The Legend of the 55th Skeleton
The Upo Wetland Gate.
Total skeletons: 21. Excluded: 6.
Excluded: 3 blacksmith, 3 filial piety.
Current active: 15.
The combat power of the skeleton soldiers had skyrocketed.
Three hydras had been wiped out without a single casualty from Hansik. Changsik had impaled three of their hearts on his spear like skewers and carried them back. Right now, his [Transfer] stacks numbered a ridiculous nine.
Awesome.
“I’ll head back before the alcohol gets cold,” he muttered, echoing the scene of Guan Yu beheading Hua Xiong.
Hyungdo asked, “Hyung, but why are we collecting the hearts?”
“Ah, this? For using as leeches.”
“Leeches? Whoa, that’s actually a good idea. Smart move, big brother.”
Hyungdo, who had once used leeches on his own legs, let out an admiring sigh.
He really was an unexpectedly brainless friend.
But that was part of his charm.
Occulus’s eye guided Changsik toward the next hunting ground.
Changsik led his subordinate skeleton soldiers, with Hodu in front, and followed the eye.
From Changsik’s back, stacked with so many [Transfer] buffs, radiated an overwhelming general’s aura.
“Hyung.”
Hyungdo, who had become much more talkative now that he was closer to me.
He was far better off than when he had been terrified and huddled up.
“You know, you said deliveries are coming tomorrow. That Park Wonchang guy won’t show up again, right?”
I froze at those words.
[Blood-Red Luck] had been the delivery that never arrived.
I had to stop him. Maybe he’d come.
In the absence of Teshyung, if he tried to mess with me…
I’d have no countermeasures…
“Send out the skeletons and bring them back.”
“Oh, that’s a really good idea, hyung. You think too much.”
I smiled at the compliment. My nostrils flared.
This guy was good at social stuff.
“Park Wonchang was on parole, right? He couldn’t even enter a gate.”
“Then let’s level up and survive here until Teshyung comes.”
From far away, Hodu came sprinting.
A hydra heart with dripping blood dangled from his mouth.
Now it looked like one hydra was just a snack.
“Well done. I’d love to give you a treat, but I’m sorry, I have nothing. Hodu.”
No matter what I said, Hodu wagged his tail violently, clung to my leg, and acted spoiled.
When I sat the big guy on the wide throne and petted him, he rolled onto his back, tail wagging so hard he was practically dying of joy.
Was this the charm of the fierce beast?
“Aigoo, feeling good? Scratch here? Right here? Aww, you’re so cute.”
“Heek heek.”
At my gesture from afar, Hodu stood up smoothly, then dashed back.
He’d probably bring another hydra heart in a moment.
There were many people who criticized those who raised Rottweilers or Pitbulls.
I used to be one of them. But not anymore.
I understood them now.
How could I handle this endless reverse charm?
Hodu dashed off again.
The hydra hunt progressed quickly.
I just needed to keep summoning.
[Skill Level Up!]
Skeleton Soldier Skill Level: 9.
“Nice!”
Far away, the skeleton soldiers jumped and cheered in unison.
The one who had escaped the gate in the shortest time as No. 21 was especially happy.
“New soldier badge.”
Summoning.
The power of Fibonacci was starting to be felt.
This time, thirteen more skeleton soldiers were added.
Total: 34. Excluded: 6.
Excluded: 3 blacksmith, 3 filial piety.
Current active: 28.
“Big win!”
“Alright, now lift the throne.”
The twenty-six skeleton soldiers—excluding the blacksmith Hansik and the puppy Hodu—spread out around the throne platform.
One by one, three by three…
It was stable!
“Oh!”
My eye level rose by about 1.5 meters, and my vision widened dramatically.
“Big win! Big win!”
Hyungdo, holding the action cam, took dozens of photos.
I had said I wouldn’t post them on SNS, so taking pictures was fine.
“Alright, let’s go. To the leech swamp.”
The skeletons shouldered the throne and started walking, one foot at a time.
