Novel Boss
Chapter 38
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
Chapter 38
4.
There was never a peaceful day for the E-World User Management Team.
In particular, Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong had been having a hectic time since morning.
He didn't even have time to scold Associate Oh Jinhyeok, who was just sitting there in awe.
It was clear how busy he had been without having to say it.
His workload had increased thanks to Seonghyun, who had been active since dawn.
Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong was finally able to relax a bit, thanks to Seonghyun logging out before lunch.
Of course, there was a problem.
"Haaaa."
"Senior? What's wrong?"
"...???"
Associate Oh Jinhyeok shuddered as he saw Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong's gaze, filled with a look of "You don't know why I'm like this?".
Then, as if he realized something, he nodded.
"Ah, it's because of that user, Jinwoo, right? Who would have known he would suddenly give him a Rare rank skill book?"
"Ha, that too."
He was going to say something about the Barpur corpse incident, but there was also the matter of user Jinwoo.
There was no way he wouldn't know whose alt account that was.
Kim Jinwoo, one of the executives of the Rapid Guild.
He was quite a celebrity even in the User Management Team.
"Kim Jinwoo of the Rapid Guild. Well, I knew he joined the Rapid Guild."
He didn't expect him to give Corpse Explosion, which recently went for over 20 million won, as a gift, but
He just accepted it.
Anyway, since user Seonghyun wasn't online, he wasn't busy.
It was almost lunchtime, and he had already eaten.
Then, suddenly, Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong felt a sense of déjà vu.
Didn't he feel relaxed when he first came to work?
He vaguely remembered waking up refreshed in the morning, coming to work in a good mood, and being happy that there was no work.
'No way.'
What else could go wrong?
Of course, something had already gone wrong, but
Would it happen again?
Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong, with an anxious heart, tried to quickly monitor Seonghyun, but
He hadn't logged in yet.
Yet, the anxiety didn't disappear.
What was this anxiety?
With that anxiety, Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong checked Sekan Village, just in case.
It was an almost instinctive action.
And as expected,
"Oh, oh!? A-Aren't those the envoys from Over Palace?"
"..."
Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong felt a sense of foreboding and closed his eyes.
There was no need to see what happened next.
Because?
"Whoa! Senior! Look at that! They're giving the Add More skill to user Seonghyun!? Wow! Over Palace is amazing!!"
"Whoa! Senior! The Unknown Power again!? This time, his total stats have increased by 40!!"
"Wow! All those undead are moving like they have AI! Amazing, really!!"
Even with his eyes closed, Associate Oh Jinhyeok would relay everything to him.
Since Over Palace had made their move,
He had to report it.
While heading to report to Team Leader Jung Jihye, Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong took out an envelope from his pocket.
'Should I submit my resignation while I'm at it?'
Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong, making a momentarily irrational decision due to stress.
But with a resigned sigh, he put the resignation letter back in his pocket.
5.
A Legendary rank skill book.
And they were apologizing and shedding tears while giving him this?
Seonghyun felt his common sense crumbling.
'What kind of standards are these?'
He thought it was more than enough, but
Compared to the name Over Palace, it was indeed a bit underwhelming.
Still, crying while giving him a Legendary rank skill book was a bit much.
As Seonghyun was bewildered,
The three cautiously bowed their heads and trembled.
Did they misunderstand and think Seonghyun was upset?
He wanted to tell them that wasn't the case, but
'Judging by the atmosphere, that seems difficult.'
Even the usually calm Seonghyun was a bit overwhelmed by the sight of these three.
Still, since they were taking such good care of him,
He had to reciprocate to some extent.
"This is enough."
"Ah, we are merely humbled by the benevolent successor."
"..."
"Ooh!"
"Hmm."
As Seonghyun stood there awkwardly,
The crow-masked man spoke cautiously.
"Due to the treaty, we cannot always be by your side, but we will strive to do better next time."
"...Treaty?"
A treaty that even Over Palace couldn't defy.
It seemed they were referring to the system.
Seonghyun realized this and nodded.
Indeed, if he grew up under the protection of Over Palace, the strongest organization in Eternal World, wouldn't it be almost like cheating?
The system would want to prevent that.
Seonghyun nodded in understanding.
He would also refuse such protection.
'It wouldn't be fun to grow up being protected.'
Receiving gifts like this occasionally was fine; it was just the right amount of support.
As Seonghyun thought so,
The crow-masked man cautiously spoke to him.
"Although we wish to witness the successor's growth, we must take our leave. Please take care of your noble self. Infinite glory to the Overlord."
