Chapter 9
Chapter 9
“Ah… haha, you’re back?!”
Lee Hyunjae greeted us with an awkward laugh.
“Crazy bastard.”
He was smiling at us in this situation.
There was no way he was sane.
“Die.”
Lee Sua drew her dagger.
The cold blade stopped right in front of Lee Hyunjae’s throat.
“W-Wait!”
Lee Hyunjae shouted frantically.
His Adam’s apple bobbed violently.
“I-If you kill me, there won’t be anyone left to manage this place!”
“You son of a bitch.”
Lee Sua’s dagger lightly pressed against his neck.
A thin line of blood trickled down.
But she didn’t slit it completely.
“H-Heh… hehehe.”
Lee Hyunjae looked like he thought he had the upper hand in negotiations.
Despite the trembling muscles in his neck, relief spread faintly around his eyes.
But—
I answered without hesitation.
“Just kill him.”
“What? Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
There was no reason to keep him alive.
Because I already had another option.
Earlier, during a brief lull in battle, I had posted something in the Gallery.
[Anyone know any necromancy for keeping an asshole alive? Got a real piece of shit here.]
└ [Corpse Maniac]: Oho! Finally another comrade— no wait. Anyway, I put something in the shop.
└ [Necro Newbie]: Ugh… that’s disgusting.
└ [Corpse Maniac]: Shut up! It’s been forever since we got a new colleague. As a senior, I should guide him!
He clearly knew something, but he wasn’t explaining properly.
It felt suspicious, but the important thing right now was the shop.
[Name]: Soul Binding
[Required Ether]: 30 Million Ether
“W-Why is it so expensive?”
Three times the cost of Corpse Explosion.
Still, I understood why.
‘Because it gives you a useful servant.’
There was one thing Mutations and zombies could never replicate.
Human intelligence.
An intelligent subordinate was valuable in any situation.
They could understand commands.
Think.
Talk.
That alone justified the price.
“Perfect timing.”
Thankfully, I had plenty of Ether right now.
The corpses recovered after killing the Abomination sold for absurd amounts.
Especially the Abomination corpse itself.
That alone had been worth fifty million Ether.
— Current Ether: 60 Million.
I immediately purchased the skill.
[Skill Name]: Soul Binding Lv.1
[Cooldown]: 1 Minute
“Good. Kill him now.”
The moment I bought it, I turned to Lee Sua.
She seemed to instantly realize I had a plan.
Without another word, she grabbed Lee Hyunjae by the arm and dragged him into an inner room.
Bang!
The door slammed shut.
“KYAAAAAAAGH!”
The scream that followed was incredible.
Sharp enough to pierce through walls.
“…Does being an assassin come with torture skills too?”
‘Well, not my problem.’
I decided to use this time to organize things.
There were several new developments to check.
“The Gallery unlocked a new region…”
So there were areas besides Necra.
I opened the status window.
— Select a Region.Valkar Continent of warriors.
A land where strength is proven through steel and blood.Lumien Federation of mages.
A region where mana and knowledge equal power.Alker City-state of alchemists.
A world where equivalent exchange and experimentation are everyday life.
“As expected.”
The three fantasy dimensions had all unlocked at once.
I hesitated.
Honestly, the most attractive options were numbers two and three.
Mages and alchemists were both perfect support classes for necromancers.
But—
‘They don’t solve my weakness.’
Mages and alchemists suffered from the same problem necromancers did.
The moment a close-range fighter or assassin closed the distance, intelligence-based classes collapsed helplessly.
On the other hand—
‘Valkar is different.’
A necromancer and a warrior.
Together.
It covered my weakness.
“Alright. Let’s go with Valkar.”
— You have selected Valkar.
— Opening Gallery.
[Stand Up With Your Fists]: What’s this? A Gallery? Did those shamans make something new?
└ [Muscle Monster]: Nice. Training was getting boring. Entertain me.
└ [Big Sis Will Beat You Up]: A Gallery? Is it an arena? Want big sis to join?
└ [Sword Clan’s Eldest Son]: I can already see the level here. Talking about combat from the beginning. How crude.
“As expected.”
The people of Valkar reacted with curiosity too.
But there was something interesting.
“They each have separate Galleries.”
Valkar and Necra existed independently.
They weren’t connected.
“Can they be linked?”
— Connect Valkar and Necra Galleries?
“Nope.”
Apparently it was possible.
But I had zero intention of doing that.
It was obvious what would happen if battle-crazed warriors and corpse-loving necromancers ended up in the same space.
First things first.
[Good to meet you, warriors. I’m the Gallery Master. Take care of me.]
└ [Stand Up With Your Fists]: Gallery Master… not sure what that means, but it sounds strong.
└ [Muscle Monster]: How much training do you need to become a Gallery Master?
└ [Big Sis Will Beat You Up]: Sounds like a strong man. Want big sis to give you snacks?
└ [Sword Clan’s Eldest Son]: Hmm… Gallery Master, perhaps avoid associating with these vulgar fools.
Each one had a strong personality.
Still, they seemed welcoming in their own ways.
I posted again.
[Question. How do I train my body? Put items in the shop and I’ll buy them.]
└ [Stand Up With Your Fists]: Items? You mean spiritual medicine?
└ [Muscle Monster]: I’m disappointed, Gallery Master. True strength comes from endless training!
