Chapter 05
Click!
The inventory window opened, and the dart set was automatically stored inside.
Urgently, I equipped it and immediately threw it at the zombie horde.
Several clustered zombies were hit, and they seemed to fall down quickly as if it wasn’t a regular weapon.
Strangely, the dart pin would disappear after killing a zombie but would reappear in my hand.
It wasn’t unlimited, though—each throw seemed to decrease the durability that I had seen earlier.
[Previously Locked Main Trait ‘Necromancer’ Unlocked]
[Skill ‘Temporary Command’ Activated]
[Passive Skill ‘Hell Summon’ Activated]
I tried to say something to Alex.
But everything was already too late.
The flirt with a foul mouth, who nevertheless worried about his remaining family—his brother—Alex Ramey….
…was consumed by the horde of zombies and met his end.
“Get away….”
I’m not feeling good even though we had a brief conversation.
“Get away from Alex!”
[Used skill “Temporary Command.” Low-level undead within a 10-yard radius will follow a single simple command for 5 minutes. This skill has a cooldown of 10 minutes.]
The blood-covered zombies rushed away from Alex, according to the system message.
Alex, as expected, was dead, completely exhausted. At least he died quickly with his arteries cut, so it seemed he didn’t suffer for long.
If I had discovered the weapon earlier, if the skill had been activated sooner.
Maybe Alex would have…
‘What am I even thinking? If I’d found it earlier, what would it have changed? He was already infected. Would he have died less gruesomely?’
As I sat there in a daze, another notification popped up.
[Passive Skill ‘Hell Summon’ has automatically initiated. The summoning target will be randomly matched. The strongest corpse nearby will be chosen as the summoning vessel.]
Alex Ramey’s lifeless body began to emit a deep crimson glow.
What in the world was happening?
[Syncing the deceased with the summoned entity.]
0%
2%
5%
28%
44%
69%
86%
95%
99%
100%
[Synchronization complete.]
[Summoned creature has been summoned.]
Alex Ramey, whom I thought was dead, suddenly opened his eyes.
At the same time, a silent lightning bolt flashed around the cabin.
For a moment, Alex’s entire body appeared stark white, illuminated by the lightning, before returning to its normal state.
His injuries were gone, as if they had healed during the summoning process.
Above his head, a new status message appeared—unlike anything I’d seen before.
[Hell Summon ‘Soul Burned in Sulfur Fire’]
[Hellbound Creature HP]
[■■■□□□□□□□]
[A newly summoned entity is in a weakened state and requires the summoner’s support.]
Support? What kind of support?
Before I could even understand what was happening, Alex slowly raised his upper body and tilted his head, looking at me.
For some reason, I recalled what Alex had said about himself before dying.
“Back at school, she was like a reptile with high intelligence but no visible emotions. Her eyes only ever showed cold anger.”
This… this was just like the Alex he described.
Alex Ramey was undeniably dead. So, who—or what—was now in that body?
The man staggered as he stood up, moving around as if checking the condition of his unfamiliar body.
“It’s been so long, I can’t seem to adjust.”
His tone was oddly different from Alex’s yet eerily similar, as though he were an older, darker version of himself. Was I imagining it?
His cold, disdainful gaze pierced through me.
“Summoning me as a mere pawn?”
After briefly criticizing me, Alex walked somewhere.
He then found an axe leaning against a corner and tapped its handle against his hand.
“Seems like it was an axe for chopping firewood for barbecue or something.”
[Beginner’s Axe (F-grade)]
[▸ Chipped Camping Axe]
[Acquired!]
The system had earlier said Alex was my summon. Perhaps because of this, Alex’s item acquisition message was also sent to me.
When he swung the axe forcefully once, it made a deep, resonant sound of cutting through the air.
The axe with options looked even more threatening in Alex’s physically capable hands.
“I’ll use this as a weapon.”
Alex began ruthlessly slaughtering the zombies who couldn’t attack due to my command skill’s time not yet expiring.
We returned to the campsite without speaking a single word. Just like Alex was a fake Alex, Christine was a fake Christine. Perhaps this fact had severed our communication.
Regardless, the being summoned as Alex seemed uninterested in talking to me.
Fine. I’ll just check the status window with the ‘Sage’s Eye’ without asking.
