The Skeleton's Abilities Go Viral

Liar. Sob— Yeonhee's robe was shaking violently. I'd quickly clamped my hand over the man's mouth, but she must have realized what he was about to say anyway. Since I'd already heard about the Evolution Stone from Kang Yeonsu, I knew exactly how they were made.

They made children swallow magic stones and runes, then left them with nothing but water for weeks until they starved. The stones and runes would slowly melt into their bodies. If that was the children's final desperate struggle not to die, it was heartbreaking beyond words. Once the fusion was complete, the children were dissolved in a special solution, liquefied like a potion, and consumed over several weeks to gain power. These idiots had apparently skipped even that step and ground them up alive. No wonder it caused side effects like this.

Of course, turning them into potions and drinking them was just as insane...

Bubble, bubble—

Watching the man melt and merge with the ground, one thought occurred to me. What was so urgent that he chose this path? When I'd first seen him, my senses told me his talent was far from lacking... It definitely wasn't. From certain perspectives, plenty of people must have been jealous of his gift. Had he spent his life staring only upward, never satisfied with his own existence?

Who cares.

In truth, I couldn't understand people like him at all, nor did I want to. Where the man had completely disappeared into the earth, only a pile of bones remained—a marker that something had once existed there.

Heh, the bastard finally became useful after dying. Contaminated bone with a poisoning effect and everything.

I spread my sensory waves again with a bitter smile. This wasn't over yet. Four more manufacturers remained. One of them was supposedly B-rank. I couldn't afford to create a situation where I'd have to face someone ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like that right now.

Yeonhee leaned against me for a moment, then straightened up as if she'd made up her mind.

"I don't want to lose to trash like them..."

"......?"

"I'm going to get stronger."

"......"

Hmm... She's gaining momentum at a time like this?

It felt sudden to me, but this was the same person who'd risked her life to stop an Orc Legion Commander. Maybe her convictions only needed a small trigger to stand tall again.

We'd burned through a lot of energy, so we held our breath and waited a long time to prepare for the next fight. Fortunately, no more enemies entered our sector.

After receiving the situation-ended message, we arrived home at three in the morning. We'd spent nearly three hours draining our mental strength.

After thinking it over for a while, Yeonhee asked the party to postpone the dungeon entry by one day, and they readily agreed.

"In the end, we let one get away..."

The highest-grade one, the most likely mastermind, seemed to have escaped.

Why are they being so honest about something like this?

The management office and association I remembered were groups that worked overtime to hide their incompetence, yet the message contained surprisingly detailed information. The number of slain mutants exceeded thirty, and the remaining four who'd swallowed Evolution Stones were tracked down by other hunters and killed on the spot. Considering they'd succeeded in creating an Evolution Stone, the total number of victims must have been between forty and fifty.

What a rotten world... It's already hard enough just protecting my own body.

"Ilwol, my head..."

Swish—

After washing up, Yeonhee rested her head on my thigh again. She'd used her Slime to create a fluffy support for the back of her head. As she felt my touch, her breathing gradually calmed.

Huff— Huff—

She must be exhausted... It's like she ran two full dungeon clears in one day.

Feeling a pang of sympathy, I gently brushed her bangs aside. That's when I noticed Lime's jelly-like body poking out from beneath her, squished under Yeonhee's weight.

(You've worked hard too.)

(······!!)

Lime, now reduced to a living pillow, sent me a desperate plea for rescue, but I pretended not to notice and stared at the ceiling instead. Normally Yeonhee would at least keep Wangwang summoned at home, but right now even that seemed beyond her. The only summons in the house were Lime and me.

I gently rubbed her cheeks, which still held traces of baby fat.

So soft... Squishy... She really does look like a baby.

I lightly touched her slightly curled eyelashes that pointed toward the sky and her still-moist lips.

Lips... Those moist lips......

...You crazy bastard. Get a grip.

I snapped back to my senses with a mental whip. After playing with her cheek a little longer, my eyes suddenly fell on the phone lying on the floor.