"..."
"Ooouuaa!"
As the crow-masked man spoke, hundreds, thousands of crows that had spread throughout the village flocked together and engulfed them.
With a flurry of black feathers, they disappeared.
The eerie Black Magic that had pervaded the village vanished without a trace, and even Seonghyun could hardly find any remnants of it.
The envoys of Over Palace, from their appearance to their departure, were consistently extraordinary.
'They're incredible.'
To think that such an organization was supporting him.
He felt a renewed sense of awe towards Helena.
It was a whirlwind of events, but
The gains were substantial.
No, it was beyond substantial.
It was amazing.
He couldn't check the compass right away, so
There was one thing left.
But that one thing alone was incredible.
'A Legendary skill book...'
Even useless Rare rank skill books were said to cost millions of won, right?
Decent Rare rank skill books were said to cost tens of millions of won.
He had heard it from his sister, so it felt a bit real.
Then, what about a Legendary skill book?
It was an item worth tens of billions of won if he were to sell it.
Even the lowest-valued Legendary skill book was worth tens of billions.
That meant an excellent skill could be worth hundreds of billions.
And that skill book was currently in Seonghyun's hands.
'This is unbelievable.'
He never intended to sell it in the first place.
Selling a gift was a trashy option.
Besides, wouldn't they have given him a skill that suited him?
With that expectation, Seonghyun immediately used the skill book.
[Using the Legendary rank skill book, 『Skill Book - Add More』!]
[Acquired the Legendary rank skill, 『Add More』!]
There was no need to hesitate.
Seonghyun immediately checked the skill.
『Add More』
→《Legendary》
→[Lv Max][Complete Type]
[Continuous Effect][Passive]
→Summoning exclusive skill.
→When summoning, summons are summoned twice.
→No mana is consumed for the additionally generated summons.
→This effect can be turned on or off at any time.
→The same applies to the creation of undead.
*When summoning undead from the Netherworld, the 2x effect applies, but it cannot be stacked with other skills with similar effect.
"???"
His expression became even more dumbfounded than when he first received the skill book.
He couldn't comprehend it at first glance.
He wondered what it was.
But after reading it carefully again and realizing that he had understood it correctly the first time,
He blinked and scratched his head.
"The summons are duplicated."
The 2x effect also applied when summoning undead from the Netherworld.
That meant...
'Two Barpurs?'
His strongest undead, the one with that overwhelming presence, was duplicated?
Seonghyun scratched his cheek in disbelief.
Was this really okay?
Did they really shed tears of apology while giving him this?
Anyway, since he received it,
'Let's go use it right away.'
Wasn't it natural to use a skill as soon as he got it?
He headed to the cemetery where he had tested Corpse Explosion and Monarch's Silence.
Perhaps because he was eager to test it,
Seonghyun arrived at the cemetery faster than usual.
This place was full of Ghosts and undead.
Seonghyun opened the entrance to the Netherworld and summoned his undead.
And then,
[The effect of 『Add More』 is applied.]
[Undead identical to those summoned from the Netherworld are generated.]
Undead emerged from the blue-green portal.
Rustle, rustle.
But unlike before, there were twice as many.
Moreover, there was no additional mana cost.
It was truly a cheat-like effect.
- Aaaah! We worship you!! How did you obtain such an incredible ability!!
- Kerruk! Kerheuk! (You are amazing!!)
- Kuruk! Kek! Kehu! (As expected of our Lord!!)
The Ghosts within the undead made a fuss, praising Seonghyun.
Amidst the noise, Seonghyun felt something strange.
A sense of incongruity?
Although the number had increased,
It didn't feel twice as noisy.
Seonghyun examined them closely.
He realized the cause.
"Ah."
The undead were duplicated, but
The souls within them were not.
Just as the skill described, only the bodies of the undead were duplicated.
Because of that, although the Wraith of Barpur was also duplicated, it had a much weaker presence than the original.
The same went for the goblin undead.
It was a bit disappointing.
But there was no other way.
'Still, the numbers have increased.'
He had to be satisfied with the increased numbers.
Just as Seonghyun was about to feel satisfied,
The nearby Ghosts started approaching him, drooling.
'Why are they acting like that?'
Even Seonghyun, who had seen many Ghosts, had never seen this before.
No, to be precise, he felt like he had seen it once before.
Was it in Persville?
When he created soulless undead with Death Aura, the Ghosts had flocked to him.
