Special Ability Extraction
Special ability extraction, huh.
In five years, I had never once seen that phrase.
It was as if the system itself were telling me that D-rank was where things truly began.
“Whew.”
Might as well look on the bright side.
All that grinding through E-rank gates had stacked my Craftsmanship stat sky-high, after all.
And more than that—
All those experiments I had run just to jack up my undead’s reaction speed were paying dividends now.
Extract this ability?
Success depends on the user’s Corpse Processing proficiency.
So it wasn’t a guaranteed success.
“Extract it.”
Who did they think was going to get cold feet?
If I had to choose between a one-time disposable ability and a reusable one with a success rate—
Obviously the latter.
Attempting extraction of Predation ability.
Please inject mana according to the pattern.
A blue sigil bloomed across the limp protrusion.
I had to recreate the exact shape using the mana I fed in through Corpse Processing.
“They’re making me do a puzzle.”
【It resembles a magical cipher pattern. Shall I assist you?】
“I’m fine.”
It looked doable.
Maybe it was thanks to Origin of Magic, but I felt certain I could match that tangled pattern with perfect accuracy.
Ding! Ding!
【Th-that’s incredible.】
【Witch. Aren’t you overreacting a little?】
【An iron-headed knight wouldn’t understand how remarkable this is.】
Apparently unraveling a mana-cipher pattern was difficult even for gifted witches.
Maybe it was Ingrid’s talent bleeding through, but piecing the mana structure together didn’t feel hard at all.
【You dare insult chivalry! Face me!】
【Stop distracting Master and be quiet.】
Don’t worry.
I could barely hear whatever you two were yapping about.
I funneled my concentration to the absolute limit and guided the mana.
Click— click—
The pattern locked into place.
You may now grant the Predation ability during Corpse Processing.
Special abilities can be granted in proportion to the target’s rank.
E-rank — 0
D-rank — 1
C-rank — 2
······
Special ability imprinting.
One more tool added to Corpse Processing’s arsenal.
【With only one special ability, there is hardly any need to deliberate.】
“Once I pick up more abilities, I’ll have to start picking and choosing.”
I summoned two additional Armed Zombie Warriors and used Corpse Processing to stamp them with the [Predation] trait.
The next time I cleared a gate, I would find out exactly how much those Predation stacks were worth.
That was enough analysis of the evolved Predation Ghoul.
I ran Corpse Processing over the remaining ghouls as well, projecting their internal structures.
Analyzing undead monster.
Discovered fabrication method for entity — Ghoul.
Perfectly understood the structure of a Ghoul.
Corpse Fabrication proficiency has increased dramatically.
“Oh.”
Ever since I hit D-rank, skill proficiency had barely budged—and now it jumped a full twenty percent.
A number that made the usual growth-skill penalties look like a joke.
【So you can craft ghouls now as well?】
“There’s a bit of a penalty attached.”
When Corpse Fabrication used parts of a higher rank than the skill itself, efficiency took a hit.
Same deal with ghouls.
Corpse Fabrication was still D-rank. Ghouls were C-rank, so the finished product came with a penalty.
“About a forty-percent drop.”
【An awkward figure.】
“Higher mobility than an Armed Zombie Warrior, but pure specs are a little lower.”
Call them both D-plus, more or less.
Ghouls for mobility and three-dimensional movement.
Armed Zombie Warriors for the tank role.
I could build a few ghouls and swap them in depending on the situation.
“Haa.”
Right.
More work, then.
Looking into Meister Han Yohan’s bloodshot craftsman’s eyes, I had sworn I would never pull another all-nighter.
That resolution was already starting to crack.
【When one’s thoughts grow tangled, swinging a sword is the finest remedy.】
【Hmph. Magical training clears the mind.】
No.
You little demons.
You’re the ones creating my headaches in the first place!
“Ugh. Let’s just go buy materials.”
After the Break incident wrapped up, Dame Isra and Ingrid had spoken with one voice, pushing hard for more undead production.
Their reason: in a chaotic free-for-all, protecting me became too difficult.
Tch.
I had learned the Imperial Sword Style. I was pretty confident I could handle most enemies myself by now.
But if I said that out loud, both of my retainers would bury me in lectures, so I swallowed it.
Bzzzt! Bzzz!
Back-to-back vibrations.
Who now?
Incoming call…
He sure called a lot.
After yesterday’s mess, I figured he would be buried under damage control.
“This is Park Minho.”
—Good morning, Hunter Park.
“Yes. Uh, are you… all right?”
Every news outlet and internet community was on fire over the story, and he was an executive at the guild sitting dead center in the blast radius.
By now he should have been clutching his head trying to put out fires.
The fact that he was still making time to recruit me even in this situation was almost impressive.
—The proposal you made last time. Is it still on the table?
“Ah. The ten billion won?”
—That was my proposal, actually.
Huh?
I’m not sure I follow.
—I mean a personal agency for you, Hunter Park.
Ugh.
He still remembered that slip of the tongue.
I thought we had laughed that off as a joke.
—If it’s still valid, please take me on.
“Excuse me?”
What on earth was he talking about—Director of Chilseong Guild?
Wind the clock back to last night.
The moment Jung Shinho dropped his bombshell announcement, Chilseong Guild flipped upside down.
Emergency board meeting.
Baek Seonghyeon answered the summons and rushed in.
Chilseong Guild headquarters, Seocho-dong.
The atmosphere in the executive conference room was as cold as midwinter.
