MAEPG: Episode 6
Episode 6 Undead (1)
I laughed wryly and assessed the situation.
There was nothing to think deeply about.
Hans was dead.
The connection was completely severed, so I couldn't even recall him.
As I meditated and tried out the skill in various ways, I came to understand a few more things about "Avatar."
When an avatar died, it would be possible to regenerate it after a certain period of time.
The newly created avatar would be a new entity, with everything it had accumulated up to that point reset.
The individual that died this time had only been working out hard for a few days, so it wasn't a big loss, but I couldn't help but feel bitter.
Now it was time to figure out the cause.
Why did Hans, who was in a safe village, die?
And at a moment when he didn't even realize he was dead, even though he was deeply asleep?
'Well, the answer is obvious, even if I think about it.'
If it had been a simple external attack, I would have noticed it at some point.
Then what was the problem?
'That old man...'
I unconsciously gritted my teeth.
I thought I was lucky.
I had managed to defeat the only panther I encountered in that dangerous forest, there was a small village nearby, and the village head I met there treated me kindly.
I was definitely careless.
We were complete strangers in an unfamiliar land.
Just because I met him in a village didn't mean he was a harmless NPC like in a game.
But I couldn't be wary and hostile all the time either.
After all, I was the one who went to him first and asked for his help.
'What did he do? Did he drug the alcohol? Sleeping pills? But I didn't feel anything particularly strange until I fell asleep...'
He even shared that alcohol with me, and there was no particular reaction even after a long time.
What if I was just misunderstanding, and some unexpected accident had occurred...
Slap!
I slapped myself on the cheek and came to my senses.
In fact, the damage I suffered wasn't great.
It was just Hans's efforts for a few days, the food expenses incurred, and the items I had lost because I sent them with him.
Rather, it was a great achievement that I was able to understand "Avatar" in more detail by losing Hans before suffering a greater loss.
But I couldn't stay positive and complacent forever.
The danger of another world was proven by the statistic of an average return rate of 20%.
Even in the case of what I had just experienced, if it hadn't been an avatar that was transferred, I would have died within two days of going to another world, and everything would have been over.
It was time to think about countermeasures.
Should I send another avatar? The interdimensional transfer formation had a one-day cooldown, so it wasn't possible right now.
I was also hesitant to send another avatar to a place where I didn't know what dangers might remain.
Send it to a different location? The transfer formation could only send avatars to places where previous avatars had been.
Even if it was far away from the village, it was still in the middle of a dangerous forest.
As I was fretting over what to do, I reconnected with the avatar in the other world.
I laughed wryly and assessed the situation.
There was nothing to think deeply about.
Hans was dead.
The connection was completely severed, so I couldn't even recall him.
As I meditated and tried out the skill in various ways, I came to understand a few more things about "Avatar."
When an avatar died, it would be possible to regenerate it after a certain period of time.
The newly created avatar would be a new entity, with everything it had accumulated up to that point reset.
The individual that died this time had only been working out hard for a few days, so it wasn't a big loss, but I couldn't help but feel bitter.
Now it was time to figure out the cause.
Why did Hans, who was in a safe village, die?
And at a moment when he didn't even realize he was dead, even though he was deeply asleep?
'Well, the answer is obvious, even if I think about it.'
If it had been a simple external attack, I would have noticed it at some point.
Then what was the problem?
'That old man...'
I unconsciously gritted my teeth.
I thought I was lucky.
I had managed to defeat the only panther I encountered in that dangerous forest, there was a small village nearby, and the village head I met there treated me kindly.
I was definitely careless.
We were complete strangers in an unfamiliar land.
Just because I met him in a village didn't mean he was a harmless NPC like in a game.
But I couldn't be wary and hostile all the time either.
After all, I was the one who went to him first and asked for his help.
'What did he do? Did he drug the alcohol? Sleeping pills? But I didn't feel anything particularly strange until I fell asleep...'
He even shared that alcohol with me, and there was no particular reaction even after a long time.
What if I was just misunderstanding, and some unexpected accident had occurred...
