[You have acquired the Necromancer skill, Death Lord (EX).]
Rank: EX
Type: Passive
Effect 1: Undead you summon will resurrect once upon death (limited to once per day).
Effect 2: All summoned undead gain a 50% increase to their stats.
Effect 3: Mana consumption for summoning undead is reduced by 50%.
Effect 4: All undead under your command gain the ability to learn.
Effect 5: Upon fulfilling certain conditions, you will be given the Trials of the Death Lord. Overcome them to receive special rewards.
"Dear God..."
Kim Min-woo's jaw dropped as he read the skill description.
He had seen plenty of S-rank skills over the years.
Which was exactly why he recognized it instantly.
An EX-rank skill existed on an entirely different level from S-rank abilities.
This is insane.
Even from a purely efficiency standpoint, the difference was absurd.
Suppose there was another necromancer exactly like him.
If that necromancer could summon ten skeletons—
I can summon twenty.
His mana costs were cut in half.
And with all undead receiving a fifty percent boost in stats?
In simple arithmetic, those twenty skeletons would possess the combat power of thirty.
That alone would have been ridiculous enough.
But they could also resurrect once after death.
Taking that into account, it was effectively the equivalent of sixty skeletons.
And once this snowball started rolling, it would only grow more monstrous with time.
The effects didn't stop there.
Learning ability...
Undead were capable of learning.
But only high-ranking undead.
Usually from Dullahans onward.
Dullahans—the headless knights classified among the upper-mid-tier undead.
Only creatures of that caliber possessed enough intelligence to learn new skills.
But if this effect worked the way he thought it did...
Does this mean even ordinary skeletons can learn?
It was an incredible ability.
Of course, there was no way to know exactly how effective it would be until he actually summoned and trained them.
Still—
This is an EX-rank skill.
There was no way such an effect would be underwhelming.
His heart was already pounding with anticipation.
As for the trial mentioned in Effect Five, there was nothing he could do for now.
He didn't even know the activation conditions.
Status window.
Name: Kim Min-woo (23)
Class: Necromancer
Level: 1
Skills (1/1): Death Lord (EX)
Mana: 100/100
Title: None
Strength: 8
Agility: 8
Stamina: 7
Magic Power: 10
The average human stat was ten.
Compared to that, Min-woo's body fell below average across the board.
At least my magic power barely makes the cut.
Every ten points of Magic Power granted one additional skill slot.
It also provided ten mana per point.
Magic Power comes first.
He had a skill that enhanced undead—
But not a single skill that could actually summon them.
He needed to increase his Magic Power and unlock more skill slots.
Rummaging through his pocket, he pulled out an elixir.
Rank: A
An elixir crafted by the Sword Sea Pavilion.
Upon consumption, increases all stats by 10.
(Cannot be used more than once.)
As expected.
Luxury goods truly were in a class of their own.
Ten points to all stats was equivalent to adding the strength of an entire person.
Too wasteful to use now.
Just like studying, raising stats became increasingly difficult as they grew higher.
An elixir of this caliber would be far more valuable later on.
I'll have to find other elixirs.
Lower-grade items could be purchased as long as he had enough money.
That would solve his stat problem.
Just then—
His phone rang.
[Father]
"Hello?"
—Min-woo, I heard you awakened. Is it true?
Chairman Kim's voice sounded urgent.
The bodyguards must have informed him already.
"Yes. It happened."
—Come home immediately. Don't stop anywhere else.
"Understood."
He had a mountain of expenses waiting for him.
Elixirs.
Equipment.
Donations.
The timing couldn't have been better.
Chairman Kim Kang-cheol paced back and forth inside his study.
Even now, he struggled to believe the phone call he had received earlier.
The story had simply been too shocking.
At least make your lies believable!
His delinquent eldest son had not only dueled the Sword Saint on equal footing—
The Sword Saint had even praised him as a great swordsman.
If this were a novel or a movie, people would have called it garbage before release.
—Haha. You seem quite shocked. But I swear upon my sword, everything I told you is true.
—Ah, and if you ever need the support of the Sword Sea Pavilion, don't hesitate to ask. If necessary, I'll personally lend my aid.
Even Chairman Kim, who had weathered countless storms in life, could only respond with a series of awkward affirmations.
How was he supposed to continue the conversation when he didn't understand any of it?
As soon as the call with the Sword Saint ended, he contacted the bodyguards.
—Yes, sir. I don't know much about swordsmanship, but Young Master Min-woo definitely wasn't inferior to the Sword Saint.
—Honestly, it even felt like the eldest young master was pushing the Sword Saint back. Though he eventually collapsed from exhaustion...
Impossible.
It truly made no sense.
And yet, it was reality.
As he paced anxiously, the study door opened.
"I'm home, Father."
"Come, sit down. What on earth happened?"
"I dueled the Sword Saint. I lost because I ran out of stamina."
"...That's it? You're skipping everything important! Explain it properly!"
Seeing his father so worked up, Min-woo scratched his head.
"Well, you see..."
As Min-woo explained everything, Chairman Kim alternated between laughing, frowning, and slapping his knee in amazement.
For twenty-three years, his eldest son had been nothing but a source of headaches.
But now?
His son had boldly wagered ten billion won just for the chance to duel the Sword Saint.
Even the Sword Saint himself had acknowledged his terrifying talent.
Was this brat always this lovable?
Before he knew it, a grin had spread across Chairman Kim's face.
"Hahaha! That's my son! My boy! Of course! A tiger never sires a dog!"
"Huh? You're the tiger, Father?"
"Ahem! Back in my younger days, I was a famous awakened one myself! If I hadn't inherited the company, I'd probably be S-rank by now—Ahem!"
Realizing he'd gone a little too far, Chairman Kim cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Still, I'm worried."
