Subedei looked around as he continued forward, killing every skeleton in sight.
Not a single skeleton that entered his vision escaped death.
At that same moment, in another place, more than ten people were staring at a monster from afar while discussing among themselves. The monster they were looking at was a skeleton wearing a black robe and holding a staff. Around it stood dozens of skeletal warriors and archers.
A middle-aged man, who appeared to be leading them, looked around at everyone and said,
"Everyone, we've finally found the boss of the 6th floor."
"It looks like a mage. Be careful. Watch closely for fireballs or lightning bolts coming from anywhere."
"Do not let your guard down for even a second."
Hearing this, the others nodded in agreement.
The middle-aged man smiled, turned forward, raised his weapon, and charged toward the skeletal mage. The others followed behind him, gripping their weapons tightly as they ran.
From a distance, the skeletal mage seemed to notice them first. It raised its staff and pointed it toward them. At that moment, the blue flames in the eye sockets of all the surrounding skeletons flared brightly. As if crazed, they rushed in the direction indicated by the mage's staff.
Seeing this through the mist, the middle-aged man quickly shouted,
"Everyone, be careful! The skeletons are coming straight at us!"
The people running behind him tightened their grips and continued forward. As the skeletons closed in and began their assault, the middle-aged man raised his sword and swung with all his strength, instantly smashing a skeleton's skull apart. White bone fragments scattered everywhere as the body fell heavily to the ground.
Seeing this, the others felt encouraged and joined the fight. As they battled the skeletal warriors, arrows flew at them from multiple directions, injuring them. Most barely managed to dodge, receiving only light cuts, but one or two were struck directly and screamed.
"Aaaahhh!"
Though wounded, they had nearly wiped out the skeletal warriors. Seeing this, the middle-aged man stopped fighting the warriors and ran straight toward the archers. The archers, noticing him, began retreating in an attempt to create distance.
The man ran swiftly, reached a skeletal archer, and swung his sword with full force, splitting its skull in half. Just as he managed to kill one archer and stood there catching his breath, he caught sight of someone dashing past him from the corner of his eye.
Turning quickly, he saw one of their young swordsmen charging straight toward the skeletal mage.
"Don't!" the middle-aged man shouted.
Ignoring him, the young swordsman whispered lightly,
"This time, I won't give you the glory of killing the boss. I'll take that glory myself."
"Heh."
A joyful smile spread across his face—
and then he suddenly collapsed to the ground.
Meanwhile, Subedei continued walking steadily, killing skeletons one after another. He wanted to fight something strong.
Soon, he encountered dozens more skeletons. Just as he was about to attack, all of them suddenly turned in one direction and began running.
Subedei was left standing alone, surprised.
But he had no intention of letting them go. He chased after them and immediately attacked, his spear shattering the skull of one skeletal warrior. The remaining skeletons, however, ignored him completely and continued running.
[You have slain "Skeletal Warrior."]
Subedei grew even more puzzled.
"What happened for them to abandon everything and run like this?"
As he thought, the boss of the fourth floor came to mind. He remembered how it had summoned countless skeletons to itself.
Thinking that a boss monster might be in the direction they were heading, Subedei immediately followed after them.
His guess was correct.
After running for some time, he began to hear the sounds of battle ahead—metal weapons clashing, skulls cracking. Soon, the scene came into view.
Dozens of people were fighting against a swarm of skeletons. Nearly thirty or forty skeletons surrounded them. The skeletons Subedei had been following joined the fray.
But that wasn't what caught Subedei's attention.
His eyes locked onto something else.
The boss monster.
Seeing the skeleton in a black robe holding a staff, Subedei couldn't help but tremble. He knew well how dangerous mages were.
He quickly understood why those dozens of people were at such a disadvantage. Looking closely, they were already panting, utterly exhausted. Several of them were dead, lying on the ground near the skeletal mage.
At that moment, a sharp-eyed woman among them spotted Subedei and shouted,
"Who's there?"
"Please, help us!"
Hearing this, Subedei immediately dropped to the ground and hid.
The woman, though she lost sight of him, continued shouting,
"I saw you! Stop hiding and help us!"
Subedei heard her—but ignored her. He had no desire to help anyone.
Realizing he had been seen, he slowly stood up and looked toward the skeletal mage.
This was his opportunity.
All the skeletons summoned by the mage were fully focused on those people. The group, upon seeing Subedei, began to show signs of hope. But when they realized he wasn't looking at them—only at the skeletal mage—they began to panic.
"Help us first! Then we can kill the skeletal mage together!"
The middle-aged man shouted desperately.
Subedei ignored him and ran straight toward the skeletal mage.
Seeing this, the others began cursing him.
"You bastard!"
"Damn it!"
"Are we just going to die here?!"
"My family is waiting for me outside!"
Their hope began to completely fade.
At that moment, the skeletal mage noticed the man running toward it. Slowly, it raised its staff as if about to cast a spell. Strange black runes wrapped around its body, circling it.
Seeing this, Subedei tightened his grip on his spear and ran forward cautiously. He expected an attack to come from the front—but nothing happened.
Then suddenly, his body collapsed to the ground, and his spear slipped from his hand.
Watching from afar while fighting skeletal warriors, the others burst into laughter.
"Hahaha!"
"He's dead now!"
They mocked Subedei as he lay there. None of them knew exactly why, but they clearly remembered how one of their teammates had fallen like that and never risen again.
Meanwhile, Subedei had no idea what was happening.
It was as if he couldn't remember what had just occurred. He found himself standing in a completely white space.
The skill seemed to be traveling through his memories. Things deeply etched into his heart began appearing before him. From one fragment of memory, an immense pulling force emerged and dragged Subedei in.
Suddenly, the surroundings changed.
A building appeared before him.
Outside that building, several people began knocking on the door.