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Solo Leveling Novel Chapter 35 Average 5 / 5 out of 1
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Summary
[Shadow Extraction was a success.]
‘There you go!’
Jin-Woo clenched his fist tightly. The final piece of this puzzle called the boss raid had fallen into its place.
The black knight that emerged from Kim Cheol’s shadow was far bigger and sturdier than the original version. And it even carried a huge war hammer in one hand as well.
The other hand held a shield as tall as a grown man, and the overall impression this guy gave off was truly oppressive and threatening.
‘Kim Cheol was a muscular man, but this shadow is just too over-the-top….’
Even though it was an urgent situation, Jin-Woo couldn’t help but leak out a gasp of admiration.
[Please set the soldier’s name.]
‘Ah, right. The name.’
Jin-Woo sneaked a glance to his side.
Perhaps finding the battle quite tough, Igrit was having a hard time right now, being pushed around by the boss. Currently, he was barely buying enough time by relying on his cheat-like regenerative ability.
Slice!
Igrit’s arm was sliced off, then.
‘I don’t have much time to waste here.’
A name, was it?
Should he go with whatever? Maybe, Kim Cheol?
Jin-Woo immediately shook his head.
To call an undead with a name it used while it was still alive… That just didn’t sit well with him.
‘Right, his name was Kim Cheol. Cheol, so Iron, it is!’ (TL: ‘cheol’ is a Korean word for ‘iron’)
The name had been decided.
As soon as Jin-Woo thought of that name, it was bestowed on the newly-birthed shadow knight.
[Iron Lv. 1]
Knight grade.
A knight grade!
It was the same grade as Igrit, but again, there was no time to celebrate.
‘I can’t waste any more time than this!’
Jin-Woo pointed to the boss.
“Iron!!”
Iron’s large frame lumbered forward quite heavily like a mountain.
Thud, thud, thud!!
Jin-Woo really liked the new guy’s huge frame, but he couldn’t help but worry whether that lumbering speed could even catch up to the agile boss or not. Fortunately, such a worry was put to bed really fast.
Iron leaned back and roared out loudly.
WUOOOAAARRR!!
‘What was that?!’
Just as Jin-Woo was getting flustered, several messages popped up in his view.
Tti-ring.
[Iron has used ‘Skill: Shout of Provocation’.]
[The owner of the dungeon has fallen into an ‘aggro’ed’ state.]
“An aggro skill!”
Kim Cheol was actually a rank A Tanker.
So, quite obviously, he possessed a high-level aggro skill, and the shadow knight extracted from his shadow, Iron, had retained that skill in full and was able to use it no problem.
The head of the boss swivelled towards Iron.
Although it could’ve chosen to finish Igrit off right in front of its eyes, the boss simply pounced on Iron as if it had been hypnotised by a ghost or some such.
Iron used the skill ‘Reinforcement’ and endured the sharp dagger attacks of the boss digging into his body.
‘Nice!’
Jin-Woo nodded his head in approval.
In the meantime, Igrit’s sliced arm regenerated to full.
Shurururu…
The black smoke began oozing out from the stump and coagulated to form a new arm.
Meanwhile, the boss was still preoccupied with Iron.
And seizing this chance, Jin-Woo and Igrit’s combined assault began on the boss.
‘…….’
Park Hui-Jin became utterly speechless as the unbelievable spectacle unfolded right before her eyes.
What she was seeing right now proved to be too unrealistic, too outlandish. She didn’t even want to ask for clarification. Not anymore.
From her side, Hahn Song-Yi asked her with a timid voice.
“Unni….”
Park Hui-Jin responded belatedly to her.
“Uh, ng?”
“Do all fights of Hunters look like that?”
She must’ve been frightened silly, because Hahn Song-Yi’s voice was trembling noticeably. Park Hui-Jin replied to her, sounding helpless as well.
“….If that were the case, then I’d never have earned my licence, you know.”
