Chapter 9: Crown of Regret

Everyone knows I’m not in my right mind.

They’re probably just keeping quiet because they don’t want to see a necromancer causing a scene while drunk.

“Hajun?”

Damn it.

Since returning from the expedition, I’ve had countless drinks, but none as miserable as this.

“Hey, Hajun.”

How many times have I returned alone?

This isn’t the first.

There were times before when I came back alone and drank like this.

Back then, too, I encountered unexpected enemies, and the party fell apart.

And back then, just like now, there was nothing I could do to save them.

Damn it.

This time feels even more wretched than before.

“This is just messed up.”

Back then, I came to my senses only to find the party already destroyed.

It was a mission to retrieve lost items.

An easy mission, and everyone was confident it would succeed.

If only we hadn’t accepted that rational yet foolish suggestion to each grab a sack and bring it out of the forest alone, things wouldn’t have ended that way.

When I returned, carrying a bag I’d found among the vines in the forest, there were no teammates waiting for me.

The party had already fallen apart.

I waited half a day just in case, but no one showed up.

In the end, I returned alone.

And just like then, I’m returning alone now.

Jian. Daro. Somi.

It was a proper team I’d found after so long.

A bitter taste fills my mouth.

Oh.

Already finished another glass?

“Sir.”

The pub owner, who manages the explorer’s haven, looks at me quietly.

“One more, please.”

Silently, he takes my glass and fills it with fresh liquor.

Yeah.

A drink to celebrate my return—this much should be okay.

Hmm… I drank the last one for Daro.

Then this one’s for Jian.

I look at the empty seat beside me.

No matter how many times I look.

There’s no companion to share this drink with.

Even if we’d returned together, we wouldn’t all be sitting here drinking.

Daro maybe, but Somi… she always disliked me.

Who would want to drink with a necromancer?

Daro, that friend, probably didn’t have anyone else to drink with, so he’d hang out with me.

Ha.

Damn it.

I throw back the drink.

Just like I’ve been doing all night.

But it’s right when I take a sip of the new drink.

Someone taps my shoulder.

“Hajun!”

Who is it?

I don’t know a soul in this town.

I turn around, and a familiar face is staring at me with a strange expression.

That guy.

He’s the one who handles office tasks.

What was his name… Ravi?

“What?”

I answer curtly, and Ravi scratches his head, crossing his arms.

“You know you’re supposed to report in when you return, right? Every explorer is supposed to check in with the supervisor first. Don’t you know that?”

“I didn’t see the supervisor.”

“They just stepped out for a moment. They were waiting for you to come back and just left a bit ago. Thought you ran off somewhere…”

What? So it was nothing serious.

Here I thought something big had happened.

I can report it tomorrow.

The supervisor isn’t going anywhere.

I focused back on my drink.

“And we have a guest.”

A guest?

I looked back at Ravi.

I could see a somewhat goofy-looking guy with his arms crossed.

That guy isn’t important at all.

He’s someone I’ll be seeing far too often in the future.

But the blonde hair I saw behind him…

Blonde?

“Huh?”

While I was mumbling stupidly, a person who had been hiding behind Ravi suddenly appeared.

No, wait a minute.

“What are you doing all alone?”

“Sister.”

A visitor from outside who came to the explorer’s haven, guided by Ravi.

The tall woman with bright blonde hair was Seoha, who worked as a guide for our necromancer guild.

She was older than me.

So, sister.

“Why are you here, sister…”

There’s no reason for a necromancer guild guide to come to the explorer’s haven.

Seoha isn’t even an explorer.

So why?

She crossed her arms and let out a deep sigh.

“Why do you think I came?”

That’s a good question. Why did she come?

I put down my drink and made space for her to sit.

There’s plenty of room since no one else is next to me.

For now, I decided to act like I didn’t know anything.

“I won’t leave until I finish this.”

“Really?”

“And I still have one more drink left. I need to finish that too.”

Seoha naturally sat down next to me.

Ravi returned to the office.

A necromancer sitting in the explorer’s haven.

Beside her, the necromancer guild guide.

“I’ll have a drink too.”

Seoha calmly ordered a drink.

Then she casually asked me,

“Is it okay if I have one?”

Maybe…

It seemed like she had figured out why I was drinking.

