Chapter 9: Revered Corrupted Skeleton Soldier - Game Descent: Evolving from Little Skeleton to Skeletal Witch


[Option One: Revered Corrupted Skeleton Soldier (Rare)]

[Description: A skeleton mutated after being deeply corrupted by the law of "Crimson Corruption." Your bones will coexist symbiotically with corruption.]

[Attribute Bonuses: Constitution +5, Strength +5, Spirit +10]

[Passive Traits: Corruption Bed: Any attack will accumulate the enemy's "Rot Value." Once the value reaches the threshold, it will inevitably trigger the "Crimson Corruption" state.

Tormentor: When an enemy is in the "Crimson Corruption" state, all damage you deal to them increases by 20%.

Light Resistance: Holy damage reduced by 20%.]

[Special Unlock: Unlocks the [Faith] panel. Once Faith reaches the required level, you may learn and cast dual-system prayer skills from the [Scarlet Rot System] and [Undead System].]

[Option Two: Ordinary Skeleton Soldier (Advanced)]

[Description: A steady evolution path. Your bones become sturdier and can take more hits.]

[Attribute Bonuses: Constitution +10, Strength +5, Spirit +5]

[Passive Traits: Collective Consciousness: You can command and empower a certain number of low-level skeletons. The limit depends on Spirit.

Light Resistance: Holy damage reduced by 10%.]

[Special Unlock: Unlocks the [Faith] panel. You may learn [Undead System] prayers.]

[Option Three: Heavy Skeleton Soldier (Specialized)]

[Description: A tank-type unit that sacrifices speed in pursuit of ultimate defense.]

[Attribute Bonuses: Constitution +20, Strength +10]

[Passive Traits: Mobile Fortress: When wearing Heavy Armor and equipped with a shield, Defense increases by an additional 20%.

Collective Consciousness: Can command a small number of skeletons.]

[Special Unlock: Same as Option Two.]

Looking at the three options, the Soulfire in Su Li's eye sockets flickered violently.

"As a cautious player, the third option is definitely tempting. Twenty whole points of Constitution? If I put on a full set of Plate Armor, I could just stand there like an iron turtle. Who could even hurt me?"

But he quickly shook his head.

"Passively taking hits isn't my style. In a world this realistic, only dead enemies are safe enemies. If I just take hits without fighting back, sooner or later I'll be worn down to death."

"If the third option could combine the first option's passive, then I could take hits while dumping crap on every enemy around me... heh, that'd basically be a walking bioweapon."

Unfortunately, he couldn't have both fish and bear's paw. Su Li then turned his attention to the first two options.

"Obviously, Options Two and Three are the conventional advancement paths for native undead on the Aiseland Continent. Their core is Collective Consciousness, meaning the mass-army route. The ultimate goal is probably becoming a King of the Undead who commands countless troops, like an Undead Calamity."

"And Option One..."

Su Li glanced at the Corruption Pot lying in his inventory.

"This is obviously a hidden route! A mutation that only a chosen one who came into contact with Crimson Corruption and survived can trigger!"

"As for group command, I currently have the Corrupted Iron Sword's enslavement ability. The odds are a little low, but it can barely do the job. Besides, this world definitely has undead spellbooks. Worst case, I can just steal one and learn from it later. No way I'm giving up a rare class for that."

Most importantly—Option One's dual-system prayers!

Imagine it: someday, two armies faced each other, while everyone else was still painfully chanting "Bone Spear" and "Summon Skeleton."

Meanwhile, with a wave of his hand, an "Ionia Flower" bloomed in the center of the enemy formation, and every enemy instantly melted into bloody water...

"Being cool is a lifelong pursuit!" Su Li slapped his thigh bone.

"I choose Option One!"


[Selection Confirmed: Evolution Path—Revered Corrupted Skeleton Soldier]

[Evolution begins. Estimated duration: 10 minutes.]

A dazzling white light instantly enveloped Su Li.

He felt every bone in his body heating up and rearranging. The tingling sensation was not unpleasant; instead, it felt like soaking in a hot spring.

"Another ten minutes? I'll kill some time on the forum, then." Bored out of his mind, Su Li opened the system interface.

The World Forum was still bustling.


[Long Aotian (Lv2): Hahahaha! I finally hatched! And I was Level 2 from birth! Mortals, tremble! Envy me!]

[Reply: WTF, Brother Long is awesome! Please carry me! I want to be a Dragon Knight!]

[Reply: Brother Long, V50 and show us what you've got.]

If you think this book is good, please remember to add it to your bookshelf so you won't lose it next time.

