Solo Leveling Novel Chapter 32

‘It’s done.’

Jin-Woo ended the call.

Initially, Chief Ahn Sahng-Min was confused by the sudden request, but once he heard Jin-Woo’s reasons, he gave his okay rather easily. And now, Jin-Woo would be able to check out White Tiger’s method of training their new recruits.

‘And I also managed to borrow the van, too.’

Even though the kid was busy, Yu Jin-Ho still showed up.

Jin-Woo couldn’t help but think that the kid should be praised wholeheartedly; Yu Jin-Ho came running even though he was tied up with something, and didn’t even forget to greet him properly, too.

And so, the preparations were complete.

Right now, Jin-Woo was standing in front of the apartment building that the problematic female student lived in.

‘It’s really close to my own place, isn’t it?’

It only took two minutes of walking to get here. It was the proverbial stone’s throw away.

He took a look around his vicinity. And he was still in the familiar district, too tiny and cramped, with lots of old apartment buildings standing close to one another.

Meaning, this girl’s family circumstances weren’t that good, just how his used to be not too long ago.

He could understand where she was coming from, now that she was nominally a Hunter. Well, Jin-Woo was also like that once upon a time.

‘Too bad, those people die the quickest.’

Didn’t he get injured every single time?

Just how many times did he come close to getting killed? If it weren’t for his mom suffering from the d*mn rare illness, he’d have quit this crap a long time ago.

For a rank E Hunter, a dungeon was a horrible place to be in.

If left alone, this girl would definitely grow to regret ever being a Hunter. No, it’d be more likely that she’d die long before she had the chance to regret making that decision.

‘Of course, that happens all the time, unfortunately.’

The incidents of Hunters dying or getting gravely injured happened dozens of times in a single day, after all.

It was impossible to talk all these people out of going on a raid, nor was there any reason to do so. Well, they made their choices so they had to bear the responsibilities of their decisions accordingly.

‘However….’

If he didn’t know the girl in question, he wouldn’t have cared. But now that he knew who she was, he couldn’t just ignore this one.

Indeed, Jin-Woo was rather familiar with this girl.

He sensed the presence of a person and raised his head, and spotted the problem child walking towards him.

Her hair rolled up into a bun above her head; slightly rough and tired eyes – she was definitely someone he knew.

“Uh?”

The female student discovered Jin-Woo there and tilted her head.

“What are you doing here, ahjussi?”

Just as Jin-Woo did, the female student also recognised him right away.

‘Yup, this world is indeed too dang small.’

Jin-Woo scratched the side of his head.

The female student who declared that she’d become a Hunter; she was none other than the underage kid, the lone female in the ‘raiding team’ Yu Jin-Ho had assembled. The one that briefly caused Jin-Woo to worry slightly since she was still so young and all.

– “Is it okay to bring a child here?”

– “I asked for professional advice, and apparently, there is no problem according to the law, hyung-nim. Actually, the only reason why people don’t hire underage Hunters is that there would be hell to pay if something went sideways.”

‘….Hahn Song-Yi.’

When he heard that name from Jin-Ah’s homeroom teacher, a flood of emotions briefly inundated him. So, he just had to confirm it for himself.

And sure enough, the date Hahn Song-Yi began missing school coincided with the day Yu Jin-Ho’s team began its raiding ‘missions’.

With that, it kinda became a bit harder to think of this matter as someone else’s mess.

In a way, he felt responsible for it.

As a matter of fact, he couldn’t help but wonder if he was the cause of this mess, to begin with, after letting a kid who didn’t know how the world really operated taste some easy cash, and give her false impressions that she was capable of doing anything now.

‘At least, one thing’s for sure.’

No matter when it might be, he’d feel really bad if he heard of Hahn Song-Yi perishing inside a dungeon. He had done nothing wrong, so he shouldn’t suffer through a couple of nights’ sleep, lost through guilty consciousness, no?

