The Prince Who Absorbs Abilities With a ‘Click’

Chapter 6: The 8th Prince heard shocking news

The deafening sound that seemed to tear at his ears echoed throughout the dungeon.

At that sound, Jade was filled with fear.

“W-what did I just see…?”

The monster in front of him was definitely a skeleton.

No, he thought it was a skeleton.

But then, a flash of light appeared from its hand, and Derrick died.

Shiver— shiver—

His whole body began to tremble uncontrollably.

His body was tense to the point where his heartbeat was clearly audible.

Jade gripped his sword with trembling hands, but it quickly slipped away from his grasp.

He had already lost the will to fight.

He hadn’t anticipated this kind of variable.

After all, he was the seventh prince.

He had some experience with dungeon raids, but that was only as the seventh prince, never leading the charge to kill monsters himself.

Of course, Jade was capable enough to release aura, but most of the work had always been done by the soldiers or Derrick, his bodyguard.

A situation like this, where Derrick had died, was something he had never expected.

Could this all be a dream?

Jade slowly walked forward.

Bang— bang—

Once again, the deafening sounds struck his ears.

“Ugh!”

With a flash of light, a soldier behind him groaned and collapsed.

The soldiers began to realize that something was terribly wrong.

“R-run away!”

They started to turn their backs and run, abandoning the seventh prince.

Bang—

But their escape speed was slower than the monster’s attacks.

Whether the soldiers fell or not, Jade continued to walk forward.

Before long, he was close enough to see the enemy.

He could see an unfamiliar object in the bony hand.

It was probably a weapon.

Maybe it was a magical staff.

Wasn’t that what Derrick had said before he died?

That it wasn’t just an ordinary skeleton, but a lich?

And the enemy’s attacks seemed to be magical.

Jade mumbled in a daze as he continued moving forward.

“I-I don’t want to die…”

He had been born a prince, living a comfortable life.

Wearing luxurious clothes, eating healthy food, and having women to play with whenever he wanted, he lived the life of a prince.

But wasn’t this situation far too unreal?

Bang—

With another deafening sound, yet another life was extinguished.

“Yeah… this is a dream.”

He was already on the verge of losing his mind.

“It can’t be real. It’s a dream. Yeah, it must be a dream…!”

Jade’s lifeless eyes turned to Derrick, who lay on the ground.

He had to wake Derrick up right now.

Wake him up and go back to the palace together.

Bang— bang— bang—

With each repeated sound, the soldiers collapsed to the ground, groaning.

And then…

Bang—!

The next sound pierced Jade’s right leg.

“Ugh…”

The sharp pain caused Jade to collapse without even screaming.

He couldn’t stand up.

“A-agh… it hurts… it hurts!”

For the first time in his life, Jade screamed in pain.

“Why… why can’t I wake up from this dream?”

Instead of standing, Jade crawled along the ground using his hands.

Had the seventh prince waited like a dog? Has he ever thought about it?

But at that moment, he couldn’t afford to think that far.

Bang— bang—

With each strike, the sounds that echoed through the dungeon took more and more lives.

Still, Jade continued to crawl.

After some time, his hand reached Derrick’s body.

Finally!

Now, he could wake Derrick up and leave this place!

“P-please wake up… It’s an order.”

Jade shook Derrick’s body but Derrick didn’t budge.

Instead, his red blood stained Jade’s hand.

“Eek!”

That was when he realized.

This wasn’t a dream. It was reality.

And the one who had created this situation was none other than Jade himself.

He remembered Derrick’s suggestion to request backup before entering the dungeon.

Blinded by greed, Jade had ignored Derrick’s advice and pressed forward.

This was a disaster brought on by his own greed.

The skeleton…no, the thing Derrick had called a lich, was slowly approaching.

“You, you monster. Don’t come near me!”

Jade’s voice erupted in a scream.

With every step the monster took, his heart felt like it was about to explode.

His lips trembled uncontrollably but there was no way to escape.

He was on the ground and his leg was injured.

The monster, now right in front of him, placed its bony hand on Jade’s head.

The rest was obvious.

A flash of flame would light up, followed by a deafening sound echoing through the dungeon.

And then?

Jade’s 19 years of life would come to an empty end.

