Chapter 1
My last mory from my past life was walking into a sewer hole after my middle school graduation ceremony.
There was a feeling of falling into a never ending darkness, but the reality of death never ca.
Rattle!
When I finally gained consciousness, I saw a mountain of skulls before . Panicked, I looked around but the reality didn’t seem to sink in. No, almost like I didn’t have any emotions. I checked my body, hands and legs, and saw only bones. I had beco a skeleton soldier like right out of a fantasy novel.
‘What’s this?’
I reached out to touch the screen floating before my eyes.
★
Na: N/A
Gender: N/A
Status: Normal
Type: Skeleton/ Undead
Class: Soldier
Rank: H-
Level: 1/5
HP: 5/5
MP: 1/1
Damage: 1
Defense: 1
Agility: 2
Intelligence: 1
? Unique Skills
[Resurrection Lv 1] [Night Vision Lv 1]
★
‘I had wanted to co to such a world, but why did I have to be a level 1 Skeleton soldier? Why!?’
For , who had dread of worlds found in light novels or fantasy gas, this situation was terrible. Regardless, my new life as a naless skeleton soldier began.
‘Still, at least there is a level and ability system. If I work hard and practice my skills, shouldn’t it be possible to improve?’ It was at this ti, while trying to motivate myself, that the skulls around began to move.
Rattle! Rattle!
Bones and skulls began rising randomly, attempting to find their rightful place and form a skeleton.
‘What’s this?’
I tried to say, but only managed to make the sound of jaws chomping down.
Clack! Clack!
anwhile, dozens of skeletons had been assembled and they began walking down the mountain of bones.
‘What’s going on, are we going for a walk?’
The appearance of the skeletons varied greatly: first the skulls were different, so were tall, others short. Then so had a missing arm, pieces of rotten flesh still attached, a dagger in one hand and one was even equipped with with a sword and shield.
From afar, I heard soone shout.
“Gilian, I told you we should have brought a priest over!”
“Don’t you know how hard it is to find a priest these days?”
“Oh never mind, the skeletons are already here, please hold them off a while, I hope this magic will be effective against them.”
‘Are they adventurers or just a group of bandits?’
The walls of the corridor in which the skeletons walked were of dark marble, giving an eerie feeling. The path had been largely unused and looked like an underground graveyard with a thick layer of dust and many spiderwebs. Along the way we had to avoid several pits where the old floors had crumbled.
“Block your ears!”
“Fire Elental heed my call! Rafflema strike!”
A large fireball flew in the air and hit the leading skeletons, resulting in an explosion sending all of them flying. I was hit by several debris and bone shrapnels until finally the shockwave also blew away into a pit.
‘Oh no, it’s just like the sewer hole I had died in my previous life!’
I fell into a dark pit, unable to see anything.
Clang!
Before losing consciousness a ssage appeared.
[You have learned Falling resistance Lv1]
‘Am I going to die like this again? No wait, wasn’t there a resurrection skill?’
My sight darkened, as if the power had gone off. When I finally opened my eyes again I was in a wreckage of skeleton soldiers, hundreds of broken bones all around .
‘Am I the only one who has resurrected?’
I had been conscious for a while now, but no other skeletons showed any sign of reviving.
I just stayed in the sa spot with a blank look
‘Should I do sothing, go and explore this world?’
I looked around and noticed that so equipnt from the dead skeletons were still intact. Scavenging around I acquired a small dagger, shield and broken helt. Energized from having worn so equipnt, I suddenly felt like a player in a fantasy ga.
‘So where to next?’
I was in h high spirits, I thought of raising my level, wearing the best equipnt and becoming a great warrior. But then it sunk in, a lowly level 1 skeleton soldier can never beco a hero.
Walking for a long ti in the dark I realized I was in a complex underground tunnel system with many branching caves. The only sign of life were the occasional rats, but they could spot from far and would scare easily.
‘I have to kill sothing to determine whether my level can actually go up. Still, could a level 1 skeleton soldier even catch a monster, maybe not?
After about an hour of wandering around I had a good grasp of my environnt and the structure of nearby caves. There seed to be no big, terrifying monsters just the occasional rats and liquid like slis in the area. In RPG’s, the sli is often a beginner monster with high physical damage resistance and since my only offense was the small dagger I scavenged previously, I decided to give up on hunting slis for now. My only option was going after those rats but the problem was that they were too fast.
‘If I catch them using a trap would my experience still go up?’
It seed like creating traps and attracting the rats to it might be my only option. The cave had very little in the way of vegetation, but there was so moss in hard to reach places, previously I had witnessed them eating so on several occasions. I went around the cave gathering moss and carefully picked out a cave which was a dead end. After spreading the moss around inconspicuously, I sat down against the wall motionless, appearing like any other dead skeleton, waiting for my chance. One hour, two hours, on a few occasions the rats would co to the entrance attracted by the sll of the moss, but they were hesitant to enter knowing it was a dead end.
‘Are the rats too cautious…?’
These rats were bigger than mice, but smaller than puppies. They wouldn’t be hard to kill if they ca within reach of my dagger, but therein lay the difficulty. Exercising patience, I remained motionless playing the part of the dead skeleton.
‘Finally it’s coming’
But there was a problem, four of them were approaching at the sa ti. Perhaps emboldened by their safety in numbers, they approached the moss cautiously. I stealthily readied my hand holding the dagger.
