I Alone Level-Up

Yoo Jinho was shocked.

"...Red Gate?"

Why would that be brought up here? Because of how much attention it was getting in the media, Yoo Jinho was well aware of the incident. However, he was not sure why his father was bringing it up in this meeting.

"And that man…"

The so-called survivor of the incident. The press was looking for anyone related to the incident with fervor. How was that man even called to this place? Questions piled up in Yoo Jinho"s mind. Watching him, Yoo Myunghan slowly opened his mouth,

"It appears that you are not aware."

"Sir?"

Putting aside the confused Yoo Jinho, the chairman turned to the nervous looking Go Myunghwan.

"Hunter-nim."

"Yes?"

"Please inform my son who was there on that day, other than the Baekho"s new recruits."

"Understood."

Go Myunghwan turned to Yoo Jinho. Looking at the man, Yoo Jinho still showed confusion on his face.

"There was a young female Hunter, about the age of a highschooler, and-"

"A young female Hunter?"

Up until that point, Yoo Jinho could not have dreamt of the name Go Myunghwan would say next,

"Sung Jinwoo-ssi."

sink

Yoo Jinho could almost hear his heart sinking to his stomach.

"H-hyungnim was at the Red Gate incident?"

How could this have happened? Yoo Jinho"s mind fell into chaos. But then the young man remembered something,

"Wait, few days ago…"

Han Songyi, who had completely ignored hyungnim in the past, was sharing a friendly conversation with the man.

"What was the female Hunter"s name?"

"It"s Ms. Han Songyi."

My G.o.d. Yoo Jinho"s mouth opened wide. To think that this was the secret of hyungnim and Han Songyi"s relations.h.i.+p.

"That means…"

The "unknown helper" theorized all over the news is… As if finis.h.i.+ng his thought, Go Myunghwan continued,

"It was because of Sung Jinwoo-ssi that Ms. Han Songyi and our Baekho members were able to leave the Red Gate with our lives."

"Oh my G.o.d…"

Hyungnim, just what were you doing over there. Yoo Jinho was half surprised and half happy at hearing his hyungnim"s name. The young man forgot about his father in front of him and brazenly asked,

"What happened in the Red Gate?"

Go Myunghwan looked to his side for permission. Yoo Myunghan nodded. The Hunter was already itching to go off into details, so the man happily explained everything that had happened in the Red Gate,

"Well, where to start…"

Yoo Jinho listened with his eyes sparkling.

"We were fl.u.s.tered at first, when we heard that two E-rank Hunters would be joining in our training. But…"

Go Myunghwan began regaling the tales that happened like a child showing off his new toy to his friends. However, he was not the only one excited by the tale,

"An rank Hunter?!"

"I know, right! He just slapped him like pow! And Kim Cheol just went down like boom!"

"Wow…"

Everytime he heard a new accomplishment of hyungnim, Yoo Jinho"s heart beat faster.

"As expected of hyungnim."

Taking down the high-level magic beasts was nothing. But to think that he could knock out an rank Hunter in one blow. The fact that that man was his hyungnim filled Yoo Jinho with awe and pride. Go Myunghwan continued his story,

"-Then dozens of ice elves appeared out of thin air. I really thought we were done for then, but-"

Was it because they were so focused on the story? The time pa.s.sed by quickly. The tale of the Red Gate was not a short story, but in no time, Go Myunghwan reached the end. The man spoke a little too excitedly,

"It was something impossible. Sung Jinwoo-ssi was the savior of everyone there."

Yoo Jinho nodded along without realizing. He fully understood Go Myunghwan"s feelings. He himself was saved by hyungnim several times.

"And to think that we couldn"t tell the story of our savior! It was hard for me to accept Baekho"s decision on this matter. Fortunately, the chairman contacted me and-"

Yoo Myunghan cut off Go Myunghwan at the right time,

"Hunter Go Myunghwan-nim."

"Sir?"

"I think that"s good enough."

"Ah, I apologize. I got a little too excited."

Go Myunghwan slightly bowed his head in embarra.s.sment. Yoo Myunghan turned back to his son,

"And when I investigated Hunter Sung Jinwoo, an unexpected name appeared."

Yoo Myunghan pointed to a name on a doc.u.ment in front of him. The man"s finger was on Yoo Jinho"s name. The doc.u.ment was one of the raiding reports the young Hunter had handed to his father in the beginning. The finger slid over to a second name on the doc.u.ment, Sung Jinwoo.

