How to Raise Your Skeletons

“Haah. Damn it. Damn it all.”

The young girl, sitting up after falling on her bottom, sighed deeply and continuously. I couldn’t help but wonder why she was throwing a tantrum after being rude by secretly watching me.

“This makes no sense. This can’t be happening. Me… the Thundercry, being detected by a mere participant? How does that even make sense?”

Well, I got it. She probably walked around thinking she was untouchable. The shock must have been significant when someone she thought was below her level saw through her.

Of course, it might have been different if she knew I had the Master of All Techniques, a literal cheat code, by my side.

Then again, maybe not?

I didn’t know. Sometimes when I looked at the old man, I thought to myself, “If the old man in his prime were let loose in this world, what rank would he achieve?”

Definitely top 20, without a doubt.

As a hunter, I had a gut feeling about these things. If I compared Jang Daewoong to the old man, I’d give the old man the edge any day.

But still…

Even I couldn’t guarantee anything beyond that. According to Jang Daewoong, the gap between rankers was immense… Who knew what would happen until they met each other?

“Haah, fuck… I was clearly scattered in elemental form. Hey! You!”

“…?”

The girl suddenly stood up and pointed her finger at me. “Answer me now! How the hell did you find me? This technique is almost impossible to detect, even for another ranker.”

“Not sure,” I smirked and responded informally. There was no reason to be polite to someone who had no manners, ranker or not.

Of course…

Being a foreigner, she probably wouldn’t care much about that anyway.

“As I said earlier, why were you watching me? And who exactly are you? I need answers first.”

“You…” Grinding her teeth in frustration, the pale-skinned girl glared at me. “Fine, rules are rules. I’ll explain.”

—Bzzzzt!

At that moment, electricity sparked around her body. Like watching P*kachu’s Thunderbolt, the sparks crackled menacingly then exploded with a loud noise. And her form, which had disappeared, reappeared in midair. It was an impressive teleportation technique.

“I am Rank 84, Floa the Thundercry, and I’m one of the judges. Surely you’ve heard of me, hm?”

“…?” I was slightly surprised.

Floa the Thundercry. There was no way I wouldn’t know such a high-profile ranker. When it came to rankers, my brain was practically an encyclopedia. The information about her flashed through my mind.

[Rank 84, Floa the Thundercry.]

– 23 years old, female.

– From Germany.

– A ranker who controls lightning as her unique ability.

– In terms of destructive power, she surpasses even higher-ranked individuals, but her weak endurance is a drawback.

– As her ability involves elemental control, she counters and gets countered a lot.

“Whew, anyway, I’ve revealed myself, so tell me now. How did you find me?”

“You just… showed up.”

“What?”

Unable to reveal that the old man tipped me off, I answered her nonchalantly, “I just saw a glimpse, got startled, and attacked instinctively.”

“…That’s ridiculous. You’re saying it was just luck?” The girl’s shoulders slumped in disbelief. “And I have to get penalized for some bad luck…?”

Oh?

At that moment, I could make another guess. It seemed that when these judges, or rankers, were discovered by participants, they received a type of penalty. That explained her heavy sighs and gloomy face earlier.

“Anyway.” She shook her head. “I gotta do what I gotta do. According to the rules set by Lady Delilah, anyone who discovers a judge gets a reward.”

“A reward?”

“Well, I wouldn’t call it much of a reward. It’s a simple perk, really. Normally, the trial points shop opens a month from now.”

“…?”

Trial points shop? Ah, so that’s where the trial points will be spent.

“You just get to preview the items there and make a one-time purchase in advance. Still, consider it an honor.”

“An honor? Why?”

“You’re the first ever to discover a judge within the first week.”

“…”

Shouldn’t you be embarrassed about it rather than me being proud of it?

That thought almost slipped out, but I held back. She was a double-digit ranker, so provoking her wouldn’t be good for my future.

“Well then.” Floa clapped her hands in the air. “Staying here isn’t doing either of us any good. Let’s just get this over with.”

—Shwooosh!

A message popped up in the air.

—Ring!

[Judge ‘Floa’ has opened the ‘Shop.’]

[The currency for this shop is ‘Trial Points.’]

[Each item is limited to one per person.]

[List – 10/10]

[1. Grade A Antidote – 1,000 points]

[2. Grade S Antidote – 3,000 points]

[3. Theme 1 Pass Ticket – 5,000 points]

[4. Theme 1 Information – 10,000 points]

[5. Theme 2 Information – 10,000 points]

[6. Elixir – 10,000 points]

[7. Grade A Random Box – 10,000 points]

[8. Grade S Random Box – 30,000 points]

[9. Root of the World Tree – 50,000 points]

[10. Wish-Granting Scroll – 100,000 points]

“…?” My eyes widened as I read through the list.

What is all this? And why is everything so expensive?

“Go ahead, take a look.” Floa shrugged her shoulders as she looked at me with a tired expression. “You probably haven’t accumulated much in just a week, but if you can afford a few antidotes, buy them. I saw you chugging poisonous mushrooms earlier.”

“…”

I didn’t bother responding. Instead, I just stared at the shop list, contemplating. I had a total of 24,630 trial points, which was still a decent amount to work with.

“What’s this Theme 1 Pass Ticket…? What does it do?” I muttered as I read through the list, looking at item number 3.

