Chapter 75
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: Bitter Memories
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You have cleared the D-rank Gate.
You have obtained 1,000 points.
Kang Sa-hu had already cleared all the F-rank Gates, moved past the few E-rank ones, and now even conquered the D-rank Gates.
It had taken five days in the process, but thanks to the apes hunting desperately, even staking their lives, this D-rank Gate was the last one.
Originally, the vast majority of the 50 Gates in the Necromancer Society were F-rank, with fewer and fewer as the ranks rose to E and D.
So even after hunting all the D-rank Gates, there were only three in total.
With fewer than five Gates left now, it would have been normal to feel relieved, unburdened, maybe even a bit joyful.
But as Kang Sa-hu gazed at the 70 Corpse-Eating Apes huddled together in despair, some kneeling and banging their heads on the ground, and the Vampiric Apes among them, his heart only grew heavier.
-Kreeeuuuk...!
-Kyaaah-aaaak!
-Kyaha... hahaha... sob!
"......"
Their language was different, and the structure of their vocal cords differed too, so the apes could only wail in that piercing, monkey-like screech unique to their kind.
But their cries were so heartrending that Kang Sa-hu couldn't even muster the courage to comfort his summons rashly.
It was a awkward situation, but they'd hunted so hard that their evolution progress must have gone up, so using that as an excuse, he stared intently at the apes to encourage them at least.
As his will projected onto them, the system window displayed the evolution progress for the apes he wanted to see.
Summon - Corpse-Eating Ape: 13% remaining until evolution.
Summon - Vampiric Ape: 76% remaining until evolution.
"......"
Kang Sa-hu, confirming the evolution progress, quietly closed his eyes and shut the system window.
Erasing the numbers he'd just seen from his memory, he approached the apes with a serene expression as if he'd witnessed nothing.
"You all did great."
Kkeek! Kkiiik!
Though Kang Sa-hu tried to soothe them, the apes—still unable to shake off the shock and sorrow that the Giant Hounds had evolved into Hell Hounds while they hadn't—whimpered and shook their shoulders.
There was a sense of camaraderie as Kang Sa-hu's summons, and contrary to the saying about dogs and monkeys being natural enemies, they'd actually gotten along well, so the blow hit hard.
They'd hunted multiple Gates together, endured hardships side by side, and followed Kang Sa-hu's orders to mine resources inside Gates as a team.
Yet the Giant Hounds, who'd worked just as hard, had evolved into even more majestic, powerful beings, while they remained the same.
This fact, for the first time, ignited in the apes' hearts a desire to improve, to become better.
Of course, unlike the Giant Hounds, who always executed Kang Sa-hu's orders without question and shone in Gates, the apes usually lagged a step behind, slacking off on the Giant Hounds' backs—so the gap between them was wide.
Moreover, for the Vampiric Apes, it was even more bleak.
As boss monsters, they weren't overwhelmingly stronger than the Corpse-Eating Apes or gifted with special abilities, and they'd rarely been properly summoned before, so their evolution was still a distant prospect.
Watching the apes continue to sob, Kang Sa-hu comforted them in a gentle voice.
"Don't worry. This isn't the last Gate. There are still more Gates for you all to hunt, which means more chances for you to grow stronger."
-......!
At Kang Sa-hu's words, the apes stopped sobbing and gazed at him desperately.
Connected through their Soul Cores, Kang Sa-hu could feel their earnest longing, and he nodded gravely.
"I promise you. I'll make sure every one of you evolves into something even stronger and cooler than a Hell Hound."
-...Kkiaaa!
At Kang Sa-hu's promise, the apes shed tears and raised their arms high.
Yeah, we can do it too!
If the Giant Hounds could, why not us!
And since it was their master—the one they trusted implicitly, respected, and followed without question—the apes didn't doubt his words for a second.
Seeing the apes perk up at his promise, Kang Sa-hu smiled in satisfaction.
"Alright, are you ready?"
-Kyaaah!
To Kang Sa-hu's question, the apes replied in perfect unison, like they were steeling themselves.
With this resolve, what couldn't they do!
Satisfied with their response, Kang Sa-hu tossed the Soul Core he'd prepared into the air and summoned the King Forest Lizard.
-......?
As the apes looked back and forth between the King Forest Lizard and Kang Sa-hu with confused expressions, he tilted his head as if wondering why.
"The previous two Gates had no resources, unfortunately, but this one was packed with stuff worth mining."
No sooner had he finished speaking than the King Forest Lizard, as if waiting, vomited up the items from its belly.
Seeing 71 pickaxes prepared exactly matching their number, the apes stared at Kang Sa-hu with 'no way?' expressions.
But the answer was obvious.
"We finally hit a Gate brimming with resources, so let's mine it quick and happily, then head to the next one."
-......
-...Kyaha... hahaha... sob...!
At their master's indifferent words, a few apes couldn't hold back their sorrow and burst into tears.
"Hic- haa-"
While Kang Sa-hu was hunting the Gate.
