My Skeleton Soldier Is Strange - Chapter 15

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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 15
“Certainly… this is quite a fascinating object.”
Mullen, the archaeologist, examined the mysterious orb through his magnifying glasses, turning it this way and that.
“It’s uncommon for an orb to emit light like this.”
Mullen had been marveling at the unidentified item I’d found for over five minutes.
“Truly captivating.”
Exclamations of nearly identical meaning tumbled out repeatedly, only the words changing.
Perhaps because it was a drop from a raid boss, the orb I held possessed a peculiar magnetism that drew the eye.
“I’m thinking of taking this orb to an analyst.”
I spoke to Mullen in a low voice.
“Ah, I see.”
Mullen removed his magnifying glasses and continued speaking to me.
“An analyst will certainly be able to determine exactly what abilities this orb possesses.”
*Whoosh.*
He then withdrew a pouch containing gold from his garments. At first glance, it appeared quite substantial.
“Thank you for completing this request so successfully. The harvest was far greater than I anticipated.”
[You have successfully completed the Quest.]
[Since you have additionally achieved all Quest conditions, Mullen’s favorability has increased significantly.]
In that moment, two messages appeared before my eyes.
‘Gold and favorability too. This is quite a substantial haul.’
In Evern Online, raising an NPC’s favorability is known to be quite difficult.
Of course, it didn’t feel particularly difficult to me.
Favorability? Isn’t that something that increases when you clear Quests faster than others and achieve all additional conditions?
If others knew, they’d be furious, but there was nothing they could do about it. Even if they tried to retaliate, it would only become YouTube content.
“Thank you.”
[You have obtained 15 Gold.]
As I accepted the pouch of gold Mullen offered, a message appeared stating I’d obtained 15 Gold, and the pouch vanished instantly. The gold had been credited to my account.
‘After all, a game is a game.’
No matter how much realism a game aims for, if you had to carry gold jingling around every time you received it, it would be inconvenient and make progression impossible.
I simply accepted this as it was.
If this had broken my immersion, I would have quit Evern Online long ago and gone back to Warlord Online.
“So you’re planning to go to the analyst now?”
At that moment, Mullen asked me, probing gently.
“I have to. I have no intention of leaving this orb as is.”
Unidentified items sell for anywhere from a million won to over ten million won if you hit the jackpot.
In short, it was a lottery ticket guaranteed to win.
“Hmm. Then it will take quite some time to determine the orb’s true nature.”
“It will take that long?”
“There are many people who’ve already submitted requests to the analyst, so I hear you’ll need to wait over a week.”
“A week….”
Jae-beom’s brow furrowed at those words. It wasn’t that he couldn’t wait, but a week from now, I’d have grown far beyond my current level.
Even with the same item, its value fluctuated depending on the player’s strength—by next week, this orb might be nothing more than junk.
“Besides, the cost isn’t cheap either.”
“How much?”
“They said one analysis request costs 1500 gold.”
“….”
Jae-beom lowered his head and let out a sigh deep enough to crack the earth.
No matter how rare my hidden class was or how keen my senses were, 1500 gold didn’t simply sprout from the ground.
‘To gather 1500 gold… it’d take a month, not just a week?’
Of course, gold didn’t have to come exclusively from within Evern Online. If I “opened” my wallet instead of relying solely on the game, I could scrape together some gold.
But if my real-world finances were better, I could supplement the gold from actual money….
‘My pathetically weak bank account falls far short.’
In Evern Online, 1 gold traded at roughly 10,000 won. Even if I opened my wallet, my combat power would be woefully insufficient.
Going from 1 to 2 combat power wouldn’t let me hunt a Tyranno.
“Tsk.”
Jae-beom clicked his tongue without realizing it.
Such a pathetic wallet. I had no idea who’d raised it to be this way.
Did I raise it? No, this was all because of some wretched game that had defeated me in Evern Online. Anyway, that’s how it was.
But then.
“Your complexion’s gotten worse, so it seems you can’t afford to hire the analyst?”
Mullen spoke with a slight grin.
At Mullen’s amused words, Jae-beom’s head snapped up.
I thought Mullen was mocking me.
‘…Wait.’
But the moment I saw Mullen’s expression, I realized that wasn’t it.
It wasn’t a look of contempt—rather, it was an expression suggesting he might help.
Jae-beom immediately unclenched his inner fist. There was no point in clenching it when you couldn’t pull anything from the jar anyway.
“Is it possible… that I don’t absolutely have to entrust this orb to an analyst?”
“The world doesn’t have just one way of doing things.”
“…Tell me more about it.”
At Mullen’s words, Jae-beom straightened his posture.
Smirk.
Then Mullen flashed a smile toward Jae-beom.
“Normally, the rarer the item, the better it is to leave it to an expert… but if you’d like, I might be able to do it instead.”
“Would that be possible?”
“Yeah. This orb doesn’t seem to have any defensive magic or other mechanisms. If it’s just analyzing an object, I’m more than capable.”
At Mullen’s words, Jae-beom swallowed hard.
If the conversation continued like this.
“But to conduct the analysis, I’ll need certain materials. If you agree to gather those for me, I’ll examine the orb for free.”
[Title: Linked Quest]
[Content: You must obtain the Eye of True Sight that Sphinx possesses.]
[Objective: Bring the Eye of True Sight, an item necessary for analysis.]