Goh Myung-Hwan asked next, looking utterly dazed out of his mind.
“Could it be…. that we are dreaming right now?”
If this was indeed a dream, then it must’ve been a nightmare, instead.
Park Hui-Jin looked back at the battlefield where the monsters and the black ‘somethings’ were having a chaotic throwdown, and spat out a long sigh.
At the same time, a new worry formed in her head.
‘When we get out of here, without a doubt….’
There was no doubt that, as a survivor, she’d be asked several uncomfortable questions. How should she go about explaining what she was seeing here, then?
Park Hui-Jin couldn’t even begin to fathom just where she’d start her explanations on what happened inside the Red Gate, and in particular, the man named Seong Jin-Woo.
After she raised that point to everyone….
“But, still….”
Yun Ki-Joong, sitting on the ground and shaking like a leaf, spoke with some difficulty.
“Isn’t it an incredible thing that we can actually worry about what’ll happen to us once we get out of here?”
The Hunters all nodded their heads in unison.
This was an upper-rank dungeon. Not only that, a Red Gate, too.
Even though they found themselves in such a dangerous area, they were now worrying about the matters that would take place outside.
This was all due to the power of one man.
Park Hui-Jin’s gaze was directed to Jin-Woo.
‘Mister Seong Jin-Woo, you’re…’
Her feelings had moved way past shock and gratefulness, and she was beginning to feel a sense of awe towards him now.
Stab!
The ‘Poison Fang of Kasaka’ stabbed into the boss’s shoulder.
[‘Effect: Paralysis’ has been activated.]
[The effect has been cancelled due to the high resistance of the target.]
[‘Effect: Bleeding’ has been activated.]
[The effect has been cancelled due to the high resistance of the target.]
With the increased levels of the enemies he’d been facing lately, the additional effects of the ‘Poison Fang of Kasaka’ failed to activate properly more often than not.
Still, inflicting injuries was a good thing in a fight.
‘Nice!’
The boss’s agile movements were being hampered gradually due to the increasing number of wounds being inflicted on its body.
“Keuahahahk!!”
The smile had disappeared from the boss’s face a long time ago.
The boss had been dodging the combined attacks of Jin-Woo, Igrit and Iron rather freely until then, but now, it was quite obviously running out of breath.
‘Just a little bit more!’
Iron suddenly bear-hugged the boss.
“Now!!”
When Jin-Woo gave the signal, Igrit rapidly retreated. Jin-Woo too quickly stepped back. The boss’s eyes widened in confusion.
“What are you tryin…..?”
Before he could finish, the magic soldiers completed the explosion spells and they rained down on Iron’s position.
KWABOOOM!!
BOOM!!
“Keo-heok!!”
For the first time ever, the boss spat out a sharp cry of pain. The b*stard twisted its body around, and Iron’s arms fell off.
Grit!
The boss’s enraged, murderous eyes were now firmly fixed on Jin-Woo.
“Keuahahahahk-!!”
Seeing this, Jin-Woo could only feel admiration towards the boss once more.
‘Even with such a heavy wound, it can still exhibit that much strength!’
As expected of a high-level dungeon’s boss. Unfortunately for it, the scale had tilted away from it some time ago.
‘Dagger Throw!’
Just like what he did to that arrogant White Phantom, Jin-Woo threw the ‘Knight Killer’ at the boss, and added even more momentum by using the Ruler’s Reach.
Shukk-!!
The dagger flew to its target in the blink of an eye.
‘Keuk!’
The boss realised that it was difficult to dodge the throw, so it used its own dagger to deflect Jin-Woo’s blade.
Crack!
The ‘Knight Killer’ flew at such a frightening speed that the boss’s dagger actually cracked from the impact force.
And at the same time….
Jin-Woo used ‘Stealth’ and ‘Dash’ skills to close the distance to the boss, and stabbed the ‘Poison Fang of Kasaka’ deeply into the b*stard’s waist.
