[ YOU HAVE CHOSEN YOUR JOB CLASS ]
[ YOU ARE QUALIFIED FOR A JOB PLACEMENT IN A HIGH-RANK CLASS DUE TO THE NUMBER OF POINTS YOU HAVE ACQUIRED. ]
[ YOU HAVE EXCEEDED THE ESTIMATED TIME ]
[ ADDITIONAL POINTS HAVE BEEN ADDED ]
[ YOU DIDN'T USE THE RETURN STONE ]
[ ADDITIONAL POINTS HAVE BEEN ADDED ]
[ YOUR REMAINING HEALTH IS ABOVE 50% ]
[ ADDITIONAL POINTS HAVE BEEN ADDED ]
[ ALL OPPONENTS HAVE BEEN DEFEATED ]
[ ADDITIONAL POINTS HAVE BEEN ADDED ]
Meanwhile, Jin-Woo untied the bandage from his hand and put the dagger into his inventory, getting up from the throne.
[ YOUR TOTAL EARNED POINTS EXCEEDED HAS EXCEEDED THE LIMIT. ]
[ YOU HAVE BEEN PROMOTED FROM "NECROMANCER" TO "THE MONARCH OF SHADOWS"]
Jin-Woo watched as his body was surrounded by what looked like black smoke, but it was not real smoke.
This strange black energy began to float above his body and then seemed to be absorbed by his body.
[ YOU HAVE ACQUIRED NEW JOB-SPECIFIC SKILLS ]
[ YOU HAVE OBTAINED BONUS STAT POINTS. ]
[ YOU HAVE OBTAINED A NEW TITLE: "CONQUEROR OF ADVERSITY"]
Oh?
The bonus stat points and new title were quite surprising in themselves.
Switching him straight to another job made his lips part a bit.
In some games, it was possible to strengthen and improve your job after performing certain activities or exceeding a certain level.
From warrior to berserker.
From knight to paladin.
From wizard to archmage.
And from a necromancer to a shadow monarch, as you can see.
Jin-Woo opened the status window.
[ STATUS ]
[ NAME: SUNG JIN-WOO ]
[ JOB: SHADOW MONARCH ]
[ TITLE: WOLF SLAYER (+1 MORE) ]
[ LEVEL: 51 ]
[ FATIGUE: 0 ]
[ HP: 11035 ]
[ MP: 1022 ]
[ STRENGTH: 132 ]
[ DEXTERITY: 111 ]
[ VITALITY: 91 ]
[ SENSES: 93 ]
[ INTELLIGENCE: 70 ]
[ PHYSICAL DAMAGE REDUCTION: 46% - ACTIVATED ]
[ REMAINING STATS POINTS: 10 ]
[ SKILLS ]
[ PASSIVE: ]
- (UNKNOWN) MAX LEVEL
- TENACITY LV.1
- ADVANCED DAGGER MASTERY LV.1
[ ACTIVE: ]
- SPEED LV.2
- BLOOD LUST LV.1
- CRITICAL ATTACK LV.2
- DAGGER THROW LV.1
- CAMOUFLAGE LV.1
- THE COMMANDER'S TOUCH LV.1
[ JOB-SPECIFIC SKILLS ]
[ ACTIVE: ]
- SHADOW EXTRACTION LV.1
- SHADOW PRESERVATION LV.1
[ EQUIPPED ITEMS ]
- CRIMSON KNIGHT'S HELMET (S), GUARDIAN'S NECKLACE (A), KNIGHT'S CHESTPLATE (B), KNIGHT'S GAUNTLET (B), MAGE'S RING (B), ARCHER'S GLOVE (B), ASSASSIN'S BOOTS (C)
He had 10 points to distribute. Great. And a new title.
[ TITLE: CONQUEROR OF ADVERSITY ]
[ A TITLE GIVEN TO THOSE WHO HEROICALLY OVERCOME ADVERSITY. YOUR STATISTICS INCREASE PROPORTIONALLY AS YOU LOSE HEALTH POINTS. ]
( 1% STATS INCREASE FOR EVERY 1% HP LOST. )
Very quickly, the interest in reading the description disappeared when Jin-Woo noticed something strange behind the semi-transparent windows of the system.
