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Stop, Friendly Fire! - Chapter 10

Published at 3rd of December 2018 09:39:45 PM


Chapter 10

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<Chapter 10. Partner >

"Did you wait a long time?"

In just 13 hours, Jin had returned with the leather bag Lee Shin Woo had given him completely filled, speaking like a girlfriend who had arrived late to their meeting place. Of course, Lee Shin Woo didn't even have a girlfriend before, so he wasn't bothered at all and spoke.

"It's alright, since I was busy reading this."

"What is it?"

Lee Shin Woo raised and showed the bundle of papers to Jin, who carefully thrust his head forward; the edges of the papers were gradually weathering away and disappearing with every gust of wind. Jin likewise didn't know the Empire's language, but he could read the title of the documents without much difficulty.

"The Anti-Skull... Plan?"

"You wanna read it?"

"Yeah..."

Originally, he didn't really like reading very much, but Jin thought that there was something more to these papers than just a waste of time; yet he couldn't joke like that as Lee Shin Woo's face was much too serious.

Ultimately, he nodded his head, and Lee Shin Woo laid one of the papers on the ground, which best summarized the current state of affairs, so that he could read it easily. Lee Shin Woo then turned his head back to the papers. It was the last page.

"This is... Did the Empire have a force that knew about the impending curse and was preparing for it by any chance!?"

"Ah, so you didn't know."

For a few hours after clearing and leaving the dungeon, Lee Shin Woo thoroughly scrutinized the data he'd acquired from the sewer hidden facilities.

Anti-Skull was lead by General Seagald, and was a group created to prevent the Emperor's plan; at the same time, it was the name of the project that researched ways to prevent them from becoming undead.

"There're detailed records written here about their research into preventing them from becoming undead. In laymen's terms, at the heart of the research was their attempt to magically create a body beforehand which wouldn't be affected by the curse."

"So what happened? Did they succeed?"

"No."

Was it because he was also undead? Jin asked in a deeply interested voice, and Lee Shin Woo replied firmly, cutting him off.

That's right. The plan progressed in multiple ways, but all of them became frustrated. There were several cases where the tested individuals exploded, and it was common that their bodies wouldn't even be able to use mana anymore.

On the contrary, this experiment with Acid Poison wasn't bad. The test subjects didn't die, and actually became stronger; though they degenerated into the undead, they were able to retain their memories and their reason as well.

'Even if they meet humans, the current Pauls shouldn't be driven by their hatred.'

Regardless of their intent, all undead hated humans. It was like a suggestion engraved into their instincts. Because of that, humans also consider undead enemies. Though Lee Shin Woo didn't really know about it since he was an undead as soon as he arrived in the Empire!

'I wonder what state General Seagald is in?'

Based on the reports, General Seagald was gathering forces through various means to prevent the Emperor's plan, while also actively participating in the Anti-Skull’s experiments with his subordinates.

In the past, he opposed the Emperor and certainly raised a force, but considering how he couldn't prevent the curse despite that, his rebellion must've failed in the end. What happened to him as a result? Was he still alive, surviving as an undead? If he's still alive, what would be the state of his reasoning?

The day would come where he'd be able to figure this out. Lee Shin Woo didn't really need to take the lead and figure it out himself. Since there were a lot of seniors already ahead of him.

"Do the other heroes know about this?"

"Wouldn't they? I don't really have any plans to check, but they probably do."

Of course, he had coincidentally learned of Anti-Skull in the sewer dungeon, but there were various secret facilities hidden throughout the Empire. If he assumed that the majority of them had become dungeons, a portion of his seniors should've been able to find them already. At least, that's what Lee Shin Woo thought.

"You did some quests, right?"

"I got the inventory and the chatting channel as well."

As if he were demonstrating, Jin put the leather bag in and out of his inventory. Seeing that, Lee Shin Woo nodded his head and took the bag.

There were different bones that filled the bag to the brim, and they were all bones from at least level 2 monsters, just like Lee Shin Woo had instructed. Rarely, he saw some level 3 bones as well.

"How was your hunt?"

"When I actually got started, it wasn't that hard. It felt like I got a bit used to battle in just a few hours. ...Yeah, laugh it up."

"Nah, it's normally like that."

Lee Shin Woo finished inspecting the bones and raised his head, locking gazes with Jin. His face, which blazed with blue goblin fire, came right in front of his own.

"Now you're going to accept me as your colleague, right?"

"Of course. However, there's something I'd like to check before that. What's the ability you got from God as you were dropped onto this world?"

"Mmm, that's... well you're undead too, so I guess it's fine to tell you."

Jin was briefly conflicted, but soon he scanned Lee Shin Woo's body and slightly nodded his head, and opened his mouth for the second time. In a way, Lee Shin Woo had anticipated what he had to say, but at the same time, his expectations were completely off.

"Truthfully, I have an ability that revives me even if I die. It's an ability called the Blessing of Death; the magic of the curse is absorbed, and the accumulated power is changed into a blessing. Even if I die, it makes it possible for me to revive."

"The magic of the curse? Ah."

"Yeah, that's why I'm accumulating magic even now. It's not very much, though..."

The curse's magic, which transformed people into the undead, was overflowing in this world right now. In exchange for Jin having no curse resistance, his skill took care of it. It was a complete surprise to Lee Shin Woo, who thought Jin would definitely have the 'Invisible Heart' like him.

"Though the magic I've accumulated is only enough to revive me twice."

"So the reason you just constantly ran was because of that skill's effect, huh."

"It's embarrassing, but... yeah."

