Chapter 17
Chapter 17
Episode 17
Ah. That was something that damned monk always used to say.......
Not that it mattered.
Who was it that said thoughts were faster than anything else?
Experimental Jiangshi No. 1 had already rushed in front of me, spreading both hands wide as it traced a circle.
The motion looked slow, yet it was remarkably fast.
At the same time, energy from the Corpse-Spirit Heavenly Jiangshi Whole-Body Art flowed from both hands and stretched into long streams.
Tap. Whoosh! Crunch!
The orc's and lizardman's weapons, the first to come at me, caught on Experimental Jiangshi No. 1's hands and the hand qi extending from them, knocking their trajectories aside.
The orc's axe. And the lizardman's spear.
Both weapons slammed into the ground and their shafts snapped.
In the same instant, Experimental Jiangshi No. 1 had already lifted one foot.
Whoosh! Crack!
The kick buried itself in the lizardman's ribs. Its ribs cracked, and its body flew sideways.
That flying body crashed into the orc.
"Screeeech!"
"Graaagh!"
The lizardman coughed blood as it screamed, while the orc cried out as the flying body bowled it over.
The Taijiquan form Backward Roll of Arms struck in a single fluid motion.
Among martial arts built around defensive forms, almost nothing surpasses it. Its effectiveness speaks for itself.
And then.
After planting its foot again, Experimental Jiangshi No. 1 moved to my will, drawing both hands inward before thrusting them out.
Corpse-Spirit Heavenly Jiangshi Blood-Rending Palm.
Palm force surged through the air, powerful enough to turn the target's internal organs into a sea of blood.
Boom! Boom!
The dwarf charging with an axe and the crustacean woman barreling forward both reacted to the twin palm strikes.
The dwarf blocked the palm force with an axe as massive as his body, while the crustacean woman stabbed the ground with the legs on her back and vaulted away.
The result?
"Guh!"
The dwarf coughed blood and went flying. The crustacean woman escaped unharmed, only for the undead wolf to leap after her and bite down on her ankle.
Crunch!
"Aaaah!"
Most of them were eliminated in an instant.
That dwarf's axe was sturdy. To think a dwarf only just reaching Floor 2 could withstand my palm force.
Impressive! I want it!
With that thought, I looked at the one participant still standing unharmed.
The elf had been aiming her bow, but she lowered it slightly.
She had apparently realized at a glance that she couldn't win and given up.
Then she slowly backed away and stepped off her seat.
Smart.
-What did I just see?
-An undead just fired a palm-force blast? Did I really see that?
-Wait, if that's a palm-force blast...... isn't that basically the same level as launching an aura blade? How is that possible at this level?
[Park Il-chim has donated 1 DP!]
Palm force projection;;; That's f-X-king badass;;;
Park Il-chim, welcome back.
As I thought that, another donation came in.
[Big-Spender Ajusshi has donated 1,000 DP!]
How exactly do you make an undead use martial arts?
Big-Spender Ajusshi! Come to think of it, this was the guy who'd taught me a few things and kept throwing around huge donations.
"Park Il-chim, thanks for the donation. Big-Spender Ajusshi, thanks to you too. But asking me to teach you my trade secrets for free? Not happening."
[Big-Spender Ajusshi has donated 1,000 DP!]
If you teach me how to make undead use martial arts, I will give you 10,000,000 DP.
[Big-Spender Ajusshi has proposed a 10,000,000 DP mission!]
Oh?
10 million DP!!
I was deeply moved as I watched Big-Spender Ajusshi put up a mission worth roughly 140 to 150 billion won.
Is he insane?
-He's insane!!!!
-He's burning 150 billion won in one go!?
-And on a public broadcast!?
-Ahh, Chairman! Nice, nice!
-So what's Corpse-Spirit Martial Sovereign's choice?
Big-Spender Ajusshi was desperate to learn my secret again, just like last time, huh?
The problem was,
even if I taught him, there was no guarantee he could actually do it.
And how would the system decide whether I'd really taught him?
"Whoa...... with this much on the table, I can't exactly keep quiet, can I? Fine-control the undead and make them perform martial arts. Got it?"
-Now, let's draw a mountain. Swish, swish, swish. Easy, right?
-What does that even mean?! Corpse-Spirit Martial Sovereign! What does that even mean!!
The viewers were up in arms, and the system still hadn't counted the mission as a success. Did I need to explain more?
But now wasn't the time. The fight wasn't over yet.
"Now, now. We're still fighting. We'll talk in a bit."
Then I turned my gaze toward the enemies.
[Gomdori has donated 1DP!]
[Neureojikkoma has donated 1DP!]
[Dakgalbibuldak has donated 1DP!]
[Gukbapchoego has donated 1DP!]
I turned off the noisy notification sounds first.
