A Stream of Reward Notifications

Yujun looked over the reward windows that had come spilling up one after another, and spoke.

"So I can keep a dungeon boss as a summon?"

Commanding a summon was, without question, an enormous advantage. He had cleared countless hidden dungeons, yet rewards of this kind were rare.

Even so.

"And I'm supposed to want this?"

For the level it carried, the thing was hopelessly weak—and, for an undead, strangely cowardly besides. Honestly, taking it as a summon looked as though it would do nothing but get in his way.

He decided to check the effect of his new title first.

"Same title I picked up in the game, way back."

The effect was unchanged as well. It was handed out for clearing a hidden dungeon, so it was hardly the sort of title one struggled to earn.

All right. Time to try the summoning...

He was just reaching into his inventory for Paranet's Essence when Kim Heeyeon came over.

"Is it all finished?"

"Yes. An exit's appeared over there. You can leave through it."

"Um... would it be all right if I added you on messenger?"

"Ah. Sure."

Messenger. The messenger system from the game existed in reality as well. In the Tower of Infinity, where there were no electronic devices, it served, in its own fashion, as a phone.

Once they had finished adding each other, Yujun and Kim Heeyeon stepped through the portal and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠out of the dungeon, then made their way to the Tower's residential zone. Only ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠when they arrived did Heeyeon finally relax, a smile breaking across her face.

"Thank you so much! Really... if you hadn't been there, Yujun..."

"Don't mention it."

"If you ever need my help, please contact me anytime! Not that I'm likely to be of any use..."

"I'll be in touch soon."

"Yes!"

Left on his own, Yujun headed for the inn he had reserved, light with anticipation. Up in the room, the first thing he did was open his inventory.

Paranet's Essence, and the Life Vessel.

Why an incomplete Death Knight, and not a lich, would be carrying a Life Vessel, he couldn't say. Thanks to it, though, the boss of a hidden dungeon could be made into a summon.

Good. No time like the present.

The Life Vessel was larger than an ordinary kettle. He set Paranet's Essence inside, and the essence went soft, spreading out in a slack, gooey sheet. Then bubbles began to rise. They kept coming, and just as they filled the vessel to the brim, a single hologram window appeared.

What?

It wasn't the title that startled him. It was that Paranet was a growth-type summon.

Summons came in many kinds, but a growth-type was not easily obtained.

This is insane.

Having stumbled into one before he quite knew what was happening, Yujun broke into a wide, helpless grin.

An undead monster, and a growth type.

Tremendous luck.

So that's why it was so weak.

There was a reason Paranet had been stuck with the rather humiliating designation of Incomplete Death Knight. The thing had been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so feeble that Yujun hadn't even meant to use it as a summon—but a growth type changed the conversation entirely.

First he checked the effect of the Heroic title, Honorable Summoner.

Increases a summon's stats by ten percent... that's pretty good. Ah. Not the moment.

He tamped down his excitement and called up the information on the summon Paranet.

"...These stats are painfully middling."

If several chimeras rushed him at once, he wouldn't stand a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠chance. He didn't seem like a boss monster in the slightest.

Right. This happened sometimes—the dungeon's monsters sitting higher than the boss itself...

That the master of the place was an alchemist had likely played a part. The chimeras were formidable. His own strength was nothing of the sort.

Looking at the stats and the traits, he isn't going to be much help right now.

"Incomplete" was only a qualifier tacked on in front, but the numbers were hardly those of a Death Knight. There wasn't a single skill or trait tied to Swordsmanship, either.

What mattered was that he was a growth type. He could grow alongside his player. That alone sent Paranet's worth climbing at an exponential rate.

And the real virtue of a growth-type summon... isn't simply that it grows.

If he had to name the greatest advantage, it was this: there was no limit on how long the summon could be maintained. In a word, he could keep the thing with him indefinitely.

Yujun decided to call Paranet out once and see. The method was simple. Rest a hand on the Life Vessel, and think summon.

He moved his hand.

A pure-white flash tore through the shabby inn room.

Zzzt!

When the aftershock faded, a familiar figure stood there. Thin bones for arms and legs, and a small frame. A skeletal knight with a worn but old-fashioned cloak across his back. Paranet.

"Wh-what? Where is this?"

Freshly summoned, he glanced about with a clumsy, lost air.

"Remember me?"

At Yujun's voice, Paranet flinched. The empty gaze turned toward him.

