Necromancer Survival

Chapter 54

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TL: I decided to change “low-grade” necromancer to “junior necromancer” in the following chapters! I felt that low-grade is a term best used for objects, not classes.

 

     Then what’s the problem!

     The glint of my eyes beseeched for Seo Dawon to clear up this false accusation.

     “In the first place, it’s a modified contract that we made for taming monsters.
Do you think we’d be crazy to add in something like that?” Seo Dawon said.

     Conscious of Kim Sangyoon, who continued to bow his head, I mouthed, ‘Then what on earth?’

     Seo Dawon stroked his chin and contemplated, “Monsters are like beasts, so they feel safe and happy when they’re around their owners and their bellies are full.
But humans all have different ideas about what counts as a ‘good’ feeling… Doesn’t that mean this is just Kim Sangyoon’s taste?”

     Then, does that mean Kim Sangyoon’s favorite pleasant sensation is se–…..Umm…..Something in the erotic sphere?

     Ah…Then what should I do about this?

     As the person who unintentionally contributed to Kim Sangyoon’s humiliation, I hesitated.
I wasn’t sure whether or not I should apologize or make him understand the situation and my perspective.

     Seo Dawon spoke by my side, “But is that enough to drive him to tears? I was going to immediately kill him but I was patient and let him live…”

     How self-centered…

     Kim Sangyoon is obviously a macho man.
Such a person has been subjected to this weird obedience by me, someone small enough to be no match for his fists.
His mental state may be unable to endure and break…Though, I was surprised that Kim Sangyoon was such a delicate human being to cry over something like this.

     So I waited for Kim Sangyoon to calm down (in both ways) before trying to engage him again.
“Excuse me…Sangyoon-ssi.”

     “That’s…Originally the contract was used for taming monsters…I think it’s having some unintended side effects.” While I insisted that his bodily reactions were something I never desired, I couldn’t bring myself to pin the blame on the Warrior’s preferences, like Seo Dawon had said, either.

     Kim Sangyoon peered up at the sky and recollected his hold on reality.
After a while, he turned his attention back to me and asked, “…Then.
How long until I can be released from this contract?” [efn_ note] 현타 is shortened term for ‘reality awareness time’.
Basically, it means to bring oneself back from delusions or to ground themselves in reality.
I felt that ‘recollecting one’s hold on reality’ was a good English equivalent.
[/efn_note]

     “Maybe he should get used to it.
Or learn to enjoy it.” Seo Dawon sarcastically said.
He seemed to find some form of amusement in Kim Sangyoon’s mental distress.

     I ignored his words and replied, “Once we’re sure Sangyoon-ssi won’t betray us, I’ll release you.”

     To be honest, from my position, I couldn’t really say much to him other than I’m sorry that both ‘reward’ and ‘punishment’ have become so painful for him.
However, I couldn’t control his behavior without this contract…

     Of course, my words would have sounded so vague to him.
How can one quantify such ambiguous criteria as ‘confidence that you won’t betray.’

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     ‘…..Ah!’ As soon as I thought that, a good idea popped into my head.
Without delay, I manifested the ‘vow of submission’ Kim Sangyoon signed and unfurled it between us.

     “Truthfully…There’s no trust between us, right? I don’t think it’ll be easy for me to have faith in Sangyoon-ssi’s future actions; on the other hand, I don’t think Sangyoon-ssi has faith that I’ll release him from this binding contract,” I began.

     “…..That’s right.”

     “So, I’m going to write an ‘additional clause’ at the end of this contract that clearly delineates the conditions that would terminate this agreement.”

     Kim Sangyoon looked between the floating red parchment and me, eyes darting to and fro.

” ”

     As for me, I looked at Seo Dawon, who looked intrigued.
I paused until I was sure he wouldn’t intervene, “On the day Bae Jaemin dies, this contract will be terminated.”

     Kim Sangyoon stiffened, but, when I changed the parchment to reflect my new terms, he did not hesitate to agree to the additional clause.

     Originally, he betrayed us in order to endear himself to Bae Jaemin–but that was just a purely selfish decision.
He had no special loyalty to the ranker.

     Like that, the matter of the contract had ended without a hitch.

 

* * *

 

     After updating the contract with Kim Sangyoon, Seo Dawon and I returned back home and gathered in the living room.

     I had briefly forgotten–because of Kim Sangyoon’s ordeal–that I achieved my goal of reaching level 65 through power-leveling in [Owl’s Ghost Ship].
Yesterday I had leveled 7 times and today I gained 4: in total, that’s 66 levels.

     My status window now displayed the following information.

 

Name: Choi Lee-kyung – Lv 66
Class: Junior Necromancer

HP: 101,000
MP: 38,775

Title: Greenhorn Adventurer – tasting the bitterness of life!