"Worried? About what?"
"I boldly bet ten billion won, but as you know, I'm completely broke. All my money was confiscated..."
"Hahaha! What's ten billion won? Don't worry about it! I'll handle everything."
"Really?"
"Of course!"
Chairman Kim answered without hesitation.
It wasn't as though Min-woo had caused trouble and needed a bailout.
This money would strengthen ties with the Sword Sea Pavilion.
The Sword Saint had said payment wasn't necessary, but Chairman Kim had no intention of missing this opportunity.
Normally, I couldn't give them money even if I wanted to. Perfect.
Money was, after all, a tool that strengthened relationships.
And now he had the perfect excuse.
Just thinking about it filled him with satisfaction.
Was this what it felt like to watch your child grow up?
Filled with anticipation, Chairman Kim asked,
"So, what rank was your achievement? They said your awakening light was extraordinary. B-rank? No, that's too low. At least A-rank—maybe even S-rank..."
"Father."
"Hm?"
"Is that all the ambition the tiger has? Think bigger."
"What?"
Chairman Kim tilted his head.
Bigger than A-rank?
But he had already said S-rank.
For a moment, he couldn't understand what his son meant.
Then Min-woo pointed upward.
"Higher than S."
"...Higher? Higher than S?!"
Chairman Kim's hair practically stood on end.
Goosebumps raced down his spine.
"What are you talking about? S-rank is the highest!"
That was common knowledge.
Not a single awakened person in the world had ever received an achievement rank above S.
And yet—
There was something beyond it?
How could that be possible?
"There is."
Min-woo smiled.
"And I'm living proof."
[Awakened One Kim Min-woo wishes to share his status window.]
[Accept?]
Gulp.
Chairman Kim swallowed hard and accepted.
The moment he saw it—
His eyes widened.
Skills (1/1): Death Lord (EX)
"EX? What in the world is this?!"
The unfamiliar rank and its effects stunned him.
Then his gaze moved lower.
Class: Necromancer
"Wait—what?! A necromancer?!"
"That's right. I changed classes and became a necromancer."
Min-woo spoke proudly.
Chairman Kim's thoughts descended into chaos.
The Sword Saint had called his son a great swordsman.
So why—
Why a necromancer?
At that moment, Min-woo's expression turned serious.
"Father."
"Y-Yes?"
"Our family is rich, right?"
"...Well, yes."
"If we buy top-tier equipment and hand it to my skeletons, won't that make them invincible?"
"Well... you're not entirely wrong, but why go that far?"
"Because that's true romance."
He grinned.
"And necromancers can swing swords too. If that's not enough, I'll just become a genius swordsman necromancer."
Chairman Kim found himself speechless.
Somehow, I managed to convince him.
Back in his room, Min-woo let out a sigh.
The Sword Saint had been easy enough to persuade with a plausible explanation.
But Chairman Kim was only a C-rank awakened one.
Talking about enlightenment and the state of no-self would never have worked.
At best, he'd think Min-woo had joined some strange cult.
Fortunately, his father accepted the explanation.
He trusted in the family's wealth.
The EX-rank skill was incredible.
Invest in me, and I'll make it worthwhile.
Family exists for moments like this.
So please give me money.
Thanks to his flawless five-step logic—
Chairman Kim finally opened the treasury.
—Now that you've awakened, work hard. You're the only one who can bring glory to Ilseong.
[100,000,000,000 won has been deposited into Kim Min-woo's account.]
He secured ten billion won as his first round of support funding.
Everything is going according to plan.
There was a simple reason he had revealed his rank to Chairman Kim.
After six years of playing the game, he knew one thing for certain.
Chairman Kim was a good father.
At the very least, he would never stab his son in the back.
And more importantly—
I'm going to need money.
A lot of it.
He could have vaguely claimed his achievement rank was A or S.
That would still earn him decent support.
But—
Not enough.
The world's only EX-rank and an ordinary prodigy were treated very differently.
His initial support fund might have been slashed dramatically.
The second and third rounds would shrink as well.
He needed to hunt foreign entities within seven years.
Every single day mattered.
If he wanted to stay ahead, he had to act boldly.
Well...
At least now I can buy some snacks for my skeletons.
Money and encouragement weren't the only things Chairman Kim gave him.
Rank: E
Required Level: 1+
Slightly increases Magic Power upon consumption.
(Effective up to 50 Magic Power.)
He had received a massive supply of mass-produced elixirs worth tens or even hundreds of millions of won each.
"With this many, I should be able to get everything to fifty... right?"
The item description said it increased stats slightly.
That "slightly" varied depending on the user's body and talent.
For someone with exceptional talent and physique, each pill might increase a stat by one full point.
But Kim Min-woo?
I'm not feeling too confident about this guy.
His father had practically emptied the warehouse of low-grade elixirs.
For Min-woo, these pills were no different from lottery tickets.
He had to swallow them one after another while desperately hoping his stats would increase.
There was a reason elixirs like the Sword Shadow Pill were considered priceless treasures.
They guaranteed a fixed increase of ten points.
Even Ilseong only possessed a handful of them.
Getting more of those won't be easy.
Ilseong employed plenty of awakened individuals.
Those elixirs had to be distributed among them as well.
Even the chairman couldn't hand them out freely.
I'll aim for them later.
Once he proved his abilities, high-quality elixirs would come to him on their own.
So he consumed pill after pill—
Nearly hundreds of them.
Then—
"Ah."
Strength: 32
Agility: 33
Stamina: 34
Magic Power: 35
"...Chairman, I'm sorry."
Kim Min-woo's talent had exploded.
In the negative direction.
Well, at least I unlocked another skill slot...
Looks like it's time to buy even more elixirs.