Skeleton Master - Chapter 003

From left to right.

There's an important point here.

You shouldn't hit the scarecrow's forearm or touch its head.

You must strike only the shoulder, that part alone.

This is because only then will you receive a perfect hit application and be able to deal more damage.

Thwack.

It wasn't difficult.

However, if you don't know this fact, you'll inevitably hit the forearm or the head above the shoulder a few times.

This will take more time and ultimately hold you back.

Again!

The wooden sword tapped the shoulder.

A dull sound accompanied by a strange sensation running up the wrist.

The tingling sensation that should have come with pain was now rising without the pain.

Of course, it's not that you can't feel pain at all.

It's more like if you were to receive an impact that would cause severe injury in reality, here it feels like just a light tap.

That's why I could give it my all.

Good!

The sound of striking echoes repeatedly.

Three times, four times, and then five times.

After hitting it 10 times like that, the scarecrow's shoulder area started to break.

"Haap!"

Fortunately, this attack completely shattered it.

[You have broken the scarecrow (1/3)]

How much time has passed?

It was 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

As it was a close call, I hurriedly took position in front of another scarecrow and swung the sword down again.

I shattered the second scarecrow in about the same time.

And the last scarecrow too.

"Phew."

The time taken was just over 8 minutes.

I quickly headed to the instructor outside the training hall.

"I've broken them."

The instructor's eyes widened slightly.

"Oh, is that so?"

"Yes."

"Let's go check."

The instructor went into the training hall and confirmed the three broken scarecrows with his own eyes.

Only then did he nod, acknowledging that I had perfectly completed the quest.

[You have cleared the quest.]

[You gain experience.]

[Your level increases.]

I reached level 2.

I wanted to check my status window, but I had to hold back for now.

I needed to receive the second linked quest from the instructor in front of me.

"Satisfactory. Shall we try the next training then?"

"Yes."

"Confident, aren't we? Alright, this time, break 3 scarecrows using only vertical downward slashes."

Once again, a quest popped up.

[The Training Hall's First Test]

[Break the scarecrows using only vertical downward slashes (0/3)]

[Time limit: 10 minutes]

[Success: Experience. Link to third test]

[Failure: Retry. No link]

[Do you accept the quest?]

"Understood."

"I'm looking forward to this one too."

Once again, I moved to the center of the training hall.

Vertical downward slash.

This time, I must strike only the crown of the scarecrow's head.

That's the only way to deal additional damage and break it quickly.

Suddenly, the surroundings became noisy.

Swish.

I turned my head to check.

It's the users.

When they first logged into the game, most users focused on hunting.

But over the course of 3 months, as information gradually spread, people learned a bit about the training hall too.

For the first quest in the training hall, you can level up faster than with any hunting.

That's why new level 1 users are coming here now.

"Hey, we're just going to clear the first one and go, right?"

"Of course. From the second one on, you hardly get any experience anyway."

Moreover, from the third one on, it's not easy to clear.

You could say the difficulty increases bit by bit.

As these linked quests continue, only a handful of users can endure to the end.

"Excuse me."

"Ho ho, a stranger, I see."

"Do you have any requests?"

"Requests?"

The user nodded with an annoyed expression.

"Would you like to try some training?"

"Training sounds good."

"That's great. Try to knock down the scarecrow using only diagonal slashes. I'll be expecting good results."

The users who received the quest started hitting the scarecrows.

Perhaps due to lack of information, the parts they were hitting were all over the place.

Still, since the first quest is on the easier side, everyone was able to clear it without much trouble.

"I'm done."

"Oh, really? Well done. Would you like to continue with the next training?"

"No, I'm good."

"I see. Well then, good work."

The users left, but Moo-hyeok remained in place, continuing the linked quests.

*

After the vertical downward slash came the horizontal slash.

After succeeding with the horizontal slash quest, I had to break the scarecrow with a thrust, and then break it again using only upward slashes.

After that, diagonal slash, vertical downward slash, horizontal slash, thrust, and upward slash quests came one after another.

Moo-hyeok, who had repeated this a total of ten times, headed back to the instructor.

"I've broken the scarecrows."

"You're truly remarkable, you are."

"Thank you."

"Unfortunately, there's nothing left to train you on."

"Is it over?"

"That's right. Among the strangers, you're the 11th to pass my test. I'll give you a special gift."

I finally cleared it.

But I couldn't be happy.

"11th?"

"That's right."

As many as 11 people.

That's the number just in this small place.

If we include all the training halls across the entire continent, it might be over hundreds.

They probably occupy the top ranks.

"Anyway, good job."

"Ah, thank you."

Belatedly coming to my senses, I checked the message.

[You have completed the Training Hall Quest.]

[As a reward, 'Strength (2)' increases.]

[As a reward, 'Agility (2)' increases.]

[As a reward, 'Vitality (2)' increases.]

[As a reward, you acquire 'Training Hall Box'.]

This is it.

The increase in Strength, Agility, and Vitality stats!

When you level up, you get 1 bonus point.

But just by clearing the Training Hall quest, important stats increased by a total of six.

As time goes on, this difference will accumulate and create a gap with other users.

It's not over yet.

There's another linked quest left.

The instructor continued speaking.

"By the way."

"Yes."

"Do you happen to have a bit more time?"

"Of course."

"Then I'd like you to help out a friend of mine."

[The Stranger's Adventure]

[Help Hansen, the butcher.]

