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Solo Leveling Novel Chapter 33 Average 5 / 5 out of 1
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Summary
In front of the Red Gate.
Baek Yun-Ho’s expression remained gloomy. Ahn Sahng-Min provided a short summary on who Seong Jin-Woo was, but his anxiety level hadn’t decreased by one bit.
“In the end, that’s all speculation, isn’t it?”
“Yes, sir. You’re right.”
Ahn Sahng-Min readily accepted that assessment. It was true that he didn’t know anything about Seong Jin-Woo, after all.
‘But, if the boss checked Hunter Seong Jin-Woo out with his own eyes, he’d have changed his mind right away.’
There was something different about Seong Jin-Woo.
And the fact that he couldn’t adequately describe that with words frustrated Ahn Sahng-Min to no end.
Baek Yun-Ho’s gaze shifted back to the Red Gate.
“In the end, the only person I can believe in is Kim Cheol….”
It was then.
“Sir, there won’t be any problems with Hunter Kim Cheol, I assure you.”
One more person butted in among the group of Baek Yun-Ho, Ahn Sahng-Min, and Hyun Ki-Cheol. The gazes of three men automatically shifted in that direction simultaneously.
It was Ju Seong-Chan, Chief of the First Division of the White Tiger Guild.
He scanned the three people in front and spoke in a proud voice.
“I’ve been training Hunter Kim Cheol quite strictly, so he could be ready for all contingencies.”
Originally, the initial training of new recruits was left to the Second Division, but the First Division would be in charge of the Awakened ranked A or higher.
Those promising individuals who were scheduled to enter the ranks of the main combat force soon got to enjoy a different starting point from everyone else.
Seeing Ju Seong-Chan’s confidence, Baek Yun-Ho’s expression softened slightly.
“How were Hunter Kim Cheol’s grades?”
“They are excellent, sir. Just his combat capabilities alone, he’d not fall behind anyone from the current members of the Guild’s main combat force.”
“Is that so?”
A smile managed to return to Baek Yun-Ho’s lips.
Kim Cheol was a rank A. Even among high ranked Hunters, he was a talent that must be held on to.
If, as the leader of this raid team, he commanded the rank B Hunters well and managed to clear this Gate…!
There would be some losses among the rank C Hunters, but from the White Tiger’s perspective, the survival of high ranked Hunters came first.
‘It’s a relief that Hunter Kim Cheol’s abilities are top-notch….’
The weakened sparks of hope regained some life again.
Ju Seong-Chan managed to calm the boss man down and narrowed his eyes at Ahn Sahng-Min, clearly in derision.
“From what I heard just now… A rank E Hunter who might have gone through a Re-Awakening process, was it? You were saying something about that….”
Ju Seong-Chan snorted dismissively.
“My Hunter Kim Cheol should prove to be more effective than someone like that, a Hunter with no proven qualities.”
Ahn Sahng-Min’s expression hardened. He was being looked down on here. However, he didn’t raise his voice and let anger take over him.
‘Let’s just wait and see who’s correct at the end of the day….’
The four men shifted their gazes at the same time over to the Red Gate that had trapped their Hunters.
Wuwuwu…
The crimson light oozing from the Gate seemed especially more ominous than ever before.
***
“I’m guessing you’re not a rank E. Am I right?”
The female Hunter asked Jin-Woo quite openly.
Jin-Woo opened his mouth in response.
“Well, then. Let me ask you something as well.”
“Of course.”
Jin-Woo shifted his gaze over to Kim Cheol and the Hunters gathering around him. They were busy planning their next move before they got going.
“You guys, you’re supposed to be new recruits, yet how can you be this calm?”
“The first thing we’ve been taught is that ‘Anything can happen inside a dungeon’, you see.”
….Anything could happen inside a dungeon, she said.
Jin-Woo knew this fact better than anyone here, actually.
“Every one of us has been trained properly. Especially that Kim Cheol over there. He even received a special training regime, too. He’s scheduled to join up with the White Tiger’s main combat force.”
They didn’t fear dungeons, because they had received prior training.
Jin-Woo could only be flabbergasted by that revelation. And then, almost right away, he realised that all of these people were no different from Hahn Song-Yi.
