Thievery's True Potential

Are you a maggot? My Intelligence remained unchanged, but my Sensory stat had plummeted. Even so, few beings—monster or human—started with a Sensory value of 15. From what I recalled, the Yeonhee of my previous life had a habit of meticulously recording her summons’ information, and parts of those notes had been made public after her death, sparking quite a stir. I hadn’t memorized every detail about the summons, but one thing was certain: a Skeleton Soldier’s Intelligence had never been this high.

The rise in Intelligence seemed to have slightly boosted my Mana as well. ‘Sensory is obviously not a stat a Skeleton Soldier would normally possess. My original stats must have blended with the Skeleton Soldier’s in some way.’

Sensory was useful for detecting traps, poison mist, hidden enemies, or concealed locations, and for finding paths to lower dungeon floors. Because so few possessed it, those ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠who did were always treated with respect wherever they went. Most hunters with this stat lived as guides. ‘Just like I did.’

Since there was no rush, I was carefully examining each stat when Yeonhee suddenly leaned in close, as if embracing me, and my thoughts came to an abrupt halt.

“Ilwol? I really summoned you, right? Four traits on top of a Sensory stat! And even Stealth?”

Unable to contain her excitement, she grabbed my ribs like handles and shook me back and forth. I was momentarily flustered that she could see my information so clearly, but then I remembered—‘Of course summon information is shared with the master…’

I nodded and continued my interrupted train of thought. The traits Thievery and 99 Lives were abilities I had possessed since awakening in my previous life. It seemed they had been added to the Skeleton Soldier’s existing traits. Among them, 99 Lives had never received any explanation from the System, no matter how much I grumbled about it while alive. Only after dying did I finally understand.

‘99 Lives… It looks like one life is consumed each time I die. So what happens if I die in this state?’ Would I be reborn as an entirely different summon, or would I continue existing as a skeleton? The thought felt strangely surreal. A skeleton was nothing more than bones left behind after death—something that should never move again. Yet here I was, defying that natural order and worrying about what would happen if I died. It was an odd situation.

Still, what intrigued me most was how the target of Thievery had changed.

‘Originally, it was a 20% chance to steal a skill when killing an awakened human…’ Now it guaranteed stealing a skill on the first kill of any monster, and even offered a low chance of stealing traits from repeated kills. Wasn’t this overpowered?

……‘No… Considering how garbage my other stats are, this upgrade might not be enough.’ Back when I was human, the 20% chance only triggered on awakened humans, making it impractical to use. If I’d had a 100% chance like this, I might have lived as the ultimate villain, relying on Stealth.

Yet even with these broken abilities, what truly excited me was the existence of an attack skill I had never once used during my hunter days.

Smash Lv.1 — Strike with 250% of Attack Power.

‘Finally, I can use an attack skill too.’ As hunters grew stronger, they inevitably gained new skills or traits. My luck had been so abysmal that I never obtained a single offensive skill. The keyword triggered a forgotten fragment of memory. Exploring dungeons with only Stealth in the early days of awakening had been truly grueling, even for a guide.

250% Attack Power. A ridiculously simple ability, but ‘Not bad. It’s one of the better skills in its category.’ Attack Power was the composite result of Strength, Agility, physical condition, and Mana. Without attack skills, I had been forced to rely solely on basic attacks against monsters. While others finished fights in two strikes, I had to land seven solid blows.

‘How nostalgic… Those days of struggling in the Goblin Dungeon…’

“This is amazing. Really, hehe…”

‘Is she really that happy?’ Her violet eyes, glowing softly like fireflies at dawn, looked up at me with a bright smile. She seemed purely joyful and content, but ‘This must be the hardest time for her…’

Yeonhee hadn’t started ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as a Summoner. Like most hunters, she awakened with a single attack skill and barely scraped by in low-grade dungeons for about half a year. Then her mother died—wasting away in the hospital. After dungeons opened and ambient mana gradually increased, non-awakened people occasionally succumbed to mysterious illnesses. Her mother had been one of them. The shock of losing her only support triggered Yeonhee’s second awakening, granting her the Summoner class—a magic-type position—while she was also known to be quite skilled with a bow.

