Chapter 3
I was waiting for the bastard to come, and he jumped right in front of me.
*Sigh.* That Park Kang-chan fellow was one thing, but this guy?
I don't think they know what a "Variation of Technique" is.
Everyone just uses a "Telegraph Punch."
I twisted my body slightly to dodge the attack and reached out.
*Smack!*
I landed a crisp slap on the cheek of the Rat-man floating in mid-air.
The creature’s body spun around and hit the ground.
My frame is large, and despite appearances, this is a body that has trained in External Technique.
The Rat-man’s body spun in the air before crashing down.
*Thud.*
It made a sound.
It was trembling, looking like it had lost its mind.
-Holy!!!!! Did you just win with a slap?
I chuckled at the viewer’s reaction and approached the Rat-man.
It managed not to die, somehow.
I picked up the crude dagger the creature had dropped.
According to the broadcasts I’d seen before, if you acquire a monster’s weapon and then kill it, you can continue to use that weapon later.
Now that I had a dagger, there was only one thing left to do.
Kill it.
*Crunch.*
I stepped on its neck, snapping it to finish the job.
-Wow. What a real man… Say, what did you do for a living, anyway?
I’m a sloth in this life who was a Martial God in my previous one.
If I answered that, would they complain about me having a confusing concept again?
* * *
Nickname "Park Il-chim" enjoyed breaking the mentality of newbie Awakened by watching their videos during his spare time.
Though he had a real name, he always operated as Park Il-chim on GodTube and its related communities, and today, he was wandering like a ghost to shatter the mentality of another new player.
And then.
He sat down the moment he saw a new newbie appear.
However.
Far from breaking the opponent’s mentality, he was busy being impressed.
The first thing he saw.
The player threw something white toward the charging monster rat, and it pierced its eye with pinpoint accuracy.
What a marvelous feat! It was so incredible that he was stunned.
-W-what!? How did you do that?
Naturally, he had no choice but to react that way.
The next scene was shock itself.
With a single, crisp slap, the Rat-man’s body spun in the air and slammed into the ground.
Park Il-chim thought for a moment that he had seen something wrong.
Is it even possible to spin like that?
And the finish—stepping on the neck to snap it—was done with a face that was completely indifferent.
As if he had done this repeatedly for a long time.
It looked familiar.
*Shudder!*
It felt only natural to get goosebumps.
"Damn, that’s chilling…."
So, he typed into the chat.
-Wow. What a real man… Say, what did you do for a living, anyway?
A viewer whose tone was all over the place!
That’s right. He was in shock.
He’s a Necromancer, yet he’s killing monsters with his bare hands in such a refreshing way.
I… Is this really a Necromancer?
Why is the Necromancer just standing there like a folding screen while his undead do nothing?
"This won't do. I can't be the only one seeing this."
He began to cut up the video he had been watching (he was recording it to use for mockery later) and immediately threw it onto a board he knew.
And if there was one place most famous, it was the [Tower Climbing Gallery].
He posted it there.
[Wanna see a god-tier newbie who’s a Necro but doesn’t use undead and catches monsters bare-handed?]
And it was inevitable that ghosts of various communities like Park Il-chim would see it.
* * *
The third one to appear was a Rat-man warrior.
Longsword and shield. It was even wearing a helmet and armor.
Unlike the previous one, it didn't charge in like a madman; it approached slowly with its shield raised.
However.
It seems the fact that it’s a Rat-man doesn't change.
The timing of its sword thrust was still a textbook "Telegraph Punch."
It was so honest and sluggish that it made me want to yawn.
I dodged it easily, as expected.
Then, I struck the hand holding the sword to make it drop the weapon, and that was that.
A Rat-man, which can only bite or scratch, is no match for me.
Its neck broke with a single low kick.
Before the corpse turned into light, I successfully snatched its shield and longsword.
With this, I had acquired a longsword and shield!
I armed myself with the shield and longsword and tossed the dagger to the ground.
-No way! Why is a Necro fighting like that? Are the undead just decorations?
The viewer who came in first complained, but I ignored them.
Ah. Just let me enjoy my past life for a moment, will you?
Of course, from that viewer’s perspective, I must look like a madman.
But there’s a deep meaning behind why I’m doing this.
Back in my day, I was a Martial God!
Anyway, it’s been a while since I’ve had a Life-or-Death Duel, and it feels good, but…
The enemies have absolutely no spirit.
It’s like I’m about to get excited, but then it just fades away.
They’re so weak, it’s a bit of a letdown.
I was thinking that when the fourth enemy appeared: a Rat-man spearman.
And this time, three of them popped out.
Oh. Maybe this will be a bit more interesting?
That was when I thought that.
-Is this where the real-man Necro is?
-What? Are the undead still just decorations?
-LOL, the concept is seriously confusing, LOL.
New viewers had entered.
"Hmm? What is this?"
-What do you mean "what is this"?
"I’m just wondering how you guys found out and came here."
GodTube surprisingly has a global translation feature, so foreigners can watch too.
However, since there are thousands of new Awakened every day, watching such a broadcast is a rare occurrence.
One or two people, maybe.
But if three people suddenly enter, it’s strange.
-Someone posted that your broadcast is fun.
-That would be me!
-Good job, lol.
-So, you’re a Necro, why are you doing melee DPS?
-Hey! Let’s respect his tastes!
-That’s a suspicious hobby, isn’t it?
-But what is this? It’s only the fourth round, and three guys with long spears are coming out?
