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Solo Leveling: Ragnarok Chapter 31-40


Chapter 31

 

The enemies of outer space were not aware of Suho’s existence until now.

However, if one day they eventually found out that the Shadow Monarch had a son, Suho would literally be the only weakness that would change the game of war.

Just taking him as a hostage can make Sung Jinwoo’s forces slow down.

… So, Suho had to be strong.

“After all, it’s just a matter leveling up.”

Suho looked back at the shadow dungeon.

The daily quest was over, but he thought it would be better to hunt more goblins.

Besides, the contents of the hidden quest hunting was ‘more’ than the prescribed amount.

‘Maybe this was the direction the system wanted him to go in the first place.’

“Gray.”

“… Hnggg?”

Gray shook his head at Suho’s words.

“Esil.”

“Yeah?”

Suho smiled at Gray and Esil.

“If you ate everything, shouldn’t you pay for the meal now?”

“Hnnggg.”

Gray, who couldn’t even eat a whole pig, made an unfair expression.

But, for him, it was more helpful for him to grow by hunting and eating the prey himself.

* * *

[You have killed a Goblin Shaman.]

[You have killed a Goblin Archer.]

[Your level increased!]

For a while, Suho went around the Shadow Dungeon with Esil and Gray and defeated the goblins.

Sniff.

Gray was weak, but he had an excellent sense of smell, befitting a hunter’s clan. He could find the smell of goblins hiding everywhere.

Swish!

Esil, on the other hand, was a master of spearmanship.

No matter how weakened the demon noble was, the goblins were nothing compared to her.

She inserted her hand into the goblin’s body and sucked out its mana like a snack.

“Yuck. It doesn’t taste good.”

… She ate with her bare hands so she thought it would taste better.

She then brushed her nails instead of her teeth.

‘Anyway, it’s very interesting. A demon.’

“…?”

Esil frowned and tilted her head.

For some reason, Suho was looking at her like a strange animal.

After some time…

“There are no more goblins in this area. I guess we killed them all.”

“I can’t see any either.”

Suho also stopped walking and put the sword down.

Swoosh.

Rakan’s Sword rose in the air with the Ruler’s Power.

On top of the handle, Beru flew like a sparrow and landed on it.

[Young Master, I went around and it seems like you have really killed them all.]

“Great job.”

[What are you going to do now?]

“We have to wait here until they ‘regen’ again.”

Suho took a seat in an empty lot open on all sides established as a base.

It was a so-called base camp.

“We don’t know when or where they might come in again, so let’s continue scouting the surroundings, centering on this. Not just me, but you two as well.”

“Us?”

Gray and Esil were taken aback.

“They will help too.”

[Krrrk Krrrk!]

[Krrrk!]

The shadow goblins wandered around and started scouting.

They looked like bandits plundering a village, but they were on Suho’s side.

His goal was to witness the sight of new goblins reappearing in the Shadow Dungeon.

Considering the existence of daily quests, it was certain that they would come in again before the day ended.

“Okay. I got help, so I have to pay for the meal.”

Esil unconsciously licked her lips as she answered.

Thanks to Suho, she was able to eat for the first time in a while, but the hunger she had been struggling with for a long time could not be resolved overnight.

‘Because goblins don’t taste good, although the quantity is large.’

She suddenly looked to the side and saw Gray also making the same expression.

“What?”

“…”

Esil felt conflicted because she felt like she was on the same level as the little one.

* * *

[Are you sure you want to exit the Shadow Dungeon?]

Suho left the Shadow Dungeon with Esil and Gray.

‘Even though I caught so many goblins, I only leveled up once.’

In order to become stronger, he had to enter a stronger dungeon.

Suho now had many options.

One is to blackmail Rakan’s Sword and look for the location of the new sanctuary.

But, Rakan’s Sword didn’t know everything.

He said he would let Suho know when he sensed signs of a new sanctuary.

The second is to find a stardust factory somewhere and hunt demons.

Suho has no clue on that at all.

‘And the third…’

Just Magok.

‘I’d better go there first.’

Magok Village, Gangseo District.

Originally, the area was called Magok because it produced a lot of hemp.

But a year ago ever since the worst dungeon break ever occurred, people have been calling the area Magok or Demon Land.

Since then, Magok has been designated as one of the most dangerous field dungeons in Korea, and civilians have stopped visiting.

‘Gwanaksan Field and Seoul Station Field were both created a year ago. Magok Field was also created just a year ago.’

It was suspicious.

Looking back at what had happened, Suho was sure that Magok was involved in some way.

“Let’s go.”

* * *

Slide.

The bus door opened and Suho walked out.

He arrived near Magok using public transportation.

Even though the world has become like this, the trains and buses were still running well.

So it became a more bizarre world.

Only a few steps from an extremely ordinary civilized city, a hell road infested with demonic beasts suddenly unfolds.

Even at that moment, the hunters were diligently attacking and purifying those areas, but at the same time, a new gate was opening somewhere.

[This place…]

As they got closer to Magok, Beru’s eyes became serious.

The fields of Magok that stretched out beyond were a jungle with blue mist and dense forest.

[It’s a place where you can feel the dangerous energy just by looking at it. Of course, it’s not dangerous at all to me. Khm.]

Beru seriously boasted about himself and tilted his head.

[Young Master, why is there no barbed wire here?]

Like Gwanaksan Field or Seoul Station Field, most of the field dungeons were surrounded by long barbed wire to prevent the monsters from coming out.

However, when they arrived in Magok, they could not see such barbed wire anywhere.

“This place is too wide to be surrounded by barbed wire, and barbed wire is meaningless in the first place.”

[Why?]

“Most of the monsters here are plant-type monsters, so they can’t come out anyway.”

Plant-type monsters couldn’t root in a land without blue mist.

It was truly fortunate for the people of Earth.

If it wasn’t for that, the plants in the dungeon would have covered the Earth a long time ago.

[It’s a really fun place.]

Beru looked at the scenery of Magok with an interesting expression.

Suho said they were plant-type monsters, but Beru sensed signs of other beings.

[Young Master, isn’t this field occupied by another guild?]

“Not to my knowledge. I searched on the Internet, but I found nothing.”

As it turned out, Magok Field was a hunting ground open to all hunters.

It was because it was very troublesome to manage for guilds if the place was plant-type monsters infested.

Also, they could make money by selling the corpses of the monsters, but the plant-type monsters don’t cost much.

Since they say they are still researching, no one knows what will happen later. It was an area that hasn’t received the attention of hunters yet.

“Besides, there are ghosts here.”

[Are you talking about ghosts?]

Beru became more excited.

By ghost he didn’t mean a ghost from a horror movie.

Ghost monster.

In this forest, there were not only plant-type monsters, but also ghost-type monsters that couldn’t be obtained no matter how hard anyone tries.

So it was only natural that the hunters hated this place.

There’s no money there.

‘But I am different. Because experience is more important than demon corpses.’

Thud.

The moment Suho had set foot on Magok Field…

-It’s a sanctuary!

“…!”

The Rakan’s Sword suddenly told Suho.

Suho immediately pulled out Rakan’s Sword and held it.

“What? A sanctuary?”

-Yeah. This area is full of the energy of the sanctuary! It seems that this dense forest and blue mist were preventing the energy of the sanctuary from flowing out.

Beru looked at Suho.

[There could be an artifact similar to Rakan’s Sword somewhere around here.]

“Or there could be a boss mob like Broki.”

[Whichever of the two comes out, it would be beneficial.]

“Right. Whether it’s an artifact, it’s an item, a boss mob, or a shadow soldier with experience.”

Suho looked at the dense jungle with a glimmer in his eyes.

The combination of the jungle and ghosts was too much of a bother for hunters.

Suho had a sanctuary-limited navigation.

He raised Rakan’s Sword forward.

“Do you know where it is?”

-This way.

Rakan’s Sword moved the tip of his sword, pointing to the center of the sanctuary.

Suho ventured into the jungle with Rakan’s Sword at the forefront.

* * *

Suho wasn’t the only one exploring Magok Field.

“Vice President, it’s already the second day.”

“How long are we going to be here?”

“Rather than it being difficult, we need to know exactly the schedule and purpose…”

The hunters of the Baekho Guild had been wandering the jungle aimlessly for two days already.

The reason was Baek Miho, Vice President of the Baekho Guild, who is now leading them.

However, no one dared to express their dissatisfaction with her.

Baek Yunho, the president of the Baekho Guild, was out of the country. Baek Miho, the Vice President and daughter of Baek Yunho, was pretty similar to her father.

“Someone keeps calling me.”

Baek Miho has been hearing strange hallucinations for some time now.

-Prove your qualifications.

The voice spoke out of nowhere.

-Prove your qualifications.

At first, she thought it was just hallucinations.

However, the voice grew louder and louder as time passed, and eventually led Baek Miho to this place in Magok.

‘What the hell is going on here? What kind of qualifications do I have to prove?’

Baek Miho was equally frustrated.

It was clear that there was something.

The moment she stepped into the jungle, she stopped hearing things.

Right then.

Stand!

The hunters who saw Baek Miho’s face trembled.

‘The Vice President’s eyes…’

Vertically slit pupils.

Suddenly, Baek Miho’s eyes were shining yellow like those of an animal.

‘The eyes of the beast.’

The beast transformation skill made her like that.

Even though only a fraction of power was revealed, the pressure was enormous.

-Prove your qualifications.

“… Has it started again?”

The voice returned to Baek Miho’s brain.

However, the contents were slightly different from before.

-Prove your qualifications to become the King.

Baek Miho took off the hair tie she was wearing on her wrist and tied her hair.

With the beast’s eyes, she glared fiercely in the direction the voice came from.

“Everyone, be ready for battle.”

Chapter 32

 

-Prove your qualifications to become the king.

“…!”

Dun.

Suho’s senses stat sensed an abnormality taking place in the forest.

The forest was agitated.

Suho stopped walking and looked at Rakan’s Sword.

“Did you just say that?”

-It’s not me.

“Does the voice sound the same?”

-It has to be. It was said by a being just like me in this sanctuary.

Suho tilted his head.

“Are they the same as you?”

-Yes. You probably didn’t think that the king of beasts, the Fang Monarch Rakan, would only have one fang, right?

“Usually four.”

-Two.

“…”

-It means that there are only two fangs made of holy material.

As Suho stared at him, Rakan’s Sword hurriedly defended himself.

-I don’t know if I said it, but to be precise, I’m Rakan’s ‘baby tooth’.

Baby teeth are those that fall out during adolescence.

-I am the one who received the tooth that Rakan lost as he grew up and made it into a sacred object for the lower tribes. Since the fangs I received back then were two, the holy relics were also two.

Then, again, the voice penetrated Suho’s brain.

-Prove your qualifications to be the king!

Suho asked again.

“Then what the hell is this asking if I’m worthy to be king?”

-At that time, the lower tribes created me in hopes that a future monarch would be born from them. But now that Rakan is dead, it’s finally time to elect a new king. The so-called ‘Trial of the King’ has begun.

“Oh.”

Suho was then tempted to ask.

“So you’re saying that if I pass the test, I can become the Fang Monarch too?”

-Of course it is possible. If you want to be a beast.

“Beast?”

-They were going to elect the king of beasts, shouldn’t the candidate be prepared to become a beast?

“I kind of hate that.”

At Suho’s disgusted expression, Rakan’s Sword giggled and continued.

-So, in the first place, you are not qualified. And that voice is not talking to you either. It’s just a notice scattered throughout this sanctuary.

[Young Master.]

Just in time, Beru, who was flying around and scouting, returned to Suho.

[There are other hunters roaming around this field besides us. Each of them look…]

Thuck!

Listening to Ver’s words, Suho stepped on a tree branch and jumped high.

From there, he looked down in the direction the commotion was coming from.

An interesting sight was unfolding there.

Strangeness appeared in Suho’s eyes.

‘They’re choosing the king of the beasts.’

[… Everyone was using the beast transformation skill.]

‘I guess this is what it means.’

Kyaoo-!

Thud!

Blag!

All over the forest, fighter hunters who fought by changing part or all of their bodies like beasts were fighting.

There was one with wings like an eagle on his back.

There was also a person who became furry like a bear and grew in size.

It was really diverse.

-Prove your qualifications to be the king!

Each and everyone were fighting an entire forest steeped in madness to prove their worth.

-Anyway, the holy relics here seem to have gathered all the beasts qualified to be king.

It was then.

