I Alone Level-Up

The Guildmaster of Knights, Park Jongsu, was greeted by unfortunate news when he returned to the Guild office .

“Hyungnim, them a.s.sociation folks said it’d be difficult to give a permit for that Gate that opened up yesterday . ”

“What?”

The Deputy Guildmaster, Jeong Yoontae, quickly elaborated .

“Well, they said that the registered magic power of the Gate was real high . ”

“We talking S-rank?”

“Naw, it was an rank, but they said the numbers they was gettin’ on the device d.a.m.n near broke the threshold . ”

“G.o.ddammit . ”

If it was an S-rank Gate, Park Jongsu had no qualms about giving it up . After all, Knights had no S-ranked Hunters among them . It would be impossible for them to clear an S-rank Gate on their own . If something like that were to happen again, it would take nothing less than another gathering of the nation’s best Hunters to clear it .

But given that the mana measurement indicated that it was an rank Gate, it put the Guild in a different position . As one of the top five Guilds in Korea, Knights would be the subject of merciless ridicule if they could not even muster the manpower to properly clear a single rank Gate . It would be a crippling blow to their already shaky reputation .

“So, hyungnim, what are we gonna do?”

“Beats me . . . ”

“If we give up the Gate, those Myungsung b.a.s.t.a.r.ds are gonna s.n.a.t.c.h ’er right up…”

Honam region’s Myungsung Guild . Upon hearing their name, Park Jongsu’s eyes widened .

“You’d just hand over a Gate in our territory to a son of a b.i.t.c.h like Ma Dongwook?”

“I’m just saying that’s what’ll happen, hyungnim . ”

“Why, I’d scoop my own d.a.m.n eyes out with a rusty spoon before I allow that to happen . ”

“Then you reckon we should take the Gate?”

Park Jongsu’s flaring rage retreated in an instant and he pursed his lips in silent frustration . He had to tread carefully . His decision now will affect not just himself but the lives of the Guild’s Raid team . No matter how angry he felt, he could not afford to be careless here . Park Jongsu furrowed his brows and rubbed his temples as he felt a headache coming on . . .

‘Our Guild’s rank Hunters aren’t likely to lose against the ones from other major Guilds . ’

If anything, just looking at the quality and quant.i.ty of rank Hunters, Knights could easily go toe-to-toe with South Korea’s number one Guild, Hunters Guild . The issue was that they didn’t have an ace-in-the-hole: an S-rank Hunter . That absence was threatening to drag Knights down and out of the top five ranking they currently held .

At the same time, Knights’ elites were more than capable of taking on your average ranked Gate . But if the Gate in question was verging on crossing into S-rank territory, then they would be incurring no small amount of risk in the undertaking . The a.s.sociation was no less aware of these facts than Park Jongsu, and thus was hesitant to give Knights a permit for the Gate .

‘ . . . ’

After observing the Guildmaster lost in thought for some time, the Deputy Guildmaster tried to contribute his own thoughts as delicately as possible .

“Hyungnim, if this thing ends up being a red Gate, we’s all gonna die . ”

“Yup, probably . ”

The fact that it was the highest level rank Gate was already troublesome . Adding to that the possibility of it turning out to be a red Gate? It was terrifying just to think about . They’d be counting their lucky stars if only one man were to survive for every two . The far more likely scenario would be no one coming back at all . A total loss .

‘Welp, no two ways about it, the logical choice is that we’ve got to give it up . ’

But the moment news gets out that Knights gave up on an rank Gate, they were pretty much done for . Bad enough they didn’t have any S-rank Hunters . What kind of a recruit would considering joining a Guild that couldn’t even clear an rank Gate?

“Then hyungnim, how’s about we join up with one of them other Guilds to clear this one?”

Park Jongsu shook his head .

“Every one of them will know that we’re only offering a hand because we can’t get it done ourselves . Who the h.e.l.l’s going to help us?”

Aside from Knights, every major Guild was more than capable of clearing the rank Gate on their own . Even if they find someone who was willing to team up, it was still terrible optics .

‘We might as well run around the country shouting for someone to help us wipe our own a.s.s . ’

The two men’s faces darkened with worry .

“If not a Guild, how about an individual?”

The two men turned their heads to see where the female voice had come from . It was Jeong Yerim, their lead Raid team’s rank healer . The opinion of a healer in any Guild is typically given great weight . Especially if that healer was a skilled ranker .

Still, the fate of Knights rode on this one decision . Park Jongsu was unconvinced by her well-intentioned interjection .

“We’re talking about a Gate that’s d.a.m.n near S-rank, what help could a single-”

The man stopped himself .

‘Ah!’