Myeongwang, returning to her room to collect and organize the spirits she'd tied to the Gate, let out a refreshing deep breath as she felt her condition improve.
No matter that she was Myeongwang, as a necromancer, having her original spirits restored made her body move far more freely than when Kang Sa-hu first arrived at the Necromancer Society, and her mind sharpened.
Savoring the lightness in her body and mind, she skipped toward the underground dungeon where Kang Sa-hu's Gate was, swinging her arms like a child excitedly heading out for a stroll.
"Ego-go-go~ What would we have done without our Sa-hu~"
Her appearance remained that of an 18-year-old from when she came to the Necromancer Society, but having lived hundreds of years in this underground world, her grandmotherly mutter felt perfectly natural.
"Speaking of which, Sa-hu really has gotten strong. Those monsters were no joke."
Myeongwang clicked her tongue as she watched Kataku slowly transforming into a Death Knight while floating in the air.
As she'd told Kang Sa-hu, before sealing the Gates with spirits, she had dealt with the monsters pouring out during the Gate Breaks using Death Knights, Dullahans, and countless spells and summons.
But the problem was the summons' experience and the endless waves of enemies.
Her summons included Death Knights, Dullahans, skeletons, zombies, and the like.
What they had in common was that they'd been human in life.
But their foes were monsters she'd never seen before in life.
In other words, even if necromancer magic made them far more powerful, it was a battle between summons born human and monsters born as monsters.
If it had been humans they faced, a Death Knight—capable of handling twenty mid-tier sorceresses wielding powerful magic single-handedly—struggled against a single monster from a B-rank Gate.
To hold back 100 monsters from a D-rank Gate without yielding ground, 1,000 Dullahans had to charge in just to maintain balance.
Moreover, these monsters seemed unnaturally tough; no matter how they slashed with blades, axes, or hammers, they barely took damage.
Only later, learning from an elder who'd brought info from outside, did she hear that otherworld monsters had high resistance to modern weapons—but by then, the damage was already immense.
And the problem wasn't solved.
They knew modern weapons didn't work.
So what now?
Information without a solution only deepened the despair.
On top of that, her summons kept getting destroyed or damaged, while Gates continued spawning.
Restoring them consumed spirits and qi, leaving the energy that sustained the entire Necromancer Society depleted—like plugging a bottomless barrel in a hopeless quagmire.
Even desperately trying every method to block the Gates had clear limits.
And to top it off, the necromancers who awakened as hunters mostly apologized sincerely to her.
But contrary to their words, they were seduced by the power of awakening—the immense strength they could wield effortlessly, something even a lifetime of necromancer training might not guarantee—and refused her help.
Some even mocked necromancer magic as outdated and antiquated while flaunting their awakened abilities.
"...Sniff."
Back then, feeling her lifelong sacrifice—never once leaving the magic circle since the Society's founding to protect her fellow necromancers—denied, Myeongwang had wept for a very long time.
Even if four hundred years had toughened her heart and made her stoic, it would still bring tears; but with the heart of an 18-year-old intact, the shock was an excruciating wound.
She thought time had healed it somewhat, but apparently, that old sorrow lingered.
Feeling her nose tingle, Myeongwang's already red eyes rimmed with even more redness.
Once the gloomy thoughts surfaced from the depths, the horrific memories she'd tried so hard to forget came flooding back like fish hooked and dragged up.
Seven years ago, the child who could no longer bear living like a mole huddled underground and stormed out.
And the ones who followed that child, trampling the sacred ground of the Necromancer Society—a place no non-necromancer should ever set foot in.
Clad in pristine white armor, wearing smiles crueler than devils.
The Vatican secret organization, the Paladins.
"......!"
As one of her few reverse scales—a horrific memory—resurfaced, her breathing quickened bit by bit.
Her eyes vividly recalled those long-past events, as if time hadn't flowed.
The Paladins tearing through the dark underworld with blinding light.
Her children, the necromancers, desperately resisting but collapsing one by one, bleeding.
And that sight dragged up memories from over four hundred years ago as well.
The religious wars branding all but themselves as heretics, judging in the name of God, and the witch hunts.
"Haa.... haa...."
Beams of light poured from Myeongwang's eyes, forming sharp, blood-tear-like shapes.
The eye-light shaped like blood tears.
As she'd explained to Kang Sa-hu, it was the form of the Soul Lens shining through, a hint revealing his abilities and potential.
But it had another meaning too.
The owner's state of mind.
From the time before the Necromancer Society, chased during witch hunts, she'd borne this stigma-like eye-light, gasping for breath.
Then, from behind, a quietly warm hand wrapped around her shoulder.
"Are you alright?"
Her head whipped around.
Beyond the long, flowing eye-light downward, she saw her child.
The swirling vision, distorted by rage and sorrow, slowly returned to normal.
As the eye-light faded accordingly, his face came into sharp focus.
"...Sa-hu."
Seven years ago, when all despaired and wept in grief.
Gazing at her reliable child who had protected them all, Myeongwang calmed her heart and smiled softly.