I Became the Weakest Summon of the Genius Summoner

Chapter 1. Returning as a Skeleton

A pitch-black space where not even a sliver of light penetrates.

Curled up tightly like a bug on the street, I grit my teeth.

How much time has passed?

Just as I began to doubt whether I was truly alive, a faint sound from somewhere far beyond started to awaken me.

The sound grew closer and louder until it was clear.

...

Yet I couldn't understand it—it was genuinely the first time I heard that language.

The clear and pure voice was demanding something that felt slightly bothersome for someone like me, who was just getting accustomed to staying curled up.

Yet, regardless of my mind's reluctance, my body began to creak and straighten out from its curled position.

Creak—!

'What? My body?'

A distinctly unfamiliar body, missing many parts that should be there, clattered as it moved forward.

Since when...?

Had I always been in this body?

Fragments of jumbled memories were now shattered beyond reassembly.

How long had I walked like that?

I arrived at a massive door emitting a faint blue glow.

Instinctively, I knew that stepping through this door would take me to the 'outside world'.

Though one might deliberate at such an opportunity, I stepped forward without hesitation.

The seemingly heavy door opened at a peculiar speed, and in an instant, my body was sucked through.

* * *

'It's blinding...'

That was my first impression.

And it was quite puzzling because I vaguely understood the state my body was in.

'A skeleton finding something blinding...'

As I tilted my head in confusion, the clear voice that lifted me from the pitch-black space spoke again from behind me.

"Wow... Ah, hello?"

I turned around immediately. Naturally, I began by bowing deeply to her, as if I was supposed to.

I felt a curious sensation at the strange experience of my body moving on its own.

'Who is this girl? She seems familiar...'

Her face was mostly obscured by flowing bangs, but she exuded a sense of familiarity.

The girl, seemingly not yet 20, had short black hair as dark as the space I had been in.

Her eyes, wide and shining like starlight, sparkled even through the obscuring bangs.

She was dressed in faded black three-stripe tracksuit bottoms and a worn-out white T-shirt.

Holding a pillow tightly, she stood five steps away, looking me up and down.

'I have no idea what's happening here...'

However, it didn't take long to collect my scattered thoughts. Was this another change that came with becoming a skeleton?

In that fleeting moment, I pondered what I needed to do. The girl in front of me had greeted me, and I needed to respond.

'Though I instinctively bowed earlier, I should formally return the greeting.'

Having decided, I attempted to converse with the tentative girl with short hair.

"Click, click, click!"

...

A moment of silence passed between us, and she, interpreting this as a friendly signal, peeked over her pillow, approaching slowly.

"Wow... I never thought it would actually work... Of course, it had to because it's my power. But still... it's amazing!"

Her cheeks flushed as she lowered the pillow while approaching me, and in the tight rectangular room, her distance from me markedly shortened with just a few steps.

Then, she began circling around me clockwise, chattering excitedly.

"I thought a little one would come for the first summoning, but something huge appeared instead! You must be over 180 cm tall?"

"A skeleton soldier... How reassuring! It's like having a soldier uncle protecting me. Hee hee."

"Do I just issue commands to you? I don't need to chant a spell like when I summon you, right? Since there's no information, I guess I'll have to learn as I go."

Suddenly, she stopped circling and stood in front of me, gazing intently with a serious expression. Her whirlwind demeanor had paused, allowing me to see her eyes clearly.

It was then that I recognized why she seemed familiar.

'First summoning... skeleton soldier... and violet eyes...'

Even with just a few keywords, seeing her face allowed me to quickly reach a conclusion.

'Summoner Lee Yeon-hee...'

The genius who reached A-rank in just two years.

The unique class of Summoner.

And a tragic hunter who met her brutal end while stopping a sudden dungeon break.

Seeing her, some fragmented memories began to fall into place.

'Yes, although that's how it became known... it was intentional, wasn't it?'

His twisted, revolting face, mercilessly grinning as he drove a dagger into my eye, still haunted my mind.

He had pushed her to her doom and took my life as well...

'Cho Giman...'

Trembling-

For a moment, fury boiled within, but remarkably, I found calm quickly.

'Much calmer than in my previous life. Is it because I lack a brain?'

Lost in contemplation, I observed her, the woman who had tragically died in front of me, deeply pondering something.

'Didn't recognize her immediately due to her unscarred face, but it's definitely Lee Yeon-hee...'

Even though my mind still wasn't completely organized, one thing was sure—I had returned to the past and become her first summon.

A fellow guild member and savior of my life...

"Oh! How about clacky? It's easy to call!"

'... Was she thinking of a name for me all this time?'

I thought I knew everything about her, but it turned out her naming sense was questionable.

I shook my head firmly.

"Eh?! Was that a sign you don't like it?"

'Is that really something to be so surprised about...'

In any case, 'Clacky' was a name I couldn't accept, even with my patience. It might be the name I'd carry for my entire existence, after all.

'Clacky', how absurd...

"Eek... I've never named anyone before."

Watching her groan in thought, it seemed resolving it wouldn't happen soon, so I decided I had to intervene.

"Click, click, click-"

"Hmm?"

She tilted her head at the sound of my clicking teeth, but then followed the direction I turned to.

"The calendar?"

Amazingly, she picked up on my intent and walked towards the calendar.

Meanwhile, I inexplicably found myself unable to move at all.

'Why can't I move?'

My foot felt glued to the ground as if a magnet's opposite pole was pressed against it.

Noticing my struggle, she might have realized.

"Oh! Walk over here!"

As soon as she commanded, my foot lifted from the ground.

Clatter, clack, clack-

The sound of my skeletal feet touching the floor echoed through the cramped studio apartment.

In a few steps, I stood beside her, gazing at the calendar.

'January 2020...'

I nodded slightly, pointing to a spot with my finger bone.

"... Il?"

"Click, click, click-"

Then I pointed to the next character.

"Wol?"

"Click, click, click-"

"Ilwol... Is that the name you want?"

I nodded.

It was a name hastily inspired by the calendar, but even so, it sounded far better than 'Clacky'.

She gaped for a moment, unable to close her mouth.

"No one would know a summoned creature could be so intelligent! Could it be sharing language ability with the summoner?"

Of course, that wasn't it, but as it was her first summon, I suppose everything seemed novel and shocking.

'... she'll find out when she summons the second one, so I'll leave it be.'

"Ilwol... It's a pretty and poignant name. A monster that names better than me, huh."

Feigning disappointment briefly, her eyes soon curved into crescents, and she spoke to me.

"Ilwol. Your name is Ilwol now! Nice to meet you!"

When she cheerily said my name, a familiar message emerged in my mind like a hologram.

=====

【Skeleton Soldier Ilwol - Lv.1】

Strength: 3
Agility: 2
Stamina: 3
Intelligence: 24
Magic Power: 6
Resistance: 0
Sense: 15
Recovery: 1

Traits: Calm, Protector, Kleptomancy, 99 Lives

Skills: Heavy Strike, Stealth

Equipment: Worn-out Wooden Club

=====

'Looking at these stats, they're tragic... Is it possible for agility to be as low as 2? At least it's a relief that my human intelligence and senses were retained...'

TL's Corner:
Looks interesting...
From the first chapter, we know that MC is a regressor but instead of regressing into his previous body, he instead became a skeleton.
Also, his summoner is Lee Yeon-hee.
Lastly, they got betrayed by Cho Giman.

P.S.

Fun Fact: Clacky was pointing at the characters for Sun(Il) and Moon(Wol). Hence the name Ilwol.