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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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Chapter 14: The Forgotten Hero
Thump— Thump—
Yoojin crossed the desolate orc colony.
His steps stopped in front of an old tree with few leaves.
His Spirit Eyes, activated, clearly captured the soul attached to the tree.
'Just as I remembered.'
A whitish mist.
Two black dots within it stared at Yoojin.
— You're looking at me as if you can actually see me.
"That's because I can."
— What?!
It seemed the ghost hadn't expected a reply.
Startled, it hid behind the old tree.
Yoojin scratched the back of his head.
"It hurts my feelings when you're so surprised to see me."
"Who's there, Boss?"
At Kang Minho's question, Yoojin casually pointed at the tree.
"A ghost."
"...Huh?"
"An earthbound spirit. And one with a considerable grudge."
— Humph! Don't you dare call me an evil spirit!
The ghost flared up, and the leaves on the old tree rustled violently.
"Eek!"
Kang Minho stumbled back.
"Overreacting much, considering you weren't fazed by seeing living corpses."
"At least those were visible and we could fight them. Earthbound spirits are invisible!"
Indeed, ghost-type monsters were the natural enemies of martial arts Hunters.
Unless they imbued their weapons with mana, they couldn't inflict proper damage, and ghosts specialized in mental debuffs, making them quite tricky to deal with.
'Well, for me...'
Yoojin, completely immune to mental interference debuffs, remained calm.
But the Little Runts team, upon hearing about the earthbound spirit, immediately backed away from the old tree.
"Now this feels like a proper memorial."
— Memorial?
"The reason I wiped out the orc colony was to see you."
— What interest could you possibly have in a common earthbound spirit tied to this land?
"Martial Artist Park Haneul."
The two black dots in the whitish mist stopped moving.
Surprise.
And curiosity.
— H-how do you know my name?
"I told you, didn't I? I came to pay my respects."
The earthbound spirit unable to leave the border region.
Martial Artist Park Haneul glanced at Yoojin with surprise.
— Wow. It's strange hearing my name for the first time since I died.
"The orcs wouldn't know your name."
— That's true. I can't even remember the last time I had a conversation.
"It's been about 35 years, hasn't it?"
The ghost was silent for a moment.
— Has it really been that long since I died?
"It's been about that long since the first monster wave occurred in the former North Korean territory."
— Wait, first?!
"Ah, it's understandable that you wouldn't know. Two more waves of similar scale came down after that."
— Crazy. It's the apocalypse. It's a wonder the country hasn't collapsed.
Perhaps this was how people who spoiled the endings of movies or dramas felt.
It was quite amusing to see Park Haneul so surprised.
"It's thanks to people like you that it hasn't collapsed."
— Heh heh heh. I know you're just flattering me, but it feels good.
"I'm not flattering you."
Yoojin recited what he had learned from his social studies textbook.
A massive horde of monsters had crossed over from the former North Korean territory.
If it weren't for Hunters like Park Haneul, who were filled with a sense of duty, Seoul would have been devastated.
"There's even a memorial monument. For all those who sacrificed themselves in the first monster wave."
— My sacrifice wasn't in vain.
A sense of relief was evident in the ghost's voice.
Had those words brought him salvation?
Despite being an earthbound spirit who couldn't depart due to his grudge, he even exuded a virtuous aura.
Well, it made sense.
With such a noble soul, he must have tried to save people even at the cost of his own life.
"Not everyone's name is recorded, but yours is."
— ...What do you mean?
"I'm the only one who remembers your name. Even if you searched the whole world."
Countless Hunters had given their lives in the first monster wave.
Among them, the name Park Haneul wasn't recorded anywhere on the list of victims.
The soul shimmering by the old tree wavered greatly.
— Explain exactly what you mean.
"Someone deliberately erased your records."
Yoojin paused for a moment.
The whitish mist fluctuated wildly, as if urging him to continue.
"The vice president of the Arhan Guild, Baek Seonghyeon."
Whoosh!
A gust of wind swept through the colony, where there had been no wind before.
Yoojin's hair fluttered wildly in the strong air current.
Even the Little Runts team, who were keeping their distance, felt a chill.
This wasn't the kind of spiritual pressure an ordinary vengeful spirit could exude.
"He's also the one you need to take revenge on."
— I haven't thought about revenge.
"You don't become an earthbound spirit for no reason. There's a reason you have to remain in this land."
Yes.
Just like you, Park Haneul.
"He drove Hunters to their deaths with false information."