Then I controlled the undead wolf. It went over to one of their seats and stepped onto it.
The seat changed to the same color as mine.
Seat stolen.
If I simply ran out the clock, it would be over.
But there was no need to drag things out.
Because.
The dead were automatically eliminated, and the rules also let you take a survivor's seat by forcing them to surrender.
The damn Dimensional Tower didn't bother explaining details like that, but the Seat-Stealing Game was well known, so most people knew the rules.
"You lot. If you don't want to die, declare that you're giving up your seats."
-Badass;;;
-A real man;;;
At my words, the orc grimaced even through the pain.
"Snort! I give up my seat!"
His seat changed to my color, and then he vanished.
He had forfeited and been removed.
When I looked at the others, they began disappearing one after another as well.
Only the elf remained.
"You are a powerful Necromancer. I am called Wiperiael, born beneath the Greyana World Tree. What is your name?"
Oh. Wasn't this the sort of etiquette I'd only encountered in the martial world of my previous life?
In the martial world, it was proper for people to state their sect and name when they met.
Anyone who ignored that courtesy was treated like some lowly thug or ruffian!
I gave her a crisp cupped-fist salute.
For someone like me, a former denizen of the martial world, the cupped-fist salute was serious business.
"This lord is Lee Mu-seon, current sect leader of the One Extremity Martial Origin Sect and true inheritor of the Corpse-Spirit Heavenly Jiangshi Sect. My fellow martial artists also call me the Corpse-Spirit Martial Sovereign."
-Corpse-Spirit Martial Sovereign.......
-The concept is on point!
-Can I join the One Extremity Martial Origin Sect? Do I just go to that martial arts school?
-Ah, I want to use martial arts too!!!
[Park Il-chim has donated 1 DP!]
[Hoemuchimchim has donated 1DP!]
[Haeundaegalmaegi has donated 1DP!]
The viewers made a racket. I ignored them and looked at the elf.
"Your prowess is beyond the norm. There will come a day when we meet again."
With that, the elf named Wiperiael vanished in an instant.
[You have cleared Floor 2 of the Dimensional Tower.]
With the Floor 2 clear message, I was transferred to the reward room.
[You have placed among the ten fastest clears.]
[A reward for placing among the ten fastest clears is being generated.]
[Confirming that the awakened person's class is 'Necromancer'.]
Top ten fastest clear, huh.
Web novels always seemed to be full of people taking first place.
Hm. If I'd simply killed them all without bothering to negotiate, I might've taken first place.
I should try that next time.
As I waited and thought about that, more messages appeared.
[Amazing achievement!]
[You have obtained a Legendary Grade reward.]
-A Legendary Grade here?
-Placing in the top ten is enough to make a Legendary Grade reward plausible.
-Damn, Corpse-Spirit Martial Sovereign, just how many rewards are you planning to rake in?!
-Ah, I'm jealous.
Even I was a little surprised.
A Legendary Grade reward here?
Apparently, placing in the top ten was enough to earn something as high as Legendary Grade.
Last time I got a Town-Grade Subdimension from this. What will they give me this time?
[You have acquired the Throne of the Small Empire's Emperor.]
Throne of the Small Empire's Emperor?
What's this now?
While I was wondering about that,
a chair appeared in front of me. It was woven from bone and looked hard and uncomfortable, but rubies, gold, and other decorations gave it a striking appearance.
[Throne of the Small Empire's Emperor]
Grade: Legendary
The throne of the emperor who rules a small empire.
Small as it may be, an empire is still an empire, and the emperor's dignity extends over all beneath him.
Function: While seated on the throne, all subordinate minions' stats increase by 25%.
Function: Bound
Function: Can be stored in and summoned from a subdimension
Well...... here was another strange one.
A flat 25% increase to my minions' stats.
Based on everything I'd learned from browsing Dimensional Tower communities, this was extremely good.
It didn't even consume extra mana. It was effectively an always-on passive.
There's just one drawback.
I had to remain seated on the throne.......
That made things a little awkward.
In other words, it took away my freedom of movement.
Hm.
-It seems amazing...... but maybe not?
-A mixed blessing, huh.
-You have to stay seated? It's Legendary Grade, but something about that feels off.
The viewers weren't impressed either.
Then, after thinking about it for a moment, a great idea came to me.
"No. Actually, this is better."
I wasn't a normal Necromancer anyway.
I expressed martial arts through my undead.
Since my fighting style involved sitting back and fine-controlling my undead, this item could actually be very useful.
I couldn't move because I had to sit in a chair?
That wouldn't be a problem if I made the idea I'd just had a reality!
And that idea was......
a character from the wuxia novel Geumjeonpyo, which I'd enjoyed in this life!
Jwabaek's masterpiece, Geumjeonpyo.
I'd loved that novel...... and I was going to borrow the concept of 'that' character from it!