Seoul Station’s Necromancer Chapter 28:
Chapter 28 – Trend
How long would this feeling of anxiety continue?
Haemin had been feeling it for about 30 minutes and Minchan felt it for no more than 40 minutes . The two of them waited for the barrier to disappear . At the very least, they wanted to see the moment when the two had died as a courtesy .
“Team leader . These guys are lasting quite awhile?”
“I guess so . ”
“If they lasted this long, doesn’t it confirm they were able to survive in the jungle?”
“I guess so . ”
“…maybe they might clear it?”
At Haemin’s hopeful words, Minchan’s face turned bright for a moment . However, he his face turned sullen soon .
“He is a Necromancer, so he’ll have his summoned beings . Even if he was able to defeat the Krocodile using his summoned being as bait, he won’t be able to escaped the swamps . ”
“Mmmm . When you say the swamps… . ”
In various parts of the jungle, large swamps had formed, and the swamp was basically a death trap for close ranged fighters . The swamps limited one’s movement, and there were two types of monsters that spawned at the swamps .
The Fuco Monkeys and Swamp Anacondas .
Fuco Monkeys threw a very hard fruit named Fuco at their opponents, and it could deal quite a lot of damage . If one took a wrong blow to the head then one would be in danger of dying .
It was hard to move in the swamps, so the only way to attack was using long-ranged magic .
Minchan had too little information on the two . He knew the Roused named Hong-sunggoo had a Flame ability . However, Fuco Monkeys attacked in packs with at least 10 members . It wasn’t something a single person could deal with .
Moreover, when one is busy dealing with the Fuco Monkeys, the large anacondas would silently approach and attack . One would be too exhausted to fend it off .
“Whew . That sounds difficult . ”
“It is difficult . ”
When one attacked a 4 star Dungeon, several types of abilities were needed . This was why a team was always formed . Minchana and Haemin went back to watching the barrier with dark expression on their faces .
*
Hwa-roo-rook, boom!
Several dozen fireballs flew towards the branches .
“Ooh-kii-kii . ”
The surprised monkeys madly dodged the fireballs . During all of this, ice arrows flew in, and it struck the body of the monkey . It made their movement sluggish .
Ssoo-ehhhhk! Boom!
“Kii kii kii . ”
While the forest was burning up, an electrical attack came flying towards the Monkeys .
Pah-ji-ji-jeek!
“Ggweek!”
Woojin was radiant as he saw the monkeys falling like leaves .
“Koo-hahaha . Wipe them all out . ”
“…… . ”
Sunggoo’s face was livid with horror as he looked at the horrible scene .
Hwa-roo-rook .
The forest was burning . If this was earth instead of a Dungeon, this event would have been the headline in the media .
Woojin already had 40 Skeleton Magicians by his side .
Some were shooting Fireballs and some were sending out Ice Arrows . The rest were using Electricity magic .
At least he was comforted by the fact that his fireballs was a bit stronger than the Skeleton Magician’s fireballs .
Sunggoo had never seen such a violent and brutish hunting method .
Woojin had a retinue of Skeleton Magicians, and they were burning and destroying the entire jungle . It was an indiscriminate massacre .
It was a banquet of Magic .
Hwa-roo-rook, Puh-puh-puhng!
“Kekeke . I leveled up again . Ooh-haha . ”
“…… . ”
Sunggoo wondered if Woojin had lost his mind . It seemed his mood was elevated to another level . It didn’t suit a person who was madly destroying the jungle .
Sunggo had never seen Woojin be in a better mood . No, this was the most excited he had seen Woojin be .
When Woojin leveled up, he put the 10 Bonus Stat Points into Magic and Control . He invested 5 points each .
“Now, come new recruits!”
At Woojin’s call, 5 dead monkey corpses exploded, and new Skeleton Magicians were added to his troops . .
‘Dual class is **** awesome!’
Woojin got a taste of a new world when he turned from level 10 to level 11 . Every time he leveled up, he received 10 bonus Stat instead of 5 . The Bonus Stat had doubled .
Even the Bonus Skill Point had increased from 1 to 2 points .
He thought it was a setup that allowed him to develop both the Warrior and Necromancer class at the same time . However, Woojin didn’t even bother with the Stat and Skills for the Warrior Class . He put all the points into Control and Magic .
