Noisy as Can Be, But I’ll Handle It
“Quite noisy, isn’t it?”
I rubbed my cheek lightly with my right hand.
S-rank news really spreads fast.
A middle-aged man who looked like he was in his thirties suddenly walked right up to me.
“Have you taken the exam yet?”
“Yeah, I have.”
“Maybe your name is…?”
“Kim. Don’t get the wrong idea— that hunter is famous for his longevity.”
Damn it, I’m 18.
The guild contact who had approached me lowered his head with an embarrassed expression.
“I’m sorry.”
“I’ve heard that line once or twice.”
“I wanted to give you my card.”
The man I was with glanced at the card he offered and shoved it into his pocket.
“Best of luck!”
“Ah, yeah.”
It had been a while since someone besides my family and the people at the house had cheered for me.
“Oh, Kim, are you busy?”
“Gotta go!”
Other guild contacts were dashing around too.
“They’re betting 400 million on the Horizon.”
“400 million? The Stellaris is supposedly 600 million.”
“How long until the S-rank appears? It’s worth it.”
“First we have to find it.”
Everyone’s in a hurry.
[What proof do you have that you’re keeping the lord busy?]
“Those people are looking for S-ranks.”
[It’s an exam, isn’t it?]
Passing the exam has two meanings.
The first is a powerful skill reward.
Like the S-grade Spirit Eye.
When you pass the exam with a high rank, you receive a talent suited to your ability.
[The Heavenly Martial Body is an SSS-grade skill, isn’t it?]
Teacher.
In this world, even S-grade is incredibly impressive, right?
Just one S-grade skill and big guilds will bow and try to recruit you.
The second is proof of talent.
The exam isn’t just judging ability—it also judges talent.
It’s not about how amazing a D-rank exam is.
Once an S-rank shows up, you’re likely to get at least A-rank in the next one.
[It means they’re trying to secure outstanding talent.]
“Well, that’s right.”
Outstanding, huh.
It’s the first time I’ve heard the word in five years of hunter life.
[I have something to say to these shortsighted ones.]
Huh?
What are you trying to say…?
[You foolish fools! Look here!]
Kwaaak!
Whoa, my brain rattled.
A mental sound pierced my skull like a nail.
[You people are just wearing eye ornaments!]
“Sir Isra.”
[That S-rank talent is right here!]
“Sir Isra.”
[Look upon him, the lord of the Continent’s Greatest Sword—Hunter Park Minho!]
“My thoughts are only for you.”
[Ah?]
“Keep the noise down.”
Thanks to that, my head throbbed.
It felt like someone had plugged a megaphone into my ear and was shouting at the top of their lungs.
Sir Isra stayed silent for a moment.
Hoo.
Now I can finally breathe.
[I apologize. I lost my composure.]
“From now on, be careful.”
[But I don’t quite understand.]
“What?”
[Given the atmosphere, it seems you’re being summoned by the lord.]
“That’s correct.”
They aren’t offering 600 million as a contract fee.
There was also 400 million in initial wages.
Both are quite high in the industry.
If it had been me before meeting Sir Isra, those conditions would have been unthinkable.
[Then why did you refuse?]
“I don’t know how good the new ability is yet.”
Necrosmith.
It’s a job not even registered with the World Hunter Union.
I can’t tell if the new ability is excellent or a dud.
Even though Necromancer-type jobs generally get high evaluations,
after six years of only hitting blanks, I couldn’t build full confidence.
[Modesty won’t do. As your lord, Sir Isra, you should have more confidence.]
“That’s not the only reason.”
Think about it the other way around.
If my ability is truly monstrous?
I could raise my value even higher, yet they’re offering a cheap contract.
The conclusion is simple.
After testing the new skills,
I’ll assess the potential and raise my value as much as possible.
“Honestly, I even considered working alone.”
Necrosmith is a Necromancer-class job.
Necromancer hunters loved solo hunting because they could command corpses.
I’m the same.
“If I join a guild, I have to share the pie.”
A dedicated support team?
Hundreds of millions in contract fees?
No guild invests for no reason.
They’ll demand something in return for the respect they give.
If this ability is average,
I’ll enter after raising my value appropriately.
If the potential is boundless, I’ll assemble my own team.
[Hahaha. That suits me.]
“What?”
[For a lord to serve under someone else isn’t quite right.]
“Then why didn’t you say so sooner?”
[I wanted to hear your opinion.]
My, my.
I see. You were just testing me.
A retainer testing the master? That’s wrong, isn’t it?
* * *
After two transmigrations, I got off at the station near my studio.
Pulling my luggage up, I ran into the auntie from the house.
“Minho. It was the exam today, right?”
“Yeah.”
“How was it?”
A cautious, hopeful expression.
Because I had always tasted the bitterness of failure, she kept watching me closely.
Nice.
All the people at the house are good-hearted. Lucky.
Except for the daughter.
“I passed.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. It’s been four years since I passed an exam.”
“Congratulations!”
