Awesome Shut-In Necromancer

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In a dark underground space where not even a ray of light could penetrate, a man was intently staring into the air, communicating with someone.

“…I see, understood.”

The person he was conversing with was Fabio, an S Rank Hunter and a well-known slaughterer from Italy.

The man had entrusted him with surveillance on a certain individual.

“Seems his strength is still not fully recovered.”

However, considering the events up until now, it was clear he was rapidly regaining his previous power.

As he thought of Baek Eun Ha, the feared Necromancer known as the Lord of Death in Thebes, the man slowly rose from his seat and approached an unknown altar.

“If there is a perfect timing, it must be now.”

Though he wasn’t entirely sure, he suspected that using her strength recklessly now would lead to a significant drop in condition shortly thereafter.

Additionally, according to Fabio’s report, there was a high chance she had fallen into a similar state during the recent S Rank Dungeon raid.

The ritual to summon an ancient being was now in its final stages.

It was just a matter of waiting for the day to act.

“At last, the time to compete has arrived.”

Recalling the despair he felt before that arrogant, overbearing tyrant, the man steeled his resolve.

He then relayed instructions to all remaining members of Hades.

“Everyone, assemble. I will conduct the ritual soon.”

In a world where he was pouring all his effort into facing dungeons, chaos was about to strike once more.

#

“Oppa? Why are you like this these days?”

“…I just have nothing to do.”

In response to Seo Ha’s concerned words, I merely lounged on the sofa, flipping through TV channels aimlessly.

Under normal circumstances, I would have been deep into a game in my room, so it might surely seem strange to someone else.

However, I was genuinely losing interest in games right now. The reason wasn’t even that complicated.

Ding!

[Are you not playing today? If you were here, matches would be easier to find.]

“Ugh. I told you I’m quitting.”

Xavier, a Hunter known as the Seven Stars and Esiel’s Master, was persistently bugging me with useless advice.

Honestly, I felt like I had hit a wall in his gameplay.

“…Talent leech.”

I tried to shake him off by giving him a spare diamond account, yet within just two days, he had climbed to the top rank and was competing for positions.

At this point, it was safe to say he had already surpassed me.

“It’s all pointless…”

With the side effects of Necromancy preventing me from raiding dungeons, and with no appealing games to play, I was left just lounging around, only managing to eat three meals a day.

“Want to exercise while heading to the mart? To the park ahead.”

“Too lazy…”

“Got it. Then watch the house.”

Once Seo Ha went out for her errands, I was left completely alone in the house.

After aimlessly meandering for a while, suddenly, a loud ringtone blared from my phone.

The caller was Joseph, my game friend and an Information Merchant from Europe.

Beep.

“I quit gaming.”

[What are you saying all of a sudden? That’s not important right now; I have urgent information to convey.]

“Don’t tell me it’s about Hades?”

As they say, speak of the devil and he shall appear; I had asked them to stay put for a week, yet it seemed they couldn’t resist starting activities again.

I clicked my tongue and sat up from the sofa, focusing on Joseph’s words.

However, his subsequent response was quite unexpected.

[There are signs that they might be moving, but what I was going to tell you was about another matter.]

“Another matter? What is it then?”

If it wasn’t Hades, there were not many possibilities. Either a new S Rank Dungeon had opened, or an incident related to me was about to unfold.

Eventually, Joseph revealed that it was the latter.

[I just received news that a secret military base in Russia was attacked yesterday.]

“Russia?”

[There aren’t many casualties, but it seems several high-rank Hunters were injured during the confrontation with the intruders. Naturally, Russia is furious.]

“Okay, but what does that have to do with me?”

I pondered deeply after hearing those words but didn’t recall doing anything against Russia. The most I did was defeat Ivan, an S Rank Hunter from Russia, in a dungeon in America.

However, that didn’t seem related to this incident at all.

What Joseph said next honestly exceeded my imagination.

[Well, I’m not sure, but I heard two intruders mentioned your name.]

“What are you talking about?”

That someone mentioned my name while attacking a secret military base in Russia was entirely absurd.

Among those with such power on Earth, I could count on one hand who I knew, and I couldn’t think of anyone who would do something like that.

“It’s either a mistake or they’re trying to pin the blame on me.”

[I think the same; it’s no brag, but you are currently one of the hottest stars, so they could be trying to confuse the pursuit by involving you.]

“What a hassle.”

The problem here was that my name had been mentioned somewhere, whether it was true or not.

From our perspective, it was just nonsense to dismiss, but from Russia’s point of view, that wouldn’t be the case.

Just as I was thinking that, Joseph nodded and continued.

[As I mentioned earlier, Russia is furious over this. Whether you’re actually involved or not, they will try to contact you for testimony.]

“That’s fine. If I relay it to the Association, they’ll handle it.”

[…I thought so too, until two hours ago. But now it seems it’s not that simple.]

“Come on, don’t tease me, just get to the point. What’s the problem?”

No matter how mad Russia was, honestly, they couldn’t blame me for something I hadn’t done while sitting still in a distant land.

With Chae Hwa In and me in Korea, we were certainly not easy prey, and lately, Esiel and his Master, Xavier, had also been staying in Korea, showing goodwill.

It meant they had too much to lose to mess with us over a simple justification.

However, Joseph spoke as if that didn’t matter, sounding perplexed.

[A new piece of information came in about two hours ago. It seems the same incident occurred in a U.S. secure area.]

“Again?”

[The intruders are likely the same pair, and this time, I heard your name was mentioned more definitively. So, how do you think the situation will develop now?]

“Now, people are going to suspect I caused this?”

[Exactly. That’s the reaction both countries are showing in real-time. Can you guess what I’m hinting at?]

Russia has a conflict with Ivan, and the U.S. was the nation with whom I had a direct conflict last time.

I had at least some justification for causing an incident, and my name had been mentioned at both sites.

Now, I was simply becoming a plausible target for suspicion from an unknown nuisance.

I frowned and asked Joseph.

“Who are these guys? It feels like they’re setting me up to take the blame.”

[It wouldn’t be surprising if that’s the case given they’ve targeted two countries.]

Moreover, the timing was also not good. I was in a situation where I couldn’t exert any strength for about four to five days.

If I were to be ambushed or if I needed to demonstrate force, I would find myself entirely helpless.

“Gordon, come out.”

[Yes, Master.]

Whew.

I swiftly summoned Gordon from the necklace and materialized him.

Right now, I was essentially a weakling, no different from an ordinary person; if I let my guard down, I could truly be in trouble.

[The U.S. is likely still concerned about past events, so Russia will probably contact Korea formally soon.]

“I would like to buy a couple of days, if possible.”

[I’m not sure about one or two days, but after that, there might be actual confrontations. It depends on the higher-ups in Korea. Until the misunderstanding is cleared up, don’t act reckless.]

Nonetheless, even if they didn’t say anything, there was no other option. For now, I had to lay low.

“…This is so frustrating.”

Beep.

Boom.

Bang.

After hanging up, I scowled and kicked the backrest of the sofa with my foot.

Honestly, I was quite displeased.

I didn’t know who was playing tricks, but as soon as my strength returned, I thought I’d annihilate them all as I bit down harshly on the Pepero in my hand.