She said that they had been sufficiently trained or whatever, but just what kind of uses would that have here? They were simply showing off without realising how terrifying a dungeon could become.
‘Knowing something and experiencing it are two different things.’
More so, when your fragile belief of you knowing everything about dungeons develops just a tiny little crack – it’d all come crashing down like a dam with a hole getting swept away by the deluge of water.
Building up one’s confidence took a long time, but breaking it down only took a single moment. He could see the fate in store for Kim Cheol’s team already.
They might look okay from the outside, but in the end, they were all helpless noobs.
“You still haven’t answered me, though.”
“Excuse me?”
After hearing that, Jin-Woo’s gaze shifted back to the strange woman.
“My question. You haven’t answered it yet.”
The question about whether he was a rank E or not.
She seemed to be a rather tenacious customer, this woman.
“Why should I tell you that?”
He replied in a blunt and a bit curt manner, but the female Hunter, Park Hui-Jin, was now crying out in elation and clenched her fist. Inwardly, of course.
Park Hui-Jin had met many people in her life and she immediately knew what Jin-Woo’s response meant.
And that would be his unbridled confidence.
‘Yes, I didn’t see it wrong!’
There was another thing that gave her even more assurance; while she was being trained back in the White Tiger Guild, she had often witnessed the movements of many high-ranked Hunters.
However, Jin-Woo’s hand just now….
She had never seen anyone move as quickly as Jin-Woo’s hand catching that arrow.
‘I mean, all I could do was to barely confirm what just happened, even with my eyesight!’
She used to be a top-tier athlete before becoming a melee-type Hunter through her Awakening, so she was pretty confident of her dynamic vision.
Park Hui-Jin’s eyes began sparkling.
‘This guy, he’s at least rank A.’
Or, even higher than that….
In order to ascertain a more definite answer, Park Hui-Jin asked him again.
“Don’t be like that now. Can’t you tell me, please?”
“Don’t feel like it.”
That was the end of their conversation. Jin-Woo turned his head away.
He definitely didn’t feel like being in the receiving end of endless stream of questions, and also, Kim Cheol was walking closer to them as well.
Jin-Woo’s eyes and Kim Cheol’s met.
“We will….”
Kim Cheol’s voice was harsh, low. Didn’t matter what he was trying to convey here, he sounded threatening and menacing.
“….Be using the road.”
He didn’t saunter over here just to declare which path they would be using, though. No, Kim Cheol’s eyes were asking what Jin-Woo’s group would do. Along with the hidden threat of ‘Don’t you dare follow us’.
‘……..’
Jin-Woo scanned his surroundings once more, before reverting his gaze back to Kim Cheol.
“And we will be going through the forest.”
“…I’ll wish you luck.”
‘Well, you guys will be the ones needing that luck later on, though…’
Jin-Woo didn’t mouth his inner thoughts, however.
“Sure thing. You too.”
With that, Jin-Woo’s group headed towards the forest.
After ensuring that the group had completely disappeared into the forest, Kim Cheol began guffawing out uncontrollably.
“What a bunch of idiots.”
“Excuse me?”
“Look over there.”
Kim Cheol uncrossed his arms and pointed towards some trees.
Not just one or two, either – everywhere he pointed at, trees bore the scars that suspiciously looked like claw marks of potentially gigantic creatures.
“That…. isn’t that?!”
“It’s a bear.”
“An Ice Bear?!”
A bear-type monster, infamous among all the beast-type monsters as the most ferocious! Those claw marks were them marking their territory.
The Hunters in Kim Cheol’s group saw those and clicked their tongues.
“Tsk, tsk….”
“It’d been better if they stayed put here and waited till the end….”
“Looks like innocent people will die because of a rank E taking the lead.”
“I mean, would that rank E have received any prior training like us?”
Kim Cheol stared at the forest and chuckled derisively.
‘That’s to be expected from a measly rank E.’
……Wait.
Suddenly, Kim Cheol’s smile disappeared.
‘Most of that group is rank Cs, and there is a rank B among them too, so how come…..?’
How come he thought Jin-Woo was that group’s leader? Indeed, he hadn’t felt that anything was amiss, right up until he realised this weird incongruency by himself.
Still, Kim Cheol shook his head.
‘….Well, it doesn’t matter.’
