Awesome Shut-In Necromancer

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What, what are you squeezing?

I took a step back with a confused expression.

Now that I think about it, Hans was one of the subordinates who had been particularly handy with me over there due to his cunning nature. Could it be that he held a grudge about that?

“Neither the death energy nor the magic seems to spark any excitement; it doesn’t look like you’re hiding anything.”

“…Is this really insane?”

“What’s with that appearance? Have you developed a new hobby?”

“It’s because of the dimensional travel.”

“Ah, side effects. There was certainly talk of that.”

Hans, answering playfully, approached me again and leaned in close, making a perplexed expression.

“Isn’t your personality a bit too different now? The one who used to blow up a kingdom when upset, why have you become so pathetic?”

“Who looks pathetic?”

At that, Hans flashed a playful smile and suddenly grabbed my arm.

“Oof.”

“You’ve really plumped up, haven’t you?”

“……”

I felt a wave of shame rising from within.

“…T-this is also due to the side effects.”

“Well, it’s quite the situation.”

“Anyway, hurry and wrap this up. It’s hard to summon you for long in this condition.”

Upon hearing that, Hans answered with a meaningful smile.

“I refuse.”

“What?”

I glared at him in disbelief, but it changed nothing. Hans continued with a smirk.

“Are you upset?”

“……”

“I’ve always felt that way.”

It seemed this unreliable subordinate had completely erased his sense of duty from his mind.

I felt heat rising to my head and recited my spell again.

“Book of Death.”

Boom!

“Why all of a sudden…?”

“I’m just going to burn your heart.”

Honestly, it was just a bluff.

While I did possess Hans’s heart, it was stored several pages back, so I had no way of retrieving it at the moment.

But of course, Hans didn’t know that.

“Seems you were joking around.”

Seeing him immediately enter combat mode made me feel like bursting with laughter.

“By the way, don’t I have my steed?”

“…I can’t summon it right now.”

“What? It’s been a while since I’ve had such a dull battle.”

His nonchalant attitude was extremely annoying. However, the one who felt disappointed at that moment was me, so I swallowed my frustration.

“I heard you can’t take this anymore. Is all the trivial nonsense finished?”

At some point, the doppelganger, having fully healed from injury, approached me radiating a fierce killing intent.

“The analysis is complete. You can’t defeat me.”

That was quite the confidence. And that confidence didn’t seem misplaced; the doppelganger started to gather magic power, conjuring a terrifyingly large fireball.

Boom!

“…The abilities of the original summoner aren’t that impressive. If you avoid it, you’ll surely die. So go ahead, try to stop it.”

“Hmph.”

The flames showed no signs of stopping and swelled even larger. Watching this scene, Hans muttered to himself.

“To think you’re in a position to be threatened by such an unworthy creature, truly the lord’s prestige has hit rock bottom. It’s quite pitiful.”

“…Shut up.”

Boom─!

Finally, the completed fireball flew straight toward us.

With an expression of resignation, Hans stepped forward and took it head-on. Soon, the sound of armor heating up and the smell of burning flesh filled the air.

Crash!

Sizzle.

Sizzle!

“It’s over.”

At last, Hans’s state was revealed, and it was tragic. The thin armor that had been protecting his whole body lay in tatters, and half of his flesh was charred and crushed.

Thud!

Thud!

Without missing an opportunity, the doppelganger swiftly approached and swung its hand, severing Hans’s head.

Thud.

The sound of the severed head meeting the ground filled the desolate void.

“Next is you.”

Facing the doppelganger who approached with a confident expression, I calmly opened my mouth.

“What are you doing not getting up?”

“Stop talking nonsense….”

The doppelganger’s face hardened as laughter left his lips.

Certainly, Hans’s body, which should have been brutally burning after being decapitated, was now standing and blocking the way.

Swipe.

As Hans raised his hand, the head that had been rolling on the ground suddenly regenerated and flew into his palm.

Boom!

“You’re still being stubborn.”

Sizzle!

Sizzle!

Like some sort of magic trick, Hans’s body quickly reverted to its original state. The doppelganger before him looked utterly speechless.

“W-what?”

“With such a pathetic attack, even if I wanted to die, I couldn’t.”

Dullahan Zombie.
That name was definitely no exaggeration.
If summoned in perfect condition, Hans was among the most powerful beings of my original undead.

‘Of course, he’s half a being without a heart…’
Even in that state, Hans’s survival ability was unparalleled.