Stab!!
The boss’s eyes widened considerably.
“Keo-heok!!”
However, the boss still managed to grab Jin-Woo’s wrist even in the midst of all this. It was not that hard to see the boss’s desire to not go down without a fight from its crazed eyes.
“Kuwaahhk!!”
Just as the boss raised its dagger above its head to stab at Jin-Woo….
Jin-Woo simply smirked. At the same time, a huge war hammer slammed into the head of the boss.
SLAM!!
The boss’s face crashed into the snowy ground.
Behind the boss, Iron was raising his hammer up high again, both of his arms already fully regenerated.
The huge hammer flew down again.
Swooooosh-!!
Splat!!
Igrit was getting ready to attack, but then, sheathed his sword back into the scabbard attached to his waist.
Jin-Woo also stored his daggers back inside the Inventory.
And the expected messages popped up right away.
Tti-ring.
[You’ve killed the owner of this dungeon.]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
‘Whew, it’s finally over.’
Jin-Woo sighed grandly in relief.
What a hard-fought victory this was.
He was about to take a breather, but then, saw Iron and his eyes went extra round in surprise.
“Hey, hey! You can stop now.”
Jin-Woo hurriedly stopped Iron.
He was about to smash down with his hammer again, but finally stayed his hands. Perhaps it resembled the original too much, because the guy turned out to be a bit simple in the head like the original.
Meanwhile, the boss’s corpse had been pummelled into a meat paste already.
‘However, its shadow isn’t affected, so it’s fine.’
Jin-Woo smirked deeply.
Finally, the reward for this incredibly hard battle, the one he’d been salivating over, was right by his feet, waiting to be taken.
Jin-Woo issued his order.
“Rise up.”
***
It was now 3 AM.
The facial expressions of four men waiting around the Red Gate were, as expected, not so good.
Unable to endure any longer, Hyun Ki-Cheol finally opened his mouth.
“Guild Master, we’ll remain here and wait, so how about going home first, sir?”
“My Guild members are trapped in there, so how can I even think about going home to relax now?”
Baek Yun-Ho was resolute in his decision. Indeed, that wasn’t something the leader of a large Guild, not to mention as a currently-active rank S Hunter, should entertain under this sort of situation.
It was here that Ahn Sahng-Min’s eyed widened.
“Huh? Look, the Red Gate!!”
Hyun Ki-Cheol and Joo Sung-Chan also discovered an oddity with the Red Gate.
“The, the Red Gate is opening up!!”
“The dungeon’s been cleared!”
“There are… there are people coming out!!”
Baek Yun-Ho clenched his fists tightly.
‘That Kim Cheol!! Did he manage to pull it off?’
Everyone waiting there hurriedly rushed towards the front of the Gate.
Baek Yun-Ho, unable to hide his excitement, began searching for the leader of this team, Kim Cheol.
However…. even though all of the survivors came out, the big guy couldn’t be seen.
‘Uh? Huh? This can’t be right.’
The one who had been insisting on believing in Kim Cheol, Joo Sung-Chan’s previously confident attitude was gone now, and his expression was getting warped as well.
“Park Hui-Jin Hunter-nim!! Goh Myung-Hwan, Yun Ki-Joong Hunter-nim!!”
“Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim!!”
After spotting Jin-Woo walking along with Hahn Song-Yi right behind the others, Ahn Sahng-Min’s face was quickly filled up with a huge smile.
‘I thought as much!’
It was such a noticeable contrast from the face of Joo Sung-Chan.
However, his smile also faded away quickly. When five people, including Seong Jin-Woo, walked out from the Gate, the portal to another world slowly disappeared from their view.
“It can’t be…. Is this everyone?”
Jin-Woo nodded his head, looking rather exhausted.
Hyun Ki-Cheol had asked that question, and after getting that silent answer, his expression hardened instantly.
‘How can this be….?’
