The Boundless Necromancer

“I think we’ll have to work out the details before I can make a decision.”

I felt like the Challenger Supervision team was the right place for me to go to.

We seemed to share a similar set of goals.

It was also in my best interest to get this done as soon as possible.

‘That way I’d be able to use all the dungeons I’d need once I come back later…’

She seemed to understand that very well.

“Of course… Then can you tell me some of your demands?”

Demands…

“Well first, I’d like the authority to refuse any call-to-actions from the guild.”

“Anything else?”

“That the guild won’t interfere with any of my activities within the tower, and that I would have access to all of the guild’s dungeons.”

“Hmmm… Being able to refuse calls to’s and not being interfered with is something I can do on my end as the team leader. But…”

“But?”

“I don’t have the authority to give you access to our dungeons. Of course, you’ll easily get the permission if you have the performance to back up your skills…”

“Ah, and a team leader’s word won’t cut it for something like that.”

I understood.

It meant that only a select minority could reap the benefits of the guild’s dungeons.

‘Ideally, a promising young prospect.’

But…

“If I can prove that I have the skills to use the dungeons, it would be a different story.”

“…You’re more knowledgable than I thought. Yes, you’re right.”

“How about my other two conditions?”

“Consider it done. The challenger supervision team was created to support challengers like you.”

Hmm, the deal sounded better than I thought.

‘I thought I might have been asking for too much…’

Maybe it was because of our brief encounter in the tower, but she seemed to be really accommodating towards me.

Like she’d try everything in her power to get me whatever I wanted.

I guess that shifted my mind towards joining her team.

“If you can give me an opportunity to prove myself for dungeon access, I’ll join your team.”

She beamed in surprise.

“Really?”

“I’ll have to look over the written contract, but yes.”

This was a calculated decision that I made by weighing all the pros and cons, but Lee Hayeon didn’t seem to think so.

“…You won’t regret this.”

She sounded genuinely touched by my decision.

“As soon as the contract is signed, can you schedule an expedition for me to prove my performance?”

“You don’t have to worry about that. I’ll get a gate for you in no time.”

Satisfied, I let out another laugh.

‘This is going better than I thought.’

Is it because I achieved almost everything I set out to do in just one day?

The second return felt much more fruitful than the first already.

***

The next day, I went to the cafe where we promised to meet.

‘Ideally, I would have preferred yesterday but…’

I shouldn’t be too greedy.

Lee Hayeon probably had her own things to do during the time she’s back, and finding me a gate within a day wouldn’t have been easy.

Typically, they tended to take much longer.

The only reason she was able to do so was that she held a leadership position in her guild.

I knew that time was precious, but I wasn’t the only one who thought so.

I still had some time left before I had to go back, so there wasn’t a need to rush her.

Plus, yesterday was so productive that I felt like I had some wiggle room.

I sat there waiting for a while before someone finally walked in.

Di-ring…

The woman slicked her bangs behind her ear to reveal herself as Lee Hayeon.

She looked around to find me sitting at a table.

“Did you, by chance, wait for me?”

“Eh, just a little bit. I had more time than I thought.”

“And I thought I was early… Sorry for the wait.”

“No need for that. I see that you were quite busy.”

It wasn’t an exaggeration.

No offense, but she looked terrible.

Her eye bags were down to her cheeks and her hair was still wet from not drying it properly.

“Haha… Does it look like that? I might have stretched myself a little too thin.”

She let out a bitter laugh as she took out a folder from her bag.

“Take a look. I wrote it up last night. The one next to it is our typical contract just for comparison.”

I opened up my contract and started reading.

Flip, flip…

‘Wow, what the…?’

The terms of the contract were eye-opening.

‘The base salary is $500,000, and everything I find in the dungeons would be my property.’

I told her I didn’t care that much about the money, but she probably still negotiated up anyway.

Most hunters sold cores or whatever they tended to find in the dungeons through their guilds.

Because of that, it’s become standard practice for guilds to take a percentage of all loot in the dungeons…

But this contract had no mentions of that.

Frankly, this contract was unbelievable.