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(While using the title ‘Greenhorn Adventurer’, movement speed will increase by 5%)

Main Stats (The three highest stats will be preferentially shown here):

Magic: 778
Magic control: 4.9%
Movement Speed: 22.7% (+5%)

Skill
– Summon evil spirits

[Summon vengeful ghosts: Proficiency 100%, Rank: Intermediate]
[Summon sacrificial offering: Proficiency 0.7%, Rank: Lowest Grade]

You can summon evil spirits through contracts to have them serve as your servants.

*If the ability of the servant is far superior to that of the summoner, a penalty may be sustained to properly maintain the contract.

There are two types of contracts: Vengeful ghost summoning and Sacrificial offering summoning.
Pressing the button for each summoning skill will start the technique.

– Low-rank skeleton Summon (1/1)
Name of the skeleton (Lackey)

The initial registration of a name in the skill above cannot be later changed.
You can summon without any restrictions, even if you are far away from your summoned spirit, if you call their name.
(Cooldown time 1 minute 30 seconds).

– Command Servants
Current number of commandable beings: (1/2)

(‘Lackey’ currently has two main skills available.)

–Possession
If special conditions are met, the servant can use the summoner’s body.

– A new servant ‘Seo Dawon’ has been added.

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(‘Seo Dawon’ Currently has 115 main skills, 33 auxiliary skills, 25 summons, and 3 powerful combat magic finishers.
However, due to the difference between the level of servant and summoner, all skill attack power has been significantly reduced and certain skills are currently unavailable.)

 

     Underneath the status window, there was a new, blinking [!] exclamation mark icon.
When I pressed my fingers to it, the [Essence of Vengeful Ghosts] all aligned in a circle before me.

 

You can now use an ‘Essence of a Vengeful Ghost.’ Please select the essence you want to sign into a contract.
*However, if the vengeful ghost refuses the contract, the essence will be destroyed and the Vengeful Ghost Contract cannot proceed

 

     Unlike before, I was able to scan the information contained within these essences.

     In the past, each of these black wedges looked the same, and even when I held them, nothing was marked on the surface nor in the system.
I couldn’t tell who was who.
But now that I passed level 65, the item information was automatically updated to include whose vengeful soul each essence contained.

     I held each soul in my hand, one by one, until–at the fourth black wedge–the message [You’ve acquired ‘Essence of a Vengeful Ghost’ – ‘Jung Garam’!] popped up.

     I held it in my hand and looked towards Seo Dawon, “I found it.”

     “Shall we get started?”

[Clack Clack!]

     I swallowed my pooling spit and nodded at the ghostly Mage.

     For a variety of complicated reasons, I did not forget to hold onto Lackey’s hand in the hand that was not holding onto the vengeful soul.
At my nod, Seo Dawon raised his hands and closed his eyes, as if he were concentrating hard.

     Soon after, a skill seemed to have been invoked.
A golden line, formed like Saturn’s rings, rose near my body.
Lackey had blocked its way, cautiously, but calmed down when I pulled its hand closer to me.

     The recently created loops slowly wrapped around my body and gradually stopped moving.
When all movement stopped, Seo Dawon opened his eyes.

     His eyes were tinged with gold–a signal to grip the ‘Essence of a Vengeful Ghost’ tightly.

     With a small tinkling sound, the essence broke like a light bulb.
After observing the powder left behind, I let go of Lackey’s hand and took out a dagger from my inventory.

     “Haaah….” Though the injury was an inevitable factor in completing the ritual, it was always nerve-wracking to harm myself.
When I placed the dagger above my palm, Lackey shook its head as if to convince me not to continue.
When I didn’t stop, the skeleton thrust its face into my arms and buried its face, unwilling to see me injured.

     With the weight of light bones pressed against my thin waist, I cut my palm.
Although the dagger had no special skills, it was still classified as an ‘item.’ Unlike normal fruit knives used in ordinary households, the blade quickly tore into my flesh.

     Though I couldn’t fully get used to this pain, after cutting myself several times in the previous Dungeon, this ‘second’ summon was bearable.

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     And, Seo Dawon watched this whole scene without even blinking his eyes.

     He didn’t rush me, but I felt a great focus on my summoning technique.
His gaze gave me the strength to grasp at my hands, eager to finish this quickly.

     As soon as the faint scent of blood wafted into the air, I turned my hands–palms facing down.

     Drops of blood dripped onto the floor; the gold rings that Seo Dawon created trembled at each splash.
Finally, the broken pieces of the essence gradually permeated into the floor.

 

You have fulfilled the conditions for summoning a Vengeful Ghost.

 

     The awaited system message didn’t appear until I felt pounding pain in my palm, as if there was another heart palpitating in the cut.

 

Replaying the memory of the deceased: ‘Jung Garam.’

    Before I could even feel relieved at the success, the memory of the deceased began to replay, just like before.

    Just before I was sucked into Jung Garam’s memory, my eyes met Seo Dawon’s… He said something to me, but I couldn’t hear his voice because the system had already been activated.

    However, I could infer what he had said through the shape of his mouth.

    ‘Have a safe trip’

    And, when [I] opened my eyes once again…

    Seo Dawon stood in front of me again, with much colder eyes than before.