Chapter 4
Ding dong!
Hearing the doorbell, I stretched and said:
“Ugh, is it already time to go to work?”
Currently, I had a total of 11 transport skeletons, combining all three versions.
Each transport skeleton earned around 300,000 won on average, so altogether, I was making about 3.3 million won a day.
Of course, if I really dedicated myself and stayed at the gate for rentals, I could earn more, but that would be far beyond my effort limit, so it’s impossible… Anyway, 3.3 million won might seem like a lot to some, but for someone like me, who has an enormous amount of money stored in the subspace, it’s nothing to be satisfied with.
“With just this amount, when will I ever retire?”
I am the greatest necromancer in the history of the Seron continent.
What does that mean? It means, since there’s no precedent, I have no idea how long I’ll live.
That’s why when I came back to Earth, I raided the empire’s treasury to prepare… but well, that’s long gone. Anyway, since I don’t know how long I’ll live, I have to prepare for retirement as comfortably as possible.
“I should make a few trillion, or at least ensure hundreds of billions go into my account every month.”
So, my goal is simple:
The minimum target for a luxurious, worry-free life for the rest of my life.
So, I decided to gradually increase the number of transport skeletons, carefully keeping an eye on things…
But the problem is, the Awakener teams at the gates I go to have already gotten addicted to the transport skeletons. Their mindset is that it’s more beneficial to hunt more monsters than spend time collecting monster carcasses, so they bring the whole carcass back instead of just taking the bones.
Of course, it’s possible to rapidly decay the carcass and extract only the bones, which would actually be better for utilizing more morale and producing stronger skeletons. However, this would cost more money, and more importantly, the cleanup would be a hassle.
On the battlefield, I can just toss the decayed flesh anywhere, but here, that’s impossible.
So the method I chose was…
Bang bang!
“Mr. Han Jihyuk! It’s me! Mr. Park!”
The person calling my name was none other than Mr. Park, the small merchant who had come to the gate front to help with hunting.
When I opened the door, Mr. Park smiled brightly and said:
“I’ve made a delivery!”
It was Mr. Park who had switched from his previous job to delivering after visiting me for the first time.
Every morning, he stopped by the by-product market to gather fresh bones from the monsters he had just hunted, making sure not to miss any parts, and delivered them to me.
“These are all freshly hunted from yesterday.”
It’s my magic that moves the undead, but the power source that makes them move is the lingering morale in the corpses.
And this morale quickly fades after a creature dies, but the one that retains the most morale is the bone.
That’s why necromancers focus on using bones to create skeletons.
I inspected the morale of the bones and, with a satisfied expression, said:
“They’re fresh.”
The energy of a recently dead body.
I can feel the abundant morale.
Only with this much morale can I create stronger skeletons.
And stronger skeletons can carry more weight, plus they’re more durable.
“Thank you for your hard work. How much is it?”
“It’s 1.7 million won for everything.”
At first, I just picked any merchant who didn’t seem to be doing well, but Mr. Park, who couldn’t lie and was honest through and through, quickly won me over.
So, I decided to simply tell him the cost, and I’d add my own margin when selling to others.
“I’ll give you 2 million.”
As I started counting the money from my bag, I suddenly got tired of it.
“How about I just give you 500, and you can take it from there?”
Having worked with me for a while, Mr. Park smiled and said:
“That’s a bit much for me. How about you pay every three days instead?”
“Eh. That’s not going to work.”
It was a proposal for credit sales, and I knew all too well how annoying that is for the buyer.
I had fought for 30 years, keeping the promise that I’d send it back to Earth, so I understood that well.
I took 500 from my bag and handed it over:
“Here’s 500. Let me know when you run out.”
Finally, Mr. Park took the money and said:
“I’ll serve you honestly and diligently!”
I gave him a thumbs-up and said:
“Good.”
After sending Mr. Park off, I put a frozen kimchi fried rice in the microwave and started on the transport skeletons.
These should be made while they’re still fresh for the best results.
Whirr~
With the sound of the microwave running in the background, I rubbed my still sleepy eyes and raised my hand. The bones started to stick together, forming their shape.
“Yawn.”
I’ve led tens of thousands of undead before.
Naturally, this kind of work is nothing.
In no time, I created three new MK.2 transport skeletons and summoned the backup MK.2 from the subspace to copy the commands.
“Command copy.”
I copied the magic commands stored in the backup skeleton to the new three skeletons.
With that, the three new MK.2 transport skeletons were ready to start making money from today.
My income will increase by the amount of the three.
Ding.
And at the same time, the frozen kimchi fried rice was ready.
“Go make money~. Go make money.”
I took the kimchi fried rice out of the microwave and said:
“Ugh. I really want to retire soon.”
*
read only on pindangscans
support me : https://ko-fi.com/pindangscans
*
Increasing the number of transport skeletons led to a massive boost in income.
The production cost was essentially just bones, which meant the cost for each skeleton was practically covered by the earnings of just two days of operation.
Of course, it consumed my magic, but I’m one of the most renowned magicians in Seron, apart from my undead army.
This level of magic consumption was something I could recover in no time with a short break.