Swish-!

Thuck.

Suho suddenly felt a presence under his feet and immediately turned around and jumped off the tree branch.

Swish!

Surprisingly, it was the tree itself that attacked Suho.

‘Tree trunk?’

Even while jumping to the ground, countless tree trunks attacked Suho like a whip.

‘Ruler’s Power!’

The ruler’s power was not enough to lift Suho’s weight. However, it was possible to double jump, stepping on the air momentarily and leaping again.

Suho did somersaults avoiding the whip vines and landed safely on the ground.

The battle began in earnest.

Swish! Slash!

Plant-type monsters started attacking Suho from all sides.

Suho grabbed Rakan’s Sword and Vulcan’s Horns with both hands and hacked them to pieces.

-Prove your qualifications to be the king!

In the meantime, the voice continues to be heard.

Suho felt conflicted.

“No, I don’t have the qualifications, so why are you making me take the test?”

-It’s a matter of timing. It was because you entered the sanctuary and was caught up in the Trial of the King’s ordeal. Or perhaps the ordeal has just begun because I, a holy relic, have entered this place.

“So that holy relic is the problem in the first place.”

Suho decided to think simply.

“It’s a test, and so we start looking for the examiner.”

[Find it and destroy it. Who dares to test Young Master?]

Beru’s eyes shone insidiously.

-This way.

The direction Rakan’s Sword had been pointing to was the place where the examiner was.

Suho continued to cut down the plant-type monsters and ran to the place where the other holy relic was.

* * *

The deeper the jungle, the thicker the blue mist.

At first glance, it gave off a dreamlike feeling, but it was the beginning of a nightmare.

Swoosh-

“The ghost is coming.”

The hunters, who were being tested for their qualifications as kings, hurriedly alerted their surroundings.

The chilling sound of the wind was blowing everywhere.

In fact, plant-type monsters aren’t very strong if you look at them individually.

However, if you look at the forest as a whole, the risk level changes.

Regardless of whether the class is E or S, hunters are also human beings made of flesh and blood.

If a sharp tree trunk suddenly flies in and pierces the throat or heart, life can be lost in vain.

The forest was full of such creepy assassins everywhere.

In addition, now ghosts have been added.

“This is why this field is not popular.”

“I know. There is only risk and nothing to be gained.”

Until last year, there was a big city here.

It boasted a huge floating population, not only because it was home to a large number of people, but also because it had a sizable business district.

But one day, the gate suddenly opened in the said area, and a catastrophe occurred.

Many died, and those who were lucky enough to survive lost their livelihoods.

The ghosts of the dead still haunted the land.

Aaaaaaah-!

“Damn it! It’s Banshee”

“Everybody cover your ears!”

The Ghost Species Beast Banshee.

Banshee’s wailing is disorienting.

It was the worst for the hunters who were already wandering in the jungle.

Besides, all the hunters there now had their hearing developed using the Beast Transformation skill.

In the end, there were even a number of people who vomited.

-Prove your qualifications to be the king!

A voice that whips them even at this moment.

When the voice stuck in their heads while temporarily losing sight and hearing, the hunters finally realized the truth of this test.

‘I get it.’

Smell.

There was a smell calling them from somewhere.

It was the smell of magic that could only be felt by maximizing wildness.

“Right! It was a smell!”

Hunters focused all their nerves on their sense of smell.

But there was a tree trunk that squeezed through that gap!

Slash-!

“Chuck!”

As they tore the vines stuck in their thighs, their eyes were blazing wildly.

‘I must find it.’

‘I’ll find it and become the king!’

Not knowing who could become the king, they were blindly taking the test as if possessed by something.

“… Something is off.”

Thud.

Baek Miho suddenly stopped walking.

The Baekho Guild hunters who were following her made puzzled expressions.

“Vice President, what’s the problem?”

Baek Miho looked somewhat displeased.

Even in this chaotic situation, the ‘Eye of the Beast’ was watching from far away.

She already knew that there were quite a few other hunters roaming around in this forest.

They were also in the process of moving competitively to find the same place using the Beast Transformation skill like herself.

Baek Miho having a wild nature is just the same.

From the moment she stopped walking, she felt something, saying that this was not the time.

That part touched Baek Miho’s pride.

“I feel like I’m being played by someone. I don’t like it.”

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

“For now, our Baekho Guild will retreat from this mysterious test.”

“…!”

Her sudden declaration shocked the members of the guild.

When they entered the forest yesterday, they couldn’t understand why the vice president had gone there.

After the King’s Trial began, the worries disappeared.

They don’t know what awaits at the end of the test, but the power of the word ‘King’ spurred their desire.

However, Baek Miho suddenly stepped on the brakes and stopped their momentum.

“It makes me feel dirty to be seduced by such unknown desires, as if I had become a real beast. It’s not like I’m a dog in heat that gets swayed by some kind of pheromone.”

Baek Miho clicked her tongue and even glared with the eyes of the beast.

“Are we going back now?”

“No.”

It was a no-brainer to fight with others without knowing the purpose.

But, she wanted to see with her own eyes who would be the final winner.

“Move and search high terrain with an open view.”

“Alright.”

The subordinates follow her decision without any words.

But then.

“Grrr.”

There was a group of werewolves who appeared in front of the guild while moving past through the bush.

“Hmm?”

In an instant, Baek Miho’s eyes changed when she recognized their identity.

The Baekho Guild was the most famous guild in Korea for its Beast Transformation skill.

As a result, they had separate lists of hunters with beast transformation skills from other guilds. The purpose was, of course, to offer a scout someday.

So she was well aware of the identities of the werewolves she encountered.

“The remnants of the Hyena Guild.”

They said that there were some guys who hadn’t been caught by the police yet, and it seemed that they, too, were enticed by the king’s trial and came into the forest.

However, the problem was that their nature was evil, and they understood the king’s test better than anyone else as they had served Broki for a long time.

‘There is only one king!’

Growl!

The moment they accidentally encountered Baekho Guild, the werewolves showed their teeth.

They launched an attack without hesitation.

“Kill them!”

“Grrr!”

The Baekho Guild was the most likely candidate for the title of king.

If they don’t get killed now, they will take the throne.

However, the blatant intent to kill by the werewolves rather awakened the wildness that Baek Miho had been barely suppressing.

“… Tsk.”

‘One-day old puppies who don’t even know what they’re doing.’

Tick.

At that moment, her hair tie broke off.

Growl!

Baek Miho’s hair, which protruded like a lion’s mane, was bleached white.

‘Beasts!’

Half-human and half-beast.

Baek Miho’s claws, revealing her true power, rip off the heart of the leading werewolf.

-Prove your qualifications to be the king!

“… Ha?”

A voice seemed to rejoice at the slaughter made by Baek Miho.

-Kill more!

-Those who survive to the end are truly strong!

“Was it like this?”

Baek Miho realized what that voice really wanted.

“It’s a battle royale.”

She didn’t really like it.

Forcing people to kill each other.

In addition, because of the five senses maximized by the Beast Transformation skill, screams of dying and killing could be heard from all over the forest.

A battle royale was already taking place elsewhere.

“I really don’t like it.”

Baek Miho gnashed her teeth with a disapproving expression while fighting the Hyena Guild members.

All of a sudden, she noticed a person walking far away.

His carefree appearance, walking around with two swords in each hand, was so foreign to her.

‘Why is that person alone?’

‘Could it be that he killed all of his teammates and survived alone?’

‘If so, he was the worst human being.’

‘Blinded by the king’s power, he even killed his comrades!’

… But.

Sniff Sniff.

‘He doesn’t smell like blood.’

‘Didn’t he kill someone? Then, why is he alone?’

Baek Miho kept glancing at him even while fighting.

He kept walking until she could no longer see him.

Chapter 33

 

“There are more people with Beast Transformation skills than I thought.”

Far from other hunters, Suho was crossing the jungle without hesitation.

Of course, numerous specters appeared in front of him and attacked.

Everywhere, tree trunks contaminated with magic were relentlessly seeking lives.

Aaaawwwooooh-

[Banshee used ‘Skill: Wailing’.]

[You lose your sense of direction for 10 minutes.]

Ghost Banshee howled overhead, disturbing Suho.

‘Ruler’s Power!’

Tuck!

Suho’s invisible hand reached out and grabbed Banshee’s neck and snapped it.

…!

[You have killed Banshee.]

[‘Skill: Wailing’ has been canceled.]

“You shouldn’t cry. Santa doesn’t give presents.”

Suho smirked and killed Banshee.

The ghosts infesting the place were all taken care of at once!

Suho’s twin swords turned like windmills.

[Use ‘Skill: Blade Storm’.]

Swoosh!

[You have killed a specter.]

[You have killed a specter.]

[You have killed a specter.]

Blade Storm is very useful in battles with bunch enemies.

However, even after catching so many specters, there was no sign of his level rising.

‘I just need to catch more!’

He had no choice but to catch them all to move forward anyway.

[Use ‘Skill: Blade Storm’.]

[Use ‘Skill: Blade Storm’.]

Grumble-!

[You have killed a specter.]

[You have killed a specter.]

The days when mana ran out with just one storm cut were a thing of the past.

If it was the same now, he could use it eight times.

But something was strange.

‘I don’t level up even after catching this much?’

It felt like he did not gain any experience at all.

‘Could there be more?’

Suho’s eyes explored the surroundings.

His increased sensory stats now had the same senses as beast hunters.

‘There.’

Suho found the place where he felt the most dangerous energy in the complex jungle.

He immediately turned and started running towards it.

-Where are you going?

Rakan’s Sword asked.

“Let’s stop by there for a while.”

It was slightly different from the direction to the holy relic, but it wasn’t quite the opposite, so it was enough to stop by briefly on the way.

“What is this again?”

Suho found a bizarre-looking tree.

[Wraith Tree]

“A ghost tree?”

-It is a sacred tree that protects the sanctuary.

Rakan’s Sword recognized it.

“Sacred? This?”

Suho raised his head and looked up at the tree.

Rather than being sacred, it was a mysterious tree that looked haunted.

Just then…

Aaaaaaahhh-!

Kihihi!

Even at that moment, new ghosts were growing like fruits from the twisting branches of the Wraith Tree.

[It’s like a ghost tree that grew up sucking the corpses of people who died on this land.]

Beru explained.

“As expected, there was a separate main body.”

That’s why no matter how many ghosts he caught, he didn’t level up.

He seemed to have found the right one.

Suho smirked and launched Rakan’s Sword into the air with the Ruler’s Power.

Then he raised Vulcan’ Horn and mercilessly struck the side of the Wraith Tree.

Slash-!

A great roar erupted.

But, the Wraith Tree was still standing there.

‘Is it because it has a high defense?’

‘Let’s see who wins.’

Suho gritted his teeth and began striking the Wraith Tree.

Slash…!

It was then.

“Grrrr!”

Chills!

Evil red shadows attacked Suho.

Suho quickly fell back and hit their claws with his sword.

[Dungeon Jackal]

[Dungeon Jackal]

“Krrrk.”

The dungeon jackals who landed on the floor surrounded Suho from the front and rear to prevent him from escaping.

They were already looking at Suho as prey.

As befits the guys who guard the trees that protect the sanctuary, the atmosphere felt different from the typical dungeon jackals.

That made it even more interesting.

“Great. You guys will be of some use.”

Suho was exuding explosive energy from his entire body.

Swoosh-!

[The ‘Title: Wolf Slayer’ buff effect is activated.]

[All stats increase by 40% when dealing with beast-type monsters.]

“Krrrk?!”

Dungeon jackals instinctively lowered their stance.

The prey, which seemed weaker than them just a moment ago, suddenly burst out with the intimidation of a predator!

“… Grrr!”

Suho swung his sword at the dungeon jackals who were attacking at the same time.

* * *

[Shadow Jackal Lv.1]

Basic Class

[Shadow Jackal Lv.1]

Basic Class

[Krrrk!]

Shadow magicians shimmering with black energy.

Beru, who was riding on top of them, nodded with a haughty expression.

[Yes, from now on, serve as a loyal dog that protects Young Master.]

-This is why we lost the war…

A low voice came from Rakan’s Sword.

Suho ignored the voice and was diligently cutting (?) the side of the Wraith Tree.

Tuck!

Krrrk-!

Numerous specters jumped to hinder Suho, but the shadow jackals reliably guarded his back.

Suddenly, a groaning voice was heard.

-Why are they protecting the intruder instead…?

