70. A New Stage

The bone that had been clattering its way upward, bit by bit, gave a clatter-clatter and spilled right back to the ground. The skill had manifested successfully, but his understanding of it fell short, and that was the cause.

— Great and exalted Master. I beg you, grant me your instruction just once more!

Jo Seungcheol rattled his jawbone uproariously.

“Mm. Nope.”

— Master!!!

“Next time. Right now there’s no time.”

Since I taught it to Fafnir, I passed Raise Undead on to Jo Seungcheol too, but, well… Fafnir seems the better of them.

He too had been a Hunter whose talent reached the 7th Stellar Rank in his past life. His grasp of mana and his handling instinct weren’t bad, but set him beside Fafnir and the shine faded.

— Behold. You foolish pile of bones.
— This body was made for me by the great and exalted Master! Do not insult it.

While Jo Seungcheol still wrestled and struggled with Raise Undead, the skill had already been formally added to Fafnir’s Skills. He’d mastered the mechanics of handling spirit-power and grasped every key point of raising a corpse.

‘To think his comprehension would be even better than a born mage’s.’

Even before his regression, Yujin had passed necromancy on to numerous Necromancers and undead mages. Five years from now, once the gate called the Wail of the Dead opened in the U.S. state of Colorado and was conquered, changing class into a Necromancer would become possible as well; and after he built the Necropolis in Kaesong, several Necromancers had come to him seeking instruction.

‘Even Jo Seungcheol ranks in the top one percent, and yet this one…’

Right. It wasn’t that Jo Seungcheol fell short; it was just that Fafnir was too outstanding.

“Practice more while I’m gone.”

— I’ll build the proficiency up to 30, at the least.

“That eagerness — I like it.”

Here was a talent for necromancy to rival Yujin’s own. Add a Draconian body and dark magic on top, and how strong would he become? Trying to gauge that synergy, the corners of Yujin’s lips twitched up.

Leaving Fafnir on Yeonpyeong Island, Yujin returned to Ground Zero.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“The captain steering the boat worked harder. It was nothing much.”

“When do you mean to start capturing Yeonpyeong Island in earnest?”

At Mister Black’s question, Yujin’s eyes went round.

“Capturing it?”

“You went this time as an advance party, didn’t you? Tell me what you need, and the black market will throw its full support behind you.”

If the man-hunters seized Yeonpyeong Island first, the smuggling trade in the waters off Paju would take heavy damage too. They were men who thought of people as livestock. And since any boat bound for Ground Zero had to pass through the waters near Yeonpyeong Island, a clash with them would become unavoidable.

‘If I’d left it alone, the black market would’ve taken a real hit.’

In the vision Memento had shown him, the man-hunters had occupied the island, a current that had veered off the history from before his regression. This time the swerve ran in a direction that worked to their benefit. Ground Zero’s black market made for a fairly usable lackey… no, a business partner, after all.

“Just prepare fifty C-grade mana stones for me.”

“I’ll have them ready.”

At roughly a hundred million won apiece, he was naming some five billion won in total, and yet the man accepted it gladly. The ready agreement showed just how highly Mister Black, no, the organization called the black market, rated taking Yeonpyeong Island.

“By when can you have them?”

“Reorganizing for the island’s capture will take you three days, won’t it? I’ll have them ready within that.”

“There’s no rush.”

“Shouldn’t you move before the man-hunters make their move?”

“The capture’s already finished.”

For a moment Mister Black worked his mouth open and shut with a blank look.

“Pardon?”

“I cleared out the Rerics completely and arranged things so the man-hunters can’t come either.”

“Ah. That’s what I — but how did you ever…?”

“Trade secret.”

Yujin put his index finger to his lips and went shh.

“You’re free to use the waters near Yeonpyeong Island as you please. I can’t keep the pirates roaming the area off you, though.”

At Yujin’s manner, calmly carrying the conversation on, Mister Black gave a hearty guffaw.

“Heh heh heh. You truly are an impossible man to read.”

“C-grade mana stones. Don’t forget.”

“I said I’d support you, so of course I’ll deliver. But would it be all right for the black market to use the Yeonpyeong Island harbor?”

“Not for now. I’ll lend it to you later or some such.”