Anyway, the rental business was going smoothly, but today, a situation arose where I had to move to another location.
“It’s almost time!”
“Get ready!”
A gate that reached its critical point expels all the remaining monsters inside and then disappears.
The critical point of the gate I had been visiting was today.
I clicked my tongue and said:
“I should have avoided a day like this.”
Transport skeletons are meant to be used for long-distance transport.
That means they’re useless in a gate that’s about to reach its critical point, where monsters are being expelled.
“They’re coming out!”
At that moment, with the Awakener’s shout, the gate began spewing out the remaining monsters at incredible speed.
“Kill them!”
Thus, the battle between the monsters and the Awakener team began.
I watched indifferently as I opened my subspace and summoned the transport skeletons and a few other skeletons made for miscellaneous tasks.
“Load it up.”
The miscellaneous skeletons began loading up the stall, parasol, and the high-quality recliner sofa I had recently bought onto the transport skeleton.
While I was preparing for the departure, the Awakener team, having finished their hunting, began speaking in disappointed voices.
“What’s this?”
“I came for the last batch, but there’s barely anything left?”
“Did we hunt that much?”
The Awakener team seemed quite disappointed.
Maybe it was because, thanks to the transport skeletons, they didn’t spend time collecting the monster carcasses and kept fighting instead?
Well… hunting isn’t my concern.
I glanced at the transport skeletons for a moment and then said:
“I’m tired of walking. Should I just ride?”
The gate I had set my sights on for the next target was quite far away.
Though I had been told not to summon a summons in the city, this place was remote enough that it didn’t matter, right?
Besides, these skeletons obviously had no combat abilities.
After a moment of thought, I summoned a brand new transport skeleton that I hadn’t used yet, laid a blanket inside its bone basket, and laid down in it.
“Let’s just ride.”
If anyone complains, I can always send it back in.
At that moment, an Awakener team that had just finished hunting approached me.
“Boss!”
The term “boss” had fully stuck with me now.
“Yes~.”
“Where are you heading?”
“I’m going to the gate in the nearby mountain.”
“Then we’ll go with you. The critical point is almost done, but it looks like we’ll need to hunt a bit more. Please rent us the MK.2 first when we get there.”
The first reservation had come, and other Awakener teams started to approach.
“Us too!”
“Two MK.2s, please!”
That works for me.
“Reservation confirmed. Let’s head out.”
As the Awakener teams began heading toward the nearby gate, I tapped the transport skeleton lightly and said:
“Follow along.”
The transport skeleton I was riding began to stagger behind the Awakener teams, with the other transport skeleton carrying my stall and other items trailing behind.
“Wow. I didn’t know you can do that.”
“This looks fun!”
But despite the reaction from the Awakener team, I was frowning at the terrible ride quality of the transport skeleton.
“Ah! Ah!”
Since we were in a hilly area, every movement made my body jostle against the hard bones with just a thin blanket between us.
“The ride is horrible.”
I missed the palanquin I used to have in Seron so much.
But what good is longing for something that’s no longer here?
I have to adapt to the situation as best as I can.
I tried to recall the commands I used for the skeletons carrying my palanquin, then formed a magic circle.
“Make it smoother. The rebound should be lighter. I need to balance it out, balance it.”
In no time at all, I injected dozens of commands.
The transport skeleton began to adjust the basket’s position automatically, moving with a soft and smooth pace like a car’s suspension system.
With a satisfied expression, I said:
“Now, this is decent.”
Though it was far from as good as a palanquin, this was enough to lie down comfortably during travel.
I closed my eyes quietly and said:
“Cover.”
The transport skeleton covered me with a canopy, creating a shade.
I gently closed my eyes and said:
“Let’s go, to the next business.”
*
read only on pindangscans
support me : https://ko-fi.com/pindangscans
*
Once again, I set up shop at a new gate.
The business was booming once again.
So much so that even Awakeners who had been active in other areas were coming to this gate.
Every morning, I created new transport skeletons, and my income grew accordingly.
But it didn’t take long before I felt the limitations of this method.
“… They’re stacking up?”
The skeletons were piling up.
I leaned back in the recliner and stared blankly at the sky, then said:
“Well, I guess that makes sense.”
The number of monsters inside the gate isn’t infinite.
Naturally, the number of Awakeners hunting monsters to earn money also has limits.
No matter how efficient the transport skeletons are, they’re useless when there are no monsters left to hunt.
“This is a crisis.”
I can’t just keep increasing them aimlessly.
It’s time to extend my reach to other gates.
But how?
“Should I hire some part-timers?”
But the part-timers wouldn’t be able to use magic like I do to temporarily engrave commands that would make the transport skeletons follow the Awakeners.
“This is a real headache.”
Workers need to be constantly employed for money to come in.
“Isn’t there a better way?”
While I was thinking about it, I suddenly remembered the transport skeleton I used earlier.
“Huh? Wait a minute.”
An idea suddenly sparked in my mind.
I said, eyes gleaming:
“If I combine this with human porters…”
*
read only on pindangscans
support me : https://ko-fi.com/pindangscans
*
A burly porter stood at the stall, watching Jihyuk, who seemed to be deep in thought.