His current level was 14 .
As a bonus, he had received 40 Stat Points . He put most of it into Control and Magic . He also put several points into Recovery, which helped his magic recover .
Magic : 40 Recovery : 14 Control : 55
As the number of Skeleton Magicians increased around Woojin, the forest was destroyed at a higher pace . The monsters were too busy running away .
<Achievement + 25, Achievement + 23… . >
Every time Woojin killed one Fuco Monkey, he yelled out in joy as he calculated the Achievement Points . In the 3 star Dungeon, he had only received 3 Achievement Points, because the hunting ground didn’t suit his ability .
Woojin’s current level was 14, but the Transfer Bonus and other skills basically meant he could be seen as a level 40 .
Woojin swept everything before him as he advanced . From the rear, consecutive magic blast flew up like rocket launchers, and it landed in the forest . The only thing left was for the forest to burn .
*
“Who ordered the jajangmyeon!” (TLN: noodle + black bean paste + veggie/meat)
“Ah, over here . ”
Hamein took the two bowls of jajang from the delivery man then he approached Minchan, who was sitting on the subway station’s stairs . The Dungeon employee, and the staff in charge went to a nearby restaurant to eat a meal .
“Team leader . Our dinner is here . ”
“I want Ganjajang . ” (TLN: same as jajangmyeon but the sauce is thicker)
“This restaurant’s jajang is tastier . ”
“You **** . This is the first time you are ordering from this place . ”
“…… . ”
“Uh-whew . Whatever . Let’s just teat . ”
Minchan took the jajangmyeon, and he mixed it . He asked a question as he put a mouthful of the noodle in his mouth .
“How long has it been?”
“Four hours has passed . ”
“Mmmm . So, 16 hours… . ”
The structure of the 4 star Dungeon wasn’t the only thing unique about it . The time there was 4 times faster then the real time . They had already spent over 16 hours inside the Dungeon .
The Dungeon monsters quickly realized if there was an intruder . The monsters slowly converged on the intruders, so hiding wasn’t an option .
One could hide for a short amount of time, but it was almost impossible for one to hide from the monsters for 16 hours .
“They probably came across a swamp by now . However, we don’t really have much information about their abilities . ”
“That’s true . Uh… . Then don’t we have to worry about them coming back alive? We were the one who put them in danger…”
Michan shook his head at Haemin’s worry .
“It’s already been 16 hours, so they are probably starving by now . How well do you think they’ll know about the ecosystem over there? The plants, animals and bugs aren’t like the ones found on earth . They are all very different . ”
“Jeez . If they mistakenly eat a poisonous plant… . ”
“It’s the end of the road . ”
Maybe it was because of the words he were mumbling, but he lost the taste for his food .
“In the future, don’t order from here . ”
“…Yes . ”
*
The jungle was burnt to the ground… In the open space, Woojin was roasting something on a stick over the campfire .
Chi-ji-jeek .
From the surrounding, Sunggoo had gathered fruits and mushrooms that wasn’t damaged by fire .
“Hyung-nim . I picked these up . ”
“Uh, well done . ”
Woojin picked up the fruits brought to him by Sunggoo . He picked each up one by one .
“You can eat this if you peel the skin . You can’t eat this . It’s poisonous . This one is also poisonous, but we can eat it if we cook it over the fire . ”
Woojin gave an explanation to Sunggoo . Sunggoo feverishly listened to Woojin like a student who was going to take the college entrance exam soon . The only regret Sunggoo had was the lack of notebooks . He wanted to write all of this down .
“Hyung-nim . How are you so knowledgeable about this?”
“Uh, that is… . ”
Of course, he was knowledgeable about it . This place was basically like a mixture of the ecosystem and neighborhood he had lived at for 20 years .
“Well . Why don’t you just listen without saying anything?”
“I’m sorry, hyung-nim . I won’t ask about it again . ”
“Go cut some of that grass over there . We can crush it into a paste . It tastes fantastic when you slather it on the meat . ”
“Yes, sir . So what’s the menu this time?”
