Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: The Taming of the Lich King
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[Become your lackey?]
Terry Prisoner feigned surprise at Hae-jin's sudden demand to become his subordinate.
It was only natural.
The lich had been eager for oblivion just moments ago, so this offer was utterly baffling.
Sure, Hae-jin's overwhelming strength made it believable enough.
But who was Terry Prisoner?
He was the Lich King, strongest among liches.
For the Lich King to become a mere lackey? It seemed absurd.
"Disgusted? Want me to send you off first, then?"
It was feasible.
[If my lord commands me to be his lackey, then a lackey I shall be. But you seem like a magic swordsman, my lord. Can you truly command a Lich King as your subordinate?]
Terry Prisoner's point wasn't about power hierarchies—it was a practical question of feasibility.
To command him and escape this space, Hae-jin would need to turn him into a summon. Did Hae-jin have that ability?
To his eyes, Hae-jin looked like a magic swordsman.
Hae-jin smirked at the question.
"I'm doing it because I can. Want to see?"
[Pardon? Well, if you show me...]
Terry Prisoner would obey if Hae-jin proved he could command him.
Without hesitation, Hae-jin pulled out Terry Prisoner's Life Vessel.
Seeing it, Terry Prisoner asked,
[Why do you have my Life Vessel all of a sudden...?]
Ignoring the question, Hae-jin shattered the Life Vessel from his inventory.
Crack! [Wh-what?] From Terry Prisoner's perspective, this was bewildering. Hae-jin had talked of making him a subordinate, yet now he destroyed the vessel that bound him to undeath. In other words, Terry Prisoner could now escape Hae-jin's grasp. Overjoyed, he abandoned any thought of oblivion's pain and indulged in one final burst of vitriol toward Hae-jin.
[Kuhahaha! Sending me off like this? You mad bastard, don't ever show your face again! I'd rather rot in the realm of the obliterated forever! I curse you to die a dog's death someday!]
He even extended his bony middle finger to curse Hae-jin.
But he had overlooked something crucial.
Why had Hae-jin suddenly destroyed the Life Vessel?
Hae-jin had clearly said he would make Terry Prisoner his subordinate.
So this act must be part of that process, right?
As Terry Prisoner began to dissolve with the vessel's destruction—
Hae-jin activated one of Nam Joo-hyuk's skills.
"Summon Shadow."
[Skill: 'Summon Shadow' has been cast.]
Summon Shadow.
This job skill used Chaos shadows to turn slain foes into personal minions.
Hae-jin simply hadn't needed it until now.
『Why not use 'Summon Shadow' early on? It's only useful around the tenth Trials' Arena. Even without minions, I can slaughter everything solo. Why bother?』
Coming from anyone else, it might sound arrogant.
But from Nam Joo-hyuk, it was convincing.
He truly was the strongest player and their leader, capable of soloing up to the tenth arena.
Hae-jin had inherited that prime-era prowess.
No real need for Summon Shadow.
Among past foes, the Phoenix might have been worth it...
'But couldn't use it on monsters that drop pet eggs.'
For some reason, Summon Shadow didn't work on pet-egg droppers.
Nam Joo-hyuk had theorized:
『Probably the Trials' Arena creator limited it to one summon per monster type. Curious? Ask the bastard who made this hellhole. Clear the final arena, and maybe we'll meet them.』
Nam Joo-hyuk had never reached the end either, so even he didn't know.
But that was beside the point.
Terry Prisoner hadn't dropped a pet item.
In this situation, Hae-jin used Summon Shadow.
The dissolving lich's body turned pitch black.
[Wh... what's this?!]
Terry Prisoner panicked briefly.
Then he went blank for a moment.
Hae-jin smirked.
"Perfect."
Immediately, a system window appeared before Hae-jin's eyes.
[Skill: 'Summon Shadow' converts 'Terry Prisoner's' shadow into a Chaos soldier.]
[Chaos Legion! Please set a name for 'Terry Prisoner.']
[Name: ]
A prompt to name the new Chaos soldier as he pleased.
Hae-jin pondered.
'Any reason to keep his old name?'
Absolutely not.
This was the bastard who'd cursed him the second he thought he was free.
Hae-jin gave the disrespectful lich a fitting name.
"Shit."
[Chaos Legion! 'Terry Prisoner's' name has been set to 'Shit.']
