Necromancer Survival

ured with a sense of otherworldly beauty….

     I thought about Lackey, and how it may gain beauty after evolution.
But what’s there to improve–the base is already a skeleton.
There’s nothing particularly aesthetic about the undead.
Honestly, though, I’m not interested in beauty or looking *cool*….If he could just become powerful, I could become a confident User.
That’s enough for me.

* * *

     Time flew by, and it had already become the official grand opening of the Dungeon.

     After checking on the stock of hard-earned intermediate-level potions in my inventory and placing Lackey within my system space, I left home.
A mobile portal nearby would transport me to the entrance of the Dungeon.

     The moment the magic runes on the portal glistened and shined, I immediately found myself at my destination.
About 200 meters away, a 10-story building sporting purple crevices stood tall.
Given the police tape in front of it, that building was probably the infamous tower.

“”

    Already, a dizzyingly large crowd had gathered.
I wondered if all the Users that lived in the Hubs nearby had crawled out of the woodworks…

     I looked towards the most crowded place, where people gathered in throngs.
Rankers stood while reviewing plans, blinding eyes with the shine of their flashy items.

     “Wow!”

     “It’s Bae Jaemin!”

     “So dope”

     Suddenly the surroundings became noisy; a flurry of activity surrounded the portal.
Bae Jaemin and his party members stepped through the residue of bright magical lights.

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     Bae Jaemin’s stature was more diminutive than I had imagined, but he commanded everyone’s attention with his bulky, black equipment.
Before I knew it, I also stared at him with rapt attention.

*Ring~ Ring~*

     The sound of my cell phone took me out of my reverie.
Startled, I answered quickly–Berserker, Kim Sangyoon, was at the other end.

–Where are you?

     “Ah, I….I just arrived.”

–Do you see NC11 among the banners? We’ll be there, so come quickly.

Click–

    “Yes!” The call ended before I could properly answer….

     However, I ran for NC11 without delay.
The banner was in the exact opposite direction of Bae Jaemin.

     “Oh, you came?” Sangyoon casually said.

     “Hello!” I responded.

     “…….”

     “…….”

     I immediately found Kim Sangyoon, as noticeable as he is in this crowd, from afar.
Upon seeing him, I ran up and greeted him at 90 degrees.

     Kim Sangyoon at least acknowledged me.
The 15 or so men holding dark bags that surrounded the streamer only stared at me.
Those men did not respond to my enthusiastic greeting.

     ‘Am I late?’ I thought, flustered, as I checked my watch.
‘No? I came 20 minutes before the scheduled time……’

     I flushed red with embarrassment and settled near Kim Sangyoon.
However, Kim Sangyoon did not introduce me to those around him, nor did the others say anything to me.
Soon enough, everyone began chatting around me.

     I  felt ignored and upset, but today’s goal wasn’t to build friendships but rather to obtain the important evolution ingredient…for that purpose, I had to endure.

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     Looking at Kim Sangyoon smoking and talking with various streamers, I vaguely settled back into a corner.

     “Sangyoon-ah, I don’t think we can broadcast.
They want us to clear away the cameras.”

     “What?”

     “There’s a ban on filming today.”

     “What? Why?”

     30 minutes before entering, a public service official suddenly gathered the party leaders and delivered the news; none of the listeners looked particularly happy.

     Some complained, but the civil agent was adamant.
From afar, I briefly wondered what would happen to me.
The leader of our party, an assassin, had come back and said that filming was officially banned.

     The party atmosphere rapidly deteriorated, perhaps because the members all earned a living off of making videos.
I avoided their eyes, holding my breath, for fear of catching their eyes–I didn’t want to give them a reason to leave me behind.
They had kept cursing, but eventually they had no choice but to leave the cameras to an outside friend and began to stand in line.

     In the meantime, Kim Sangyoon took out his cellphone and updated his social media account, “I can’t broadcast due to filming regulations.” Soon afterwards, the officials came and began confiscating all cameras and cell phones…I too had to hand over my phone.

     “Geez…Why can’t we film?”

     “Apparently Bae Jaemin said we have to clear all cameras.”

     “Bastard…Can’t we just forbid broadcasting of the hardcore route?”

     “Apparently he said that there were overlapping sections in the routes.
He mandated a blanket ban for everyone.”

     “Crazy bastard.”

I overheard the conversation of the people lined up in front of me.
Supposedly, the sudden regulation on filming was Bae Jaemin’s fault.

     I had never been to such a high-ranking Dungeon before, so I wasn’t familiar with the scene.
The people in front of me had an exasperated attitude, as if this had happened not once or twice, but many times before.
Everyone seemed oddly familiar with Bae Jaemin’s strange commands…could one word from a man truly take away everyone’s cameras without serious protests?

     I wanted to ask Kim Sangyoon, but he seemed to be in a serious discussion with the party leader.

     After all filming equipment was confiscated, it took a while for the various parties to calm down.
Soon, an old man took control of the microphone attached to a podium in front of the tower, and began his speech.