The Game of the Greatest Black Magician

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[Proofreader - Prøks]

Chapter 16

2.

-Why are you looking for me? Anyway, it's good to see you.

His rustic dialect was sweet to hear, especially the part about being looked for.

This hidden piece seemed to be the type where you had to find clues in the dead Garrick's room and visit various places.

But the moment he met Garrick's ghost, that became unnecessary.

Seonghyun thanked the other NPCs and distanced himself before speaking to Garrick.

"Are you Garrick, the gravedigger?"

-Oh my, that's right. Why are you looking for me?

"Hmm."

How should he say this?

After a moment of contemplation, Seonghyun opened his mouth.

"The village chief of Hindel Village told me to find Garrick the gravedigger, saying he could help me."

Would he understand if he just said this?

That thinking was correct.

As soon as he heard Seonghyun's words, Garrick the gravedigger smiled brightly and nodded as if in welcome.

-Ah! Oh my! You've finally arrived! I understand exactly why you're looking for me!

"Oh."

To think it would work right away.

Though Seonghyun himself didn't know why he was looking for him.

-Oh dear, I haven't explained. There's something that Village Chief Pam of Hindel Village asked me to give you.

"Something?"

Village Chief Pam again?

Just how much does he intend to give?

Is there a reason for giving him so much?

It's a shame he couldn't hear what the village chief said at the end.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Seeing Seonghyun's puzzled expression,

Garrick scratched his head in embarrassment.

-Oh my... I don't know why Village Chief Pam asked me to do this either. I was just told to give an adventurer a certain item and a note when they came looking for me.

If even Garrick doesn't know,

There's only one way.

He has to go and check the item himself.

There are other users here,

And he's already met Garrick's ghost.

"Let's go right away."

-Oh my! Of course! Let's go quickly!

Garrick answered immediately to Seonghyun's words.

Intending to guide him, Garrick took the lead, and Seonghyun followed behind.

The atmosphere of the eerie cemetery was chilly.

In that atmosphere where something seemed about to pop out at any moment, the tension of the other users was palpable.

Some were walking as if nothing was wrong, but their cautious steps betrayed their inner tension.

Seonghyun, however, was unfazed by the familiar atmosphere.

To Seonghyun, who was walking with long strides, the cemetery was no different from any other place.

Ghosts, you say?

They're all friendly to him anyway.

There's no need to be afraid.

He clicked his tongue, though, as if slightly disappointed.

'I won't be able to use Death Legion.'

Was it because of the users watching?

No.

He could leave the beginner village and even change his class to a Black Mage, so using skills wasn't a problem.

The reason was the condition for Death Legion.

The condition that, due to his low level, he could only raise corpses he had killed himself.

It was quite an annoying condition.

Of course, it wouldn't have mattered if it wasn't for that.

Seonghyun drew his sword and equipped it on his waist.

He placed the Tiger's Fang, the size of a shortsword, on his left side and the steel sword, the size of a longsword, on his right.

As he started walking again with long strides after finishing his preparations, the users around him glanced at him.

"Wow, he doesn't seem to be scared over there."

"He must have some serious guts."

"Hmm, he looks like a beginner, but he's quite something, huh?"

Some users were observing others as if their purpose in coming here was something other than hunting.

Seonghyun didn't know it, but they were scouts from various guilds.

They were stationed in the first village to recruit promising newbies.

Seonghyun's composure in the cemetery was enough to catch their eyes.

Composure and calmness were essential virtues for a gamer.

But apart from that, one needed to have skill.

If they didn't have the skills here, composure and calmness were useless.

"Oh? An undead appeared?"

"Let's see how he takes it down."

"If he doesn't have the skills, it's all for nothing."

The scouts murmured with anticipation.

Some were jealous that the scouts were focusing on Seonghyun when they wanted to be noticed.

But that wouldn't catch the scouts' eyes.

As Seonghyun was about to step forward at the appearance of the undead, Garrick spoke.

-Young Master! Skeletons are more vulnerable to blunt attacks than slashing!