They were all going to die soon, anyway. Worrying about themselves took precedence over what would happen to the weaklings who wouldn’t last for long, to begin with.
There was nothing he could do about the dead, but well, shouldn’t the ones that were supposed to live, live on?
Kim Cheol turned towards the road and spoke up.
“Let’s depart.”
***
Jin-Woo took the lead and walked up ahead.
But before long, Park Hui-Jin stood in front of him.
“What is it?”
“Have you lost your mind?”
Jin-Woo crossed his arms and displayed how unhappy he was to hear that. Meaning, she’d have to be careful with her follow-up.
Perhaps she understood Jin-Woo’s warning, Park Hui-Jin’s voice had softened somewhat.
“I’m sorry. But I need to say this.”
Park Hui-Jin’s finger pointed towards one of the surrounding trees.
“Can you see that?”
There was a huge claw mark on the tree’s bark.
“Over there, too! And there!”
Almost every single tree had their barks greatly damaged and it was hard to find one that was still intact.
“This entire place is full of the bear’s territorial markings, you know?! This entire forest is the bear type monster’s habitat!”
Dogs or apes were weaker than tigers or lions. Such logic also applied to monsters as well. The tiger or lion type monsters were much more difficult to fight against when compared to dog or ape type monsters.
So, what about a bear-type, then?
A bear, a polar bear no less, was seen as one of the strongest carnivorous land animals out there. And right now, Jin-Woo’s group had entered a forest where monsters based on such animals were residing.
Of course, Park Hui-Jin would get angry.
“We need to go back right now! Before the monsters show up!”
“Tsk, tsk.”
Jin-Woo clicked his tongue.
‘What’s this?’
Park Hui-Jin thought that Jin-Woo would show one of the three responses – get angry, get stunned, or accept what she told him.
Unfortunately for her, her expectation was wide off the mark.
She was the one advising him against the irrational and hasty decision here, yet it was Jin-Woo looking at her as if she was the idiot.
‘Why… why is he looking at me like that?!’
Park Hui-Jin’s face reddened up from anger.
“W-what is it?”
Her voice rose up again.
Jin-Woo spat out a long sigh and opened his mouth.
“It’s difficult to find a tree without the territorial markings, which means that there are more than one or two Ice Bears here, yes?”
“T-tthat is why we much go ba…..”
“That is precisely why we’re moving through the forest.”
“Eh?”
Park Hui-Jin’s eyes went round in confusion.
‘She still doesn’t get it even with that massive hint?’
Jin-Woo had little choice but to tell it straight to her.
“When we’re moving through the forest, we only have to worry about Ice Bears.”
“….Ah!”
Only then did Park Hui-Jin understood Jin-Woo’s intention.
The meaning behind lots of Ice Bears was simple – that there were no other monsters strong enough to hunt Ice Bears in this forest.
To be more precise, the group didn’t have to worry about fighting monsters stronger than Ice Bears here.
‘Why haven’t I thought about that….?’
Park Hui-Jin became ashamed about shouting at Jin-Woo just now.
Her head dropped low, even the skin of her neck reddening up from embarrassment.
Jin-Woo continued to click his tongue.
The whole reason why a dungeon was a scary place was that no one knew what might pop out when you were inside. Well, you wouldn’t be able to come up with a plan if you didn’t know what kind of enemies were waiting for you there.
However, didn’t the enemies of this place graciously reveal themselves already?
‘…Bear-type monsters, is it?’
Jin-Woo didn’t know how strong these Ice Bears were, but he was sure of them being weaker than those two White Phantom archers. They were wearing clothing that looked to be made out of bear felt.
That was why had chosen the forest route.
He was thinking of traversing the forest and increasing his level, and at the same time, keep an eye out on Kim Cheol’s group and the movements of the White Phantoms while waiting for his chance to act.
That was the safest way available.
‘…..??’
Abruptly, Jin-Woo became rather puzzled by what he saw.
“….Why is your face still so red?”
Park Hui-Jin’s face was far too red to be normal. She couldn’t raise her head and managed to squeeze out a voice that was smaller than a buzzing mosquito.
“It… it’s because… too cold….”
“Fuu….”
Jin-Woo spat out a long groan and summoned his Store. He quickly browsed through the items for sale and spotted thick fur coats and shoes designed for Winter.