At first their feet tangled because they weren’t used to it, but they gradually found stability.
Precise steps, constant speed, slow and steady.
“Increase speed!”
Chak. Chak. Chak. Chak.
Move speed –100%?
No, that wasn’t me.
“Hahaha.”
I ran.
It felt amazing.
“Uwaaa uwaaa hahaha.”
“Wow, this is insane. You’re so cool, hyung! I’m so jealous!”
Hyungdo kept taking photos and exclaiming in admiration.
“What do you think? Let me see.”
He handed me the action cam.
Photos. I scrolled through them one by one.
“Huh…”
This was clearly the concept of a Demon King, no matter who looked at it!
My face heated up for a second.
“I wasn’t trying to become a Demon King, but somehow it ended up like this. Is it really that bad?”
“What are you talking about.”
“When seen from far away, it looks like a Demon King, but up close it looks too gentle.”
I heard those words a lot.
“Nice face,” or “puppy face.”
So what? Right now, no matter who looked at me, I was a villain.
“I’m done hunting in places with lots of people.”
“Buy a gate monopoly rights or something.”
“That’s too expensive.”
As we talked, we arrived in front of the leech swamp where Cargos’s body was submerged.
Cargos, the mid-boss monster, was a tentacle creature as tall as a two-story building.
It was disgusting.
Faced with this, we had to hunt leeches.
Setting aside the anxiety, it was repulsive.
“Finally here…”
Cargose and the leeches were the worst of the worst.
The leeches were tasty, but the leeches?
Ugh…
Just thinking made me shudder.
But I was stronger now. Maybe I could catch Cargose too?
“Hansik. What’s the success rate for conquering Cargose?”
Hansik answered with sign language.
“About 2.3 percent.”
It wasn’t quite there yet?
No choice. I had to try.
Hyungdo took out a dirty tent from his bag and turned it inside out.
What a great guy.
“Hyung. If we disguise with a wet tent in the swamp, we can’t see them.”
But that was too unsanitary.
I had no intention of doing that.
“Hmm… Maybe just like this?”
I pulled out a fishing rod I had prepared from the bag.
“I have a weak stomach.”
“Huh… Real brainy, Demon King.”
The bait was more than enough.
* * *
Humans must think with their heads.
I wanted to be safe, hygienic, and maximize efficiency by drying up the leech population in the swamp.
So I bought the best.
A high-end double-casting fishing rod with legendary casting distance.
MK2 LAZO, 30% off, 588,000 won.
Was that all? Tackle and rubber gloves too.
“All set.”
The skeleton soldiers wore ponchos, and Hodu jumped into and out of the swamp once.
One skeleton soldier took a hydra heart from the bag and hung it on the line.
The rod felt heavy.
“Shall we start?”
I remembered Teshyung casting the rod. My gaze fixed on the swamp about thirty meters ahead.
“Go.”
I cast. The hydra heart flew in a parabola and plopped into the water. I cranked the handle tight.
“Oh. Oh.”
Droplet, droplet.
Immediate bite.
The target species was leech.
The rod grew heavier.
I cranked, the hydra heart came up from the mud, and Hodu used the net to bring it up.
Hodak.
“Well done, Hodu!”
“Heek heek!”
On the heart, dozens of leeches clung black.
Even eyeballing, there were over a hundred.
“Ugh, disgusting.”
I wrinkled my face and used the rubber-gloved hand to pry the leeches off the heart.
I put them in a mortar with a broom and dustpan.
“Hyungdo.”
“Yes!”
This time it was Hyungdo’s turn, with his strong hands.
He pounded the mortar.
Crack—
[28 / 10,000]
[212 / 10,000]
Experience points skyrocketed.
Per leech, about three points? Split with the party member Hyungdo, so about 1.5?
Much faster than the ticks.
“Nice.”
By then, one skeleton soldier had reattached the hydra heart to the rod,
Cast.
Swoosh swoosh—
With skill improving, the casting distance felt longer.
