[Keuaaaaaaahk!]

"Tch!"

The sword strike was precise; it truly was a perfectly executed surprise attack. However, Lee Shin-Woo was faster and managed to tip his head backward in time. He kicked the sword up as it flew towards him and sent it flying out of the skeleton’s grip!

[Keuhaaaaaaaahk!]

"This is..."

The sword flew straight up and buried into the ceiling. However, the skeleton seemed unconcerned. With its gaze fixed on Lee Shin-Woo, it charged towards Lee Shin-Woo again with dark green mana concentrated to its palms!

It's acid poison generated by mana, similar in level to the Great Slime’s. If that’s the case…

With his ability to analyze mana, which had improved noticeably due to Magic Bone, Lee Shin-Woo was able to identify the basic mechanism of his enemy’s skill. At that very moment, the bone he had absorbed before… The Acid Ghoul’s Thumbnail awakened its potential!

[You have learned the active skill, Intermediate Acid Poison Spray Lv1. Strength and Magic have increased by 15. Low Rank Acid Resistance is now Lv7.]

[You have achieved the feat of acquiring an intermediate skill. All stats increase by 5.]

"Huh!?"

Lee Shin-Woo was so astonished that he almost lost control of his mana for a moment. Intermediate!? The Acid Ghoul’s ability was indeed frightening, but normally, the skill he acquired would start at a reduced rank. He didn’t expect this to happen at all.

Was it because of Mana Bone? He was now able to perfectly reproduce the special properties of the mana within the memories and experiences. If all the skills he learned in the future would start at a higher level as a result…then Mana Bone would be the best thing that had ever happened to him since his arrival at the Empire!

"Hmph."

[Ggeuaaaaahk!]

The deep green mist that rose from Lee Shin-Woo’s fingertips softly wrapped around the skeleton's palms. Suddenly, it yelled in fright and recoiled, colliding with a desk. Seeing a portion of the documents atop the desk melt away from the poison, Lee Shin-Woo hurriedly yelled, “Hey, hey. Calm down!”

[Acid Poison!? Who... are you…?!]

Fortunately, the skeleton did stop moving when Lee Shin-Woo told it to. Or it might be more accurate to say it had come to its senses when it saw him use Acid Poison. Whatever the case, it was a good thing. His top priority was to calm it down in order to preserve these precious documents and prevent further damage.

"I'm one of Gerrit's people," Lee Shin-Woo answered calmly as he slowly stepped back and led the skeleton away from the research documents so that they wouldn't be damaged.

He had gotten into his role as soon as he realized that the matter required a delicate approach. And he was able to come up with the right lines for the situation!

[Gerrit...?]

The skeleton paused mid-strike. Lee Shin-Woo had hit the right mark!

[You're... a subordinate of Doctor Gerrit Aterran? I... don't recall seeing you before. Are you a guard...?]

"No, I'm not a guard. If I were, I would've died together with you. I came by his request."

[Did Doctor Aterran die…? T-That's only natural, I suppose...]

The skeleton despaired and dropped its head. That surprised Lee Shin-Woo. He had planned to calm the skeleton by whatever means necessary. He didn’t expect the single line to be this effective.

The moment the skeleton got a hold of itself, a message appeared in front of Lee Shin-Woo.

[Acting is now Lv5. Those who listen to your words will instinctually have a good impression of you.]

Then the skeleton started talking again.

[Your body is black, huh...]

"It's because of the poison."

[Your poison is really strong… Yeah, that’s how our test went. Now I remember a little bit.]

The skeleton lost its will to fight. It inspected Lee Shin-Woo before looking at its own skeletal body and muttered miserably.

[Our test failed. We couldn't stop ourselves from turning into undead... In the end, that foolish Emperor had brought about an even greater disaster in an attempt to prevent a disaster!]

Those words hit Lee Shin-Woo like a punch to his gut. It had clearly recognized that it was an undead, and it was also aware of the passage of time!

Is this an effect of them performing tests in the sewers? If that's true, what about those in the Empire...!? Lee Shin-Woo did his best to conceal his astonishment and replied to the skeleton.