The auntie grabbed my hand and rejoiced with me.
Her sincere, warm reaction warmed my heart.
“Ah, then I should eat meat.”
“I’ll treat you for passing.”
“Really? Hoho. If I’d known I’d eat at Minho’s place, I’d have skipped lunch.”
“Oh, today I might not have time, but what about the weekend?”
“I’ll tell Dad and Yeondo too.”
The house auntie left with a light laugh.
[What is your relationship with the lord?]
“Oh, you haven’t met Sir Isra yet. She’s the owner of this house.”
[The owner of the lord’s residence? Then is His Imperial Majesty?!]
A house being an entire empire?
Kim Yeondo’s world as a princess was beyond me.
Clank—
I chuckled, opened the basement door, and descended.
[Hoo. You’re going to check the new skill.]
“I don’t mind quick-witted retainers.”
[Don’t treat me like an experiment.]
Hmm.
It was starting to bother me a little.
My masterpiece, Sir Isra, after all.
The best undead to test the skill performance gained upon promotion.
[I don’t want to.]
It’s inconvenient when the will is this strong.
I pulled out a monster bone I’d stored in the old kimchi fridge.
I placed my hand on the bone carrying cold and used the mana circuit engraving.
[On first use, the skill guide will assist the user.]
Ssst!
The mana flowing along the contact surface.
I understood how to engrave the circuit and the skill activation mechanism.
“It’s like embroidery.”
The feeling of stitching the holes in the bone.
The difference from stitching?
I had to close my eyes, grope with my hands, and fill in the missing parts.
[Mana circuit completed.]
[Completion: C+]
[Mana transmission efficiency: 62%]
[To raise the circuit’s completion, build conduits in appropriate places.]
[Higher mana transmission efficiency will raise the undead’s abilities.]
[It seems quite difficult.]
“Maybe.”
[What’s with that ambiguous answer?]
“You said it yourself.”
I scratched the back of my neck.
I blew mana into the invisible bone interior, groped around, and shaped the structure.
I had to compose the optimal circuit.
It was several times harder than stitching with eyes closed.
Obviously.
That’s how it should be.
“Can you see?”
[Spirit Eye]
The guide skill showed where I had gone wrong.
Why the mana transmission efficiency was low.
Every process and cause was clear in my “eyes.”
Like seeing an X-ray of the bone.
A strange sensation.
Somehow, baseless confidence surged that I could do better than the guide skill.
“Let’s try.”
[Mana circuit engraving]
I poured mana into the bone.
I carefully filled the empty space inside and connected the mana flow.
“Hmm.”
[Is there a problem?]
“Yeah.”
[To me it looks flawless.]
“It’s too easy.”
[?]
The mana circuit setup was easier than I thought.
It felt like I could do it without even trying.
How many minutes had I grunted?
The moment I connected the 30-centimeter bone completely with the mana circuit,
[Mana circuit completed.]
[Hand precision correction raises completion.]
[Completion: A]
[Mana transmission efficiency: 87%]
The message announced successful circuit creation.
“Wow. It really worked.”
I wiped the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand.
How concentrated I had been.
It felt like I’d sweated a whole bucket.
[Are you all right?]
“Yeah. Pretty good.”
It was because I was focused.
Mana consumption wasn’t as big as I thought.
[Each time you engrave a circuit, it’ll be tough.]
“When proficiency rises, it’ll be fine.”
I’d sweated buckets the first time I processed a corpse.
How tense would a normal person be just touching a corpse?
I’d already gone through wars and battles—not exactly that, but I’d accumulated some experience.
I was confident I could raise mana circuit engraving proficiency much faster.
[Mana circuit engraving skill proficiency rose 18.4%.]
“…”
I didn’t expect it to climb so steeply.
Skill proficiency isn’t like a game where you just level up by using it a lot.
It’s literally data of accumulated tricks.
Without the Spirit Eye’s help,
I would have repeated trial and error many times to carve the first circuit
and the completion probably wouldn’t have been high.
Proficiency would have stopped at 1 to 2 percent.
“So that’s why it’s S-grade.”
I clearly understood the connection between reading auras and undead creation.
After turning the engraved bone this way and that,
Sir Isra stuck out her arm.
[Please demonstrate your skill.]
“You don’t have anything you can’t do for the lord?”
[I trust the lord’s skill, so I’m leaving it to you.]
“It’s noisy. I won’t remodel the guy I haven’t seen in a while.”
[Lord!]
“Joke. Later, remodel.”
The corpse creation also reached D-grade.
By remodeling Sir Isra’s body through remodeling,
I could upgrade to higher entities using skill reuse.
[The lord has a plan, after all.]
“Let’s try reinforcing it with bone alchemy too.”
Sir Isra was my maximum power.
I would mobilize every means available
and turn her into the strongest undead.
For that,
I had to use all the added skills.
“First, let’s make the armor.”
After the mana circuit engraving,
it was time to test the second added skill.
[Bone alchemy is being used.]