Chapter 104
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 104
Chapter Title: Birth of the Death Knight
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After the canyon reward settlement wrapped up.
Shin-hyeok ended the broadcast.
"Then, see you tomorrow."
Aaah, my world has ended...
Just log off already.
Sob sob, the streamer is going idle! What's the point of living anymore!
Not going far.
Shinba~
Shorthand for Shin-hyeok Bara~
Hit your head real hard and the stream turns right back on?!@#!
Totally a pro tip. Can I smack your head first?
The viewers were bummed out, but there wasn't much else to stream anyway, and with daily broadcasts planned for the foreseeable future, they let Shin-hyeok off the hook.
Truth be told, it wasn't like they had much choice in the matter.
What could they do if Shin-hyeok decided to go idle?
Nothing.
So they couldn't stop him and chose to say their goodbyes before things got ugly.
Once the broadcast ended and he was alone, Shin-hyeok glanced around the now-quiet surroundings before pulling the Necromancy Pill from his inventory.
"Gotta show this to Hyo-rin first before eating it. If I swallow it without showing her, she might 'Lu Bu' me."
[Necromancy Pill]
- Classification: Spiritual Medicine [Legendary]
A spiritual medicine crafted solely from the pure essence of death belonging to departed souls.
Consuming it grants a massive amount of death energy.
* Caution! Improper consumption may cause the medicine's potency to run rampant.
The Necromancy Pill was a pitch-black, muddy-colored elixir that looked utterly unappetizing.
But if word got out that it was a legendary spiritual medicine, even passing dogs would roll their eyes back and charge at it.
Of course, with someone even scarier than that—Hyo-rin—around, Shin-hyeok headed straight to her workshop with the pill in hand.
"Dad's here? Watched the stream. That's the legendary spiritual medicine you got this time, right?"
"...You watch my streams too?"
"What kind of daughter would I be if I didn't watch my dad's streams? Now, hand it over."
"Isn't strong-arming the spiritual medicine your dad busted his ass for even more unfilial?"
"Hmmm, not giving it up? For real?"
"I'll give it, so put down that flask first."
Hyo-rin welcomed Shin-hyeok warmly.
Or more precisely, she welcomed the Necromancy Pill in his hand.
If he didn't hand it over, it felt like whatever was bubbling in that flask would smash into the back of his head, so Shin-hyeok quietly surrendered the pill.
"Hehe, Dad's the best!"
"Feels like that 'Necromancy Pill Dad gave me' just got memory-holed. Nah, just my imagination?"
"Just your imagination. Where else would you find a daughter as filial as me?"
"...Right."
Hyo-rin thanked him, but her eyes had long since left Shin-hyeok. She returned to her workstation with the pill, giggling as she analyzed it with all sorts of tools.
"Scary. Truly scary."
Even a mad scientist steeped in frenzy turned into a mere cheerful researcher in front of Hyo-rin.
Shin-hyeok shook his head at the sight.
"Done. You can take it back now."
"Already? Isn't that too fast?"
"Saw everything I needed. What I want isn't the ingredients or anything—it's the crafting technique. No need to dig deeper."
"Gotcha. Was it helpful?"
"Plenty! System spiritual medicines definitely have a different vibe from player-made ones. System stuff feels factory-produced, while player ones are handmade?"
"Isn't handmade usually better?"
"Dad. Would you prefer something from a state-of-the-art automated factory or something handmade stitch by stitch in a home workshop?"
"...Ah."
"Exactly. Factory stuff is usually superior. Handmade loses out to mass production most of the time. But there are handmade items that beat factories—and people call those luxury goods."
Having extracted everything she needed, Hyo-rin hummed a tune as she handed the pill back.
She looked thrilled at successfully stealing a glimpse of the system's crafting tech from the pill.
"Hang tight a bit. I'll mass-produce luxury versions like factory goods."
"You're plenty good already... but I'll look forward to it."
"Oh, and take these potions while you're here. You must've used some recently and run low, right? These are custom-made for you, so the effects are even better."
"...This is how you turn into a doting dad. Hyo-rin, you're the best!"
With the potions she'd made just for him piled on top, Shin-hyeok felt his heart swell.
Of course—
"I've been short on research funds lately, and there are materials I wanna buy..."
"Denied."
"Aaaah! Why! The mood was so heartwarming! Weren't you supposed to tear up and yell, 'Anything my daughter wants!'?"
"If you're whining this much, you've already blown through your allocated budget and the secret slush funds. Of course not!"
"Spiritweed! Starwind Flower! Milky Way Herb! Buy them! Buy them! Buyyyy themmm!"
"...Ow, my head."
The emotion was short-lived.
Seeing Hyo-rin flop to the floor, spinning windmills and throwing a tantrum, gave Shin-hyeok a headache like nothing else—not even facing a Diamond player.
He crammed the prepared potions from the corner of the workshop into his inventory and made a hasty escape.
It drove home once again how tough parenting was and why parents were so great.
Shin-hyeok returned to the All Mighty Guild.
The guild had finished construction after that event where he'd rounded up ministers from various countries for a massive shakedown.
His reason for coming wasn't anything special.
"Time to use the training chamber."
It had cost a fortune, but the All Mighty Guild now boasted a top-tier training chamber.
Training chamber.
A facility that used powerful mana concentration arrays to gather ambient mana and create artificial spirit veins. Absorbing spiritual medicines here massively boosted efficiency, so most guilds had their own dedicated chambers.
