<Chapter 5. Trickster’s Karma – 3>

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

Lee Shin Woo gave up the Sniper concept, only 10 minutes after making up his mind. The reason was simple. There were too many slimes that inhabited 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 were stuck above his head, his back, and his legs, and were making a ‘gureureuk’ sound; if he still had a normal way of thinking about hygiene like a human, he probably would’ve ran away from here a while ago.

[Gureureureureuk!]

[Gureukgureuk]

[Gureureureu]

‘Moreover, they’re just level 1 sewer slimes inhabiting a lousy level 1 sewer dungeon, so they probably didn’t think it’d have much appeal. So, that’s why all of them avoided the sewers, and as a result, the slimes kept piling up more and more until… they multiplied this much.’

It had been 15 minutes since he’d entered the dungeon, and Lee Shin Woo’s entire body was buried under slimes without a way out. If he was a normal Skeleton Soldier, he would’ve already completely melted away and disappeared within a minute.

However, unfortunately for the slimes, he was level 2, closing in on level 3, his stats had also swelled by another 10 from the dungeon permit, and… the decisive factor was that he was a skeleton that possessed the Regeneration skill.

‘My gear might get damaged so let’s go naked.’

He had fought against the slimes for a few minutes, but ultimately became concerned that his equipment would get damaged from the slimes’ Acid Poison, so he de-equipped it all. He naturally put his armor into his inventory, as well as his sword!

‘Alright, this should be fine with only my naturally recovering mana.’

As soon as he took off his armor, the health increase effect from the armor disappeared, and he started to incur more injuries from the slimes’ Acid Poison attacks, but it was at a level that his Beginner Regeneration skill could bear. Of course, if his Magic Affinity hadn’t reached the low rank stage, he wouldn’t have even dreamed of doing this.

“Heup.”

[Gureuk!]

[Ggoreuk!]

Despite de-equipping his gear, he didn’t have any difficulty whatsoever hunting the slimes. Not only was his level higher than the slimes, but the combat technique he had learned, Bursting Thunder, was a technique that could also be used unarmed.

“Heup!”

[Ggureuk!]

Someone from the outside may see this scene as unusual; a swelling wave of slimes. There were so many of themthat it looked like a sea of slime. But truthfully, Lee Shin Woo was in there, killing slimes left and right.

“Ha!”

[Ggeureuk…]

[Ggik!]

Whether he’s unleashing Bursting Thunder with a sword, a spear, an axe, or his fists, it would converge at one point. As fast and as hot as exploding lightning! That was Bursting Thunder’s start and finish!

Though there wasn’t any mana within the attack, the force created by his two fists was plenty strong enough. Whenever that tremendous strength condensed in his arms passed through the slimes, they would turn to particles of light and disappear.

[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.”

As soon as he collected the Perium, it went straight to his inventory, but when he acquired the bones, he would immediately use them to reinforce his bones. One of his goals was regenerating his body, but as expected, the most important thing was his curiosity regarding the common memories that only those ingested by the slimes had.

[My body’s melting. You weren’t satisfied with my already melted skin, muscles, blood, and flesh. 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 a slumber 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 thought there was a reason for that 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 my end comes from the city’s cleaning crew… – Nameless zombie]

However, it seemed like the skill this time was no joke, as there was no reaction to absorbing dozens of bones, neither in stats, nor in skills.

Moreover, he was really bothered by the skeletons that strangely had their consciousness intact, leaving their wills behind! He also remembered hearing about Leofield before! He must be just as famous as Seagald!

[Beginner Regeneration has become Lv8.]

Even so, it wasn’t like this dungeon was a complete miss. Setting aside the amount of stockpiled Perium from the huge mob, he had been looking for a place to train his Regeneration skill, and this here was the optimum environment to train it in.

Even as he continuously took damage from all directions, he could continuously keep his Regeneration skill active with just the mana he had. His proficiency in Regeneration was increasing so quickly that he wondered if this place was created to train the Regeneration skill.

“Hoo.”

[Gureuk!]

[You have acquired 12 Perium.]

[You have acquired 12 Perium.]

If there was one more beneficial point, it was that 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 force of his level 3 weapon, but he could unleash strikes with plenty of destructive force with his bone fists. Above all, he was attacking with both hands without resting one or the other, so his attack speed was incomparable to when he wielded a weapon.

‘Bursting Thunder… it’s not enough to call it an amazing technique.’

He wasn’t just surprised by its destructive power and its speed. The more he used the skill, as well as the more his proficiency in said skill grew, the more he felt that his perspective during battle changed.

He thought about where he would need to attack for it to be the most effective, what timing and how he would retreat to get an opportunity; these thoughts rose up instinctually, and if he moved accordingly, his proficiency of the skill increased a ton. It was a skill that included all close combat techniques, and the meaning behind that certainly wasn’t light.