He ignored them then because he was busy, but
This time, he was quite curious, so Seonghyun looked at one of the approaching Ghosts and asked,
"What's the matter?"
- G-Gasp! Th-That is...
- Ah! I-I was afraid to speak to you, lest I offend you...
Seeing the two Ghosts speak cautiously,
Seonghyun tilted his head.
Why were they being so cautious?
As Seonghyun looked at the Ghosts with that thought,
- C-Can we serve you too?!
- W-We were quite famous!
- We're from a mercenary group!
The Ghosts who approached him, claiming to be from a mercenary group.
There were about twenty of them.
But what did they mean by serving him?
Suddenly, something came to Seonghyun's mind, and he looked at the soulless undead.
No way?
'Are they asking to be put in there?'
Was that even possible?
Now that he thought about it,
It seemed possible.
Seonghyun first looked at the mercenary group and absorbed their memories.
The memories of twenty mercenaries!
Blue-green energy seeped from the Ghosts into Seonghyun.
As Seonghyun greedily absorbed the energy,
His blood vessels began to bulge as if in slight pain.
'This is quite difficult.'
And he instinctively felt
That he couldn't absorb any more memories today.
[You have displayed an ability beyond your current stats with 'Unknown Power'.]
[Strength +10, Agility +20, Stamina +10 permanently increased.]
The memories and experiences of twenty people entered Seonghyun, but
Rather than feeling refreshed, he felt a bit like he had overeaten, with blue-green energy leaking from around his mouth.
'Fuuu.'
The blue-green energy dissipated like steam in winter.
He missed some of the memories.
He wasn't too disappointed, though, because he now knew his limit.
That was good enough.
However, unlike Eddie, the former instructor, or Apik, the hunter, whose names were known, each of the mercenary Ghosts only increased his stats by about 2.
Considering that Eddie, Apik, and even the former village head Gwen had each increased his stats by 5, there was quite a difference.
'Still, my total stats increased by 40.'
It was a huge increase.
As Seonghyun expressed his satisfaction,
The mercenary Ghosts, who had been watching him nervously, began to brighten up.
They realized that they were connected to Seonghyun.
However, after reading their memories, Seonghyun knew.
'I can't put them in there.'
He couldn't put them into those goblin undead.
It wasn't because they had committed evil deeds during their lifetime,
Or because they were wicked people.
That wasn't the case.
As Seonghyun immediately dispelled the goblin undead that were copied with Add More,
The brightened expressions of the Ghosts quickly darkened.
Couldn't they ultimately serve him?
Seeing their dejected looks, Seonghyun smiled and snapped his fingers.
A blue-green heart appeared behind Seonghyun and began to beat.
At the same time, a blue-green mist spread out.
All the skeletons touched by the mist began to emit blue-green energy.
And Seonghyun turned those skeletons into Death Soldiers, matching them with the mercenary Ghosts.
"It seems goblin bodies aren't suitable for you."
- Aah!!
- Aaaah!!
- Sob! For us!!
Seonghyun then utilized his ability.
He had never known how to use his ability in his 22 years of life, but
Hadn't Helena taught him?
How to utilize his ability and handle Wraiths.
Now he knew it so naturally.
He inserted the mercenary ghosts into the bodies of the twelve Skeleton Warriors, six Skeleton Archers, and two Skeleton Mages he had created.
Twenty newly created Skeleton Death Soldiers.
The existing Death Soldiers also seemed excited, as if welcoming them.
- The number of servants to serve Master has increased!!
- Kerheuk! Kek! (Let's raise a toast!!)
- Kurukkikek! (Blessed are those who follow the Lord!!)
- Thank you! Thank you!
Seonghyun nodded with satisfaction.
He hadn't found a soul to fill the copy of the Wraith of Barpur, but
It was okay.
'It's better to put in a more outstanding Ghost.'
Thinking so, Seonghyun looked at the newly formed legion.
They seemed to understand Seonghyun's intentions and shouted,
- Sweep this place clean!
- Kerruk! Kerheuk! (Death! Let's present these deaths to the Lord!)n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
- For Master!
- Let's sweep them all away!
As everyone shouted in unison,
The unsubdued undead around them, unaware of their place, charged forward.
Seonghyun watched how well his legion fought, turning off Death Aura.
The cemetery was swept clean, and the only undead left were Seonghyun's Death Legion.
[Level Up!] × 4
[You have reached level 34.]
Add More and the method of putting ghosts into undead.
Having gained both, Seonghyun thought calmly,
'This is amazing.'
It was a truly simple observation.
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]