My Skeletons Had a Promising Future

Late at night, inside an old, run-down house.

Mu Yuan sat in front of his computer, staring at the game scene that looked extremely similar to reality, though not nearly as realistic. He remained dazed for a long time.

Was this really just a game?

Indeed, all that appeared before him was an ordinary game scene. Yet whether it was the clues he had found earlier or the immersive illusion just now, everything made Mu Yuan realize that something had happened to him.

The good news was that he had obtained the key to the Transcendent world.

The bad news was that he might not have long to live.

"Don't panic. Panicking won't help."

"Since supernatural powers exist in this world, the real world might not be very safe either. Now that I have a chance to touch the supernatural, no matter how I look at it, this is a good thing... I should look at it optimistically. Maybe one day I'll personally enter that vast world, become a Great Lord, live in a magnificent palace, and enjoy a life of luxury."

Mu Yuan forced himself not to panic.

After ending his daydreaming, he looked back into the game. The entire village was extremely dilapidated, and he had no idea how long it had been abandoned.

A few sturdy trees grew sparsely around it. Farther away seemed to be a forest, but it was shrouded in gray mist and impossible to see clearly.

When Mu Yuan dragged the map farther out, all he saw was pitch-blackness.

Unknown, dangerous blackness.

In the center of the ruined village, specks of radiant light suddenly descended. They were like shooting stars, like brushstrokes, outlining, intertwining, and gathering together until they gradually formed an Altar.

The Altar was about two and a half meters in diameter, with profound patterns carved across it.

The remaining starlight gathered atop the Altar and formed a human figure. Although he was viewing it from above and it was a game character, Mu Yuan recognized at a glance that this handsome guy was him.

It was his anchor point in the game world, in the Eternal Continent. If the point died, he would die as well.

At that moment, scorching, flame-like words appeared one after another on the game screen.

"Randomizing..."

"Notice: You have obtained a batch of starting troops—10 Little Skeletons."

--

"Little Skeleton (Unnamed)"

"Rank: Common ★"

"Level: Zero Order Level 1"

"Skills: None"

"Talent: None"

"Description: A common undead creature. Although weak, it has a high cost-performance ratio and excels at evil group-brawling tactics."

As the notification faded, the profound patterns on the Altar began to glow. Space rippled faintly, and one frail, drafty Skeleton after another walked out from the Altar, each holding a heavily rusted Chopping Knife.

They crowded together in a dark mass, pushing the game character representing Mu Yuan himself off the Altar.

The Little Skeletons looked more or less as Mu Yuan had expected.

Their bones were gray-black, their bodies thin, and their walking postures somewhat hunched. Aside from a worn-out weapon, they had no equipment at all. They merely wore tattered clothes that barely covered their bodies.

As expected of the legendary cannon-fodder troop, the Little Skeleton.

Mu Yuan's lips twitched. Setting aside their unsettling appearance, he felt that he could take on two of these Little Skeletons at once!

"Starting with a ruined village and a few cripple-tier troops—no wonder they say this game is extremely difficult. You could die at any moment... Anyone would have an easy time dying in this situation!"

"Apparently, the starting troops randomly assigned to other players aren't much better. Some get militia, some get Goblins, and some even get Slimes. Compared with them, Little Skeletons are pretty decent."

Setting aside their slow movements, terrible equipment, low intelligence, poor offense and defense, and all their other flaws, Little Skeletons actually had quite a few advantages. For example, this and that.

For now, Mu Yuan could not see any difference among the ten Little Skeletons.

He looked toward the area outside the village, which was shrouded in dense gray mist. For the moment, he did not dare let his Skeletons go outside.

He had only ten starting troops. He could not afford to lose even one.

But if he did not venture out and take a gamble, he would eventually die in this game environment anyway.

"This game has no guidance or tutorial, but since it's a game... or rather, a world possessing supernatural powers, there must be ways to grow stronger."

