Chapter 37

The hunt didn’t last long.

The results exceeded Kang Yuseong’s expectations.

By resurrecting the dead wolves, and then other monsters, he had come to understand some of the secrets of Necromancy.

When they were brought back to life by the Ghost Summoning Skill, they weren’t simply reanimated.

While they were resurrected by Kang Yuseong’s magic power, some fully displayed their former abilities, while others did not.

Of course, they inherited the summoner Kang Yuseong’s stats, giving them more than average strength. However, some lacked agility so severely that they were killed by dungeon monsters, while others were resurrected with far greater speed and power than they possessed in life.

This didn’t always correlate with their stats in life.

In other words, some creatures that weren’t particularly strong in life became powerful after being resurrected by the Ghost Summoning Skill, while the opposite also frequently occurred.

From this, Kang Yuseong recognized a particular characteristic of the Ghost Summoning Skill.

‘Aptitude. Each creature had a different aptitude for the Ghost Summoning Skill!’

Their aptitude for reacting to Kang Yuseong’s magic power varied from individual to individual.

‘That means…’

Kang Yuseong’s eyes gleamed as he fell into deeper thought.

The fact that it didn’t perfectly correlate with their combat power in life meant only one thing.

He would only know the outcome after resurrecting them.

But Kang Yuseong took his thoughts a step further.

‘There must be a way to know in advance. Just like that individual in the past.’

The Necromancer he had encountered in the past.

He had commanded powerful followers, and it was unlikely he had simply resurrected them all like scratching a lottery ticket, hoping they would grow.

It was more logical to assume he identified suitable vessels and then resurrected and nurtured them.

If so, Kang Yuseong needed two things.

‘A method to identify suitable vessels’ and ‘a method to resurrect and grow them.’

Kang Yuseong was already experimenting with the latter, driven by his suspicions, but the former remained elusive no matter how much he pondered.

How could he discern the aptitude of corpses?

‘Hoo…’

Kang Yuseong, having encountered yet another wall, let out a long sigh.

But his eyes were filled with more stubborn resolve than ever before.

If he couldn’t uncover this secret, he wouldn’t be able to properly utilize Necromancy, a truly captivating skill, even with it in his grasp.

However, Necromancy was a new field, one that had never been explored, neither in the present nor in the past when Kang Yuseong was a Monarch.

Even with his memories of the past, Kang Yuseong found himself at a complete loss in this area.

Tap-tap-

Kang Yuseong habitually tapped his sword sheath with his fingers.

Necromancy was the ultimate skill for him.

In the past, he had been betrayed and killed by the four Royal Guarders who assisted and protected him.

Countless masters who followed him had fallen to Han Taesung’s sword, and among them were many who had betrayed Kang Yuseong.

It all stemmed from one thing: their primal greed.

The desire to pull down the great Monarch Kang Yuseong with their own hands and seize his empty throne was what drove them.

This was precisely what Kang Yuseong most guarded against now.

One day, he would gather power.

No, he *had* to inevitably build his forces and once again rise as a Monarch.

But with this fundamental trust shattered, he would always be lonely and solitary.

Among humans, as a Hunter.

Necromancy, however, was different.

Followers who would absolutely obey only his commands would protect him and move according to his will. There would be no need to worry about betrayal, no need for precarious tightrope walking among them.

A perfect one-man army.

That immense dream was now within Kang Yuseong’s grasp.

Yet, two obstacles stood in Kang Yuseong’s way.

Kang Yuseong shook his head vigorously for a moment.

‘No, there *must* be a way! I will figure it out!’

In the past, the Necromancer he had faced had clearly demonstrated it.

That meant Kang Yuseong could do it too.

Kang Yuseong delved into deeper thought.

‘He… he definitely did it. Definitely…’

The power he had witnessed back then was truly astonishing.

The Phantom Knights he commanded were comparable to Level 300 monsters, and the Ghost Reapers never faltered even in one-on-one combat against Magic Users of supreme power.

A terrifying individual who, leading multiple such creatures, sought to annihilate Hunters.

He must have known the secrets beyond death.

A spell that transcended death, allowing one to freely control the departed…

The ultimate spell that forced beings, neither dead nor alive, to serve only their summoner.

‘If only I could meet him…!’

What a pity.

It was a regret so profound it made his chest ache.

Because that individual would only appear decades from now.

A deep regret flashed in Kang Yuseong’s eyes, then quickly vanished.

‘I can’t just stand by.’

If a pheasant isn’t available, a chicken will do, as the saying goes?

Kang Yuseong was recalling another method.

He strode out of the dungeon.

If his thoughts were correct…

He might be able to find even a small clue.

* * * * *

Returning from the dungeon, Kang Yuseong began scouring the internet from that very day.