He closed them, watching as unknown black smoke slowly and strangely emerged from the knights scattered on the floor, not much different from ordinary scrap.
These pieces of scrap were nothing more than inert garbage just a minute ago.
This black smoke rose from every knight on the ground.
Whenever his eyes fell on the "targets" from which the black smoke was emanating, words with a difficult-to-understand meaning appeared in his field of view.
[ SHADOW EXTRACTION CAN BE USED ON THIS TARGET. ]
[ SHADOW EXTRACTION CAN BE USED ON THIS TARGET. ]
[ SHADOW EXTRACTION CAN BE USED ON THIS TARGET. ]
[ SHADOW EXTRACTION CAN BE USED ON THIS TARGET. ]
[ SHADOW EXTRACTION CAN BE USED ON THIS TARGET. ]
It had to be a class skill.
He heard faint but still clearly audible screams of agony and pain in the distance.
The smoke itself curling upwards and coming out of these bodies looked like it was full of pain and suffering.
It was really weird, and quite scary if he was being completely honest.
He assumed that seeing this smoke and this message he could create his minions.
Actually, necromancy was a bit of a command game.
He could deal with it if his summoned beings didn't give him any trouble.
If they followed his orders well, he assumed that he might even like this game.
[ PLEASE CHOOSE A WORD TO ACTIVATE SHADOW EXTRACTION. ]
Activation word, huh?
It should be something simple to remember, short, and relevant.
- Arise.
As he uttered that one word, the screams of agony became louder, no longer a faint echo among the full-fledged screams, while at the same time, the smoke billowing into the fallen knights began to writhe faster and grow in volume.
Jin-Woo scanned his surroundings once again. All the shadows near him began to move.
Soon, a black hand emerged from one of the shadows. She pressed herself hard against the ground and then it looked like the arm that had slowly turned into an arm was starting to tear itself out of her body, holding on to the ground.
The sight was gruesome to say the least.
Jin-Woo's eyes opened wider and wider.
One by one, soldiers clad in jet-black armor emerged from their former bodies.
Their current bodies seemed... made of darkness.
There was a strange black mist rising from them here and there.
Would it be better described as smoke?
By the time Jin-Woo regained his senses, several dozen soldiers were already standing at his side, looking like they were waiting for something.
From the holes in their visors where their eyes should have been, there was a blue light rising, very similar in consistency to this black smoke.
Jin-Woo walked over to the nearest soldier.
The first thing he did was touch it. When he placed his hand and his chest, he felt something metallic.
As it turned out, the metal-looking armor wasn't just for show.
Although they were definitely not metal.
Their shapes were decidedly human.
[ SHADOW SOLDIER LV.1 ]
[ RANK: NORMAL ]
However, they were not human. He couldn't feel any signs of life from them. They weren't breathing and he couldn't hear a heartbeat.
Watching the soldiers carefully for the next few moments to make sure they wouldn't do anything bad to him, Jin-Woo hurriedly opened the status window and checked the description of his class skills.
[ SKILL: SHADOW EXTRACTION LV.1 ]
[ JOB-SPECIFIC SKILL ]
[ NO MANA REQUIRED ]
[ BY EXTRACTING MANA FROM A DEAD BODY, YOU CREATE SHADOW SOLDIERS. ]
[ THE CHANCE OF SUCCESS DEPENDS ON THE TARGET'S STATS AND THE TIME THAT HAS PASSED SINCE THEIR DEATH. ]
[ SHADOWS AVAILABLE FOR EXTRACTION: 30/30 ]
[ SKILL: SHADOW PRESERVATION LV.1 ]
[ JOB-SPECIFIC SKILL ]
[ NO MANA REQUIRED ]
[ SHADOW SOLDIERS CAN BE ABSORBED AND PRESSERVED BY THE SUMMONER. PRESERVED SOLDIERS CAN BE SUMMONED AT ANY TIME, OR BE REABSORBED FOR LATER USE. ]
[ PRESERVED SHADOWS: 0/20 ]
He approached one of the mages who had previously summoned armor on their own and were now his shadows.