[Whose side are you on?!]

-That wasn’t me.

[Hmm?]

It seemed that someone was watching Suho from afar.

And finally.

Slash!

“Ah, that’s it.”

Grumble!

With a loud noise, the enormous wraith tree fell backwards.

[You have destroyed the Wraith Tree.]

[The ghosts around disappear.]

Swoosh.

The ghosts that hovered around Suho scattered and disappeared.

[Your level increased!]

“I leveled up right away?”

Suho’s eyes widened.

He leveled up just from cutting down a tree.

Suho’s eyes quickly searched the surroundings.

He climbed up a nearby tree and checked the situation elsewhere from that view.

Ghosts were still roaming around and attacking the hunters far away.

‘There’s not just one ghost tree!’

Suho’s eyes flashed.

And that location would be best known to insiders.

“Lead ahead!”

[Kyao!]

At Suho’s command, the shadow jackals took the lead and ran to the second Wraith Tree.

* * *

Grumble!

The sound of something collapsing was heard.

“… What?”

Baek Miho already dealt with all the hyena guild members and looked around. She turned her head in the direction of the roar.

‘Is that where the man went earlier?’

She felt as though the ghosts around her had suddenly decreased slightly.

‘No, it’s not just a feeling.’

It definitely decreased.

About one-third.

Thanks to that, she could have some spare time.

Baek Miho looked back at the hyena guild members she had defeated to gather information.

Most of them died, but only one was bloodied and tied up.

Baek Miho asked while looking at his fear-stricken eyes with her vertically split eyes of the beast.

“Do you want to live?”

“Ack, I want to live!”

The werewolf desperately replied.

“Then, prove it. Why should I let you live?”

“W-What?”

“Tell me everything you know.”

“Ack.”

Grrrrr.

When Baek Miho revealed her teeth, the werewolf felt like it was prey in front of a predator.

Then…

“… Monarch?”

Baek Miho made a strange expression.

She didn’t expect much, but surprisingly, the value of the information the werewolf gave was great.

“Are you saying that a king who ruled over the beasts existed?”

“Y-Yes! But the king died a long time ago and the throne is now said to be vacant!”

“So, is this a fuss about choosing a new king?”

“That’s right. We also suddenly heard auditory hallucinations, so we rushed here.”

The werewolf, who didn’t want to die like his other colleagues, confided in the information he knew.

In fact, the hyena guild members thought that only they could hear the hallucinations.

They thought that because they were awakeners who drank the blood of the canine clan, they were qualified to become king.

But when they got there, that wasn’t the case.

Any hunter with the power of a beast deserved to be king, and all of them were rushing and fighting.

“Hmm.”

King…

Baek Miho was lost in thought for a moment.

Of course, it would be a lie if she’d say she wasn’t greedy.

Even at that moment, the hallucinations asking to prove her qualifications were stimulating her desire.

-Prove your qualifications to be the king!

‘… But it’s also suspicious.’

No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t imagine that the monsters would have approached humans with a good intention.

How much more if they would choose their king from among humans?

‘That’s interesting.’

Baek Miho sneered and folded her arms.

It was also right not to step up.

However, she wondered what results this test would eventually come to.

Actually, she was kind of scared.

What kind of scheme are the demon beasts here plotting under the pretext of having a King’s Trial?

‘My father was away at a time like this.’

Baek Miho sighed as he remembered her father, Baek Yunho.

In fact, if they were to choose the king of beasts among real humans, there would be no one more qualified than Baek Yunho, an S-Class hunter.

But, there was something she was sure of.

‘If my father were here, he would have made the same decision as me.’

-Prove your qualifications to be the king!

“Argh. It’s really noisy.”

Even at this moment, Baek Miho’s head was pounding because of the voice that stimulated her desire.

-Kill more!

Right then.

Grumble!

Again, like before, she heard the sound of something collapsing somewhere.

A strange thing happened.

-The one who survives until the end… Whoa! Please stop!

“Huh?”

‘What’s going on?’

The voice that had been heard on repeat all of a sudden sounded annoyed.

All the hunters in the forest, including Baek Miho, raised their heads in bewilderment.

Even the werewolf who was begging Baek Miho for his life perked up his ears with a puzzled face.

The auditory hallucinations that they had been hearing repeatedly all along then stopped.

Suddenly, the number of ghosts decreased by half.

‘What happened? I hope the King’s Trial is over…’

Of course, not.

After a while, the hallucinations resumed as if nothing had happened.

-Prove your qualifications to be a king… Ah! Stop! Just please! Now there is only one tree left!

“… Hmm?”

What the hell is going on?

Chapter 34

 

The Holy Relic was genuinely perplexed.

An uninvited guest came to the King’s Trial and was messing around.

Wraith Tree.

It grows by absorbing the spirits that died in that land.

There were a total of three trees guarding the sanctuary.

Now, there is only one left.

That remaining tree was also being destroyed terribly by the uninvited guest.

Thuck!

-Stop! Please stop! Ah, the power of the sanctuary…! The King’s Trial…!

Suho let the screams of the holy object go to the back of his ear.

[Krrrk!]

The shadow jackals were guarding him with a proud and upright posture like guard dogs.

Slash!

‘As long as I destroy this, I will level up again!’

Unfortunately, he didn’t level up when he destroyed the second Wraith Tree. This was because the higher the level, the more required experience points.

It was something he was sure of.

Thuck!

Suho moved faster.

Unlike Suho who was excited, ‘the other Holy Relic’ kept begging earnestly in his head.

-This can’t be. That’s the last ghost tree! Imagine how diligently I nurtured that tree!

“I can’t hear. I can’t hear anything.”

-Listen!

Slash!

-Don’t interfere with the King’s Trial, something you don’t qualify for!

Suho suddenly stopped.

“… qualified.”

Suho raised his head and smiled faintly.

He moved toward the Holy Relic that he must be watching somewhere.

“You weren’t going to pick a real king anyway. What’s the problem?”

-…

All that came back was silence.

Suho already knew about it a long time ago.

He was certain because he already had Rakan’s Sword.

“Aren’t you planning on taking over the body of a human who survived until the end anyway?”

The Rakan’s Sword initially wanted to take away the body of a lowly human and possess it.

But this time, the standard of the other Holy Relic was ‘royal status’.

No matter how much humans on Earth try to fly and crawl, there’s no way they’ll ever be satisfied with something like being a Fang Monarch.

Grumble!

Just in time, Suho destroyed the last Wraith Tree.

[You have destroyed the Wraith Tree.]

[All the ghosts disappear.]

[Your level increased!]

All the ghosts in Magok Field disappeared.

A heavy silence fell over the forest.

At the end of that suffocating silence, the Holy Relic finally opened its mouth.

-… You know me too well. Who are you?

It was a question for Suho.

However, the heavy sense of intimidation in that voice made all the hunters in the Magok field nervous.

Awwwoooooh!

The forest was howling.

Even the ground shook as if it would collapse.

“What is this!”

“What is going on!”

As an unusual earthquake began to occur, the hunters in the forest turned pale.

Suho smiled and asked Rakan’s Sword in his hand.

“Do you think the Holy Relic here is stronger than you?”

-No way. You must have found a bean sprout.

The sarcastic voice of Rakan’s Sword was obvious.

-But, it was better. It found someone worthy of being a real king.

Gray, now in the Shadow Dungeon, was the only descendant of the canine clan.

Even though he became Suho’s pet, that didn’t matter too much.

It was already convinced that Gray would grow into a stronger monarch by being by Suho’s side.

-Do you know the reason for the existence of the holy relic?

“What?”

-To prove the qualifications of the king by competing with each other’s chosen successor.

Swoosh.

Rakan’s Sword moved the tip of the sword, pointing back in the direction of the other relic.

-Go that way. Go to him and prove that you are more worthy.

Instead of answering, Suho turned his gaze to the shadow jackals.

“Jackal!”

[Krrrk!]

“Take me!”

The shadow jackal quickly approached and carried Suho on his back.

Then, it started running through the dense forest at a blinding speed.

* * *

Grumble-

The closer they got to the source of the earthquake, the denser the forest became.

Plant-type monsters of various colors were everywhere.

Until now, no hunters would have reached that far.

It was extremely dangerous with no money to gain.

[The plants here are full of life. They have already tasted human blood.]

Beru’s words were true.

Magok Massacre.

The fundamental reason why this land has turned into such a terrible jungle.

It was because the location where the gate opened was quite bad.

Magok is home to the largest and most extensive botanical garden in Seoul.

The gate to the other world opened in the middle of the said garden.

Blue mist flowed out of it and permeated the various vegetation then achieved a bizarre evolution.

… This place has turned into hell.

If this was an ordinary mountain like Gwanaksan, it would have been a little different.

The types of vegetation growing on the mountain would not have been as diverse as those in the botanical garden.

If only this place hadn’t been downtown.

Monsters tainted with magic wouldn’t have eaten so many humans in the city and evolved into something more grotesque.

The result of all that bad luck was right there.

[Magok Botanical Garden]

In the place where the botanical garden was originally located, a strange giant tree wriggled as if it were alive.

Suho narrowed his eyes and looked closely at the giant tree, and soon recognized its identity.

“Is this… a tree?”

It wasn’t a tree.

Thousands of plant species that grew in the botanical garden were intertwined with each other and wrapped together taking the form of a giant tree.

-It’s a nest for the king.

Rakan’s Sword said.

-The other relic has grown the sanctuary this much. I have no choice but to admit this one thing.

It was then.

Wow!

Suddenly, the door of the botanical garden, covered by numerous vines, opened wide in front of Suho.

“Let’s go in.”

[Young Master, it may be a trap.]

The corner of Suho’s mouth went up at Beru’s concern.

“If it’s a trap, we just have to break through.”

Swoosh.

With two swords in both hands, Suho stepped into the entrance.

[Entered the dungeon.]

Suho entered the botanical garden dungeon.

After that, the vines wrapped around the passage again to seal the door.

* * *

The garden was quiet and dark.

It is pitch black without a single point of light.

Suho maximized his senses and adapted to the darkness.

To secure more visibility, he put ‘Item: Crow Mask’ on his face.

A lot more became visible.

Spider web.

“Woah. See this?”

Suho smiled and looked around.

The whole place was wrapped in a pure white spider web.

“Was this a trap?”

Large and small spider beasts crawling on the web were glaring at the intruder.

[Grave Spider]

[Grave Spider]

‘A grave.’

That was a very fitting name.

There were already guests who got there before Suho.

While he was handling the Wraith Tree, the beast hunters first smelled the place.

“Oops!”

They were all hanging, entwined in spider webs.

As Suho got inside, those among them whose mouths weren’t covered screamed desperately.

“S-Save me…!”

“Please let us go…!”

-They are sacrifices for the king.

Listening to Rakan’s Sword, Suho glared into the deep darkness far away.

A huge spider was crouching there.

Body the size of a house.

Dozens of eyes.

Ugly mouth.

Pair of giant claws.

[Grave Spider Arachne]

It was an enormous and intimidating spider.

-I can feel the energy of the Holy Spirit in that monster’s body.

Suho’s eyes narrowed.

“Then, I’ll have to cut him open and get it out.”

Thud!

Suho didn’t waste any time and immediately jumped out towards the monster.

Grave spiders poured down from the walls and ceiling towards Suho.

“Take care of the small ones!”

[Krrrk!]

At Suho’s command, the shadow jackals jumped up and struck the grave spiders.

They tore the spiders apart with their strong claws and killed them with their teeth.

[You have killed a grave spider.]

[You have killed a grave spider.]

[You have killed a grave spider.]

Numerous messages appeared simultaneously.

Suho ignored them all and just ran forward.

He only has one goal!

The arachne spewed white spider webs towards Suho.

Slash!

Two swords swung.

[Use ‘Skill: Blade Storm’.]

The spider’s web was torn by the raging sword strike.

A giant spider appeared.

Its huge pincer slammed down from above Suho’s head.

Bang-!

If he hadn’t turned his body instinctively, it would have been crushed.

The spider that smashed the stone floor rose up again.

Suho’s eyes widened.

‘Come again!’

Slash- Bang!

He turned around and dodged the attack.

Bang!

Dodged again.

“Khhiiiiiii!”

The monster was enraged.

Countless smashes were pouring in.

It felt like fighting an excavator at a construction site.

But…

‘Seeing.’

No, feeling.

Using items to increase his sensory stats, Suho’s ability to detect danger has gotten a lot better.