Lee Shin Woo felt refreshed. He had thought that no matter how depressed Jin was from becoming a Skeleton Horse, just constantly running was too much, but after learning about his ability, he realized that Jin had run to stockpile the necessary energy to activate his skill.

"I've already died once, so I've become afraid of dying again. I couldn't tell Jin Jin, but that's how it is. I'm pathetic, right?"

"No, I understand. Very sincerely."

The reason Lee Shin Woo could decide to fight without much difficulty as soon as he was dropped into the Empire was because he could revive 99 times. If he had arrived with the same skill Jin had, he would've done the same as him.

'In any case, when I compare his ability to mine, it's kind of subtle.'

After listening to him, it seemed as though Jin's ability didn't have a limited number of uses, but it also seemed like Jin's ability would require him to gather a tremendous amount of mana to activate the skill.

In other words, he could futilely die before he gathered the required mana if he was unlucky. That probably contributed to him becoming more of a coward. He suddenly thought that God was truly ill-tempered.

"What about curse resistance and holy resistance?"

"I have both of them. They're maxed out. It seems like my curse absorption is the evolved form of maxed out curse resistance."

"As I thought."

His absorption was the evolved form of maxed curse resistance... Lee Shin Woo decided he'd store away that information for now, and nodded his head. Jin felt relieved when he saw Lee Shin Woo unperturbed and nodding his head, even after hearing about his revival ability.

"So you received an ability similar to mine, huh. I wondered whether I was the only one like this."

"Yeah, though my revival conditions are a bit different."

Lee Shin Woo explained the effects of Invisible Heart to him. Jin could've been really uncomfortable hearing it, but he didn't want to lie to someone he sympathized with. As expected, Jin was jealous of him.

"You have 97 more lives!? I'm so jealous...!"

"But the number of lives is annoying. So my goal right now is to die as little as possible. Acting as though I only have one life, and that I'm not undead."

"...Yeah, I agree with you."

From the start, Lee Shin Woo's attitude was something that Jin also wanted to learn. That attitude, where he didn't succumb to despair and endured firmly, despite being in a similar situation, and pressing forward!

However, Lee Shin Woo seemed burdened by Jin's blazing gaze (though in reality, it was always blazing), and slightly turned his head away and spoke.

"That's not all, right? Isn't there more that you got?"

"Ah, yeah... In the process of becoming a Skeleton Horse, or more precisely, a [Dark Bone Horse], I became level 4. And lastly, I got a skill called [Child of Light]."

"What's that? Does it let you kick at the speed of light or something?"

Amongst the several lines he'd always wanted to say, Lee Shin Woo mentioned one of them. Jin then cold-heartedly shook his head and spoke.

"By receiving the Blessing of Light, my agility growth rate increases by three times."

"...Growth rate is kind of vague, so what does it mean in more detail?"

Even as he thought that Jin should be called the Child of Char[1] instead of the Child of Light, he asked for more details. Without hesitating, Jin elaborated. Without even realizing how amazing his own ability was.

"Whenever I gain agility, for whatever the reason, I gain three agility when others gain 1. That's my karma or whatever."

"Whatever the reason...!?"

That's bullshit! Three times the agility no matter what? Increases in agility from karma, skills, and drinking the shop’s medicine would be three times that of any other person! Though it was a cheat skill he could gain only after becoming a Skeleton Horse.

"It seems like it's an ability that's so good that it surprises even you. Well, my agility did shoot up as I continually ran, when my skills leveled up, or when I received some karma for running really fast. I feel like my agility was around 500 at the beginning, but right now it's close to 800."

"800!?"

He already surpassed Lee Shin Woo with just his agility! Now he could understand his fearsome growth rate. If he were to exclude the increase in effectiveness of his other stats, he already had agility that rivaled a level 6's!

'Wait a sec.'

At that point, Lee Shin Woo suddenly thought. If that's the case, then would his ability activate when he reinforces his bones, too...?

If that's actually true, then his compatibility with Jin would result in an absurd outcome beyond his imagination. Jin could naturally attain a tremendous result, and Lee Shin Woo fighting in battle from his back...!

'Did God not expect this?'

These two unusual individuals' karma met and would create a ridiculous synergistic effect. If it's her, who was the God of this world, she probably could've predicted this.

If that's the case, then God had predicted that they'd work together at some point... and there's a possibility that she'd guided them such that they would. She didn't just make them undead simply due to her ill nature, but perhaps she wanted them to accomplish the tasks that 'couldn't be accomplished by normal humans'.

...Though she could've just done it on a whim.

"Do you also have a different ability?"

"Yeah."

He was in deep thought, so he forgot that Jin was right in front of him. He saw Jin waiting for his response, and extracted a level 2 bone from the leather bag; he raised it, smiled mischievously (that kind of feeling), and replied.

"Yeah, I do have one. From the start, all of my abilities are because of this skill."

"What kind of ability could it be for it to...?"

"I'll teach you using your own body."

"What...!?"

"Be careful, since your head might hurt in the beginning."

For some reason, Jin was shocked and stepped back, but Lee Shin Woo wasn't concerned by that and yelled.

"Bone Reinforcement!"

 

[1] T/N: Char is a character from Mobile Suit Gundam. I don't really understand the reference here, but it's probably a meme of some sort.

 

This was his first time using his Bone Reinforcement on someone else, so even though he seemingly used the skill without hesitation, he was actually quite anxious. Sure enough, messages instantly appeared in front of him, crowding his sight.

[Reinforcing Hero—Jin Taylor's shoulder bone. Determining the target's suitability. Check successful. Establishing a contractual relationship with the target through mutual agreement. Contract successful. Skill activating normally.]