The terms “Necromancer” or “necromancy” hadn’t just suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

They were clearly terms mentioned multiple times in ancient grimoires.

Goethe’s *Faust* even states that Faust was the first Necromancer.

This meant there were undoubtedly records detailing abilities consistent with Kang Yuseong’s current Necromancy skill.

Their habits, their abilities…

Everything terrifyingly aligned with the powers Kang Yuseong possessed.

Therefore, by researching historical accounts, Kang Yuseong might uncover what he was searching for.

As Kang Yuseong was already proficient in several languages, reading original texts in English, German, or French posed no difficulty.

He frantically searched the internet, and time swiftly passed.

And as Kang Yuseong searched for information, oblivious to the passage of time, he suddenly found himself staring intently at his monitor.

He tapped his desk with a finger, gazing at a single word as if to devour it.

“Necropolis (a large cemetery)…”

A word that sounded eerie and dreadful just hearing it.

A place also known by other terms: “city of corpses” or “mountain of corpses.”

Necropolis.

It was clearly a place connected to Necromancers.

But Kang Yuseong’s focus on that word wasn’t solely for that reason.

It had made him recall another word.

“Dungeon… D-666.”

The unknown dungeon.

Or the bizarre dungeon known as the Dungeon of Slaughter, D-666.

The reason for its eerie name, D-666, lay precisely there.

It was, truly, a place filled with unsolved mysteries.

‘It was definitely around this time…’

The sudden appearance of that bizarre dungeon had definitely been around this period.

The ominous number 666 was attached to it because the dungeon’s appearance was equally bizarre.

A dungeon that had suddenly appeared in the Gangwon Province a month or two from now.

Normally, when a new dungeon appeared, the National Dungeon Management Bureau would dispatch an investigation team.

This was not only to determine if it was an ancient dungeon but also to research, study, and document the dungeon.

However, this investigation team vanished without a trace.

And that wasn’t all.

The rescue team sent to retrieve the investigation team, and even the special rescue unit that entered to save the rescue team…

They simply disappeared, as if the dungeon had swallowed them all whole.

No radio contact, no communication, no one returned alive.

And it was only after a considerable amount of time had passed that the dungeon’s secret was revealed.

Exactly two years later, another exploration team re-entered the dungeon, and their very first radio transmission shocked the world.

“My God, this is hell.”

The exploration team that had vanished long ago, the rescue squad, the special rescue unit…

All of them had been found dead and decaying not far from the entrance.

And the true nature of the dungeon was revealed afterward.

A dungeon of death, where nothing ‘living’ existed.

A horrifying dungeon where all monsters, all humans, all living beings were piled up, dead and rotting away.

The National Dungeon Management Bureau, upon discovering it, named the dungeon D-666 and then sealed it.

Leaving behind the epithet, “the great cursed tomb of the devil.”

Upon discovering the word Necropolis, Kang Yuseong had recalled the appearance of that dungeon.

The D-666 Dungeon remained sealed thereafter.

Since there was nothing to gain by entering, Hunters didn’t go, and thus it was naturally forgotten, remaining sealed.

It was the same even when Kang Yuseong became a Monarch.

It was a dungeon Kang Yuseong had completely forgotten, but now the memory resurfaced.

As Kang Yuseong slowly mulled over the D-666 Dungeon, he vaguely recalled another remark made by the last exploration team.

“The corpses… they look as if they tore into each other, gnawing at each other’s flesh. Of course… you won’t believe it.”

A statement that, even the exploration team themselves admitted, no one would believe.

At the time, Kang Yuseong had also simply laughed it off as a mere urban legend when he heard that remark from the exploration team.

But that very remark from back then had suddenly come to mind now.

Kang Yuseong clenched his fist tightly.

Because to him now, that statement was an extremely crucial clue.

If that statement was true…

‘Necromancy. Carnage!’

One fact he had uncovered from scouring the internet and various documents.

In China, to create the strongest poison, venomous creatures like vipers, poisonous insects, and poison dart frogs are supposedly placed together in a single jar.

Inside, a frantic slaughter ensues, and the last survivor absorbs the venom of the others, becoming terrifyingly potent.

A similar principle applied to Necromancy.

To select the most powerful corpse, one makes them fight each other.

If that was true.

Kang Yuseong’s tightly clenched fist trembled slightly.

The corner of his mouth twisted upwards.

‘He’s there.’

D-666.

There was a very high probability that ‘someone’ responsible for that atrocity existed within that dungeon.

That ‘someone’ was the very being Kang Yuseong sought.

Another Necromancer.

‘I’ll catch him!’

Kang Yuseong’s eyes gleamed coldly.

Necromancy.

He intended to forcibly steal that knowledge, so dangerous yet fatally alluring.