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Solo Leveling Chapter 86-90

Solo leveling Ch 86-90

Chapter 86

 

A distance not too far, but not too close, either.

Just a little push from his legs and he was instantly far above the ground; when he landed back on the solid earth, the wide back of a High Orc dominated Jin-Woo’s view.

While landing on his feet, he began thinking.

‘Dismantling these High Orcs would be too easy at this rate.’

But, if he did that, there was no meaning in hiding himself with Stealth. Hunters around him, including Sohn Ki-Hoon, were the elites of the Hunters Guild, often referred to as the best in South Korea.

If these High Orcs were ripped apart by some unseen force, then they would pretty soon figure out that ‘Stealth’ skill was involved here, as they weren’t the same as the scatter-brained female Healer.

‘Well, it’s not like there’ll be trouble from getting discovered, but….’

He was only a day away from the result of his reassignment test being made public, so he didn’t want to raise any unnecessary fuss today if he could help it.

That was why he was waiting for the raid to fail completely, but…. But, the losses to the Hunters would be far too severe by then.

For example, that female Healer almost got killed just now.

That was why….

A certain light flickered in Jin-Woo’s eyes.

‘So, choose only those that won’t get me noticed.’

He decided to go with this type of method. It took him the whole of one, maybe two seconds, to come to this decision.

Right away, both the ‘Baruka’s Dagger’ and the ‘Knight Killer’ were already in his hands, summoned out of sheer reflex, even before he could consciously order them to do so.

‘When did they come out?’

A smirk formed on his lips. With the sensation of gripping tight these two familiar dagger handles, his wildly-pounding heart slowly regained its calmness.

What a relief it was….

….That no one could see his expression right now, as he was still in the ‘Stealth’ state. Well, he didn’t want to be labelled as a lunatic for smiling all alone in the midst of a desperate battlefield where humans and High Orcs were performing a blood-soaked dance with each other.

Especially so with the leader of the raid team, too busy sweating buckets while being surrounded by three High orcs – he’d go mental if he saw Jin-Woo right now.

‘First of all, that one.’

Jin-Woo moved. He crouched, and the reverse-gripped dagger drew a line on the Achilles’ heel of a High Orc.

“Kuwahhack?!”

The High Orc Warrior roared out in pain as the back of its ankle was sliced open without a warning.

That was only the beginning.

As if he was dancing, his smooth, unbroken movements led him to stab the ‘Baruka’s Dagger’ into the side of his first victim; he then pulled the dagger out and proceeded to cut open the back of the knee of another High Orc.

“Keururuk!!”

“Keuhark?!”

Perhaps it was impossible to suppress the pain with the adrenaline of the battle, the High Orcs froze up when they were attacked in their weak points when least expected.

That was enough.

Just like how the opening of the sluice gate caused a flood, Sohn Ki-Hoon seized upon the opening created by the High Orcs’ fluster to start his counteroffensive.

Stab!!

“Keuru…. Kururuk….”

“Pant, pant…..”

Sohn Ki-Hoon raised his head. The long sword held out in his hands was piercing through the heart of the High Orc.

“Kuruk….”

The glaring High Orc and its trembling lips soon collapsed on its back, the whites of its eyes showing.

Thud.

Sohn Ki-Hoon clenched his fist.

‘Yes! I can do this!’

Just as Sohn Ki-Hoon was crying out inwardly in elation while still cutting down the surrounding High Orcs one by one, Jin-Woo was making himself busy by going here and there.

“Kuwahhaack?!”

“Keueueuk!”

Inside the slowed-down time, he moved about freely while avoiding being noticed, and he gradually tilted the balance towards the Hunters’ favour.

Slice!

Whenever Jin-Woo brushed past, wounds large and small appeared on the bodies of the High Orcs.

“Keuhruruk?!”

“Khuwack??”

The moment these High Orcs froze up from wounds being inflicted on them out of nowhere and lost their focus, that would be their end.

These highest-ranked Hunters didn’t fail to grasp the opportunity and continued to attack.

‘For some reason… It’s easier to fight now.’

‘What’s going on?’

‘Could we be winning against this many High Orcs without a casualty?’

Even though members of the raid team were growing rather suspicious, hope and excitement were filling up their hearts at the same time.

They were resolved to lose one or two of their own before they had entered the battle, but exceeding their own expectations, they were fighting quite well until now.

Pow!!

A mace swung by one of the Hunters cracked open the head of a High Orc Warrior. It was then, Jin-Woo got to hear a rather welcoming message.

[Level up!]

‘Oh.’

Indeed, there was a reward for him going around and spending his energy. His level had actually gone up.

It seemed that him not actually killing the enemy outright or wounding them critically still netted him some experience points.

‘And I did kill two of them with my own hands, too.’

He then ‘aided’ in killing more than 13.

Unless he was earning no experience points whatsoever, his level rising up did make sense. Even more excited than before, Jin-Woo’s movement became a lot faster than before.

Slice!

Stab!

“Kuwaaaahck?!”

Thanks to Jin-Woo’s timely and sneaky manoeuvres, this battle was rapidly coming to a close.

‘Fuu-!’

Jin-Woo took a step back and stored his two daggers in his Inventory, before having a quick look around himself.

‘Well, with this much….’

The current situation seemed to be more or less settled now. And as an added bonus, he even levelled up once, too.

Jin-Woo’s gaze drifted lower. Around twenty or so corpses of High Orcs were discarded haphazardly on the ground.

‘Well, if I hunted these down by myself, I’d have gone up more than a single level, though.’

Too bad, this here was a dungeon that the Hunters Guild paid a handsome sum for the exclusive right to hunt. This would have to be as far as he could go.

‘Good.’

With a satisfied expression on his face, Jin-Woo returned to the dark corner of the dungeon, a place where a porter such as himself should be hiding in the first place.

“Krooooar!!”

Having their positions reversed, and now being surrounded by the Hunters instead, the last High Orc Warrior cried out at the top of its lungs. Its scream rang around the interior of the cave rather noisily.

While looking at the fall of that High Orc, Jin-Woo undid his Stealth.

Shururu.

Meanwhile, Hunters were panting heavily. They hurriedly scanned the vicinity, but no matter how hard they looked, there were no more High Orcs standing.

“Did we… did we win?!”

“We won?!”

“Hold on.”

Just before everyone could revel in the sensation of victory, their leader Sohn Ki-Hoon confirmed the status of the injured first.

“Anyone hurt? Does anyone need healing?”

The truth was, there wouldn’t be that many injured in a raid team with a high-ranking Healer as one of the members. As long as that person was still breathing, any exterior wounds could be treated right away.

So, Sohn Ki-Hoon wasn’t asking about the conditions of the potential injured. No, he was actually asking if anyone had died in a roundabout way.

When his gaze met the female Healer’s, she shook her head. There were a few injured, but no deceased. And better yet, she had finished healing all of the injured just now.

“In that case…..”

With that, ecstasy filled the faces of the members of the raid team.

“We won!!”

“We did it!!”

“Waaaaah!!”

Hunters hugged each other and celebrated. Jin-Woo crossed his arms and with a gentle smile on his face, watched the jubilant Hunters.

‘Were these high Orcs supposed to be tough, though?’

From his perspective, well….

Since he didn’t have any prior experience in raiding high-ranking dungeons, Jin-Woo couldn’t really ‘get’ this loud celebration of the raid team.

Jin-Woo had no idea….

….That, when planning the raid of a dungeon ranked A or B, Hunters not only took into consideration of its ranking, but they even minutely calculated the emitted magic energy before attempting to clear it.

High Orcs were considered to be a higher tier monster within the rank A dungeons. Not only were they not ‘normal’ High Orcs but High Orc warriors instead, and there were 20 of them to boot….

The current result was far closer to being a miracle than anything else, really.

The main protagonist of that miracle, Jin-Woo, didn’t even know the actual worth of his own actions and simply stood there, quietly congratulating the victory of the raid team.

‘…Mm?’

In the midst of that, the female Healer approached Sohn Ki-Hoon with a determined face. That was a look of someone wishing to say something important. Jin-Woo focused his hearing in that direction.

“Excuse me, Ki-Hoon oppa?”

“Yeah?”

“When you were fighting against the High Orcs….”

The female Healer cautiously described what she saw in minute detail.

And that would be – the High Orc suddenly floated up in the air, and proceeded to rip its own head off before killing another Orc with its severed head.

She carried a dead-serious face, too.

“…….”

Sohn Ki-Hoon was left utterly speechless.

“I’m telling you the truth!!”

As the female Healer and her reddened face protested the injustice of it all, Jin-Woo could barely suppress his giggles.

They basked in the aftermaths of victory for only a little bit longer. The Hunters soon gathered around their leader Sohn Ki-Hoon one by one.

“Captain, will we continue on?”

