My Skeleton Soldier Is Strange - Chapter 13

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 13
I discovered an ordinary-looking cave in the region marked on the map.
“Hmm.”
But if this was a Quest area, it couldn’t possibly be just an ordinary cave.
Convinced that something lay deeper within, I sprinted toward the back of the cave.
[You have discovered an unidentified portal.]
[Portal usage limit: 1 attempt.]
“A portal, then.”
Before me stood a portal radiating violet light.
But there was one message on this portal that differed from others.
‘So the usage limit is just one attempt… Does that mean there’s no retry for this Quest? Well, I’ll just clear it in one go.’
Most players would have hesitated, preparing more carefully before entering. But I was the opposite.
‘If there’s a one-attempt limit, it must be something I can clear on the first try.’
That logic was sound enough.
For any other player, it would mean getting beaten down in the dungeon and crying out “Just one more chance!”
“Before entering the cave, there were three trees on the right and two boulders on the left. So I found the right place.”
Of course, such verification meant nothing to me.
With no other players around, wasting time on such confirmations was pointless—playing tug-of-war with Dercan would be far more productive.
‘It said minimum three-person party recommended, right? That means the rewards are tripled and the experience is tripled too!’
With no one to stop me, my thoughts spiraled into reckless excitement once more.
‘What will drop? Hidden items? Hidden skills? Either way, YouTube-worthy content is guaranteed.’
I had stopped considering trivial matters like clear methods or success rates.
I wasn’t just drinking the broth of premature victory—I was already critiquing its taste.
―Tap… tap… tap.
Just then, Dercan approached from my right.
“You’ve changed your gear, so show me what you can do this time.”
―Understood… sir.
I nodded with satisfaction at Dercan’s response.
“Good. Let’s go in.”
―Ooooh!
The moment I stepped into the portal.
[You have entered an unexplored dungeon.]
[You must explore the Unnamed Temple.]
A colossal temple materialized before my eyes.
“Mm.”
As I suspected, the name confirmed I’d found the right place.
Now I just had to explore the dungeon to completion as Mullen had requested.
* * *
[Intruder… eliminate.]
A stone golem approached, its voice crackling and distorted.
“The head!”
I shouted forcefully at Dercan, swinging my staff in a powerful arc.
―Crack!
The stone golem’s head shattered.
―Crash!
Stone fragments scattered in all directions.
[Intru….]
The golem, already stuttering through its fractured voice, swayed left and right before collapsing forward.
Thud!
[You have defeated the guardian protecting the Unnamed Temple.]
‘Wait? A guardian?’
For a moment, something flickered at the edge of my thoughts, and I tilted my head in confusion.
[Dercan acquires half of the experience gained.]
[Dercan has absorbed the guardian’s soul.]
[You have acquired additional experience through the soul.]
The flood of messages that followed brought a different concern to mind.
“Soul absorption….”
I looked down at the guardian lying sprawled with its head shattered.
‘So the stone golem has a soul too?’
Unlike the organic monsters I’d hunted so far, the stone golem seemed utterly divorced from anything resembling a soul.
Of course, if someone had argued that a soul was infused into the stone golem to create it, I couldn’t refute that….
But the crucial point was that even defeating a monster that clearly lacked sufficient ‘soul power’ yielded a comparable share of experience.
It was still something I couldn’t determine.
Whether the system had set this for convenience, or….
‘Whether the stone golem truly possesses a soul.’
Until now, it had only been described as acquiring additional experience, but if I was genuinely absorbing souls, I might eventually be able to absorb some of my opponent’s abilities.
‘Or it could be a process of increasing soul power.’
The other skeleton soldiers don’t level up, and even if a skeleton soldier were born at level 20, it couldn’t converse or learn new skills.
Perhaps Dercan’s transformation was happening precisely because of that ‘soul.’
Having thought that far, I paused my expanding line of reasoning. After all, there was nothing to gain from pondering longer whether skeleton soldiers and stone golems dream of electric sheep.
Now I would stop thinking.
‘First, I’ll hunt every guardian in this Unnamed Temple.’
It was time to resume hunting.
‘I need more levels.’
Then naturally, I would learn about more quests and information.
“Let’s go. Dercan.”
I finished my thoughts and opened my mouth.
Simultaneously, I moved forward with light steps.
―Tap… tap… tap.
Dercan quietly followed in my wake.
* * *
Dercan swung the sword he’d crafted from the giant rat’s incisors.
―Crack!
With a crisp sound, fissures spread across the guardian’s body.
“Grrr!”
Jae-beom couldn’t help but exclaim at the sight.
‘With his original equipment, this would’ve been impossible.’
The sword and shield Dercan had been wearing before were even more outdated than the gear beginners carried around.
But everything changed once he defeated the giant rat.
[The durability of Dercan’s equipped sword is maintained.]
Thanks to the remarkably good option of an additional 50% durability, Dercan could now engage in combat with monsters stronger than himself with relative ease.
Of course, this was also made possible by Dercan reaching level 4, which made his movements considerably more natural.
[Intruder… eliminated.]
The guardian muttered while staring at Dercan. Its body was covered in cracks from their battle.
―Whoosh!
The moment it swung its right arm toward Dercan.
“Dercan, position 1!”
Jae-beom barked the command at Dercan as if he’d been waiting for this moment.
Thud!
Dercan bent both his legs.
―Whoosh!
As the creature’s arm cut through empty air.
