SWNOVELXO Chapter 14 - Ruler of Death (2)
Chapter 14: Ruler of Death (2)
Could there be anyone in the world who truly understands death?
How could one speak of death without ever experiencing it?
Neither doctors, clergy, nor philosophers have the right to discuss death.
‘The heart stops, breathing ceases, and all the vital functions of the body’s cells halt. That is death.’
This is the biological death as described by doctors.
‘The death of the body signifies the true awakening of the soul. God gathers our souls to embrace them for eternity.’
This is the religious death as described by theologians.
‘Death is the terminal station of life. Human life is merely a race endlessly running toward death.’
This is the abstract death as described by philosophers.
But none of them were correct.
Ultimately, they based their arguments on indirect perspectives, asserting that ‘death is the end of all things.’
No one in the world had actually experienced death and spoken about it.
Thus, Yeonwol could say this.
‘Death is not the end of all things; it is the first step toward freedom.’
The colossal skull.
When Yeonwol met its gaze, he could tangibly feel the presence of “death.”
A pitch-black aura, so overwhelming that it felt as though it would shatter his soul upon contact.
If any ordinary person or player had stepped into this space, they might have gone mad.
But Yeonwol was different.
The black mist crept toward him, gradually engulfing his ankles, but it had no effect on him.
Yeonwol surveyed his surroundings.
‘Twelve altars with violet flames. And in front of them, the remains of twelve knights?’
The bones appeared long dead, but judging by the condition of their armor, their level must have been at least 500.
However, there was no energy emanating from them.
‘They are definitely Death Knights, so why don’t they have their characteristic Death Aura?’
This peculiar space, which could be called either a temple or an altar, was vast and eerily empty.
Yeonwol glanced at the black smoke curling around his knees and addressed the skull.
“Stop playing games. Let’s have a conversation that benefits us both.”
As Yeonwol finished speaking, the colossal skull retreated.
The space elongated, and a figure descended from the void.
The figure wore a black cloak adorned with golden embroidery, billowing dramatically.
In its right hand was a radiant silver staff, and in its left, a menacing violet crystal orb.
The most striking feature, however, was its fully skeletal body!
‘Archlich!’
There was only one Archlich in Yeonwol’s memory.
‘Necromancer, Riolis.’
Once, he had engulfed half of the continent of Elthera, only to be defeated by players.
Later, he reappeared on Earth, driving the world to the brink of destruction—Riolis, the worst of all liches.
But.
‘That’s not Riolis.’
If it wasn’t Riolis, then who was it?
It wasn’t difficult to guess.
‘Deathcalibon,’ known as Riolis’ mentor and the first Necromancer.
Believed to have vanished from the players’ stage, the legendary Necromancer had manifested right before Yeonwol’s eyes.
-…My name is Deathcalibon. I was a Necromancer, an Alchemist, a scientist, and a theologian.
‘A jack-of-all-trades.’
Having too many classes isn’t necessarily a good thing. Trust me; I’ve learned that firsthand.
-I apologize for testing you, but it was a necessary step.
“So, what’s the result of your test?”
From the hollow sockets of Deathcalibon’s eyes, vivid red flames flared.
-You, who do not fear death.
You, who have overcome death.
You are closer to death than anyone yet remain the farthest from it.
So, what do you think?
Will you succeed me and rule over death?
Ding!
[Job Change Quest Triggered!]
[You have fulfilled all the conditions for the S-rank class, ‘Necromancer’!]
It had finally come.
Yeonwol’s heart wavered momentarily at the sight of the word ‘S-rank,’ but he needed to remain calm.
In his previous life, Yeonwol had been an ordinary E-rank class ‘Alchemist.’
Of course, there were E-rank classes among top rankers.
A higher rank didn’t always equate to a better job.
However, looking at averages, most high-ranking classes were at least B-rank.
The higher the rank, the better it generally was.
For the sake of the future.
For power.
But Yeonwol’s decision was already firm.
Though his heart wavered at first, seeing Deathcalibon’s form solidified his resolve.
“I am…”
WEE-OO WEE-OO WEE-OO!