“Isn’t this going to be too dangerous? We aren’t even that far from the entrance, yet we ran into a whole bunch of High Orcs already.”

“How about a strategic retreat?”

Sohn Ki-Hoon cast his gaze over to the deeper part of the cave, his mouth closed tight.

‘It won’t be easy.’

Jin-Woo could sympathise with Sohn Ki-Hoon a little bit here.

While working for the Hunters Guild that boasted two rank S Hunters in its ranks, today’s raid might be the one and only time Sohn Ki-Hoon would get to lead a raid team.

And to think, he’d have to retreat so quickly in his very first hunt as a leader….

‘Anyone in his shoes would be tempted to push forward and clear this place.’

However, if you were a smart, wise leader, then….

As if he had made his mind up, Sohn Ki-Hoon’s lips quivered slightly. Jin-Woo’s eyes narrowed to a slit.

Fortunately, as it turned out, Sohn Ki-Hoon wasn’t a fool.

“For the time being, let’s retreat.”

The leader’s choice was absolute inside the dungeon. The unspoken rule said that as long as one was a part of the raid team, one had to absolutely follow the commands of the leader.

One used to say that, before in war, insubordinate soldiers were executed right away, didn’t they?

In a certain way, dungeons were a far more dangerous place than any warzone out there. And so, the question of the team’s survival or annihilation depended on who the leader was. Thankfully, Sohn Ki-Hoon didn’t disappoint his team members.

After hearing his order to retreat, everyone lightly patted their chest.

“Whew-woo….”

“I was really worried that Sohn hyung would insist on going till the end, you know.”

Sohn Ki-Hoon grinned and slapped the person who said that on the shoulder.

“I’m not a blind idiot like that.”

“I know that. But, look here, hyung. Look at my shaking hands.”

Jin-Woo picked up the luggage and placed it on his back.

Along with Sohn Ki-Hoon’s orders, the raid team began moving again, although their direction had reversed.

Jin-Woo smiled wryly.

‘And here I am, hoping to go in a little bit deeper.’

Regardless of what happened, he was nothing more than a guest.

And as a guest, he had no right to run his mouth on this and that about the decision of the house owner, now did he?

It was indeed a bit regretful, but it’d have to end here today.

“Argh…..”

The female Healer must’ve found the leader not believing her word a bit cold-hearted, because she continued to grumble as she got right next to Jin-Woo.

“But, it really happened, though….”

With a big pout on her face, she then stared at Jin-Woo, a single strand of hope still persisting in her heart.

“Excuse me, by any chance, did you see that High….”

“I didn’t see anything.”

“Hiinng…..”

Her hope had been cruelly shot down just then.

Jin-Woo had to work very hard to make sure that she didn’t notice him sniggering to himself.

However, not long after they began retreating…

The front of the group suddenly came to a halt.

Sohn Ki-Hoon raised his right hand.

“E-everyone, stop!”

There was confusion evident in his voice.

The fatigued Hunters walking cautiously forward came to a stop, and so did Jin-Woo as well; he had been keeping an eye towards the rear in case the monsters decided to chase after them.

Rustle, rustle….

The voices of the Hunters rose up higher.

“What the hell is the meaning of this?!”

“What is going on!”

“Why is the path blocked?! Wasn’t it fine when we entered earlier?”

Jin-Woo walked past the noisy Hunters and got to the front, before reaching out with his hand. And his eyes widened as well.

‘It’s… been blocked off?’

The path had been blocked off by an invisible barrier.

He immediately recalled the instant dungeons. More specifically, the wall that demarcated the border between the instant dungeon and reality. But, he soon shook his head.

‘No, this is different from that.’

He could detect a certain sense of ‘artificiality’ from this invisible wall. Seeing that there was a trace of magic energy mixed in, this barrier must’ve been the result of a magic spell cast by a monster with high intelligence.

‘But, why?’

Why block the path going out, and not going in?

It was then – Jin-Woo’s head swivelled to his rear.

‘…….?’

As if it was waiting for this moment, horrendously powerful magic energy waves crashed into the group like a tsunami from the far end of the cavern.

‘How could this be….?’

This was from the boss of this dungeon?

The scale of the magic energy emission inside the dungeon was on another realm altogether compared to the one felt outside the Gate.

Other Hunters also must’ve sensed that absurd amount of magic energy by now, because they began shivering as well.

“W-what the hell??”

“Why am I getting goosebumps, all of a sudden?!”

Watching the complexions of the Hunters get paler by the second, Jin-Woo came up with a theory.

‘If, let’s say that there is a boss that can hide its presence, then….’

The wall that wasn’t there when they entered. And the boss that bared its fangs only after the barrier had been erected.

‘No way…. Did it lay a trap and wait for Hunters to enter the dungeon?’

When thinking like that, a chill ran down Jin-Woo’s back.

And sure enough….

Chapter 87

 

What happened next was a bit of a strange phenomenon.

As the footsteps from the other side of the cavern grew louder and closer, the Hunters were making less and less sound.

“Sohn hyung….”

“….”

Soon, choking silence enveloped the group.

Jin-Woo’s ears were perked up, though – seizing upon the opening created by his surroundings getting quieter, Jin-Woo began counting the numbers of the enemies via their footsteps.

Step, step.

Thud, thud.

Thanks to his already-enhanced hearing, as well as high Perception Stat, he could separate out each of the footsteps to their original owners.

‘….48, 49, 50, 51.’

There were a total of 51 different footsteps. The steps themselves sounded the same as those of the High Orc warriors.

Jin-Woo took a look around him.

‘…….’

The nervous tension was clearly writ large on the faces of the Hunters. It seemed to him that they also had more or less figured out the size of the enemy from the resounding footsteps.

This raid team managed to eke out a victory against 22 High Orc warriors. But now, 51 of them were coming. That was over twice as many.

‘….There is no hope of victory here.’

The raid team members were thinking of roughly the same opinion.

Jin-Woo suddenly cast his glance down at his shadow. He momentarily thought that it was wavering ever so slightly just then.

Wuuuuu….

He even thought that his shadow soldiers were howling out, their desire to see blood intensifying. Jin-Woo raised his head back up again.

Thump, thump, thump!

His calm heart that stayed still until now began pounding harder.

‘Wait for it….’

….Now wasn’t the right time yet.

Consoling himself as thus, Jin-Woo silently observed the front.

Eventually, the monsters revealed themselves. The countless marching High Orcs came to a halt just a little bit of distance away from the Hunters.

“Kurururu.”

“Kuruk.”

High Orcs growled as if they’d pounce at any given moment. No words could adequately describe the bloodthirsty aura emitted from over 50 High Orc warriors. The result of a battle was pretty obvious even without actually fighting them.

“This is crazy.”

“How can this nonsensical crap be….”

“Euh….”

Hunters spat out long groans. They continued to retreat ever so slightly after feeling the enormous pressure, but too bad, their path was still blocked off.

So, what would they do now?

The Hunters were all ready for battle from a while ago, but no one stepped forward yet and simply waited for Sohn Ki-Hoon’s instructions.

Sohn Ki-Hoon’s lips were shut tight in a straight line.

‘God d*mn it….’

If only either Chairman Choi Jong-In or Hunter Cha Hae-In were here….

Sohn Ki-Hoon’s expression crumpled unsightly.

Rank S Hunters all possessed incredible powers that could overturn any unfavourable situation. If either one of those two were here, these High Orcs would’ve been nothing at all.

‘Just why, in a situation like this….’

Why weren’t they here?

Sohn Ki-Hoon had fought alongside them all the time, so he could acutely sense his powerlessness right about now. The absence of a single rank S was a bone-chillingly painful thing, indeed.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t continue to lament his misfortune forever. No, he had to make a decision here.

‘Fighting here will definitely result in our death.’

However, with their path of retreat blocked off, he no longer had any choice in the matter.

The day he chose to become a Hunter, the day he stepped foot inside a dungeon for the first time ever, and the day he lost consciousness for the first time after getting heavily injured….

Didn’t he already guess that a day like today would come sooner or later?

‘Right. That did happen, didn’t it?’

Having resolved himself to meet his maker, Sohn Ki-Hoon unsheathed his longsword.

Shurururng….

Sohn Ki-Hoon took a look at his comrades, and the Hunters nodded their heads as if they had been waiting for the signal. Sohn Ki-Hoon’s gaze shifted back to his front.

He then brought the shield right up till his chin and glared at the High Orcs, still not showing any signs of movements yet.

‘So, did he finally make his choice, then?’

Jin-Woo also got ready. He hid his right hand behind his back, and the ‘Baruka’s Dagger’ appeared there. He then closed his eyes.

His wildly beating heart suddenly settled down completely as the battle drew near.

Thump, thump, thump….

Get rid of distracting thoughts, and control his breathing.

‘…..Okay.’

When Jin-Woo reopened his eyes, a sharp gleaming light was now burning fiercely within them.