‘Wait, I don’t have muscles so how can I move?’
Just as the rats were nearing, my mind was filled with unnecessary thoughts. Still approaching carefully, the lead rat ca before and began to sniff , maybe I slled
of moss or perhaps they were just ensuring their safety. I planned to catch as many as possible so I stayed motionless like a dead skeleton.
Squeak! Squeak!
The rats talked among themselves, confirming it was safe, the other three also rushed towards the moss.
Rattle!
The mont I had been waiting for finally arrived. I stabbed the closest rat with my dagger and threw the shield in my left hand to pin down the other three. Although I had been quick, the rats’ reaction speed was beyond my expectation. I had caught one but the other three had nimbly sidestepped my shield.
[ 11 experience points]
[Acquired knowledge of Tomb Rodents]
The two ssages appeared instantly before my eyes and I could see the status of the remaining three rats in the corner.
★
Status: Normal
Type: Tomb Rodent
Rank: H-
Level: 2/5
HP: 7/7
MP: 1/1
Attack: 1
Defense: 1
Agility: 5
Intelligence: 1
? Unique Skills
N/A
★
‘What! Are those rats really a higher level than I am?’
I hadn’t leveled up by killing just the one and wasn’t sure how many I needed, but for now the problem at hand was how to catch the last three in front of . The rats watched my movents carefully, slling around looking for a way out. While I stood in this choke point they couldn’t escape, but if I advanced to attack them they could run along the sides. However, I had discovered my greatest ability as a skeleton soldier, unlimited stamina. I had been walking around for hours and realized that I didn’t feel thirsty, hungry or tired. So, in situations like the current xican standoff, I had an absolute advantage over any living creature.
Several hours later, the tomb rats’ physical strength was waning. Perhaps it was because they were originally hungry, and along with the ongoing tense situation, their body’s energy was quickly drained. I, on the other hand, was always in optimal condition. I didn’t need to move, didn’t tire and didn’t even need to use the bathroom.
A few hours more and the tomb rats’ stamina had finally hit rock bottom. They bared their teeth, poised for their final outburst of strength. It seed they had decided to try for a last hurrah rather than dying of exhaustion. But, over the last few hours I had been moving my body ever so slightly to one side, purposely creating this opportunity for them. I worried that in a life and death situation they would rush at in panic, but if they saw an opening I could better control the situation.
‘Finally the mont I had been waiting for.’
Squeak! Squeak!
The biggest of the three lurched forward and the other two followed closely behind. I was delighted to see that they took the bait and all aid for the small gap I had created.
‘Got you!’
I simply stabbed forward in an underhand movent, the dagger skimming above the floor almost as if I were brooming. The rats were running too quickly in single file and all three skewered themselves on my dagger.
A ssage appeared before my eyes.
[ 11 experience points]
[ 22 experience points]
[ 44 experience points]
[Level increased 1 ? 4]
[Acquired ?Title: Rat Trapper?]
‘Huh…? The experience? Is it different because I killed three at the sa ti?’
The first ti I hunted a rat I only gained 11 experience points, but when I killed three I gained 77, that’s more than twice as much as what I expected!
‘Is it because catching them at the sa ti gives more experience? Check status!’
★
Na: N/A
Gender: N/A
Status: Normal
Type: Skeleton/ Undead
Class: Soldier
Rank: H
Level: 4/5
HP: 15/15
MP: 1/1
Attack: 3
Defense: 1
Agility: 2
Intelligence: 1
? Unique Skills
[Resurrection Lv 1] [Night Vision Lv 1] [Falling resistance Lv1]
? Titles
[Rat Trapper]
★
I wanted to continue to catch more rats to gain experience, but it seed none would approach because they could sll the stench of blood. I cleaned my dagger on a dead rat’s fur and took the moss with , searching for another dead end cave to repeat the process.
This ti I waited for a much longer period of ti, but still no rats approached. When even the moss I had carried over was beginning to dry, a huge creature, unlike any previous tomb rats, appeared.
‘What! It looks like a big boar, but… what did it eat to get so big?’
The big creature was actually a tomb rat, but it was rank G. It was a nad monster shining in gold ‘Tyrant of the Tombs’. Could it be like the unique monsters found in RPG’s? Still, compared to the current , a level 8 monster was far too strong.
★
Na Tyrant of the Tombs
Status: Normal
Type: Tomb Rodent
Rank: G
Level: 8/15
HP: 44/44
MP: 10/10
Attack: 20
Defense: 5
Agiliy: 10
Intelligence: 1
? Unique Skills
[Dash] [Gluttony] [Berserk]
★
Every instinct was telling that if we were to fight, I’d certainly get one shotted. I leaned back against the wall and tried to stay still while it was eating. However, after it finished eating the moss it turned to with interest. It approached and started sniffing and tussling my body every which way. It even beca interested in the dagger in my hand and tried to take it away.
‘No way, I can’t lose this dagger’
Without a dagger it would be very difficult to hunt. Just as I began to apply so power in my arms to resist, the Tyrant rat noticed and imdiately tore off my entire arm.
Rawwrrr!
A roar never before made by a rat was heard in the narrow cave. He spat out my arm holding the dagger to the side and took a step back, preparing to dash towards .
‘Shit! I should have just given up on the dagger!’
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