Chapter 20: Spendthrift Necromancer
Something was off.
The enemy was far too confident.
Did he have some trump card he was relying on?
Caution darkened Lee Seoyoon's eyes.
‘Level? No way.’
He'd only entered the gate for the first time a few days ago.
Leveling up took time.
Even being generous, he couldn't be higher than level 50.
His gear wasn't anything to worry about either.
With only a tiny fraction of equipment exempt, gear performance generally scaled with level. And those rare pieces weren't something you could just buy even with money, so her own gear had to be overwhelmingly superior.
‘Not consumables, though…’
He was loaded, so maybe he'd chugged some doping potions. That could close the level gap somewhat.
At best-grade stuff, maybe level 50 equivalent. That put him at around level 100 on the high end.
A laughable gap compared to her level 300.
The only real variables were that special summon called Cedric and his swordsmanship.
But summons couldn't exceed their summoner's level.
Even an S-rank skill could only produce a low-level summon—what could it do?
Swordsmanship wouldn't shift the tide much either.
Lee Seoyoon had heard the rumors too.
About the Sword Sage sparring with Kim Minwoo.
‘They said the Sword Sage tuned up his body for him.’
Mana, skills, and even stats.
The difference between using them and not was like night and day.
Of course, she had no intention of fine-tuning him like the Sword Sage.
When stat differences were this overwhelming, technique meant nothing.
“Scared?”
“… Bullshit. All talk.”
Right.
It was all bravado.
Lee Seoyoon was convinced.
Only now did her mind ease.
“You're dead anyway.”
They'd already seen each other's faces.
No reason to let her live.
“Then quit yapping and come at me.”
He crooked a finger at her.
“Die!”
Lee Seoyoon charged.
‘Perfect.’
Kim Minwoo's eyes gleamed.
He could handle the fight with skill, but stat gaps were another story.
If Lee Seoyoon ran, he couldn't catch her. Best case, he'd report her in the real world and let her rot in jail.
‘That won't do.’
He'd gone through the trouble of disguising his identity. Even if it got exposed, that was secondary.
The secret organization she belonged to, ‘Shadow.’ They'd probably bail him out.
To take her down, he had to engage.
Fortunately, Lee Seoyoon chose fight over flight.
Of course.
The level gap alone was over 200.
Normally, that meant total domination.
She must be confident in her skills.
‘But levels aren't everything.’
If they were, he couldn't have taken down that orc guard at level 1.
Sure, Lee Seoyoon was a named NPC, way stronger than that thing.
‘I've gotten stronger too.’
Before she arrived, he'd hit level 30 taking down the gorilla.
Plus Cedric was here.
‘I strike when she's off guard and end it quick.’
Kim Minwoo's eyes sharpened.
Assassins poured everything into attack power. Defense was abysmal.
Unlike that orc guard last time, her flesh would give way to the blade.
The win would come in one shot.
Armed skeletons raised shields, blocking Lee Seoyoon's path.
She slashed her dagger forward.
The front line of skeletons split in half.
“Hah! You think this trash can stop me?”
She carved through the skeletons like wheat.
He charged with Cedric.
The distance closed in a flash.
“Die!”
She thrust her blade.
[Vital Strike (B) activated!]
Skills boosted attack power.
But they weren't pure upside. Skills locked in your motion.
In other words…
A scumbag like Kim Minwoo could read the motion, predict the skill, and the attack path.
‘Vital Strike, huh.’
An assassin-exclusive skill for massive single-target damage.
It locked the attack route to one of three: head, neck, or heart.
Straightforward paths meant easy prediction, huge damage if you landed it.
‘She's desperate.’
Better to use an AoE skill.
She was stabbing straight on, assuming he couldn't dodge.
Simple route made it easy to deflect.
He raised his sword.
The dagger aimed for his head.
The moment longsword met dagger, he twisted the flat.
The dagger grazed past his head by a hair.
He booted her body away.
Lee Seoyoon hesitated for a split second.
Cedric was already behind her, thrusting his spear.
She twisted away nimbly.
Thinking it a low-level summon, she half-assed the dodge.
‘Won't work.’
Stab!
The spear pursued perfectly, skewering her torso. The tip pierced through armor gaps, sinking deep.
Severe wound.
“…!”
Her eyes bulged in shock.
Her body twitched in pain.
Skeletons summoning on the ground grabbed at her ankles.
Kim Minwoo didn't miss the opening. His longsword flew at her neck.
Even with stat gaps, decapitation meant death.
Lee Seoyoon frantically raised her dagger.
‘Nah, go low.’
Unlike skills, normal attacks let you adjust trajectory with control.
The sword plunged into her side.
The longsword buried deep in her waist.
Mana gathered on her dagger as she winced.
‘Murderous Sword Dance.’
He dropped his sword and backed off.
