---
Park Ki Ran’s steps pierced through the wasteland of death. The Skeleton Lurker followed behind him, moving stiffly yet ready to strike at any moment. Even at just Level 2, he knew: this world wouldn’t give him time to rest.
The system was active. Skills were available. But he was still just a young man — a beginner — in a world he didn’t understand.
---
Up ahead, the fog thickened. The sound of hurried, panicked footsteps echoed through the air. Ki Ran stopped, raising a hand to signal his skeleton to stay alert.
From within the mist, someone appeared.
Not a monster.
A young man — human — panting heavily, blood flowing from a wound on his arm. His clothes were torn. But his eyes still burned with fury.
> “P-please! They’re… they’re behind me!”
Ki Ran remained silent.
> “Are you deaf!? They’re coming!”
The Skeleton Lurker growled softly.
> “Who’s ‘they’?” Ki Ran finally asked.
> “Goblins. Dozens of them. I… I’m the only one left from my group.” The man’s face turned pale. “My name’s Rusdi.”
---
Not long after, snarls and high-pitched shrieks came from the fog. Dozens of green Goblins with red eyes burst out from the brush. Armed with spears and jagged teeth, they swarmed like a pack of bloodthirsty rats.
> [Enemy count: 18. Average Lv. 3–5]
[Recommendation: Avoid frontal combat]
Ki Ran took a deep breath. One skeleton wouldn’t be enough.
> “Rusdi. Can you fight?”
> “I… I’m a Swordsman, Lv. 3. But my mana’s almost gone.”
> “Enough for one strike?”
> “Yeah.”
Ki Ran pointed at the skeletal dog beside him.
> “Let it charge first. When they focus on it, take down the front one. I’ll handle the rest… Necromancer-style.”
---
The Skeleton Lurker leapt forward. One goblin was instantly clawed to death. Rusdi, though trembling, lunged and slashed another’s neck. Green blood sprayed. Two enemies down.
Ki Ran raised his hand.
> “Bone Spikes.”
From the ground, bone spikes erupted upward — impaling three goblins from below, their screams cut short.
> [EXP +95. Raise Skeleton – Ready to use]
Three goblin skeletons rose. Ki Ran’s tiny army was growing.
> “Let’s start a small war.”
The remaining goblins swarmed, but Ki Ran moved with icy precision — every corpse became a tool, every death a new weapon.
In just four minutes, the battlefield was silent once again.
Only the two of them remained standing.
---
> [Level Up! Lv.3]
[New Skill: Death Sense – Detects presence of living beings within a 50-meter radius]
Rusdi collapsed, his face smeared with blood and mud.
> “You… you’re not an ordinary human.”
Ki Ran just looked at him.
> “I only know one thing. In this world, the dead are more useful than the weak.”
Rusdi gave a dry chuckle.
> “Can I come with you? If I’m alone… I’m dead for sure.”
Ki Ran hesitated. Normally, he would’ve refused. He wasn’t the type to trust anyone. But… he knew this system wasn’t something one could survive alone forever.
> “Come. But fight your own battles. I won’t save you.”
> “Deal.”
---
And for the first time since leaving Earth, Park Ki Ran didn’t walk alone. He wasn’t a hero — but he was starting to become something more than human.
A Monarch. Of death.
---