Chapter 7

༺ 𓆩  Chapter 7 — Ancient Examination Hall (1)  𓆪 ༻

「Translator — Creator」

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The next day.

Yujin and the fledgling team continued their hunt inside the [Ancient Garden].

“The goblins are probably more aggressive now that the shaman’s gone.”

“That is even better.”

“...Pardon?”

“That just means they won’t run away when they see zombies.”

How annoying it was to chase after goblins? If they stood their ground now, all the better.

Hearing Yujin’s reasoning, Kang Minho let out an awkward laugh.

The forest, once wild with chaos, had gone eerily silent; like a storm had passed.

They had hunted every visible goblin until not a single one remained.

The fledgling trio was drenched in sweat, practically on the verge of collapse.

“Hah… hah…”

“I think I’m gonna die at this rate…”

Keeping pace with tireless zombies, extracting mana stones from goblin corpses — none of it was easy. In a Gate, conserving stamina was vital, but with Yujin’s relentless hunting speed, they’d been utterly worn down.

“Can you keep going?”

“Mr. Yujin… we think we’re done for today.”

“You’re quitting already?”

“It’s our bags — they’re full.”

Kang Minho smiled sheepishly as he held up his pack.

Mana stones packed tight into every corner. Even if they kept hunting, they had no room left to store anything.

“What an excuse. Fine. You head back first.”

“You’re going to keep hunting?”

“These guys here — still going strong. They could keep going till morning.”

Grrrkkk—!!!

At the raspy, phlegmy groans from the zombies, the fledgling team cringed in disgust.

Trying to keep a straight face, Kang Minho handed Yujin a small note.

"This is my number."

“I am not interested in a guy’s number.”

"You need to give us your account number to receive the settlement money."

…….

Of course.

The guy was annoyingly honest.

The kind of man with such a good heart, he deserved the title of Slave No. 1.

"I'll contact you as soon as I get out."

“Then we’ll head off to get the loot appraised.”

As the fledgling team grew smaller in the distance, Yujin’s eyes turned cold.

〔You sent them away on purpose, didn’t you?〕

‘Was it that obvious?’

〔Your intentions couldn’t be more transparent.〕

What he was about to do wasn’t something others needed to see.

This was knowledge from before the regression — from a future that wouldn’t be revealed for several years.

It wasn't because of complicated concepts like the butterfly effect.

He simply didn't want to share opportunities with others.

That’s why he had kept dragging the fledgling team around even after defeating the goblin shaman, the forest’s boss monster.

‘The Frogman’s Heart and the Goblin Shaman’s Blood.’

Yujin dug through the memories of his past life.

A few years from now, the [Ancient Garden] — currently an unpopular Gate — would rise to fame due to a hidden feature.

When specific catalysts were placed in precise locations, it would open a secret zone: the [Ancient Proving Grounds].

Overcoming its trials engraved the challenger with a permanent sigil — a powerful buff, rarer than any other reward across the world’s many Gates.

In his past life, rising star hunters had lined up just to challenge the Ancient Garden.

‘It is time to pay a visit.’

Leading his zombies, he made his way to the lakeshore in the northern region of the Ancient Garden.

The lake’s surroundings were home to blue-skinned, amphibious monsters called Frogmen.

More precisely — they lurked beneath the lake’s surface, waiting for prey.

“Grrk.”

At Yujin’s command, a zombie approached the water’s edge.

The moment it drew near—

“Arrrrrrr!”

A guttural cry boomed from every direction, echoing through the trees.

Ripples broke the lake’s calm surface, and one after another, Frogmen leapt into view.

Crunch—!!!

A trident pierced the zombie’s nape.

“Arrr!”

“Grkk… grrkkk…”

Zombies didn’t vanish unless their heads were destroyed.

This one, crafted with care by Yujin, had a fortified body — far from fragile. Even with a trident jammed into its neck, the zombie didn’t flinch. It staggered forward and bit into the Frogman.

“Aaaaarrgh!”

The creature foamed at the mouth.

But as the first ambush failed, more of its kin surged out of the lake, drawn by the fight.