“Position 2!”
―Crash!
At Jae-beom’s shout, Dercan straightened his bent legs and thrust his shield forward in one fluid motion.
The shield struck precisely at the cracked section.
―Crack!
The guardian’s body split cleanly in two.
[The durability of Dercan’s equipped shield is maintained.]
The shield crafted from the giant rat’s incisors remained without a single crack.
[Intruder….]
The guardian, now split in half, opened its mouth once more.
But soon after, the blue light emanating from its eye sockets faded away.
…Thud!
It collapsed backward and breathed its last.
‘I’ve taken down about thirty so far… how many more do I need to kill?’
Approximately thirty guardians occupied the central chamber of the Unnamed Temple.
Jae-beom and Dercan steadily reduced their numbers.
And finally, they cleanly dispatched the last one.
‘The experience gain is pathetically slow.’
I didn’t level up.
―M… a… ster.
Dercan, who had just finished off the last guardian soldier, approached Jae-beom.
“Good work out there.”
Jae-beom patted Dercan’s shoulder in acknowledgment.
Compared to the beginning, it was undeniably remarkable progress.
After all, Dercan had single-handedly defeated five out of the thirty guardian soldiers.
‘Is this really the same Dercan who, just yesterday, couldn’t do anything and kept getting obliterated and resurrecting? My heart swells with pride.’
I still hadn’t forgotten that memory from before.
The absurd expression on the goblin’s face when Dercan fell and bones scattered everywhere, and one of those bones struck it.
‘But how exactly do I complete the exploration?’
Inside the temple, aside from the thirty guardian soldiers, there was nothing particularly worth exploring.
‘All sides are blocked by walls.’
Moreover, there were no underground passages like you’d expect in a temple, so it made sense that I was hitting a dead end.
[Upon successful exploration, a return portal will appear.]
[If you die during the attempt, this Quest cannot be retried, so please be careful.]
Then a red warning message appeared before my eyes.
“I already know that.”
I scoffed at the message. There was no point in trying to intimidate me with information I’d already been warned about.
Tap… tap… tap.
“Hmm?”
In the meantime, Dercan passed by me and moved toward the blocked wall section of the temple. Then he turned to look at me and opened his mouth.
―M… a… ster.
‘?’
I tilted my head in confusion and approached Dercan. To my eyes, it looked like just an ordinary wall.
“What’s here?”
―M… a… ster.
“…So this is still the limit for now.”
But hearing Dercan’s continued response, I sighed.
Right now, Dercan could manage a few passive responses like “I understand,” but he couldn’t initiate speech on his own.
Of course, it seemed like things would improve with time, but for now, I had no choice but to infer what Dercan wanted.
‘Hmm. Still, something seems to be here…’
I examined the wall surface carefully.
Mysterious patterns were carved into the wall.
Swish.
As I touched the pattern with my hand, I moved my feet toward where the patterns converged.
Thud.
“Hmm?”
Then I stopped at the center point.
I felt the sensation of the pattern sliding beneath my fingertips.
Thunk… thud.
The moment I applied force to that spot again, the wall definitely shifted inward. However, after a brief moment, the pushed wall returned to its original position.
‘Even if I use more force, it won’t make a difference.’
At first, it slid smoothly with just a gentle push, but once it began to move and a certain amount of time passed, the wall would return to its original position.
“There’s a time limit, isn’t there?”
Thud. Thud.
I stepped back three paces from the wall.
Then I gripped the steel staff with both hands.
Crack… tap-tap-crack!
―Whoosh!
I spun my entire body and swung the steel staff with all my might.
―Crash!
The wall I struck caved inward.
―Click!
Immediately, something inside made a catching sound.
“It… worked, didn’t it?”
―Crack… crackle-crackle!
In an instant, cracks spread across the entire wall.
“Nice!”
Was it a sensation I couldn’t feel before, now that I was absorbing souls?
The elation of Dercan finally accomplishing something far outweighed the thrill of discovering something new.
It proved that as Dercan grew stronger, he could assist not just in combat, but in exploration as well.
―Crash!
Finally, the cracking wall collapsed with a thunderous roar.
[A hidden chamber of the Unnamed Temple has been revealed.]
[A dormant Colossal Guardian awakens.]
“Hmm?”
I frowned at the message.
The name “Colossal Guardian” felt oddly familiar. I’d forgotten it for a moment while focusing on the souls emerging from the stone golems, but…
‘Could it be… that one from small-scale raids?’
As I searched my memory, I recalled a single fact.
Colossal Guardian—the name of a raid boss that required a four-person party to defeat.
Boom!
The moment I remembered that fact.
A heavy tremor resonated from within the wall.
[Intruder. Annihilation initiated.]
The Colossal Guardian, a four-person raid boss monster, revealed itself before me.
“Hmph!”
At my current level, this was not a monster I should face. Moreover, as a four-person raid boss, it was absolutely not an opponent I could handle—
Yet I smiled brightly at the sight of it.
‘YouTube is really serving up content like this for me!’
While others struggled endlessly just to find a single YouTube moment, if such an opportunity came to me of its own accord, there was no reason to refuse it.
[Activating recording function.]
Jae-beom activated the recording function in Evern Online.
“Dercan. Let’s go!”
Moreover, the appearance of such a monster meant the rewards would be several tiers above what I could normally obtain at my current level.
Jae-beom charged at the colossal guardian with a radiant smile, Dercan at his side.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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