How to Raise Your Skeletons

Chapter 105: Theme 1 Shop

I stared at the message with an expression full of emotion.

[With the disappearance of the ‘Poison Mist,’ the clear condition has been met!]

[Ending Trial ‘Theme 1.’]

[You will be transported to the location of ‘Theme 2’ in 30 minutes.]

It was proof that I had defeated the poison mist and survived.

A wave of pride surged through me. My chest felt tight, and my heart was still pounding.

Ah, this—is this what it feels like to be alive?

But…

I furrowed my brow.

Thirty minutes? Something felt off, knowing I’d be transported to the next location so soon. What was this feeling? A vague sense of unease, like something was left unfinished.

If I had to describe it… It felt like walking out of a bar on a rainy day, beer in hand, only to realize after boarding the bus home that I’d forgotten my umbrella.

“Ah?!” I suddenly gasped, the realization hitting me like ice water. “That’s right! The shop!”

When I move to Theme 2, the location might change entirely. It would be better to use the shop while I could.

According to the information tickets, shops in Theme 1 appeared in the area after the poison mist emerged.

“Ah.”

Then it hit me—I didn’t need to worry about it at all.

[Judges are appearing throughout the area.]

With the Great Blue Heart Technique, I could sense judges revealing their presence, no longer hiding while observing us. These judges must have been the shops mentioned in the information.

—Whoosh!

Just then, someone appeared beside me.

“Wow, you lunatic! Freaking maniac! You unbelievable bastard!”

The person yelling curses right from our first meeting was someone I’d seen before—Rank 84, Floa the Thundercry.

“I should’ve realized when you found me earlier! Of course you’re an overpowered character. Hah, I’m speechless.”

“…”

And again, I couldn’t help but be surprised. Just as I had changed after dealing with the poison mist, Floa’s strength felt entirely different from before.

She’s strong.

She was incredibly strong. You only find what you’re capable of when you have the right knowledge. She was nauseatingly strong. Unlike the poison mist, which felt like an untamed force with exploitable weaknesses, Floa exuded controlled, polished power. She was invulnerable and powerful.

“Seriously, how does someone take down something like the poison mist alone? Are you really just a regular participant? Are you a hidden ranker? Or, wait, are you some kind of monster spat out by a dungeon?”

“Of course not,” I muttered curtly.

She was a 23-year-old from Germany, the same age as me. Since we had already spoken informally during our first meeting, I decided to keep it that way. Switching to formal speech just because someone was strong would make me seem spineless, wouldn’t it?

“Damn it! No matter how I think about it, this is so unfair!”

Of course, Floa didn’t seem to care about that at all.

“With this momentum, I guarantee it! Once you leave this place, you’ll be able to climb to a single-digit rank within three years! Ugh, I’m so jealous I could die.” Floa scanned me curiously as if I were some exotic creature.

I endured her gaze for a moment before speaking. “What is this? Why aren’t the other judges here? Why are you the one who came?”

“What? Do you have a problem with that? I called dibs on you, that’s why. What, you don’t want me here? I already got penalized because of you; I might as well satisfy my curiosity.”

“…”

How is your penalty my fault? You should blame yourself for getting caught.

I swallowed my retort and got straight to the point, “Alright, fine. Whatever. What I mean is, what are you doing here? If you’re here, do your job, or at least tell me why you’re here.”

“To work?”

“Hah, to sell shop items, of course.”

“Oh, right! That’s what I’m here for!” Floa clapped her hands as if she just remembered.

I was dumbfounded. Why is her character so scatterbrained? Is she really even a judge?

“Ahem, well! You must’ve racked up a lot of points, right?”

“Of course. I ate so much poison, after all.”

How much had I accumulated? I wondered.

I opened the status window I had set aside.

[Current trial points: 2,100,500]

“…!” My jaw dropped.

What the hell? 2.1 million points?

“What is it?” Noticing my stunned expression, Floa asked curiously, “How many points did you rack up?”

“First, show me the shop list. Let me take a look.”

“Huh? Give me a sec…”

—Whoosh!

Moments later, the shop menu appeared in my view.

—Ring!

[Judge ‘Floa’ has opened the ‘Shop.’]

[The currency for this shop is trial points.]

[Each item is limited to one per person.]

[List – 10/10]

[1. Grade A Antidote – 1,000 points]

[2. Grade S Antidote – 3,000 points]

[3. Theme 1 Pass Ticket – 5,000 points]

[4. Theme 1 Information – 10,000 points]

[5. Theme 2 Information – 10,000 points]

[6. Elixir – 10,000 points]

[7. Grade A Random Box – 10,000 points]

[8. Grade S Random Box – 30,000 points]

[9. Root of the World Tree – 50,000 points]

[10. Wish-Granting Scroll – 100,000 points]

“What? This is it?”

I was baffled to find out that the most expensive item was 100,000 points. There was no way to spend all 2.1 million points!

“What do you mean, this is it?” Floa glared at me as if she couldn’t believe what I just said. “Oh, you little bastard! Look at you boasting about your points! Judging by your reaction, I’d say you’ve got 100,000 points or something. Do you even realize? Since Lady Delilah created these trials, not a single participant has ever purchased item number 10, the Wish-Granting Scroll. Sure, you ate a lot of poison and earned points, but try to be a little humble, will you?”

“…?” Only 100,000?

At that moment, I was reminded of just how absurd my actions had been. Eating the poison mist itself was beyond comprehension.

“Phew,” I let out a light sigh. “Alright, alright. You’re right. Anyway, just give me everything on the list.”