Slap!
I slapped myself on the cheek and came to my senses.
In fact, the damage I suffered wasn't great.
It was just Hans's efforts for a few days, the food expenses incurred, and the items I had lost because I sent them with him.
Rather, it was a great achievement that I was able to understand "Avatar" in more detail by losing Hans before suffering a greater loss.
But I couldn't stay positive and complacent forever.
The danger of another world was proven by the statistic of an average return rate of 20%.
Even in the case of what I had just experienced, if it hadn't been an avatar that was transferred, I would have died within two days of going to another world, and everything would have been over.
It was time to think about countermeasures.
Should I send another avatar? The interdimensional transfer formation had a one-day cooldown, so it wasn't possible right now.
I was also hesitant to send another avatar to a place where I didn't know what dangers might remain.
Send it to a different location? The transfer formation could only send avatars to places where previous avatars had been.
Even if it was far away from the village, it was still in the middle of a dangerous forest.
As I was fretting over what to do, I reconnected with the avatar in the other world.
______________________
The first thing I heard was the village head's voice.
"Tsk... I thought he was a useful one, but he turned out to be a dud."
"That's right. He passed through the monster forest alone, and judging by his work, I thought he had something up his sleeve."
"Just an Elite Skeleton. I guess I had too high expectations. Let's go."
"Yes, Master."
The village head's voice, which had been talking to someone, gradually faded away, and then I heard the click of the door locking.
I relaxed my stiff body and let out a sigh, as if I had been tense without realizing it.
"Crack—"
No, it was just my imagination.
When I came to my senses, my stiff body didn't loosen up, and no sigh came out.
I slowly lowered my gaze to check my body's condition, and that's when it happened.
《The individual's race has been changed to 'Undead'. You have acquired the special skill "Corrupted Heart".》
I stared at the message that appeared before my eyes with a puzzled look, then lowered my head again and examined my body.
The human skeleton model I had seen in the nurse's office back in school was right here.
I took a closer look. I picked up my arm bone and checked between my ribs.
And I came to a conclusion.
'I don't have a heart...?'
"Corrupted Heart", you say?
I grumbled to myself about the uniform naming that didn't consider the individual's characteristics and organized the situation.
The village head was a necromancer, and he had killed me and resurrected my corpse as an undead.
And 'Hans' became an Elite Skeleton, a walking skeleton.
<Individual Information>
-Individual Name: Hans
-Race: Undead (Elite Skeleton)
-Common Traits: "Mind Hub", "Super Recovery"
-Individual Traits: "Corrupted Heart", "Magic Affinity"
-Special Notes: Turned into an undead through a forbidden technique. Immune to all negative effects such as death, poison, curses, and illusions. "Mind Hub" prevented mental contamination.
My head hurt. It must be my imagination since I didn't have a brain.
But I soon stopped lamenting my situation and decided to check my surroundings first.
I was surprised by the sudden situation, but it didn't make much difference since I had already considered the avatar dead.
As I looked around, I noticed what had changed.
First of all, I could see clearly even though it was pitch black and there was no light.
No, should I call this 'seeing'?
Just in case, I put my finger bone into my eye socket.
Yep, it was empty as expected.
I took my finger out of my eye socket and looked ahead again.
Even though I didn't have eyeballs, I had no trouble seeing.
Moreover, unlike humans whose field of view was limited by the focus of their eyeballs, I could see the entire front area where my eye sockets were facing at a glance.
And I could feel the life force around me.
Yes, I could clearly feel a rat going in and out of its hole behind my head.
This was probably also one of the effects of "Corrupted Heart".
I checked it roughly and found that it was a skill that included typical 'undead' characteristics, from resistance to mental attacks and cold to undead infection and hatred for living beings.
'I'm fine since I can filter out the negative effects with "Mind Hub".'
The place I was in seemed to be a large underground warehouse.
As I was roughly looking around the old basement-like surroundings and approaching the place where I felt the rat,
'Oh my god! What are these?!'
