4.

    There was never a calm day in the E-World User Management Team.

    Particularly, Deputy Lee Won-sang had been running around since morning, overwhelmed by the chaos.

    He didn’t even have time to give a reprimand to his junior, Oh Jin-hyuk, who was just admiring the situation.

    How busy he was was clear enough without needing to be explained.

    Thanks to Seong’s activity since early morning, the workload had increased.

    Thankfully, thanks to Seong leaving before lunch, Lee Won-sang had a brief moment to relax.

    Though there was still a problem.

    "Sigh..."

    "Senior? Why do you look like that?"

    "...???"

    Oh Jin-hyuk, who had been looking at Lee Won-sang with a puzzled expression, began to shiver, as if he had realized something.

    Then, as if he had figured it out, he nodded.

    "Ah, it’s because of that user, Jinwoo, right? Who could have known that someone would suddenly give away a rare-tier skill book?"

    "Yeah, that’s true."

    Lee Won-sang was about to say something about the Barfur corpse incident, but there was that too.

    The user Jinwoo.

    There was no way Lee Won-sang didn’t know whose alt it was.

    Kim Jinwoo, one of the executives of the Rapid Guild.

    He was also a fairly well-known figure in the User Management Team.

    "Kim Jinwoo from the Rapid Guild. Yeah, I knew he joined the Rapid Guild."

    He didn’t expect that he would give away a corpse explosion skill book worth over 20 million won as a gift.

    But that was just how it was.

    For now, since Seong wasn’t active, it wasn’t too busy.

    It was almost lunchtime, and he had just eaten.

    Then, suddenly, Lee Won-sang felt a sense of de?ja? vu.

    Wasn’t it just like this when he first started working here?

    He remembered the time when he woke up feeling refreshed in the morning, coming in with a good mood and having no work to do.

    ‘Nah, surely nothing’s happening.’

    But, of course, something had already happened.

    Would something else happen?

    Feeling uneasy, Lee Won-sang quickly prepared to monitor Seong.

    However, Seong had not logged in yet.

    Despite this, his unease remained.

    What was this unease?

    Instinctively, Lee Won-sang decided to check Sekhan Village.

    It was almost like an instinctive action.

    And, as expected...

    "U-uh!? Are those... the Lions of Overpalace?!?"

    "......"

    Lee Won-sang closed his eyes tightly, sensing the ominous feeling.

    There was no need to look anymore.

    Why?

    "Woah! Senior!! Look!! They''re giving Seong a skill book—Add More!!? Wow! Overpalace is amazing!!"

    "Whoa!! Senior!! There’s some unknown power here too!! This time, the stats went up by a total of 40!!"

    "Wow!! All these undead are moving like they have AI!! This is crazy!!"

    Even with his eyes closed, Oh Jin-hyuk eagerly relayed everything.

    Since Overpalace had moved, Lee Won-sang knew he had to report this.

    On his way to report to Team Leader Ji Hye-jeong, Lee Won-sang took out an envelope from his pocket.

    ‘Should I submit my resignation while I’m at it?’

    For a moment, stressed by the situation, Lee Won-sang made an irrational decision.

    But, realizing how foolish it seemed, he wiped away a tear and put the resignation letter back in his pocket.

    5.@@@@

    A Legendary-tier skill book.

    Was it really appropriate to apologize and cry while giving something like this?

    Seong felt his common sense crumbling.

    ‘What kind of standard is this?’

    It seemed more than enough, but in comparison to the name Overpalace, it felt a bit low.

    Still, crying while giving away a Legendary-tier skill book seemed strange.

    As Seong felt perplexed, the three of them cautiously bowed their heads, trembling.

    Did they mistake Seong’s slightly twisted mood for anger?

    He wanted to say no, but...

    ‘It seems hard to deny the mood here.’

    Even Seong, usually so calm, was a little overwhelmed by their behavior.

    However, they had been so considerate, it felt like he had to meet them halfway.

    "This is more than enough."

    "Ah, we are simply ashamed to stand before the gracious successor."

    "......"

    "Uuuuuuuh!"

    As Seong expressed his awkwardness, the crow-masked man cautiously spoke.

    "Due to the treaty, we cannot always be at your service, but we will strive to do better next time."

    "......Treaty?"

    Even Overpalace couldn’t do anything about this "treaty."

    Seong figured it was probably referring to the system.

    He nodded, realizing this.

    "Aaaaah! We bow to you! How did you acquire such an amazing power!?""Kerek! Kerhook! (Incredible!!)""Kurook! Kekek! Kehugh! (As expected of our Lord!!)”

    It was disappointing, but there was nothing to be done about it.

    ‘Still, the numbers have increased.’

    At least he had more to work with.

    As Seong was settling with that, the ghosts nearby started to approach, drooling.

