Life Rebooted with Copy and Paste-Chapter 138. Who Said You Could Prepare Anything

The five-horned beast stood before them. The monstrous creature, once covered in thick layers of flesh and hide, now reduced to little more than creaking bones. It resembled the fossil of a dinosaur on display at a museum, a grotesque echo of its former self.

Creak, creak.

Then, its jaw opened with a grating noise, releasing a torrent of purple liquid that gushed from somewhere unseen, drenching the ground like a waterfall.

Sssssss—

Where the liquid touched, grass and stone alike melted, transforming the area into a swampy wasteland. Then, purple energy rose from the ground, seeping into the fallen corpses of the one-horned beasts. One by one, they began to rise again.

“What a monster!” a warrior of the Mahal tribe gasped.

In their world, the dead didn’t rise. Therefore, the very idea of a beast they had slain moments ago standing up again was beyond comprehension. Yet, that was exactly what was happening.

Then, one of the reanimated one-horned beasts charged at a stunned warrior, its bony hooves thundering toward him.

The warrior flinched in panic, desperately trying to dodge. Just then, a knife flew from somewhere, burying itself into the one-horned beast’s skull.

Swish! Thud!

Whoosh—!

Flames, bright and red as fresh blood, engulfed the knife. The fire swiftly consumed the creature’s head, turning it into ash.

The Mahal warrior turned in the direction the knife had come from, locking eyes with the traveler, Kim Do-Joon. Their gaze met briefly, but after seeing that his attack was successful, Kim Do-Joon’s attention quickly shifted back to the monster in front of him. He couldn’t afford any distractions, and neither could the warrior, who now felt an overwhelming sense of shame.

I can’t believe I just received help from someone who’s in the midst of their battle.

For the Mahal Tribe, who believed that mastering martial arts is a proof of faith, fighting a battle was sacred in itself. It was an act to become stronger and draw closer to the divine.

However, his own weakness had distracted a man in the middle of his fight. The shame burned hotter than any flame.

“Uwaaaah!” the warrior roared, charging headlong into the chaos, where his comrades fought against the undead one-horned beasts.

His massive ax swung through the air, severing the head of a one-horned beast. Even as its front legs tried to trample him, he did not care. With another mighty swing, he smashed its body, sending it flying.

Meanwhile, Kim Do-Joon cast a quick glance in the direction of the Mahal warriors’ battle.

They’ll be fine on their own.

He assessed the situation quickly. The Mahal fighters were skilled enough to rival veteran A-rank Hunters. Besides, their ferocity and technique could even put them on par with S-ranks. Even Shura, who had concerned him the most, was shouting war cries and fighting with vigor. Others were by her side, so there was little to fear.

That left Kim Do-Joon with one focus: the five-horned monster before him.

Swoosh!

The beast's front leg shot toward him, and Kim Do-Joon twisted himself to dodge. The creature’s purple-stained claw barely missed him, dripping with toxic liquid that burned everything it touched. A few droplets splashed onto his skin.

Whoosh!

With a mere spark of his power, he incinerated the poison before it could do any harm. The creature kept coming at him, attacking with reckless abandon, driven by nothing more than primal instincts. It had nothing but the instincts of an undead beast, cursed to hate all living things.

Plop!

Suddenly, a small, compact bone fragment flew toward Kim Do-Joon, accompanied by a strange, hollow sound.

What the...

Kim Do-Joon looked confused for a split second, before reacting. Then, he spun his spear, unleashing streams of the mana from the Heart of Flame.

Whoosh!

The bone fragment caught fire, instantly igniting. Then, with a series of loud pops, it exploded like a grenade, sending shards flying—none of which could pierce his searing flames.

Phew...

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Kim Do-Joon exhaled slightly, relieved that he had blocked the troublesome attack in advance. Even if the bone had exploded right next to him, it would not have pierced his Invincible Body, but the impact would have still been unpleasant.

Whip! Boom!

Then, just as he allowed himself that brief respite, something huge sliced through the wall of flames, crashing down toward him like a whip. It was the monster’s tail. The impact left a crater in the ground.

Grrr...

The five-horned beast growled in satisfaction, thinking that the pesky insect that had been dodging its attacks was finally dead. It was endlessly frustrated that its foe dared to challenge it despite lacking “her” power.

With a smug expression, the monster began to retract its tail. However, something started to feel very wrong. It shuddered, and a strange lightness took over. It staggered because its lower half felt too light.

Then, it quickly realized that part of its lower half of the body was on the side, while its tail was still embedded in the crater.

Just as the realization hit, its front legs buckled.

Swoosh—!

Thud!

The culprit was not far away—it was the same pesky bug that should’ve been crushed moments ago! Kim Do-Joon, with his spear cloaked in the power of the Heart of Flame, had severed its front leg in a single, clean motion.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

However, Kim Do-Joon did not stop there. He swiftly chopped off the remaining front leg, followed by the beast’s two hind legs, then smashed them into tiny pieces to ensure they would not reattach.

