Awesome Shut-In Necromancer

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Bang! Bread!

I hadn’t mentioned the strategy to Seo Ha. I knew for sure that she wouldn’t be too pleased about it.

Buzz!

Vroom!

And I had absolute confidence.

Even if the party members were dysfunctional or made mistakes, I was sure I could handle the workload of several people by myself.

“Taking a taxi that far will be pretty pricey, are you okay with that? It might be better to take a bus to a nearby spot first.”

“…I-I have enough money.”

But that confidence quickly started to dwindle the moment we arrived at the promised location.

“……”

There was a muscular young man chewing gum with scars on his face, and a middle-aged man nervously biting his nails.

And then there was a young woman whose expression radiated annoyance, dressed as if she were some kind of special forces.

“What are you staring at, kid? Get lost!”

“Uh, I didn’t—”

“Don’t understand Korean? I said get out!”

I had just responded in perfectly fine Korean, yet her provocation was already making my blood pressure rise.

Just then, a friendly-looking man, likely the leader, approached and spoke up.

“Oh, you’re here! You have a really nice vibe. It seems like your ancestors have blessed you.”

In that moment, I had a gut feeling.

This journey ahead was going to be anything but easy.

#

Currently, dungeon raids are generally categorized into two structures.

Hunters belonging to a guild focusing on medium and large-sized dungeons, and parties of hunters tackling only small to medium-sized dungeons due to psychological pressure or personal circumstances.

There are also freelance hunters who act on requests without any affiliation, but in most cases, it’s safe to regard it as the above two categories.

Moreover, among hunters seeking parties, unless there are special circumstances, they tend to stick with the same team for a long time.

Of course, it’s more stable and efficient that way.

So what about hunters who can’t join such fixed parties and end up forming teams on the fly to raid dungeons?

Issues with party members, being blacklisted for causing trouble, or having skills and titles that fall short in real combat.

There were many reasons, but to put it simply, most were not exactly reliable.

I was feeling that vividly right now.

“Hey, what are you doing? Why are you shooting there like a lunatic?”

A six-member party. That was just the right number for raiding a C Rank Medium Dungeon. However, the process was anything but ideal compared to the ideal team size.

“I clearly signaled. It’s your fault for being careless.”

“What’s with this punk’s attitude? Is he some Yankee?”

From the first battle, the muscular thug and the special forces wannabe clashed.

The special forces guy seemed foreign and fought in a bizarre manner.

“Seriously, does he think he’s a sniper? Where do you see rear guards fighting like this?”

“My skills are meant for long-range effectiveness. There’s no problem in battle.”

“Oh, so you’re just gonna snipe from a safe spot?”

“C’mon, let’s all calm down and proceed with the raid first. Why argue among ourselves when we know what we’re doing? There’s no benefit to getting heated over it.”

“Ugh, idiots.”

With that, the situation turned into a complete mess, especially added with the foul language from the annoyed woman.

‘Could we please just get on with it…?’

Honestly, I didn’t care much about the fight, but listening to it was unbearably frustrating.

Eventually, under the leadership of Hong Yong-Taek, the group started moving forward again in the dungeon.

“We have four Mycus Lizards. Can you take them out from a distance?”

“No problem.”

Finishing that, the special forces guy vanished to the rear, crossbow in hand.

At least that guy was slowing down our progress. If there’s a next fight, I decided I’d support the thug side.

“Undead Call.”

Boom!

[Crack.]

I didn’t need to pull out unnecessary power, so I was assisting the front lines with the Skeleton Masher while casting simple curses.

Since they seemed to be seasoned enough, even if individual combat abilities weren’t perfect, the fight wrapped up without too much trouble.

“Kyah!”

Boom!

After dispatching the last enemy, Hong Yong-Taek asked the assassin-titled female Kwak Min-Ji to dismantle the monster.

“Wow, the by-products of the Mycus Lizard must be worth a fortune. Please take care not to spoil them. Haha.”

However, Kwak Min-Ji grimaced and refused.

“…I don’t want to.”

“What?”

“I said I don’t want to. Get someone else. You know how horrible the smell of a Mycus Lizard is?”

Hearing that, Hong Yong-Taek looked genuinely baffled.

Dismembering was surely part of the job requirements, so it was only natural.

“Hey, why not? You’ve done it plenty of times before.”

“Oh, I don’t want to. If you’re that insistent, offer me extra pay. Otherwise, I can’t do it.”

