Chapter 1: The Living Corpse

My body was born weak from the start.

That's what the Director told me my so-called parents had said.

Maybe that's why I kept finding myself on the brink of death throughout my life.

The moment I turned twenty and entered the training camp, I caught the virus that was sweeping the world at the time and nearly died.

The memory of waking up in agony at dawn, unable to sleep, shuffling back and forth to the bathroom, shoving my face into the toilet and coughing up black phlegm is still vivid in my mind.

And even now.

“He went into septic shock. We… had no choice but to perform valve surgery after a blood clot formed in his heart. Fortunately, because the patient is young, his recovery is remarkably fast. The heart issue also caused insufficient blood flow to the brain, which led to a stroke, but he has recovered to a certain degree for now.”

The Director stood silently by my side, listening to the doctor's dry explanation.

Tick— tick—

The mechanical sound that had been coming from inside my body since earlier.

I didn't need anyone to tell me it was the sound of the “valve” the doctor had mentioned.

From what I could recall through my hazy memories, I would apparently have to listen to this noise for the rest of my life… but what could I do about it?

A nurse had tried to comfort me by saying I should think of the sound as proof that my heart was working properly.

Honestly, it made me feel more like a living corpse than anything else.

Anyway, once the explanation was over, the attending physician left the room in a hurry.

“Thank goodness. Really, thank goodness.”

“Yeah. I really almost died this time.”

I tried to lighten the mood with a casual joke, but it seemed to have the opposite effect.

I could feel the Director’s hand, which was holding mine, trembling.

“Did you know? Most people who go into septic shock die. But I survived, right? It’s like getting hit by an ambulance after already being in a car accident.”

“What kind of weird joke is that…”

“I know. I guess the delirium left some aftereffects.”

The doctor had said that when the stroke hit, delirium came along with it.

That was probably why my memories from when I was in pain were so fragmented.

“Delirium is really scary. My memories keep cutting out… and I see weird things in front of my eyes.”

“What do you see?”

“Um… You have awakened?”

Your class, which carries a death even deeper than death itself, is Necromancer.

“…”

“Ah, so this isn’t a side effect of the delirium. I actually awakened?”

The Director looked at me with a steady gaze.

Just from that look, I knew exactly what he wanted to say.

But before he could open his mouth, I spoke first.

“I didn’t have any insurance, you know. I had no way to pay the hospital bills anyway. This worked out well.”

I was an orphanage kid who barely scraped by doing part-time jobs every day. There was no way I could afford a hospital room and heart surgery on my own savings.

Anyone who wasn’t an idiot could figure out who had paid for the surgery and the rest of the hospital fees.

“Still, you’re not thinking of entering the Tower right away, are you?”

“Of course not. How could I go anywhere in this condition?”

The Director looked at me with pitying eyes, then straightened his clothes and left the room.

Once I was alone, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I glanced around, quickly drew the curtains, and muttered quietly.

“Status window.”

I stared at the three-line summary about the Necromancer class for a long time. Then I began to sense something from the floor below.

‘That’s definitely the emergency operating room on the second floor.’

It felt like some intangible energy.

Something familiar yet unpleasant.

It was also an energy I had felt inside my own body many times before.

I naturally realized that this energy was death energy.

Without hesitation, I moved that energy and drew it into my body.

An indescribable sense of fullness washed over me, and at the same time, I felt my physical condition improve slightly.

After that, I spent a while instinctively gathering the death energy I could sense from the floor below.

The death energy kept rising.

This was a hospital, after all.

There were more than enough people who were about to die—or already had.

“Your recovery speed is unbelievably fast. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Does it have something to do with your awakened ability?”

“Yes. It seems so.”

“That’s truly fortunate. Hmm… At this rate, we could process your discharge today without any issues.”

“Then please discharge me right away.”

“Haha. I only said that. Today would still be difficult. There’s an order to these things.”

I had no choice but to nod at the doctor’s words.

After a month of combined antibiotic treatment and rehabilitation therapy, my body was in much better shape than before.

At first, the doctor couldn’t hide his suspicion about this abnormal recovery speed.

But once I told him I had awakened, his expression finally showed understanding.

The abnormal recovery speed could simply be brushed off with, “Ah, well, if he’s an Awakened, that makes sense.”

