Chapter 49: Settlement Impossible

[Ugh……!]

The researcher clutched his head.

"This is impossible……!"

Feeling something was amiss, he even sent down the prototype monster.

He had even personally updated it.

How could such a result happen!

"How did he pull this off? Skeleton Soldiers aren’t even capable of thought…… How did he inspire that kind of loyalty in a mere three-hour mission?"

He thought and thought, calculated and recalculated, but no answer came.

It was unbelievable.

Impossible.

"For now……."

It was agony. Exhaustion. Torment.

More than the fact that he’d lost to a mere test subject, what tormented him was his inability to comprehend how the subject's strategy had worked.

So he issued an order.

"Bring me all the skeletons and collect the logs."

Every single log.

He had to comb through every single record.

That’s what the researcher decided.

"I’ll have to tear everything apart. What did Lee Eunho say, how did he fight, what kind of ability did he use to tempt my babies, everything."

Whether the screen knew his heart or not, it kept blithely displaying blue and red windows.

【ERROR!】
【Skeleton Soldier (Lv.1) refuses to carry out the command.】

[?!]

It was a historic moment.

For the first time, an 'ERROR' window appeared on the genius researcher's screen.

"Er, error? Is it broken? Did it malfunction?"

A creature of his own making refusing orders?

What nonsense—like the sky turning into the sea, or the sea turning into the sky.

"Force them back! Now!"

But—

【Impossible to execute!】
【During mission progress, forced recall is not permitted.】
【Time remaining until mission end: 5 minutes, 11 seconds, 10 seconds, 9 seconds…….】

"Aaaargh!!!"

Crash!

A flask shattered.

Bang!

All the reagents were swept to the floor.

"Refusing a command…… impossible. That never happened in the test environment. Did something go wrong when I sent them to District 13?"

……As glass shards and mysterious liquids piled up on the floor.

【WARNING!】
【Unauthorized removal of prototype detected!】
【Proceeding with forced retrieval in accordance with regulations.】

The system chimed in again.

Someone had discovered his mistake of sending down the golem on his own.

"Damn it, I’m busy—just take it back yourself!"

The researcher clutched his head and waved his hands irritably.

But—

【WARNING!】
【Return the ‘Core’ immediately!】

"The golem’s dead. Just retrieve it and return it!"

【Impossible to execute!】
【No ‘Core’ available for retrieval.】

"How does that make sense?!"

Now the system claimed that the ‘Core’ inside the golem was gone.

"Then deduct the points instead!"

【Loss registered!】
【Automatically compensated with points.】

So he didn’t realize it yet.

【Insufficient point balance.】

Because Lee Eunho had saved a full 1,400 soldiers.

At mission end, he wouldn’t have enough points to exchange for all the skeleton soldiers.

And then…….

【Would you like to substitute the mission reward with an appropriate item?】

"Agh! Do whatever you want!"

Of course, among the ‘items’ the researcher possessed, there were only things that must never fall into the hands of a mere candidate.

─ Fwoosh!

---

Crash!

At first, he thought it was just a stone lying nearby.

But the moment he stepped carelessly onto the hard surface—

[Absorbing ‘Diamond of the Abandoned Range’!]

The stone that his heel struck seemed to crack! and then—

It melted away.

Like hot lava. Like molten metal.

A thick liquid seeped slowly—no, surged—through the bone it touched.

‘This is…….’

A familiar liquid. A familiar sensation. And then—

[Petrification (Lv.10) skill evolves to Petrification (Lv.12)!]

A familiar skill.

[Subject ‘Lee Eunho’, additional activation range for Petrification (Lv.12) is…….]

He didn’t even need to listen.

That tingling feeling spreading from his heel made it clear.

‘Right foot.’

His right foot hardened like a jewel.

The bare bone of his foot was wrapped in a dazzling brilliance, as if by skin.

Only now did he realize—

His petrification skill had been protecting him like this all along.

But more importantly—

‘Why was this here?’

There was no way the ‘Diamond of the Abandoned Range’ would just be lying on Samgakji Main Street.

‘It must have come out of the golem’s body.’

Wondering if any traces remained, he looked around.

─ Ding!

─ Ding!

─ Ding!

The chat window began clamoring for attention.

Ah, he’d blocked out the noise during the battle because it had been so loud.

But for messages like these—

【‘Prince of the Bureau of Investigation’ can’t stop marveling at subject ‘Lee Eunho’s’ overwhelming strength!】
【1,000 Welfare Points donated!】
【‘Raven of the Administration Bureau’ is lavish with praise, having glimpsed a hero’s spirit in subject ‘Lee Eunho’!】
【1,000 Welfare Points donated!】
【‘Overtime Fairy of the Audit Bureau’ is speechless, having never seen a subject like this!】
【500 Welfare Points donated!】

[After the 50% administrator fee, 1,250 points have been deposited.]

