Awesome Shut-In Necromancer

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As Shin Do Yoon said, the opponent, stripped of their pawns and elite forces, remained motionless for a while.

But that didn’t mean we could relax. After all, it meant that the cooldown for their next assault was still ticking away.

“Come on, get up here already. We need some useful sprouts.”

“Believe it or not, I’m doing my best…”

With that, I dove back into focused training with my direct disciple, Song Ha Yeon.

If it were up to me, I would have loved to train with Helena, but she had already returned to her home country for work-related reasons.

“By the way, do you really think someone like me can meet the standards of a deity? To be honest, I can hardly grasp my current position.”

Though she actively participated in training, Song Ha Yeon seemed somewhat lacking in confidence.

And I could see why. Just facing off against Astrid or Henesia, she couldn’t even last a whole minute.

But I thought differently.

“It looks like you’re too close to us to realize, but among the Hunters, you’re top-level.”

She had shown power comparable to the upper-tier S Rank Hunter, Saya, during the last massive gate incident, and now she was even stronger than that.

“You have to be someone who has laid a foundation within the system. It’s meaningless if you’re not a Hunter.”

In that sense, Song Ha Yeon was a significant candidate.

Her basic growth rate was very rapid, and having learned under me, her skills were rising day by day.

“You need to start earning your keep.”

But still, I had to admit that others weren’t quite up to par.

These might be people I could end up relying on in the future, so it would be better if they could consistently contribute.

“…But thinking about it, aren’t there actually the Seven Stars for that purpose?”

I initially thought the same. They were already individuals who had reached a certain growth limit within the constraints of the system.

But then, Shin Do Yoon said, “There’s only one who qualifies.”

“Pardon?”

“Someone among them who meets the criteria.”

The rest apparently had no potential to contain divinity at all.

So it meant that simply being strong didn’t necessarily include them as talents in Shin Do Yoon’s eyes.

“…That’s tough. In the end, no one knows who will qualify, right?”

“That’s about the gist of it.”

Well, there wasn’t much we could do about that. It was a matter that had to be entirely left to Shin Do Yoon.

“Alright, that’s enough for today.”

“…Phew, yes. You’ve worked hard.”

When I looked at it this way, it was rather nostalgic.

The Song Ha Yeon who used to make Skeletons shoot arrows with apples balanced on their heads has now become a proper high-tier Necromancer.

Compared to the century spent in Thebes, this moment felt like an instant, yet for some reason, the memories of the past two years felt just as vivid.

I pondered some memories and suddenly threw out a question.

“What would you do if Dungeons and Monsters disappeared?”

“Hmm… I’d probably just keep broadcasting like usual?”

Thinking about it, that made sense. Song Ha Yeon already had a clear direction for her life.

‘I actually don’t have any image coming to mind.’

I could hardly remember what goals I had before being sent off to Thebes.

In reality, I didn’t have anything I particularly wanted to do. It was only natural since I had never truly thought about it before.

‘…Well, surely something will come up.’

I stuffed useless thoughts into my head, used a cleaning spell, and began walking home.

And just like that, another day passed by.

#

“…So, where to this time?”

“Atlanta. There’s a massive gate with a diameter of 300 meters.”

Joshua, the Vice President of the American Hunter Association, shook his head at the pounding headache and stress mounting upon him.

This massive gate not only had an enormous scale but the difficulty was completely off the charts.

Even with America’s powerful force, clearing one was a tight squeeze, and considering it popped up every few days—think about that.

It was no longer a disaster we could manage.

‘Thank goodness we haven’t seen any Break incidents yet, but…’

That was just a flimsy hope. You couldn’t be at ease while holding a ticking time bomb, could you?

Boom!

“I honestly can’t find a solution. What’s happening in other countries?”

“Not much different. Everyone is in an uproar with the same concerns, except for a few specific countries.”

That was only natural. The number of countries capable of tackling the massive gate on their own could be counted on one hand, and the number of Hunters affected was growing every day.

Frowning and shaking his head, Joshua began recalling the names of the few exceptional countries he had in mind.

‘Korea, Japan, Germany, and Italy.’

