Lee Shin-Woo used the bones they had collected on site to reinforce himself. Of course, level 1 bones were almost meaningless to him now, but he still repeatedly used Bone Reinforcement until he saw the message, [You have acquired all the experiences and memories that you could from…]. He couldn't miss the opportunity to grow even a little bit more!

"Bone Reinforcement, Bone Reinforcement, Bone Reinforcement..."

"Ugh."

Jin got tired of watching Lee Shin-Woo use Bone Reinforcement continuously without pause. Lee Shin-Woo wasn’t joking when he said he could absorb 513 bones in 30 minutes. No, it had actually been an understatement.

In less than 1 second, he had sorted out all the bones he would absorb and grabbed a handful at a time to reinforce himself; it wasn't difficult for him to dispose of 100 bones within 1 minute.

"Bone Reinforcement... Oh, I'm done now."

"You... Are you really human!?"

"Can't you see I'm a skeleton? You want a piece of me?"

In the end, Lee Shin-Woo had absorbed close to three thousand bones and left behind about one thousand since he couldn't acquire anymore memories, experiences, or abilities from them. It didn't even take him an hour.

[Lee Shin-Woo]

[Dark Skeleton Avenger] [Treasure Hunter and 1 other]

[Lv - 3 (Stats Effectiveness 125%)]

[Strength - 160 Agility - 169 Endurance - 164 Magic - 305]

[Passive Skills - Invisible Heart Lv3, Acting Lv6, Beginner Avenger Lv8, Low Rank Bursting Thunder Lv7, Low Rank Mana Bone Lv6, Low Rank Stealth Lv6, Low rank Command Lv1, Low Rank Horseback Riding Lv4]

[Active Skills - Bone Reinforcement Lv4, Low Rank Combat Sprint Lv8, Low Rank Shriek of the Dead Lv5, Low Rank Regeneration Lv2, Low Rank Catapult Lv3, Low Rank Flames of Revenge Lv2, Beginner Power Slash Lv9, Low Rank Harden Lv3, Low Rank Self-Destruct Lv2, Sacrifice Lv1, Intermediate Acid Poison Spray Lv2]

[Resistances - Holy: MAX, Curse: MAX, Acid: Low Rank Lv8, Ice: Intermediate Lv1]

"Man, I'm short a couple of stats so I can't level up."

"So your stats haven’t gone up that much even after absorbing three thousand bones…?"

"No, I’ll say it’s a lot."

Amongst the four thousand monsters Lee Shin-Woo had disposed of, there were basically no level 3 monsters. In other words, the absolute majority of the monsters were a level lower than him, so the fact that his stats had risen by even this much was amazing. Lee Shin-Woo had basically made up for the lack of quality with quantity.

"What are you going to do with the rest? I'm telling you ahead of time, there’s no way for me to absorb all of them. It’s not gonna happen."

"What a wuss. Don't worry, they all have a use."

Lee Shin-Woo took out a huge bag from his inventory and shoved the hundreds of level 1 bones into it before stomping on the bag with all his might.

"Is it for stress relief?" Jin asked, stunned.

"No, it's for healing."

He continued to stomp on the bag and nodded once he saw the contents had turned into fine powder. He felt rich at the sight of the bag full of bone powder.

"For healing...?"

"Yeah. The bones become homogenous after being turned into powder, and even though the memories and experiences contained within would be lost, the healing ability remains. Moreover, the powder can be applied to the entire body, which is an advantage."

"Ah."

Jin had experienced the effect first hand, so he was well aware that Bone Reinforcement healed the portion of the body the skill was applied to. In other words, Lee Shin-Woo was processing the remaining bones that granted him no experiences or memories and turning them into medicine! The fact that he could now store the bones easily in his inventory was an added bonus.

"I have Regeneration, so I don't really need it, but it’ll be valuable to you."

"You're being so considerate that I feel like crying."

"Now then, let's..."

The remaining 200 were level 2 undead bones; it felt like too much of a waste to turn them into powder, so he didn't. But when he told Jin to use them, Jin said it'd be too much for him right now; therefore, he only had one other option.

Weapon reinforcement.

