I Became the 1st Floor Boss of the Tower

[Your Mana Power is now Level 2.]

[Part of your body’s seal is lifted.]

[Your unique ability is released.]

[You have acquired the Black Mana.]

[You have acquired 『Stat: Dominance』.]

[You have acquired 『Skill: Shadow Space』.]

Before Cha Yu-Min arrived, Lee Shin’s mana power had exceeded 50,000 points and his mana power level had risen by one notch. At the same time, the seal on his body was lifted to Unlock Level 2, and he acquired unique abilities like dominance and a skill called Shadow Space.

Dominance was an indispensable stat for necromancers. The higher the dominance, the more power they could exercise over other people.

[Shadow Space]

The number of undead that one could keep in space depended on the level of one’s dominance.

Lee Shin had found a way to take May and Warrie when he left the first floor. His current dominance was at Level 1, but he could raise it further.

[Black Mana]

# This skill has death properties.

# You will have a strong dominance over the undead species.

Compared to anything else, this was the most important ability.

“It still doesn’t make sense even if I look at it again,” Lee Shin muttered.

The Black Mana allowed strong dominance over the undead species and had death attributes, which were abilities that any necromancer would dream of having. Lee Shin could finally understand how Gene Ebrium had risen to the level of transcendence.

‘Everything is starting to make more sense. It’s because he had such incredible unique abilities…’ thought Lee Shin.

Lee Shin had never thought that he would get his unique ability here, but it was a huge harvest. Perhaps if May had received this Black Mana, he would not have lost so helplessly to Cha Yu-Min.

‘I wonder if he is doing well.’?Lee Shin had asked Cha Yu-Min to do many things, so that was now beyond his control. No difference could be made even if he worried about it more.

“Hoo.”

After taking a deep breath, Lee Shin sat on his desk and opened Gene’s diary.

-My life as a necromancer is over. The increasingly blurred mind is not the only problem.

Gene Ebrium had an accurate sense of his physical condition. He was aware that he was becoming crazy.

-There is not much time left. I searched for countless ways, but there was no way to restore this broken body. Just like this, my existence will fade away forever. I cannot let this happen.

Lee Shin flipped to the next page.

-I am not sure how much time has passed. I do not have the luxury of time to calculate that. Today, I have finally found a clue to restoring this body.

Lee Shin could sense Gene’s nervousness from his writing in the diary.

-A month had passed since I found the clue. The study was all ruined, and I cannot remember what had happened during the last month. What could have happened so far? Fortunately, this diary and the note that had mana protection were safe.

Gene Ebrium’s mind was falling apart.

-The only way I can recover from this condition is by raising my mana class. Only when I reach the class of God can I lift this painful curse.

-When I raise the mana level, my class as a mage will rise. Although I can restore some of the contaminated mana blood right now, there is still no way for me to raise the mana level.

-I will not write anything in my diary until I find another way.

Lee Shin smiled in bitterness, and closed the diary. There were more diary entries written on the following page, but there was nothing on how to recover the mana blood.

‘Gene, I will continue on with your will.’ Lee Shin made up his mind.

The last part of Gene’s diary was not very helpful. He seemed to have written them when he was losing his mind; he was frustrated. Just by looking at Gene’s diary, Lee Shin could understand how much pain Gene Ebrium was in at the end of his life.

Lee Shin was in a completely different situation compared to Gene. When Gene was locked up here, it seemed like no challengers showed up. Or maybe, this place itself was not a part of the tower before.

Anyways, Lee Shin was getting help from the system, and the Immortal Sphere gave him a strong advantage. Just as it was written in Gene’s diary, Lee Shin had to climb the tower first in order for his class to rise. Only a part of his body’s seal had been lifted. Raising his mana level wasn’t sufficient to regain his skills.

He had to reach the class of Deity.

“Maybe in here…” Lee Shin muttered.

Lee Shin went inside the lab and stood in front of a door that he could not open until now. He had not been able to enter, no matter how hard he had tried. What he had figured out so far was that the door opens only when specific mana was injected. After acquiring Black Mana, Lee Shin was sure that the specific mana required to open this door was it.

Wouldn’t there be something special that Gene had left behind in this room?

The Black Mana swirled. A deep scent of death could be picked up from this Black Mana and Lee Shin injected it into another mana that was blocking the door.

Coo-gu-gu-gu-gung–

Just as Lee Shin had expected, the tightly closed door began to open when the Black Mana was injected. There was a small space behind. In the room, there was a coffin that seemed roughly made yet elegant in design. Even if Lee Shin swept his finger over the coffin, there was not a speck of dust.

‘Hmm… There’s another semi-permanent preservation spell on this as well,’?Lee Shin thought.