He dodged the attacks one by one and gradually closed the distance between him and the monster.

Slash!

He hit its leg with the Rakan’s Sword.

Suho went to the other side of the monster who was staggering from the impact, and once again attacked with the Vulcan’s Horn.

Slash-!

Suho’s twin swords began attacking nonstop.

[The level of ‘Skill: Double Swords’ has risen!]

The monster howled at the continuous attack.

“Keeeeek!”

-There’s no way! No matter how hard you try, you will eventually become my prey!

A voice coming from inside its body echoed.

‘Was that not enough?’

‘Its skin is quite thick.’

But, it doesn’t matter.

Even if it had a strong defense, Suho thought he could just keep on attacking.

‘I’m your food?’

Sounds funny.

Suho smiled.

‘You are my prey.’

He was already excited.

Thinking of killing this guy and using him as a shadow soldier.

[Use ‘Skill: Blade Storm’.]

“Khiiiik!”

 Chapter 35

 

It was an endless attack.

[‘Effect: Fatal Wound’ is activated.]

An option appeared for Rakan’s Sword.

A special effect with a 15% chance of inflicting more than twice as much critical damage was activated.

That was just the beginning.

Slash!

[‘Effect: Fatal Wound’ is activated.]

[‘Effect: Fatal Wound’ is activated.]

As the number of Suho’s attacks accumulated, the critical hits continued to increase.

Thuck!

In the end, the monster couldn’t stand the force and broke one of its leg.

“Krrrrwwkk!”

Arachne screamed and staggered.

Suho did not miss that opportunity.

Slash!

He jumped on the broken leg and went on the monster’s back.

Holding the two swords, he stabbed them into the hard shell of the monster.

To be precise, in the joint that can be seen between the shells.

Green blood splattered and screams erupted.

“Kurwarrk!”

Swoosh! Blag! Blag!

Arachne struggled wildly to get Suho off its body and hit the wall here and there.

However, the more it did, the more persistently Suho clung to its back and stabbed his sword deeply into it.

Right then.

“Khhiiikk!”

[The Grave Spider Arachne uses ‘Skill: Puppet Show’.]

[The Grave Spider Arachne uses ‘Skill: Puppet Show’.]

Swoosh!

‘On its back!’

Suho instinctively turned over and jumped high.

Then, a sharp attack cut through the space where Suho was.

Thud!

Landing on the arachne’s back again, Suho turned his head to confirm the identity of the attackers.

“S-Sorry!”

“Our bodies are moving on their own..!”

The hunters, whose limbs were wrapped in spider webs, were attacking Suho unwillingly.

‘They said they were puppets.’

The bodies of people hanging from the walls and ceiling were forcibly controlled by spider webs floating in the air.

The movements were bizarre like that of a zombie.

“Beru!”

Suho screamed while clinging onto Arachne’s back swaying here and there.

Beru suddenly showed up.

[Yes? Did you call me?]

That was all he could ask.

Beru had taken a step back from the battle fearing that he would steal Suho’s experience points.

Conversely, there was no reason not to participate in battle as long as it didn’t take away experience points.

Beru turned his head and howled ferociously at the hunters attacking Suho.

[What kind of bugs dare to disturb Young Master’s great crusade-!]

[Kehehehehehe!]

Beru’s claws ripped the webs apart at an incredible speed.

“Aaaaaagh!”

“Please save us…!”

The hunters were startled and started screaming.

The…

“… Oh?”

Thuck…!

The cobwebs tying them all together snapped.

At that moment, the bodies of the hunters floating in the air plummeted to the floor like puppets with strings cut off.

Crash!

“Ahh! Ouch…”

Hunters landed on their buttocks and whined in pain.

Their gazes followed Suho and their eyes widened.

“… Crazy.”

An absurd sight was unfolding.

Slash!

“Krrrwwwkk!”

Suho was… ripping off Arachne’s shell with his bare hands.

‘If its defense is high, I just can tear off its shield!’

[Strength: 51]

The tendon in his forearm swelled like it was about to burst.

Sweat poured down.

Suho continued as the monster struggled.

He was barely enduring everything.

Right then.

‘Daily Quest!’

He took out the reward he had been saving for this very moment.

[The following rewards are prepared.]

Reward 1. Status Recovery (Unchecked)

‘Accept the reward!’

Swish!

A refreshing energy swirled around, and his condition returned to its best form.

“Great!”

Suho smirked and put more strength into his grip.

But, it still was not enough.

‘More strength…!’

Suho instinctively came up with a way to fill the lack of strength.

‘Ruler’s Power!’

Swoosh!

The invisible hand floating in the air momentarily overlapped Suho’s right arm.

Just like back then when he blew away Team Leader Han Jaehyuk of the Hunters Association with Ruler’s Power.

Dark energy penetrated into Suho’s arm.

Swoosh!

In the end, the largest shell came off like a crab shell.

Underneath, Arachne’s flesh was exposed.

Suho punched his fist straight in.

Gumble-!

[You have learned ‘Skill: Strike Lv.1’.]

Arachne’s heavy body was crushed in half.

“…!”

[You have defeated Arachne, the Grave Spider.]

[Your level increased!]

[Your level increased!]

Arachne collapsed without even screaming.

Stepping on the body, Suho’s hand pulled out the ‘holy relic’ that was parasitic in the body.

Swoosh!

[‘Item: Rakan’s Sword-2’ has been obtained.]

A sword that looked exactly like Rakan’s original fangs came out of Suho’s hand.

Even their personalities were similar.

-Who dares covet the King’s sword!

An evil voice echoed in Suho’s brain.

-I’ll possess your body!

Swoosh!

Red energy radiated from the sword and attacked Suho.

Then, a shadow rose from under Suho’s feet and swallowed the sword.

The red aura that had been attacking vigorously faded.

-W-What is this energy?! Could you be the Shadow Monarch’s…!

“You guys… Shouldn’t you change your common statements already?”

Suho smiled as he spoke to Rakan’s Sword-1.

Dun!

…!

Suddenly, the two relics, fangs of Rakan, resonated with each other.

Ring!

[‘Item: Rakan’s Fang’ recognizes each other.]

[‘Sanctuary of Beasts’ is activated.]

The system messages started appearing in front of Suho one after another.

Ring! Ring!

[You have learned the passive skill ‘(Unknown)’.]

[Passive skill ‘(Unknown)’ is activated.]

A passive skill was added in the skill information window.

[Skill]

Passive Skill: (Unknown) Lv. Max

‘What is this…?’

Suho expressed some doubts about the unexpected situation.

Swoosh-!

His shadow spread in all directions.

… Time stopped.

* * *

‘What is this place…?’

Suho looked around.

A world of complete blankness.

He stood alone at the edge of the empty horizon while wearing a crow mask.

The Rakan’s Swords in his hand were also missing.

‘Beru.’

Suho tried to call Beru, but no voice came out of his mouth.

‘Is it a dream?’

He suddenly heard a voice.

[You are not in your dream.]

‘…!’

Suho opened his eyes wide and looked ahead.

At the end of the empty horizon, he saw a man looking at him.

A giant man that looks well over 2 meters.

The wild-looking man was dressed in clothes made of animal skin.

No, he wasn’t wild-looking but simply wild in nature.

[Nice to meet you. You are his descendant.]

The man smiled at Suho, revealing his sharp fangs.

‘Who are you?’

[My name is Rakan, an eternal specter that was killed by the Shadow Monarch.]

He answered Suho’s question.

A system message popped up in front of Suho.

[The King of Beasts, Fang Monarch, is watching you.]

‘…!’

Suho opened his eyes wide.

Suddenly, the man felt a tremendous presence.

Bear? Tiger?

Lions, sharks, crocodiles, venomous snakes, what predator in the world can radiate such an overwhelming sense of intimidation?

‘King.’

Suho realized.

He was the true king of beasts.

Suho realized just now.

In Suho’s field of vision, the man’s silhouette grew larger and larger.

‘…!’

He could finally see everything.

Behind the man in human form, a huge snow-white wolf was looking down on him.

[Whew. Can you see my true self? It is indeed a mysterious skill.]

Rakan, the great wolf, was intrigued.

[Well, to the extent that you have summoned me. I was only wandering in the world of emptiness. Is this level of ability natural?]

‘I called you?’

Suho made a puzzled expression.

[Right. I don’t know how, but you woke me up. Because of that, my soul, which was in eternal rest, dreamt of ‘you’.]

‘Dream?’

[Yes. This is my dream.]

Rakan chuckled and looked around.

[… There’s nothing.]

Rakan suddenly burst into laughter.

It was a really empty laugh.

[Is this normal?]

Originally, the dead do not dream.

Hence, this dream of his was also empty.

[Isn’t it really fun? Those were the words of the Fang Monarch, who killed and trampled so many beasts in his lifetime.]

He turned his eyes to Suho again and realized…

A young human has inherited the power of the Shadow Monarch.

That small, weak human child was the only spectacle in his empty dream.

[… Hmm.]

Rakan’s gaze at Suho deepened.

[From now on, you will be my only pleasure.]

Smirk.

The corner of Rakan’s mouth went up.

When a monarch dies, he falls into eternal rest.

It was a world of emptiness where all selves disappeared and there was no dream.

But, that wasn’t the case now.

[The King of Beasts, Fang Monarch, is watching you.]

The same message as before appeared.

[From now on, I will be able to watch your life through dreams. I’m really looking forward to it.]

Suho frowned at Rakan’s words.

‘You can spy on me? Why?’

[Why are you asking me that? In the first place, I was only called by your power.]

‘My power?’

He remembered the new skill called ‘Unknown’ that he acquired.

Rakan laughed at Suho’s unsatisfactory reaction and continued.

[Don’t worry. I can’t see every moment of you. The only time I can look into you is when you use my power.]

‘If it’s your power… Are you referring to Rakan’s Sword?’

[That’s right. Ah, I can see you when you are with my descendant.]

‘Gray?’

[Yeah, you gave him that name. Thank you for keeping my descendant without killing him. This will add joy to my empty rest.]

Rakan smiled at what came to his mind.

Soon, a mysterious light emanated from his huge body.

Beam!

That light came down to Suho.

[The King of Beasts, Fang Monarch, blessed you.]

Suho looked at the light covering his body with a puzzled expression.

[‘Prophecy: Rakan’s Protection’ is received.]

Chapter 36

 

[Blessing: Lakan’s Blessing]

Blessing of the King of Beasts, Fang Monarch.

The Fang Monarch Rakan has chosen Suho to be the King’s Pontifex.

Pontifex can imbue their bodies with the living spirits of beasts.

-Effect ‘Pontifex’: Possession of ‘Pet: Gray’ in your body.

‘Pontifex?’

Rakan spoke with a satisfied smile at Suho, who looked at the information window that appeared in front of him in a puzzled way.

[Right. You are now the pontifex of our clan. I’m already dead, so yoy will serve Gray, my only remaining descendant.]

‘Are you asking me to serve Gray?’

Suho made a strange expression.

Gray was his pet.

A pontifex serving a pet as a king, what a strange situation.

‘Is it like a cat butler? Thinking about it, it seems to make sense…’

Suho understood and nodded.

Besides, it came along with his new ability.

After all, Rakan’s purpose was to dream of Suho more often.

To do that, Suho had to stay with Gray even a little longer, but the problem was that Gray was so weak and young that he was completely useless.

Suho wondered what if he would use the Pontifex’ ability, ‘Spirit’?

[If you use that ability, you will be able to borrow the power of the beast for a while. As Gray grows, the power you can borrow will become stronger.]

‘Are you asking me to grow along with Gray?’

[Well, something like that.]

Suho and Rakan faced each other and smiled at the same time.

It was new to both of them.

‘I heard my father killed you. He’s much cooler than I thought.’

[What now? It is only natural for a weak beast to be eaten by a stronger one.]

Recalling that time, Rakan chuckled.

[Your father was terribly strong, and I struggled in fear and was eventually eaten. That’s all.]

A weak one.

The king of beasts, who reigned at the pinnacle of the ecosystem, accepted even his own death.

[Oh. Has the time allowed for me already ended?]

Suddenly, Rakan looked up at the sky and licked his lips, feeling bummed out.

Before he knew it, the world filled with pure white was gradually being colored with black shadows.

A terrible emptiness was coming.

The space in which he could move became increasingly narrow, and Rakan’s body became smaller and smaller.

Eventually, Rakan, who returned to the huge man he showed at the beginning, approached Suho and handed him something.

