The Tomb Guardian was one of the more notorious bosses. In a nutshell, it was a corpse roach with boosted stats: more poisonous blood, an enormous body, and nimble movements to boot.

'Definitely a tricky one for an F-rank gate boss.'

["Eeeek! Run!"]

He remembered Kim Minwoo's disgraceful display, refusing to fight at all and fleeing. He couldn't begin to describe how dumbfounded he'd been.

'I've really made a man out of him.'

Despite its fearsome reputation, the Tomb Guardian was being helplessly overwhelmed. Under Cedric's command, the skeleton soldiers moved in orderly formation. Dozens of shields blocked its body slams while spears and swords stabbed through the gaps. Behind it, maces and axes hammered into its carapace.

Of course, it was putting up fierce resistance. Ordinary skeletons couldn't easily withstand a boss's attacks. Even with Cedric commanding them, blocking everything was impossible—the skeletons couldn't keep up with his orders. Each sweeping attack unsummoned ten of them.

Whenever it made one of those sweeping movements, Minwoo drove his sword into it repeatedly. Perhaps because of his high stats, its carapace sliced apart like tofu. Cedric, too, unleashed fierce attacks between issuing orders.

The Guardian's health began plummeting in no time. Soon, one of its horrific attack patterns appeared. The Tomb Guardian opened its mouth wide, and hundreds of tiny cockroaches poured out. On contact, they would explode and spread poison.

'Nasty.'

The key to dealing with them was making them hit something. If that something was your own body, it meant a wipe. Usually, having a mage such as a wizard made the fight much easier. Using something like Shield to block the roaches and detonate them before they reached you was how you avoided annihilation. Unfortunately, the baby skeletons had no spells like Shield.

POP-POP-POP!

The exploding roaches scattered poison everywhere. The skeletons crumbled helplessly.

[122 skeletons are unsummoned!]

The Tomb Guardian's eyes gleamed as though it had finally gained the upper hand.

GRRRRGL!

Worked into a frenzy, the Tomb Guardian thrashed violently. Its body was in tatters, but it finally brought down every last skeleton.

GRRRG...!

The Guardian stared at Minwoo and Cedric with rage in its eyes.

"Sorry. Let me refill that."

Minwoo drank a potion and waved his hand.

[506 skeletons are summoned!]

GRR...?

The Tomb Guardian's jaw dropped at the sight.

* * *

[The gate boss, Tomb Guardian, falls!]

[The skeleton army's combat experience increases greatly!]

[Level up...]

As expected of a boss, it yielded a great deal of experience. Minwoo jumped from level 22 to 25 in one go. The skeletons' average level had risen to 7 as well.

'Exactly ten minutes.'

[You have cleared the gate!]

[Would you like to leave?]

There was a clear distinction between leaving from the midway zone and leaving after clearing a gate. The gate changed color when you emerged: white from the midway zone, green after a clear.

About two hours and ten minutes had elapsed so far.

'No need to leave right this second.'

He declined the prompt.

"Master, aren't we leaving?"

"It's a tomb."

"You think there might be something hidden here?"

"Not certain, but I've got a hunch."

Besides, Isabella, the world record holder, had taken two days. All he had to do was be somewhat faster than her. True, he'd said something about returning before the cameras cooled down to stir up attention on his way in.

'Time to pace myself a little.'

Doing well was good. Doing too well, however, would only make life exhausting. There was already an overwhelming gap between him and Isabella, who'd entered at level 49. What if his clear time was absurd on top of that?

Skills created from S-grade skill books differed from person to person, even within the same class. Still, there was a rough average. People had a general sense of the range an S-grade skill ought to fall within.

'They'll get suspicious.'

Suspicious that his achievement wasn't S-grade, but something higher.

The only reason people had concluded that nothing above S-grade existed was that no one with a higher grade had appeared yet. What if they started suspecting he had SS, SSS, or something like that?

He was the son of Korea's wealthiest family. Even America would give up on trying to woo him. Frankly, what could he possibly want badly enough to leave? He could just live like a king in Korea.

Naturally, some people would start getting ugly ideas. Can't have him? Then destroy him. That sort of thing. Going about his business would become an enormous hassle.

Of course, facing that fate would be inevitable someday. But that day wasn't today.

'Around forty hours should do.'

He could make that sound reasonably convincing.

His undead were immune to fear. They had some poison resistance, too. That gave him an advantage. On top of that, he was a swordsmanship genius. He'd discovered a hidden route in the gate that helped him clear it, and so on and so forth...

Since gate mechanics varied, it would sound fairly plausible. Japan and China in particular, with their antagonistic relationship with Korea, would probably prefer to believe he'd cleared it quickly through luck rather than skill.

'I can't eliminate suspicion entirely anyway.'

But he could delay the onset of a full-blown covert struggle.

He gathered up the miscellaneous loot.

"Cedric. Pick up the loot and give the kids some training."

"Understood."

The skeletons collected the drops like silent farmers. There weren't any particularly special rewards. No, to be a little more precise...

[You have obtained the Tomb Guardian's Carapace Armor!]

There were drops that would have delighted an ordinary awakener, but to him, they amounted to little more than Cedric's Equipment No. 1.

"You take the armor. It's a little better than what you've got on."

"Very well."

Cedric changed his armor. That was it for the boss loot.

'What will the clear reward be?'

The items a boss dropped and the gate-clear reward were treated separately. After a short wait, messages appeared.

[Your gate-clear reward is granted!]

[You have fulfilled a special condition!]

[You are a necromancer who exceeds the required standard!]

[You are granted Osiris's Provision!]

"Oh, did I get a hidden reward?"