Raid Leader Yoo Jinho. Raid Member Sung Jinwoo.

The evidence was clear.

"He got me…"

The fact that he had borrowed a powerful Hunter"s abilities for his Guildmaster license plan was found out. Yoo Jinho"s expression hardened.

"The fact that Hunter Sung Jinwoo"s help was great in your plans to obtain the Guildmaster license. Do you deny it?"

"...No, sir."

"Do you have anything else to say?"

"..."

The road ahead looked bleak to the young man. The moment hyungnim"s involvement in the plan was revealed, it became impossible to convince his father that he was worthy of Yoojin Guild.

"..."

His father continued to look at him with a fierce gaze. In the past, Yoo Jinho would"ve lost all strength before that gaze.

"But."

He could not back off like this. For the first time in his life, Yoo Jinho gathered the courage to stand up to his father. The young man bowed his head and raised his voice,

"Could you please leave Yoojin Guild to me, father?"

"Alright."

"Eh?"

At the cool reply, Yoo Jinho raised his head.

"I"ll leave Yoojin Guild to you."

"Huh…?"

"You said it yourself. It"s too risky to leave the Guild to an outsider. With your existence, is there a need for us to take on unnecessary risk?"

"B-but, I tried to deceive you, father-"

"So what. Did you think I would scold you and chase you away?"

Was he mistaken? His father"s face remained stern; his mouth closed in a straight line. But Yoo Jinho felt like his father was smiling.

"If you had carelessly entered these Dungeons without a plan, perhaps I would"ve done so. I do not recall raising a fool for a son."

Yoo Jinho felt his face becoming hot.

"If I never met hyungnim, I would be yelled at and sent away by father right now."

Well, he would"ve probably died before that. Yoo Jinho sighed in relief in his mind.

"However, I have a condition."

"Yes, sir."

"This Hunter Sung Jinwoo… Could you bring him to Yoojin Guild?"

Yoo Jinho"s eyes opened wide,

"Hyungnim to our Guild?"

"Did he just say hyungnim?"

A light flashed across Yoo Myunghan"s eyes for a split second.

"Yes."

Yoo Jinho could not reply easily,

"Argh…"

The young man knew he had to appear confident before his father right now. However, the target in question was hyungnim. All he could do is ask and hope for the best. So, he spoke truthfully to his father,

"I"m not sure."

"Good. There would"ve been no point to a condition if it was that easy."

Chairman Yoo Myunghan drank some water then wiped his mouth with a handkerchief.

"If you fail, I will turn the Guild over to your brother. How about it, will you give it a go?"

Yoo Jinho"s face filled with determination.

"I"ve worked hard for this opportunity…"

If he walked away now, he would not be able to raise his head in front of hyungnim, who had helped him until the very end. Yoo Jinho spoke with a serious look in his eyes,

"Yes, I will try."

"Good."

With his father"s last word, the deal between father and son was complete. Yoo Myunghan silently nodded to dismiss his son, and Yoo Jinho bid his goodbyes and left. Yoo Myunghan removed the handkerchief from his mouth; the man had difficulty hiding the smile on his face.

"That brat…"

To think that he would ask for the Yoojin Guild. He had a rough idea of what Yoo Jinho wanted when his son asked for this meeting, but it was beyond Yoo Myunghan"s expectations that his son would come with such determination.

"As expected, the tiger"s son is a tiger."

The smile on Yoo Myunghan"s face slowly widened.

"Holy s.h.i.+t! THE Chairman Yoo Myunghan is smiling!"

Go Myunghwan was beyond shocked. The chairman"s nickname was "Pokerface". Whether something good or bad happened, the man was famous for maintaining his stern and fierce expression. Sensing Go Myunghwan"s awed stare, Yoo Myunghan turned to his side and asked,

"Hunter-nim, do you have anything else to say?"

At the sudden question, Go Myunghwan hastily shook his head,

"N-no, sir."

-

...47, 48, 49, 50.

Jinwoo climbed toward the upper floor with a terrifying speed.

You"ve defeated a Mid-level Demon.

You"ve earned 300 experience points.

You"ve earned 1 Demon Soul.

…

…

You"ve defeated a Mid-level Demon...

You"ve defeated a Mid-level Demon...

However, looking at the piling up experience points and souls every time he defeated a demon, Jinwoo did not feel tired.

