Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Necromancer of the Sword Clan
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It was a domestically produced mid-size car, an Arantra.
And astonishingly, Choi Jung-hoon, the Vice Hall Leader of Black Tortoise Hall, stepped out from the driver's seat of the Arantra.
"You've had a hard time."
Choi Jung-hoon bowed his head in greeting.
Shin Yu-hyun quietly asked him.
"This isn't some official clan vehicle, is it?"
"Yes, it is."
A mid-size car released by Daehan Future Motors.
It was a common model plagued by defects and frequent breakdowns—just your average ride.
From the start, being a cheap car, no one expected much from it.
'Well, at least it's late. Maybe that's a blessing in disguise.'
Shin Yu-hyun let out a wry internal smile.
The luxury limousine that had come to pick up Nam Yeon-ah just moments ago was worth at least 100 million won.
There was no avoiding the comparison.
And this official Black Tortoise Hall vehicle pretty much reflected Shin Yu-hyun's current standing within the clan.
It hadn't been long since his father, the Clan Leader, had begun acknowledging him, and there were still plenty in the clan who looked down on Shin Yu-hyun.
"Please, get in."
Choi Jung-hoon opened the rear door and acted as Shin Yu-hyun's chauffeur.
At the sight, Shin Yu-hyun gave Choi Jung-hoon a peculiar look.
"Come to think of it, I didn't expect the Vice Hall Leader himself to come."
"Don't I need to make up for all the time I've fallen short? If anything, I'm sorry for bringing such a car."
Choi Jung-hoon bowed his head again.
He, too, had wanted to bring something better to save face for Black Tortoise Hall and its Hall Leader, Shin Yu-hyun.
In fact, Choi Jung-hoon owned a luxury foreign import that wasn't even comparable to the Arantra.
But for official clan business, he couldn't use his personal vehicle, so he had no choice but to drive the official Arantra.
"Well, what can you do? It's clan policy."
Shin Yu-hyun, of course aware of this, shook his head and climbed into the open rear seat.
Still, having the Black Tortoise Hall Vice Hall Leader personally come to pick him up was a decent face-saver for Shin Yu-hyun.
"I look forward to an upgrade to something nicer soon."
"Yes, it has to happen."
Shin Yu-hyun smiled back at Choi Jung-hoon's words, thinking to himself.
He'd been planning to push for a new official vehicle soon anyway.
'I'll make sure it's a Bantz S-Class.'
The world-famous luxury foreign brand Bantz.
And its top-tier model, the S-Class sedan that easily surpassed 200 million won.
Vowing that dream to himself, Shin Yu-hyun leaned back against the rear seat.
***
Thanks to Vice Hall Leader Choi Jung-hoon volunteering as his driver, Shin Yu-hyun made it back from the Hunter Association comfortably.
Upon arriving at the clan estate, Shin Yu-hyun headed straight to his room in Black Tortoise Hall.
He had a report to give at the clan meeting that evening about the unidentified dungeon gate.
There was still some time left, so he had things to check.
'Plenty to go over.'
While he'd been resting after the battle with Izar, Nam Yeon-ah, who had collapsed unconscious on the floor, came to.
Dia, who had been poking her cheeks with his fingers while she was out, startled and hid in Shin Yu-hyun's shadow.
Just like Ka-mang-i, Dia could hide in the shadow as well.
Afterward, Dia had been cozily resting in the pocket dimension within Shin Yu-hyun's shadow.
'Let's start with the dungeon clear rewards.'
"Ka-mang-i."
Quyu!
At Shin Yu-hyun's call, Ka-mang-i burst out from the shadow with a cute sound and lively flop.
It looked full of vim and vigor.
"Pull out the random treasure chest and the growth potion."
Quyu! >_<
At his request, Ka-mang-i began laying out the dungeon clear rewards before Shin Yu-hyun's eyes.
Originally, Ka-mang-i's shadow storage skill could only hold undead troops, but now it could store items too. That was because Ka-mang-i had risen to 3-star rank.
He'd later learned that while he was resting, Ka-mang-i had been sneaking around, gobbling up the magic stones left by the 3-star crawlers.
And when it spotted the 4-star magic stone from Izar, it stuck to it like glue, licking it like a puppy.
His heart softening at the sight, Shin Yu-hyun had eventually handed over the 4-star magic stone to Ka-mang-i.
Thanks to that, Ka-mang-i reached 3 stars, and the shadow storage skill's proficiency rose from E-grade to D-grade.
As a result, it could now not only transport undead troops but also store items.
'Hmm.'
Shin Yu-hyun eyed the dungeon rewards Ka-mang-i had brought out.
Defeating the 4-star named boss Izar had also netted him 40 soul points as a reward, but he'd held onto them to invest in Chakra.
He'd already checked the key from the indescribable Goddess of Darkness, leaving the random treasure chest and growth potion.
'A random treasure chest of all things.'
Jackpot.
Izar, the unique boss with a 4-star named monster.
A named unique boss was like a treasure goblin.
