Chapter 23
Chapter 23
Episode 23
"Ah-ha."
Only then did I understand.
Reattaching bones. Combining corpses.
So it's a kind of...... corpse tailoring? Corpse assembly?
Come to think of it, a Necromancer obviously needed a skill like that.
It was a class that handled dead bodies rather than living people. Of course it would need a way to repair damaged corpses.
-Ah, now that you mention it, the streamer didn't have that skill.
-Without Corpse Processing, you can't really use mangled corpses.
-Lol, baby necro didn't even know that.
-Walking around without an essential skill.
"Tch. I'm still a beginner Necromancer, so I didn't even know that."
I'd watched melee-dealer videos to death, but I knew next to nothing about Necromancers.
What good was being a Necron Emperor
if I didn't even know the basics of being a Necromancer?
"I should buy that Corpse Processing skill."
Broadly speaking, there were three ways to obtain skills in the Dimensional Tower.
First.
Get them as rewards for clearing the Dimensional Tower.
That was how I'd obtained my skills so far.
When you clear a trial, you're given a skill suited to your class, or if you're lucky, one is randomly handed to you.
Second.
Find them as items while progressing through the Dimensional Tower.
They usually drop in the form of "skill books," apparently.
Using one let you learn the skill written inside.
There are often stories of hunters who luckily picked one up inside the tower and turned their lives around.
Third.
Buy them through auctions or direct trades.
Other hunters listed skill books and related items they found in the Dimensional Tower on the marketplace, or sold them directly to other people.
Naturally, the better the skill, the more absurdly expensive it was.
But I had DP to spare now, so that was the fastest route.
"Okay. That settles it. Before I go mining, how about we stop by the marketplace?"
I grinned.
This.
There's more to do than I thought, huh?
-Wooooooh! It's shopping time!
-Are we doing a skill-book unboxing?
-But are you done after making just those two buildings?
[Aieeeeeet! has donated 1 DP!]
But aren't you building any other structures?
"I'm going to buy some skills first."
Alright, skills. Let's see what you've got!
* * *
The Dimensional Tower has a platform where goods can be traded.
It's a kind of marketplace where hunters buy and sell among themselves.
Surprisingly, the marketplace even teleported goods for you.
Once a transaction was completed, the item popped into existence right in front of the buyer.
It's the same when the seller sends something.
On top of that, you can't pull scams like passing off a brick as an elixir.
The Dimensional Tower system inspects everything itself.
There are some restrictions, though.
Ordinary people can't use it; only hunters climbing the Dimensional Tower can.
Payment could only be made with DP.
The goods traded there were also limited to items from the Dimensional Tower.
If ordinary people could use it, every shopping site in the world would have shut down.
Instant teleport delivery upon arrival, and scams blocked at the source?
"Let's see......."
I opened the marketplace.
All sorts of items scrolled into view.
Weapons, armor, consumables, materials, skill books—you name it.
There were plenty of categories, but the listings themselves hardly looked professional.
[Quick sale) Iron Sword +1, unused]
Picked it up in a dungeon, but I don't use swords, so I'm selling it. Good condition. No negotiation.
[Low-Grade Health Potion x10 bundle]
No expiration date (corpses don't rot, so would a potion rot?) Stock up.
[Gnoll Leather Armor, selling]
Skinned it on Floor 2. Doesn't smell. Washed it.
[★Goblin Ears x999★ clearance]
I don't know what these are used for, but I heard someone collects them...... Whoever needs them, take them. Dirt cheap.
[Mana Recovery Scented Candle (improves room ambiance)]
They say mana recovery gets 1% faster if you light it. But honestly, I can't feel it. The scent is just nice.
This, well.
It was no different from a secondhand-market app.
I couldn't help laughing.
In the marketplace of a transcendent system that could destroy the world, someone was selling 999 goblin ears at clearance prices.
-LOL, 999 goblin ears.
-The guy selling scented candles is seriously ridiculous, lol.
-Tower marketplace experience = secondhand-market experience.
The viewers burst out laughing too.
"These people, seriously...... they come to the Dimensional Tower and still live the same way."
Well, humans are all like that.
I browsed for quite a while before snapping out of it.
I didn't come here to window-shop.
"Alright. To the point. Let's search for Corpse Processing first."
I typed "Corpse Processing" into the search bar.
Listings scrolled into view.
[Skill Book: Corpse Processing]
Acquisition Restriction: Necromancer-type / Level 10 or higher
Cuts, joins, and combines corpses. Can repair damaged corpses or combine multiple corpses into a single processed body.
Oh.
This is it.
The level requirement was 10 or higher.
I was level 13, so that was no problem.
But the price was a bit unexpected.
"Huh? It's cheaper than I thought?"
The lowest listing was 121DP.
The exchange rate had gone back up lately, to around 15,000 won per DP, so the total came to roughly 1.8 million won.