Hyun Ki-Cheol’s eyes teared up, and he reluctantly began crossing out the names of the deceased off the member list. This was a terrible job, but it had to be done regardless.
Baek Yun-Ho had been staring at this in a daze, before gasping out in sheer shock and disbelief.
‘Only the lower ranked Hunters returned?! Never mind the A rank, only a single rank B survived?!’
Such a thing should not happen. Just what on earth happened inside that dungeon?
“Let’s go. I’ll take you home.”
Jin-Woo was about to lead Hahn Song-Yi and leave the location, but Baek Yun-Ho reached out and grabbed his wrist first.
“Excuse me. Wait.”
Slap!
Jin-Woo fiercely shook off that hand. Baek Yun-Ho’s eyes sharpened immediately.
“We need to talk for a second here.”
Jin-Woo turned around.
“I’m too tired. If you have questions, you should ask your own Guild members.”
Baek Yun-Ho couldn’t hold back and revealed his identity.
“I’m Baek Yun-Ho, the Guild Master of the White Tiger.”
Jin-Woo’s eyes remained cold, however.
“So what?”
Being on the receiving end of Jin-Woo cold response, Beak Yun-Ho’s eyes suddenly transformed to that of a monster’s. No, they completely resembled a beast now, instead.
“We lost nine Guild members through this incident. As the Master, I have the right to ask you a couple of questions regarding this matter.”
This was no longer a request.
It was an order.
Or, even a threat.
Didn’t matter what anyone thought of his words, he was not planning to let Jin-Woo go that easily here.
But then, Jin-Woo too angrily glared back.
He was not being cowered by the intense hostile aura oozing out in full force from the rank S Hunter, Baek Yun-Ho.
“I rescued three of your people. If you’re really their leader, shouldn’t you be saying thanks to me first?”
It was Baek Yun-Ho who had to withdraw his threatening aura first, as he was bombarded with this incredible pressure emanating from Jin-Woo.
Besides that, what he said was logical, as well. Baek Yun-Ho couldn’t argue against the point raised.
“….I apologise.”
Baek Yun-Ho lowered his head. Seeing this, Jin-Woo turned around once more to leave.
“Hahn Song-Yi, let’s get going.”
“Okay.”
Hahn Song-Yi carefully studied the mood of this place and followed after Jin-Woo. The two of them got on the van and not too long after, left the location.
‘This doesn’t make any sense….’
Baek Yun-Ho’s thoughts were now in complete disarray. He quickly ran towards the sole surviving upper-rank Hunter, Park Hui-Jin.
“Excuse me, Miss Park Hui-Jin.”
She had been trying to warm herself up with the cup of hot tea Hyun Ki-Cheol had handed over. She raised her head to meet Baek Yun-Ho’s gaze.
“What is the matter with that guy? Why was he so downbeat like that?”
Indeed, that man had probably gone through an unimaginable hell and finally managed to escape from the Red Gate, yet why was his attitude so murderous?
Park Hui-Jin shook her head, displaying her own confusion.
“I also don’t know, sir. After killing the boss, he stood in front of the dead body and shouted something out three times, and after that, he’s been like that….”
“He was okay until then?”
Park Hui-Jin looked at Goh Myung-Hwan and Yun Ki-Joong. The two men nodded their heads simultaneously.
“What a strange man….”
Baek Yun-Ho muttered to himself as he stared helplessly at the street Jin-Woo had disappeared in.
Ahn Sahng-Min saw the state his boss was in, and became incredibly nervous as if he had done something wrong instead.
“My apologies, Guild Master. I’m sure he’s like that because he’s just exhausted. He’s not a bad person, I assure you. At least, I believe he’s not.”
“No…. That’s not the problem.”
“Pardon me?”
Baek Yun-Ho turned around to stare squarely at Ahn Sahng-Min.
“Why haven’t you scouted that man already?”
“Ehhh?”