Another day passed, and the next day arrived.

I completed the discharge procedures with the Director, who had come as my guardian, and stepped out of the hospital.

“So. Are you going?”

“Yes. I have to.”

“You must be careful. You absolutely must!”

With the Director’s farewell, I headed to the Hunter Association to register as a hunter.

It was far enough that I had to change buses three times, but the journey wasn’t boring at all.

Instead, my heart was filled with excitement and anticipation.

When I finally arrived at the Hunter Association, I looked around like a country bumpkin who had just come up to the city.

“There are so many people.”

I moved toward the area where people were especially crowded and, sure enough, that was where hunter registration was taking place.

I drew a number ticket and waited my turn. The line moved quickly, and soon it was my turn.

“Please submit your ID and fill out these forms. Oh, you don’t need to write down personal information about your class or abilities.”

“Understood.”

After submitting my ID and filling out the paperwork, I underwent the Awakened examination. It involved stepping onto some kind of scanner.

I just stood still like when they measure your height and weight, and the process ended automatically.

From what I’d looked up, it apparently detected the mana inside the body to distinguish between Awakened and non-Awakened… but I didn’t know the details.

It wasn’t the kind of information that would be floating around on the internet anyway.

“Confirmed. Please proceed to the central kiosk in the lobby to receive your hunter license and submit your application for employment.”

“Yes. Thank you for your help.”

Following the staff member’s instructions, I moved to the kiosk and obtained my hunter license.

Once my business was done, I left the association and wandered the streets.

Should I enter the Tower right away, or rest a little longer before going in?

‘I still don’t fully understand my abilities yet.’

During my hospital stay, I had tried to learn as much as possible about the Necromancer class, but it hadn’t been easy.

Using abilities without registering as an Awakened was strictly illegal in the real world, after all.

And my ability was necromancy. If I carelessly revived a corpse, it wouldn’t be strange if I got thrown straight into detention.

‘I want to test out my ability.’

I had learned that accumulating this peculiar energy called death energy inside my body improved my physical health the more I gathered it.

But I still didn’t know exactly how to use this death energy.

Entering the Tower without even knowing my own abilities would be asking to get killed.

When I got home, I logged into ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Hunter Gallery and checked the announcements.

“Hmm…”

Unfortunately, it seemed Necromancer was a rare class.

Even when I searched using the keyword “Necromancer,” no information came up.

In the end, I would have to figure out what the Necromancer’s skills were myself.

“Status window.”

Every class has at least three unique skills.

And the description for Necromancer was exactly three lines.

‘The first skill is…’

The thing I did as naturally as eating in the hospital. The sense of handling death energy. And storage.

The only effect I had discovered from storing it was that my body’s health recovered quickly.

‘Interfere with the realm of the dead. And command.’

Since it was Necromancer, it was obvious I could revive corpses.

And that was probably the skill described in the third line.

“Do I really need to see an actual corpse?”

The morgue or the emergency operating room—those weren’t places civilians could easily access.

“Sigh…”

No matter what, sitting around worrying wasn’t going to solve anything.

But posting about my class and asking for advice on an anonymous community seemed far too dangerous.

I was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

In the end, there was only one option left.

To enter the Tower and read the skill descriptions myself.

My hesitation didn’t last long. I made my decision immediately.

The moment I expressed my intention to enter the Tower in my mind, a translucent window appeared in the air.

‘Yes.’

I had been planning to enter on Normal difficulty.

Regardless of my wishes, it was changed to Hell difficulty.

In an instant, the surrounding scenery completely changed.

There was no time to be flustered.

I immediately opened my status window and absorbed the information about the newly updated skills.

‘Dead Gallery?’

The moment I recited the name in my mind, another window appeared in the air.

In the midst of the rapidly changing situation, the sheer amount of information flooding my head was overwhelming and confusing.

But I tried my best to stay calm and organize the current situation.

First, Unclean Existence. If I compared it to a game, it seemed like all debuffs applied to me as buffs.

Dead Gallery. Just as the name suggested, it was a community of the dead.

Necromancy. The skill that let me revive those dead.

And there were about nine minutes left until the first floor began.

What I needed to do right now was simple.

Countless comments began pouring in at a rapid pace.