[Kuweeeeehk!]

The Treasure Eater charged at him with a shriek. Its wide, open maw rimmed with jagged, fence-like teeth radiated with a dull light.

"Sprint!"

[Kuhiaaaah!]

Getting eaten by that thing would cost him more than a couple of lives, so Lee Shin-Woo completely abandoned any thought of launching a frontal assault. He activated Sprint and ran away, only a split second before the Treasure Eater brushed past him. It felt as though a subway train had just whipped by, the resulting change in pressure brought about a sharp gust. His bones itched. There was also the foul stench of rotting corpses.

[Kueeeeeeh!]

Perhaps the Treasure Eater hadn't expected him to dodge completely out of the way and rendered its attack a waste of effort. It shrieked again and twisted around. It seemed that it would take a while for the Treasure Eater to make a U-turn since it was too large to maneuver freely in the passageway.

"Yee-up...!"

This was his chance. Lee Shin-Woo firmly gripped his spear with both hands and raised it like he was shooting a cannon, sending the spearhead into the monster’s side. His hands creaked as he put all his might into his Level 2 Bone Spear. With all the stats he’d gained thus far, the power behind the attack was truly tremendous!

[Critical Hit!]

His spearmanship had been well-honed through the sacrifice of countless Pauls, allowing him to strike with great power and precision. The spear buried into the monster and split open its side, resulting in a magnificent cut that revealed its skin and the flesh within. It was then that Lee Shin-Woo realized the concept of critical hits existed in this world.

[Ggueeeeh!]

"W-Whoa!?"

With his attention solely on making the most powerful attack possible, however, he had failed to consider his next move. Unable to pull the spear out before the pained Treasure Eater turned completely around, Lee Shin-Woo got knocked away and crashed into the wall.

"Ah, ugh...!"

It felt as though all his bones were being smashed into pieces. The pain was killing him, but he knew he would die for real if he blacked out. Therefore, he desperately fought to keep himself conscious. It helped that he was an undead being.

[Kwihehk!]

"Tch, this damned thing...!"

Lee Shin-Woo was trapped between the bug and the wall; despite the excruciating pain of getting crushed, he managed to grab the spear and yank it out with all his might, causing dead flesh and blood to burst out from the wound.

[Ggueeeeeeh!]

The bug’s pig-like squeal rang through the passageway.

[The Treasure Eater used Shriek of the Dead. Those exposed to this shriek will momentarily enter a state of frenzy.]

[As an effect of Invisible Heart, you ignore the effects of Shriek of the Dead.]

The shriek was negated by Invisible Heart! Lee Shin-Woo hadn’t even noticed the message when he made his move, though. In fact, he was concentrated on seizing the opening created when the bug stopped to shriek, and he attacked the injury left by his previous attack. He believed he'd be able to land another critical hit by attacking the same spot.

[Gguaaaahk!]

"Tch!"

Am I still not skilled enough to land a critical hit intentionally? Lee Shin-Woo had thought that his timing was perfect, but his attack did not hit his target and left only a smaller hole on the bug. Still, he considered it good progress that he was able to withdraw his spear and retreat immediately following his attack. That was when a message popped up to give him an update.

[Beginner Spearmanship is now Lv4. You can swing your spear more easily now.]

"Huh...?"

A sound of surprise escaped Lee Shin-Woo’s skull. It had taken 133 Pauls for his Beginner Spearmanship to reach level 3, which happened not long ago. It was only natural for him to be surprised when the skill leveled up again in such a short time. Obviously, he didn't have the time to look into that right now. His movement did become much lighter as the message suggested, though. He gripped his spear and got ready to use Sprint again.

[Gguaaahk!]

The Treasure Eater had managed to change directions despite the attack Lee Shin-Woo landed on it, and it opened its mouth wide, seemingly intent on swallowing both him and his spear whole.

"Ugh... Sprint!"

[Kueeeeh!]

Their split-second battle of wits concluded with Lee Shin-Woo successfully dodging the Treasure Eater’s charge attack again. Although it was a dangerous moment that could’ve easily ended with his death, he was able to dodge its charge with more ease than before. After all, the Treasure Eater always charged in a straight line; Lee Shin-Woo got out of the way by accelerating at the right moment.

If he didn't possess a skeleton's body, which enabled him to utilize Sprint repeatedly, the battle would've already been over. As it was, he was confident that he'd be able to keep up with the Treasure Eater as long as he wanted.

"Nice, then..."

Lee Shin-Woo concluded that he'd need to prolong the fight, so he abandoned all thoughts of making powerful attacks and decided to damage it little by little instead. He would use the reach of the Bone Spear at mid-range to do chip damage!

"Eat this!"

[Kuaaaahk!]

The Bone Spear buried into the bug’s rear end with lightning speed, splattering blood everywhere. Lee Shin-Woo immediately retreated to a safe distance after making a successful attack and observed the Treasure Eater. However, its response puzzled him. Lee Shin-Woo had expected it to go wild like last time, but it curled up as much as possible instead...

[Kihiiiiiiiiiiih!]

"Argh."

That was its most grating and unpleasant shriek to date! Lee Shin-Woo grit his teeth to endure its intense, skull-ringing shriek. What happened before his very eyes turned out to be worthy of his reaction.

