Chapter 7

Insight of Death

“Reinforcing the bones to this degree is sufficient, but… hmm, I’d like to engrave one more magic circle onto the skull. Though doing so might cause an overload.”

[A challenger has entered.]

Engraving intricate magic circles onto the skeleton’s skull using mana, Lee Shin paused at the sudden system chime and glanced at the clock hanging on the wall.

It was the time Kim Kang-cheon’s group had promised to deliver the Soul Orbs.

Has time flown by so quickly already?

Lately, immersing himself in magical research had made the hours blur together.

Lee Shin slowly rose from his seat and moved from the laboratory to the boss room. After waiting there for a short while, Kim Kang-cheon, Park Hye-won, and Ji Eun-joo entered the chamber.

“Did you bring the Soul Orbs?”

“Yes, right here.”

Kim Kang-cheon handed Lee Shin two palm-sized orbs.

They were transparent spheres containing what appeared to be billowing white smoke inside. Aside from that, they did not look particularly special, but Lee Shin knew their exact utility.

“Thank you.”

Lee Shin set the Soul Orbs aside.

The challengers currently residing on the 1st floor remained unable to climb the Tower, trapped in the waiting room. Instead, they received Lee Shin’s instruction—purchasing items he requested from the Point Shop using their pooled points and delivering them in exchange for training.

Today was the day Park Hye-won and Ji Eun-joo were to be taught magic in exchange for the Soul Orbs.

“Ah, right—new challengers will be coming up soon. They said it’s a special task force formed by the government and the association to clear the Tower.”

“Ah, is it that time already?”

“Pardon?”

“Ah, no, it’s nothing.”

The ambitious special task force created by Korea’s association and government…

They were a group he had encountered in his past life. Composed exclusively of top-tier talent, they had been deployed to assist higher-floor teams suffering from severe manpower shortages. Yet, they ended up fading into obscurity without achieving any notable clearance results.

Among them, the team leader, Park Ju-hyeok, had been reasonably skilled. His teammates weren’t bad either, but the Tower was never that forgiving. No matter how much of a prodigy someone had been on the outside world, that prestige didn’t automatically translate inside the Tower.

So Park Ju-hyeok is coming, is he?

Lee Shin smiled faintly as he thought of Park Ju-hyeok. Watching that smile, Hye-won and Eun-joo were overcome with dread, mistreating it as his eager anticipation to grind them through brutal training.

“Kang-cheon, you can head back. Well then, shall we begin?”

Kim Kang-cheon shot the two girls a sympathetic look before turning around to leave.

A Soul Orb was an item designed to summon and capture wandering souls from the surroundings.

And terrifyingly enough, the 1st floor was filled with an overwhelming number of extraordinary souls. The presence felt from the spirits floating through the empty air possessed a standing that was far from trivial—and all of them were lingering right here, where a mere tutorial-level Cursed Necromancer served as the floor boss.

However, now that he had unraveled parts of Jean’s past, he could roughly guess the reason.

Was the 1st floor a prison for heroes who rebelled against the gods?

It might not be, but it was undoubtedly a place bearing a similar nature.

Having experienced uncounted deaths and remembering every single one of them with perfect clarity, death had become something deeply familiar and close to him. The sensations of these dead spirits registered as second nature to his perception.

[Insight of Death]

How can you comprehend death so intimately? It is as if you have died uncounted times.

Allows you to see through death.

Allows you to see the deceased.

It was a title acquired after securing the Sphere of Immutability and experiencing over a thousand deaths. Through it, a sea of lingering souls had become visible to his eyes.

“Why are you following me around?”

No answer came to his solitary question.

“The blonde knight missing an arm over there—yes, I am talking to you.”

Standing clearly in front of his eyes was a blonde man. Wearing battered armor as if he had just stepped off a battlefield, the handsome blonde man was missing his right arm entirely.

His face bore no expression whatsoever. He simply drifted aimlessly through the void, yet unlike the other spirits, he continuously circled Lee Shin’s vicinity. That was why Lee Shin had spoken to him.

