I Alone Level-Up

A black key.

The black key from the Cursed Random Box was glowing brightly, as if it was trying to grab Jinwoo"s attention.

Jinwoo, stunned by this appearance of the item, set down his weapons slowly and reached into his inventory to grasp the key.

"..."

Jinwoo held his breath for a moment before opening his hand

[Item: Key to The Cartenon Temple (New Area)]

Rarity: ??

Type: Key

You have met the requirements.

This key grants entry to the Cartenon Temple. It can only be used on a specific gate. The location of the gate will be revealed when the countdown timer reaches zero.

Time left: 417 hours 06 minutes 52 seconds

There was new information that he had not seen before. Jinwoo"s thoughts started racing.

"The Cartenon Temple? Why does the name of a new area sound so familiar? No wait, I"ve definitely heard that name before."

Jinwoo rubbed his eyes in concentration.

"The double dungeon!"

The memories came flooding back. The double dungeon with the temple ruins at the end. The stone statues, specifically the one that held a stone slab.

"Yes, definitely…"

Jinwoo could almost hear the voice of Song Chi-yeol sunbae-nim again, reading the first line written on the stone slab.

"Commandments of the Cartenon Temple."

The slab had identified the ruins, with its legion of terrible statues, as the Cartenon Temple.

"Then this is...the key to return there?"

All the memories that were buried away before were now fresh on his mind. Jinwoo felt gooseb.u.mps on his back and forearms.

"No way…"

The system was calling him back to where it all started.

The glowing key, with the temple mentioned in its description, was a call from the system. But why now? As he pondered, Jinwoo remembered that the Cursed Random Box was only his first "unknown" reward. He checked on the second demon soul quest reward.

[t.i.tle: Demon Hunter]

You have not yet met the requirements.

"This hasn"t changed."

Finally, Jinwoo checked the accessory that he looted from the demon king. He now had the full set.

[Item: Demon Monarch"s Ring]

Rarity: S

Type: Accessory

Sense +20, Intelligence +20

Part of a set with the Demon Monarch"s Earrings and the Demon Monarch"s Necklace:

Set effect 1: All stats +5

Set effect 2: All stats +10

The ring was the final item in the set. Jinwoo checked to see if the set effects had changed recently, but it was still the same as before.

"Hmm, then…this must be the reason."

Jinwoo glanced at the system"s info box, noting the indicator just above his t.i.tle.

[Level: 100]

"The description for the black key showed a level requirement. New information was revealed once the requirements were met."

Since items in the inventory could be stored or retrieved with just a thought, it was rare for Jinwoo to actually check inside the inventory. He had only recently reached level 100 a few days ago, which was the requirement for the black key. If he had not randomly decided to examine the Demon King"s Dagger this evening, it would have been a while before he noticed the key.

"There"s still more than two weeks left on the countdown timer."

Jinwoo felt lucky, but what he didn"t realize was that the system had failsafes in place to guarantee that he would arrive at the correct time and place to enter the gate to the temple. There was no way that he could avoid this fate.

"I will need to make preparations…"

Jinwoo"s train of thought surprised him.

"Am I...seriously thinking about going back there? Almost all the hunters that were with me in that raid are dead, with the majority of them dying in the raid itself. Heck, even I almost died a few times. My leg got cut off…"

Jinwoo"s body shuddered involuntarily as he recalled the experience.

"When I saw the s.p.a.ce below my knee where my leg was supposed to be...ugh, it still creeps me out. But…"

He thought with conviction

"I"m different now."

If he didn"t answer the system"s call, there might be a penalty. Jinwoo suddenly noticed that the hand holding the key was sweating profusely.

GULP

He swallowed with some difficulty.

"Don"t be nervous. Stay calm as usual."

Jinwoo felt his heart rate go slower and slower. He waited for his breathing to settle before opening his eyes.

The system wanted him to go back to the temple. There must be a reason. Afterall, the Cursed Random Box was supposed to contain something that he "needed." Still, there were other matters to attend to, such as officially starting the guild that he had been putting off. Doing that would make it easier to enter gates and level up both himself and his shadow army.

Jinwoo wondered how the guild was coming along. He considered calling Yoo Jin-ho, but then saw the time and put his phone back down. Calling someone this late in the evening would be rude. It would be better to see him in person. As there were other things that he had to do in the office anyways, Jinwoo decided to visit the office in the morning.

***

Yoo Jin-ho"s eyes were sore. His eyes were intensely scanning the computer screen like a hawk seeking out prey.

FLASH

Sparks flew from his eyes as he pounced. [1]

"I can"t forgive those that stand in the way of hyung-nim!"

Yoo flagged and reported several posts and comments with practiced speed and efficiency.

"A whole bunch again today."

"Phew~"

Yoo sighed loudly, but looked proud of his efforts as he wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead.

As the leader and public face of the soon-to-be-created guild, Jinwoo"s reputation could not be tarnished. Yoo Jin-ho made it his job to stop any spread of falsehoods involving his hyung-nim. It wasn"t just a personal duty of course, but a task befitting the future vice president of the guild.

Still, Yoo Jin-ho was concerned.

"I still haven"t gotten the guild name from hyung-nim yet. We could combine our last names together and call it the Sungyoo Guild."

He shook his head.

"It"s a good idea, but it doesn"t sound right...if we changed the order of the names, we could call it Meteor (Yoosung), but that"s unacceptable. The vice president"s name shouldn"t be first. The next time I see hyung-nim, I"ll ask him."

