Damn Necromancer

Chapter 42

[Translator – Prøks]

[Proofreader – Prøks]

Chapter 42: Divine Beast (2)

[Divine Beast ‘Rainbow Phoenix’ is with you!]

[You have acquired the title ‘Master of the Divine Beast’!]

[You can name the Divine Beast!]

“What should we name it?”

—Hmm. How about Rainbow?

“Rainbow? Seriously?”

—Coo.

Rainbow Phoenix tilted its head.

—…Hail and Myra…

Smack!

—Coo.

“Let’s see. Since its body is white, let’s call it Whitey. How about that?”

—Coo.

“You like it? Oh, how cute, our Whitey.”

[The Divine Beast’s name has been set to ‘Whitey’!]

Pat.

“Whitey, Lets go eat.”

—Coo!

Flap!

Whitey approached the fragments.

[Divine Beast, Whitey, activates its racial trait!]

[Attribute Adaptation begins!]

[It has perfectly adapted to the Ice attribute!]

Whitey’s small body made contact with the fragment without a hitch.

Its tiny claws gripped the fragment firmly.

Then, with a series of sharp pecks, Whitey began to break the fragment into pieces.

Its beak was so strong that the fragment crumbled like a cookie.

‘Wow, it’s that easy?’

Whitey devoured the fragment with gusto, as if it were a delicacy.

With each bite, the temperature around them seemed to rise noticeably.

Shortly after…

[Winter Fragment has been consumed!]

[‘Whitey’ has consumed an Ice Attribute Fragment!]

[Ice Attribute has increased by 20%!]

[80% remaining until complete awakening of Ice Attribute!]

—Coo

.

Whitey let out a satisfied chirp, its belly full from devouring the fragment that was even bigger than itself.

It stretched its wings and fluttered towards Minwoo.

“Was it good?”

—Coo.

Whitey perched on Minwoo’s shoulder and nodded. A portion of the fur on its neck had turned a shade of blue, resembling ice.

Then…

[‘Whitey’ is sharing attributes with its master!]

[Ice Attribute can now be utilized!]

[Ice Attribute resistance has increased by 20%!]

“……?”

Minwoo blinked at the message.

“Whitey, cancel the sharing.”

[‘Whitey’ is no longer sharing attributes with its master!]

[Returns to Attributeless State!]

‘Insane…’

Kim Minwoo’s face hardened into a grimace.

“Cedric.”

—What’s the matter?

“Does Rainbow Phoenix share attributes with its master too?”

—Didn’t I tell you? I’ve never seen anyone raise Rainbow Phoenix. It’s uncharted territory. Why did you do that?

“Oh, I got the Ice Attribute, but it’s canceled now.”

—That’s… incredible.

Cedric’s expression turned serious, and Minwoo felt the same way.

The ability to freely share and receive attributes.

They both instinctively realized how formidable this power was.

At first glance, gaining attributes seemed like a tremendous boon.

However, it was a double-edged sword.

‘Attributes have affinities.’

Gain a water-related attribute?

Fire attributes will eat it up.

But if you’re attacked with wood-based attacks, you’ll take double the damage.

The more attuned you become to an attribute, the more pronounced this effect becomes.

‘So, wouldn’t it solve the problem if you just acquired all the attributes?’ one might ask.

‘But that’s not possible.’

Trying to raise a water attribute while also having a fire attribute?

Not only will the water attribute not grow properly, but the fire attribute will also die off.

The moment an attribute becomes fixed, the range of attributes you can raise is significantly reduced.

This was precisely why Minwoo had been hesitant to consume the Ice Attribute Fragment.

Not only was it risky to eat, but…

‘Locking into a single attribute isn’t necessarily a good thing.’

It would be a great advantage against those weak against ice.

Conversely, it would hinder him against those with an affinity for ice.

Right now, his own attributes were close to neutral.

He didn’t have any particular strengths, but he didn’t have any weaknesses either.

If anything, his main attribute was Death.

‘It has no affinity.’

This was because the Light, his natural enemy, was rarely effective due to its high rank.

Anyway.

It was in this situation that Whitey’s ability shone.

The ability to share any attribute he wanted, whenever he wanted.

‘It’s an insane ability.’

It was simply an overpowered effect.

He hastily looked at Cedric.

“Hey, can Rainbow Phoenix counter attribute opposites? Like, if it eats ice, will its effect be halved when it eats fire?”

—…..No. It won’t be affected. If that were the case, it wouldn’t be called a Divine Beast.

“Oh, my boy!”

He lifted Whitey up and spun around.

Those words had just skyrocketed Whitey’s value dozens of times over.

Any attribute-related items that came up in the future?

He could just feed them all to Whitey.