Ahn Sahng-Min couldn’t hide his fluster. But, it wasn’t strong enough to best the fluster Baek Yun-Ho had felt just now.
‘Against me….’
Baek Yun-Ho recalled Jin-Woo’s fierce glare and could only nervously swallow his dry saliva.
Gulp.
Abruptly, he thought that, were he to fight that man, he’d have to resolve himself to lose an arm or two.
‘Maybe, even worse than that….’
Quickly figuring out what Baek Yun-Ho meant, Ahn Sahng-Min hurriedly replied.
“We’re doing our very best, sir.”
“That is clearly not enough.”
Baek Yun-Ho’s eyes began to sparkle rather dangerously.
Seong Jin-Woo.
Indeed, Chief Ahn’s discerning eyes were on the money again.
“From today onwards, you’ll receive all the resources you need. You must bring that man into our Guild, no matter what.”
On the way home.
Vroom….
Jin-Woo was busy licking his lips in unhappiness as he drove the van.
‘Tsk….’
Was it because the gap between his Stat values and the extraction target’s were too great? What a disappointment it was, but his extraction attempts ended in failure.
‘What a waste, but there’s nothing I can do now.’
He’d still be able to kill a boss from a high ranking dungeon in the future. What’s important now was to quickly raise his skill levels high enough so that he’d not miss out on another chance.
Levelling up. Now that was something Jin-Woo excelled in.
And also….
Jin-Woo’s hand left the steering wheel for a little while, as a dagger with an elegant, flowing, arched blade appeared in his grip.
[Item: Baruka’s Dagger]
Rarity: A
Type: Dagger
A dagger used by the great warrior ‘Baruka’. Weight reduction magic has been applied to it, allowing the wielder’s movements to become even more agile than before.
Attack: +110
Agility: +10
Well, he didn’t walk away completely empty-handed; this was the dagger the boss had been using. There were two, but one of them was broken, so he threw that away and took the remaining dagger.
‘The Baruka’s Dagger, eh?’
Not only did it feature high attacking power, but it also raised his Agility, too.
On that front alone, there was no need to compare it to ‘Knight Killer’, a dagger ranked ‘B’ he paid handsomely for, never mind the rank C ‘Poison Fang of Kasaka’.
Its rarity alone was at A, too!
This was probably one of the best weapons to replace the Poison Fang of Kasaka that had been losing its effectiveness lately.
‘I like the way it feels in my hand, too.’
While he was mulling over the things that happened inside the Red Gate, they had arrived before Hahn Song-Yi’s home.
Screech.
She had been sitting in the passenger seat without saying a word as if she wasn’t even there in the first place. As soon as the van came to a stop, she climbed out of the seat and bowed her head.
“Drive safely.”
“I will. Good night.”
Hahn Song-Yi turned around to leave.
Seeing her slumped shoulders and powerless gait, it seemed that the original goal of this trip had been met, one way or the other.
‘Well, although things did get a lot complicated, I was trying to change her mind anyway….’
It was rather likely that she wouldn’t try to become a Hunter in the future. It’d be the same story for anybody if their first dungeon experience just so happened to be a Red Gate.
He nodded his head in satisfaction and was about to start the van again, but then, the passenger side door was abruptly opened from the outside.
‘……?’
Jin-Woo shifted his gaze. Hahn Song-Yi had returned to the van and was holding on to the door.
‘What’s the matter with her?’
His curiosity only lasted for a little while.
Hahn Song-Yi bowed her head deeply again, this time looking much calmer than before.
“Thank you for everything, oppa.”
He only now realised that, from some time ago, the honorific she used to address him changed from ‘ahjussi’ to ‘oppa’.
“Uh, sure thing. Don’t mention it.”
“Uhm, excuse me….”
“Mm?”
“Tomorrow…. No, see you later.”
Later?
Before he could ask her for clarification, Hahn Song-Yi hurriedly ran away. After her back disappeared from his view did he realise what she was talking about.
‘Aha.’
