Chapter Nine: Bewildered

“Here, take it and advance. Once you’re done, you can get lost.” As the Skeleton King spoke, he waved his hand, and Li Ren was inexplicably teleported out of the Skeleton Cave. Holding the blood crystal in his hand, Li Ren’s heart was in turmoil. He had never imagined he would encounter such luck. With a luck attribute of minus three, how could such a windfall possibly come his way? For a moment, he couldn’t tell if he was excited, confused, or experiencing something else altogether. Before he could even process his feelings, he instinctively absorbed the blood crystal into his body, just as he had done before with wild chickens or new recruits.

A sudden surge of violent energy exploded outward, forcefully repelling every skeleton within fifty meters of Li Ren, clearing a vast open space around him.

Scorching—an unbearable heat, as if his entire being was submerged in molten lava. His insides felt as though he had eaten hot peppers, chased with liquor and raw garlic. The pain was excruciating. He wanted to cry out, but the agony cut off his voice. This must be what it felt like to be consumed by the flames of hell.

In the game, such intense pain should have been impossible. After all, it was just a game—even if you were sliced in half, you wouldn’t experience unbearable torment. If the game were designed otherwise, no one would treat such dangerous and frequently painful experiences as entertainment. Many players even set the system’s pain feedback to the lowest possible level; even if they were tied to a stake and tortured, they could probably still manage a laugh.

Yet the pain Li Ren was enduring now was unprecedented—even in reality, being engulfed by fire could hardly feel worse.

The agony was so overwhelming that his mind ceased to function; all he could do was instinctively seek anything cool to soothe himself. But atop Skeleton Mountain, there was nowhere to find respite. He was already a skeleton—what more could he expect?

As he was engulfed by searing torment, his attribute panel began to undergo strange changes. Where once his stats had been clearly displayed, now they became blurred, then turned into rapidly scrolling numbers, and finally, even those vanished into a blank, endless white—a sight both profound and mysterious.

His experience bar fluctuated wildly, rising and falling, while all his stats warped unpredictably. At this point, Li Ren knew nothing; he cared for nothing—he only wanted the unbearable pain to end.

Fortunately, the ordeal did not last long. Soon, the heat began to dissipate, and Li Ren finally relaxed his taut nerves.

He slumped to the ground, panting heavily. For a while, his mind was blank—he neither thought nor wished to think about anything.

“What the hell just happened? This kind of pain is terrifying!” He wanted to confront the Skeleton King, but recalling the king’s eerie powers—how he could instantly turn one of his own living kind into a blood crystal—Li Ren decided not to risk his life on something so pointless.

In any case, things seemed normal now. Better to see what had changed.

With this thought, he opened his attribute panel.

The familiar arrangement of stats appeared before his eyes:

Character Name: Bones-in-a-Row
Level: 38
Race: Skeleton Clan
Attributes: HP 10,000/10,000 MP 10,000/10,000
Strength (90) Intelligence (70) Constitution (100) Agility (90) Bone Structure (999) Luck (-3)
Class: Skeleton Soldier

Hidden Attributes: Free Advancement, Attribute Absorption (Level 0) ?????

Amidst the normal display, after the main attributes—Strength, Intelligence, Constitution, Agility, and Luck—each had a gray bracket followed by three large question marks, the meaning of which was unclear but presumably unusable for now.

In his hidden attributes, “Free Advancement” had finally changed from gray to vivid red. Clicking on it, he no longer saw a single button, but an entire tree diagram stretching upwards, with the topmost point being the rank of the Skeleton Guard whose blood crystal he had just consumed.

Li Ren guessed that this was the benefit of absorbing the blood crystal: he could freely advance to the Skeleton Guard rank, meaning he wouldn’t have to endure the Skeleton King’s soul-crushing torment again until he reached level 130.

That was quite a relief. Among the advancement options now available to him were three paths: Skeleton Archer, Skeleton Mage, and Blade-and-Shield Skeleton Soldier.

