Tomb of Osiris

Gates.

The game's explanation was simple. They were fragments created by cutting out entire regions of other worlds.

And there weren't just one or two of these other worlds. Fantasy, martial arts, cyberpunk, even regions teeming with supernatural creatures.

The variety was truly enormous.

'Low-level zones are usually fantasy-themed, though.'

The sort of places with goblins, wolves, and orcs. It wasn't until around C-rank and above that gates started throwing real curveballs.

In any case, players could clear these gates to earn all kinds of rewards, including mana stones, items, experience, and titles.

F-rank gates were everywhere, but he had several reasons for choosing the Tomb of Osiris in particular.

First, it had no special gimmicks.

'Those gimmicks can be a real headache.'

Things like having to solve puzzles or find hidden elements to open a path. A gate's gimmicks weren't fixed, either. They changed a little with every entry.

'Which means they take time to solve.'

This gate, however, was perfectly straightforward. Just follow the path and beat everything in sight to death.

Easy.

'Plus, it's a tomb, right?'

A tomb. Didn't that sound like it might have something to do with necromancers?

Unfortunately, he'd never been able to check before. He'd been aiming to clear the game as quickly as possible, and each character had a class that suited them best.

Take the swordsmanship prodigy Park Siwoo or the magical prodigy Han Sia. How could he pick necromancer with traits like those?

Besides, Namgung Min and Seo Yerim, the third and fourth difficulty options, started with their classes already set. Choosing necromancer wasn't even possible.

'But things are different now.'

What was Kim Minwoo now? A necromancer.

And this was a tomb.

How could he resist?

'I can't.'

Of course, he wasn't certain something related to necromancers was hidden here. Necromancer might be an unpopular class, but there were always people determined to pick whatever everyone told them not to.

Necromancers must have visited this gate plenty of times.

'But their achievement grades would've been low, wouldn't they?'

A necromancer with an S-grade achievement? There wasn't one in Korea, at least. Even those with A- or B-grade achievements were practically endangered species.

The reason was simple. Necromancers fundamentally needed money poured into them to become strong. And an ordinary amount wouldn't do. They needed exponentially more.

Only then could they gain an edge over other classes. That was common knowledge throughout the world.

That alone made choosing the class more daunting than the alternatives, even with backing from a nation or a major guild.

Those people weren't suckers. All the money they lavished on you was ultimately a debt you would have to repay someday.

And you were going to use a precious S-grade skill book to choose necromancer? Unless your dad was Chairman Kim, trusting that level of backing alone would mean...

'You'd rack up debt without even managing to outclass everyone else.'

It was a shortcut straight to hell. That was why anyone with sense generally avoided choosing necromancer.

The only wild card would be someone fabulously wealthy awakening.

'But how would they figure out their awakening condition?'

Being rich, they'd try all sorts of things. If they awakened easily, they'd end up with a low-grade achievement.

But if they couldn't awaken? That meant their condition was difficult. In that case, even someone who put the richest tycoons to shame wouldn't be able to figure it out.

And even if they did...

'How would they earn an S-grade achievement?'

Even he, who knew his condition, had fought the Sword Immortal to aim for S-grade. Could a bunch of pampered fat cats manage that easily?

That was why there were no necromancers with high achievement grades.

The conclusion: if there was anything here related to necromancers, he had a good chance of claiming it.

Of course, this was an F-rank gate, so he wasn't expecting some incredible reward. He had to clear a gate anyway.

'Even a single title would be nice.'

That was about the extent of his expectations.

Besides, if he was going to set a world record, it should be for something difficult. Where was the glory in doing something easy?

That was his final reason for choosing this gate with a difficulty score of 95.

He reached out.

[Using Summon Cedric (SSS)!]

[Using Summon Skeleton (F) +9!]

He'd bought identical replacements for the equipment destroyed on the battlefield, adding 28 magic power to his summoning. With Indomitable Soul's effect on top of that, his magic power reached a monstrous total of 113.

Then there was Death Lord's 50% mana cost reduction.

[422 skeletons have been summoned!]

Skeletons filled the gate's vast interior.

'Didn't they say I'd summon about 150 at most?'

Kim Minwoo smirked as he recalled the public speculation. He had nearly three times that number.

These weren't even the same old brainless skeletons. Thanks to Cedric and Death Lord's enhanced learning effect, they had been soaking up their training like water.

And that wasn't all. Their stats were boosted by 50%, too.

On top of that...

[Spatial Ring (Intermediate) has been opened!]

He had sturdy equipment for his skeletal soldiers as well. In an instant, his fighting strength began to skyrocket.

'Thanks, Chairman.'

After he'd boldly declared his ambition to set a world record, Chairman Kim had provided a third round of wholehearted support.

That was how he'd ended up with the spatial ring and all this equipment again.

The armed skeletons began marching in crisp, orderly ranks. Their tremendous footfalls echoed through the gate, rousing the monsters within.

RUSTLE.

RUSTLE, RUSTLE.

The sound of insects scurrying busily rose from every direction.

'There they are.'

A swarm of giant cockroaches blocked their path.

Corpse roaches. Insect-type monsters he would encounter until he was sick of them in this gate. Their average level was around 40.

They had hideous bodies, fairly tough carapaces, and the tenacious vitality expected of cockroaches, along with powerful jaws and overwhelming numbers.

'But the trickiest thing about them... '

Was their blood. It contained poison, and the kind of poison was random. It could inflict a range of troublesome status ailments, from hallucinations to health drain or fear.

