Solo Leveling Novel Chapter 45

Jin-Woo didn’t ponder for long before speaking up.

“I see.”

“If that’s what you think, then there’s not much I can do.”

“Where should I show up tomorrow?”

“….Eh?”

After hearing this unexpected reply, Foreman Bae’s eyes went extra round in shock.

‘Wait, I haven’t made a mistake just now with what I said, right?’

Didn’t he definitely say that tomorrow was going to be more dangerous than today?

Mister Seong’s expression wasn’t so good after hearing Bae’s story, so the older man was just about ready to forget about the matter completely. However, what was the meaning of this?

Thanks to this youth, it looked like Bae wouldn’t have to worry about finding another miner for tomorrow.

‘Is that all??’

Mister Seong could easily do the work of four or five people all by himself. And that was on his first day, too.

The boy’s work speed that even managed to impress the ‘ace’ of the mining team, Mok Jin-Su, was indeed pretty shocking the first time Bae witnessed it.

From Jin-Woo’s declaration that he’d come tomorrow, Foreman Bae felt like he had gained a powerful, trustworthy ally and he was filled up with lots of confidence.

“Mister Seong, you made the right choice!”

Foreman Bae’s moustache quivered as he formed a blindingly brilliant smile. And then, to make sure that Jin-Woo’s mind wouldn’t change overnight, he even came up with an unprecedented offer, too.

“I’ll have a good chat with the person in charge, and make sure that you get double the normal daily wages tomorrow.”

“Will that be okay?”

“Of course. You think I won’t be able to do that much for you, Mister Seong?”

Foreman Bae confidently pounded on his chest.

“Mister Seong, don’t you worry about a thing and just come to work tomorrow.”

Quite obviously, who would sweat over paying twice as much in daily wages to a guy capable of doing the work of 4-5 people?

If Bae was the Chairman, never mind double, he’d triple – no, maybe even more with an eye towards the future.

‘Didn’t expect myself to rue the day that I’m not the Chairman of the Hunters….’

Foreman Bae could only swallow back his laughter.

Jin-Woo asked him a question, then.

“Ahh, right. I promised to meet someone tomorrow evening, so will I be able to make that in time?”

Earlier this morning, Yu Jin-Ho gave him a call.

– “Hyung-nim, can I come and speak to you?”

For some reason, he sounded worn out.

‘That kid was on the top of the world yesterday, saying that everything had worked out alright, yet today…..’

Jin-Woo was taken by surprise, but unfortunately, the call came only after he had already applied to become a miner. He had no choice but to delay the meeting until tomorrow evening.

Foreman Bae chuckled out loudly.

“From what I hear, tomorrow’s dungeon should be much smaller in scale then today’s one. So, we should be finished well before 6 o’clock.”

Weren’t they able to finish today’s work around five PM today? They should be even faster tomorrow, not the other way around.

Jin-Woo nodded his head. That would be fine for him, too.

“In that case, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Alright. Take care.”

Watching Jin-Woo turn around and walk away, a satisfied grin formed on Foreman Bae’s lips.

‘If I did marry, I’d probably have a son around his age by now.’

Why did that boy’s back look so wide and trustworthy? How wonderful would it be if the world was filled with newbies as excellent as Mister Seong?

A thick smile refused to leave Foreman Bae’s lips.

However, he wasn’t the only one smiling.

While walking towards the bus stop, an imperceptible smile was floating on Jin-Woo’s lips, too.

‘Well, it’s not like I’m wishing for the raid team to make a blunder tomorrow, but….’

But, if something were to happen, then his existence would prove to be a huge help either to the raid team or to the mining team.

It wasn’t as if he had a change of heart, either.

Perhaps ironically, the success rate for clearing rank A Gates was actually greater than those of the lower ranks.

‘For one, the Association doesn’t hand over the permit to any ol’ Guilds, and….’

And, once the Guild was given the opportunity, they would commit all of their resources and try to conquer the dungeon, too.

However….