Park Haneul had been renowned as one of the most skilled individuals in the early days of the Great Cataclysm.
With his unique ability as a [Martial Mage], talented in both martial arts and magic, and his excellent combat senses, he was highly regarded among the early Awakened.
He was someone who might have even joined the Seven Stars if he had lived.
'I heard it from the deceased who perished in the first monster wave.'
There was a hidden story behind how such a powerful figure died in this nameless land within the border region, leaving no record behind.
— You said all records were erased. How do you know all this?
"While searching for a powerful soul with strong spirit power, I heard a rumor."
It wasn't a lie.
Well, half of it was true.
In his past life, while searching for a powerful soul to enhance his necromantic abilities, he had heard a rumor about an earthbound spirit dwelling near an orc colony.
That's where he met the soul before him.
'But I heard the backstory separately from this guy.'
The betrayal of the Arhan Guild.
They had driven Park Haneul into a death trap and then defended against the monster wave from an advantageous position.
If...
If Park Haneul had retreated from that battlefield, Arhan would have suffered great losses, but...
'He wasn't that kind of person.'
Yoojin, who had taken Park Haneul as his subordinate in his past life, knew his character better than anyone, just as well as Baek Seonghyeon, who had set the trap.
"Join me. I'll grant you revenge."
— You mean become an undead?
"That's right."
— Heh. My body rotted away decades ago, becoming fertilizer for this tree.
"I've prepared a body to hold your soul. There's no need to worry."
Yoojin smiled softly.
"Will you make a contract with me and become an undead?"
Park Haneul fell silent, seemingly lost in thought.
A moment later.
— If I make a contract with you, will I be able to get revenge?
"Of course."
— I have one condition. You're free to use me however you like, but...
"I'm sure your condition isn't about not taking revenge on Baek Seonghyeon."
— I refuse to harm the innocent.
Yoojin chuckled.
He had been presented with the same condition in his past life.
Park Haneul's unwavering nature brightened Yoojin's somewhat tainted heart.
"That won't happen."
Of course.
There were so many villains to kill; where would he find the time to bother with innocent people?
[Earthbound Spirit Park Haneul has become your possession.]
A bond formed through their souls.
An invisible thread connected Yoojin and Park Haneul.
＊ ＊ ＊
The contract was made, but...
The real 'work' began now.
[Releasing the corpse stored in the Ring of Darkness.]
With a heavy thud, the Draconian's corpse appeared in front of the old tree.
— What's this?
"Mr. Park Haneul's new body."
— I thought I was going to become something like a zombie.
"You're a hero, after all. You deserve better treatment. And that one won't last long."
Although hidden by the bone armor, the zombie's body was rotting in real-time.
The spirit power imbued in the body was delaying the decay, but...
If left for a week, most of the flesh attached to the body would rot, and its combat power would plummet.
'In my past life, I had him possess the body of a Skeleton Knight.'
The technique of having a soul possess an undead.
If the soul synchronized well, it could more than double the undead's combat abilities.
Like the Armored Zombie, it was a unique necromantic technique developed by Yoojin.
Park Haneul had accumulated karma as a Skeleton Knight, becoming a Death Knight through his own power.
With Yoojin's modifications and the aid of items, he had been promoted to a Doom Knight.
In the end, he had attained ultimate enlightenment and become a Hell Knight, a top-tier undead not even recorded in the Library of Knowledge.
'What if I had given Park Haneul a stronger body?'
A thought he often had in his past life.
Giving Park Haneul's soul to a Skeleton Knight initially was a big mistake.
Once a deceased's body and soul were synchronized, it was extremely difficult to separate them again.
The soul that had reached the ultimate level with the body of a nameless Skeleton Knight.
How much stronger would he have become if he had possessed a more powerful corpse?
It was hard to even imagine.
〔Khahaha! A masterpiece. You refined this corpse with this in mind from the beginning.〕
That's right.
From the moment he obtained the Draconian's corpse, its owner had already been decided.
A soul talented in both combat and magic.
Wasn't this the perfect soul to become the core of an Eldritch Dragon?!
"Now, shall we begin?"
Sssst!
A whitish energy enveloped his right hand.
He swiftly pierced various parts of the Draconian's corpse.
[Reinforcement Spell - Low-Grade Corpse Rigidity activated.]
[Reinforcement Spell - Low-Grade Bone Reinforcement activated.]
[Reinforcement...]
The Melting solution, with the dissolved mana stones, began to react to Yoojin's power.
