After the battle, Seong returned all his undead minions to the Underworld.

Though they loudly proclaimed their loyalty and devotion as they vanished, he casually ignored their declarations.

Now it was time to reap the rewards.

There were so many spoils that Seong wasn’t even sure where to start. A satisfied smile crept onto his face as he looked over his gains.

Jinwoo approached, his face alight with awe.

"Wow, hyung, are you part of the Rapid Guild’s rookies?!"

Seong tilted his head, puzzled.

"How does he know that?"

Then he remembered the video he had sent earlier.

"Ah."

"I watched your video! It was amazing! Your swordsmanship is unbelievable! If it weren’t for seeing your undead in action, I wouldn’t have recognized you!" Jinwoo gushed.

Seong frowned slightly.

He hadn’t displayed any swordsmanship in the video.

"Strange."

Jinwoo laughed nervously, a somewhat suspicious but harmless demeanor about him.

Should he press the matter?

Before Seong could decide, Jinwoo quickly added, "Oh, I have to leave now! Here, this is your share of the clear rewards! I didn’t do much, so it feels wrong to keep it."

With that, Jinwoo handed over some gold and a book-shaped item before hurriedly departing.

"A book as a dungeon reward?"

Seong eyed the item suspiciously. Something felt off, but Jinwoo was already gone.

"He knew about the Rapid Guild even though I didn’t use my sword in the video..."

His suspicions lingered, but he decided to focus on the items Jinwoo had left.

The gold was straightforward—50 gold.

"The dungeon clear reward was only 20 gold. He added 30 extra?"

Seong rationalized that it could be payment for carrying Jinwoo through the dungeon, which was common practice.

However, the book was far more intriguing.

『Skill Book – Corpse Explosion』
→ 《Rare》
→ Consumable.
→ Can only be used by necromancer-class dark mages.
→ Grants the skill 『Corpse Explosion』 upon use.

"Hmm. Skill books are incredibly rare, especially at the rare grade," Seong thought.

A rare-grade skill book like this could easily sell for several million won.

"And he just gave it away?"

Suspicious as it was, there didn’t seem to be any malice in the gesture.

"If it’s a genuine gift, I might meet him again someday."

Deciding not to overthink it, Seong used the skill book.

[You have used the rare-grade skill book 『Corpse Explosion』!]
[You have acquired the rare-grade skill 『Corpse Explosion』!]

"Amazing."

Seong smirked as he reviewed the new skill’s details.

『Corpse Explosion』
→ 《Rare》
→ [Lv.1] [Scalable]
[Instant Effect] [Active]
[Cooldown: 3 minutes]
→ Necromancer-exclusive skill.
→ Inject mana into a corpse to detonate it, dealing massive damage to surrounding enemies.
→ Damage and range scale with the corpse’s condition.

"This is one of the hallmark skills of a necromancer."

Satisfied, Seong turned his attention to the rest of his rewards.

First, the items obtained from clearing the dungeon:

『Adum’s Greatsword』
→ 《Rare+》
→ A greatsword used by the hobgoblin warrior Adum.
→ Sized perfectly for human use.
→ Slightly increases the power of warrior-class skills.
→ Slightly boosts the effects of warrior-class buffs.

"Not bad, but it’s not for me."

The greatsword was well-made, but it was useless to Seong, who had no intention of switching to a warrior class.

"I’ll sell it later."

Next were the items looted from Manhoo’s group:

『Bow of Precision』
→ 《Rare》
→ Slightly improves the wielder’s dexterity.
→ Increases hit rate by 10%.

『Apprentice Pyromancer’s Robe』
→ 《Rare》
→ Reduces casting time for fire magic skills.
→ Slightly increases the power of fire magic skills.

『Ring of Speed』
→ 《Rare+》
→ A magical ring that grants its wearer enhanced mobility.
→ Increases movement speed by 10%.
→ Once per day, boosts all speeds by an additional 10% for 10 seconds.

"The bow and robe are worthless to me. I’ll sell them."

However, the Ring of Speed was a different story. Its effects were excellent, and it would remain useful for a long time.

Seong equipped the ring immediately and stored the rest in his inventory.

Lastly, he turned his attention to the skill he had unlocked upon reaching level 30.

『Command of Silence』
→ 《Legendary》
→ [Lv.1] [Scalable]
[Continuous Effect] [Active]
[Cooldown: 10 minutes]
[Duration: 5 seconds]
→ Overlord-exclusive skill.
→ Places a curse on enemies, rendering them unable to produce any sound.
→ Silenced enemies are temporarily unable to use mana.

"Incredible."

The skill was a silence-based curse, temporarily locking an enemy’s mana.

The duration was short, but if timed correctly, it could cancel an enemy’s skill mid-cast, creating a significant tactical advantage.

"Five seconds is more than enough."

Even if the target resisted the skill partially, it would still disable mana usage for at least two seconds.

Seong couldn’t help but marvel at how exceptional the Overlord’s skills were.

Recalling Helena’s memories, he had a clear idea of how to use it effectively.

"I can’t wait to test this."

With two new skills and a useful item in hand, Seong prepared to leave the dungeon.

He still had plans to meet with Mina, but there was plenty of time to experiment with his newfound power.

As he stepped out of the dungeon, the memory of Jinwoo began to fade into the background.

His focus was now entirely on what lay ahead.

5.

After logging out, a player didn’t step out of the capsule right away. Instead, they logged back into Eternal World.

