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A Man

A Myth

A Legend

An Abomination

No, I Am But A Simple Skeleton.

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Why am I a skeleton, you may ask?

I, too, have no idea.

Strange thing, life is. One minute you’re here, and next moment bam! You’re a Skeleton.

The unpredictability of life is what makes it worth living. But my life, hm, it’s always been strange.

Average? Nope

In no way was I average.

Strange? Yes

Unique? Maybe

So, just who am I?

A pebble, among the thousands of stones near the seashore. No!

Like I said before, I am a skeleton, not a stone. But being a stone would be nice. In the day, glare at the sun. In the night, just glare at the moon.

Getting off-topic here, So, who am I?

If you said a skeleton, then…….well, you are not wrong. But that’s something, which just happened, and even I don’t know why. I meant before turning into a skeleton.

Who was I then?

Where did I come from?

What did I use to do?

…Hmm…so you think I forgot about it?… No, no, no, I vividly remember.

The greatest man to ever live.

He who fought over thousand battles.

He who conquered 100 nations.

He who took over ten wives.

He who killed the World Devouring Dragon

…Yes, that’s who..some guy is.. not me.

Who am I? I am one of the 12 Demon Lords ruling the Great lands of Eibith. Rue Diablos, the son of Zelroth Diablos and the heir of Hellthrone.

Okay, okay, no need to panic. No need to be afraid. This is why I said I am strange. I am or formally was a Demon Lord. But a not-so-serious Demon Lord.

You see, throughout my life, I never killed anyone—not even a mosquito. Why you ask? Well, I never felt the urge to kill. Yep, short and sweet.

I originate from a place highly advanced in the technological aspect. Laser guns, food printing machines, VR games so advanced that you could eat Frozen dessert in the VR and get common cold in real life—such things barely scratched the surface.

In such a world, I’d built a dungeon, in agreement with the other 11 Demon lords, and lived my life in peace. I stayed in my own dungeon, enjoying my own presence.

Being a demon lord did give me some privileges. Privileges about which I still have no clue. Too many rules, too many laws, all I cared for was the free meals. And I brought consoles, VR, and many series.

But after a man slumbers in solitude for a great period, then he starts to question his meaning of life. So to find some meaning in my life, I decided to read some philosophical books about life being meaningless.

There I was, contemplating life. Then some people calling themselves ‘Heroes’ barged into my dungeon.

I was like, “Mind your own business, people.” But then I remembered life being meaningless, so…..I felt lazy fighting back. Not that I could have won even if I did fight back. And yeah, now I am here.

I know, I know, what a lame way to die.

Yes, that’s it. The fantastic tale of how I ended up here. Oh, here? So, I am currently inside ‘The World Serpent’s Belly.’ If you are wondering, how do I know that? Hmm, it’s because of this annoying screen following me.

〘Name: Rue〙〘X〙

〘Location: The World Serpent’s Belly〙

〘Task: Escape The Belly〙

O, is that a cross button. I didn’t notice before—finally, no need to see that cursed screen.

—-

Ah, feels great. Hmm, Why, you ask? If you still have not noticed, my body’s floating in the Serpent’s digestive fluids.

Sometimes, you gotta float in the fluids and relax like there’s no tomorrow. Although, if my frame gets digested, there really won’t be another tomorrow.

Swoosh!

Okay, okay, the fluids are behaving strangely now. It’s acting strangely. And I am getting drifted somewhere along the waves.

—-

And that’s the tale of how I got cast out to the surface by the fluids.

Now that I am on the surface, I realize the smoothness of the surface is something else. Considering it’s the internal muscles of a serpent, I expected it to be hard.

Okay, the main question. What now? What am I going to do? When I was a demon lord, I deluged myself, to the privileges of a free and heavenly life. And, now that I am stripped off that privilege……I feel well awful.

Give me back my Chuck Eye Steak!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, I was also addicted to food.

Wait! Can I even taste as a skeleton?! No!! This is hell.

Thump! Thump!

As I walked aimlessly, I heard a sound. The beating sound caught my attention. That’s a big-ass heart. The bulging red heart looked so delicate. Like one small strike would pop the veins and cause the blood to overflow. But that was none of my business. And I am a skeleton who minds his own business.

Or am I? Come to think of it. In many stories, things like these have happened. A random dude dying and getting reincarnated into something else. Then either the guy obtains OP skill or grinds up. From killing little monsters to slowly killing the godly monster.

Urgh, that sounds soo taxing. Just thinking about it makes me want to enter my bed and sleep. Then wake up, drink beer and sleep again.

Yep, I am leaving this place. I need my heavenly lifestyle back. Hmm, but how? The Serpent must-have, apart from which it lets out, right? Let’s see; the serpents are at least 24,500 miles long, so I would have to walk….hell no. But my source of information is some random book I read. It might be smaller, but what if it isn’t?

But what if it is? Wait, I see, I am trapped in a VR Game. That would make sense. This skeleton must be my avatar. Or not? I could have been really reincarnated as a skeleton in some world.

Hmmm, only one way to know. I looked at my hand, then the heart, then my hand, then the heart. I do have some pretty sharp fingers.

If I stab it, will it die? Considering it’s a World serpent, the chances are pretty low. And that’s one big heart, compared to my frame. It’s like a hill.

I am still surprised; my frame isn’t already shattered by the shock waves its heartbeat’s emitting.

Should I try? But what if it dies?

Suppose it vanishes and turns and some form of loot, then it’s a game. But there are games where the corpses do not disappear.

I have never killed anyone. But if it’s a game, then would it be considered killing? But what if it’s not?

Ohwdsifweiofjsdo.. too much thinking, not good. Let’s do it.

As I walked closer, I felt the intensity of its beat. My fingers looked pretty sharp.

Here goes nothing! With all my might, I stabbed it. My finger sunk into its heart. Frankly, wayyy too easily. Half of my arm entered inside. I no longer heard the beating sound.

Oh! It hurts, it hurts. I felt my hand being squeezed under intense pressure.

Wait a minute. How can I, a skeleton with no nerves, feel pain?!. Come to think of it; I also felt warmth during the earlier bath,

Ouch!Ouch! My arm! My arm!

Before my limb could get shattered, I pulled out at once. At first, little blood squinted out of the hole. Then…

Well, the hole torn even further. Then the blood poured out so intensely. My entire body got blown away with the blood.

There I was again drifting away, in the pool of blood. Not complaining tho, the blood was warm and relaxing.

The surface trembled and quivered for a while. I drifted here and there. Stumbling from one blood vessel to another. I felt pain, but surprisingly, I could endure it without much problem. And this body could really endure the pressure.

After a while, the trembling stopped, and the cursed screen returned.

〘You Have Slain <The World Serpent>〙

Really? That was all it took. It should be named “Weak Ass Serpent” instead of a cool title like <The World Serpent>

〘A Level Zero Accomplished An Unprecedented Feat〙

Well, all it took was one strike, then bam, it died

〘Calculating Rewards Gained〙

〘Indefinite EXP And Indefinite Stat Point Gained〙

〘Reward Breaks The Emplaced Laws〙

〘Reward Cannot be Implemented〙

〘Reward Annulled〙

…..If they were not going to give anything, then why even bother saying rewards gained.

Guess it’s okay, not like I crossed seven seas, killed thousands of monsters, and trained for eternity until finally being able to kill the Serpent.

〘Preparing Compensation Within the Limit〙

Ding!Ding!

〘Rank: ?????〙〘Skill: Pre-eminent Imperishable Bones〙〘Gained〙

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