Nothing Is Free
Nothing is free.
“Sigh… I’m a little disappointed there’s no scythe.”
<System: Skill level has risen!>
Thanks to Kim Taesu, my skeleton soldier’s leveling experience was filled to the brim.
The long-awaited moment had finally arrived.
“Status window!”
——+——+——SKILL——+——+——
[(Unique) Skeleton Soldier Summon LV. 2]
- Unique skill of the Skeleton Lord. Summons a skeleton soldier for 17 hours (1 hour multiplied by intelligence).
- Ability inheritance: The summoned skeleton soldier receives 25% of the lord’s abilities (0.01 multiplied by mental power).
- Summonable soldiers: 1 (proportional to skill level).
- Equipment system: Each skeleton soldier can wear a unique equipment set. The set is saved and reapplied upon re-summoning.
- Individualization: Each skeleton is a separate entity, allowing different abilities and equipment configurations.
- Ability transfer: If a skeleton soldier dies in combat, its abilities transfer to the nearest skeleton soldier for 17 minutes (1 minute multiplied by intelligence).
- MP consumption: 50
- Cooldown: None
- EXP required for level up: 0 / 2,000
+——+——+——+——+——+——+——+——
“What the…?”
Nothing changed.
Just one level up and nothing else.
“What the hell is this?!”
A wave of utter betrayal washed over me.
Had I really been a fraud this whole time?
The skill had leveled to 2, but the number of summonable skeleton soldiers remained stuck at 1.
Worse, the EXP needed for the next level-up had doubled overnight.
The disappointment hit like a truck right after the high of a perfect level-up, and my scalp burned with rage.
Was my Skeleton Lord’s dream about to crumble?
Kaang—kaang—
Hansik, who didn’t have a clue what I was thinking, kept mechanically digging for cicadas.
Hansik, who also had no idea about the disappointment, didn’t feel any of it.
He simply did exactly what he was told.
“He doesn’t even tire out. Looks like he’s not even eating. Why is he digging cicadas anyway?”
I didn’t answer.
I had no energy left for excuses.
“Maybe it’s some kind of hidden quest?”
No reply.
Then Hansik suddenly perked up.
“Ah! That’s it! I get it! I remove the cicadas from Kalid’s shell and get a reward, right? That’s what I’m saying?”
Beat the drum and strike the gong.
“It’s not that kind of thing.”
“Not that? Then why are you doing all this?”
“Hah… please don’t talk. I’m not in the mood.”
“Strong denial is strong affirmation! You’re right, you’re right!”
“No, it’s not like that at all! I came here to level up, okay? Level up!”
“What? Level up?”
“Yes! By catching these cicadas, the EXP goes up, and that’s where I came to level up!”
“But why are you so angry all of a sudden?”
At those words I forced down my frustration.
“Sorry. I didn’t think it would turn out like this.”
“But if I catch the cicadas, does the EXP go up?”
Kim Taesu gestured toward the status window while he stomped a few cicadas with his feet.
Even though he was a mage, he was a little weird. His strength stat was high enough that the tough cicadas crumbled like sand.
“It’s not rising?”
“It’s because my level is high. Even one cicada from a low-leveler like me would level me up.”
“Puhaha, a brand-new 0-leveler? So cute. But it still doesn’t rise like I thought? EXP isn’t going up?”
“It does go up. But even that only levels the skill. Nothing else changed. Hah… I guess I really am a fraud. Even as a hunter, I’m…”
Kim Taesu chuckled at my words.
“Bak Jongdu and Ahn Seong-jin are only E-minus, so it makes sense. But when I looked at your ID earlier, you’re supposed to be ten years older. Don’t be so stiff. We’ve already been together for over five hours. This month is more time I’ve spent talking to my mom than…”
He had munched on a lot of delicious shellfish and must be feeling good.
Unaware of my mood, Kim Taesu casually slung an arm around Hansik’s slender shoulders.
“You’re going to regret it later. Call your mom more often. Visit her often.”
“Eolssigu? Are you acting like an adult? Barely turned thirty? Hahaha.”
“Thirty means you’re an adult, right?”“
I added on with a side comment for the stiff detective acting like an old man.
“Detective-nim, it’s not about age that you treat your mom well. Just treat her well while she’s alive. I really mean it.”
At my sincere advice, Kim Taesu stayed quiet for a moment.
Then he spoke in a slightly gentler tone.
“There must have been a hard time. Don’t call me Detective-nim. Just call me Tess-hyung like anyone else. How many hunters are trying to get close to me?”
“Why the sudden closeness act?”
“I’m keeping an eye on you. You don’t seem like a bad guy.” Is he only noticing now?
I couldn’t figure out when the change happened, but making friends with Hunterpol was definitely a win. Of course, Kim Taesu was still the power-abusing Hunterpol guy, but… no, maybe getting close to this Hunterpol was actually better.
“Then I can really call you hyung?”
“Yeah. Even strangers call me Tess-hyung. What’s the big deal? I’m still way ahead of you in this world, so if you have questions, ask. A-class hunter advice isn’t easy to come by. Got it?”
A veteran’s affection toward a newbie shone through once more.
A real veteran.
A mage who carried a shield and turned a fishing rod into a weapon. What power did magic actually hold? He didn’t wear armor, only the shield. If we had faced each other directly, I would have been unable to even meet his eyes. The gap between us was more than heaven and earth.
“So why the disappointment? Even if the skill leveled up, it’s a good thing, right?”
I spilled my disappointment.