'That's the main reason this gate got a 95.'

With roaches swarming from every direction, the battle inevitably became a chaotic melee. Avoiding blood spraying everywhere in the middle of it was extremely difficult.

Get splashed enough times, and both your mind and body would be left in tatters, ending your attempt.

'Someone on my level or Cedric's could calculate the spray's trajectory and just dodge it, but... '

Most people couldn't. That made antidotes essential for a normal clear. But even the longest-lasting antidotes only worked for about thirty minutes, and they were fairly expensive.

Countless people came here to make money only to leave having spent it instead.

'That's why this gate isn't just unpopular. People hate it.'

His baby skeletons would probably get splashed with plenty of blood today, too, but that didn't really matter.

If they got unsummoned? He could just wait until their numbers dropped enough, drink a potion, and summon them again.

An ordinary necromancer would need a potion after every pack, but he was different. His current skeletons could annihilate four or five packs in one go.

They could even revive once, too.

For Kim Minwoo, this gate wasn't much of a burden.

The roaches charging toward them so boldly faltered at the sight of his forces.

CHIRR?

CHIRR-RR?

They weren't intelligent, but they possessed a basic sense of caution. The enemy vastly outnumbered them!

"Welcome. First time seeing numbers like these?"

...

"Cedric. Let's wipe them all out."

"Master, I have been waiting for those very words. Onward, brothers!"

CLATTER!

CLACK!

The skeletal spearmen charged alongside Cedric in a sharp, pointed formation.

SHUNK!

THUD!

Spears pierced the corpse roaches, sending green bodily fluids gushing out. Skeletal soldiers carrying maces followed, hammering away at their bodies.

The skeletons' blows might have been weak, but their weapons were top-quality pieces good enough to use from the earliest levels all the way to level 40.

SCREEE!

A roach shrieked in pain and clamped its jaws around a skeleton's torso. Soon, a skeleton collapsed beneath a swarm of roaches.

It struggled fiercely, but eventually its strength gave out.

SCREEE!

The roach's triumphant cry was short-lived.

SHUNK!

The revived skeleton's blade shredded its innards.

Cedric's performance was outstanding. Every sweep of his spear sent roach heads bursting apart.

'Very nice.'

Wasn't this the true pleasure of auto-hunting? He wasn't even moving, yet the monsters were being cleaned up for him.

[You have slain 41 corpse roaches!]

[Your level has increased by 5!]

Five levels in the blink of an eye.

"Ahh. Now that's what I'm talking about."

[The skeleton unit has gained combat experience against insect-type monsters!]

[The skeleton unit has gained experience points!]

Summons couldn't exceed their master's level. That was why all the skeletons had remained together at level 1 until now.

But things would be different from here on. As Kim Minwoo's level rose, the skeletons' average level would begin rising too.

Of course, with the experience split equally among all 422 summoned skeletons, their progress would be painfully slow.

'But hey, they're growing, aren't they?'

That was a hundred times better than not growing at all.

'Now that I've got a rough idea of what the skeletons can do... '

It was about time he cut loose.

He drew his sword to pursue the world record.

* * *

[You have slain 52 corpse roaches!]

[Your level...]

[You have slain 55 corpse roaches!]

[Your level...]

[You have slain 60 corpse roaches!]

[Your level...]

Once he joined the fighting, their advance became blindingly fast. The considerable level gap between him and the roaches meant his level shot up every time they encountered a pack.

'Of course it would.'

Anyone sane came here with a party. He was taking all the experience that would normally be split among its members, so it would have been strange if he hadn't leveled up.

'That's why I raised my stats first.'

Leveling up? Anything he could do whenever he wanted could wait until later. He could simply do it all at once, just like this.

[You have acquired the title, 'Insect Slayer'!]

[Damage against insect-type monsters increased by 10%]

He picked up a title along the way, too.

By the time they reached the boss room...

'Exactly two hours.'

They had stopped once on the way. More than half his soldiers had been wiped out, so he'd drunk a mana potion, summoned them again, and reorganized.

'Currently level 22.'

It was a leveling speed ordinary people couldn't even imagine. His level had skyrocketed in a single run through a gate.

The same was true of Cedric, who shared his level. With each level gained, his spearmanship grew a little more refined.

"Look at you, growing up. Makes me proud as your master."

"Hmm... It is less growth than retracing what I once knew..."

"Hey. Didn't your senior tell you not to talk back?"

"... I was merely offering my personal opinion."

"We're taking down the boss now."

"What is the boss here?"

"The Tomb Guardian."

"The Tomb Guardian? Is that one an insect as well?"

"Yeah. A goddamn huge cockroach."

That made it a monster that could really rattle awakeners. Some even completely lost it when it spewed a swarm of tiny roaches from its mouth like a cloud of smoke.

Awakening didn't make disgusting things any less disgusting.

"Master, do you not find insects repulsive?"

"Well, sure. But I'm fine. I've seen so many of them."

There were plenty of gates with insect-type monsters. He'd gotten over that sort of thing ages ago.

Cedric tilted his head at that.

"You've seen many? Do you have insects in your home?"

"... Well, more or less."

"You should pay more attention to hygiene. Your house looked perfectly decent. It is best to clean up immediately after eating."

"Shut up, you bastard."

"Master. Why are you hitting my head when I was merely concerned for you?"

"It's all because I love you. Let's go."

He opened the door to the boss room.