My Skeleton Soldier Is Strange - Chapter 7

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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 7
“Then I wish you good fortune.”
Arhenna smiled at me and closed the door.
—Boom!
The moment Arhenna left, a thick iron door sealed the entrance.
“Wow.”
I whistled at the sight of the hidden interior of the iron door. Dozens of arrows were embedded in it.
They were arrows that had flown toward the players who had challenged the trial before me.
‘Brutal.’
From the thickness of the arrows alone, I could gauge the difficulty of the test. Arrows the size of a human forearm.
Coming from twenty crossbows, if a beginner got hit by even one, they’d either die instantly or suffer injuries equivalent to that.
‘That’s probably why no one has passed the trial yet.’
And at the same time, I thought:
‘Looking at it, it seems like they deliberately designed it this way to intimidate challengers.’
After all, getting hit even once means disqualification. So there’s no need to increase lethality. In other words, this was likely made to intimidate challengers.
…Or maybe killing beginners under the guise of a test is their hobby.
Ding!
While I was admiring the arrows embedded in the iron door,
a cheerful alarm sound reached my ears.
At the same time, a rectangular window appeared before my eyes.
[Title: 【Arhenna’s Trial】]
[Description: Arhenna has long administered trials to find a guest worthy of her weapons. However, no one has ever passed Arhenna’s test.]
[Objective: Pass Arhenna’s Trial.]
[Reward: Increased affinity with Arhenna and ability to commission equipment from Arhenna.]
“Hmm….”
I scanned the quest window to see if there was anything else I might have missed.
‘Nothing particularly special.’
The rewards were listed on the internet too. Since I hadn’t done anything special yet, the details remained the same.
‘But is this really all there is?’
However, I thought it was possible to obtain something more.
Considering the difficulty of the quest, the reward seemed a bit stingy.
Besides, since no one had cleared it, no one had actually confirmed the real rewards, right?
Moreover, Evern Online, which had only been open for three months, constantly spawned hidden pieces everywhere.
‘If I play my cards right, I might be able to grab one more thing here.’
So, for example, as I had just decided.
‘Yeah. Let’s just break it first.’
Like destroying all twenty crossbows.
“I’ll start right away.”
Then I heard Arhenna’s voice.
Click!
The sound of twenty arrows being loaded simultaneously echoed through the chamber.
Just hearing that was enough to understand how much effort had been invested in this Trial Room.
“Hoo!”
I took a deep breath as I observed the loaded crossbows.
Then, I quietly grasped my staff with my right hand and fixed my gaze upon them.
….
Soon, silence descended upon the Trial Room.
It was that peculiar moment where an ordinary person might think, ‘Is something malfunctioning?’
―Click!
A faint friction sound cut through the silence.
―Twang! Snap!
Arrows fired simultaneously from two crossbows.
Upper right and lower left—subtly irritating positions, but.
‘As expected, this is no problem!’
I smiled as the arrows flew toward me.
Even in Warlord Online, where there was a delay in physical response, I had deflected arrows like these countless times.
―Whoosh!
In Evern Online, where there was no delay, there was no need to say more.
Crack!
My staff flowed naturally, swatting the arrow from the upper right with force.
Then, for the arrow still in flight, my staff rotated a half-turn and struck it even harder.
―Crash! Crackle!
Two crossbows shattered completely.
The arrow fired from the upper right embedded itself in the lower left crossbow, while the arrow from the lower left lodged in the upper right one.
Grin.
I smiled brightly as I looked at the two destroyed crossbows.
And.
“Whether it’s a hobby or something, enlarging the arrow size was a mistake.”
Had the crossbows and arrows been of standard size, a single arrow would never have shattered a crossbow.
Arhenna’s design—meant to intimidate novice players and ensure their certain death—
began to unravel the moment it encountered a veteran like me.
* * *
“Phew….”
I took a deep breath and exhaled.
Crossbows rolled across the floor, with shattered arrows scattered atop them.
“It’s all over.”
All twenty crossbows in the Trial Room were completely destroyed, not a single one remaining.
“As expected, a masterpiece game is a masterpiece.”
Every arrow moved exactly as I had deflected it, destroying all the crossbows.
This was something that could never happen in Warlord Online, no matter how precisely I moved, due to the limitations of the physics engine.
‘Quests are easy to clear, and competitors are easy to eliminate. Things are working out well.’
In Evern Online right now, I was a latecomer, but there was no guarantee that other players wouldn’t become competitors later.
I never forgot about such people.
Ding!
[You have successfully completed the Quest.]
[Arhenna’s affinity has increased.]
[You can now request equipment crafting from Arhenna.]