Cedric yanked his spear free and retreated.
Hundreds of skeletons surged toward Lee Seoyoon instead.
Then blades infested the area.
Murderous Sword Dance (A).
Her awakening achievement skill.
A godsend AoE for assassins lacking them.
Blades erupted everywhere, shredding skeletons.
Skeletons crumbled.
But it cost her.
The blades dulled fast clashing with skeletons.
‘Too late.’
Using AoE now? She was finally panicking.
‘Should've led with it.’
He pulled a new weapon from inventory and charged.
B-rank meant good potions.
Couldn't give her time to use them.
As expected, a potion was in Lee Seoyoon's hand, nearing her lips.
Too far to block.
He hurled his sword.
The potion shattered before she could drink.
Meanwhile, Cedric's spear stabbed her again.
“You fucking—!”
She swung her dagger at Cedric in rage.
Clang!
Clang!
Cedric parried her daggers deftly with his spear.
The guy was a master at deflecting weapons, just like him.
‘Game over.’
Debris blocked stealth.
Wounded, surrounded—no space.
Only option: potion heal and retry.
No chance now.
Not enough mana for gap-closing skills.
‘Murderous Sword Dance twice needs at least A-rank.’
B-rank Lee Seoyoon couldn't chain it.
Low-rank AoE? High mana cost, no distance gained—vicious cycle.
He thrust at her with a fresh sword from inventory.
Pinned by pincer attack, she fell on the defensive fast.
* * *
‘No way!’
Lee Seoyoon reeled.
She knew something was wrong from the Vital Strike.
Stat gap alone was hundreds.
Her gear outclassed his.
Swords should've shattered on clash.
It didn't.
He deflected instead.
Unbelievable.
What level of technique let you pull that off?
Everything went wrong from there.
That skeleton Cedric was equally shocking.
Mistake to dismiss it as a mere summon. Who knew a summon could wield such spear mastery!
She took a heavy hit in one exchange.
‘Damn! These bastards are countering all my skills!’
They moved like they knew exactly what skill she'd use.
Even high-rank awakeners rarely showed that.
You had to memorize every skill motion perfectly.
A low-rank awakener—how?!
She couldn't fathom it.
‘Gotta break free…’
Endless skeletons hampered her. Meanwhile, Kim Minwoo and Cedric piled wounds.
Like falling in an ant nest—no escape.
Couldn't counter either.
Attack one, the other struck the gap.
Always missed by a hair.
Just graze once with poison blade!
No dice.
Her body became a mangled wreck.
‘Fuck… this guy… not S-rank.’
That skeleton called Cedric.
No way it was just S-rank summonable.
She felt it in her bones.
Way beyond.
Lee Seoyoon's eyes trembled.
She'd fucked up bad today.
‘Die in an E-rank gate?’
This pathetically?
No.
Her trembling lips parted.
“… Stop! My bad! Just once—please spare me!”
“Buddy. Would you spare you?”
“I-I've got info! You'll love it!”
“What info?”
“Th-the group I joined…! I'll tell you everything!”
“Oh. A group? Sounds intriguing.”
Kim Minwoo's eyes sparkled with curiosity.
Thank god.
Stall with talk—buy time.
“It's this group where…”
Stab!
She stared blankly at the spear deep in her side.
“Why…”
“Shadow, right? Knew that. Why bother asking? Annoying.”
“How… did… you…”
“No need to know. Bye.”
If you're ready to kill others, be ready to die.
A murderer left alive would kill countless more.
No hesitation in killing.
He severed Lee Seoyoon's head.
[Victory over an awakener 200+ levels higher!]
[Acquired title: ‘PK Expert’!]
[Level up by 10!]
Her body thudded down.
Killing another awakener gave levels too.
Huge gap—10 levels straight.
Cedric stared at her corpse.
―Decent material. Good for undead later, Master.
“That's the plan.”
Level was a core measure of an awakener.
But could anyone hit S-rank with steady leveling?
‘Nope.’
Potential set max levels differently.
Low potential? Leveling slows to hell near the cap, then stops.
Like a hard stop.
‘Kim Minwoo's cap was 200.’
C-rank, mid-tier.
Stuck there.
Ruined him during Dragon Lord Trai.
Lee Seoyoon had S-rank potential with time.
B-rank, unfinished.
Plus overconfident, mind games—easy kill.
Post-S-rank with experience? Headache.
By then, he'd have grown too. No more complacency.
‘This body'll make a fine high undead later.’
Kim Minwoo knew the perfect high undead for an assassin.
First, loot the gear…
Then.
● You are humanity's ‘Horizon Opener’!
● You perceive the world's changes!
● Hunted side-villain ‘Lee Seoyoon’!
● Story begins partial alteration!
● Achievement Shop unlocked as reward!
● Minor achievement points granted!
“… Huh?”
What the hell?