This isn’t just any drink. It’s a celebratory drink. A commemorative drink.

A drink to celebrate my safe return—by myself.

Sounds like the title of a web novel.

“By myself, the dungeon returnee.”

Damn.

If that’s the case, I wouldn’t mind if she drank too.

“Go ahead.”

The pub owner placed a drink in front of her.

She lifted her glass.

Unlike before, someone was sitting next to me now.

“Okay, then…”

I extended my glass.

This time, the sound of our glasses clinking resonated.

“Cheers.”

“Cheers.”

For some reason, I felt like I wanted to cry like a dog.

When I opened my eyes, I saw an unfamiliar ceiling… or rather,

a familiar ceiling.

It was the lodging attached to the necromancer guild.

My home.

I couldn’t even remember how much I drank yesterday.

I distinctly remember Seoha appearing and having a drink with me.

She must have dragged me back to the lodging.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Who is it?”

“Hey, Hajun. Are you awake?”

I heard Seoha’s voice from outside the door.

What time is it now?

“Yes…”

“Do you want to rest a bit more? Or should we go outside?”

I couldn’t answer right away.

My head felt foggy and disoriented.

So I sat on the bed, spacing out for a while before finally responding.

“I think I’ll rest a little longer.”

Then I heard her reply from beyond the door, “Okay~.”

After confirming she had left, I flopped back down onto the bed.

My head still felt a bit nauseous.

Ugh. I thought I was going to die from forcing myself to drink alcohol I rarely had.

Looking out the window, it didn’t seem like it was even noon yet.

I considered going downstairs to read a book, but nothing particularly drew me in, so I decided against it.

“Status window.”

[Hajun (Lv 2, Human, Poor Equipment, Healthy)]

[Class: Necromancer]

[Abilities]

Strength: 5

Agility: 5

Intelligence: 6

[Health]

Hangover

[Progress to Next Level: 11% Remaining]

After completing the last mission, I had accumulated quite a bit of experience points.

It seems like just one more mission will get me to level 3…

In Dungeon Overseer, leveling up doesn’t suddenly boost a character’s performance.

You do get minor bonuses like basic health or attack accuracy, but that’s just bonus level stuff.

The real specs of a character are determined by their equipment.

I once said that Dungeon Overseer was a game where gear was everything.

First, you need to find good equipment to beat even the goblins passing by.

Without proper gear, you can’t do anything.

Speaking of which, my scythe is broken.

Even though I’m a magic user, I still need equipment.

Magic can be learned at the Necromancer Guild as long as you pay for it.

High-level spells require a grimoire, but I haven’t reached that level yet.

In the end, I need to buy new equipment with the money I earn from missions.

I have to visit the market. I also need to see the supervisor.

I have a lot to do.

But still… I don’t want to get out of bed.

Ah.

I should have drank in moderation.

#

When you think of the Necromancer Guild, a gloomy atmosphere comes to mind.

There are skull decorations set up or a large scythe hanging at the entrance.

Eerie old men draped in robes, cackling like corpses.

Some of those are true, but some are not.

There are indeed skull decorations.

There’s no scythe, but there is a broken scythe instead.

There are old men, but they are locked away in their rooms all day.

They actually get angry when guests come to visit.

The most intriguing thing I’ve found since I started living in the Necromancer Guild is this:

The front lawn of the Necromancer Guild.

Passing by the skull-shaped decorations that signify it’s the Necromancer Guild and entering the guild grounds, you find quite a spacious lawn.

It’s actually maintained by a gardener affiliated with the guild.

It’s well-kept, and there’s even a table that can seat about six people.

If I ask Seoha, she’ll even provide a tablecloth.

We can lay it out and have lunch outside.

Of course, if you’re not a guild member, no matter how beautifully the lawn is decorated, you can never eat there.

Who would be crazy enough to enjoy a lunch picnic in a necromancer’s den filled with necromancers?

But Seoha and I are guild members.

Since there’s no one else around anyway.

We decided to claim lunch for ourselves today.

We spread out the tablecloth, and Seoha placed the lunch she bought from the market on it.

Today’s lunch is noodles.

Noodles made with fish bone broth.

“Was the line really long?”

Seoha chuckled as she unwrapped the noodle packaging.

“Were there really that many people?”

“Yeah. It wasn’t even a new shop, but there was this long line! If we had been just a little later, we might have gone hungry for lunch.”