Bone of Thunder Lasting is at +8 right now, and I only have one more level 3 weapon reinforcement permit. In order for it to reach +10 and be reborn as a level 4 weapon, one of my reinforcement attempts has to succeed.

He forewent the level 1 bones and weapons as he didn't think they would have any chance of successfully reinforcing the sword, but what about level 2 bones? Wouldn't there be at least a slight chance? Jin saw Lee Shin-Woo tremble as he grabbed a level 2 bone, and thought he looked like a gambling addict.

"...Bone Reinforcement."

[Reinforcement has failed.]

[Reinforcement has failed.]

[Reinforcement has failed.]

The heap of bones they had acquired disappeared in an instant. Lee Shin-Woo knew the success rate would be low, but he was still shocked when he used up roughly a hundred bones without success. Regret caught up to him belatedly. Perhaps it would be better to just sell them at the Secret Shop.

"But since I've already started, I can't stop."

"You look really dumb right now."

"Bone Reinforcement! Bone Reinforcement...!"

[Reinforcement has failed.]

[Reinforcement has failed.]

[Reinforcement has failed.]

[Bone Reinforcement is now Lv5! The success rate of weapon reinforcement has increased. When you use Bone Reinforcement on bone weapons, the effectiveness increases.]

"Good, Bone Reinforcement!"

"You don't have any more bones, though."

"Oh..."

Lee Shin-Woo looked around dejectedly. Jin was right; there wasn’t any bone left. The 200 level 2 bones were completely gone, which had given him nothing but a skill level-up...

"It feels like if I just do it once more it would've worked!"

"That's something gambling addicts would say."

Lee Shin-Woo didn’t have any more bones even if he wanted to reinforce his weapon. There was nothing he could do about it. He wasn't one to obsess over failure, so he simply sighed softly and shook off his regrets before getting on Jin’s back.

He had received a message confirming that he didn't have any more business in this city, so there was no point in staying to check. It was time for him to leave.

"So where to now?"

"Didn't you run around here a lot? Let's go to one of the places with a lot of level 3 or level 4 monsters."

"Y-Yeah... Fine. Let's go."

Honestly, Jin was still a bit afraid of level 4 monsters, but when he remembered how Lee Shin-Woo had slaughtered thousands of monsters earlier, he mustered his courage and began to move. He felt like even if a level 5 elite monster showed up instead of a level 4 one, Lee Shin-Woo would still somehow come out victorious.

While entrusting Jin to take the lead, Lee Shin-Woo opened the chatroom comfortably. It felt similar to using his phone while driving.

[Mr. Lee Shin-Woo has entered.]

[Lloyd H.K.: Oh, Lee Shin-Woo! I heard the news. So you met Ye Jin-Jin?]

[Lee Shin-Woo: It's a relief that you're safe, Senior.]

[Prince Altania: He seems to have adapted to this world already... More importantly, what did you get for saving Ye Jin-Jin? I heard the reward was amazing, but I wouldn’t know what it was since I've never completed such a quest.]

[Erian Ruparte: Lee Shin-Woo! Thanks a lot. Because of you, Ye Jin-Jin was able to survive!]

As soon as Lee Shin-Woo entered the chatroom, all of his seniors scrambled to greet him. It seemed that Ye Jin-Jin had rambled to the others about him as she said she would.

It was something she had talked to Lee Shin-Woo about; if he got closer with the other heroes, they might not be too repulsed by the fact that he was a skeleton when they find out later... which was a crude plan they had come up with without giving too much thought into it. Case in point, they didn't really talk about how the other heroes would react to Jin.

[Shino Rendu: Good work, Lee Shin-Woo. Whether you acted for the reward or her life, we heroes have to stick together.]

[Yasunori Akira: You're seriously way too hot-blooded… In any case, good job, Lee Shin-Woo.]

[Seira Von Retadane:         It was really unexpected that you were both in the same area. But... but it was truly a relief.]

[Lee Shin-Woo: I got a quest to clear out all the undead in the city, so while I was doing that quest... I was just lucky.]

[Prince Altania: Ah, that...]

Of course, it was a lie, but he was curious as to how his seniors would respond. As expected, Prince Altania, who seemed the most loose-lipped amongst his seniors, bit the lure.

[Prince Altania: You only have to do that once. Did you get the Hero's token?]