From today onwards, he’d be teaming up with Yu Jin-Ho again to mop up the rest of the raids. Hahn Song-Yi was a raid team member, so of course, they’d see each other again later on.
‘Ah, so she meant that, huh.’
What a relief that was, though.
His plan would’ve been affected pretty badly if Hahn Song-Yi refused to come out of her house because of the trauma from this incident.
‘This worked out for the best.’
And now, he would use his shadow soldiers to clear out the rank C dungeons even faster than before. He felt utterly confident of clearing up the remaining raids in the shortest time possible.
Also, he couldn’t wait to see how Yu Jin-Ho would react after witnessing his shadow soldiers in action, too.
‘The reactions of that man Yun Ki-Joong were really priceless, weren’t they?’
Jin-Woo chuckled softly and leisurely turned the steering wheel.
***
The next morning.
“Yawn~.”
Jin-Woo yawned grandly as he stepped out of the apartment’s foyer. He only closed his eyes for a bit, but hell, it was time to meet up with Yu Jin-Ho already.
“Hyung-nim, good morning!”
He heard the familiar energetic voice greeting him. Yu Jin-Ho was already here, waiting.
“You don’t even have a car, so how did you get here?”
The raid team’s favourite ride, ‘Mister Van’ had been commandeered by Jin-Woo last night and was currently parked neatly in the apartment’s parking lot nearby.
“I caught a taxi, hyung-nim.”
“Ah, a taxi.”
And here he was, thinking of going to fetch the kid instead….
“Oh no, it’s fine, hyung-nim. I’m the one asking for your help, so it’s only right that I’m the one driving you around, at least.”
Yu Jin-Ho grinned happily and replied.
This morning started like any other.
However….
“Uh?”
Yu Jin-Ho discovered something new. And that was a cylindrical something held in Jin-Woo’s hand. Yu Jin-Ho’s curiosity peeked in an instant.
“Hyung-nim, what is that?”
“Ah, this?”
Jin-Woo grinned mysteriously.
“I’m going to use it inside the dungeon today.”
“Heok!”
Suddenly, the chill invaded Yu Jin-Ho’s back.
‘Is it a weapon he’s going to use inside the dungeon?’
Hyung-nim had already displayed many extraordinary things before; just what kind of a horrifying weapon was he bringing to a dungeon today, then?
Yu Jin-Ho was getting pretty psyched up already.
Gulp.
Yu Jin-Ho swallowed his dry saliva and raised his head after finally settling his mind.
“Hyung-nim, let’s get going.”
“Hold on.”
Jin-Woo pulled out his phone and dialled someone.
“There’s someone we should take along, as well.”
“Excuse me? Who?”
“Hey, Song-Yi. It’s me. Meet us at the parking lot. We’ll go to the Gate together.”
Song-Yi…. Could it be that Song-Yi?
As soon as Jin-Woo ended the call, Yu Jin-Ho asked him.
“Hyung-nim, the person you want to take with us, is she that high-schooler in our team?”
Jin-Woo nodded his head.
Hahn Song-Yi lived near here, and their destination was the same, so there wasn’t any reason to go there separately, now was there?
Unfortunately, Yu Jin-Ho didn’t see it that way.
Hahn Song-Yi….
The rather-cute high school girl with her hair tied up in a bun.
‘He already knows her number, and can talk to her in such a friendly manner, too…. Could hyung-nim and her have formed a much deeper relationship than meets the eye?’
For sure, hyung-nim was a cool guy even from another man’s perspective.
‘Especially when he uses nothing but a dagger to totally rip apart a monster….’
While hyung-nim wouldn’t be interested at all, it’d not be a strange thing for an impressionable school girl to fall for a man like that.
Yu Jin-Ho nodded his head. If this was the case, then there was something he had to make sure right away.
“Hyung-nim. Should I call Miss Hahn sister-in-law from now on?”
‘….Did this guy fall off the bed and hit his head or something??’
