[Your class is 'Necromancer'.]
The message hung there, unchanged. At first he couldn't believe it. Then anger surged.
'I never even touched the Intelligence stat — why this!'
Among the countless magic-type Hunters, this was a class so rare it was practically unheard of. Jin-Woo had been a combat-type from the moment he awakened as an E-rank. Aside from the short sword he'd picked up early on, he'd only ever used daggers, and every skill he'd acquired bore a resemblance to those of an Assassin. So the idea that he might receive a class from an entirely different category had never even crossed his mind. And of all things, magic-type — and of all classes, Necromancer. His knowledge here was based on in-game class settings, but he had a rough idea of what a Necromancer did. A gloomy mage trailed by a legion of the undead. No matter how he looked at it, he couldn't see the connection to himself. Jin-Woo scrunched up his face, then shook his head.
'...First, calm down.'
Even when his thoughts were tangled, his response had to be measured. Composure was Jin-Woo's weapon. Once he'd let the momentary excitement settle, he quickly regained his composure.
'But this really is…'
Denial, then anger. He felt that his current state resembled the 'five stages of grief' you'd see in patients who'd just been told they were terminally ill.
'Anger… was the next one bargaining? Or was it compromise?'
But there wasn't much room to compromise on this matter. If he had to list the advantages of the Necromancer class… being able to build his own army, just as the System had said, perhaps?
'The problem is that army would be made of bones and corpses.'
If he paraded around with something like that, the world would turn upside down. Hunters were already objects of both admiration and fear — becoming a Hunter who openly dragged around 'an army of the dead' was another matter entirely. Whether it suited him or not was beside the point; he simply wasn't sure he could handle it. Ding.
[Will you accept the class?]
The System was asking for an answer. That, at least, was a relief.
'At least I have a choice…'
Jin-Woo exhaled. If the class wasn't being forced on him, that meant there was another option. If he still had a chance at a different class change, there was no reason to agonize like this. Jin-Woo declined the offer with enthusiasm (sort of).
"No."
The message came back again.
[The Necromancer is a 'hidden class.' Will you still decline?]
The second question was harder to answer despite saying the same thing. He hesitated.
'Hidden… class?'
It sounded like something out of a game, but in reality, there were indeed rare Hunters with unusual abilities — Hunters who could create shields, for instance. Or Hunters who could apply buffs.
'There are even rumors that Baek Yoon-Ho, master of the White Tiger Guild, can transform into a beast.'
Hunters with those kinds of unique powers were all recruited into major guilds, enjoying extraordinary privileges.
'A hidden class — is that what they call those unique abilities?'
If so…
'This might actually be an opportunity.'
The thought struck him suddenly. The System had said so.
'The reason I was given the Necromancer class was because I craved powerful strength.'
In other words, Necromancer was a correspondingly powerful class. Considering that most rare-ability awakeners fell under the 'support category,' this was incredibly encouraging — a specialist with combat power. His heartbeat began to quicken.
'If I could at least experience what the Necromancer class is like, there'd be no need to deliberate like this.'
But how easy could that be? Nothing ever worked out that conveniently, and he'd never heard of anyone with such powers. A mage who commanded his own army to fight — that couldn't possibly exist. And just as that thought reached its conclusion…
'Ah…'
Jin-Woo surveyed the remains of the knights scattered all around him.
'Those mages!'
He could say that the mages from the job-change quest had used abilities similar to a Necromancer's. The knights here had been their army.
'That's right.'
The knights had been relentless, throwing their lives away without hesitation — a nightmare to deal with. If he hadn't figured out a countermeasure in time, or if the mages' combat ability hadn't waned…
'The ones lying here could have been me instead of these hunks of metal.'
Jin-Woo looked up from the fallen knights, and a new light entered his eyes.
'I have combat ability on top of it all.'
He and those mages were different. A mage with exceptional personal combat power who could also mobilize his own army? From an enemy's perspective, it would be nothing short of a nightmare.
'Perhaps…'
Something he'd only ever imagined — it might actually become possible to clear a high-level B-rank Dungeon solo. Jin-Woo swallowed hard. If he could continue raising his stats like this even after becoming a Necromancer, then naturally the army under his command would grow ever more powerful. The synergy was beyond imagination.
'My Level Up isn't mine alone.'
His legion would grow along with him.
'Could it be…?'
A shiver ran down his spine. Jin-Woo raised his head and looked at the floating message. It was quietly awaiting his choice.
[The Necromancer is a 'hidden class.' Will you still decline?]
Without its usual pushiness, for once. Jin-Woo asked silently.
'Is this what you wanted from me?'
Of course, no answer came. After deliberating, Jin-Woo made his decision. If it meant powerful strength, he would gladly accept. There was no hesitation.
[Will you accept the class?]
"Yes."
The System, as though it had been waiting, immediately displayed the next message. Ding.
[Class determined.] [Based on accumulated promotion points, you will have the opportunity to advance to an upper class.] [Calculation begins.] [Calculating promotion points…]
While the calculation was underway, Jin-Woo unwound the bandage tied around his right hand. He'd been gripping the dagger so tightly that his palm was swollen and red.
"Guess I'll get a blister."
He clicked his tongue lightly. It was the kind of wound a single drop of a Healing Potion would fix, and the inability to recover was inconvenient in many ways. He finished peeling off the bandage and was about to deposit the 'Night Killer' into his inventory when a mechanical tone suddenly rang out. Ding. Jin-Woo reflexively turned his head.
