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Chapter 49: The One Who Opens the Path (4)
[Ugh...!]
The researcher clutched his head in frustration.
[This is absurd...!]
Sensing that something was off, he even sent down a prototype monster.
He personally updated its functions, too.
And yet, how could this be the result?
[How the hell did he do it? Skeleton soldiers aren’t capable of independent thought... How could he elicit this level of loyalty in just a three-hour mission?]
He went over it again and again, thoughts piling on calculations.
No answer came to him.
It was incomprehensible.
It shouldn't be possible.
[For now... I have to.]
It was agonizing.
Frustrating.
Painful.
What pained him more than losing to a mere participant was his inability to understand how that participant's strategy worked.
So he gave the order.
[Bring all the skeletons back and collect the logs.]
Every log.
He intended to examine every single record.
[I'm going to go through it all. Every word Eunho said, every way he fought, what abilities he used to charm my creations—everything.]
Whether the skeletons understood his frustration or not, the screen continued to flash blue and red alerts, obliviously.
【ERROR!】
【Skeleton Soldier (Lv.1) refuses to comply with orders.】
[?!]
It was a historic moment.
For the first time ever, an ERROR message had appeared on the genius researcher’s screen.
[An error? Is it broken? Is this thing broken?]
How could his creations, his own handiwork, dare disobey him?
It was as if the heavens had turned into the seas and the seas into the heavens.
[Forcefully retrieve them! Now!]
But—
【Command cannot be executed!】
【Forced retrieval is prohibited during mission progress.】
【Time remaining until mission completion: 5 minutes 11 seconds... 10 seconds... 9 seconds...】
[Argh!!!]
Crash!
A flask shattered.
Clatter!
Bottles and chemicals spilled across the floor.
[Refusing to obey... this is impossible. This never happened during the test environment. Did something go wrong when I sent them to Sector 13?]
And as shards of broken glass and unidentifiable liquids piled up on the floor—
【WARNING!】
【Unauthorized deployment of prototype detected!】
【Enforcing mandatory retrieval in accordance with regulations.】
The system delivered yet another notification.
Someone had discovered his unauthorized deployment of the golem.
[Damn it! I’m busy enough already! Just take it yourselves!]
He waved his hand dismissively, holding his head in exasperation.
But—
【WARNING!】
【Return the ‘core’ immediately!】
[The golem’s dead, isn’t it? Just retrieve it and bring it back!]
【Command cannot be executed!】
【No ‘core’ to retrieve.】
[What kind of nonsense is this?!]
Now, they were telling him the ‘core’ embedded in the golem was missing.
[Then deduct it from my points or something!]
【Marked as lost.】
【Compensation deducted from points automatically.】
He failed to realize—
【Insufficient point balance.】
That thanks to Eunho saving a staggering 1,400 skeleton soldiers,
he didn’t have enough points to exchange for their return when the mission ended.
And—
【Would you like to substitute the mission reward with a suitable item?】
[Do whatever you want!]
He didn’t even consider that the items in his possession were things that should never, under any circumstances, fall into the hands of a mere participant.
—Flash!
Crunch!
* * *
At first, I thought it was just a rock lying nearby.
But the moment I carelessly stepped on the hard surface—
[Absorbing 'Diamond of the Forsaken Highlands'.]
Clatter, clatter, clatter!
The white skeletons approached.
Though they had no expressions or emotions to read, I could feel it.
They were sad.
So—
[The skeletal soldiers await their commander’s farewell.]
It might not be much of a farewell speech, but—
‘I'm not needed anymore.’
Swish—!
I removed the helmet I was wearing.
A bone helmet, wearable only by skeletons.
Holding it up—
"Take it."
[PR/N: Damn.]
"......?"
I handed it to the skeleton soldier at the front.
An enchanted helmet radiating a faint violet aura.
"Take it and give it to whoever you choose as the next leader."
"Wha...?!"
"Whether it’s the strongest, the smartest, or the kindest. You guys decide."
"......!"
The glowing lights in its eye sockets trembled.
"But this is..."
"I don’t need it anymore. So take it, and act freely."
"Commander...!"
[The skeletal soldiers are overwhelmed with loyalty, not knowing what to do!]
“You can’t live and die doing only what the system tells you. Right?”
[The skeletal soldiers express their gratitude for having met such a commander!]
"Commander...!"
"Comman...der!"
"...mander!"
The skeleton soldiers began to open their jawbones one by one.
Their unified voices numbering in the thousands.
It was a sight that should have resonated through my ribcage.
[Target: ‘Lee Eunho.’ Retrieving troops.]
But it was short-lived.
Blink—!
Like flower petals in spring, the bones flickered and faded away.
And thus, they disappeared.
“...nder!”
Leaving behind the final syllable as if lingering in the air.
['Mock Battle' mission completed.]
It was over.
For them, for me, and for everyone else.
[Congratulations!]
[You have captured the 'Flag of Victory.']
[100 welfare points are awarded for each surviving soldier.]
"!!"
"100 points per soldier?"
[Surviving soldiers: 1,420.]
[Resistance stat increased (+1,420).]
That’s more than I expected.
Both the points awarded per soldier and the number of survivors.
[Beginning calculation.]
So, the welfare points I’ll receive total 142,000.
‘I upgraded the shop with just 10,000 points.’
Now, 140,000 points from a single mission.
All that running around paid off.
Because welfare points are absolutely necessary for the next mission.
With this—
‘I can wait comfortably now.’
That thought had just crossed my mind when—
[Warning!]
[Target: ‘Lee Eunho.’ Points cannot be calculated!]
[You have exceeded the maximum allowable points!]
An absurd notification rang out.
"Calculation impossible?"
But immediately after—
[Target: ‘Lee Eunho.’ 50,000 welfare points are awarded immediately.]
[Excess points will be converted into special rewards.]
The blasted system handed over 50,000 points, claiming it had nothing else in its pockets.
[Determining an appropriate reward.]
And it made some mysterious deal.
[Target: ‘Lee Eunho.’ Special reward has been granted.]
[Please check your mission rewards!]
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