Gulp.

Hunters forcibly swallowed down their dried saliva; cold sweat soaked their foreheads. On the other hand, Jin-Woo was busy smacking his lips.

‘How much experience points will these guys give me?’

A thin smile of anticipation spread on his lips.

However, before anything could happen….

….One of the High Orcs stepped forward.

It roughly shoved aside other Orcs and emerged from the group, its wild beast-like eyes looking in the direction of the Hunters.

“Growl….”

This one possessed a far bigger physique than the others, and its fangs were noticeably longer as well.

‘So, is that the leader?’

Jin-Woo narrowed his eyes.

If he got rid of that guy now, wouldn’t the fight become so much easier?

What should he do here, then?

Jin-Woo fiddled with the grip of the ‘Baruka’s Dagger’ and pondered; meanwhile, that High Orc opened its mouth.

“Kurerack tu sheena, wekudo araknaka.”

The creature’s voice sure sounded loud. The glare of the High Orc was fixed to the leader of the raid team, Sohn Ki-Hoon.

“Kurerack tu sheena, wekudo araknaka!!”

Rustle, rustle….

Hunters’ gazes busily darted about.

“What the hell?”

“Is that thing trying to talk to us?”

“What is it saying?”

It was then.

The facial muscles of the High Orc began trembling. When that strange tremor subsided, a completely different voice from before came out from the monster’s mouth.

“Humans…..”

It was as if something else had borrowed the monster’s mouth to speak.

“Oh, humans….”

When looking at closer, that normal-looking Orc’s eyes were now unfocused and blurry like those of a dead fish that died a long time ago.

“Heok!”

Hunters began freaking out as if the back of their heads were smacked out of nowhere.

An Orc just spoke a language of humans!

‘How can an Orc speak Korean?!’

‘Is this magic? Could it be??’

Hunters couldn’t keep their mouths shut at this utterly unexpected situation. The ‘leader’ High Orc continued to speak.

“I am…. Karugalgan….. I…. want…. to…. meet…. humans…. Follow… this…. one.”

A monster wished to speak to humans?

There never had been any reports of such a case before.

Facing this unprecedented event, not only Sohn Ki-Hoon but everyone in the raid team fell into a state of pure confusion.

“Ki-Hoon hyung, I hope you ain’t listening to the words of a monster.”

“Please, you gotta ignore it.”

“Ki-Hoon-ah, it’s a trap. Regardless what happens, we gotta try to finish it here.”

“But, still. If it’s an Orc we can talk to, maybe we can….”

“Don’t be an idiot. You’ve been inside so many dungeons already, so don’t you know how they operate by now?”

In less than a second, their opinions had split up.

Sohn Ki-Hoon maintained his silence for a while, before answering the monster’s words.

“….Karugalgan. Did you block the cavern?”

“That’s right….. I am…. the proud…. High Shaman…. of the Orcs…. My spells…. can’t be…. broken…. by the strength of…. humans.”

“Is there anyone stronger than you inside this cave?”

“Who…. dares to…. oppose…. me!!”

An incredibly loud roar exploded out from the High Orc and slammed into the eardrums of the Hunters. Almost everyone frowned deeply and covered their ears, but Sohn Ki-Hoon was simply nodding his head, still looking rather calm.

His expectation was on the money.

The existence speaking through that High Orc’s mouth was, without a doubt, the boss of this dungeon. Since it couldn’t escape from the boss room until the time of the dungeon break, it was summoning the Hunters to enter its lair instead.

‘I don’t know why it wants us there, but….’

When Sohn Ki-Hoon’s answer didn’t come right away, the leader High Orc raised its large axe above its head.

“Now, choose…. Die here….. at the…. hands… of my soldiers…. Or…. follow… my… soldiers….”

“We’ll follow.”

Sohn Ki-Hoon’s immediate answer prompted the eyes of the Hunters to grow wider.

“Ki-Hoon hyung!!”

“Mister Ki-Hoon!”

Sohn Ki-Hoon interrupted his comrades trying to dissuade him and waited for the reaction of the High Orc.

“Then, come…. Human.”

With the end of those words, the blurred eyes of the leader High Orc regained its original clarity. And that would be wild beast-like glare of bloodlust. The creature spoke up again.

“Ashue tu reka.”

With that one sentence, the High Orc warriors burning with fierce hostility withdrew as if it was all a lie. The leader High Orc waited without withdrawing, and beckoned to Sohn Ki-Hoon, telling him to follow.

“Let’s get going as well.”

Sohn Ki-Hoon was the first to start walking, and the hesitant Hunters began to follow after him one after the other.

‘What is he thinking?’

Jin-Woo stared with a puzzled expression on his face.

There was little doubt that not only the boss but countless more High Orcs would be waiting for them inside the boss room. Meaning, their odds of victory would be even lower on that side.

So, it was hard to figure out what Sohn Ki-Hoon was thinking of when he chose to follow the monsters.

‘Is he trying to negotiate with the boss? In order to get out of here alive?’

Although the odds of that succeeding was extremely low….

No.

Maybe, this was for the better.

Jin-Woo originally believed that this raid would end with him hunting down a few mob creatures, but now, he got himself a chance to meet the boss, instead. He returned the dagger back to his Inventory and slowly followed after the group.

Just how long did they walk?

Sohn Ki-Hoon slowed down his walking speed gradually and had arrived at Jin-Woo’s side. And then, he called out with a hushed voice.

“Hunter-nim.”

“Yes?”

Jin-Woo continued looking at the front while answering him. Sohn Ki-Hoon, too, continued to stare at the backs of the High Orcs walking further up ahead.

“We… as soon as we meet the boss, we’re going to attack right away. When that happens, regardless of whether our attack was successful or not, the b*stard should not be able to maintain the magic spell blocking the exit.”

That made a certain amount of sense.

Unless it was some kind of hex-type magic, one had to keep one’s focus in order to maintain a spell. Especially if one wanted to maintain high-class magic, an incredible mental focus was a necessity.

However, what about it?

Didn’t matter whether they succeed in killing the boss or managed to cancel the magic blocking the exit, they would still meet a dog’s death right away inside the boss room after getting surrounded by the countless High Orcs anyway.

The odds of this raid team returning alive were still pathetically low.

Perhaps to answer Jin-Woo’s curiosity, Sohn Ki-Hoon spoke with a grave expression on his face.

“While their attention is on us, Hunter-nim, please escape from the boss room. Once you get out of the dungeon, you must alert the main assault force.”

By the time the assault team consisting of rank S Hunters arrive here, everything would be over for them. Sohn Ki-Hoon was getting ready to die.

“Are you thinking of dying alongside the boss?”

Jin-Woo sneaked a glance at Sohn Ki-Hoon’s expression. His face remained hardened, but there was no wavering in his eyes.

“Our job isn’t to get out of this dungeon alive, but to close the Gates. Many people outside are paying us a great deal of money for that purpose.”

Sohn Ki-Hoon’s voice gained more conviction as he spoke.

“We will do our job according to what we’ve been training for. However, you’re different. There’s no reason for you to die here. I hope you can get out of this place alive.”

One could now hear the unwavering belief in his voice. His words contained his determination.

Jin-Woo realised that nothing he could say right now would be of any help to Sohn Ki-Hoon.

So, he simply nodded his head as his reply.


Cha Hae-In finally arrived at the location of the second rank A Gate.

She had her baseball cap pushed down low, and as a result, only a few passersby recognised her.

The first thing she did was to seek out the mining team.

A few Hunters walked past her and sneaked a couple of glances, but they were all working for the Guild anyway and none of them paid her any great attention after that.

Eventually, she could see Foreman Bae in the distance – as well as the mining team around him.

Thump, thump!

Her heart began beating faster.

Standing a little bit of distance away from them, she scanned the faces of each miner present.

‘Where is he…?’

She couldn’t see Jin-Woo among them.

How should she say this? It felt like all of her energy was abandoning her at once.

‘Did he give up on being a miner?’

Why don’t I wait for another minute? He could have left the spot for only a moment and is coming back soon.

Three minutes more.

No, maybe five.

….And so, she waited for another 15 minutes, but Jin-Woo didn’t show up in the end.

“Fuu….”

After spitting out a long sigh, Cha Hae-In turned around to leave. But, only after taking a couple of steps, she turned around again and returned to her original spot.

She yanked her cap off and took in several deep breaths, before walking towards Foreman Bae. The gazes of the mining team members were directed to her now.

Thankfully, the stink wasn’t so bad, perhaps due to the ranks of Hunters in the mining team being low.

“Uh? Uhhh?”

Recognising Cha Hae-In, Foreman Bae quickly ran over to her.

“Cha Hunter-nim? I thought you were taking a break today?”

“Hello there.”

