novelraw Chapter 205 : Undead Revive - (1)
Chapter 205 : Undead Revive - (1)
Chapter 205: Undead Revive - (1)
After exiting the dungeon.
Once the porters who entered afterwards finished evaluating the byproducts and sharing the estimated sales amount.
The team disbanded.
To be precise, it was just Sanghyun parting ways with the group, but regardless, the raid team’s schedule was over.
Since it was a mercenary contract limited to just that one dungeon, Sanghyun had nothing more to worry about.
He already knew from the beginning that it was a test contract, so he neither expected nor was disappointed—he simply decided to wait.
He had already shown everything he could, so those three must have things they’re considering.
Sanghyun believed in the value and future of the skills he possessed.
Because he was confident he would have more skills today than yesterday, and more tomorrow than today. Regression didn’t exist for him.
Meanwhile.
The three who had sent Sanghyun off met with Frederick Villain.
Usually, he would receive reports through video calls, but this time, Frederick had summoned them directly.
Part of the reason was due to Han Hyunjeong’s persuasion, but he also had a desire to properly assess things himself.
Promising prospects don’t walk around with the word "prospect" labeled on their heads.
In the end, the only way to determine if someone is truly a prospect or just hyped is through personal judgment.
Isn’t there a saying—never buy stocks a taxi driver recommends?
It’s the same for prospects.
By the time everyone calls someone a promising talent, they’re no longer a prospect. They’re already a quasi-famous figure, ready to be made.
If Frederick determined that Sanghyun truly had high potential, he was even thinking of making a recruitment offer.
Of course, Sanghyun himself would have to accept, but he was at least planning to try.
“How was he, Shin Sanghyun?”
Frederick asked as he downed a shot of strong vodka.
It was the vodka he enjoyed, but to be exact, it was a mix of vodka and mana solution acquired from a dungeon.
One shot raised his mana by 1.
And the price of one shot? A whopping 4.9 billion won! Clearly not something to be consumed lightly.
Moreover, the mana solution was created in the dungeon for unknown reasons, so there was no known method to reproduce it.
Truly, it was something they had been lucky to obtain in a dungeon. Hence, it had no set price and very limited supply.
Frederick drank one shot of this mana vodka every day.
Thanks to it, his mana had surpassed 300.
In terms of cost-effectiveness, it was inferior to the mana coffee handled by Han Hyunjeong.
But for a player like Frederick, to whom money meant little, it was one of the surest ways to grow.
Sarah spoke.
“To get to the result—Shin Sanghyun personally took down Ashtaroth.”
“Heh heh.”
The three had expected Frederick to be shocked, but he simply laughed softly.
It could have been a poker face. Maybe he was surprised but pretended not to be.
However, Frederick himself had made the impossible real more than once, just like Sanghyun.
So instead of reacting with "How could that be?" he thought, "That might be possible."
“How did his skillset look to you?”
At Frederick’s question, Kyle, Laphern, and Sarah began to report what they saw and felt.
Though their tones and expressions varied slightly, their conclusion was the same—Sanghyun’s skills were extremely diverse.
What stood out the most was how, despite the dungeon’s severe mana recovery restrictions, he used skills almost recklessly.
Moreover, he seemed to feel almost no burden regarding stamina recovery and preferred solo play.
As he listened, Frederick found himself paying more attention to Sanghyun’s recovery ability than his diverse skills.
‘He’s enduring with health drain-related options. And he definitely has a way to forcibly recover mana.’
As expected of a guild leader who had seen it all and was a player of significant caliber, his judgment was swift.
The other three couldn’t stop wondering how Sanghyun had such abilities.
But to Frederick, that wasn’t a particularly important issue.
He got them because he obtained them. There’s no other reason.
Just because something doesn’t happen to you doesn’t mean it shouldn’t happen to others.
‘Either the way he acquires skills is different from normal players, or the Artifact’s options are seriously good.’
The more he thought about it, the more his guesses began to align with the real Sanghyun.
But even he didn’t come close to guessing that Sanghyun eats Artifacts to gain skills.
‘If even these three couldn’t find a single flaw and only had praise, then I have no choice but to meet him.’
Frederick’s eyes sparkled.
There was definitely something about Sanghyun.
Around that time.
Following Lee Yeon’s guidance, Sanghyun returned to his accommodation and was taking a break.
Perhaps because it was a hotel exclusively for the Nobility Guild, the service was excellent.
Even if he ordered unlimited room service, there were no additional charges.
Considering the daily income of the Nobility Guild, this level of cost was nothing but a drop in the bucket—or less.
“Well then, let’s take a proper look.”
Sanghyun began carefully examining the necklace he had obtained from the dungeon.
It was the necklace he had deliberately hidden because he didn’t want the three from Nobility Guild or Lee Yeon to see it.
「Ashtaroth’s Necklace」
■ Artifact Grade: Epic
■ Artifact Description: A necklace imbued with the will of Ashtaroth.
It arouses the wearer’s fiery will and provides active support for their crucial mana.
It also possesses a mysterious power that skirts the boundaries of the ‘World of the Dead.’