There was such an individual . The man who single handedly ma.s.sacred not only ranked but S-ranked magic beasts! Unable to contain his excitement, Park Jungsu shot up from his seat .

‘If Sung Jinwoo-ssi could help us . . . ’

The man that defeated a magic beast the rest of the nation’s S-rankers couldn’t even touch . If he was with them, it’d essentially guarantee the safety of their attack team . They would be able to avoid the shame of needing another Guild’s help in clearing an rank Gate,

‘h.e.l.l, it might even improve our image . ’

They could be the first Guild to boast about working with the strongest Hunter in the nation . Protect the lives of the Raid team, raise the status of the entire Guild . They’d be killing two birds with one stone . Elated, Park Jongsu immediately started figuring out the next steps .

“What’s Hunter Sung Jinwoo-nim up to these days?”

Both Jeong Yerim and Jeong Yoontae shook their heads . The deputy spoke up first .

“All’s I heard was that he recently cleared a Gate that popped up in the middle of some road . Ain’t heard nothing since . ”

Remembering seeing Sung Jinwoo on the news recently, Jeong Yoontae took out his phone,

“Should I find out Hunter Sung Jinwoo-nim’s contact information, hyungnim?”

“Naw, put your phone away . ”

“Sir?”

“You think a matter as important as this should be discussed over a phone call? I think our best bet is to shake hands and say h.e.l.lo to the man himself . ”

“Ah ha!”

Upon hearing Jeong Yoontae’s approval, Park Jongsu declared with a smile:

“Alright, that settles it . We’re off to the capital . ”

That night .

Cha Haein tossed and turned in her bed while pulling at her hair .

‘I think so? I THINK SO?!’

It was practically a confession! She pulled her covers up and over her head and kicked her feet under the blankets in fl.u.s.tered frustration . She stopped when she suddenly remembered something else from that conversation .

“Then . . . . ”

What had Sung Jinwoo meant with his reply?

“Then isn’t there a better method than joining my Guild?”

She had left in a hurry, making up an excuse that she needed time to think about it . But now, every time she recalled that moment, she couldn’t help but cringe .

Her face turned red with embarra.s.sment .

Of course it began with her almost dying again . When she had met the enraged eyes of the Jinwoo’s shadow ant king, she was struck by a vision of unavoidable death . Paralyzed by absolute terror . In that moment, she was prepared to yield to the fate of becoming prey . She closed her eyes as the claws came at her from either side . But suddenly, she felt a comforting presence behind her, and before she knew it a familiar scent had pulled her into an embrace .

‘Ah…’

Cracking her eyes open just enough to peek, Cha Haein looked behind her and saw Jinwoo . He was holding on to the claws of the summon, glaring at the ant with a terrifying gaze . Standing there, caught between the personifications of life and death itself, her heart felt like it was about to explode .

And then . . .

“ . . . Do you like me or something?”

Asking something like that under those circ.u.mstances was cheating!

‘I mean…’

Cha Haein shook her head violently . Even if she was asked something like that, she shouldn’t answer truthfully .

‘He’s going to think I’m some kind of weirdo . ’

But, even as she thought that, her lips moved on their own . Perhaps it was because her mind was simply more at ease near Hunter Sung Jinwoo; she did acted in a way different than her usual self . Less guarded . As if she wasn’t herself .

‘As if I wasn’t myself?’

A muddled feeling of recognition snapped her out of her memories . That phrase suddenly sounded so familiar . Where had she heard it before? Sometime in the past… With a jolt, a forgotten memory flashed across her mind .

“ . . . Tell him . ”

Cha Haein sat up in her bed .

‘ . . . !’

It was something that happened very recently, but like a daydream she’d been rudely snapped out of, the memory had stubbornly buried itself deep into the corners of her mind .

“ . . . Tell him he has to…”

‘I…’

Cha Haein strained to remember who the owner of the voice was . Like a fog clearing away, the faint figure in her memory slowly came into focus .

“ . . . Tell him he has to be careful . . . ”

‘ . . . met with Hunter Min Byungku!’

When she lost consciousness and was peacefully drifting into the stygian depths of a dreamless slumber, the person who grabbed her wrist was Hunter Min Byungku . The sensation of being interrupted from the serene nothingness lasted only for a moment . She recalled staring at Min Byungku with confusion . The Healer was clad in a black armor, showing only his face . Compared to his usual chipper self, his face carried a somber expression . As the memory became clearer, Cha Haein suddenly felt a chill running down her back . Hunter Min Byungku had spoken as if holding back tears,

“To Hunter Sung Jinwoo . ”

‘To Hunter Sung Jinwoo…?”