‘The Hunters Guild isn’t committing their everything in tomorrow’s dungeon raid.’

To think, they’d have the balls to split a single assault team into two and prey on two separate rank A Gates at the same time. That was some confidence befitting the holder of the top spot in their profession.

But, it was undeniable that the accompanying risk was incredibly high, too.

‘Regardless of what happens, I won’t lose out either way.’

If they managed to complete the raid safely, that’d be the best for everyone involved. On the other hand, if an accident did occur, he’d assist the Hunters Guild, but in return, he would get to monopolise the high-ranked monsters by himself.

‘Very good.’

A deeper smile formed on Jin-Woo’s face as he climbed into the bus.

***

Late at night.

Cha Hae-In was tossing and turning in her bed.

‘Why is he different from others?’

Occupied by various thoughts regarding the man she met back in the boss room, she couldn’t fall asleep at all.

After Awakening her abilities roughly two years ago, she ran into many, many Hunters but there had never been an exception. Whenever she approached Hunters, or to be more specific, the Awakened, a deeply unpleasant stink assaulted her nose.

At first, she thought she was sick, so she went to see various doctors. However, she made no progress in that regard.

One of the doctors she went to see cautiously told her of his hypothesis.

– Could it be possible that you, Cha Hunter-nim, can sense other’s magic energy through your olfactory senses?

That guess certainly held some merit; the stink would get worse the higher the rank of a Hunter was. And sure enough, the lower the rank, the more tolerable the stink was, too. Of course, regular people didn’t emit any stink whatsoever.

However…..

‘….This is the first time meeting someone with a pleasant smell.’

Recalling the events of earlier, her heart began beating a bit faster.

She became quite curious who that man could be, so as soon as the raid ended, she connected to the Association’s website and searched for his details.

Rank E.

Seong Jin-Woo.

The information on the man, as seen on the Hunter licence, could be seen on the screen.

‘There are no contact details….’

But then again, what would she even do after finding out about his contact info?

Realising that there was nothing more she could glean from the Association’s website, she then ended up calling the phone number of Joh Myoung-Ki, the manager of the recruitment department. She didn’t even mean to do that, though.

– “What’s going on? Cha Hunter-nim, did something happen at this late hour?”

It was already well past one AM by the time she called him.

He wouldn’t have answered the phone if it wasn’t from South Korea’s sole female rank S Hunter, who also happened to be the Vice Chairman of the Hunters Guild.

She couldn’t help but think that she made a mistake after hearing the still-sleepy voice of Joh Myoung-Ki, but that lasted only for a short while.

Cha Hae-In opened her mouth with some difficulty.

“Can you find some information on a Hunter named Seong Jin-Woo?”

– “I beg your pardon? Wait, are you talking about the rank E Hunter currently working for the Association?”

Cha Hae-In was taken in by a huge surprise.

Joh Myoung-Ki was none other than the man in charge of recruiting in South Korea’s best Guild. So, why did a man like that remember the name of a rank E Hunter?

“Do you know who he is?”

– “Ah, the thing is…. Actually, Chairman Choi has requested me yesterday to do the same thing as you have, you see. He asked me to uncover more information on that person.”

“Chairman did that?”

– “Yes, miss.”

“Do you know what’s going on?”

– “Well, even I don’t…..”

“…So, what did you find out?”

A voice that was thick with a helpless sigh came out of the phone’s speaker.

– “I did my best to uncover more, but the Association has placed a lockdown on his information. It’s my first time encountering a situation like this, them blocking the flow of all information on a regular Hunter. He’s not even a top-ranked Hunter, either….”

“Ah…..”

– “But, why are you looking for him, Cha Hunter-nim? Is there something I should assist you with?”

“No, it’s fine. I’m sorry for calling you so late. Good night.”

Click.

….Those were the contents of the phone call she made three hours ago.

She worked up her courage to find out more about a guy, only for more questions to bubble up in her mind.

A mystery Hunter whose identity was being sought after by the leader of the Hunters Guild, while the Association was doing their best to hide it.