In the Level 1 Comprehensive Command Room of LNT Soft Korea, chaos erupted as alarms blared suddenly.
[Code Red! Emergency!]
[An abnormal quest is underway within the world!]
[System error calculation: None.]
[System malfunction tracking: None.]
“Damn it. A Code Red? That means it’s the worst-case scenario, doesn’t it?”
Deputy Manager Kim Young-Seok asked in a flustered tone.
Team Leader Han Su-Jin maintained a façade of calm as she replied, “The absolute worst is Code Black. That’s the alert that goes off when the entire world is in danger. We’re one step away from that.”
“What kind of threat could possibly be at that level?”
“We’re tracking it down now.”
Han Su-Jin furrowed her brow as she typed away at her keyboard.
Deus had never issued a ‘Code Red’ before.
In fact, had there ever even been an emergency alert?
Such a thing would only happen if the entire world were on the brink of annihilation.
‘But a Code Red…!’
“I’ve found it!”
Deputy Manager Kim Young-Seok managed to overcome the system malfunction and traced the error’s location.
The monitors lit up with the text ‘Unknown Area,’ followed by hundreds of screens activating simultaneously.
Normally, monitoring functions were prohibited even for administrators.
However, Deus had deemed this an exceptional situation that required observation!
“It’s that user again…?”
The screens displayed Yeonwol standing calmly amidst the scene, his figure clear despite the static interference.
He stood in the center of a blackened temple, facing an Archlich.
“Something’s off. That….”
Team Leader Han Su-Jin was stunned.
She wasn’t surprised that an Archlich had appeared just two years after the game’s launch.
[Deus is using maximum system intervention permissions to interfere.]
The very form of that lich was shocking enough, but the fact that it was a “fake manifestation” created by Deus’s intervention made it even more astonishing!
“This… this can’t be. Deus intervening directly in the world? Didn’t they say using such authority would cause significant errors in the game code?”
“That’s likely true. Probably… with this intervention, Deus might never be able to interfere in the game again. If they do, the entire Elthera World could collapse.”
“For Deus to use their one-time authority to intervene….”
They were curious.
What could possibly have happened for Deus to interfere directly in the game?
Why was this situation considered Code Red?
[The player has accessed a ‘class’ that must never be obtained.]
“…What?”
Team Leader Han Su-Jin was puzzled.
“Weren’t all jobs within the game created virtually by Deus? Then why is there a job that mustn’t be obtained? If it’s forbidden, why not just not create it?”
From what she knew, Elthera World was created and maintained through Deus’s simulations.
Thus, every job in existence was something Deus had intended players to access.
But a forbidden job? How could that make sense?
“Look! Over there!”
[Player ‘Yeonwol’ has been assigned the job change quest for the S-rank class, ‘Necromancer.’]
“Oh my god….”
An S-rank class.
A class so absurdly rare that fewer than fifty players had acquired it so far—was being granted to a mere level 10 beginner?
S-rank job changes were known to have extremely demanding conditions and brutally difficult quests.
They were typically only achievable by rankers who had surpassed level 200.
And even then, not all succeeded in obtaining S-rank classes, as most abandoned the quests due to their extreme difficulty.
Moreover.
“A Necromancer… isn’t that the strongest class in the world, according to the lore?”
“…Yes.”
Theoretically, a Necromancer could infinitely raise the dead to fight as long as they had a source of magical power.
They could single-handedly summon an army and destroy an entire nation.
Could any other player, no matter how strong, bring down a nation alone?
It was impossible.
‘The worst and strongest class has appeared in Elthera World.’
What path would Yeonwol, having become a Necromancer, take?
All the employees clenched their sweaty fists as they watched the screen intently.
Their full attention was on Yeonwol’s lips.
“I….”
After a pause, Yeonwol smirked slyly and answered with a mischievous grin.
“I don’t fall for cons.”
[Player ‘Yeonwol’ has rejected the Necromancer job change quest!]
“Huh?”
“…What did he just do?”
A stunned silence fell over the entire command room.
[You have rejected the Necromancer job change quest!]
[Rejecting an S-rank class job change increases all your stats by 10.]
Looking at the system message, Yeonwol raised his head.