If only I’d learned Corpse Explosion, Yujin thought with a click of his tongue, I could wipe them out in one go.

Instead, he deployed more zombies, one after another.

The skirmish exploded into chaos.

Frogmen swarmed from every corner of the lake, gradually overwhelming and destroying the zombies.

“Aarrr. Stinky. Weak.”

Of course they would be.

Frogmen had physical abilities more than three times higher than goblins.

Even Yujin’s enhanced undead couldn’t overcome such a gap in stats.

“You think I didn’t know that?”

The Staff of Resentment rose into the air.

The whitish aura had thickened several times more than before, becoming so vivid it seemed tangible.

The Staff of Resentment, further imbued with the Essence of Death, now throbbed with power.

Swishh—!!!

The sharpened end of the bone staff, now reversed, launched like a spear toward the mocking Frogman.

[Oil Shower]

A slick sheen coated the creature’s skin.

A racial skill of the Frogmen, it dulled the impact of piercing attacks.

“Arghrrk—like that’ll do anythi—urk!”

Just before the staff struck its chest, its velocity dipped slightly — and then it spun; the spiraling end of the Staff of Resentment sliced through the Frogman’s oiled skin, digging deep past the muscle with frightening ease.

And then, it pierced the very location of its heart.

‘Don’t ruin it too much. The altar won’t accept it if it’s damaged.’

Schlkk—!!!

As the staff withdrew, it pulled the Frogman’s heart out with it, still beating and soaked in thick green blood that gushed like a waterfall from the open wound.

The first Frogman collapsed to the ground.

Its vacant pupils trembled.

The moment it received the Essence of Death, the slain Frogman let out a rattling groan as it rose again— undead.

Nearly twice the size of a goblin, the reanimated Frogman boasted stats that had increased dramatically, simply because the original had been so much stronger.

“Gaaaooorgh!”

“Arghrrrk!”

One of the Frogmen drove its trident into the zombie, but the creature didn’t flinch. Whether its bones cracked or not, it charged in with unrelenting ferocity.

If it had been a small, frail goblin, the outcome might’ve been different.

But thanks to Yujin’s enhancements with the Essence of Death, the reanimated Frogman had become even more powerful than it had been in life.

“Argh… th-the strength…”

The Frogman holding the trident shook, its voice strained.

Swish—!!!

Once more, the Staff of Resentment ripped through the air.

“What, did you think I was just going to watch?”

Yujin’s smirking voice echoed in the Frogmen’s ears.

A second heart was ripped out — and another undead rose.

‘If not for the Staff of Resentment, this would’ve been a much harder fight.’

The Frogmen’s racial skill, Oil Shower, was a nuisance.

Aside from the vulnerability it gave them to fire, it boosted agility and granted massive resistance to slashing or piercing attacks.

Regular bone wouldn’t have been able to pierce that slickened skin.

He’d been lucky.

‘The Soul Power cost is steep… but manageable.’

As he summoned more undead Frogmen and overcharged the staff with death essence, his Soul Power began draining like a burst dam.

Ugh.

His vision blurred. His hands and feet trembled from the backlash of depleted Soul Power.

‘I can manage this.’

The penalties from overuse of Soul Power were tolerable.

And—

He already had a way to replenish it.

The energy pooled in his lower abdomen — life force drained from goblins via Life Drain, now transmuted into Soul Power.

“Whew. That’s the stuff.”

The more his focus wavered and nausea churned in his gut, the more an unexplainable exhilaration surged within him, steadying his mind.

〔If you collapse from overexertion, what am I supposed to do with your body?!〕

‘I won’t collapse. You worry too much.’

〔Your life belongs to me, Contractor. Don’t go recklessly throwing that body around.〕

‘Since when was that part of the contract?’

〔You’re the only one I can communicate with! If you die meaninglessly, I’m the one in trouble!〕

Don’t worry.

This doesn’t even count as overdoing it.

“Arrrk!”

“Arrr!”

The once quiet lakeside now echoed with the screams of Frogmen. Green blood drenched the earth.

