My Skeleton Soldier Is Strange - Chapter 4

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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 4
[You have defeated two Goblin Warriors.]
[You have defeated three Goblin Archers.]
[You have defeated four Goblin Shield Bearers.]
I continued my hunt relentlessly.
My only weapon was a staff—the kind mages typically wielded.
But my skill was more than sufficient for this.
[Dercan has absorbed half of the experience points you gained.]
[Dercan’s experience increases.]
Every time, Dercan claimed half the experience without fail.
[Dercan has absorbed the souls of the fallen goblins.]
[Additional experience points have been acquired through the souls.]
Soon after, a bonus arrived—roughly twenty percent more experience than I would have earned from simply hunting.
“This is legendary. This is the game. This is me.”
Twenty percent in five seconds. Even loan sharks would stand and applaud such interest rates.
‘Why does only I have this system?’
Of course, I occasionally wondered about the fundamental nature of it all.
I had never encountered any information anywhere in Evern Online about absorbing souls to gain additional experience.
The same applied to my summon claiming half the rewards.
‘It must be because of the hidden class and the legendary-grade servant.’
Yet such questions could only remain unanswered.
Information about such rare classes and summons was nearly impossible to find on the internet.
‘The situation itself is favorable enough, so it doesn’t matter.’
Even if Dercan wasn’t yet contributing to combat, her presence was already beginning to manifest in subtle ways.
“Thank you… Thank you so much!”
“Thank you for saving me, Hero!”
While my mind wandered elsewhere, I successfully rescued Shaan’s younger brother from the general store.
For a veteran of Warlord Online like myself, a rescue operation of this caliber was trivial. In a sense, the outcome was inevitable.
“I don’t know how to repay you for this…”
The moment I rescued her brother, I returned directly to Shaan’s general store.
Upon seeing her brother, Shaan shed tears of gratitude. A warm sense of satisfaction bloomed within me.
Despite not being a living, breathing human, it felt as though I had truly saved a real person.
‘They say sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from magic. This must be exactly that.’
It was an emotion I had never felt in Warlord Online.
The NPCs in that game were stiff and mechanical.
But the people here in Evern Online were different.
They felt so human that “character” suited them better than “NPC,” so it was hardly surprising that my immersion was deepening.
[You have successfully completed the Quest.]
[Shaan’s affection toward you has increased.]
Two messages appeared before my eyes.
“It’s not much, but… please accept this.”
[You have obtained leather shoes crafted by Shaan as a reward.]
I then received the quest reward from Shaan.
“I’ll put them to good use.”
I carefully accepted the shoes Shaan handed over. After that, I slipped out of the general store and took a deep breath.
‘I still haven’t leveled up.’
In Evern Online, quests didn’t grant experience points unless there were special circumstances.
Instead, there were dungeons that could only be entered after accepting a quest, or quests were the easiest way to build affinity—so they were important, but…
As a result, despite having cleared dungeons, my level was still 1.
‘Leveling up really is difficult.’
I clicked my tongue at that reality.
In other games, I would have been level 2 or 3 by now.
But in Evern Online, that was wishful thinking.
It was only natural that I was beginning to feel a thirst for leveling up.
Whoosh.
[You equip Shaan’s leather shoes from your inventory.]
I opened my inventory and put on the leather shoes I had just obtained from Shaan.
[Your defense increases slightly due to Shaan’s leather shoes.]
There was no exact number for how much my defense increased, and the reason was simple.
Evern Online was fundamentally an unfriendly game for players.
Hard mode was the default, so to speak. Without the help of blacksmith NPCs or appraisers, you couldn’t know your exact stats.
‘It doesn’t really matter to me anyway.’
Of course, it wasn’t a major problem for me.
When I played Warlord Online, I only enjoyed it on the hardest difficulty.
If anything, things felt easier now than they did back then.
‘At least I’m not wearing slippers anymore.’
I looked down at my feet.
Until just moments ago, I had been wearing leather slippers with exposed toes.
And now? Owner of Shaan’s leather shoes.
“Hmm!”
I smiled slightly.
It wasn’t that I was trying to impress the NPC—it was genuine. I always found true joy in even small stat improvements.
It was one of the secrets to why I never got bored, no matter how much I played the same game.
[A beginner’s guide activates.]
[You proceed with the second quest.]
[Complete the quest through NPC Aden.]
And at that moment.
A second quest message appeared before my eyes.
* * *
‘Eliminate 20 wolves. This is a grinding quest.’
NPC Aden was a villager who raised sheep.
The quest he offered was remarkably straightforward.
All I had to do was eliminate twenty wolves in the Green Plains, a beginner hunting ground located outside Osyrius.
‘Since I’m still far from affording items anyway, I should just push through quests steadily.’
Early on, buying items was inefficient. Sure, I could grow stronger immediately, but since I wouldn’t use them for long, it would be a waste of gold in the long run.
But I was still level one.
There was no reason to buy items.
Besides, I didn’t have any gold anyway.
―Looking for warrior class party members!
―Recruiting two mages!
―Anyone need an archer? I’m accurate at range!
“Wow. There are a lot of people here….”
As I walked while thinking that, I soon arrived at the entrance to the Green Plains. And upon seeing the landscape spread before me, I clicked my tongue.
Nearly a hundred people, to exaggerate slightly, were recruiting parties to hunt wolves in the Green Plains.
‘They’re already recruiting parties?’
I felt puzzled watching that sight.
No matter how difficult Evern Online was, it wasn’t challenging enough for beginners to recruit parties starting from the second quest.
Tap!
“Excuse me, you!”
Just then, a man approached me.
He was wearing the basic leather armor that warrior class players wore.
