Taming Master

Honestly, the odds were half and half.

‘No, the chances of winnings were much higher.’

Of course, as long as the Commander’s Roar unique ability was in progress, there was no way for Ian to beat Mukan.

But he had a ‘not going to lose’ confidence.

Ignoring the attacks, the survival skills were just enough to endure anything.

And if he could have survived the duration of ‘Commander’s Roar’. Then he could have created plenty of odds.

‘Barrier, Descend. Space distortion… there were plenty of things to survive.’

But Ian hadn’t done those.

Woong-!

With a low voice, the darkened view slowly brightened.

And with that system messages came before Ian’s eyes.

Tring-!

[Died from the attack of Mukan, the Underworld King.]

[‘Soul Bound’ effect has been triggered.]

[Death Penalty (24 hours not accessible) doesn’t apply.]

[Experience points have been reduced.]

[1 level has been reduced.]

[You are in the state of ‘dead’.]

[* ‘Dead state’ penalty: become ‘Undead’ and get stuck in the underworld for three days (While in Undead, experience, and items cannot be obtained.)]

[Open your eyes again.]

Was it 2 seconds since the system messages have come up?

Ian’s blackened vision began to brighten once again.

‘Well, is this the Underworld?’

But the place that Ian looked at seemed very familiar.

The place he had lived for the last month.

The steep spot where the Falcacio castle rose.

‘…!’

Ian who was flustered looked around immediately.

The Underworld King who had won the battle couldn’t be seen anywhere, and the only group of users around him caught his eyes.

But the next moment, not knowing just took a deep breath.

And right before the eyes of Ian, was the fallen body of his.

‘Ah, sh*t, scared me to death!’

Was a breakout supposed to feel like that?

Ian could feel his whole body have goosebumps.

“There was no need to implement this so realistically.”

Ian mumbled to himself and looked at Hoonie who seemed very sad.

Surely his situation gave him creeps too, but apart from that, he was curious and playful.

‘Should I have some fun with Hoonie?’

As Ian was literally a ghost, no one could actually see him.

Ian approached the back of Hoonie and moved his hands towards him.

Swoop-!

Unfortunately, the translucent hands couldn’t touch Hoonie.

[Physical power cannot be done while in a state of ‘dead’.]

“Sh*t…”

Ian cursed and looked around.

Realizing that nothing could be done in the place, he was thinking of why he couldn’t find a way to the underworld?

But right then, when Ian was about to turn around.

The deceased Ian of Lotus, right?

A voice of someone was ringing in the ears of Ian,

Rather than being heard with his ears, the sound felt like it was echoing all over his head.

Ian reflexively turned his head, a mysterious man wearing a huge black camp was in his sight.

As if he was walking down to the transparent stairs, the man slowly descended from the sky towards Ian.

And when he saw the figure, Ian mumbled under his breath.

“Ha, Grim Reaper!”

The reason for Ian’s astonishment was simple.

It was because the behavior of the man was very familiar.

A man with a familiar appearance that appeared in oriental tales; which had black shades, and black coat.

The man was literally screaming ‘I am the Grim Reaper’ from every part of his body, and Ian’s response surprised him.

-How do you know me?

“Uh?”

-What is your identity?!

At the question of identity, Ian responded with a rather silly face.

“I’m looking at you for the first time. I don’t know you.”

-Didn’t you just say ‘Grim Reaper’?

“Ah, that… I did right?”

-How did you know that I’m the Grim Reaper?

“That…”

-…?

“You look like the Grim Reaper.”

-…!

The two people were looking at each other with a rather silly expression. No, a ghost.

The side whose mouth opened the first was the Grim Reaper.

-Well, is it a ‘person you remember from a past life’?

“What is that?”

-Ah, not that human. But follow me for now.

He shook his head and then pointed his hand to a direction.

An empty crack began to appear at a space.

Woong- Woong-!

A purple portal leading to a dimension was created by distorting the space.

To Ian who was witnessing all this with a blank expression, the Grim Reaper spoke in a rather dry manner.

-Get in there.

“What is in there?”

-A haven for the dead.

“Underworld?”

-…?

The Grim Reaper once again narrowed his eyes.

But soon the Grim Reaper decided to speak with Ian and opened his mouth again.

-Just don’t talk and get in there.

