Chapter 22: 22 This Is Called Dismantling, Not Eating

Lin Jun said he wanted to search this layer thoroughly for a suitable acceleration skill.

But what he sought were monsters capable of reliably providing fixed skills; sending out the scout Pujiji this time was also intended to assess the situation in the Jackal-Wolf Forest.

He hadn't expected to encounter the Jackal-Wolves yet; instead, he first saw this—

A dead human.

More accurately, a human mage who had just died, his blood not yet congealed.

Although Lin Jun couldn't see the dead man's status panel, his standard mage attire made him quite easy to identify.

He had obviously suffered severe injuries and fled all the way from the forest, leaving a long trail of blood behind him.

Unfortunately, he collapsed on the spot from blood loss just as he managed to escape; when Lin Jun found him, he was already without breath.

Human adventurers usually operate in teams, but judging by his condition, he was either separated from his group or they were all wiped out inside.

The lives of these low-level adventurers are difficult too; they risk their necks just to make a living.

According to Inanna, resurrection exists in this world.

But this so-called resurrection, in Lin Jun's view, is little different from summoning a soul.

First, use various methods to perfectly repair the body, then expend a vast amount of rare resources that would make a nation wince, and finally perform a ritual to recall the hero's soul back into the body to complete the resurrection.

Under normal circumstances, no one organizes a resurrection ritual; such events indeed haven't occurred in over a hundred years.

Ordinary people might even consider it merely a legend; only Inanna, backed by her duke father, knows so much.

Just this simple explanation shows that this thing has absolutely nothing to do with ordinary adventurers, and even nothing to do with those nobles; only true legendary existences have the chance to experience it.

All in all, unlike some games and anime from his previous life that treated death as a game, in this world, once you die, you are truly dead.

He simply flipped through the unlucky mage's shoulder bag.

A small metal plate printed with the mage's portrait and other information; an ID card?

A small booklet filled with notes but unreadable, a bottle of yellow potion half full, and the rest was just some coins and a few collected plants.

Adding the staff embedded with a C-rank Mana Crystal beside his hand, that was the mage's entire legacy.

The robe on his body should have been a fine item, but more than half was burned away, and the remaining parts were so tattered they were little different from strips of cloth; obviously, it held no value.

Rustling sounds came from the forest; several hunched Jackal-Wolves emerged from it, holding wooden bows or sword-and-shields.

Especially that sword-and-shield, stained with fresh blood yet clearly well-maintained, which clearly clashed with the Jackal-Wolves' trash-like attire.

Could it be equipment just stripped from the corpse of a fellow mage?

So it wasn't that they successfully escaped, but rather that the Jackal-Wolves deliberately let the severely wounded prey exhaust its last bit of resistance while fleeing?

Their intelligence is truly not low.

The Jackal-Wolves also noticed the scout Pujiji beside the corpse, exchanged glances, and actually laughed in a very human-like manner.

The Jackal-Wolf holding the sword-and-shield even put away its weapon and walked over.

It seemed it didn't want to finish off Pujiji cleanly, but intended to play for a while.

The Jackal-Wolf sneered and stretched its blood-stained claw toward Pujiji, but failed to make contact as planned—its entire claw was gone.

"Gao-ao-ao—"

The painful howl didn't last long; another Mushroom Cannon blast blew the head of this best-equipped Jackal-Wolf to smithereens.

Startled, the three Jackal-Wolves behind quickly gripped their weapons and looked toward the direction of the attack.

It was seven strange Pujiji they had never seen before!

Seeing the Pujiji launch another attack, the Jackal-Wolves hurriedly hid behind large trees and returned fire with their wooden bows.

Lin Jun had already ordered the Pujiji to move over to transport the body as soon as he discovered the mage's corpse; he just hadn't expected to have to fight these Jackal-Wolves.

Fine then; it's a perfect chance to test the power of the new Pujiji.

Two Pujiji curled into balls and rolled rapidly toward the forest, quickly locating the Jackal-Wolves hiding within.

【Self-Destruct LV3】

Accompanied by a Boom, two Jackal-Wolves missing arms and legs were blown out.

The last Jackal-Wolf, which had hidden the farthest, was so terrified by this scene that it dropped its weapon and fled into the forest in a panic; Lin Jun had no desire to pursue.

Lin Jun was quite satisfied with the results of the new Self-Destruct Pujiji.

As a self-sacrifice skill that kills the enemy by killing oneself first, even at LV3, the power is quite impressive.

What's more rare is that it can be combined with Rolling Charge; previously, Self-Destruct required mana to overload the Mana Crystal, making it impossible to execute during a charge.

Now, switching to the skill Self-Destruct makes the operation much simpler.

The two blown-up Jackal-Wolves were severely wounded but hadn't died on the spot; at this moment, they lay on the ground, emitting "Woo-woo" wails toward the Pujiji.

What does that mean? Begging for mercy?

Even if they survived with these broken bodies, what would be the point?

The Jackal-Wolves don't look like a race that would care for the old, weak, sick, or disabled; returning like this would surely lead to a bad end.

Lin Jun had a kind heart and couldn't bear such a pitiful sight, so he immediately granted them a quick death.

Afterwards, the Pujiji gathered the items and corpses and carried them toward the Swamp Zone.

————

【Sin of Greed Triggered】

【Loot Skill: Precision LV4→LV5】

【Loot Skill: Archery Mastery LV1】

【Loot Skill: Wind Magic LV1】

【Loot Skill: Common Human Language LV1】

The first two came from the Jackal-Wolves, and the latter two came from the mage.

Although no acceleration skill was found, there were still some gains.

Archery aside, it was useless to Lin Jun; precision, however, held far greater practical value and could be paired with the Mushroom Cannon.

Wind magic looked promising, but he still lacked a skill called Mana Control; without it, he couldn't finely manipulate mana to form spells, so this skill would have to be shelved for now.

What surprised Lin Jun most was that language could actually be acquired this way!?

This counted as an unexpected bonus.

Yet he had never seen the Common Human Language skill on other adventurers' panels; instead, he had spotted Ancient Elvish LV2 on Inanna.

Was it because native languages didn't display?

Come to think of it, jackal-people should have communication abilities too; why didn't they show a language skill?

Had he not drawn it, or did the language system lack sufficient completeness to count as a skill?

He couldn't figure it out; in any case, he should now be able to read human text.

Excitedly pulling out that small booklet, Lin Jun immediately experienced the feeling of being illiterate.

Among a long string of characters, he could only recognize two or three...

This damn thing still wasn't readable!

Did he need to reach LV10 to fully comprehend all text?

He knew that even his highest skill so far was only LV7.

Never mind; it was all an unexpected gain anyway. Perhaps looting corpses in the dungeon would eventually max it out; there was no rush.

His goal of finding an acceleration skill wasn't even complete yet; tomorrow he would check the other end.

(End of Chapter)