Blue Eye Exposed

The man glared at his own ankle, now engulfed in flames, his eyes bloodshot as he spat out nonsense. "Kuaaaah, you bastard!! You fucking piece of shit, I'll kill you!! I'll really kill you!!" The moment his ankle turned to ash and scattered, any chance of that happening had already dropped to zero.

"......"

'......'

I could clearly feel A-rin's trembling gaze fixed on me. Her lips moved soundlessly, like she wanted to say something but couldn't. A pathetic thought—that this was enough—lingered in my throat.

'After everything they've been through... Yeonhee's the same, and so is she. Their hearts are too soft.'

But I had to discard such weak thoughts. We weren't ordinary people. We were monsters who wielded near-miraculous abilities as naturally as breathing. At the very least, these bastards should have been prepared when they pulled their childish stunts. Prepared for the possibility that someday they'd cross paths with a lunatic like me.

"Kkiiik... my leg... kuhuk..."

Looking at the man whimpering over his remaining leg, I recalled a hunter from my past life who had prosthetic legs. He'd been quite strong. Hmm... with only one leg, sleeping with it stretched out would be difficult.

'I need to take both his hands too.'

Just as I made that decision and started toward him, Heo Min-sol and another nameless man drove their sharp blades into my body.

"As expected of a skeleton head!! Phahahat!! You stupid bastard, did you think this was some honorable one-on-one duel?"

"Senior! Right now, to that rabbit bi—! Ugh, wh-why won't this come out?"

'......'

So the things they learned in the Ilseom Guild weren't just for show. Only a few seconds had passed since I noticed their approach, yet their ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠swords were already buried in my body. A straightforward thrust and a sharp mid-level slash. Both attacks carried quite decent mana. Their movement technique wasn't on par with Baek A-rin's near-divine footwork, but it was still impressive. Even more surprising was how little stamina they seemed to have expended.

'Baek A-rin's stamina really is trash.'

But these idiots were truly foolish. No matter how human-like my bone armor made me appear, my basic frame was still that of a skeleton soldier. Attacking me with bladed weapons like this was inefficient. They should have pulled out blunt weapons, even if not warhammers or maces. They hadn't yet entered the Dungeon of Nargul, so their inexperience showed at the critical moment.

"Ugh?! It's hollow inside...? Ah, shit!!"

Thud—!

"Kuhak!"

I slashed my dagger horizontally across the man's neck, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and the skin split open like a blooming flower. Crimson blood soon began to scatter into the air along the line, delayed by a moment.

"Senior!!"

Thud!

"Kuaaak..."

The woman named Heo Min-sol struggled desperately to pull her sword out of my body, only to take a left hook to the torso that sent her waist bending backward toward the sky.

'Are these really swordsmen...? Why are they all so fragile?'

I'd only lightly tapped her solar plexus, yet she foamed at the mouth and collapsed, unable to rise. If I'd used Warrior's Howl, she might have passed out entirely.

'You! You dared to target our party!'

I stomped repeatedly on the man clutching his neck and on Heo Min-sol, who was curled up on the floor.

Crack! Thud!

"Aaaaaagh!! Kuhuhung, my teeth, hic...!"

When their faces were exposed, I kicked them hard enough to send teeth flying. When their stomachs were exposed, I drove my foot into their abdomens like kicking a soccer ball.

"Kehehek... s-stop, weeegh— I, I can't breathe..."

Just as the two began convulsing as if going into shock, their eyes rolling back, a voice thick with tension came from a man who had been holding back.

"Haha... impressive."

It was Lee Seung-jun, the original leader of this party.

'Why is this bastard just standing there?'

Lee Seung-jun had clearly had opportunities to attack me, yet he hadn't. I'd seen his magic shield earlier and wondered if he possessed offensive magic of decent power. I'd been hoping to test the defensive capabilities of my bone armor, but it was disappointing.

"Can you hear me, Lee Yeonhee? Please spare me. I only met these people for the first time today. So I have nothing to do with your grudges, right? Besides, I have other matters to attend to..."

'He thinks Yeonhee is remotely controlling me.'

If his reason for not attacking was to completely separate himself from these people, it was a rather successful strategy. But his change in attitude had come far too quickly.

'You were just watching from the side until now.'

Thud—!

Twitch-

"Kkuk——!"

I gave Lee Seung-jun a blow to the abdomen as well. Of course, I used only half the force I'd used on Heo Min-sol. Even so, the pain seemed too much for him to bear. He gasped for breath before desperately pulling a potion from his inventory and chugging it down. The fact that he hadn't used his magic shield was probably an expression of his unwillingness to get involved.

"Huuuk... huk... are you... going to hit me more?"

He asked while looking up at me from his prone position on the floor. I shook my head, and he collapsed flat on his back with an expression of having aged ten years.

'He lacks a sense of danger. To lie down and expose his stomach in this situation...'

I hesitated for a moment, wondering which organization he belonged to, whether any nearby parties had connections to him, and what kind of troublesome situation this might bring.

"I was just trying to earn some pocket money while floating in the air, and I almost went straight to that person's embrace. Haha... cough- cough- kaaak, ptoo!"

Lee Seung-jun berated himself. He spat out a thick glob of blood-red saliva—perhaps he worshipped some kind of god—then closed his eyes, clasped his hands together, and began muttering something. It was all useless nonsense about worship, praise, and atonement. A faint light emanated from his cloak. It was no ordinary cloak.

Hmm... a god, huh...