[Now, take this and get out of here. This is my death and rest realm. You can go back and live your life.]

There was only one Rakan Sword in Suho’s hand.

‘But, why only one?’

[Two combined. The fangs were pulled out when they were young, so they were too shabby to be the relics of the king. Now that they’re put together, it’s probably more useful.]

Swoosh.

Right then, a black shadow completely engulfed the world.

The corner of Rakan’s mouth revealed through the gap in the shadow gave a final goodbye with a smirk.

[See you again, Pontifex.]

Time, which had stopped, began to move again.

* * *

“…Ah.”

The landscape changed in an instant.

Suho was still standing on Arachne’s body.

What had just happened felt like a dream.

However, evidence proving that meeting the Fang Monarch was not a dream remained in Suho’s hands.

Apparently, the two fangs of Rakan, which were held in both hands, had become one and changed into a slightly stronger and sharper form.

And above all, the ability has changed so much that it cannot be compared to before.

[Item: Rakan’s Fang]

Difficulty to obtain: ??

Type: Sword

ATK +60

A sword made from the fangs of Rakan, the king of beasts.

Rakan’s heroic spirit dwells in it, so if someone of a lower rank possesses it, the body may be taken away.

-Effect ‘Contempt for the Weak’: Puts the designated opponent into fear for 1 minute. (All stats -50%)

-Effect ‘Fatal Wound’: Inflicts 3 times more fatal damage with a 20% chance.

‘He said the two merged into one, so the stats increased too much.’

The damage effect that was +30 was changed to +60, and the fatal wound effect was also increased from 15% to 20%, from 2 times to 3 times.

[Young Master?]

He tilted his head as he looked around to see Beru, who had just arrived.

[Your energy suddenly changed a little.]

-You. Did you go meet the king’s heroic spirit? I feel the power of a pontifex in you.

The Rakan’s Sword in his hand.

“That’s right.”

[Keeek! You met the Fang Monarch? Oh, how?]

Beru was stunned by Suho’s answer.

It was absolutely impossible to meet the heroic spirit of the monarch who fell into eternal rest.

That was impossible even for Sung Jinwoo, the Shadow Monarch.

Suho looked at Rakan’s Sword and said, “You were the fang I originally had.”

-Right. I took in the holy relics here.

Was it because he became a Pontifex?

The sword was able to recognize his identity just by hearing his voice.

‘Should I go back now?’

Suho suddenly looked around.

Most of the hunters who were tied to the spider web and controlled seemed unharmed.

However, all of them sat down on the floor with bewildered faces, staring at Suho.

‘It’s the king.’

‘That hunter got the power of the king.’

They all witnessed Suho defeating Arachne.

Even the appearance of him pulling out the holy relic directly from the body.

But, no one dared to approach Suho.

It was because of the pressure of the situation.

And Suho, who had achieved his goal, didn’t care about them at all.

When he turned his head, there were shadow jackals sitting upright on the ground after killing all the small spiders.

But, as if Beru had ordered them, there was a heap of mana stones extracted from the bodies of dead spiders in front of their neatly gathered feet.

Compliments, compliments, compliments, compliments.

Compliments, compliments, compliments, compliments.

The jackals that brought their prey were eagerly hoping for something with their twinkling eyes.

“Ah, yeah. Good work.”

[Hehehe!]

At Suho’s reluctant praise, the shadow jackals stuck out their tongues and smiled like sunflowers.

They were really cunning guys.

Moments ago they were just biting necks.

“Let’s go back.”

[Yes.]

Suho left the botanical garden without hesitation.

The hunters, who had been watching the back of him blankly, sighed in relief the moment Suho’s appearance completely disappeared from their sight.

“Whew…”

“W-We’re alive.”

There was a reason the hunters couldn’t breathe properly and were nervous all along.

Even if they were tied to a spider web and controlled, they were all the people who attacked Suho. And that, of course, was at the moment when Suho was most in danger.

If they were going to retaliate against him, they would not be able to withstand it.

Suho only managed to defeat the giant spider and then quietly disappeared.

Someone spoke first.

“I guess that person just got the power of a king?”

“Most likely.”

“Ha, I really envy him. What a great skill he must have received.”

“Is that the issue now? Let’s just thank him for saving us.”

Realizing that they had finally survived, the hunters sighed once again.

They had a question.

“Who was that hunter though?”

“I don’t know either. I couldn’t see his face because he was wearing a strange mask.”

“It was also very dark. It looks like he’s dragging a few animals around, maybe he’s a summoning hunter?”

“That’s nonsense. What kind of summoning hunter in this world could fight so hard? Didn’t you see how he killed a spider with his bare fists earlier? He also just tamed a few jackals.”

The hunters gathered there all had Beast Transformation skill.

Among them, there were quite a few people who had a good affinity with animals, so they didn’t care too much about the shadow jackals.

In addition, the shadow jackals were only seen as silhouettes because the place was too dark.

“Then why did he hide his identity?”

“I know, right. It’s not like he’s a criminal?”

Of course, Suho, the party involved, had no intention of hiding his identity. He only used the mask because it was dark inside the botanical garden. He took it off as soon as he left.

However, because of that, the hunters had more doubts about Suho’s identity.

All of a sudden…

“… Oh?”

Someone looked around.

“Where have all the spiders gone?!”

The corpse of the giant spider, which had died miserably in the dark, had disappeared without anyone realizing it.

Even the corpses of tiny spiders.

“Are they the ones whose bodies degrade when they die?”

The hunters who thought they would take the corpse of the monster sighed deeply.

Today, it was a complete waste of hard work.

[Kehehe.]

Somewhere, Beru was laughing.

* * *

At that time, outside the botanical garden.

“W-What?!”

“The smell suddenly disappeared?”

The hunters who were wandering in the jungle to become king sniffed at the same time with puzzled expressions.

The smell that stimulated their instincts that guided them to the King’s Trial disappeared.

“Ahh.”

At the same time they realized

‘The king has been decided!’

They lost the position to someone else.

Upon realizing that, extreme dejection and jealousy surged up in their hearts.

“Damn…”

The hunters were greatly discouraged.

Baekho Guild hunters asked Baek Miho, who was watching the scene from a high place.

“Vice President, what do you want to do now? Would you like to go back?”

“Before I go back, I want to see with my own eyes who became the king.”

“But there is no way to find out who he is in this wide area…”

“You can tell that much by scent. That person would have a strong and distinct animal smell…”

Sniff.

Something was captured by Baek Miho’s superhuman sense of smell.

When she turned her head to check, the man he saw earlier was walking back to where he came from.

However, unlike before, a smell of blood lingered on his body.

Sniff?

‘It doesn’t smell like human blood. As for the color…’

Baek Miho’s sense of smell was able to distinguish between the smell of demons and human blood.

The smell that emanated from that man’s body was a beast’s blood.

‘Huh?’

Baek Miho noticed something strange and tilted her head.

‘Was there magic in this forest?’

Did he fight a bleeding demon in a forest full of plants or ghosts?

‘How many were there deep into the forest?’

Suho, feeling a certain gaze just in time, turned his head and looked her way.

His eyes met Baek Miho’s, looking at him from afar.

Their gazes intertwined in midair.

‘…No. It’s different.’

Baek Miho, who was staring into Suho’s eyes with superhuman eyesight, stopped speculating.

This was the place where the ‘King of the Beasts’ was chosen.

But the man did not smell like a beast.

Baek Miho eventually took her eyes off Suho.

“Let’s wait… a bit more.”

“Yes, Vice President.”

Even after that, the Baekho Guild stood guard there for quite a long time.

It continued until Suho arrived home by bus, took a shower, and ordered chicken to eat.

‘…Why did she look at me like that?’

Suho was eating the chicken leg when he suddenly remembered Baek Miho’s face with whom he saw earlier.

‘I think I saw her somewhere. Was she a famous hunter by any chance?’

He tried to look on the Internet to see if anything would come out.

His eyes widened.

“What is this?!”

The Internet was ablaze with articles about Magok Field.

However, the problem is that the protagonist of all those issues is Suho himself.

-(Hot News) Beast King Crow!

-An unidentified hunter who gained the power of the king, Crow!

-Why did Crow wear a crow mask?

-(Ad) This year’s hot item, crow mask

-(Related search term) Strong breathing

“What? Beast King Crow? Breathe?”

He was given all kinds of shameful nicknames.

“What the hell is this…”

Suho covered his face in shame.

A line of messages appeared as if it had been waiting.

[The King of Beasts, Fang Monarch, was giggling saying that it is a perfect nickname for a pontifex.]

Chapter 37

 

Bang!

“What is this bastard doing again?!”

Lee Minseong, the vice president of the Reaper Guild, smashed the table in anger.

-(Hot News) Beast King Crow!

-Unidentified hunter, Crow, who gained the power of the Beast King!

-Why did Crow wear a crow mask?

Articles on the Internet were all about the Magok Field incident.

Knock knock.

“Vice President.”

Just in time, secretary Kim knocked and came in to deliver a report.

“It is said that all the Hyena Guild members who entered Magok Field were found dead. Accordingly, they just finished recovering the last corpse.”

Crash!

Lee Minseong’s fist clenched and shattered the armrest of the chair he was holding.

“I knew it would be like this.”

He gritted his teeth with a fierce expression.

“Now all the pictures fit together.”

They were remnants of the Hyena Guild.

It was only two days ago when the werewolves suddenly disappeared to visit Magok Field.

-We’ll check if there is a factory in Magok and come back.

Their excuse was good.

After all, Lee Miseong had been trying to find a new stardust factory.

However, he did not trust them at all, and had several hunters with stealth skills to follow them.

They had a good sense of smell, so he just watched what they did from a distance.

Then again.

Their lies were quickly exposed.

In addition to the werewolves in Magok, beast hunters who had flocked to show the ‘qualification of a king’ were already roaming around.

“It seems that they went to Magok to obtain the Beast King’s power or something rather than to look for a stardust factory.”

After getting that unknown power, they must’ve thought of escaping from Lee Minseong

Technically, their plan was successful.

Because in the form of ‘death’, they finally became free.

Secretary Kim continued to report.

“After securing several of their bodies and looking at the cause of death, they were killed by the weapons of hunters, not witchcraft.”

“No. It wasn’t the hunters.”

“What?”

Lee Minseong bit his lips and glared at the Internet article with a confident look.

-Why did Crow wear a crow mask?

“It must be the demons who killed them. The crow mask is like a symbol of demons.”

As soon as he saw the word ‘crow mask’, what came to his mind was the factory demons.

For some reason, demons always wore crow masks on their faces.

Just like ‘Crow’!

“Crow, that guy must be the demon. The demon that killed the hyenas and took the power of the Beast King.”

“Is that so?”

“I’m sure of it. In the first place, only those with the Beast Transformation skills were qualified to be kings. But do you know what demons must do to gain that power?”

“…”

“You don’t? Is your brain not really working?”

Lee Minseong clicked his tongue in frustration at the appearance of Secretary Kim who kept making a puzzled expression.

“It’s my fault for having such an idiot as my secretary. Do you remember how the Hyena Guild became werewolves in the first place?”

“They were awakened by drinking the blood of the wolf demon… Ah, blood!”

Secretary Kim suddenly came to a realization and shuddered.

Lee Minseong nodded his head.

“Yes, it’s blood. Even humans become beasts when they suck blood, so what can a demon not do? That demon killed them and drank their blood. And by meeting the king’s qualifications, he stole the king’s power.”

“Woah…”

After hearing all of those words, Secretary Kim looked up at Lee Minseong with a very thrilled face.

“As expected of your insights, Vice President…! How did you have such a wide field of vision? It is a picture I could not have imagined even after looking at the same information.”

“Tsk. It’s not a big deal. You don’t have to act like that.”

With Secretary Kim’s sincere flattery, Lee Minseong had a slightly relaxed expression.

“Anyway, now that we have a full picture of the situation, it is important to use this information. Now that the Hyena Guild are all dead, we have to go out and make a stardust deal with the demon. You know that, right?”

“That’s right. Then, we have to find the location of the factory first, but the clue is…”

“Magok.”

Lee Minseong pointed to an article on the Internet with a sharp and wise look.

“Besides, how did the demon without the Beast Transformation skill know about the King’s Trial and went to Magok? There are no coincidences in the world. It is logical to assume that the demon was there from the beginning.”

“Ah, I see! Then it must not have been a lie that the werewolves went to Magok Field to find the factory.”

