UBM 2

Chapter 2

**The Unlimited Germancer 

#Awakening (1)

One month ago.

[You have awakened. Please open your status window to confirm the details.]

When I saw this system message floating before my eyes while lying in the corner of my studio apartment after finishing work, I was filled with pure euphoria.

First of all, it meant I had become part of the 1%.

At the same time, anxiety came creeping in.

From here, I had to succeed in another 10% probability draw to be able to enter dungeons.

“Please! Please!”

I shouted “please” dozens of times as I opened the status window.

And the status window appeared before my eyes.

[Name]: Kim Segyun

[Level]: 1

[System]: Magic

[Class]: Necromancer

[Trait]: Commander of the Infinite Legion (EX)

The name is, well, my name.

Let me read from the top slowly.

Level is 1 since I just finished awakening, so that’s normal.

And the system… Magic?

At this point, my heart started pounding.

If it’s magic, the odds of it being a bust aren’t that high.

Even if it’s not combat magic, as long as I have useful spells, I could enter dungeons, and even if I can’t enter dungeons, if it’s magic that’s useful outside, I could make a living off it.

When I looked at the class window with a pounding heart, my voice trembled.

“N-Necromancer?”

Jackpot! This is a fucking lottery win!

A Necromancer!

The world’s strongest hunter, Ahmad Trian, who single-handedly accounts for 10% of France’s GDP, had the class of Necromancer.

Even before, the Necromancer class was popular, but after Ahmad Trian single-handedly swept through the 57th-tier dungeon—the highest difficulty dungeon in existence—at record speed, its popularity shot through the roof.

How can an individual account for 10% of a nation’s GDP, you ask?

From the monsters in that dungeon, byproducts could be processed to extract a component called Elixir, and when a high-tier alchemist fiddles with that, what comes out is the Elixir.

A magical panacea that, just by taking it regularly, doubles your lifespan and cures all diseases.

The only place that produced it was that dungeon, and the only one who could be active there was that guy, so calling it 10% of a great nation like France’s GDP wasn’t an exaggeration.

So now I too will become a Necromancer like Ahmad…

“Kim Segyun, you crazy bastard, snap out of it.”

A guy who just awakened at level 1, what kind of Ahmad are you talking about?

Besides, Necromancers rely heavily on their traits and skills.

So a proper trait…

[Commander of the Infinite Legion (EX)]

Description: The individual count limit is removed from all summoning-type skills.

Isn’t there a saying like that?

Short text is powerful.

It was powerful.

Fucking incredibly powerful, at that.

“Are you kidding me—!!!”

How could I hold this in?

At this point, I couldn’t help but make a fuss.

I stayed up all night like that, and as soon as it hit 8 AM, I headed to the Awakened Grade Assessment Center in Gangnam.

It was a center created to filter out the riff-raff so they wouldn’t enter dungeons and die.

Even if it’s 1% of the population, that’s still 500,000 people.

Since it was a center where at least dozens of people showed up every day claiming to be awakened, the receptionist looked at me standing there all excited and spoke indifferently.

“You’re here for grade assessment, right?”

“Yes.”

“Your level should be 1. What’s your class?”

“N-Necromancer.”

Flinch.

Seeing the employee flinch, my lips curled up for no reason.

The people waiting behind me also started murmuring.

Wow, so this is what awakening feels like.

“Just a moment, I’ll escort you to Assessment Room 5.”

Following her to Assessment Room 5, there were carcasses of various animals there.

“Ugh…”

It was a sight that naturally made me furrow my brow, but I’m a Necromancer now.

It was a sight I had to get used to.

Having to get used to corpses—it was a terrible thing, but that’s unavoidable once you become a hunter.

I had at least prepared myself mentally.

As I entered the test room, a voice came from a speaker mounted on one side.

—Ah, can you hear me? If you can revive any of the corpses there, you pass.

The hurdle is low?

Normally this wouldn’t be this easy.

Other classes would at least have to prove combat ability to survive in a Tier 1 dungeon.

Are they ignoring a Necromancer with the ‘Commander of the Infinite Legion’ trait?

As I tilted my head, the speaker seemed to notice and continued with an awkward tone.

—Necromancer class individuals probably know this, but early growth is difficult for them. Once you demonstrate the Undead Rise skill, the government actively supports your growth at the national level.

So that means a free ride is confirmed too.

Kim Segyun’s life, solved in one go.

—Alright then, Undead Rise, please.

“Yes.”