Tti-ring.
[Item: Warm fur coat]
Rarity: None
Type: Miscellaneous
Warms up the wearer’s body.
Price: 10 Gold
[Item: Warm boots]
Rarity: None
Type: Miscellaneous
Once worn, provides warmth to wearer’s feet.
Price: 10 Gold
‘Fur coat and the shoes cost 10 Gold each….’
Unlike items with added effects, regular items didn’t cost a lot to buy. No, compared to the amount of Gold in his possession, they were oh-so-cheap.
[Remaining Gold: 431,930]
‘Still, I’d never have guessed that I have to buy japtem with my Gold…..’
Jin-Woo chose ‘Buy’ for all of them.
Since he couldn’t just give to some and ignore others, Jin-Woo spent 100 Gold and bought the articles of clothing for all five people.
Poof.
Five coats and five pairs of boots suddenly popped up in front of his eyes. And of course, the eyes of all four people, excluding Jin-Woo, all grew super-wide.
“Heok?!”
“W-what the heck?! Was that separate space magic?!”
Park Hui-Jin was taken aback, too, and she hurriedly raised her head to look at Jin-Woo.
Not caring whether they were shocked or not, Jin-Woo spoke to them disinterestedly.
“Put them on.”
He finished speaking and reached down to grab the closest fur coat, but then, Hahn Song-Yi suddenly grasped his sleeve.
‘…..?’
When their gazes met, Hahn Song-Yi asked him while looking rather scared and confused.
“A-ahjussi, just what’s going on with you? You managed to catch that arrow, and now, you used some strange magic to take these clothes out, too.”
Frowns formed on the forehead of Jin-Woo. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that, at this rate, he’d be swarmed by the endless streams of questions and get irritated to no end.
‘Right, let’s use this chance to clearly draw the line.’
Jin-Woo raised his voice and spoke in a firm voice.
“Hahn Song-Yi, I brought you here with me, so I will take full responsibility and protect you. However…”
Jin-Woo’s voice became colder next.
“….Don’t ask me about anything.”
Jin-Woo then swept his gaze against Park Hui-Jin as well as other Hunters tagging along.
“The same goes for the rest of you. Do not ask me anything, and do not demand anything from me.”
He didn’t stop there, though.
“If you don’t like it, then you can just leave now. I won’t stop you.”
The two male Hunters originally didn’t choose to follow Jin-Woo, but only tagged along because of the rank B Park Hui-Jin. They alternated their gazes between the fur coats and Jin-Woo, before hurriedly shaking their heads.
There was one more thing – one more reason why Jin-Woo chose the forest route.
‘Status window.’
[Name: Seong Jin-Woo]
[Level: 51]
[Class: Shadow Sovereign]
[Title: The one who overcame the adversity (extra 1)]
Jin-Woo silently summoned his Status window and swapped his current Title from ‘the one who overcame the adversity’ to that of the ‘Slaughterer of Wolves’.
[Title: Slaughterer of Wolves (extra 1)]
A Title given to a hunter skilled in hunting wolves. When facing animal-type monsters, all of your Stats will increase by 40%.
A chance to abuse this plainly-cheating buff had fallen on his laps, so why should he go anywhere else now?
Tti-ring.
[An animal-type monster has appeared.]
[The effect of the current Title will activate.]
A smile crept up on Jin-Woo’s face after he confirmed his Stat values shooting up.
‘Nice.’
It was then.
The Hunters all began screaming out, loudly.
“It, it’s the bear!”
“It’s the Ice Bear!”
An Ice Bear that had picked up on the scents of humans was slowly trudging towards the group.
These humans were its enemies that had invaded its territory. Obviously, it’d not look too kindly towards the intruders.
Growl….
The Ice Bear bared its fangs, transparent-like-ice, and slowly raised its massive frame on its hind legs. It’s huge and hulking figure completely filled up the Hunters’ vision!
“Ah….”
The creature did resemble a polar bear, but it was almost twice the size, and the magic crystal, the symbol of all monsters, could be seen in the middle of its chest area as if it was some kind of a proud emblem.
ROAR!!
It roared out furiously, the ground seemingly quaking under its might!
All the Hunters, excluding Jin-Woo, all froze stiff on the spot after hearing the ice Bear’s roar.
