An EX-Grade Skill

[You have acquired the necromancer skill, Death Lord (EX).]

[Death Lord]

[Grade: EX]

[Type: Passive]

[Effect 1. Summoned undead revive once upon death (limited to once per day).]

[Effect 2. All summoned undead gain a 50% increase to their stats.]

[Effect 3. The mana cost of summoning undead is reduced by 50%.]

[Effect 4. All undead under your command gain the ability to learn.]

[Effect 5. Fulfilling certain conditions will trigger the Trial of the Death Lord. Overcoming it grants a special reward.]

'My God.'

Kim Minwoo gaped at the skill's effects.

He had seen plenty of S-grade skills by now. That was how he could tell at a glance: an EX-grade skill was in an entirely different league!

'Isn't this insane?'

Even in terms of sheer efficiency, it was ridiculous. Suppose there was another necromancer identical to him. When that necromancer summoned ten skeletons...

'I'd have twenty.'

After all, his summoning cost was halved. And with a 50% stat increase on top of that? In purely mathematical terms, they would have the strength of thirty skeletons. As if that weren't enough, they would revive once after dying. Factor that in, and he effectively had sixty.

That advantage would snowball like crazy as time went on.

And the effects didn't stop there.

'The ability to learn, huh.'

Undead could learn, but only high-ranking ones.

'It started at around dullahans and above.'

A dullahan was a headless knight, an upper-mid-tier undead. They had to reach at least that level to learn anything.

But with this effect...

'Does that mean even an ordinary skeleton can learn?'

That was an incredible effect. Of course, he would have to summon some and work with them himself to find out just how effective it was.

'But it's part of an EX-grade skill.'

It was bound to be just as effective as the other effects. His heart was already swelling with excitement.

As for the trial in Effect 5, he didn't know the conditions yet, so he would just have to focus on the task at hand.

'Status window.'

[Name: Kim Minwoo (23)]

[Class: Necromancer]

[Level: 1]

[Skills (1/1): Death Lord (EX)]

[Mana: 100/100]

[Titles: None]

[Strength: 8] [Agility: 8] [Stamina: 7] [Magic Power: 10]

Ten was generally the human average for a stat. By that standard, Kim Minwoo's physique was below average.

'Well, at least my magic power just barely qualifies as human.'

Every ten points of magic power added one skill slot. Each point also granted ten mana.

'Raising my magic power comes first.'

He had a skill that strengthened undead, but no skill to actually summon them. He needed to raise his magic power to get more skill slots.

Rummaging inside his clothes, he took out the elixir pill.

[Sword Shadow Pill]

[Grade: A]

[An elixir pill made at the Sword Sea Pavilion. Increases all stats by 10 when consumed (cannot be applied more than once).]

As expected. Premium quality really did make a difference.

Ten points in every stat was equivalent to adding an entire person's worth of strength.

'It'd be a waste to take it now.'

Much like studying, raising stats grew harder the further you progressed. An elixir this good was best saved for later.

'I'll need to find some other elixirs.'

Low-grade items were easy to obtain as long as he had money, so he decided to solve his stat problem that way.

Just then, his phone rang.

[Father]

"Hello?"

"Minwoo. I heard you awakened. Is that true?"

There was urgency in Chairman Kim's voice over the phone. The bodyguards must have passed the news along.

"Yes, I did."

"Come straight home. Don't go wandering anywhere else."

"Yes, Father."

Between elixirs, equipment, and the donation, he had plenty to spend money on.

The timing couldn't have been better.

* * *

Chairman Kim Gangcheol paced his study.

He still couldn't believe the phone call he had received a little while ago. No wonder—the news had been far too shocking.

Even a lie had to be remotely reasonable to sound convincing!

His wastrel of an eldest son had not only fought a fierce spar with the Sword Immortal, but even been praised by him as a great swordsman?

If this were a novel or a movie, people would have called it garbage before it even came out.

["Hoho. You seem rather taken aback. But I swear on my sword that everything I just told you is true."]

