Chapter 23. Unexpected Party (2)

The third floor trial, the dungeon.

Clearing the dungeon itself wasn't all that tough a trial. The only annoying part was that the monsters were those pesky undead—ones that kept rising endlessly and respawning anew.

'If I didn't have to babysit these damn mutts...'

"Y-Yongmyeong hyungnim. We can really make it out alive, right?"

"Th-that guy... He's gonna save us... Gotta be an A-rank hunter... Aaaagh!"

The hunter Yongmyeong and his two lackeys, who jumped at the mere sight of skeleton bone fragments on the ground, muttered among themselves like they were putting on some comedy skit.

Jeonghyeon flicked the blood off his Blood Dissector with a sigh.

"What, you think someone's gonna mistake this for the top floor of the Tower? Hurry the fuck up already."

Where Jeonghyeon's sharp glare landed were the hunters—clinging to each other for dear life while inching forward at about 3mm per step in sheer terror.

It was downright hilarious seeing these full-grown men, who strutted around fields with their chests puffed out, trembling like leaves after just the third trial.

"B-but... enemies pop out anywhere...!"

"That's why I'm saying, if you crawl along that slow, they keep coming!"

Part of him wanted to just ditch them and bolt...

The quest was holding Jeonghyeon back by the ankles.

"Here's the plan."

"...?"

The hunters looked at him with eyes wide in fear at his words.

"I'll protect you bastards come hell or high water. Catch up to Philip up front in five minutes flat."

"F-five... five minutes? What if we can't?"

Yongmyeong's voice trembled violently.

"I'll leave you behind. Die for all I care."

They had no clue Jeonghyeon was obligated to protect them anyway, so better to play hardball like this.

"Got it! You will protect us, right!?"

"You have to save us! For real! Or I'm dead!"

Having the gall to threaten like that so boldly was a talent in itself. People who'd lived like human scum were just different, through and through.

"Don't start now, or I'll kill you myself."

As Jeonghyeon leveled his blade at them, they bolted forward like they'd spotted a boss monster.

Only then did Jeonghyeon exhale in relief, seeing their pace finally pick up.

'Look at 'em—clearly dumped a ton into their stats.'

He knew their type all too well.

The kind who avoided pain, hardship, and danger at all costs, then bullied the weak to ignore their own patheticness.

Pathetic as it was to babysit trash like this, a hollow chuckle escaped him at the thought that even scum like them were among the people he'd tried to save from the Demon King in his past life.

"Fine. A promise is a promise."

Jeonghyeon gripped the trajectory of his Blood Dissector, eyeing the skeletons rising behind the sprinting hunters.

***

Ironically, Jeonghyeon was regaining his swordsmanship, dulled over time.

Recalling the blade-based combat he'd forgotten while wielding a mace, his unique style—free and concise, like shedding shackles—began to awaken.

"L-let's go!!"

Yongmyeong and the kids kicked into gear, relief washing over them as they watched Jeonghyeon slice monsters before they could even spawn around them.

'But something's off...!'

Jeonghyeon sensed a vague unease amid the endlessly rising skeletons.

Was it the different sword type? Or his body not ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠trained enough yet?

Even without stat buffs, his movements felt mismatched somehow.

The blade wasn't dull, either. He'd long favored saw-like knives that tore more than sliced foes. But this felt fundamentally like wielding a different weapon.

Like using swordsmanship on a mace tipped with a blade.

Movements felt restricted.

Fatigue?

They reached the next room, then the one after, where skeleton forms grew more varied—right as that subtle mismatch nagged at him.

Thanks to the understanding buff, it had already jumped to perfect rank.

"Perfect. That's more like it!"

Unlike with goblins, his vision now highlighted not just attack paths or movements, but the weakest points—the true vulnerabilities.

Misfortune came in waves; so did luck, it seemed.

Philip finally came into view.

Unfatigued, Philip fought by almost copy-pasting Jeonghyeon's style.

"Oh ho...?"

Now wielding Shout with precision, Philip tuned his mana to affect only the nearest monsters, freezing them mid-flow.

He then smashed multiple at once.

Times like this, the mace's brute bone-shattering approach looked enviable.

'Using Shout like that? Not bad.'

