The Skeleton Soldier Failed to Defend the Dungeon

The woman clutched her stomach and burst into laughter. “Ahahahaha!”

She seemed prepared to throw the torch at any moment.

The woman moved quickly, perhaps feeling that it was a waste of time to speak. Maybe she believed there was no point in conversing with her prey. Behind the torchlight, her sinister laugh echoed down into the pit.

They seemed determined on roasting their prey thoroughly by filling the pit up with hay and then dropping the burning torch.

It’s a well-made trap.

Most men would struggle to remain calm at the sight of a young woman crying, her clothes in tatters. For them, approaching cautiously while watching the ground would be difficult.

A single misstep into this deep, narrow, meticulously dug pit would spell the end. There was no escape, nowhere to hide. The bottom of the pit was packed with hay. Setting it on fire was more reliable than dropping a rock or chunk of metal.

The heat and smoke could easily penetrate even solid armor to burn and suffocate the victim in the process. It wasn’t a bad method because it could sustain offender’s livelihood for a while.

I looked up at the woman and wondered if she was trapping and eating people because there was nothing else to eat. She didn’t look that desperate to resort to cannibalism. Her goal was most likely to sell my armor and sword after cooking me alive.

The torch radiated heat. I could feel it even though it was far above me.

The woman grinned brightly and spread all her fingers—nine in total, with one missing. Yet, she counted down from ten.

”10!”

”9!”

She didn’t fold any fingers while counting 10 and 9, which felt oddly unsettling.

Was her finger cut off as punishment for resisting plunder?

”8!”

”7!”

She folded her fingers down. Trapped in the narrow pit, I watch them absentmindedly. I couldn’t spring up to escape. I had fallen into the trap due to growing lax and losing focus.

”6! 5! 4!”

There was likely no countdown during the plundering. Perhaps this woman was kinder than she appeared. I decided I’d kill her cleanly if I made it out.

”3! 2! 1!”

The woman paused momentarily.

”What’s this? Do I have to peel off the burnt parts? Ugh, how annoying...” She pouted briefly, but her hesitation didn’t last long. ”Did you think it would end with just a threat?”

She didn’t wait for an answer and simply tossed the torch into the pit. I watched it fall without moving. There was no guilt on her face.

She likely burned away any guilt long ago—or perhaps it was cut off along with the finger on her right hand.

”Burn!”

Whoosh!

She threw the torch skillfully, and it plummeted straight down.

***

The pit reeked of burnt flesh. Clearly, this wasn’t their first time.

Fwoosh!

The dry leaves, hay, and brittle twigs packed inside the pit burst into flames, lighting up the pit. The fire engulfed me.

It’s hot.

But that was all.

[Fire Resistance applied!]

[Due to the heat, your health will decrease by 0.15% every 2 seconds!]

[Health reduced to 99.85%.]

[Health reduced to 99.70%.]

I remained relatively unbothered. Thanks to the Fire Resistance perk I was forced to choose in the Spider’s Den, this fire barely affected me. Compared to the searing flames of Grassmere’s Fire, which drained my health rapidly in 0.3-second intervals, the fire burning beneath me almost felt cool.

A panicked voice echoed down. ”W-what? W-why isn’t it moving? What’s wrong with it? Is it already dead?”

I lay still amidst the flames. I didn’t have the health to waste flailing about for their amusement.

It’s... a little hot.

I remained unnervingly calm. Skeletons could still burn, and my health was steadily decreasing. It was better for me than those with flesh and blood, but I could still melt into a pile of ashes.

[Fire Resistance applied!]

[Health reduced to 98.5%.]

Although I was in the midst of roaring flames, the health decrease was manageable. I could feel the heat, but not the sensation of pain. I didn’t scream, either. I must have fallen short of their expectations.

***

The dry twigs and hay packed tightly in the pit all burned away. The fire died out, leaving the pit shrouded in smoke.

”Is it dead? Is it dead?”

”Come on, even if it didn’t scream, it couldn’t possibly hold its breath for ten minutes in there. It must be dead.”

A man’s voice cut through the haze, gruff and winded—likely from exhaustion. ”Why didn’t it make a sound? Creepy.”

”Maybe it just went ugh and died. Who knows... cough, cough!”

Footsteps approached and stopped near the pit. I heard coughing.

”Hey, why rush? It’s not your first time. Just wait for the smoke to clear completely before you go in.”

”Cough, cough! Yeah, you’re right.”

They halted their conversation. I complied with their expectations and lay motionless atop the ashes.

***

I stayed perfectly still. Enough time passed for a bored nineteen-year-old to slowly dunk three or four cookies in coffee and nibble them away.

The smoke cleared.

Shuffle, shuffle.

”Ahem, ahem! I’m going down.”

Creak.

A long rope ladder was lowered into the pit, and a human man descended slowly.

Tap, tap.

He prodded me with a stick.

Then he looked up and shouted, ”Yep! Not moving!”

The woman’s sharp voice responded from above. ”Of course not!”

At that moment, a system message popped up.

Ding!

[Feign Death Lv. 1 has been newly created as a skill!]*

— Feign Death Lv. 1 (New!)

— Proficiency: 0/1,000

[The brave die once, but cowards die many times! Embrace cowardice. If you don’t want to die for real, pretend to die anytime!]