Park Hui-Jin’s expression crumpled unsightly.
‘Oh, so we only need to be mindful of Ice Bears, was it?!’
How could anyone say that sort of nonsense after seeing that monster?!
She almost fell for Seong Jin-Woo’s pretty convincing argument. But, upon seeing an Ice Bear, she was certain of one thing.
‘We definitely shouldn’t have chosen the forest route!’
Sensing the approaching danger to the group, Park Hui-Jin stepped out in front of the group and shouted out.
“I’ll draw its attention towards me, so everyone must… Kyah?!”
The scruff of Park Hui-Jin’s neck was yanked back by a considerable force, and she had to back step several times to make sure that she didn’t end up on her butt.
After somehow regaining her balance, she raised her head only to find Jin-Woo standing before her.
“Hey, what was that all about?!” Jin-Woo pointed at Park Hui-Jin. “I’m telling you this right now. I’ll be killing all the monsters from now on.”
Obviously, he couldn’t let anyone steal his experience points, now could he?
For Jin-Woo, these bears were perfect health tonics to buff him up for his inevitable showdown with the true enemies of this place, the White Phantoms.
“Hah?!”
Park Hui-Jin couldn’t hide her astonishment.
‘Did he just yank me back because he wants to monopolise the monster?’
The other two male Hunters, who so happened to be Mage-types, also stopped casting their spells in sheer dumbfoundedness.
“No matter how strong you think you are, that thing is a monster of a high-rank dungeon!”
Completely ignoring Park Hui-Jin’s furious voice coming from behind him, Jin-Woo walked right towards the Ice Bear.
‘Well, it’s not going to be okay to use daggers for this one.’
The blood splatter would make a mess of things, wouldn’t it?
Jin-Woo had already summoned his two daggers almost out of reflex, but stored them back in his Inventory. Instead, he clenched his fists tightly.
‘Well, I promised to just observe, but this is an emergency, so I’m sure they’ll understand. Right?’
Jin-Woo’s glare collided mid-air with the Ice Bear’s.
Roar!
The Ice Bear swung its telephone-pole-thick front arm towards Jin-Woo like a streak of lightning.
Swish-!!
However, the attack only swiped at the empty air.
‘Why is it so fast compared to its size?’
Jin-Woo was already above the Ice Bear’s head. It was here that he kind of understood the reason for this monster’s infamy.
“Even then….’
He also sensed that all his level ups until now weren’t in vain.
Before the Ice Bear could lift its head up, Jin-Woo punched with all his might right in the middle of the monster’s forehead.
Kaboom!!
The head of the Ice Bear slammed down on the snowy ground with an explosive force.
Its skull was completely obliterated; with its limp tongue hanging outside the slack maw, the Ice Bear stopped moving completely.
[Level up!]
‘Hell yeah!’
He was thinking that his level up was just around the corner, and now, he was glad to have stopped Park Hui-Jin from taking any action.
“You… you, just what are you??”
Jin-Woo heard that trembling voice and looked behind him, only to spot four speechless faces staring back at him.
Jin-Woo sheepishly scratched the side of his head.
‘I warned them earlier because I didn’t want to run into this sort of situation….’
It seemed that a person would become rather forgetful whenever he or she witnessed something utterly beyond their capacity to understand.
Left with little choice, Jin-Woo had to state his position once more.
“I told you, I’ll not tolerate anyone asking me questions. If you’re unhappy with my methods, then….” Jin-Woo pointed his finger in the direction of Kim Cheol’s team. “You can always go that way.”
Only then did Park Hui-Jin regain her senses, and her facial expression changed.
“You think I’ll leave your side after seeing how you one-punched that Ice Bear??”
Honestly, Park Hui-Jin was now overflowing with joy.
She only chose to follow this youth because her gut feeling said he’d be a better option than Kim Cheol, but holy cow, she quickly discovered that she had quite literally stumbled onto an unexpected jackpot here.
She was blessed with a quick head, so it was easy to come to a conclusion. If she really wanted to get out of this place alive, then she had to follow Seong Jin-Woo.
She feared that Seong Jin-Woo might suggest they go their separate ways, so she hurriedly made a suggestion first, her heart beating anxiously.