"How are you... here?"

"Think carefully."

That was when it happened. Paranet began to shudder from head to foot, as if a current had been run through him. The bond of summon and master was being laid down anew. He vibrated for a long while, and then, at last, went still.

"To think that I have become a summon..."

He looked ready to weep. Whether a skull could actually make such a face, Yujun couldn't say, but that was the impression he got.

"..."

Paranet, wordless for some time, finally opened his mouth at the end of a long silence.

"I beg your pardon for my earlier discourtesy."

The apology came without preamble. Yujun tilted his head.

"Discourtesy?"

"In the laboratory, I spoke as though I looked down upon my lord."

"Ah. All that about ignorance and benighted fools?"

"...Yes."

"It's fine."

They had been enemies then. Yujun hadn't dwelt on it.

"There is one thing I'm curious about, though."

"Yes. You have only to speak."

"Why were you so afraid of me? I didn't actually do anything."

Paranet hesitated a moment, then answered.

"The truth is... I am a dreadful coward."

"A coward?"

"It shames me to confess such a thing, immortal knight that I am... but I fear to fight anyone. And my lord had already put down every one of my chimeras before arriving, had you not? I could not so much as muster the courage to do battle."

"So the bluster was an act?"

"...Yes."

Yujun let out a dry laugh. So boss monsters like this existed, too.

An undead—a Death Knight, no less—and a coward...

A Death Knight, good for nothing but combat, unable to take part in combat. There was no irony to match it.

He was watching Paranet stand there in awkward silence when, all at once, his eyes lit up.

Wait. I'm sure I had an item that grows a summon.

He opened his inventory and started searching. The space was so vast that finding what he wanted took a fair while. About a minute later, he drew two items out.

The Summon Jump Elixir was something he had bought during an event. As the option said, the effect was a good one: it let him skip the most tedious part of all, a summon's early nurturing.

Coward or not, if his level's high enough he'll pull his weight.

And the Blessing of the Dead. This was a truly precious thing, one that money alone could not buy. The item itself was Legendary—vanishingly rare—and its effect was outstanding. That was why.

It could be used only on a pet or a summon. For Paranet, a growth-type summon, it was a perfect fit.

At the sight of the Blessing of the Dead in Yujun's hand, Paranet's shoulders jerked.

"W-what is that?"

"What, you're scared of this too? It's just a buff item."

"It has an ill-omened look. The shape of a skull... does it not seem a cursed thing?"

"You idiot. You're a skull yourself."

"Ah...?"

Yujun held out the Summon Jump Elixir first.

"Drink."

"Am I permitted to drink it?"

"Would I hand you something you weren't? You're my summon."

"Ah. Understood."

Paranet swallowed the elixir in one gulp.

He felt the change at once.

"Ohh...! Strength wells up within me!"

"Good."

Next Yujun set the Blessing of the Dead atop Paranet's skull and rubbed it in. The skull began to shine.

"Th-this cannot be—?"

Paranet's voice climbed. He looked as though he were expecting something.

"For me as well..."

Flash!

Light burst out a second time.

"For me as well—hair, at last!"

The brilliance that had filled the room soon died away.

"Ah... the dream of a lifetime, fulfilled."

"What are you talking about?"

Yujun frowned at the nonsense.

"Yes?"

Catching the look on his face, Paranet hastily raised an arm and felt his own head.

"It is bare..."

Yujun rubbing the blessing over that skull was, in all likelihood, what had led him into the misunderstanding.

There was a visible change all the same. He had grown a little taller, and the bones of his shoulders had spread broad to either side. A faint light seeped from the empty eye sockets. And the skull itself had taken on a gloss.

Yujun called up the altered information.

Yujun's eyes went wide.

The Blessing of the Dead was worth using.

Now, at last, he seemed a proper undead. The stats were very much to Yujun's liking, and the grades of the traits and skills had climbed as well.

Corpse Explosion, though... not exactly a skill a Death Knight ought to have.

It wasn't bad. No—it was very good. Corpse Explosion, an S-rank skill, and with Paranet's Magic as high as it was, it ought to prove quite useful.

Every preparation was finished.

Paranet's decently usable now. Time to climb to the next floor.

At the thought of ascending the Tower, he felt his whole body heat with eagerness.

Just then Paranet muttered, eyes on the floor.

"My hair..."

"You never had any."

"I had hopes."

"It might grow in later."

"Might it?"

"No."

"..."