The Necromancer's Ruthless Ambush
Even when the news of the Catters Terror Dungeon boss first reached me, I figured it was nothing serious.
After all, what could a single boss possibly do? But the moment I arrived and saw the scene for myself, I realized the situation was far more dire than I had imagined.
“It seems the entrance management personnel and internal security team have been wiped out.”
“They must have stirred something up, causing the hidden boss to appear.”
Over thirty guild members and players had already fallen. The problem had grown far too large to simply send out a few low-level soldiers.
“We need to properly form a hunting party.”
At the dungeon entrance, the executives gathered and began assigning roles.
“Of course, my subordinate Yamuro and I will be heading in, but the rest of you are free to go if you wish. Anyone wanting to support?”
“I’ll go!”
“Tsk tsk… It seems the time has come for my Black Dragon to show its strength.”
The executives immediately raised their hands. Given their top-tier stats, they had no intention of relying on monster diagnostics.
“Let’s head in, mark our presence on the guild, and share the boss rewards.”
“Eleven, twelve… yes! That will do.”
As the group grew, I extended my palm.
“This… this should be more than enough.”
The hunting party’s members were dazzlingly equipped.
Guild Master Sayah, level 153.
Vice Guild Master Yamuro, level 151.
Senior Executive Miko’s Heal Wings, level 145.
Senior Executive Fuhimijangdaieskidayo, level 143.
…and so on.
All members over level 140, each adorned with high-grade gear. Twelve in total.
Below them, thirty-six laborers and explorers to support.
A grand total of forty-eight.
The top rankers sat at level 170, and even the lower tiers began at 130. An overwhelming force.
“Alright, let’s move out!”
“Let’s go!”
“A new boss? I’m looking forward to it.”
Sayah swung his sword and shouted.
The forty-eight followed with noisy excitement, as if attending a festival.
-You have entered the Catters Terror Labyrinth.
The Catters Terror Labyrinth was home to the three-winged crows and alchemists.
To players at the same level, it was an extremely difficult opponent thanks to debuffs and curses. But against a hunting party with a massive level gap, it was no match at all.
“As expected, it’s nothing special.”
“To be safe, let’s confirm if any necromancers are around.”
Sayah and the executives spread out their encirclement and advanced into the dungeon. This hunting party wasn’t targeting only monsters.
“What the—?!”
“Help me!”
Players who had wandered in casually to hunt were now also being targeted by the party.
“We’re not monsters! Please spare us… aaaah!”
“Hey, you otaku kids! You’re the ones leaving? Why are you killing us?!”
“Real bastards…”
The players were killed while begging or cursing. To the executives, the sight was pure bliss.
“Today’s just full of pests, huh.”
“The hidden boss news must have spread fast. We’ll wipe them out before more troublemakers arrive.”
The Kingsman hunting party members increased their speed and continued their rampage.
Whenever they spotted a monster or player, they swung their blades and unleashed full-power skills.
With so much money and superior stats, this was the perfect tactic.
The monsters were obliterated in an instant by the overwhelming power of the ultimate skills.
“By the way, where is the necromancer?”
“He hasn’t left the dungeon… maybe he’s in the boss room?”
“Then there aren’t many left.”
Just as the guild members were chatting, I opened my eyes.
‘He’s here.’
These hunting party members couldn’t possibly stop the dungeon monsters. That was obvious.
First, their levels were lower than the monsters that spawn here. Second, they were graduates with top-tier stats.
Their control and tactics were lacking, but they had no tools to exploit the gaps against these monsters.
‘It’s a bit annoying, but…’
I began my preparations.
Soon, a group of individuals appeared in front of the boss room.
“Open the door!”
Grumble.
Sayah opened the door. The expressions of the party members behind him turned to confusion.
“Eh?”
“Nothing?”
Inside the boss room, only the alchemists, the massive crow, and the elite alchemists remained. No necromancer, not even a single skeleton.
“What…?”
“Guild Master, we should just retreat…”
Yamuro asked Sayah.
At that moment, at the rear of the party.
A lone suit of empty armor in the boss room hallway opened. A sword shot out from within and charged straight at the healers.
“Oof!”
“Ahh!”
Of the twelve party members, only two were healers. Because they were at the back, they had no time to respond.
-Miko’s Heal Wings has died.
-Ayes has died.
“What?!”
“What’s going on?!”
The guild members in front hurriedly turned back.
Seeing this, I pulled the trap switch.
Clink!
Skeletons that had been scattered around the boss room attacked the boss monster.
At that instant, the eyes of the alchemist leader sparkled.
“Show the intruders our developed potion and golem flavor, Kishishi!”
“Kishi!”
The alchemists transformed into crow-human forms and revealed their claws.
At the same time, the door to the boss room slammed shut.
We were now forced to fight the boss without any healers.
“Eh!”
“The door—open it!”
“The battle has already started! It can’t be opened?”
Hearing the voice from beyond the closed door, I smirked.
‘So far, everything is according to plan.’
The remaining players were the thirty-six support members who had come to assist the executives.
Assuming they were just fillers or laborers, none of them brought any real equipment or preparations.
‘Then I’ll start hunting too.’