[By consuming a Lv2 Big Zombie's kneecap bone, Jin Taylor's bones are reinforced. Jin Taylor is absorbing a portion of the target's experiences and memories. You also share a portion of the experiences and memories and are absorbing them.]

[I'll become the one of the 12 generals someday. My mum said that if I eat like this every day, I'll become a general. - Nameless Soldier]

"Ugh...!?"

"It's not too bad. Just relax and take it all in."

The moment Lee Shin Woo activated the skill, Jin was startled and started quivering; Lee Shin Woo calmed him down and checked each and every message that appeared.

'Determining suitability, huh... As expected, it wasn't something that I could use on just anyone. I can probably only use it on undead, and amongst the undead, only the ones that are made entirely of bone. But what's this contract thing?'

Perhaps the faint string of mana that connected him and Jin the moment he activated the skill signified the contract. He didn't feel any negative energy from it, so as long as he was concious of it in the future, it would be fine.

He didn't know if it was because of the contract, but despite the skill being used on Jin, Lee Shin Woo was likewise able to absorb a portion of the zombie's memories and experiences.

Of course, it was much less compared to if he had used it on himself, but... it was at that moment that he realized that using his Bone Reinforcement on other people wasn't a complete loss on his part.

'If that's the case, there's no reason to hesitate on using the skill on Jin.'

The instant Lee Shin Woo used his Bone Reinforcement, he ruminated over the zombie's memories that had been engraved into his brain, and gazed at Jin. As expected, the small blue goblin fire that blazed within his eye sockets mercilessly shook.

"This is... No, wait, ugh...!"

"You asked me how I got so skilled in such a short amount of time, didn't you? This is my answer."

He definitely had a lot of things he wanted to say. Jin's mouth opened and closed, and he looked like he was about to say something when Lee Shin Woo spoke, with a slight amount of self-scorn in his voice.

"My talent, experiences, and everything is due to this skill."

"You, this... you sure are..."

Was it because this was his first time experiencing Bone Reinforcement, and it wasn't easy to escape its effect? Jin tottered around as if he had become drunk.

Lee Shin Woo patiently waited until he calmed down and could stand up straight. He waited approximately 5 minutes before Jin narrowly sighed, raised his head, and spat out as if he had chewed on something foul.

"...It was a horrific experience."

"Not a great experience?"

Of course, if such vivid memories melded into one's brain, there's a chance they'll be confused. However, if he showed such a violent reaction to it, wouldn't it make one want to tease him? As expected, Jin heard Lee Shin Woo, shivered, and replied.

"Ugh... I feel sick. How many times have you experienced this exactly?"

"Do you remember each and every piece of food you've ever eaten?"

"You're crazy! ...But now I understand how you got so strong."

For Jin, taking in another person's experiences and memories felt similar to his brain itself being injected with a foreign substance. Even though he knew this would be helpful to him, it wasn't something he was able to do so easily.

However, if he backed down here and now, Lee Shin Woo wouldn't help him. Perhaps this was the real test... at least, that's what Jin thought.

"I'm telling you. You'll get used to it soon enough. Then, let's move on to the next one, ok?"

"Ugh... O-One sec."

However, Lee Shin Woo didn't really have any plans to test Jin. From the start, Lee Shin Woo passed over his moans and groans as him making a big fuss over nothing, and chose the next bone to step up to the plate. 

It wasn't really him having a wicked personality or anything; he truly believed that there was no way Jin would be this anguished from just this.

"If you get past about 10 of them, your head will get dizzy, but if you focus and keep hold of your consciousness, the only thing that'll hurt is your head, and it won't be too much of a problem. You just have to take in what you need from them and make it yours. It's simple, right?"

"...Can't you at least take it a bit slower?"

"Fine then."

Jin finally resolved himself. In order for him to become stronger, and to catch up to Lee Shin Woo by even just a little, he had no choice but to accept this and to endure!

'I'm sure of it now. If I work together with Lee Shin Woo, I can become strong...! I can't just weakly stay where I am any longer!'

Lee Shin Woo thought Jin would be disappointed in him after hearing about his ability, but it was actually the opposite. To Jin, Lee Shin Woo was someone who had an overwhelming willpower, and Jin considered him as someone strong, someone who would fight regardless of what body he was in or whatever the method in this world.

And what he was seeking was that steel will. So, it wouldn't do if he couldn't even endure this much!

[By consuming a Lv2 Skeleton Warrior's arm bone, Jin Taylor’s bones are being reinforced.]

[By consuming a Lv3 Ghoul Fighter's shinbone...]

...

...

[By consuming a Lv3 Metal Bone Snake's rib bone, Jin Taylor’s bones are being reinforced. Jin Taylor is absorbing a portion of the target's experiences and memories. You also share a portion of its experiences and memories and are absorbing them. Health has increased by 1.]

There were 513 bones in total in the bag, and among them, close to 450 of them were level 2 bones; the rest were level 3 bones. Lee Shin Woo spent about five hours to allow Jin to absorb all of them, but the fact that just absorbing half of the effects increased his own stats by 10 was telling of just how many bones there were.

"Ugh, I feel like I'll vomit..."

As a result of absorbing all of the owners' various memories and experiences, Jin laid his huge body on his back and was dry heaving.

Since Lee Shin Woo was the pioneer of this specific field and fully utilized his know-how of maintaining his consciousness, most of the confusion had passed, but even so, if one were to ask if it were easy to overcome the aftermath, the answer would definitely be 'no'. Lee Shin Woo gazed stiffly at Jin and consoled him.