Germany had Julian Chenwiltz, one of the Seven Stars, actively engaged on the front lines, and informally, another one was based there.

But the situation for the other three countries was somewhat different.

“The news just came in that the second massive gate that appeared in Japan has been cleared.”

“…Is it Baek Eun Ha again from Korea?”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

What kind of deal had been struck that the Hunter Baek Eun Ha, acclaimed as being on par with the Seven Stars or even stronger, was busily traveling through three countries, smashing Dungeons?

The speed at which she cleared them was truly astonishing; as soon as a Dungeon would appear, news of its clearance would come within two days.

Because of that, the three countries, including Korea, were under the envious gaze of many nations.

“Does she really have three bodies or something?”

She didn’t seem to show any signs of taking a break even after clearing the Dungeons. It only indicated that she had that much time to spare.

‘…To be honest, the timing feels a bit unfair.’

From Joshua’s standpoint, who was struggling with overwhelming work, it was easy to envy those three countries benefiting from Baek Eun Ha’s favor.

But there was nothing to be done about it. The relationship between Baek Eun Ha and the U.S. was, to put it mildly, dreadful.

“…For now, please go through the procedures to seal off the area around the gates. Considering we won’t have enough personnel to tackle it for a while.”

“Yes. Understood.”

Joshua lamented the fact that the previous association head, Hudson, was the root cause of all these problems.

He had no way of knowing that Hudson was already dead at Baek Eun Ha’s hands.

#

Crunch.

Crisp crunch.

Munch munch.

“Master? Are you eating that again?”

“Why? It’s delicious.”

“If you skip meals again, Seo Ha will get really mad…”

Though I was a bit worried about that, honestly, I had a lot to say too.

“No, I put only the finest ingredients in, so it’s actually quite nutritious!”

After going through all sorts of processes, this homemade snack set from Sanada had arrived in my hands once a week.

It was truly excellent in flavor, and as a gesture of gratitude, I had taken care of all the Second Gates that appeared in Japan.

“Seo Ha probably just wanted to eat with you, Master.”

“I-I don’t know about that.”

Saying things like that made me feel a twinge of guilt. But honestly, what could I do when it was way more delicious than home-cooked meals?

If there was a sin to be had, it was just that Sanada could make snacks better than a famous pastry chef while being a Hunter.

“By the way, I hear there are a bunch of requests coming in from other countries. Don’t you plan to take any?”

“It’s a hassle.”

Japan, as I mentioned earlier, along with Italy, where Beatrice was, was receiving some consideration due to the debt I owed from helping out during the Gideon incident.

Honestly, it wouldn’t be hard, but I didn’t want to increase my workload unnecessarily.

“And if I clear everything myself, then I won’t grow.”

“That’s true.”

For Shin Do Yoon’s plan, the Hunters needed to confront even more challenges to surpass their limits.

That meant merely feeding and putting them to bed wasn’t enough.

“If a being with divinity crosses over, you’ll step in, right?”

“Of course. But will you keep talking nonsense while I’m eating?”

Though it had been quiet for a while, it had only been a week since Tindalus showed up.

Honestly, it was clear that having such strong enemies flood in at just a week’s interval would become quite a troublesome battle.

I would prefer to have a bit more leisure time.

“Two weeks? At least ten days?”

But as the saying goes, thoughts can lead to actions. While I was munching on a sweet, a sudden call came in.

The caller was none other than Shin Do Yoon.

Dreee!

“…Aren’t you going to answer?”

“Ugh. I feel like I already know what it is without hearing it.”

But eventually, I sighed and picked up the phone, and soon saw a line that I had anticipated issue forth from Shin Do Yoon.

[A being with divinity has crossed over. Location: Spain. I’ll have to ask for your assistance once more.]

“Could you maybe just go this once yourself?”

[It’s hard to hear because there’s interference. I’ll trust and wait.]

Beep.

After the call ended abruptly, I paused for a moment before slowly getting to my feet.

“…Alright. I should gather materials.”

“Should we call the others?”

“Nah, just you come along.”

I didn’t know which enemy had crossed over this time, but the outcome would be the same.

With that, we received our new objective and set our feet toward the foreign land of Spain.