■ Mana +350
■ Special Skill - Undead Revive
Compared to the Cold Necklace he had been wearing, this one raised his mana by 150 more.
There was no hesitation in replacing it.
Anyway, once he eats the Cold Necklace, based on absorption rate, he’d gain an additional 120 mana.
■ Artifact Description: Grants 50% resistance to freezing attacks from undead mage-type enemies.
Furthermore, since that freezing resistance is linked to the Artifact, it will naturally be inherited once consumed.
After immediately equipping the Ashtaroth Necklace, Sanghyun examined the details of Undead Revive.
The name gave him a hint, but he was curious whether it matched the image he had in mind.
『Undead Revive』
■ Skill Level: Stage 1 (0.0%)
■ Skill Description: The user of this skill can revive one corpse.
Mana consumed scales proportionally with the corpse’s pre-death abilities and total stats.
After revival, it consumes 1 mana per second to maintain. Once its preset HP is depleted, it cannot be revived again.
With each level up, the maximum number of controllable minions increases by 1.
The current max number of minions is 1.
“Wait. So if I dump Skill Level 20 from Enlightenment into this, does that mean I get 20 minions?”
Reading the description, an interesting thought popped into his head.
It reminded him of one of Nameless Sword’s unique skills—Enlightenment.
But that idea was dismissed after a proper check.
[Enlightenment - Select one skill and raise it to max skill level. However, it must be a skill that utilizes your primary weapon, the ‘sword.’ Otherwise, it cannot be applied.]
“Knew it was too good to be true. In that case, maybe I can use my 5-Level Skill Boost instead.”
He still hadn’t used the 5-Level Skill Boost from the Blood Tower.
Commanding minions seemed like a solid direction to try. Just barely dipping his toes into necromancy.
If he used his minions to tank, Sanghyun could focus entirely on high-damage attacks.
On the other hand, if Sanghyun tanked, the minions could attack freely without worrying about defense.
After swapping necklaces, Sanghyun immediately began “eating” the Cold Necklace.
He couldn’t wear both at once, so there was no reason to keep it. And its hidden options made it too valuable to sell.
“This is a jackpot.”
What materialized before Sanghyun was a red bean bingsu filled with red beans. But something green caught his eye.
“Damn mint villain again...”
He thought he finally got the perfect dessert he liked, but there was mint topping everywhere.
Artifact meals are supposed to replicate the user’s favorite foods during their life, right?
Cold Necklace had been an Artifact Sanghyun wore for a long time. Yet mint showed up.
“Is this some kind of joke?”
Sanghyun suspected someone had pranked him, knowing he absolutely hated mint.
But since he didn’t know who was in charge of food visualization... he could only eat it.
“Damn it, how are you supposed to eat toothpaste? Ugh. Uurgh.”
As he ate, Sanghyun gagged repeatedly.
After finishing the Artifact meal, inheriting stats, and swapping accessories, his mana had reached 1,720.
Compared to mana monsters like Han Hyunjeong, it was a drop in the bucket—but for a sword-type player, it was absurdly high.
The chronic mana shortage that plagued sword players didn’t apply to Sanghyun.
Sword players’ core Artifact setups rarely included mana-boosting elements.
Even if they did, it only slightly increased mana.
And if a sword-specific Artifact did significantly raise mana?
Then you’d lose out on much more important stats like strength or stamina. You couldn’t even secure dodge or defense.
But Sanghyun could make use of mana-related Artifacts by eating them.
That was what made it possible for him to fight without worrying much about mana.
As long as he didn’t enter dungeons like Ashtaroth’s, where mana recovery was extremely restricted...
He probably wouldn’t run into any skill usage problems due to mana issues.
Even if he ever hit rock bottom, Nameless Sword’s “Bottomless Spring” option would cover him.
Sanghyun decided to use the saved-up Skill Upgrade on Undead Revive.
He figured it would be a meaningful variable for his versatility and combat style.
He had used a wide variety of skills so far, but none related to necromancy.
Once he began commanding minions in earnest, the very nature of combat would change.
He could have minions block troublesome enemy attack patterns for him.
In short, meat shields. No guilt about them dying, and he could just dispose of them after use.
[You may immediately raise the level of one designated skill to Level 5.]
[The selected skill is ‘Undead Revive.’ Would you like to proceed with the level upgrade?]
“If I’ve decided, then I’m doing it.”
The skill upgrade proceeded instantly.
As it hit Level 5, all related stats naturally changed.
The mana drain to maintain it dropped drastically from 1 per second to 0.5, and the max number of minions increased to 5.
“Am I becoming a hybrid now? Well, I was always a hybrid to begin with.”
Sanghyun scratched the back of his head with an awkward smile. He didn’t mind this kind of setup. It just showed how versatile he was.
But the problem was.
“It’s you, isn’t it?”
In front of Sanghyun, blinking its big eyes while watching him, was the fairy—Ashuneri.
Far more rare and valuable than the necklace salvaged from the Ashtaroth dungeon.
It was time to forge a bond with this one.