The other souls floated about listlessly, looking as though they had lost all intellect and reason.

Is this soul the same?

Just then, the knight’s eyes met Lee Shin’s.

—…Did you… call me? No, that can’t be…

“I did. I called you.”

—…Now I’m even hearing things.

“It’s not an auditory hallucination.”

—What…? You can actually see me?

“Yes.”

The knight’s eyes widened. He thrust his face right in front of Lee Shin’s nose and stared.

Their eyes met in exact alignment. Lee Shin’s gaze remained fixed on him, and upon realizing this, the knight began to weep tears of blood.

—My death…! Liberate me!!

“Ugh!”

A chilling, monstrous screech echoed from the knight’s mouth. Lee Shin covered his ears, but it was useless—the eerie roar pierced straight into his auditory nerves and swirled inside his mind.

“Do you want to be liberated from death?” Lee Shin gritted his teeth, enduring the pain as he spoke.

—Death! I…! It was unjust!

The handsome man seen moments ago was gone; in his place was a face twisted like a vengeful demon, goosebumps breaking across Lee Shin’s skin.

Flasaaah—!

Suddenly, his vision flashed and space shifted.

Standing there was the handsome man from before, fully geared in pristine armor, waiting to set off for battle.

Is this his past?

Allows you to see through death.

So this is what ‘seeing through death’ means?

Though he didn’t know the exact activation trigger, the ability that had never activated until now had manifested for the first time.

The scene shifted once again. This time, the knight stood before a beautiful woman. Although the dialogue didn’t carry through, the two appeared to share a special relationship.

The background shifted once more.

On the battlefield, the knight was valiant and formidable. Severing countless enemies without mercy, he displayed astounding martial prowess. Under his active role, victory in the war seemed smoothly assured.

Then, following the orders of his superior, he organized a detached unit to attack the enemy’s rear. The strategy was successful; victory was just around the corner.

No way.

This skill did not display the trajectory of someone’s life, but rather its final moments. Unless it was related to death, there was no reason for it to be shown.

And just as Lee Shin anticipated, a variable occurred.

The woman seen earlier was held captive at the location. Losing his mind, the knight charged forward alone, ignoring his comrades’ calls. Left with no choice, his companions were forced to recklessly rush in to save him.

Yet the knight paid no heed to his allies, keeping his eyes locked solely on the woman. His extraordinary martial prowess vanished without a trace—he hesitated even while thrusting his sword whenever the blade got near her. Although he managed to cling to life through his comrades’ assistance, his allies fell one by one.

Ultimately surrounded by enemies, he collapsed to his knees before the woman, covered in wounds.

The woman sneered at him, severed his right arm, kicked him aside onto the dirt, and walked away.

Due to the knight’s foolishness, the tide of the war turned completely, and having lost everything, the knight died alone on the cold floor.

The vision dissolved, returning to the 1st floor where Lee Shin stood.

Lee Shin felt no sympathy for the knight. Instead, a sneer twisted his lips.

“Pathetic bastard.”

—Pa… thetic? What… what the hell do you know!

“You got all your comrades killed over a single woman? And you call yourself a knight?”

—I was… wronged…

“Shut it! Someone like you shouldn’t be brought back to life, no matter how skilled you are.”

—What…? Brought back to life? How? How will you bring me back to life?

“I said I have no intention of doing so.”

—Please! Help me! Before the others come!

“No. You’d definitely get enchanted by another woman and abandon your allies all over again.”

—I won’t! Never! What must I do for you to believe me?!

The horrific screeching from before was nowhere to be heard. Only a desperate, groveling knight remained before him.

Lee Shin glanced casually at his surroundings. Souls were sparse here, and even the few passing by paid no attention to the commotion, as if unable to hear it.

“Then will you form a contract with me?”

—Fine! I’ll do anything! Just bring me back to life!

Hooked.

