REAPER SCANS
How to Raise Your Skeletons
[Translator – Dawn]
[Proofreader – BringTheRayn]
Chapter 176: The Russian Expedition (2)
“Kyaaa! Please! Please help me!” a desperate voice came from somewhere. “Please! Save me! Aghhh!” The woman's cries were clearly mixed with fear, showing just how dire the situation was.
“Let's run first!” Bong Jaeyoung shouted as he suddenly started running. “What are you all doing? Everyone, follow me!”
—Rustle, rustle…
The forest, shrouded in darkness, remained cold and eerie.
“Yes.”
“Yes, sir!”
Kwon Soyi and Im Sujin followed behind.
—Rustle! Rustle!
Gi Soyul and I also stepped into the darkness. Finding her wasn’t difficult because she kept making sounds to reveal her location.
“You heard my voice and came! Th-Thank you!”
Behind a large rock, a woman who appeared to be Russian sniffled and shed tears. Her wrists, wiping away the tears, were incredibly delicate. Her body was covered with numerous scars and wounds, making it hard for anyone to look at her without frowning.
“What exactly happened?” Bong Jaeyoung asked with a concerned expression.
“I… had companions. We were wandering through this place, struggling to make our way through the strange fog… But then, one by one, my companions disappeared…” she sniffled.
“What about those wounds? Were you attacked by someone?”
“…Yes. It was some kind of strange monster. It kept attacking me, but maybe it ran away when it heard you coming… Once again, thank you.”
“I see,” Bong Jaeyoung nodded with a serious expression and then smiled slightly. “I am Bong Jaeyoung, the world’s 101st-ranked hunter. I'm from South Korea.” At the same time, he gently extended his hand toward her. “I plan to clear this dungeon, so you don’t have to worry anymore.”
The woman hesitated for a moment at his words, then her eyes widened in surprise. “R-Rank 101?”
“Hahaha, that’s right. Hey, Kwon Soyi!”
“Yes?”
“What are you doing? There’s a survivor here. Hurry and bring some emergency food and a blanket or something to wrap her with. It’s cold out here!”
“…”
Kwon Soyi the Druid pursed her lips and raised her hand.
—Rumble!
Suddenly, a strange plant sprouted from the ground. Its leaves gently wrapped around the woman.
Acting like a hero all by himself.
After mouthing those words silently, she casually tossed her a piece of hardtack and a strip of jerky from her backpack.
“Th-Thank you.” The Russian woman bowed her head in gratitude and accepted them.
—Zzzt!
Bong Jaeyoung shot a quick glare at Kwon Soyi’s insolent attitude. Then he sat next to the Russian woman and began asking questions one by one—how she ended up here, who she was with, and what she had seen.
“When I heard the rumor that no one had ever made it out alive from this dungeon, to be honest… We got a little greedy.”
“Oh dear.”
“So when the strange fog covered us, I just pushed forward. Who knows, right? Maybe I’d get lucky and obtain some fortuitous opportunity…”
“Hm, I see. Well, that’s a moment many hunters dream of. Ah, you said the creature that attacked you fled. Where did it go?”
“That way. It disappeared along that trail. Since you're a high-ranking hunter… you’ll avenge my companions, won’t you?”
“Hahaha, well. That’s not a difficult request. You don’t have to worry anymore.”
While Bong Jaeyoung and the woman chatted…
Gi Soyul approached me and whispered, “Donghoon.”
“Yes?”
“Is it really okay to take in a survivor just like that inside a dungeon?”
“…Hmm, good point.”
Even though he was ranked lower than me, he was still the world’s 101st. I was watching to see if he had some kind of unique expertise…
But he’s not as impressive as I expected.
Some might have argued that his actions were derived from righteousness, but I’d never been one to trust people easily inside dungeons—especially after learning that some dungeons contained intelligent monsters.
“It’s a bit strange, isn’t it? A woman surviving alone in such a brutal dungeon?”
“I also sense something off about her.”
“Right.” I nodded. “She seems to have only the faintest amount of energy, but there’s something… unnatural about it.”
