“Phew… So you’re telling me that our world is going to be destroyed?”
“That would make everything I do meaningless.”
“[The possibility is high, but I can’t say for sure. But still, we can’t just sit back and do nothing, can we? You never know, if you are reborn from human to a skeleton soldier and walk the path of the [King of the Undead], you might create a different outcome.]”
“You even know I’ve stepped into the path of the King of the Undead. How far does the information about me go?”
“And why has this heavy burden been placed on me? I really don’t get it.”
“‘…Why on earth has such an ability been granted to someone like me…'”
The grandfather slowly approached me, who was a bit stagnant, and settled on my shoulder, giving me a gentle nudge as he spoke.
“[I have no idea who is given a hundred lives and what the criteria are. Just looking at you, I’ve heard you weren’t that exceptional, right? Sense ability users are rare, but it’s not like your ability didn’t exist in the world.]”
“That’s true.”
“[But does it matter if you were chosen for a reason or randomly? Will anything change because of that? In any case, we should just do what we can.]”
His logic left me with no further words.
“‘…Got it. So what should I do first?'”
“[You seem to have a lot of stagnant energy built up in your body. While we’re at it, show me that ruckus you were doing here once more. Only this time, show it with a sword.]”
I felt embarrassed knowing he had been watching me struggle to release my dark destructive urges from afar. I wished I could just crawl into a hole.
“[And in this space, you shall refer to me as your master. By the way, I’ve never taken a single disciple in my lifetime. How about it?]”
I didn’t need him to say the hidden meaning in his statement. He was a bit of a grandfatherly figure.
“Th-thank you. It’s truly an honor.”
“[Indeed! Hehehe-]”
I had thought of Hyeon Joong-gil and Baek Ah-rin as my own mentors, but was this already the third?
It felt like I was swapping masters too easily, which made me slightly uncomfortable, but if it meant I could become stronger, titles didn’t matter.
“‘Understood. Master.'”
I wasn’t sure how much skill this orb possessed, and even if it did, I didn’t know how it would teach me. But for now, I decided to trust the power of my trait.
I performed all the movements and abilities I could with the sword, as my master requested.
I did my best for nearly 20 minutes, and after exhausting all my magic power, I stood before him again.
“[Hoho, seeing this makes it even clearer.]”
“What is that?”
“[You have no damn talent for the sword.]”
“I, uh, could you please phrase that a little more mildly? I’m somewhat sensitive as a skeleton.”
“[Shut up! Didn’t I tell you there was someone who said to practice a single stance repeatedly? Now I understand why they said that.]”
“So… it’s because I have no talent?”
“[But that may mean there’s even more hope.]”
“Really?”
“[Yes. First, let’s build up your fundamentals. To fully apply your strength to the sword, stability in your stance must come first. Everything starts with the basics. If you have thoughts of flashy and elegant swordsmanship in your head, clear it out. It looks like you’ve changed your stances on your own too.]”
“Umm… understood.”
In fact, I thought I was walking a pretty decent path of swordsmanship by imitating Ah-rin. But, from the orb master’s perspective, I probably looked like a clueless child.
Fortunately, I wouldn’t have to completely overhaul my stance, as what I had learned from Hyeon Joong-gil and Baek Ah-rin was ultimately mimicking the techniques of the forgotten ancient swordsmanship of the skeleton knight.
I repeated a few stances I learned from Hyeon Joong-gil, and the grandfather, using his small body, vigorously bumped into me to correct my stance.
Crack-!
“[Spread your legs more and lower this part!]”
Smack-!
“[If this side comes apart, won’t your chin stick out?]”
Thwack-!
“[When fighting human-shaped enemies, you must never take your eyes off their legs.]”
It didn’t hurt when the orb hit me, nor did anything break, but for some reason, I felt an indescribable embarrassment each time I was pointed out, driving me to work even harder.
“[Tsk tsk- you’ve got some unnecessary flair going on. Half-heartedly copying someone else’s big technique is poison.]”
“‘…I guess that was the case.'”
“[It’s okay. You have no fundamentals, so it will be fixed soon. For now, let’s focus on the stance and then move on to the advanced techniques.]”
“‘…'”
Starting from a blank slate again.
Though it was a short time, my stance was definitely more stable than before receiving guidance, and I was able to channel more power.
But I still wasn’t convinced that this effort would help me face a monster like the ‘Residue of Chaos.’
I asked about that, but the grandfather scolded me for thinking of flying without being able to even walk.
“Well— let’s just give it a try.”
Also, since there was a system similar to what we were experiencing in the world where the grandfather was, he gave me intermittent advice on growing.
“[Instead of pouring all your effort into just reaction speed, it’s better to also build up your strength for a proper balance. Then you’ll get the quickness you desire. Ultimately, it’s your body that reacts to an attack.]”
“Ah… yes, understood.”
I definitely found myself often getting hit even when I anticipated an attack. The accepted truth was that agility was more involved in moving quickly than strength numbers, but it seemed I had been too focused on those numbers alone.
“Thank you. But I really have to go now.”
