Chapter 136
Chapter 136
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 136
Chapter Title: Necromancer of the Sword Clan
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Shin Yu-hyun had emerged victorious in his bet with Lee Young-soo.
'That was close.'
Shin Yu-hyun let out a quiet sigh of relief inwardly.
He couldn't help but tense up when the Ghoul King fell in the boss room and a new raid boss, Living Powered Armor, appeared.
It was a raid boss he hadn't seen in his previous life, and the time he'd promised with Lee Young-soo was running perilously short.
In the end, there wasn't much time left to make it back to where Lee Young-soo was waiting.
But,
'Chiron saved the day.'
Thanks to riding Chiron and racing back at top speed, he hadn't been late.
He'd already taken down the raid boss and cleared most of the magic beasts beforehand.
With all his summons stored away in the shadow space, Shin Yu-hyun had ridden Chiron like a madman and arrived right on time.
"No way... You actually cleared a raid dungeon in under an hour..."
As Shin Yu-hyun reappeared before them, Lee Young-soo and the rest of the Wind Forest Volcano Guild members stared in disbelief.
For a regular dungeon, maybe—but no one had expected him to conquer a raid dungeon in just one hour.
They had no choice but to accept it, though.
The moment Shin Yu-hyun defeated the Living Powered Armor, a system message declaring the raid cleared had popped up right in front of their eyes inside the dungeon.
'Just as I thought.'
Shin Yu-hyun grinned at the guild members gaping at him.
After entering the dungeon and passing through the main passage they'd already cleared, he'd realized the underground ruins weren't all that vast.
Other raid dungeons spanned wide open plains, dense forests, volcanic regions, swamps, ruined cities, and more.
But the 5-star raid dungeon Monolith of Fallen Chaos had just the one main passage leading straight to the boss room, so he'd judged it smaller than expected.
On top of that, the spot where he'd made the bet with Lee Young-soo was already halfway cleared.
All those factors had aligned perfectly, allowing Shin Yu-hyun to conquer the raid dungeon.
"Thank you for your help."
As Shin Yu-hyun returned, Choi Jin-seong approached and bowed his head.
"Have you made your decision?"
"Yes. I need to prove myself worthy."
It looked like Choi Jin-seong had finally made up his mind for sure.
He would follow Shin Yu-hyun.
And with that, he shot a silent glare at Lee Young-soo.
Lee Young-soo had mocked him, saying Shin Yu-hyun had no eye for talent when he'd declared he was taking Choi Jin-seong along.
But Shin Yu-hyun had believed in his potential and acknowledged it.
And not just that—Lee Young-soo had sneered that it was impossible for Shin Yu-hyun to clear the raid dungeon in an hour.
Absolutely impossible.
Yet Shin Yu-hyun had kept his word.
He'd achieved what everyone said couldn't be done.
All that was left was for Choi Jin-seong to prove that Shin Yu-hyun's judgment wasn't wrong.
"Then let's head back."
Shin Yu-hyun nodded to Choi Jin-seong, then turned to Lee Young-soo and the remaining Wind Forest Volcano Guild members.
There was still plenty left to do.
Shin Yu-hyun led the group out of the 5-star raid dungeon, Monolith of Fallen Chaos.
Pzzt!
As Shin Yu-hyun's group exited the dungeon, the rift vanished.
'No stampede will happen now.'
In his previous life, the stampede from the Monolith raid dungeon had caused massive damage.
The dungeon's location was near Hwaseong City in Gyeonggi Province.
That made it impossible to avoid blame falling on the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan.
Hwaseong City was right next to the territory they managed.
But that wouldn't happen this time.
"Shuv. Contact the clan."
Shin Yu-hyun planned to request backup from Black Tortoise Hall to ransack the Wind Forest Volcano Guild.
Essentially, to handle the cleanup.
"Yes."
To Shin Yu-hyun's surprise, Shuv pulled out a smartphone from his pocket.
Shin Yu-hyun watched the sight with a bemused expression.
'It's not been long since he encountered modern tech, but he's handling it like a pro.'
Not just smartphones—he could operate PCs, laptops, all sorts of electronics, and even drive a car, apparently.
It was astonishing.
He wasn't even human, yet he handled modern gadgets like a natural.
"Let's go."
Shin Yu-hyun took the lead with Lee Young-soo in tow, heading for the Wind Forest Volcano Guild.
That evening.
Black Tortoise Hall's office.
In the end, the Wind Forest Volcano Guild disbanded that day. As Shin Yu-hyun tore through it, all their illegal dealings came to light.
The evidence he'd uncovered went straight from the Heaven-Splitting Sword Clan to the Hunter Association.
On top of that, they'd captured ten suspected Getia Worshippers from the Ashen Church.
A major accomplishment for the clan.
'The problem is what happened to the remaining guild members.'
Surprisingly, when Shin Yu-hyun arrived to ransack the guild, the members had already been massacred.
