Chapter 177
[Mana Heart skill option, ‘④ Undead Domination’ has been promoted from a skill sub-option to an independent skill.]
‘What?’
Lloyd’s eyes widened.
It happened right after he used Rapid Charge—an all-or-nothing gamble to finish off the endlessly resurrecting Hell Knight and escape certain death.
When he first opened his eyes, only one thought crossed his mind:
‘I’m alive.’
A message floated before him.
He didn’t even care what it said—just the fact that he could read it meant he hadn’t died.
‘What about the Hell Knight?’
He quickly scanned the surroundings like a man sneaking bites of meat from the seaweed soup pot when his mom’s back was turned.
‘Gone.’
He couldn’t sense even a trace of the Hell Knight’s Mana.
That violent, sinister energy was completely gone.
Clear meaning:
The Hell Knight had been annihilated.
His reckless attempt had worked.
Only then did Lloyd finally look properly at the message.
Crisis over.
Time for harvest(?).
His eyes gleamed like a fisherman looking at an overflowing net.
[The Undead Domination skill has bloomed.]
[The Undead Domination skill has been strengthened.]
[Various restrictions and conditions for using the Undead Domination skill have been greatly eased and removed.]
‘Oh.’
A good start.
A very good start.
Expectations soared as he kept reading.
[Your Mana Heart has absorbed and processed the Hell Knight’s Mana. However, since you are a living human, you could not make all of that Mana your own. Instead, a part of your Mana Heart has become able to resonate with the Mana of the Undead.]
[This trait has promoted your Mana Heart skill option, Undead Domination, to an independent skill.]
[Skill Name: Undead Domination]
[Stage: Beginner Lv. 1]
[You can dominate a certain number of low-level Undead soldiers. The Undead soldiers who accept your domination will provide loyalty that transcends even death and selfless diligence.]
[Types of Undead soldiers that can be dominated: Zombie, Skeleton]
[Number of Undead soldiers that can be dominated: 200]
[Number of Undead soldiers currently dominated: 0]
‘Wow.’
Lloyd’s jaw dropped.
This wasn’t just useful.
This was revolutionary.
Dominate Undead soldiers?
‘No—this means I get free workers!’
His eyes sparkled.
Two hundred ultra-efficient laborers.
Unpaid.
Unlimited hours.
Not even a hint of welfare.
Skeletons would dig until their bones cracked, and not utter a complaint.
No food costs.
No snack breaks.
Housing?
Just give them 200 coffins. They’d tuck themselves in when resting.
It was like acquiring 200 maintenance-free construction robots.
‘Perfect. Labor costs have been bleeding me dry anyway.’
His mouth curled upward.
He had handled countless construction projects.
And never—not once—had he cheated workers out of wages.
Whether the project was tiny or massive.
Even when his wallet shriveled up.
He always paid his people.
Because of Korea.
Because he knew the bitterness of unpaid wages.
Working hard only to be ridiculed for asking to be paid.
“Why are you making a fuss?”
“You’ve only worked a few days.”
“Let’s help each other. Life is hard for everyone.”
Excuses from shameless employers.
Those memories were still knives lodged in his heart.
So Lloyd refused to be like them.
He paid what he owed—sometimes more than he owed.
He’d even come to Namaran partly to settle end-of-year bonuses for workers.
‘And okay, yes, also to stop the Namaran Barrier catastrophe.’
Huge projects—apartment complexes, the great sewer—had led to massive wage bills.
He needed a lump sum.
Winning the slope stabilization construction was supposed to help.
Now, if Undead labor could cover a huge portion of his manpower?
The burden would lighten dramatically.
‘The engineering corps leads. The Undead handle the grunt work. Perfect.’
Plans formed effortlessly.
But the rewards didn’t end there.
Ding-dong.
[You have participated in the heroic battle to eliminate the Hell Knight, the commander of the Hell Legion who descended to the ground.]
[In this process, you have made a great contribution to leading the hopeless battle to a favorable outcome by severely damaging the Hell Knight’s hearing.]
[Some citizens of Namaran City have witnessed and heard all of this wit, courage, and unimaginable pitch deviation.]
[As a result, a unique tribute to you will spread widely among the citizens of Namaran City.]
[A new tribute to you has been created.]
[New Tribute, <Otherworldly Tone-Deafness> has been created.]
[Otherworldly Tone-Deafness]
[Tribute Grade: Local Heroic Tale, Hellish Horror Story]
The Namaran Barrier rose.
People fell.
All begged for salvation.
The silver-haired knight fought alone against the Hell Knight.
But the battle was hopeless.
The power of Hell revived endlessly.
He needed someone—anyone—to stand with him.
Someone answered.
“Give me peace like a river—”
“Mahaprajna Paramita Hridaya Sutra—”
Clinging to the Hell Knight’s leg like a leech, he sang with all his might.
The Hell Knight trembled.
“Stop—please, stop—don’t sing—”
Those became the Hell Knight’s final words.
[Tribute Effect: You have become a celebrity among all beings, including the Undead. On Earth and in Hell, you have become widely infamous as the ‘owner of demonic pitch’. As a result, all beings on Earth and in Hell will fear or sometimes respect your singing.]
[Tribute Area: Count Namaran’s Territory, Hell]
[Tribute Duration: 80 years (Count Namaran’s Territory) / 30,000 years (Hell)]
[CP provided per month: 4]
[Current CP: 254]
“…….”