And so, he decided to make time for this evening and sort this mess out. It wasn’t that difficult, to begin with, anyway.

“What’s going on?”

Hahn Song-Yi’s eyes opened wider as she stared up at Jin-Woo. And then, her expression became rather unimpressed.

“Wait, could it be that the Hunter my teacher wanted to introduce me to was you, ahjussi??”

Her continuously calling him ahjussi got on his nerves a bit, but Jin-Woo maintained his smile and nodded his head.

But then….

“I don’t know what my teacher told you, but I’m not interested in going back to school anymore. And I’m definitely not gonna give up being a Hunter.”

Hahn Song-Yi curtly stated her position.

She seemed to be a quiet kid when she was with the raid team, but, her attitude definitely changed when the story involved her.

She was definitely one of those headstrong modern kids who thought they knew how to draw the line on where their opinions and viewpoints lied.

‘Well, the thing is, there’s a girl back in my house who’s exactly like you, you know?’

Jin-Woo grinned slightly.

Hahn Song-Yi thought that she had managed to come across tough and intimidating, but seeing that Jin-Woo’s response was completely out of her expectations, she began to get flustered somewhat.

Jin-Woo spoke to her in an even tone of voice.

“I wasn’t planning to tell you to quit being a Hunter.”

Hahn Song-Yi’s eyes widened further.

“I’m sorry?”

Kids like her would always act completely opposite to what you tell them to do. So, he wasn’t even planning to talk her out of it. No, all he had to was to show her what the reality was like, just once.

‘That’s what happened to me, anyway.’

He realised the truth after participating in his first raid.

And that was… reality was far crueller and heartless than his imagination had been.

Hahn Song-Yi did her very best to hide her fluster and asked him.

“T-then, what brings you here?”

Jin-Woo took a step closer.

Hahn Song-Yi flinched noticeably and was about to retreat a step back, but upon realising that such an action would make her look weak, she forcibly stopped her body from moving.

Jin-Woo now stood before Hahn Song-Yi.

Although he didn’t mean to, and no one would understand the meaning behind it, an ominous smile still found its way to Jin-Woo’s lips.

“I’m here to mould you into a better Hunter.”

***

There was no need to persuade her to accompany him to a dungeon.

She said “Okay, I’m coming!” as soon as he told her that she now had an indelible opportunity to witness how the White Tiger Guild conducted its new recruit training exercise.

She didn’t even suspect that Jin-Woo had any ulterior motives.

As they walked to the van, Hahn Song-Yi asked him how he knew her teacher, and he simply showed her the photo of him and Jin-Ah stored on the phone.

“Ahjussi, you were Jin-Ah’s oppa??”

“….”

For a while now, a certain word was really getting on his nerves, but since everything was going according to his plan, he endured it and let it slide.

“Get in.”

“Thanks!”

Jin-Woo drove Hahn Song-Yi to the location where the White Tiger Guild was holding its evening training. Since he was told that the training exercise would only commence at 9 PM, there were still plenty of time left.

Vrroom….

The van that was clearly too big for only two people glided across the road.

Was this because both his Agility and Perception had been enhanced a great deal? He had never driven a car after getting his driver’s licence some time ago, yet the actual driving proved to be rather easy.

When he concentrated a bit harder, all the other cars on the road looked as slow as worms to him.

‘Yup, Stats really come in handy in all sorts of things, don’t they?’

Meanwhile, Hahn Song-Yi asked him from the passenger seat.

“Does Jin-Ah really study the whole day even back home? I mean, I heard rumours that she actually plastered pages of a dictionary on her walls so she can memorise them even when she falls asleep.”

There was a such a rumour about Jin-Ah?

But, she was such a fried chicken-loving sleepyhead when she was at home….

“Jin-Ah’s just like you, you know. When she’s home, all she does is play games, eat, and sleep.”

Well, it was mostly sleeping, but still.

“Eii…. That must be a lie. How come her grades are so amazing, then?”

