"What the hell!!!"

Reiji stared in shock at the scene before him.

The massive room looked like the underground area of a mining site.

Huge chunks of glowing orange crystals were embedded into the dark rocky walls, illuminating the entire cavern with an eerie orange light.

The sound of metal constantly echoed throughout the mine.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Dozens of skeleton-like undead wearing broken armor were endlessly mining the crystals with rusty pickaxes.

Some dragged large carts overflowing with the orange crystals toward another dark tunnel deeper inside the mine while others continued digging mindlessly like machines that never grew tired.

Reiji could even sense a strange energy leaking out from the crystals every now and then.

One by one the skeletons began to stop and soon every sound in the mine suddenly stopped.

Only an eerie silence was left.

Then all the undead slowly turned their hollow eye sockets toward the direction of the door.

Reiji froze.

There was nowhere to run or hide.

So with a stiff smile on his face, he awkwardly raised his hand and waved at the skeletons.

"Hi..."

[Miners of the Undead Palace (E)]

He saw the tags on each and every one of the skeletons.

"Damn... All of them are E-Rank? Seriously..." Reiji muttered under his breath while still maintaining the awkward smile on his face as he slowly backed away.

He didn’t dare act reckless.

KRRRK!

One of the undead closest to Reiji suddenly moved.

Without warning, it instantly lunged forward while swinging its rusty axe straight toward Reiji’s head.

Reiji instantly vanished from his position.

Before the skeleton could even react, its head suddenly fell to the ground along with its body.

Ding!

[Host has killed an E-Rank Miner Undead Skeleton!]

[+5 EXP]

"I’ve been meaning to try this out, but I guess this is the right place to test out all my skills." Reiji said with a smile.

"Wait... Why only 5 EXP? Wasn’t it an E-Rank monster?!"

Another undead rushed forward as well.

Reiji didn’t have time to think and shot toward the creature too.

Before the creature could swing its pickaxe, its head was already rolling on the ground.

[Passive Skill:] – [Dominance Physique (E)] {Active}

(Strengthens the Host’s physique and stamina, providing a stable body despite any abnormalities like a specific stat being higher than the others.)

Reiji moved like a blur through the creatures as he severed their heads one after another.

But he made sure to crush their heads afterward. They were undead after all.

Ding!

[Host has killed an E-Rank Miner Undead Skeleton!]

[+5 EXP]

The system notifications rang out tirelessly inside his head but Reiji ignored them.

He picked up one of the crystals and stared at it.

[Anderite Stone]

Reiji stared at the rock in his hand in confusion.

"What’s an anderite?"

Reiji wondered before putting some into his inventory.

He carefully walked through the dark tunnel while remaining alert.

The deeper he went, the quieter the mine became.

Only the sound of his footsteps echoed through the ancient tunnel.

He decided to leave and come back later.

Then after walking for a while, Reiji arrived in front of a long stone staircase leading upward. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"...This place seriously feels like a game dungeon."

Reiji tightened his grip around the Soul Torture Blade and slowly climbed the stairs.

The moment he reached the top, he saw two armored skeletons.

They suddenly turned toward him.

Blue flames flickered inside their hollow eye sockets before they instantly rushed toward him with their swords.

[Undead King’s Guards (D+)]

"You’ve got to be kidding me... D plus."

Reiji gripped his dagger and rushed in too.

He wasn’t just going to stand there while they worked together to kill him.

Reiji used his speed but forgot that his speed was only D-Rank.

So both monsters weren’t having a hard time keeping up. Only Reiji was.

CLANG! CLANG!

Reiji was now on the offensive as he blocked the strikes from the two guards.

Despite it, he couldn’t seem to find an opening.

"Ahh... If my strength were at the same level as my speed I wouldn’t be overwhelmed like this. I guess I have to use my skills."

Reiji suddenly leaped back as he stretched one of his arms.

"Wind Cutter."

Ding!

[Skill: Wind Cutter Activated!]

[5 mana will be consumed every time the skill is used.]

Instantly, a wind-like blade appeared and shot forward.

It cut the armor of the skeleton but only left light marks on it.

The skeleton whose eyes were blue just moments ago became red as it rushed at him, swinging its sword furiously.

Reiji jumped and dodged the attack, then rushed at the furious undead skeleton.

He leaped forward, twisted the head of the undead backwards, and drove his elbow into the middle of its skull, making the spine touch the tip of the head.

Despite this, the skeleton was still moving, chasing him, but its sense of direction was messed up so it was moving haggardly.

Meanwhile, the other undead rushed at Reiji.

It swung its sword at him.

He dodged easily and immediately kicked it backwards.

He immediately felt a sharp pain from the force of kicking the creature.

"Fuck..."

The kick only made the skeleton stumble backwards a bit, but before it could regain its balance Reiji immediately rushed at it again and drove his palm forward.

"Soul Torture Flame."

[Skill: Soul Torture Flame Activated!]

[3 mana will be consumed every time the skill is used.]

Blue-black flames instantly burst forward and slammed into the armored skeleton.

BOOM!

The creature staggered backwards again.

There didn’t seem to be much effect on it aside from slight black scorch marks appearing on the armor.

"It didn’t work...?" Reiji muttered while stepping backwards to create distance again.

Then realization suddenly hit him.

"It probably only works properly on living beings. After all, they are undead."

The undead guard rushed toward him once more.

Meanwhile, the other guard with its twisted neck was still blindly swinging its sword around while trying to locate Reiji.

Reiji rushed forward as well.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The undead guard didn’t seem to let its guard down again and Reiji was starting to feel overwhelmed.

’It’s only one of them now but I’m still getting pushed back...’ Reiji thought in frustration.

Reiji then thought of something as he rushed toward the other undead that was busy swinging its sword.

He kicked the sword right out of its hands, returned the dagger back to his inventory, and picked the sword up.

"Sword Dancer."

[Skill: Sword Dancer Activated!]

[Temporary mastery over any sword]

[Boost speed, strength and stamina by +5]

[Reduces physical damage by 30%]

[1 mana will be consumed every minute.]

This was the first time Reiji had held a sword, but for some reason it didn’t feel like it.

He felt one with the sword.

Even the Soul Torture Blade he had been using for a while didn’t feel like this.

This was the feeling of something like muscle memory, just like the way he could skillfully remove his holy sword to perform a quick ritual.

Reiji charged forward at the skeleton whose sword he had just taken. In one strike, he severed the creature’s head from its body.

The head rolled across the ground and the red flames burning inside its eye sockets disappeared.

Ding!

[Host has killed a D+ Rank Undead King’s Guard]

[+20 EXP]

Ding!

[Host has leveled up to LV4]

[+5 added to all the Host’s stats, +30 Free Stat Points.]

[Item dropped!]

[Undead King’s Guard Armor (D-)] {Unequipped}

[Warrior’s Sword (D)] {Equipped}

Reiji stared at the system interface in shock and exasperation.

"Woah... I just leveled up! Wait... this other notification..." He stared at the words on the floating screen. "This place definitely feels game-like. There’s even monster drops."

A faint smirk appeared on his face as he blocked the incoming attack from the other undead guard.

CLANG!

He parried the creature’s strikes and even landed many attacks of his own.

After the last strike, the undead guard stumbled backwards and Reiji quickly used the opening.

In one smooth motion, he severed the undead’s head.

Ding!

[Host has killed a D+ Rank Undead King’s Guard]

[+30 EXP]