How to Raise Your Skeletons

Chapter 106: ???-Rank Gift Box

—Flash!

When I opened my eyes after the dazzling light, I saw a narrow woodland path.

[This is the location of Theme 2.]

[Please wait.]

[Calculating rewards.]

Survivors had already gathered and were murmuring amongst themselves.

“What happened? What about the poison mist? Why was it stuck in the central area?”

The majority of the hunters shared the same question.

“Was it supposed to be this easy…?”

“I heard that someone jumped right into the middle of the poison mist.”

“Who said that?”

“Some guy named Chris Larsen. According to him, the poison mist stopped moving after that.”

“Seriously…?”

—Murmur, murmur!

Their conversations reached my ears clearly. I scratched my head.

That was me.

The attention made me feel a bit awkward. Though, I’d better start getting used to it. After all, once I became a ranker, this kind of thing would be a daily occurrence.

I laughed inwardly.

Though it wasn’t reality just yet, I could feel it approaching. If I could make it through this trial, my name would undoubtedly be inscribed on the world ranking board in the U.S.

“Phew.”

A strange sense of relief washed over me. The Five Stars of Seoul had burned their recommendation tickets to send me here. I feared that I might fail to deliver results. The pressure had been immense, but now it felt like the weight was lifting. At least within this trial, I was the G.O.A.T.—the Greatest Of All Time. I was confident that I had achieved the best performance in history.

“Yo! Hoon!”

“You made it!”

While I was lost in thought and waiting for my rewards, Olena, James, and Capu approached.

“We didn’t hear anything from you when you moved to the central area, so we were worried. Glad to see you’re alive.”

Olena, from the Ukraine, looked visibly relieved. James and Capu bore the marks of struggle and exhaustion from the past few days.

Not bad.

Especially for James and Olena who had clashed with each other early on. Despite my absence, they worked together to survive until the end.

They must have set their pride aside and made rational decisions.

Other familiar faces soon joined them.

—Shhkk!

A Chinese man wielding a spear appeared beside me.

“Huh?” I blinked in surprise.

It was the Spear of Judgment, Zhang Wei, a disciple of the Spear King, ranked 10th globally, and wielder of the Pear Blossom Spear.

“Skeleton King.” He nodded at me. “As expected, I knew you’d survive. Is this the new location for Theme 2?” Scanning the surroundings, his face contorted. “This stench… Murderers everywhere. Skeleton King, my apologies. Before exchanging greetings, I must pass judgment on—”

As always, his obsession with justice burned brightly. Judgment was more important than the trial for him.

The murderous aura began to seep from his body, but before it could escalate…

“Gah!”

[Please wait.]

[Calculating rewards.]

Clutching his head in agony, Zhang Wei let out a low groan, “Argh, so it’s not time yet?”

“Exactly.” Olena approached, explaining the situation. “Earlier, Chris Larsen and another hunter got into a fight, but they both ended up clutching their heads and couldn’t do anything. It caused quite a commotion for a while.”

“Is there some kind of combat restriction?” I asked, and Olena nodded.

“Seems like it. There was a system message telling us to wait at that time, too.”

“Hm.”

If I were Delilah, I’d have implemented similar measures. Given the bloodshed that could’ve occurred in Theme 1, letting battles break out before Theme 2 even began would undermine the trial’s purpose.

—Ring!

Suddenly…

[Reward calculations have been completed.]

[Rewards will be distributed based on individual contributions.]

“Completed?”

Someone exclaimed in excitement, “Finally, the rewards are here!”

“Contributions? Was that even a thing? Is it talking about trial points?”

“You idiot, trial points are for the shop.”

[Attention, participants.]

The continued messages made everyone fall silent, gazing toward the sky. Curiosity about the announcement outweighed any urge to speak.

[Calculating contributions.]

[Surviving participants: 41]

[The system will now rank all 41 participants.]

“Woohoo!”

The hunters erupted into cheers. Knowing their rank and seeing who performed the best in the group was a topic that made any hunter’s blood boil.

“Alright, who’s number one?”

“Yeah, tell us already!”

Even Chris Larsen and the Spear of Judgment, who had been holding his head in pain, as well as Olena, James, and Capu focused intently on the message.

“Show us! Show us already!”

“Ugh, I must’ve made the top ten, right?”

Finally, the system responded to their anticipation.

—Flash!

A radiant rainbow burst across the sky, followed by…

[Contribution Rankings]

[Values below 1% are rounded up.]

[1st – 99%]

[2nd – 1%]

[3rd – 1%]

[4th – 1%]

[5th – 1%]

…

[38th – 1%]

[39th – 1%]

[40th – 1%]

[41st – 1%]

The results displayed in the air were bizarre. It showed a shocking disparity, as if the first-place contributor had monopolized everything.