“The, well.”

Ian just nodded and stepped into the portal without any hesitation.

The purple energy sucked Ian inside.

The Grim Reaper, after watching it from behind, took slow strides with a frown still on his face.

– Suspicious guy.

As the Grim Reaper entered the portal, the whole portal vanished like it never existed.

* * *

Tring-!

[You have entered the ‘Underworld’ for the first time.]

[Since you are dead, the initial discovery reward doesn’t apply.]

[You have discovered the ‘Underworld’ for the first time.]

[Acquired fame of 100,000.]

[In ‘Underworld’ physical power can be exerted even in the state of ‘dead’.]

[You have entered the dimensional type, ‘Middle-Earth’.]

[All the stats from the Earth are rebuilt.]

[Transcendence level will be applied.]

A whole new dimension, an entirely new dimension type called the ‘Middle-Earth’, a lot of system messages came up for Ian.

‘Huhu, I’m going to be the first intermediate.’

For Ian to purposely die in the hands of the Underworld King, a well enough reason was present.

And it was extremely intense and computational.

‘It wasn’t default on the contract of the Titan Guild… so I didn’t do anything wrong.’

The ‘dead state’ that allowed him to enter the Underworld.

It was in fact a penalty with quite a risk.

The death penalty, that didn’t allow a login for 24 hours, didn’t apply, and the 1st level down penalty applied.

In addition, three days of being trapped in the Underworld without gaining experience or rewards were actually worse than the average death penalty.

But that was all ‘only in general’.

‘Since I have the Dimensional Beads…’

Ian had the Dimensional Beads that would open the path to anywhere if he had been there.

If the map was known; the coordinates could be opened, and the door could be opened at any time, which meant Ian could come to the place after the 3 days death penalty.

‘The Underworld King’s necklace cooldown time was 15 days. Even if Shakran manages to win over the Underworld King, I will be able to enter 12 days early, and first.’

And that didn’t break the contract with Shakran.

And the opportunity he was offered was the entry to the Underworld.

As he was feeling a bit sorry, he just did method acting.

He did his very best and then died trying, it would hurt Shakran to pursue it.

‘I’m glad that the King was strong, if he was weak, I wouldn’t have been able to enter anyway.’

Ian smiled while he remembered the Underworld King and put his hand through his hair.

Even the time that he has to do a penalty in a ‘dead state’, he had things he had thought of.

Ian was going to go through the underworld for three days and then figure out as much content as he possibly could.

‘Highest efficiency hunting ground, pre-emptive items. I need to know everything that I can possibly get. I need to find the best location to open the dimensional portal…’

Ian came up with these and other numerous plans in his head, he started to look around.

And the first sight to enter was a large river with no end, and a small ferry.

“That can be rode?”

Mumbled Ian as he slowly approached the small ferry.

But after a while, in the plan of Ian’s, came in a huge disruption.

The person who disrupted his thoughts had appeared.

-Uh, human. Where are you moving in that direction?

Ian reflexively looked in the direction of the sound, and there was the Grim Reaper looking at Ian with a ridiculous look.

“Uh? Uncle, why are you here?”

-Huh?

“Isn’t this hell?”

-Right.

“Doesn’t your job finishes when bringing me to the next place?”

At the logical question from Ian, the Grim Reaper seemed a little stunned.

-That… that so…?

Ian spoke to him again,

“You must be busy, right?”

-Me?

“Yeah. There are many people who have died apart from me. You need to bring them too.”

At the question from Ian, the Grim Reaper pulled out a yellow paper into his hands.

-Yeah well. I do have a lot of work to do today.

“Don’t bother with me anymore, and go on and take care of the next job.”

-That, that so?

“Yeah. I’ll find out and take that ship. Okay?”

Ian was persuading the Grim Reaper to prevent any disruption in his plan, he moved over and got on the ferry boat.

Waving his hands to the Grim Reaper, he spoke loudly,

“You did great work uncle. I’ll buy you a meal next time!”

The Grim Reaper couldn’t help but feel confused at the conversation he had with Ian, he was in a dazzled state.

Ian got onto the boat and began to paddle across the river.

-Something, something is strange…?

The Grim Reaper looked over at the ferry boat with a dull expression.

His mumbling was the only thing that could be heard in the empty Underworld.