From what he noticed, he managed to acquire 3 mages and 27 foot soldiers.
[ SHADOW MAGE LV.1 ]
[ RANK: ELITE ]
He could create 30 soldiers but save only 20.
He was quite powerful now.
If he could create soldiers from defeated monsters...
If he could create them from bosses.
Suddenly realizing something important, Jin-Woo's eyes began to jump madly around the room.
Finally, he spotted a piece of discarded crimson armor against one of the walls.
Jin-Woo stood in front of Igris' dead body.
This might have been the terrifying enemy that had tried to kill him just a few hours ago, but now it was likely to become a very strong ally. Fortunately, he saw black smoke slowly coming out of Igris, just like it did with the other fallen knights.
[ SHADOW EXTRACTION CAN BE USED ON THIS TARGET. ]
- Arise.
Despite saying the activation word, nothing happened.
When he frowned in surprise, a window appeared in front of his eyes.
[ TO USE SHADOW EXTRACTION, YOU MUST FREE UP AVAILABLE SPACE. TO CANCEL THE SUMMONED SHADOW, USE THE "TERMINATE EXTRACTION" COMMAND TO RETURN ONE OR MORE SOLDIERS BACK TO THE WORLD OF NOTHINGNESS. ]
Jin-Woo grimaced, realizing his mistake.
He turned to the waiting shadows and realized that they had turned so that they were still facing him.
Perhaps befitting their title of "shadow soldiers", they seemed to move without making a single sound.
He looked at his soldiers who stood patiently at attention. He will have to get rid of the weakest.
Eleven.
He needed room for Igris plus he could only sign 20 of those 30 guys.
These soldiers were his and he really didn't want to throw any of them away.
He felt somewhere deep down a magical bond between him and the soldiers. Thanks to this, he could easily check which of them were the weakest.
Apparently, this bond immediately made him attached to his soldiers.
That was probably stupid.
[ SHADOW SOLDIERS THAT HAVE RETURNED TO NOTHINGNESS CANNOT BE SUMMONED AGAIN. ]
Jin-Woo stared at where the retreated soldiers stood for a moment with an apologetic expression, then turned his attention back to Igris.
- Arise.
The shadow beneath the prone body began to sway gently and grow slightly.
Looking excitedly at Jin-Woo's body, he held his breath.
After a while, however, the shadow calmed down and froze, nothing happened.
[ FAILED TO EXTRACT THE SHADOW. ]
[ YOU HAVE TWO CHANCES LEFT ]
Well, it wasn't that easy at all.
His strength and the time that had passed since his death had to be taken into account.
Igris was a boss so his stats must have been high, plus he died over four hours ago.
But he didn't think time was the main factor here.
Even if six or seven hours had passed, it probably wouldn't have been long.
It was probably mainly about his strength.
He had two more attempts, so he wasn't going to worry prematurely.
- Arise.
[ FAILED TO EXTRACT THE SHADOW. ]
[ YOU HAVE ONE CHANCE LEFT ]
This guy had caused him so much trouble when he was alive, and even in death, he could give him a serious headache.
Jin-Woo pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes at Igris gloomily. He looked around the room for a moment, taking deep breaths to calm down.
It was then that his eyes fell on the empty throne that Igris was obviously guarding and blocked Jin-Woo's path to it as soon as he entered the chamber.
- Stop protecting someone who is no longer here. And try to protect the one in front of you.
- Arise.
Putting all his authority and command into those words, Jin-Woo tried one last time.
A deep scream could be heard coming from somewhere, and the boss's room was swept by an incredibly frosty wind.
Jin-Woo's expression brightened.