"The Little Skeleton's rank is Common One-Star, the same as Goblins and Slimes. According to the usual game mechanics, ranks might not necessarily be upgradeable, but raising a troop's level shouldn't be difficult, right?"

"I have to find a way to figure out how to level up the Skeletons. Or perhaps I can find a way to recruit more Little Skeletons. Either would effectively increase my territory's defensive strength."

The problem was that Mu Yuan knew nothing about any of this.

That was not a big deal, though. The Secret Forum where he had obtained so much information earlier might contain the answers he wanted.

After giving the Little Skeletons an order to "guard and clean up the village," Mu Yuan switched to the Secret Forum and began browsing more seriously.

By now, he could confirm that quite a few "game players" existed on the forum. They had shared their experiences and knowledge, and even the help-seeking posts contained plenty of details.

This was a game guide.

Of course, there were also countless stories that had just been made up.

"Now that I've entered the game and have real examples to compare against, I can naturally tell whether these posts contain useful information or are pure fabrications."

In one post, the original poster bluntly claimed that he had randomly obtained a Dragon Troop and was slaughtering monsters and leveling up with ease. But he had gotten the process of entering the game wrong. It was obviously fake at a glance.

The troops most players randomly obtained were all Common One-Star trash. Only a very small number of players randomly obtained Common Two-Star troops, such as Spearmen, Archers, and Half-Orcs.

Moreover, powerful troops came with smaller starting numbers. One player who had randomly obtained Spearmen had said that he started with only six soldiers, while players who started with Little Skeletons or Goblins all had ten troops.

Even so, after looking at some screenshots and video clips, Mu Yuan was still incredibly envious.

Spearmen were fierce. Wearing light armor, they could stab a wild wolf nearly to death with a single thrust. They were in a completely different league from Goblins and Little Skeletons.

Even with their lower numbers, their overall strength was overwhelmingly superior.

He was green with envy.

Two-Star troops were already this powerful. How terrifying would Three-Star Troop Types be? Unfortunately, he had not found any player who had randomly obtained a Three-Star Troop Type. He did not know whether Lucky Ones were keeping a low profile or whether no such players existed at all.

Compared with the carefree start of players who had Spearmen, the other players were suffering miserably. Every experience they shared was a tragedy.

One player who had started with Two-Star Half-Orcs had even enthusiastically left his territory to explore, only to be ambushed by a group of Cave Dwellers. He had suffered heavy losses and barely escaped.

It was truly tragic.

"Even if your starting troops are somewhat stronger, you only have a slight advantage. You're still far from having the capital to run wild... The waters of the Eternal Continent are incredibly deep!"

Mu Yuan's expression grew solemn. Soon, he found a guide post that was genuinely useful.

It was authentic and detailed, containing an enormous amount of practical information.

"The Eternal Continent is fraught with danger. How players establish a foothold during the early stages determines their survival and subsequent development. In light of that, I offer the following suggestions:"

"Do not rush to explore the outside world. Make full use of the resources within your territory and create a favorable battlefield for yourself... We must understand that this is not an ordinary game. Therefore, as long as you can think of it, there are many things you can accomplish."

"After making full use of your resources, you can gradually probe the outside world. At this stage, you should not venture too far from your territory. If conditions permit, try to lure monsters into your starting village and rely on previously arranged traps and fortifications to kill them, thereby reducing your losses."

"The Eternal Continent possesses certain 'game mechanics.' Once you kill a monster, there is a chance it will drop Soul Sand, a universal resource that can be used to cultivate, upgrade, and restore troops. There is also a small chance that killing an enemy will drop a Troop Remnant Soul. Players can consume this material along with a certain amount of Soul Sand to recruit additional troops."

"Reckless exploration will put you in danger, but stubbornly defending your birthplace is merely a slow death. Therefore, players need to take the initiative at appropriate times, avoid powerful monsters, hunt weaker enemies, and steadily grow stronger. Only then can they withstand increasingly fierce enemy attacks."

"."

"As time passes, players will face increasingly powerful enemies. Only by passing the Novice Trial can they overcome their early difficulties."