Strange symbols appeared all over the scales.
The reinforcement and curse spells inscribed at Shin Joonseok's alchemy workshop were activated.
Park Haneul watched from a short distance.
Yoojin reached out and snatched a part of the misty spirit.
"This might sting a little."
— Ouch!
What an overreaction.
He channeled a portion of the spirit power extracted from Park Haneul into the Draconian's corpse.
The energy flowed from the nostrils to the head.
The dragon's essence, fixed in place by the spells, reacted to Park Haneul's spirit power and began to stir like a bear awakened from hibernation.
— What is this? It feels strange.
"Don't resist and accept my power."
As Yoojin tapped the Draconian's forehead—
[Curse Spell - Intermediate Soul Binding activated.]
The curse he had inscribed earlier activated, using the mana from the Melting solution as its foundation.
The targets of the curse were Park Haneul's soul and the Draconian's corpse.
'Normally, I would use a necromancy spell, but that's not feasible at my level.'
The only necromancy spell he had was Raise Undead.
And with Raise Undead, all he could do was turn the Draconian corpse into a zombie.
It wasn't like he had the ability to turn gold into dung.
Based on his past life's experience, Yoojin created the undead using an unconventional method.
Park Haneul's soul was sucked into the Draconian's nostrils.
Suction!
— Th...is... fee...ls... str...an...ge...
Park Haneul's thoughts sounded incredibly slow.
[The bound soul (Park Haneul) could not resist the curse spell.]
[The soul is beginning to synchronize with the target of the curse spell.]
[You can increase resistance by providing spirit power.]
'Why would I?'
He had set the stage for this very purpose.
The dragon's corpse thrashed incessantly.
With Yoojin's meager mana, he couldn't assist in the process.
All he could do was hope that the mana stone Melting solution he had soaked the corpse in would do its job.
'Should I pray or something?'
〔How about praying earnestly to me?〕
'Would you please be quiet, you incompetent constellation?'
How much time had passed?
The violent tremors of the corpse subsided, and then—
Flash!
The closed eyelids lifted, and the blue irises, now residing in the Draconian's eyes, emitted an eerie light.
【What's this? I have senses?】
The Draconian corpse.
No.
A surprised voice emerged from the mouth of the corpse, now synchronized with Park Haneul.
To be precise, it was the thought of the deceased, mimicking the voice of the living.
[You have created an undead using a new method not recorded in the Library of Knowledge.]
[Undead Creation - Eldritch Dragon (Incomplete)]
[A great achievement that surpasses the user's rank! This knowledge will be recorded in the Library of Knowledge.]
A great achievement?
'I've never heard such praise in my life.'
The Library of Knowledge was an information network where the knowledge of countless necromancers was inherited.
Although it didn't have an ego, it had its own standards for evaluating the level of knowledge.
However, to think it described the Eldritch Dragon Yoojin created as 'great'... It meant that even the necromancers who contributed to the Library of Knowledge hadn't conceived of this concept.
One thing that bothered him was the 'Incomplete' status.
'It makes sense. I made it with a completely unorthodox method.'
Creating a proper Eldritch Dragon required an immense amount of money.
Each scale had to be individually inscribed with spells.
Expensive alchemic catalysts and ingredients had to be poured in to strengthen the corpse.
And the most crucial part, the fusion of the dragon's essence and the soul...
Yoojin had barely managed to mimic the concept of an Eldritch Dragon by applying curse spells.
【Incomplete, huh.】
"Don't worry. All it needs is time."
【Heh. Rejoice, for I have been given a quest.】
"A quest?"
【It means I need to learn to properly control this body before it's complete, right?】
What a needlessly positive mindset.
Yoojin chuckled and checked Park Haneul's stats.
[Eldritch Dragon (Incomplete) - Park Haneul]
Race: Undead
Rank: ★★★
◎ Stats
Strength: 205 / Agility: 143 / Health: 176 / Toughness: 180 / Mana: 221
◎ Traits
▷ Martial Mage [Unique] / Eyes of the Martial God [S] / Undying Existence [B] / Transcender of Boundaries [B]
◎ Skills
▷ Kenex Combat Arts [A] / Dark Energy [B] / Fighting Technique [C] / Dark Missile [D]
◎ Special Notes
This undead can grow. As the soul is tempered, the power dwelling within the body will awaken further.
The moment he saw the stats of Park Haneul, reborn as an Eldritch Dragon—
"Holy crap."
His jaw dropped, and an exclamation escaped his lips.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Hestia
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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