Lee Shin wondered what could be in the coffin. Taking a deep breath, Lee Shin slowly opened the lid. He tried to soothe his pounding heart.

“Is that… a person…?” Lee Shin was shocked.

There was a pale-skinned woman with violet hair, wearing an antique dress made with black and red silk. The beautiful woman lay so modestly that Lee Shin wondered if he had ever seen anyone prettier than her in his life.

‘This mana wave seems…’?Lee Shin could feel the mana wave that was entirely different from that of humans.

At that time, while Lee Shin was investigating the mana wave, the Black Mana suddenly reached out to the woman who was sleeping. He had not used the Black Mana, but it was as if the Black Mana was attracted to her by instinct.

The Black Mana began to surround her soul as if it was trying to bind to it. Then, suddenly, the woman opened her eyes wide and looked at Lee Shin blankly. Her beautiful eyes were just like two red jewels. And just by looking into those eyes, Lee Shin felt as if he would be absorbed into her.

When his body unconsciously moved towards her, Lee Shin grabbed the coffin urgently and pulled up his mana power to stay focused.

“She’s a vampire…” Lee Shin muttered.

[The Vampire Queen’s soul is waking up from a long sleep.]

[Black Mana is trying to dominate the soul of the Vampire Queen.]

[The Vampire Queen’s powerful soul refuses to be dominated.] 𝐛𝗲𝐝𝐧𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝗼𝐫𝗴

“Ugh!”

Lee Shin suffered a rebound when he failed to dominate her soul.

“Is it you Gene…?” The woman's expression changed in an instant, from emptiness to excitement. She got up and hugged him.

[The Vampire Queen’s soul accepted your Black Mana.]

[Lilian, the Vampire Queen, became your subordinate.]

[A powerful being has joined you.]

[Your dominance has increased.]

[Your dominance has increased.]

[Your dominance has...]

“Gene! You’re finally back!” Lilian shouted in excitement.

Lee Shin could not think of how to react to this situation. He had expected Gene Ebrium to leave behind some sort of legacy, but Lee Shin had never anticipated that it would be the Vampire Queen.

The Vampire Queen was not someone to be mentioned casually. She belonged to the top class, so no one in the tower could ignore her.

The Vampire Queen was a monster that ranked among other beings that belonged to the King-class.

“Wait… Hold on a second…” Lee Shin thought that he should first clear up this misunderstanding.

As Lee Shin loosened Lilian’s hand and freed himself from her, he sighed and looked at her.

“Why don’t you let go of that charm first?” Lee Shin asked.

“Huh? What do you mean? Oh! I guess you’re not fully recovered yet. All right,” Lilian replied.

She did not do it on purpose, but the charm of vampires, especially that of the Vampire Queen, consumed a tremendous amount of mind power just from looking at it.

Now that she belonged to him, the amount consumed was less. However, it was still a burden for Lee Shin to face her for a long time.

“Thanks. I think there’s some kind of misunderstanding, but I’m not Gene Ebrium,” Lee Shin explained.

“What? What kind of joke is…” There was a sudden change in Lilian’s expression.

After Lilian realized that Lee Shin was different from Gene Ebrium, she soon caused an atmosphere of heaviness.

“So, w-w-who are you? How dare you do that… to Gene…!” The atmosphere became even heavier in an instant.

The pressure from her rage began to crush Lee Shin. Lee Shin clenched his teeth and barely managed to resist it by pulling up his mana power.

“Stop!” Lee Shin shouted.

Lilian was subordinate to Lee Shin’s mana. As the Black Mana pressed against her, her aura diminished considerably.

‘Shit! One-third of my mana disappeared in an instant.’ Lee Shin was anxious.

Since Lilian was Lee Shin’s subordinate, it made sense that the more she used her power, the more his mana power got reduced. Lee Shin had to stop her quickly.

“Just calm down and look carefully! Look where Gene Ebrium is!” Lee Shin tried to explain.

“You’re trying to exterminate me until the end. I don’t know how you took Gene’s place, but it won’t work anymore.” Lilian was upset.

Lee Shin was covered with cold sweat for the first time in a while. Although she had accepted the Black Mana, it was a great deal of pressure to overcome her with his sealed body and limited power.

“Pay attention and take a close look! If you can’t see him, feel him. Gene Ebrium is here,” Lee Shin shouted.

“What…?” She breathed rapidly and her eyes grew bigger.

Lilian’s blurry vision was now focused and she gazed in wonder over Lee Shin’s shoulder.

“No way…” Her pupils began to shake like an earthquake.

‘Gene is here.’?Lee Shin knew that there was a soul that was more seriously broken than any other soul on the first floor.

The almost erasable existence of Gene had certainly existed here. Gin’s presence was clearly visible to Lee Shin who had gained the ability [He Who Knows Death].