"It's alright. Since we have nothing to barf out anyway."

"You demon! I told you to do it slowly!"

"If I had absorbed these myself, I could've done it in 30 minutes."

"..."

Jin meekly closed his mouth, suppressed his nausea, and quietly stood up. The fact that his body still lightly shook was kind of funny. Lee Shin Woo smiled bitterly and asked him a question.

"So, how was it? Do you feel a bit 'experienced' now?"

"Though it definitely feels like a lot has changed, it's difficult to say what exactly has changed right now. I feel like it'll be difficult to figure out what's changed until I actually get into a fight... Moreover, I received way too many peoples' memories all at once, so I'm dizzy. Give me some time to organize it all."

They were words that caused him to automatically nod his head. Originally, just using Bone Reinforcement isn't the end; that's because after the reinforcement is over, in the process of moving their body, they need to completely learn these skills through experience. 

Then, it would be better to check something he could get a feel for right now that served as proof: the numbers.

"How much have your stats increased?"

"Strength by 7, Agility by 13, Health by 8, and Magic by 5. ...They've definitely gone up by a lot."

"To me, the most shocking thing is the fact that your agility, which is already over 800, went up by 13."

It might've been obvious, but the higher the level, and the higher the stats, the more difficult it becomes to increase one's stats. Despite that, the stat that showed the most growth for Jin was his agility...

"You said that you need 1,600 stats to become level 5, right? I have a total of 1,400 stats right now, so... If we do this a few more times, I should get to level 5, right?"

"It's not that simple. If you absorb a monster's bone that you've already absorbed before, its effect lessens more and more. The reason I asked you to fill that bag to the brim and come back was because I calculated that with roughly this many bones, the effectiveness wouldn't drop."

"Ugh..."

Jin could do nothing but nod in response. The more the reinforcement was repeated, the more the stat growth from the bones would gradually lessen, and in the end, they pretty much wouldn't ever increase.

"Then what you're saying is...?"

"Yeah. We have to hunt monsters befitting our level. If it's possible, the monsters of a higher level than us, too."

"But it's tougher the higher level the monster is because their memories are denser!"

"Isn't that better?"

"No way. If I don't do something about this guy, then...!"

Lee Shin Woo snickered at Jin, who was gritting his teeth and spoke.

"For the time being, I want to focus on my own reinforcement. Will that be ok with you? Because I think it'd be better if our levels matched."

"Alright. Then, for the time being, I won't use that skill."

"Good work."

"...T-Then..."

Was he shaking off his dizziness? Jin extremely carefully turned to his side and spoke to Lee Shin Woo.

"Can you get on?"

"Yeah, I think I can."

It seemed obvious, but he had never really ridden on horseback when he lived in Korea. Even when he did, it was only on a high school trip to Jeju Island, and he had gotten help then. The appearance of his friend's horse, galloping in front of him while pooping had left a deep impression on him...

"It's a relief that you're undead."

"You wanna go?"

However, Lee Shin Woo had the memories of the countless soldiers and knight aspirants who were active in the past Empire. It hadn't become a skill yet, but if he rode...

"Umhp, as I thought. It feels like it'll work."

"Ugh..."

After he had somehow gotten atop Jin, Lee Shin Woo successfully maintained his balance even without a saddle. His dormant experiences were given shape and were aiding him. Sure enough, immediately after, he got a message that he'd acquired a skill!

[You have learned the passive skill, Low Rank Horseback Riding Lv1. Agility has increased by 5. You can draw out the full potential of what you ride. The higher the level, the higher the buffs while riding in battle.]

Though each memory one by one wasn't enough, the combination of the countless hoarded memories and experiences had manifested into a low rank skill. Moreover, he had acquired additional stats from it!

When he thought that perhaps other skills lay dormant and were buried like this one, Lee Shin Woo felt great.

"Nice, Jin. Let's go."

"...Yeah. I'm a horse. I'm just a Skeleton Horse..."

When he saw Jin, who was self-suggesting that he was a horse, Lee Shin Woo just laughed again. He had thought Jin had resolved himself by now, but it seemed like he still wasn't prepared. If he were in his position, he would feel just as agonized right now, so he could definitely understand him.

"Hoo... Alright. Where should we go?"

"For starters, let's take a lap around this city and check if there's anything we missed."

"Ok."

Jin weakly nodded and began to move. At that moment, Lee Shin Woo felt his body rapidly lean backward and was shocked, and grabbed tightly onto Jin. The surrounding landscape quickly passed by him, and it felt like he was time traveling!

"Hey!?"

"You wasted time because of me, so let's quickly look back and go!"

"If you keep running this fast, the only thing I'll be able to look back at is my previous lifeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

However, Jin didn't listen to him. Ultimately, it took Lee Shin Woo a few hours before he was somehow able to distinguish the surrounding objects clearly while Jin was running, and it soon developed into him training his Combat Sprint and Horseback Riding skills.

 

[The Low Rank Combat Sprint skill has become Lv8. Agility has increased by 2. Your instantaneous acceleration, as well as dynamic visual acuity increase proportionally to your agility.]

[The Low Rank Horseback Riding skill has become Lv3. Agility has increased by 1. By communicating with what you're riding, you can control it more easily.]

How long had he been holding out on top of Jin's back? At the end of this rigorous albeit short period of time, his extreme training resulted in his Low Rank Horseback Riding skill to rise to level 3; Lee Shin Woo's and Jin's senses were very gradually starting to overlap as a result.