I answered calmly and spoke softly toward the orc corpse in front of me.

“Undead Rise.”

Simultaneously, a message appeared.

[This is not a valid target for the skill.]

“…..?”

What the hell does that mean?

It’s a corpse.

When nothing happened, the other side of the speaker seemed flustered too.

—Did you… use the skill?

“Yes, well…”

The orc doesn’t work, so maybe the goblin next to it.

“Undead Rise.”

[This is not a valid target for the skill.]

Then at least the cow next to that…

“Undead Rise.”

[This is not a valid target for the skill.]

Then a pig, a dog, a chicken, a cat.

All of them came back as invalid targets.

—Are you messing with us right now! Get that person out of there!

The voice beyond the microphone seemed furious too, and staff members came in with a growl.

“W-Wait a moment. It says the target is invalid for the skill…”

“We’re busy as hell and you’re here to scam us!”

“I want to go to the police station!”

“I-I really am a Necromancer! I can’t even show you my status window!”

“Where’s a Necromancer that can’t raise a single undead! Get out!”

A Necromancer who can’t raise a single undead.

That was the last thing I heard as I was practically forced out of the center, and it stuck in my head for a while.

Right. What kind of Necromancer can’t raise a single undead.

I plopped down on a bench in a park near the center, in despair.

What’s the problem?

“Skill list.”

[Currently owned skills]: Undead Rise (Unique) / Reverse Summon

It was simple, but being able to make a living with just Undead Rise was what being a Necromancer was about.

Other skills are expensive, but I can earn money and learn them through skill books.

“Undead Rise, skill description.”

[Undead Rise (Unique)]

Description: This is an Undead Rise skill modified in the style of the legendary Necromancer Abisenna. It can only be used on entities of a certain size. As skill proficiency increases, smaller and more diverse entities can be raised. (The individual count limit is currently removed due to the trait.)

It was different from the Undead Rise description I knew.

Indeed, that also fell under the category of “short text is powerful.”

What I saw on YouTube was definitely…

[Undead Rise]

Description: Raises undead. Depending on proficiency, more individuals and stronger, more diverse entities can be raised.

That was it.

After continuing my search on my phone, I found out that what I had was a unique skill.

Skills that are different from basic skills, with unique effects or far greater power.

This was also a kind of lottery.

It wasn’t widely known, but the top-ranked hunters who roamed the highest-tier dungeons almost all had these unique skills rather than basic ones.

By that logic, it should be a good thing, but.

“Why me… I…!! Of all things…! Aaaaaaah!”

As skill proficiency increases, smaller entities can be raised.

What kind of bullshit is this?

If proficiency increases, you should be raising bigger entities, not smaller ones!

What, am I supposed to revive insects?

“Insects…?”

Could I really revive something as small as an insect?

I looked around and stepped on an ant passing by, killing it.

“Undead Rise.”

Using a skill on a single ant was truly ridiculous, but I tried it just in case.

But.

[This is not a valid target for the skill.]

“Fucking hell.”

If I can’t even use it on insects, what size am I supposed to use it on?

* * *

A month passed like that.

My half-day reign ended absurdly, and I returned to my daily life.

I decided to give up on the pipe dream of being a Necromancer.

It was a huge relief that I hadn’t thrown a resignation letter at my company.

Now I’ll just live like a non-awakened person.

“Segyun.”

After a rewarding…

No, after a dogshit day of work, as I was packing up my things to leave, the department manager who had been tapping at his computer called out to me.

Whenever it’s like this, nothing ever ends well.

“Yes, Manager.”

“Leaving now?”

“Yes, I was about to.”

“Got anything to do after work?”

“I was going to go home and rest?”

“Then do one more run.”

“What?”

Just as I expected.

What kind of bullshit is this manager spewing?

“Do you know what time it is? It’s already 11 PM. I came in at 8 AM and did three runs, and now you want me to do a fourth?”

“What can we do. The client says they need us right now.”

“Ah, this is driving me crazy.”

“It’s not a difficult job though. The Seonggwang Bio Research Institute in Hwaseong.”

“That’s at least better.”

“Go and come back.”

Overtime was half-forced onto me.

So what’s my job, you ask? I’m on the waste collection team.

Of course, it’s not regular recycling or general trash—I’m a third-year employee at a company that specializes in processing dungeon byproduct waste.

We mainly took on outsourcing from bio research institutes.

That means it’s our job to process the monster corpses that the crazy scientists at research institutes have chewed up, torn apart, tasted, and enjoyed, leaving behind rotting monster carcasses.