Jin-Woo’s crumpled expression was implicitly implying that. Even if Yu Jin-Ho was not too quick on the uptake, he should still be able to figure that one out pretty easily.
“Uhm…. You two aren’t dating?”
“She’s a friend of my little sister.”
“Oh. Ahhh….”
So, that’s what happened. Yu Jin-Ho finally understood the situation. He didn’t even know what was going on, yet he was thinking of calling that girl his sister-in-law….
His face reddened up considerably.
Soon enough, Hahn Song-Yi came to the parking lot.
Not only that, she was noticeably better dressed than how she was usually.
Seeing this, Yu Jin-Ho grinned slightly.
‘Yup, she’s definitely a teen girl, wanting to look nice in front of the brother of her friend and all.’
As the leader of the raid team, he was thinking of praising the fellow raid team member’s choice of wardrobe, but then, Jin-Woo greeted her first.
“Did you get some sleep?”
In that instant, Yu Jin-Ho’s expression froze stiff.
‘…….’
Hahn Song-Yi smiled and shook her head.
“I couldn’t catch a wink.”
“I’m sure you’re still exhausted, so get some rest in the van.”
Listening to the two young people’s conversation, the thought process of Yu Jin-Ho became more and more messed up.
‘Uh? Uhhh??’
Hahn Song-Yi asked Jin-Woo this time.
“What about you, oppa? Did you get some sleep?”
“Well, only for a little bit. It was already 4 AM by the time I got back home, anyway.”
“Well, true that….”
Night? Couldn’t catch a wink? Still exhausted? 4 AM by the time he got back home????
Just as Yu Jin-Ho’s panicked state was morphing into a full-blown freak-out, Jin-Woo stopped walking towards the van and looked back at him.
“What are you doing, Yu Jin-Ho?”
“Uhm….. Well, uh, hyung-nim?”
“…..?”
“Well, the thing is…. Miss Hahn Song-Yi is still a minor, hyung-nim.”
“Okay. So?”
“…..Never mind, hyung-nim.”
Truly now, hyung-nim was a man among man.
Yu Jin-Ho was deeply impressed by Jin-Woo who didn’t care about the glares of the public and thought that….
‘Indeed, he’s extraordinary.’
He also began to reflect on his foolish ways of trying to apply the standards of the regular people on hyung-nim.
***
Around the same time.
Inside the private conference room of the White Tiger Guild.
“That’s everything I saw.”
Park Hui-Jin finished her report.
Although Baek Yun-Ho tried to dissuade her, saying that she should rest up first, she readily agreed to participate in the debriefing right away.
She added that her stay over there was comfortable (?), comparatively speaking.
“…”
“…”
The two men who sat through the debriefing, the Guild Master Baek Yun-Ho and the section chief Ahn Sahng-Min, were left utterly speechless.
The agent in charge of yesterday’s disastrous training, Hyun Ki-Cheol was not present, currently in the Hunter’s Association to discuss how to handle the fallout from this incident.
So, there were only three people inside this conference room.
Ahn Sahng-Min was the first one to break the silence.
“Everything you told us, are they all true?”
“You can speak to Goh Myung-Hwan and Yun Ki-Joong. They will corroborate everything I’ve said.”
Those two Hunters went home right away, saying they missed their families. Park Hui-Jin was 100% certain that her testimony and theirs would not be any different.
‘Well, I only described the things I saw, after all.’
Such as, when that man wasn’t around, she’d hear the pitiful screams of Ice Bears every now and then coming from the forest some distance away, or such as, when he’d suddenly wake up in the middle of the night to perform push-ups while everyone was fast asleep.
She didn’t bother to talk about things other Hunters might have experienced, those that she didn’t get to see.
“Huh…..”
Ahn Sahng-Min spat out a gasp that could either be a sigh or a groan.
Seong Jin-Woo knocked out cold a rank A Hunter in one hit, he could use separate space magic freely, and most important of all, he controlled dozens of summoned creatures.