["Oh, yes. If you ever need the Sword Sea Pavilion's assistance, simply say the word. If need be, I'll come help you myself."]

Even Chairman Kim, who had weathered every kind of hardship, could only keep saying yes to the Sword Immortal.

How was he supposed to hold a conversation when he had no idea what was going on?

As soon as that call ended, he had called the bodyguards...

["Yes, sir. I don't know much about swordsmanship, but the young master certainly held his own against the Sword Immortal."]

["To my eyes, it almost felt as though the eldest young master was the one putting pressure on the Sword Immortal. Though he did eventually collapse from exhaustion..."]

'Impossible.'

It truly was impossible. And yet it was real.

As he paced anxiously, the study door opened.

"I'm home, Father."

"Here, sit down here. What on earth happened?"

"I sparred with the Sword Immortal. I lost because I ran out of stamina."

"... No! That's far too brief! Explain it in more detail!"

Minwoo scratched his head at the sight of his father's agitation.

"Well, what happened was..."

As the explanation continued, Chairman Kim alternately chuckled, narrowed his eyes, and slapped his knee.

His eldest son had caused him endless grief, failing to act like a decent human being even at twenty-three.

But look at him now!

The audacity to offer a hundred billion won on the spot and challenge the Sword Immortal to a spar. Terrifying talent whose limits even the Sword Immortal couldn't determine.

Had his eldest boy always been this lovable?

Before he knew it, Chairman Kim was grinning.

"Hahaha! That's my boy! My boy! Of course! A tiger of a father never sires a dog of a son!"

"Sorry? You're the tiger, Father...?"

"Now, now! I made quite a name for myself as an awakener in my youth! If I hadn't had to inherit the company, I'd be S-rank by now... Ahem!"

Perhaps realizing he had gone too far himself, Chairman Kim cleared his throat.

"Still, I'm worried."

"Worried? About what?"

"I went and offered a hundred billion won just like that, but as you know, Father, I'm flat broke. You confiscated all my money, too..."

"Hahaha! What's a hundred billion won? There's nothing to worry about! Your father will take care of it, so put it out of your mind."

"Really?"

"Of course! Absolutely!"

Chairman Kim answered heartily.

It wasn't as though he was paying a hundred billion won to clean up some mess his son had made. This money would strengthen their relationship with none other than the Sword Sea Pavilion.

The Sword Immortal had said there was no need to pay, but Chairman Kim had no intention of missing this opportunity.

'Normally, I couldn't give them money even if I wanted to. This is wonderful, absolutely wonderful!'

Money was, after all, a means of making relationships stronger. Now he had an excellent excuse to hand some over.

He felt full without having eaten a thing. This must be the joy of watching your child grow up.

Filled with anticipation, Chairman Kim asked,

"So, what grade did your achievement get? I heard the light from your awakening was incredible. B? No, that's selling you short. At least A, perhaps even S..."

"Father, is that all the ambition a tiger has? Aim a little higher."

"Huh?"

What did he mean?

Chairman Kim tilted his head. Was he saying to go higher than A? But hadn't he already considered S?

For a moment, he couldn't understand what his son was saying.

Then Kim Minwoo pointed upward.

"Higher than S."

"... H-higher? Higher than S?!"

Chairman Kim's hair stood on end. A shiver ran down his spine.

"What are you...! Isn't S the highest achievement grade?!"

That was the most basic common knowledge. No awakener anywhere in the world had ever received an achievement grade above S.

And he was saying he had surpassed it? How could that possibly make sense?

"There's a grade above it. I'm living proof."

[Awakener Kim Minwoo is sharing his status window!]

[Would you like to view it?]

Chairman Kim barely managed to swallow before accepting his son's shared status window.

"...!"

His eyes widened.

[Skills (1/1): Death Lord (EX)]

"EX? What in the world...!"

First, the unfamiliar grade and its effects shocked him...

[Class: Necromancer]

"No, wait! Wh-what? Necromancer?"

Then the class shocked him all over again.

"Yes. I became a necromancer."

Seeing his son announce it so proudly threw Chairman Kim's thoughts into disarray.