He’s here in person…
The chairman of Chilseong Group—the conglomerate that owned the guild and one of Korea’s foremost corporations—Shin Hyungshik was already waiting for the executives.
A non-awakened man, and yet the intangible pressure rolling off him felt like an S-rank hunter’s aura.
Even his son, A-rank hunter and guild master Shin Junyeong, was cowed by that presence and could only read the room in silence.
A few more executives filed in. Chairman Shin Hyungshik opened his eyes.
“Everyone here?”
“Yes, Father.”
“This is an official setting, son.”
“……My apologies, Chairman.”
“Good. President Shin. Moments like these are precisely when one must separate the public from the private.”
The temperature in the room seemed to drop another five degrees.
“I will not waste words. Who will take responsibility?”
Take responsibility.
Grasping the meaning packed into that short sentence was not difficult.
It was about Jung Shinho’s defection.
Even though there’s already a person in charge of this?
Baek Seonghyeon’s thoughts—and those of several other executives—grew tangled.
Under the guild’s operational structure, the person ultimately responsible for this disaster was Executive Director Shin Juseong, who oversaw the assault teams.
As the name suggested, Executive Director Shin Juseong was a member of the owner’s family.
He wants a substitute sacrifice.
No one answered.
Taking the fall for something outside your own jurisdiction was no small matter.
This was an incident that could easily escalate into a diplomatic problem between Korea and China.
Chilseong Guild needed to demonstrate that it felt the weight of responsibility first, so the government could save face.
The chairman intended to choose that offering from among the executives.
“That fellow Jung Shinho. Who was it that brought him into our guild?”
Damn it.
Baek Seonghyeon bit down hard on his lip.
He slowly swept his gaze around the conference room.
Every summoned executive who met his eyes instantly looked away.
They had me marked as the target from the start.
Why hadn’t he caught on the moment the emergency meeting was called?
The only board member at Chilseong Guild who had risen from ordinary employee.
A non-awakened, on top of that.
Not a single thread of connection to Chilseong Group headquarters.
The legend of the rank-and-file employee?
Put another way, it meant he had no patrons.
Someone who could be cut loose at any time.
And since he was also the one who had recruited Jung Shinho—the very root of this disaster—the pretext was perfect.
If I had noticed sooner, I could have prepared somehow…
No.
What good would preparation have done?
The chairman of Chilseong Group himself had come to declare that Baek Seonghyeon would be the scapegoat.
Even if he marshaled every resource and ounce of influence he possessed, there was no way out of this room.
Since becoming an adult—since the day he joined the company—he had poured his entire life into this place.
And now the company had decided to throw him away.
In that instant—
No. I’m the one walking away.
Baek Seonghyeon’s eyes turned sharp.
The company was firing him?
No.
He was stepping out on his own two feet to chase a greater ambition.
“Chairman. If I take responsibility and step down, what can you offer me?”
“Y-you—!”
“How dare you talk back to the Chairman—”
A few executives protested openly. Even the silent ones couldn’t hide their shock.
“You think you have something to bargain with?”
“I imagine you believe otherwise.”
“I’m curious why you would do this when you already know how I will judge it.”
“If you throw me out empty-handed, I will drag Chilseong’s name through the mud even if it makes me the most hated man in the country.”
Baek Seonghyeon had plenty of material.
He was the one who had recruited Jung Shinho, the man at the center of the current scandal.
After Jung’s promotion to D-rank, he had been assigned to the gate-clearance division. Baek hadn’t managed him directly, but he had received intermittent reports on his growth.
“If I tip off the Rift Authority, they’ll be very interested.”
“And you would die for it.”
“Dying one way or the other makes no difference to me.”
No parents. No spouse.
He had climbed this far with nothing but his bare hands.
The only thing he stood to lose was his own life.
Even if he threw everything he had at them, the damage to Chilseong Guild’s image would not be catastrophic.
“I will buy the years you devoted to Chilseong Guild. For five billion won.”
But—
Whether he fought or not, the outcome would be the same.
Every problem connected to Jung Shinho would be laid at Baek Seonghyeon’s feet.
Getting cut from Chilseong was a given, and the stain on his career would make reemployment nearly impossible.
The price for all of that: five billion won.
If he had simply sat still, he wouldn’t even have walked away with that much.
Baek Seonghyeon forced down the anger crawling up his throat and answered.
“Thank you, Chairman.”
That day, Baek Seonghyeon exchanged the workplace where he had burned his youth for five billion won.
On the way home, every emotion in him raged like a storm.
And through it all, Baek Seonghyeon coldly planned his next move.
Transferring to another of the domestic Big Five is impossible.
Chilseong had branded him the scapegoat. Any guild with a reputation would be wary of the baggage.
If he looked toward the provinces, someone would take him.
But after serving as a director at Chilseong Guild, rank became a problem.
You couldn’t stick an executive-level hire in a department-head seat.
Wait until the storm dies down, then approach the Big Five?
No.
He couldn’t do that.
Having five billion won didn’t mean he wanted to drift through life like a buoy on open water.
And then, suddenly—
Ah. That proposal.
The necromancer from Guui-dong.
The first S-rank promotee in five years.
The rising star who had sent shockwaves through the hunter industry.
Park Minho came to mind.
I treated it as a joke back then.
The request for one-on-one agency management.
He had laughed lightly and let it pass.
Now that he was in this position, Minho’s proposal had become his only path to survival.
And so—
Baek Seonghyeon set everything down.
The moment the five billion hit his account, he called Minho.