‘There’s definitely something going on here.’

No, wait. There simply had to be something….

She earnestly prayed for it.

He could very well be the person to unravel the mysterious and special constitution that continued to torment her ever since she turned 21 – two years ago, when she had Awakened her powers.

‘That man, can I meet him again?’

Could it be that she’d never get to see him again?

She was beset with worry all of a sudden.

Thankfully, Cha Hae-In recalled Seong Jin-Woo’s hard hat. She remembered that the hard hat and the overall he was wearing both spotted the emblem of the Hunters Guild.

‘I remember now. He was in the mining team, wasn’t he?’

Unlike her, who was the part of the raid team A, the mining team would be working later today as well.

If Seong Jin-Woo hadn’t left the mining team, then there was a chance that she could meet him again.

‘Let’s go and take a look.’

Since she was the Vice Chairman of the Guild, it’d not be a strange thing for her to stop by at the raid location.

‘Right, I’ll just show up there as if nothing’s wrong, and see whether that man came to work or not.’

….But, why? As soon as she thought about the possibility of seeing that suspicious Hunter again, she felt much more relaxed.

‘If I want to do that, I gotta get some sleep first.’

For the sake of today’s schedule, Cha Hae-In forced her unwilling eyes to close.

***

Even before the morning sun rose up.

Jin-Woo left for the meeting area first thing in the morning. It was different from yesterday, when he had some leeway, as he only joined the crew during the middle of the raid.

‘Maybe, I shouldn’t have worried.’

He was worried about whether he was too early or not, but…

Well, many Hunters had gathered before the Gate already by the time he got there.

“Uh? Uhh?? Hey, Mister Seong!! Seong!”

Foreman Bae Yun-Seok greeted him first.

“Hey, it’s Mister Seong.”

“Heyyy, man. Mister Seong!”

Other Hunters began greeting him with a slight nod, and some even raised their hands as high as their chest to greet Jin-Woo, which was quite different from yesterday.

The work each of the miners did was important, so they’d wholeheartedly welcome a colleague with great skills any time. From the expressions of the Hunters of the mining team, their delight could clearly be seen.

‘This is a bit… awkward.’

Jin-Woo had been subjected to poor treatment ever since becoming a rank E Hunter, so when he received such a warm welcome, he couldn’t help be dazed somewhat.

Still, he didn’t feel bad about their honest reactions.

“….”

Jin-Woo wordlessly lowered his head as his greeting.

“One, two, threeee….”

Foreman Bae counted the number of miners present today and jotted it down on the memo.

“Eighteen, Nineteen…. Well, it’s almost everyone.”

This should be more than enough. Well, it was fine for one or two to miss out on a day like today.

‘Because, we have two aces in our midst now.’

Foreman Bae’s gaze met those of Mok Jin-Su and Seong Jin-Woo. Bae grinned like a fool, causing Mok Jin-Su to hurriedly avert his gaze, while Seong Jin-Woo was tilting his head in confusion.

It was then.

“Excuse me, Foreman Bae.”

“Argh?! You surprised me!”

Foreman Bae flinched and shuddered grandly from the voice suddenly coming from his side.

Moving around without revealing one’s presence was clear evidence of one’s excellent skills.

And as expected….

The one Foreman Bae’s resentful gaze was directed to was the leader of today’s raid team, Sohn Ki-Hoon.

“Aigoo…. My heart nearly stopped from fright just now, Sohn Hunter-nim.”

“My apologies. It’s a bad habit I picked up from working in the dungeons for too long.”

Sohn Ki-Hoon grinned sheepishly.

It was then, the foreman of the retrieval team suddenly revealed himself from behind Sohn Ki-Hoon.

“An old man not acting his age…”

“What the? Even you? Why would you two be here where the mining team is?”

“What do you mean, why? We are here because we’ve got business with you, obviously.”

Foreman Bae stared at Sohn Ki-Hoon with a puzzled expression.