Floa nodded. “Exactly what it sounds like. For 5,000 points, you can pass immediately and proceed to Theme 2. Honestly, it’s not a bad option. It’s better than sticking around here and dying by some random blade. It’s a guaranteed pass.”

“…Hmm, not really appealing to me.”

I had my reasons. This place was a paradise for poisons. I intended to stay here and consume every poison I could find.

Besides…

Now that I knew these kinds of items existed in the shop, I had to buy everything, didn’t I?

The Root of the World Tree and the Wish-Granting Scroll.

Combined, they cost a staggering 150,000 points. It sparked my curiosity. There must have been a reason for their hefty price tags.

“I’ll buy the information first.”

“Huh, information?” Floa’s eyes widened slightly. “Information costs 10,000 points. Have you already accumulated that much?”

It seemed that the judge didn’t know how many points I had.

“Chugging poisonous mushrooms all day must’ve really paid off… Wow, 10,000 points in a week? That’s a record-breaker,” she muttered to herself. “So are you buying information for Theme 1 Information or Theme 2? Spending 10,000 points on Theme 1 seems like a waste, don’t you think? For 5,000, you could just pass. If I were you, I’d just buy the pass ticket!”

“No need because I’ll buy both.”

“Huh?”

The importance of information could not be overstated. Since I’d decided to buy all the items in this shop, it didn’t matter whether it was Theme 1 or Theme 2.

“Did I hear you wrong? What did you just say?”

“I said I’m buying both.” I pointed to items 4 and 5 with my finger.

[4. Theme 1 Information – 10,000 points]

[5. Theme 2 Information – 10,000 points]

Both items gleamed.

“Wha… Do you really have enough points to buy these? F-For real?” Floa’s jaw dropped. “You’ve accumulated over 20,000 points? In just a week?”

“…”

I didn’t bother replying. I just waited for her to process the transaction. And soon after, two envelopes appeared in my palm.

[Purchasing ‘Theme 1 Information’ (S-rank).]

[Purchasing ‘Theme 2 Information’ (S-rank).]

[Spending 20,000 points.]

[Remaining trial points: 4,630.]

The black paper with red seals was an elegant, vintage design.

“Wow, this is insane. This is absolutely insane. How did a non-ranker even do something like this?”

Floa seemed extremely curious, but…

—Bzzzzt!

She soon disappeared, likely due to some rule I wasn’t aware of.

“Hmm, ever since I started tagging along with you, life has been full of surprises. It’s never boring. Well, are you going to open them now?”

“Of course, I’m opening them right away.”

Smirking, I walked to a corner of the woods.

—Vwoom!

At the same time, I summoned ki with the Great Blue Heart Technique into my palm. When ki is concentrated and burned, it produces a faint light. I used it to illuminate the writing on the envelopes.

“Since I got this information thanks to you, we should look at it together.”

“Indeed, let’s open them quickly. You only have ten minutes left before my summoning ends, boy.” The old man seemed just as curious, urging me to hurry.

He was adorable.

—Rip!

I first tore open the Theme 1 information envelope.

[Opening ‘Theme 1 Information’ (S-rank).]

The envelope contained a single sheet of paper with the information densely written on it.

#1. On the 30th day after the trial begins, a ‘Poison Mist’ will appear in the central area.

– The poison mist is a monstrous fog containing the essence of all poisons in this area.

– Participants must survive for a week after its appearance.

#2. There are three ways for participants to pass:

– Purchase a ‘Theme 1 Pass Ticket’ through shops scattered across the area.

– Survive for one week after the appearance of the poison mist.

– Kill all other participants and be the last one standing.

#3. Shops appear 30 days after the trial begins.

– The currency used in shops is trial points, and participants must gather various foods to earn these points.

PS: For poison, there is a poison bonus.

#4. There is a special perk.

– Participants can locate the judges who are observing them from a distance.

– If found, the participant can access the shop early.

#5. There are two ways to obtain this information:

– Purchase it with trial points through discovering a judge.

– Find the information tickets hidden by judges across the area.

I clicked my tongue. “So I didn’t really need to buy this, did I? It seems like the judges have scattered these tickets everywhere.”

“Think of it positively. The value of information depends greatly on when you obtain it.”

“That’s true.” I nodded in agreement.

Thanks to this, I had a better grasp of Theme 1.

“So I just need to avoid this poison mist…?”

“Hehe, poison mist, you say…”

The old man and I locked eyes. From his expression, I could read a certain thought: What a windfall this is.

“No matter how much I think about it, your talent doesn’t seem to be effort or skill.”

“…Excuse me?”

“Your true ability is luck, I say. Look around. All the poison and energy in this place is practically begging for you to consume it. Isn’t that a wonderful thing? Ah, if I had such luck back in my day, I could have challenged higher levels far more quickly.”

“…”

“Come now, get on your knees in front of that Della-whoever. Pay your deepest respects to her.”

“…You’re telling me to enter the poison mist?”

“You must. Haven’t I told you before? When you encounter poison, you should smile.”

Somehow, I had a strong feeling that this poison mist wasn’t going to be an ordinary poison.

Well, I’d think about that later.

I turned my gaze toward the second envelope next to me—the information ticket for Theme 2. Naturally, I should take a look at that in advance as well.