“Snake meat . It’s fantastic . Also, I’m getting tired of eating only meat . Let’s eat some roasted mushroom . ”
“Kyahh . My mouth is already watering . ”
To his surprise, everything Woojin cooked was very tasty . Sunggoo was really looking forward to it .
*
Michan favored the taste of Ganjajang, but he still emptied the whole bowl .
The current time was 7:45 .
Woojin and Sunggoo had already been in the Dungeon for 4 hrs and 20 min .
Haemin went to fetch a blanket, and he gave it to Minchan .
“Team leader . The day is getting cold . ”
“Yeah . Thanks . ”
“So, Team leader . What happens if we aren’t able to scout Mr . Woojin and Mr . Sungooo?”
“What do you think? We can only begrudgingly let them go . ”
“Don’t we need to report it to the president?”
“It’s already been sent . He was apathetic . ”
“What?”
Haemin’s eyes became round . If it wasn’t an order from the president, then why were they putting so much effort into this venture?
He had already ordered the employee to raise Kang-Woojin to Rank C and Hong-sunggoo to Rank D . The newly issued Roused Card had already been delivered to Minchan’s hand .
If he was to be blunt, it basically meant if those two died then their work would be much cleaner . They would lament the fact that they weren’t able to rope the two into the guild, but the consequence would end there . The complication would arise if those two came back alive, and they took issue with what happened .
“Hey, Haemin . ”
“Yes, Team leader . ”
“You know about me . In the past 5 years, my eyes have never deceived me . ”
“It makes sense . Team leader’s evaluation of others had always been on point . ”
Minchan had been involved in Dungeon related work since the Dungeon Shock . He was a veteran . He wasn’t an founding member of the Hammer guild, but the work he had done for the guild was quite illustrious .
“Didn’t Team leader discover Park-jinwoo?”
Hammer guild had two Ranked A Roused . One of them was Park-Jinwoo . Jung-minchan had recognized his potential, and he had roped him into the Hammer guild .
“I get a powerful feeling from that bastard, Woojin . ”
“Does that mean he has a similar potential?”
If the Roused had potential, the Guild would bend over backwards to help the person grow rapidly . Haemin had asked if Woojin had as much potential as Park-jinwoo . Haemin shook his head .
“I have a feeling he has more . ”
“…!”
“That is why I don’t want to lose him . ”
Jung-minchan was telling the truth . He felt a strong sensation coming from Kang-woojin . It didn’t feel like a sandalwood being fragrant even in seed leaf . (TLN:idiom) It was much more than that… . It felt like he was looking at a large tree .
“This is why I want him to come back alive . I don’t care even if he doesn’t join the Hammer guild . If we lose a Roused like that, then it would be a loss for humanity . ”
“T…team leader… . ”
Haemin had to look at his boss, Minchan, in a new light . Usually he acted like an asshole, but today why was he looking so cool? No, he really looked cool .
“We could pray together, Team leader . I’m sure they will come back alive . ”
“It’ll be tough . ”
“…?”
“Those **** guarding the Return Stone are really difficult opponents . ”
“…!”
Of course, he knew that . That is why he said they should pray for their safe return . .
“They’ll eventually die… . ”
“…… . ”
Weren’t you hoping to see them come back alive?
He took back the sentiment .
If he wasn’t his Team leader, he would have hit him . Haemin berated himself for thinking even for a brief moment that his team leader was cool .
*
“Hyung-nim! The Return Stone is over there . ”
After burning down the entire jungle, Woojin stepped forward to use his Search magic . The Return Stone was in the middle of a large open space, and it was floating on top of an altar .
At the thought of being able to escape this Dungeon fraught with danger, Sunggoo was about to run towards it . Woojin roughly held him back .
“Uh-uhk . ”
Sunggoo fell backwards after the back of his neck was grabbed . Before Sunggoo could turn to ask the question, ‘Why?’, the ground he stepped on collapsed on itself .
A cloud of dust rose into the air, and he could see a trap with bamboo spears on the bottom .
“Huh-uhk . ”
If he had taken one more step, than he would have died . Sunggoo’s heart flipped in his chest . He was about to express his thanks, but Woojin was staring at something with a serious expression on his face .
When Sunggoo saw the beings that showed up, he lost the words he was about to say .