The Boundless Necromancer

Chapter 34: Capture the Flag (3)

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I didn’t expect something like this to happen so soon into the 6th trial.

「 ‘Betrayer’ achievement unlocked.
」 

“…”

I wondered what that challenger was thinking just now.

Was he just a madman? Or was this all calculated?

Whatever it was, a normal person definitely wouldn’t have swung a sword through the portal.

He definitely had the intention of killing someone.

“Damn it.”

 

I didn’t let my guard down.

Teammates couldn’t be trusted, and there were a lot of challengers equipped with psychological resistance.

The problem wasn’t that I let my guard down.

‘He really just took a stab in the dark hoping someone would die.’

There was no way anyone could assume that something like that could happen from an empty portal.

If it was anyone else, their heads would already be rolling on the floor by now.

The only reason mine is still attached is because of my overwhelming stats.

“…Why do I feel like this happens to me pretty often?”

I scowled at the corpse losing warmth at my feet.

The challenger from the other world, my teammates from the 4th trial…

Why does it seem like I’m always getting the short end of the stick?

I’m already down a teammate for the rest of the trial.

‘Worst case scenario already.’

Any team with all teammates present would already have a leg up on me.

‘I should just scope out the other teams.’

And when I turned my head with this realization—

I couldn’t believe the sight in front of my eyes.

“Heehaaaha! It’s an achievement! My strength really went up!”

“Damn it, no one mentioned it being on water!”

“P-please… S-save me.
A p-potion…”

Screams of agony came from every direction as blood splattered everywhere.

Excitement, rage, surprise, despair, desire, regret, etc…

Various emotions echoed throughout an endless ocean in one simultaneous harmony.

‘…I guess I don’t have it that bad.’

It looked like others had it far worse than I did.

Like if hell existed, this might be it.

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“Everyone’s lost their minds…”

They weren’t even looking at the trial’s objective before jumping at each other for the achievements.

Each murder was being carried out in its own unique and special way.

They’d lost sight of the most important thing.

‘Conquering one of the four tiles.’

It looked like they were fighting with a goal in mind.

There were a couple of people huddling somewhere but—

“Damn it! Your stats go down if you fall in the water, be careful!”

“Th-the tile is moving too much… I can’t balance myself!”

“Waaaait! S-save me! I-I can’t get up…!”

It didn’t look like they were faring any better either.

‘Your stats go down when you fall in the water and the tile shifts every time you move.’

I gathered information while watching some of the other contestants move around.

Staying faithful to its origins, the Tower of Trials was full of dangers.

Of course…

‘Hey, this is easier than I thought.’

It wasn’t enough to impede my movements.

Shaa, shaa!

All you had to do was stay away from the water, and the shifting tiles didn’t really bother me.

If you took my stats into account, there was no way I could just lose my balance.

Even the 5th trial was easier than this.

Tap, tap, tap.

The shifting movements of the tiles only made it easier to move in a rhythm.

Even while I was riding the waves, most challengers still couldn’t take their first steps.

‘If I reach the tile like this, will the trial just end?’

Tap.

I stepped onto the red tile on the edge as I continued to think and…

「 Starting to conquer the northern tile.
」 

It wasn’t as easy as I hoped it was.

「 The conquering will pause when another team steps onto the tile.
」 

「 Your progress will not stop as long as another team doesn’t step into the tile.
」 

「 Prevent the other teams from getting into this tile.
」 

「 Time left – 9min 59 secs 」 

“Conquering…”

I guess the only problem is.

‘The conquering requirement is a little fickle.’

Standing my ground for 10 minutes in this chaos…

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And it’ll be so much harder since I’m alone.

The only pro is that other teams have also lost a lot of members.

I took a look around my surroundings and confirmed.

‘It’s not impossible.’

There wasn’t anyone as skilled as the otherworldly traveler I saw in the last trial.

Most of them couldn’t even stand up straight.

I was only nervous in the beginning because I started without a teammate.

‘Makes sense considering they’ve all gotten low evaluations on the 5th trial.’

The high-rankers who passed the 5th trial ages ago were probably already above the 6th trial.

Of course, there were probably people who used the return stone or had other reasons for coming up late.

People like me.

It was then—

“…Go north! The guy there is by himself!”

I felt the attention drawn in my direction as someone pointed at me.

“Y-yeah! And he doesn’t seem to be using any protection magic…”

“No.
He doesn’t have a teammate.
Maybe he’s just trying to get achievements.”

“Fuck, what’s the worst that can happen? Death? I’m going in!”

There was a mixed bag of reactions, but most of them saw it as a tasty treat.

