Project Necro is an official initiative by Re:Library.

Right as I spotted signs of a magic spell being cast, I immediately took cover behind a rock and counted to five.
I spun around and darted out. I directed my gaze in the ruins of an underground city far below the cliff—and just as I had expected, the moment my enemy…a one-eyed giant clad in ornate armor and wielding a massive jet-black sword—yet in a gruesome state, with flesh crumbling away in places on its limbs, exposing bare bones and muscles…lost sight of me, its target, its magic failed to activate, leaving it immobile for the duration of the post-cast delay in addition to the casting time.

If my timing were off even for a second, a nasty spell would fly my way—one that would inflict fatal debuffs including Silence and Stun, as well as the removal of all my buffs.
On the other hand, if my timing to attack were too late, they’d break free from their stun and I’d receive a painful counterattack. This moment always sends a chill down my spine no matter how many times I go through it, but it seems I’ve managed to get through it safely once again.

“Cest Shest Dzen; Mana Drow Lea Lea Lea — di Vierga! (10th Tier Purification Mantra: ‘O Light, Light, Light, Overflow, ‘O Mana — ‘O Blade of Light!)”

The soprano voice flowing from my mouth, as if weaving a song, uttered words that, to an outside listener, sound like a meaningless string of syllables.
This is what you’d call a Voice Command to cast the magic… Though it felt embarrassing at first, once I got used to it, I no longer had to keep glancing at the command list or macro windows, allowing me to keep my field of vision clear. So, I’ve practiced all the spells I use frequently over and over until I’m satisfied, ensuring I can recite them at any time.

It’s already been a month since I holed up in this dungeon.

After repeating the incantation hundreds, perhaps thousands of times, I am now capable of chanting it at a breakneck pace in less than two seconds, and four spears of light appear around me.
The spell I use is called 【Divine Spear】—one of the few offensive spells I possess, given that my skill build is purely support-oriented and lacks almost any offensive capabilities.
Learned late in the secondary Job of Bishop, this spell has a somewhat significant post-cast delay, but its cooldown until it can be used again is relatively short, and it’s incredibly effective only against enemies of a specific element.

Initially, you can only summon one light spear, but by maxing out your proficiency—which increases as you continue using skills and magic—you can increase this to two. Furthermore, by using two types of scrolls obtainable from raid bosses to break through the skill limit, you can expand the number to my current maximum of four. Once you reach this point, you’ll boast top-tier DPS (damage per second) against Undead, Devils, and Mental Life Forms vulnerable only to MP damages, making this Priest-type Job one of the best damage dealers amongst all other Jobs in this specific instance.
While there is the issue that it only deals MP damage to other enemies, it remains a highly effective means of attack against Undead-type foes.

There are about five seconds left until his stun ends.
I watched from the corner of my eye as the spears of light automatically homing in on the target, guided by the system’s assist, while I waited impatiently for the stun caused by the post-cast delay to wear off… Now!

With my mouth now able to move again, I begin casting a new spell.
This time, it’s a spell called 【Solid Ray】, which can negate physical damage once.
It’s a defensive spell that lasts only a very short time and must be timed to coincide with enemy attacks, but it has the advantage of a short cast time and no post-cast delay.

As the incantation completed and a barrier composed of a grid of light—formed by numerous interlocking regular hexagons—unfolded in front of me, the four Divine Spear from earlier hit my distant target, slightly reducing the enemy’s HP by a few dots.

Next, I use the spell 【Holy Breath】 to add pseudo-HP and boost my durability.

At this point, I finally see the enemy, now free from the stun, grab a rock from the ground and assume a defensive stance with its staff held in front.

――The next instant, a boulder, larger than my own torso, flew toward me at a terrifying speed, only to be deflected by the defensive barrier and shattered into pieces.

……The downside of Solid Ray is that it cannot block the penetration damage and stun effects associated with attacks that have high impact attributes.

Although the direct damage from that attack—which would likely have reduced me to a state worse than minced meat in a single blow—was nullified… the impact still sent my petite body flying several steps backward, slamming me into the wall.

The extra HP granted by Holy Breath moments earlier was stripped away like paper, and my HP gauge passed through yellow and turned a deep, reddish-orange.
My whole body went numb, and I almost collapsed to my knees, but thanks to the 【Rest Field】 I’d set up beforehand—a ground-based, sustained status ailment healing spell—the effect was immediately dispelled.
Since there was still plenty of time left before the effect wore off, I decided it wasn’t necessary to reset it. That gave me some breathing room until the enemy’s next move, but I’ve learned the hard way time and again that getting greedy leads to trouble.
I used a healing spell to fully restore my HP while I had the chance, and the moment the enemy began casting a spell now that its post-cast cooldown had ended, I rolled behind a rock to break eye contact again.