-I have defeated the insane alchemist leader Zoltrex.
-Dungeon cleared.
…and so on.
The guild master party that had completed the boss raid exited the dungeon.
Naturally, all the ordinary guild members were already dead.
“We’re going after them!”
“That bastard! I’ll kill him!”
The executives immediately began chasing me.
They had fought the boss without healers, but their stats were so overwhelmingly strong that they still had some strength left.
I met the rising executives in the large plaza in the middle of the labyrinth.
“There he is!”
“It’s the necromancer!”
The fighting executives shouted upon seeing my black robe.
“Yamuro, charge!”
Vice Guild Master Yamuro brandished his twin swords and rushed forward.
The other executives followed suit.
The distance between me and Yamuro quickly closed.
At that moment, a massive explosion erupted beneath Yamuro’s feet.
“Kyahhh!”
“It’s a trap!”
The explosive stream of the Pandemonium Nepenthes!
Two executives were blown to pieces, and the other close-range tanks were instantly injured all over.
Worse still, with the healers dead, the losses were even more painful.
“Kyahhh!”
“You bastard!”
Despite the wounds, the executives continued charging with their momentum intact.
They didn’t realize it, but this was actually the correct judgment.
“It won’t work!”
Sayah grinned as he charged.
At that instant, the skeletons blocked the executives’ path.
“Kyaaak!”
“What the—?!”
Four ordinary skeleton soldiers that took the frontal attack at once were instantly shattered.
Just as they tried to charge again, the elite skeletons behind them all targeted the gaps.
‘Even though it’s just skeletons, they’re using tactics?’
Yamuro was shocked. But that lasted only a moment.
‘It’s just skeletons! We’ll dodge and advance!’
The other executives showed the same reaction.
They hadn’t broken the skeletons earlier.
They presented their armored parts or twisted their bodies to areas that wouldn’t hinder movement even if hit, and advanced.
Soon the skeletons’ attacks landed.
Swords and spears pierced through the executives’ armor gaps.
-Fuhimijangdaieskidayo has died.
-You are already dead has died.
“What?”
“Kuh…”
Yamuro’s face showed disbelief. All the close-range executives except himself had died in an instant.
“How could skeletons…”
At that moment, the sound of hooves echoed through the plaza.
“Human adventurers…!”
Skeleton Knight Louis rode in on his skeletal horse.
Yamuro could only take up his twin swords and assume a defensive stance.
“LANCE CHARGE…! Dodge!”
Sayah shouted from afar.
At that instant, the skeleton knight’s spear pierced Yamuro and sent him flying.
-Yamuro has died.
“Damn it…”
Sayah’s eyes widened in rage.
An emotion he had never felt in all the years he had played since the ‘Lin’s Era’ surged through him.
‘What… What is happening?’
He had obviously brought overwhelming stats and ample support for any unknown situation.
Even if they were soft stats built from pouring in cash, it should have been a simple stroll, yet this had happened. Sayah had no idea how it had come to this.
‘I can’t die like this! I can’t die like this!’
-The Kingsman bastards were all wiped out?
-It seems true, judging by the level drop.
-Then we don’t need to worry about controls or anything!
Players rising up from the controlled dungeons were clearly visible.
In the meantime, the necromancer who had finished off the tanks slowly walked forward.
“A human adventurer who dares to step on my territory.”
“Eek! ……Is the necromancer a monster?!”
Sayah gritted his teeth and drew his light sword. He prepared for the final battle.
In front of him, I simply turned my body instead of answering.
Clank, clank. The skeleton knight raised his spear and approached.
“…”
Sayah let out a long sigh.
“Ten…”
The next moment, the skeleton knight’s spear struck Sayah and sent him flying.
The battle with Sayah was one-sided.
Elite skeletons rushed in, and the Pandemonium Nepenthes shattered their armor with explosions.
It didn’t take long. After all, Sayah’s actual health and mental strength were no better than a beginner’s.
-You have PvP’d.
-Experience gained.
-Karma has decreased.
-PvP level has risen to 2.
-Infamy has increased. The incident has begun spreading to NPCs in nearby villages.
Just like that, Sayah fell, and the battle ended.
The next moment, I rolled up my sleeves.
‘Now I need to move.’
I searched through the bodies of the fallen Sayah and executives, collecting items!
-Life Fountain Ring (Rare) acquired.
-Master Deon’s Platinum Helmet (Rare) acquired.
‘This feels good.’
Normally, you’d need to hunt dozens of monsters to get items, but players drop them at nearly a fifty-fifty chance.
‘As expected, being rich, every item and gold they have is loaded.’
‘Since I’m stealing anyway, why not hit the big bank instead of the convenience store counter!’
I gathered the remaining gear with a smile.
I watched from a distance as the skeletons and Louis stared blankly.
“What are you doing?”
“……?”
“Master, that’s not…?”
“You guys should start picking them up too.”
“……!”
The skeletons’ jaws dropped.
“Master, looting corpses isn’t something knights should…”
Louis tried to say something.
At that moment, Fist One’s fist smashed into Louis’s back of the head.
Clink! Fist One’s jaw struck something.
Louis no longer responded and began searching the other executives’ bodies instead.