Necromancer Survival

“I guess he’ll grow faster than a normal baby,” Choi Kyung-sik said as he observed the baby’s body.

Koo Hui-seo nodded his affirmation, “Apparently he’ll be able to walk in about a month…”

“How fast…”

“And, after a month, the child should start growing at a rate similar to that of other babies. Even I would find it troublesome if he were to become an adult within five years…”

It felt extraordinary enough for a child to be able to walk around within a month. Nevertheless, considering that after this initial explosive growth, the baby would then grow normally, it meant that the many obstacles that would be present while Koo Hui-seo prepared to introduce his ‘son’ and successor would disappear.

I asked Koo Hui-seo, “How’s the atmosphere within the guild? Do you still need to keep an eye on Koo Kyungman’s faction?”

“No. They knew it was a losing battle…”

I was a little reassured. I let out a sigh of relief, “Nevertheless, you needed a successor.”

“Ye~es. Well… I haven’t been feeling well lately, so…”

It wasn’t just the matter of Koo Kyungman. Koo Hui-seo was rumored to have many health problems and was often absent; many guild officials must have wanted to gauge his intentions.

Fortunately, [Red Dragon]’s guildmaster succession had been a mess since the previous generation, so, even if Koo Hui-seo’s baby was seen as illegitimate, there still wouldn’t be much confusion and chaos.

Koo Kyungman and Koo Hui-seo were half brothers. So, they’d be able to stay silent about Koo Hui-seo’s son’s biological mother, even if the father was still officially single.

And strangely, those thoughts brought me relief. I looked at the baby that was innocently frolicking with Lackey. ‘As expected, he’d be better off being in the dark about Koo Kyungman for the rest of his life…’

Looking at it now, there didn’t seem to be any issue, and Koo Hui-seo seemed to like the baby. Moreover, I might be able to influence Koo Hui-seo. In that case, perhaps the baby could grow up normally?

So, I cautiously said to Koo Hui-seo, “Then, I think you’d better keep quiet about the child’s biological mother. That is to say… Even when he grows up.”

“Mmm… Is that so?”

“…Yes.”

Koo Hui-seo didn’t seem to understand, but he nodded without contradicting me. I silently watched his nod, feeling uneasy yet hoping sincerely that Koo Hui-seo would develop a good relationship with the baby.

And, that night, Koo Kyungman breathed his last.

I waited quietly outside the operating room for his end. His corpse–which was nearly unrecognizable as ‘human,’–was placed in a very small box. The box was moved to the backyard and placed in the center of the golden magic circle Seo Dawon had created.

Whoosh–!

As soon as the box was placed down and we stepped back, blue flames sprouted from the circle and consumed the box. My eyes could hardly open against its force, and the immense heat stung my skin.

The box disappeared in an instant; Koo Kyungman’s corpse, within, couldn’t be seen. I could barely make out some vague form, but now I could observe everything in a detached manner.

The servants were silent, arms folded over their chests. Among them, Kim Olim held up the Hub’s [Holy Scriptures] and recited a short verse as she gazed at the flames.

After her recitation, a few white lights circled around my body before disappearing. It seemed like her words were intended to prevent any adverse effects on me rather than lamenting Koo Kyungman’s passing.

After the corpse was burned to ashes, without leaving behind a single trace, Seo Dawon collected powdered bones in a small container. “Where should I scatter these? There are no pigpens within the hub.”

“How about inside a dungeon?”

“What about mixing it inside a potion I’ll make later? Hmm. But, maybe that’ll be a little disgusting to drink…”

“I absolutely object to that.”

They only reacted coldly and objectively to his death.

I had hoped that Koo Hui-seo would show some kind of reaction so that I could offer him a choice, but his gaze was fixed solely on the baby nestled in his embrace. He seemed oblivious to the ongoing discussion.

So, for now, Seo Dawon kept Koo Kyungman’s bone powder.

* * *

“Bae Jaemin is moving.”

Afterwards, two weeks passed.

We stayed in Koo Hui-seo’s house; the servants and I mainly used the training room in the mansion to study various defense formations.

In particular, I devised a way to [Possession] skill freely and changed my training style. In particular, Jung Garam pushed my body almost to its limits, so I felt less and less muscle pain when I released the [Possession] skill.

In addition, I trained [Possession] with the other servants, in rotation, so that they can all handle this ability.

As I did so, I got to know small ‘TMIs’ about the servants–all because of the synchronization quiz. And, as our synchronization rate increased, the servants could exert more control over my body–beyond its normal limits. So, they often questioned me about my superficial preferences, such as what colors I liked or what flavors I preferred.

However, Seo Dawon maintained the highest synchronization rate with me–over 90%. We generally correctly answered the synchronization quizzes even though we didn’t particularly share any trivial conversations.

In addition, Kim Sangyoon also showed tremendous growth.

As Kim had said before, the Warrior was a talented User. Even when not using his skill that consumed his lifespan, he demonstrated incredible movement and ability that could stall Seo Dawon for over 15 minutes.

And, he’d become quite skilled when sparring with Jung Garam in close combat. Kim Sangyoon, who had initially struggled to keep up with Jung Garam’s anomalous attacks, was now able to follow the young Assassin’s movements and launch counter-attacks of his own.

“I told him to prepare the reagent I had mentioned in Choi Kyung-sik’s room…”

“Thank you, Hui-seo-ssi.”

Koo Hui-seo, as befitting a guildmaster for a guild that dealt with dirty money, was also able to obtain funds through his experience in money laundering. Thanks to this, Choi Kyung-sik was able to build his golem. The golem was as powerful and high-quality as the one the Alchemist had before death.

In addition, Choi Kyung-sik, through biological engineering, created various chimeras for combat and auxiliary purposes.

One of the chimeras, named [Human-skin Face], looked like a very thin, mushy cloth, but, when placed on a User’s face, it changed the User’s features.

It kind of felt like a mask, but I screamed the first time I wore the cloth and looked into a mirror. Nothing felt awkward or uncomfortable, and yet I turned into a completely different person.

Choi Kyung-sik explained his reasons for creating this [Human-skin Face]. “As long as Bae Jaemin is alive, our exposed identities are a weakness. Though Guildmaster-nim can use polymorph on you at all times, if you enter a building with [Anti-magic] or if you are exposed to similar items or skills, you’ll be immediately detected. Furthermore, items that change your face are rare, and they often cause a lot of discomfort. That’s why we created chimeras using monster skin. It would be nice if you could think of that as new crafting materials. You can pre-select the facial features you want to change into, and, when you use it, the chimera smoothly overlays those features on your face without causing discomfort. Unlike any items, the face won’t ‘float’ or pop out when your expression changes, so it’s very natural.”

Indeed, it was just as Choi Kyung-sik said.

The mask wouldn’t respond to anti-magic skills because I was simply wearing a chimera on my face. In other words, even if Bae Jaemin was right in front of me, he wouldn’t be able to recognize me.

However, there was a limit to this [Human-skin Face]; because it was weak to water, my original face would be revealed if I washed my face. Extremely humid conditions would also put me in danger.

For example, I had to be careful when it rains; my face would wrinkle. But, still, this mask was well worth using, so I took [Human-skin Face] without any hesitation.

While everyone was prepping… Kim Olim began to tell me about Bae Jaemin’s movements.

–

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TL: See, the ability to make “human-skin chimeras” etc would be what makes me want to be an Alchemist in this world. Like, how cool is that???

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