Cha Hae-In shared a simple greeting with Foreman Bae and after making sure that no one was eavesdropping on her, she cautiously asked him a question.

“By any chance… Is there a Hunter named Seong Jin-Woo working for you?”

“Mister Seong?”

Hearing an unexpected name being mentioned out of the blue, Foreman Bae formed a surprised expression.N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter’s release on N0v3l–B1n.

“If you’re looking for Mister Seong, he subbed for a porter’s job….”

“A porter?!”

Cha Hae-In gasped out in shock.

“Are you saying he actually went inside the Gate?!”

Foreman Bae nodded his head vigorously as if to show that he, too, couldn’t believe it.

“Yes, miss. That’s what happened.”

A rank E Hunter volunteered as a porter and entered a rank A dungeon? And he didn’t even have dozens of lives or anything, too.

‘What was he thinking?’

But, when Cha Hae-In thought about it, didn’t she find that man loitering around the boss room yesterday with weapons in his hands? Indeed, she did not see wrong back then.

One more thing to be suspicious of, then.

Even though she ended up letting go of yesterday’s event as a coincidence, when she really thought about it in detail, it was a rather strange thing for a Hunter with four years of experience getting lost inside a dungeon like that.

‘I need to find out.’

She began thinking that she simply had to confirm what this Hunter named Seong Jin-Woo wanted from her Hunters Guild. And in order to do so, she had to enter the dungeon.

Not only was she the Vice Chairman of the Hunters Guild, but she was also a rank S Hunter as well. No one would try to stop her if she wanted to enter a dungeon where the Hunters Guild was performing a raid.

Cha Hae-In lightly bit into her thumb while pondering her choices, before swiftly making her decision.

“I’ll have to enter the Gate myself.”

Chapter 88

 

Foreman Bae’s eyes went extra-round.

“Heok….? Was there some kind of an accident? Should we ask the Guild for additional personnel?”

“No, no need. It’s a personal matter. I just wanted to talk to him about something private, so you don’t have to worry.”

“Oh… I see.”

Cha Hae-In spun towards the Gate.

However, her side felt rather empty, then.

‘Ah. My weapon…..’

She felt around her waist, only to belatedly remember that she had left her sword back home. Since she never imagined that she’d be entering a dungeon on her off day like this, well…..

Cha Hae-In’s forehead beautifully creased up.

‘As a leader, Mister Ki-Hoon is someone totally trustworthy, and the rest of the team are made up of capable Hunters. But….’

But, it was still unimaginable to enter a dungeon without a weapon in hand. A short deliberation later, she turned around to face Foreman Bae once more.

“Is there something else, Miss….?”

Foreman Bae looked at her with confused eyes.

“Mister Foreman, can I borrow a weapon from you?”

“Pardon me?”

Foreman Bae hesitated somewhat, before calling out to a Hunter passing by.

“Hey, over here, Mister Seok. Please bring me one of our equipments.”

“Yes, boss.”

The ‘equipment’ Mister Seok rapidly brought over was a pickaxe, as used by the mining team.

“…….”

Cha Hae-In’s expression stiffened.

“Excuse me…. Don’t you have anything else?”

“Uhm, such as….?”

“For instance, swords or spears.”

“But, if you ask us for such things, well…..”

“…”

Cha Hae-In sighed out under her breath.

“I understand.”

She then carefully rejected the pickaxe Foreman Bae tried to hand over and quickly walked towards the Gate. He anxiously asked her as he watched her distancing back.

“Cha Hunter-nim, will it be fine for you to be empty-handed in there?”

Cha Hae-In came to an abrupt halt and stood there for a moment, before hurriedly walking back to take the pickaxe from Foreman Bae. He guffawed out in a genial manner.

“I think that’s for the best, miss. I mean, it’ll be dangerous to be weaponless inside a dungeon, regardless of what.”

“Well, then….”

As she turned around to hurriedly leave, Foreman Bae unluckily didn’t get to see her ears dyed in deep shades of crimson.


The looks of determination were clearly visible on the faces of the raid team members. They kept their mouths resolutely shut as if to imply that they knew their fate already. Meanwhile, the female Healer approached Jin-Woo and began rummaging through the luggage.

Jin-Woo turned his head towards her and asked.

“What are you doing?”

“Hold on.”

What she took out was a small ladies handbag.

“I kinda feel a bit uncomfortable if I’m too far away from my bag, you see.”

He didn’t even ask her, yet she provided him with an explanation oh-so-kindly. She took out a memo pad and a pen from the bag and then began jotting something down on said memo pad.

Because she wasn’t looking in front of her, she kept bumping into Jin-Woo’s shoulder with her head.

Eventually, though – she closed the memo pad.

Her bag, which she slung around her shoulder while writing on the memo, was pushed back inside the luggage again, but that memo remained in her hands.

Jin-Woo observed her with a bit of interest, wondering what she’d do with that, but she simply pushed the memo towards him, instead.

“…..?”

After taking it, Jin-Woo tilted his head, prompting the female Healer to tearfully spoke up.

“I wrote down what I wanted to say to my family. When you get outside, please make sure that they get it. Please.”

If he burst out in laughter, she’d probably get hurt, no? Jin-Woo suppressed his rising laughter and pocketed the memo.

“I’ll hold onto this for the time being, but I’m pretty sure I won’t get to deliver this.”

“It’s going to be fine.”

The female Healer nodded her head.

‘With High Orc warriors zealously keeping tabs on us like this, it won’t be easy for him to get out of here unscathed.’

After all, Mister Porter was only a rank E. She hadn’t figured out yet what Jin-Woo meant, though.

Soon, their eyes caught the sight of the boss room. The anxiety felt by the Hunters came over the air and could be felt on his skin.

They were greeted by a huge open space.

‘…….’

Jin-Woo scanned the boss room. It was smaller than yesterday’s boss room with the giant in it.

However, quite unlike yesterday, he didn’t get the impression that the boss room was huge at all. And that would be all thanks to countless High Orcs completely filling up the chamber.

As a matter of fact, there were over twice as many Orcs here as those that ‘escorted’ the raid team.

‘At least a hundred… no, maybe it’s a bit more than that?’

While there were no monsters inside the rest of the dungeon, they had been gathered inside the boss room, instead.

Seeing the masses of High Orcs waiting inside, Sohn Ki-Hoon’s complexion paled in an instant.

‘If this many High Orcs manage to escape from the Gate, then….’

This was a large enough horde to utterly destroy a small city, even before the top Hunters had the chance to do something about them.

Cold sweat trickled down his backside.

‘At the very least, we gotta eliminate the boss.’

Just like how he resolutely swallowed the dry saliva, he did his best to keep his determination burning in his heart.

The High Orcs of the boss room parted to make way.

“Ah sharkh.”

The leader High Orc beckoned again. The raid team and the escorting High Orcs walked over to an altar located in the corner of the boss room.

“Over there!”

One of the Hunters pointed towards the top of the altar.

And that’s where the High Orc Shaman stood, dressed in all manner of accessories adorning its entire body, including a mask, bone necklace, and earrings.

‘So, that’s the boss….’

Sohn Ki-Hoon’s expression hardened.

He immediately realised that the terrifying magic energy filling up the interior of this dungeon was being emitted from that creature. And then, surrounding that b*stard was….

From the four ‘guards’ possessing an air of alertness standing around the boss, he also sensed a rather ominous aura as well.

‘This isn’t good.’

Could the raid team get past those guards and kill the Shaman in one fell swoop? The Hunters were all thinking roughly the same thing.

The Hunters stopped in front of the Shaman.

A certain intangible tension flowed in between the High Orcs surrounding the human Hunters as they kept a certain distance away.

“Kekeke.”

However, the Shaman didn’t seem to care about the mood of the place; it simply opened its rather malformed jaw, visible below the mask, and cackled out.

“Oh humans, welcome.”

The Hunters of the raid team exchanged glances.

‘As soon as Sohn hyung gives us the signal….’N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter’s release on N0v3l–B1n.

‘We attack together.’

‘Aim for the Shaman, no matter what.’

It was for the purpose of coordinating their attacks.

However….

Suddenly, the air around them began freezing up.

Hunters of this raid team were some of the very best out there. They all shifted their gazes at the same time at this sudden outpouring of chilling aura. The source was the Shaman.

The creature finally took the mask off. When it did, the magic energy it had been hiding until then exploded forth, unchecked and unhindered.

Rumble-!!

The freakish magic power spread out in circular waves with the boss as the centre.

As if they were normal, powerless civilians that ran into a lion or a tiger, the Hunters froze up on the spot like a bunch of statues.

“O-oh my god….”

“How can a magic power of such magnitude be….?”

“We, we gotta fight against something like this?!”

Despair, lamentation, resentment, even regret. The Shaman formed an ominous grin when facing these varying forms of hopelessness.

“Are you scared of me, humans?”

