Necromancer Survival

“……”

“……”

“…Everyone… Long time no see.”

There was an awkward silence. As my eyes gradually became accustomed to the darkness, I began to distinguish more than the color of their eyes; I could now make out their expressions as well.

I studied their expressions one by one before stopping and flinching at Kim Olim’s face. If the other servants wore blank expressions that hid their suppressed anger, Kim Olim didn’t even bother to hide her fury.

She tried to hold back her anger when she saw my pause, but she scanned my body with her lips drawn in a tight line. Her gaze fixated on my left hand, “…Choi Lee-kyung, show me your hand.”

“I…” I was going to say, ‘It’s alright,’ but Choi Kyung-sik, who was standing behind Kim Olim, looked at me and shook his head. He seemed to be signaling for me to not provoke her. With a short sigh, I reluctantly extended my hand to her.

As soon as Kim Olim held my hand, a warm energy formed and dissipated at each knuckle. Then, Kim Olim recited some skills in a barely audible voice. She didn’t just use one skill–she must have muttered at least 5 different ones in a short moment.

However, with each time–as the short warmth disappeared–there was no change in the scar. Her frown and the wrinkles in her brow deepened. Afterwards, many more attempts all failed. She said, in a hoarse voice, “…When I’m resurrected… I’ll use all the Priests in the hub so I can find a way for you to move properly again. There has to be a way.”

“It’s alright. You don’t have to get too serious…”

“……”

“Well, I don’t really need to use my hands for this class anyway… Besides, there’s no pain now.”

“……”

I said all that to relieve her guilt, but Kim Olim’s expression became even colder. For the first time, she retorted quite coldly to my words, “Choi Lee-kyung, don’t talk like that. Do you still not know why we’ve always refrained from being parasites and consuming your blood?”

“……”

“Though it’s not your fault that you’ve become injured, don’t let yourself become an inevitable sacrifice. There’s nothing good about you suffering loss.”

Her tone was icy, and her expression remained cold. However, I could feel her true feelings from the way she couldn’t take her eyes off the scar on my hand.

Scratching my head with my right hand, I obediently apologized, “I get it. I’m sorry… I’ll be more careful from now on, and I’ll work hard in physical therapy…”

“……”

As I spoke, Jung Garam suddenly stepped into my arms and embraced me.

I immediately placed my hands on his shoulder, and his cute–as always–face popped up to look at me. Jung Garam stared at me for a long time, which made me a little nervous. However, he soon broke out into a child-like bright smile, “Choi Lee-kyu~ng, I missed you, you know!”

His words eased this heavy atmosphere. I hugged him back with a relieved heart, “I missed you as well. It was so frustrating without you guys… Whew.”

“Right? It must have been hard for you to be deprived of seeing a handsome, charming, young boy like me every day.”

“Haha… Hah.”

While Garam-ie was busy showcasing his cuteness ¹ Choi Kyung-sik also sneaked up beside me and checked me over.

His eyes seemed to linger on my still bruised and blotchy neck, but he didn’t look for long. However, he took out another bottle of that horrible tasting potion from his inventory and handed it out to me.

“Nngh…” A frown automatically formed on my face; I couldn’t bring myself to accept the potion.

When he saw me hesitating, Choi Kyung-sik pushed his glasses up on his nose bridge and began to sarcastically say, “How rude of you to look so disgusted at another’s masterpiece.”

“Why does your masterpiece taste so disgusting? It feels like I’m shoving garbage down my throat whenever I drink it.”

“Good medicine is always bitter. If I make it sweet, its potency drops.”

“Tsk…” I had no choice but to accept his reasonable argument.

Just then, Choi Kyung-sik took out another bottle and gave it to me as well. “We’ll need to double your potion requirement. From now on, drink two bottles twice a day.”

“Are you crazy? Never!” I protested and tried to hand the potion back, but Choi Kyung-sik didn’t back down.

“And, after you drink it all, you should undergo some training.”

