Chapter 7 - Rewards ( 2 )

I opened my eyes and found myself tied to a table. I am in a small room filled with darkness but the area around me is illuminated by the light source above my table rest of the area is dark.

All my gear and clothes are removed. The only thing on my body is my underwear. Fortunately, someone has a little decency.

The whole body is covered in some weird symbols. I tried to use mana but it refused to move at all. All my strength is locked and I think it's due to these weird symbols.

Fortunately, I can use system space and can cut the ropes and get free at any time but I keep silent for now. I am still weak due to that berserk potion but in some minutes I can get my strength back to the peak.

I know who put me in this situation and this is why I was reluctant to use that potion as it will leave me open for potential dangers but the system notice left me no option.

I looked at the system and found some new messages in the box but now is not the time to see them as I can feel that being is near me and constantly observing my reaction.

I deliberately used a storage bag to take out and put the stuff inside to hide the system space from that being.

I acted like a person who found himself trapped and struggled for some time. I tried to break the ropes and try some other options for some time to look more natural.

Acting like I spent all my energy in those attempts I stopped moving and lay down quietly. I even tried to ask for help but no one replied to me.

As some minutes passed I stopped doing anything and just lay on the table. Soon I heard some faint footsteps coming closer to me.

As the sound became clear a shadow of a person appeared in the dark corner of the room. A person wearing a cloak comes out of the darkness.

It came closer to me and stopped at some distance away from me. I looked at it and asked.

" Who are you and why did you tie me up like this? Answer me." ( David )

For some seconds the person did not move like it did not hear my voice. Slowly it moved its hand towards its cloak on the head and pulled it down.

A shock appeared on my face after seeing the face of the person. Of course, I am acting shocked as I know about it from the start.

The person's head is a human skull. No eyes no flesh no skin nothing just a skull made up of bones. Like those skeleton monsters, I hunted before. The only thing different about this skeleton is that there seems to be a bit of wisdom on its face.

I am not that great at reading faces but even I can tell it is different from those normal or even the elite ones. Out of curiosity, I used a scan on it. The scan can be used with both mana and mind energy but mind energy is more complicated and may cause damage to me if not handled properly so rarely use it.

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Name – skeleton scholar

Rank – E ( Unique )

Element – undead

Talent – knowledge hungry – able to absorb the information faster than others.

Stats

Stg – E –

Alg – E –

Stm – E –

Mana – E +

Mana recovery – E

Skills –

Dark ball ( E ) ( Active ) – summon a ball made of dark elements and throw it at the target.

Dark chant ( E ) ( Passive ) – increase the chanting speed.

Weakness – soul fire in the skull, neck area

Note – a special monster made under some difficult conditions.

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 Oh, it's a unique monster rank. Unique is quite a special type of rank. It's like a bonus or special class. This type of monster has some unique abilities and is different from the normal monster. They have some level of intelligence.

The monster in front of me moved its mouth but no sound came out. Just as I was wondering what it was trying to say a voice appeared in my head.

[ hello human. Nice to meet you. You be surprised to see a monster that can talk but it's not that big deal. Let's drop the long part and come to the main point. ]

[ I want to possess your body and live like a normal person again. I want to be human again. You may be wondering why I used the word again. So allow me to introduce myself. My name is. Yup. It's me. The researcher in the video. After I committed suicide I turned into a skeleton monster due to some unknown reasons. ]

[ first I was just a normal Skelton monster. I wandered inside the laboratory for a while. One day I found some book pages scattered around and for some reason, I became interested in them. I picked them up and tried to read them. My body moved on its own. ]

[The first few days went horribly as I could not even read a word properly but as I practiced I began to improve. Slowly but surely I learned all the knowledge I could find in this lab. Some changes happened to me as my rank changed into unique.]

[ I got clear thinking compared to before. I felt a new world open to me. As I spent more time gathering knowledge I came to a harsh fact. My potential is limited and I am bound to this place. Once I tried to leave some power stopped me from going outside the laboratory.]

[ I think the dungeon system does not want me to get out. As I could not get out I tried to find a way to get myself back to my normal life. Who wants to live like a monster for eternity or die by someone's hand for rewards.]

[ after lots of trial and error I found a way. Soul swapping. Swapping soul with someone else I can escape this prison. I waited In the hope of someday somebody would come in here but no one came. Time went by and I lost hope. I even prepared that set for the person who came in here and left that videotape.]

[ I tried using soul swapping on that big guy but it failed like its body is rejecting my soul. After researching I found out that Big Guy has no soul of its own or its soul is incomplete. ]

[ I waited for a long time until you arrived. You passed the test and proved your potential worthy for me to have. So here is a deal for you. You can willingly give your body to me and I will give you a quick death or you can refuse to comply but then I will use some brutal methods to torture you. So choose now. I will give you 1 minute to think.]

Voice stopped. So this is spiritual-level communication. No language barriers as the message gets converted into the language the listener can understand. I almost laughed at its tricks.

It wants an easy deal but how can I let it have its way? If I directly agree it becomes suspicious of me.

" Fuck off you monster. No matter what happens to me I will not give you my body." ( David )

A voice appeared in my head as I finished speaking.

[ I know you will not choose the first option. As you have chosen the hard way face the consequences. ]

Skeleton tapped its fingers on my body at a certain location but I did not feel any pain. But to show the skeleton I faked the look of extreme pain on my face. Why did its method not work on me?

Well, it used a special method to hurt the soul but my title makes me immune to any damage that occurred on the soul. How can I know it used soul attack? I read the novel guys.