There were two main methods to deal with an undead creature, aside from using divine power. If it was a creature like Reech, one had to destroy that core. For others, like skeletons or ghouls, the only option was to crush their entire body into dust.

Looks like this one doesn’t have a core, Kim Do-Joon thought as he readied his spear.

He planned to go with the latter approach. If that still didn’t work, then it meant it had a core hidden somewhere, which would make things trickier.

The monster, now missing all four of its limbs, writhed helplessly in the purple swamp it had created. There was no sign of its legs regenerating. It seemed that Kim Do-Joon had guessed right—the creature had no core. With a sense of relief, he prepared to finish the job using the only option available.

However, something unexpected happened. The purple energy that filled the area began to gather around the monster again. It swirled around its skeleton, concentrating in its chest, and slowly hardened into a gem-like structure. Thin, brittle bones started weaving themselves around the gem, forming a protective shell.

So, it has a core?

Kim Do-Joon looked confused. Rather than finding it strange, he was merely puzzled by the timing.

Why would the undead suddenly form a core now?

The core was, without question, its greatest weakness. High-level undead creatures, like Reech, would go to great lengths to hide their life vessels. So, why would this one bring it out now, when it was most vulnerable? As Kim Do-Joon pondered this, something even more bizarre happened.

Sssss—

From the core, a dark energy pulsed outward, spiraling into the air. It tore open a gate, from which an army of undead monsters emerged. Skeletons, low-level Ghouls, and even powerful creatures like Ogre Zombies and Death Knights filled the area with their grotesque presence.

Kim Do-Joon’s face grew grim. He had seen this before in the memories of Siwelin. The relentless undead army that had attacked her temple used gates just like this to summon reinforcements.

Though... this army is much smaller.

Still, there were more than enough to pose a problem. Just the black-armored Death Knights alone numbered over a hundred.

“What in the world are these monsters?” one of the Mahal tribe warriors exclaimed, joining the others who had now gathered around Kim Do-Joon.

They had finished dealing with the one-horned beasts and rushed over to assist.

“Fuad, Jamel,” Kim Do-Joon called out and warned. “Be careful. These creatures are much stronger than the one-horned beasts you just fought.”

“Well, they certainly look that way,” Fuad muttered, sizing up the undead.

“Don’t worry, we’ve got this, Mister!” Shura added, gripping her weapon tighter as the warriors of the Mahal Tribe stood ready.

The warriors' eyes burned with resolve. They exuded a powerful aura, similar to that of Siwelin’s followers from the temple.

Before them, the army of the undead stood waiting. The sight brought back memories of the battlefields Kim Do-Joon had witnessed in the past. It was a smaller scale this time, but the resemblance was uncanny. That battle had ended in tragedy, but things were different this time.

“If we take down that one,” Kim Do-Joon said, pointing at the monster with the core, “the rest of them should disappear. I’ll lead the charge. Follow me.”

“Understood,” Fuad nodded.

This time, Kim Do-Joon was there to make sure things ended differently.

"Uwaaaah!" With a war cry, Kim Do-Joon led the charge, the warriors of the Mahal Tribe following close behind him.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Kim Do-Joon plowed through the undead ranks, his spear cutting down anything in his path. Heads flew as he cleaved through the skeletons and ghouls alike. While the undead wouldn’t die just from decapitation, he didn’t need to worry about that.

“Hyaah!” came a cry from behind him.

The warriors followed up, smashing through the fallen enemies with weapons infused with divine power, ensuring the undead stayed down.

Clang! Thud!

Lower-tier Ghouls were obliterated instantly, and even these higher-tier undeads, the Death Knights, couldn’t slow their advance. They were just mindless monsters, not true bosses.

Wow... this man...

Fuad, who was fighting right behind Kim Do-Joon, watched in awe. He had always known Kim Do-Joon was strong because Jamel had told him as much, and he had witnessed it in their earlier battles.

Yet seeing it up close was just something else. The sheer intensity of Kim Do-Joon’s presence was overwhelming. He moved through the battlefield like a whirlwind, his spear slicing through enemies without hesitation. He was clearing the path, and all the Mahal Tribe warriors had to do was follow and finish off anything left behind.

For the Mahal Tribe, who valued personal discipline and training above all, this was a new experience. They never had one person led the way so thoroughly in a battle. And yet, surprisingly, it wasn’t a bad feeling at all.

In fact, it felt like they were all working as a single, unified force. And at the head of that force was Kim Do-Joon, setting the pace, leading the charge.

“We’ve arrived!” shouted one of the warriors as they reached the five-horned monster.

It had taken the five of them mere moments to get there.

“Grrr...”