“I did consider whether I should take the Necromancer job change when I first got the chance. But no. A job handed over deliberately through someone’s intervention? It leaves a bad taste in my mouth, don’t you think?”
Yeonwol stared at the self-proclaimed Deathcalibon.
From the start, he had sensed something was off.
Now, with how blatant things had become, his suspicions were confirmed.
‘It’s Deus. Without a doubt.’
Yeonwol knew Deus had almost no authority to interfere within the game.
Even revealing its presence was supposed to be impossible.
For Deus to create an illusion and appear like this meant only one thing—it desperately wanted to prevent Yeonwol’s job change.
‘Even the gods fear the path I am about to take.’
After this incident, Deus would likely lose most of its authority.
Never again would it be able to interfere so overtly.
In other words, this was Deus’s first and last chance to obstruct Yeonwol… and he had easily brushed it aside.
Crackle, crackle…!
The fake Deathcalibon’s form wavered grotesquely before disappearing.
Having been discovered, it seemed to deem further interference meaningless and retreated swiftly.
‘They can’t stop me.’
Yeonwol felt confident.
This reinforced his belief that even the gods couldn’t obstruct his path.
Step, step—
Yeonwol walked further into the temple.
At the top of the towering altar was something resembling a throne.
“You, who have resisted the gods’ temptation and reached me, I see. Yes, I am the real Deathcalibon.”
On the throne sat a decayed, decrepit skeleton.
It looked more like a mere corpse than a lich, appearing on the verge of death.
Perhaps it had lost its ability to absorb life energy.
Riolis had looked just like this shortly before his demise.
“Are you curious? Why did you refuse the Necromancer job change?”
“I just don’t like being told what to do. I do what I want.”
“That’s not the only reason, is it?”
Yeonwol chuckled easily, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
“A Necromancer is not the true ‘Ruler of Death.’ They merely bind rotting corpses together with threads of magic and control them. Corpses have no will, no soul. It’s no different from playing with dolls.”
“Haha… hahaha…!”
Deathcalibon laughed with a chilling voice.
Whatever amused him, his decaying body radiated a faint blue glow despite being on the verge of collapse.
“Yes… you’re right. A Necromancer cannot truly rule over death. They merely patch together bones to create puppets.”
Crack… crumble.
Dust fell from Deathcalibon’s body, perhaps even bone fragments.
“I abandoned my flesh to live forever. But can this be called life?”
“No. That’s death. A soul inhabiting a dead body, pretending to live.”
“Exactly. I… failed to truly rule over death. Though I knew the right path, I lacked the ability to take it. So, I sought someone who could genuinely master death in my stead.”
“Did you take on a disciple?”
At this question, a name Yeonwol was well acquainted with emerged.
“Lich, Riolis. He was my first disciple. But he… he never walked the correct path and instead chose the way of the Necromancer. He was enamored with the immediate power before him.”
It was greed.
Riolis had been consumed by the allure of the Necromancer class, which allowed him to command armies of millions.
He had rejected the “right path” Deathcalibon had offered.
And in his final moments.
Even Riolis, his disciple, regretted his choices when faced with death.
‘Ah, the path I walked was nothing more than a puppet show on a stage created by the heavens…!’
After his Life Vessel was destroyed, Riolis left those words and vanished.
Thus, it became clear.
Even Riolis, once the strongest in the world, had come to regret choosing the Necromancer class.
“Yes… even knowing that the Necromancer is a misguided path, you must have come here seeking something. So, tell me. What is it you desire?”
“Show me. How to truly rule over death.”
-…There is one thing, however. A Necromancer, as a ‘dark magician,’ manipulates corpses.
While it is a false path, it holds immense power.
Deathcalibon’s gaze dimmed.
-On the other hand, mastering life and death as an ‘Alchemist’ aligns closely with the true path you seek.
However, this path is so difficult and arduous that even I gave up on it.
“That sounds interesting. Korean gamers go crazy for a bigger challenge, you know.”
-For someone as weak and foolish as you, a terrifying and grueling future awaits. Even so, will you choose this path?
Hearing such words now meant nothing.
Yeonwol found it not even worth answering and simply smiled.