"Ugh!?"

"Hoo, I feel like I'll survive now."

Since their senses had started to overlap, Jin had no choice but to slow down his pace. If he ran at a speed beyond Lee Shin Woo's ability, then he would start feeling dizzy as well!

"Wouldn't it be better if you didn't level up your skill!?"

"No, since you've been running around like you've been lugging around a package on your back. You've been running up until now like a freight train and now you've barely 'class changed' into a trolley, you know?"

When they began to converse, Jin definitely slowed down for the first time, and it was a speed that Lee Shin Woo was likewise able to bear for the first time. To be honest, if he didn't use his Combat Sprint to its very limit, even this speed would've been too fast for him, but in any case, it was important that he was able to endure it.

"It's too slow. I'm bored..."

"For me, it still seems like the surrounding landscape is passing by a little too fast..."

By the time he noticed, they were near where Jin started running. In other words, in a few hours, they were able to run a lap around the city! ...No, it might've even been a few laps.

"We haven't found anything yet. Let's take another lap."

"It can't be helped I guess..."

Jin began to sprint again. For the first time, Lee Shin Woo realized that he was riding atop a horse and galloping away, and started to survey his surroundings.

Ever since he had acquired Mana Bone, his mana senses had become more sensitive, and after using these senses to search the area, there was something that stood out immediately. From behind at that.

"Hey, the undead are following behind us!"

"It's only natural that they'd be following us around like that. After all, we've been running around in the same city, and on the same route. Honestly, while we were travelling around the city, I got rid of a few of them."

Hearing Jin's calm response, it seemed like this wasn't his first or second time doing something like this. Well, all this guy did was run until now, so it made sense that he'd have experience with the undead chasing behind him.

By running around the city, Jin had gathered all of the undead, and managed to gather them all into one group; such control was amazing.

"Hey, have you thought about talking with them?"

"What kind of conversation could I have with monsters like them!?"

This won't do. This guy's head isn't normal! He's been just idiotically running away from them, even though they were also undead; if he just lied to them, he would've been able to pass by without incident!

Lee Shin Woo just shook his head, but he didn't realize that he was in actuality, the one who was strange between the two. After all, not everyone could obtain the Acting skill.

"There's no good way of kiting the mobs... Wait. Kiting the mobs?"

"...I don't really know what that means, but why does it feel slightly ominous?"

Kiting mobs was a term commonly used in RPG settings; when it was too troublesome to hunt down the monsters one by one, a nimble player would aggro all the mobs in the area, gathering them all into one group.

If they worked together with a class who could use wide area skills, their effectiveness would increase by an absurd margin, and right now, Lee Shin Woo had...

"Alright, let's take care of them and then move on."

"Ugh, as I thought..."

Humans could always turn danger into an opportunity to grow. Lee Shin Woo naturally turned around. No, to be exact, when he thought about wanting to turn around, his will was relayed to Jin, and Jin instinctually turned his body around. The effects of the leveled up Horseback Riding skill were definitely showing.

"Guh, this feels really weird."

"Sorry, but try to bear with it since it'll help in battle from now on."

As he spoke, he thoroughly surveyed the surrounding area. While he desperately endured so that he wouldn't fall off from Jin's back, Jin had very shrewdly drawn all of the mobs, so they were clumped in one place; the undead chasing after them numbered at least several thousand.

They were mostly skeletons, but he quite frequently saw Ghouls mixed in, as well as animals and monsters which had died and become undead. But since zombies were so slow, they lagged behind in the back.

"So you drew all the undead in this city, huh."

"It seems like it's the undead's nature. When the mob begins to gather, they cause a commotion, and that commotion causes other undead to gather as well; when they get a hold of themselves, they seem to form a huge group like that."

Seeing the calmly replying Jin, the stunned Lee Shin Woo seemed to blurt out.

"If a newbie hero was unlucky enough to get involved during that process, they would've died right there."

"T-That's... I didn't think there'd be any other heroes besides me..."

"No, it's fine as long as you don't do it from now on. You won't need to do it from now on either."

Lee Shin Woo raised his hand, extended his index finger, and aimed at the undead that were grouped together in one place while also chasing after them. Then, Jin asked doubtfully.

"I know how powerful your skill is, but will you hit them with it...? You’re still at least 1 kilometer away. Should I get closer?"

"No, it's fine. Since I have something I need to prep before I shoot it."

The first skill Lee Shin Woo had to activate wasn't his Catapult skill, but his Acid Poison Spray skill.

Of course, he wasn't talking about spraying his Acid Poison everywhere. He recollected how the Acid Ghoul and the King Slime concentrated their Acid Poison into a single point, and focused his attention on the tip of his index finger. The poison, which converted into mana, began to gather at that single point!

[Guwoooh...]

"They're gradually getting closer."

"I'm almost done."

If he hadn't acquired the Mana Bone skill, which was considerably helpful in processing the mana that saturated his bones, it would've taken a considerable amount of effort to complete the task. The skill made the difficulty of controlling his Acid Poison much simpler.

"Good, then."

Lee Shin Woo pushed all of the Acid Poison he could into the tip of his index finger, and next, activated his Flames of Revenge. Poison on the inside, flames on the outside!

With his know-how, just like last time, he focused on his flames, and those flames darkened to their limit; it felt as if there was dark matter in that space. At the same time, he also saw the presence of the flames disappear, as if the middle of his index finger had been cut off.

[The Low Rank Flames of Revenge skill has become Lv2. Magic has increased by 3. The diffusion force of the flames has increased.]

