Chapter 43 Part2 (1/2)

<chapter 43.=”” return=”” -=”” 2=””>

”B-But...”

”But what? You already knew this, Mr. s.h.i.+n Woo. That all the undead in the Underground Empire have stagnated. Even if they raise their levels, their 'existence' won't change...”

There was no doubt about it, so when she said the unthinkable, he fumbled with his words.

”But don't the undead have a clear sense of ident.i.ty? Like the Archmage. Compared to most humans, he's much more...”

”Mr. s.h.i.+n Woo, an undead's sense of ident.i.ty or their intellect has no bearing on their true ident.i.ty. It doesn't matter how rational or knowledgeable they are; having a clear goal doesn't matter either. Because the undead are irrevocably tied to the past, they cannot see the future. And they cannot even act in the present. That is their 'ident.i.ty', which they cannot escape from.”

Lee s.h.i.+n Woo was struck by a dull shock. He could understand it mentally. That's exactly what individuality and ident.i.ty meant. No matter how skilled one was, they couldn't go against their natural instincts.

And to the undead, that instinct was 'stagnation'. The undead didn't want to change. They wanted to stay in the same place and repeat things over and over again. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo could understand. At least, he thought he could understand, but... he really didn't get it.

”How... How can that be? The Undead Emperor is level 9. The Archmage is not only level 8 like me, but understands mana much better than I do. What's worse, he knows spatial magic, so he can get through the barrier whenever he wants...”

”It's because they've become undead. They must've stayed underground for far too long. They have become unable to go to the surface.”

”...”

”They forever remember the day that they were banished, and they hate everything on the surface. They want to tear the Magic Emperor to pieces, but... Despite that, they wish to remain underground. You must accept it, even if it doesn't make sense. It's their natural instinct, just like eating is necessary for humans to survive.”

How pitiful. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo briefly thought that they did nothing wrong. They researched a way to get out, and made themselves into the undead, yet... As a result, they were unable to escape and were trapped underground. How ironic.

”Come to think of it, G.o.d told me that I had to kill the Emperor to stop the 'spread of the undead curse'. She didn't say, 'they might come to the surface, so stop them'.”

”Yes. For her part, she didn't lie to you about that from the very beginning. It was also something she couldn't hide from you.”

It was so obvious that he'd forgotten at some point. He'd stopped thinking at a crucial moment. No, he'd thought that the fearsome undead weren't affected by logic and could do whatever they wanted.

'I can understand why the Magic Emperor wasn't worried. He should've gotten a report from Arema Steelworker on the Undead Emperor's movements, so he would be sure that the Undead Emperor isn't going to invade the surface. That must be why the surface dispatched heroes at first, but then stopped soon after.'

He'd finally solved the puzzle. There were still some mysteries he hadn't solved yet, but he could just look into those in the Underground Empire. Like the actual goal of General Seagald's Anti-Skull...

'What a pain in the a.s.s. That guy's goal might be different from what I first suspected...'

”Mr. s.h.i.+n Woo. You're not thinking something strange, are you? Something like, 'I'll send all of the undead to the surface myself.'”

”Oh, nice idea.”

”Mr. s.h.i.+n Woo!?”

”I'm just joking around.”

Pleine was startled and yelled. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo grinned and tried to calm her down, but it didn't work. She must have some deep-rooted feelings.

”When G.o.d made you into an undead, she granted you a little bit of divinity to erase the undead's 'ident.i.ty'. It was a desperate attempt on her part, but it worked a lot better than she could have hoped. But to think you'd be able to do the same with other undead...”

”Ah, as I thought.”

Lee s.h.i.+n Woo was talented in using the darkness element, and was even able to make the Pauls his subordinates when he was at a low level, making them freer than before. They prioritized his orders, but they had no other restraints.

In other words, they weren't stagnant like the other undead in the Empire. They were freed from the past and were capable of moving forward.

”So I thought you might take the Empire's side and lead them to the surface...”

”Putting the deceased on the proper path, huh... That sounds pretty cool.”

”You wouldn't be putting them on the proper path, but on the path to ruin!”

It was a joke, of course. To repeat, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo didn't want to live in a world filled with death. But this plan showed him some actors that he could control on his stage. Since ancient times, there was nothing better than a foreign enemy to unite the people.

If he controlled the situation properly, then he could lead it in a favorable direction for him. His vague plans, which he'd formed upon coming to the surface and acting as Kay, were being adjusted in his head.

”...Haha. It's become quite interesting.”

”Haha. Your ominous smile is making me shake all over.”

When he was level 7, he may have had some special abilities, but he was still at a much 'lower level' than Pleine. But by reaching level 8, his existence had fundamentally changed. As a result, he became almost on par with G.o.d's representative, Pleine.

She still beat him in terms of pure magic and power, but he was ahead of her in terms of his authority. It seemed like Lee s.h.i.+n Woo was still unaware of this, but Pleine had noticed.

'No matter how talented he is, or whether he was bestowed divinity or not, I didn't expect him to max out one of his elements already. It's much more surprising than learning a high rank element! But what is his element? I can't tell with just the energy it's emitting...!'

Of course, she didn't say all that. She didn't want Lee s.h.i.+n Woo to be biased or conceited about his own abilities. He would continue to grow at a rapid pace, and if she said something now and affected that growth, then she wouldn't be able to take it back.

”Alright, I get it. In the end, my job hasn't changed much.”

”If you're willing, I'd like to hear what the job of yours entails... You won't tell me, will you?”

”You can just watch and enjoy, Pleine.”

”Will I really be able to enjoy it...”

”Jin Jin, come over here.”

”Y-Yes!”

Was she intimidated by the sight of them talking so intimately? After they'd deepened their relations.h.i.+p, she acted close to him too, but she walked over stiffly, as if she'd forgotten all about that. Seeing that, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo smiled bitterly and asked.

”Are you still far from level 7?”

”Ah, no. I'm not close if you look at my combat experience, but I achieved a lot of feats in the Underground Empire, so I gained a lot of stats. And as you know, I used a lot of the money I got from working as Lawrence's representative to buy medicine...”

”You bought it and...?”

”I need about 1,000 stats to reach level 7.”