Armor Skeletons Awaken
Mu-hyuk decided to take a short break near Kakan's habitat.
After logging out of the capsule and grabbing a quick meal, he checked the homepage for messages and emails.
Two sellers had appeared offering skulls for sale. He replied that he'd buy them through the auction house system, then logged back into Illusion.
While waiting for Sung Min-woo, he crafted some gear.
"Been waiting long?"
"A bit."
He was about to head out hunting when, on a whim, he checked the auction house.
Two skulls were up for bid.
Nice.
Luckily, one had archer traits.
He snapped them up immediately and swapped out the summon skulls to trigger evolutions. Thanks to that, he now had 13 Enhanced Bones and 4 Strong Bows.
With that setup, he roamed around searching for the level 120 Kakan.
"There it is."
A monster crawling along the ground like a scorpion came into view. Its long tail and sharp horns sprouting from all over its body caught the eye.
"Whoa, that thing looks brutal."
"Watch out for those horns."
"Horns?"
"Yeah, its skill launches them."
"Hmm? Seems like..."
"Not that impressive?"
"Eh, at that level."
"You'll regret underestimating it."
"Hmm?"
"It's way stronger than it looks."
Sung Min-woo nodded, but his face said he wasn't convinced.
No point belaboring it—he'd learn soon enough. Sung Min-woo wouldn't drop in one hit no matter how strong it was.
One taste would wake him up. Mu-hyuk prepared for battle.
The spirits and skeletons moved out.
"I'm jumping in too."
"Go for it."
Sung Min-woo charged forward as well.
Kirrik, kiririk.
The Kakan scraped toward them along the ground.
Then the fierce clash began.
"Haaap!"
Enhanced Bones, spirits, and Sung Min-woo's perfect coordination flowed seamlessly. Just as the tension eased from Sung Min-woo's face...
Sharp horn explodes!
A barrage of razor-sharp horns suddenly filled the air.
"Heup!"
He reacted fast, but it was too quick to dodge. The horn slammed into Sung Min-woo's armor and detonated.
-Kwang!
Blazing flames scattered on the wind.
"H-heh... huh?"
Sung Min-woo, who'd rolled across the ground, shot to his feet in shock.
"F-fuck, my HP dropped 3,000!"
"Told you to be careful."
Now he nodded for real.
"This thing's insane."
The Enhanced Bones around the Kakan had been blasted back too. A few failed to block with shields and got reversed.
For a split second, Sung Min-woo saw the Kakan as an absolute monster. But only for a split second.
Storm. Powerful Arrow Shot. Morph.
Blessing of the Dead. Morph.
Wind Step. Storm. Cross Slash.
Mu-hyuk unleashed a barrage of skills, closing in to swing his sword. The Kakan's agonized scream shattered the tension.
Swoosh.
After a few more strikes, Mu-hyuk fell back and directed his skeletons again.
Magic spells and bone arrows filled the sky.
Burtan's ki blasts and cavalry charges.
Enhanced Bones' toughness and Mu-hyuk's burst damage.
Sung Min-woo and his spirits piled on.
It took time, but they finally took down the Kakan.
Experience gained.
Sung Min-woo's eyes widened.
"Whoa, the exp is nuts."
"Level 120 monster."
Mu-hyuk approached the corpse as he replied and performed Corpse Dissection.
◈ Trait: Strength
The bone's trait was strength.
He removed a Strong Bow's shoulder bone and slotted in the Kakan bone.
With Bone Assembly complete, Mu-hyuk turned to Sung Min-woo.
"Let's stick around here for a while."
"Sounds good."
He hadn't landed any mercenary quests, but the exp efficiency made it worthwhile. No complaints.
"Catch a breather first."
They sat for a short rest.
Swoosh.
Both pulled out one-use crafting tools at the same time.
Clang! Kang!
Then swung their hammers.
*
Miyamoto's temper flared again.
"Find them, I said! Find them!"
"B-but on this huge continent..."
"Hire mercs then!"
"Already did..."
"Then get your asses moving! Their next spot's obvious, right? Some high-end hunting ground we can't follow—level 110-plus at least!"
"Th-that's the problem. Those places are on another level. Even passing through, monsters swarm you. Most of the guild would die."