Sohn Ki-Hoon bit down on his lower lip, hard, and took a difficult step forward before asking a question.

“Why did you summon us here? Your warriors would’ve been enough to kill us back there.”

The Shaman grinned again. Simply looking at the grin chilled the backs of the Hunters.

“It’s for entertainment.”

“What?”

Sohn Ki-Hoon was left utterly speechless.

Were they brought here just for that purpose?

The Shaman continued on.

“While we wait out the remaining time, I will kill you one by one and entertain the soldiers!”

Waaaaaah-!!

High Orc warriors all roared out in frenzy and excitement.

Hunters were ruthlessly forced down by the enormous pressure emitted from the Orcs and couldn’t even breathe properly. One of them even began crying, no less.

“However….”

The Shaman briefly stopped talking, then.

The boss’s gaze shifted and stopped at the rear of the human’s group – where Jin-Woo was.

“…..I see that a strange being is mixed among you, humans.”

It was then, Sohn Ki-Hoon’s eyes gleamed dangerously.

‘With the Shaman looking elsewhere, this is my chance!’

Veins bulged in his neck.

“Now!!”

Sohn Ki-Hoon roared out at the top of his lungs, unsheathed his sword, and rushed out. However, it was eerily quiet behind him.

‘How come….?’

He glanced behind him while running, and discovered his comrades rooted to their spots, not daring to move an inch. They had lost their fighting spirit a long time ago from the display of the boss’s overwhelming might.

Sohn Ki-Hoon’s heart fell to the pit of his stomach.

‘Ah….’

Still, someone had to do this. He couldn’t stop now.

His gaze shifted back to the front.

Perhaps his attack wasn’t expected, the Shaman was still smiling, and its guards weren’t showing any urgent reactions, either.

This could be his one and only chance.

Didn’t matter if it was pure luck. He’d accept fluke, too. As long as his sword could reach….

Sohn Ki-Hoon fiercely rushed forward and cocked his sword behind him.

“Euhwaaaaaah-!!”

But, even before he could swing the sword with all his might, he collided with something invisible and was flung away.

Boom!!

At first, it was shield magic.

“Keok!”

Flung away from the rebound, Sohn Ki-Hoon landed on the ground and rolled backwards. But, that lasted only for a short while.

“Looks like we have our first volunteer.”

Along with the Shaman’s mocking words, Sohn Ki-Hoon’s body was lifted up into the air.

Wuuuoooo…

And now, it was the anti-gravity magic.

“….”

The lips of the Shaman were moving up and down non-stop. When Sohn Ki-Hoon was lifted up as high as a two-story building, the Shaman began chanting a different spell.

“…..”

Next to come was gravity acceleration.

Kaboom!!!!

Sohn Ki-Hoon was slammed into the ground.

“Keo-heok!”

He didn’t even have the time to writhe in pain as he was lifted up in the air again.

“Anti-gravity.”

Kekeke….

Not only the Shaman, but the rest of the High Orcs were cackling in derision as well, their fangs fully bared now.

Kaboom!!

“Keo-heok!!”

Wuuooong….

Boom!!

“Keok!”

The Shaman continued to toy with Sohn Ki-Hoon by lifting him up and slamming him down.

When he landed on the ground for the fourth time, Sohn Ki-Hoon vomited out a mouthful of blood. Seeing that scene, the complexions of the Hunters got paler and paler. However, none of them dared to step forward to stop this.

“Ki-Ki-Hoon hyung….”

They simply stood there trembling while witnessing Sohn Ki-Hoon being broken into pieces.

Plop.

The female Healer collapsed on the floor as if she no longer had any strength left in her legs.

Eventually….

The Shaman raised Sohn Ki-Hoon in the air for the fifth time.

“You sure are a tenacious b*stard, aren’t you?”

“Euh, euh…..”

A pained moan leaked out of Sohn Ki-Hoon’s mouth. However, he still didn’t let go of the sword as if he hadn’t given up yet.

Wuuoong!

Slam!

Wuuuonnng!

Slam!!

Wuuuonng!

As he was thrown up and down between the air and ground several times more, Sohn Ki-Hoon finally lost his grip on the sword.

Clang….

It happened then.

Just as Sohn Ki-Hoon was thrown down to the ground once more, he vanished from the view.

“Ng??”

The Shaman’s eyes opened wider.

Where did the human disappear to, when all of his bones should be broken by now? The Shaman searched for the whereabouts of Sohn Ki-Hoon.

‘There….?’

In a corner not too far, it discovered Sohn Ki-Hoon, unmoving on the ground. And at the same time, found a certain man crouching nearby.

Of course, it was Jin-Woo.

Jin-Woo carefully laid Sohn Ki-Hoon down and glared at the Shaman.

“Hey, mister leader. I want to ask you something.”

“…..?”

Until now, Sohn Ki-Hoon hadn’t figured out what happened to him.

“Will it be okay if I kill all of the monsters in here?”

“You… What are you….?”

The Shaman frowned and gestured with its chin, and one of the guards swung about its scimitar and ran to where Jin-Woo was.

As Jin-Woo glared at the monster rushing towards him, a light of fury lit up in his eyes. He reached out with his hands.

‘Ruler’s Reach.’

When he did, it was as if a giant, invisible hand grabbed the Orc guard, and the monster was cleanly picked up from the ground.

“Ku, kurua?!”

The monster kicked and struggled in the air.

‘What….?!’

The eyes of the Shaman opened wider.

Jin-Woo pointed down towards the ground.

Slam!!

The guard crashed down to the ground. The impact force was so great that deep cracks spread out on the ground. However, Jin-Woo didn’t stop there; just like how the Shaman manipulated Sohn Ki-Hoon’s body, he lifted the guard up in the air again.

Slam!!

Boom!!

Kaboom!!

Like a basketball bouncing between the ground and one’s hand, the Orc guard continuously slammed into the ceiling and the ground non-stop, a helpless cry coming out from its mouth. Eventually, its head pierced into the ceiling.

Kaboom!!

Scatter….

With that, debris from the ceiling fell down.

While staring at the dangling Orc guard with its head buried deep into the ceiling, both groups of the High Orcs and the Hunters couldn’t hide their astonishment.

Sohn Ki-Hoon trembled and questioned Jin-Woo.

“You… Just what is your….?”

“I’ll ask you again.”

This here was a hunting ground the Hunters Guild paid for. And there was only one person present that could speak for the Guild at the moment.

Jin-Woo asked for the last time.

“Monsters in this place…. Can I have them all?”

What was this?

Sohn Ki-Hoon realised now that the identity of the porter or whatever didn’t matter anymore. No, he was just p*ssed off. He was angry at himself for being toyed around with by the monsters like that. Tears rolled down Sohn Ki-Hoon’s face.

“Please…. I beg of you, do something….”

With that, it was done.

When Jin-Woo stood back up, High Orcs approached him. The Shaman was behind them. The boss began smirking in derision.

“For a measly human, you know some interesting skills, don’t you?”

The boss gestured, and the High Orcs quickly surrounded Jin-Woo.

“However, just how far do you think your tricks will get you?”

Jin-Woo’s glare became so much colder. He never really cared for any of the monsters he killed so far, but this would be his first time wanting to slice one up this badly.

“I’ll take care of you last.”

If the boss knew the meaning of enjoyment, surely it’d know what fear tasted like.

Jin-Woo slowly murmured out.

“My shadows….”

Two daggers appeared in Jin-Woo’s hands.

“….Come out and play.”

Chapter 89

 

Screech.

A black sedan stopped by the side of the road.

The man climbing out of the driver’s seat, kitted out in a pair of sunglasses and a black business suit, was none other than Woo Jin-Cheol, the section chief of the Monitoring Division, the Hunters Association.

Soon after his exit, three more men climbed out of the car from the passenger and rear seats. All of them were from the Monitoring Division as well.

“Chief, weren’t we on our way back to the Association?”

“I just wanted to confirm something, first.”

Woo Jin-Cheol shifted his gaze over the Gate, some distance away.

‘A rank A Gate still gives me the creeps every time I look at it.’

Woo Jin-Cheol frowned deeply. If that giant hole opened up like a door and monsters trapped inside emerged outside…..

Just imagining that made him shudder.

‘However, why did that man apply to become a miner in such a horrifying place?’

Not only that, for two days in a row, too.

Even if Association President Goh Gun-Hui hadn’t asked him, Woo Jin-Cheol would have personally come here to find out, anyway.

‘Investigating behind his back is…. impossible.’

The man in question was a rank S Awakened. A measly rank A like him going undiscovered while secretly investigating a rank S was, realistically speaking, an impossible dream.

That was why he decided to show up in the open like this.

Since he had a matter to attend to nearby anyway, he was thinking of greeting the youth while saying he was in the neighbourhood, and then ask a couple of simple questions.

‘I hope he won’t find me strange or anything.’