The Necropolis he’d built on the island didn’t yet possess a single proper function as a domain. Nothing whatsoever was prepared to receive guests.

It’s a Necromancer’s domain, for what that’s worth — I can’t go showing my bare face.

“Then I’ll ask you later.”

“I’ll let you know when the time comes.”

Once the Necropolis officially opens, I’ll spare you a spot.
You’d do well to set aside a generous rent.

Both to inform Mister Black of the results and to receive the mana stones as a gift(?), he crossed over to the Galaxy Pub.

“Where’d the Scraps kids go?”

“Not long after you went off on your business, Master Yujin, they left for the borderlands, they said.”

“I told them to get some rest.”

Last time too, when I sent them off on two weeks’ leave, they went and cleared a gate.

These kids.

Maybe I should confiscate their leave next time.

“Hohoho. Seems you still don’t know those friends very well.”

“What do you mean?”

“Anyone would tremble with fear the first time they see a person die. I did too.”

“That’s exactly why I gave them time to settle their minds.”

“The method differs from person to person. Resting and bottling it up inside can fester instead, you know.”

At the Madam’s point, Yujin assented at once.

“Sit still and the things you want to forget come surfacing into your head.”

“It’ll be the same for the Scraps. If anything, it seemed the fight at the pub spurred them on.”

“Spurred them on?”

“They mustn’t become a burden to Master Yujin. That sort of resolve, you know.”

Hm.

The Scraps. I’d better hear straight from them what’s going through their heads.
I’ve got business in the borderlands anyway, so I’ll swing by while I’m at it.

“Anything special going on among the three great guilds?”

“You take an interest in that side too, it seems.”

“A little.”

“A tip came in recently that a double gate formed in Daegu.”

“The phenomenon where two gates overlap?”

“You know of it. The Hunters who can enter are 2nd to 3rd Stellar Rank, but the actual difficulty would be far higher than that.”

Hm.

A double gate, was it? He mulled it over, fiddling with his chin, but the matter was decades old and didn’t surface right away.

‘Since I used up Memento on the watch, it’ll be no help.’

The holy spell itself had no cooldown, but the catch was that it could be used only once a month on any single object. He’d already spent the Pocket Watch of Kronos peering at the fortuitous encounter hidden on Yeonpyeong Island. Whatever happened inside the double gate, whatever reward lay hidden there, he’d have to confirm in person.

‘So Memento had a blind spot like this too.’

He wasn’t all that disappointed. Thanks to it, he’d come away with the Shard of the Void, and no run-of-the-mill reward could compare with the Catalyst he’d found on Yeonpyeong Island.

“Has the Arahan Guild decided to take on the double-gate capture?”

“Only half right.”

“Since it’s a double structure, I suppose they’re entering jointly with one of the two — Dawn or Phoenix.”

“No fun. How do you infer all that from those few words?”

“You gave me all the information.”

“I did drop a hint, but I didn’t expect you to guess it outright.”

A double gate, and a joint capture by two guilds. The crown of his head prickled.

It’s a story I’ve definitely heard before.

“Ah!”

“What is it?”

“Just had my mind on something else for a moment.”

Turning away from the Madam, who watched him with a dubious look, Yujin chewed over the thought that had just surfaced.

‘The place where Jang Miseon died.’

She was the Phoenix prospect they called the next Sword Saint, the one who’d captured the famously impregnable Forgotten Shrine. Wary of Phoenix charging up toward the country’s number-one spot, Arahan had dug a trap and, in the end, done away with Jang Miseon.

‘The moment I heard “double gate,” I had a sense of déjà vu.’

Well, now. A wry smile touched the corner of his mouth. He’d known she had died caught in a conspiracy. But exactly what the ‘trap’ Arahan laid had been, that had never come to him in any concrete form.

If I knew even roughly, I could at least warn her.

‘It’s a chance to deal Arahan a blow and put Phoenix in my debt at the same time, isn’t it.’

‘It will, sure.’

‘Butterfly effect, twisted causality — if I’d been going to fret over that sort of thing, I’d never have attempted regression in the first place.’

The future changes, this way or that. No.

I’ll make it so by my own strength.
How might twisted causality stir up a backlash down the line — I don’t know?
‘On the contrary, that’s exactly what I want.’