There were other undead standing in a line, just like me.
There was a pile of junk in the middle, and they were standing still in the darkness, so I hadn't noticed them before.
From zombies to skeletons armed with bows and armor.
As I was looking at them for a while, the rat I had been feeling crawled out and approached a zombie.
Then it bit off one of its little toes and scurried back into its hole.
'Ugh... Disgusting...'
As I shuddered, the sight of the zombies somehow caught my eye, and I took a closer look.
...There were not only adult men and women, but also elderly people and children.
'These bastards, don't tell me...'
I rewound my memory.
The scenery I had seen from the moment I entered the village to the next day when I walked around the village.
...There were no children anywhere.
And the biggest reason I thought it was a slash-and-burn village when I first saw it, the fields attached to the village.
I hadn't seen a single person working in the fields while I was helping out with the village chores.
At the time, I had overlooked it because I didn't know anything about farming, but...
'These bastards devoured an entire village and settled down!'
I was disgusted by their wickedness.
At the same time, I sighed in despair at the thought of what I should do.
'Of course, I can't sigh. No, stop it!'
This entire village was an enemy territory occupied by dark mages.
Judging from the undead knights, it seemed that they had disguised themselves as an ordinary slash-and-burn village to deceive others and were up to something.
I was just prey who had happily walked into the monster's mouth without knowing it.
Now that I thought about it, the questions the village head asked me seemed to be intended to find out if I was someone who could disappear without any problems.
The one-day grace period must have been a process of seeing if it was safe to eat me.
'How can I deal with these guys?'
When I realized I had been killed, and when I found out I had become an undead, I was annoyed that I had been backstabbed, but I wasn't this angry.
But even though "Mind Hub" filtered my emotions and lessened the shock, I couldn't help but feel disgusted by the fact that even children had been sacrificed.
They had crossed the line, and then some.
I couldn't just let it slide now that I knew.
Moreover, I was an undead now, so I had nothing to lose, right?
It would be nice if I could screw over the guys who backstabbed me, and if I tried and it didn't work out, then so be it.
'First, let's gather some information.'
I had nothing but time anyway.
The first thing I heard was the village head's voice.
"Tsk... I thought he was a useful one, but he turned out to be a dud."
"That's right. He passed through the monster forest alone, and judging by his work, I thought he had something up his sleeve."
"Just an Elite Skeleton. I guess I had too high expectations. Let's go."
"Yes, Master."
The village head's voice, which had been talking to someone, gradually faded away, and then I heard the click of the door locking.
I relaxed my stiff body and let out a sigh, as if I had been tense without realizing it.
"Crack—"
No, it was just my imagination.
When I came to my senses, my stiff body didn't loosen up, and no sigh came out.
I slowly lowered my gaze to check my body's condition, and that's when it happened.
《The individual's race has been changed to 'Undead'. You have acquired the special skill "Corrupted Heart".》
I stared at the message that appeared before my eyes with a puzzled look, then lowered my head again and examined my body.
The human skeleton model I had seen in the nurse's office back in school was right here.
I took a closer look. I picked up my arm bone and checked between my ribs.
And I came to a conclusion.
'I don't have a heart...?'
"Corrupted Heart", you say?
I grumbled to myself about the uniform naming that didn't consider the individual's characteristics and organized the situation.
The village head was a necromancer, and he had killed me and resurrected my corpse as an undead.
And 'Hans' became an Elite Skeleton, a walking skeleton.
<Individual Information>
-Individual Name: Hans
-Race: Undead (Elite Skeleton)
-Common Traits: "Mind Hub", "Super Recovery"
-Individual Traits: "Corrupted Heart", "Magic Affinity"
-Special Notes: Turned into an undead through a forbidden technique. Immune to all negative effects such as death, poison, curses, and illusions. "Mind Hub" prevented mental contamination.
My head hurt. It must be my imagination since I didn't have a brain.
But I soon stopped lamenting my situation and decided to check my surroundings first.
I was surprised by the sudden situation, but it didn't make much difference since I had already considered the avatar dead.
