My Skeleton Soldier Is Strange - Chapter 135

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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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135
Inferno
A horrific scene unfolded before me. Four players lay bound and helpless across the blood-stained corridor floor, subdued by Dercan and the Undead Legion.
Crimson eyes gleamed through the darkness. Skeletal soldiers encircled them in a suffocating formation, their eerie presence so overwhelming it stole the breath from one’s lungs.
“Ugh… this is insane.”
One of the four players gasped in despair, their faces contorted with terror and shock as they stared up at the undead horde.
“I never thought they could turn Tower monsters into undead.”
A player muttered in disbelief, their voice trembling with fear at the impossible sight before them.
Then it happened.
“Hey.”
Kim Jae-beom suddenly spoke, looking down at the bound players with a question.
“Why did you try to kill me?”
The question was cold yet straightforward. His gaze held curiosity rather than bloodlust.
“It’s… to escape this Maze, we need to harvest souls by killing other players.”
One player answered in a subdued voice, unable to hide their desperation as they stumbled over their words.
“And there are ‘keys’ needed to continue climbing the Tower. The system requires sacrificing others to create them…”
“So it was convenient for you?”
“Yes.”
Kim Jae-beom nodded quietly at the answer, his gaze remaining fixed upon them in silence. Four figures bound and sprawled across the floor. Eyes drowning in terror and despair. His stare felt cold and heavy.
“Dercan.”
After studying them for a long moment, Kim Jae-beom spoke, his low, measured voice carrying the weight of a decision already made.
“Dispose of them.”
Just two words. Yet they carried the finality of a sealed fate.
―Click. Click.
Dercan nodded as dry bone struck bone, his crimson eyes flashing through the darkness like the very embodiment of death itself.
And in the next instant.
―Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Dercan’s blade flashed with blinding speed, cleaving through the air with a chilling whistle. Before they could even blink, steel bit deep into the bound players’ throats.
―Splurt!
Blood erupted in a grotesque spray. In their final moments, only absolute terror painted their faces.
―Thud. Thud.
The corpses crumpled lifelessly to the ground. But only for a moment. Soon their bodies began to emit an otherworldly light. Blue radiance enveloped the corpses, and they gradually dissolved into nothingness.
Death within the game. A world governed by laws entirely different from reality. The bodies vanished like data, erasing all trace of their existence.
―Clink. Clink.
As all four corpses dissolved, something glimmering appeared in their place. Four golden keys, radiant with light—the very keys needed to ascend the Tower.
Kim Jae-beom silently collected the keys and pocketed them without a word.
* * *
I led the Undead Legion deeper into the Maze, navigating the labyrinthine passages with growing disorientation. Shadows flickered along the branching corridors, and damp air hung heavy in the atmosphere.
Ten minutes passed. After what felt like an eternity of wandering, I finally reached the Maze’s exit. Before me stood an ornate stone gate, its surface carved with elaborate designs.
With anticipation, I inserted a key into the lock, and it dissolved with a heavy metallic sound. The massive boulder blocking the exit slowly slid aside, revealing the passage beyond flooded with brilliant light.
Blinded by the brilliant radiance, Kim Jae-beom nevertheless pressed forward without hesitation. As I emerged from the Maze, a vast expanse opened before my eyes. In the distance, a Staircase loomed into view—the path to the 9th Floor.
I ascended the Staircase with measured caution. Yet the moment I arrived at the 9th Floor, an unexpected sight unfolded before me. Dozens of players had gathered in this place. Weapons of every conceivable design, auras of formidable power. They turned their gazes upon me in unison, as though they had been waiting for my arrival.
For a moment, unable to conceal my bewilderment, I muttered aloud.
“What is this?”
In that instant, a System Message materialized with a resonant vibration that shook the very space. The glimmering text read as follows.
[Sudden Event Triggered. To proceed beyond the 9th Floor, you must eliminate all other players.]
The moment the System Message vanished, dozens of players surged to their feet, their eyes fixed upon me with murderous intent blazing in their pupils. Their faces twisted into savage expressions. As though they had been waiting for me alone all this time, someone cried out with piercing ferocity.
“Let’s strip that bastard bare first!”
With a roar, the players surged forward in a tide of bodies. Brandishing their diverse weapons, they charged at me with battle cries that shattered the air. Faced with the overwhelming onslaught, I felt a moment of panic wash over me. But I quickly clenched my teeth and bellowed with resolute authority.
“Arulan!”
At my summons—spoken like an incantation—the skeletal sorcerer Arulan emerged from the darkness. His robes billowed in an unseen wind, his frame composed of pallid bone fragments. He radiated an ominous aura as he raised his gaunt fingers skyward. In rhythm with the pulsing cadence of eldritch power, he began to chant his spell.
―Shwooosh! Shwooosh!
From Arulan’s fingertips erupted a pitch-black mist. Reeking of acrid malevolence, the rising miasma coiled across the earth and blanketed the heavens. The dark fog swirled and twisted, and from within its depths, forms began to materialize. The Undead Legion, clawing forth from their tombs.
―Crrrack! Screeeech!
Skeletal soldiers rose with sounds like shattering joints. Zombie warriors clad in desiccated armor made no attempt to conceal the ravenous hunger blazing in their eyes. Translucent specters drifted through the air, their wails echoing with the anguish of vengeance denied. An army resurrected from death itself began to move.
―Uuuaaahhhhh!
With horrifying shrieks, the Undead Legion charged into the fray. Blades tore through flesh and blood sprayed in torrents. Claws shattered bone and severed sinew. Fangs tore at arteries and stole away life itself. Weapons wielded with supernatural might swept away everything in their path.
Amidst the horrific carnage, screams erupted. The terrified players shrieked in agony while the undead reveled in their bloodlust, their roars of triumph echoing through the Battlefield turned into pandemonium.
* * *
Ten minutes elapsed. Before the relentless onslaught of the Undead Legion, the players fell helplessly one by one. Pitiful moans and anguished cries reverberated through the space, but ultimately, all save myself succumbed to death.
The final player’s body was engulfed in azure light. The bluish radiance enveloped the corpse before it slowly dissolved into nothingness. Now only I and my Undead Legion remained on the 9th Floor.
I surveyed the silent Battlefield, my face bearing a subtle satisfaction. The exhilaration of victory, of sweeping away all opposition. I smirked and shrugged my shoulders with a display of dominance.
In that moment, a weighty voice resonated through the space.
[Trial Overcome.]
A brief System Message materialized in the air, radiating with luminescence. Simultaneously, a tremendous sound erupted from the opposite wall.
―Kuuuuubooom!
With a thunderous roar like the awakening from ancient slumber, the Secret Passage concealed within the wall opened of its own accord. The path to the 10th Floor lay revealed.
I led my Undead Legion through the newly opened Corridor. As I ascended through the darkness, a space bathed in azure luminescence gradually came into view.
What unfolded before me was a Village similar to the rest area I had encountered before. Buildings constructed of stone and magical street lamps illuminating the ground. The murmur of players’ voices echoed from all directions.
At my appearance, the players began to stir. Gazes converged upon me and whispers spread through the crowd. From within that murmuring, someone muttered in astonishment.
“Oh, that’s the famous Necromancer.”
At those words, the attention of those nearby intensified further. Someone cried out in emphatic agreement.
“That’s right! That player who commands a terrifying Undead Legion throughout the Tower.”
In an instant, rumors spread like wildfire, and the adventurers’ focus converged upon me. Eyes filled with curiosity turned toward me, and people began to gather, eager to confirm my identity. The desire to witness a renowned player burned brighter than any fear of the Undead Legion.

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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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