“I can hardly believe it myself. She used to frequent arcades with me back when she was still in middle school, you know?”

They chatted about this and that, and eventually arrived near the vicinity of the Gate. Jin-Woo stopped the van.

Screech…

The area they were in was designated as a location where Gates frequently appeared. Almost no human beings dared to live around here anymore, so it was quite convenient to park the van.

From what he heard, almost 80% of houses here were deserted. The story went that, once the remaining populace moved out, the whole district would be shut down.

Jin-Woo and Hahn Song-Yi exited from the van.

He scanned the surroundings, and immediately picked up on the overflowing amount of eerie, creepy chill in the air.

Vrrrr…..

For some reason, he thought that he could hear loud cheering coming from the shadow beneath his feet. He was probably imagining it, though.

Hahn Song-Yi got a bit scared by the eerie atmosphere of the place, but after spotting the group of Hunters in the distance, regained most of her self confidence back.

The way her eyes sparkled, it was as if she had just ran into a super celebrity or something.

‘Oh well. They are Hunters from the super Guild, White Tiger, so it can’t be helped.’

To a high schooler who yearned to become a real Hunter, those people would be no different than actual celebrities, no?

Also, such a thought process wasn’t so strange, to begin with, when considering how mass media packaged these Hunters on the TV and such.

“Oh, so you really came.”

Hyun Ki-Cheol quickly ran over to Jin-Woo after discovering him.

“Do you still remember me?”

Jin-Woo lightly nodded his head.

Sensing that Hyun Ki-Cheol’s smile wasn’t the fakey business one but the real thing, a smile also formed naturally on Jin-Woo’s face as well.

They haven’t met too many times before, but this Hyun Ki-Cheol character seemed to be someone good-natured and easy to talk to.

“I heard it from the Chief. Ah, so this young woman is her?”

“Hello there.”

Hahn Song-Yi lowered her head in greeting.

While they were saying hellos in this fashion, a big muscular guy sauntered over and spoke in an irked tone of voice.

“Let’s stop with useless chatter and get started already. We didn’t come here for a picnic, and it’s almost 9 PM.”

The muscular guy didn’t even wait for the response and walked back towards the Gate. Something didn’t feel quite right with that guy, so Jin-Woo asked Hyun Ki-Cheol.

“Who was that?”

“Oh. He’s one of our new recruit. He’s ranked A, actually. He must be feeling a bit unhappy after I asked him for his understanding earlier. He even asked me if I thought that going to a dungeon was a fun pastime or some such.”

“He’s a rank A?”

Hyun Ki-Cheol nodded his head, thinking that such a reaction was reasonable, coming from a proud rank A Hunter like that guy.

Jin-Woo asked again.

“What are the ranks of today’s raid team members?”

“One rank A, seven rank Bs, and four rank Cs, for the total of 12 members.”

“A rank A and several Bs, just for a rank C dungeon….?”

“Well, their ranks might be high, sure, but they are still newbies, you see. We’re trying to help them earn first-hand experience inside an easier dungeon.”

Hyun Ki-Cheol spoke with some pride in his voice.

He then added quickly that after today, these guys would immediately be inserted into high ranked dungeons. Meaning, they could definitely be counted as a proper combat force.

‘Still, one A and seven Bs, huh…’

Jin-Woo’s expression subtly changed.

Actually, this was the reason why Chief Ahn Sahng-Min gave his permission. He was thinking of convincing Jin-Woo with the mighty display from the White Tiger Guild’s new, talented recruits.

However, quite contrary to Ahn Sahng-Min’s and Hyun Ki-Cheol’s expectations, Jin-Woo could only look on at the Gate with a disappointed expression.

The Gate was rated at C.

Compared to that, the members of the raiding team were simply too brilliant to the point that they were even blinding the onlookers with their auras.

‘If the raid is too easy, the shock factor will lessen, though…’

That was what his main worry was about.

But, he slowly shook his head.