The monster, now unable to move without its legs, growled as it began to gather more of the purple energy into its gaping mouth.

What’s it trying to do now?

Fuad was about to give the order for his warriors to strike and finish the creature off. At that moment, Kim Do-Joon lunged forward with his spear aimed straight for the monster’s open mouth.

“Who said you could prepare anything?” Kim Do-Joon growled coldly.

Then, his spear shot through the creature’s jaw, shattering its bones as it pierced through to the glowing purple gem inside. Thin bones wrapped around the gem like a fragile net, trying desperately to stop the spear’s advance.

Crack!

However, they crumbled under the force of Kim Do-Joon’s strike, and his spear lodged itself deep into the gem. Cracks spider-webbed across the gem’s surface before it finally shattered. Thus, the monster’s body disintegrated into a pile of dust and bone fragments.

Among the remains, something shimmered. It was a glowing object buried in the ash.

There’s two?

Kim Do-Joon’s eyes lit up as he scooped the two items into his inventory. Luckily, the Mahal warriors were too far away to notice. To them, it just looked like he was inspecting the remains.

“Grrr...”

Then, a low growl came from behind him. Kim Do-Joon turned to see the rest of the undead army, including the Death Knights, still standing.

Thankfully the gate is closed, Kim Do-Joon noted with relief.

The creature hadn’t summoned the undead directly, and only opened the gate for them. Now that the gate was gone, only the remaining undead were left to deal with. However, there was no need for concern.

“Waaaaah!” “Hyaaah!”

The warriors of the Mahal Tribe were still fired up, charging headlong into the remaining undead army with full force.

***

“It’s over!” “We won!”

The battle had finally ended. All the undead had turned to ash, vanishing from the battlefield. The warriors of the Mahal Tribe celebrated in their own ways—some sat down to rest, while others went over the details of the fight with their comrades. A highly spirited few sparred with each other off to the side.

While the rest of the tribe was caught up in their victory, Jamel stood alone, staring at the remains of the monster that Kim Do-Joon had slain.

— No! I won’t leave you behind, Father! How can you ask me to run away without you?

He was lost in memories of over fifty years ago. Back then, Jamel had been the first to strike the creature, but he hadn’t been able to kill it.

— I’m not telling you to run away. You haven’t honed your blessings enough yet. You’re still too young to return to the embrace of the gods. So, please...

Jamel looked down at his hands. These were the hands of a blacksmith—calloused, scarred from burns and cuts, and worn from years of hard work. Also, age had left them wrinkled. Yet, despite his age, he never stopped training.

“I’m older than you ever got to be,” Jamel said quietly, thinking about his father.

A bitter smile formed on his lips. He had finally avenged his father, though it wasn’t by himself. Kim Do-Joon had been the one to strike the final blow, yet Jamel felt a deep sense of satisfaction simply seeing the creature die. That was enough for him.

Tap, tap.

Fuad appeared at his side, gently patting him on the shoulder. His expression was not much different from Jamel’s, filled with the weight of memories from decades past. Though those events were long gone, the scars in their hearts had never faded.

***

They had returned to the village. And that evening, just as expected, a festival was in full swing. One would expect exhaustion after such a long journey, but fatigue seemed foreign to the Mahal Tribe.

The celebration was loud and lively, filled with laughter and the clinking of mugs. However, before joining in the festivities, Kim Do-Joon had something he needed to do. He wanted to check his loot.

Inventory.

Two items laid on the ground, glimmering atop the dust of the monster he had just defeated. He picked them up, eager to see what they were.

The first item caught his eye—a stone glowing with a faint purple hue, reminiscent of the creature’s core. It looked like a shard that had been chipped off.

Curious, he opened the information window.

[?????]

However, only a string of question marks filled the screen. There were no details about its effects or any information at all.

What the...

Kim Do-Joon’s expression hardened. The only time he had seen an item marked with question marks was in Siwelin’s labyrinth. Now, here in this new dungeon, he was encountering another mysterious item. Tightening his grip on the shard, he attempted to use his copy-paste ability.

[You cannot copy-paste this item yet.]

He’d never seen this message before. Normally, if an item could not be copy-pasted, there wouldn’t be any message at all.

Yet?

The implication hung in the air, piquing his curiosity.

Does this mean I can eventually copy-paste it? Perhaps as time passed, or hidden conditions were met, or maybe... What if my copy-paste skill can evolve?

Kim Do-Joon gulped. The copy-paste skill wasn’t a level-based ability, so it didn’t grow or develop over time. Until now, he had never considered the idea of it changing in any way.

But what if...

His thoughts became a tangled web. Shaking his head to clear his mind, he reminded himself that these were all just possibilities. Instead, he had another item to examine, one that had a much clearer designation.

He turned his attention to the second item.

[Skill Stone]

This one was simple and straightforward, and it sent a thrill of excitement through him.