Every one of those were unbelievable things to swallow.
And even more shocking news than that was….
“He had cleared the upper-rank dungeon almost all by himself.”
Baek Yun-Ho broke his silence and said that sentence, word by word, syllable by syllable. He was qualified to say that, because he was an S rank.
“Now that is the most unbelievable thing out of all of them.”
Sure, the summoned creatures fought alongside him, but then again, those summons weren’t his comrades, to begin with. No, they were simply a part of Seong Jin-Woo Hunter’s skill.
In other words, it was pretty much the same thing as Seong Jin-Woo clearing the dungeon alone.
“Even if you’re a really high-ranked Hunter, clearing an upper-rank dungeon by yourself is incredibly difficult.”
Not only that, it was a Red Gate, to boot.
What if it was Baek Yun-Ho?
Perhaps, he might be able to solo a rank B Red Gate, albeit just barely.
This feat was only achievable because Hunter Seong Jin-Woo was capable of summoning and controlling dozens of summons.
Ahn Sahng-Min remained stupefied as he spoke up.
“There’s no doubt that he’s a Re-Awakened possessing an extremely rare skill.”
Baek Yun-Ho agreed.
“It is already rare to see a Hunter controlling a summoned creature, but he can control several tens of them….”
While working as the S-rank Hunter, Baek Yun-Ho had met countless other capable Hunters, and had talked to a lot of them, too. But he had never, ever heard of such a skill before.
“A Re-Awakened possessing a rare skill that’s on another dimension compared to every other rare skill….”
Baek Yun-Ho expressed his admiration once more.
It was here that Ahn Sahng-Min thought of a question.
“If we were to evaluate Mister Seong Jin-Woo’s ability in monetary terms, how much could it possibly be?”
“…….”
Even Baek Yun-Ho couldn’t answer that.
However, without a doubt, it didn’t matter what Seong Jin-Woo’s current value was – as soon as he went through the re-assignment test, his value would shoot up several times more.
They needed to sign him up before that happened.
The White Tiger Guild had already lost a rank A and several rank Bs through this incident. If they failed to secure the winning lottery ticket called Seong Jin-Woo at this time, then the losses incurred would be rather too severe to just write them off.
“I shall place my full trust in you, Chief Ahn.”
Baek Yun-Ho’s eyes gleamed in the light of faith. Ahn Sahng-Min formed a dignified expression.
It was then.
“Mm?”
The gazes of Baek Yun-Ho and Ahn Sahng-Min were directed to Park Hui-Jin. She had her hand raised slightly.
Baek Yun-Ho asked her.
“Is there something you’d like to ask us?”
Succeeding in her mission to draw the attention of the two men, she lowered her hand and spoke.
“Please, allow me to participate.”
“In what?”
“The recruiting of the raid team leader… No, I mean, Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim.”
Baek Yun-Ho and Ahn Sahng-Min exchanged glances for a bit, before looking back at her.
The person in charge of scouting and recruitment, Ahn Sahng-Min, tilted his head.
“But, why would Park Hui-Jin Hunter-nim….?”
“I’ve spent the most amount of time with Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim out of everyone in the White Tiger Guild, so surely, my familiarity with him would prove to be useful in reeling him in.”
It had been six hours in reality. But, inside the Red Gate, it was almost a week. Park Hui-Jin’s suggestion sounded logical from Baek Yun-Ho’s and Ahn Sahng-Min’s point of view.
On top of this, Park Hui-Jin was a beauty as well.
One could say that the power of a beautiful face was absolute when seducing another person.
Sensing that the thoughts of the Guild Master and the section chief had been swayed, Park Hui-Jin finally got to the main topic.
“However, I have a condition.”
Baek Yun-Ho asked her.
“And what could that be?”
“When Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim signs up with our Guild, please place me in his raid team, no questions asked.”
< Chapter 35 > Fin.
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