From the guild master down to the lowliest grunts.
Lee Young-soo and the survivors stared blankly at the scene.
'How did they kill them?'
Nearly twenty superhumans slaughtered in the heart of the city without much resistance.
No clue how or by whom.
The internal and external CCTV footage was wiped clean, and there were no witnesses.
A perfect, undetectable assassination.
'One of the Ashen Church's worshippers, no doubt.'
The culprit had to be Getia Worshippers from the Ashen Church.
Cause of death: poisoning for all victims.
And the same method pointed to a single perpetrator.
One assassin had wiped out nearly twenty Wind Forest Volcano Guild members.
Probably, when their infiltrated worshippers' plan failed, the Ashen Church sent in their killer.
And their plan was obviously to trigger a stampede from the 5-star raid dungeon Monolith.
'But how did they know?'
How had the assassin learned their plan in the 5-star raid dungeon had failed?
'Time limit exceeded?'
They might have set a deadline for the stampede.
When it passed, the assassin assumed something went wrong and struck.
'Or a watcher?'
There could have been someone surveilling the 5-star raid dungeon entrance.
A superhuman with clairvoyance-like abilities observing from kilometers away.
"Still, we gained a lot."
Shin Yu-hyun smiled in satisfaction.
He hadn't secured the remaining Getia Worshippers in the guild, but he'd achieved all his goals.
Conquering the 5-star raid dungeon had netted him an enormous haul of loot.
Plus, the Wind Forest Volcano Guild that tormented him in his past life was shattered.
'I wanted to wipe them out myself if possible...'
He'd planned to expose their corruption, bury them socially, and reduce the members to low-rank hunters scraping by.
But aside from Lee Young-soo and nine others, the rest had been wiped out by the Getia Worshippers.
And the survivors couldn't rebuild the guild anyway.
The executives and top hunters had exploited grunts like Choi Jin-seong and committed all sorts of crimes, now laid bare.
'Well then...'
Shin Yu-hyun eyed his loot.
Clearing the 5-star raid dungeon, Monolith of Fallen Chaos, had earned him a ton of soul points too.
"Not bad at all."
Shin Yu-hyun gave a small smile.
He now had a whopping 1,008 soul points.
And that wasn't all.
Shin Yu-hyun glanced at the smartwatch on his wrist.
He'd cleared the raid dungeon and claimed the 5-star raid boss Living Powered Armor as his reward.
Checking its info, Shin Yu-hyun couldn't help but grin.
'Hit the jackpot.'
A 5-star raid boss usable as a summon or equipment.
Its value and utility were immense.
It would prove a huge asset in future battles.
'And...'
Shin Yu-hyun looked at the book in front of him.
The B-grade skillbook Life Drain, obtained by slaying the 5-star raid boss Ghoul King.
Life Drain was a B-grade skill that absorbed the enemy's life force and stamina.
As equipment, it could fetch up to a billion won as exceptional rare-grade.
'Pretty good. I'll use this one.'
Recovering life and stamina mid-battle meant he could fight longer.
No harm in keeping it for himself.
Shrrk.
Shin Yu-hyun opened the skillbook.
A burst of blue light erupted from the fully spread pages.
'Mm.'
As the blue light from the skillbook absorbed into his body, Shin Yu-hyun let out a groan.
A thrilling tingle raced up his spine to his head, leaving him dizzy.
"Hoo."
Moments later, he exhaled deeply, calming his body and mind.
"Not bad."
Feeling fulfilled from acquiring the skill, Shin Yu-hyun smiled in satisfaction.
"Now, what's left is..."
Shin Yu-hyun turned to the final piece of loot on the office desk.
The random treasure chest from slaying the 5-star unique boss Death Stalker.
A chest that randomly dropped something equivalent to 5-star B-grade.
No one knew what it held.
Not until it was opened.
"Wonder what it'll be?"
Shin Yu-hyun smiled as he opened the treasure chest.
Creeeak.
A wine bar filled with the soft strains of jazz.
The upscale interior was dimly lit and cozy, not overly spacious.
Only two customers inside, plus one bartender at the counter.
"Cleanup?"
A woman in her early thirties, one of the two patrons, spoke to the man seated beside her.
"Everyone in the building is handled. Couldn't do anything about the remaining ten."
The mid-forties man in a black suit sipped his wine slowly before replying to the woman.
The beauty in the red dress leaned back languidly.
"So, what's next?"
"We can't let him be anymore."
The man from the Ashen Church's intelligence arm, Ars Paulina, fixed her with a cold gaze.
He could no longer ignore the one who'd thwarted his plans.
"And how do you plan to handle it?"
The woman propped her chin on her hand.
Clink.
Suddenly, the bartender, mid-shake, set down a wine glass on the counter.
He turned to the woman in red and the middle-aged man.
"Call Camilla."
The mercenary waging war in the Middle East.
The Witch of Crimson Blood.