Skeleton

Full Dive’s dungeons are largely divided into three types:

Tower of Trials,

Field Dungeons,

and Gates.

In the game, Gates were also referred to as Instant Dungeons.

Originally, Instant Dungeons meant dungeons that appeared and disappeared briefly for the sake of a Quest.

However, in Full Dive, there were no set Quests, so they settled as Gates.

Instant Dungeons, in the sense of dungeons that appeared and disappeared briefly through a Gate.

“….”

A passage shrouded in dark, lightless fog.

It was the entrance to the Instant Dungeon.

It really resembled a Gate.

‘Is it just a Gate?’

Understanding Tang So-hye’s words, it seemed that real Gates were mixed in among the Gates in the game.

According to a player who logged in from reality like Americano, there were traces she had left behind inside the dungeon.

So, if the dungeon in the game is a real Gate, then…

‘…Complicated.’

It was actually simple, but her brain refused to accept the information.

It was only natural.

This was a shocking event that defied common sense.

It wasn’t something to be easily accepted.

It was necessary to carefully gather evidence, compare it, and analyze it.

‘Maybe not dying of dehydration is also related.’

Until now, she had believed without evidence that someone in reality was taking care of her body, but if the Gates in the game and the Gates in reality were the same, a new and serious possibility would emerge.

That was the integration patch of the game and reality.

This fake world was becoming real.

Thinking about it, it wasn’t entirely impossible.

This game was a world recreated through Magical Power.

Just as creating fire and ice with Magical Power was possible in reality, recreating things from the game in reality didn’t seem impossible.

‘If that happens…’

If that happens…

She touched her head.

Things would get complicated.

What was reality?

What was real?

The boundary between them was beginning to blur.

“Don’t think too complicatedly.”

“….”

She knew.

Even if she figured out the truth of the universe, what good would it do for an ordinary citizen?

‘Right, it’s not like it’ll make me better at the game, as Tang So-hye said.’

“Hoo…”

So, she shook it off.

The more serious a game became, the less fun it was.

And the more she emptied her head, the more enjoyable the game became.

Americano didn’t really like brainy games like puzzle games.

“More importantly, it’s coming.”

“….”

Clatter.

A Skeleton appeared.

It seemed this dungeon was filled with the Undead.

It felt awkward.

As she began to move her body in earnest, [Outsider] seemed to ask, ‘Are you showing off?’ applying the brakes and causing her movements to stop. Stop. Stop.

Crack.

Crack.

Crack.

She smashed the Skeleton.

Of course, even with the brakes applied, the Skeleton was no match for her.

Americano could keenly feel in her sword-wielding arm, waist, and leg just how much [Outsider] was hindering party play.

She severed the Skeleton’s neck.

‘I can’t move even half as well as usual.’

The gaze fixed on the back of her head was causing stiffness.

It was more than enough to deal with the Skeleton, but she had been fine when she received swordsmanship training yesterday.

She was fine, so why?

She recalled what happened then.

She was tired.

Sleepy.

She was exhausted.

Because she didn’t have the leeway to pay attention to her surroundings, she couldn’t do [Outsider] things.

[Outsider] was a curse of being aware of others.

If she was aware of others, her body would stiffen.

She was too tired to pay attention to her surroundings.

Flash.

She was quick-witted.

Which meant,

‘It doesn’t activate if I’m not aware of others.’

“Hmm.”

It was worth a try.

Americano put strength into the hand holding the sword.

The shackles of awkwardness were applying the brakes to her limbs.

Tang So-hye was watching.

She was watching.

She was watching the battle to see Americano’s usual skills.

She erased the existence of Tang So-hye from her mind.

Erasing.

Erasing.

Focus.

Intentionally narrowing her field of vision,

She only looked at the Skeleton.

───Swish

She passed by the Skeleton.

Horizontal [Slash]

Upward [Slash]

Downward [Slash]

She cut through the Skeleton’s spine, and the skeletal upper body of a nearby Skeleton was lifted and spun violently in the air.

She brought down the raised sword and embedded it in the skull of the approaching Skeleton.

The skull was embedded in the descending blade and separated from the torso.

She kicked off the skull and crushed it.

[Slash]

She severed the Skeleton’s neck.

[Slash]

From the armpit to the opposite shoulder.

[Slash]

Crushing the face.

[Slash]

She slashes.

[Slash]

[Slash]

[Slash]

[Slash]

The consumption of Magical Power was low.

In the first place, there was no bottom.

Only getting colder.

She used Magical Power as much as her body heated up.