On the character selection screen, two characters appeared: the familiar Jinwoo and another unnamed character.

Choosing the second character, the player was transported to a breathtaking view of a fortress perched atop a cliff. The wind whipped through the banners emblazoned with the insignia of the Spirit of Wind.

This impregnable stronghold was none other than the Rapid Guild’s base.

As Jinwoo—no, Kim Jinwoo—stepped into the guild’s grand courtyard, his playful smirk turned into a weary shake of his head.

His expression seemed to say, What am I going to do with this?

A woman nearby, draped in an elegant robe and clearly a high-level mage, noticed Jinwoo’s demeanor and asked, "What’s wrong this time?"

Jinwoo chuckled, "Wow, the new recruit has amazing instincts."

"Instincts? What do you mean?"

"I mean, the moment I slipped up, they got suspicious. I could goof around and act carefree all I wanted before that, but this one? No chance," Jinwoo said, a hint of admiration in his tone.

"Hmm. That does sound like your fault," the woman remarked dryly. "But catching on that quickly? That’s impressive. What about their skills?"

Jinwoo’s playful smirk vanished, replaced by a serious expression.

"Unreal," he said.

"...That good?"

The mage’s brow furrowed. Jinwoo was notoriously critical in his evaluations, so for him to describe someone as “unreal” carried significant weight.

"They’re ridiculously good with a sword. Honestly, I forgot they were a necromancer for a moment. Even their undead move like they have minds of their own. And the undead praise him—it’s like they’re alive or something," Jinwoo added, his tone tinged with disbelief.

"Hmm."

"And remember," Jinwoo continued, "this stays between us. Yuna can’t find out about this."

"Of course. I don’t want to get scolded either," the mage replied with a small smile.

"Anyway, I’d better get back to grinding. If I don’t hustle, that recruit is going to surpass me in no time," Jinwoo said, his tone half-joking as he walked off with determination.

The mage watched him go, lost in thought.

"If they’re that skilled..."

She mused over the possibility of assigning the newcomer to a team.

A New Decision

The mage, Lecil, was Rapid Guild’s recruitment officer.

She had already made up her mind.

Seong would be assigned to Luna’s team, one of the most promising rookie squads in the guild.

But for that, she would have to convince the guild master.

"Yuna’s little brother, huh?" Lecil thought, knowing full well that dealing with Yuna would complicate matters.

Meanwhile, Seong

Although party play was heavily encouraged in the second village, solo hunting grounds still existed.

Seong chose one of those fields: the graveyard.

Graveyards were ideal for testing his new silence curse. Necromancers and magic-wielding skeleton mages populated the area, providing the perfect targets.

Among the skeletal warriors, archers, and mages, Seong quickly located a group with the configuration he sought.

Three skeletal warriors, one skeletal archer, and one skeletal mage stood in a loose formation.

"Perfect."

Despite the numbers, Seong had no concerns. He didn’t even need to summon his undead.

Seong started by targeting the skeletal archer. Summoning a translucent turquoise spear, he hurled it at the archer while the skeleton loosed an arrow of its own.

Whoosh!

Splat!

[Critical Hit!]
[The effect of 『One Strike!』 is activated!]
[Critical Hit!]
[You have gained experience points!]

Both projectiles struck true, but the turquoise spear shattered the archer instantly, reducing it to a pile of broken bones.

With the archer eliminated, Seong turned his attention to the skeletal warriors.

Equipping Hindel’s Apprentice Sword in one hand and Tiger’s Fang in the other, Seong activated the effect of the Ring of Speed.

Fwoosh!

Moving faster than the eye could track, Seong closed the gap to the skeletal warriors.

His first strike, a precise stab with his sword, targeted the wrist of a shield-wielding warrior.

Crunch!

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

The skeleton’s wrist fractured under the blow, causing it to drop its shield. Seong followed up with his dagger, shattering the wrist completely.

As the disarmed skeleton faltered, Seong slammed the flat of his sword against its skull, shattering it into pieces.

[Critical Hit!]
[You have gained experience points!]

The remaining warriors rushed him, but Seong’s speed and precision overwhelmed them. Within moments, they too crumbled to the ground.

With only the skeletal mage remaining, Seong smiled.

"Time to test it."

Raising a finger to his lips, he activated Command of Silence.

The skeletal mage, mid-chant, froze as a shadowy figure appeared behind it. The figure mimicked Seong’s gesture, placing a finger to its lips.

Shh.

The skeletal mage’s mouth was forcibly sewn shut by glowing turquoise threads, rendering it incapable of sound or spellcasting.

It struggled in vain, unable to resist the eerie power.

Satisfied, Seong activated his second new skill, Corpse Explosion.

The corpses of the skeletal warrior and archer began to glow ominously, their bones turning red-hot.

BOOM!

[Critical Hit!] ×3
[The effect of 『One Strike!』 is activated!]
[You have gained experience points!] ×3

The simultaneous explosions sent shards of bone and waves of dark energy ripping through the battlefield.

Seong surveyed the aftermath with satisfaction.

"Both skills are incredible."

He had just added two formidable weapons to his arsenal.

A system message interrupted his thoughts:

[You have an external message.]

It was Mina’s voice.

"Seong! Hurry up! We need to get going!"

Realizing how much time had passed, Seong decided it was time to leave.

His experiments had been a resounding success, and he couldn’t wait to test his new abilities in a real fight.