There was less than three minutes left until my reincarnation.
“[Hehe- nothing beats the release of stagnant energy like the mating of a man and a woman, but it’s unfortunate for you. How did you get reborn as a skeleton?]”
The grandfather was just an orb, so he didn’t have eyes, but it felt like he was clicking his tongue while looking at my lower half.
“‘……'”
His gaze seemed to reflect pity.
How low could I sink to be pitied even by an orb…
“Mating between a man and a woman…”
I didn’t mention that it might soon become possible for me. And since he clearly lacked that information, it seemed he didn’t know what I was doing outside after my summoning.
As I bowed to the grandfather, he circled around my body and then gracefully vanished in the direction he had come from.
(Is that it? It looks like it was a lot of fun! Should I give it a try too? Yip yip! Like this!)
The small tree had been quietly watching me train, and as the orb disappeared, it waved its little branches cheerfully.
“Your stance is better than mine, isn’t it? If you practice that, you might not get so bored.”
At my words, the tree’s branches drooped, and it waddled closer, looking up at me and said.
(······ Are you leaving? You’re coming back, right? You’ll keep practicing here, right? I hope so! Just watching you move is fun!)
“I will. Sorry, but it’s really time to go. See you again.”
(Okay! Bye!)
I bumped fists with the small tree’s branch, then walked toward the massive door.
A moment later, my body was whisked away as if sucked into a vacuum, and I was soon engulfed by the giant door.
* * *
In a hotel room, three hunters were lying side by side on a bed.
The trio who were comrades of Cha Jin-hyuk.
After drinking the ‘Evolved Creature’ potion, they felt significant changes in their bodies and immediately returned to their room to take a nap.
There’s nothing quite like sleep to properly absorb power.
“I said you’d feel sleepy. Aren’t you feeling refreshed?”
At Ji-yeon’s somewhat fierce comment, Eun-bi replied.
“Definitely… I’ve never had such a good sleep before. And my magic power surely grew. I’ve only had one drink, but the effect is amazing, right?”
“They mentioned they completed years of biological experiments. We’re getting the benefits.”
“It feels weird having something implanted in my body. But since they had the same thing, it should be alright, right?”
Seong-woong was looking closely at the hand that had slapped Cha Jin-hyuk moments ago and then changed the subject.
“By the way… earlier I was in such bad shape that I let it go. What are we going to do about that Lee Yeon-hee?”
Surprisingly, they had noticed that Lee Yeon-hee was tailing them. Though his physical capabilities had plummeted, his sensory perception was far more acute than usual.
“Well, she didn’t come inside the hotel. If she chased us all the way here, she would have tried to do something. Talk about lucky.”
“You don’t think she might be waiting outside for us, do you?”
Hua ha ha-
At Eun-bi’s remark, the other two burst into laughter.
“Come on— is that really possible?”
“If we find her waiting outside, we should make her pay the price.”
“Just in case, prepare to contact those guys. To let them know we’re taking over that building.”
“Got it. Hyung.”
After a moment, they emerged outside the hotel again, and Lee Yeon-hee hesitated as she spotted them from a café across the street.
‘Il-wol has 30 minutes until his reincarnation… what should I do?’
Despite her unsure thoughts, her body followed them, and she made sure to keep a greater distance than before.
The trio strolled for a few minutes before turning into a narrow alleyway. Carefully moving down the alley, a half-constructed building of about four floors came into view.
The trio likely entered that building.
While there were many places you could see in the city where dungeon breaks had caused construction to halt, the eerie atmosphere of this one made Lee Yeon-hee instinctively take a step back.
At that moment.
Thud-!
“?!”
Someone placed a hand on Lee Yeon-hee’s shoulder, and she momentarily tried to trigger her summoning.
Having just hit level 60 and received enhancements to all her abilities, she had gained a few new skills, one of which was a preset function.
It allowed her to summon a combination of 30 creatures all at once in a split second.
However, as she was about to activate that ability, she suddenly froze.
Familiar energy washed over her.
(Jin-hyuk?)
(Shh-)
Fortunately, it was Cha Jin-hyuk, the gravity manipulator, who had halted her.
(We need to flee.)
Cha Jin-hyuk whispered his serious first words.
Hours ago, he had been walking alongside Lee Yeon-hee because their paths happened to align when leaving school, keeping a safe distance to follow her closely.
When he saw her suddenly running after the trio, he grew worried and carefully trailed behind her.
However, to Cha Jin-hyuk, Lee Yeon-hee’s following skills weren’t really outstanding, except for hiding her presence. Ultimately, she had followed them here, neglecting her visit to the kids.
He had thought of keeping guard until Lee Yeon-hee moved to a safer location, but since the trio’s movements had changed compared to before, he bravely stopped her.
Lee Yeon-hee easily grasped what Cha Jin-hyuk meant by his words.
The hunter far superior to her, Cha Jin-hyuk, was sending her a danger signal.
She could trust him.
Ultimately, Cha Jin-hyuk and Lee Yeon-hee began to slip back into the alley as quietly as possible.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.