Cooling the heat to reduce the fatigue caused by the heat and recover stamina.

From the start, more than 20 Skeletons rushed in, but whether 20 or 100 weak ones rushed in… Ah, was 100 too much… No…

Crack.

In this narrow passage, she could handle 100 or even 200.

[Slash]

Horizontal Slash.

[Slash]

Upward Slash.

[Slash]

Downward Slash.

Skeletons lacking vigilance for openings.

Every time she swung her sword, they were impaled and fell.

Their remains piled up behind her.

[Thrust]

She embedded the sword in the skull.

Seeing it move, she immediately lifted the sword with the skull embedded in it and separated it.

She then brought it down and shattered the skull and torso bones together.

“….”

Americano’s eyes quickly scanned left and right.

There were no more Skeletons.

Then,

Thump, thump.

Someone approached.

“Good job.”

“Ah, yes.”

It was Tang So-hye.

For a moment, she wondered who it was.

When she turned to look at her, there were bones scattered everywhere, drained of strength. All of them were Skeletons that Americano had dealt with.

Skeleton annihilation.

But the 20 Skeletons she saw at first, even roughly counting,

“There must be 50?”

“Hoo…”

No breath came out.

She returned the sword to its scabbard.

She finished her first battle in the dungeon.

Tang So-hye approached, marveling.

“As expected, you have the skills to work as an Unawakened Hunter?”

“Are they, weak?”

“Still, it wouldn’t have been easy to deal with that many without Awakened Ability?”

“If you know the trick, it’s easy.”

With those words, Americano moved her steps deeper into the dungeon.

‘Looks like she’s going to continue.’

Americano’s march showed no signs of stopping.

‘She’ll quit on her own when she gets tired.’

Tang So-hye had brought Americano to the dungeon to see her skills.

She wasn’t using the [Plum Blossom Sword Technique] she taught yesterday, but it would be difficult to use unfamiliar techniques in actual combat.

Besides, if the opponent was a Skeleton, well.

There was no reason to use [Plum Blossom Sword Technique].

‘That’s beside the point.’

Tang So-hye repeatedly exclaimed as she watched Americano defeat the Skeletons.

‘I thought she had potential, but…’

…She seemed better than she thought.

Since she had worked as an Unawakened Hunter, she had assumed that she would be skilled at fighting monsters.

But,

“…What do you think?”

“She’s beautiful. Cough.”

Tang So-hye’s fist landed in Moo Jin-soo’s side.

“Ahem. She seems to be a master of the Three Talents Sword Technique.”

“The Three Talents Sword Technique? That third-rate martial art?”

“It’s a third-rate martial art, but when a master uses it, it becomes a powerful weapon.”

“It’s still third-rate.”

“Can you still say that after seeing that?”

In the short time they were talking,

───Swish

Five Skeletons fell in an instant.

“….”

Americano was several times stronger than Tang So-hye had assumed.

Her swordsmanship was rough.

Horizontal Slash, Upward Slash, Downward Slash, Diagonal Slash, Thrust, Slash, Slash, Slash…

There was no technique.

Only honesty.

She honestly swung and stubbornly slashed.

It was very overbearing.

There was even a hint of the boldness of the Namgung Clan’s swordsmanship, but it was different from the destructive sword of the emperor.

The sword strike that drew a single stroke created a line that was beautifully clean.

That was what a righteous sword meant.

It was too rough to be called the Three Talents Sword Technique, but it had a captivating charm.

“Is it a Skill?”

“Speaking of Skills, one comes to mind.”

“What is it?”

“You’ve heard of a Skill called Basic Swordsmanship, right?”

The Summoned Hero could learn it from the Haimel instructor they first met.

Basic Swordsmanship.

Slash, Thrust, Block.

It resembled that Skill.

“But it probably isn’t.”

“Well, there’s no awkwardness unique to Skills.”

Awkwardness.

Sense of incongruity.

The shallowness unique to Skills.

The feeling of a Skill could not be found in Americano’s sword.

That rough swordsmanship was truly her combat technique, built up with practical experience.

The essence of experience had taken shape.

Once again,

“Hoo…”

Americano, having annihilated the Skeleton horde, let out a sigh as if to relieve tension.

She asked.

“Tang So-hye.”

She could drop the ‘ssi’.

But there was an order to things in the world.

She didn’t want to ask her to drop it, as it seemed like it would be more difficult for her.

“You said it was for investigation purposes, right?”

“Uh, why?”

“Is the investigation going well?”

“….”

She had scanned the dungeon, but had not yet found any significant traces.