For a skill, that's dirt cheap, isn't it?
-It's an essential necro skill, so why is it cheap?
-Maybe because the necro population is small to begin with.
-Ah, Corpse Processing can only be used by necros, so demand is low.
-It's also cheap because it drops way more often than you'd think.
Ah-ha.
So that's why it's this cheap?
Well, thanks to that, I get to buy it cheap, so that's good.
"Okay. Nice and cheap. I'll take it."
Without hesitation, I bought the lowest-priced listing.
Pop!
A skill book appeared in front of me with a flash of light.
A gloomy book with a pitch-black cover and a texture like raw skin.
When I tapped the cover, the book dissolved into light and seeped into my body.
[You have acquired the skill "Corpse Processing."]
"Oh. Done."
Acquisition complete.
Now I can stitch those chopped-up corpses back together.
-Acquisition complete, lol.
-Got an essential skill for 1.8 million won.
-The rich really are different, just buying it outright.
"Since I'm already at the marketplace, shall I look at some other things?"
Since I'm here.
I should browse other skills suited to my class.
"Search for Necromancer skills usable at level 13 or below."
I searched with conditions applied.
The listings were filtered down.
There were seven Necromancer-type skills I could currently learn.
[Skill Book: Soul Curse]
Acquisition Restriction: Necromancer-type
Places a defiling curse directly on the soul. All of the target's abilities are reduced.
[Skill Book: Soul Binding]
Acquisition Restriction: Necromancer-type
Subdues and binds a soul. Bound souls can be used as resources.
[Skill Book: Necro Item Crafting]
Acquisition Restriction: Necromancer-type
Uses corpse resources to craft necro items.
[Skill Book: Necromantic Barrier]
Acquisition Restriction: Necromancer-type
Uses stored soul resources to create a barrier. Can be applied to yourself or your undead.
[Skill Book: Life Drain]
Acquisition Restriction: Necromancer-type
Drains the target's life force. Activates only upon contact with the target when used.
[Skill Book: Touch of Decay]
Acquisition Restriction: Necromancer-type
Decays the target. The effect becomes stronger if there is a wound.
As I scanned the list, quite a few looked useful.
[Soul Binding] seems like it might be connected to that [Soul Workshop] from earlier?
"Hmm. There's a lot to buy here?"
I had DP to burn, so I could simply buy anything that looked useful.
So I bought every one of them.
"Buy them all."
-As expected of Corpse-Spirit Martial Sovereign Sensei! He's rich enough to just buy everything.
-Well, low-level skill books aren't that expensive anyway.
-Soul Binding seems like it'll link with Soul Workshop??
"Hmm......."
I stroked my chin and watched the viewers' reactions.
Shopping.
This was surprisingly fun.
"Now that I've bought the skills, I'll get back to what I was originally doing. Shall we start with construction?"
When I brought up the subdimension settings menu, the same two simple options as before appeared.
[Construction]
[Environment Creation]
When I pressed Construction like before, a list scrolled into view.
[Production], [Military], [Commerce], [Diplomacy], [Research].
I'd already finished everything under [Production].
Four remained.
When I pressed one of them, a message appeared.
[Your level is insufficient to construct additional buildings.]
What the hell!?
I was drowning in DP, and it still wouldn't let me build anything!?
-Heh! Look at Corpse-Spirit Martial Sovereign flustered!
-This is it!
-LOLOLOLOL
Judging by the viewers' reactions, they had already known.
Seriously. Had the viewers known all this stuff I didn't simply because I'd never paid attention to hunters with territories?
Ridiculous.
"You all already knew?"
-Of course, of course, of course.
-There are actually quite a few hunters with territories.
-It's a universal rule that you can't cheese territory upgrades.
"Tch. Then there's nothing else to do. Shall I go mining?"
[Cheokcheok Seoksa has donated 1 DP!]
You seriously don't seem to know anything about Necromancers. Go to the Corpse Processing Plant, make materials, and use them for Necro Item Crafting first. Aren't you going to collect soul resources?
"Cheokcheok Seoksa. What do you mean by that?"
-LOL, asking the viewers himself. What a legend.
-What does he even know? Ah! Martial arts?
-Corpse-Spirit Martial Sovereign really was a suspiciously clueless Necromancer.
[Cheokcheok Seoksa has donated 1 DP!]
Ugh...... are you seriously that dense? You need to use Soul Binding to make necro items so you can collect souls and carry them with you.
"Would you look at this viewer? I was about to perma-ban you, but you gave me good information, so I'll let it slide."
-Why is this so funny? lololol
-Corpse-Spirit Martial Sovereign really was a Necromancer who knew absolutely nothing.
-Still, you got good info, right? Cheers~
Setting aside the viewers' teasing, I clicked on the subdimension's [Corpse Processing Plant].