Chapter 8

Chapter 8

FWOOSH!

The propulsion generated by the Black Hound's legs was still excellent.

I didn't bother avoiding the miscellaneous monsters blocking the forest path.

"Kieek!"

A goblin sprang from the bushes and swung a crude stone axe.

I didn't slow down. Instead, I activated the 'Beast's Sprint' skill and accelerated.

Swish.

The goblin's axe cut through empty air.

Slipping into its reach, I grabbed it by the collar with my left hand, which had been transplanted with a goblin arm, and slammed it straight into the ground.

[Skill: Sneaky Pickpocket(Lv.2) combo activated!]

[The target's balance has been broken.]

BANG!

While it rolled across the ground, I stabbed its vital point with the femur dagger in my right hand.

A clean movement with no wasted motion.

My body still rattled a little, but it was beginning to keep up with the combat data in my head.

[You have gained experience.]

[Your level has increased.]

[You have become Skeleton Soldier Lv.8.]

Along with the thrill of leveling up, I could feel my bones becoming a little harder.

I ran without stopping for ten minutes like that.

Before I knew it, the trees of the forest had grown sparse, and a barren rocky area began to appear.

And there, the Orc Skeleton stopped.

Tap.

It could no longer move forward.

As if blocked by an invisible glass wall, whenever it tried to step ahead, an unseen force pushed it back.

It was the boundary of the Necromancer's domain of control.

Low-level undead under mental domination could not cross this line. Their master, Malach, had not permitted it.

Clatter...

The Orc Skeleton anxiously tugged at my leather belt.

Don't go. It's dangerous. You'll die if you cross over there.

It seemed to be saying that.

I could feel its desperation just from the sound of its bones clacking together.

But I couldn't stop. If I stopped here, I'd have to live forever as someone's puppet while losing my sense of self.

I couldn't exactly become the star of today's disassembly show in the Necromancer's laboratory.

I made it let go of my hand.

'Take care of yourself. Don't stand around like an idiot and get ground up.'

I gave its broad shoulder bone one final pat.

'See you again.'

Though I had no idea when that would be.

Without hesitation, I turned around.

Clatter, clatter!

I heard it clacking its jaw behind me as though shouting something, but I didn't look back.

[The Orc Skeleton feels a deep bond with you.]

[It will miss you.]

The system message appeared at the corner of my vision, then disappeared.

I gave a faint laugh and stepped beyond the boundary.

Bzzz-.

Along with the sensation of passing through a transparent membrane, the warm energy surrounding my body abruptly vanished.

It was like entering a room with the boiler turned off in the middle of winter.

The mana supply had been completely cut off.

[Warning! You have left the Necromancer's domain of control.]

[Mana supply terminated.]

[Switching to life support using stored mana.]

[Remaining activity time: 42 minutes]

The clock began ticking.

The time until my lifeline burned away.

Without even taking a moment to catch my breath, I ran forward.

After crossing a rocky hill, I saw a massive cave in the distance, its entrance gaping black.

Rusty mining carts and broken pickaxes lay scattered around the entrance.

[Abandoned Mine Entrance]

I'd finally arrived.

I stepped inside, walking over rotten wooden supports strewn messily around the entrance.

'Ugh, dust.'

It felt as though the acrid air were seeping between my bones.

I slowly surveyed the inside of the cave.

Old rails and rusty mining carts, piles of unprocessed ore, and a thick layer of coal dust covering the floor.

And old oil lamps hanging in rows from the ceiling, along with glowing stones that dimly illuminated the surroundings here and there.

I never thought I'd actually come to a place with terrible experience efficiency and drops that were mostly rocks.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

From deep inside the cave, heavy, regular vibrations traveled through the ground.

The sound of a massive lump of stone stomping against the earth.

Each footstep carried such overwhelming weight that it felt as though the ground itself were sinking.

'A golem.'

I hid behind a rock and activated [Precise Observation].

A massive silhouette was walking out of the darkness.

It was a giant about two meters tall, made of loosely clumped mud and gravel, with moss covering its surface.

[Mud Golem(Lv.12)]

[Characteristics: Strong Physical Resistance / Weakness: Mana Core]

'Level 12...'

My current level was 8.

On top of that, it was a golem with absurd physical defense.

My crude femur dagger and worn longsword probably wouldn't even scratch it.

"Kuuoooo..."

It seemed to have spotted me, letting out a dull roar.

When it raised its mud fist, stalactites hanging from the ceiling came raining down.

Pure, brute force.

Even a glancing blow would obviously reduce my gaunt ribs to powder.

But I had never intended to fight it head-on in the first place.

'Mud's weakness is dryness.'

I threw a suitably sized rock and struck one of the mine lamps hanging precariously from the ceiling. The falling lamp landed squarely on the golem's head, splashing oil over it.

"Kuo?"

The golem stopped moving and stared at me in confusion. With those stupid eyes, it seemed unable to understand what I was doing.

Soon, the oil flowed down over its upper body.

I smeared resin onto a piece of wood lying on the ground, lit it with my flint, then hurled it at the golem with all my strength.

FWOOSH!

And fierce flames engulfed the golem's upper body in an instant.

"KUUOOOOOOO!"

The creature flailed its arms wildly, but it was already too late.

The moment the damp mud surface touched the flames, it rapidly began to dry.

Crack! Crackle!

Like pottery being fired in a kiln, the outer shell dried and twisted as cracks split open across it.

'Got it.'

As the mud around its joints hardened, its arms stiffened.

It wasn't merely slow anymore. Once it reached the point where it couldn't move at all, it could no longer support its own weight and its body slowly began to tilt.