“Mister Jin-Woo, please take over the leader’s position. We’ll definitely follow every one of your commands from now on.”
‘….Well, I did say I wouldn’t humour their demands at all, but….’
Jin-Woo pondered for a bit, before nodding his head. Thinking about the near future, it seemed that this arrangement would prove to be convenient for him.
Park Hui-Jin looked behind her.
The student named Hahn Song-Yi was someone Seong Jin-Woo brought along, so there was no need to ask her. So, that left the two male Hunters.
“I’m sure you two also agree with my suggestion, yes?”
The two Hunters, now being on the receiving end of the unexpected stare, alternated their gazes between the corpse of the Ice Bear and Jin-Woo, before hurriedly nodding their heads.
Once more, in front of the Red Gate.
Hyun Ki-Cheol used his handkerchief to wipe away the cold sweat from his brows, his eyes locked on his watch.
Baek Yun-Ho asked him.
“How long has it been?”
“It’s been about three hours now, sir.”
“Three hours…. Meaning, it’s almost been three days inside.”
Baek Yun-Ho’s voice sounded grave. Out of four people gathered here, only he had personally experienced entering a Red Gate before.
One of the S-ranked Hunters representing South Korea – Baek Yun-Ho.
Even to someone like him, a Red Gate was a challenging place to survive.
With a complicated expression, Baek Yun-Ho recalled his experiences.
“The most terrifying aspect of the Red Gate is that… you’re thrown into a completely different world.”
This was a rare recollection of the past as told by an S-rank Hunter. Naturally, the attention of Ahn Sahng-Min, Joo Sung-Chan, and Hyun Ki-Cheol focused on him.
Baek Yun-Ho continued on.
“Once you cross the Gate, the place you end up could be a desert with temperatures soaring past 60 degrees Celsius, or it could be a dense jungle full of poisonous insects and snakes. Or, it could be the middle of a snow-covered field where it’s so cold that you’d immediately develop frost bites.”
Gulp.
The three men simultaneously swallowed their dry saliva.
“Until you actually enter it, no one knows what awaits them beyond the Red Gate. So, how can anyone prepare for something like this?”
It was the same story as today. The Gate that looked plain and normal immediately changed its colour to red as soon as Hunters entered it.
“Your skin is burning under the hot glares of the sun, or you’re tormented by poisonous insects throughout the day, or your flesh rots from the skin-peeling cold….. And so, the weakest of your group would start dying first.”
“Oh, my god….”
Hyun Ki-Cheol spat out a gasp as if he could hardly calm himself down.
“But, even when you’re in such a perilous situation, you still have to fight monsters as well.”
Just from listening to his explanations, they could understand the hopelessness of the current situation. However, the explanation didn’t end there.
“Okay, then. Let’s say that you’ve somehow adapted to your new environments. From then on, you will have to procure food.”
Indeed, one would have to secure enough food to last a few weeks at a minimum, or at worst, for several months. Now that would be a huge challenge in and of itself.
“While stuck in the unforgiving surroundings and suffering from constant hunger, all you can trust is your magic energy compass.”
The magic energy compass always pointed towards the source of a powerful magic energy emission.
The only ways to escape from a Red Gate were to follow the needle of the magic energy compass, locate the boss and kill it, or wait until the dungeon break occurs.
“Now, think about waiting for days, weeks, or even months while only staring at that compass. How can anyone not go mad from that?”
The three men nodded their heads. These three knew that normal people like them would not last one day in places as hostile as those.
“I said that it’s been three days already, didn’t I?”
“Yes.”
After hearing Hyun Ki-Cheol’s reply, Baek Yun-Ho formed a distressed expression.
“Most likely, all Hunters ranked C and below have died by now.”
Kim Cheol was ranked ‘A’. However, no matter how good his skills were, it was impossible for a rank A to protect everyone. Unless it was a rank S Hunter standing by their side….
Which meant….
“All we can pray for now is the safe return of the higher ranked Hunters.”
This was the conclusion derived from his personal experience.
In Baek Yun-Ho’s mind, the Hunters ranked C and below were already as good as dead by now.
Evening.
Large chunks of meat were nicely sizzling on top of a campfire.
“You know, this bear meat, it’s a bit chewy but not as bad as I thought.”