“Yeah. I leveled the skill from 1 to 2. But nothing changed.”
“Your skill? This one?”
He poked Hansik while speaking.
“Exactly. It says the number of summonable skeleton soldiers is proportional to skill level. But even after leveling, I can only summon one… I came with high hopes. As a hunter, I was just going to go home.”
“So you’re saying that even at skill level 2, it’s still only one soldier?”
“Yes.”
“Maybe that’s a big deal?”
“What are you talking about? Nothing’s growing!”
“It says the number of summoned entities is proportional to skill level, not that they increase one by one, right?”
“Yes.”
“Fibonacci. You don’t know it?”
Suddenly Fibonacci?
I had made a Fibonacci sequence calculator during my coding beginner practice.
I knew it well. Famous for the golden ratio, it appears everywhere in nature. Plant growth patterns, sunflower seed arrangements, the spiral of seashells and snail shells. In stocks it’s called Elliott Wave, used to predict price movements with the golden ratio.
“I know. But what does that have to do with…”
“No way…”
Taesu sat down and started scribbling on Kalid’s shell with his finger.
“Look. The Fibonacci sequence starts with 1. Then each number is the sum of the two before it. First one is one. Second is zero plus one, so again one. But the third is…”
“Two.”
“Exactly. Two.”
He wrote:
1st level — 1
2nd level — 1
3rd level — 2
“So what about level 4?”
“1 + 2 = 3.”
“Level 5?”
“Five? Level 6 would be eight?”
“Exactly.”
“I get it, but then my summoned soldiers grow in a Fibonacci pattern?”
“Yes. So don’t be disappointed. You should actually be happy. You’ll only know after leveling more, but I’ve seen firsthand how power multiplies with the Fibonacci sequence.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Bae Hyeongsin.”
Bae Hyeongsin. His bounty was five hundred million won.
Former A-class hunter. A vicious criminal who had committed murder and terrorism without reason.
“He’s the guy I’m chasing, right?”“
“Yeah. The son of a bitch I’d chew up and spit out.”
I could hear his fury through Hansik’s mic all the way to my speaker.
“Bae Hyeongsin’s power multiplies with the Fibonacci sequence?”
“Yeah. His unique skill Dark Bolt. A magic arrow made of dark energy. When he first registered with the Awakener Management Association, he could only fire one Dark Bolt. But how many do you think he can fire now?”“
“How many?”“
“You can’t even count them. At least a hundred million.”
“A hundred million?!”
A gasp slipped out.
“Insane skill. Even though each shot isn’t that powerful, once he fires it the sky turns pitch black and nothing is visible.”
In other words…
If my skeleton soldiers grew in a Fibonacci pattern, when I reached Bae Hyeongsin’s level I would summon a hundred million skeleton soldiers?
Goosebumps covered my entire body.
If Hansik became a hundred million…
No, my country’s population isn’t even a hundred million.
The number was too huge to even imagine.
Summoning a hundred million skeleton soldiers would destroy the Earth’s ecosystem.
I would have to recognize skeleton soldiers as a new species.
I must be crazy.
If that happened, who would be able to handle me?
I swallowed dryly.
“This shield? You were curious, right? The reason I carry this shield is all because of Bae Hyeongsin’s Dark Bolt. Tank-rankers drool over it. I nearly caught him while blocking the arrows raining from the sky. But now it’s all useless. Where the hell has this bastard been for years? I can’t even find him.”“
“Maybe he’s smuggled out? Last time he was spotted at Busan Port.”“
Kim Taesu shook his head.
“Actually, if he was spotted somewhere else it might have been smuggling. But since he got caught trying to smuggle, South Korea doesn’t allow it anywhere now. Hunterpol is stationed everywhere. This area is my territory.”“
“Ah…”
“And I think Kim Taesu is hiding somewhere in this gate. Actually, the easiest place for hunters to hide is a gate.”“
“No way… so you think he’s at Oryukdo Gate?”“
“I do. It’s the most used gate, and it’s a permanent one that never clears.”“
“Then why don’t we just send Hunterpol and the hunter army to search everywhere?”“
“Wouldn’t we? Hunterpol, the hunter army, and every hunter tied to him or his associates are all searching. It’s like they’ve burned the seeds of monsters. They’ve turned over every inch of earth, wood, rock, and the sea. But he’s not there.”“
At some point I had completely immersed myself in his story.
Police and criminal. A honey-sweet story I never believed I’d hear?
“Um… but Tess-hyung.”“
My head was still spinning when one question surfaced.
“You haven’t checked Kalid’s insides, right?”“
“Here? Better if Kalid ate him and he died, but how do I check? If I mess with Kalid, no one can handle it.”“
“No… Kalid’s nostrils…”
“What? Nostrils?”“
“Look. Kalid is this huge. His nose size is like between subway stations. His nostrils alone are probably as big as subway entrances.”“
Kim Taesu’s pupils shot upward as he thought hard.
“That’s possible. There’s plenty of cicadas for food. Then where’s the water?”“
“Even though it’s sea water, if I distill it it might be salty but I could still get drinking water, right?”“
“So he could be hiding inside Kalid’s head?”“
“Just a random thought. Actually it’s impossible. He’d fly out the second Kalid sneezes.”“
“No. I have to check for sure.”“
“For real?”“
“Yeah. Help me once.”“
“Me? I’m a fraud.”“
“No, with your summoned soldier it should be fine. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you don’t get hurt.”“
“But you know my style.”
Nothing is free.