└ [Big Sis Will Beat You Up]: Big sis will give you one.
└ [Sword Clan’s Eldest Son]: Hmm… spiritual medicine, you say. Perhaps I’ll list something.
I immediately opened the shop.
[Name]: Dragon Blood Pill
Category: Spiritual Medicine
[Required Ether]: 100 Million Ether
[Name]: Sacred Body Elixir
Category: Spiritual Medicine
[Required Ether]: 30 Million Ether
There were many types of spiritual medicine.
But most were absurdly expensive.
Only one item was barely within reach.
“Sacred Body Elixir…”
Sacred Body Elixir
— Strengthens muscles, skeleton, and physical durability overall. Increases training efficiency.
A full-body enhancement.
Simple, but reliable.
“Well, not like I have many choices.”
I bought it.
A tiny pill appeared in my palm.
Pure white.
It was smaller than expected, making me hesitate for a moment.
But I swallowed it without delay.
A faint fragrance spread across my tongue.
After waiting a while—
Bang!
The door burst open and Lee Sua dragged Lee Hyunjae outside.
He was a complete wreck.
Blood crusted all over his body.
He couldn’t even stand properly and was dragged across the floor.
“…Kill… me…”
The same bastard who had desperately wanted to live earlier was now begging to die.
I didn’t even want to know what Lee Sua had done.
‘Serves him right.’
The crews that entered this research complex—
Most of them never came back.
The corpses piled up on Basement Level 1.
This bastard had caused that.
If I hadn’t possessed a spare keycard, we never would’ve escaped either.
Then—
Lee Sua sniffed the air and approached me.
“What did you eat?”
“Why?”
“No reason. You smell nice.”
“…Really?”
I didn’t know the pill had a scent.
I couldn’t smell anything myself.
“Just snacks.”
“…Give me some too.”
“Now then. Let’s make one.”
I smoothly changed the subject.
During our conversation, Lee Hyunjae quietly stopped breathing.
Collapsed on the floor.
His chest no longer moved.
But I couldn’t just let him die peacefully.
“Soul Binding. Zombie Domination.”
I activated both skills simultaneously.
Black energy flowed from my fingertips and wrapped around Lee Hyunjae’s body.
Thin threads slithered through the corpse’s limbs.
“Uuuuugh…”
With a hollow groan, Lee Hyunjae’s upper body slowly rose.
His arms pushed against the ground.
His legs straightened.
His body swayed awkwardly as it regained balance.
His eyelids trembled.
Then his eyes opened.
Cloudy pupils slowly focused.
“W-What…? I’m not dead?”
Lee Hyunjae stared at his hands.
His fingers twitched one by one.
He touched his neck.
Hit his chest.
Then froze.
“…Huh? Why is my skin… my complexion…”
Even without a mirror, he could tell.
The skin on the back of his hands had turned gray.
Warmth vanished.
Coldness seeped in.
He had become undead.
“N-No! Kill me! Please, kill me!”
Lee Hyunjae clung desperately to us.
Begging.
Crawling.
The confidence from earlier had completely vanished.
But he still had debts to pay.
“Go over there.”
I raised a hand and pointed.
“M-My body!”
Lee Hyunjae’s legs began moving toward the direction I indicated against his will.
His face struggled desperately.
But his body obeyed quietly and faithfully.
Despair spread clearly across his face.
“Nice.”
“Yeah. Since he’s intelligent, it makes things easier for us.”
We had acquired an excellent slave.
Around the research complex—
People continued their work while secretly glancing toward the facility every so often.
Men.
Women.
Children.
Some paused what they were doing just to look.
Others pretended to work while listening carefully.
“I heard another crew entered the research complex?”
“Again? They’re definitely dead.”
“Heard they were awakened people.”
“Then why’d awakened people go there? They could’ve just joined a shelter.”
“Who knows. Their choice.”
Everyone came to the same conclusion.
Total annihilation.
Not a single crew that entered the research complex had ever returned alive.
Usually, when a crew was destroyed, at least one or two survivors crawled back out.
But not even that happened here.
That was the kind of place this research complex was.
Once you entered—
It was over.
“Tch… if they were gonna die after awakening, they should’ve given their powers to me.”
It was the man from the supermarket shelter who had directed awakened people toward the research complex.
He stood with folded arms, sneering at the facility.
“Heh. You think you could even handle those powers?”
“Of course I could! Back in the day, I was a boxer! Like this! Bam! Bam!”
The man raised his fists dramatically while joking around.
People nearby chuckled.
And then—
“Yo. Long time no see?”
“Huh?”
A voice came from behind him.
Familiar.
The man turned instinctively.
And froze.
The two awakened people who had entered the research complex stood there.
He had seen them enter with his own eyes.
He was sure they’d never come back out.
That was common sense.
The man’s mouth fell open as he stammered.
“Y-You survived?!”
“Obviously.”
One of the awakened calmly answered.
Without even catching his breath.
Without the slightest tension on his face.
“The research complex belongs to us now. We came to greet our new neighbors.”
“T-That’s impossible…”
The man’s thoughts raced.
They conquered the research complex.
That research complex.
The place nobody ever returned from.
With only two people.
At that moment, the man instinctively realized something.
A new ruler had appeared in Daejeon.