa in the living room.
“Haa…”
A new hideout.
Meanwhile, a post had appeared in the gallery.
[Advance of the Necromancer]: This thing called cola is truly extraordinary! The refreshing sensation and the subtle sweetness spreading through the mouth! It almost feels wasteful that such a treasure cost only one skill!
└ [Necro Newbie]: That old man is crossing the line again! Hurry up and hand over whatever’s left to me!
└ [Corpse Lover]: I went off to research corpses. What happened while I was gone?
└ [No.20]: I cannot drink. I envy the old man. I cry together with Newbie…
└ [Necro Newbie]: You should stay quiet, test subject!
└ [Advance of the Necromancer]: Unfortunately, I already finished it all. Heh heh.
└ [Necro Newbie]: KIIIIIIAHHH!
Necro Newbie was beginning to lose his mind.