Chapter 52: CH 49

Chapter 49
 
     When I leveled up, silver particles swarmed my body–the one that Seo Dawon was still possessing–three times and then disappeared.
     As the silver swirls around my body vanished, small lights–a mirror of my own–circled around Lackey and scattered as well.
[……]
      Fortunately, Lackey also received a beneficial influence from my level-ups. Its broken shoulder mended and returned to normal. Lackey, testing out its restored body, squeezed and relaxed both its fists multiple times.
     Kim Sangyoon, by virtue of being in my party, also partook in the experience rewarded from Seo Dawon’s kill. Silver particles also swirled around his body and dissipated; he successfully leveled as well.
     When one levels up, the User’s physical condition is restored to its best state before the battle, so I could see Kim Sangyoon’s complexion brighten. The rosiness of health returned to his cheeks.
      Seo Dawon didn’t seem to be impressed by the fact that we leveled three times; he simply opened the status window and skimmed the information.  “Lackey, come here.”
[……..clack clack.]
      Lackey’s half-beat late reply made me feel that Lackey was reluctant to go near the man. Still, the skeleton was unable to ignore the man’s force and meekly followed his orders–somehow, the sight of its unwilling compliance seemed so pitiful…
     Seo Dawon ruthlessly pointed my finger at the half-dented corpse of the crane. “Bite,” he ordered.
     He’s going to make Lackey bite something already dead….?
     However, Lackey’s response was faster than mine.
     Lackey opened its mouth wide, as if it were unhinging its jaw, leaned over the crane, and savagely bit the bird on its neck. Lackey then looked at Seo Dawon, blinking. Its blank face seemed to ask, ‘What do I do now?’
      “Make it into a zombie.”
     ……Ah!
     I kept an eye on Lackey, recalling my servant’s forgotten skill.
     After hearing Seo Dawon’s order, Lackey began to bite the crane harder, sounding as if it were chewing tough rubber. Soon, a lumpy, amorphous black fog seeped out of Lackey’s back and penetrated the crane’s eye sockets.
     The crane’s corpse began to tremble and twitch. Lackey only released the strength from its jaw after it noticed the bird’s convulsions; the skeleton quickly rose to stand by us, watching the corpse with avid interest.
     The crane’s eyes rolled up in its sockets and foam came out of its mouth, like a person caught in the throes of a seizure. Soon, the bird began to turn its neck around with a grotesque sound.
      I had never used this skill before. Although this skill did indeed turn opponents into a zombie, the process was not as cool as it sounded.
       It felt…It felt a bit like watching a zombie in a low-budget horror movie?
      However, when the crane raised its body and the broken leg set itself back in its proper position, the bird’s poise felt supernatural.
     The pirate birds, who have kept a wary distance between us and them, became agitated and slowly walked an invisible border around us. [What’s going on?] and [Huh?]–hostile but confused squawks dropped from their beaks. Kim Sangyoon stared with his mouth agape at the crane’s resurrection.
     “Go.” Seo Dawon barked a short order as soon as the crane had fully raised itself upright. The crane shrieked unnaturally and quickly sprinted across the room towards its former comrades.
[Clack clack clack!]
     Lackey followed close behind.
     The pirate birds were shocked by the zombified crane’s approach. With the addition of Lackey, still toting Berserker within its skeletal hands, the birds could no longer assault the party proactively. Instead, they hesitated in between Lackey’s sword swings, as if their legs had twisted and tangled together.
     Kim Sangyoon did not miss this opportunity; he held the bone sword like a spear and launched it as hard as he could at the crow.
[Argh! It hurts!!]
     I had expected for the sword to miss, but it drove through the crow’s foot. However, Seo Dawon stopped Kim Sangyoon from approaching the monster, drunk with victory.
     “Don’t go and come here! Ignore the sword.” Seo Dawon said in a thunderous voice.
     “Yes……Yes!”
     Just as Kim Sangyoon retreated on Seo Dawon’s orders, the floor near the crow suddenly exploded. If the Warrior had stepped in to finish off the weakened crow, he may have gotten caught up in the bombs created by the peacock’s feathers.
     “How did you know?” I asked.
     “About what?”
     “That he would have burst if he got near…”
     “It’s part of these guys’ attack patterns.”
     Pattern….? Even in this chaos, their movements were structured?
     Before I could ask Seo Dawon anything else, however, Kim Sangyoon had returned to our side. Kim Sangyoon, breathless and excited, asked, “What did you do to the crane? Is that also another skill?”
     “It’s a Necromancer skill. Enemies that die by my servant’s hand can be made into a zombie.”
     “Dear God…So you can turn all your dead enemies into zombies…” At Seo Dawon’s answer, Kim Sangyoon looked both incredulous and reverent.