“Would you like some more?”
“Aigoo, thank you kindly.”
Goh Myung-Hwan expertly sliced the meat of the Ice Bear and placed them on a plate pushed forward by Yun Ki-Joong. These two men were the rank C Hunters following Jin-Woo.
Both Park Hui-Jin and Hahn Song-Yi were also slowly chewing on the bear meat, although their portions weren’t as large as the men’s.
“Unni, please pass me the pepper.”
“What about salt?”
“Mm, the seasoning’s just about fine, so it’s okay.”
They all looked to, more or less, have adapted to the living conditions of the dungeon. From the campfire, to the blankets wrapped around them, and the tents all set up, too…
They didn’t seem to be in trouble at all.
Heck, from a certain perspective, one could say that they looked rather comfy, instead.
Goh Myung-Hwan scanned the vicinity and spoke up.
“Don’t you think the attacks of the Ice Bears have lessened lately?”
Park Hui-Jin replied to that question.
“Well, that’s because the team leader has annihilated their numbers, that’s why.”
“That man, it’s like he has some sort of unresolved vendetta against these bears from his previous life or something. His eyes go all crazy when he spots an Ice Bear. He’s so scary whenever he does that. Really, really scary.”
By now, Jin-Woo’s title had been set as the team leader.
Park Hui-Jin felt Jin-Woo’s absence and craned her neck a little to scan the surroundings herself.
“Now that I think about it, where did the team leader disappear to?”
Yun Ki-Joong had his head almost buried in the plate as he chomped down on the meat, but still, raised his head to make his reply.
“He went out a little while ago, saying that he’s going to take a look around here.”
“Huh.” Park Hui-Jin formed a helpless expression. “Roaming inside a high ranked dungeon all alone….. Isn’t he scared at all?”
Yun Ki-Joong formed a sly grin.
“If it’s him, it’s not going to be a problem.”
“Oh, well. He’s strong enough to kill Ice Bears, high-rank monsters, with his bare hands, after all.”
Goh Myung-Hwan followed up to Yun Ki-Joong’s words and continued on.
“But, by the way…. since we’re discussing this and all…. Just how high must your rank be, if you can beat up a nonsensically huge monster like that?”
Stop.
Everyone suddenly became utterly silent.
They were all curious about the same thing as well. But, they dared not say anything, fearful of being kicked out of this place.
“….Let’s just finish out meals first.”
Everyone nodded their heads at Park Hui-Jin’s suggestion.
Jin-Woo searched through the forest, and made his exit as he brushed past some thickets.
‘It must be somewhere nearby….’
He could sense the presences of multiple Ice Bears coming from somewhere. From last night, he had been carefully tracking the Ice Bears.
This was all because he had finally realised that Ice Bears were coming from the same direction.
Jin-Woo continued to search, before his eyes began glittering dangerously.
‘Found you!’
He spotted dozens of caverns on a cliff-like wall, lying beyond some bushes. And he sensed presences of more than one lifeform coming from each of the caves.
Hell, he didn’t even have to expand his Perception here; his eyes could clearly see many Ice Bears lazily moving in and out of several caves.
Just a quick head count and he found over 30 bears.
In other words, this was literally a bear farm.
The corners of Jin-Woo’s lips arched up.
He deliberately came here alone to eliminate the possibility of eyewitnesses. This would be the perfect opportunity to utilise his shadow soldiers.
Indeed, he had been waiting for a moment like this.
‘Come out.’
When he inwardly called out, the soldiers wearing black armour soundlessly materialised and surrounded him.
“You all understand that this is your first sortie, right?”
What he meant by that was, just as one’s impression was decided upon through the first encounter, these guys would have to impress him with their first battle, too.
‘……..’
‘……..’
The shadow soldiers stood at attention in eerie silence, with nary a hint of disorder.
‘Nice.’
Jin-Woo smirked deeply, seeing them like that.
Sniff, sniff….
Meanwhile, more and more Ice Bears began emerging from the caves after detecting Jin-Woo’s scent.
‘Looks like the other side is done preparing, too.’
Jin-Woo pointed at the Ice Bears.
“Go.”
As soon as his order was issued, the shadow soldiers rushed forward as if they were sliding on ice.
< Chapter 33 > Fin.
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