The other challengers tiptoed towards me as I stared right back.

“Hmm, I don’t like the way this is going.”

One person was enough to turn this chaos and direct it all towards me.

‘I guess there are politicians everywhere you go.’

Just like that guy ‘HeadyGongdu.’

Just like the guy who turned everyone’s attention towards me and slipped out the back.

But I didn’t have that many complaints about it.

‘Eh, I expected all of this to happen.’

You could solve most problems in this tower with pure force.

The five or so challengers in front of me didn’t seem to be part of one team but…

They seemed to have recognized me as the common enemy and united to attack.

They weren’t even aware of the fact that they were being distracted, but I had no intentions of letting them know.

‘I needed a way to increase my necromancy proficiency anyway.’

These competitive trials were like a special event for me.

An extremely profitable event where I could train my innate ability and maybe even pick up some extra skills along the way.

“This is what I’m talking about.”

I put on a faint smile as they rushed towards me.

They looked like some tasty experience. 

***

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To be honest, I didn’t really have to kill all of them.

All I had to do was keep them off for 10 minutes.

I could’ve let them live if I really wanted to.

They were all weak enough that I wouldn’t have had much trouble doing so as well.

And that could increase their chances of survival.

But—

‘I’d just be prolonging their misery.’

Even if I send them to another tile, someone had to die.

Whether you were defending or invading, only one side could survive.

It wasn’t my job to decide what was right and wrong…

Nor was it my job to feel pity for these lower-rankers.

“Die!”

The invaders were swift and to the point.

One of the men who got nearby lounged at me with a spear.

The pursuing challengers took his lead to attack with their respective weapons.

“Damn it! If I’m gonna die either way! Heart Solidarity!”

「 Due to the innate ability ‘Heart Solidarity’ player ‘Kim Jinhyun’ and ‘Han Sungyeun’s pain will now be shared.
」 

Koong….!

It felt like a heavy piece of copper fell on my heart and a message popped up.

Sharing pain?

‘Is it another mana-based innate ability?’

Maybe it was because I didn’t have any mana resistance skills but…

There was nothing I could do against these types of attacks.

I could dodge or block it if it was a physical attack or something…

‘I’ll have to look into mana resistance stills later.’

Even while my mind was focused on these topics, my body moved on its own.

I grabbed the incoming spear with my left hand and jumped up to decapitate the attacker.

Slash…!

「 ‘One Punch Man’ achievement unlocked.
」 

「 ‘Contempt for the Weak (F)’ skill generated.
」 

A message telling me something appeared, but I had no time to check it.

‘Three left now.’

I couldn’t be relieved with enemies still in front of me.

I quickly stepped off the red tile and stepped to an adjacent one.

Thankfully, one of the messages that showed up when I stepped on the red tile was this.

「 Your progress will not stop as long as another team doesn’t step into the tile.
」 

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My progress would continue as long as someone else didn’t step on it.

That meant I could move around freely without having to worry about the conquering progress.

The longer they were alive, the more likely they were to try something.

‘I’ll take care of them now while I still can.’

「 Activating the skill ‘Contempt for the Weak’.
」 

「 All five of the enemy’s main stats are lower than yours.
」 

「 Enemies are more easily threatened by you and your strength goes up by 1.
」 

The skill that I had just received activated and added more energy to my steps.

The new skill was interesting, but I almost laughed out loud at the message I just saw.

‘Not a single one of their stats are higher huh…’

That meant they stood no chance against me, other than possible irregularities. 

“What the fuck… How is he so strong…!”

“Holy sh…”

“Fuck, stop him from moving! Aren’t you a magician! Put up a shield!”

“Shut the fuck up, you think magic is omnipotent! How am I supposed to put up a shield on these tiles?!”

Tap, tap, tap.

Maybe it was because of the new skill, but the challengers were in a state of panic.

I almost let out a sigh at how pathetic the challengers were.

‘If it was me, I would have tried using the water beneath us or moved on to a different tile.’

I might have struggled a bit with the reduced stats but…

They were the ones being held down by the water.

It was pathetic.

‘Well, whatever.’

This wasn’t where I was supposed to be anyway.

I would have been on the higher floors with all of the other high rankers but…

I was just a little delayed from returning to Earth.

If I wanted a bit more excitement…

‘I have to climb higher.’

Where the stronger challengers were, where the harder trials were.

I’d never get stronger dealing with these assholes.

If the tower rewarded its contestants fairly… 

There was no way that this massacre would get me anything worthwhile.

I had to get back to the front lines.

And in order to do that…

“I’ll have to end these small fries.”

I’ve had enough of this trial now.

 

____