‘No, wait. If she sees it with her own eyes, she should still be able to feel it.’

….Feel how weak and powerless a rank E would become inside a dungeon, that was. That alone would be sufficient.

“When can we enter?”

Still utterly oblivious to Jin-Woo’s real intentions, Hahn Song-Yi began whining already. When Jin-Woo took a look at her, her expression showed how pumped up she was.

‘Let’s see how long you can keep that up.’

Jin-Woo inwardly swallowed his laughter and spoke to Hyun Ki-Cheol.

“We’ll be on our way now.”

“Ah, yes. Wait, hold up for a second, please.”

Hyun Ki-Cheol sneaked a glance around him, and then whispered something to Jin-Woo’s ears.

“Uhm, excuse me, Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim. If you decide to step in, today’s raid will become too easy, so please, refrain from doing anything in there. Please?”

Since Jin-Woo’s purpose today was to simply observe, obviously he wouldn’t enter the fray.

“I won’t step in.”

He’d be going around other rank C dungeons with Yu Jin-Ho from tomorrow onwards, so what point was there for him to disrupt the White Tiger’s training exercise?

Of course, he’d use his shadow soldiers to conquer those dungeons. For that reason alone, he had to bring Hahn Song-Yi over here.

‘Besides, I don’t feel like revealing my shadow soldiers with a matter this simple, either.’

If he showed how easy it was to clear a dungeon with his shadows busy beating monsters to bloody messes, there was a real danger that Hahn Song-Yi’s delusions of grandeur might get inflated, instead.

And so, Jin-Woo and Hahn Song-Yi approached the Gate. Unlike that rank A Hunter, there were some people who welcomed the duo rather happily.

“Hello.”

“Nice to meet you.”

Since they weren’t here to make money, the higher the headcount, the better it would be for everyone. As it was customary, they introduced each other.

But when it was the turn of the rank A Hunter….

“I don’t care.”

He simply walked inside the Gate.

“Well, let us get going as well.”

The new recruits of the White Tiger also began entering the Gate one by one.

Before Hahn Song-Yi entered, she turned her head to look at Jin-Woo.

“What about you, ahjussi?”

Jin-Woo crossed his arms and replied to her.

“After I see you enter first.”

Hahn Song-Yi’s face was stiff with nervousness, but she still resolutely nodded her head and jumped into the Gate.

‘Hmm….’

Jin-Woo took a quick breath and stood before the Gate.

He sensed someone looking at him, so turned around to confirm, only to spot Hyun Ki-Cheol over yonder, waving at him and cheering him on.

‘………’

He reverted his gaze back to the Gate.

However…..

‘…??’

The surface of the Gate continued to ripple softly non-stop.

‘But, shouldn’t the surface return to being a solid black barrier once a person goes through it?’

Right now, it was continuously rippling about like the surface of water.

Something was off here.

Jin-Woo placed the tip of his hand against the surface.

And it reacted like a sticky liquid, clinging to his fingers and following him as he lifted his hand away.

‘Could this be….??’

Jin-Woo quickly spun his head around and met Hyun Ki-Cheol’s gaze.

At this point, even Hyun Ki-Cheol had sensed something was very wrong.

Jin-Woo loudly shouted at him.

“Call your main raid team!! Hurry!”

As soon as he finished shouting, Jin-Woo was automatically sucked into the Gate.

“W-what the hell was that?!”

“V-Vice Chief Hyun?!”

Hyun Ki-Cheol hurriedly ran towards the Gate.

The three remaining employees of White Tiger Guild also hurriedly followed after him.

Once he got to the Gate, though, Hyun Ki-Cheol began freaking out.

“This… this can’t be!!”

Hunters weren’t the only newbies today; the new employees were also brought along in order to train them as well. So, none of the newbies had experienced anything remotely like this.

The trio of new employees looked at Hyun Ki-Cheol with completely stunned expressions.