However, his equipment seemed to be of better quality than mine.
He had even equipped arm and leg guards.
“Yes?”
“You’re a Necromancer, right?”
“…Well, I am a Necromancer.”
I shrugged at the man’s question.
I had no intention of revealing that my class was a hidden one.
There was no real benefit to it anyway.
‘It’s still a bit embarrassing.’
I had nothing to boast about.
“Would you like to party with me, just the two of us?”
“Why would we form a party?”
“A crimson wolf will appear soon. We’re forming a party to hunt it… You seem to be a beginner.”
The man finished speaking and looked me up and down.
As if he were looking at an amateur far beneath his skill.
“I’m level three right now, you see? And it took me four days to reach this level.”
“….”
“This game is harder than I thought. So if you’re new to it, let’s party up. I’ll carry you through for just a small amount of gold.”
At the man’s words, I scoffed inwardly.
Merely a two-level difference, and he dared suggest I leech off him.
No matter how I thought about it, the proposal made no sense.
‘Does he take me for a fool?’
And the fact that he’d made such a proposal meant one thing.
He saw me as an easy mark to exploit.
“Fine. I’ll handle it alone, so don’t worry yourself.”
I spoke to the man with a sharp edge to my voice.
Then I brushed past him and moved deeper inside.
If PK had been possible in this situation, I wouldn’t have hesitated to smash his skull in.
‘I’ve memorized your face.’
Of course, just because PK was disabled didn’t mean I intended to let this slide.
I had never sent anyone who soured my mood away unscathed.
And I found no reason to change that philosophy even here in Evern Online.
“….”
The man watched me with an enigmatic gaze.
“Tch. He’s not as stupid as I thought.”
Then he clicked his tongue and began scouting other beginners.
Unaware of just whom he’d made an enemy of.
* * *
“…Look at that person.”
“He’s fighting three wolves at once?”
“He can’t be a newbie, right?”
The Green Plains, where wolves prowled in every direction.
The eyes of countless players in this place converged on a single figure.
“Head!”
“Crack!”
That figure was me, still dressed in beginner’s garb, smashing the wolves’ skulls with my staff.
“Wow. Insane.”
“How is he pulling off movements like that?”
“Maybe his gear is different.”
The players around me gasped in admiration at my movements.
It was obvious at a glance that I operated on an entirely different level than them, struggling to barely manage with organized parties.
“But why is the skeleton soldier just standing there?”
Watching Dercan stand motionless as if I were commanding him, people often wondered aloud.
“Maybe he’s positioned him there so he won’t interfere with his movements? Low-tier skeleton soldiers don’t have much combat power anyway.”
“Ah, that makes sense!”
But it wasn’t really an issue. Necromancers at level 1 were typically stronger than their skeleton soldiers anyway.
―Whoosh! Thwack!
At that moment, I swung my staff, striking all three wolves.
“Crack!”
“Screech!”
“Yelp!”
The creatures let out piercing cries before collapsing to the ground.
Of course, I hadn’t summoned Dercan merely to watch from the sidelines.
[Dercan acquires half of the experience gained.]
….
[Additional experience acquired through the soul link.]
Dercan’s role was my experience shuttle.
I’d wondered if he might evolve in real-time as I hunted, but with my level still at 1, that seemed unlikely.
[All 20 wolves have been defeated.]
[Return to NPC Aden and report.]
“That completes the 20.”
By eliminating the final three wolves, I’d accomplished the quest objective.
Yet I couldn’t help but frown at my progress.
The reason was simple.
‘Thirteen minutes for a single quest? This is far too slow.’
I felt my current pace was considerably sluggish.
Had another player known my thoughts, they would have found it absurd.
Normally, players would bring one wolf at a time and spend at least two minutes per hunt—that was standard.
‘Under ordinary circumstances, I’d return now.’
But I still had unfinished business.
I remembered the words that man had spat at me, the one who’d treated me like a fool.
‘He said they were forming a party to hunt the Crimson Wolf, didn’t he?’
The Crimson Wolf was a rare monster that occasionally appeared in the Green Plains.
However, I wasn’t hunting it solely for revenge.
‘It drops considerable gold early on and has excellent item efficiency, right?’
As I formulated my plan for both vengeance and efficiency, a message appeared.
[You have acquired sufficient experience to level up.]
[Your level increases by 1.]
A most welcome notification materialized before my eyes.
“Yes!”
I couldn’t help but exclaim in triumph.
Then, noticing the gazes of nearby players, I cleared my throat awkwardly.
[You have acquired 2 stat points.]
[Allocate your stats.]
“Allocation, then…”
Leveling up naturally granted stat points. I resumed the deliberation I’d been pondering before the level-up.
‘Health can wait—if it’s insufficient, I’ll raise it later.’
Where should I invest my stats for maximum efficiency?
‘I’ll put them into Strength first.’
So I decided to allocate my stat points to Strength. After all, defeating monsters required raw damage output.
Though my Strength rose from 8 to 10 with the Achievement bonus, the change felt negligible, leaving me unimpressed.
Then, at that moment.
―Ding.
“Hmm?”
[Dercan has fulfilled all experience requirements for leveling up.]
[Dercan’s level increases by 1, becoming level 2.]
A notification appeared—Dercan, who had been diligently standing behind me, had leveled up.
Simultaneously.
[Dercan’s Intelligence has increased.]
[New Passive Skill: Combat Technique Acquisition has been activated.]
‘…Combat Technique Acquisition? What is this?’
A skill I’d never seen before had activated.
‘Could it be… that I can teach Dercan?’
This was the moment Dercan’s growth potential expanded.

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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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