    ‘What are they doing?’

    Even though Seong had seen many ghosts, this was the first time seeing them act like this.

    No, actually, he felt like he had seen this before.

    Was it in Persville?

    When undead without souls had been created by the Aura of Death, ghosts had gathered in that situation.

    Back then, he had ignored them since he was too busy, but now it seemed more curious.

    Seong approached one of the ghosts and asked.

    “What’s going on?”

    "H-hah! That... that is...""Ah, ahh! We couldn’t dare speak to such a noble being..."

    The two ghosts who approached cautiously spoke, and Seong tilted his head in confusion.

    Why were they speaking so carefully?

    Seong continued observing them.

    "C-can we be granted possession too?!""We were quite skilled back in the day!!""We were mercenaries!!"

    The ghosts, claiming to be from a mercenary group, approached.

    There were about twenty of them.

    But what did they mean by “grant possession”?

    Seong suddenly had a thought and looked at the undead with empty souls.

    Could it be?

    ‘Do they want to be placed inside there?’

    Was that even possible?

    Well, now that he thought about it...

    It seemed plausible.

    Seong first absorbed the memories of the mercenaries.

    The memories of twenty mercenaries!

    The turquoise energy from the ghosts flowed into Seong.

    As Seong greedily absorbed the energy, his veins began to bulge, as if in pain.

    ‘This is tough.’

    And he instinctively realized something.

    At least for today, he wouldn’t be able to absorb more memories.

    [You have displayed power beyond your current capabilities due to "Unknown Power."]

    [Strength +10, Agility +20, Health +10 permanently increase.]

    The memories and experiences of twenty mercenaries flowed into Seong, but instead of feeling refreshed, it was more like he had overeaten, as the turquoise energy began leaking from around his mouth.

    ‘Hoo...’

    The turquoise energy scattered like mist in the winter.

    Some memories were lost.

    He wasn’t too upset about it, though, since he knew his limit.

    That was enough.

    However, the ghosts of the mercenaries raised their stats by roughly 2 points each, unlike the famous figures like Eddie the former instructor or Apik the hunter, who had raised their stats by 5.

    ‘Still, my total stat increase was 40.’

    It was an impressive increase.

    As Seong began to feel satisfied, the faces of the mercenary ghosts brightened, realizing that they had now connected with Seong.

    However, after reading their memories, Seong realized something.

    ‘They shouldn’t be placed in there.’

    He shouldn’t place them inside the goblin undead.

    It wasn’t that they had committed evil acts or were malicious people.

    But...

    Seong immediately dissolved the duplicated goblin undead using 『Add More』.

    The faces of the mercenaries turned dark again, realizing they wouldn’t be able to possess them.

    Would they not be able to possess anything after all?

    Seeing their gloomy expressions, Seong smiled and snapped his fingers.

    A turquoise heart appeared behind him, pulsing with life.

    And at the same time, a turquoise mist spread out.

    The skeletons that came into contact with the mist began to vomit out the same turquoise energy.

    Seong then turned those skeletons into death soldiers, matching them with the mercenary ghosts.

    “Seems the goblin bodies aren’t a good fit for you.”

    "Ahhh!!""Ahh!!""Grrk! For us!!"

    Seong then used his abilities.

    Even though he had never known how to use his powers in his 22 years of life, Helena had taught him how.

    How to utilize his abilities and handle ghosts.

    Now, it came so naturally to him.

    He made twelve skeleton warriors, six skeleton archers, and two skeleton mages, and placed the mercenary ghosts inside them.

    The newly formed twenty skeleton death soldiers.

    The existing death soldiers were excited, as if welcoming them.

    "Our servants, now we have more to serve the Master!!""Kerek! Kekek! (Let’s toast to this!!)""Kurookikeck! (Blessed are those who follow the Lord!!)""Thank you! Thank you!"

    Seong nodded in satisfaction as he watched.

    Although he hadn’t found a soul to fill the duplicate Barfur, it was fine.

    ‘It’s better to place a superior ghost in there.’

    Seong thought, looking at his new army.

    They immediately understood Seong’s wishes and shouted together.

    "Let’s sweep through this place!""Kerek! Kehook! (Death! Let’s offer their deaths to the Lord!)""For the Master!""Let’s conquer everything!"

    As they all shouted in unison, the surrounding undead who hadn’t been assimilated by Seong''s army were quickly swept away.

    Seong, observing how well his army fought, kept his Death Aura active, watching his army clear the graveyard.

    By the end, the only undead left in the graveyard were Seong’s death soldiers.

    [Level up!] x4

    [You have reached level 34.]

    Having obtained 『Add More』 and learned how to fill undead with ghosts, Seong thought quietly to himself.

    ‘Incredible.’

    It was a simple, yet powerful realization.