Tears flowed down Jade’s cheeks.

“You bastard! I am the seventh prince—”

Bang—

With a deafening noise, the seventh prince’s world went dark.

“The lesson will end here, Your Highness.”

With the teacher’s farewell, what had felt like a long class finally came to an end.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

I stood up from the desk and bowed.

‘Finally, it’s over!’

Normally, this would just have been a boring class, but today, it had been the worst class—boring and dragging on.

My mind was filled with thoughts of playing on my smartphone, so I couldn’t even focus on what was being taught.

I quickly went outside and called for the maid.

“Lynette, let’s go.”

“……”

Hmm?

Even though I called her, Lynette was standing there in a daze.

“Lynette? What are you doing?”

I called her name again, and only then did she react.

“Ah… ah! I-I’m sorry, Your Highness.”

Lynette’s behavior was strange.

Not only did she respond late to my words, but her face was flushed red.

‘Could she be sick?’

Worried, I placed my hand on her forehead.

“Eek! P-Prince…?”

Lynette made a strange sound, but I didn’t pay much attention to it.

What was important now was checking her body temperature.

‘Hmm, it doesn’t seem like she has a high fever.’

She felt slightly warmer than usual, but it wasn’t so bad that she needed immediate medical attention.

So why was her face so red?

As I kept my hand there, Lynette closed her eyes.

“Prince Kain…”

What was this?

Now she was even calling my name.

‘I think her condition is serious.’

Though she didn’t have a fever, something must have been wrong.

“I’ll go to the room alone, Lynette, you should rest.”

If it had been another older brother or sister, they would have scolded the maid immediately.

But who am I?

In my past life, I lived in a society where everyone was equal.

I’m not a cruel prince who can’t understand when someone below him is sick.

“Excuse me?”

Lynette asked again, as if she had misheard.

‘Did she get moved by my saying to rest?’

I mean, where else would you find a kind prince like me?

Even if you count the royal families of other kingdoms, there is no prince kinder than me.

I slowly repeated to the flustered Lynette.

“I’m going to go alone, so you rest. If anyone complains about it, bring them to me.”

But don’t really bring them.

I’m just going to play games when I get to my room.

“Oh, I’ll be eating dinner in my room, so just let them know about that before you go to rest.”

The class just ended, and it was my last task of the day.

Today was the day I got my smartphone, and I was planning to play games until bedtime.

“Ah…”

Lynette had an inexplicable look of regret on her face, but I didn’t have time to care about that.

“Well, I’m going now! Take care of yourself!”

Saying that, I ran to my room.

I didn’t just run; I put my hand in my pocket and turned on the smartphone while running.

In just a few minutes, I was back at the 8th Prince’s palace.

As soon as I closed the door, I jumped onto my bed.

“Time for games again!”

No, actually, games were just a secondary element to me.

“It’s time to earn points!”

And, more than anything, I was curious if the survivor I raised and the dungeon were doing well.

“Alarm?”

Several alarms appeared on the top bar of my smartphone.

I checked them one by one to see what they were.

[An unexpected event has occurred.]

[‘Skeleton’ has killed the dungeon master ‘Kapira’.]

“…?”

The first alarm was shocking.

“What is this…?”

Kapira was a B-rank monster incubus.

Naturally, he was the highest-ranked monster I had chosen, and I had appointed him as the dungeon master.

But why did a Skeleton kill him?

Even worse, Skeleton is an F-rank monster, right?

[There is no dungeon master.]

[‘Skeleton’ is automatically appointed as the new dungeon master.]

[Dungeon Master: Skeleton (F)]

“Ha…”

When I got back after class, the dungeon master had changed.

“Is this real?”

No matter how I looked at it, this was absurd.

An F-rank monster as the dungeon master?

I’m done for.

I spent 1000 gold on the premium summon, and Kapira, who came from it, had died.

And not even a fragment of data remained.

“…”

I immediately checked if there were other alarms.

[The dungeon master ‘Skeleton’ offers the ‘Corpse of Kapira’ as a tribute.]

[‘Master’ randomly absorbed one of Kapira’s abilities.]

[Absorbed Trait: ‘Irresistible Charm (B)’]

The next alarm was about Skeleton offering the corpse of Kapira, which he killed, as a tribute.