'The cloak... god... that faint energy that twitched behind my back when I hit him...'

There was a strange sense of dissonance I could only feel when I touched Lee Seung-jun directly. Suddenly acting on instinct, I grabbed the cloak he was wearing and sliced it open with my dagger.

"Wh-what are you doing!!"

Lee Seung-jun covered his unattractive middle-aged chest with both hands, an uncle's body he clearly didn't want seen, and shouted at me.

'His back. Let me see his back.'

I moved behind him and examined his back, but there was no Blue Eye tattoo.

'......'

Something was wrong. There had definitely been a reaction. In the end, I grabbed the back of Lee Seung-jun's neck and drove my knee into his abdomen once more.

"Kuhuhuk!! Kuuu... you fucking bitch... you said you wouldn't hit me...!"

'Did I make such a promise? Well, I'm curious, so I'll hit him like before and try to jog his memory.'

But one blow wasn't enough to trigger that feeling again. Since he'd cursed at Yeonhee earlier, I used that as an excuse to stomp on him a few more times.

Thud thud!! Thud!

"Uiiiiik! You filthy human scum!!"

Hah— look at this bastard's word choice. Eventually, a familiar shape appeared on Lee Seung-jun's back. A single vertical eye, torn open lengthwise, glowing with a faint blue light.

'Bingo! Hahaha! What kind of day is today!!'

The joy of finding a forgotten jar of honey made me momentarily forget that I still had work to finish. Lee Seung-jun, staggering, seemed to realize his identity had been exposed. He brought his fingertips together ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to form a circle and manifested a fairly condensed sphere of mana within it.

"Triple Magic Missile!!"

Pew-pew-pew-pew-pew—!

'...... He really has no luck, tsk tsk...'

If he'd fired a single powerful shot, he might have pierced my bone armor and dealt damage. But instead, he'd chosen Magic Missile, the so-called staple of multi-hit magic. The destructive power, dispersed across the number of missiles, failed to penetrate my defenses and vanished meaninglessly into smoke.

"Th-this can't be...!"

Of course, Lee Seung-jun wasn't an offensive type. Bringing three incompetent swordsmen into this dungeon suggested he specialized in defense and support, like his magic shield. Still, I'd gained important data.

'I don't need to worry about a non-offensive mage's skills for the time being.'

Nodding in satisfaction, I looked at Lee Seung-jun sprawled on his back in a four-legged crawl and activated Stealth. Then, after a light running start, I drove my dagger smoothly into his soft flesh.

"Kkiiiiiik...!"

As the dagger pierced his neck, Lee Seung-jun's body twisted like a pretzel, and shadow spikes shot out from his cloak, aimed precisely at my head.

'Shoulder roll, you bastard.'

Like a famous boxer, I slightly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠raised my thorn-covered shoulder blade, deflecting the shadow spikes' trajectory outward.

Ting-ting-ting!

A few weeks ago, reacting to those spikes would have been difficult, but now I could handle them with ease. Maybe agility really was the best stat after all! A rather sharp friction sound rang out as the spikes slid past, but my shoulder suffered no damage whatsoever. This was valuable data too. Even the shadow cloak's attack couldn't leave a single scratch on my thorn bones.

Hmm.

Crack—

I pulled the dagger from his neck and this time stabbed it into his side. The light in Lee Seung-jun's eyes rapidly faded.

It had been a while since I'd gotten a free stat. But greed knows no bounds.

'Hmm? What's this? Why did this bastard only give +1?'

The priest I'd killed in the dungeon depths last time had been weaker than this guy, yet he'd given +2... So maybe the position held mattered more than the strength of the one killed? Or perhaps it depended on loyalty or faith toward that Ashura fellow.

Whoosh- whoosh-

I shook the blood-soaked dagger on the ground a few times to clean it, then went back to finish what I'd started.

'Offer up your wrists, you bastards.'

"Huuuuk!!"

While I was briefly dealing with the Blue Eye insect, Heo Min-sol and the man were trying to pull potions from their inventories to drink. They looked pathetic, unable to even open the caps properly in their haste. They hadn't even noticed Baek A-rin charging from behind.

"Heo— Min-sol—!"

Baek A-rin's movement as she ran while calling her beloved junior's name was lightning-fast. At the grim reaper's call coming to claim her, Heo Min-sol frantically poured the potion down her throat. But the potion that had been in her hand had already disappeared somewhere, and what met her eyes was the terrifying sight of a skeleton soldier storing her one and only high-grade potion in his inventory.

"No! Fuck! S-save me! Just once! I'll live nicely! Okay?!"

"Yeah. Let's get hit first."

In the blink of an eye, Baek A-rin reached Heo Min-sol's nose and, maintaining her running momentum, struck her hard with her scabbard. Heo Min-sol, who had already lost several teeth to me, lost a few more molars with a clatter from this attack. Human teeth weren't supposed to come out that easily. It gave a clear sense of just how hard she'd been hit.

'I'll leave Heo Min-sol to A-rin...'

I approached the remaining man and stepped on his elbow to pin him down.

'Oops.'

Since Yeonhee was watching, I turned my body to block her view. Then, without hesitation, I severed both his wrists with clean cuts.

"Kuuuuuubububuu...!!"

When his wrists were severed, the man thrashed about like a freshwater eel out of water, as if he'd gone into shock. The bastard was still lively. Fresh fish, fresh fish.

The moment I cut off his wrists, I heard the hunters around us murmuring. Was it because they thought severing wrists was too cruel?

'Okay. Please spread the word like that.'