The Sword Immortal had clearly praised him as a great swordsman, so why?

Why on earth...?

Just then, Kim Minwoo's expression turned solemn, as though he had made up his mind.

"Father."

"Y-yes."

"Our family has a lot of money."

"Well... yes?"

"If I buy some amazing equipment and give it to my skeletons, won't they be invincible?"

"Well, you're not entirely wrong... but why go to all that trouble?"

"Because that's the dream. Besides, necromancers can swing swords, too. If it bothers you that much, I'll just be a genius swordsman necromancer."

That left Chairman Kim utterly speechless.

* * *

'Somehow, I managed to convince him.'

Minwoo sighed as he entered his room.

He had managed to persuade the Sword Immortal with a vaguely plausible explanation, but that story wouldn't work at all on Chairman Kim, a C-rank awakener.

Boundaries, selflessness, and all that nonsense. He would be lucky if his father didn't take him for a charlatan.

Fortunately, his father had been only a little disappointed and had more or less accepted his reasoning.

I chose it because I could count on the family's backing.

The EX-grade skill is incredible.

Invest in me, and I'll earn my keep.

What else is family for?

So please give me some money.

That unbeatable five-step argument had loosened the chairman's purse strings...

["Now that you've awakened, give it your all. You're the only awakener who can bring glory to Ilseong's name, Minwoo."]

[100,000,000,000 won has been deposited into Kim Minwoo's account.]

He had secured a hundred billion won as his first round of funding.

'Everything's going according to plan so far.'

His reason for revealing his grade to Chairman Kim was simple. He had watched the man over six years of playing. Chairman Kim was a good father. At the very least, he would never stab him in the back.

And most importantly...

'I'm going to need money. A hell of a lot of it.'

He could have glossed over his Awakening Achievement, vaguely calling it A- or S-grade. But while that might have secured him a reasonable amount of funding...

'It wouldn't open the floodgates.'

Someone unique in the entire world was treated very differently from a run-of-the-mill promising talent. His first round of funding might have been far smaller than a hundred billion won. The second and third rounds would shrink drastically, too.

He had to hunt down an Outer God within seven years. Every day mattered. To get ahead, he needed to act boldly.

'Well, with this much...'

At least he could buy his little skeletons some treats.

Money and encouragement weren't the only things he had received from the chairman.

[Lowest-Grade Magic Power Pill]

[Grade: E]

[Required Level: 1 or higher]

[Slightly increases magic power when consumed. (Effective up to a stat value of 50)]

[Lowest-Grade Stamina Pill]

[Lowest-Grade Strength Pill]

[Lowest-Grade Agility Pill]

He had received a generous supply of mass-produced elixirs costing tens of millions to hundreds of millions of won apiece.

"This should get all my stats to fifty... uh, of course it will, right?"

Consider the elixirs' effects. They raised a stat "slightly."

The extent of that "slightly" depended on the individual's physique and talent. Someone blessed with a prodigy's talent and physique could gain a whole stat point with every pill.

But Kim Minwoo?

'I'm really not confident about this guy.'

He had practically cleared out the low-grade elixir storeroom to bring all these here, but... for Kim Minwoo, elixirs like these were no different from lottery tickets. He had to keep choking them down and pray his stats would rise.

There was a reason elixirs like the Sword Shadow Pill were so prized. They guaranteed a fixed increase of ten points. Even Ilseong only had a few of those.

'Getting my hands on those would be a bit much right now.'

Ilseong had other awakeners, too. Considering that they also needed their share of elixirs, even the chairman couldn't freely touch those supplies.

'Well, I can go after them later.'

Once he proved his ability, good elixirs would come rolling in on their own.

And so, after consuming hundreds of elixirs...

"Ah."

[Strength: 32] [Agility: 33] [Stamina: 34] [Magic Power: 35]

"Sorry, Chairman."

Kim Minwoo's talent had exploded.

In the negative direction.

'Well, at least I've unlocked more skill slots...'

For now, he would have to splurge on more elixirs.