Judging from the fact that the other parties that had split off along the way had not sent any news, they probably hadn’t found anything either.

“No. Not at all.”

“What are you mainly investigating?”

“There’s nothing specifically set. But Full Dive has a medieval background, right? So, anything modern would probably be the answer.”

“Then…”

Americano raised her sword.

“Is that also a target?”

“Did you find something?”

Tang So-hye ran to where she was.

A curved path.

When she reached Americano’s location, the target hidden behind the wall came into view.

A fully armed Skeleton.

An information window appeared above its head.

[Skeleton]

Red letters.

The name was the same.

It was just red.

Tang So-hye tensed.

The Skeletons that Americano had slaughtered were in gray letters, but the red ones were on a different level.

[Skeleton] was fully equipped with armor and a sword.

It seemed difficult to break through that defense, and she would have to experience the attack to know.

It could be seen as a mid-boss of the dungeon, but with the assumption that the Gate went back and forth between reality and the game, it overlapped with a Hunter.

If it was a Hunter?

Magic was not as developed in reality as it was in the game.

Even magical equipment of lower quality in the game was a valuable item in reality.

The traces of Magical Power felt in that armor and sword could be evidence of a high-ranking Hunter, depending on the case.

Americano stepped forward.

She could die, but,

This was in the game.

Even if she died, she could be Resurrected.

“Be careful.”

“….”

She nodded and approached [Skeleton].

[Skeleton] reacted to the approaching enemy and turned its head.

Whether the skills of its past life remained in its body, it readjusted its grip on the sword with both hands and greeted the enemy.

Americano had three restrictions.

[Outsider]

[Berserk]

[Nine Yin Severed Meridians]

When she carefully handled the three, she could compete with the [Orc Elite Warrior].

[Orc Elite Warrior] was in orange letters.

[Skeleton] was also in orange letters.

Since it seemed to be using human techniques, the techniques of [Plum Blossom Sword Technique] would also work.

‘It’s adequate.’

As Americano approached,

[Skeleton] rushed in, unbefitting its size, and plunged its sword down.

[Plum Blossom Sword Technique] had many techniques that deceived the opponent and pierced their openings.

The simple sword form, without mixing Magical Power, had many unnecessarily cumbersome movements, but that was because it mixed in feints.

‘Well, to be honest, I don’t think it’s just a matter of feints…’

Just as there was an intention of the questioner, there must be an intention of the creator in [Plum Blossom Sword Technique].

[‘Plum Blossom Sword Technique’ has increased to level 2.]

Approaching as if to get closer, then moving away.

Moving away as if to get further, then approaching.

She stepped on the footwork of [Plum Blossom Sword Technique] and moved back and forth with [Skeleton].

[Skeleton]’s sword missed Americano and swung uselessly in the air.

Taking advantage of that opening, she thrust her sword into [Skeleton]’s vitals.

Aiming for the gap in the armor,

Clang.

It was blocked by the armor.

[Skeleton] twisted its body, and the thrust aimed at the gap was blocked midway.

“….”

Americano evaded [Skeleton]’s sword.

She took a step back and moved out of the sword’s radius.

“Hmm…”

‘It’s difficult to adapt because it’s different from what I’ve used so far.’

[Plum Blossom Sword Technique] was, after all, a swordsmanship that required a lot of thought.

Deceiving the opponent with Phantom Sword.

Attacking simultaneously with Scattered Sword.

Two concepts that seemed to require some brainpower were embedded in it.

Deceiving meant adapting to the opponent, and attacking simultaneously meant inflicting many attacks.

The swordsmanship demanded multitasking.

But,

‘Simply.’

Americano liked simple things.

Clang.

Clang.

Clang.

She rushed at [Skeleton],

Evaded the attacks and retaliated.

Clang.

The sword was completely blocked by the armor.

‘A little simpler.’

She didn’t mean to change the forms.

She simply melted [Plum Blossom Sword Technique] into her body so that she could handle it unconsciously.

Self-hypnosis.

Americano engraved the ideology of [Plum Blossom Sword Technique] into her bones.

Like this at this time.

Like that at that time.

Like that at that time.

She adapted [Plum Blossom Sword Technique] to her body to reduce the amount of thinking.

Every time she exchanged swords with [Skeleton], the shock of experience resonated to her bones.

Then.

Clang.

“Gwoooooh.”

After several sword strikes, she succeeded in removing [Skeleton]’s helmet.

[Skeleton] exposed its weakness.

Now all that was left was to kill it.

“….”

Tang So-hye watched the scene.

She watched with her mouth agape.