Chapter 4

༺ 𓆩  Chapter 4  𓆪 ༻

「Translator — Creator」

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚  ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃

〔What is this temple? Which Constellation is so revered that the temple is this grand and beautiful!〕

“It’s called an airport. Don’t go waxing poetic on me.”

Chronos, ever the awe-struck one, gawked at Incheon International Airport like it was a divine miracle.

Sure, the Palace of Knossos had its charms and stood as an architectural feat for its time, but compared to modern marvels, it fell short.

It couldn’t be helped—after all, Chronos was now a Fallen Constellation, exiled and barred from observing the world as it moved on without him.
To him, the airport might as well have been a celestial shrine.

〔Ohh… To think the world has changed to such an extent. Truly, time itself feels meaningless in the face of such progress!〕

“…Can you stop at just one epiphany?”

Even with Yujin’s grumbling, Chronos’s fascination did not wane until they reached the gate that had opened in the heart of Myeongdong.

A massive rift cleaved through the middle of the bustling district.
Within its distorted space swirled a dark, azure void—glistening like an oil slick on black glass.

It was a portal.

A gate connecting this world to another dimension.

‘Just as I remembered.’

Yujin tapped his temple lightly with his fingers.
There were two types of gates: fixed types, which remained permanently, and fluid types that vanished once the core or boss monster was eliminated.

The Ancient Garden was the former.

With its modest 1-Star entry restriction, it was a favorite among fledgling Hunters.

— Wanted: 1 Martial-type Hunter.

— Level 13 (1-Star) Mage looking for a team.

HunterNet, the exclusive app for Hunters, was flooded with recruitment notices.

Clusters of Hunters stood around the gate, tilting their heads as they looked for opportunities.

Raids were being hastily assembled—these were the so-called “pick-up raids,” or “pug parties.”

‘So, the gate’s secret hasn’t gotten out yet.’

In his previous life, this place had been so popular that even the top three guilds in Korea—alongside other major players—had started locking it down to control entry.

Watching the rookie Hunters trying to piece together teams made the reality of his regression sink in.

He chuckled quietly to himself.
So this is what it felt like to monopolize the future.

“Hey, if you’re going solo, how about joining our team?”

A man in his mid-twenties, Kang In-ho, one of the recruiters, approached him with a friendly tone.
Yujin simply waved him off, uninterested, and walked straight toward the rift.

“Ah, doesn’t look like he awakened that long ago.”

“Why bother worrying? He said he’ll manage.”

Ignoring the bickering of the team behind him, Yujin stepped into the gate.

He was immediately swallowed by a sensation of weightlessness.
And in a blink, the world changed.

[You have entered the Ancient Garden.]

Colors burst before his eyes.
Fields of brilliant, multicolored flowers bloomed in full glory.
It was a sight that lived up to the name of the gate.

‘So, the starting point is the center.’

The Ancient Garden was divided into three zones —
The central flower field, a designated safe zone and entry point.
The southern forest, crawling with goblins.
And the northern lake, home to the frogmen.

Yujin clicked his tongue as he looked up at the sky.

‘A day short of a full moon.’

The hidden fortune buried within the Ancient Garden could only be accessed under the light of a full moon.
With the moon just shy of completion, it seemed tomorrow would be the day. Lucky, in a way.

'My first prey will be goblins, of course.'

A Level 1 Hunter’s physical abilities barely surpassed that of an ordinary human.
If he encountered a Frogman near the lake this early, he’d end up dead before he could even enjoy the perks of regression.

He walked for a while.

Not long after stepping into the forest, the faint rustle of movement tickled his ears.

〔Try using the divine spell I’ve bestowed upon you.〕

“You mean Life Drain?”

He’d been curious about the nature and mechanics of these divine spells.
From the description alone, it sounded dubious whether they were even clergy-type skills at all.

'For most religious sects, that is.'

Depending on the Pantheon one served, one typically received a kit of healing and buff spells.

