My Skeleton Soldier Is Strange - Chapter 25

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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 25
I paused to digest the System Message.
Even if I generously assumed Mullen had somehow survived, he should be in the intensive care ward right now—not running his shop.
No, even if he’d miraculously escaped with minimal injuries, Mullen wouldn’t be here operating his store.
‘★Please help. Attempted destruction of shop at Dungeon Gate.’
Shouldn’t he be wandering around with a sign like that instead?
Even though Evern Online was a game, it had always pursued realism except in limited cases like inventory, making this difficult to accept.
‘I might as well check it out.’
Further deliberation wouldn’t yield answers anyway. I quickened my pace, following the navigation route.
I’d hoped some trace of Osirius Castle might remain, but nowhere in Dairun Fortress bore any resemblance to it.
Where players gathered, the atmosphere remained bright, but venture into the sparsely populated areas and the gloom befitting a “Fortress” consumed everything.
―Thud!
Then, heavy footsteps brushed past my ears. When I turned my gaze, knights clad in pitch-black armor marched in formation, patrolling the streets.
―Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
‘Those NPCs were said to be at least level 40…’
My level was still 5.
By simple calculation, they operated at eight times my power.
Of course, I wasn’t merely a level 5 player…
‘I can’t beat them.’
There were limits. Defeating them was realistically impossible.
‘But they’re friendly NPCs, so there shouldn’t be any combat.’
Though it was only the first day, the internet held no reports of these NPCs attacking players.
Rare as it was, there were accounts of them being benevolent toward beginners, so as someone still classified as a novice by level, I had nothing to fear.
As I walked past the knights, I eventually emerged from the narrow passage.
Upon stepping out, I couldn’t help but gasp at the sight before me.
In the center of the Plaza stood a stone statue, sword raised high in resolute stance. Beneath it, a fountain stained crimson roared, spouting water red as blood.
And in the very heart of that Plaza…
“…Why is the shop still so dilapidated even after moving?”
Mullen’s Shop occupied the central position. Even without the navigation guide, it was unmistakably the same weathered structure from Osirius Castle.
‘Honestly, it’s disappointing.’
Everything else had changed, yet only Mullen’s Shop remained unchanged? It disrupted the aesthetic unity and shattered immersion entirely.
I took a moment to steady myself, then grasped the door handle.
―Creak…
As I opened the Antique Shop door and stepped inside, a familiar voice greeted me.
“Oh! You!”
It was Mullen. He’d been organizing something inside the shop.
“You survived too!”
The interior remained partially disorganized. Antique-looking items lay scattered about haphazardly, and the faint scent of dust lingered.
But Mullen rushed toward me as if such details were irrelevant.
“Thank goodness you’re safe!”
The next moment, Mullen pulled me into an embrace, exhaling a sigh of relief. Pure joy filled his weathered face.
‘Is he really this relieved?’
I didn’t push him away, but I couldn’t help feeling bewildered.
I had only seen Mullen twice at most. Of course, he might worry since I was by his side at the end, but what was with this intense reaction?
“More importantly, how did you escape unharmed? There was such chaos at Osirius Square….”
I spoke first, trying to calm Mullen down.
Mullen glanced around briefly before lowering his voice.
“We’ll talk about that inside.”
With those words, Mullen locked the shop door.
I nodded and followed him. Our figures disappeared into the Antique Shop, which seemed to emanate an air of mystery.
* * *
The space Mullen led me through was far deeper than I would have expected from a shop like this. We descended narrow stairs along a dimly lit passage. And it wasn’t over yet.
After descending all the stairs, a long, narrow Underground Passage appeared before us. A damp, musty smell wafted up from below.
“We’re almost there.”
Mullen turned toward me and spoke. His voice carried a subtle tension.
When we reached the end of the passage, I stopped in my tracks without realizing it. At the very end of the passage was a small room, and in its center sat a familiar object.
It was the orb I had entrusted to Mullen. The mysterious sphere, swirled with red and black, emitted a soft, ethereal glow as if absorbed in something.
“Did you see the appearance of the shop from outside?”
“Yes, it… looked the same.”
“Exactly! It remained the same!”
Mullen exclaimed as if bewildered.
“Look at the landscape outside! That brilliantly bright Osirius Castle has become a completely gloomy Dairun Fortress. Yet only this shop remained unchanged!”
Hearing those words, I nodded. Fortunately, it seemed strange to Mullen as well.
‘After all, Evern Online isn’t a game made so carelessly.’
“Do you know the reason?”
“I’m not certain, but… I suspect that orb is the cause.”
Since the pillar of light had started from that orb, I could naturally deduce that it was the cause.
“What’s your basis?”
The connection between that orb and the unchanged appearance of Mullen’s shop still seemed unclear.
“Have you perhaps seen the entire landscape of this Fortress?”
“Yes.”
That was the landscape I saw right from the beginning.
“You’re quick to understand. Then, do you know where this Plaza is positioned within the city?”
“In the center… wasn’t it?”
“Exactly! And this shop is at the very heart of it.
This is my hypothesis: Osirius Castle didn’t disappear. Rather, everything was decomposed centered on this shop and then reconstructed into Dairun Fortress.”