“Tell him he has to be careful of his power . ”

After showering, Jinwoo stood in front of the bathroom mirror .

‘Hmm…’

He certainly didn’t look that bad . Still, to think that a beauty like Cha Haein would take an interest in him . So much so that she’d try to join his Guild .

‘Am I really all that?’

Jinwoo continued to gaze into the mirror . A smile blossomed on his face . Well, it’s not like he was going to become a narcissist overnight . There was really only one thing he was confident of: his body . Thanks to the daily quests, his muscles had become quite defined . And as an additional benefit from the System, he’d grown taller as well . As for his face… well, setting aside his intimidating gaze, wasn’t it just an ordinary face like any other?

‘Hold on . ’

Jinwoo’s eyes narrowed . He leaned forward to take a closer look at the reflection of his face . The Hunter and the man in the mirror stared at each other for a good long while .

‘Hmm . ’

There was a glint in Jinwoo’s eyes as his gaze scanned over various parts of his face . As suspected, a closer look revealed that much had changed in the past few months . Imperceptible differences to just casual observation, but looking carefully now, he realized that every little scar, mark, moles and any other imperfections had completely disappeared, leaving his skin flawless .

‘Perhaps an effect of the “Will of Rebirth” buff?’

One of the buffs he received when he became a Player had healed every wound on his body . It was powerful enough to regenerate his leg that had been dismembered by the statue in the double Dungeon . He supposed it wasn’t strange for the buff to “heal” his skin as well . But that wasn’t what had caught his eye .

‘ . . . No matter how I look at it, I look younger . ’

He was in the middle of his 20s, but the face that stared back at him was that of a youthful college-grad . He looked at least two to three years younger than he should . It was surprising, but not entirely unexpected . He knew that with a sufficient capacity for magic power, some awakened beings could slow their aging . Is that what was happening to him?

‘Eh…’

Jinwoo suddenly became keenly aware that he’d been staring at his own half- naked reflection for several minutes now . With that, he quickly got dressed and left the bathroom .

At the same time, his sister came out of her room . The siblings met in the living room . With a smile, Jinwoo called out to Jinah .

“Hey, sis . ”

“Hmm?”

“If you had to say, how does oppa look to you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like, as a man . ”

“Huh?”

Jinah scrunched her face .

“Where did this confidence come from? You just look like my s.h.i.+tty oppa . ”

“Hah, I see . Thanks . ”

With a grin, Jinwoo pinched Jinah’s cheeks . As expected, the little sister responded by kicking her older brother in the s.h.i.+ns . And just like the time before, the one who hopped around the room howling in pain was Jinah .

“Did you already forget who your oppa is? How do you get any studying done with a brain like that?”

“What did you say?!”

With her lips pouting, Jinah glared at Jinwoo .

“You know I got top of the cla.s.s on the mock exams, right?”

Jinwoo chortled at his sister’s reaction . This was one of the nice things about family . No matter how much he changed, he could always count on them to treat him the same way . He started drying his hair off with a towel and headed towards his room .

“Alright, work hard . ”

“You too . ”

As he reached the door, Jinwoo thought of something and turned around,

“Oh, by the way, I’m thinking of founding a Guild . ”

“Oh!”

Jinah’s eyes sparked with excitement .

“So are people going to call you Guildmaster from now on?”

“If everything goes well . ”

“What are you gonna name it?”

“That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about . . . ”

“Oh yeah? What is it, what is it?”

Looking at his sister jumping up and down with antic.i.p.ation, Jinwoo hesitatingly asked:

“What do you think about . . . Solo Play?”

“Huh?”

“Solo Play . ”

Jinwoo said it more seriously this second time, but the befuddled look on Jinah’s face made him second guess himself .

“Why? Do you think it’s weird?”

“ . . . W-why would you call your Guild that?”

“You know, like Solo Player, since I like working alone . ”

“Well, that fits you, but isn’t it a bit strange to name your Guild that?”

“How so?”

“Isn’t your ability that thing where you summon those black shadowy soldier things?”

“Yep . ”

“Then you’re not really fighting alone, are you?”

‘Huh . She’s right . ’

Jinwoo nodded .

‘From my point of view, it’s just another one of my skills . But that’s probably not how everyone else sees it . ’

Her words made sense . The name he chose might follow him for the rest of his life . He had wanted to pick something that represented himself well . Hence, “Solo Play” .

‘But if that doesn’t really fit me, then it’s useless . ’

Something that represented himself . . . Jinwoo pondered for a moment before he was struck by inspiration .

“What about Ahjin?”

“Ahjin? Ah-jin . . . ”

Sounding it out, Jinah couldn’t help but laugh .