Meanwhile, Sohn Ki-Hoon was scanning the Hunters of the mining team as he opened his mouth.

“The thing is, our team’s porter decided to not show up today. Looks like I’ll have to borrow someone from the mining team.”

“Ehhh?”

Foreman Bae’s eyes went round in surprise.

“But, why from my team? When you got the retrieval team with lots of strong people who can carry luggage better than us….?”

As if he was waiting for that reply, the foreman of the retrieval team flew off his handle.

“My boys had to work overtime for three more hours just to finish our operation. They even missed dinner, too! But now, you want to use them as a porter, too?”

The reason why the retrieval team had to put in overtime while missing supper – because the mining team had finished their operation far too early. (TL note at the end)

‘Well, it’s true that we finished our operation which should’ve normally ended around seven in the evening, by around five o’clock all thanks to Mister Seong….’

When the foreman of the retrieval team glared daggers with veins popping up in his neck, Foreman Bae forgot what he wanted to say.

Perhaps he thought that this would be enough of an explanation, Sohn Ki-Hoon then addressed the miners.

“Is there anyone among you who wish to accompany the raid team? Once the raid is over, we will furnish you the additional hazard pay immediately.”

“…..”

Soh Ki-Hoon’s pleading eyes darted from here to there, but no one stepped forward. Either they looked down on the ground, or stared at the heavens, deliberately avoiding meeting his gaze.

That would be obvious, really.

‘I ain’t gonna risk my neck for a couple more bucks.’

‘Won’t do it, even if you beat me up….’

The highest ranked Hunter among the mining team was only a rank C. Most of them were rank Ds. Heck, they even had a rank E among them, too.

However, the place Sohn Ki-Hoon wanted to take them to was a rank A dungeon, seen as perhaps the most dangerous of the lot, realistically speaking.

The miners would still hesitate greatly even if the dungeon in question was rated B, yet it was an A!

Even a gentle graze would kill these Hunters in there. No, just stepping on the wrong spot would result in one’s death.

That dungeon was not a place where low ranked Hunters could survive.

Sure, porters only had to lug around the raid team’s gear, but still…. Compared to the job of mining, it was still far too dangerous.

“Is there… no one?”

Sohn Ki-Hoon’s expression became more and more crestfallen.

Who knew how much more time and effort he needed to waste in order to find another porter? Probably the whole morning, or even till the afternoon; or, if he was really unlucky, then the entire day might go down the drain.

‘This is going to be big trouble….’

It was at this point when his eyes met with a certain young Hunter’s.

‘…Uh?’

Unlike other Hunters, this guy was staring right back at him. It was, of course, Jin-Woo.

‘Hmm…..’

While Sohn Ki-Hoon was staring at him, Jin-Woo too was slowly scanning that man’s appearance.

‘Isn’t he a bit sharp for a tanker?’

Common sense dictated that the leaders of raid teams were ‘tankers’ most of the time.

Compared to other tankers, though, Sohn Ki-Hoon was a bit on the lankier side. He was also quite tall, so, rather than a Hunter, he looked more like a basketball player more than anything else.

‘…….’

Jin-Woo finally stopped looking at Sohn Ki-Hoon and his eyes drifted away.

“….Fuu-ha….”

Only then did Sohn Ki-Hoon spit out his deeply-held breaths.

What just happened?

Just now, his entire body had frozen up so much that he even forgot to breathe. He couldn’t understand why.

‘Am I getting too tense, since this will be my first raid as a leader and all?’

Up until now, he had participated in raids as an auxiliary tanker. That was why today’s opportunity was doubly important to him. And he definitely could not afford to commit a blunder today.

Sohn Ki-Hoon was bent over and panting laboriously in order to recover, before raising himself back up again.

Murmur, murmur….

Probably because of his rather embarrassing conduct, the surroundings had gotten noisier. However, he soon realised that the cause for the disturbance was not him.

Sohn Ki-Hoon’s gaze shifted back to the mining team’s Hunters, only to spot a hand raised up to the sky.