“I suppose so.”

“All right. Then I will take responsibility and search the Magok Field.”

“Alright. Also, if you want to make a deal with a demon who has gained the power of the King of Beasts, prepare plenty of meat.”

“Ah! Yeah, well, even werewolves eat lots of meat. As expected, Vice President is wise!”

“Enough.”

Secretary Kim once again admired Lee Minseong’s wisdom and bowed down.

…Of course, the reality was completely different.

“Ah, by the way.”

Lastly, Lee Minseong confirmed the other tasks entrusted to Secretary Kim.

“What happened to the doctor?”

“Sorry. I haven’t convinced him yet. He’s a very stubborn man.”

“Hey…! What the hell are you doing for your high salary? If money can’t do it, do it by force!”

“Ah, yes. Even if I were to do it day after day…”

After answering, Secretary Kim hurriedly left the vice president’s office.

Seeing that, Lee Minseong put the cell phone in his hand back to throw it at him.

“It’s my fault for having that idiot as my secretary.”

This is why the hunters are the problem.

Because they are ranked based on fighting skill order, not intelligence order.

Before becoming a hunter, he was an elite who ran a business.

‘I am different from other hunters. Since birth.’

Lee Minseong gritted his teeth as he recalled the hunters who boasted that their petty mana power was a bit high.

* * *

[You have entered the Shadow Dungeon.]

Around that time, Suho bought 10 chickens and returned to the Shadow Dungeon.

Goblins for daily quests were not yet regenerated, so it was quiet.

Perhaps it was because the day hadn’t passed yet.

“Wow! What is this delicious smell?”

“Hnnggg?”

Esil and Gray, who smelled the chicken, quickly approached Suho.

Suho handed over all the chicken he brought to Esil.

“Eat.”

“Thank you for the food!”

“Hnnggg?”

“Gray, even if you look at me like that, I can’t give you one.”

“…”

Gray bowed his head sullenly.

This time too, Gray had no share.

Right then, a message from Rakan appeared in front of Suho.

[The King of Beasts, Fang Monarch complains that you are being very mean to what Gray eats.]

Suho protested, saying it was a false accusation.

“Who’s being mean here? Gray says that he grows stronger by eating what he hunts himself. Rakan’s Sword said that he couldn’t become stronger if he was being spoon fed.”

Besides, the corpses of the goblins that were caught this time were piled up like a mountain.

Even if Gray shared that huge amount with Esil, he wouldn’t have to worry about starving for a while.

[The King of Beasts, Fang Monarch, said you are right, but he feels sorry for Gray, who has never eaten a chicken in his life.]

“Hmm.”

Hearing those words made Suho suddenly feel like he was a very bad person.

In the end, Suho lost.

“Esil, pass the chicken to Gray.”

“Ahhh~…”

Esil flashed a whining look on her face not willing to share.

In the end, it was sad to see Gray receiving the lightest box of chicken with his trembling hands.

Esil still had 9 left.

However, Gray lowered his body with fierce eyes.

“Growl!”

[No. You don’t have to hunt that. You’re not fighting that chicken.]

Beru looked at Gray pathetically.

There was a message from someone who enjoyed watching it from afar.

[The King of Beasts, Fang Monarch, nods in satisfaction, saying that he is indeed a valiant heir.]

“Just unlucky.”

Suho smiled.

He left Esil and Gray sitting together while eating chicken.

This time, he decided to check his abilities, which had leveled up a lot.

“Status window.”

Then, a long status window unfolded in front of him.

[STATUS WINDOW]

Name: Sung Suo

Level: 25

Occupation: None

Title: Wolf Slayer

HP : 5,860/5,860

MP : 586/586

[STATS]

Muscle Strength: 53

Body Strength: 34

Speed: 34

Intellect: 34

Senses: 34 (+5)

(Divisive Ability Points: 0)

xxx [SKILLS]

Passive Skills: Strength Lv.2, Double Sword Lv.2

Active Skills: Ruler’s Power Lv.1, Shadow Fragment Lv.1, Blade Storm Lv.1, Strike Lv.1

xxx [ITEMS]

Rakan’s Sword

Vulcan’s Horn

Gray’s Ring

“Also…”

Suho had a satisfied expression.

Great level and stat increase!

There were also a lot of skills.

“It’s worth the effort.”

And this time, he checked the newly acquired skill.

[Skill: Strike Lv.1]

Active skill

Requires 300 mana.

Coats the body with the ‘Ruler’s Power’ to amplify attack power.

This was the skill he learned while delivering the final blow to Arachne, the grave spider.

“Required mana is 300. No wonder it was powerful.”

It was a skill that could not be used twice in a row with the current amount of mana required.

‘Ruler’s Power.’

Suho decided to use the skill as an experiment.

The order was like this.

First, use Ruler’s Power.

Superimposing that invisible hand on his hand.

Ohh…!

Then, Suho’s hand was covered with black energy.

“Oh.”

Suho looked around at his hands, which seemed to be wearing a large translucent black gauntlet.

‘It’s the principle of merging the Ruler’s Power and my hand into one.’

Suddenly, he remembered the proverb saying that two heads are better than one.

If you hit with one hand, or if you hit with both hands overlapping, it’s a skill that doubles, triples, or quadruples the attack power.

Suho glanced at his own mana.

[MP : 586]

Considering that his magic power was 10 at level 1, it was a huge amount of mana.

‘If I increase my level one more time here, it will be over 600. Then I can use this skill twice in a row.’

Just imagining it was thrilling.

Suho clenched his fists.

This time, he knew for sure.

‘To level up, I have to enter a real dungeon.’

It’s been a long time since his level surpassed the goblins in the Shadow Dungeon.

In order to become stronger, he had to go to a place where there is a stronger demon like Magok Field.

To do that…

‘I’ll have to raise my hunter rating.’

Currently, he is an E-Class hunter, so at most he could only participate in dungeon raids as a miner or collector.

He knows that there are not many field dungeons like this one in Korea, so there are more opportunities to enter higher dungeons by raising his rating.

Suho suddenly remembered what the association hunter he met the other day said.

Since the initial measurement seems to have been in error, a suggestion to visit the association for a re-measurement.

‘Should I go?’

Suho decided to visit the association.

Chapter 38

 

‘I hate ants.’

It’s already been decades.

That was something ‘he’ used to say.

The reason was…

He had been having nightmares.

Once every 1 or 2 years.

A vivid nightmare that comes back whenever he forgets about it.

In that dream, he was always running in the dark being chased by countless ants.

‘Oh, don’t come! Don’t come!’

‘Kiiik! Kiiiih!’

‘Ahhh!’

He ran and ran and ran like that.

But no matter how hard he tried, when he would come to his senses, he would find himself on a dead end.

Ants were surrounding him.

In the middle of it was a giant ant, as tall as a man, walking towards him.

And…

‘Kiiiik-!’

Its mouth was torn open and his whole head was cut…

Swoosh!

“Aaaaagh-!”

A middle-aged man jumped out of bed screaming.

At the noise, his wife who was sleeping next to him rubbed her eyes and looked at him anxiously.

“Honey, did you have another nightmare?”

“Huff huff.. .”

Cold sweat broke out on her husband’s forehead.

He gulped down the cold water he had placed on his bedside table.

Cough.

He was a bit nervous so he had to drink it in a hurry, but thanks to that, his mind returned to reality.

Then he looked back at his wife, who suddenly woke up because of him, and put on an apologetic expression.

“Sorry. Did you wake up because of me?”

“Mmm… It’s been a while this time.”

“Right. It’s okay now, so don’t worry about me and sleep more.”

When he gave her a gentle pat on the back, his wife’s eyes slowly closed again.

“Whew.”

The man sat on the bed and covered his face with both hands.

‘I guess I won’t be able to fall asleep for a while…’

The man sighed and repeated something to himself like an incantation.

Yes, it was a dream

Just a dream.

I’m still… alive.

Fortunately, the spell worked.

His heart, which had been beating like it was going to explode, gradually calmed down.

‘Anyway, that ant dream seemed real…’

For some reason, he felt like he would have a rough day today.

He couldn’t go back to sleep so he decided to get ready for work, although it was a little early.

He quietly got up and went out so his wife wouldn’t wake up again.

His wife was a school teacher.

She was teaching Korean history.

When he was younger, he also worked as an academy instructor for a while and taught Korean history, so he knew how hard it was.

‘It’s a big deal if she would have trouble sleeping because of me and get confused while teaching.’

Thinking about this and that, he got ready for work and put on his clothes.

‘Oops. I almost left it again.’

He wore a name tag issued by the association around his neck.

[Korea Hunter Association]

Min Byeonggu

(Consulting Doctor)

Glimmer.

His name engraved on the nameplate glistened under the morning sunlight.

* * *

“I’m here for mana power re-measurement.”

As soon as morning came, Suho visited the hospital designated by the association.

“Please sit down and wait for a moment.”

After hearing the nurse explain this and that, Suho sat down on a chair and waited for his turn.

Suho came to the association to measure his mana, but he was asked to get an awakening test.

The Hunter Association had designated hospitals in each region where mana can be measured.

At first, it was only in Seoul, but as those awakening began to appear from all over the country, these hospitals gradually increased in each place.

However, there was still only one hospital in Korea that could do ‘mana re-measurement’, because they had the most precise measuring device in the country.

“Sung Suho, please come in.”

After waiting for a while, the nurse called Suho.

He went into the re-measurement room, and inside was a nice-looking middle-aged doctor.

“Sung Suho?”

“Ah, yes. Hello.”

Suddenly, Suho’s eyes stayed on his name tag while greeting him.

[Korea Hunter Association]

Min Byeonggu

(Consulting Doctor)

‘Consulting doctor?’

As much as it was a difficult re-measurement procedure, he seemed to be a doctor assigned by the association.

“You may have heard the explanation from the nurse earlier. Stardust has officially become illegal so before re-measurement, you will have some tests first.”

It was a so-called doping test.

After a while, the inspection began with a brief explanation. Suho suddenly asked a question.

“By the way, Doctor. Wasn’t there originally a way to determine stardust doping?”

“There was, but recently, as some of the ingredients of stardust have been revealed, research has progressed. Based on that research, a clever doctor developed a doping test in no time. By the way, that doctor is me. Haha.”

Min Byeonggu shrugs and points at himself with his thumb.

He was a pretty great doctor.

‘Ahh.’

Hearing this, Suho understood.

‘It’s thanks to me.’

That doping tests could be developed in recent years.

It was because of Suho who discovered the factory and reported to the association how the demons had been making star dust.

‘The butterfly effect is on, and I’m actually sitting in for a doping test.’

It was a situation where he could just laugh thinking how ridiculous it was.

Doctor Min Byeonggu, who was conducting the test, looked at Suho’s expression curiously.

“Hmm? Suho, you have a different aura than other people.”

“Really? What was my aura like?”

“You’re too calm.”

Min Byeonggu was curious about Suho.

Usually, the reaction of people who came to him for a re-measurement was one of two things.

Someone who is overly ambitious and dreams of rising in status.

Or, one who would say Dr. Min was a lot better being overly self-conscious, unable to distinguish reality.

‘Even though they’re just similar people after all.’

Honestly, that was a natural reaction.

If the re-measurement was successful and the hunter’s rank went up, the digits of their annual salary would change overnight.

But, Suho was different.

There was no feeling of great anticipation or nervousness about the re-measurement results.

‘Was he originally a person who doesn’t have much greed?’

After a while, the results of Suho’s doping test came out.

“There is no stardust doping. You worked hard. We’ll do a mana re-measurement right away. Put your hand here.”

The result of Suho’s mana power was the same as the status window.

[Mana: 586]

An exclamation burst out of Min Byeonggu’s mouth as he checked the results.

“Oh. Congratulations! I really think the first measurement was an error. With this much mana power, you can become a C-Class hunter.”

While explaining, Min Byeonggu looked at Suho’s reaction once more.

Suho’s reaction was calm.

As if he already expected it.

‘Interesting. Are young people these days really like this?’

Min Byeonggu tilted his head and immediately entered the test results into the computer.

“Oh, and I need to upload skill information to Hunter Data. Could you show me some of your skills?”

Skill information was important data.

This was because the hunters had to know each other’s skills quickly in order to plan smoothly when attacking the dungeon.

Min Byeonggu brought Suho into a large space and asked.

“What skills do you have?”

“Hmm. I use a sword, and I also summon.”