It was impossible for a mere B Rank low-tier monster to kill him.

“There’s not much death energy left. Wrap it up quickly.”

The unnecessary delay was starting to hit its limit.

At my prompt, Hans erased all trace of mischief as if nothing had happened and charged at the doppelganger.

“Ugh!”

Boom!

Crash!

Boom!

The doppelganger utilized everything it had to maintain optimal combat but it was all meaningless.

“I-I can’t believe it.”

Entering into combat properly, Hans ignored all the attacks, overwhelming the doppelganger with immense regeneration.

Crash!

Boom!

“Ahh!”

It was one-sided violence.
The doppelganger’s attacks had no effect against Hans’s regeneration, while Hans’s attacks steadily dealt damage.

In that absurd fight, the doppelganger seemed enraged and began pouring all its magic power into making another enormous fireball.

Whoosh!

“Don’t joke! Just an undead posing as a human servant!”

In the final desperate blow, Hans laughed and grabbed the doppelganger’s arms.

“W-what?!”

“I didn’t want to fight, but you’re digging your own grave.”

Then he thrust his own head into the massive fireball, disrupting the arrangement of magic power.

There was nothing more to say about the outcome.

Boom!

Kaboom!

A massive explosion occurred, and the doppelganger was caught in the middle of the blast along with Hans.

It was an empty yet, in its own right, a valiant end.

【Level Up!】

Sizzle!
Sizzle!

As I listened to the notification chime echo, I saw Hans walk out calmly from the flames, repeatedly igniting and regenerating.

“So, how does it compare to the past?”

Hans’s question was serious. After pondering for a moment, I answered.

“…Less than 10%.”

“We’ve got a long way to go.”

After briefly grimacing, Hans brushed the remaining embers from his body and continued speaking.

“There’s a rather unpleasant odor.”

“…….”

“In this incomprehensible place.”

With just that, Hans returned of his own will into the form of a skull and disappeared into the Book of Death.

Simultaneously, the portal announcing the clear of the dungeon began to manifest.

#

The C3 Rank Special Dungeon, where two initial stranded individuals and eight rescue team members were trapped, was finally cleared.

Whew.

“Uh? Uhh?”

“The strategy team has emerged!”

“Hey, why aren’t you snapping quickly?”

Click!

Ping! Click!

It was truly a scoop.

Coincidentally, just yesterday, both the U.S. and Russia had reported the emergence of special dungeons, resulting in skyrocketing interest.

【Clear of the special dungeon with a total of 13 hunters!】

【C Rank Hunters, Kim Seung-Min, Seo Yoon-Ah, etc. How did they survive in the special dungeon?】

【Association Head Han Min-Wook, though there were three casualties, they held out well. We will extend the utmost sincerity to the bereaved families.】

Recently, the manifestations of special dungeons were no longer just a problem for Korea, so many countries were craving information.

As days turned into weeks, other nations began to succeed in navigating special dungeons, slowly revealing some of their peculiarities.

The established facts were as follows.

First, this type of dungeon, dubbed the conditional dungeon, had special requirements for entry.

Second, the specific laws that had been applied to dungeons based on their ranks did not apply to conditional dungeons.

Third, the boss monsters in conditional dungeons possessed a higher rank than those in typical dungeons.

In summary, entry came with conditions while the difficulty was significantly increased compared to typical dungeons.

Naturally, because of that, clearing them also grew more complicated, compelling the leaders of each country to hasten to devise strategies to tackle these conditional dungeons.

“We must establish systematic training and support for hunters so they can maintain higher combat power compared to their levels.”

“That sounds easy, but the current system is completely focused on cultivating high-level hunters. Honestly, given the risk of a break, wouldn’t B Rank or A Rank dungeons be more daunting?”

Unfortunately, the process wasn’t smooth.

The significant issue was that levelling up, which had been considered an absolute tenet, no longer held meaning.

Additionally, this incident hinted at the possibility of another crisis for humanity.

“Since the Day of Change ten years ago, there hasn’t been such a noticeable transformation.”

“With this, we can no longer unconditionally trust established common sense.”

“To me, this incident serves as a warning that anything could occur for humanity in the future.”

In other words, it was now genuinely impossible to predict even the immediate future.

Everyone present gulped at the man’s words.

Ten years had passed since the Day of Change, and once again, a period of change was approaching humanity.