Finally, someone was applying for the job. Someone he had been waiting so desperately for.

Sohn Ki-Hoon’s expression brightened considerably.

When Jin-Woo took a step forward, he became the centre of the attention.

“I’ll do it.”

(TL: Well, I’m not sure what the mining team does has any bearing on what happens to the retrieval team, but okay. I’m just TL-ing according to what’s in the raw, so don’t question me…..) (ED: The only reason I can think of is it being a matter of workplace pride/appearance. Like, the mining team finished early, so the raid team was only waiting on the retrieval team, hence the overtime/meal skipping. Just my own guess, though.)

---

A rank E Hunter wanted to enter an uncleared rank A dungeon!

Pure pandemonium broke out.

“Upper-rank monsters are waiting with bated breath inside, yet you wanna go in??”

“Mister Seong, what do you think you’re doing?!”

“You still have a whole life ahead of you, so why are you risking it all for a measly few extra bucks?!”

The members of the mining team surrounded Jin-Woo in no time. At the same time, Foreman Bae hurriedly explained it to Sohn Ki-Hoon.

“Aigoo. That friend only started this job yesterday so he probably raised his hand not knowing anything.”

“What’s his rank?”

“That is….”

Foreman Bae sneaked a glance towards Jin-Woo and then, spoke in a hushed voice.

“It’s E. Regardless of what else, his rank is too low, so how about going with someone else? It’ll be far too dangerous to take that friend along with you.”

Sohn Ki-Hoon’s expression became grave right away.

‘That man is only a rank E….??’

The man who locked gazes with him only a second ago – for sure, he couldn’t sense any exceptional fluctuation of magic energy coming from that man.

However, how should he put this?

A certain aura permeated from that man that… couldn’t be described in simple words, but at the same time, it also felt sharp and utterly under control.

‘He’s definitely not a rank E.’

No matter how hard Sohn Ki-Hoon looked, that man was definitely not the bottom-ranked Hunter he claimed to be. Of course, Foreman Bae had no reason to lie here but, from Sohn Ki-Hoon’s perspective, his own assessment had to be correct.

‘Besides all that. The rank of a porter isn’t all that important, is it?’

Indeed, a porter only needed to carry luggage around well.

If the luggage carrier located at the very back of the raid team found himself in danger, then one should look at that raid as a complete failure. In a case like that, not even a rank A could guarantee his survival, so would it really matter if the porter’s rank was a C or an E?

They’d die regardless, anyway.

When Sohn Ki-Hoon’s thought process reached that point, he began regretting the fact that he actually wasted time worrying about it. The raid hadn’t even started, yet they had wasted far too much time already.

Sohn Ki-Hoon stared at Jin-Woo and spoke.

“Nope. I’m taking him.”

***

“Isn’t it heavy?”

Sohn Ki-Hoon asked a question, and Jin-Woo simply shook his head.

“No, it’s fine.”

The large bag being carried on Jin-Woo’s back was filled to the brim with extra sets of clothing, weapons, and defensive equipment, etc., for the raid team. Its volume was quite considerable, but honestly speaking, he didn’t find it heavy at all. All thanks to his Strength Stat, of course.

‘Doesn’t look like he’s straining himself.’

After studying Jin-Woo’s expression for a bit, Sohn Ki-Hoon turned towards the Gate. Jin-Woo also shifted his gaze towards it.

A giant Gate, as big as the one from yesterday, silently floated in the air.

‘Wait. Maybe this one’s a little bit bigger?’

Even then, the detected amount of magic energy was supposedly less than yesterday’s Gate. The raid difficulty was judged by the emitted magic energy and not the size of the Gate; that was probably the main reason why the B team was tasked with clearing this particular dungeon.

‘For real… the leaking magic energy is incomparably smaller than yesterday.’

Jin-Woo could tell by standing in front of the Gate. The result of the Association’s measurement didn’t seem to be wrong.

But then, what was this?

Just like back when he was standing before the Red Gate, a certain creeping sense of ill omen was dawning on him.