'Hmm?'

Not sword, but blunt attacks?

At that moment, Seonghyun recalled the memories of the former instructor, wondering if there was a way to strike with a sword.

Just in time, the experience of the former instructor, who had dealt with the undead, surfaced.

A skeleton jumped out in front of Seonghyun.

It was in a state of rotten bone without any weapons, an undead that could be called the lowest rank.

Seonghyun swung his sword at it.

"Ah, he swung the sword right away."

"It won't die in one hit like that."

"Did he not even prepare a blunt weapon when coming to the cemetery?"

"Is it unavoidable because he's a beginner?"

As the scouts clicked their tongues in regret, one scout shouted.

"No way!? Look over there!"

He did swing the sword.

But instead of slashing, he precisely struck the skeleton's head with the flat of the wide steel sword

Whoosh! Crack!

The sound of bone breaking spread as the skeleton's skull caved in with a single blow.

The decayed bone instantly crumbled into dust and scattered on the ground as its head was crushed.

A precise and clean strike.

"With the flat of the sword!?"

"Whoa! Striking with the flat of the sword is no easy feat!"

"Judging by the flash of light just now, it seems like a critical hit landed!"

"And look at that sword! That longsword! It's the steel sword!"

"Gasp?! He might have spent money on the game..."

"He chose that?"

The scouts buzzed with admiration, their voices mingling in unison.

The sense and judgment shown in that moment,

and the talent to execute it.

To say he lacked skill after seeing this would be blind.

While everyone was singing his praises,

messages popped up in response to Seonghyun's strike.

[Critical Hit!]

[The effect of 『One Strike!』 is activated!]

[Experience points acquired.]

[You have shown ability beyond common sense with 'Unknown Power'.]

[Dexterity +3 permanently increased.]

At the same time, Garrick's memories and experiences flooded in.

The memories and experiences of the gravedigger contained records of confronting various undead.

Thanks to this, he could clearly feel it.

How to deal with the undead.

And paradoxically, by learning how to deal with the undead, he also learned how a Black Mage should handle them.

'Ah.'

Could this be why Village Chief Pam told him to seek out the gravedigger?

Because he was a Black Mage?

No, that was an overinterpretation.

It was better not to overthink it.

For now, he would simply continue forward, defeating the undead.

Even without going to Helena, Garrick's memories and experiences were inferior to those of the former instructor or the hunter Apik.

His talent itself, as well as the fact that he was a gravedigger, contributed to this.

But at least when it came to the undead generated in this cemetery, it was different.

Rattle, rattle.

Skeletons emerged once more, rising from the ground.

Five in total.

Most users would have retreated at such a number, but not Seonghyun.

First, he sheathed his steel sword.

He wasn't trying to run away.

Tatatatack!

He dashed forward towards a shovel lying a short distance away from the skeletons.

He reached the shovel and kicked it up with his foot, catching it in his hand as it flew up.

A cool and heavy sensation.

Gripping the shovel's handle, Seonghyun's eyes gleamed as he ran again.

With the light sound of Tatatat! and swift speed,

The skeletons followed Seonghyun with empty eyes, but his quick changes in direction made it difficult for them to even keep up.

As he closed in, something black loomed before their eyes, and a sound rang out.

Crack—!

With a dry cracking sound, the bones of the leading skeleton shattered.

The skeleton collapsed from a single blow.

[Critical Hit!]

[The effect of 『One Strike!』 is activated!]

[Experience points acquired.]

Seeing Seonghyun swing the shovel, the skeleton right behind tried to grab him, but Seonghyun instantly lowered his stance by bending his body.

And then, a low kick followed.

Tadadack!

Seonghyun's kick landed on the fragile leg bones, and the three skeletons trying to grab him fell backward.

Ignoring the fallen ones, he swung the shovel at the one struggling to stand behind them.

Crack—!

[Critical Hit!]

[The effect of 『One Strike!』 is activated!]

[Experience points acquired.]

