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Team Seolhwa was the name they gave themselves.

They were now fighting hard and bumps were swelling on the back of their heads.

I wanted to use my martial arts skills in this environment, but now this hunt was more like an interview for them.

I decided to put off training for now.

[Okay, how is it? Although the bones are good, the feeling of the Perished Soul’s Eight Fists is better, right? Didn’t you feel it in your fists?]

The Heavenly Demon was talking about my fight with the girls before entering the Gate.

‘It’s weak.’

[However, I also often used it when disciplining subordinates. And it’s a great way to relieve stress.]

‘It’s a pity. I should have saved at least one more Skeleton bone.’

[Can't you just get more?]

‘The Skeleton is a Monster that only appears briefly in the Tutorial Dungeon. After that, they appear after the Third Cataclysm. They’re difficult to deal with because they are accompanied by Skeleton Archers.’

[You mean they act like an army?]

‘Yes, and they’re stronger than they were in the tutorial. I should say the strength of their bones is different.’

[Really? I'm curious to find out what those bones feel like.]

‘I'm looking forward to it too.’

[Haha. Anyway, what do you think of those kids?]

‘They are doing great.’

Except for Seol-ah, Team Seolhwa's offensive force wasn’t very noticeable. However, it was likely to develop considerably in the future.

Aside from Seol-ah, who had reached level 43 with the blessing of good skills, the rest of the members also had valuable skills.

First, Yoo Hye-jong's primary skill was ‘the Prayer of the Saint,’ which purified her surroundings and enhanced her allies’ magic power. Due to the buff effect, the Poison Spider gas didn’t have much impact on the party.

Next, Min Eun-joo. She assisted Seol-ah by burning the Poison Spiders with Fire Wall, a flame spell boasting a decent offense.

Lastly, Kim Ji-young. She swept aside the various items and poison pouches dropped by the monsters into her large backpack. Despite her earlier tardiness in front of the Gate, she moved fast.

[It's a party in harmony.]

‘Well, they’re qualified for now.’

[Are you going to welcome them as new guild members?]

‘Yes, they have great teamwork. I think they’re also close to Seol-ah. They could make a good team.’

[You're not going to make a harem with only female hunters, are you?]

‘No comment.’

[Why? Do you feel guilty? There used to be such a fellow in the Martial Arts Society. At the request of….]

‘That's enough.’

[Psh!]

Their skills were so specialized in hunting Poison Spiders that our hunt ended without us breaking a sweat.

Even the Boss monster, the Queen Poison Spider, posed no challenge to us.

"Good job."

"Well, I can't say the same to you."

Probably because of the hit I landed on them earlier; they all sounded angry.

[You can’t say anything. All you did was find the monsters.]

"Never mind. Oppa will buy us delicious food and pay us a lot for our hard work."

Seol-ah winked at me.

"Sure… I will."

The hunt ended sooner than we had anticipated, so we decided to leave after a short break.

‘But nothing special happened.’

[Are you talking about the missing cases So-eun is investigating?]

‘Yes, it's strange that people only go missing at the Gates where Poison Spiders come out.’

[Ah, your hopes just came true.]

“!!!”

As he said that, I picked up on strange energy.

[Can you feel it?]

‘It's not the feeling of a monster, but it's like inner energy.’

[It's not. The energy is too murky!]

"Oppa? What's wrong with you? Your expression is frightening."

"Seol-ah, get ready for battle."

"What? What are y—"

Seol-ah now seemed to feel it too. Her eyes widened in surprise as monsters appeared out of thin air. The members of Team Seolhwa were thrown into a state of panic, but I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Hehehe..."

"Oppa, how could you laugh in this situation?"

***

"Ji-young Unnie!"

"Iron Barrier!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Ji-young's skills shone in the moment of crisis.

The Iron Barrier blocked the sudden attack launched by the Skeleton Archers.

The monsters were like trained soldiers, with the Skeleton Archers shooting in the back row while the Warriors maintained the frontline. When the arrows stopped raining down, they charged forward.

Thanks to their frightening tactics, the other members of Team Seolhwa and I were taking shelter behind the Iron Barrier.

[You said they'd come out after the Third Cataclysm.]

‘I think the disappearances are related to these guys.’

[Maybe it's because of your return. There must be something going wrong.]

‘I hope not.’

[Don't laugh with such a severe expression.]

"Oppa, what the hell are they?"

Seol-ah was curious.

The monsters of the Tutorial Dungeon were random for every Awakened, and it appeared she had never experienced fighting these ones before.

"I'll tell you later."

Sneak-

"Huh? Oppa?”

Seol-ah began to look around. The other members also looked surprised.

[How did you come up with this idea?]