…The enemy still has more than half its HP remaining.

Just a little more to go. I suppressed my impatience with sheer willpower and refocused my attention solely on the mental countdown.

.

“Haa, haa… Is it… over?”

After repeating that monotonous sequence—one that would collapse instantly if I made even a single mistake—an agonizing number of times… I found myself looking down at a giant undead figure slowly collapsing far below, right at the very edge of the range of my anti-undead attack spell.
I leaned my body against the long staff I was gripping with both hands to steady my legs, wavering from mental exhaustion, and stared blankly at the level-up effect shining brilliantly overhead.

…When I brought up the status window, the number 110, the level cap for my current secondary Job 『Bishop』, glowed in the level field.

Six months have passed since I refused my sister and friend’s persistent offer to level up with me, insisting that they prioritize their own leveling.

Although they managed to secure their desired Jobs, they were worried that we wouldn’t be able to party together due to the level reset. I promised them I’d catch up with them soon, and that was three months ago.

As the season shifted from winter to early summer, I felt a growing sense of anxiety about keeping them waiting. I searched for Undead-type enemies that I could hunt solo in an Ancient Ruined City dungeon, and that was when I accidentally triggered a pitfall trap. It led me to a hidden room—the ruins of an underground city roughly twice the size of the Tokyo Dome, a location never discovered before.

Using an appraisal item to check the levels of the enemies roaming the area, it seemed to be a zone meant for very hardcore players—and one that even those sweats would struggle unless they bring about their full parties. … After passing through the side tunnel where I’d fallen, I found myself on a small ledge—a strange, protruding cliff-like formation on a gently sloping wall—that I could traverse from end to end in just ten steps, and where enemies couldn’t intrude.

Whether it was a glitch or not, the monsters’ massive bodies caused them to get caught in the “no-entry” zones defined by the cave’s underground city structures, preventing them from approaching me. For some reason, they appeared right at the very edge of my magic’s range, so I was able to attack them.

That said, while their melee attacks couldn’t reach me, if I was too slow to dodge the stones they occasionally threw, my HP would drop to critical levels in a single hit—even over a defense spell cast at full power. They also cast status-altering spells, so the fact that I hadn’t died once up to this point was nothing short of a miracle, requiring me to perform a routine that was a hair’s breadth from disaster.

Since these monsters are likely melee-type by nature, I can only imagine that if I were to face them head-on, I’d be beaten to death in the blink of an eye. The fact that it’s turned into monotonous pattern-based grinding is likely due to their lack of means to attack from a distance.

I managed to get through using a method that was pretty much in a gray area, but actually, after I’d leveled up once this way at the start—or rather, after I’d “accidentally” done so—I was terrified by the unprecedented amount of experience points I received. I reported it to the admin, prepared to have my account deleted if necessary.

As a result, I initially received a notice of a severe warning and a one-week temporary account suspension—a punishment far lighter than I’d expected—but… for some reason, the punishment was rescinded that very same day. I was told it was a directive from higher-ups stating that this was simply how the game was designed, so it wasn’t a problem, and the matter was swept under the rug.

Though baffled, I gratefully took advantage of the situation despite lingering guilt, and finally made it this far at a pace rivaling that of serious grinding by popular classes.
It’s been a little over thirty days in real time. I’m starting to feel like I’m going to grow mold.

All that’s left is to complete the event, and then I’ll finally be able to catch up with my sister and friend, who’ve already reincarnated and are waiting for me on the other side.
Eager to see them, I told the two of them I was heading back to town right away. Just as I activated the teleport gate—which every player can use once a day to travel to any town they’ve visited—an alarm rang in my head, warning me that I had only thirty minutes left before reaching the eight-hour limit on consecutive playtime.

For health reasons, this game has a restriction: if you’re logged in for more than eight hours within a 24-hour period, you must observe a cooldown of at least twelve hours.

…It seems, unfortunately, that I’ve run out of time for today.

Feeling both surprised that more time had passed than I’d expected and disappointed at being denied access right before my eyes, I stepped through the gate leading to the town where a friend I hadn’t seen in a while was waiting.