Anyone would get curious of the circumstances if a Hunter, already pretty much confirmed to be a rank S, chose to shovel the ground for some reason.

On top of this, wasn’t Seong Jin-Woo someone the Association President was paying close attention to? The Association President must’ve found this young man very much to his liking, because he even focused all of his attention on everything Jin-Woo did.

‘No, I’m not the strange one here.’

It was obvious that you’d get curious, and it was only natural to ask.

While telling himself that, Woo Jin-Cheol walked over to where the representative of the Hunters Guild was.

“I’m looking for your mining team.”

“Who…. are you?”

“I’m from the Association.”

The Guild employee confirmed Woo Jin-Cheol’s identity and pointed in the direction of the waiting mining team.

“Please head over that way.”

“Thank you.”

Four Hunters from the Monitoring Division were now paying a visit to the mining team. As if he had received a heads-up already, Foreman Bae Yun-Seok hurriedly ran to meet them halfway.

“Aigoo, what brings the Hunters from the Monitoring Division to this place?”

The members of the mining team had been relaxing until then overheard those words, and tension briefly flashed by in their eyes.

The oppressive pressure Hunters felt from the words ‘Monitoring Division’ was rather huge.

The people whose job was to arrest the Awakened that the normal laws couldn’t do anything about, they then either reformed the troublemakers or simply eliminated them. The ‘Monitoring Division’ was where those kinds of people worked for.

“What’s going on?”

“Hunters from the Monitoring Division are here.”

“Monitoring Division?”

“Something must’ve happened.”

Feeling curious now, the mining team members began flocking around Foreman Bae.

Woo Jin-Cheol took his sunglasses off.

‘……’

He swept his gaze around the miners to locate Seong Jin-Woo, but in the end, he had to ask for that man’s whereabouts from Foreman Bae.

“Do you know by any chance where Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim is?”

“I bloody knew it!”

Suddenly, a man jumped out from among the miners. It was Lee Seong-Gu, who had run into Jin-Woo’s shoulder yesterday.

Lee Seong-Gu passionately spat out his complaints, flying spittle accompanying his rapidly firing words.

“When that bstard looked at me and began grinning, I was terrified that he might eat me alive or something, you know! Uh-whew, it’s still so dmn scary even when I think about it now….”

Woo Jin-Cheol’s brows furrowed slightly.

‘Terrifying enough to eat a person….?’

Just what on earth was this man talking about?

Murmur, murmur…

The voices of the Hunters rose up higher and higher. Woo Jin-Cheol ignored the background noise and asked Lee Seong-Gu.

“Did something happen?”

“Ah, well, that is….”

Lee Seong-Gu was about to answer him, but then, he rapidly realised that he was also at fault and quickly waved his hands around.

“Well, that isn’t really important, but the main thing is, his eyes were really scary, man.”

“….”

Woo Jin-Cheol’s gaze shifted back to Foreman Bae.

“Where can I find Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim?”

“Mister Seong is… He’s inside the Gate right now.”

Seong Jin-Woo was inside the rank A dungeon, where a raid was ongoing? Woo Jin-Cheol’s eyes opened wider.

“Why did he enter the dungeon?”

“Well, the raid team’s porter hasn’t shown up today, you see. Nobody wanted to go in there, so Mister Seong volunteered as the porter.”

“….”

“But, it’s a wee bit weird, you know?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it’s nothing particular, but… Cha Hunter-nim… no, I mean, Cha Hae-In Hunter-nim was also looking for Mister Seong, so she entered the Gate just now, you know? Isn’t it just too weird…?”

Foreman Bae spoke up to there and tilted his head.

Meanwhile, the mind of Woo Jin-Cheol became a bit of mess after hearing that.

‘The Vice Chairman of the Hunters Guild Cha Hae-In was looking for Seong Jin-Woo? Not only that, she even went after him into the dungeon, too?’

Just what was happening here?

He only stopped by to say hello to Seong Jin-Woo, but now, it felt like something big was afoot here.

‘For the time being, I should head over to the Gate.’

That seemed to be the best choice he could make for the time being.

“We’ll stop by at the Gate, and leave afterwards.”

“Oh, sure thing.”

Foreman Bae chuckled genially and nodded his head. Just as Woo Jin-Cheol and his subordinates turned around to leave, Lee Seong-Gu quickly grabbed his arm.

“Excuse me, Mister Hunter?”

Lee Seong-Gu had this expectant face for some reason as he hurriedly asked Woo Jin-Cheol.

“That b*stard, Seong Jin-Woo, did he do something bad? Maybe, he’s killed someone? I mean, he looked like someone fully capable of that.”

Woo Jin-Cheol frowned slightly again. He sort of could understand why Seong Jin-Woo glared scarily at this moron.

‘A fool who’d get blown away into the weeds if Seong Jin-Woo snorts in front of him…..’

Still, there were too many eyes watching. As a Hunter working for the Association, he couldn’t carelessly display his irritation at a stranger.

This was why working for a public organisation sometimes could get rather annoying. Woo Jin-Cheol spat out a long sigh and did his best to sound as diplomatic as possible.

“You’ll find out when you take a look at tomorrow evening’s news broadcast.”

Perhaps that answered most of his own suspicions, Lee Seong-Gu raised his voice high as if he had correctly predicted this.

“I told you, didn’t I? I told you that man is too suspicious!”

“But, he didn’t look that way….”

“Right. And he worked so diligently, too.”

Not minding the lukewarm responses of his colleagues, Lee Seong-Gu went on about how great his discerning eyes were.

‘Tsk.’

Woo Jin-Cheol stared at that man making a fool of himself, before taking his subordinates towards the Gate.

However….

Woo Jin-Cheol instinctively stopped a few steps away from the Gate.

“Chief?”

The subordinates began staring in confusion at Woo Jin-Cheol’s stiff face.

‘This… This can’t be. It makes no sense.’

Woo Jin-Cheol quickly yanked his phone out. He then accessed the Association’s information hub and checked out the available info on the rank A Gate the Hunters Guild was supposed to conquer today.

Woo Jin-Cheol’s eyes widened in shock.

‘Why is the measured value of the magic energy so low?!’

His head began rocking side to side automatically.

‘The measurement results are wrong.’

Not all rank A Hunters were equal. For instance, Hunter Woo Jin-Cheol was right near the top within the rank A. And his instincts were telling him this: The measurement value was all wrong.

Woo Jin-Cheol quickly issued an order to his subordinate next to him.

“Go get the magic energy measuring device.”

The subordinate immediately realised that Woo Jin-Cheol’s expression was grave, and hurriedly ran to where their car was parked.

The miniature measuring device used by the Monitoring Division was a world apart in quality from the devices used by the regular Association employees. As befitting a device created from a top-grade magic crystal that cost over a billion Won, this piece of equipment very rarely threw up errors or mistakes in its results.

Bleep.

The measurement result quickly came out.

‘I knew it….’

The displayed result showed a clear discrepancy to the previously measured value. If the Guild formed their raid team according to the measured value presented by the Association, then it’d definitely become a serious situation.

‘Well, with two rank S Hunters inside, I’m sure nothing untoward would happen, but…’

But, when Woo Jin-Cheol placed the measuring device on the ground and tried to stand back up…

Wuuuuoooonnng!!

The Gate suddenly began vibrating.

The powerful gushing magic energy wave caused Woo Jin-Cheol and his three subordinates, with far worse perceptions than him, to flinch grandly on the spot. They began trembling like leaves right away.

“S-Section Chief?!”

“What, what was that, sir??”

Woo Jin-Cheol shifted his gaze to the youngest of the agents present, the kid’s complexion looking awfully pale now.

“You okay?”

“Y-yes, sir. I’m okay.”

The youngest agent cautiously stared at the back of his hand after making his reply. He could see goosebumps covering up his skin.

Woo Jin-Cheol stood upright.

“We’re going inside.”

“Pardon me?”

“You want to go in there, sir?”

Woo Jin-Cheol’s determination didn’t waver, even for a second.

“If you’re scared, it’s okay for you to back out.”

Only he knew that the measurement value was incorrect at this stage. It was his duty to inform the Hunters trapped inside. It was the duty of the Association’s agents to manage other Hunters, and to keep a close watch on them, but also to aid them in time of their needs.

“N-no, sir.”

“We’ll go with you.”

Woo Jin-Cheol nodded his head in satisfaction.

“Junior. Stay behind and report the new measurement result back to the Association.”

“Yes. No, wait. Sir?”

“Can you do it?”

Woo Jin-Cheol lightly tapped the youngest agent here on the shoulder, and the latter nodded his head with some difficulty.

“….Yes, sir. I understand.”

Woo Jin-Cheol turned to look back at the Gate.

On top of its already nonsensically-high magic energy emission, an even greater storm of magic power rushed out from the Gate just now.