It was truly exasperating. From a distance, I quietly watched the visible veins bulging on Hong Yong-Taek’s neck.

“Alright, so I can take an extra amount from the total earnings?”

“…Well, if that’s the case, I can’t help it.”

In that moment, I felt a slight murderous intent and flinched. This wasn’t just a feeling, it was genuine. I hesitated and glanced nervously at Hong Yong-Taek.

“…Let’s keep moving.”

Fortunately, he didn’t seem to have too fiery of a temperament.

I followed along with a sigh of relief.

Still, disputes kept arising. These troublemakers would take any chance to nitpick at each other.

While I remained quiet, I soon found myself in their crosshairs.

“By the way, what’s the Necromancer student even doing?”

This time, it was the middle-aged man, still nervously chewing his nails.

“Uh, what?”

“You’ve just been summoning and staring blankly since earlier…”

What on earth is this idiot saying?

I was dumbfounded and immediately fought back.

“Uh, I was controlling curses and—”

“Since you didn’t even help with any scouting or guarding, just trailing behind like this, how does it seem fair to share the same payout rate?”

“No, but…”

“This guy actually makes some sense. I can tell you lack experience, but isn’t offloading responsibilities onto others a bit much? Seriously, these kids these days have no sense of responsibility!”

“Ugh.”

Now even the thugs were joining in on the attack.

I hung my head, unable to keep up with the constant barrage of insults.

And just then, Hong Yong-Taek, who’d been waiting for the opportunity, fired the finishing blow.

“Uh, it seems everyone has some opinions… How about deducting Kwak Min-Ji’s extra payment from Baek Eun Ha’s share?”

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

“…Ugh.”

Once that resolution was reached, the group resumed the dungeon raid as if they hadn’t just been furious.

‘How dare you, Lord of Death…’

They were an abominable lot, without exception.

#

To be honest, the raid speed was just mediocre.

While the team members weren’t bad, the petty conflicts and flaws caused significant delays.

‘Bunch of losers…’

I was especially irritated after what had just happened, so I stopped providing support.

But sure enough, being in a medium dungeon was paying off as monsters kept pouring out, providing decent experience.

If it hadn’t been for that, I would have lost my patience already and exploded.

‘…A medium dungeon is definitely better.’

However, I didn’t want to team up with these losers again. I decided to treat Song Ha Yeon a bit better when I got back.

“That’s…”

Just about a full day later, we finally spotted the entrance to the Boss Room.

“Ah, what a shame. This dungeon was reasonably good.”

“If only a few more Mycus Lizards had shown up, it would’ve been perfect…”

The Mycus Lizard’s by-products were popular among connoisseurs as they were used in premium cosmetics.

The thug Park Yong-Cheol and the leader Hong Yong-Taek shared their disappointment over that fact.

“Ah, what a pity…”

Honestly, their attitude seemed a bit strange. We had seen plenty of Mycus Lizards here, nearly in the dozens, and for stragglers from fixed parties, it was almost a windfall.

‘Even sharing, each of us should easily take in a hefty sum.’

Just as the doubts crossed my mind, I noticed some of the group exchanging knowing glances. At that moment, the sniper Henry spoke up.

“We need protection inside the Boss Room. I need one frontline member to come with me.”

“What the hell is this Yankee talking about?”

In response to Kwak Min-Ji’s annoyed question, Henry replied.

“Because of the nature of my skills, if I’m too far from the group, I won’t be able to respond when the boss comes close.”

He wasn’t wrong, and ultimately, the leader Hong Yong-Taek decided to take Henry along as rear guard.

So, the final formation had thug Park Yong-Cheol and Kwak Min-Ji leading, while I and the nail-biting Lee Kyung-Jae took the middle, and Henry with Hong Yong-Taek covering the rear.

Creak.

Boom.

Just as the door to the Boss Room was opening, someone in the back stealthily unleashed a completed spell.

The target was Kwak Min-Ji.

‘…Share vision?’

Reading the magical arrays quickly, I recognized the spell commonly used for reconnaissance by familiars or summoned creatures.

Kwak Min-Ji, unaware of the situation. Indeed, something felt off.

And at that moment.

Thud.

Crash!

“Gah! What the hell is this bastard doing?!”

Suddenly, Park Yong-Cheol shoved Kwak Min-Ji aside, and she tumbled helplessly into the Boss Room.

Boom.

Leaving Kwak Min-Ji behind, Park Yong-Cheol used a strength-enhancing skill and shut the door in an instant.

It was the moment when the hunters unveiled their true nature.