Messages like this were always like that. I was used to it by now—or rather, I felt like I’d always been used to it.

The female called sharply from above, ”Hook it up properly!”

The man attached a metal hook to my armor. I didn’t appreciate him touching it, because Rubia had purchased it, but if I killed this man now, they might cut the rope ladder from above.

I examined the Feign Death skill floating before me in detail. There was a small additional explanation.

[Race: Skeleton]

[Trait applied!]

[Bonus: Feign Death has 5x effectiveness on all targets.]

[Additional 5x effectiveness on targets without eye-related skills.]

25x effectiveness.

I could convincingly play dead for most enemies.

When would this come in handy? It probably won’t work in front of Lady Succubus, anyway.

While I stared blankly at the message window, the man beside me said, ”Cough, cough! Ugh, look at the soot on this armor. Think we can still get a good price?”

”Did you breathe in the smoke while you were down there?”

”Yeah, a little.”

”Don’t worry about the price. Soot wipes off, and steel doesn’t disappear. Just hurry up and climb back up!”

”Yeah, yeah, I’m coming!”

The man securely hooked the armor and then climbed up the ladder.

Clatter, clatter.

The two used their combined strength to pull me up slowly. I could grab the rope ladder and climb out myself, but there was no need to interfere with their effort.

The couple continued their conversation.

”It’s light.”

”It looks like it’s a scrawny one. Maybe even skinnier than you? Dry wood burns better, and this one’s really burned out! Ahahaha!”

The woman was overly amused, while the man went along with her mood with mild amusement. It was a tender moment between them. Perhaps burying them together in this pit after killing them would be a considerate gesture.

Halfway up the ladder, I heard the sickening sound of flesh being pierced and desperate screams.

Thwack!

”Aaaaargh!”

”Gah! Gaaaaah!”

Thud! Thud!

The sound of bones and flesh being crushed with a blunt object echoed.

”Kyaaaa! Shrieeeek!”

A scream scraped from deep within someone’s throat reached my ears.

Clatter!

Thwack!

I fell back down into the pit. Fortunately, the ladder remained intact.

A chilling laugh echoed from above. ”Hehehe... We finally caught them. So these are the bastards trespassing in our territory?”

Thud!

”Aaaargh!”

”Why don’t you resist a little more? Huh? This one’s too old to even use as a sex slave. At least squirm a bit and make your last moments entertaining, will you?”

Another voice joined in. ”All this smoke—it’s like you’re advertising for someone to come catch you. Tracking you from a distance was easy.”

The sounds of flesh being crushed and bones breaking continued, accompanied by screams. Among them was the scream of the woman who had lured me into the trap, her voice echoing through the air.

I couldn’t understand what was happening, but I grabbed hold of the rope ladder.

Dash.

[Skill: Dash (Lv. 2) has been activated!]

[Speed increased by 250% for 10 minutes!]

[Time until next activation: 50:00 minutes]

[Available uses in 24 hours: 2/3]

Dash was a skill I obtained when I killed the red-eyed centaur in the E-rank dungeon Quarter of the Bloodied Rider. It provided a speed boost for a set amount of time with no side effects.

Whoosh!

Gripping the ladder, I propelled myself upward, almost springing out of the pit. In an instant, I was outside.

”Huh?! Wh-what the—?”

I locked eyes with a man whose face was marked by a long scar.

His eyes widened in shock.

”Wh-who are you?” he stammered.

It was the same voice that had been jeering outside earlier. I quickly scanned the area. Five men surrounded me, armed with axes, spiked maces, and jagged swords.

Mountain bandits?

It looked like a turf war between bandits. A gaunt many lay on the ground nearby, with his head split open. Not far from him, the woman sat slumped over, riddled with holes and leaking blood. Her intestines spilled from her hands as she clutched her abdomen. She wasn’t going to survive.

”This one’s mine,” I said and drew my sword from its soot-stained sheath. Stepping forward, I swung the blade, and the woman’s head flew off. Blood spurted out in a crimson fountain, raining down on my soot-covered armor.

Thud.

The hand clutching her abdomen fell to the ground, and her headless body collapsed.

”Wh-what is this?!”

”Did it... come out of there alive?”

Click.

I slowly sheathed my sword. These bandits did not have a personal grudge against me, and I wouldn’t get much experience from killing them anyway.

Thud.

They blocked my path. The men flinched and glanced at each other nervously.

”L-let’s go!” one of the men said.

They hesitated, retreating a few steps with their weapons still pointed at me, slowly backing away.

That’s a wise decision.

Fleeing was often the safest choice when facing something incomprehensible. I walked forward slowly and pulled out the map from my pocket.

Rustle.

Ashes crumbled in my hand. While I had Fire Resistance, the map did not—it had burned completely.

”This is problematic.”

I no longer knew the way to the goblin dungeon. While I could retrace my steps, my efforts had yielded nothing except for acquiring the odd skill, Feign Death.

The thought of returning to the slime felt a little embarrassing.

I called out to the bandits. ”Stop.”

The men froze, their grips tightening on their crude, bloodstained weapons with bits of flesh still clinging to the edges. Their weapons seemed to be designed more for inflicting pain than practicality.

I asked, ”Do you know the way to the goblin dungeon?”

The man with the scar twitched his eyebrows.