They were so essential that even player gyms and sparring arenas often included them.
Shin-hyeok knew this well, and with Hyo-rin as an endless supply of spiritual medicines, he'd spared no expense to build the best one possible to maximize efficiency—not just for himself, but for his guildmates too.
We'll need to recruit foreign players later, so a premium training chamber is a must.
Player training facilities were handled by Shin-woo's All Mighty Gym, spiritual medicines by Hyo-rin's Paracelsus, and gear by Se-jin's Myth Workshop.
The All Mighty Guild's training chamber was just the icing on top.
Made with rare, unique, and even legendary materials, Shin-hyeok became its first user. He sat cross-legged in the center and pulled out the Necromancy Pill.
[Necromancy Pill]
-Classification: Spiritual Medicine [Legendary]
"As expected of a legendary item."
Massive death energy.
And the risk of potency rampage.
That was the key.
The system explicitly stating it meant an enormous amount of death energy was packed into the pill.
Enough to potentially go berserk.
Living as a player meant reading between the lines of these messages.
A single word or phrase could hold everything sometimes.
Having grasped the pill's details, Shin-hyeok sat cross-legged in the center of the chamber and drew up his death energy.
Tsssseeeeeek!
A murky energy blending black and gray oozed from him in thick waves.
The kind that made you want to keep your distance just looking at it.
This was death energy.
Born of death, closest to death itself.
The living felt repulsed and averse to it.
The dead, the revived, and those close to death welcomed it.
Raising Necromancy to Challenger rank—S-rank—makes death energy practically essential. Perfect timing.
It synergized perfectly with Necromancy.
To reach S-rank Necromancy required not just personal skill but acknowledgment from the undead. If you wanted mastery, you needed it.
Unless you were born with a legendary physique like Necromancy Body or Death Soul Body.
Anyway, thoughts aside, Shin-hyeok synchronized his death energy with the pill's.
Even the same energy had subtle differences.
Like how no two humans were identical—even identical spiritual medicines carried unique energies.
So for these elixirs, syncing your energy to match wavelengths was crucial.
Once synced.
Shin-hyeok slammed his death energy into the pill and tossed it into his mouth.
Pssshhh!
The pill dissolved into powder the moment it hit his tongue and slid down his throat.
...Disgustingly bad. On par with Hyo-rin's special potions? Do I have to like this?
It tasted awful.
Enough to assault even Shin-hyeok's palate, toughened by Hyo-rin's custom brews.
Like a mix of dust clumps, roasted barley tea powder, and hardtack—dry, chewy, throat-clogging.
But Shin-hyeok ignored it and focused on the energy seeping into his body.
Kuoooooo!
Perfectly digested, the massive death energy erupted in full force.
It surged through his body like a torrent.
Fierce enough to terrify most players.
Death energy especially risked corrupting and damaging mana rods in the flesh.
But not for Shin-hyeok.
[Mana Circuits]
* Classification: Trait [Legendary]
Replaces mana rods with intricate mana circuits.
└Massively increases mana recovery speed.
└Massively increases mana stat acquisition.
└Massively increases mana output.
└Massively increases mana manipulation.
First up: the legendary trait, Mana Circuits.
It upgraded mana rods to a superior stage, inherently tougher.
[All Master]
-Classification: Job [Unique]
└Additional bonuses to learning all skills.
└Additional bonuses when using all skills.
└Can wield mutually opposing energies.
Second: his unique job, All Master.
One of the pillars defining his current self, with major contributions.
Beyond that, countless abilities filled him.
Trait: Versatile let him freely handle this new death energy his body had never encountered before.
Trait: Predation devoured the resisting energy.
And above all, his experience climbing to Challenger in the integrated league pre-regression.
Mobilizing everything, Shin-hyeok fully consumed the pill and reaped sweet rewards.
Stat: Death Energy +1,108
"Hit the stat cap."
A whopping 1,108 death energy.
Impressive for a legendary spiritual medicine, but ambiguous.
But with stat caps in play, it wasn't bad.
Plus, excess potency didn't just vanish.
That remainder was what Shin-hyeok aimed for.
Kiiiiiiing!
He'd absorbed about a third.
Condensing the remaining two-thirds' massive death energy, he began shaping an undead.
His strongest current undead was the Dullahan.
A monster that could match even Diamond players.
Low Diamond at best, and unstable, but still incredible.
Few magic players could command Dullahans; only the otherworldly Demon Emperor commanded multiples.
But Shin-hyeok went further.
Call a soul, craft its vessel.
Necromancy.
The art of commanding departed souls.
Summon one from the past.
Dimension Arena and system aid made summoning easy.
Crafting a fitting vessel was the hard part.
But with the Necromancy Pill's death energy, it was different.
Like a master potter, Shin-hyeok swiftly shaped a vessel for the soul, then shoved the summoned soul inside with Necromancy.
Kagagagagak!
Implanting the soul wasn't smooth.
Souls were unique; vessels standardized.
Forcing the soul to adapt was like cramming into ill-fitting clothes.
No one wants to wear clothes that don't fit.
Souls were no different.
Necromancy—and the necromancer's skill—made it possible.
Shin-hyeok excelled here.
—...Are you my new master?
"Yes."
—Death Knight, Muskar. I pay respects to my new master.
Thud!
Final adjustments complete, the soul settled perfectly into the body Shin-hyeok crafted. Clad in heavy armor, it knelt in salute.
The moment Shin-hyeok's first S-rank skill was born.