If you could take it down, you were guaranteed a winner's prize.
'The problem is you don't know what'll pop out until you open it.'
With anticipation gleaming in his eyes, Shin Yu-hyun carefully opened the random treasure chest.
Random grade treasure chests had no rank restrictions.
They spat out rewards randomly from normal all the way to legendary.
However, the highest grade known to have come from a publicly reported random treasure chest so far was unique.
And now, a unique-grade reward had popped out of this one.
'Out of this?'
But Shin Yu-hyun was more surprised by the skill's type than its rank.
A-grade skill, Split Thought.
In one or two years, America's great sage Edward would acquire the Split Thought skill. Thanks to it, he'd gain multi-casting capabilities and earn the title of great sage—that much he remembered.
'Wait, was this skill originally meant for Edward?'
Suddenly, Shin Yu-hyun recalled how Edward had obtained Split Thought.
In the original timeline, only one mid-4-star hunter would survive from this colorless dungeon survey team.
And circumstantial evidence pointed to that hunter being Izar in disguise.
Izar, disguised as a mid-4-star hunter, had become the guide for rookie hunter parties.
But accidents kept happening where those rookie parties with Izar wiped out, raising suspicions. The Hunter Association quietly investigated on their own.
The result? The culprit massacring rookies was always that one surviving 4-star hunter.
Furious, the Hunter Association formed a subjugation team to deal with the rookie killer.
America's sage Edward, who was in Korea at the time, joined the subjugation team.
Probably then—Edward took down Izar and learned Split Thought.
He started using multi-cast spells not long after Izar's subjugation.
'Perfect.'
Shin Yu-hyun couldn't help but grin.
America's great sage, Edward Robert.
He was a Getia worshipper on Shin Yu-hyun's hit list.
How many times had he nearly died to Edward's multi-cast magic in his previous life?
But...
'Without multi-casting, he's nothing I can't handle.'
Edward without Split Thought was no threat.
Unlike back then, he now had abundant mana and the Immortal King's legacy.
And that wasn't all.
The A-grade skill Split Thought that was supposed to go to Edward was now his.
'Mm.'
As he opened the Split Thought skillbook, Shin Yu-hyun felt a thrilling jolt pierce through his forehead and race across his body.
He could sense the skill engraving itself into his mind.
"Hoo."
Savoring the lingering buzz, Shin Yu-hyun exhaled deeply.
'Commanding the undead just got a lot easier.'
By default, the Immortal King's undead followed orders autonomously.
But they couldn't grasp the overall battlefield situation—they just executed the given command.
In other words, no independent judgment.
That meant issuing fresh orders for every situation.
The issue arose when Shin Yu-hyun had to fight personally.
In those cases, there was no time to command the undead.
But with Split Thought, that changed.
Even mid-battle, he could issue situation-appropriate orders to the undead, or give detailed instructions for raiding a powerful boss together.
Of course, if Undead Creation's proficiency rose enough to produce commander-grade undead, Split Thought's value might halve.
'Or I could use it to cast black magic.'
Split Thought's utility wasn't limited to undead commands—it let him sneakily cast the Immortal King's black magic mid-fight for surprise attacks.
For the current Shin Yu-hyun, Split Thought was an incredibly useful skill.
'Next up...'
Having confirmed the Split Thought from the treasure chest, Shin Yu-hyun turned to the growth potion.
"Not bad."
Shin Yu-hyun smiled in satisfaction.
Superhumans who chose direct combat classes, excluding magic or esper types, trained in internal energy heart methods.
After opening their energy circuits, they formed an inner core in their dantian, cultivating the heart method to steadily build mana.
A superhuman's body was like a vessel for mana. To hold more, they needed not just internal energy but physical conditioning for external arts training.
Strength, agility, stamina, and so on.
The growth potion was a spiritual medicine that boosted those physical stats more quickly and efficiently through short-term training.
'A week of closed-door training wouldn't be bad.'
Downing the growth potion and spending a week on stamina or sword training would raise his physical stats considerably.
And that would naturally boost his Chakra as well.
'Now for the last thing...'
Having checked all the spoils from the 3-star dungeon Ruined City, Shin Yu-hyun had one final item to review.
"Dia."
He called out to her in a quiet voice.
"Yes! You called?"
From within Shin Yu-hyun's shadow emerged Dia, the black cat girl in her gothic dress.
The lively black cat-like Dia looked up at him with eyes full of curiosity.
Her twitching black cat ears as she gazed up were utterly adorable.
Smooth, smooth.
Irresistibly, he reached out to pet her head.
"Nyaa~."
Under his touch, Dia let out a relieved, cat-like cute sound.
For a while, Shin Yu-hyun stroked her head and chin.
Then he suddenly remembered why he'd called her.
"Dia."
"Yes."
"What do you know?"
"Huh?"
At his question, Dia tilted her head with a puzzled expression.
Shin Yu-hyun grew more specific.
"Tell me everything you know about yourself, the Immortal King, and Seven Arcs."