“V-Vice Chief!! The Gate’s surface!! It’s changing to a red colour!!”

As if a drop of blood had fallen in it, the surface of the once-black Gate was now slowly changing to the crimson-red colour.

Hyun Ki-Cheol ignored the confused employees and hurriedly called someone.

Click.

– “Uh? Ki-Cheol-ah?”

“Chief!! It’s the Red Gate!! The Gate our people just walked into changed to a Red Gate!!”

– “What??”

Ahn Sahng-Min’s voice became urgent, shocked.

– “What are you talking about?! How can a rank C change to a f*cking Red Gate?!”

Hyun Ki-Cheol raised his head and stared at the Gate, now dyed completely in the colour of blood.

The ripples on the surface had stopped now, too.

Hyun Ki-Chole nervously swallowed his dried saliva.

“I don’t know how… but it’s definitely a Red Gate, Chief.”

– “WHAT?!”

---

“A Red Gate?! Just what on earth is going on here!!”

The CEO of the White Tiger Guild, Baek Yun-Ho, ran straight to the Gate’s location as soon as he received the urgent call.

The complexion of Hyun Ki-Cheol could only be described as ashen.

“Well, sir…..”

“I’m going to see for myself first.”

Baek Yun-Ho walked past the Guild employees who looked like they were in the middle of a funeral.

‘It really is a Red Gate!!’

Baek Yun-Ho’s own complexion hardened instantly after checking out the Gate’s colour.

What was a Red Gate?

It was a terrifying phenomenon where the dungeon beyond it would actually connect to a whole new world, not some underground cavern. And in order to escape from it, either you had to kill the boss of the area, or wait for the dungeon break to occur.

In other words, once you stepped inside, it’d be the end.

Once the Gate changed its colour to red, all external influences would be completely cut off. Escaping from it, and trying to enter it – both of these activities were now impossible.

Baek Yun-Ho pressed his hand against the Gate’s surface. As he thought, it was hard, impossible to enter.

‘God d*mn it.’

From here onwards, there was no way to lend aid to those trapped inside.

Baek Yun-Ho asked Hyun Ki-Cheol.

“I thought this was supposed to be a rank C Gate?”

“Sir, it was a rank C.”

“Did you call the Association to confirm it?”

“Yes, sir. However….. The Association is insisting that it’s still a rank C Gate….”

“Those god d*mn sons of b*tches!!”

Baek Yun-Ho angrily cussed out.

A Red Gate would only occur when the dungeon itself was ranked very high, to begin with.

There was a whole new world on the other side of the Gate, yet the leaking magical energy only equalled that of a rank C dungeon? That crap wouldn’t fly anywhere.

Even from a casual glance, he could tell this thing should’ve been ranked B, at the bare minimum. If unlucky, rank A. Or worse, something even higher than that.

However, the only reason why the Association still had the audacity to insist they were not wrong?

“Sir, should we use our own equipment to measure the magic energy?”

When Hyun Ki-Cheol asked him, Baek Yun-Ho shook his head.

“No magic energy leaks out from a Red Gate, so it’s impossible to measure it now.”

….Because, it would be almost impossible to take another measurement, that was why.

There was no concrete way to find out what the problematic Gate’s actual rank was at this point in time.

And besides, the rank of this d*mn Gate wasn’t important anymore.

“How many of our people went in there?”

“Total of 12, sir.”

“How many are high ranked Hunters?”

“As the leader, rank A Kim Cheol Hunter-nim, and there are also seven rank B Hunters, as well.”

“One rank A and seven rank Bs….”

“The new recruits…. Will they be alright?”

Baek Yun-Ho slowly shook his head.

“We don’t have a choice but to think of them as all KIA. If lucky, the rank A, and two, three rank Bs might make out alive.”

….Only if those trapped inside enjoy lady luck’s blessing, that was.

That was how lacking these numbers were. With the current composition of the raid team, they should only be enough to barely conquer the weakest of rank B dungeons.