As I looked around, I noticed what had changed.
First of all, I could see clearly even though it was pitch black and there was no light.
No, should I call this 'seeing'?
Just in case, I put my finger bone into my eye socket.
Yep, it was empty as expected.
I took my finger out of my eye socket and looked ahead again.
Even though I didn't have eyeballs, I had no trouble seeing.
Moreover, unlike humans whose field of view was limited by the focus of their eyeballs, I could see the entire front area where my eye sockets were facing at a glance.
And I could feel the life force around me.
Yes, I could clearly feel a rat going in and out of its hole behind my head.
This was probably also one of the effects of "Corrupted Heart".
I checked it roughly and found that it was a skill that included typical 'undead' characteristics, from resistance to mental attacks and cold to undead infection and hatred for living beings.
'I'm fine since I can filter out the negative effects with "Mind Hub".'
The place I was in seemed to be a large underground warehouse.
As I was roughly looking around the old basement-like surroundings and approaching the place where I felt the rat,
'Oh my god! What are these?!'
There were other undead standing in a line, just like me.
There was a pile of junk in the middle, and they were standing still in the darkness, so I hadn't noticed them before.
From zombies to skeletons armed with bows and armor.
As I was looking at them for a while, the rat I had been feeling crawled out and approached a zombie.
Then it bit off one of its little toes and scurried back into its hole.
'Ugh... Disgusting...'
As I shuddered, the sight of the zombies somehow caught my eye, and I took a closer look.
...There were not only adult men and women, but also elderly people and children.
'These bastards, don't tell me...'
I rewound my memory.
The scenery I had seen from the moment I entered the village to the next day when I walked around the village.
...There were no children anywhere.
And the biggest reason I thought it was a slash-and-burn village when I first saw it, the fields attached to the village.
I hadn't seen a single person working in the fields while I was helping out with the village chores.
At the time, I had overlooked it because I didn't know anything about farming, but...
'These bastards devoured an entire village and settled down!'
I was disgusted by their wickedness.
At the same time, I sighed in despair at the thought of what I should do.
'Of course, I can't sigh. No, stop it!'
This entire village was an enemy territory occupied by dark mages.
Judging from the undead knights, it seemed that they had disguised themselves as an ordinary slash-and-burn village to deceive others and were up to something.
I was just prey who had happily walked into the monster's mouth without knowing it.
Now that I thought about it, the questions the village head asked me seemed to be intended to find out if I was someone who could disappear without any problems.
The one-day grace period must have been a process of seeing if it was safe to eat me.
'How can I deal with these guys?'
When I realized I had been killed, and when I found out I had become an undead, I was annoyed that I had been backstabbed, but I wasn't this angry.
But even though "Mind Hub" filtered my emotions and lessened the shock, I couldn't help but feel disgusted by the fact that even children had been sacrificed.
They had crossed the line, and then some.
I couldn't just let it slide now that I knew.
Moreover, I was an undead now, so I had nothing to lose, right?
It would be nice if I could screw over the guys who backstabbed me, and if I tried and it didn't work out, then so be it.
'First, let's gather some information.'
I had nothing but time anyway.
______________________
I spent the next few days searching the underground warehouse where I was trapped.
Of course, it was only a little over a day in Earth time.
It seemed like there were originally two entrances, but one had completely collapsed and was unusable.
It was practically like there was only one passage that the village head and his disciple used to come and go.
'Wow, just how many are there?'
Next, I examined the other undead.
Most of the zombies seemed to have been ordinary people like the villagers, but there were also quite a few skeletons armed with various weapons.
Over fifty zombies. There were also at least three hundred skeleton soldiers, including skeleton knights.
Click, creak—
The door opened and footsteps approached.
I immediately stopped moving and stood still like the other undead.
Since I became an undead and was trapped here, I had learned that the village head's disciples took turns coming down to check the warehouse every two to three days.
"Ugh, how long do I have to be stuck in this backwater?"
The one grumbling and looking around the warehouse was the face I had seen once while repairing the village fence.