But what kind of power did the spell granted by becoming a Saint of the Chronos Order contain?

“Kikikikik!”

The rustling had come from a goblin leaping through the underbrush.
The creature closed the distance in a blink, grinning wide as it lunged for Yujin’s thigh.

Clutched in its hand was a rusted dagger—one that looked like it came with its own tetanus shot.

“Coming to me first? How considerate.”

People assumed mages were weak in close quarters.
That stereotype didn’t apply here.

Yujin often hunted alone, and he’d developed a decent grasp of melee combat along the way.

‘Not formally trained, but I get by.’

He calmly tracked the goblin’s reckless charge.
Goblin stats were a notch below that of an average human.
A newbie might cower before such a snarling creature.

‘But I’ve seen hell—on land, sea, and sky.’

Swish—!!!

The goblin’s dagger sliced through empty air.
Yujin had only needed to tilt his body slightly to avoid the strike.
With the goblin thrown off-balance by its own momentum, Yujin bent low and drove his right arm forward like a coiled spring.

“Ggk!”

His hand clamped around the goblin’s nape.

A pale, misty glow wrapped around his hand.
And a soft exclamation slipped from Yujin’s lips.

‘Feels… like Soul Power.’

Though labeled a divine spell, the energy felt eerily akin to a necromancer’s death magic; the ghostly light burrowed into the goblin’s body, and seconds later, green motes flowed into Yujin’s hand and sank into him.

‘That’s the goblin’s life force.’

Its skin sagged and shriveled as vitality drained away.
In mere seconds, the goblin had withered into a husk.

The life force of the goblin settled deep into Yujin’s core.

‘It’s absorbing directly.’

“…You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

He’d gained a total of 0.2 stat points just by killing and consuming one goblin?
Each level-up normally granted a bonus of 5 stat points.
By that logic, hunting 25 goblins would be equivalent to gaining an entire level.

〔Kuhahahah! Contractor, do you like it?〕

“Yeah. It’s insane.”

〔Then sing praises of My greatness!〕

Chronos’s smug theatrics were grating, but Yujin let it slide.
Life Drain was a divine spell more than worthy of tolerating the Constellation’s antics.

‘Sure, experience gain is fast right now, but it’ll get tougher as I rise in rank.’

A divine spell that transformed monster life force into raw stats.
While leveling up was one path to growth, it wasn’t the only method to enhance one’s body.

‘The most common method is elixirs.’

Other options included accepting Blessings or fulfilling hidden conditions within gates to earn Titles.
All of them were difficult, inaccessible paths.

Yujin swallowed dryly.

‘This has to be the kind of divine spell that only a Pope or Saintess could wield.’

A spell that shattered conventional balance.
He’d initially thought he only needed a Blessing from his Patron Constellation.
But now, confronted with such an unexpected opportunity, the corners of his lips twitched.

‘Might be worth it to dig deeper into clergy-type abilities whenever I get the chance.’

Casting aside idle thoughts, Yujin looked down.

The goblin corpse, drained dry of its life force, lay crumpled at his feet.
Even in death, the body held purpose.

‘Then, let’s get started.’

Necromancy—an art that used the dead as vessels for sorcery.

A pale, spectral glow rose from Yujin’s hand and slipped into the goblin’s gaping mouth.

‘I’ll make you just useful enough.’

The ghostly energy slithered down the throat and nestled into the heart.
Embedded deep within the organ lay a blue stone—
a mana crystal, or “mana stone,” the primary income source for most Hunters.

As the Soul Power saturated it, the crystal shivered.

Thump—!!!

Infused with a blend of mana and soul power, the dormant heart pulsed anew.
The corpse’s skin, once shrunken and dry, took on a rubbery toughness.
Its bones hardened.
Tainted by Soul Power, its flesh darkened into a sooty black.

“Answer my call.”

With a sharp crack, the goblin’s head, which had been twisted back in death, snapped forward like a coiled spring let loose.
Its dead, dulled eyes now shimmered with an eerie blue light.