“Well, it sounds like you just flipped my name backwards, so I don’t hate it . But what’s it supposed to mean?”

“Well, Ah as in ‘self (我)’, and Jin as in ‘advance(進)’ . ”

His unique ability . An appropriate name for the Guild that would grow along with him .

“Combine the two, and you get ‘I advance’, Ahjin (我進) . ” “Oh~”

Jinwoo was elated to hear Jinah give it the highest compliment she had in her repertoire:

“It’s not bad . ”

‘Yes, that’ll do nicely . Ahjin . “I alone advance” . Well, I guess more accurately it’d be…’

100 White Salts

Chapter

Translator

Editor

Korean Check

129

Null

Nyamh

Notalk

130

Null

WorstAsianNA

Notalk / Null

131

Null

Slimicee

Null

132

Null

Nyamh

Null

133

Null

Galachad

Billy Stevens

134

Null

MrScarym.u.f.fin

Null

135

Null

Aster0x

Null

136

Null

Monkixote

Null

A Message From The Team

Hey everyone, it’s me, Slimicee .

Thanks for reading our latest release of I Alone Level Up . It’s been a wild ride these past 4 weeks since our group took over from Chestnut, and A LOT has happened . We’ve progressed from 2 guys doing MTL edits, to an entire team of dedicated Korean Translators and English Editors, something I honestly never saw coming . I can’t even find the words to express how happy I am with the work we’ve done . Nor can I overstate how thankful I am to all of the dedicated individuals who have made 100 White Salts Translations what it now is, on top of the many readers who are the lifeblood of this community .

We hope to keep future releases at this level of quality and are always looking for the chance to improve upon our Chapters . Next, I want to touch on something that has become slightly divisive within the community . I know that many people have been asking about releasing Chapters singularly, but it’s simply not feasible for our team to do that AND the weekly batches . Especially now that we’ve transitioned to a compilation PDF release, we’ll be sticking to this form of release going into the future .

Well then, with all of that out of the way, I’d like to dedicate the area below to listing out all of the people who have made our work possible . Thanks guys and gals, none of this would have happened without you .

Translators:

Null:

Notalk (a . k . a . Notalk): No talking .

Gea.s.s606: I am working on the next arc . > . > Yes I can Billy u succ >:(

Billy Stevens: I swear I do work in this group, I"ve just been working on the next arc . > . > And Gea.s.s you can"t use the same message as me, that"s like uncool .

English Rewriters: Aster0x: Barrel roll? Can"t let you do that star ox .

Galachad: The chaddest of the chaddiest chads out there; thanks for reading, luv u all <3 monkixote:="" gold="" star="" sticker="" to="" the="" first="" person="" who="" figures="" out="" what="" my="" favorite="" word="" is="" .="" mrscarym.u.f.fin:="" please="" look="" forward="" to="" the="" troll="" chapter="" 137="" by="" yours="" truly="" and="" nyamh="" .="">

Nyamh: Will I be banned or muted when I write stuff here? Like, what can I get away with?

;P

SeijiSoldier (a . k . a . WorstAsianNA): help me

Slimicee: I am very tired . Our TLs are like little hyper puppies, gotta keep em’ in check .

Artist: Joshua: oof! I hope you rike it! I hope u rike it hard!

PDF Helpers:

Belkalon: I hope you like the Dark version, your feedback is always appreciated .

piotref1:

Formatters: RadRzRg: I wasn’t available to write anything :0

I hope you all enjoyed this week’s release . See you all same time next Sunday .

 .

 .

The Guildmaster of Knights, Park Jongsu, was greeted by unfortunate news when he returned to the Guild office

 .

“Hyungnim, them a.s.sociation folks said it’d be difficult to give a permit for that Gate that opened up yesterday . ”.

 .

“What?”.

 .

 .

The Deputy Guildmaster, Jeong Yoontae, quickly elaborated

 .

 .

“Well, they said that the registered magic power of the Gate was real high . ”.

 .

 .

“We talking S-rank?”.

 .

 .

“Naw, it was an rank, but they said the numbers they was gettin’ on the device d.a.m.n near broke the threshold . ”.

 .

“G.o.ddammit . ”.

 .

 .

If it was an S-rank Gate, Park Jongsu had no qualms about giving it up . After all, Knights had no S-ranked Hunters among them . It would be impossible for them to clear an S-rank Gate on their own . If something like that were to happen again, it would take nothing less than another gathering of the nation’s best Hunters to clear it

 .

But given that the mana measurement indicated that it was an rank Gate, it put the Guild in a different position . As one of the top five Guilds in Korea, Knights would be the subject of merciless ridicule if they could not even muster the manpower to properly clear a single rank Gate . It would be a crippling blow to their already shaky reputation

 .