[The Treasure Eater uses Roar of Healing.]

[The Treasure Eater's health recovers completely.]

The wounds that Lee Shin-Woo had risked his life to inflict were being healed in real time!

"Steve, you asshole..."

[Kuwooooooh!]

It was just a monster spawned in the external passageway, but it was healing itself like a boss monster! He was even more annoyed by the fact that he had no way of figuring out how many times it could use Roar of Healing. If it could use the skill repeatedly, then this struggle would be meaningless.

"Ah, that's so demoralizing."

[Kuoooooh!]

He felt like his blood sugar was dropping, but of course, that was simply his imagination. After all, he was nothing but bones. Lee Shin-Woo weakly held onto his spear. His only option was to act under the assumption that the Treasure Eater couldn’t use Roar of Healing indefinitely. Otherwise, he would have to run away with Sprint!

It was then he ‘heard’ the voice.

[Monster discovered... during patrol...!]

[Requesting reinforcements...!]

"Huh...?"

Lee Shin-Woo couldn't believe it. There was a Skeleton Soldier beyond the completely collapsed passageway, and it was calling for help! Moreover, thanks to the Treasure Eater rampaging everywhere, the upper, lower, and side passageways had all collapsed, and the Skeleton Soldiers were coming out from everywhere. Of course, the Treasure Eater had absolutely no interest in the soldiers equipped with lousy bone spears, but things were different for Lee Shin-Woo.

Are these guys really here to help me?

[Requesting additional reinforcements...!]

[In the middle of requesting reinforcements...!]

[Discovered something... fighting the monster...]

One of the Skeleton Soldiers stopped when he saw Lee Shin-Woo confronting the monster. The skeleton tilted its head and noticed that Lee Shin-Woo had a larger frame compared to itself and the other skeletons—Shin-Woo’s had indeed grown a little bigger as his stats increased—and held a shiny bone spear in his hand.

[Are you a newbie...?]

"Yeah, I'm a newbie! Help me!"

Lee Shin-Woo yelled in distress. The skeleton seemed to have a hard time grasping the situation, and it stood there in a daze for a second, but soon, it came up to the passageway and pointed its spear at the Treasure Eater.

[Participating... Battling together...]

"Pauuuuul!"

Right after Lee Shin-Woo shouted in gratitude, a message appeared before his eyes.

[You have achieved the feat of deceiving your enemies and manipulating them. Surviving through whatever means necessary may be the most important talent in the Empire.]

[You have learned the passive skill, Acting Lv1.]

"..."

It felt strange that this was the first skill he had obtained through his own efforts, but he'd use it as often as possible if it would keep him alive! Lee Shin-Woo sneakily took a step back from the Treasure Eater and yelled in an even louder voice, "Pauls, let's beat this monster together! It's a thief that's threatening the security of our Empire!"

[Request complete... Participating.]

[Participating.]

"Hey, you! That’s right, I’m talking to you. Come over here!"

[Helping... the newbie...]

[Participating.]

The bigger the scene he made, the more Skeleton Soldiers joined in the fray, including those who had been further away from him. Some had waited to observe the situation, but they couldn’t ignore him when Lee Shin-Woo personally called out to them. Who would've thought that the first-aid training he received during military service would be of help in this situation[1]?

[Kuoooh!]

[Attacking... the monster.]

[The bug that threatens... the Empire!]

The Treasure Eater had disregarded the Skeleton Soldiers and lunged at Lee Shin-Woo when only a little more than 10 of them gathered around it, but then their number surpassed 20 after a short while, and it changed its tactics seemingly out of panic.

[Kuwooooooh!]

[The Treasure Eater used Shriek of the Dead. Those exposed to this shriek will momentarily enter a state of frenzy.]

[As an effect of Invisible Heart, you ignore the effects of Shriek of the Dead.]

"Ah, I forgot about that."

[There are a lot of enemies...!]

[What are you attacking? That's... an afterimage...!]

Unlike Lee Shin-Woo, the other skeletons were powerless before the Shriek of the Dead, and the skeletons that had died from infighting were quickly replaced by new ones. It seemed as though all the Skeleton Soldiers in the external passageways were gathering here.

[Kuwooh, Kuwooooooh!]

[The Treasure Eater tried to use the Shriek of the Dead, but it failed due to its lack of mana.]

"Oh, so that's how it is."

The Treasure Eater had run out of mana! At this point, it's highly likely that the Treasure Eater wouldn't be able to use Roar of Healing, either. It’d lost everything that made it threatening.

"Good job, Pauls. Use the siege destruction formation[2]!"

[Attacking...!]

[Killing the enemy!]

Ah, it's a line he'd wanted to say at least once in his life. Moved, Lee Shin-Woo wiped away his figurative tears and gripped his bone spear. Of course, the Treasure Eater hadn’t lost its physical prowess despite having depleted its mana, and it was wiping out the Skeleton Soldiers with relative ease. It would make things easier for Shin-Woo if it wiped out a good number of them.

"Wow, this year's harvest is great!"

He muttered in satisfaction when he saw the bones scattered around him. He then tightened his grip around his spear and charged at the Treasure Eater. The battle ended in five minutes. It was a complete victory.