Endless Evolution As A Skeleton In A Game-Like World

Ark would have asked Soo-jin why she picked the brothers, knowing that they were duds, but he already knew the answer.

The hero, Darius, was adamant on maintaining fairness in assigning party members. The top five leaders were given a little preferential treatment, which was why someone like Isabella and Olivia were allowed in the same team.

But there had to be a balance. The brothers were that balance.

”We will rest here for five minutes, then move out.” Soo-jin said calmly.

”F-five minutes?” Olivia nearly choked on the potion she was drinking. ”We just went through hell, can’t we rest here for longer?”

”No.” Isabella cut in. ”With all this blood, it won’t be long before monsters start charging in.”

Monsters generally had a good sense of smell, and although the thick smell of blood would dissuade the smaller monsters, the larger predators were sure to come looking.

If that was to happen, they would have a much bigger problem than goblins.

Soo-jin nodded, then glanced at the brothers. ”Use your potions wisely, only heal major wounds. You won’t want to run out...”

Beginners had a limit on their inventory, so at most, they likely had only three potions with them. They hadn’t even encountered the boss, so they had to be frugal.

Then she glanced at Ark and raised a brow. ”Why aren’t you healing?” He was still leaking red sandy particles.

”Well, because I don’t have any potio—” before he could finish, Soo-jin summoned a potion and tossed it at him.

Ark caught it with both hands and eyed the crimson elixir swirling within the glass.

”...”

”Are you sure you should be giving me this?”

Soo-jin smiled slyly. ”We are teammates aren’t we?”

While everyone settled down to rest their bodies, Ark decided to explore the camp. Well, at least that was his excuse, he had other plans.

He went back the way the goblins had pushed him, and when he was free of all eyes, Ark squatted down next to the body of a goblin.

He placed his hands on its round belly and activated his ability.

[Initiating harvest...]

[Harvest successful! You have successfully received 2 strength points!]

”Two points??” Ark chuckled as he stared at the body. The total stat he gained from each level up was seven, with this ability he would easily surpass it.

Without wasting a second, he moved to the next body.

[Harvest successful! You have successfully received 1 strength point!]

’Hmm? It reduced?’

Ark then moved from goblin to goblin, activating his harvest skill each time and when he was done he sat down by the trunk of a tree to gather his thoughts.

As expected, the skill was amazing. He had managed to get just as many stats he got from leveling up just from harvesting the goblins stats.

Using it so many times had also given him a deeper understanding of the skill. Harvesting a monster of the same rank seemed to give him two points on the first harvest, one point on the second, and 0.5 on subsequent harvests.

Then after harvesting from ten monsters of the same type, he would no longer gain stat points.

This was his current theory based on what he had observed, but he would have to do further tests to solidify his hypothesis.

Ark then summoned his system and glanced through it. At the start, he barely had any reasonable stats, but now...

***

[Name: Ark Karras]

[Race: Skeleton (common)]

>Race effect: A skeleton has no needs.

Not affected by normal, physiological nutritional needs, nor status effects like (heat), (cold), (humidity), (thirst).

Ps. But if a skeleton wishes to grow taller... the only nutrient needed is calcium.

[Race Specialisation: Reaper (Unholy)]

>Perks: Dark Harvest. Skills? Stats? Traits? Loot? Treasures? Thrust your scythe and reap what you desire, for the time of harvest is at hand!

[Class: Mage]

>Class effect: Skillforge. Can combine two independent skills to form a greater skill.

[Skills: Fireball (F-rank), Chain Lightning (C-Rabk).]

[Traits: Nil]

-

Strength: 6 + 3 = 9

Mana: 55/100

Agility: 3 + 2 = 5

Defense: 2 + 2 = 4

-

Stat points: 0

[Rank: Copper]

[Level: 2 (60/200)]

[Inventory: Enchanted rusty crowbar, broken staff, basic health potion.]

***

Ark smiled as his eyes moved through the screen. He had gotten only two independent stat points which he put into Defense.

He was lucky he wasn’t knocked out when he was ambushed by the goblins, and he did not want to rely on luck the next time it happened, so having a tougher head seemed worth it.

Just as he finished, he heard Soo-jin calling him, their five minute break was apparently over.

Ark summoned his crowbar and was about to leave when a crazy idea suddenly came to him.

His crowbar was rusty and old, which made it a pain to use. Whenever he swung it, the jagged edges would roughly scratch his fingers.

’Can’t I remove them?’

He held the crowbar with both hands and summoned his ability...

A boy was racing through the forest, his heart pounding in his chest, and his entire body riddled with goosebumps as he swerved around several trees.

His foot slammed into a large root and he crashed into the floor, but just as he landed, he was right back up.

His third class made him agile, that was the only reason he had not fallen behind.

A loud, heart wrenching scream spilled through the forest.

[##### is bleeding. Her health will continually be depleted over time.]

[##### is bleeding. His health will soon be depleted over time.]

”Seth! Help me, I’m going to—ARGH!!! IT’S GOT MY LEAD, OH MY GOD, PLEASE GOD, SETHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”

Seth increased his pace. It felt as though fire was encased in his feet, his breath came out steamy, and his body was so wet that it was as though he had soaked himself in a river.

But his heart was where it hurt the most. It felt as though it had been ripped out of his chest.

’I can’t do anything for them, I can’t do anything for them!!’ He screamed to himself, the sound of pounding feet and frantic breathing occupying his ears.

The forest seemed different, darker, and the trees appeared like horrid beasts, mocking him. Mocking his inability as a leader, mocking the way he fled, mocking the way he abandoned those he was meant to lead.

’Someone save me from this nightmare!’

No one had told him it would be like this, no one had warned him about this kind of—

[###### has passed on to the beyond. Her game has ended.]

[###### has passed on to the beyond. His game has ended.]

[Your party has been extinguished]

And just like that, he was the last person left out of a party of twelve.

”I have to make it out, I need to warn the others—”

Thump!

A figure suddenly slammed into him, the force so great that his body caved in the air. He was launched to the side, his body slamming into the trunk of a tree, crushing through it, and rolling several times on the ground.

KUEHHHH—!

Seth coughed out blood, his insides crying out to him. He glanced around with blurry eyes, but just like before, he could not see his attacker.

And then something latched onto his leg and pulled, dragging him deeper and deeper into the earth.

”NO!! SOMEBODY HELP ME, I DONT WANT TO DIE, I DONT WANT TO—”

Sand filled his mouth as his head was buried, his hand desperately waving in the air, just before it too submerged...

[Seth has passed on to the beyond. His game has ended.]