So he wasn’t just tone-deaf nationwide.
He was tone-deaf *interdimensionally*.
‘It was sad enough that my crush dumped me after karaoke. Right, Silver Fragrance?’
He muttered the name of his old crush.
Of course, no answer came.
Only Javier’s hand waved between his eyes and the message window.
“……are you?”
“Huh?”
Javier waved again.
“Are you okay?”
His gaze was unusually cautious.
“Are you worried about me?”
Lloyd snorted—yet Javier nodded.
“Yes. I’m worried.”
“Wow. Are you crazy?”
Since when did Javier say such things directly?
“Who are you?”
“…….”
“Where is our real Javier? Did you hide him? Kidnap him? Tie him up?”
“…I have not been kidnapped or imprisoned.”
“Then why say you’re worried? Is this about money? Are you collecting a debt?”
“Of course not. But—”
Javier looked dead serious.
“I was worried when I heard Lloyd’s song.”
“My song?”
“Yes.”
“How was it?”
“It had a timbre and pitch that cannot exist on Earth. It physically hurt to listen. I nearly used Detonation on you instead of the skeleton knight. I became angry without meaning to.”
“……Hey.”
“So I must ask: have you been mentally compromised? Brainwashed by the Black Wizard?”
“Hey, I—”
“Are you really okay?”
“…….”
Javier’s deeply serious gaze stabbed into him.
Sorrow welled up.
Lloyd grit his teeth.
“I’m completely fine.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Then that bizarre song from earlier—”
“I sang that with everything I had.”
“Then Lloyd… could it be…”
“Don’t say it.”
“Tone-deaf…?”
“I SAID DON’T SAY IT.”
“…….”
The concern vanished.
Replaced by pity.
Lloyd sighed.
He brushed it aside with a click of his tongue.
“This is not the time. We need to move. We have people to help. Are you okay?”
“Yes. I’m fine.”
“Then let’s go.”
“Yes.”
The joy of victory vanished instantly.
Groans seeped through the broken assembly hall walls—the cries of those who had lost too much Mana.
Both men stiffened.
They activated the Asrahan Heart Technique and walked out without needing to speak.
The situation was far from over.
Many citizens needed urgent help.
“As expected, the Asrahan Heart Technique will help here.”
“Yeah. We can absorb Mana from the air and give it back.”
“It’ll be a long day.”
“I agree.”
With faint smiles, they stepped outside.
♣
The situation was eventually resolved.
Thankfully, not a single citizen of Namaran died.
Because the Barrier was neutralized early, no one’s Mana was drained to the point of death.
Even so, many were severely weakened.
Lloyd and Javier treated them nonstop with the Asrahan Heart Technique—absorbing Mana, redistributing it, reviving those on the brink.
The Black Wizard Cannavaro was subdued and shipped off to the royal capital, fully restrained.
‘He’ll be interrogated like crazy. All the kingdom’s top court wizards will take turns with brainwashing and confession magic. Her Majesty Alicia is ruthless with this stuff. That noona is terrifying.’
The evening after two days of nonstop emergency treatment—
Lloyd collapsed in bed, exhausted.
But strangely, he couldn’t sleep.
His body was limp, but his mind wouldn’t settle.
‘I’m jealous of you at times like this.’
Javier was already asleep in the next bed.
One lullaby(?), and out.
Lloyd envied him.
He tossed and turned.
‘We stopped the catastrophe. Count Namaran will recover. Everything should be fine… but something’s still off.’
Because there was one major problem.
‘Construction took a huge hit.’
The citizens had been drained.
Weakened.
They could move, but heavy labor?
Impossible for now.
‘They’ll need at least half a month to recover. Damn it, the schedule is ruined.’
The slope stabilization project was ready to begin.
Designs complete.
Manpower planning underway.
And now—no manpower.
‘I want to finish quickly. Get the money. Go home. Live in Frontera without money worries.’
If only he had Undead workers.
He could start tomorrow.
‘But I can’t just dig up graves.’
He sighed.
Undead Domination was incredible… but acquiring Undead was the problem.
‘Should I learn Black Magic? No. Too annoying, too risky. Ugh, sleep.’
He shut his eyes.
Drowsiness crept in—
Knock knock knock.
He froze.
His brows creased.
He had just been drifting off.
‘Ignore it.’
He pulled a pillow over his head.
But the knocking intensified.
Knock knock knock knock knock!
No.
Go away.
He wanted to shout it.
But he was already getting up.
‘Ugh. Let’s get this over with.’
Who could it be?
Someone from the Count?
Another emergency?
He dragged himself to the door and flung it open.
“What—”
He froze.
Skeletons.
Headless skeletons.
About two hundred of them.
“What…”
Visitors in the middle of the night.
Headless, no less.
Just as Lloyd struggled to process the absurdity—
All two hundred skeletons went down on one knee.
Bowing politely.
Bones creaking in perfect unison.
The foremost skeleton stepped forward and held out a sketchbook-sized piece of paper.
Then, with stiff, deliberate movements, it began flipping through the pages one by one.
Each ‘rustle’ revealed another pre-written message.
– You did not discard our skulls carelessly.
– You are our benefactor.
– We wish to repay your kindness.
– We will do anything.
– Please take us in, for we have nowhere else to go.
“……”
A flock of swallows—no, skeletons—showing up in the middle of the night to repay a debt.
Lloyd’s drowsiness evaporated the moment he faced their sudden, heartfelt(?) confession.