‘….I hope it’s nothing.’

Meanwhile, Sohn Ki-Hoon gave out his order.

“Let’s go inside.”

The raid team waiting in front of the Gate began moving once more with that order. Hunters entered the dungeon one by one.

“….”

Jin-Woo stopped staring at the Gate and followed them in.

[You have entered a dungeon.]

The interior of the dungeon was rather plain.

Jin-Woo had been tense after picking up on that odd feeling, but he let off a sigh of relief after seeing the passage that was noticeably smaller than yesterday’s dungeon.

‘Whew.’

Thankfully, he wasn’t forcibly transported to another world.

The thing was, though, the members of this team were plenty good enough to clear a Red Gate, were they to step into one.

11 rank As, and 6 rank Bs.

If it weren’t the Hunters Guild but somebody else, these guys wouldn’t have been assigned to a B team at all.

Jin-Woo smirked softly.

‘I’m not here as a part of the raid team anyway. Let’s not sweat over stuff like this.’

Yesterday and today….

If he were being honest, he only came here to have fun. And as coincidence would have it, he was now blessed with more things to spectate on today.

There was no need to stay sharp and alert all the time.

When he thought like that, he felt as if weight was lifted off his shoulders.

“You don’t have to be that nervous, you know.”

A female Hunter, a Healer, engaged him in conversation from his side.

Was her age around the late twenties or so?

Because his expression was stiff, it seemed that she just wanted to help alleviate some of his tension.

“You see, every single member present here, not just Ki-Hoon oppa, oops, I mean, the leader of the team, is a distinguished Hunter. Except me, that is.”

The healer lady smiled refreshingly.

From the word go, Jin-Woo wasn’t scared, but after seeing the female Hunter’s utterly relaxed face, he felt like a deflated balloon.

Jin-Woo grinned too, and nodded his head.

“Ah. Okay.”

The Healer formed a content expression, evidently satisfied by her efforts.

At the same time, the leader confirmed that there were no monsters near the entrance and gave the signal to advance.

“Let’s move.”

Both Jin-Woo and the Healer matched the walking pace of the raid team and slowly advanced forward. They had to watch the surroundings while moving, so naturally, their rate of progress was rather slow.

“Should I help you carry some, if it’s too heavy?”

The Healer glanced at Jin-Woo’s luggage and asked him. Jin-Woo wordlessly pushed forward a huge bottle of water in his left hand to her.

“Kyachk?!”

The Healer tottered dangerously on her feet trying to lift that, so he quickly took the bottle back. The raid team came to an abrupt stop and glared at the Healer.

“I’m so sorry. Sorry.”

The Healer continued to bow her head here and there, offering an embarrassed apology. After that, he didn’t get to hear her asking him if he needed help again. Her sharp glares were just an added bonus, really.

Jin-Woo had to swallow his cackles as he continued to walk forward, pretending to be oblivious.

It sure felt like it’d been a long time since he could laugh like this inside a dungeon.

‘Well, getting distracted even only for a second would potentially get me in a lot of trouble, after all.’

Especially recently…..

Just remembering back to the difficulty of the ‘Demon’s Castle’ and its upper floors made him shudder in his boots.

However, today was different. Participating in a raid as an outsider like this every now and then didn’t sound like such a bad idea to him.

It was then.

Jin-Woo’s steps came to a halt.

A beat later, the Hunters of the raid team also sensed the change in the surroundings.

“They are coming!”

Even before Sohn Ki-Hoon finished giving his order, the Hunters of the raid team got into their battle formation. It happened literally in the blink of an eye. Jin-Woo was inwardly impressed by that.

‘So, this is how the high-ranked Hunters raid….’

They were definitely a world apart compared to the ragtag raid teams he was used to until now. Heck, pure and bright lights were already emanating from the hands of the naive-looking female Healer.

‘Looks like I won’t even get a chance to step up here.’

On one hand, Jin-Woo felt reassured, but at the same time, he did feel a bit rueful as well.