The vice guild master finally spoke sense.
The executives nodded.
Only Miyamoto refused to accept it, tilting his head stubbornly.
"Hey, Shota."
"Y-yeah?"
"You've grown some balls, you little shit."
Vice Guild Master Shota bowed his head.
The executives averted their eyes.
But they all thought the same:
Crazy bastard.
His filthy temper used to be occasional, tolerable. Now it was constant.
It was getting unbearable, but quitting meant a kill order. No escape.
Just more resentment piling up.
"Grown balls, huh?"
"S-sorry."
"Fucking pathetic."
"..."
Shota felt it worst of all—more than the others. The stress was insane.
But that's why he groveled harder, hiding his sharp dagger deep inside.
Someday...!
He steeled himself and endured again.
"What're you doing?"
"Huh?"
"Go find them now!"
"Y-yes sir!"
The vice guild master and executives scrambled out.
*
A week since they started hunting Kakan.
They'd adapted, making it far easier than the first time.
Still tricky dodging its skills—the horns flew too fast to see.
But preparation let them barely block with shields.
"Alright, finish it!"
"Roger!"
Sung Min-woo charged in with a flashy fist technique.
"Urachacha!"
The summons followed up, bringing the Kakan down.
Messages popped up.
Experience gained.
Powerful Arrow Shot level up.
Messages he'd waited forever for.
Finally...
He savored the brief thrill, then checked the skill.
Powerful Arrow Shot (Master)
Archer's core skill, refined for greater potential.
• Base Damage ×210%
• MP Cost: 15
• Cooldown: 10 sec
You have mastered Powerful Arrow Shot.
Evolution skill Multi Shot acquired.
Launches multiple arrows simultaneously, backed by solid fundamentals. Higher levels increase base damage and arrow count.
• Damage per arrow: Base ×110% (Currently 2 arrows)
• MP Cost: 50
• Cooldown: 15 sec
He clenched his fist hard.
Yes!
It wouldn't have been this thrilling without the evolution.
Next up.
He opened the summon menu.
Enhanced Bone 1 [Evolution]
Enhanced Bone 2 [Evolution]
Enhanced Bone 3...
The summons with swapped skulls had "[Evolution]" sparkling next to their names.
Mu-hyuk had hit level 105, pushing summons to 100—and enabling evolution for those with upgraded skulls.
Swipe.
He tapped upward and hit evolve.
Permit evolution of Enhanced Bone 1?
[Yes/No]
No reason not to.
Yes.
The Enhanced Bone 1's bones began morphing again. Mu-hyuk watched briefly, then approved evolutions for 2 through 13.
Then Burtan, followed by Strong Bows 1-4 and Enhanced Mages.
"Whew."
Sung Min-woo wandered over, dazed.
"Wh-what the hell is this?"
"Evolution."
"E-e-e-evolution?"
"Yeah."
"You're insane. Getting even stronger here?"
"This much surprise."
"This much? There's more? No way."
"Of course. They'll get way stronger."
"Madman."
He knew so much info. Failing to reach this point would be idiotic.
Crack, crunch.
Enhanced Bone 1's transformation peaked.
Enhanced Bone 1 evolution: 98%...
The evolved Enhanced Bone 1—no, now an Armor Knight—radiated a holy pure white glow.
The light absorbed into its body.
Now it was fully visible.
Snow-white and pristine, yet overwhelmingly intimidating.
Hard to believe it was a skeleton.
It had bulked up massively, over 2 meters tall. Next to it, 182cm Sung Min-woo looked tiny.
"Whoa, insane. It's huge."
"Yeah, pretty big."
Mu-hyuk was even more satisfied.
Specialized in: Spear | Spear Damage: +5%
New Skill: Powerful Strike | HP per Level: 10 → 15 | And all prior stat boosts.
The evolutions rolled through the rest.
Specialized in: Shortbow | Shortbow Damage: +5%
New Skill: Power Shot | HP per Level: 10 → 15 | And all prior stat boosts.
Specialized in: Staff | Staff Damage: +5%
New Skill: Fire Wall | HP per Level: 10 → 15 | And all prior stat boosts.
Armor skeletons.
A holy-white legion stood before him, awaiting Mu-hyuk's command.