“You are a summoning hunter? Let’s start with the summoning skill first. Would you like to show one you have summoned?”

“Yeah.”

Suho nodded coldly.

However, to use the shadow fragment skill, a corpse was required.

It was troublesome to retrieve the goblin corpse from the Shadow Dungeon, so there was only one guy he could call the easiest.

“Beru, come out for a second.”

It’s scary to say that.

Swoosh-!

[Did you call me, Young Master?]

A shadow the size of a fist jumped out from under Suho’s feet.

“Aaaaaaaagh-!”

[Eh?]

Min Byeonggu was so shocked when he saw Beru.

Beru tilted his head and looked back at Min Byeonggu.

His eyes widened.

[Oh? You can’t be…]

“Y-You…Y-You are…”

Min Byeonggu pointed his trembling fingers at Beru and then he passed out on the spot.

“Huh?”

Suho looked at Beru with a puzzled expression.

“What did you do to the doctor?”

[No, I… Hmm.]

Beru looked at Min Byeonggu’s face once again.

He was right.

Min Byeonggu.

[He… was eaten by me once.]

“What? Who ate who?”

[Me. I ate this human.]

Beru scratched his head with an awkward expression.

* * *

Before the Earth was reset.

The era when Shadow Monarch Sung Jinwoo was active as a hunter.

At the time, there were only a handful of S-Class healers in the world living in Korea.

Min Byeonggu was an S-Class hunter.

One time, he cooperated with other S-Class hunters and participated in a massive beast subjugation.

Jeju Island.

The island of hell that was occupied by countless ant beasts.

In that unprecedented battle, Min Byeonggu fought against the beasts more courageously than anyone else.

He made a heroic sacrifice for his comrades by getting eaten by Beru, the king of ants.

After that, the world resets.

All those memories disappeared from Min Byeonggu’s head.

[… I still remember you.]

Beru’s bitter voice penetrated the mind of Min Byeonggu, who fainted.

Predation skill.

Beru’s ability to absorb the power and memory of the target he ingested.

He had just woken up from the egg at the time and ate Min Byeonggu with that ability and swallowed up his talent as an S-Class healer.

[Perhaps that’s why you couldn’t awaken this time.]

But that wasn’t all that Beru learned from Min Byeonggu.

Memory. Knowledge.

The heart that hated war and loved peace.

It was the first ‘humanity’ thing that Beru had acquired since he was born.

[Perhaps if I were human, I would have called you father.]

Min Byeonggu was the person who had the most influence on Beru’s personality.

[It’s because of you that I also came to like historical dramas.]

Min Byeonggu shuddered when he heard Beru’s giggle, even in a state of unconsciousness.

[… Right.]

He seemed to have read his mind.

Beru murmured bitterly.

[I have become your nightmare.]

In fact… It wasn’t only Min Byeonggu.

Beru was the nightmare of all the humans he had eaten.

But among them, only Min Byeonggu was quite special.

Could it be because he was the first human Beru caught and ate?

Or is it because the humanity he learned had a profound impact on his current identity?

Beru was finally able to understand why.

Glance.

Even though the world has been reset…

Even if he doesn’t have the ability of an S-Class healer like back then.

[Your life is still noble.]

He wanted to quit being a hunter and become a national history teacher and healer so much that he chose a medical field in this life.

[You were still saving people’s lives even now.]

Beru smiled brightly.

The reason why Beru was willing to feel that emotion is probably because he has come to know that his ‘root’ is still shining brightly.

Since Beru had only walked the path of slaughter and struggle from the moment he was born, Min Byeonggu’s brilliance was all the more dazzling.

[I won’t say I’m sorry. Because we were at war then. But…]

Beru’s warm voice reached Min Byeonggu.

[I will support you in this life of yours.]

Swoosh!

And the small seed that flowed from Beru penetrated into Min Byeonggu’s body.

[I will take away your nightmares.]

My… father.

* * *

Meanwhile, Suho was surrounded by hospital staff.

“No, did he really pass out alone?”

“I called the police now, go and explain at the station.”

“Just as a reference until the truth is revealed…”

“Great. Because this is really a misunderstanding.”

Suho felt unfair, but the nurses’ response to the situation was natural.

Dr. Min Byeonggu was a talented doctor and the only stardust researcher in Korea.

Even though stardust wasn’t a good thing to use as a material for humans, the effect itself was still worth researching.

What if he can remove the wrong things and save only the good ones?

Stardust might become something that could change the current era.

In that sense, Min Byeonggu could be said to be a very important national financial resource.

However, what the hell did the hunter who was getting the re-measurement do? Min Byeonggu suddenly passed out screaming.

Usually in such cases, the hunter couldn’t have liked the remeasurement result…

“Okay.”

Min Byeonggu, who had fallen on the floor, suddenly stood up.

“Dr. Min!”

“Doctor is awake!”

Surprised, the nurses rush to Min Byeonggu.

But something surprising happened.

“… This?”

Min Byeonggu, who had been struggling to come to his senses, suddenly looked down at the pure white light on his hands.

It was mana.

“A-Awakening?!”

Everyone who witnessed the scene widened their eyes.

All of those gazes turned to Suho, who was standing next to him.

“No, this is also a misunderstanding.”

Because he didn’t really do anything.

Chapter 39

 

There was an uproar for a while.

Doctor Min Byeonggu suddenly fainted, woke up, then awakened.

Because of that, he had to measure his mana power by himself in front of everyone watching.

And the long-awaited result…

[Class C]

“Oh oh! Class C!”

“Awesome!”

“Congratulations on your awakening! Dr. Min!”

Min Byeonggu was showered with congratulations from the association’s staff.

“On top of that, you’re a healer!”

Healer was a very good job that could make a lot of money safely without going into battle.

Min Byeonggu was okay with that.

He was already over 60 years old.

An age to pursue stability rather than heart-racing challenges.

He had no intention of going into a dungeon and fighting with demons just because he had awakened.

He thought of leaving the dungeon to other young people and be more faithful to his job.

‘Good. Now that I can handle magic, I can accelerate my research on stardust.’

Min Byeonggu smiled contentedly as he moved his magical energy around with his hands.

* * *

“… Well, something like that could happen.”

Suho came out after hearing the inside story from Beru then nodded.

He got a question though.

“How the hell did you awaken that doctor? Did you return the power you swallowed?”

[No. It is impossible to return power. That power is already completely digested in my body.]

“Then?”

[I gave him ‘protection’.]

Protection.

The way Beru awakened Min Byeonggu was a complete imitation of the way the Fang Monarch bestowed his blessings on Suho.

[Usually, the conditions are very difficult for this to be possible. As in the case of the Fang Monarch, he needed ‘qualifications’ for the power.]

Min Byeonggu was not qualified enough.

However, divine protection that Beru had bestowed on him was his from the beginning.

After hearing the explanation, Suho licked his lips.

“Hmm. Too bad.”

[Too bad?]

“I was wondering if I could get a healer skill from you, but if it was that way, I wouldn’t be qualified.”

[Ehh?!]

Beru jumped up and fell flat on his face, claiming that he had heard something very absurd.

[How could someone like me dare to bestow blessings on Young Master? Even imagining it was disrespectful.]

Protection was usually something like a grace bestowed by a far higher being on a lower one.

However, Suho and Beru’s ranks were reversed, so it was not a situation to talk about qualifications in the first place.

Suho was just curious…

“Should we go back now?”

Suho looked back at the re-measurement room where Min Byeonggu was.

Due to the sudden awakening of Min Byeonggu, there was a commotion, so Suho went out for a while while he was being re-measured.

Also, his most important skill information was registered in the association data.

‘I haven’t even talked about things like Blade Storm and Endurance skills yet…’

At this rate, only the summoning skill would be listed as information about Suho in the Hunters Data.

He would only be known as a summoning hunter.

Even if he was C-Class, being a summoning hunter was still an unpopular job in dungeons, so he wanted to register more skill information.

There were some hunters who hid their skill information from the association, but most of them were criminals doing dishonorable things.

While Suho was out for a while, there was an uninvited guest who came to Min Byeonggu.

“I refuse.”

‘Hmm?’

Could it be because of his increased senses stat?

Suho overheard the conversation in the re-measurement room with his superhuman hearing.

“To be clear, I will not be reconsidering Secretary Kim’s proposal.”

Min Byeonggu was rejecting the offer of the uninvited guest with a firm voice.

“Oh, Dr. Min. Can’t you think it over? Please reconsider and…”

“My stardust research is entirely for the public’s benefit and society’s wellness. There is absolutely no reason to collaborate with large guilds pursuing private interests.”

[Young Master, the atmosphere is a bit strange…]

“Shh.”

Suho covered Beru’s mouth.

“It’s of no use to carelessly intervene in the conversations of adults like that.”

[Okay. I was wrong…]

“You have to listen quietly.”

[Ahh.]

Beru covered his mouth with both hands and only his antennae pricked.

Listening to the conversation further, it seemed that the person Min Byeonggu called “Secretary Kim” was a hunter from the Reaper Guild.

“Dr. Min, I know very well that stardust has become illegal. How could I not? But if you research further with us, wouldn’t it be possible to develop legal stardust someday?”

“I don’t know why you’re trying to develop stardust to such an extent.”

“Of course, to protect the world’s peace. The stronger the hunters become, the more citizens will be able to feel less anxious and be able to sleep.”

‘Reaper Guild wants stardust?’

Suho’s eyes narrowed.

“Beru.”

[According to Broki’s memory, the Reaper Guild was the main customer of the Hyena Guild.]

Beru immediately noticed what Suho was going to ask and quickly answered.

However, fearing that the person named Secretary Kim would overhear their conversation, he resonated his voice directly into Suho’s head.

[And it seems that the person named Secretary Kim was mainly in charge of contact with the Hyena Guild.]

“It’s a very convenient explanation.”

[Of course, it’s me.]

Suho nodded and used his senses to gauge Secretary Kim’s level.

‘Is he enough to be B-Class?’

Compared to himself, who is in Class C, his mana was at least twice as large.

The measure of strength could not be judged simply by the amount of mana. In particular, Suho’s stat higher than mana was actually his muscle strength.

As Suho was estimating his opponent’s class like that, Beru noticed that and stopped him.

[Young Master, don’t. Your opponent is from a large guild. With your current power, if you lose against a him, you will be in great trouble.]

Beru’s words were right.

Suho wanted to level up a lot but if he had to confront a large guild, his future hunter activities could be quite troubled.

Right then, Min Byeonggu implied farewell to Secretary Kim.

“I have nothing more to share with you, Secretary Kim. It’s still business hours, so could you please leave now?”

Secretary Kim didn’t want to go back empty-handed, so he ended up using a different approach.

“Beast King Crow.”

‘Hmm?’

[Oh?]

Suho and Beru looked at each other.

Suddenly, something unexpected came out of Secretary Kim.

“Dr. Min, you must have seen the news about the Beast King Crow, right?”

“What are you talking about?”

Min Byeonggu frowned.

“Yes, of course I saw the news, but…”

“Crow is the demon.”

“What?”

‘What?’

[Huh?]

They were all confused with the secretary’s words.

“According to the information obtained from Reaper Guild members, the Crow’s symbol, the Crow Mask, is an item of demons. They said that all the demons in the factory wear that mask.”

It was all true.

Except that Crow isn’t a demon.

“What do you think that means? The power of the Beast King has been passed over to that demon in Magok Field. With that power, the demon must have become stronger, and in order to fight against him, we humans also need to strengthen our power by all means.”

‘Wait… Why did the story turn out that way?’

Suho looked perplexed.

It seemed like something oddly right, but it didn’t fit at all.

“So, Dr. Min! Join us! You are a must-have to our guild. For the payment…”

“I refuse.”

The reason Min Byeonggu has continued to study stardust was not to make money, but for the public’s advantage.

Even if his current income wasn’t high, it was enough to live with his wife, and he’s satisfied with that.

He wasn’t going to be shaken no matter how much money he was offered.

As Min Byeonggu repeated his resolute refusal, Secretary Kim let out a sigh.

Secretary Kim spoke in a cold voice which was contrasting to his earlier tone.

“Your wife is a middle school teacher.”

“…!”

Min Byeonggu doubted his ears.

Looking at Secretary Kim’s face again, he was smiling.

Min Byeonggu’s expression hardened.

“What are you talking about…”

“I heard that your wife was absent from work today, did you know?”

“…!”

Min Byeonggu’s complexion turned white.