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     “That’s a total scam! A Necromancer?” I shouted to deaf ears.
     “Sangyoon-ah,” Seo Dawon said.
     “Yes?”
     “Is it really the appropriate time to address all your questions?”
     “Ah….I-I’m sorry….”
     Seo Dawon seemed like he was tired of fielding Kim Sangyoon’s curiosity–or perhaps he was too lazy to answer more. “After we kill the peacock and the crow, the goose will most likely ‘awaken.’ From that point on, I’ll be marking it.” 1
     Kim Sangyoon was shamed by the Mage’s blunt dismissal of his questions but still nodded at Seo Dawon’s orders. He cautiously asked, “A-Awaken?”
     “It’s not much, but when a Named monster ‘awakens,’ it gets larger and faster. And also uses some annoying skills…I’m only going to tell you once, so listen carefully okay?”
     “Yes!”
     “After awakening, if the goose raises its sashimi knives high above its head and bashes them together twice, it’s an impending sign of its [Rigidity] skill. So, when you notice the goose flashing and raising its wings, cover your ears before it finishes.”
     “Cover…my ears. Got it.”
     “And every now and then, it’ll jump high and dive somewhere close by. When you notice a shadow over your head, immediately roll to your side.”
     “Ahh…..Yes!” Kim Sangyoon still had no idea that [I] was actually Seo Dawon. As the Mage listed off tips, I could see plain confusion on the Warrior’s face, as if he was wondering ‘How do you know all of this?’ However, Kim Sangyoon did not voice anything and obediently nodded.
     Talk was cheap–I wondered if he could truly act on those instructions.
     Kim Sangyoon, as if he had heard my thoughts, scratched his head without confidence. “By the way…I don’t think I can get the hang of things by just listening to what you’ve said…”
     “Just die then.”
     “…I’ll do my best…”
     Of course, Seo Dawon wasn’t the type to listen to such weak complaints. Kim Sangyoon had heard the unspoken, “If you die, your corpse will find some use as a zombie,” in Seo Dawon’s bluntness. The Warrior paled.
[Grr, Grraah….]
[No….!]
     In the meantime, the zombified crane and Lackey combination was smoothly dispatching the rest of the pirate birds.
     The pirate birds twisted their bodies to escape the grasp of their now terrifying old comrade. After dodging one attack, however, they were met with Lackey’s ruthless persistence–the skeleton slashing with little regard for its own body.
     The peacock, still recalling the painful loss of its tail feathers to Lackey’s gaping mouth, could not easily approach the skeleton servant. On the other hand, the crow, whose foot was hurt in an earlier attack, was easily caught by the crane.
[Sq-Squawk! Squawkk!!]
     The crow struggled to push the crane off of it. The crane was originally the largest of the poker-playing trio, and the corpse could no longer feel pain as it was now undead. The crane simply continued to try and break its wings.
     The crow pecked at the corpse’s eyes, but the crane would not release its hold even as its eyeballs burst.
     Lackey did not fall behind either: like a skewer, he ran through the two remaining birds with Berserker.
     After struggling to vomit blood, the crow soon dropped. The crane continued to twitch and move, making strange noises.
 
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Choi Lee-kyung-nim’s active use of ‘Lackey’ was amazing! Lackey’s skill proficiency increased greatly.
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     Lackey immediately retrieved Berserker and slashed through the peacock’s left leg, stopping it from saving the crow.
     Or course, the peacock made a last-ditch effort to scatter its bomb feathers around it, but, when the dust finally cleared, the only one left standing was Lackey–with Berserker still in hand.
     The crane’s corpse must have sustained enough damage for it to have lost all mobile function. Its charred body lay prone over the crow’s. The peacock had been slashed in half by Berserker.
     Lackey was fine except for a few soot marks blackening its bones.
     Seeing the disastrous scene, the goose’s body began to swell.
 
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In the face of crisis, the ‘Goose’ will undergo awakening…Alarming signals can be felt from the opponent. Please beware. 
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     And, as Seo Dawon predicted, the battle moved onto the next phase: the goose’s awakening.
Footnotes The mechanics that are being discussed here are quite common in some things like MMOs. When certain mobs or add-ons are defeated, a boss can ‘awaken.’ This can include a proportional increase of strength or even a new phase.

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