[You exceeded the estimated time limit!] [Bonus points have been awarded.]
Bonus points. It was only natural.
'I don't know what the estimated time was, but I did hold out longer than expected.'
He was smiling to himself, satisfied, when messages suddenly flooded his vision.
[You did not use the Return Stone immediately!] [Bonus points have been awarded.] [Remaining HP is above 50%!] [Bonus points have been awarded.] [You eliminated all enemies!] [Bonus points have been awarded.] [Promotion points have exceeded the achievement threshold.] [In accordance with the contract, a special reward is being granted.]
Ding, ding, ding.
'What is this?'
The sound was practically drilling into his ears, but Jin-Woo's attention had already moved elsewhere. He didn't even hear it.
'Special reward?'
An eye-catching word. Reward — and a 'special' one at that. Jin-Woo stopped the hand that had been about to send the 'Night Killer' to inventory and focused on the message window. His gaze locked onto it as though nailed in place. The messages kept coming. Ding.
[Class has advanced from 'Necromancer' to 'Shadow Monarch'.] [You have learned class-exclusive skills.] [Bonus stats have been acquired.] [Title 'Overcomer of Adversity' has been acquired.]
'Shadow Monarch?'
Unfamiliar — he hastily pulled up his status window.
[Name: Sung Jin-Woo] [Level: 51] [Class: Shadow Monarch]
Indeed, a new word had been added to the class name.
'Not Necromancer?'
The System had clearly stated that he could advance to an upper class based on promotion points. It had also said the total promotion points exceeded the achievement threshold. The result of that was 'Shadow Monarch.'
"Then this must be…"
The special reward the System had mentioned? But Jin-Woo couldn't finish his thought.
'…?'
Something indescribable — something wondrous — was happening before his eyes. Behind the holographic messages, black smoke was curling up from the knight corpses that lay scattered like junk. This phenomenon hadn't existed before the class change. Just moments ago they had been nothing more than ownerless scrap metal. But now — Jin-Woo closed the status window and looked around in a full circle. It wasn't just one or two. Black smoke was rising from every single knight.
[This target is eligible for Shadow Extraction.] [This target is eligible for Shadow Extraction.] [This target is eligible for Shadow Extraction.]
Every time he looked at a figure wreathed in the rising black smoke, an incomprehensible string of text appeared — words that were hard to read as meaning anything at all.
'Shadow Extraction?'
He didn't know why, but to Jin-Woo the swirling black smoke seemed almost like writhing in agony. He felt as though they were reaching out to him, begging to be saved. Would it be strange to say he could hear their screams?
'But.'
He was certain. Certain that he could free them from their suffering.
'Shadow Extraction.'
[Please designate a command phrase for the Shadow Extraction skill.]
'Does the skill require a separate command phrase?'
After a brief moment of thought, Jin-Woo instinctively spoke a single word.
"Arise."
And then — uuuuuaaah — deep groans echoed from somewhere, and at the same time, the shadows of the knights began to stir. As though alive. Jin-Woo looked around once more. Every shadow surrounding him was moving. Before long, a black hand stretched out from one of the shadows. The hand pressed hard against the ground and pulled itself up.
'Good grief!'
Jin-Woo's eyes went wide. It was human. Human-shaped soldiers! Armored head to foot in pitch-black armor, they crawled out of the shadows one by two by three.
'This is what a skill can do?'
By the time Jin-Woo came back to his senses, the soldiers already numbered in the dozens.
[Shadow Extraction successful.]
Dozens of soldiers surrounded him.
'What on earth is this…'
Jin-Woo approached the nearest soldier. First, the tactile impression. He reached out and touched it — solid metal. It wasn't armor that merely looked like armor. These were soldiers clad in genuine black armor, armed with weapons.
'At a glance they look human, but—'
They were not human. He felt no trace of life. No breathing, no heartbeat. And moreover…
"…"
Jin-Woo swallowed. Peering through the eye slit of the helmet, he saw nothing but darkness inside. A sensation of being pulled in washed over him, and he slowly took several steps back.
'This came from shadows?'
He immediately checked the skill window. Just as the System had described, a list of new class-exclusive skills appeared.
[Class-Exclusive Skills] Active Skills: Shadow Extraction Lv.1, Shadow Storage Lv.1
He examined the first of those skills.
[Skill: Shadow Extraction Lv.1] Class-exclusive skill. No mana required. Draws mana from a lifeless body to create a shadow soldier. Extraction failure probability increases proportionally to the target's stats and elapsed time since death. Number of extractable shadows: 30 / 30
Only after reading the skill description did he grasp the true nature of the black soldiers.
'…They were undead.'
Shadow soldiers — monsters drawn from the shadows of the dead. Jin-Woo swallowed again.
'If these really are my soldiers…'
Jin-Woo extended his hand to the right. The soldiers all turned right in unison. He slowly moved his fingertips to face straight ahead. The soldiers mirrored the motion, shifting to face forward as well. Jin-Woo stood at the center of them all. He steadied his pounding heart and lowered his hand. At the same moment — thud. Thud. Thud — every soldier dropped to one knee before him. Every movement obeyed his will.
"Hah…"
A soft exclamation escaped Jin-Woo's lips as a quiet smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
'Now that's cool.'