[Chaos Legion! 'Shit's loyalty decreases by 10%.]
Unlike Q and Kiyo, whose intimacy rose upon pet conversion, Shit’s intimacy dropped 10%.
Hae-jin knew this already.
Names affected intimacy.
But for Summon Shadow minions, the stat was "loyalty," not intimacy—hence the drop for "Shit."
Hae-jin knew the difference well.
'Intimacy needs care. Loyalty? Not so much.'
Simple reason.
He demonstrated.
Now a black shadow Chaos soldier, Shit spat curses.
[What the hell is this...]
Hae-jin called out.
"Shit."
[Who's Shit?!]
"Back to informal speech. But you get it, right, Shit?"
[Wh-what?!]
"Now that you're my Chaos soldier, you can't run anywhere."
Shit’s skull-face seemed to stiffen in realization.
He finally grasped his predicament.
To the now-aware Shit, Hae-jin said,
"You threw quite the tantrum earlier. Curses, insults, the works."
[Th-that was... just...]
Sensing he shouldn't slip into informal speech again, Shit belatedly switched to respect.
Hae-jin continued.
"You can change names anytime, but 'Shit' suits you perfectly. Right, Shit?"
[No, what kind of name is Shit...]
As Shit bristled at his name, Hae-jin partially drew his twin swords.
Shing. Seeing the blades, Shit quickly backpedaled. [...If Master calls me Shit, then Shit I am.] Fully acknowledging his subordination, he switched from "lord" to "Master" and bowed deeply. A system window appeared.
[Chaos Legion! 'Shit's loyalty increases by 10%.]
The loyalty drop from naming reversed.
Hae-jin smirked.
"Nice. You catch on quick, Shit. Keep it up."
Pat pat. Patting Shit's shoulder encouragingly. Shit cautiously addressed him. [M... Master.] "Yeah?" [As a fellow... being, could you change my name?] "You're not exactly human." [I... I'm a lich now, but I was human once.] "And?" [As one former human to another, can't you preserve my dignity?] "Human dignity?" [Yes.] "Hmm. Fine. I'll change it."
Feeling he'd gone too far, Hae-jin agreed to rename Shit. Overjoyed at escaping the vulgar moniker, Shit asked hopefully, [R-really?!] "Yeah. When your rank goes up." [Pardon?] Bewildered, Shit wondered what that meant. Rank up for a name change? Hae-jin explained to the puzzled lich.
"Yeah, Chaos soldier names can only be changed on rank-up." [S-so that means...] Hae-jin grinned.
"Yep. You're 'Shit' until then." [You bastard! Then how do I rank up?!] "By racking up contribution in the Chaos Legion." [Contribution?] "Hunt hard." [Hunt... Master!] "Yeah?" [Let's head to the next floor right now. I'll wipe them all out.] Eager to ditch "Shit," he urged immediate hunting. Hae-jin chuckled.
"Sure."
And so Hae-jin ascended to floor 96. There, he saw, "Demonic beasts appear here?"
Demonic beasts. Creatures from the demon realm. Meaning floor 96 introduced demon-world denizens. Confirming this, Hae-jin speculated. '96: demonic beasts. 97: lesser demons. 98: mid-tier. 99: greater. 100: Demon King?' He voiced it.
"If that's the pattern, the tower's finale will be brutal."
A Demon King on 100 would be tough. Such bosses appeared only in the late Trials' Arena stages. Regardless, Shit spoke up. [Master, should I take those down?] Itching to hunt the demonic beasts guarding floor 96. He had to. Contribution points meant freedom from "Shit."
Seeing Shit's enthusiasm, Hae-jin smirked.
"Yeah. Go ahead—clear them all."
A true Lich King should handle demonic beasts fine. If he could wield his full power. But one thing Shit didn't know: Charging the pack to farm contribution— He rolled on the ground, screaming pathetically. [Argh! Let go! My arm! My leg! My skull's not a ball, you fuck!] Chaos soldiers started at level 1 and had to grow from there. So Shit was just a fun chew-toy bone to the beasts. Writhing as their plaything, he wailed indignantly. [Why can't I cast my spells?!] Hae-jin explained to the frustrated lich.
"Because as a new Chaos soldier, you're stuck at 1-circle mage level." [What?! Why didn't you say so ear—ack! Tickles! Stop gnawing my ribs, you shit-eating mutt!]