And he could even selectively choose the most crucial attributes.

Just thinking about the main attributes that came to mind, there were several.

Fire, wood, wind, earth, electricity, and so on…

And he could just share the attributes that were appropriate for the situation.

‘If I just raise it…’

Gate raids would become several times easier in the future.

Monsters would love to be hit with their opposites.

With the little guy chirping happily on his shoulder, he stepped out of the dungeon.

The sun was shining brightly in the sky, where just moments ago a blizzard had raged.

—Chwiik! Sunlight

—It’s warm!

The orcs, their faces relaxed under the sun, were sprawled out here and there. The elves, too, were rejoicing in the sunlight.

A warm breeze blew through the north.

And then it happened.

As if time inside the gate had stopped, everything froze.

[Gate Clear Rewards are being granted!]

[You have cleared the gate through a special route!]

[The effect of the ‘Mysterious Necklace’ has changed significantly!]

[Some of the effects of the title ‘One Who Walks the Hero’s Path’ have been activated!]

[Your level is too low to proceed to the next stage!]

[Exiting the gate!]

—Coo?

“Huh?”

Before Minwoo knew it, the scenery before him had changed to his home.

‘Did I get kicked out?’

It seemed like there was a level restriction for proceeding to the next gate. He examined the Mysterious Necklace, the item he had used when he first entered the gate.

[Mysterious Necklace]

[Grade: ??]

[A necklace that has lost its evil aura and is beginning to be imbued with the spirit of a hero.]

[Effect 1: A medium to proceed with ‘Continent Salvation (S+)’. Previous progress will be saved until then. (Minimum requirement: Level 251 or higher)]

[Effect 2: There are two slots. It seems that something can be inserted.]

[Effect 3: This necklace can only be activated if you have the title ‘One Who Walks the Hero’s Path’.]

The Mysterious Necklace.

The item’s description had changed significantly. He clearly remembered that the initial description mentioned something about carrying out Osiris’s will.

‘Evil will has disappeared?’

Osiris’s will = evil will.

That seemed to be the meaning, no matter how he looked at it.

“This Osiris bastard…”

He didn’t know much about this guy.

No one in the gate even knew his name.

But he seemed to be planning something shady.

‘It was suspicious from the start.’

If an ordinary necromancer had encountered a chimera in the orc village, they would have immediately joined the apostle’s ranks.

And then what?

They would have worked hard to gain levels and rewards under him.

‘That must have been this bastard’s plan.’

There was no doubt that he had been trying to raise a necromancer to do something.

Maybe it was to take over their body or to deal damage to the witch.

‘You met your match when you faced me.’

Osiris.

With that name firmly in his mind, Minwoo examined the slots in the necklace.

‘This…’

He had a hunch about what it was.

One slot resembled the shape of a woman with a round-brimmed hat, and the other resembled a giant dragon.

The witch and the ice dragon.

The slots were shaped like them.

‘Is this designed so that something fits perfectly in here if I defeat those two?’

It seemed like something good would happen if he put something in there, just by looking at it.

‘I guess I need to reach level 251 first.’

Minwoo checked the new titles he had acquired.

[New Titles]

[1. Professional Commander]

[Commanded over 30,000 troops.]

[Effect: Subordinates’ morale increases by 15%.]

[2. Slayer of the Strong]

[Easily hunted monsters with a massive level gap.]

[Effect: Damage against monsters with a level difference of 200 or more increases by 20%.]

[3. Master of the Divine Beast]

[The young Rainbow Phoenix has acknowledged you as its master.]

[Effect: Mana +10]

[4. One Who Walks the Hero’s Path]

[United the power of different races and defeated the Apostle, driving back the northern cold.]

[Effect 1: All stats +30]

[Effect 2: ???]

‘Oh.’

All four titles were great.

The title ‘One Who Walks the Hero’s Path’ was especially impressive.

+30 to all stats.

And there was even another hidden effect.

‘I guess it’s a structure that will be unlocked when I proceed with ‘Saving the Continent’.’

Skills, titles, items…

The harvest was not small.

It was to the point where the investment cost was not a waste.

‘And among them, the biggest jackpot is definitely Whitey.’

This Divine Beast was the best harvest. If it hadn’t been for the Hidden Gate, it would have been difficult to easily obtain special items like the Winter Fragment.

It would have been much later that they met.

Minwoo placed Whitey on his shoulder.

“We’re together forever now.”

He would never let it go.

—Coo.

“You like that? Dad likes it too.”

After stroking the little guy’s beak, he walked out of the room. He had something to start doing now that he was out.

Crafting equipment.

It was time to meet the chairman.

* * *

“…What’s that bird on your shoulder?”

“It’s my child I got from the gate. Its name is Whitey. Say hi to grandpa.”

