Chapter 14
The Forgotten Hero
Step. Step.
Yujin crossed through the desolate orc settlement.
His footsteps stopped in front of an old tree with only a few leaves remaining.
The blue spirit flame reflected in his eyes accurately captured the soul attached to the tree.
‘Just as I remembered.’
A pale gray mist.
Two black dots embedded within it stared back at Yujin.
—You’re looking at me as if you can actually see me.
“I can see you.”
—What?!
The ghost clearly hadn’t expected a response.
Startled, it quickly hid behind the old tree.
Yujin scratched the back of his head.
“You know, it’s kind of hurtful when someone reacts that strongly to seeing a person.”
“Hyungnim… is someone there?”
At Kang Minho’s question, Yujin casually pointed at the tree.
“A ghost.”
“…Excuse me?”
“An earthbound spirit. And one carrying a lot of resentment.”
—Hmph. Don’t lump me together with random evil spirits!
As the ghost revealed its presence, the leaves on the old tree shook violently.
“Hiiik!”
Kang Minho instinctively stepped backward.
“You had no reaction to walking corpses, but now you’re freaking out?”
“At least zombies can be seen and fought! Earthbound spirits are invisible!”
In truth, ghost-type monsters were the natural enemies of melee hunters.
Unless mana was infused into their weapons, physical attacks barely worked.
And ghost-types specialized in mental debuffs, making them notoriously difficult opponents.
‘Well, for me…’
Yujin was completely immune to mental interference debuffs, so he remained calm.
But the moment the Baby-faced Team heard the words “earthbound spirit,” they all backed away from the old tree.
“Now this finally feels like a proper memorial.”
—A memorial?
“I wiped out the orc settlement to meet you.”
—Why would you care about some ordinary spirit trapped in this land?
“Martial Mage Park Haneul.”
The two black dots floating within the pale mist froze.
Shock.
Then confusion.
—H-how do you know my name?
“I told you. I came to pay my respects.”
An earthbound spirit unable to leave the border region.
Park Haneul stared at Yujin in astonishment.
—Wow. Hearing my name for the first time since dying… feels strange.
“The orcs wouldn’t know your name.”
—True. I can’t even remember how long it’s been since I last had a conversation.
“About thirty-five years, maybe?”
The ghost fell silent for a moment before letting out a quiet exclamation.
—So it’s already been that long since I died?
“That’s around when the First Monster Wave came down from the former North Korean territories.”
—Wait. First?!
“Ah. Someone already dead wouldn’t know. Similar waves happened two more times after that.”
—You’ve got to be kidding. That’s basically the apocalypse. How did the country survive?
Was this how people felt when spoiling the ending of a movie or drama?
Watching Park Haneul continuously react in shock was strangely entertaining.
“It survived because of people like you.”
—Heh heh. I know that’s just flattery, but it still feels good to hear.
“I’m not flattering you.”
Yujin recited what he had learned from history textbooks.
Massive hordes of monsters had poured down from the former North Korean regions.
If hunters burning with conviction, like Park Haneul, hadn’t stepped forward, Seoul itself might have been completely devastated.
“There’s even a memorial monument. For everyone who died during the First Monster Wave.”
—Then my sacrifice wasn’t meaningless.
Relief filled the ghost’s voice.
Had those words brought him salvation?
Despite being an earthbound spirit unable to move on due to resentment, his soul still radiated purity.
Well—
A soul that kind probably had sacrificed its life trying to save others.
“Not everyone’s name was recorded though. Including yours.”
—…What do you mean by that?
“You’re the only one who remembers your own name. Even if the whole world were searched.”
Countless hunters died during the First Monster Wave.
Yet nowhere among the victims’ records did the name Park Haneul remain.
The spirit flickering around the old tree shook violently.
—Explain properly.
“There’s someone who deliberately erased your records.”
Yujin paused deliberately.
The pale spiritual mist trembled violently, urging him to continue.
“Vice Guildmaster Baek Seonghyun of the Arahan Guild.”
WHOOOOOSH!
A violent gust swept through the settlement where not even a breeze had existed moments ago.
Yujin’s hair whipped wildly in the fierce wind.
Even the Baby-faced Team, standing far away, shivered instinctively.
This wasn’t spiritual pressure that an ordinary vengeful ghost could produce.
“He’s also the one you need revenge against.”
—I never thought about revenge.
“Earthbound spirits don’t exist without a reason. There’s something tying you to this land.”
Yes.
Someone exactly like you, Park Haneul.
“I heard hunters were sent to their deaths because of false information.”