“So, hyungnim, what are we gonna do?”.

 .

 .

“Beats me . ”.

 .

 .

“If we give up the Gate, those Myungsung b.a.s.t.a.r.ds are gonna s.n.a.t.c.h ’er right up…”.

 .

Honam region’s Myungsung Guild . Upon hearing their name, Park Jongsu’s eyes widened

 .

“You’d just hand over a Gate in our territory to a son of a b.i.t.c.h like Ma Dongwook?”.

 .

“I’m just saying that’s what’ll happen, hyungnim . ”.

 .

 .

“Why, I’d scoop my own d.a.m.n eyes out with a rusty spoon before I allow that to happen . ”.

 .

“Then you reckon we should take the Gate?”.

Park Jongsu’s flaring rage retreated in an instant and he pursed his lips in silent frustration . He had to tread carefully . His decision now will affect not just himself but the lives of the Guild’s Raid team . No matter how angry he felt, he could not afford to be careless here . Park Jongsu furrowed his brows and rubbed his temples as he felt a headache coming on

 .

‘Our Guild’s rank Hunters aren’t likely to lose against the ones from other major Guilds . ’.

 .

If anything, just looking at the quality and quant.i.ty of rank Hunters, Knights could easily go toe-to-toe with South Korea’s number one Guild, Hunters Guild . The issue was that they didn’t have an ace-in-the-hole: an S-rank Hunter . That absence was threatening to drag Knights down and out of the top five ranking they currently held

 .

At the same time, Knights’ elites were more than capable of taking on your average ranked Gate . But if the Gate in question was verging on crossing into S-rank territory, then they would be incurring no small amount of risk in the undertaking . The a.s.sociation was no less aware of these facts than Park Jongsu, and thus was hesitant to give Knights a permit for the Gate

 .

‘ . ’.

 .

 .

After observing the Guildmaster lost in thought for some time, the Deputy Guildmaster tried to contribute his own thoughts as delicately as possible

 .

“Hyungnim, if this thing ends up being a red Gate, we’s all gonna die . ”.

 .

“Yup, probably . ”.

 .

 .

The fact that it was the highest level rank Gate was already troublesome . Adding to that the possibility of it turning out to be a red Gate? It was terrifying just to think about . They’d be counting their lucky stars if only one man were to survive for every two . The far more likely scenario would be no one coming back at all . A total loss

 .

‘Welp, no two ways about it, the logical choice is that we’ve got to give it up . ’.

 .

 .

But the moment news gets out that Knights gave up on an rank Gate, they were pretty much done for . Bad enough they didn’t have any S-rank Hunters . What kind of a recruit would considering joining a Guild that couldn’t even clear an rank Gate?.

 .

“Then hyungnim, how’s about we join up with one of them other Guilds to clear this one?”.

 .

Park Jongsu shook his head

 .

 .

“Every one of them will know that we’re only offering a hand because we can’t get it done ourselves . Who the h.e.l.l’s going to help us?”.

 .

Aside from Knights, every major Guild was more than capable of clearing the rank Gate on their own . Even if they find someone who was willing to team up, it was still terrible optics

 .

‘We might as well run around the country shouting for someone to help us wipe our own a.s.s . ’.

 .

The two men’s faces darkened with worry

 .

 .

“If not a Guild, how about an individual?”.

 .

 .

The two men turned their heads to see where the female voice had come from . It was Jeong Yerim, their lead Raid team’s rank healer . The opinion of a healer in any Guild is typically given great weight . Especially if that healer was a skilled ranker

 .

Still, the fate of Knights rode on this one decision . Park Jongsu was unconvinced by her well-intentioned interjection

 .

“We’re talking about a Gate that’s d.a.m.n near S-rank, what help could a single-”.

 .

 .

The man stopped himself

 .

 .

‘Ah!’.

 .

 .

There was such an individual . The man who single handedly ma.s.sacred not only ranked but S-ranked magic beasts! Unable to contain his excitement, Park Jungsu shot up from his seat

 . . .

‘If Sung Jinwoo-ssi could help us . ’.

 .

The man that defeated a magic beast the rest of the nation’s S-rankers couldn’t even touch . If he was with them, it’d essentially guarantee the safety of their attack team . They would be able to avoid the shame of needing another Guild’s help in clearing an rank Gate,.

 .

‘h.e.l.l, it might even improve our image . ’.

 .

 .

They could be the first Guild to boast about working with the strongest Hunter in the nation . Protect the lives of the Raid team, raise the status of the entire Guild . They’d be killing two birds with one stone . Elated, Park Jongsu immediately started figuring out the next steps

 .