[If successful: Experience, Gold, Linked Quest]

[If failed: None]

[Do you accept the quest?]

"Can you do it?"

This is a quest for a title that I absolutely must obtain.

Of course, I accepted.

*

One piece of information about necromancers.

The growth direction of summons varies depending on the master's stats.

This information was discovered about a year after Illusion opened.

Before that, necromancers would only invest in intelligence and wisdom.

Naturally, their summons were only affected by those stats, increasing only in intelligence and wisdom.

Of course, even after this information was revealed, necromancers didn't necessarily become stronger.

As they invested in strength, agility, and vitality, their intelligence and wisdom decreased, which greatly reduced the time they could maintain their summons.

As a result, many users once again gave up on playing as necromancers.

Of course, Moo-hyeok doesn't care.

He's confident he can cover for it sufficiently.

First, let's check the status.

His current level and stats appeared before his eyes.

[Basic Information]

Name: Moo-hyeok

Level: 6

Job: None

Fame: 0

[Title]

- None.

[Basic Stats]

Strength: 5 Agility: 5 Vitality: 5

Intelligence: 3 Wisdom: 3

Bonus Points: 5

[Special Stats]

Endurance: 3 Concentration: 3

Flexibility: 3 Luck: 3

Bonus Points: 5

The base value given is 3.

However, after clearing the Training Hall quest, strength, agility, and vitality increased by 2, reaching 5.

He hasn't used any bonus points yet.

Since only 1 point is given per level, one must decide carefully.

Of course, this doesn't matter to Moo-hyeok, who has already planned everything out.

He'll save the special stats since there's nothing he wants there.

He first distributed the basic stats.

3 in strength, 1 in agility, 1 in vitality.

As a result, his strength became 8, while vitality and agility became 6.

By increasing strength by 3, his damage increased by 9, and his attack speed and movement speed also increased.

High strength means developed muscles, which in turn affects speed.

Being fast with weak strength?

That's nonsense.

It's because of sufficient muscle that one can generate speed.

Why are sprinters' muscles so large and solid?

It's because they exert all their power in a short time.

This naturally leads to muscle development, which manifests as explosive speed and strength.

In other games, agility increases movement speed or attack speed, but in reality, it's more accurate like in Illusion where higher strength increases movement and attack speed.

Then what about agility? In Illusion, agility is related to reaction speed.

Reacting more quickly.

Agility is what allows you to see and react faster than others.

By increasing vitality by one, his HP increased by 50, and his defense became 6.

Just looking at the stats, he's now on par with a level 11 melee user.

Good.

But this is just the beginning.

What if he acquires a title as well?

The gap with the leading rankers will narrow even further.

Ah, right.

He remembered the box he got from clearing the Training Hall quest.

He took it out from his inventory and checked it.

[Training Hall Box]

Contains items for beginners.

He opened it immediately.

['Shining Iron Sword' acquired.]

['Sturdy Wooden Shield' acquired.]

['10 Gold' acquired.]

A sword, a shield, and some starting funds.

These will be very useful.

Shall we go?

To the butcher's shop? No.

He headed out through the eastern gate towards the hunting grounds.

[Shining Iron Sword (Bound)]

Attack Power 7

Agility +1

Durability 30/30

[Sturdy Wooden Shield (Bound)]

Defense 5

Impact Absorption 45%

Vitality +1

Durability 50/50

Usually, early-game items don't have stats attached.

Stats are something you can only increase one point at a time by leveling up.

Early-game items couldn't possibly have such high value.

However, users who graduate from the Training Hall are given such items.

Of course, as bound items.

And their usefulness goes without saying.

Yelp!

A wild dog turned gray and disappeared.

[Experience gained.]

[Level up.]

The wild dog's level was 5.

It's not enough for hunting.

With Moo-hyeok's current abilities, he could even manage to hunt level 10 wolves somehow.

Then why is he hunting wild dogs?

Oh, there it is!

It was to acquire wild dog meat.

Nine more.

Just one more to go.

He went around again looking for wild dogs.

A lone wild dog, known for its solitary nature, appeared ambling out of the forest.

Moo-hyeok approached it with a faint smile, and the dog, sensing his presence, went on alert.

Grrrr......

When Moo-hyeok didn't stop, it barked loudly.

Woof woof!

Then it pawed at the ground.

Moo-hyeok raised his wooden shield as he watched the creature charge at him.

Thud!

Claws met the wooden shield.

The impact wasn't significant.

He quickly lowered the wooden shield slightly to gauge the dog's position.

Then he thrust forward with the iron sword in his right hand.

Squelch.

A strange sensation traveled up his fingertips.

Yelp!

Trying to ignore it, he swung his sword again.

The wild dog, its neck severed, scattered silver powder before turning gray and vanishing.

Moo-hyeok's expression hardened slightly as he watched this.

Tsk, I can't get used to this.

Silver powder instead of blood.

Gray smoke in place of a corpse.

Thanks to this, one could kill living beings without much aversion, but he still found it difficult to adapt to that strange sensation felt at the moment of attack.

"Well, it's over now."

He picked up the dropped wild dog meat and put it in his inventory.

He checked one last time.

Rabbit hide.

Goose egg.

Deer antler.

And now, wild dog meat.

He then headed towards the eastern gate.

As he entered and got closer to the square, the number of users increased.

The items they were wearing looked quite impressive.

These were people who had a 3-month head start.

Moo-hyeok glanced at them briefly before turning his gaze forward and heading to his first destination.