The Necromancer Who Was Despised



Prologue

No pure-blooded human shall be granted a status higher than rank 3. -The Inter-Species Union-

The limitations of being human.

A warlock is the origin of all evil. -Pope Corkols II-

Warlocks who do not have the patronage of a noble or belong to a mercenary guild are not protected in principle. -The Union of Six Kingdoms-

The limitations of being a warlock.

Even so, this was the only way for me to escape the gutter.

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Regression

“Ugh… .”

My body feels strangely heavy.

But that didn’t last long.

Bam.

A thought flashed through my head, and I found myself jolting upright.

“… Where is this?”

“You’re awake, are you?”

Yikes.

I quickly turned my head and saw a middle-aged man in dirty clothes looking at me.

“… “Who are you?”

“I saw you lying in the woods and brought you here.”

His attitude was very cautious.

‘A hunter?’

The man looked familiar somehow.

But I couldn’t quite remember.

Just as I was about to recall something, memories suddenly flooded my mind, and I groaned, clutching my head.

“Argh, are you okay…” .”

“Get out!”

“Yes, yes?”

“Get out!”

“Yes, yes! I apologize!”

My agonizing screams immediately prompted the hunter to apologize and rush out of the room.

“Ugh….”

Memories surfaced, countless and overwhelming.

Falling into the ocean, losing consciousness in agony.

I thought I’d died.

But I didn’t.

A world I’d never seen before.

Something that could only happen in a novel was happening to me.

But I wasn’t the main character.

‘What a shitty world.’

I was thrown into a world where communication was impossible and without any power or special equipment.

Power, status, money, connections, talent.

I had none of it.

‘No, I did have talent.’

I discovered it too late, but I wasn’t talentless.

It was just that when I realized it, it was already irreversible.

‘Master… is that what I should call him?’

I never called him that, but he was like a master.

The one who helped me realize my talent, the one who led me to ruin.

To me, he was a bittersweet figure.

‘No, it was my own doing.’

Objectively speaking, I was the one who made the first mistake.

Still, the last thing I saw before I died was my master apologizing to me before self-destructing with the heresy interrogators.

I was caught in the explosion and died.

But when I opened my eyes, I had regressed.

I remember exactly where this is.

‘The place where hell began.’

It was absurd.

But it didn’t take me long to accept the situation.

‘Yeah. If there can be interdimensional travel, then it’s not strange for there to be regression.’

Will I regress again if I die?

‘How would I know?’

I had no intention of dying again.

It was a miracle that I was given a second chance.

I wasn’t about to risk my life for trivial curiosity.

‘Regression….’

A sensation I hadn’t felt in so long washed over me.

Freedom.

How long has it been since I felt this sensation… .

I’ll never… I’ll never lose it again.’

This time, I absolutely will not live the same life as last time.

As that thought occurred to me, a fiery rage also took root in a corner of my heart.

The faces of the disgusting humans who led me to ruin flash by quickly.

‘Revenge, revenge… .’

That could not take priority over my freedom.

That was something that had already disappeared the first time around.

However, my desire for revenge did not easily subside.

‘Whatever, fine.’

I could do something like that.

If the opportunity arises, I’ll do it.

But my well-being comes first, and protecting my freedom is a higher priority.

Survival and freedom.

Those two would become my top priorities.

‘To do that… .’

Power.

That’s what I needed.

In this beggarly other world, the most important thing is force, more than anything else.

It’s a world where power is justice and weakness is sin.

The me of the past was weak, and that’s why I had to lose everything.

‘This time, it absolutely will not be like that.’

It’s different from the past.

My body is healthy, and I’m aware of my talent.

‘What I need is time.’

I also needed a minimal amount of status.

On top of that, I also had a lot of information that others didn’t know.

Although I was a bottom-feeder, and after being taken in by my teacher, I had been cut off from the world, so my information was limited, but even with just that, I was confident that I could sufficiently secure the power to survive and protect my freedom in this world.

‘Roughly 10 years’ worth, maybe?’

Even most of that was just hearsay or things I experienced myself.

I wasn’t high-ranking, and this world wasn’t like Earth, where the internet is developed and anyone can easily access information, so it was an unavoidable limitation.

Of course, that’s enough.

‘As for status… There’s something that’s just right.’

“Hunter!”

“Yes, yes! “Master!”

The hunter who had disappeared as soon as I called him appeared and prostrated himself.

In reality, I’m nothing in this world.

However, having just been summoned from modern Earth, my body is a bit damp, but I’m wearing clean and good-quality clothes and look very clean.

‘In the past, even though I couldn’t speak at first, that guy had a really hard time with me.’

The unknown hunter who first picked me up.

He initially mistook me for a noble.

Unusual clothing made of quality fabric and a clean appearance even in the frontier.

Unblemished skin and hands that showed no signs of hardship.

There were many factors that could have led him to mistake me for a noble.

In fact, despite our language barrier, he initially treated me with the utmost respect.

However, he quickly noticed that my demeanor was unbefitting of a noble and abruptly changed his attitude.

‘And then he sold me…’ as a slave.’

A bitter memory surfaces.

But now, things are different.

I can communicate and have experienced enough of this world.

Tricking a mere hunter from this remote frontier is nothing.

“Who is the lord of this territory?”

“Lord Awallan, sir.”

“Awallan, huh? I’ve never heard of that name. Hey. You. Hunter. “What is your name?”

“M, me, sir?”

“Yes.”

“Nenson, sir.”

“Nenson. Alright. I’ll have to stay at your place for a while.”

“M, my place, sir?”

“Yes. It won’t be long. “Lord Plan, who will have realized my absence, will come looking for me soon.”

Lord Plan.

A name I just made up.

A non-existent person.

However, ‘Lord’ is a title usually given to knights, and from the perspective of this man who thinks I’m a noble, it was only natural for him to assume that a knight would be searching for me.

‘Harming a noble is a serious crime.’

That said, killing me and completely erasing all traces of me would also be difficult.

He’s a noble escorted by knights.

If I remain undiscovered, the knight will start mobilizing people in earnest, and it would be impossible for a mere hunter in this remote frontier to completely erase all traces of a noble.

‘Even if he’s not an ordinary hunter.’

Of course, there were some inconsistencies.

A noble escorted by knights ends up separated from said knights and is found drenched in the middle of the forest?

Something doesn’t add up.

However, my appearance is far from that of a commoner, making it difficult for him to raise any doubts.

A commoner questioning a noble’s nobility?

That would be a grave insult.

The price for that is your life, so even if there are inconsistencies, he would never dare to voice those doubts.

‘Furthermore, hearing the name of his own lord and acting so indifferently would only make him more fearful.’

The hunter’s reaction was as I expected.

“It is a humble and unworthy place, sir.”

At a loss, I couldn’t bring myself to utter the words of rejection.

“I’m not expecting anything. Just don’t bother me. Let me know when Plan Kyung arrives.”

“Yes, yes…”

“Get out.”

Nenson cautiously retreats.

‘Phew…’

My body had been quite tense, so I could feel my breathing relax as Nenson left.

‘I’ve bought a little time…’

I’ve bought myself a little time that I desperately needed.

In my first life, this would have been a meaningless waste of time, but I’m in my second life.

I close my eyes, scared to secure my alone time.

And then I began to concentrate.