“What’s Hunter Sung Jinwoo-nim up to these days?”.

 .

 .

Both Jeong Yerim and Jeong Yoontae shook their heads . The deputy spoke up first

 .

“All’s I heard was that he recently cleared a Gate that popped up in the middle of some road . Ain’t heard nothing since . ”.

 .

Remembering seeing Sung Jinwoo on the news recently, Jeong Yoontae took out his phone,.

 .

“Should I find out Hunter Sung Jinwoo-nim’s contact information, hyungnim?”.

 .

 .

“Naw, put your phone away . ”.

 .

“Sir?”.

 .

 .

“You think a matter as important as this should be discussed over a phone call? I think our best bet is to shake hands and say h.e.l.lo to the man himself . ”.

 .

“Ah ha!”.

 .

 .

Upon hearing Jeong Yoontae’s approval, Park Jongsu declared with a smile:.

 .

 .

“Alright, that settles it . We’re off to the capital . ”.

 .

 .

 .

 .

 .

 .

That night

 .

 .

Cha Haein tossed and turned in her bed while pulling at her hair

 .

 .

‘I think so? I THINK SO?!’.

 .

 .

It was practically a confession! She pulled her covers up and over her head and kicked her feet under the blankets in fl.u.s.tered frustration . She stopped when she suddenly remembered something else from that conversation

 .

“Then ”.

 .

 .

What had Sung Jinwoo meant with his reply?.

 .

“Then isn’t there a better method than joining my Guild?”.

 .

 .

She had left in a hurry, making up an excuse that she needed time to think about it . But now, every time she recalled that moment, she couldn’t help but cringe

 .

Her face turned red with embarra.s.sment

 .

 .

Of course it began with her almost dying again . When she had met the enraged eyes of the Jinwoo’s shadow ant king, she was struck by a vision of unavoidable death . Paralyzed by absolute terror . In that moment, she was prepared to yield to the fate of becoming prey . She closed her eyes as the claws came at her from either side . But suddenly, she felt a comforting presence behind her, and before she knew it a familiar scent had pulled her into an embrace

 .

‘Ah…’.

 .

 .

Cracking her eyes open just enough to peek, Cha Haein looked behind her and saw Jinwoo . He was holding on to the claws of the summon, glaring at the ant with a terrifying gaze . Standing there, caught between the personifications of life and death itself, her heart felt like it was about to explode

 .

And then

 .

 .

“ . Do you like me or something?”.

Asking something like that under those circ.u.mstances was cheating!.

 .

 .

‘I mean…’.

 .

 .

Cha Haein shook her head violently . Even if she was asked something like that, she shouldn’t answer truthfully

 .

‘He’s going to think I’m some kind of weirdo . ’.

 .

 .

But, even as she thought that, her lips moved on their own . Perhaps it was because her mind was simply more at ease near Hunter Sung Jinwoo; she did acted in a way different than her usual self . Less guarded . As if she wasn’t herself

 .

‘As if I wasn’t myself?’.

 .

 .

A muddled feeling of recognition snapped her out of her memories . That phrase suddenly sounded so familiar . Where had she heard it before? Sometime in the past… With a jolt, a forgotten memory flashed across her mind

 .

“ . Tell him . ”.

 .

 .

Cha Haein sat up in her bed

 .

 .

‘ . !’.

It was something that happened very recently, but like a daydream she’d been rudely snapped out of, the memory had stubbornly buried itself deep into the corners of her mind

 . . .

“ . Tell him he has to…”.

 .

 .

‘I…’.

 .

 .

Cha Haein strained to remember who the owner of the voice was . Like a fog clearing away, the faint figure in her memory slowly came into focus

 .

“ . Tell him he has to be careful . ”.

 .

 .

‘ . met with Hunter Min Byungku!’.

 .

 .

When she lost consciousness and was peacefully drifting into the stygian depths of a dreamless slumber, the person who grabbed her wrist was Hunter Min Byungku . The sensation of being interrupted from the serene nothingness lasted only for a moment . She recalled staring at Min Byungku with confusion . The Healer was clad in a black armor, showing only his face . Compared to his usual chipper self, his face carried a somber expression . As the memory became clearer, Cha Haein suddenly felt a chill running down her back . Hunter Min Byungku had spoken as if holding back tears,.

 .

“To Hunter Sung Jinwoo . ”.

 .

 .

‘To Hunter Sung Jinwoo…?”.

 .

“Tell him he has to be careful of his power . ”.

 .

 .

 .

 .

 .

 .

