30. Necropolis (1)

The door to the boss room stood ahead. Ore glowing with a red light clung to the walls around it, here and there.

Yeah. Pretty pricey.

They ranged from flecks the size of a watermelon seed to chunks as big as a fingernail. Swollen from drinking in the gate’s mana, the blood-stones caught the eye.

No wonder the Red Spider clings to it and won’t let go.

Yujin pulled his gaze from the wall at once.

Let the tail grow too long, and you get caught.

Yujin let out a short, low laugh.

It’s just knowing the difference between what’ll give you a stomachache and what won’t.

A gate like this was worth more than a gold mine, and these few men wouldn’t be the only safeguard the Red Spider had set in place. Even with the formation-array jamming their communications, it wouldn’t be long before they noticed something had gone wrong.

I have to clear the gate and slip out before that.

Yujin laid his hand on the iron door set at the end of the burrow.

— Ki-ki-ki-giik!

The door slid open to either side with a raucous din.

The boss monster of the crimson camouflage was a large slime with no fewer than three cores lodged in its body.

“Kkyuing!”

The boss let out a strange shriek and burst apart. A boss in name only; against Fafnir it couldn’t hold out for long.

Fafnir snorted through his nose like a living man.

— Hmf. How dull.

“It’s not as if the Red Spider couldn’t clear it either.”

A boss they’d deliberately left standing so they could keep mining blood-stone. When Fafnir, who carried the strength of the upper Third Rank, wrung out the last of his spirit-energy and bore down in a fierce assault, it didn’t last long. A small bead and a skill book dropped from the slime’s ruptured body.

Its output’s too low to use as a golem’s drive-core. Don’t worry, it won’t overlap in position — as it happens, I’ve already got a corpse the Slime Core would suit nicely. The Energy Bolt skill book is an unexpected bonus, too; magic skill books are rare, after all. I can sell it off, or hand it to Lee Seongmin of the Scraps.

When he finished the clear and stepped back out, the bright moonlight was still there to greet him.

“Faster than I expected.”
“Were you so sure I’d pull it off?”
“I figured the odds were good. That’s why I put in the commission.”

The famed owner of the Galaxy Pub rates me pretty generously.

“And the Red Spider?”
“They’ve caught on that the comms are cut. They’ll be moving soon, by the sound of it.”

— Then this is hardly the time to take it easy, is it?

“He’s a man who’ll already have set himself an escape route.”

Yujin’s reply was unruffled.

“No fun to needle at all, this one.”

Oh Hyeonjeong muttered it under her breath and took the lead.

Back at the pub, Yujin’s party regrouped. Oh Hyeonjeong hauled a machine the size of a compact car out of the storeroom.

MIS-4

A next-generation magitech engine built by Myth Industries.

“Would you care to check whether it’s genuine?”
“You wouldn’t pull a trick at a time like this.”
“Wellll— I’ll at least show you it runs properly.”

She hooked it up to a generator. When she pressed the start button, a thump, thump, thump, thump! burst out as the stilled heart of steel roared to life, beating loud and wild with a thunderous din.

Mana radiated outward from the engine in a steady wavelength.

“A usable output.”
“If a defect turns up later, I can’t take responsibility for it, mind.”
“Isn’t that a bit unkind?”
“It’s a prototype. You’ll have to allow for problems cropping up down the line.”

Oh. Is she just sharp, or does she actually know?

The MIS-4 was a half-finished engine, a fatal flaw built into it from birth. Press it into service as a golem’s core with no countermeasures and it would break down before long.

She’s leaving herself room to bow out. I’d meant to milk that engine defect for a little leverage later on — getting even one weakness on her is hard.

“I won’t hold it against you if the goods turn out faulty, so throw in a little extra service.”
“A delivery?”
“Yeah. It’s a bit big to haul around myself.”

When he gave her the address of Shin Junseok’s workshop, the Madam’s eyes curved slightly.

“You’re close by, are you?”
“I’ll mostly be working out in the borderlands.”
“I may not get to see you again, then.”
“Why don’t you hold a rite praying for me to drop dead, while you’re at it?”

