SS-Class Minion

The representative of the Devils Clan was an S-class Awakener named Seong Ki-soo. Even with him, I could have killed the man anytime I wanted and resurrected him as a minion, but I chose not to.

It wasn’t that I couldn’t. I simply didn’t. Back then I was terrified of the version of myself who could casually trample villains like insects without a second thought.

If I had coveted an S-class Awakener minion and actually murdered Seong Ki-soo to turn him into one… I wouldn’t have been able to see myself as the same kind of person as my grandfather, my sister, or my brother-in-law anymore.

Now?

Not even a speck of that hesitation remained.

So what if I became a monster? So what if I became a demon? If turning into a monster and a demon meant my family could live with happy smiles on their faces, I would gladly become the Demon King himself.

To me, Yoon Yoon-joo’s corpse was nothing short of a treasure.

There was no reason to hesitate.

“Minion of the Underworld.”

Turning an SS-class Awakener into a minion required the same five restriction slots that boss monsters did. My slots were currently full, so I terminated the contracts of five Tyrant Rats and Ratmen before resurrecting Yoon Yoon-joo.

The moment I did, black fog gently wrapped around her. When the mist cleared, her severed neck was whole again and she slowly rose to her feet.

“That can’t be! Wasn’t Yoon Yoon-joo just killed?!”

“She was dead. Therefore, is it not the Lord who has resurrected her? As your loyal minion.”

“A… a minion?”

Nothing about her had changed on the surface. Her skin wasn’t pale like an undead’s. She didn’t smell of decay, and her body wasn’t cold. If anything, her complexion looked healthier than most living people, making her death feel like a lie. The faint scent of her signature expensive perfume drifted in the air, and her body gave off the natural warmth of the living.

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠only difference was her eyes. They had become the distinctive black sclera and flickering blue-flame pupils that all my minions possessed. Aside from that, her outward appearance was completely unchanged.

But on the inside, she was entirely different.

“I greet my Master.”

With a calm expression, she knelt gracefully on one knee before me, bowed her head, and gently placed her right hand over her chest. Her posture carried such excessive courtesy and restraint that she looked like a lowly slave paying respects to a great sovereign.

“Ahn… Goblin Lord!”

Seeing her nearly speak my real name before urgently switching to my temporary codename, it was clear that Secretary Kwon was extremely shocked. She rushed over, flinched at the sight of Yoon Yoon-joo still kneeling with her head bowed, then turned to me.

“What in the world happened? You really turned Yoon Yoon-joo into a minion?”

“Yes. That was the condition we agreed on.”

“Condition?”

“In exchange for clearing out the Black Snake Clan’s hideout by myself, I claimed her body. I ended up with a surprisingly useful minion, so I’d say it was a pretty good deal.”

“Hahaha… Well, congratulations. If the Director already signed off on it, then…”

Kwon Si-young still looked like she was dreaming. The image of the man currently receiving swordsmanship pointers from Goblius was still burned vividly into her mind.

He commanded over a hundred and fifty minions—an actual army by any reasonable standard.

He could use wide-area healing that instantly cured even severe injuries.

And he possessed enough personal combat strength to defeat an SS-class assassin in single combat.

If someone had simply told her about it, she never would have believed them. She would have laughed and asked where in the world such a cheat-like hunter could possibly exist.

Yet that impossible being was standing right in front of her.

‘Wait. If Yoon Yoon-joo has also become a minion, doesn’t that mean his forces just got dramatically stronger?’

“Just out of curiosity… has Yoon Yoon-joo become much stronger than she was when she was alive? Like Lord Goblius and your other minions?”

To Kwon Si-young’s careful question, I gave a calm nod.

“Probably. I won’t know exactly how much stronger until we test her.”

“……”

Only then did Kwon Si-young truly understand why Director Lee Won-hyung—who always made rational, calculated decisions—became stubbornly insistent the moment Ahn Humin was involved.

‘He’s literally a walking large guild. Just the three of them—Ahn Humin, Goblius, and now Yoon Yoon-joo—would be enough to match the full combat power of most major guilds.’

“By the way, could I ask you to request backup from headquarters? There are too many children to protect and too many clan members to arrest.”

“Ah, yes! I’ll make the request right away.”

Various news outlets and online communities were exploding with talk about the Black Snake Clan. It was only natural.

The Black Snake Clan was infamous enough that even ordinary people knew the name. Its history ran deep, yet its true nature had always remained shrouded in mystery. The fact that a group everyone thought would never be caught for at least another decade had been eradicated in a single night was bound to cause an uproar.

Along with the shock came countless questions. Among them, the one people were most curious about was…

Thanks to the reporters’ relentless and ruthless coverage, rumors began to spread that a third faction besides Team A had been deployed during the operation—and that this third force was the one that had actually wiped out the Black Snake Clan’s headquarters.

The Bureau officially denied everything, of course, but the more they denied it, the deeper people’s suspicions grew and the more their curiosity swelled.

But curiosity could only remain curiosity. With no evidence and no witnesses, all the noise amounted to nothing but smoke with no fire.

On top of that, a timely political scandal stole everyone’s attention in an instant, and the rumors about the third faction died down just as quickly.