So I am the nemesis of this guy.

After some minutes of TORTURE, I act like giving up and speak to it.

" Stop It you monster. Fuck you. Do whatever you want but stop this torture." ( David )

Even after I beg to it monster continued to use its trick on me. As if satisfied with my reaction it stopped and a spoke to me.

[ you should have chosen the first option from the start. Now just stay still and do not resist. If you try to act smart again you know what will happen.]

Saying this skeleton started to paint some weird symbol on my head and heart with my blood. After doing this it made the same symbols on its head.

After that, some weird and evil sound comes out of its mouth like some sort of curse. After some minutes of chanting monster stopped and raised its hand high. A purple-coloured light appeared on its hand. It pointed its hand in my direction and fired the purple light at me.

Just as the light was about to touch me it bounced back due to some power and flew back to the skeleton.

Even I can see the shocked expression on its skull face as the light hits it.

Skeleton opened its mouth and let out a roar of pain. So skeletons can produce sounds. I wonder how it happens.

Jokes aside Finding the opportunity I summoned a sword out and put the ropes on my hands and feet. It took me some time to free myself and erase those weird symbols on my body.

I can feel my body is back to normal and the potion effect has passed. Now I am in my peak condition and can use mana with ease.

I put on the backup gear and charged at the skeleton while it was in pain. Looks like it suffered some sort of backlash from its attempt to harm my soul.

Even in pain, the skeleton tries to attack me. It summoned a black ball and threw it at me. I dodged the incoming attack and struck the skeleton with my sword.

Skeleton gets pushed back but continues to attack me. After spending some time I managed to defeat this guy. Its strength is above those elite skeletons but nowhere near compared to the boss monster. Not all unique monsters are strong. Unique means they are special not OP.

I can finish this fight in seconds if I use those consumables In space but that stupid dungeon warning is still in play. I do not want to face the punishment in my dungeon itself even from the low-level ones.

As its soul fire went out skeleton looked at me and roared for the last time. Like it's complaining to me about why I resisted it.

I give it a middle finger and the skeleton vanished in mana particles. It left some things on the ground.

I continued to maintain my distance from it as it may have some last trick after its death. My suspicion was correct as a strong light appeared around its location and went out.

Always stay alert even after you defeat your opponent as they might have left some trick or two.

I used the scan from afar on the loot dropped by the skeleton.

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Name – parallel thinking

Rank – E

Type – skill book ( Growth )

Description – use this book to learn the skill called parallel thinking. It helps the user to use its mind to think different things at the same time. It is a growable skill with almost infinite potential.

Use – 0/1

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Name – corrupted mana core

Rank – E ( Rare )

Type – consumable

Use – a mana core filled with dark elements that can be used at some special ceremonies or can be used to make items.

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Name – dark skull

Rank – D ( Rare )

Type – pendent

Effect – increase in resistance related to the dark and spiritual attacks by 120% for D ranker or below.

Skills

Dark barrier ( D ) ( Passive ) – summon a spiritual barrier to resist a mind or spiritual attack. Only work on the attack of D rank or Below.

Dark spike ( E ) ( Active ) – summon a spike made up of spiritual energy and attack the opponent's mind directly.

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Wow, it even dropped a skill book and equipment. Lucky for me unique rank monsters are rare to find. Even after the boss gets revived this monster will not appear again.

After making sure everything is okay I put the loot in space and try to find my stuff. I found the stuff in the corner of the room. I wear some new clean clothes from the storage bag and put on the shadow hunter set.

After some quick checking, I found nothing inside the room. I put some stuff here and there and left the room through the door I found after lots of careful searching.

I arrived at the lab again. Looks like the room belongs to that researcher for resting. I come to the center where I fight with the boss.

A bright treasure chest lying on the floor tempted me to open it right away. I came closer to it and bent down to pick it up.

It's not heavy at all. I opened the chest and it burst out a dazzling light. Rankers say the first-time killing of the boss gives the best rewards.

Chest disappeared leaving some items on my palm.

I used a scan on them.

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Name – Rank upgrade potion

Rank – E

Type – potion ( consumable )

Note – if a F ranker drinks it they advance directly to the E rank.

Use – 0/1

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Name – cross gloves

Rank – E ( Rare )

Type – Gloves

Effect – increase the weapon handling speed by 80%.

Skill

Impact punch ( E ) ( Active ) – increase the punching strength by 80%.

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Name – fangs of monster

Rank – E ( Rare )

Type – consumable

Use – can be used to create items with some special functions as it may cause some good effects.

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With these items, I found the note with some words written on it. It is a password for the locked files on the computer. I got some pretty decent rewards and the main thing I came here for. The upgrade potion. This potion can only be found in the dungeon.

I need to raise my rank as fast as possible if I want to survive in this world.

With normal training it may take weeks for me to reach the E rank and if I consider no other variable appears. I copied the stuff on the computer in a hard drive.

After a final look at the lab, I planted something in some locations and left the lab. With the same passage, I get out. After coming out before the passage closed I pressed the button on my remote controller.

Before the passage closed I heard some bangs and then it got quiet. Yes, I planted some bombs and blasted that area to clear out the traces of me. Nothing is wrong while being extra careful.

Now that I have done the things I want it's time to leave this dungeon.

With the help of the tracker, I found the space gate. I changed my gear into the ordinary set and left the gate.

Its nighttime. I looked at the bright sky. I found the train back to the city.

After some time of travelling, I arrived at my house. I wash up and hit the bed.

Soon I went into a deep sleep.