Muttering it shortly, Yujin shot a glance at Fafnir standing behind him.

— Clatter.

“What’s this?”
“The Red Spider bastards’ goods.”
“The Galaxy Pub specializes in brokering commissions, you know?”

If I unload these myself, it’s as good as broadcasting who hit the Red Spider. The least she can do is throw in some after-sales service.

A faint crease formed on Oh Hyeonjeong’s flawless brow.

“A promise made is a promise kept. Only, I’ll have to take a commission fee.”
“Ten percent.”
“You do know stolen goods start at forty percent minimum?”
“Come on. Keeping my identity hidden from the Red Spider was one of the commission’s terms.”

Yujin didn’t give an inch. For Oh Hyeonjeong, being hauled along at someone else’s pace was a rare experience.

“…Fine.”
“I’ll write down an account number, too.”

The sly, oily smile on Yujin’s face as he picked up the pen was downright maddening.

With his business in Ground Zero wrapped up, the road back to Shin Junseok’s workshop proved rougher than expected. The biggest problem was Fafnir. The Ring of Black Darkness could store only one corpse, so stowing Fafnir would mean giving up Jo Seungcheol’s body.

That’d be a bit of a waste. Quick Reload ranks upper-mid even among magic-line Hunters’ unique traits — turn him undead and he’d be plenty useful. Raise his tier, toss in a few catalysts, and I’d have a minion worth working to the bone for years.

— Why not carry the corpse along while you’re delivering that engine?

“Public order in this country isn’t so easygoing.”

Load up a corpse, run into the cops, and then what?

He loaded Fafnir onto the truck and made straight for the edge of the borderlands.

“Call on me for this kind of job anytime.”

The truck driver, handsomely paid, had a smile blooming across his whole face.

“Partner. You actually made it back in one piece.”
“Why. Were you hoping I’d come back short an arm or two?”
“It’s Ground Zero we’re talking about, of all places. I’d have believed you if you’d told me you were a ghost.”
“Ah. As it happens, I’ve got a ghost to introduce you to.”

“Kihihit!”

Jo Seungcheol, raised as a wraith, sprang out with a ghostly wail.

“Augh, damn it!!”
“Heh heh heh. What are you so startled about?”
“How am I supposed not to be? A wraith just jumped out at me!”

One of Yujin’s cheeks curled up.

A masterpiece. A genuine masterpiece. So even the future Grand Alchemist is scared of ghosts.

“About the potion certification and the mass production…”
“Let’s talk later. I haven’t slept a wink.”

In Ground Zero he’d worn himself ragged chasing down where the ambushed Oh Hyeonjeong had been taken, gone so far as to clear a 3rd-Rank-difficulty gate single-handed, and fought the Red Spider’s Hunters in the process.

— Hearing you say you’re tired, you finally seem a bit human.

“Did you take me for some kind of undead?”

— Not undead, exactly, but I did take you for a close relation of theirs.

He just breathed well, that was all. Treating a perfectly healthy man like a corpse was going a bit far.

“Partner. Rest over here.”

Shown to the break room off the workshop, Yujin let his eyes drift shut. A little while later, for the first time since he’d turned back the clock, he dreamed.

His consciousness lay sunk in a swamp of drowsiness, until a single ray of light pierced the crown of his head and roused his mind.

I’ve barely had my eyes shut a moment.

He furrowed his brow and lifted his eyelids.

“Huh?”

A baffled voice slipped past his parted lips. Where the white ceiling had been a moment ago, a colossal giant now filled his vision, looming against a blacked-out world.

Kronos?

Popping up in someone’s dream without warning is a problem. You ought to guarantee a man a little privacy.

At Yujin’s short grumble, Kronos burst out laughing.

The space looked much like the scene he’d witnessed in the Pantheon. The one difference was that Yujin’s ‘star,’ which back then had glimmered faintly among countless Constellations, now stood alone, scattering its light in lofty solitude.

So this is what the ones who’d taken a Constellation’s sponsorship were talking about.