The struggling skeleton was smashed to dust by the wide swing of the shovel's handle.

The remaining three tried to get up, but Seonghyun, who had just swung at the struggling one, relentlessly stomped down, crushing the head of one of the three that had fallen.

The skull crumbled effortlessly into dust, and he immediately used his stomping foot as a pivot to deliver a powerful kick with his other leg towards the one in front of him.

Thud! Crack!

[Critical Hit!]

[The effect of 『One Strike!』 is activated!]

[Experience points acquired.]

[Critical Hit!]

[The effect of 『One Strike!』 is activated!]

[Experience points acquired.]

The skull of the one hit with the soccer kick also shattered and scattered into dust.

One of the fallen skeletons managed to rise, but its comrades had already turned to dust.

The lone skeleton could have been terrified, but the lifeless creature blindly charged.

It vividly displayed the undead's hatred for the living.

Reading the charging skeleton's movement, he ran past it, swinging the shovel in his grip.

Using the skeleton's momentum, the shovel swung with tremendous force, and a horrifying sound echoed.

Crack—!

[Critical Hit!]

[The effect of 『One Strike!』 is activated!]

[Experience points acquired.]

In a single breath, he had dealt with five skeletons.

The scouts gaped at the sight, their mouths agape.

"Oh my god!"

"Gasp."

"Wh-what?"

"Just with a Fucking shovel!?"

"Wow!"

The scouts couldn't help but express their admiration.

To think he'd display such movements with a common shovel found lying around.

The method itself was the same as the gravedigger NPCs, but...

It was on a completely different level from what the gravediggers showed.

The speed of his brain as he predicted movements and combat, the path he took as he grasped the whole situation and moved...

Not a single thing was lacking; his movements were perfect.

They would definitely regret missing out on him.

That was the thought shared by all the scouts.

They had to bring this person in!

Just as they were about to act on their sense of mission...

"Uh, huh? Where did he go?"

"What?! He-he was just here a moment ago?!"

"Where did he disappear to!?"

"W-we have to find him right now!!"

Seonghyun, who had been there just moments ago, had vanished.

To think he disappeared in the blink of an eye while they were talking amongst themselves.

Where could he have gone!?

While the scouts were in a state of confusion,

Seonghyun, guided by Garrick, was quickly entering the forest behind the cemetery.

That's why the scouts couldn't see him.

It was a dense forest.

With trees packed closely together, even Seonghyun, who was running, found it difficult to see ahead.

It was a place where one could easily get lost.

It was even called the Labyrinth Forest among users.

But Seonghyun was running faster than anyone else.

-This way, Young Master!

It was all thanks to Garrick's guidance.

What would he have done without Garrick?

A hidden piece obtained through his own efforts?

That was good, but when someone else was chasing after it, arriving first was the priority!

As Seonghyun ran tirelessly through the winding paths between the trees,

something began to appear in the distance.

Should he call it a clearing?

The other areas were dark, with no light penetrating through the dense trees.

But this place was different.

A clearing bathed in a soft light.

His eyes widened as he saw a cabin nestled within.

He had arrived.

[You have a clue about Garrick the Gravedigger.]

[The conditions for approaching Garrick's cabin have been met.]

With the message that he met the conditions, he was able to enter the clearing.

'Am I the first?'

He looked around, wondering if the user who had discovered this five days ago had come.

There were no signs of anyone else having been here.

He was certain, having used the memories and experiences of the hunter Apik.

Seonghyun was the first to arrive.

Just as Seonghyun, filled with joy, was about to approach the cabin...

Rustle.

He heard a sound behind him.

Because he was accessing the hunter Apik's memories and experiences, he instinctively turned his body as soon as he heard the sound.

Thud.

A bone arrow grazed the spot where Seonghyun had just been standing.

Seeing this, Seonghyun turned his sharp gaze towards the source of the sound.

“He dodged that? A beginner?”

There, he saw a user in a robe, their eyes wide with surprise, seemingly more shocked than Seonghyun himself.

[Translator - Prøks]

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