It’s a 3D industry—Difficult, Dirty, Dangerous—and it fit all three.

If you mishandle a toxic corpse, you could die, so you need the ability to distinguish various monsters even in chopped-up corpse form—it was difficult work, and naturally dangerous. And dirty? Need I say more.

“The Seonggwang Bio Research Institute is at least a bit better.”

Whatever research they do there, most of the waste coming out is powder like sawdust.

Of course, the number of powder bags is no joke, but sawdust isn’t dangerous or dirty.

The work being tough is unavoidable.

I dragged the truck along, rubbing my sleepy eyes, and barely arrived at the Seonggwang Bio Research Institute in Hwaseong.

I waved at the security guard I always saw, and he opened the barrier and handed me a visitor pass.

As I took the pass, I casually asked the guard.

“What’s going on that they’re calling us at this hour?”

“I don’t know the details, but the group chairman is visiting the institute tomorrow. Since the chairman is coming, they probably called urgently because there shouldn’t be any messy trash around.”

“Ah…”

Goddammit.

But calling us at this hour?

It was already midnight, so leaving work today was out the window.

They say when the甲方 says jump, the 乙 asks how high—but this is too much.

“Ugh. What can I do.”

I can’t quit either.

In times like these, this is still a decent job.

I sighed and entered the institute, where the night shift employee at the front desk was slumped over, asleep.

Talk about getting paid to slack off.

Anyone could just walk in and they wouldn’t notice.

“Excuse me.”

Zzz.

“Excuse me!!”

When I raised my voice, the startled employee woke up, looked around, and then saw me.

“Oh, how did you get here?”

“Hello. I’m from Hanyoung System. I heard there’s waste to collect.”

“Ah…”

He let out a sigh of relief that I was from an outside contractor, not internal staff, and jerked his thumb backward.

“Take that elevator over there to the second floor, go into rooms starting from 2001, and organize things there.”

What kind of novel bullshit is this?

“Not the collection area?”

Normally, the job was to organize the trash piled up in the collection area.

But go directly into the labs and organize?

“There was an order to organize urgently before the transfer process to the collection area.”

“No, we can’t work like this. How am I supposed to collect things one by one from the labs by myself?”

“I was just told to say that.”

The employee just shrugged with a look that said “Don’t complain to me~”

These fucking bastards.

Curses rose to my throat, but arguing with this employee wouldn’t get me anywhere.

I had no choice but to trudge up to the second floor.

Knock knock, I knocked and entered room 2001.

An empty lab.

Is security okay here?

Fortunately, the waste was well packaged in burlap sacks.

Surely they wouldn’t ask me to clean too.

I went around the room, hoisted several sacks at a time, and headed to the truck.

Normally I’d park the truck at the collection area and load everything at once, but going back and forth to the truck directly took forever.

Sweating profusely, I made trips to the truck for two hours, and finally only the last lab remained.

I was so tired that sleep was pouring over me.

Let me finish quickly and go, I thought as I lifted a burlap sack—and in that moment, maybe from the drowsiness, I stumbled slightly.

Right at that moment.

Crash. I heard the sharp sound of something breaking.

I turned my head and saw a small petri dish rolling on the floor, shattered.

It seemed I had barely knocked it off the desk with the sack.

“Fuck…”

I’m screwed.

This isn’t some pathogen, is it?

Or… something like a zombie virus?

In movies, accidents like this always release a zombie virus into the world.

With trembling hands, I touched the remains of the petri dish, and I could see a label barely attached to the broken glass.

[Perpetuus Exomodulus: Obligate anaerobic, absolutely no contact with air]

The word “obligate anaerobic” put me at ease for now.

After three years at a dog’s school, you learn to recite poetry—I’d been in and out of these labs for years, so I knew words like that.

It meant bacteria that die immediately upon contact with air.

So there was no risk of me getting infected with some pathogen and spreading it to the world.

No, wait, that’s not something to be relieved about.

If it’s obligate anaerobic, that means they’re all dead…

I accidentally killed all the bacteria the lab was researching?

“Ah, fuck… I’m screwed. What do I do.”

I stared at the broken petri dish for over five minutes.

What do I do, seriously.

It’s not like I can bring dead bacteria back to life…

[Would you like to use the Undead Rise skill?]

[Target: Perpetuus Exomodulus strain corpses — 2,889,716,653 individuals.]

It was at that very moment that the system message I thought I’d never see again appeared before my eyes.