He gladly accepted.

【Numerous observers are trembling at the birth of a new warrior!】

Those ‘beyond the eyes’ seemed to have enjoyed watching the battle quite a bit.

【A new observer has entered!】
【A new observer has entered!】
【A new observer has entered!】
……

Judging by how many friends or colleagues they’d brought along—

【‘New Recruit from the Foreign Cooperation Bureau’ greets you, saying they heard the rumors.】
【‘Brain of the Investigation Bureau’ greets you, intent on seeing how excellent you are.】

It looked like things were about to get even noisier, which didn’t feel great.

But anyway, since the fight was over, he decided to quietly take in his surroundings.

"Kyaaah! Eunho!"

"Hyuuung! You did it!!"

Ji-eun and Jaehyuk came running over, out of breath.

"How did you cut through that hunk of metal with a sword?"

"Exactly, Noona! You saw how it barely got scratched when I bashed it with my mace!"

"I saw, I saw! Same for me. Wow, seriously…… Eunho, you’re not human, are you?!"

"Hyung’s not human, at least for now!"

Well, he was still a skeleton after all.

But anyway—

"I… I can do it too…!"

Those guys.

They’d startled him with a suicide attack he never asked for.

It was still unclear whether they were monsters or part of the system.

Clatter!

He brushed through the piled-up remains of bones.

Shattered and splintered at every joint, the various bones were so broken they were unrecognizable.

He felt half regret,

And half relief—because if not for their sacrifice, Ji-eun, Jaehyuk, and Yul might have been the ones lying in pieces here.

Then, a broadcast flowed out.

[‘Mock Battle’ mission complete.]

The end of the mission.

[Troop retrieval in 10 seconds.]

And a farewell to his soldiers.

"Captain……!"

"Captain……!"

[The Skeleton Soldier squad expresses regret at parting with their loyal commander.]

Clack! Clack! Clack!

Pale skeletons approached.

They had no expressions or emotions, but he could feel it.

Their reluctance to say goodbye.

So—

[The Skeleton Soldier squad awaits the commander’s farewell.]

Not that it was much of a farewell.

‘I’m not needed anymore.’

Swiish-!

He took off the helmet he’d been wearing.

A bone helmet, wearable only by skeletons.

He held it out.

"Take it."

"……?"

He handed it to the skeleton soldier at the front.

The mystical helmet, gleaming with a purple aura.

"Take it, and pick a new captain among yourselves."

"Eh……?!"

"Whoever’s the strongest, the smartest, the kindest—however you decide, just do it your way."

"……!"

The one who received it had a flicker in its eye sockets.

"But this……."

"I don’t need it anymore. So take it and act freely."

"Captain……!"

[The Skeleton Soldier squad is overwhelmed with loyalty!]

"You can’t just live and die doing whatever the system tells you. Right?"

[The Skeleton Soldier squad is grateful to have met a commander like none before!]

"Captain……!"

"Cap…… tain!"

"……tain!"

The skeleton soldiers, one by one, opened their jawbones.

Fourteen hundred voices cried out as one.

It was surely a sight to stir anyone’s heart.

[Subject ‘Lee Eunho.’ Retrieving troops.]

It was brief.

Blink—!

Like petals fluttering in spring, the bones faded away with their cries.

And so, they vanished.

"……tain!"

That final syllable lingered like an echo.

[‘Mock Battle’ mission complete.]

It was over.

For them, for him, for everyone else.

[Congratulations!]
[You have seized the ‘Flag of Victory’.]
[100 Welfare Points are awarded for each surviving soldier.]

"!!"

"100 points per person?"

[Surviving soldiers: 1,420.]
[Resistance stat increased (+1,420)]

More than he’d thought.

Both the points per person and the number of survivors.

[Proceeding to settlement.]

That meant he’d receive a total of 142,000 welfare points.

‘I upgraded the shop with just 10,000 points.’

To think that a single mission would net him a whopping 140,000 points.

His hard work had paid off.

Because welfare points—he’d definitely need them for the next mission.

With this—

‘I can wait with peace of mind.’

So he thought, and caught his breath.

[Warning!]
[Subject ‘Lee Eunho.’ Points cannot be settled!]
[You have exceeded the maximum points eligible for settlement!]

An absurd message popped up.

"Settlement denied?"

But soon after—

[Subject ‘Lee Eunho.’ 50,000 Welfare Points have been deposited immediately.]
[The excess will be replaced with a special reward.]

The damned system, saying this was all it had, handed over 50,000 points.

[Calculating an appropriate reward.]

And offered up a mysterious deal.

[Subject ‘Lee Eunho.’ Special reward distributed.]
[Please check your mission reward!]