In any case, monsters finally showed themselves.

Beasts? Canines?

Sohn Ki-Hoon’s eyes narrowed to a slit.

Tadatadatadatada….

A group of monsters resembling hyenas was rushing towards the raid team. They were as big as a medium-sized car, too.

Sohn Ki-Hoon tilted his head slightly.

‘Dungeon Jackals?’

He became sure of it once they got close enough. They were indeed ‘Dungeon Jackals.’

Sohn Ki-Hoon had been standing with his shield covering his front, but then, he relaxed a bit and didn’t even bother to activate his aggro-attracting skill.

And then, he simply used his shield to batter down the Dungeon Jackal aiming for his neck.

Whimper!!

“What’s this?”

“Aren’t they Dungeon Jackals?”

Other team members, deeply tense until then, began tilting their heads and straightened their hunched stances. Soon, the short death throes of the Dungeon Jackals filled the cavern’s interior.

“Whimper?!”

“Kkheng!”

“Kkhekkheng!”

The Jackal monsters were quickly taken care of.

Over a dozen Dungeon Jackals were turned into corpses in the blink of an eye. Hunters dusted their hands, still confused by what happened.

“What’s this?”

“I didn’t even have enough time to cast a magic spell before it ended.”

“Why are we fighting Dungeon Jackals inside a rank A dungeon?”

“Yeah, right. What’s happening here?”

“Wait, did the Association idiots screw up again?!”

Their voices were getting louder.

Now originally, one of the basic rules in raiding was to never make loud noises inside a dungeon. However, the appearance of the Dungeon Jackals was an event shocking enough to make them forget all about even a simple rule like that.

“Hmm….”

Sohn Ki-Hoon stared at the corpses of the Jackals and scratched the back of his head.

‘But, why are the monsters from rank C dungeons appearing here?’

Sohn Ki-Hoon scanned his surroundings, looking somewhat dumbfounded. Everyone else was forming similar facial expressions.

With the exception of one person.

Only Jin-Woo was staring at the dead Jackals with a grave expression on his face.

‘They are no normal Jackals.’

Jin-Woo’s eyes narrowed. He could definitely see that the fur around the Jackal’s neck had been flattened down by something until recently. It was clear evidence of them being tied to something, somewhere.

‘Meaning, the ones that reared these monsters are somewhere else inside this dungeon….’

Monsters with intellect, in other words.

Jin-Woo recalled the White Phantoms he met back inside the Red Gate.

It was now a well-established fact that, regardless of what species it was, intelligent monsters were quite difficult to deal with.

‘Somehow… my premonition might be right after all.’

It was not a good omen, by any stretch of the imagination.

“What are you thinking about so seriously like that?”

The female Hunter peered at Jin-Woo as if to bore a hole in him, just like how he had been staring at the Jackals.

“Shh!”

Jin-Woo raised his index finger and covered his lips.

Step, step.

Step, step.

From the deeper parts of the cave, he could hear the matched footsteps getting closer.

‘The real enemies are coming.’

Jin-Woo stood back up. Other Hunters also belatedly realised something was wrong.

“Oh my god…”

“Get….. Get ready for battle!”

Sohn Ki-Hoon forcibly squeezed his voice out.

Finally, the real enemies revealed themselves from the darkness of the cave on the far side. The eyes of the Hunters grew wide from shock.

“High Orcs?!”

“What the hell? Why High Orcs?”

Many well-trained High Orc warriors now stood in rows before the Hunters’ eyes. Their number was twenty-two.

Not just any High Orcs, but they were twenty-two High Orc warriors, which meant they would be very difficult opponents to fight.

“Something… Something’s wrong.”

Someone muttered softly under his breath.

To think, right after the attack of the low-ranked monsters, they now had to battle these high-ranked monsters famed to be the toughest even among the high ranks.

The High Orcs pointed their lengthy spears at the Hunters.

‘Looks like the momentum of the Hunters and the High Orcs are about even.’