-This is the 4th round.
-But 3 spearmen? That’s crazy;;;
-Looks like the difficulty is set pretty high here, are you gonna die next?
Ah. So someone promoted me? I was thinking that it made sense for a few more people to show up, when suddenly—
Viewers poured in.
The concurrent viewer count had already reached 82.
My goodness.
Is it really that fascinating for a Necromancer to beat up monsters with his bare hands?
There are all sorts of weirdos in this world.
If you look at the videos of strange Awakened I’ve seen before, there are guys doing mukbang in front of monsters, guys shoving spicy noodles into a monster’s mouth, and guys bringing alcohol inside and doing "Yoga Fire."
There were incredibly diverse people.
Compared to them, I am but a mere commoner.
Even though I was a Martial God in my past life, I’m not a person whose "Common Sense" and "Orbit of Thought" are different from others.
[The battle begins.]
"Anyway, it’s nice to meet you all, but let’s end the conversation here."
The three Rat-man spearmen lunged at me.
* * *
"Isn't a spearman on the 4th round crossing the line?"
Park Il-chim muttered as he watched the Rat-man spearmen.
That’s right.
Usually, enemies with long-reach weapons don't appear until the sixth round.
That famous Despair of the Tower, the Gnoll-berd, was like that.
Even though Rat-men are a weaker race than Gnolls, the fact that three of them were coming out with decent equipment?
How could anyone win this?
Of course, Awakened have their own jobs and skills, but…
Awakened with no combat experience could die before they even get to use their skills a few times.
As someone who had been watching these videos for a long time, Park Il-chim thought the only way to win in this situation was "hit and run."
Use long-range attack skills while running away!
It’s cheap, but effective!
In fact, quite a few people had broken through that way.
It’s the golden rule for mage-type jobs to win by flying magic arrows and the like while running away.
There’s even a joke that mages need to be good at running.
Of course, Necromancers have a high floor. He should be able to win by using those undead to pin the spears.
They’re corpses, so they won't die just from getting poked, right?
If he intentionally gets stabbed by the spears and hangs onto them, the Rat-men would lose their weapons.
In fact, it’s the golden rule for Necromancers to break through the tutorial that way.
He had shown himself beating up Rat-men with his bare hands until now, but surely he would actively use his undead this time? That was Park Il-chim’s thought.
And that thought was correct.
It was correct, but… something was strange.
[The Three-Transformation Spear Severing Formation is being deployed.]
Park Il-chim couldn't hold it in anymore.
-Sensei, why are the undead deploying a formation?
* * *
"Huh. Can this be implemented by the system? That’s fun."
Three-Transformation Spear Severing Formation.
It is a martial formation deployed by three martial artists.
Formations are divided into Martial Formations and Boundary Formations.
Martial Formations are those deployed by people, such as the Tai Chi Sword Formation of the Wudang Sect or the 108 Arhat Formation of the Shaolin Temple.
Boundary Formations refer to those installed on terrain, such as the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation or the Eight Trigrams Bewitching Formation.
They are used to summon fog, suppress the mind of those trapped in the formation, or even for refining pills.
In contrast, Martial Formations have the effect of complementing the energy of the martial artists who make up the formation and strengthening the martial prowess of those who deploy it.
However, the downside is that it requires good coordination, so it can only be used if they have trained together for a long time.
So, I tried using it just to test it out.
I wanted to see if I could deploy a Martial Formation by controlling the undead.
Actually… even if they are Rat-men with spears, three of them aren't a particularly difficult opponent.
Throw a dagger to kill one.
Block the second one’s spear thrust with the shield.
Just deflect the third Rat-man’s spear with my sword, push inside, and stab it.
These guys aren't exactly high-level spearmen, so what’s the difficulty?
Still, I’ve warmed up my body.
I decided to experiment a little with my abilities as a Necromancer… so I gave the order to the undead.
I was curious about how far the "Walking Corpse" I control could go.
As a result.
I found out that if I control them with my spirit, they can use martial arts.
Amazing.
This actually works?
So, I went ahead and deployed a Martial Formation used by martial artists, and….
This.
The system actually produces an effect?
This is incredibly novel.
As a result.
"Graaaah!"
"Guhhhh!"
"Kaaaaah!"
The Walking Corpse drew a circle with both arms and deflected the incoming spear thrust.
It was a technique from Tai Chi.
Even as I watched it with my own eyes, I couldn't help but be amazed.
The undead "Walking Corpse" that had thrust the spear then rhythmically extended both fists, shattering the jaws of the Rat-men.
Thwack! Crack! Crunch!
Because of the helmets, the hands of the Walking Corpse were covered in blood, but it was a corpse anyway.
It felt no pain, nor did it know what pain was.
It lacked Internal Energy.
But the form was perfect.
That was because it was being controlled by my spirit.
That wasn't all.
I could tell that its attack and defense power had increased due to the system's effects.
Wow… this is truly amazing and fascinating.
On top of that, these guys.
They use martial arts properly, too.
Though, rather than me controlling every minute detail… it feels more like these guys are reproducing the martial arts stored in my subconscious.
Auto? Should I call it automatic?
Hmm. This is interesting.
It would be great if these guys could even use Internal Energy.
Is there no way to make the Walking Corpses use Internal Energy?
Then, a thought suddenly occurred to me.
Necrotic Magic Manipulation.
What if I tried using this on the undead?
Would something happen?
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