[The Slime's weak Acid Poison is melting your body.]

Lee Shin-Woo gave up on the Sniper concept only 10 minutes after settling on it. The reason was simple: There were too many Slimes in the sewers for him to pick them off one by one.

[Gureuk]

[Gureureureuk]

"Ha."

At least at this very moment, he was thankful that he was a skeleton. The Slimes that were overflowing in all directions attached themselves to the top of his head, back, and legs, and were making a wet, viscous sound; if he were still concerned about his hygiene like a regular human, he probably would've run away a while ago.

[Gureureureureuk!]

[Gureukgureuk]

[Gureureureu]

Moreover, they're just level 1 sewer Slimes in a lousy level 1 dungeon, so there wasn’t a strong incentive for other heroes to clear it. As a result, they avoided the sewer, and the Slimes were allowed to grow in number to this ridiculous extent.

It had been 15 minutes since he'd entered the dungeon, and Lee Shin-Woo found himself buried from head to toe in Slimes, and he was absolutely stuck. Were he a normal Skeleton Soldier, he would've melted and disappeared within a minute. Unfortunately for the Slimes, however, he was a level 2 skeleton and would soon reach level 3; the dungeon had also granted him 10 additional points to each of his stats, and... more importantly, he had Regeneration.

My gear might get damaged, so let's go naked.

He had fought against the Slimes for a few minutes, but ultimately, what concerned him was his equipment getting damaged by the Slimes' Acid Poison. Therefore, he stripped himself to nothing but bones, putting his armor as well as his sword into his inventory.

Alright, my naturally recovering mana should be enough for me to deal with this.

He lost the bonus to his endurance as soon as he took off his armor, and the Slimes were able to inflict greater damage to him with their Acid Poison. Nevertheless, it was nothing his Beginner Regeneration couldn’t handle. Of course, if his Magic Affinity hadn't reached low rank, he wouldn't have even dreamed of doing this.

"Hmph."

[Gureuk!]

[Ggoreuk!]

Even without his equipment, Lee Shin-Woo didn’t have any difficulty defeating the Slimes. Not only was his level higher, but Bursting Thunder, the combat skill he had learned, could also be used unarmed.

"Hah!"

[Ggureuk!]

An outsider might be troubled by the swelling wave of Slimes. There were so many of them that they looked like a viscous body of water. Meanwhile, Lee Shin-Woo was right at the heart of it, killing Slimes left and right.

"Ha!"

[Ggeureuk...]

[Ggik!]

Whether he was unleashing Bursting Thunder with a sword, a spear, an axe, or his fists, the energy converged at a single point and created a burst as fast and hot as exploding lightning. That was the basis of the fighting style as well as its aim. Although none of the techniques utilized mana, the force generated by his two fists was powerful enough on its own. Whenever the tremendous strength concentrated in his arms was transferred to the Slimes, they burst into light particles and vanished.

[You have acquired 12 Perium.]

[You have acquired 12 Perium.]

[You have acquired a deteriorated Skeleton Soldier's leg bone.]

[You have acquired 12 Perium.]

[You have acquired a deteriorated Zombie's shin bone.]

"Bone Reinforcement, Bone Reinforcement."

The Perium went straight to his inventory upon collection, while he used the bones he acquired to immediately reinforce himself. Partly to regenerate his body, but mostly to sate his curiosity about the shared experience between those who had been ingested by Slimes.

[My body's melting. My skin, muscles, blood, and flesh are all melting, but it’s not enough for you. Now you're trying to melt my bones, which is all I have left. - Nameless skeleton]

[Ggueeeeeeek. I can't avoid the flood; it's more suffocating than death. An eternal slumber is approaching...! - Nameless zombie]

He could only absorb the memories at their time of death, but Lee Shin-Woo believed there was something to be gained here. To be more specific, he was excited that he might get a skill.

[Ggureuk!]

[Ggirek!]

"Bone Reinforcement."

[Guaaaaahk, my head's breaking. It's sinking in! - Nameless skeleton]

[Kuheuk, General Leofield...! I'll go down in history before you... - Nameless skeleton]

[Ggorok!]

[Gureureu!]

"Bone Reinforcement."

[Jjijijijijijijijik! - Nameless Rural Rat]

[Gugehk... To think that I’ll die at the hand of the city's cleaning crew... - Nameless zombie]

However, absorbing the bones got him nothing, not even a stat boost or a skill. He was also troubled by how the skeletons had maintained their consciousness, and how their will lingered. Moreover, he remembered hearing about Leofield before! He must be someone as famous as Seagald!

[Beginner Regeneration is now Lv8.]

Even so, the dungeon wasn’t a complete miss. Even if he disregarded the amount of Perium dropped by the huge mob of Slimes, the dungeon turned out to be the perfect place for him to train Regeneration, which he had been trying to improve. Even as he continuously took damage from all directions, he was able to keep Regeneration running with the mana he had. His proficiency in Regeneration was increasing so quickly that he wondered if this place had been created to train the skill in the beginning.

"Hoo."

[Gureuk!]

[You have acquired 12 Perium.]

[You have acquired 12 Perium.]

Moreover, his proficiency in barehanded combat was gradually increasing, something he hadn't had the time to study in-depth. Of course, his fists couldn't match up to the power of his level 3 weapon, but his skeletal hands were capable of unleashing a destructive force. Besides, he had been attacking with both hands, so his attack speed was far beyond what was possible when he wielded a weapon.

Bursting Thunder... Describing it as amazing will be an understatement.