During the early Great Cataclysm, Park Haneul had been renowned as one of the strongest awakened.
Thanks to his unique ability, [Martial Mage], which granted talent in both martial combat and magic, along with his exceptional battle instincts, his reputation among early awakeners had been enormous.
If he had survived, he might even have become one of the Seven Stars.
‘I heard it from the dead who perished during the First Monster Wave.’
A hidden story lay behind why someone so powerful died namelessly in an unknown corner of the border region.
—You said all records disappeared. Then how do you know all this?
“I heard rumors while searching for powerful souls.”
That wasn’t exactly a lie.
At least half of it wasn’t.
Before regression, while searching for powerful souls to strengthen his necromancy, Yujin had heard rumors about an earthbound spirit near the orc settlement.
That spirit had been the very soul before him now.
‘Though I heard the details directly from him afterward.’
The Arahan Guild’s betrayal.
They pushed Park Haneul into a death trap while defending the Monster Wave from a more advantageous position.
If Park Haneul had retreated from that battlefield—
The Arahan Guild would have suffered major losses too.
‘But he wasn’t the kind of person who would retreat.’
Since Yujin had once taken Park Haneul in as his subordinate in his previous life, he understood his personality better than anyone—even more than Baek Seonghyun, who had set the trap.
“Take my hand. I’ll let you have your revenge.”
—You’re telling me to become undead?
“That’s right.”
—Heh. My body rotted away decades ago and became fertilizer for this tree.
“I’ve already prepared a body to house your soul. No need to worry.”
Yujin smiled faintly.
“Will you make a contract with me and become undead?”
Park Haneul fell silent, seemingly deep in thought.
After a while—
—If I make a contract with you… can I truly get revenge?
“Of course.”
—I have one condition. You may use me however you want, but…
“It’s not going to be revenge against Baek Seonghyun, is it?”
—I refuse to harm innocent people.
Yujin snorted softly.
The exact same condition.
Park Haneul had offered the same terms before regression too.
Seeing how unchanged he remained lightened Yujin’s darkened heart slightly.
“That won’t happen.”
After all—
There were already plenty of villains worth killing.
Who would waste time harming innocent people?
[The earthbound spirit Park Haneul has become your possession.]
A bond formed through spiritual marks.
An invisible connection linked Yujin and Park Haneul together.
The contract had been made.
But the real work started now.
[Releasing the corpse stored within the Black Abyss Ring.]
THUD!
A massive body suddenly appeared before the old tree.
The Dragonoid corpse.
—What is that?
“Park Haneul’s new body.”
—I thought I’d become something like a zombie.
“You’re a hero. You deserve proper treatment. Besides, those don’t last long.”
Hidden beneath the bone armor, the zombies’ bodies were rotting in real time.
The spiritual power infused into them slowed the decay, but—
After about a week, most of the flesh would rot away and their combat ability would plummet.
‘In my previous life, I possessed him into a Skeleton Knight.’
A necromantic technique that fused souls into undead.
If soul synchronization succeeded, an undead’s combat power could more than double.
Like the Armored Zombie, it was another necromancy technique Yujin had personally developed.
Park Haneul had once accumulated achievements within the body of a Skeleton Knight and eventually evolved into a Death Knight through his own power.
Later, aided by Yujin’s modifications and various items, he evolved further into a Doom Knight.
And in the end—
After achieving ultimate enlightenment, he became a Hell Knight, a supreme undead not even recorded within the Library of Knowledge.
‘What if I had given Park Haneul a stronger body from the start?’
It was a thought Yujin had often entertained in his previous life.
Binding Park Haneul’s soul to a mere Skeleton Knight at first had been a major mistake.
Once synchronization between soul and undead body was completed, separating them again became extremely difficult.
A soul that reached the ultimate realm while trapped in the body of a nameless Skeleton Knight—
How much stronger would he have become if placed inside the corpse of a truly powerful being?
It was impossible to estimate.
〔Kahahaha! A masterpiece! So this is why you refined the corpse with such foresight.〕
That’s right.
From the moment Yujin obtained the Dragonoid corpse—
Its owner had already been decided.
A soul talented in both martial arts and magic.
The perfect spirit to become the core of an Eldritch Dragon.
“Then let’s begin.”
Ssssss—
Pale energy wrapped around Yujin’s right hand.
He rapidly stabbed various points across the Dragonoid corpse.
[Enhancement Formula – Lesser Corpse Rigidity activated.]
[Enhancement Formula – Lesser Bone Reinforcement activated.]
[Enhancement Formula—]
The melted mana stone solution reacted to Yujin’s power.