“Hmm. If everything changed centered here, why did the shop’s appearance remain the same?”
“I suspect that within a certain range centered on the orb, it was excluded from the decomposition. The orb itself could have been caught up in the decomposition otherwise.”
I stared at Mullen for a moment, struck by his confident demeanor.
“…For a hypothesis, you seem awfully certain about it.”
“Hmm, did it appear that way?”
I nodded in acknowledgment.
Mullen retrieved several drawings as if he had been waiting for this moment.
“Take a look at these.”
I gazed intently at the sketches Mullen presented. Every single drawing shared one striking commonality.
‘What is this?’
A structure stood at the center—one that clashed jarringly with the surrounding landscape.
“What is this…?”
“Ancient cities. The old manuscripts frequently recorded instances of new cities materializing in empty spaces. And at the heart of each city, there was always—”
Mullen jabbed his finger at the central building.
“—a structure like this, completely incongruous with the city’s aesthetic.”
Indeed.
I finally grasped the situation, having initially been bewildered by Mullen’s unusually elevated enthusiasm.
‘An archaeologist who has experienced firsthand what he’d only read about in documents.’
Moreover, he stood at the epicenter of this phenomenon himself. For a scholar, losing composure would be the natural response.
Even obsessive fans have their limits—but this was like a paleontologist opening his eyes to find a baby Tyrannosaurus breathing in his living room.
Mullen continued his explanations with unbridled excitement.
“And there’s one more hypothesis. The appearance of the city becomes a place befitting its master.”
“Its master?”
“Don’t you have any inkling?”
Upon hearing this, I recalled the city’s landscape in my mind.
A gloomy, desolate atmosphere. Buildings that seemed familiar somehow.
―Clang, clang, clang, clang.
Knight NPCs whose armor produced hollow, empty sounds—far too light for their plating.
And my own class: Overlord.
“I wouldn’t say there’s nothing…”
“Hmm, quite right. For the rest, I suppose we ought to ask this fellow here.”
Mullen gestured toward the orb, which continued to emit its mysterious luminescence.
“It’s been radiating light constantly. As if calling out to you.”
Mullen cautiously approached the sphere and extended his hand. Suddenly, crimson electricity began coursing outward in all directions.
―Crackle! Snap-crackle!
With practiced ease, Mullen swiftly withdrew his hand.
“For whatever reason, it continues to reject my touch.”
“It certainly appears so.”
Mullen regarded me intently. I nodded and slowly approached the orb. My hand extended quietly toward it.
The air around us grew taut with tension. The moment my fingertips made contact with the sphere, something extraordinary occurred.
―Shatter-crack!
The orb instantaneously shattered into fragments. Pieces of the sphere, glowing crimson, began adhering to my hand.
No—they seemed to seep into my very skin.
No, it seemed to seep into Jae-beom’s skin.
“What… what is this…?”
Mullen muttered in a voice trembling with shock. Dercan, too, stood speechless, staring down at his own hands.
―Thump… thump…
My heart began to thunder like a war drum. With each pulse, I felt the orb’s energy coursing through my veins, burrowing into every corner of my body.
―Shhhhh…
Crimson light surged up through my skin, enveloping me entirely.
My eyes blazed with scarlet radiance, and my veins became starkly visible, glowing like molten lava. It was as though I were being reborn as something wholly different.
Soon, intense red light erupted from my entire body, bursting outward in all directions like an explosion.
―Boom!
A blinding flash consumed the basement. For an instant, the world became nothing but crimson, as if the light devoured everything.
As the brilliance gradually faded, Mullen’s eyes fell upon my transformed figure.
My irises now flickered with dancing flames, and my skin shimmered with crimson luminescence.
The wind had ceased, yet the air surrounding me remained thick with cold, lethal intent.
I had become the very embodiment of this newfound power.
“You…!”
Mullen called out to me, his voice trembling with astonishment. But I did not answer. I simply gazed down at my hands, savoring the incredible transformation.
“Insane.”
The power that had slumbered within the orb was now mine. And as I marveled at my own metamorphosis.
―Ding!
[You have absorbed the power of the ??? Orb.]
[Your level has been adjusted to match your current standing.]
[Stagnant Water’s level has increased by 10.]
[Dercan’s level has increased by 10.]
[You have completely absorbed the orb’s power.]
[Stagnant Water’s level has increased by 5.]
[Dercan’s level has increased by 5.]
My level and Dercan’s level had surged to 20 in an instant.
[You may now proceed with the Overlord First Advancement Quest.]
[A new trial has been bestowed upon you.]
Another objective materialized before me.
[Title: Overlord First Advancement]
[Objective: Travel to Shadow Fortress and obtain Count Heltema’s Legacy.]
[Final Goal: The Sword of the Dark Lord.]
[Reward: Progression of Overlord Awakening.]
[First Objective: Utilize the Training Ground in Fortress Dairn.]
And having witnessed all of this unfold, I muttered softly.
‘So… everything that has happened until now was part of the advancement quest?’
Moreover, the quest clearly stated it.
‘First Advancement.’
In other words…
“What you’re saying is that until now, we weren’t even treating it as an Overlord in the first place?”

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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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