Anything tougher than that, and you’d be asking for way too much.

Without some kind of a miracle, the odds of their new recruits returning alive was as good as none.

Baek Yun-Ho’s complexion darkened even further.

Hyun Ki-Cheol studied the mood of his boss and cautiously opened his mouth.

“Sir, actually… there was someone else who also entered the Gate along with our recruits.”

Baek Yun-Ho shifted his gaze to his subordinate, his expression changing slightly.

Could it be that a high-ranking Hunter was in the vicinity and entered along with the team after getting curious about the training process?

What else could qualify as a miracle?

This would certainly be it!

Baek Yun-Ho’s voice rose up.

“Who was that person?”

“He’s the Hunter I’ve been trying to scout for the last few days, sir.”

The reply came from behind, instead.

When Baek Yun-Ho and Hyun Ki-Cheol looked over to confirm who it was, they spotted Ahn Sahng-Min, soaked in his own sweat and breathing roughly.

“Apologies for being late, sir. The traffic was unexpectedly heavy.”

Ahn Sahng-Min’s home was furthest from everyone here so he ended up arriving last.

Ahn Sahng-Min shifted his gaze over to the Gate. The Red Gate reminded him of the entrance to an impregnable fortress. Just looking at it made it harder to breathe.

‘However, if it’s Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, then…..’

A man who overcame several ‘incidents’ already unscathed could potentially create a new miracle all by himself.

That’s what he thought.

Baek Yun-Ho hurriedly approached Ahn Sahng-Min.

“Are you saying that the Hunter you’ve been keeping an eye on is in there, too? Is that it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Ah!”

Baek Yun-Ho suddenly recalled something.

‘Now that I think about it….’

Chief Ahn had been rather busy lately. And as it so happened, there was a Hunter he had been trying to scout to the Guild.

Chief Ahn’s instincts were almost always never wrong.

‘What if….’

A spark of hope was lit in Baek Yun-Ho’s heart.

“What is his rank? Is it A? Or maybe, a B?”

If this Hunter was ranked S, then Baek Yun-Ho would’ve known the identity of this mystery Hunter. There were less than 10 rank S Hunters in the whole of South Korea, after all.

However, Ahn Sahng-Min was shaking his head!

‘Oh my god!’

Baek Yun-Ho’s hardened face finally brightened up considerably.

“Are you saying that a rank S Hunter also went in there?!”

Ahn Sahng-Min calmly replied.

“No, sir. He’s a rank E.”

Almost right away, Baek Yun-Ho’s expression crumpled to a man who accidentally chewed on bugs.

***

Jin-Woo couldn’t help but get flustered here.

‘Could this be the Gate that supposedly takes you to another world?’

It’d be his first time experiencing one, but he had read all about it online, from the testimonies of those who managed to survive it. And they all said the same thing – that it felt like they were being sucked in.

Jin-Woo had to agree with that assessment, too.

As soon as the Gate sucked him in, a deep darkness swallowed him, and a little while later, he felt like he was being slid across something slick and smooth.

‘Heok!’

When he opened his eyes, he was standing in the middle of a wintery forest, completely covered in white snow.

“What is this place?!”

“This doesn’t look like the interior of a dungeon, does it?!”

“Hey, look! The Gate’s disappeared, too!”

Other Hunters were looking around in confusion, unable to hide their panic as well.

While they were getting more and more flustered, Jin-Woo calmed himself down, narrowed his eyes, and scanned the surrounding area.

‘I don’t sense anything suspicious.’

Thanks to the System repeatedly sending him to weird places, Jin-Woo had gotten used to being in an unexpected foreign environment, which also meant that he could gain his calmness quickly.

The first thing that entered his view was a huge tree.

Not just one, but countless coniferous trees, the kind never seen before on Korean soil, were shooting up straight to the sky with nary a visible gap in between them.