The heart flew. Excited Hodu dashed.
Bite. Crank. Hodu brought the net. I removed the leeches. Hyungdo pounded.
[Required XP 391 / 10,000]
“Big win.”
The hydra heart shriveled after being drained by the leeches.
It would need replacement soon.
Cast again.
Crack—
[Required XP 518 / 10,000]
“Hyung, this is really fast!”
“The bait might run out.”
The leech hunt was faster than expected.
Too fast.
“The bait might be exhausted.”
“Changsik. Go get more bait.”
Chak.
Changsik led the remaining skeleton soldiers—excluding the two needed for the hunt—and headed out to hunt.
[Skeleton Soldier Dies… Transferring stats…]
[Skeleton Soldier Dies… Transferring stats…]
“Summon.”
With enough [Transfer] stacks, Changsik could solo now. The naive new skeletons in bone state were used as materials for stacking.
Of course, after several sacrifices, they became proper skeleton soldiers with real combat data.
[Skeleton Soldier Dies and transfers stats to nearby skeleton soldier.]
……
Cast.
Crack.
Bait replaced.
Cast.
Hodak.
Crack.
Non-stop infinite repetition.
Experience points were delicious.
This was going to rot my teeth.
“Hyung… How did you come up with this? Your IQ must be around 150.”
“Haha, not that much. But I do have a knack for coding.”
“Wow. That coding thing—you learned it up to Hello World and couldn’t do it?”
Now that we were catching leeches, we could chat.
The simple repetitive work continued, and Changsik’s speed for catching the hydra gradually increased with stacked [Transfer].
Endless bait.
How long had it been?
[Required XP 9,838 / 10,000]
Crack—
[Level Up!]
Skeleton Soldier Summon Level: 9.
We were far behind, but nice.
Insane speed.
Stat distribution was still top-tier Luck.
Stats rose too. With casting familiarity, casting distance increased by about 10 meters.
“Hyungdo, pull the throne back a bit more.”
“Okay.”
Hyungdo dragged the throne back ten meters.
The leech hunt became safer and faster.
“Hihi…”
Whoever said fishing was an art of waiting—wrong.
Cast.
Hodak.
Crack—
If waiting, it was just the time until Hodu brought the net after casting.
If I saved that time, speed would increase.
I pulled out another fishing rod.
Professional fishermen usually used multiple rods.
* * *
[Level Up!]
……
[Level Up!]
Level 5.
[Skill Level Up!]
Now skill level was 10!
Fifty-five. Fifty-five. Insane.
One hit and twenty-one more were added.
Fibonacci was dead.
Now I understood why it was called a scam.
Even excluding the blacksmith and filial piety skeletons, forty-nine remained!
The skeleton soldiers summoned were now so dense they were hard to count.
“Sigh… Did the leeches run out of seed? This time it’s all I got. About seventeen? Maybe I should move the spot?”
With this, I might dry up the hydra seed too. But,
“Doosik, my tongue… But it’s already nine o’clock.”
Fatigue from repetitive labor.
Hyungdo, with dark circles down to his jaw, looked at his watch.
Yeah. I hadn’t realized time was passing.
Why I knew fishing was one of the most popular hobbies.
“Ah, right, deliveries! I almost forgot. Should we take a break? Deliveries… by the rookie. Put this on and go.”
The new skeleton with 55 written on his forehead changed into the official external suit helmet and full bike suit and headed out of the gate.
“Let me sleep a bit.”
“Yeah. Zzz…”
As I was about to drift off,
[(Unique) Blood-Red Luck] had been added to [(Legendary) Tigrial’s Bundle].
“Received it. Heecha…”
We arrived. My lucky ring.
The skeletons would become even stronger now!
While rummaging through the bundle to unbox,
[Skeleton Soldier Dies and transfers stats to nearby skeleton soldier.]
“?”
What?
Everyone was resting right now?
Then…
“Summon.”
The new skeleton with 55 on his forehead appeared.
His helmet was off.
Who touched our rookie?