Strange patterns emerged across the scales.
The enhancement and curse formulas engraved at Shin Junseok’s alchemy workshop had activated.
Watching from a short distance away, Park Haneul observed silently.
Yujin suddenly reached out and grabbed part of the ghostly mist.
“This might sting a little.”
—Aaaah!
What an overreaction.
Yujin extracted part of Park Haneul’s spiritual power and infused it into the Dragonoid corpse.
The energy flowed from the nostrils toward the head.
The dragon essence fixed in place through magical formulas reacted to Park Haneul’s power and began writhing like a bear waking from hibernation.
—What is this? This feels strange.
“Don’t resist. Accept my power.”
The moment Yujin tapped the corpse’s forehead—
[Curse Formula – Intermediate Soul Binding activated.]
The previously engraved curse activated using mana dissolved within the melted solution as its catalyst.
The targets of the curse were Park Haneul’s soul and the Dragonoid corpse.
‘Normally this would require a high-level necromancy spell, but my level isn’t enough.’
The only true necromancy spell he possessed right now was Raise Undead.
And Raise Undead alone could do nothing beyond creating a basic zombie from the Dragonoid corpse.
It wasn’t some miraculous power that turned trash into gold.
Instead, Yujin used irregular methods based on his previous-life experience.
Park Haneul’s soul was drawn into the corpse through its nostrils.
Swaaaaa—
—Th…is… fee…li…ng….
Park Haneul’s thoughts became sluggish and distorted.
[Bound Soul (Park Haneul) failed to resist the curse formula.]
[The soul has begun synchronization with the curse target.]
[You may resist by supplying spiritual power.]
‘Why would I?’
This was exactly what he wanted.
The dragon corpse trembled violently without pause.
With Yujin’s tiny mana reserves, he couldn’t assist much during the process.
All he could do was hope the mana stone solution soaked into the corpse would do its job properly.
‘Should I pray or something?’
〔How about begging me sincerely?〕
‘Could the useless constellation please stay quiet?’
How much time passed?
Eventually, the violent trembling subsided.
FLASH!
The closed eyelids lifted.
Blue spirit flames ignited within the pupils, scattering ominous light.
【What? I can feel sensations?】
The Dragonoid corpse—
No.
The corpse synchronized with Park Haneul spoke in astonishment.
More precisely, it was the thoughts of the dead imitating the voice of the living.
[You have created undead through a new method not recorded within the Library of Knowledge.]
[Undead Creation – Eldritch Dragon (Incomplete)]
[An achievement surpassing the user’s rank! This knowledge will be recorded within the Library of Knowledge.]
A great achievement?
‘First time I’ve ever seen wording like that.’
The Library of Knowledge was an information network inheriting the knowledge of countless necromancers.
It didn’t possess an ego or consciousness.
But it still had its own criteria for evaluating knowledge.
Yet after seeing Yujin’s Eldritch Dragon, it described the creation as “great.”
Meaning—
Even the necromancers who contributed to the Library of Knowledge had never conceived such a concept.
The only concerning part was the word incomplete.
‘Well, makes sense. I basically assembled this through sheer improvisation.’
Creating a true Eldritch Dragon required an absurd amount of money.
Every single scale needed engraved formulas.
Expensive alchemical catalysts and materials had to reinforce the corpse.
And most importantly—
The fusion of dragon essence and soul.
Yujin had merely imitated the concept of an Eldritch Dragon through curse formulas.
【Incomplete, huh.】
“Don’t worry. We just need time.”
【Heh. I’m simply happy that even now, I’ve been given another challenge.】
“A challenge?”
【It means I must learn to properly wield this body before it can be completed.】
Needlessly positive thinking.
Yujin chuckled softly and checked Park Haneul’s status.
[Eldritch Dragon (Incomplete) – Park Haneul]
Species: Undead
Grade: ★★★
◎ Stats
Strength: 205 / Agility: 143 / Stamina: 176 / Toughness: 180 / Mana: 221
◎ Traits
▷ Martial Mage [Unique]
▷ Eyes of the Martial God [S]
▷ Undying Being [B]
▷ One Who Crossed Boundaries [B]
◎ Skills
▷ Kenech Combat Arts [A]
▷ Dark Aura [B]
▷ Martial Arts [C]
▷ Dark Missile [D]
◎ Special Notes
This undead can grow stronger. As the soul becomes more refined, the power dwelling within the corpse will awaken further.
The moment Yujin saw the specs of Park Haneul reborn as an Eldritch Dragon—
“…Holy shit.”
His jaw dropped open in genuine astonishment.