As he scanned his surroundings, his eyes ran into someone else’s. And it was the rank A Hunter Kim Cheol, who was also cautiously scanning the vicinity like him.

‘…….’

‘…….’

The two of them glared at each other for a little while, before looking away.

Hahn Song-Yi had approached him and began tugging at his clothes in the meantime.

“Uhm, excuse me… something bad happened just now, right?”

She looked really scared. Her previous self-confidence was nowhere to be found.

But then… Jin-Woo’s hand suddenly shot out towards Hahn Song-Yi’s face.

‘……?!’

Hahn Song-Yi’s eyes opened super wide.

Grab!

The arrow caught in Jin-Woo’s hand trembled continuously as if it lamented missing its target. And that would be the middle of Hahn Song-Yi’s forehead.

“Ahh?! Ah…!”

Finally realising what just happened, her face paled in an instant. However, the expected scream came from somewhere else.

“Kyaaaahhk!!”

“Uwa, uwaaahk!!”

Plop.

A male Hunter fell to the snowy ground with blood bubbling out of his mouth, an arrow lodged deep in his temple.

The snowy ground was soon dyed in his blood.

“Euh, euh….”

Hunters began gasping out in shock.

Two arrows flew in at the same time, one aimed at Hahn Song-Yi, while the other one hit its mark. Because of that, though – no one saw Jin-Woo catching the other arrow.

“Over there!”

“It’s those b*stards!!”

One of the rank B Hunters pointed towards the top of a tree located far away.

But, even before he had begun pointing his finger, both the gazes of Jin-Woo and Kim Cheol were fixed there.

They could see two lifeforms standing over there, on the snow-covered branches.

‘Two people? No, I should say two creatures, huh.’

Long white hair, icy-white skin, and silver eyes.

And the race-specific trait of pointy ears.

These ‘monsters’ were famed for their particularly beautiful countenances, as well as for their rarity, as they could only be encountered in high ranked dungeons.

‘Ice Elves.’

….Also known as ‘White Phantoms’. (TL: The author used pun here. The Korean letter for ‘phantom’ can also mean ‘ear’.)

Those who had never encountered one referred to them as Ice Elves, but the Hunters who did encounter them and fought with them, all took to calling them White Phantoms, instead. While also adding that a pretty name like ‘Elf’ shouldn’t be mixed together with these abominable creatures.

Jin-Woo could immediately guess why the Hunters before him all gnashed their teeth at the mere mention of the White Phantoms.

‘….They are laughing at us, huh.’

The two archers had lowered their bows and disgusting smiles were clearly visible on their faces. It was as if they were staring at a table full of delicacies and couldn’t decide which one to start eating.

‘And you decided on this, huh?’

Jin-Woo’s eyes narrowed to a slit.

One arrow to the far left. And another one to the far right. That was no coincidence.

The Hunter with an arrow stuck in his head was a thirty-something who had gone through the Awakening process only recently. With the exception of Hahn Song-Yi, he’d be the weakest of the group.

As for the other arrow….

‘It was aimed at Hahn Song-Yi.’

Indeed, the arrows were meant for the two weakest members of the team.

‘If it weren’t for the System, I’d be the one with an arrow stuck in my head, instead.’

The cheap tactic of the White Phantoms certainly managed to bring out Jin-Woo’s ire. He raised the caught arrow so the creatures could see, and broke it in half.

Crack!

Perhaps taking that as a challenge, the White Phantom who shot that arrow pointed at Jin-Woo and drew a line under his chin.

Seeing that, Jin-Woo simply smirked. However, his eyes were definitely not laughing.

‘….I’ll kill you with my own hands.’

Receiving the trivial provocation of the monster, Jin-Woo simply glared coldly as his reply.

Soon, the pair of White Phantoms disappeared below the tree.

“Looks like this is their way of welcoming us.”

Finally, Kim Cheol opened his mouth.

The lone rank A of the group opened his mouth, prompting everyone to focus their gazes on him as if they had made an agreement prior to coming here.