Suppressing the smirk tugging at his lips, Lee Shin put on a benevolent smile.

“Worry. May.”

At his call, two skeletons stepped forward.

They were the Skeleton Warrior and Skeleton Mage created recently using the two Soul Orbs obtained from Kim Kang-cheon’s group.

Worry was the tragic knight betrayed by a woman.

May was a mage who died following a failed magical experiment.

Both had become his skeletons after completing highly favorable contracts.

Worry’s body had been constructed as closely as possible to his original living physique, per his request. Magic runes were engraved into his bones to maximize their durability, with extra care given to the arm section.

May did not possess a sturdy skeletal frame, but thanks to the magic circles engraved across her entire structure, her mana circuits operated vigorously, giving her overall higher stats than Worry.

[Worry]

Strength: 27 (+13)

Agility: 21 (+10)

Intelligence: 10 (+7)

[May]

Strength: 7 (+15)

Agility: 10 (+14)

Intelligence: 38 (+20)

They were undead crafted over months of meticulous work.

In particular, May—who would provide tremendous assistance with his research—had her magic circuits engraved with extra precision.

The challengers down below would not be able to defeat even one of these two.

Because these souls were bound via contract, maintaining their summons consumed none of Lee Shin’s mana. On the flip side, if they were damaged, he could not repair them using his own mana. There were pros and cons, but since no one here posed a threat to them, maintaining the current setup was ideal.

“May, did you organize all the documents I asked you to sort?”

“Yes. I have categorized Jean Evrium’s magic research results into distinct, detailed sections.”

“Good. Worry, how is the arm you’re currently using?”

“The bone itself is not bad, but the connection of mana is inferior to the original. With my current capacity, it is difficult to utilize the full function of the bone while keeping the mana flow smooth.”

“Is that so? Hmm… I’ll have to research it a bit more. Understood, both of you may go.”

As Worry and May exited the room, Lee Shin checked the clock on the wall. It was almost time for Park Ju-hyeok to come up.

Shall I get ready?

“Team Leader, based on the information gathered so far, it really seems that the 1st-floor boss is simply too strong, which is why people are unable to climb the Tower.”

“I think so as well.”

“Me too.”

In a quiet spot far from the village in the 1st-floor waiting room, the members of the Special Task Force gathered with serious expressions.

Hearing his teammates’ reports, Park Ju-hyeok merely nodded with a hardened face.

At first, he wondered if the locals were lying out of hostility due to the altercation that took place upon their arrival, but that was not the case. After maintaining decent relations and continuously gathering intelligence, the consensus was clear: the 1st-floor boss situation had fundamentally changed.

“It seems it’s about time we made our attempt as well.”

If the rumors were true, they too would fail the challenge and return here; if the locals were lying, they would simply advance to the next floor.

However, everyone already believed the latter scenario was impossible.

Fortunately, word had it that the 1st-floor boss did not kill people. Even if they challenged him, once an opponent lost their will to fight, he sent them back without further harm, meaning they wouldn’t have to gamble their lives.

Late at night, Park Ju-hyeok and his team headed toward the portal in the central square leading to the 1st floor.

“Ing? Are you going up to the 1st floor?” Toing asked, watching them.

“Yeah.”

Leaving behind a brief response, they stepped into the portal.

Inside a vast cavern, they ventured deep into the interior, encountering lower-grade skeletons, gutter rats, and goblin kin—monsters they had heard about back on Earth. As expected, these creatures were easily dispatched.

Accompanied by notifications of stat increases, their attributes rose as they made their way toward the boss room.

The anxiety they had felt upon entering gradually faded. While they had no intention of letting their guard down against the boss, clearing the minor monsters had boosted their confidence.

Opening the door to the boss room—which looked entirely ordinary on the surface—they spotted the boss sitting on a chair inside with a sluggish, idle expression.

Unfocused eyes, a limp posture, and a pale complexion.

He looked completely different from the terrifying monster the villagers had described.

What is this…?