[Alex Ramey]
[Primary Trait: Tanker]
[Secondary Trait: Necromancer’s Summoned Creature]
Curious, I took a deeper look. The “secondary trait” section had been changed and unlocked. This was clearly a different entity, as even his status screen had undergone transformation.
“Watch your surroundings carefully.”
“Yes?”
Unconsciously, I responded with honorific language due to Alex’s authoritative tone.
“Look to the side.”
Following his words, I looked to the side and felt my body tilt.
‘Was it the right side, not the left?’
Due to a sudden downpour, part of the lateral ground had collapsed. The left side, eroded by rain, was slightly higher ground.
‘I’m falling!’
My body fell without resistance. I had been handling all the chaos pretty well, but I must have been more exhausted than I realized.
Alex dashed toward me at an alarming speed. The impact felt like being hit by a car, knocking out what little consciousness I had left.
Just like me, the habits remaining in the possessed body seemed scary.
‘Hey, tackling someone you’re trying to save like that could actually kill them….’
…I hate seeing people die.
‘Why was I standing here?’
I was blankly standing at the crosswalk, and gradually my memories returned.
Oh, I remembered.
I was waiting for my dad.
I finally spotted him on the other side of the street. Recognizing me, he waved brightly, a bag of fried chicken—our dinner—hanging from his hand.
“Dad!”
I waved back excitedly, but then a strange feeling crept in.
The traffic light changed, and dad was crossing.
Yes, I already knew this scene.
‘No! Don’t cross!’
But my voice wouldn’t come out. Because I knew… if he crossed, Dad would—
He’d be struck by a speeding car driven recklessly by a drunk driver.
The vehicle surged forward, skimming across the lanes in an instant. Screeching tires, the sound of brutal impact, the shattering of glass.
When it was over, all that remained was the broken fragments of glass and bloodstains etched into my memory, along with the horrific reality of his death. It’s an event that’s haunted my dreams countless times.
After Mom left us when I was little, Dad raised me on his own. He always said he wanted to see me graduate college. But he never got to…
That’s why—
…I hate it!
“Ugh!”
I opened my eyes, which had been closed.
I seemed to have lost consciousness very briefly.
In front of me stood Alex Ramey—or, more precisely, the resurrected Alex. And somehow, I was lying on top of him.
His cold gray eyes, so unlike the original Alex’s, stared directly at me.
Blood from his black hair spread into the puddle behind him. Ironically, his bloodstained forehead had recovered, clean without a single scar.
Through his wet, stuck-on black t-shirt, I felt a body distinctly different from mine—larger and more solid.
And… his heart was beating and warm. Just that was enough to make me feel relieved. Not dead. Alive… at least physically.
“Never leave my side from now on.”
His words made me instinctively pull back slightly in distrust. As I scrutinized him, his expression didn’t match the sentiment of his words at all.
“You summoned me, didn’t you? If you die, it’ll be a problem. Especially if it’s something as stupid as falling to your death.”
“Why would that be problematic?”
He frowned for the first time.
“If the summoner dies, I have to return to that place.”
“That place? Where’s that?”
Alex—or whatever entity was inhabiting his body—paused briefly.
“Not your concern.”
What’s with the attitude? This Alex was somehow worse than the original. They were two different types, but both were equally good at running their mouths and being insufferable.
“How long are you going to stay on top of me?”
With my sarcastic comment, I tried to get up from him. No, I couldn’t get up.
“Ugh!”
I must have twisted my ankle during the fall.
Just great.
Awkwardly dragging one leg, I started leading the way.
“Hey, um. What should I call you? Summoned Creature?”
He raised an eyebrow at me, his gaze briefly flicking to my injured leg.
“….I don’t care. Call me whatever you want.”
“Wouldn’t using the original owner’s name cause less suspicion?”
“Then do that.”
“Alex Ramey. Let’s first go back to the cabin for now.”
But Alex didn’t show any signs of following.
“Why aren’t you coming quickly?”
He started moving, but not to follow my command.
“Grip tightly, you’re frustratingly weak.”
“Wh-what! What are you doing—ah!”
Suddenly, Alex scooped me up into his arms.
Princess… carry…?
Thank you for reading! ♡