I doubt we would have starved just for not getting a bowl of noodles.

Anyway.

Seoha took a big bite of noodles and blew on them to cool them down.

She seemed to find her hair a nuisance and swept her bangs back with her left hand.

After cooling the noodles to a reasonable temperature, she took a delicious bite.

“Yum!”

Then she smiled like the happiest woman in the world.

“It’s delicious!”

I wonder if there’s any other woman who could be so happy over a single bite of noodles.

If anything, it’s simple, I guess.

Still, watching her eat made the noodles bought from the market feel like incredibly delicious food.

“You should try it too!”

Before she could pester me any further, I took a big bite as well.

Hmm. It tastes like fish.

It might be anchovy or mackerel.

This is almost the same as banquet noodles.

It’s not bad.

But it’s not delicious enough for that level of excitement.

“Isn’t it good? How does it taste?”

“Um… it’s good, but…”

What should I say?

“It has a familiar taste.”

“Oh really? It’s my first time eating here.”

“It’s my first time too.”

As I answered like that, Seoha squinted her eyes and pointed her chopsticks at me.

“Hmm. Hajun, aren’t you the son of a pretty well-off family?”

“What are you talking about? If my family was rich, I wouldn’t be living like this.”

“Your taste is pretty refined, though?”

Refined my foot.

I’ve just gotten used to MSG, so most food feels somewhat similar to me.

It’s hard to explain that I had a different place I used to live.

“It definitely wasn’t made from freshwater fish. It must be made from something that came from the sea! Look! Everyone knows what’s delicious!”

“That’s true.”

“If we had been just a little later, we might not have been able to get any!”

“Wow.”

Clap, clap, clap.

Seeing her so proud, I clapped a few times out of courtesy.

Seoha chuckled and continued eating her noodles.

“Hajun.”

“Yes, noona.”

“Are you really not the son of a rich family?”

“I’m not, I tell you. I’m a necromancer. What would a rich kid want to do being a necromancer?”

“Is that so?”

Seoha quietly ate a few more bites of noodles.

Then she put down her chopsticks and looked at me with a serious expression.

Her gaze was very different from before.

“Hajun. Then, you know…”

“Yes?”

“Why do you want to be a necromancer?”

It was a question I found hard to answer right away.

Why do I want to be a necromancer?

Well… I fell into the Dungeon Overseer universe.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a strange world.

I don’t know whose prank this is, but I can see the status window in front of me and choose a class.

In that brief moment, dozens of answers flashed through my mind.

However, none of them were responses I could share with Seoha.

In the end, there was only one answer I could give her.

“Have you ever heard of the Crown of the Forgotten?”

The ultimate goal of Dungeon Overseer.

In Dungeon Overseer, the objective is to return with the Crown of the Forgotten, stored in the deepest part of the final dungeon.

If this world is Dungeon Overseer, and if I am one of the characters in the game,

then the moment I obtain the Crown of the Forgotten, the game ends.

There’s no certainty anywhere.

But that’s the only hope I can cling to.

Somehow, I need to become stronger, find the Crown of the Forgotten, and finish the game.

“The Crown of the Forgotten?”

“Yes.”

“Hajun.”

Seoha’s expression darkened as if she had heard something she shouldn’t have.

“That’s just nonsense.”

“No, noona.”

“The last priest you served? A crown imbued with the power of the gods? Those are all lies made up by nobles who are crazy about dungeon development. The idea that a goddess can turn your life around with a single treasure is pure fantasy—everyone can see that it’s a bait.”

“Noona, that’s not it. I don’t think it’s a completely baseless rumor.”

“Really? Do you really think the Crown of the Forgotten exists? That a priestess from 400 years ago is still alive and guarding the treasure?”

She clearly didn’t believe me.

But I had to answer.

“Yes.”

“So you’re saying that’s why you want to keep exploring? As a necromancer?”

Now, silence might be taken as affirmation.

I remained silent.

She probably wouldn’t believe it.

Working as a guide for the necromancer guild, she must have heard various rumors.

She probably hadn’t even heard a single story about someone seeing the Crown of the Forgotten until now.

Naturally, she would think that way.

That the crown is a lie.

But I know.

If this is a world like Dungeon Overseer, then the crown does exist.