Was it because he concentrated the skill into one place? It had been a long time since his Flames of Revenge had leveled up. At the same time, the flames blazing atop his index finger intensified. It was at that moment that Lee Shin Woo figured out a new way of training his skill.

"I don't have flame resistance, though."

Jin started to feel a gradually increasing heat from atop his back, and shook as if he were uneasy. Because of the Acid Poison Resistance skill book he had received from Lee Shin Woo, he learned Acid Poison Resistance and was able to resist Acid Poison to some degree, but he wasn't resistant to this level of fire!

"It doesn't burn allies, so don't worry. Then... I'm firing it!"

"Ugh..."

Lee Shin Woo's index finger was launched with a simple, weak sound. Just by seeing that, Jin looked like he himself was hurt by it, but Lee Shin Woo was accustomed to this kind of pain now, and didn't even feel an itch.

He checked the trajectory that his index finger drew in the air, and nodded his head in satisfaction. It was flying towards the center of the group of several thousand undead.

"How many of them do you think you'll kill with that?"

"All of them."

"All of them?"

"Yeah. As long as I take one more step."

"What step..."

Jin thought he was out of his mind, but when Jin tilted his head, Lee Shin Woo's Grenade had arrived at the center of the group of undead; with his command to self-destruct, it exploded grandly. At that moment it burst forth with a fearsome force of flames and poison!

[Kuaaaaahk!]

[Kihiiiiiiiiiiiiii!]

Hundreds of level 1 undead at the center disappeared without even being able to scream, and even the level 2 and higher undead took significant damage. Moreover, since the poison and the flames had the quality of diffusing into the surrounding area, they were quickly expanding to encompass them within their range!

"Oh jeez, even the mana that's escaping is no joke."

"That attack was definitely incredible, but what are you going to do now!? Even if they're low leveled, there're several thousands of them!"

"So what we're going to do now is..."

Lee Shin Woo measured the distance between them and the monsters. It was roughly 300 meters. Even by human standards, it wasn't very far, and it was a distance that quick monsters would be able to reach in only a few seconds.

"Cover your ears."

"I don't have any ears, and I don't even have hands to cover them."

"Well, I guess it can't be helped. Tough it out."

And sound could travel the distance in only a second.

"Kill yourselvessssssssssssssssssssssss!"

[You used Low Rank Shriek of the Dead, and the enemies in the entire area fall into a frenzied and fearful state!]

[You have succeeded in using the skill while engaging more than 1000 foes! You have acquired a large amount of skill proficiency. The Low Rank Shriek of the Dead has become Lv5. Magic has increased by 3. The skill’s effect has become stronger, and the skill can affect a larger area.]

"Urgh!"

Jin screamed in anguish from Lee Shin Woo's momentary, horrific shriek. However, since Jin was Lee Shin Woo's ally, he wasn't affected by the skill in the least. Because of that, it took him a bit of time to realize the effect of the skill.

"What the hell are you doing all of a sudden... Huh?"

Jin abruptly shouted, and then quickly scanned his surroundings. The group of undead, which looked furious and would dash at them at first chance, didn't approach them anymore. To be more exact, they weren't worried about Lee Shin Woo or Jin any longer.

[Enemies. To think that there are this many enemies...!]

[My body is made of bones...!]

[Haha, I'll kill all the enemies of the Imperial Army!]

[Kyahaaaaahk!]

They each spat out a peculiar noise then stabbed with their swords, and swung their clubs at each other; seeing that, Jin looked puzzled and asked Lee Shin Woo.

"That's... What the hell is this?"

"The best tactic for not smearing your own hands with blood is using your enemies to defeat themselves. This'll show up on the test, so make sure you remember it."

"..."

While Jin was speechless, the monsters fought intensely amongst themselves, confirming Lee Shin Woo's statement.

Furthermore, the monsters didn't really wander, and fought in around the same area, so the flames and the poison soon covered the entire battlefield. Thousands of monsters were being harmed by the DoT damage in real time.
 

Lee Shin Woo used the bones they had collected on site and reinforced himself. Of course, level 1 bones were almost meaningless to him now, but he still repeatedly used Bone Reinforcement until he saw the phrase, [You have acquired all the experiences and memories that you could from XXX.]. He couldn't miss the opportunity to grow even a little bit more!

"Bone Reinforcement, Bone Reinforcement, Bone Reinforcement..."

"Ugh."

Jin just got tired of seeing Lee Shin Woo continuously use Bone Reinforcement in place without pause. It wasn't a joke when Lee Shin Woo said that he could finish off 513 bones within 30 minutes. No, it was actually much worse.

In less than 1 second, he sorted out the bones he would absorb, then grabbed several of them at a time and activated Bone Reinforcement; it wasn't difficult for him to dispose of 100 bones within 1 minute.

"Bone Reinforcement... Oh, I'm done now."

"You... Are you really human!?"

"Can't you see I'm a skeleton? You want a piece of me?"

As a result, Lee Shin Woo absorbed close to three thousand bones and left behind about one thousand of them, as he couldn't acquire anymore memories, experiences, and abilities from them. It didn't even take an hour.