Its destructive power and speed weren’t the only things that surprised him. The more he used the skill and the higher his proficiency in said skill, the more his thought process during battles changed. He found himself thinking about where he should attack for it to be the most effective, or when and how he should step back to create an opening. His proficiency in the skill grew exponentially whenever he moved according to his plan. Bursting Thunder was a skill that encompassed all close-combat techniques, and the implications were not to be underestimated.

To think he died with such a frightening ability. It must have been really frustrating for him.

His sympathetic musings about the senior hero had not stopped him from crushing more Slimes with both hands. The more he engaged in unarmed combat, the more his body adapted to it. Although his physical abilities had remained the same, he was able to move more nimbly and in turn defeat his enemies more quickly.

He realized that he had been killing monsters much faster with Bursting Thunder now. Perhaps using the skill both barehanded and armed with a variety of different weapons had pushed it to grow; utilizing various combat methods might have also helped. 

[You have acquired 12 Perium.]

[You have acquired 12 Perium.]

[You have acquired 12 Perium.]

[You have acquired a deteriorated Skeleton Soldier's arm bone.]

Thirty minutes after getting overwhelmed by Slimes, the swarm finally thinned, and Lee Shin-Woo was able to see again. He stealthily surveyed his surroundings while getting rid of the remaining Slimes hectically.

"Hoo, how far have I... Ha. Haha."

Lee Shin-Woo couldn’t help but laugh when he got a good look at his surroundings. He had come into the dungeon full of hope, and now, roughly an hour later, he was still at the dungeon's entrance despite all the Slimes he had killed. There were truly an outrageous number of monsters in the dungeon, much more than the dungeons he had gone through before. In fact, he had killed more monsters in this dungeon alone than the ones he had killed since his arrival combined!

"This dungeon is no joke. Seriously..."

[Gureureureuk]

[Ggoreureuk!]

He shook his head. As if they were reacting to some cue given by the muttering skeleton, the Slimes screamed and attacked him. Rather than respond, he went with a precise one-two punch, squashed the Slimes with precise movement, and grinned. He was satisfied that he was attacking with proper form now, even when barehanded.

[You have acquired 12 Perium.] 

[You have acquired 12 Perium.]

Then... shall we wipe them all out?

That moment on, Lee Shin-Woo forgot about the flow of time and focused only on squashing his enemies with Bursting Thunder and healing himself with Regeneration. Trying to tell how much time had passed would only tire him and no one else.

[Gureureureureuk!]

[Ggureuk!]

[The Slime's weak Acid Poison is melting your body.]

[Beginner Regeneration is now Lv9.]

Compared to the Acid Poison of the Giant Zombie he'd been exposed to very briefly, the Slimes' just itched, and even the pain had subsided after using Regeneration continuously. Now, the poison the Slimes secreted was like... well, like a light sprinkling of rain, and actually made his bones feel a little better. If the other heroes knew what he was thinking, they would've clicked their tongues, pitying the newbie for being driven mad by the extreme situation.

[Ggureureuk!]

[Gguuah!]

[Kureuk!]

Eventually, he stopped thinking altogether, lost in the flow of throwing punches at the unending waves of Slimes. It was certainly different from what was often called the elimination of the self, but after fighting purely on instincts for a long stretch of time, his unnecessary, idle thoughts had disappeared, and he moved with the single goal of destroying his enemies quickly and precisely. It was only natural that his proficiency would skyrocket in the process.

How long has it been? Lee Shin-Woo only perceived the crisp trajectory of his fists. He seemed to be executing all his planned attacks with a precision that should only be possible in his head. The Slimes had exploded and scattered everywhere, which was proof of what he had done up to this point.

[Low Rank Bursting Thunder is now Lv4. Strength, Agility, and Magic increase by 2. It has become easier for you to handle a weapon even if you have never wielded it before. The rate at which proficiency increases for combat related skills has increased as well.]

It was a splendid achievement that made his progress in Regeneration paled in comparison. The proficiency of Bursting Thunder, his core skill, had been stagnating before; however, in only four days after getting to level 3, the skill had reached level 4! His stats had increased as expected, and the power of the skill had improved dramatically. Now even the Slimes that hadn’t been hit directly were affected. A portion of their bodies would burst as long as they were in the vicinity of his target. Lee Shin-Woo smiled faintly and started to move even faster.

[You have acquired 12 Perium.]

[You have acquired 12 Perium.]

"Nothing again... Hm?"

He made quick work of the clump of Slimes, and his eyes were caught by the bone left in their midst. Lee Shin-Woo grabbed it and immediately used Bone Reinforcement. Then...

[You have consumed a deteriorated Poison Zombie's finger bone to reinforce your finger bones. Magic has increased by 1. Absorbing a portion of the Poison Zombie's memories and experiences.]

[Guwahk... Poison, even with my poison...! - Nameless Poison Zombie]

"Huh?"

Something changed the moment he absorbed the bone. The memory belonged to a zombie dying to a Slime, but a countless number of Slimes had attacked in concert in order to kill this zombie. Moreover, the zombie resisted until the bitter end. Perhaps a Poison Zombie had naturally high defense, or this particular one was at a higher level. The one thing Lee Shin-Woo was sure of was that the Poison Zombie had met a heroic end compared to the other monsters.

[Gureuk]

Then, a rude Slime stuck itself onto his back and sprayed Acid Poison at him. The moment Lee Shin-Woo hit it with his hand, a brief message appeared before him.

[You have learned Beginner Acid Resistance Lv1. You are now able to resist Acid Poison, albeit only the weak ones.]

[Resistance has been added to your status.]

"Huh...!?"

So that's how it was. The skill that he had obtained from the bones was none other than Acid Resistance! Things came into sharp focus for him at that moment. Lee Shin-Woo was now filled with both awe and stunned realization.

"Damn it, now I can't train my Regeneration!"