Was his name Jeffy?
I thought he was slacking off back then, but it turned out he was a dark mage's disciple.
"Huh?"
He seemed to sense something strange and looked this way.
'Did he notice?'
My heart sank.
Even though I only had a "Corrupted Heart".
"Why is this here again? Seriously, no one does their job properly except me. [Move over there.]"
Along with a voice that resonated in my skull, I felt a force trying to move my body.
And I immediately realized.
I could easily ignore it if I wanted to.
But it wasn't time yet.
I didn't resist the force trying to move my body and obediently went to where the other skeletons were gathered and lined up.
"Well, nothing's wrong. But why do we have to check this place every time when there's no one here but us? The old man is so picky."
Jeffy, who was casually checking with his glowing staff, grumbled and left the warehouse.
Creak— Click
Even after I heard the door lock, I stood still for hours before carefully moving.
There was no need to rush.
It was better to be careful and take my time than to get caught off guard.
'Hans' had nothing but time.
And this time, there was one big gain.
The force I felt when Jeffy controlled my body.
It was a very familiar force.
It was the same force that was currently moving my body.
The mechanism that moved this undead body was different from that of ordinary living beings.
I didn't even have muscles in the first place.
The force flowing through my body now, the so-called 'black magic power', was taking the place of sensory organs and muscles and causing all sorts of actions.
This must also be a basic effect of "Corrupted Heart".
And I, who had "Magic Affinity", was able to imitate the new use of this force that I had felt directly with my body.
'The way to control other undead.'
Coincidentally, there were hundreds of undead lying around me.
I spent the next few days searching the underground warehouse where I was trapped.
Of course, it was only a little over a day in Earth time.
It seemed like there were originally two entrances, but one had completely collapsed and was unusable.
It was practically like there was only one passage that the village head and his disciple used to come and go.
'Wow, just how many are there?'
Next, I examined the other undead.
Most of the zombies seemed to have been ordinary people like the villagers, but there were also quite a few skeletons armed with various weapons.
Over fifty zombies. There were also at least three hundred skeleton soldiers, including skeleton knights.
Click, creak—
The door opened and footsteps approached.
I immediately stopped moving and stood still like the other undead.
Since I became an undead and was trapped here, I had learned that the village head's disciples took turns coming down to check the warehouse every two to three days.
"Ugh, how long do I have to be stuck in this backwater?"
The one grumbling and looking around the warehouse was the face I had seen once while repairing the village fence.
Was his name Jeffy?
I thought he was slacking off back then, but it turned out he was a dark mage's disciple.
"Huh?"
He seemed to sense something strange and looked this way.
'Did he notice?'
My heart sank.
Even though I only had a "Corrupted Heart".
"Why is this here again? Seriously, no one does their job properly except me. [Move over there.]"
Along with a voice that resonated in my skull, I felt a force trying to move my body.
And I immediately realized.
I could easily ignore it if I wanted to.
But it wasn't time yet.
I didn't resist the force trying to move my body and obediently went to where the other skeletons were gathered and lined up.
"Well, nothing's wrong. But why do we have to check this place every time when there's no one here but us? The old man is so picky."
Jeffy, who was casually checking with his glowing staff, grumbled and left the warehouse.
Creak— Click
Even after I heard the door lock, I stood still for hours before carefully moving.
There was no need to rush.
It was better to be careful and take my time than to get caught off guard.
'Hans' had nothing but time.
And this time, there was one big gain.
The force I felt when Jeffy controlled my body.
It was a very familiar force.
It was the same force that was currently moving my body.
The mechanism that moved this undead body was different from that of ordinary living beings.
I didn't even have muscles in the first place.
The force flowing through my body now, the so-called 'black magic power', was taking the place of sensory organs and muscles and causing all sorts of actions.
This must also be a basic effect of "Corrupted Heart".
And I, who had "Magic Affinity", was able to imitate the new use of this force that I had felt directly with my body.
'The way to control other undead.'
Coincidentally, there were hundreds of undead lying around me.
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