When I scanned her with Great Blue Heart Technique, I could barely sense any energy inside her body. However, it felt very strange for a completely powerless woman who got attacked to have survived. And though her face was full of tears, her words didn’t indicate that she was feeling anything like fear or despair. It felt more like an acting class performance.
Yeah. In ambiguous situations like this, there was only one thing to do.
—Tap!
I lightly struck my staff on the ground.
“You’re… calling for him?” Gi Soyul recognized what I was doing.
“Yes, it’s always better to be safe than sorry.”
[Using skill ‘Teaching of All Techniques’ (SS-rank).]
[Consuming 20 energy.]
[Summoning ‘Master of All Techniques.’]
“Hm,” the old man took a light breath while looking around. “What is this place?”
“Why? Is something wrong, Elder?”
“It’s just… This scent feels strangely familiar to me.”
A familiar scent, he said?
—Swish!
The old man floated into the air and slowly rotated 360 degrees to scan the terrain.
“As I thought, that fog… Hah, I can’t believe something like that exists in this world, too.”
“What is it exactly?” I asked with curiosity.
“I saw something similar in the past. In the world where I lived, there was a man named Dang Huipyeong. He was a master of venomous insects.”
“Venomous insects…?”
“Yes, the ones you saw in the poison mist.”
“Ah.”
“That guy created something similar. That fog.”
“…”
“The gas released by the venomous insects he raised took on that exact form.”
“Gas?” So that wasn’t just fog but insect gas?
In any case, one thing became clear—calling the old man had been a good decision.
“Hmm.”
As I furrowed my brows, the old man clicked his tongue.
“That vile thing… It manipulates people’s psychology. I completely eradicated it in my world, but seeing it again brings back unpleasant memories.”
“What about that woman?”
“That foreign wench?” The old man glanced briefly at the Russian woman. “What’s there to say? She’s obviously hiding something sinister.”
As expected, my instincts were never wrong.
“What, what is it?” Gi Soyul looked at me with curious eyes.
I subtly nodded as a response.
“Ah.” She seemed to have reached the same conclusion and silently nodded back.
Yeah. That woman.
“You said your name was Bong Jaeyoung? What a wonderful name. But… when are you planning to leave? I want to get out of here as soon as possible.” At some point, she had completely stopped crying and was speaking as if it were only natural.
“…”
—Ssshhh!
Gi Soyul gripped the dagger I had gifted her.
“Hold on,” I whispered. “Let’s just leave her be for now.”
“Huh?” Gi Soyul tilted her head. Her dagger also tilted slightly with her movement.
“We don’t even know where we’re going yet. Attacking now wouldn’t accomplish anything.”
“Ah.” She nodded. “You’re saying we should see where she leads us first?”
“Yes. Moving recklessly might cut off our only clue.”
This place was vast, and the fact that someone like her was inside a dungeon was suspicious in itself. If she was a trap, I wanted to fall into it on purpose and see what lay deeper inside this dungeon.
“You really have grown a lot.” Gi Soyul released her grip on the dagger. “This is a tactic only skilled and confident hunters use.”
“Confident, huh? Well, I’ve always been like that.” After I looked at Gi Soyul, my gaze then shifted to Bong Jaeyoung.
Just then, he stood straight and looked at me. “Hey, Joo Donghoon.”
“Yes?”
“That path looks suspicious. Instead of resting here, we should move immediately. Get ready.”
“Hmm… Well, okay,” I responded without much resistance. I had no intention of letting my guard down in front of the enemy anyway.
* * *
Reaper Scans
Translator - Dawn
Proofreader - BringTheRayn
Join our discord for updates on releases! https://discord.gg/reapercomics
* * *
Someone once said that humans might have been more terrifying than dungeons and monsters. Even fellow hunters could become your enemy at any point.
Villains.
The world was vast, and there was a countless number of people living in it. Therefore, the existence of villains was inevitable. Expecting every person in this world to be kind and moral would be absurd, statistically speaking.
“…”
We—specifically, the Russian woman, Bong Jaeyoung’s party, and Gi Soyul and I—came to a halt at a certain location. Or rather, we had no choice but to stop.
“What is this…?” Bong Jaeyoung muttered with a serious expression.
“Ugh.” Kwon Soyi covered her mouth in disgust.