After showering, Jinwoo stood in front of the bathroom mirror

 .

 .

‘Hmm…’.

 .

 .

He certainly didn’t look that bad . Still, to think that a beauty like Cha Haein would take an interest in him . So much so that she’d try to join his Guild

 .

‘Am I really all that?’.

 .

 .

Jinwoo continued to gaze into the mirror . A smile blossomed on his face . Well, it’s not like he was going to become a narcissist overnight . There was really only one thing he was confident of: his body . Thanks to the daily quests, his muscles had become quite defined . And as an additional benefit from the System, he’d grown taller as well . As for his face… well, setting aside his intimidating gaze, wasn’t it just an ordinary face like any other?.

 .

‘Hold on . ’.

 .

 .

Jinwoo’s eyes narrowed . He leaned forward to take a closer look at the reflection of his face . The Hunter and the man in the mirror stared at each other for a good long while

‘Hmm . ’.

 .

 .

There was a glint in Jinwoo’s eyes as his gaze scanned over various parts of his face . As suspected, a closer look revealed that much had changed in the past few months . Imperceptible differences to just casual observation, but looking carefully now, he realized that every little scar, mark, moles and any other imperfections had completely disappeared, leaving his skin flawless

 .

‘Perhaps an effect of the “Will of Rebirth” buff?’.

 .

 .

One of the buffs he received when he became a Player had healed every wound on his body . It was powerful enough to regenerate his leg that had been dismembered by the statue in the double Dungeon . He supposed it wasn’t strange for the buff to “heal” his skin as well . But that wasn’t what had caught his eye

 .

‘ . No matter how I look at it, I look younger . ’.

 .

 .

He was in the middle of his 20s, but the face that stared back at him was that of a youthful college-grad . He looked at least two to three years younger than he should . It was surprising, but not entirely unexpected . He knew that with a sufficient capacity for magic power, some awakened beings could slow their aging . Is that what was happening to him?.

 .

‘Eh…’.

Jinwoo suddenly became keenly aware that he’d been staring at his own half- naked reflection for several minutes now . With that, he quickly got dressed and left the bathroom

 .

At the same time, his sister came out of her room . The siblings met in the living room . With a smile, Jinwoo called out to Jinah

 .

“Hey, sis . ”.

 .

 .

“Hmm?”.

 .

 .

“If you had to say, how does oppa look to you?”.

 .

 .

“What do you mean?”.

 .

 .

“Like, as a man . ”.

 .

 .

“Huh?”.

 .

 .

Jinah scrunched her face

 .

 .

“Where did this confidence come from? You just look like my s.h.i.+tty oppa . ”.

 .

 .

“Hah, I see . Thanks . ”.

With a grin, Jinwoo pinched Jinah’s cheeks . As expected, the little sister responded by kicking her older brother in the s.h.i.+ns . And just like the time before, the one who hopped around the room howling in pain was Jinah

 .

“Did you already forget who your oppa is? How do you get any studying done with a brain like that?”.

 .

“What did you say?!”.

 .

 .

With her lips pouting, Jinah glared at Jinwoo

 .

 .

“You know I got top of the cla.s.s on the mock exams, right?”.

 .

 .

Jinwoo chortled at his sister’s reaction . This was one of the nice things about family . No matter how much he changed, he could always count on them to treat him the same way . He started drying his hair off with a towel and headed towards his room

 .

“Alright, work hard . ”.

 .

 .

“You too . ”.

 .

 .

As he reached the door, Jinwoo thought of something and turned around,.

 .

 .

“Oh, by the way, I’m thinking of founding a Guild . ”.

 .

 .

“Oh!”.

 .

Jinah’s eyes sparked with excitement

 .

 .

“So are people going to call you Guildmaster from now on?”.

 .

 .

“If everything goes well . ”.

 .

 .

“What are you gonna name it?”.

 .

 .

“That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about . ”.

 .

 .

“Oh yeah? What is it, what is it?”.

 .

 .

Looking at his sister jumping up and down with antic.i.p.ation, Jinwoo hesitatingly asked:.

 .

“What do you think about . Solo Play?”.

 .

 .

“Huh?”.

 .

 .

“Solo Play . ”.

 .

 .

Jinwoo said it more seriously this second time, but the befuddled look on Jinah’s face made him second guess himself

 .

“Why? Do you think it’s weird?”.

“ . W-why would you call your Guild that?”.

 .

 .

“You know, like Solo Player, since I like working alone . ”.

 .

 .

“Well, that fits you, but isn’t it a bit strange to name your Guild that?”.

 .

 .

“How so?”.

 .

 .

“Isn’t your ability that thing where you summon those black shadowy soldier things?”.