Without hesitation, I reached for Yeonhee's phone.

The touch isn't registering properly.

After my class change and acquiring the bone armor, my hands had a fairly human-like shape, but bone was still bone. Without static electricity, there was no way it would work.

My gaze naturally shifted to Yeonhee's finger. I lifted it and shook it lightly a few times. Her index finger dangled powerlessly with my movements.

Yeonhee usually fell into a death-like sleep at this hour. On top of that, she'd practically collapsed from exhaustion today, so touching her finger wasn't going to wake her.

1793

I traced the pattern counterclockwise and the lock released.

Let's see...

This was the first time I'd touched a phone alone since regressing as a skeleton. Of course I was borrowing Yeonhee's finger, but for the moment, this finger was mine.

I poked her cheek with it. A cute pose. The way her cheek sank in was adorable.

Now that I'm actually doing it, I can't think of anything... Hmm... Oh!

One idea did come to mind. I was curious what the original me was doing right now.

Would calling be too much?

If nothing had changed, I'd probably still be working part-time at the car wash and wedding hall to save for college tuition. The unfair part was that I'd awaken shortly after returning to school next year. I could have attended classes while awakened, but that wouldn't have been allowed. I'd have taken a leave of absence immediately, and my life as a hunter would begin.

I wanted to call and tell him to quit the part-time jobs right away and go travel instead... Ah, but I can't speak anyway.

Shaking my head, I typed "Hunter Lee Yeonhee" into the search bar. Far more articles and images appeared than I'd expected.

The personality controversy from the testing site was the most recent and overwhelmingly dominant topic. Damn it, I can't even curse out ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the dead bastard properly.

It looked like the article had spread because of the guy we'd just fought. I hope that dog-like bastard falls straight into hell.

Reading through the articles, I realized there were quite a few interviews with Yeonhee. It felt strange knowing she'd been this active while I was inside the Dark Space. It was refreshing to see her paying attention to her public image like this.

Of course Kang Yeonsu must have pushed her into it, but compared to my previous life, this was a remarkable change.

It would be better to appear in the media occasionally. That way she'd face fewer misunderstandings. With her abilities and appearance, she'll have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠far more fans than antis.

No matter how far I scrolled through the image tab, the photos of Yeonhee seemed endless. Most showed her with her robe pulled down low, but there were plenty where her beauty shone through.

If you're going to take pictures, at least upload the good ones. What is this terrible image quality?

Some of the photos included me as well. They must have been taken during the Guchangro Dungeon Break. Seeing them now, they looked incredibly awkward.

Is this really me? The image is way too fierce for a skeleton soldier... And I look too plain. Maybe I should add some signature decorations.

While I was mindlessly flipping through images, Yeonhee tossed in her sleep.

"Mmm..."

I quickly placed my hand on her head and stroked it. She sank back into deep sleep.

...That was easy, huh?

I picked up the phone again and navigated to another section using Yeonhee's finger—the anonymous bulletin board of the site we always used when looking for parties. The UI was exactly as I remembered it.

The simple, retro-style board was still seeing new posts even at this hour. I was about to search for Yeonhee's name when a post on the best rankings caught my eye.

Still no mention of stealth, at least.

But all my other abilities had been completely exposed. Well, there were several witnesses. It was bound to spread quickly. Many comments still expressed disbelief, but eventually they'd learn it was all true.

The day when I can no longer catch opponents off guard is coming sooner than I expected.

Subduing enemies who underestimated me was much easier. If they became fully wary, it might cause problems when the time came. I was already worried about that.

It was sad to view other hunters as potential enemies, but it was an instinct deeply engraved from my previous life.

After skimming the comments and searching for Yeonhee's name, I realized something.

We only started traveling together recently, but she's already insanely popular?

When I searched for No Hayun to compare, the number of posts from the past week wasn't much different from Yeonhee's. Since No Hayun was already a well-known rising star in the hunter world, matching her level meant Yeonhee had essentially become a semi-celebrity.