“Grrrrrk.”

The goblin’s corpse wheezed as if choking on phlegm.
Now a zombie, it staggered to its feet.

To draw out strength exceeding what the body had in life, refinement was required.

The reason alchemical knowledge had been included in the [Library of Knowledge]—
was precisely this.

Yujin had nearly doubled the zombie’s stats using only Soul Power, skipping the traditional alchemical processes entirely.
An enhancement method so refined that no ordinary necromancer could ever dream of achieving it.

‘Only 97%? Even after giving up the mana stone, that's not impressive.’

There was no trace of satisfaction on Yujin’s face.
He clicked his tongue and ran a hand through his hair.

Why do Hunters hunt monsters?
Some might say it’s to grow stronger.
But most would answer with something far simpler:

—Because the money’s good.

Despite being a high-risk profession, Hunters were always in demand for one reason: the pay.
The mana stone lodged in a monster’s heart was the cornerstone of a Hunter’s income.
Sacrificing that to enhance an undead, only for a mediocre return in stats? That was hard to accept.

“It even took a full second to complete. Back in my prime, it wouldn’t have taken more than a tenth of that.”

Yujin shook his head.
Comparing himself to his pre-regression peak was an endless rabbit hole.

‘Decent enough to pull its weight in the Ancient Garden.’

Satisfied, Yujin pushed forward into the forest with the zombie leading the way.

“Kikit!”

Three goblins leapt from the underbrush this time.
Yujin, arms crossed, gave a simple command — partly to test the zombie’s combat performance.

“Grrrk!”

Dragging one foot behind it, the zombie charged.
Its Soul Power-enhanced body now surpassed the goblins in both speed and strength.
It lunged at the lead goblin and opened its jaw wide.

Crunch—!!!

Its jagged teeth clamped down hard on the goblin’s throat.
The goblin screamed—“Kiret!”—and flailed its arms, trying to shake the zombie off.
But the zombie, now twice as strong thanks to Yujin’s refinement, wasn’t so easily dislodged.

The two other goblins rushed in, jabbing wildly with their rusted daggers.
Rotten flesh peeled away with every strike, but the zombie didn’t even flinch.
Even hits to vital points had no effect.

While their attention was locked on the undead—

“You’re really going to ignore me?”

Yujin had already slipped behind them.
He grabbed one goblin by the scruff, the one clinging to the zombie’s side.
With a thought, he activated White Night again, converting Soul Power into Divine Power.
Life Drain surged forth, and the goblin began to tremble violently, as if caught in a winter chill.

“Kii…”

With a faint whimper, the creature collapsed to the ground.

‘Even in direct combat, it’s absurdly effective.’

To drain a goblin’s life force dry in mere seconds—
Life Drain’s vitality extraction was more potent than most curses.
Being a necromancer didn’t mean being weak in melee.

Just as Yujin was wringing the last drop of life from the goblin, shriveling it into a mummy—

“Gkreeek!”

With a final death rattle, the goblin in the zombie’s jaws let out a scream, its head snapping violently backward, neck twisted in the wrong direction.

‘Can Life Drain be used on something already dead?’

Yujin had once reached the pinnacle of necromancy.
But divine spells—this was uncharted territory.

His Patron Constellation was anything but ordinary... And so, Yujin needed to understand every facet of the new abilities he had acquired after regression—down to the last detail.

A green shimmer danced at the point of contact—
the remnant vitality of a goblin’s fading life force.

‘It works.’

Dark magic did include spells that drained vitality, but they were strictly limited to the living.
Even vampire blood-siphoning abilities had the same restriction.
But this—Life Drain— had no such limitation.

Its scope was vastly broader.

Which meant—

‘I can speed up my hunting.’

There was no longer any need to differentiate between the living and the dead when it came to goblin targets.

“Answer my call.”

Two more goblins, now counted among the ranks of the dead, rose to his side.

The real hunt was only just beginning.

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