‘Her first skill was… Danti’s Blessing, wasn’t it? +20% bow attack power and increased penetration?’

While lost in these memories, Yeonhee pulled me back to the present.

“We’re going to the Goblin Dungeon tomorrow! I’ve actually been going there for months, hehe.”

She scratched the back of her head, looking a little embarrassed. But there was nothing to be ashamed of. While I opposed overly cautious dungeon runs, reckless challenges were also something to avoid. ‘Yeah. No need to push ourselves at our current level.’

“Even though I have you now, I want to go somewhere familiar and get used to the changes.”

“Clack clack clack!”

I clacked my teeth to show agreement. ‘Was it this dungeon? The one where I got hit in the face by slime acid?’ Her skin was flawless like white jade now, but in her previous life, during her first dungeon run with her summon after her second awakening, she had been struck by slime acid and left with a large scar on her face. ‘I can’t let that happen again.’

The Goblin Dungeon was the lowest-grade dungeon, inhabited by goblins, slimes, and herbivorous monsters called Mole Crickets. Dungeons were usually named after their strongest monster, meaning the apex predator here was the goblin. ‘I’d like to level up by hunting Mole Crickets first.’ Excluding Intelligence and Sensory, my stats were less than half those of the weakest F-rank hunter. My combat ability was so poor I couldn’t even guarantee victory against a single goblin in a one-on-one fight. ‘Strength aside, my Agility is complete trash. 2? I’m not a maggot…’

“Don’t worry, Ilwol. I’m stronger than I look, you know? Hehe.”

“……”

“…Why aren’t you answering? Do you not trust me? Fine! I’ll have to show you something tomorrow!”

“Hyah! Hyah!”

She demonstrated clumsy punches and kicks, proudly displaying her own inexperience.

“Huu…”

After finishing her awkward flailing, she held her palms forward and took a deep breath. It was quite amusing. ‘So this was her personality…’ We had explored many dungeons together in the same guild before, but I had rarely seen her smile. I was genuinely surprised. ‘I’m the problem here. I need to think of this as starting from zero.’

From her current demeanor, it seemed she had completely moved past her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mother’s death, but—

“…It’s been a really long time since I talked this much…”

“……”

Her excitement suddenly dropped. She stared into the air for a moment before continuing.

“Let’s see how well commands work first.”

For the next hour, she had me walk around, jump, carry objects, and even massage her shoulders—testing whatever commands came to mind. The house was too small to run, but she approached the testing with surprising seriousness.

“Hmm… Ilwol, you’re incredibly weak, huh?!”

“……”

It was a fact, so I had nothing to say. My body was made of hard bone, making it difficult to grip objects properly. Combined with already low Strength, I couldn’t exert much force.

“Still, it’s fine! You have Stealth. Even considering your Intelligence and Mana, your attack power probably won’t exceed a goblin’s level… So if I attack first with my bow, you can sneak up and smash them with your club!”

“Clack clack clack-!”

I manifested my only weapon from my inventory.

It even had +1 Attack Power. Damn it… While I stared blankly at the club, Yeonhee tilted her head curiously and placed her hand on it.

“Hehe… Your attack power is really low. What’s with this?”

For some reason, it felt like she was evaluating my entire existence, and I instinctively shrank back.

“Hihit— Still, it’s okay. I’ve always gone alone anyway. Even if it’s just you, you’ll at least help distract their attention. You’ll definitely be a big help.”

“Clack clack clack-!”

She was right. Simply having someone to watch my back would completely change the nature of combat. At the same time, her words bothered me. Even in the lowest-grade Goblin Dungeon, entering alone wasn’t common. Her striking appearance must have attracted all sorts of unsavory pests, which likely contributed to her distrust of humans.

“Whew… I should sleep now. Tomorrow’s Friday, so there’ll be a lot of people. I need to rest early.”

She looked at me with a slightly apologetic expression.

“So you should go back and rest too, okay?”