[Lee Shin-Woo: Yes.]

This was it. This was the information that he wanted! Lee Shin-Woo pricked up his ears as Prince Altania explained.

[Prince Altania: Having one is great since it’ll accelerate your skill growth, but you don’t really have to get more after that. Clearing a small city may not have taken long for you, but the deeper you go into the Empire, the larger the cities become. It’ll be almost impossible for you to cleanse a city then. Karma tokens don't drop very often, so collecting ten of them isn’t realistic to begin with.]

[Lee Shin-Woo: So it would seem.]

[Prince Altania: More importantly, if you start wiping out the undead in great numbers, the other undead will sniff that out and band together against you, so you'll have to continue battling them unceasingly. If something goes wrong, even a hero can die.]

[Lloyd H.K.: But hey, isn't that exactly why the goddess chose us...? Aren’t we supposed to purify the Empire?]

[Shino Rendu: I somehow succeeded in clearing a small city in the beginning and gained a Hero’s token. I thought I would be able to increase the buff by collecting more, so I risked my life to enter a few cities and clear out the undead, but getting one more token doesn't amplify the effects at all...]

[Prince Altania: Are you dumb? Tokens of the same kind don't stack. Get all 10 of them or stick to one.]

[Shino Rendu: This asshole... I was a newbie back then!]

He had already gained a lot of good info. Lee Shin-Woo took note of all the precious information and opened his mouth again, speaking in a tone that relayed his seriousness and his sense of duty as best he could.

[Lee Shin-Woo: As you said, it's a hero's duty; I'll purify as many cities as I can.]

Of course, it was a lie. He had already chosen the Joker's karma, so he didn't really need to put in the effort to collect all 10 of the Hero's tokens. If he ended up cleaning up a city, it wouldn't be because he was burning with the desire to fulfill his duty as a hero, but because he wanted to collect materials for Bone Reinforcement!

[Prince Altania: He’s like Lloyd... If you do that, it'll take a long time for you to reach level 5.]

[Lloyd H.K.: See, that's what a hero should be like!]

[Erian Ruparte: ...You're cool, Lloyd.]

[Seira Von Retadane: Mr. Lee Shin-Woo, you're doing well. We must allow the undead in the Empire to rest in peace...]

[Ethan Cruz: I'm pleased that there are more heroes acting like heroes now.]

At that moment, it felt as if time had come to a halt in the chatroom. He hadn’t heard the middle-aged man’s voice before, and for some inexplicable reason, it made him shut his mouth. Meanwhile, Lloyd had responded to the man without missing a beat.

[Lloyd H.K.: Oh, Senior!]

[Yasunori Akira: It's been a long time.]

[Prince Altania: I'm glad you're safe, Senior.]

Even the Prince addressed him with an honorific… The man’s authority in the chatroom must have been unwavering. Lee Shin-Woo followed their lead for now, and politely greeted him.

[Lee Shin-Woo: I'm a newbie who got here just a little while ago. Please take care of me, Senior.]

[Ethan Cruz: Oh, it's a pleasure. You’re so well-mannered that it makes me kind of uncomfortable. You may drop the formalities and talk casually with me.]

[Lee Shin-Woo: Haha... I'll try my best.]

[Ethan Cruz: Good. I hope you’ll be around for a long time. Ah, by the way, Lloyd. Is Seira doing alright?]

[Lloyd H.K.: Yes, Senior. She's alright.]

[Seira Von Retadane: ...Please, go ahead.]

[Ethan Cruz: I have something I'd like you to help me with. The capital's thorn castle walls...]

His seniors started to talk about places and geographical features he didn't know about yet, and Lee Shin-Woo believed he'd obtained all the information he could for now, so he decided to carefully say his farewells and leave. However, before he could, Ethan Cruz called out for him.

[Ethan Cruz: Work hard, Lee Shin-Woo. You might believe in many different things as you stand up against the Empire, but... all you need to remember is that all undead are humanity's enemies.]

[Lee Shin-Woo: ...I understand.]

None of his seniors refuted the statement.

As he thought, the heroes in the chatroom didn't know about the undead who retained their reason and didn't loathe humanity.

Or they were acting like they didn't know about them.