“Y-You guys did not…”

“Should I say it again?”

Secretary Kim smirked and showed a photo on his phone.

In that picture… A middle-aged woman was tied up.

“We get to choose any means for our purpose.”

The woman was none other than Min Byeonggu’s wife.

‘Eh, what is this…’

Min Byeonggu felt like his nightmare had begun again.

His head was buzzing and he was losing his sense of reality.

‘What the hell is that guy talking about?’

Kidnapping?

No matter how high the authority of the Reaper Guild was, he couldn’t believe they could go that far.

“Do you understand everything now? So, listen while I’m being nice.”

It was then.

Chills!

Secretary Kim hurriedly turned around at the sudden feeling from behind.

But it was too late.

Blag!

“…?!”

Through the door of the re-measurement room behind Secretary Kim, a large fist came out like a cannonball.

‘Strike’ Skill.

Suho’s fist, filled with black energy, crashed into Secretary Kim’s body.

Thud!

“Ack!!!”

As if he had been hit by a truck, Secretary Kim fell on the ground.

“W-Who are you?!”

Stumble.

However, the shock was so great that his legs staggered.

“You could stand my attack? B-Class is really different.”

Then a low voice came from behind the door along with a black fist.

Swoosh!

Suho slowly walked into the re-measurement room.

But his look…

“W-What?!”

Secretary Kim’s eyes widened.

“How is there a demon here?!”

Crow mask.

There stood a man whose face was covered with a crow mask.

Chapter 40

 

‘I can’t spare him some time!’

Suho immediately jumped at Secretary Kim.

The opponent was a B-Class hunter.

He had to be driven without rest before he could recover from the shock.

‘You’re kidnapping people for stardust? How is that different from being a demon?!’

The effect of ‘Skill: Strike’ on Suho’s fist had already disappeared.

Instead, in Suho’s hands were Rakan’s Sword and Vulcan’s Horn.

Swoosh!

“Wait a minute! Why me…!”

Secretary Kim, whose legs were still loose, hurriedly avoided Suho’s attack and took a backward step.

He continued to try to talk with Suho through his mouth.

“Hold on a second! Stop the attack! I am part of the Reaper Guild!”

“…”

However, Suho remained silent and continued to attack him.

Secretary Kim didn’t know what to do and continued to backtrack.

‘W-What the hell! Why is a demon attacking me? How did he find out about this place?!’

Numerous questions tangled in Secretary Kim’s mind.

Over the past year, Vice President Lee Minseong of the Reaper Guild and the demons of the factory have been making a closed deal.

Of course, there was almost no direct contact with the Hyena Guild in the middle, but if the name of the Reaper Guild was mentioned, at least the crow-masked guy should stop attacking!

Suho’s intent was successful.

It was because he had appeared wearing a crow mask with the intention of causing confusion.

“I am part of the guild that…!”

Thud.

‘Oops!’

He kept walking backwards until eventually his back hit the wall.

He hurriedly turned around and saw a transparent glass window.

‘I should get out of here for now!’

Secretary Kim threw himself without hesitation.

Swoosh!

He broke through the window and escaped from the building.

‘It went well.’

Suho’s eyes lit up.

To wield a sword, the open air was more advantageous than indoors.

Perhaps Secretary Kim felt the same way.

If a B-Class hunter used his strength properly, the building could collapse, so he must have saved himself.

‘Okay, let’s fight properly!’

Thud!

Suho jumps out of the window in pursuit of Secretary Kim.

After that…

“Ah…”

Min Byeonggu, who was confused and did not know what to do, was left alone.

[Ehem.]

At that time, a small shadow quietly approached him.

Beru coughed awkwardly and spoke to him.

[Don’t worry too much. Young Master can…]

“Aaaaaaagh! A-Ant?!”

[Ehh?]

Thud.

Min Byeonggu passed out at the sight of Beru.

[No, even with my protection…]

Beru felt frustrated.

* * *

Swoosh!

Citizens who were walking in the city center lifted their heads at the sudden noise.

Their eyes widened.

“W-What is that?!”

“Someone jumped!”

On the 5th floor of a building, someone broke a window and jumped down.

“Kyaaaah!”

“Move out!”

Fearing that they might get hurt by the shards of broken glass, the citizens scattered in confusion.

But soon after, another person jumped through the window.

The second person swung his twin swords in the air before the person who had jumped prior landed on the ground.

[Use ‘Skill: Blade Storm’.]

“Ohh?!”

The first person to jump was hit by the fierce blade storm and fell to the ground.

Blag!

“Kyaaaagh!”

“Hunters are fighting!”

Citizens who sensed the seriousness of the situation screamed and ran away.

“Ouch…”

On the other hand, Secretary Kim tried to get up.

A look of despair was evident on his face.

But now was not the time to think of that.

Slash.

Suho, who landed right in front of him, swung his sword without even giving a break.

“Damn it!”

Secretary Kim hurriedly stood up and raised magic in both hands.

“Fire!”

Roar- Bang!

A red fireball exploded in front of Suho.

Suho crossed his twin swords to block his magic.

‘Mage Hunter!’

Suho had already expected that Secretary Kim would be a mage hunter, so he reacted quickly.

He wasn’t able to counterattack properly indoors.

Instinctively, the movements of stepping back to keep the distance were all characteristics of mage hunters.

Suho, on the other hand, was the exact opposite.

‘Do not give space for him to move!’

Swish!

Suho followed closely and launched an onslaught.

However, secretary Kim’s response was also quick.

“Fire!”

Bang!

“Fire!”

Crackle!

Numerous fireballs exploded, accumulating damage on Suho’s body.

Suho’s HP gradually decreased.

‘It’s still okay!’

Suho believed in his total HP and continued to attack Secretary Kim.

After all, he was already at his limit.

The first time was when he attacked with Strike Skill, and when he even fell from the height of the 5th floor with Blade Storm.

It was a miracle that he was still standing on his own two feet.

“Ahh! Please let me know! Why are you attacking me?!”

Secretary Kim’s voice, screaming out of frustration, resounded desperately throughout the city.

Gulp.

Suho drank the mana potion, and his MP gradually rose to over 300.

[Use ‘Skill: Strike’.]

Swoosh!

Black energy was wrapped around Suho’s fist and forearm.

“No, wait…”

Secretary Kim’s complexion turned pale as the ominously burning fist came closer to him.

He exclaimed urgently.

“Stop doing this, let’s negotiate! Whatever you want, I’ll take care of it!”

“Whatever? What do you think I really want?”

Suho asked him as he strode closer.

Even with those meaningless words, Secretary Kim found hope and his eyes lit up.

“I know that one of your factories was destroyed this time! Because of that, we are also having a hard time supplying stardust!”

“So?”

Suho raised his fist.

Secretary Kim closed his eyes tightly and shouted out loud.

“So we built a new factory!”

Stop.

“…What?”

Suho stopped for a moment.

‘It worked!’

He knew this would work, and Secretary Kim urgently started talking to Suho.

“Stardust Lab! That was the reason we tried to appease Min Byeonggu in the first place! We have all the facilities and materials, but we don’t know how to make them!”

Dr. Min Byeonggu was the only stardust researcher in Korea.

As long as a stardust doping test was developed, it would be possible to manufacture stardust if there were facilities and materials.

However, since the demon appeared in front of him like this, he had no reason to cling to Min Byeonggu any longer.

“That’s why we’re going to hand over the entire facility we built to you! Make it on your own! We will take responsibility for the supply of materials from now on!”

“Supply of materials?”

“That’s right! About 10 people have already been prepared! I was thinking of having Min Byeonggu perform an experiment today! Let me know if there is any material shortage. I’ll catch any number of people right away!”

“…”

Suho’s expression grew colder and colder.

Secretary Kim didn’t know the fact that his fate was decided because of those words he just said.

From the moment he talked about humans being the material for stardust, he was already a demon in Suho’s head.

Suho asked for the last time.

“So, where is the factory located?”

“T-That’s…”

Secretary Kim, noticing Suho’s hints, felt reluctant.

“If you let me go, I will contact you separately.”

“You mean, spare you?”

“Yeah, of course…”

“Don’t worry.”

“What?”

“Because there are many ways for me to find out even if I kill you.”

The conversation was over.

Suho mercilessly punched him down.

Bang-!

“…!”

Strike.

In the end, Secretary Kim couldn’t even scream and just died.

Ring!

[A quest has arrived.]

A message arrived just in time.

[Quest: Rescue]

Rescue people kidnapped by Stardust Lab.

-Number of kidnapped: 10

-Number of rescued: 0

Suho stared at the quest window in front of him and opened his mouth.

“Beru.”

[Yep.]

Beru appeared in front of Secretary Kim’s corpse.

“You know what to do, right?”

Beru smirked.

His smile was more sinister than a demon’s.

* * *

After a while.

“…A-Are they gone?”

“Probably?”

As Suho dragged Secretary Kim’s corpse away, people hiding from the battle began to come out one by one.

“Whoa. That was scary.”

“What happened? Why did those hunters fight?”

“Why are the police so late again? When did you report it?”

“It hasn’t even been 10 minutes since I reported it. They will come soon…”

It really happened in an instant.

Suddenly, windows broke and then there was an explosion…

In less than 10 minutes, both of the hunters disappeared.

Citizens tried hard to figure out the situation with frantic expressions.

“But, wasn’t he Crow?”

Someone remembered Suho’s appearance.

People murmured at those words.

“What? Crow?”

“Are you talking about Beast King Crow?”

“Yeah. Didn’t you see he was wearing a crow mask?”

It was just last night that articles about Magok Field came out.

Even today, people were talking about him and all of a sudden, a person wearing a crow mask appeared in the middle of the city.

Beast King Crow.

The one who overcame the King’s Trial and took the power of the Beast King.

According to the testimony of survivors of Magok Field at that time, he wore a crow mask on his face.

“Oh my God. That’s right! Crow mask!”

“That person must have been Crow!”

“He was very strong somehow!”

They couldn’t even hear the hunters’ conversation from a distance, but there were many people who witnessed the sight of Crow fighting.

With normal eyesight, the trajectory of his sword swing was too fast to follow.

There was one thing though.

The huge fist that overflowed with black energy was clearly imprinted in everyone’s eyes.

“… Could that be the power of the Beast King?”

Those who had witnessed that powerful blow muttered the name of Beast King Crow, making their own guesses.

And after a while, new articles began to appear on the Internet.

* * *

“Hey, what is this again!”

Lee Minseong was enraged by the news articles that came up every minute.

-(Breaking news) Beast King Crow appeared in Seoul!

-(Breaking news) Clash between the two hunters!

-(Breaking news) Those who witnessed the power of the Beast King.

Unlike Magok, this article also included photos taken with the cellphones of witnesses.

The hunters moved so fast that most of them were out of focus, but Lee Minseong was particularly familiar with the face of one of the two hunters.

The problem, however, was that in the last photo, Crow carried his limp body on his shoulder.

Lee Minseong immediately called Secretary Kim.

Dialing…

However, no matter how much he waited, Secretary Kim did not answer the phone.

“Secretary Kim! Secretary Kim! Pick up the phone!”

Lee Minseong nervously yells into his cell phone.

It was then.

Ring!

An urgent message arrived on his cell phone.

-Vice President, please contact me. We’re having some problems with the facility right now.

“…!”

The moment he saw that message, an ominous feeling crept into Lee Minseong’s mind.

The word ‘facility’ was a slang term for the stardust research institute he had worked so hard to create.

He also ordered Secretary Kim, who was caught by Crow to capture the most important element of the institute, Dr. Min Byeonggu.

Lee Minseong urgently called the institute.

Calling-

Fortunately, his call got answered right away.

“What? What’s wrong with the facility…”

-V-Vice President! The… aaaaaaah!

“…?!”

Lee Minseong was startled by the sudden scream and looked at his cell phone.

-Ahh! Aaaagh!

There were all kinds of terrible screams over the phone.

“W-What’s going on there?!”

-Monster, monster…! Aaaaaaagh!

-------------------------------------------

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Solo Leveling: Ragnarok

Solo Leveling: Ragnarok

나 혼자만 레벨업 : 라그나로크
Score 7.2
Status: Completed Type: Author: Released: 2023 Native Language: Korean, English
Sung Sooho, who lived as an ordinary college student, awakens his special lineage that was dormant at the moment of crisis. “Arise.” Pay attention to the new Hunter, who defies and dominates death, leveling!

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