‘Can refuse any summons by the guild and the guild cannot interfere in any activities within the tower…’

Every single one of my conditions was met.

I was beyond satisfied, to the point of doubting if this was a real contract or not.

Most importantly, the provision about getting dungeon access was included.

‘If I can clear a C-rank dungeon by myself, I should be able to freely use all of the guild’s dungeons…?’

That means…

The dungeon Lee Hayeon prepared for me is at least a C-rank.

I’d been wanting to go into a higher-ranked dungeon.

‘Nice.’

After looking over the document, I turned to Lee Hayeon and smiled.

“There doesn’t seem to be a problem with the contract.”

“I’m glad. It makes my hard work feel worthwhile.”

She seemed proud of herself as she asked a follow-up question.

“By the way, do you have a hunter-license? If not, I can get you a temporary entrance pass…”

“No, I have one. I got registered the last time I came back.”

“Perfect. It’s currently hard to get one because the association has their eyes out for any challengers they could find.”

I knew that this would come in handy.

‘Nothing bad ever came out of being early.’

I signed my name onto the contract and looked back up at her.

“Since the contract has been finalized, can we go to the testing dungeon now?”

“Of course. We’ll be going to a recently formed C-rank gate in the area.”

“Alright.”

“I’ll be there as an observer. Do you mind?”

“Not at all.”

I got up from my seat and gave her a faint smile.

‘This will probably be my last excursion.’

My second return was already coming to an end.

Uijeongbu Nogyang-dong, Chunbo Mountain.

“We’re finally here.”

We didn’t go far before getting out of the car.

I got off from the passenger side and put my equipment back on.

‘A gate in the middle of a mountain…’

It was a little strange but I decided to not pay attention.

Did these temporary gates even count as actual gates?

There were a couple of people standing guard near the gates.

Of course…

“Ah, you’re team leader Lee Hayeon. Please continue.”

There was no problem getting through.

Step, step…

“Oh, I have to tell you this before we go in…”

“…?”

“Unless something special happens, I won’t be assisting you.”

“You’re just here to observe and nothing else.”

“Yeah. It would be a problem if I helped and the guild doesn’t accept this as proof of potential.”

“I don’t mind.”

It’s not like I’d ever received help to get to this point.

Lee Hayeon should know that better than me.

“I know.”

She nodded her head and continued to explain.

“The test begins as soon as you get in. It’s a temporary gate so we’ll be killing the boss before coming out.”

I didn’t think I needed to hear anything else.

There was nothing special.

“Okay.”

It didn’t change the fact that all I had to do was kill everything in my way.

***

Vooom…!

Grassy hills greeted me as I stepped through the gate.

“Hm.”

This could be a problem later on.

In an open field like this, monsters tended to come at you from every direction.

That meant the fight could evolve into a full-out brawl soon…

‘A bit more difficult if I have to do that while protecting someone behind me.’

Even if she was just an observer, it didn’t exempt her from being one of the targets.

And knowing her strengths, this wasn’t a good environment for her either.

She noticed my eyes shifting and addressed my unspoken concerns.

“Don’t worry about me. I have an artifact that the guild gave me. It automatically protects me from attacks.”

She showed me a necklace embedded with a cerulean gem.

“So I wouldn’t have to…”

“Protect me at all. It’s an A-class item called ‘Empress’ necklace.’ and it can absorb a decent amount of impact. It also has a slight concealment effect.”

“That’s good news. I can fight without having to worry.”

“Ah, and I’ll also be staying far away because taking aggro for you could count as helping.”

It was then—

Kieeeeek…!

I shifted my attention to what sounded like nails scraping down a chalkboard.

“Ooh…”

I turned to see a turtle emitting a black fire from its mouth.

“Is that a starving flame demon?’

They were a violent breed that some even called the ‘small devil.’

Unlike their turtle-like appearance, they were very agile and emitted a powerful flame breath.

Also, they were typically so sturdy that hunters tended to avoid them, but…

‘Now they’re just souls to be consumed by my necromancy.’

It was time to get stronger again.