Chapter 9
As mentioned earlier, Do-jin had sent Apostle and the other Crow Skeletons away after giving them a simple order.
Find the wolves without being noticed by anyone else.
When he first issued the order, Do-jin's idea had been simple.
He thought the Crow Skeletons would locate the wolf packs, return, and somehow inform him.
But that was not what happened.
The connection between Necromancer and minion was far deeper than Do-jin had expected.
Not long after sending the Skeletons away...
“...!”
Do-jin experienced a strange sensation.
It was both familiar and unfamiliar.
One eye was looking at the forest in front of him.
Yet another viewpoint was looking down at that same forest from the sky.
There was not even a breeze between the enormous, densely packed trees around him.
Yet he could feel wind brushing through his hair and across his cheeks.
Sensory sharing?!
Another landscape rushed past his vision as though someone were fast-forwarding a recording.
Then finally...
One hundred twenty meters ahead, three o'clock from my current position.
Three wolves.
The moment Do-jin realized that...
The corner of his mouth rose.
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Find something?
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He answered the chat simply.
“Excuse me.”
Do-jin shot forward like a rocket.
At the same time, he sharpened his senses.
Trees and rocks stretched endlessly through the forest.
Among them, Do-jin could feel presences and mana that belonged neither to him nor any other Player.
The unique presence of monsters.
Do-jin already knew exactly what they were.
“Gray Wolves... It's been a while.”
They were low-ranking monsters that could not even be compared to Snow Wolves, Horned Wolves, or Flame Wolves.
Still, to an E-rank Player they were perfectly capable of becoming messengers of death.
For an F-rank Player, it went without saying.
But for the current Do-jin...
“Here I come!”
He left the other Skeletons scouting.
Only Apostle, the leader of the flock, glided down beside him.
Three Gray Wolves noticed Do-jin and immediately bared their teeth.
They seemed to be acting as scouts.
Do-jin tightened his grip on the spear and stepped forward without hesitation.
Before he attacked, Apostle moved first at Do-jin's command.
The Crow Skeleton flew toward the wolves.
A mysterious bottle filled with liquid was clutched in one foot.
“Grrr!”
“Yelp! Y-Yelp!!”
Perhaps it was because Do-jin had survived countless real battles and now applied that experience to his mana and strategy.
Or perhaps the instincts of a bird that had fought desperately to survive in nature remained even after becoming undead.
Either way, Apostle easily avoided the Gray Wolf's attack and calmly flew through the air.
Then it threw the bottle in its foot directly into the face of the chasing wolf.
“Yelp! Yelp!!”
The wolf was drenched in the liquid.
Unable to properly open its eyes, it began jumping around in pain.
Even another wolf running behind it hesitated.
That was when...
“Even monsters hate the taste of vinegar, huh?”
Yes.
Before sending the Skeletons scouting, Do-jin had taken out one of his secret weapons.
It was vinegar.
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Vinegar? Seriously?
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That's not a poison Item?
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While chat exploded...
Do-jin's spear flashed past.
The third wolf's throat was severed in one strike.
Without stopping, Do-jin's spear moved like a snake toward the two wolves suffering from Apostle's opening attack.
“GRAAAH!!!”
“BARK!!!”
One wolf rampaged wildly.
The instant its stomach was exposed, Do-jin cut deeply into the area around its heart.
The other wolf tried to flee despite being unable to open its eyes.
Do-jin drove his spear downward from above and finished it.
“...”
He looked down at the dead wolf for a moment.
Then raised his head toward the chat.
“What do you think, everyone? I thought I'd start lightly.”
Even while he spoke, notifications appeared one after another.
[Gray Wolf hunted.]
[Acquired 25 Gold and Experience (+50%).]
[Level Increased.]
[Lv.13]
Do-jin smiled after checking the three identical kill notifications and the final Level-up window.
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Bro, where did you learn spear fighting?
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When did you awaken as a Necromancer? You clearly trained a ton before this, right?
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Satisfied with the smooth start, Do-jin checked his spear.
Good. Still sturdy.
Of course, Do-jin had not bought it.
It was the spear he had taken from the Spearman Player he defeated in the previous Arena.
Do-jin had intended to return it after the Quest ended, but...
“Get lost! I don't need that piece-of-junk spear!”
...the red-faced Player had refused, apparently feeling even more humiliated.
The spear had belonged to Do-jin ever since.
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[HarryCarter] donated 100 Gold.
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[Mission: Bro, show us how you make minions! Pleading emoji. I'll pay 300 Gold per minion!]
[Accept?]
[Yes / No]
Three hundred Gold?
Even Do-jin was tempted.
Everyone already knew he was a Necromancer anyway.
And the more Gold he accumulated, the easier it would be to carry out his future plans.
“HarryCarter, thank you.”
“Our crow friends were just about ready to welcome some new companions.”
Gray Wolves were low-ranking monsters.
Their bodies were only around the size of medium dogs.
They barely qualified as small monsters.
That meant Do-jin's current <Necromancy> could affect them.
“Unfortunately, one of them is too badly damaged.”
Do-jin selected the two relatively intact wolf corpses.
Then smiled.
“I'll gladly take the 600 Gold.”
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GO GO GO!
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LET'S GOOOOOO
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Never thought I'd get to watch something like this.
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Do-jin drew out his Death Energy.
Then spoke.
“Awaken.”
What happened next was similar to when Apostle had first awakened.
There was only one difference.
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WHAT THE HELL IT'S ACTUALLY REAL?!
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This time, an endless flood of amazed viewer messages followed.
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Mission Complete: [HarryCarter] donated 600 Gold.
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Worth every coin...
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From that moment onward, the viewer count for the Under Arena <Wolf Hunting Ground> began rising rapidly.
And two new wolf undead opened their eyes.
Death Energy received from Do-jin wrapped around their bones like a coat of flickering mana.
[Minion List: 7 / 10]
[1. Crow Skeleton - Lv.7 / Soldier]
[2. Crow Skeleton - Lv.5 / Normal]
[...]
[6. Wolf Skeleton - Lv.1 / Normal]
[7. Wolf Skeleton - Lv.1 / Normal]
The battles afterward went smoothly.
Do-jin was still more familiar with fighting directly as a Magic Spearman than commanding undead.
Even so, coordinated attacks from his minions were extremely useful.
Additionally, the four smaller Crow Skeletons constantly informed him of the Gray Wolves' locations.
Unlike ordinary Players, Do-jin could therefore enjoy a one-sided hunt.
“Grrrrrrrrrr!!!”
“Awooooooo!”
Perhaps realizing the intruder was unusually dangerous, Gray Wolves began appearing in large groups.
At this point, it was practically a Monster Wave.
“Haha... This is no joke. Brings back memories.”
Before his regression, Do-jin's daily life had consisted of being chased, hiding, and fighting multiple enemies at once.
In other words...
This kind of crisis was familiar territory.
“Apostle, take the lead! The rest of you, keep up!”
“...”
“...”
“...”
Apparently undead simply did not speak.
They made no sound in response to Do-jin's command.
They merely adjusted their movements according to his orders.
They really are convenient.
They obey every order without question.
Do-jin moved cleverly through the forest.
A normal newly awakened Player would have avoided areas where monsters gathered.
Do-jin did the exact opposite.
He deliberately moved toward concentrations of monsters.
“Grrrr...!”
“Bark! Bark!”
Everywhere Do-jin and his undead passed, the Gray Wolves chased after them without exception.
Almost as though bewitched.
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Necro bro, why are all the wolves only following you?
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