Jin-Woo quickly retreated to a corner, so he could quietly observe the unfolding situation and find the right time to step forward.

However, the female Hunter obviously didn’t share his thought process.

“You gotta keep hiding there, okay! You won’t get hurt that way.”

That kind of infuriated Jin-Woo just a wee bit. He closed his eyes shut and took several deep breaths while working hard to calm his boiling head.

Soon, the battle began.

“Kroooaaar!!”

Towards the attacking High Orcs, Sohn Ki-Hoon activated his aggro skill. However, these Orcs didn’t really fall for his provocation. And soon, High Orcs and melee-type Hunters engaged in a bitter close-quarters battle.

Swiiiish!!

Swish!

Crack!!

Blood splattered to everywhere and a scream reverberated out.

“Uwaaahk!!”

Not too long after that, magic spells fired from the mage-type Hunters slammed into the High Orcs.

Boom!! Kaboom!!

The heads of the High Orcs exploded after getting struck by the arrows of brilliant light. Unfortunately, there was no follow-up attack.

The effects of magic spells were good, but there was the distinct disadvantage of the lengthy casting time.

“Uwaaahk?!”

In a close-quarters battle, High Orcs definitely held the upper hand.

“Heal! Heal!!”

“H-hurry!”

The wounded appeared pretty quickly, and Healers were kept very busy.

“….H-Healer-nim!!”

The female Healer was also kept very busy, running here and there non-stop.

“I’m coming!! Coming!”

The female Healer knelt down next to a heavily-groaning Hunter with a missing arm. She then quickly began chanting.

Wuoong….

And then, along with blinding light, the lost arm slowly grew back.

That was the light of regeneration only the Healers ranked A or above could perform.

Just as she concentrated on the injuries of her patient, a tall shadow suddenly loomed over her. The female Healer raised her head.

A High Orc, previously assumed dead, was holding an axe while breathing heavily right beside her.

“Ah…..”

The female Healer’s face was drained of all colour, then. Unfortunately, there was no one who could save her nearby.

When the Orc raised its axe up high, the female Healer chose to hug her patient and shield him, instead.

“Noooo!!”

However, she couldn’t feel any pain, no matter how long she waited.

Each passing second felt like a minute or more.

The female Healer sheepishly raised her head up. And she got to witness a rather amazing sight.

“Keu…. Kuehhck…..”

The Orc was actually floating in the air, its entire body trembling quite noticeably.

“But, what…..?”

What was happening here?

The female Healer’s eyes opened even wider.

But then…

Snap!

The head of the High Orc was literally ripped off of its body, and then, even the part of its spine got dragged out, as well.

Now that was a display of terrifying power.

Plop.

‘……..??’

While staring at the headless body of the High Orc now on the ground, the female Hunter formed a totally confused expression.

“Uh….?!”

Because, the separated head of the High Orc was still floating in the air, that was why.

‘….Blood got splashed on my clothes.’

Jin-Woo frowned deeply and threw the head of the High Orc.

Pow!

Another High Orc was struck down rather unexpectedly by the head of its comrade and collapsed to the ground. Seeing that the victim’s neck was twisted around in a bizarre angle, it coming back to life didn’t seem very likely.

‘That makes it two.’

Jin-Woo shifted his gaze.

Currently, he was in ‘Stealth’. Both the High Orcs and the Hunters couldn’t sense his presence at all.

Jin-Woo had been sitting back quietly, waiting for a right chance to step forward, because he feared being accused of interfering in other people’s raid. But then, he belatedly recalled that he had the ‘Stealth’ skill.

Wouldn’t he be able to do whatever he wanted without running into problems with that skill?

The corners of Jin-Woo’s lips arched up.

‘Okay, so should I get started for real now?’

And then.

“Uwaaaah-!!”

Just in time, he spotted the leader of the raid team, Sohn Ki-Hoon, engaged in a life-or-death battle with three High Orcs.

Jin-Woo’s legs moved swiftly.

< Chapter 45 > Fin.

Let’s read Chapter 46