That smile, full of meaning, greatly satisfied Deathcalibon, who let his crimson eyes blaze with light.
-Very well, then! From this moment, I shall grant you hell. Since you dare reject the easy path of the Necromancer to tread upon true death, I shall give you a most dreadful trial!
[You have been forcibly assigned the Unranked Class ‘Necromaster’ job change quest!]
[Failure will result in permanent character deletion and inability to respawn!]
Reading the message, Yeonwol let out a dry chuckle.
Even the most basic class ranks began at E-rank.
This ‘Unranked Class’ was something he had never seen before.
But, precisely because of that…
‘This is a perfect fit for me.’
In an instant, the world turned crimson.
[You are being transported to the Threshold of Death!]
A vast expanse of a blood-red horizon stretched endlessly.
The bizarre space was filled with black clouds and an eerie blue moon glowing ominously.
There was no sign of life, no trace of vitality anywhere.
-This is the boundary that divides life and death, the Threshold of Death.
The only place where the dead and the living may meet.
“The Threshold of Death…”
-This is a realm even the gods dare not gaze into—the world of the dead.
Yeonwol sensed a presence from somewhere and pointed his Blue Sea Blade in its direction.
Whoosh…
A cool breeze swept through, and black smoke-like tendrils billowed, filling his vision.
-On the Threshold of Death, you will face the specters of those you have defeated in the past.
“Not the most pleasant thought.”
-The Necromaster is unlike the corpse-playing Necromancer.
It calls forth the dead from the afterlife itself.
But there is a condition.
You must personally extinguish your opponent’s life, subdue them single-handedly, and earn their loyalty!
Rustle!
A man in tattered armor appeared, his black cloak fluttering.
The towering figure, nearly three meters tall, was a foe Yeonwol had encountered before.
‘The Steel-Plated Knight.’
-You defeated this specter by sheer luck before.
Those who die in such a manner never acknowledge their defeat.
Now, prove your strength by defeating this specter once more.
If successful, you will resurrect them in their full form and gain their loyalty!
A true ruler of death!
Necromancers raise all corpses within their domain as skeletons, but these lack muscle, skin, and most of their magical power, leaving them far weaker than they were in life.
Even a level 300 knight resurrected as a Death Knight by a Necromancer’s powers would drop to level 200.
But to bring the dead back in their full physical form…
‘If I kill a dragon, I can summon a dragon. If I kill a titan, I can summon a titan!’
Not some imitation like a bone dragon, but a genuine, living dragon.
In short, while Necromancers control hordes of weaker undead, this class could command an elite force of overwhelming strength.
-With great power comes a heavy price. I wonder if you are truly worthy.
Clank! Clank!
The Steel-Plated Knight advanced toward Yeonwol, his decayed face grim.
His armor was torn in places, and his greatsword was heavily rusted.
Still, he was an 85-level knight—not an easy opponent…
At that moment, an unexpected turn of events occurred.
Clank! Thud.
-Wha-! What is this?!
Before anything could happen, the Steel-Plated Knight knelt on one knee before Yeonwol and bowed his head!
[The Steel-Plated Knight expresses his deep gratitude to you for guiding him to receive his rightful punishment for slaying his liege and family.]
“Ha… So that’s how it is.”
Yeonwol approached the Steel-Plated Knight and lightly tapped both his shoulders with the Blue Sea Blade.
“I appoint you as my first knight.”
[The Steel-Plated Knight vows eternal loyalty to you as his new liege!]
[The first job change quest for the Unranked Class ‘Necromaster’ has been completed.]
Crackle!
The world crumbled away, and Yeonwol returned to the black-lit temple.
Deathcalibon, visibly shocked, blinked his crimson eyes repeatedly.
-Impossible!
The specter should have lost all memories of its living days…
Yet, this Steel-Plated Knight remembered the grace etched upon his soul and pledged loyalty to Yeonwol.
He had guided the specter to genuine loyalty, in the truest sense!
Deathcalibon immediately recognized that the man standing before him was extraordinary.
‘To gain complete loyalty from a specter without combat… even I could never accomplish such a feat. Perhaps this man… may fulfill my long-cherished wish.’