“…”

Silence fell over the hunters. The absurdly disproportionate numbers left everyone stunned. Some rubbed their eyes, thinking they’d misread.

“What the hell?”

“Everyone’s at 1%? And first place is 99%? What kind of nonsense is this?”

Voices of confusion echoed across the area.

“This is ridiculous! After everything we went through to survive Theme 1!”

Even Olena cried out in disbelief while James and Capu shook their heads. Only the Spear of Judgment stared at me with a curious expression.

“…”

I avoided his gaze.

The rankings didn’t show names, but his knowing look made me uncomfortable. For several minutes, murmurs of disbelief and confusion spread among the hunters.

[Your contribution is 99%, earning you 1st place.]

[Please select your reward.]

“Reward…” someone muttered.

“A-rank gift box? What’s this?”

“I got a B-rank box, but it says I can lower the odds to 30% to upgrade to an S-rank box and 1% for an SS-rank box. Holy crap, I didn’t know SS-rank even existed!”

“What kind of rewards are these? Everyone is getting boxes, right? Not just me?”

“Maybe it’s because I’m not first. Feels a bit stingy…”

I moved aside to check my message.

[You have been awarded an ‘SS-Rank Gift Box.’]

[Gift boxes matching their rank contain the item you need most.]

A gift box?

I tilted my head.

It would provide what I needed most. How would the system even know that?

[Selecting your default reward guarantees 100% acquisition.]

[Alternatively, you may spend your chances to aim for rewards up to two ranks higher.]

[Choose carefully after thorough consideration.]

[100% chance: SS-Rank Gift Box]

[30% chance: SSS-Rank Gift Box]

[1% chance: ???-Rank Gift Box]

“Holy shit…” I couldn’t help but curse.

There was so much to be surprised about. First, the system determining my needs was already shocking. Then, SS-rank rewards were introduced.

I had always thought S was the highest rank. And now there was SS and even SSS? And what is the ???-rank supposed to be?

There’s no way that the Five Stars of Seoul couldn’t have known about this.

They had participated in Delilah’s trials themselves. Surely, they had seen the reward lists. But then why wasn’t this public knowledge?

It had to be one of two things: either rankers intentionally kept it secret, or they truly didn’t know.

Probably the former.

Before entering the trial, I was just an E-rank hunter. I’d barely clawed my way up to A-rank. Compared to a ranker, I was still a small fry. There was a limit to the information I could access.

The world is vast.

It felt like peeling an onion. Every layer revealed something new—and it stung.

[Choose carefully after thorough consideration.]

[100% chance: SS-Rank Gift Box]

[30% chance: SSS-Rank Gift Box]

[1% chance: ???-Rank Gift Box]

Hmm.

SS-rank was already incredible, but not wanting to aim for SSS-rank would disqualify me as a hunter. And ???-rank?

Curiosity stirred in my gut.

But the odds…

A 1% chance was too risky. What if I aimed higher and got nothing? That would be devastating.

Wait a second.

Floa’s words came back to me:

“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… 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.”

“Ah!” I exclaimed.

So that’s what she meant—the VIP scroll.

[Item: Reward Probability Amplification Scroll]

[Rank: S]

[Type: Scroll]

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

[Effect1: Increases the probability of obtaining the selected reward to 100%.]

The scroll’s description lit up in my mind. It could raise even a 1% chance to 100%.

“This is insane…”

Now I understood the VIP shop’s value and why the scroll cost a million points. My body tingled with realization.

I have to use this now, no matter what!

SSS-rank? No. It had to be the ???-rank. There was no way I could pass up a chance like this.

With unsteady hands, I activated the scroll.

—Tremble, tremble.

Before I knew it, my hands were shaking. It was my first time seeing an SSS-rank item. And now, I was dealing with something even beyond that.

Is this safe? What if it’s a scam? If not, then what is Delilah’s true identity to make something like this possible?

Countless thoughts clouded my mind. This moment was surreal.

Still…

I had to choose. Finding an opportunity and hesitating out of fear was never how I lived my life. Besides, the old man said that when it came to luck, I was a genius—beyond that, even.

—Gulp.

I swallowed hard and finally pointed my finger at the very bottom option in the message.

I’ll take the 1% chance to obtain the ???-rank gift box.

Simultaneously…

—Riiip!

I tore apart the golden scroll in my hands.

[Using the item ‘Reward Probability Amplification Scroll’ (S-rank).]

[All reward probabilities set to 100%.]

Blinding light wrapped around me as the message confirmed:

[Congratulations!]

[★☆Super Duper Mega Jackpot☆★]

[You have obtained the ‘???-Rank Gift Box.’]

In my hands, a box radiating ethereal light appeared.