As he expected, when the long scream ended, a long black hand emerged from the shadows.
The newly formed shadow looked exactly as it appeared in his memories.
[ SUCCESSFULLY EXTRACTED THE SHADOW. ]
The feather was attached to the helmet, a very nice armor covering the slender body, the noble, dignified cape.
The only difference was that the armor now had a dark red color similar to tar. Everything else was exactly the same. He just stood there calmly, waiting for Jin-Woo to give him an order.
A wide smile of satisfaction appeared on his face.
[ YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY ENHANCED THE SHADOW'S POWER. ]
[ THE SHADOW WILL START AT LEVEL 7 ]
[ SHADOW SOLDIERS THAT RANK KNIGHT OR HIGHER CAN BE NAMED. ]
Right from the start, Igris was level 7 instead of level 1 like his other shadows.
And his rank also differed.
Jin-Woo looked at the shadow's head where there was a small window.
[ ??? LV.7 ]
[ RANK: KNIGHT ]
Jin-Woo became lost in thought.
Should he change his name? Can he stay with Igris?
Deciding that a name change was not necessary, Jin-Woo gave him his old name. Question marks have changed in the name.
[ IGRIS LV.7 ]
[ RANK: KNIGHT ]
All he did was simply give it its original name, but Jin-Woo still felt like he had achieved something amazing.
He was filled with content knowing that this guy was now his loyal soldier.
Jin-Woo turned around, looking at the 19 guys behind him.
The number of his troops for the time being was pitifully low. But this will probably change when his class skills gain higher levels.
Or when his intelligence stats increase. He wasn't entirely sure yet.
For now, however, what mattered was that he had his own army.
What's more, they weren't just any skeletons and corpses with rotting flesh falling off and bones sticking out, but an army of shadows.
Now there's only one problem left.
They would be too eye-catching if they just followed him around the streets.
This skill was not normal for hunters. Summoning one or two creatures was rare among hunters, but it did not raise any surprise. Summoning 30 shadow figures... Well, that would be weird and scary for everyone.
Either he will be under constant surveillance, or, worse still, someone may even demand that he cancel his calls.
If the head of the Hunter Monitoring Department, Woo Jin-Chul, who trusted him, found out about all this, he would probably have a stroke that would burst immediately.
Jin-Woo felt like he was going to die of frustration.
That's why there was probably another skill.
The most logical solution to this matter is to somehow hide these soldiers. He must have had something like this.
Searching his stat window again, he noticed one of the skills that wasn't there just a few minutes ago. Or maybe he just didn't notice it.
SHADOW PRESERVATION[1].
That seemed to solve his problem.
***
He returned home exhausted around three in the morning.
He crept into the house as quietly as he could so as not to wake up his sister.
Which with his dexterity stat wasn't particularly difficult.
When he entered the room, he looked longingly at the bed.
The system needed a minimum sleep period of four hours. To restore his HP, reduce fatigue, and regenerate mana.
It was a huge relief that he only needed to dream for the next four hours of various nightmares involving giant stone statues and dead double-dungeon hunters, reminiscing about the pain of losing a leg, the feeling of being dragged on the ground, and a long kneeling in fear.
There was never a night when he could sleep through it completely without nightmares. Most often, he used the four hours the system needed and then got up, afraid to fall asleep again.
Looking desperately at his bed, Jin-Woo had an idea.
He summoned Igris, feeling a lump in his throat.
Igris appeared at one of the walls of a small bedroom shrouded in semi-darkness.
A shadow appeared silently and stood tall, looking at Jin-Woo.
In a quiet, uncertain voice, the hunter asked him to feel him at night so that he would sleep alone.
Igris sat down and pulled out his sword, placing it on his lap.
Jin-Woo lay down on the bed, partly surprised that the presence of a dead, menacing shadow staring at him without blinking from the other end of the room did not bother him.
< Episode 4: Job Change Quest! > Fin.
[1] Jinwoo is able to preserve his shadows in storage and monitor them by perceiving their senses.