The more the future changes, the more useless the information and fortuitous encounters Yujin knows of become. But that’s no reason to stop pressing forward.

‘What’s gotten into you, praising me for once.’

‘That hero’s anthem of his.’

After snorting out a laugh, he picked up the phone.

So this is how I end up using the contact I had her give me.

— Brrr. Brrr. Brrr.

“Huh? Master Yujin!”

“You sound well, hearing your voice.”

“Well, my foot! What with prepping for a capture, I’ve been just absolutely…”

“The double gate?”

“Heh heh heh. To think even you’d recognize it, Master Yujin — what an honor. What I learned from my master helped a ton.”

“Master?”

“Master Fafnir, I mean.”

When did the two of you go and form a master-disciple bond.

“Is there nobody at Phoenix?”

“Ugh. There’s nobody who pinpoints my weak spots as precisely as the master does, like tweezers.”

“You’re saying things that’d hurt your guildmaster’s feelings if he heard.”

“Learning from the master. I got the guildmaster’s full permission for it, so it’s fine.”

Phoenix’s guildmaster, Kim Yeongsu, had built one of the country’s three great guilds; his skill wasn’t bad, and his character was decent too.

“Is this about the reward, by any chance?”

“Something like that. It doesn’t have to be money, does it.”

“That’s true. Within the limits of what I can do, I’ll help with anything.”

“This capture. Can you fit my team in?”

Think carefully, Jang Miseon.
The only road to your survival is to take the hand I’m holding out now.
Without a variable, you’ll die for certain in that gate.

‘If she dies, how am I supposed to collect the heart-stone or anything else?’

‘Lord Constellation, sir. Your jokes have grown a great deal sharper.’

Yujin himself didn’t remember which gate she’d breathed her last in, either. If he hadn’t caught the words ‘double gate’ and ‘Arahan,’ the thought would never have crossed his mind at all.

“That’s nothing at all. Let’s do that.”

Jang Miseon answered so gladly it made his nervousness look ridiculous.

“Aren’t you agreeing a bit too easily?”

“The guildmaster’s left the whole business of putting the gate-capture team together to me this time, you see.”

“Then tell me the date and place.”

“Oh, right. Name something else for the sparring reward. This one’s too trivial.”

— Click.

This kid. What on earth. A chance to help the Phoenix Guild and deal Arahan a blow had come up, all well and good, so why this dazed feeling?

The double-gate capture was five days out. He’d have a short meeting with the Phoenix Guild to fit in too, so he’d need to join up with them by four days prior.

‘No time to rest.’

Grumbling, Yujin headed for the borderlands. Taking the byway the Red Spider had used, he moved north.

“Keh keh keh-kek. Human!”

— Insolent creature. In place of the great and exalted Master, I shall educate you.

— Kwaang!

Jo Seungcheol incinerated the monsters with maximum firepower, down to the very bone fragments.

“You bastard. You’ve got to leave at least the bones to make undead out of them.”

— My apologies. In my single-minded zeal to correct the brute’s insolent conduct, I overdid it!

“Ugh. Let’s keep it in moderation. Moderation.”

— I’ll bear it in mind. Great and exalted Master!!

He sprayed mana clean across the floor every time he fought.

I’ll have to leave Jo Seungcheol’s training to Fafnir too when there’s time.

Gaining a clearer sense of self once he became a Dark Minion was all well and good, but somehow a fair few of his screws had come loose.

“Answer my call.”

The monsters in this area were 1st to 2nd Stellar Rank at best. Their abilities in life fell short of yielding undead on the order of a Returner or a Skeleton Warrior.

‘Well, an Armored Zombie’s plenty, so it’s fine.’

The road to the Black Herb farm was relatively safe, since the Red Spider periodically cleared the monsters out. Yujin himself had hunted there to secure corpses while preparing for the spider hunt. As a result, nothing dangerous arose.

How long had he walked.

— Ssssss.

A grim, gloomy mist drifted into view, the smoke the Black Obelisk spun out.

“Huh? Bro!! We’re over here!!”

A clear, ringing voice bored into his ear. Looking toward where it had leapt out of the mist, he saw the three of them taking a rest.

“You look better than I expected?”

Carrying a proposal to head not toward a fixed future but toward a new stage, Yujin reunited with the Scraps.