‘I didn’t know at first.’?However, as Lee Shin began merging with Gene’s body and studying Gene’s research materials, he also began to see and feel Gene more clearly.

Lee Shin was not sure if Lilian had the ability to see the souls of the dead. However, with her high class, Lee Shin thought that she might be able to feel Gene. That was why Lee Shin explained it like that. And it worked out as he had expected.

“...Gene is really there. But how…? How did this happen to him…?” Lilian started to sob.

After recognizing Gene’s presence, Lilian frowned as if her world had collapsed.

“But… How are you connected to Gene?” Lilian was curious.

“There’s a diary that Gene left behind,” Lee Shin replied.

“... May I take a look at it?” Lilian asked.

“Sure,” Lee Shin replied.

Lee Shin handed Gene’s diary to Lilian who was sitting helplessly. She looked through the diary for a long time without saying a word, and she started trembling. Lee Shin held her trembling arm.

“This is Gene’s handwriting…” When Lilian read what Gene had gone through, she was furious.

“How did you end up in Gene’s body?” Lilian asked.

“I…” Lee Shin decided to show his past to Lilian for the first time.

Lee Shin had never done this for anyone before, but he could feel her sincerity toward Gene. He thought that Lilian could be his companion to ease the weight of his heavy task.

“It can’t be…” After hearing Lee Shin’s story, Lilian’s eyes shook like a candlelight in the wind.

They could share emotions now with their new relationship. She knew that there was not a single lie in what Lee Shin had said.

“Please help me… so that I can avenge Gene,” Lilian asked in a desperate voice.

“That’s what I want to ask you. I’m planning on bringing down the gods on the top of this tower. So please support me with your strength,” Lee Shin replied.

“Okay, I will risk everything that I have,” Lilian added on with a determined voice.

“I appreciate it,” said Lee Shin.

[Lilian, the Vampire Queen, declared her complete submission.]

“I will call you my lord from now on,” Lilian suggested.

“Nah, there’s no need to do that. Just call me Lee Shin. I don’t need all those honorifics,” said Lee Shin.

“... Okay, I’ll just call you master,” Lilian replied.

“By the way, I’m consuming too much mana power trying to keep you summoned like this. Is there another way?” Lee Shin asked.

There was still a little room to spare, but it was still a burden for Lee Shin to keep Lilian in a summoned state.

“I have the ability to go back to the bloodline at any time. Alternatively, I can change my body into a different form. Both would ease the burden a little bit,” Lilian suggested.

“Would we still be able to communicate?” Lee Shin asked.

“We won’t be able to communicate if I’m in the bloodline, but if the master wants to call me, that’s still possible,” Lilian explained.

“Oh, for real? Then let’s change you into a different form right now,” Lee Shin said.

“All right.” Lilian’s body turned into blood and in an instant, she turned into a small bat.

At the same time, the pressure that came from her existence was reduced, and so did the mana consumption.

“Just letting you know, I won’t be able to use my strength properly when I’m in this form. Be aware of that,” Lilian explained.

“Okay, thanks for letting me know,” Lee Shin smirked at Lilian who landed on his shoulder.

“I look forward to working with you,” said Lee Shin.

***

“Master, the documents that you have mentioned… Wait, what’s that?” May tilted his head at the sight of a bat that was attached to Lee Shin’s shoulder.

May was confused. “There’s no way we have a bat here.”

“Say hi. It’s our new teammate,” Lee Shin explained.

May looked at the bat with a surprised look. “A teammate…? That little guy is our teammate?”

May did not like the arrogant look on that little face.

‘What can that little thing even do anyways…’?May did not notice her power at first, because he was unhappy with the situation. However, when he took a closer look at the bat, the mana that flowed through her body was unusual. The level of her mana power was contrary to her small and cute appearance.

“What is this?” May asked.

“She’s the Vampire Queen,” Lee Shin said.

“A v-v-v-vampire? And she’s also a queen?” May stuttered.

“Yes, she is,” Lee Shin answered.

May believed that the little bat was the Vampire Queen, because he knew that his master would never lie about this. May breathed a sigh of relief that he did not act rude to that bat yet.

Squeeekkk—

“Master, the Undermost People have… What is that bat? Hahaha! She’s so cute.” Warrie, who suddenly opened the door, approached the bat and tapped its head.

Lee Shin laughed at the sight, and May, frozen and startled, watched the scene blankly.

“How dare you, petty Skeleton!” The bat’s body turned into blood and red waves hit Warrie.

“Huh? What is this…!” Warrie was shocked.

“I will never let you do that again,” Lilian spoke in an annoyed voice.

“H-h-h-help me… S-s-s-save me, master…!” Warrie cried out for help.

Lee Shin shook his head and stopped Lilian, putting an end to this incident. Fortunately, it was a minor one.