‘Could this be some kind of complaint about me?’

Was this a silent protest asking why I didn’t appoint him as the dungeon master and instead chose an incubus?

Either way, Kapira, who I spent 1000 gold to obtain, had become a tribute and left something behind for me.

‘Irresistible Charm?’

It’s a B-rank trait.

But what do I use this for?

The “Master” here refers to me.

And it said that I absorbed the trait of “charm.”

But where can I check this?

“Hmm…Could this be like the handgun?”

The handgun that Kang Ha-Yoon offered was something I didn’t know where it was at first. Naturally, I thought it was a bug since I couldn’t see it, but I had used it in another game.

Maybe this trait is the same?

“Well, forget that, let’s check the rest of the alarms.”

The alarms kept coming.

[An intruder has entered the dungeon!]

[Dungeon Master ‘Skeleton’ has defeated the intruders!]

[Congratulations! You successfully defended the dungeon.]

[As a reward, a ‘Monster Evolution Scroll’ has been granted.]

I had obtained an evolution scroll while defending the dungeon from intruders.

The important part wasn’t that.

[The dungeon’s infamy has slightly increased.]

[You have earned 500 points as a reward!]

‘500 points?!’

Wait, this Skeleton guy is amazing, isn’t he?

I thought he was rebelling against me when he killed the dungeon master and offered a tribute to me.

But look at this.

The Skeleton not only ascended to the throne of the dungeon but also successfully repelled the intruders.

“Crazy.”

An F-rank monster rising to the throne on its own.

It turns out this game has an incredible system, doesn’t it?

For a monster with this much ability, who cares about its rank?

“Yeah, our Skeleton. Do whatever you want.”

They say a weak dungeon master?

Then just summon stronger minions!

It’s no big deal since he’s bringing me points like this.

Thanks to him, the 500 points he brought made my total 616 points.

Excited, I opened the game ‘Dungeon Master’ to check Skeleton’s face.

I kept tapping the screen, and the dungeon’s view appeared.

“Where’s our Skeleton?”

I hummed a tune and zoomed in to find the monsters.

“Hmm?”

The first monsters that caught my eye were three Orcs and Goblins.

They were eating the corpses on the ground.

The Orc was devouring an entire person, and the Goblins were eating their intestines.

Apparently, there had been several intruders.

“Not holding back.”

The realism in this game was incredible.

They even implemented monsters eating the corpses of intruders.

I moved the screen with my finger, leaving the corpse-eating monsters behind.

At the end of the dungeon, Skeleton appeared.

In his hand, there was a familiar object.

“It’s a gun?”

The handgun Kang Ha-Yoon had given me was now in the Skeleton’s hand.

“Wait, did he shoot the gun himself?”

How did he use it without anyone telling him?

I guess Kapira must have been shot by the gun and lost his life.

“This is amazing.”

If he figured out how to use a gun on his own, he must be a genius.

“I’ve definitely decided on you.”

Just like with Kang Ha-Yoon, this is how monsters should be raised.

I should probably use the Monster Evolution Scroll on him, right?

At that moment, a new alarm sounded.

[Hearing of the dungeon’s infamy, a ‘Black Market Merchant’ is planning to visit the dungeon.]

[The Black Market Merchant sells items and weapons needed for dungeon management. Items can be purchased with gold if needed.]

“Oh, so this is how you run a dungeon?”

Now it really felt like I was playing the game.

By the way, if I’m buying items from the Black Market Merchant, I’ll need gold, right?

“Looks like they want me to spend money.”

But who am I? The 8th Prince.

I still have plenty of money given to me by my older brother.

Maybe I’ll charge some gold?

Just as I was about to take out the gold from my wallet.

“Your Highness!”

Lynette rushed in and called me.

She knocked furiously on the door, as if something urgent had happened.

“This is…”

I was just about to relax and play games, but I quickly hid my smartphone under the blanket.

“Come in.”

What could be so urgent that Lynette, who was supposed to be sick, came running all the way here?

I thought I’d just listen to her and send her back, but the news she brought was shocking.

“The 7th Prince, His Highness Jade, has been involved in an accident.”

“…?”

It was the news that my older brother, the 7th Prince Jade, had died.