‘What the hell is going on inside this Gate?’N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter’s release on N0v3l–B1n.

With Woo Jin-Cheol as the lead, the two agents of the Monitoring Division also threw themselves beyond the Gate’s surface.


Around the same time….

Cha Hae-In was following after the traces left behind the raid team.

‘This is so weird. Why can’t I find the traces of monsters?’

In a regular dungeon, it was normal to find the corpses of monsters strewn about here and there, starting from somewhere near the entrance and all the way till the boss room.

But, no matter how hard she looked, she couldn’t see any dead monsters. Did the monsters gather in one place or something?

She thought like this and continued to walk forward, until….

‘…Huh?’

She finally located corpses in the distance.

As befitting a rank S melee-type Hunter, Cha Hae-In arrived at the location of the battle in the blink of an eye.

‘How can this be?!’

Her eyes opened up super-wide. All the corpses belonged to the High Orcs. It was easy to identify them, because they featured red skin and their fangs were noticeably longer, too.

‘How did Mister Sohn Ki-Hoon’s team manage to defeat this many High Orcs?!’

And, was that all? There was seemingly not one casualty, too. Of course, if there was a casualty, they would’ve retreated on their own accord, saving her the trouble of having to step foot inside here.

‘…Did I underestimate the rank A and B Hunters by too much?’

That could certainly be the case.

Surveying the location, she thought that the battle had to be a bit one-sided, as well.

However….

‘Wait, isn’t that….?’

Cha Hae-In discovered something odd and crouched down to take a closer look at one of the corpses. And her eyes grew even wider than before. She stood back up and quickly began checking out each of the High Orc corpses.

‘This one, and this one, too….’

Her suspicion gradually morphed into certainty.

‘But, how….??’

How could something like this happen?

Almost all the High Orcs were left with injuries inflicted by short but incredibly sharp weapons.

‘They weren’t blows fatal enough to kill, but….’

But, she thought that these were definitely enough to hinder the movements of the High Orcs. Which meant that other Hunters were simply dining on the table full of tasty dishes prepared by someone else.

It also meant that one Hunter managed to almost single-handedly massacre all 20 High Orcs.

Only two High Orcs were killed off in a different fashion to everyone else. One had its head ripped off by an incredible force, while the other one had died after something blunt hit it in the head.

‘Excluding those two, one person managed to drive all the other Orcs to the brink of death?!’

Could such a thing even be possible??

She was deeply confident of her own speed, but even then, she couldn’t be sure of achieving the same feat under the same given situation. And also, from what she knew, there was no Assassin-type Hunter wielding daggers or shortswords within Sohn Ki-Hoon’s team.

‘….Shortswords?’

It was then, a certain scene flashed past her brain.

The man who stood near the boss room yesterday.

Seong Jin-Woo was definitely holding short weapons in both of his hands.

‘Could it be that man?’

When her thoughts arrived at this point, Cha Hae-In’s head snapped towards the deeper parts of the dungeon. And her expression rapidly hardened. She could sense this incredibly powerful magic energy wave, no, magic energy tremors, the kind she’d never experienced before, coming from there.

The air itself was trembling, hard.

‘No!!’

Cha Hae-In bit her lower lips.

If that magical energy belonged to the boss monster, then no one from Sohn Ki-Hoon’s team would be able to survive.

She began running towards the boss room with all her might.

 Chapter 90

 

“Come out and play.”

Everything began with those words.

Whoooosh-!!

A ripple incomparably greater than that of the magic energy wave from the High Orc Shaman spread out everywhere. That wasn’t the only change to take place, however.

Along with him unshackling his magic power, the shadow beneath Jin-Woo’s feet spread out, too. And it covered the entirety of the chamber’s surface at a frightening pace, as if someone had poured a bucket of pitch-black ink onto the floor.

“Heok?!”

“W-what’s this??”

The Hunters of Sohn Ki-Hoon’s raid team saw the ‘shadow’ spread beneath their feet and freaked out. How should they even go about describing this situation? Even the most experienced, grizzled Hunters among the group hadn’t heard of anything like this, never mind seeing one.

Tremble…

An unknown fear crept up over them.

Sohn Ki-Hoon, lying on the ground, powerlessly began trembling violently while staring up at Jin-Woo.

‘What…. Just what are you planning to do?’

As if to answer his silent question – when the spreading shadow completely covered the floor of the boss room….

Shururuk…

The surface of the shadow wavered, and soldiers wearing jet-black armour rose up one by one.

[You have activated ‘Skill: Sovereign’s Territory’.]

[All Stats of the Shadow Soldiers fighting over the Summoner’s shadow will rise up by 50%.]

A thin smile spread on Jin-Woo’s lips.

‘Good.’

This was the new Class-specific Skill he learnt when he broke past level 70 back in the Demon’s Castle.

He sensed the fighting spirit of his enhanced soldiers soaring higher. Quite obviously, a satisfied grin formed on his face. 50 summoned Shadow Soldiers stood around Jin-Woo in a circle as if to protect him.

“Ku-kururuk??”

“Kuruk!!”

The High Orc Warriors, famed for their bravery, began retreating one step at a time after getting their wits scared off by the dangerous pressure emitted by Jin-Woo and his soldiers.

“O-Orcs are retreating?!”

“Just what is the meaning of this….”

Even though they were trembling like a leaf from this unbelievable situation, the Hunters also began clutching onto a slender thread of renewed hope now.

“D-did you feel that?”

“Yeah.”

“Can… can that even make any sense?”

The mage-type Hunters were sensitive towards the magic energy, to begin with. And they couldn’t control their furiously quickening heartbeat no matter what. Because, an insane amount of magic energy was gushing out from the man who subbed in for their luggage carrier. Someone whom they thought of as a simple rank E, no less.

‘No, hang on. Is this even magic energy?’

‘To think, this magical energy is even more ominous than what the High Orc Shaman is emitting…!!’

The sheer pressure from the magic energy thickly filling up the boss room made it difficult to even breathe properly. The fact that this incredible power didn’t belong to an enemy relieved them to no end.

On the other hand, indescribably heavy and taut tension was flowing among the ranks of High Orcs.

With the appearance of the Shadow Soldiers, the difference of 1 to 150 suddenly got reduced to 50 to 150.

More importantly, though, those 50 were no ordinary 50 at all. No, that was the power that already transcended common sense, the one that couldn’t be quantified with mere numbers!

As if to prove that reality, Jin-Woo was the very first one to dash forward.

The Shaman hurriedly shouted out, then.

“What are you doing!! Kill that human right now!!”

With their backs pushed forward by the voice carrying a thick amount of the Shaman’s magical energy, the High Orc warriors all roared out and raised their weapons.

“Kuwaaaaarrr!!”

Step, step, step – slice!!

The skill, ‘Sovereign’s Territory’ was designed solely for his Shadow Soldiers. However, even without a Status boosting buff, Jin-Woo’s displayed strength was already out of this world.

“Kuwaaahk!!”

“Kuaahh, kuaaah!!”

High Orcs screamed out. Limbs, bits of body parts sliced off by Jin-Woo’s two daggers, and the ensuing trails of blood scattered in all directions. He was so fast that even the elite Hunters could only catch the glimpses of his afterimage.

“That….”

“Right. That’s like seeing our Vice Chairman.”

Cha Hae-In’s nickname was the ‘Dancer’.

Normally, she remained a calm, composed figure, but when she jumped into a battle, she swiftly cut down monsters as if she was performing a fast-tempo dance routine. Hence, that nickname was given to her.

The woman in question forbade the use of that nickname because of how embarrassing it sounded, so it wasn’t widely known, but some people still resorted to calling her that every now and then.

And now, their supposed porter was displaying a movement that equalled Cha Hae-In – no, even exceeding her speed.

If Cha Hae-In danced, then Mister Porter was a typhoon. He had become the centre of the storm to obliterate the surrounding monsters.

Kuoooaaahhh!!

The Shadow Soldiers didn’t lose out, either; the former leader of the Ice Bears, Tank, took a step forward and that signalled the attack of the Shadow Soldiers.

Iron took to the front. Just as he had done previously, Iron yelled out at the top of his lungs before he could enter the fray properly.

Wuooaaaahhhh!!!

[Iron has used ‘Skill: Shout of Provocation’.]

[The targets’ resistance is too high and the intended effect didn’t activate.]

When his skill failed to work, Iron got angry and began roaring out like a beast. And then, he began destroying the hapless High Orcs with his massive hammer.

Swooosh-!!

Kwajeeck!!

Crack!!

“Kuhhhaarck!!”

“Kiiehck!”

He was so destructive that one even felt a smidgeon of pity for the High Orcs.

On the other hand, Igrit was elegantly and efficiently cutting down the necks of his enemies in complete contrast to Iron’s brutality. High Orcs running into Igrit didn’t even have a chance to scream before their breaths were cut short.