“Hah?”

“Don’t worry, this body will teach you personally.” Moreover, as soon as their terrifying prescription was given, Woo Ragi made a surprising suggestion while leaning against the wall, a little apart from us.

As I knew his ‘can’t-be-bothered’ nature well, I couldn’t really believe those words–my eyes opened wide.

The corner of his lips twisted when he saw my surprised expression, “From now on, call me ‘Teacher’ and serve me properly.”

“Are you crazy?”

“You’re the one who’s crazy. You’re the one who’s being brainless, acting all weak and saying ‘it’s okay’ even when your hand was smashed.”

“That’s…!” I was about to be furious, but, when I saw the Swordsman’s eyes, my mouth closed automatically.

Woo Ragi didn’t say anything more–perhaps he read something from my slightly startled expression. However, he didn’t take his words back; he must have already resolved to train me.

Cold sweat running down my back, I looked around. I wanted someone to put the brakes on this crazy idea. However, no one disagreed with Woo Ragi. Even Dawon-ie, who I trusted, seemed to sense that I was in trouble but he didn’t step forward.

And…

“Hamster-ssi, Eunji was surprised at your unexpected grit.”

“Huh…?”

“Eunji is speaking about Moon Issak. Because Hamster-ssi didn’t give in, he kept on trying this and that and ended up committing suicide, in a sense.”

“Ahh… I-Is that so?”

“Yes. By the way… Hamster-ssi hasn’t forgotten the promise you made to Eunji, right?” Eunji, who stood there wearing a lovely gray dress, said when she saw Jung Garam and I clinging to each other.

I was surprised to see her reprimanding gaze, but I soon remembered that Eunji liked Garam-ie. I quickly removed myself from his embrace.

Jung Garam looked at me with a dissatisfied expression, “What, Choi Lee-kyung. Why are you pushing me away all of a sudden?”

“Um… M-my back hurts a little…”

“Huh? Really?” Fortunately, my hastily-made excuse stopped Garam from clinging to me any longer. However, it felt like my brain was twisting when I saw that Garam-ie still wasn’t looking at Eunji.

Garam didn’t really seem interested in Eunji even if she was resurrected as a servant. Eunji decided to cooperate with me because I promised to facilitate their relationship. I have to at least make a show of fulfilling her promise, but…

‘…I…With what confidence did I make that promise…?’

Although Dawon and I had gone through some twists and turns to finally confirm our feelings for each other, I still lacked the ability to matchmake others or understand their feelings.

But then, Seo Dawon looked at Eunji and asked, “By the way, why do you call Lee-kyung-ie a hamster?”

“Ah, that’s… because Master Choi Lee-kyung-ssi appeared as a hamster in Eunji’s Vengeful Ghost Memory. He was so small…”

“W-Wait a minute!” I quickly intervened in their conversation and blocked it.

However, Seo Dawon’s face already looked slightly intrigued. I turned around and tried to signal to Eunji that she should shut up.

Eunji looked contemplative for a bit but couldn’t turn a blind eye to my pleading expression. She shouted loudly, “A-Ahem… The ham… I mean Master Choi Lee-kyung-ssi and Eunji are going to keep that a secret between us!”

“T-That’s right! And… Vengeful Ghost Memories doesn’t take place in reality, and it ended successfully anyway. Don’t dig into it!” I stammered.

However, despite Eunji and my consensus, the servant’s expressions only became more mysterious.

Dawon gave me a thorough look and muttered to himself, “Hamster?”

I glared at Dawon, who was lost in thought. I couldn’t trust the mage whenever he adopted that expression.

“……”

“I’m so fucking curious.”

“Why didn’t you appear like that in my Vengeful Ghost memory?”

“What breed? Golden? Roborovski?”

The other servants added their own two cents.

—–

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TL: Kim Olim wants a hamster Lee-kyung for herself. So does Seo Dawon, but I don’t trust him with a hamster.