"However, you're better off than those outside. They’ve lost all sense of reason and gone wild."

[Is it a half success then...? Come in, comrade. It’s clear that you aren’t an enemy since you know the pattern of Anti-Skull. It seems I’ve lost my reason as well until a little while ago. All I did was despair alone in this room...]

"Thanks."

Anti-Skull, huh. That must have something to do with the skull pattern on the door lock. There was a small chance that it was just a code name, but there was a high possibility that it stood for this organization as well. Lee Shin-Woo decided to remember that word.

[Have you been acting alone? If not, are you following General Seagald's orders?]

"No, I'm acting under Gerrit's request. I need to collect all the research materials so that it won’t be misused."

[Ah... I see. Those precious materials are spread about in places like this. That's certainly an important task.]

It was easy to convince the skeleton. Was it because the skeleton had just regained its senses, or was it because the skeleton hadn’t recovered all of its memory? If it was neither, could it be an effect of his Acting skill? The reason didn't really matter as long as he could talk the skeleton into doing his bidding.

Lee Shin-Woo collected all the materials that remained intact despite the passage of time. The skeleton even helped him with this. In the end, it made a request.

[We may still have some comrades out there. Could you help me search for them?]

"Alright. Since I need to collect all the materials anyway."

He was patiently sitting in his seat, and though he really wanted to inspect the materials, the current situation wouldn't allow him to. However, the moment Lee Shin-Woo nodded at the skeleton, the mana in front of him slightly shook.

[A quest has begun!]

[Those who uphold the spirit of a ruined nation.]

[You have found traces of those who still resist the curse in the Empire and came in contact with them. No one knows how this attempt will turn out in the future. But what's certain is that it will be an extremely difficult challenge.]

[Quest goal: find and aid the Poison Skeleton's comrades.]

[Quest reward: one permit to Goddess’s Secret Shop and one Lv3 medicine.]

This... Does this mean that the goddess is interested in this place as well?

It wasn’t every day that a hero would listen to an undead’s story rather than killing it outright. However, the goddess had encouraged him to do so rather than punished him, which had interesting implications.

Of course, regardless of whether the goddess liked it or not, Lee Shin-Woo would act as he pleased!

[How are you going to deal with all of those?]

"I have to store them. There's something that Gerrit prepared before he died."

[As expected of Doctor Aterran.]

Lee Shin-Woo and the Poison Skeleton confirmed that there weren't any other materials inside the room before leaving the passageway. He smacked his lips while the Poison Skeleton crawled out of the door with its sword sheathed.

"Shouldn't you move a bit quieter?"

[You don't need to be that careful. The only things in this sewer are the Slimes we had been using as test subjects.]

"Yeah, they’re just slimes, but... Well, whatever."

Lee Shin-Woo gave up on trying to convince the skeleton. The Great Slime must have gone far away from him after the time he spent familiarizing himself with Mana Bone. It was probably devouring all the other slimes somewhere in the dungeon.

[Now that I think about it, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is... Ugh, I don't remember my name. Actually, I don't even remember who I was... I wonder why? I remember the tests and the curse, but there's nothing I remember about myself! It's as though the inside of my head is completely empty...!]

It would’ve sounded like a main character if it were a human rather than a skeleton. Unfortunately, the world wouldn’t remember a mere extra, amnesiac or not!

Lee Shin-Woo responded with surprising nonchalance, "It just means there's a lot you can fill it with from now on."

[That's...!]

Lee Shin-Woo had only found something appropriate to say from his memory, yet it seemed like the skeleton was deeply moved. While he was at it, Lee Shin-Woo decided to do the skeleton another favor.

"First, let's give you a name. How about Paul?"

[Paul... It's an alright name! What's your name?]

"I'm... Paul Zero."

It was a name he'd come up with himself, but it showed a pathetic lack of creativity on his part.

[Then... Paul Zero, this way. I don't remember anything about myself, but I definitely remember the way.]

"Great. Let's go, Paul!"