‘Do you remember how I used the Heavenly Demon Stealth to avoid surveillance from the soldiers on the way to Daesung Mountain? At the time, I thought I could use it like a 'cloaking' skill.’

[Oh, you're going to take care of the Skeleton Archers first?]

‘I should also try out my martial arts now that I’ve upgraded.’

"Seol-ah, attack when I give you the signal!"

"Where are you?"

"Where? I'm behind you.”

[It sounds like a conversation I’ve heard once before.]

PAH-

I lifted myself off the ground, leaving them behind, and jumped over the barrier.

Shhhh!

Shh, shh.

The arrows continued to fly, but I dodged them with the Heavenly Demon Air-Stride and flew behind their lines.

As expected, they didn't notice me at all.

I pushed inner power into my sword.

Whoosh!

The Goblin's Sword shone black as I created several bundles of Blade Energy. The bundle soon clumped into a large lump and became Strong Energy.

It took some time because I wasn’t used to it yet. For the time being, I might have to hide with the help of Heavenly Demon Stealth when I form the Strong Energy.

"Kuruk?"

The Skeleton Archer made a disturbing noise when I revealed myself.

It couldn't have recognized my expression, but I was smiling softly.

[It's a pity that I can't see it. You must have a devilish look on your face.]

I ignored what the Heavenly Demon said and began to do my job.

"Goodbye! Demonic Dragon Skywrecker!"

The third form from the second stage. I could have used Demonic Dragon Era and Demonic Dragon Force in conjunction, but I had already confirmed their power on Bukhan Mountain.

That's why I used Demonic Dragon Skywrecker.

It recurred to me that the Heavenly Demon had said Demonic Dragon Skywrecker could be used as a wide-area attack when combined with Strong Energy. So I wanted to test its power.

A wave of Strong Energy slammed into the Skeleton Archers.

Sgeung-

The sound was duller than I expected.

However, the power was undeniably great. I cut a dozen Skeleton Archers clean in half.

"I don't think it's going to be easy to use twice in a row."

[There is still much room for improvement.]

I had the title of Two Hearts to rely on, but I thought that should remain as a last resort.

The only monsters left were the Skeleton Warriors.

"Seol-ah, now!"

The girls were fascinated by my appearance as I suddenly appeared and swept away the Archers. However, they soon returned to their senses and rushed toward the remaining Skeletons.

"But it's strange."

[What?]

"There's no system notification that I’ve gained experience!"

I didn't know why.

[Hmm...]

However, there would be no answers even if I thought about it right now. I picked up the Skeleton Archer's bones.

The cut surface was so smooth and shiny.

[As you said, the strength of this bone is different from the ones you found in the tutorial.]

"That's good. I'll have to take a lot of bones this time. Oh, they’ve stood up again.]

The Skeleton Warriors Seol-ah dealt with disintegrated themselves before being hit. Then, in the next moment, they reassembled themselves.

The members of Team Seolhwa struggled to deal with them.

I could have stepped up to assist, but I wanted them to gain invaluable experience. I would only intervene when their lives were in danger.

"I've confirmed the power of Demonic Dragon Skywrecker. I'll have to use that method."

[Kukuku. It seems you’re going to do what you did in the Tutorial Dungeon.]

"This time, I'll ask that kid to do it."

Kim Ji-young, who was standing there blankly, caught my eye.

She didn’t have much to do because the monsters didn’t drop any items, and there was no salvage to take from them.

She didn't even bring a weapon because she thought her role wasn’t to fight.

"But weapons are a given… I need to educate her when this hunt is over.’

I looked for something Ji-young could use as a weapon in the wreckage of the smashed Skeletons.

[Are you going to tell her about your method?]

‘With Ji-young's Superhuman Strength skill, she'll be able to deal with them.’

[Hmm, let's see...]

‘This one will be fine.’

[I don't think that's a good idea.]

"Ji-young, take this!"

Ji-young caught it.

"What is this?"

"It's a weapon. Using your Superhuman Strength, it will have a huge effect on these monsters!"

"How do you know my skills?"

"Don't ask. Just try it!"

What I threw at Ji-young was a skeleton head.

She thought for a moment and then smiled weirdly.

"Ttukbaegi!"

Crash-

After a while, Ji-young was excitedly breaking the Skeletons apart with the skull.

[I think I've seen that scene before. Kukuku.]

We left a few Skeletons to Ji-young and were preparing behind her.

Ji-young insisted that she could take care of the rest.

I didn't know why she was so excited, but the skull wielded by her Superhuman Strength skill was quite effective against the Skeletons.

They broke helplessly.

"Ttukbaegi!"

Crash-

[It was the same when you were in the Tutorial Dungeon. Why does it sound like that?]

‘I don't know.’

[Anyway, she's weird too.]

‘What on earth is normal by your standards?’

