United Will
Hidden skill. Hidden skill. The conditions to obtain one were demanding, and even if you succeeded, you could only ever learn a single one. Players who acquired a hidden skill early only to discover a superior one in the late game usually had no choice but to swallow their tears and abandon the first. But Lee Seokhyun is different.
The reason the character mocked as the weakest still saw use in Final Destiny was simple: he was the only one without any limit on hidden skill slots. The ability to carry multiple cheat skills that others could learn only one of? It practically guaranteed an absurdly high ceiling. Of course, that made the early-to-mid game pure hell.
Everything was random, with a high chance of dying in the prologue. The worst early growth rate, countless death routes. Yet he was the sole existence with the potential to monopolize every hidden skill. That was Lee Seokhyun.
And as a rotten-water veteran, I already knew every hidden skill obtainable from the start. I just need to grab the truly essential ones and escape. The rewards for a perfect prologue will outweigh any hidden skill anyway.
The Ant Cave was hell for beginners but a modest gold mine for veterans. The skill I needed most right now was… This one.
I made the decision quickly and rose from my seat. It was time to slowly raise the beacon of counterattack.
Among the orphans in the Ant Cave, the longest-serving one, Kim Hyukjun, had been watching Lee Seokhyun closely for some time. Even the term “longest-serving” felt awkward. He had simply arrived first and somehow survived until now. Nothing more, nothing less.
Lee Seokhyun… Why is he sucking up to the guards like that?
Plenty of orphans wagged their tails at the guards, so it wasn’t especially strange. Wanting to cling to the strong is only human.
Having tasted society’s bitterness from a young age, the ten-year-old Kim Hyukjun was already sharp when it came to human relationships. Still, ten was ten. He was too young to fully grasp what Seokhyun was doing.
What is he really up to?
At first it looked like he was fawning over the guards and ignoring his fellow orphans. Now he was bringing them snacks and handing them out. The behavior had moved beyond comprehension. Seokhyun scattered the food with the air of someone who had planned it from the moment he started wagging his tail.
After he repeated the act several times, he naturally became the leader among the orphans.
“Why the hell are you doing this?”
In the end Kim Hyukjun couldn’t hold back his curiosity and asked Seokhyun outright.
Sweet pancakes and orange juice that could easily last him a week if he kept them to himself. He couldn’t understand why anyone would share them with the other kids for no reason.
“Why am I doing it?”
“If you ate it all yourself… you could enjoy it for a long time.”
“Doesn’t it taste better when we share it?”
The seven-year-old’s pure answer came out as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. Kim Hyukjun briefly considered teaching him society’s harsh lessons himself, then decided the boy would learn them better through experience.
He has no idea that no matter how much food you give, it eventually turns to shit.
In extreme situations people reveal nothing but their most basic desires. Right now they were simply glad Seokhyun was satisfying their hunger for the moment. They didn’t actually like him as a person.
What’s the point of being treated like a leader?
If the only result of wrapping himself in bandages and earning snacks was this, then—
You’re no different from the rest after all.
Knowing that falling for immediate sweetness instead of distant hope meant they would never escape this place, Kim Hyukjun stared bitterly at the floor and erased his own hopes once more.
A full month had passed since he started fawning over the guards, offering snacks to the children like tribute, and being treated as their leader.
Finally.
In a short period of time, you have gained the trust and faith of most individuals within the group.
Through your steadfast appearance in a desperate environment, you have clearly imprinted who the leader is in the children’s minds.
You have acquired the hidden skill United Will.
Cooldown: 1 week.
It appeared!!!
The month of effort spent shaking my ass and running a service industry had finally been rewarded. Obtaining the hidden skill United Will in the early stages was possible only for Lee Seokhyun.
Earn the trust of over ninety percent of the group and plant the perception that you are the leader.
Here, the terms “leader” or “boss” didn’t require actually being the head of the group. As long as you were recognized as representing the group in any capacity, it counted. In my case, I had become known as the leader of the orphans.
The minimum group size is twenty people… and the only prologue that meets that condition is Lee Seokhyun’s.