Slice!

When Igrit’s sword drew an arc in the air, another High Orc lost its head.

Regular Shadow Soldiers found it hard to fight against individual High Orcs, but they possessed stamina that didn’t know the meaning of fatigue, and the capability to regenerate almost endlessly.

And by buying time in this fashion, the sea of fire shooting out from the Magic Soldiers would rain down on top of the enemies with no exceptions.

Kaaabbboooom!!

Rumble-!!

The number of High Orcs decreased substantially in no time at all. The Shaman’s swine-like cheek meat quivered in rage.

‘How an insolent human being dares to…!’

The boss’s glare was now firmly fixed on Jin-Woo. The boss quickly decided to kill that human first.

The black-armoured soldiers were summons called forth by that human! If that human died, then these soldiers would disappear, too.

In order to kill Jin-Woo, the Shaman began chanting a spell.

“…”

The lips of the Shaman quickly moved up and down.

The song of slowness, the song of blindness, the song of crippling fever, the song of intolerable pain, and the song of demonic slumber; five different types of hexes were completed in an instant and flew towards their intended victim.

“It’s done!”

The corners of the Shaman’s lips arched up.

The moment all those hexes were completed, Jin-Woo also sensed the unnatural movement of magic energy.

‘….Magic, is it?’

Jin-Woo’s eyes met those of the Shaman’s.The initial posting of this chapter occurred via Ñøv€l-B!n.

The Orc Shaman smirked derisively.

‘It’s already too late, human.’

Hexes were different from normal magic spells and couldn’t be evaded. The moment it was cast, that would be the end.

With that human b*stard turning into a walking corpse wrecked by all sorts of afflictions, his fate was sealed – to be ripped to shreds by the High Orc Warriors and their weapons. That was the end truly befitting a measly human who didn’t know his place and dared to show off.

Unfortunately for the monster, however….

A familiar mechanical beep rang in Jin-Woo’s ears.

Tti-ring.

[Abnormal status has occurred.]

[All abnormal status will be removed with the effects of ‘Buff: Immunity’.]

Tti-ring, tti-ring, tti-ring.

Mechanical beeps fired out one after the other.

[‘Hex: Slow’ has been dispelled.]

[‘Hex: Blindness’ has been dispelled.]

….

……..

All five hexes were dispelled even before they had the chance to activate.

Grin.

Jin-Woo smirked at the results. There was this ‘Buff’ he received when he changed into the ‘Player’.

[The blessings from the Grand Sorcerer, Kandiaru]

  • Continuous effect ‘Good Health and Long Life’: You’ll be immune to all types of diseases, poisonous substances, as well as all forms of status debuffs. During sleep, your recovery rate will increase exponentially.

Thanks to that, he didn’t have to worry about status-altering magic, such as hexes.

“W-what?!”

The Shaman shuddered in shock. Fitting for a boss of the rank A dungeon, the High Orc Shaman had immediately realised that its curses were rendered ineffective by an even greater power than it.

‘But, those were hexes I cast!’

This made no sense!

In order to dispel hexes, one required the purification magic, or the blessings of a being possessing greater power than that of the hex itself.

‘There is an even more excellent Shaman than this great me among humans?’

Even before the monster could think about it some more, the Shaman cried out from the pain shooting up from the back of its foot.

“Kuuuwaaaahk!!”

When it looked down, it found a dagger deeply lodged in its foot.

“Keuh….”

It was Jin-Woo’s ‘Knight Killer’.

The Shaman raised its head and its bloodshot glare landed on Jin-Woo.

“How dare a mere human…..!”

Jin-Woo casually cut apart a High Orc trying to pounce on him, and silently mouthed some words to the Orc Shaman.

  • Quietly wait for your turn.

….Don’t do anything useless, in other words.

Immediately, the Shaman’s face reddened up like a beautifully ripe persimmon.

“How dare a measly human!!”

‘….So, it still has some mental capacity left to get angry, huh?’

Jin-Woo’s expression turned icy in the blink of an eye.

In all honesty, he could’ve eliminated the Shaman right at the beginning of the battle if he wanted to. However, he chose not to.

Because, he wanted to instil the sense of fear into the heart of that Shaman, the way it managed to do to the Hunters present.

However, it seemed not quite enough to make that arrogant monster taste the true meaning of fear. The b*stard’s eyes were still ‘alive’.

In that case….

‘Let me show you an interesting spectacle, then.’

From now on, he’d show the true sphere of influence of a necromancer.

In the eyes of this Shadow Sovereign, his surroundings now resembled a location of celebration, filled with all sorts of delicacies. From the corpses of the High Orcs sprawled on the ground, black smokes eerily rose up as if they were waiting for Jin-Woo’s call.

So, Jin-Woo called out to them.

“Rise up.”

[Shadow Extraction has commenced.]

Accompanying the System’s message alerting him to the activation of his skill, horrifying screams that resembled death throes resounded out from somewhere unknown.

Wuuuaaaaahhhh—-

The Shaman’s eyes widened in shock.

“W-what is….?!”

The Shaman didn’t get to finish its sentence. Even before it could, black hands began rising up from the shadows beneath the corpses of the High Orcs, that was why.

[Shadow Extraction is a success.]

Jin-Woo began smiling deeply while gazing contently at the newbies joining his Shadow army.

‘My warriors have become undead…!!’

The Shaman began shuddering uncontrollably. About 50 warriors had lost their lives so far. And about the same number had changed into those black-armoured soldiers.

‘Which means, those soldiers that b*stard had summoned are…?!’

The Shaman finally realised that the unidentifiable human was not wielding regular summons at all. And at the same time, it also realised how disadvantageous they were against the enemy’s powers.

The fight between 50 and 150 had morphed to 100 versus 100.

High Orc Warriors would bravely jump into a fight against enemies stronger than themselves without fear, but they rapidly lost all their fighting spirit the moment they saw their former comrades being ‘revived’ as Shadow Soldiers.

“Ku…. Kururuk.”

“Kuruk.”

“Kuwak.”

High Orcs, renowned for never backing down from a chance to shed some blood, were now openly retreating out of terror.

The fact that they wouldn’t be able to ascend to the warrior’s heaven after their death and instead become the puppets of the enemy was the worst possible nightmare for these High Orcs.

For sure, the impact of him showing off the Shadow Extraction skill was quite huge.

‘It worked against the warriors, so what about the Shaman, then?’

Jin-Woo scanned the complexion of the Shaman next.

‘Hoh.’

Jin-Woo’s expression brightened.

Finally, there were signs of fear in that b*stard’s eyes.

While shaking like a leaf, the Shaman recalled the existence that could revive the dead into ‘shadows’. There could not possibly be two people possessing the exact same power. So, that human had to be ‘him’.

‘If that person is him, then….. Then, why are we here….?!’

However, the moment the Shaman thought about ‘itself’ and ‘we’, the inside of its brain blanked out and the relevant memories contained within were wiped out in an instant. The only emotion remaining there was fear.

Not knowing what happened, Jin-Woo formed a satisfied expression.

‘That’s right. Stay exactly like that.’

His plan of making the Shaman shudder in fear until the end was a resounding success. He turned his head while smiling like that, and then, spotted a certain familiar female standing by the entrance of the boss room.

Jin-Woo tilted his head.

‘Who was that?’

She seemed a bit too ‘distant’ to be totally familiar to him, however.

That was why he needed a bit of a moment to recall what her name was.

And she was none other than the rank S Hunter currently affiliated to the Hunters Guild, Cha Hae-In.

‘But, what is that woman doing here?’

Jin-Woo might have been somewhat surprised by her presence here, but then, Cha Hae-In’s own shock was far greater than his. Her wide-open eyes stared at Jin-Woo and his Shadow Soldiers.

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Solo Leveling

Solo Leveling

I Level Up Alone, Only I Level Up, Ore Dake Level Up na Ken, 俺だけレベルアップな件, 我独自升级, 我獨自升級, 나 혼자만 레벨업
Score 7.8
Status: Completed Type: Author: , , Artist: Released: 2016 Native Language: Korean, English
10 years ago, after “the Gate” that connected the real world with the monster world opened, some of the ordinary, everyday people received the power to hunt monsters within the Gate. They are known as “Hunters”. However, not all Hunters are powerful. My name is Sung Jin-Woo, an E-rank Hunter. I’m someone who has to risk his life in the lowliest of catacombs, the “World’s Weakest”. Having no skills whatsoever to display, I barely earned the required money by fighting in low-leveled catacombs… at least until I found a hidden catacomb with the hardest difficulty within the D-rank catacombs! In the end, as I was accepting death, I suddenly received a strange power, a quest log that only I could see, a secret to leveling up that only I know about! If I trained in accordance with my quests and hunted monsters, my level would rise. Changing from the weakest Hunter to the strongest S-rank Hunter!

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