But the very next second—


[Long Aotian (Lv2): WTF, save me!! Hot hot hot hot, I'm burning to death! This red dragon mom is way too strict! To train my fire resistance, she shoved me straight into lava!! Is there no animal protection association to handle this?! This is child abuse!!]

Su Li shuddered as he read it.

"Good thing I didn't randomly become a dragon. Being a skeleton is a little miserable, but at least no one controls me. I'm free."

He continued scrolling.


[Ye Aonai Wo He (Lv1): Hehe, Brothers, I finally learned how to crawl! I just peed a map onto the carpet! Now my parents think I'm a prodigy! I heard they're spending a fortune to hire some court mage as my tutor! Once I learn forbidden spells, I'll definitely take everyone exploring!]

[Tianbeng Kaiju (Lv1): Boohoo, we're both human, so why is the gap so huge? Just because I'm a girl and a commoner, my drunkard dad is discussing selling me to slave traders for drinking money. What am I supposed to do?! Help!]

Looking at these bizarre starting situations, Su Li had to marvel at how realistic this game was.

As he was scrolling, a little red dot suddenly began flashing in the upper-right corner.


[You have a new private message.]

Su Li opened it.


[Sender: Pansi Dawang (Lv2): Big Boss, are you there?]

Su Li rubbed his chin bone. Wasn't this that unlucky guy who had randomly become a spider?


[Anonymous (Su Li): I'm here. State your business, or begone.]

[Pansi Dawang: Hehe, Big Boss, you're straightforward. If I'm not mistaken, you should also be a non-human race, right?]

Su Li's heart stirred, but he did not admit it directly.


[Anonymous: Oh? What if I am? What if I'm not?]

[Pansi Dawang: Don't misunderstand, Big Boss. I mean no harm. From my observations and calculations during this time, this game's settings are extremely rigorous. Every player who chose a human or humanoid race has to go through a normal birth process. Most of them are still babies right now and simply can't level up or explore.]

[Anonymous: So?]

[Pansi Dawang: So, Big Bosses like you who can move around at this stage must be monster-type players like me! We're the pioneers of this game right now!]

[Pansi Dawang: I hope us monster players can form an alliance.]

Su Li found it rather amusing and replied.


[Anonymous: Why? I haven't found any other players nearby either. Everyone seems to be pretty far apart. What's the point of an alliance? Online dating?]

[Pansi Dawang: Not online dating! Big Boss, hear me out! Monster players are naturally opposed to the human faction. Although we haven't encountered them yet, once regions open up, we'll definitely be farmed as BOSSES by those human players! And there are very few monster players, so we have to stick together!]

[Pansi Dawang: In exchange, I can tell you an extremely important piece of information for free! Though someone as powerful as you may have already noticed it.]

Su Li thought about it. It was just adding a friend, and getting a free piece of intel was no loss.


[Anonymous: Fine, let's hear it. If the information is valuable, we can discuss the alliance.]

The other side was clearly excited and replied instantly.


[Pansi Dawang: Great! With you, we have three people now! Besides me, there's also a slime. The three of us are the original Non-Human Alliance!]

Su Li's jawbone dropped slightly.

"A spider, a slime, and me, a skeleton..."

"What kind of freakish lineup is this? The Prison Death Trio?"


[Pansi Dawang: That information is—the Adventurer Squad subjugation mechanism!]

[Pansi Dawang: I experienced it firsthand. The system may send Adventurer Squads made up of native NPCs into monster regions to wipe us out! Those NPCs are ruthless; they kill any monster they see! If I weren't such a small target, and if Spider Mother hadn't scared them away, I'd already be a puddle of green goo!]

[Pansi Dawang: The slime reported the same thing. It was nearly stabbed to death by several Apprentice Knights from a beginner village.]

[Pansi Dawang: I suspect this is a mechanism the system uses to balance the early-game advantage of monster players. In other words, we could face pursuit from adventurers at any time!]

Su Li's heart tightened. "Adventurer Squads?"

That was indeed useful information. No wonder the people in that human village had been so hostile before. If he was careless, he really could get taken down by a surprise attack.


[Anonymous: Alright, that information is indeed valuable. I have no objections to forming an alliance, but my evolution here is about to finish. I'll accept it in a moment.]

[Pansi Dawang: E-evolution?! WTF! Big Boss, you're already Level 5?! The highest-level slime we know of is only Level 3! Your speed is terrifying!]

[Pansi Dawang: Big Boss, let me cling to your thigh! Big Boss, please carry me!]

Su Li ignored the Chatty Spider's shameless flattery.

Because the ten minutes were up.

The white light surrounding him gradually faded, and a brand-new power filled every bone in his body.

"Evolution complete."

Su Li slowly stood up, then eagerly examined his changes.

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Revered Corrupted Skeleton Soldier