Other characters might obtain the skill after entering the academy, if at all. For Seokhyun it was guaranteed. The trust and faith required by United Will counted even temporary peaks, which made it possible. Meeting the minimum conditions granted a whopping +20 to all stats. That was more than enough to surpass an ordinary adult, turning the guards into child’s play.
I found the map and obtained the skill. The best possible result.
The reason I deliberately took the long route even though I could have sneaked into the guard quarters was that “within the group” referred to the entire Ant Cave, not just the orphans. Therefore, winning the guards’ trust wasn’t optional; it was mandatory.
Stage one is finished.
All that remained was waiting for the right moment and securing one final item I needed to take.
To create the best possible outcome, I have to bring it with me.
If I had planned to escape alone, I could have left the Ant Cave right this moment. But if that was the plan, I never would have chosen Lee Seokhyun.
The biggest reason I possessed him wasn’t simply the unlimited hidden skill slots. His rotten-water gourmet personality played a part, but the decisive factor was that Lee Seokhyun had the most “heroic” choices available.
The character who never abandons hope even in the worst situations and can save everyone. That was Lee Seokhyun.
And since I’ve possessed him, I’m going to reach a happy ending no matter what.
I had decided I would never use the kids I fed snacks to as meat shields just so I could survive alone.
“Hey! Seokhyun! Time to give the warden his massage today!”
“Yes, sir! Understood!”
While I was sharpening my plan with that resolve, Manis called for me. Now that I had the hidden skill, this was the perfect moment to carry it out.
The only concern was whether the children would truly follow my orders. In the game they followed once favorability filled up, but this isn’t a game.
Although I existed inside the game, this was now a real world where events weren’t decided by data fragments. How well they would listen when I told them to follow me just because I had given them food was anyone’s guess.
Right before entering the warden’s office, Manis touched my body and performed a physical inspection. It was only a formality, but because of it I couldn’t possibly bring anything like a sharp stone. If I have no teeth, I’ll have to use my gums.
I clenched my fist tightly and followed Manis into the warden’s office.
Unlike the guard quarters, the warden’s office boasted truly luxurious quality. The crisp air and pleasant environment made it hard to believe the place was underground. The floors were entirely marble, so not a single bug could be found.
“Warden, sir! I’ve brought Seokhyun.”
“Hello, Warden, sir.”
“Oh, come in, Seokhyun. I’ve been waiting.”
The warden was a middle-aged man in his fifties, a wandering knight who had once made a name for himself. He had tasted illegal money and begun kidnapping orphans—a thoroughly clichéd story. A piece of trash whose insides were blacker than a snake’s, cunning and utterly obsessed with his own interests.
The only reason he treats me well is that I give good massages.
In truth, although the warden had received massages from me for a long time, he had never once given me any reward. The fact that he wouldn’t even replace my bandages when they needed changing was enough to hint at his character.
Just a useful tool that listens well, manages the kids, and gives decent massages.
I could feel through my skin that he saw me as exactly that. But even setting all of that aside, there was another reason the warden was truly a repulsive piece of garbage.
“Mm, yes. Manis, you may leave. Ensure no one comes near my room until I call for you.”
“Yes, sir!”
The moment Manis left, the warden licked his lips and approached me in an instant. He groped my body openly, licking my ear with a tongue that carried the stench of age. Yes.
This pedophile bastard.
He had the disgusting hobby of capturing ignorant children and forcing sexual relations on them. Of course, ever since I took over massage duty such things had never happened even once. I always handled matters in advance and drained his strength completely with the massage.
“Don’t even think about running away today.”
“Before that, may I begin the massage?”
“Hehe… Yes… Let’s do that.”
The warden kneaded my buttocks a couple of times, then walked to the bed with practiced ease and sprawled out on his stomach. I still remembered how shocked I had been the first time, when he lay there completely naked and exposed his belly. It was like witnessing the worst kind of meme from Earth’s portal sites in real time.
“I told you that today, when I turn my back, you’ll experience something special, didn’t I?”
“Yes, of course. I’m looking forward to it as well.”
I slowly climbed onto the warden’s body, pretending to prepare for the massage while clenching my fist tightly.
United Will
The strength of adults dwelling within a child’s body slammed straight into the warden’s neck. It was time to escape this wretched Ant Cave.