I had more than enough points to spare, and the shop’s prices were ridiculously low. Plus, I had no choice but to buy it all with the one-item-per-person restriction. Honestly, even if I bought everything, it wouldn’t put a dent in my points.

“What…?” Floa seemed to be taken aback. She stared at me as if she hadn’t heard me correctly. “Everything? You want everything? What kind of nonsense is that?”

It was clear what she meant—how could such a request make any sense?

“How many points do you even have?”

“About 2.1 million,” I answered honestly.

“What the fuck?” She was visibly shaken. “Don’t lie to me! That’s a completely insane number!”

“Why would I lie? I was surprised too. Now hurry up and hand it over. I’ve got 30 minutes left.”

“Y-You’re serious?” Still dumbfounded, Floa checked the points herself. “Holy crap. It’s true. Excluding what you’ve already bought, that’s 209,000 points. Damn it, no one’s going to believe me when I tell this to everyone.”

[209,000 points have been spent.]

[Remaining trial points: 1,891,500.]

At the same time, items began to float in the air before me—antidotes, pass tickets, random boxes, and even the Root of the World Tree and the Wish-Granting Scroll. Honestly, I didn’t even need the Theme 1 Pass Ticket anymore, but I bought it just in case.

[Hidden condition achieved!]

[You purchased all items in the Theme 1 shop.]

[The ‘Theme 1 Exclusive VIP Shop’ has been unlocked.]

“…?”

“…!”

Both Floa and I stared at the message in disbelief.

“VIP Shop?” I asked.

“I-I don’t know either. This is the first time I’ve seen it too. Damn it, I’m as confused as you!”

“I’ve been meaning to ask this since before… Are you really a judge?”

“Shut up! Do you have any idea how complicated Lady Delilah’s dungeon is? We’re just here to provide oversight and receive some rewards, nothing more! Besides, I just told you that you’re the first person in history to buy that 100,000-point item! You’re the crazy one, not me!”

“Fair enough.”

“Yeah, that’s right! Let’s see what this shop has.”

—Ring!

[The currency for this shop is trial points.]

[Each item is limited to one per person.]

[List – 1/1]

[1. Reward Probability Amplification Scroll – 1,000,000 Points]

“…Reward Probability Amplification Scroll?”

I wondered what that was. And why was it so expensive?

“Hmm, let me read you the description.” Floa scanned the air, reading something visible only to her. “Lady Delilah’s trials offer rewards in the next location based on personal preferences. This scroll seems to increase the probability of getting better rewards… But damn, this wording is ridiculous.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. It’s complicated. You’ll figure it out soon anyway. My advice? Buy it. You’ve got so many points, there’s no reason not to.”

“That’s true.” I nodded.

There was no alternative. If it was this expensive, it had to be worth it. I handed over the points without hesitation.

“Good choice.” Floa snapped her fingers with a grin.

[1,000,000 points have been spent.]

[Remaining trial points: 891,500.]

—Whooosh!

A golden scroll appeared in my hand, radiating a brilliant white light. Unlike the elegant silver Wish-Granting Scroll, this one had a more regal aura.

“Wow.” Floa shook her head in disbelief. “Honestly, this is insane. Flexing a million-point item purchase? I don’t even feel jealous anymore. I just want to see how far you’ll go. Watching you might actually be fun.”

Ignoring her, I meticulously organized and inspected my items: Grade A Antidote, Grade S Antidote, Theme 1 Pass Ticket—mostly useless to me now.

[Item: Elixir]

[Rank: S]

[Description: A legendary potion.]

[Effect 1: Cures all illness.]

[Effect 2: Removes adverse status effects.]

[Effect 3: Highest-grade healing effect.]

[Effect 4: Cannot be used on the dead.]

Elixirs were well-known. They occasionally appeared as rewards in S-rank dungeons and sold for exorbitant prices.

I’ll hand this over to Kim Jinah later.

In an auction, it would fetch at least 10 billion won. There were plenty of wealthy people desperate to stave off death.

[Item: A-Rank Random Box]

[Rank: A]

[Type: Box]

[Description: A box that randomly produces an A-Rank item.]

[Effect: Generates an A-Rank item of any type.]

[Item: S-Rank Random Box]

[Rank: S]

[Type: Box]

[Description: A box that randomly produces an S-Rank item.]

[Effect: Generates an S-Rank item of any type.]

Next were the random boxes. The A-Rank was okay, but the S-Rank was the real jackpot. Especially if a weapon came out—it would be an absolute windfall. An S-Rank weapon would hold greater value than even the elixir.

Well, I’ll open this one later.

I shifted my attention to the next item.

[Item: World Tree Root]

[Rank: S]

[Type: Root]

[Description: A fragment of the World Tree’s root.]

[Effect: Unknown.]

It was a mystical-looking blue root with no listed effects.

I’ll keep this for now.

[Item: Wish-Granting Scroll]

[Rank: S]

[Type: Scroll]

[Description: Use in moments of crisis, and it will provide exactly what you need.]

[Effect: Ancient magic will aid you in critical moments.]

“And what is this?”

[Item: Reward Probability Amplification Scroll]

[Rank: S]

[Type: Scroll]

[Description: A scroll that amplifies reward acquisition probability.]

[Effect: Increases the probability of obtaining the selected reward to 100%.]

“And this too…”

I kept reading through the descriptions. Reading them over and over again, I had just one thought.

I don’t get it.

I could interpret what the effects might be. But they didn’t resonate with me clearly.

As I was organizing my items and fiddling with the scrolls…

[30 minutes have passed.]

[You will be transported to the location of ‘Theme 2.’]

At last, the message marking the end of Theme 1 appeared.