A few days later, once the chaotic situation had settled and we had regained some breathing room, Director Lee Won-hyung invited me over.

“Thank you for all your hard work, Hunter Ahn Humin.”

“You worked hard too, Director. Thanks to you, everything seems to have been resolved smoothly.”

“Hahaha! It’s all because of your efforts. If not for you, we wouldn’t have simply failed to destroy the Black Snake Clan—we would have lost a valuable talent in Chief Jang Gi-jun. I truly cannot thank you enough.”

When Director Lee Won-hyung bowed his head in gratitude, I returned the gesture with a slight bow of my own and lifted my teacup.

“I heard you had a lot of work to do after the raid.”

“Ugh, don’t even get me started. Cleaning up the scene, handling the administrative processing for all the protected children, dealing with the arrested clan members, and then the media swarming like a horde of bees on top of it all… I thought I was going to collapse from exhaustion. But even so, I was happy.”

“Happy?”

“Because there wasn’t a single casualty in this operation. Not only did all our Bureau agents return safely, but you did as well, Hunter Ahn Humin. If that’s the result, I’d gladly work myself to death. Hahaha!”

Director Lee Won-hyung’s hearty laughter was filled with genuine emotion, and a pleasant smile formed on my own lips.

“Oh, right. What happened with that matter?”

I asked without specifying, having forgotten the exact wording, but the Director understood me perfectly.

“Ah, you mean the Black Snake Clan’s operating funds? As you requested, we recovered everything and placed it into the operating fund under the Nyx Foundation.”

“Thank you, Director.”

“Not at all. I didn’t really do anything.”

“You did. From the country’s perspective, you essentially yielded money that should have gone into the national treasury.”

“Yielded, huh…”

Director Lee Won-hyung gave a soft smile at the corner of his mouth.

“If we’re talking about yielding, we have something to say as well. You handed over the incredible achievement of destroying the Black Snake Clan entirely to the Bureau.”

“Well, that’s because…”

I still don’t want to be too well-known just yet.

Fame was a double-edged sword. While it would bring more people who could help me, it would also create just as many enemies.

That said, raising the name of Goddess Nyx was an absolute priority regardless of my own fame.

That was why I had come up with the Nyx Foundation.

Going forward, I planned to operate a church without physical form through the Foundation. Fortunately, the Nyx Church didn’t require any special baptisms or doctrines, and the Goddess herself had not asked me to take on such a role.

If the Foundation could simply help those who were struggling and in need, and if those people came to serve the Goddess and hold faith in her through that help, then that alone was more than enough reason to establish it.

“To be honest, no amount of gratitude would be enough. The fact that we were able to recover the Black Snake Clan’s operating funds and the emergency reserves of their leader and executives so easily is entirely thanks to your abilities, Hunter Ahn Humin.”

“You mean the Minion of the Underworld.”

“Indeed. To think you can not only turn monsters but even people into something that isn’t undead, but a literal ‘resurrection’… I thought I had already been shocked enough by you, yet there are still more surprises left. Heh heh heh.”

“To be precise, it isn’t a perfect resurrection. The body, memories, and experiences remain exactly as they were in life, but the personality changes completely. You could say they become an empty puppet that only feels loyalty toward me.”

I summoned Yoon Yoon-joo using the Cradle of the Dead.

Unlike the luxurious designer clothes she had worn in life, she was now dressed in plain casual wear. Yet her originally seductive figure meant that even modest clothing couldn’t hide her curves.

Moreover, she was beautiful enough that anyone would ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠turn their head for a second look. Of course, she was currently wearing a mask so her face couldn’t be seen.

Some people might envy the fact that such a woman could be controlled at will. But I felt nothing toward her.

Having been resurrected as a Minion of the Underworld, she was now nothing more than an empty puppet who served me based on her living memories and experiences. She was no longer a person.

Since I had never viewed villains as fellow human beings to begin with, there was no way I could feel any affection for her.

If there was anyone among my minions toward whom I felt any emotion, it was only Goblius, for whom I felt genuine respect.

After all, I truly respected him as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my master.

“They are useful, yet sorrowful beings. The Minions of the Underworld… They are alive, yet not truly living. They possess reason, yet are not free. Well, as long as they’re useful to me, that’s all that matters. Isn’t that right, Arachne?”

I had given her the new name Arachne. Using her real name outside would only cause complications.

“I will do my utmost to be of help to you, Master.”

“Understood. You may return.”

Arachne bowed deeply at the waist and vanished along with the black mist.

“Even so, there is no doubt that they are your powerful allies, Hunter Ahn Humin.”

“Pardon?”

“Hypothetically speaking. If an unavoidable disaster were to strike this nation, and I lacked the power to stop it and met my end… would you be willing to take me in as one of your minions?”

‘……’

He probably wasn’t joking. He had even just seen Arachne, who had only recently become a minion.

The fact that Director Lee Won-hyung would make such a request despite that meant he was speaking with genuine resolve.

I wanted to honor that noble determination.

“…I understand. However, such a day will not come. Not as long as I am here.”

“Hahaha! How reassuring.”