‘At this pace, it won’t be long before I surpass the level I reached before regression.’

He needed to grow stronger — fast — if he ever wanted to pay back that bastard, the Sorcerer King, in kind.

He couldn’t ignore the latent threat of the Seven Great Houses, either.

Swallowing the heat bubbling inside him, Yujin pressed on with the hunt.

“Arrrrgh…”

The last Frogman near the lake toppled over with a guttural groan.

The goblin zombies were dismissed.

In their place, twenty freshly raised Frogman Zombies stood with vacant, milky eyes, waiting for his next command.

〔Will you move out immediately?〕

‘I’ll rest a bit first. I’m still human, you know.’

Yujin dropped to the ground with a soft thud, catching his breath.

His head pounded; the aftereffects of wielding far more Soul Power than his body was built to handle hit him like a storm.

Through White Night, Soul Power and Divine Power were interchanged. He extracted life force from the least mangled Frogman corpses and converted it into healing energy.

‘If I store enough excess life force, I could act as a healer too.’

Divine Power was typically reserved for cleric classes.

But if he didn’t want to reveal himself as a necromancer, he could pass himself off as something else by using Life Drain strategically.

In fact, as a healing method, it outperformed basic healing spells in terms of efficiency.

‘I’ve gathered enough hearts too.’

Extracting Frogman hearts mid-combat to use for necromancy wasn’t easy.

It required wide-field awareness and precise battlefield control — something only Yujin could pull off.

After shaking off most of the side effects from Soul Power overuse, he stood up.

‘The preparation is now complete.’

The Blessing of a Constellation — something he had desperately sought in his past life but never obtained.

This time would be different.

Yujin’s steps gained power.

On the way back to the garden.

The Hunters who had formed parties and entered the Gate cast strange glances at Yujin.

“Grrrrhh…”

To be precise, those looks were directed at the zombies groaning like deflating bellows.

Summoner-type mages were already a rare sight among the magic schools — but a hunter who wielded undead? That hadn’t existed at all in this era. Their surprise was to be expected.

‘It’s a bit of a hassle, but I’ll live with it.’

Yujin glared right back at the onlookers, his eyes sharp and unflinching.

A blade within a sheath still pierces through the cloth. Power always reveals itself, whether you try to hide it or not.

It had been the same in his past life.

And in this second one, he intended to grow stronger, faster. That meant drawing attention was inevitable.

As Yujin met their stares, the other hunters averted their eyes.

‘It’s not something I can hide, even if I tried.’

Tch.

A quiet chuckle escaped him.

With a troupe of awkwardly stiff zombies — bodies riddled with post-mortem rigidity — he marched through the garden’s core.

One by one, the curious gazes began to fade.

After all, curiosity about a necromancer wasn’t going to earn anyone a meal. They returned to their original goals.

‘Time to begin.’

Yujin unwrapped a bundle from his bag and retrieved one of the Frogman hearts.

He placed a drop of the Goblin Shaman’s blood onto the lifeless blue flesh.

Thump—!!! Thump—!!! Thump—!!!

The heart, long since stilled, began to pulse violently, throbbing with renewed life.

〔What mischief are you planning this time?〕

‘A hidden opportunity from the future.’

〔I see. You’re going to capitalize on your regression.〕

‘Quiet. I need to focus.’

The shaman’s blood only revived the heart temporarily. He had two minutes to complete the setup. He repeated the process, reactivating each remaining heart with a drop of blood, then handed them out to the zombies.

“Do not drop these. Stand right there.”

Yujin’s voice rang with command.

Zombies were low-level undead. Their only lingering instinct was hunger. A single lapse in control and they’d stuff the throbbing blue hearts straight into their mouths.

Once all nine zombies had reached their designated positions, Yujin dropped a final bead of blood onto the last heart.

Fwoooosh—!!!

A blinding flash of light burst from the garden’s center.

It lasted no more than 0.1 seconds — but in that instant, Yujin and his undead vanished, swallowed by radiant light, leaving no trace behind in the Ancient Garden.

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