[I don't know. It's because everyone around you is weird to me.]

‘I don't understand it.’

[That's why you're weird too!]

While talking to the Heavenly Demon, Ji-young worked hard to smash the Skeletons.

"Ttukbaegi!"

Whoosh!

The last skeleton was smashed.

A new skill seemed to be born when Ji-young's Superhuman Strength skill synergized with the Skeleton's skull.

"Should I name that skill the Ttukbaegi Breaker?"’

[You madman.]

***

Hunter Management Bureau, Yoo So-eun's office.

It was unexpected that she wasn’t in her office alone. The members of the Arachne hunting party were working in the same office.

Their welcome greetings to me felt more than was necessary.

In particular, Seol Myeonggeun showed excessive kindness to me.

‘What's wrong?’

[You are so slow in terms of reading people's emotions...]

‘Do you know something?’

[Forget it, you stupid guy!]

"Please drink this."

Seol Myeonggeun handed me a cup of tea.

"Oh, thank you."

"If you need anything else, feel free to call me."

He bowed his head deeply and then gave me a thumbs-up.

“...”

"What's the matter? What brought you all the way here?"

There was a tinge of harshness in Yoo So-eun’s words, but I ignored it, and told her about what happened during the Gate hunt.

"Skeletons?"

Yoo So-eun's eyes opened wide.

"Yes, they appeared shortly after the Queen Poison Spider was killed. This is our proof."

I took out the Skeleton from the inventory.

"It looks like a human bone... I wonder what the Skeletons look like."

It seemed they hadn’t appeared in her tutorial either.

"May I explain them?"

Sergeant Seol Myeonggeun suddenly stepped in.

"Have you seen them, Sergeant Seol?"

"I've met them in the Tutorial Dungeon. And I'm a big fan of fantasy novels, so I know them well."

"Really?"

He took a deep breath and began to explain.

"Skeleton literally means a pile of bones, though sometimes it’s also meant to refer to a very skinny person, like a skeleton. The Skeleton you're talking about is more of a ghost than a monster. However, it is also difficult to conclude that it is a ghost in this situation, given the circumstances. The Skeleton is...you can think of it as moving bones, just to make it simple. They are difficult to deal with because their bones are so hard. Any blade used against them is easily damaged. Therefore, it is better to use blunt instruments. In my case, I dealt with them using a shell. Oh, if you're an S-Rank hunter that can use Aura, you'll be able to fight without damaging your sword. In many fantasy movies, the Skeleton is depicted in armor, making it look like a real knight. But if you remove its armor after you knock it down, you'll find it's just bones. Looking at these bones, it seems the ones Byeong-gi saw this time are the ones without armor."

I was surprised.

[Because he knows a lot about it?]

‘No, he is too talkative, just like his name.’

[Is that a joke?]

"Wow, Sergeant Seol, you know quite a bit."

Yoo So-eun seemed to be surprised in a different way than I was.

"Thank you for your explanation."

"Yes!"

Seol Myeonggeun smiled and did that thumbs-up thing again.

His teeth glittered for a moment. Was that an effect only I could see?

[Hahaha. He's a cheerful friend.]

‘What a strange sense of humor.’

Yoo So-eun sent him back to his seat as he continued to stand next to us.

I saw it. His eyes were fixed on the bone.

He seemed eager to take it with him.

‘What the hell is wrong with him...?’

Yoo So-eun continued.

"Skeletons… Are they related to the recent disappearances at the Gate?"

"Probably."

"I see. I thought it might have something to do with the Heaven’s Way Guild, whose whereabouts have been recently unknown."

So-eun’s comment gave me a guess.

[She means Choi Yooseong?]

‘The effect of his title was to summon Skeletons.’

[So, you think it's related to him.]

‘I’m not sure. It may be a different matter from summoning Skeletons and the monsters that should appear in the Gate after the Third Cataclysm.’

[I am also confused. But there was a word Seol Myeonggeun said earlier, Aura. And from what I experienced, it’s like Strong Energy. Were there any S-Rank hunters who used Strong Energy like you?

‘No, the Aura Sergeant Seol mentioned is just at the level of Blade Energy. It's because hunters of this period have never seen actual Strong Energy.’

[That means you're the only one who uses it.]

"You're spacing out again. So handsome."

[Who?]

"Aren't you tired? Do you do this to any other people besides me?"

Yoo So-eun smiled with her eyes.

"Only for Mr. Byeong-gi.”

This woman was helpless. Suddenly, I thought that I wanted to dissect Yoo So-eun's frontal lobe to see what was wrong.

[What a terrible thought! You're not normal either.]

"Enough. Since I'm already here..."

When I finished talking, Yoo So-eun hurried out of the room, not before telling me to wait though.