A small necklace appeared in his palm.

[Old Necklace]

[Grade: ??]

[A necklace with a mysterious air about it. The socket in its center is empty. Inserting the matching gem may activate it.]

[Effect 1. Inserting a gem that fits the socket will grant you eligibility.]

[Effect 2. Once eligible, you may undertake 'Osiris's Provision.']

"A quest-chain item, huh?"

There weren't actually quests, but the format was roughly the same. If there had been a quest window, it probably would've read something like this:

[Find a gem that fits the socket, insert it into the necklace, and undertake the provision!]

Something along those lines. Minwoo had seen a few items like this before. A quest chain might lead to just one follow-up quest, or several.

'The more complex it is, the bigger the reward.'

Completing a quest chain generally gave better rewards than simply entering a gate and smashing everything. And if you completed a chain with a proper central storyline...

'You get something amazing.'

Plenty of possibilities came to mind. A good title. An accessory of Unique grade or higher with a low level requirement. A special elixir. Or a special summon, or a powerful special skill book. Things that made the game much easier once you had them.

'I need to find that gem.'

The central socket was quite unusual: an intricately carved recess that looked like a dragon.

'It won't be an ordinary gem you can buy in a shop.'

He doubted it would activate even if he had a regular gem cut to fit. That would be far too easy, wouldn't it?

Two main possibilities came to mind. Either it was among the rewards from other bosses...

'Or... it's somewhere inside this gate.'

It might not be. But when you didn't know...

"Everyone, gather up. We're searching every inch of this gate. Break everything open. Tap the floors and walls, too! Report anything unusual immediately! Move out!"

"... Move out!"

CLACK!

Starting close to home was always the best approach. Minwoo began searching the gate's interior himself.

'Very nice.'

He was in a good mood. He could smell a jackpot coming.

Think about it. This necklace was simply handed over once you met the conditions. Surely a necromancer with a B-grade achievement or so had visited this place. Yet it had only activated now. That meant...

'The bar is pretty high. At least A, possibly even S.'

He could feel it. This was going to be brutally difficult. And brutal difficulty meant a hefty reward. How could he not be happy when he'd found a lead that would take him straight into a blazing hell?

* * *

"Kim, it's been forty hours already. Why don't you head back?"

"Bullshit. You go first."

"Come on, I can't. The news director would kick my ass."

"You think you're the only one with a director? Anyway, so much for 'before the cameras cool down.' At this rate, they'll freeze solid."

Reporter Kim squeezed the heat pack in his hand. Its spreading warmth made things a little more bearable. Watching him, Reporter Park spoke with a grin.

"They're still warm because we've kept them running, aren't they? Besides, didn't we half expect this? Don't tell me you actually got your hopes up."

"Well, it's been a while since Korea produced anyone outstanding. I figured it was about time someone stepped up."

Kim sounded sheepish.

... To be honest, he had gotten his hopes up a little. After all, Minwoo had sounded so damn confident.

"Well, look at you. A true patriot."

"... That's not the only reason. You know as well as I do how much more we'd have to write about."

Kim Minwoo already attracted all kinds of attention—as something of a villain.

'Ilseong's goddamn delinquent. A loser knocked out of the succession race.'

That was the public verdict.

The second son was widely considered the likely heir to the group's management. But what if that villain set a new world record? It would turn everything upside down. There would be an uproar inside Ilseong, too. Granted, whether business acumen had any direct connection to clearing gates was rather questionable...

'Who gives a damn about that?'

He'd have broken a record.

When someone achieved overwhelming success in one field, people naturally started wondering—and hoping—whether they'd excel at other things, too. Given the influence of Ilseong, a giant among giants, one thing was certain: things in Korea were about to get very interesting.

"Well, sure, but... honestly, do you think he can do it? That's a stretch. A huge stretch. It's been forty hours and he still hasn't come out. At this point, we should be grateful if he just comes back alive."

"... True."

They didn't even know whether he was alive. Usually, if someone failed to return from a gate for over a month past their expected return date, they were declared dead. That was how high the mortality rate inside gates was. And this was a dreaded 95-point gate, no less. It wouldn't be particularly surprising if he'd died in there.

'If he's going to fail, I hope he at least comes back alive...' Kim thought.

This was the man who'd shaken all of Korea in just a few days. Whether he was a super rookie remained to be seen. But he was certainly a promising talent.

Korea was already suffering from a shortage of awakeners. Major powers like Japan, America, and China were locked in a fierce recruiting war. The moment a decent awakener appeared, they came running with bundles of cash. Kim Minwoo was one of the very few fortunate awakeners free of that controversy.

"Yaaawn. I'm sleepy. I'm about to turn in. What about you, Kim?"

"I'll wait a little longer."

"Don't overdo it. Seriously. You're not getting any younger. You'll wear yourself to the bone..."

"...!"

Both reporters' eyes suddenly flew wide. Every reporter around them had the same reaction.

"Wake everyone up! Hurry!"

Everyone rushed over, from reporters who'd been dozing to those asleep inside their tents. The gate was rippling—the sign that the party inside was coming out.

Only one party had entered recently. A party of one: Kim Minwoo.

Cold sweat trickled down every reporter's forehead. Their hearts were beginning to race madly. Only two possibilities remained now. White or green?

If it was the former, this would go down as a promising talent's valiant struggle. But if it was the latter—the green of a successful clear...

"Holy fuck..."

"It's green! Green!"

"Holy shit, a new world record?!"

"Post the article right now, you bastard! Forget the body, just get the headline up!"

In an instant, the waiting area outside the gate erupted into the clamor of a marketplace.