A Week Off? Chaos Tower Prep
Right after stepping out of the Death Blacksmith, I dropped the question. “Boss, how about we take a whole week off?”
Mr. Baek gave me a puzzled look, as if I’d spoken in some foreign tongue. “Is there a holiday or something?”
“No.”
“Preparing to confess to someone?”
“Completely different!”
Why on Earth was the conversation turning there?
“Park Hunter taking an entire week off is just so bizarre.”
You really think I’m a workaholic?
“Really?”
I paused to mull it over. My life cycle lately… what was it again?
Crap.
I couldn’t deny it.
When stuck like this, the best move was to redirect the topic.
“Getting ready for the Tower of Chaos.”
“Since you’ve reached B-class, the requirements are already satisfied. Congratulations.”
“Think it’s too soon?”
“Not at all.”
Mr. Baek shook his head left and right. “Your summons already possess power that surpasses their ranks.”
“You’re trusting them a little too much.”
If I kept this up, I’d end up asking for a guarantee slip.
“You single-handedly crushed a full squad of the Turang, and you survived a gate that even A-class hunters can’t guarantee survival in.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“I evaluate you as objectively as anyone could.”
Grateful… overwhelmingly grateful…!
“Are you planning to craft more subordinates?”
“Yes. Even if I level them up a bit, it won’t suddenly make the force overwhelmingly stronger.”
The real strength of the Necrosmith lay in the custom undead subordinates.
The drawback of manual crafting was real, but the advantage—once made, no maintenance costs or quantity limits—couldn’t be overstated.
Quantity limits, though.
If I controlled undead in units of a hundred, things might change.
Still.
While Ingrid stayed anchored in the Death Blacksmith, the plan was to max out the undead production.
“Undead that can be stored in the Death Space top out at twenty, right?”
“Recently it went up.”
Adding one new friend upgraded the Death Space capacity.
Not just that.
The Death Blacksmith, settled in the subspace carrier, could hold six tons.
Most of it would be filled with battle-consumed materials, but the real win was the extra room beyond the Death Space for additional undead.
The Evil Pit didn’t even count toward the capacity.
So the number of storable undead had skyrocketed.
“If I’m serious, I should be able to mobilize close to a hundred.”
The Armed Zombie Strengthened Soldiers were C+.
The Tigris and Draco were B-grade.
Plus the stat bonuses from the corpse-crafting ability.
Plus the rank-based elevation effects.
After aging them in the Evil Pit built in the Death Blacksmith…
Each one would have a B-grade maxed hunter’s specs, or even surpass them.
“Actual combat power will still lag a little because of the skill set, but yes.”
“An A-class hunter just reaching B-grade with that much power is straight-up abnormal.”
“Still, they have to fight with their bodies.”
The undead aren’t handed to me by my ancestors.
They’re all handmade.
“Even if I don’t include my summons in the power count, that’s still what we’re talking about.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Isra and Ingrid.
Summons that had reached the peak in their respective fields.
Zaug… skip that one.
Roan carried the Saint title, so he definitely wasn’t ordinary.
Adding the summons’ combat power meant the actual fighting strength would be even greater.
It had already proven itself in the traps set by the Black Sky Society.
“I understand. So you’ll need a mountain of materials for the undead.”
“I’ll have you bring them to my studio instead of the workshop.”
I gave him a generous order volume.
This would be the first time I mass-produced undead.
The quantity needed was a rough guess, but getting it exactly right was tough.
“What if there’s leftover material?”
“Keep the extras, whatever.”
To step into the Tower of Chaos, I’d have to stay at least a day.
After endless fighting, the undead would wear out.
Extra materials would be needed for on-the-spot repairs.
“Master truly has it all planned out!”
Right.
No.
I’d never been that grand with plans.
“Oh, right. About the Yuno Palace.”
“The move?”
“Yes. The Rift Authority promised to look after us a bit.”
The top apartment in Seoul.
A place where hunters keep watch over security and protect privacy perfectly.
I’d mentioned to the lady of the house that I might move soon, but hearing the actual move was happening felt oddly bittersweet.
“After the Tower of Chaos, we can discuss it?”
“Sure. Right now, focus on preparations.”
Huu.
The only thing left was work, and work alone.
Oh.
Should I add a few more undead to the Evil Pit?
With a max capacity of forty, I should reinforce them in advance while I still could.
“Draco. Come here.”
The two Dracos that waddled out the moment they were summoned from the Death Space, panting with a happy “heek heek.”
Anyone seeing them would think they were puppies.
But listen.
Just looking at Draco made my eyes itch.
“Are you too exhausted?”
“Not that.”
Something was poking at the nerves.
What could it be?
Out of curiosity, I checked the status windows of the two Dracos.
**[Feeding – 50 Stacks]**
[Having accumulated countless battle experiences and ranks.]
[Potential for evolution to the next stage has awakened.]
[Consuming suitable materials can reinforce the Feeding ability through its effects.]
Whoa?
Whoa whoa whoa?
* * *
Before heading to the studio, I stopped by the Hunter Market.