It was a method even past-life Jeonghyeon hadn't considered. Back then, his overflowing mana let him layer Shout even on his normal voice—no need for fine control.

"Tch."

Of course, he was no different from these pathetic awakeners now, scraping by without proper mana recovery.

"Philip! Good to see you!"

"Ah! You've arrived! The next room looks like the boss chamber!"

"Hm?"

Right—Uldran's blessing. Even virtual Tower structures were structures.

Philip could peer inside them clearly, so he already knew the boss's spot.

"Excellent."

Jeonghyeon wanted to help Philip right away, but he couldn't yet.

Flying beast and demon-form skeletons were ambushing from unexpected angles.

"Annoying pests!"

Jeonghyeon swung at a diving harpy skeleton.

It split vertically in half, crashing limply to the floor.

Its mana stone, lodged in the skull, cracked and clattered out.

Skeletons regenerated like bugs unless you pulverized the mana stone spot entirely, so Jeonghyeon stayed vigilant until it fully popped free.

The upside: boosted understanding. Weak points shifted with state and motion, but spotting and slicing them simplified combat immensely.

"Pathetic trash!"

After downing the flyer, Jeonghyeon redirected at a charging centaur skeleton.

The half-man half-horse exposed a glaring weak point, then flopped wetly as torso severed from body.

Smashing the skull's mana stone thoughtlessly, Jeonghyeon finally realized the source of his unease.

"Ah."

***

Jeonghyeon swung his blade in deep contemplation.

Until now, he'd just been cleaving monsters with his old swordsmanship. They died anyway.

But the Blood Dissector wasn't a normal sword.

A blade warped for easy mana stone harvesting from corpses. Its purpose differed from the start—like a double-edged longsword versus a rapier for thrusting.

Meaning it wasn't suited for precision strikes on weak points or learned techniques.

'Thought I could just swing it roughly and call it good...'

His Blood Dissector was an Epic Weapon, after all.

It guided the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠blade fluidly toward mana stones, almost intuitively.

For skeletons, where mana stones shone obviously, couldn't he just extract it directly? That'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠end them instantly.

Why bother with "killing" swordplay on already-dead things?

The realization cracked a grin—he'd solved his nagging puzzle.

"Yes! That's it!"

Jeonghyeon reversed his grip on the Blood Dissector.

Shifting from standard sword stance to one primed for stabbing with the reverse hold—like an assassin's posture.

"Wh-what are you—"

The man they'd trusted to save them freaked as he grinned creepily and readjusted his weapon, fearing abandonment.

"Come on...!"

But their voices were white noise to focused Jeonghyeon. His first guinea pig: a massive-faced ogre skeleton.

'Weak point sighted!'

Slicing it severed life instantly. The orc hefting both arms exposed its spine—the brightest glow. Bone or not, severing the weight-bearing spine split it in two.

Then chest, then head.

But Jeonghyeon waited deliberately. Until the attack grazed his hair, slammed the ground, and vibrations rang out.

He staggered briefly, but the wait revealed the true vulnerability.

The moment before pulling arms from the earth—about two seconds.

Plenty of time for Jeonghyeon.

He vaulted off the ogre's hand into the air.

"Hya!!"

Reverse-gripped Blood Dissector—the Blood Dissector—plunged into the ogre's crown center.

Squelch.

No sense of cutting bone.

"Hup!"

Riding gravity back down, he twisted his wrist, carving from skull through neck, chest, and spine in one fluid motion.

Thud. Plop.

Impossibly smooth cross-sections on what should've been rigid bone.

Like sliced tofu masquerading as bone—the ogre skeleton crumpled, unaware of its death.

Bonus: the freshly ejected mana stone left behind.

"This is it...!"

Jeonghyeon's eyes sparkled—not as a Demon King ruler, but as a swordsman brimming with life.

Not swordsmanship for killing. Dismantling for the already dead. More butchery than slaughter. Harvest stone, kill foe—a simple rule collapsing two steps into one.

With a fraction of the effort.

As if affirming his answer, the status window chimed.

Ding!

The fatigue vanished as Jeonghyeon grinned.

"Yeah... Shall we ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠harvest some mana stones?"

The horde of skeletons before him now looked like prime cuts of beef begging to be butchered.