“We are completely falling behind.”
His fellow porter shook his head and said:
“They’re all looking for those bones, not hiring porters. Chansu, maybe we should move to another gate.”
The burly porter, Kang Chansu, sighed and said:
“Sigh. This is the closest one, though.”
After a moment of thinking, Chansu said:
“He doesn’t seem like a bad guy. Maybe we can ask him for a favor?”
“A favor?”
“Ask him if he can at least match the price a little.”
A transport skeleton that costs a third of the price of a regular porter.
It was an impossible price competition.
“Do you think that’ll work? It might be faster for us to just go to another place.”
Chansu, with a frustrated look, replied:
“That’s not the solution, though. Look.”
Chansu pointed at the transport skeletons lined up behind Jihyuk and said:
“They’re left over. If they still have these left after renting everything out, that means he might be expanding into other nearby gates soon. How much longer can we keep falling behind like this?”
At that moment, a rough-looking porter approached and spoke:
“It’s been a while since I heard something that makes sense.”
The appearance of Kim Yonggi, infamous for uniting porters and monopolizing the work by bullying others, made Chansu scowl and say:
“Kim Yonggi.”
Kim Yonggi, known for rallying porters and using his muscle to dominate the work, was now eyeing Jihyuk.
Kim Yonggi glared at Jihyuk and said:
“If this continues, we might all get pushed out of this area.”
“We? It’ll be you guys. Since when have you cared about other porters?”
Kim Yonggi smirked and said:
“Either way, you admit it’s a crisis, right?”
“… That’s true. That’s why I was planning to ask for a favor.”
“No, no. A favor? That won’t work. I heard that guy’s an F-rank, right? And he’s a summoner?”
“Yeah, you can tell just by looking.”
“But he’s using all his summons as porters? How weak must he be to give up on combat and make money this way?”
Chansu, with a dumbfounded look, said:
“Are you seriously planning to mess with him? An Awakener?”
“Of course, I’m not stupid. No matter how weak they are, Awakeners are still Awakeners. But do you think I’d have jumped in without a plan?”
“A plan?”
“The Awakeners backing me up are a little pissed off, saying I’m still worth the liver of a flea.”
Now Chansu understood the situation.
Kim Yonggi had been gathering porters under his protection, offering them a cut to dominate the work.
“Since the Awakeners are backing me, you all should just quietly follow along and fill the numbers.”
Chansu and the other porters who had been opposing Kim Yonggi hesitated, then said:
“It’s not a bad proposal, right?”
“What!?”
“To compete with those bones he made, we’d need to charge 10,000 won per hour. Does that make sense? If we’re going to work at that rate, we might as well work at a convenience store. The ones breaking the rules first were them!”
Chansu, looking flustered, said:
“Even so, this isn’t right! We could still solve this with words!”
“Do you have a guarantee that’ll work?”
“Well, that’s…”
“Sorry. We’re going to try working with Kim Yonggi.”
And just like that, the porters quickly joined Kim Yonggi’s side.
Kim Yonggi, seeing this, smiled and said:
“What are you going to do? All your friends are on this side now. Anyway, if you change your mind, come find me. I’ll make sure there’s plenty of work for you. You’ve got the strength, right? Haha!”
With that, Kim Yonggi led the porters away.
Kang Chansu sighed and said:
“Sigh. Even so, this isn’t right.”
With a bitter expression, Chansu added:
“More than that, isn’t this getting dangerous? Shouldn’t we warn him?”
But if he did that, he might get targeted by the Awakeners backing Kim Yonggi.
After a moment of thought, Chansu, with a determined look, said:
“Alright. Violence is never the answer. At least I’ll slip him a note and warn him…”
Just then:
“Oh ho?”
A sudden voice came from behind, causing Chansu to jump in surprise.
“What? What’s this?”
It was none other than Jihyuk, the very person they had been talking about.
“Seems like I’ve got an interesting friend here.”
“Y-Yes?!”
“I’ve been listening to everything since earlier.”
Chansu, with a shocked expression, said:
“You, from way over there, heard all that?”
“Of course. There’s always a way. Anyway, I hate people setting traps for me. I was thinking about taking care of all of you, but…”
Jihyuk grinned and said:
“You made an interesting suggestion.”
“Interesting?”
“How about a part-time job? I was already planning to hire part-time porters because I’m short on help. I’m willing to offer a pretty decent hourly wage.”
Taken aback by the sudden offer, Chansu said:
“A part-time job? What does that…”
After hearing about the part-time job, Chansu smiled brightly and said:
“Really? If that’s the case, all the other porters will be thrilled!”
“Right? After thinking it over, this seemed like the best option. But I hope the other porters you’re talking about aren’t the ones who just tried to take me down?”
Chansu, in a frantic voice, said:
“They’re just a little behind on work and low on money. They’re not bad people! I can convince them! I swear!”
“Hmm. I don’t usually give second chances to people who stab me in the back…”
Jihyuk sighed slightly and said:
“Sigh. I understand the frustration of being broke.”
“Yes?”
“I’ll give you one more chance because of that face. But instead…”
*
*
*
read only on pindangscans
support me : https://ko-fi.com/pindangscans