This was the opening.

The creature struggled to grab me, but it was too late.

I shoved the longsword into a crack in its split chest, and the dried mud crumbled away, allowing the blade inside.

When I forcefully twisted the sword using it as a lever.

Pop!

The mana core sprang out. At the same time, the light in the golem's eyes went out, and its massive body collapsed into a heap of dry earth.

[You have defeated Mud Golem(Lv.12).]

[You have gained experience.]

I picked up the mana core I'd obtained.

It was a small device glowing with a murky blue light.

[Low-Grade Golem Mana Core]

[Duration: Approximately 2 hours]

It contained more mana than the Black Hound's mana stone the Orc Skeleton had given me earlier, but it was still low-grade.

'This isn't enough.'

Even if I transplanted this, I'd still be stuck replacing it like a battery every two hours.

Normally, golems guarding dungeons like this operated in shifts, so two hours would be plenty, but what I wanted was a semi-permanent power source.

Once I transplanted a mana core, replacing it would be annoying, so using the Mud Golem's core now felt a little questionable.

Still, there was no harm in keeping it. I carefully put it in my pouch.

[Remaining activity time: 29 minutes]

'I need to go deeper.'

I hurried farther inside.

'This should be the beginning of Area 2.'

The interior of the mine really began from here. And farther in, there would be even more Mud Golems crawling around.

I lightly scraped the mine wall with a finger. Black powder coated my fingertip. Coal dust had accumulated thickly along the wall.

And in the distance, a thin mist-like substance flowed low along the passage leading deeper into the mine.

'Flammable mana gas.'

In this mine, flammable gas created by concentrated demonic mana had accumulated along the underground tunnels. Normally, it was harmless. But the moment it met even a single spark.

─────────────────────────

Title: Ah lololol NEVER bring a torch into Area 3 of the abandoned mine, damn it lololol

└ Why?

└ It's a zone where flammable mana gas is concentrated. The instant you light a fire, the whole place explodes lololol

└ There is technically a warning sign at the entrance

└ Who the hell reads that lololol

─────────────────────────

There was a reason players had nicknamed this area the 'Minefield'.

I stopped and ran through the structure of the passage in my head.

The entrance to the tunnel leading down to Area 3 was at the end of this passage.

And between here and there was a stretch of space. Narrow, with a low ceiling and poor ventilation, forming a sealed structure.

Perfect.

"Bwoooo!"

"Uooong!"

The moment I rounded the passage, three Mud Golems simultaneously blocked the way.

It was three against one, but I didn't stop. Fighting the three of them wasn't my objective.

[Skill: Beast's Sprint(Lv.3) activated!]

FWOOSH!

I ran along the passage wall as if sliding across it. Heavy thudding echoed behind me. They were following.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Three mud giants packed tightly into the narrow passage. Dust rained from the ceiling, and the entire tunnel shook from the vibrations. Unable to properly extend their arms because of the narrow walls, the Mud Golems pressed forward, completely filling the passage with their bodies.

'Yeah, keep coming.'

I crossed Area 2 while staying just barely within sight, giving them the sense that they were right on the verge of catching me.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

Before long, the footsteps had grown heavier.

By the time six of them were chasing me, I turned into the passage leading toward Area 3.

Even after changing passages, the situation wasn't much different.

[Mud Golem(Lv.14)] x 3

Three slightly larger Mud Golems.

This was a mid-boss area, so each one was a little larger, and the darker color of the mud made them look tougher.

'Even more hopeless if I fought them head-on.'

I didn't slow down.

While racing across Area 2, I slipped past the golems blocking the path. At the edge of my vision, I saw them turning around one by one.

"Kuoor?"

"Uooor?"

They're following.

The footsteps behind me grew heavier and heavier.

With the six I'd dragged from the entrance of Area 2 and the three newly added ones, nine were now chasing me.

The narrow tunnel reverberated as stones rained from the ceiling.

I didn't look back, but from the vibrations alone, I could tell that nine enormous lumps of mud were packing the narrow passage as they came after me.

'This should be enough.'

When I entered Area 3, I saw the entrance to the underground tunnel in the distance.

The narrow path bending downward was an extremely steep slope, almost vertical.

And mist filled my entire field of vision all the way up to it.

The gas concentration was already quite high. I could see it ripple every time my feet pushed through the mist.

[Remaining activity time: 22 minutes]

There was no time to look back. I didn't need to check how far they'd come or where the nine golems were. If the entire tunnel was thundering from the vibrations, that meant they were all still following nicely.

Soon, I reached the slope and stopped.

When I turned around, all nine massive figures were already right in front of me.

Mud giants packed the narrow passage, advancing in layers.

Eighteen red eyes simultaneously flashed within the mist as massive fists began rising one after another.

I pulled a torch from my waist and quickly struck the flint.

FWOOSH.

The instant a flame sprang to life on the torch, I hurled it with all my strength beyond the mist and desperately threw myself down the mine slope.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

It was an artistic explosion.

The Skeleton Soldier Is Good at Replacing Bones

Author:

Metdoyo

Publisher:

Jakga Dabang

Publishing Registration:

No. 2025-000022

Address:

3rd Floor, 50-9 Myeongmul-gil, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul

Telephone:

02-313-7388

Email:

info@jakgadabang.com

ISBN/UCI:

G720:N+A475-20261015075

Publication Date:

October 23, 2026

Copyright © Metdoyo.

This e-book is a copyrighted work protected under copyright law.

This e-book was published under a contract between the publisher and the author, and unauthorized reproduction, duplication, distribution, or sharing without the written consent of both parties is prohibited.