It had been two days since Yoo Jin-ho moved into the office and he was getting restless. He had a lot of time to himself to think about the guild name while sitting in the empty office. In contrast, Jinwoo had attracted a lot of attention due to the Jeju Island incident.

"If I took hyung-nim"s name and the last two parts of my name, we could call it the Wooho Guild."

"What are you thinking about so seriously?"

"Ugh!"

Yoo Jin-ho jumped out of his seat and turned around. To his surprise, Jinwoo was standing right next to him.

"Hyung-nim! When did you get in? I didn"t even notice you getting close…"

"I wasn"t really concentrating, but I still didn"t sense him. He"s still so enigmatic."

Yoo Jin-ho scratched his head and repeated his question.

"When did you get in hyung-nim?"

"Just now."

Jinwoo gave a brusque response and peeked at the monitor that Yoo was working on. Yoo Jin-ho hastily covered the screen and exclaimed,

"Don"t worry about these guys hyung-nim! I"ll take care of it all."

"Ah...it was you."

Recently, whenever rude comments or false rumors about Jinwoo were posted online, someone would reply with the facts and ask for the post to be deleted. Yoo Jin-ho"s face flushed.

"Ah, it"s nothing hyung-nim...this is the least I should do."

Jinwoo caught a glimmer in Yoo Jin-ho"s eyes as his friend peered up at him. It reminded him of a puppy seeking praise. Jinwoo fought back a chuckle.

"Yeah, you did well."

Having received his praise, Yoo Jin-ho smiled with satisfaction and firmly resolved to maintain his internet vigilance. Suddenly, he noticed that Jinwoo was dressed different from usual.

"Eh? Is there something special going on today?"

Jinwoo replied softly.

"I have a lot to do today."

"Ahh…"

Thus far, Jin-ho had only seen Jinwoo wear casual clothes that were non-restrictive. It was strange and surprising to see Jinwoo now, in a full black suit. Jin-ho nodded with admiration and approval. However, Jinwoo glanced down at his wrist.w.a.tch and realized that he had no time to explain further.

"It"s already time…"

He looked up and asked.

"I don"t need to bring anything with me to get the Guild Master license right?"

"Right! Just go to the a.s.sociation and complete a short test and you"ll get the guild license."

"Okay."

Yoo Jin-ho tilted his head and pondered for a moment. Did Jinwoo get dressed up just to go to the a.s.sociation? Then it dawned on him.

"Ah, now that he"s a celebrity, he has to pay attention to how he looks. Being famous is nice, but it must be exhausting."

Yoo Jin-ho felt a bit envious. The names of the people around him everyday were known to millions around the world. Jinwoo pointed at something on far end of Yoo"s desk.

"I"m taking the car."

His fingers were directed at the keys.

"It"s all yours hyung-nim!"

Yoo Jin-ho reached over to pick up the keys. His hand paused and his eyes grew wide as he watched the keys fly through the air and into Jinwoo"s hand.

"What was that, hyung-nim?"

"A skill."

"..."

Yoo Jin-ho was speechless.

"If you told me right now that you can fly, it wouldn"t be a surprise. What can"t you do? It"s like peeling an onion, the more layers you go through, the more you find."

Yoo Jin-ho shook his head and regained his senses.

"Right, now is not the time to think about this. I had some questions for hyung-nim. It"s rare that he stops by the office. I can"t miss this opportunity."

Jinwoo could tell from Yoo Jin-ho"s expression that he had something to say.

"Hmm?"

"Hyung-nim, I opened up recruitment and, in just a day, I"ve got a bunch of people interested in coming in. I"ve compiled a list."

"Ah, let"s deal with that when I"m back."

"There"s no time."

Jinwoo appeared to be in a hurry, so Yoo Jin-ho quickly moved to the next topic.

"Oh, also! Have you thought about the guild name?"

"This is the more pressing issue."

Yoo Jin-ho could feel his heart pounding as he waited for Jinwoo"s reply. If his hyung-nim hasn"t made up his mind yet, he would suggest some of names that he thought up.

"Sungwoo, Jinjin, Wooho...would he like any of these?"

Yoo Jin-ho waited with antic.i.p.ation. Finally, Jinwoo grinned and said.

"How about Solo Play?"

"What?"

Yoo Jin-ho"s eyes rolled instinctively. Was it a joke? Should he laugh?

Jinwoo"s expression did not make it seem like he was joking. Without waiting for a reaction, Jinwoo headed towards the exit.

"See you later."

Watching Jinwoo leave the office, Yoo Jin-ho thought,

"Hyung-nim, I guess even you have some things that you"re bad at. You"re only human after all."

Yoo Jin-ho felt a bit of relief in discovering something so relatable in his hyung-nim. At the same time, he felt less enthusiastic about becoming a member of a guild called Solo Play.

***

Hunter Min Byung-gu"s funeral. [2]

Originally, the funeral was planned to be held in a small place with only family attending. However, it was changed to a public memorial service after many people express their desire to pay their respects. And so, many people came to honor the sacrifice of Min Byung-gu.

However, not everyone was gathered here simply to pay respects. There were some who were restlessly scanning the crowds, anxiously looking for someone. Then, excitement flashed in their eyes.

"Oh, there!"

"He finally came."

"It"s really…"

The din of the crowd grew louder as the people who spotted Jinwoo started whispering excitedly to one another.

[1] I read this as if Yoo Jin-ho was activating his hunter powers to banhammer internet trolls. He"s not actually doing it, but it totally fits his characterization that he would approach this task with the same fervor.

[2] F :(

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Edited by Gea.s.s606

Proofread by MrScarym.u.f.fin & Slimicee

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