Three messages appeared before my eyes.
“Hmm.”
I nodded with satisfaction.
[You have successfully exceeded the Quest objective.]
[Arhenna’s unique Quest has been triggered.]
Upon seeing the next two messages, my eyes widened.
“A unique Quest?”
A unique Quest referred to a special Quest that an NPC possessed. It was content that the community had reached consensus on—essentially no different from a hidden Quest.
‘As expected… my instinct was right!’
I had suspected there would be some hidden reward, but the reward was even better than I expected, and a smile spread across my face.
―Creak.
Arhenna opened the iron door.
Upon seeing me inside and the shattered crossbows, she blinked her eyes in disbelief.
“This… what on earth?”
Arhenna furrowed her brow in bewilderment.
Then, catching sight of the staff in my hand, she continued with an expression of disbelief.
“Don’t tell me. You destroyed all the crossbows with that staff?”
“Yes.”
“How? The crossbows I made cannot be destroyed by ordinary means.”
“You used arrows that were far too powerful for killing test subjects. Arrows powerful enough to destroy a crossbow with a single shot.”
“Ha!”
Arhenna let out a hollow laugh at my words.
Then she looked at me with an expression of pride.
“Excellent indeed. Finally, a customer worthy of using my equipment has appeared!”
“Does that mean I’ve passed the trial?”
“Of course!”
And she wore a satisfied smile.
“Better than expected.”
I smiled at Arhenna’s words.
Ding!
[You have obtained a hidden Achievement by exceeding the objective.]
[Achievement: First Trial Passer obtained.]
[Due to the Achievement’s effect, your Health stat increases by 3.]
‘Almost there to achieving it!’
It was a truly rewarding Achievement that granted a whopping 3 points to my Health stat.
‘At least one reward is guaranteed.’
With both the overachievement and first-time completion bonuses stacking together, it felt as though rewards were pouring down upon me.
“Still, I won’t be able to use the Trial Room anymore.”
Arhenna examined the Trial Room that I had demolished.
All twenty crossbows were snapped cleanly in half.
“I apologize. I was so focused on passing the trial that I may have gotten a bit carried away.”
“No need to apologize. Having met a guest like you, what use would tests be anymore?”
Arhenna waved off my apology with a dismissive gesture as she replied.
Then she continued speaking to me.
“So, what kind of item do you want me to make?”
At Arhenna’s question, I broke into a grin.
“I need a staff capable of channeling magic. However…”
I explained the purpose of my visit to Arhenna.
“I’d like it to be made of steel.”
It was a staff befitting a physical mage.
* * *
I entrusted Arhenna with the teeth and claws I had obtained from defeating the Red Wolf.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The rhythmic sound of hammering echoed through Arhenna’s Blacksmith. I watched intently from outside.
‘This is quite fascinating.’
With each strike of the hammer, the weapon’s form became clearer and more defined.
It was quite different from the actual process of weapon-forging in a real blacksmith’s shop.
But there was a certain charm to watching it unfold this way.
“Finally, it’s complete!”
After watching for quite some time,
the equipment I had requested finally took shape before me.
A steel staff infused with the teeth and claws of the Red Wolf, melded into the steel itself.
Thud!
The moment I heard those words, I nearly rushed toward Arhenna. Seeing my eagerness, Arhenna smiled knowingly.
At the same time, she shrugged and continued.
“The materials were excellent, so it turned out quite well.”
Thunk!
Arhenna placed the steel staff on the iron plate.
Just from looking at it, the staff appeared remarkably sturdy, and I found myself swallowing hard without realizing it.
‘I wonder what options it ended up with?’
In Evern Online, blacksmiths possess the ability to grant additional options to weapons.
That’s why players in Osyrius are so eager to seek out blacksmiths.
It’s hardly an exaggeration to say that early growth progression is determined right here.
This wasn’t actually a massive investment either. From the midgame onwards, players would pour astronomical sums of money just to secure a competent blacksmith.
Of course, Arhenna—the blacksmith Jaebeom had chosen—wasn’t an expensive one.
However.
‘Evern Online may be realistic, but it’s equally rigorous about adhering to its game mechanics.’
Arhenna was a blacksmith who had never had a single customer pass her trial before Jaebeom.
By the system’s logic, she was a blacksmith who couldn’t afford to be ordinary.
A soft rustling sound.
So the moment I reached for the staff to check its information.
“Wait. Before you examine the item, could you do me a favor?”
Arhenna seized my right hand and spoke.
[Arhenna’s Unique Quest 【Dwarf’s Vengeance】 has been activated.]
[Affinity will drop significantly if you reject the quest.]
Arhenna’s unique quest had been triggered.

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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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