Lee Shin-Woo and Paul moved quickly. Having a guide definitely allowed him to navigate the area more efficiently. No matter how excellent his mana senses had gotten after learning Mana Bone, it took a certain amount of manual labor to find the secret passageways.

He was suddenly in awe of his foresight in dealing with the skeleton diplomatically rather than killing it. Lee Shin-Woo honestly hadn't expected things to unfold in this fashion.

[We've arrived. You see it too, right?]

"Yeah, I'm opening it right away."

Lee Shin-Woo released the lock more skillfully than before and opened the door. There were three skeletons within, and just like Paul, all of them were completely lost.

[Kyaaaaaahk!]

[Kiaaaaaaah!]

"Yeah, yeah. I thought you'd be this way."

Lee Shin-Woo sighed and gently sprayed Acid Poison at them. It wasn't acid magic, nor was it a curse. Now covered in poison, the skeletons grunted in surprise before coming to a halt. It was honestly really funny.

[The taste of this poison is... It's the taste of an ally...!]

[Y-You're... Are you a soldier from another test by any chance?]

[To think that I've become a skeleton... A skeleton!]

"Now, I understand you must have a lot of complicated feelings, but I’ve come under Gerrit Aterran’s request, and you have become undead for a reason. We're all friends here, so just calm down for now."

Lee Shin-Woo perfectly utilized Acting to calm them down. Witnessing how efficiently Lee Shin-Woo had dealt with the situation, Paul clapped his bare bone hands.

[There’s an unusual power in your voice. As expected, it seems you’re no regular skeleton after all. What do you think our relationship was in the past? Ugh, I don't remember!]

"You already said that, so be quiet and stand over here in order. You're Paul Two, you're Paul Three, and you're Paul Four..."

The four Pauls had a touching reunion even though it hadn’t been five minutes since they regained their senses. Since they were all skeletons now, it was difficult to figure out their original identities, but they remembered clearly that they all followed and trusted the same general, and had participated in the same test.

Moreover, since they were all level 3, it was very likely that they had been assigned to the same post in their past life.

[You're carrying out Doctor Aterran's will even after becoming an undead... That’s amazing.]

[Won't you come with us to meet General Seagald? General Seagald definitely wouldn't have given up on the magic research.]

"I'll probably go and see you guys someday. I'll remember you."

The Pauls seemed to have reached a mutual understanding. Lee Shin-Woo turned them down without hesitation and quickly collected the research materials.

All the while, he had been glancing at the characters used to pen the documents. They weren’t written in Korean, but he could read the documents without issue. It was probably the same reason he could communicate with the skeletons despite never learning the Empire's language.

"Now, shall we go and check the remaining materials?"

[Wait... Didn’t you hear a strange noise?]

[Now that you mention it, yeah.]

Paul confirmed Paul Three's statement. Then Paul Four, who had gone out of the door before the rest of them, spoke with a slightly stiff voice.

[I hear the crawling sound of... something huge.]

- Kwang!

Immediately after, a portion of the passageway collapsed. Beyond it, a huge, dark-green slime revealed itself to them. There was a truly dreary aura around its heavy, sagging body, and a thick mist of acid spread slowly through its surroundings.

[Lv4 King Slime]

[You have found the target of your revenge. When you fight it, all stats increase by 30%. Flames of Revenge receive an additional 30% bonus.]

[Geureureureuoooooooooooooooh!]

Spotting Lee Shin-Woo, the King Slime howled powerfully, cracking the sturdy walls of the passageway. Terrified, the Poison Skeletons instinctually stepped back, while Lee Shin-Woo stepped forward with a pleased look on his face. He was slightly disappointed that it wasn't an Emperor Slime, but still, this was great!

"Let's play, Pudding!"

[Gureureureureureureu!]

The King Slime responded vigorously to Lee Shin-Woo's offer. It seemed to miss Lee Shin-Woo dearly, too.

The Pauls looked like they were ready to burst into tears when they saw cracks growing on the walls as a result of the King Slime's full speed charge, but unfortunately for them, there was nowhere to run.