Im Sujin and Gi Soyul also turned their heads slightly to the side.
—Crrrreak!
—Crrrk, rrrrk!
Following the narrow path, we arrived at a large clearing. In that clearing, countless iron cages were stacked upon one another, and inside those cages...
“H-How?” Kwon Soyi muttered. “How could someone lock people up like this?”
Indeed.
I wondered if they had been experimenting on humans. Inside the countless cages, the beings drooling and snarling were none other than human people.
“Damn it,” the old man cursed. “This is exactly the same as what I saw before—the effects of that venom. The poison strips away reason while amplifying the innate strength of the person, consuming them entirely. With just one of those venomous insects, even a third-rate warrior could instantly become first-rate. Tsk, tsk. What a nasty technique.”
“…”
The scene was horrific. People with bloodshot eyes gripped the bars of their cages, gnawing on them with grinding teeth. Their nails and toes were already mangled, dripping with blood. Yet even in their suffering, their tear glands never dried, their agony evident.
“…”
For some reason, I looked into the Russian woman’s eyes at that moment, and as expected, there was no sign of disturbance in them.
—Thump, thump!
My heart pounded, and my blood boiled. So I approached and said, “Excuse me.”
“Yes?” She looked at me with an innocent expression.
She had the kind of mysterious beauty that could easily captivate someone like Bong Jaeyoung. But to me, she didn’t look beautiful at all because within her faint energy I could sense an unmistakable killing intent, no matter how much she tried to hide it. At this very moment, she saw this as an opportunity. She was waiting for us to be shaken mentally after witnessing such a gruesome sight.
But that was only a problem if I were unaware of it. Now that I knew, there was no way I’d just go along with it.
“You said you entered this dungeon with your companions, correct?”
“Ah, yes… That’s right,” she sniffled. “Could it be that my companions ended up like those people over there…?” Her voice trembled in false sorrow.
“By any chance, what were your companions’ names?”
“Their names…? Why do you ask…?”
“What’s wrong? Are you struggling to come up with a name out of nowhere?”
“…Huh?” Her eyebrow twitched slightly.
At the same time, Bong Jaeyoung intervened, “Hey, Joo Donghoon. Isn’t that way of questioning a bit harsh for a mentally fragile survivor…?”
“Are you seriously calling that woman a mentally fragile survivor?”
“Huh?”
“Hmph. I thought you’d have a better sense of judgment since you’re a ranker, but you need to refine your perception skills.”
I made my decision. There was nothing more to learn from Bong Jaeyoung and nothing to respect him for. There was no reason to force myself to be polite to someone like him. They say that the fuller the grain, the lower it bows, but bowing to just anyone would only devalue myself.
“What did you just say…?” Bong Jaeyoung looked at me with a dumbfounded expression.
I ignored him completely and turned back to the Russian woman. “How curious. Not only can you not answer such a simple question as your companions’ names, but why would someone with such overwhelming skill pretend to be so delicate?”
“…” At my blunt question, the Russian woman‘s mouth clamped shut, and she clenched her fists. Her face showed clear signs of being flustered.
Kwon Soyi and Im Sujin, their expressions full of disbelief, glanced back and forth between me and the Russian woman.
“Hmm. So do you prefer conversations through actions rather than words?” I smirked.
—Whoosh!
Without hesitation, I raised my arm and thrust my godslayer-rank spear straight at her.
—Fwshhh!
“Wh-What, what are you doing?!” Bong Jaeyoung, startled, tried to stop me.
But by then, the Russian woman had already revealed her true self.
She evaded my spear with barely a movement, and her lips twisted into an eerie smile. “Kekeke, how did you know?”
Wow. What the hell was that laugh?
I suddenly felt the hairs on my body stand on end. Even though I had suspected it, hearing it made my skin crawl.
“I knew you were unusual the moment you walked through the fog… But you’re quite impressive, aren’t you?”
As she shed her disguise, figures began emerging all around the clearing one by one.
—Rustle! Rustle! Swish!
And each exuded an intense presence.
“Hah.” I exhaled a short breath.
At last, I was finally starting to see the real secret of this dungeon.
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