"I wish all players victory from the very start. If you have any questions, leave a comment below."

"It really is packed with useful information!"

"Without this guide, figuring all this out myself would probably have cost me dearly. Thank you, poster. May you live a long and peaceful life."

"Even though my situation still isn't great, if I follow the guide to defend and explore, I may be able to fight for a chance at survival."

If he had been able to find a tipping function, he definitely would have sent the poster a hefty reward.

Oh, he had no money? Then never mind.

Mu Yuan genuinely admired the person who had written the guide. He had benefited enormously from it.

He pondered. "First, I need to use the limited conditions inside the ruined village to make some traps, such as Pit Traps and Spike Traps. If nothing else, I can at least create some hiding places for concealed ambushes."

"I can search online for instructions. It's just... can those stupid, dazed Little Skeletons really understand my orders?"

Mu Yuan switched back to the game.

The Little Skeletons had one quality worth praising: they would carry out their lord's orders without holding anything back.

They were much better at that than Thieves, Bandits, Goblins, and the like.

Sure enough, the moment he switched back to the game, he saw the Little Skeletons picking things up, dismantling things... Wait, what did you dismantle?

Boom—

Dust billowed as a shabby hut completely collapsed under the blows of one of the Skeletons.

The Skeleton picked up part of a roof beam, clattered over to his character, and stood there looking as though it were asking for praise.

Mu Yuan: "..."

So this was the Skeletons' definition of cleaning up? He really could not expect much from the Little Skeletons' intelligence. They did not even have brains!

Still, to be fair, being able to dismantle a dilapidated wooden house showed that the Little Skeletons possessed considerable strength. Mu Yuan's earlier thought that he could take on two at once had indeed been rash.

I really underestimated you, my bony friends.

It even knew how to ask for praise. In a sense, this Little Skeleton's intelligence was not that bad. It was comparable to that of a pet cat or dog.

"Forget it, forget it. These shabby wooden houses were dangerous structures to begin with, and they would have needed to be demolished and rebuilt sooner or later. Now that they've been dismantled and yielded some materials, I can use them to set up traps."

"As for having nowhere to live... Skeletons don't need houses in the first place. Dismantling them was perfectly reasonable."

This time, Mu Yuan personally directed every detail, worried that the Little Skeletons would destroy some useful scrap.

At the same time, he turned his attention to the not particularly spacious Village Ruins, scanning every inch while considering what kind of traps he should bury.

Setting traps was an art in itself.

He had to make maximum use of the traps and environmental advantages to minimize future losses as much as possible.

Mu Yuan moved the mouse, observing and thinking. Suddenly, his mouse stopped, and his gaze settled on the head of one Little Skeleton. He wondered if he was hallucinating.

A faint, tiny, highly inconspicuous +0.01 rose from the Skeleton. Before long, it faded away.

"What's going on?"

He looked at the other Skeletons and found that this was not an isolated case. At intervals, faint "+0.01" symbols appeared above their heads, as though some mechanism had been triggered.

But the other players had not experienced anything like this.

As he pondered, a line of special characters appeared in the center of the screen.

"Skeleton Evolution Points: 0.13"

"A great power beyond description. It can act upon a troop and cause it to evolve—current Evolution Points can only be used on Skeleton Troop Types."

Evolution?

Why was the Eternal Continent so dangerous? It was because the powers possessed by the players were too weak. If he could obtain a group of Three-Star Troop Types or even stronger troops, his situation naturally would not be so difficult.

And now, his Little Skeletons seemed capable of evolving continuously. Even cannon-fodder troops could possess the Appearance of an Emperor!

The future was promising!

"Come to think of it, I've already transmigrated and been chosen by the Transcendent Game. Gaining a little extra special ability now isn't too much to ask."

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PS: To clarify upfront, the setting of this book is that, at first, the characters control things through media such as computers and phones. Later, there will be Consciousness Descent and entry with their true bodies. If you can't accept this setting, just click the X in the upper-right corner~~~┓(;_｀)┏