Actually, he was the leader of this raid team, so that might have been it, though.

“I’m sure some of you have realised it by now. This is inside the Red Gate.”

Kim Cheol spoke as if it was the most obvious thing in the whole world. Of course, no one complained about that.

“Which means, no one will be able to enter here after us, until either we all die, or there is a dungeon break.”

The group all gasped out softly.

“M-mm….”

“Euh….”

The fact that they could no longer hope for a rescue came across as a big mental shock.

Meanwhile, Kim Cheol continued on.

“If we remain here, we’ll all die from this freezing cold, or from those b*stards ambushing us. However, I’m going to clear this place and get out of here, by myself if necessary. Are there any of you who wish to join me?”

Kim Cheol’s powerful, confident stare and his broad shoulders imparted a certain sense of trust.

Hunters glanced at each other for a bit, before unanimously voicing their desire to travel together with him.

“Let us move together.”

“I’d like to join you.”

“Let’s go back together, alive.”

“I want to help, too!”

However, Kim Cheol shoved away the chest of the male Hunter who said he wanted to help.

“Keok!”

Even though he controlled his physical strength, at the end of the day, he was still a rank A. The male Hunter retreated several steps back, a deep frown etched on his face from the immense pain coming from his chest.

“Excluding you.”

“Excuse me?”

“And also, you, you, you, and you.”

Kim Cheol pointed to a few more others, not just that male Hunter. Of course, both Jin-Woo and Hahn Song-Yi were included in that.

It was here that Jin-Woo’s own forehead creased up ever so slightly.

All in all, five people in total. They were all either rank C, or lower.

“It’s unfortunate, but I won’t be taking you along.”

“What did you say?!”

“Do you know anything about Red Gates?”

The male Hunter shook his head at Kim Cheol’s question.

“In here, one day equates to one hour outside. The worst case scenario, it’ll take several months for the dungeon break to occur, or I kill the boss. Under that kind of situation, I can’t walk around with baggage like you.”

“We’re baggage to you?!”

The Hunters who were pointed out by Kim Cheol got all riled up, but once the rank A Hunter glared at them, they all shut their mouths close.

Kim Cheol continued on, now sounding as if he was being considerate and all.

“Don’t feel too bad, however. If all of you manage to survive until we kill the boss, then all of you will go back home alive, too.”

“Even still….”

The singled-out Hunters sent out desperate, pleading stares to the Hunters near Kim Cheol, but not a single one stepped forward.

No, they were far too busy avoiding meeting the gazes.

It was then….

“Excuse me.”

A rank B female Hunter from Kim Cheol’s group raised her hand. Kim Cheol turned to look at her, and she pointed at Jin-Woo.

“It’s fine to go over there from here, right?”

“….Do what you want.”

She didn’t even look back once and walked straight to Jin-Woo’s side.

Kim Cheol alternated his gaze between the woman and Jin-Woo, and smirked derisively, before declaring out loudly.

“We’ve got an opening this side, so I’ll accept one more person!”

“Me, me!!”

The male Hunter who got shoved away by Kim Cheol just now hurriedly ran over, fearing that the lone rank A in the group, and the leader, might change his mind.

Well, that was how it should be. Jin-Woo thought as much.

‘Yup, this woman is the strange one here.’

Jin-Woo stared at the woman now standing next to him with a puzzled expression on his face. Her gaze met with Jin-Woo’s, and she whispered in a low voice so no one else could hear.

“That man Kim Cheol? Well, he couldn’t see the arrow flying in, you see.”

Even if one was a high ranked Hunter, there was no way every Stat of his would be developed equally. For instance, he might be a rank A, but his Agility could be low. Jin-Woo knew how Stats worked, so he didn’t think too much about that.

“So, what are you saying?”

Then, the woman smiled refreshingly.

“I’m guessing you’re not a rank E. Am I right?”

< Chapter 32 > Fin.

Let’s read Chapter 33