Collected Demon Souls: 4,388/ 10,000

"Not even halfway, huh?"

He felt like he had hunted an endless horde of demons here, but the wall known as 10,000 was still very high. What about his level?

Level: 69

He had gained two more levels after a day. It definitely had slowed down, but was still fast compared to the rate of soul collecting. Even now, he continued to gain experience points.

"Kkieeeek!"

...Mid-level Demon.

You"ve earned 300 experience points.

You"ve earned 1 Demon Soul.

"Whew-!"

After taking down the last demon in front of him, Jinwoo stretched his back and looked around. Between the Shadow Soldiers standing at attention, countless corpses of mid-level demons were scattered about.

clap

Jinwoo smiled and put his hands together.

"Good job, everyone."

The soldiers that fought hard returned to his shadow. While they could be used to collect magic cores in normal Dungeons, in here, only Jinwoo was able to collect the drops.

Would you like to acquire it?

After all, only he could respond to the System"s messages.

"This part"s a bit inconvenient."

And so, if the number of demons was low, Jinwoo would take care of them on his own. Only against a larger group, were the soldiers summoned. After each battle, he went from corpse to corpse, stretching his hand toward the light and collecting drops.

"What was so fun about this that Jinho kept volunteering?"

Remembering his dongsaeng, Jinwoo smiled as he continued to work.

There was one more inconvenience here. In the Demon Castle, Shadow Extraction was impossible. The low-level and mid-level demons he fought did not give off the black smoke that indicated a soldier could be raised.

"Even when I stare at the corpses, all I get is-"

The mana is contaminated.

It"s not a possible target for Shadow Extraction.

The message that told him extraction was impossible due to contaminated mana.

"Well, what could I do?"

With a disappointed feeling, Jinwoo went from corpse to corpse and piled up the drop messages.

ring~

You"ve found 29 "Mid-level Demon"s Horns"

Would you like to acquire them all?

Jinwoo smiled widely,

"Of course!"

Looking at the items that piled up on the ground out of thin air, Jinwoo forgot about the disappointment regarding Shadow Extraction.

"Nothing I could use."

Then everything has to go! The ma.s.s sale of junk items in the past few days had ma.s.sively increased his h.o.a.rd.

Current Gold: 914,690,772

d.a.m.n! Looking at the amount of gold he had ama.s.sed, Jinwoo was satisfied once more. His funds for the System"s shop had risen above 900 million.

"Makes sense. A single demon"s horn is about 200,000, and I"ve hunted 4,000 of them."

And adding the other random items sold here and there, the gold piled up with terrifying speed.

"Should I purchase an S-rank weapon or an armor?"

Jinwoo shook his head. He didn"t particularly feel the need right now and did not want to forcefully spend gold.

"I"m sure I"ll have a need for it someday."

Jinwoo closed the inventory and dusted off his hands. The area was roughly cleared. He had long since obtained the entry permit for the 51st Floor. All that was left to do is head over to the magic elevator…

Jinwoo moved his gaze to the pillar of light. Guarding the magic circle was a single giant demon surrounded by multiple high-level demons. Jinwoo looked above the giant demon"s head. Its name was floating in the usual place, in black letters:

"Overlord of the Lower Floors, Volkhan of Avarice" [1]

The demon had a giant muscular body that looked like it weight several dozen, no, several hundred tons. In its hands was a terrifyingly large club. Still, Jinwoo smiled,

"So that"s the halfway boss?"

Jinwoo had no bad memories when it came to the bosses of the Instant Dungeons. They had always given a large amount of experience points and dropped good items. Compared to the boss-level magic beasts that often gave little reward, boss-level monsters were practically gift boxes. The Hunter wondered just what this thing would drop.

gulp

Jinwoo smiled as he gulped in antic.i.p.ation.

Translator"s Notes:

[1]: "Overlord of the Lower Floors, Volkhan of Avarice" (하층의 지배자, 탐욕스런 볼칸): Wew, long name. "Lower level/floor" 하층 + "ruler/overlord/dominator" 지배자. "Greedy/Avarice" 탐욕스런 + proper name (ball 볼 + khan 칸). Note, the t.i.tle for "overlord" 지배자, is the exact same word as "Ruler" from "Ruler"s Hands" skill (지배자의 손길), but I am purposely using a different word here. Don"t ask why.