 .

“Yep . ”.

 .

 .

“Then you’re not really fighting alone, are you?”.

 .

 .

‘Huh . She’s right . ’.

 .

 .

Jinwoo nodded

 .

 .

‘From my point of view, it’s just another one of my skills . But that’s probably not how everyone else sees it . ’.

 .

Her words made sense . The name he chose might follow him for the rest of his life . He had wanted to pick something that represented himself well . Hence, “Solo Play”

 .

‘But if that doesn’t really fit me, then it’s useless . ’.

 .

Something that represented himself . Jinwoo pondered for a moment before he was struck by inspiration

 .

“What about Ahjin?”.

 .

 .

“Ahjin? Ah-jin . ”.

 .

 .

Sounding it out, Jinah couldn’t help but laugh

 .

 .

“Well, it sounds like you just flipped my name backwards, so I don’t hate it . But what’s it supposed to mean?”.

 .

“Well, Ah as in ‘self (我)’, and Jin as in ‘advance(進)’ . ”.

 .

 .

His unique ability . An appropriate name for the Guild that would grow along with him

 .

“Combine the two, and you get ‘I advance’, Ahjin (我進) . ” “Oh~”.

 .

Jinwoo was elated to hear Jinah give it the highest compliment she had in her repertoire:.

 .

“It’s not bad . ”.

‘Yes, that’ll do nicely . Ahjin . “I alone advance” . Well, I guess more accurately it’d be…’.

 .

 . I alone level up .

100 White Salts.

 .

 .

Chapter.

Translator.

Editor.

Korean Check.

129.

Null.

Nyamh.

Notalk.

130.

Null.

WorstAsianNA.

Notalk / Null.

131.

Null.

Slimicee.

Null.

132.

Null.

Nyamh.

Null.

133.

Null.

Galachad.

Billy Stevens.

134.

Null.

MrScarym.u.f.fin.

Null.

135.

Null.

Aster0x.

Null.

136.

Null.

Monkixote.

Null.

 .

A Message From The Team.

 .

Hey everyone, it’s me, Slimicee . .

 .

Thanks for reading our latest release of I Alone Level Up . It’s been a wild ride these past 4 weeks since our group took over from Chestnut, and A LOT has happened . We’ve progressed from 2 guys doing MTL edits, to an entire team of dedicated Korean Translators and English Editors, something I honestly never saw coming . I can’t even find the words to express how happy I am with the work we’ve done . Nor can I overstate how thankful I am to all of the dedicated individuals who have made 100 White Salts Translations what it now is, on top of the many readers who are the lifeblood of this community

 .

We hope to keep future releases at this level of quality and are always looking for the chance to improve upon our Chapters . Next, I want to touch on something that has become slightly divisive within the community . I know that many people have been asking about releasing Chapters singularly, but it’s simply not feasible for our team to do that AND the weekly batches . Especially now that we’ve transitioned to a compilation PDF release, we’ll be sticking to this form of release going into the future

 .

Well then, with all of that out of the way, I’d like to dedicate the area below to listing out all of the people who have made our work possible . Thanks guys and gals, none of this would have happened without you

 .

Translators:.

 .

Null:.

 .

Notalk (a . k . a . Notalk): No talking

 .

Gea.s.s606: I am working on the next arc . > . > Yes I can Billy u succ >:(.

 .

Billy Stevens: I swear I do work in this group, I"ve just been working on the next arc . > . > And Gea.s.s you can"t use the same message as me, that"s like uncool

 .

English Rewriters: Aster0x: Barrel roll? Can"t let you do that star ox

Galachad: The chaddest of the chaddiest chads out there; thanks for reading, luv u all <3 monkixote:="" gold="" star="" sticker="" to="" the="" first="" person="" who="" figures="" out="" what="" my="" favorite="" word="" is="" .="" mrscarym.u.f.fin:="" please="" look="" forward="" to="" the="" troll="" chapter="" 137="" by="" yours="" truly="" and="" nyamh="">

Nyamh: Will I be banned or muted when I write stuff here? Like, what can I get away with?.

;P.

 .

SeijiSoldier (a . k . a . WorstAsianNA): help me.

 .

Slimicee: I am very tired . Our TLs are like little hyper puppies, gotta keep em’ in check

 .

Artist: Joshua: oof! I hope you rike it! I hope u rike it hard!.

PDF Helpers:.

 .

Belkalon: I hope you like the Dark version, your feedback is always appreciated

 .

piotref1:.

 .

Formatters: RadRzRg: I wasn’t available to write anything :0.

I hope you all enjoyed this week’s release . See you all same time next Sunday . .