—Coo.

Chairman Kim, who had suddenly become a grandfather, greeted Whitey, who bowed his head, in a daze.

“So, I heard you had some business…”

“I want to start an equipment business.”

“Minwoo, you’re a necromancer, right? Where are you going to get your equipment? The equipment business isn’t easy. The competition is fierce these days, and the price of artisans is skyrocketing…”

Snap!

With a snap of his fingers, a horde of skeletons was summoned.

“Father, take a look.”

He takes out the materials and places them in front of him.

The skeletons use their crafting skills.

Since the materials were of the appropriate level, the crafting was successful quickly.

“…Huh?”

Chairman Kim rubbed his eyes.

“Am I getting old? Why don’t I see any pluses?”

“You’re seeing it right. I told you there were good things in the Hidden Gate, right? I got these there.”

“No way, the Hidden Gate gives them skills too?”

“They didn’t get them, they learned them. Don’t you know my skeletons have the ability to learn?”

“Huh…”

Perhaps it was because he was witnessing such an unbelievable sight. After exhaling a sigh as if he found it absurd, Chairman Kim’s face turned serious.

“How many can you summon?”

“Easily over a thousand.”

“Those skeletons can use their crafting skills indefinitely?”

“No, it’s not like that. They still consume mana. But there’s a trick. Resummoning.”

Crafting skills consume mana. If they kept using them, the skeletons’ mana would run out.

However, there was a way.

Minwoo could simply cancel the summons and then summon them again. This would refill their mana and allow them to be summoned again in a fully charged state.

“I can easily make tens of thousands in a day just by summoning and recalling them. As long as I have enough materials.”

“Heh…”

No labor costs.

No fatigue.

High quality.

Minwoo’s summoning ability had the potential to overturn the entire equipment market.

“What about the price?”

“I’ll sell them cheap, you know?”

Minwoo gestured with his hand.

Chairman Kim also smiled slyly.

He could already hear the groaning of the chaebols who were already involved in this market.

From the low-end market to the mid-range market.

His competitors would all be dead meat.

But the two weren’t aiming for that.

To be obsolete meant to die.

That was capitalism, that was business.

“Will it last long? You’ll need to hunt too.”

“I don’t know. But hey, why don’t you just use up all the craftsmen who’ve become unemployed by then, Father?”

“That’s true.”

If that happened, Ilsung would be in control of the market. At that point, Minwoo wouldn’t even need to put any effort into crafting.

—He could just slowly export the products as bait goods.

Chairman Kim looked at his son.

“What do you want?”

“I’ll just take the profit margin left after subtracting the material cost from the equipment I supply.”

“…Is that okay? Isn’t that too generous?”

Minwoo was both supplying the equipment and selling it cheaply.

As a result, the market share of the equipment market would increase, and he would eventually take over the entire market.

That’s why he was even willing to take an additional fee for each piece of equipment he supplied.

Just the margin?

“Father, are we going to inherit?”

“…No.”

“Ilsung should also get rid of those who are following behind at this time. We need to raise our world ranking, and we’ll be busy with a lot of things.”

“Minwoo…”

“I’ll also need Ilsung’s help to keep climbing, and there will be a lot of things I’ll need to do. We’ll have to be in this for the long haul.”

“…Minwoo, don’t you have any thoughts about the company?”

“I really enjoyed hunting. I can’t handle number games. Isn’t Hyungseok, who is studying business, here? Please pass it on to him. Ask my brother to push me a little.”

“Heh…”

Chairman Kim chuckled softly.

It was true that there had been a lot of fuss about the succession lately, even without this.

But Chairman Kim was the one who was sorry to see him act so cool.

Business sense, bold action, and even an amazing ability to adapt.

‘This guy would be great if he took over.’

Chairman Kim smacked his lips as if he was sorry.

On the other hand, Minwoo thought.

‘I’m never taking over.’

He had no intention of taking over the company. He was too busy chasing after foreign markets to get his feet tied up.

Being a successor would be a huge pain. It was best to remain a good business partner as he was now.

‘It’s profitable even now.’

Crafting skills ultimately become more proficient with use.

But what if there was a company that would endlessly supply materials?

Proficiency?

He could keep raising it for free.

He didn’t have to worry about sales at all.

Ilsung would take care of everything.

It was also a chance for the skeletons to level up. The structure was such that they would gain experience points as they used their crafting skills.

“Let’s eat this market up, Father.”

“If I can’t eat it after you’ve laid it out like this, I’m not a man. Don’t worry. I’ll flood equipment stores across the country with supplies starting tomorrow.”

He was as good as his word.

The two of them smiled slyly.

[Translator – Prøks]

[Proofreader – Prøks]