After some thought, Li Ren chose the Blade-and-Shield Skeleton Soldier. Archers and mages were powerful at range but physically frail—dangerous if surrounded by enemies. For now, a tough and resilient class suited him best.

After he made his choice, a beam of light descended from the sky, enveloping him.

His bones began to transform once more, becoming thicker and more resilient. At the more vulnerable joints, bony armor plates grew, protecting those weak spots.

A glance at his attribute panel showed that both his HP and MP had increased to 50,000—a reasonable upgrade. But what truly astonished Li Ren was the dramatic change in his basic stats.

Strength (90), Intelligence (70), Constitution (100), Agility (90), Bone Structure (999), Luck (3): these attributes, which previously had gray brackets after them, now displayed a string of numbers—each over 5,000—once he advanced. Of these, 500 points in each stat were highlighted in green, indicating they had been added directly to his base stats—except for Bone Structure and Luck.

Li Ren couldn’t quite describe his feelings. Surprise, perhaps, but not entirely—he had guessed what those gray brackets might be for, given that he had truly consumed the blood crystal of a level 130 Skeleton Guard and undergone such torment. There had to be some reward.

But when the actual reward materialized—those absurdly high stat points—he found it hard to remain calm.

With this across-the-board bonus of 500 in every attribute, his stats had reached a monstrous level for his current rank—level 38. The explosive power he now felt made him want to charge straight into that little Bull Village of old and slaughter every NPC and player alike.

Of course, that was just a fantasy. Every town had guards, and those were the true monsters. No one knew how high their stats or levels were—only that anyone who dared challenge them was cut down instantly, without hope of resistance.

After calming himself, Li Ren checked the player level rankings. The fastest-advancing player, Solon, was only level 34—still four levels behind him. Li Ren considered heading out to absorb more attributes and gain experience; it seemed like an excellent idea.

He took from his backpack the newly updated equipment from his recent advancement: a massive bone blade and a sturdy bone shield. As a Blade-and-Shield Skeleton Soldier, these two pieces were quite impressive.

He wondered if every monster enjoyed such perks. Back when Li Ren was just a player, he’d often see monsters wielding weapons he coveted, standing everywhere, yet those weapons never dropped. It made him want to rob the monster dens more than once.

Now it was finally his turn to flaunt his loot!

Bone Blade

Equipment Grade: Blue
Attack Power: 113–115
(Untradeable, Undroppable, Soulbound)

Bone Shield

Equipment Grade: Blue
Defense: 15–18 (50% chance to block frontal attacks and take only 50% damage; 10% chance to fully block and take only 20% damage)
(Untradeable, Undroppable, Soulbound)

Gazing at these blue-grade items pulled straight from his pack, Li Ren swung them with satisfaction, savoring the moment.

Just as he was preparing to descend the mountain and dominate all comers, his body suddenly froze.

Before his eyes, space began to warp. Slowly, a swirling vortex materialized from the void, growing larger and darker. When the vortex expanded to match his height, Li Ren’s body was irresistibly drawn in.

Human World.

An underground chamber in Coiling Dragon City.

This was a mage’s dedicated chamber: its lowest level inlaid everywhere with magic crystals, the floor etched with complex patterns, arcane energies flowing endlessly throughout. The chamber was suffused with a powerful magical aura.

“Young ones, are you prepared to face the extremely challenging, mysterious Skeleton Cave? The powerful skeletons within have mutated over countless years. No one knows what abilities they possess. Even so, you are determined to take on this challenge?”

“Yes, honored Archmage.”

“Very well. Travel safely. Here is a teleportation stone; it can create a return portal at any time. Use it wisely. I wish you success.”

Under the Archmage’s guidance, a strange black-and-red portal slowly appeared.

“Level 30 instance: Skeleton Cave, Ultimate Mode, open!”

With a system notification, five young figures vanished into the open portal.