[Lee Shin Woo]

[Dark Skeleton Avenger]

[Treasure Hunter and 1 other]

[Lv - 3 (Stat Effectiveness 125%)]

[Strength - 160 Agility - 169 Health - 164 Magic - 305]

[Passive Skills - Invisible Heart Lv3, Acting Lv6, Beginner Avenger Lv8, Low Rank Bursting Thunder Lv7, Low Rank Mana Bone Lv6, Low Rank Stealth Lv6, Low rank Command Lv1, Low Rank Horseback Riding Lv4]

[Active Skills - Bone Reinforcement Lv4, Low Rank Combat Sprint Lv8, Low Rank Shriek of the Dead Lv5, Low Rank Regeneration Lv2, Low Rank Catapult Lv3, Low Rank Flames of Revenge Lv2, Beginner Power Slash Lv9, Low Rank Harden Lv3, Low Rank Self-Destruct Lv2, Sacrifice Lv1, Intermediate Acid Poison Spray Lv2]

[Resistances - Holy: MAX, Curse: MAX, Acid: Low Rank Lv8, Ice: Intermediate Lv1]

"Man, I'm short a couple of stats so I can't level up."

"So your stats don't go up even if you absorb three thousand bones, huh..."

"No, it's the opposite. It's actually gone up this much."

Amongst the four thousand monsters Lee Shin Woo disposed of, there were basically no level 3 monsters. In other words, the absolute majority of the monsters were a lower level than him, so the fact that his stats rose by even this much was amazing. It was because Lee Shin Woo had ignorantly pushed ahead with quantity over quality.

"What are you going to do with the rest? I'm telling you ahead of time, but it's impossible for me. I can't, no way."

"You sure are cowardly. Don't worry, they all have a use."

Lee Shin Woo took out a huge bag from his inventory, shoved the hundreds of level 1 bones into it, and stamped onto the bag with all his might. Seeing that, Jin was stunned and tackled him.

"Is it for stress relief?"

"No, it's for healing."

He continued to stamp on the bag and nodded his head once he saw the contents within turn into a fine powder. Looking at the bag filled with fine bone powder, he felt like he was rich.

"For healing...?"

"Yeah. If you turn these into powder, all of the properties of the bones equalize, and though you become unable to acquire the memories or experiences within, the healing ability remains. Moreover, you can apply it to your entire body, so it's an advantage."

"Ah."

Jin had already experienced it, so he was well aware that Bone Reinforcement healed the portion of the body that it was applied to. In other words, Lee Shin Woo was processing the remaining bones, which he couldn't obtain anymore experiences or memories from, and turning them into medicine! It was also advantageous in that he could conveniently store it into his inventory now.

"I have the Regeneration skill, so I don't really need it, but it should be important for you."

"You're being so considerate I feel like I'll cry."

"Now then, let's..."

The remaining 200 bones were level 2 undead bones; it felt like too much of a waste to turn them into powder, so he didn't.

But when he told Jin to use them, Jin responded that it'd be too much for him right now; therefore, he only had one other option.

It was none other than weapon reinforcement.

'Bone of Thunder Lasting is at +8 right now, and I only have one more level 3 weapon reinforcement permit. In order for it to reach +10 and be reborn as a level 4 weapon, one of the reinforcements have to succeed.'

He gave up on the level 1 bones and weapons as he didn't think it would have any chance of succeeding with them, but what about level 2 bones? Wouldn't there be at least a slight chance? Jin saw Lee Shin Woo tremble as he grabbed a level 2 bone, and thought he looked like a gambling addict.

"...Bone Reinforcement."

[Reinforcement has failed.]

[Reinforcement has failed.]

[Reinforcement has failed.]

The heap of bones they had acquired disappeared in an instant. He had already predicted that the probability of it working was low, but when he used up 100 bones in succession, Lee Shin Woo was shocked. He belatedly felt regretful, as he thought that it would be better to just sell them at the secret shop.

"But since I've already started, I can't stop."

"You look really dumb right now."

"Bone Reinforcement! Bone Reinforcement...!"

[Reinforcement has failed.]

[Reinforcement has failed.]

[Reinforcement has failed.]

[The Bone Reinforcement skill has become Lv5! The success rate of weapon reinforcement has increased. When you use Bone Reinforcement on bone weapons, the effectiveness increases.]

"Good, Bone Reinforcement!"

"You don't have any more bones, though."

"Oh..."

Lee Shin Woo looked around dejectedly, but Jin was right; there weren't any bones left. The 200 level 2 bones were completely gone now. The only result was that his Bone Reinforcement leveled up...

"It feels like if I just do it once more it would've worked!"

"That's something only gambling addicts say."

Even if he wanted to reinforce his weapons, he didn't have any more bones, so he couldn't do anything. Lee Shin Woo wasn't naturally the type to get attached to failure, so he just lightly sighed, shook off his regrets, and got atop Jin.

He had personally received a message confirming that he didn't have any more business in this city, so he didn't need to linger and check. It was time for him to leave.

"So where to now?"

"Didn't you originally run around here a lot? Let's go to one of the places with a lot of level 3-4 monsters."

"Y-Yeah... fine. Let's go."

Honestly, Jin was still a bit afraid of level 4 monsters, but when he remembered Lee Shin Woo's previous slaughter of thousands of monsters, he mustered his courage and began to move. He felt like even if a level 5 elite monster showed up, rather than a level 4 monster, Lee Shin Woo would be able to win somehow.

While he comfortably gave Jin the reins and entrusted him with leading him, Lee Shin Woo opened the chatting channel. It very slightly felt like he was on the phone while driving.

[Mr. Lee Shin Woo has entered.]

[Lloyd H.K.: Oh, Lee Shin Woo! I heard the news. So you met with Ye Jin Jin?]

[Lee Shin Woo: It's a relief that you're safe, Senior.]

[Prince Altania: Considering how he's adapted to this world already... More importantly, what did you get for saving Ye Jin Jin? I just heard that the reward was really amazing, but I don't know what it is since I've never gotten it before.]