‘To think he died with such a frightening ability. That senior must’ve felt really frustrated.’

Even while he sympathized with his senior, he squashed the slimes without pause with both arms. The more he repeated unarmed combat, the more his body adapted to it, and despite his physical abilities not changing, he became able to move more nimbly. Naturally, his speed in hunting monsters also increased.

He was aware that he was hunting monsters much faster than before he had Bursting Thunder. Perhaps using this skill, which included barehanded combat, with various weapons, as well as various combat methods caused it to grow.

[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.]

When about 30 minutes had passed since being overwhelmed, the wave of slimes had lessened, and Lee Shin Woo was able to see again. Even while hectically hitting the slimes, he stealthily surveyed his surroundings.

“Hoo, then how much… Ha. Haha.”

When he looked at the surrounding environment, he couldn’t help but laugh. He had come into the dungeon full of hope and roughly an hour had passed, yet he was still at the dungeon’s entrance. Even though he killed so many slimes!

There were truly an outrageous number of monsters here, such that it was incomparable to the dungeons he had gone through before. If he combined the number of monsters he’d killed since coming to this world, it would probably still be less than the number he’d killed in this dungeon alone!

“This place is seriously no joke. Seriously…”

[Gureureureuk]

[Ggoreureuk!]

He shook his head and as if they were matching the rhythm of the muttering skeleton, the slimes cried out and attacked him. Rather than respond, he went with a precise one-two punch, cleanly squashed them, and grinned. He was satisfied that he had the proper form now, even barehanded.

[You have acquired 12 Perium.]

[You have acquired 12 Perium.]

‘Then… then shall we wipe them all out?’

Starting from that moment, Lee Shin Woo stopped being concerned about time, and only thought about squashing his opponents with Bursting Thunder, and healing himself with Regeneration. He’d be the only one getting tired from counting the time.

[Gureureureureuk!]

[Ggureuk!]

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

[Beginner Regeneration has become Lv9.]

Compared to the Giant Zombie’s Acid Poison that he’d been exposed to very briefly, the slimes’ just itched, and because he kept using Regeneration continuously, he became unable to even feel the pain.

Now, the poison that the slimes emitted was like… yeah, it felt like a light sprinkling of rain, and 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 that had gone insane in an extreme situation.

[Ggureureuk!]

[Gguuah!]

[Kureuk!]

As he continued to extend his fists towards the unending waves of slimes, he eventually stopped thinking entirely.

It was certainly different from what’s often called the elimination of the self, but after fighting while leaving his body to his instincts, his unnecessary, idle thoughts disappeared, and he only moved with the goal of destroying his enemies quickly and precisely. As he did so, his proficiency naturally had no choice but to rise rapidly.

He wondered how much time had passed? Lee Shin Woo only perceived the crisp trajectory of his fists. It felt as if he were executing the attack that only seemed possible within his mind. The bodies of the exploded slimes were everywhere, acting as proof of that result.

[Low Rank Bursting Thunder has become 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.]

It was a splendid achievement that was incomparable to the growth of the Regeneration skill. Bursting Thunder, which was at the center of all his skills, wouldn’t rise in proficiency before; yet, in only four days after getting to level 3, it had risen to level 4!

His stats had naturally increased, and the power of the skill had also increased dramatically. Now, the slimes that hadn’t sustained a direct hit were affected, as a portion of their bodies burst. Lee Shin Woo smiled faintly and started to move even faster.

[You have acquired 12 Perium.]

[You have acquired 12 Perium.]

“Nothing, again… Hm?”

But after he had cleaned up a clump of slimes in the blink of an eye, there was a bone in the center of them that caught his eye. 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?”

The moment he absorbed the experiences and memories within, he felt like something was different. It was definitely a memory of a zombie dying to a slime, but a countless number of slimes had attacked in order to kill this zombie.

Moreover, the zombie resisted until the bitter end. Whether a Poison Zombie’s defense was high, or its level was high, he was, at the very least, sure that the Poison Zombie had met a heroic end, compared to the other monsters.

[Gureuk]

Then, a rude slime stuck onto his back and sprayed its Acid Poison. The moment Lee Shin Woo went to strike it with his hand, a brief message appeared before him.

[You have learned Beginner Acid Resistance Lv1. You have become able to, albeit weakly, resist Acid Poison.]

[Resistance has been added to your status.]

“Huh…!?”

So that’s how it was. The skill that he could obtain from the bones was none other than Acid Resistance! Now everything had become clear. Lee Shin Woo exclaimed, filled with both awe and realization.

“Damn it, now I can’t train my Regeneration skill!”