[Reward: Mullen will analyze unidentified items for you free of charge.]
I realized that an additional Quest had appeared for me.
‘A linked Quest!’
I smiled as I looked at the Quest window that had materialized before my eyes.
“Sphinx possesses a very special eye. Bring that eye to me, and I’ll analyze it for you. What do you say—are you willing to take on this task?”
Mullen spoke to me as I clenched my fists while staring at the Quest window.
“Of course.”
[You have accepted Mullen’s linked Quest.]
There was no time to hesitate.
* * *
After accepting the Quest, I immediately searched for information about Sphinx in Osirius Square.
‘…A party dungeon?’
However, an unexpected obstacle remained.
‘To defeat Sphinx, a party of at least two people is absolutely required. The system makes it impossible to even damage the creature alone….’
I quickly scanned through the information post. As I finished reading, my expression darkened.
“Why is that?”
But I hadn’t given up yet. I’d heard similar nonsense about system limitations when I cleared the Hell Mode tutorial.
I wouldn’t accept it until I saw it with my own eyes.
I immediately pulled up a strategy video for defeating Sphinx.
If the damage was insufficient or the patterns were unavoidable, I planned to rush in alone right away.
However.
“…So that’s the reason.”
The moment I watched the video, I let go of my doubts completely.
Sphinx attempts to flee once damage accumulates beyond a certain threshold on either itself or the portal.
Therefore, while one group keeps Sphinx engaged, the remaining players must destroy the magical circles that create the portal.
In other words, defeating Sphinx truly did require a minimum of two people. Moreover, in the video, two players were considered unstable—four players were keeping Sphinx pinned down.
‘I can’t ask Dercan to do this.’
Top-tier rankers could kill Sphinx before it even fled, and mid-to-high-tier Necromancers could supposedly solo it by mobilizing skeleton soldiers, according to the posts.
‘No matter how well I perform, my damage output won’t increase explosively.’
It was still impossible. If I lost one-sidedly, Sphinx would simply destroy Dercan, who was trying to break the portal, and escape through it.
If I had Dercan hold Sphinx in place? He’d just break slightly earlier.
‘This is quite troublesome.’
Since I’d been soloing continuously until now, I had no one suitable to form a party with.
‘If this were Warlord Online, I could find someone easily.’
I had formed parties in Warlord Online before, but in Evern Online, I hadn’t yet connected with anyone except NPCs.
The other players at my level were simply too far below my standard.
Of course, a last resort remained. If I found the people I’d played Warlord Online with, I could form a party.
Or rather, I could even go beyond simply finding them and take what’s commonly called a “carry.”
But that was something Jae-beom’s pride could never accept.
Moreover, if he used his connections for something like this and word got out, the damage would be far greater.
‘I need to head to Sphinx’s Tomb first.’
After deliberating a bit longer, Jae-beom chose a different approach. For users without connections, the standard practice was to find a party on-site—what they called “going wild.”
This method of assembling a party on the spot was referred to in gaming terminology as “going wild.”
‘I should be able to find at least one person.’
And so Jae-beom headed into the wild.
* * *
But there was a reason why assembling a party on the spot was called “going wild.”
After ten minutes of desperate effort, Jae-beom had successfully recruited exactly zero new party members.
“Level 5 and looking for a 2-person party? I don’t think anyone’s going to do that for you.”
“Our party only accepts level 15 and above. I’m sorry.”
“Hey, this isn’t a place for beginners. Go hunt the Goblin Tribe.”
In the wild, where people demanded either “experienced newcomers” or “leveled newcomers,” survival at level 5 was impossible.
‘…But I can’t exactly advertise my Achievement either.’
With his outfit still screaming beginner, it was hardly surprising that no one would take him along.
“Sigh.”
This wasn’t a problem his physical instincts could solve.
Without a party, he couldn’t enter the dungeon.
Without entering the dungeon, he couldn’t demonstrate his skill.
It was a perfect catch-22.
Yet there wasn’t no solution.
‘Should I just level up first?’
He could simply grind in other hunting grounds until he reached an appropriate level.
But Jae-beom had grown far faster than others until now, and to become rank 1, he needed to keep growing quickly—wasting time like that was utterly unbearable to him.
‘Should I pay gold to get someone to carry me?’
There was also the option of paying gold to get carried through the dungeon, then showing his true strength once inside.
But that would waste gold, and since he’d be perceived as getting carried, people clearly wouldn’t want him taking the spotlight anyway.
Revealing his Achievement, mobilizing his connections from Warlord Online, or paying gold for a carry—all three options.
As he weighed which was the least bad choice,
“Oh!”
Someone approached the sighing Jae-beom.
“You’re the Sewers Necromancer, right! What a coincidence running into you again.”
Jae-beom turned his head toward the voice coming from his right.
There stood the female archer who had tried to give him advice when he was about to enter the Sewers.
‘…That attention-seeking woman again?’
Information about her assembled in Jae-beom’s mind.
She was someone who took interest in others.
Someone who couldn’t leave beginners alone.
Someone who was eager to help whenever possible.
A fourth option has appeared.
“Indeed. It’s been quite some time since we last met.”
Jae-beom’s face was plastered with the practiced facade he’d honed through his YouTube activities.
Though undeniably radiant, something about that smile struck her as deeply ominous.

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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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