“You didn’t order from the kitchen instead?”
“See for yourself. It’s about evolution.”
Feeding ability.
The power I acquired by defeating a mutated Ghoul—the culprit behind the gate break in Amsa-dong.
More precisely, a power I could grant to the undead I crafted.
By eating living beings.
A simple ability that raised stats and partially recovered injuries.
“Hmm.”
“I told you not to give it to you.”
Refusing because eating living beings didn’t suit his pride.
Well, I was the kind master who respected the will of my subordinates.
Still.
I gave the Feeding ability to the Armed Zombie Strengthened Soldiers, Draco, and the Tigris.
Any boost to physical stats was an automatic win.
“Everything I made earlier is broken now, so the Feeding stacks are gone too.”
In the Turang fight, every undead except the summons and Draco had been wiped out.
Currently, only the two Dracos had their Feeding stacks maxed.
Evolution.
I was curious how it would turn out.
“The Ghoul whose power it is was originally a Zombie Warrior, as you said?”
“Yes.”
“And Draco is a brand-new species I created. How he evolves is anyone’s guess.”
Draco’s growth.
No guarantee of successful evolution.
The System’s message would tell.
“It said the perfect Feeding target.”
Feeding anything would waste the rare chance for evolution.
I’d have to personally check the materials and carefully select what suited Draco.
So I used the Spirit Eye to leisurely scan the monster material market.
“What about this? Looks like dragon scales.”
“Yeah, those are the ones I bought last time from the Chrono Lizard.”
“Ugh. This one seems decent.”
“The price is high. Not great for undead crafting.”
“…”
You.
Don’t take it too hard.
The inspection was still the best.
If Isra were here, she’d be teasing me mercilessly.
I should be grateful she’s stuck in the Death Blacksmith and can’t see.
“Boss, how about this one?”
“Twelve million. Guest.”
“Lump sum?”
“Done.”
K.
This guy had turned into someone who could pay a hundred million at a time.
He was growing.
Park Minho!
“You said you spent over a billion just upgrading the Death Blacksmith, right?”
“Shh. Quiet.”
That was why sharp-witted subordinates loved me.
**[Debra’s Eyes X 2]**
Grade: B Mana +15% *Contains a trace of dragon essence. Price: 50,000,000
**[Wyvern Heart Fragment]**
Grade: A+ Strength +12% Agility +27% Mana +16% *Contains a trace of dragon essence. *Heart portion only, not suitable for undead crafting. Price: 820,000,000
**[Kelek’s Muscles X 2]**
Grade: B Strength +24% Agility +10% *Contains a trace of dragon essence. Price: 60,000,000
The Wyvern heart alone was eight hundred million.
With the two remaining materials bought in twos, over two hundred million went in.
Half a day of shopping and I dropped a full billion.
Less than the upgrade cost, so I could feel smug about that.
“I really need to hunt harder.”
Money wasn’t a problem.
The billions Mr. Baek had transferred into my account were still sitting at the hundred-million mark.
Two gates a day.
Clearing all SSS-rank ones meant money piled up insanely fast.
“I don’t need to worry about finances.”
“Not necessarily true.”
Materials from A-class and higher monsters were insanely expensive.
Even the Wyvern heart.
Not sold whole.
A fist-sized piece of flesh set at eight hundred million.
Intact hearts would fetch tens of billions.
“Either I hunt them down myself. Or I spend money like crazy.”
If I had enough ammo, I’d save time.
If not, Isra could just run her legs off.
The moment I stepped into the studio, I opened the Death Blacksmith.
“Ownerniiiim!”
Ingrid charging toward me from far away.
“You said no fancy tricks. Magician.”
Isra stepped in, growling.
“Hmph. You’ve been staying right by Master’s side the whole time and you’re like this?”
“I’m guarding Master.”
“Yo. Face unchanged, talking like that.”
“Magician. Finish your duties.”
“Running out of things to say, so you’re dodging?”
While the two subordinates bickered.
I pulled the Dracos I’d stored in the Death Space.
“Here. Eat this.”
I cut the Wyvern heart fragment in half.
Since I’d bought the remaining two materials on purpose in sets, I gave one to each.
“What’s the difference from the material used for Draco’s creation?”
“More dragon essence is contained.”
The item description confirmed it even more clearly.
**[Elikro Warrior Corpse]**
Grade: D+ Status: Intact Corpse usable for human-form medium undead crafting. *Boss monster corpse. Stats slightly reinforced during undead crafting. *Contains a trace of dragon essence.
The core material for making Draco.
As anyone could see, it was marked as containing “a trace” of dragon essence.
“The ones I bought today are different.”
Materials from monsters that held even denser dragon essence.
So.
I chose these materials as the catalyst to break the limit with the Feeding ability.
“Krroong.”
Slurp, slurp.
Ten billion vanished in the blink of an eye, but I didn’t feel the loss.
Now.
Aren’t you hungry yet?
[Feeding ability granted to Draco responds to dragon essence.]
[Growth beyond the species limit to the next stage.]
A chilling sound of bones cracking filled the air.
*Crunch! Crrrack!*