[Erian Ruparte: Lee Shin Woo! Thanks a lot. Because of you, Ye Jin Jin was able to survive!]

As soon as Lee Shin Woo accessed the chatting channel, all of his seniors hectically greeted him. It seems like, just like she said she would, Ye Jin Jin had uproariously chatted about him in the channel.

Honestly, that was an issue that she had talked to Lee Shin Woo about; if he improved his friendship with the other heroes beforehand, they might not be too repulsed by the fact that he was a skeleton when they find out later... which was a plan that came about from their shallow thinking. For reference, they didn't really talk about Jin.

[Shino Rendu: Good work, Lee Shin Woo. Whether you acted because of the reward or because you saw the person, we heroes have to stick together.]

[Yasunori Akira: You're seriously way too hot-blooded. ...In any case, good job, Lee Shin Woo.]

[Seira Von Retadane:     It was really unexpected that you were both in the same area. But... but it was truly a relief.]

[Lee Shin Woo: I got a quest to clear out all the undead in the city, so while I was doing that quest... I was just lucky.]

[Prince Altania: Ah, that...]

Of course, it was a lie, but he was curious as to how his seniors would respond to this lie. As expected, Prince Altania, who seemed the most loose lipped amongst his seniors, was fooled by his lie.

[Prince Altania: You just need to do that once. Did you get the Hero's karma token?]

[Lee Shin Woo: Yes.]

This was it. This was the information that he wanted! Lee Shin Woo pricked his ears and Prince Altania explained.

[Prince Altania: If you have that, it's great since your skill growth rate increases, but once you get that one, you don't really need to get another one. It may not take very long since it was just a small city, but the further you delve into the Empire, the larger the cities become. I'm telling you, you won't be able to keep them under control later on. The karma tokens normally don't drop very often so it's impossible to gather 10 of them from the start.]

[Lee Shin Woo: So it would seem.]

[Prince Altania: Moreover, the important thing is that if you start extensively wiping out the undead, the other undead will sniff that out and gather, so you'll have to continue battling them unceasingly. If something goes wrong, even a hero can die.]

[Lloyd H.K.: But hey, isn't that exactly why God chose us as heroes...? I'm talking about purifying the Empire.]

[Shino Rendu: At the start, I somehow succeeded in cleaning up a small city and gained a Hero's token. I thought that there might be a chance that I could amplify the effects of the token, so I risked my life to enter a few cities and tried to clear out the undead, but getting one more token doesn't amplify the effects at all...]

[Prince Altania: Are you dumb? Tokens of the same kind don't amplify the effect. Get all 10 of them or stick to one.]

[Shino Rendu: This asshole... I was a newbie back then too!]

He had already gained a lot of good info. Lee Shin Woo took note of all the precious information and opened his mouth again. With a voice that relayed his seriousness and his sense of duty as best he could!

[Lee Shin Woo: Since you're saying it's a hero's duty, I'll clear as many of them as I can and then go up.]

Of course, it was a lie. He had already chosen the Joker's karma, so he didn't really need to put in the effort of collecting all 10 of the Hero's karma tokens! If he ended up cleaning up a city, it wouldn't be because he was burning with the desire to fulfill his mission as a hero, but because he wanted to collect materials for Bone Reinforcement!

[Prince Altania: This guy's like Lloyd... If you do that, it'll take a long time for you to reach level 5.]

[Lloyd H.K.: See, that's what a hero should be like!]

[Erian Ruparte: ...You're cool, Lloyd.]

[Seira Von Retadane: Mr. Lee Shin Woo, you're doing well. Since we must allow the undead in the Empire to rest in peace...]

[Ethan Cruz: I'm pleased that there're more heroes acting like heroes now.]

At that moment, Lee Shin Woo felt like time had stopped within the chatting channel. At the very least, when he heard a middle-aged man's voice cut in, one that he heard for the very first time, he felt speechless! However, Lloyd soon responded to him.

[Lloyd H.K.: Oh, Senior!]

[Yasunori Akira: It's been a long time.]

[Prince Altania: I'm glad you're safe, Senior.]

If even the Prince addressed him with an honorific, then his position as a senior in the chatting channel must be unwavering. Lee Shin Woo followed their lead for now, and politely greeted him.

[Lee Shin Woo: I'm a newbie who got here just a little while ago. Please take care of me, Senior.]

[Ethan Cruz: Ooh, it's a pleasure. But you have such good manners, so it makes me kind of uncomfortable. Just speak comfortably.]

[Lee Shin Woo: Haha... I'll try my best.]

[Ethan Cruz: Good. I hope we get to see each other for a long time. Ah, by the way, Lloyd. Is Seira doing alright too?]

[Lloyd H.K.: Yes, Senior. She's alright.]

[Seira Von Retadane: ...Please, go ahead.]

[Ethan Cruz: I have something I'd like you to help me with. The capital's thorn castle walls...]

His seniors began talking about places or geographical features he didn't know about at this time, and Lee Shin Woo thought he'd obtained all the information he could for now, so he decided to carefully say his farewells and leave. However, before he could, Ethan Cruz called him.

[Ethan Cruz: Work hard, Lee Shin Woo. You might think about a lot of things as you stand up against the Empire, but... all you need to remember is that all the undead are our, humanity's enemies.]

[Lee Shin Woo: ...Yes.]

None of his seniors refuted his statement that all undead are enemies of humanity.

As he thought, the heroes in the chatting channel didn't know about the undead who didn't loathe humanity and had proper reasoning.

Or they were acting like they didn't know about them.





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