Hunters with a patron Constellation often found their spirits drawn to its hall while they slept, a boon earned by growing closer to one’s patron. A Hunter summoned that way, it was said, would frequently receive a stronger blessing; and even when nothing came of it, an audience with so mighty a spiritual being could bring an enlightenment all its own.

So you’re not going to give me anything?

You’re a Titan. Of course you’d be huge.

Goddamn it. Even achievement quests in games tell you where to go. Spell it out for me in a little more detail.

— Snap!

Kronos flicked his fingers.

Obtain a Relic. Build a temple. Craft new undead. The third takes care of itself as my realm rises. The trouble is the Relic and the temple — hard to manage either right away.

Yujin didn’t dwell on the Relic for long. There was, after all, one more way to raise his standing as a Constellation.

Can’t I wheedle a few more holy spells out of you, by any chance?

Sharp as a knife, this one.

The Wedge of Retribution and the Unholy Blessing had both served him so well that they’d whetted his appetite. He clicked his tongue at the regret of it, then cut the stray thoughts short. His business here was done. The moment he set his mind on severing the connection with the hall, the starlight pouring down over his head grew steadily fainter.

— Hwaaam.

Yujin stretched and rolled his head from side to side. His stiffened body loosened by degrees, joints cracking.

— You must have been quite tired.

“How long was I out?”

— Half a day.

“Slept longer than I thought.”

Kicking off the bed and getting up, Yujin headed for the Scraps’ lodging. Kang Minho, who’d just finished a meal, dipped his head.

“Boss. You’re up?”
“Where are the others?”
“They’re brushing their teeth, so they’ll be along soon.”
“Good. As it happens, I’ve got something to tell the three of you.”

Yujin perched on the edge of the makeshift mattress laid out in the lodging. A little later, the Scraps gathered in the room.

Big Bro. What’s with the mood?
Why’s the boss putting on this whole solemn act?
Beats me. He just turned up out of nowhere.

As the Scraps traded uneasy glances, Yujin slowly parted his lips.

“What’s your reason for being Hunters, the three of you?”
“To make a pile of money, obviously.”

The honest answer shot out without a moment’s hesitation, and Yujin grinned.

“A good attitude.”
“I figured you’d call it crass.”
“I figured you’d spout some nonsense about a noble cause or wanting to be a hero.”
“Come on. If that were it, would we be tagging along after you?”

Still unable to guess the intent behind the question, Kang Minho answered honestly all the same.

“I’ll make you one offer.”

When Yujin held up his index finger, the Scraps’ eyes went to the fingertip without thinking.

“Become my subordinates. Officially.”
“Weren’t we already working as your subordinates?”
“Right now it’s a provisional contract. And once my achievements climb, you won’t even be able to keep up, will you?”

The Scraps were all 1st Rank. If he set his mind to it, he could outstrip their realm inside a fortnight.

“So that’s what you mean by ‘officially.’”
“You’ll need to be able to at least keep on my heels.”

What he meant was simple: they could stand at his side only so long as they weren’t, at the very least, dead weight. In other words, they had to get strong.

“If we follow you, can we get strong?”
“It’ll be brutal enough to kill you. Every single day you’ll be drowning in regret, screaming your lungs out.”
“So what you’re saying is, it won’t be so easy that we’d fall behind.”

Yujin smiled gently. Reading the unspoken yes in that smile, Kang Minho shot to his feet.

“I want to follow you, Boss.”
“You two as well?”

Meeting Yujin’s eyes, the rest of the Scraps cried out a beat behind.

“Y-yes!”
“Work us hard, just short of killing us!”

Half scared out of their wits, and yet burning to come along all the same.

Two future rankers, begging to be taken on as his subordinates: it left him with an odd feeling.

Though one of them, I still can’t quite place him.

“Then pack your bags. The road of hardship starts now.”
“Where are we headed?”
“The place we went a few days back.”
“The borderlands… is it.”
“This time we’ll be staying a good while, so stock up on plenty of emergency rations while you’re at it.”

He was planning on at least a month or so in the borderlands. A necropolis: a ‘domain’ to call wholly his own, the beating heart of necromancy.

You lot will get stronger too, coming along — though it’ll be hard enough just to kill you.