The Necro-Excel sheet confirmed it: Zygone's entire plan hinged on draining the kingdom's resources through phantom expenses and strategic corruption. Si-Yoon, now armed with the ability to spot financial fraud, felt a surge of cold confidence; he was Kallian von Draich, Lord of Darkness, and the North's newest CFO.
His gaze drifted to the System panel, which was still displaying his abysmal skills:
[ACTOR PERFORMANCE METRICS: KALLIAN VON DRAICH]
Shadow Magic Aptitude: F (Avoid combat.)
Current Stage Presence Points (SPP): 55 (Pathetic, but growing.)
Si-Yoon mentally reviewed the lore; the Kallian of the novel was powerful enough to cleave mountains with a gesture; he should be S-Tier in everything right now. Why so weak?
He mentally focused on the skill list.
[LORD'S MAGIC SKILL TREE (DORMANT)]
Skill: Event Horizon Projection (Grade: F)
Skill: Temporal Lock Echo (Grade: F)
Skill: Soul Weaving (Passive) (Grade: D)
He tried to mentally access the debug section of the System, demanding an explanation. The System remained silent, but the display shimmered, and a new message appeared:
[SYSTEM ALERT: POWER RESTRICTIONS DETECTED]
[BODY STATUS: The host's physical and magical essence is currently bound by multiple Essence Seals.]
Seals? Si-Yoon thought, his jaw clicking rapidly. How many seals are there?
The System silently updated the status message, replacing the generic text with a terrifying number:
[ESSENCE SEALS ACTIVE: Over A Dozen!]
Si-Yoon stared at the panel. His non-existent eyes felt hot. Over a dozen.
He was transmigrated into a handicapped villain and was fighting with the power of a mildly talented ghoul.
He slumped back into his chair, pulling the heavy Scepter of the Void close and clutching it to his skeletal frame like a security blanket. He let out a silent, internal, pathetic sob.
A failed actor. Zero combat skills. Inherited a kingdom drowning in debt. And a dozen seals on his soul. I am playing a tragic comedy, and the only tragic character is me.
The System was quick to monetize his despair:
[+15 SPP: Action perceived as 'Lord Contemplates the Infinite Weight of Unjust Fate.' Excellent display of internal melodrama. Menace Rating increased to 90%.]
[Current SPP: 70]
Si-Yoon ignored the points; the sheer weight of his task had doubled. He had to break those seals, one by one, if he was going to get strong enough to survive the Holy Hero, let alone defeat Zygone. This wasn't just acting anymore but an evolutionary imperative.
He needed power, and power required Dark Essence. To collect Dark Essence efficiently, he had to eliminate the budgetary drain and the source of the Essence corruption: the High Necromancy Administration Corps.
He focused on the power system; the core difference in this world lay in Essence. Undead, like himself, draw Dark Essence from the North's corrupted land. Humans, drawing on the purity of the world, use Holy Essence, which is often funneled through the Church or specific relics. The two Essences were mutually destructive, and manipulating Dark Essence required Aptitude (his F-Tier skill grades). The higher the grade, the more Essence he could safely channel and use.
First, the purge. Tyranny begins with efficient HR.
He retrieved a piece of fresh parchment and began drafting a memo.
He stood up, snatched the Scepter of the Void, and strode out of the hidden study, the sound of Commander Mortem silently standing guard outside his entrance.
"Mortem," Si-Yoon commanded, his voice sharp and now perfectly reverberant thanks to the recent Improved Vocal Reverb purchase. "Assemble the High Necromancy Administration Corps in the Grand Hall. Immediately. This is a matter of Evolutionary Selection."
Mortem flinched, radiating confusion, but instantly complied, vanishing in a plume of shadow.
Si-Yoon entered the Grand Hall. Eighty members of the Corps were assembled; mostly skeletal mages draped in dusty robes, bloated ghoul advisors, and a few minor vampire clerks looking terrified.
Si-Yoon ascended the throne, projecting maximum Menace. He placed the Scepter across his bony knees and let the silence stretch.
"Corps," Si-Yoon's voice resonated, chilling and bored. "I have reviewed your contributions. The verdict is clear: you are stagnant. You are a drain on the Dark Essence I require for true, ultimate dominion."
He paused, letting the fear build. In 21st-century terms, they're redundant.
"Therefore," Si-Yoon declared, channeling the spirit of a venture capitalist cutting ties with a failing startup, "I am enacting The Grand Structural Adjustment. Eighty percent of this corps is redundant. Your positions are terminated."
Whispers immediately broke out.
"Terminated? But my Lord, I've been researching cursed parchment placement for two centuries!" whined a skeletal scribe.
"Silence!" Si-Yoon roared. He raised his hand and initiated his F-Tier skill: Event Horizon Projection.
A small, shimmering, oily black puddle, roughly the size of a tea saucer, appeared on the stone floor right in front of the front-row ghoul. It looked pathetic, but the air around it shimmered with the genuine, terrifying force of a nascent black hole.
Si-Yoon pointed a bony finger at the puddle, then at the terrified Ghoul.
"This," he sneered, "is the Event Horizon. Step across it and demonstrate your worth. Fail, and you will be consumed by the Void of Unemployment, your salary re-allocated to a more... efficient project."
The Ghoul, terrified, took one look at the shimmering oil slick and fainted dead on the stone floor.
The rest of the Necromancy Corps instantly understood the demonstration. This wasn't just firing them; this was a Trial by Existential Vacuum.
"My Lord!" shrieked the senior Vampire Clerk, his hands shaking as he held his briefcase. "We understand! You demand true efficiency! Not wasteful expenditure!"
"Indeed," Si-Yoon stated, holding his pose. "Consider yourselves Restructured. The remaining twenty percent will receive a massive bonus and be retasked to Internal Auditing; locate every single instance of 'phantom feed.' I want the North's budget running with terrifying efficiency."
The twenty Necromancers who were spared instantly bowed so low their spines cracked. The other sixty scattered, screaming, suddenly terrified of the unemployment void.
The System chimed immediately:
[+45 SPP: Action perceived as 'Lord Eliminates Bureaucracy with Trial by Cosmic Vacuum.' Masterful use of F-Tier skill as a psychological prop. Charisma (Undead) increased to D.]
[Current SPP: 70]
Si-Yoon let out a silent, triumphant breath. Forty-five points! He was now powerful enough to invest in breaking the first Seal. But that required careful planning.